952 The Magnificent Ambersons

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#176 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:23 pm

Damn, had no idea this is OOP. Prices aren't that ridiculous - $25 seems to be common - but not really worth it considering it's a bare bones release.

Bear in mind this is a single-layer DVD release, so what you could do is just rent it or check it out of a library, rip it, and then keep the disc image on a flash drive or a burn the image on to a cheap single-layer DVD-R. Most likely it will hold you over until someone does this film justice and gives it the release it deserves. (Or hell, while I'm wishing, maybe someone will find the Pasadena preview print in pristine condition and give us a gorgeous transfer of that.)

spoon99
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#177 Post by spoon99 » Tue Feb 27, 2018 4:37 am

Gosh, just a few months ago, it was $9.96 on Amazon.

Worst packaging ever, though --- all four discs on a single spindle, without so much as spacers, surely a recipe for scratches, to which clumsy me can attest.

Ambersons seems like such an obvious choice for Criterion. It's seemed like an obvious choice for Criterion for like 15 years. I'm not holding my breath.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#178 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Feb 27, 2018 7:38 am

Drucker wrote:Magnificent Ambersons went OOP the same time other Warner Criterions did: Blow-Up, Dreams, etc.

Likely coming from Criterion, but who knows when.
Plus, it was a CC laserdisc title. They like rescuing these. It's been six months since we got a Warner title. Perhaps the next batch of WB to CC will include Ambersons.

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ryanvision
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#179 Post by ryanvision » Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:08 pm

I bought the Classic Moms set for Ambersons just a few weeks ago from Walmart (I know, I know).

It was around $12.99. Overall, I think it's a pretty nice package though yes, all the discs are literally just open and stacked in one spindle holder. It's kind of ridiculous, but I managed to switch it out for a double disc case I had so at least I could split them (not that I really care about I Remember Mama, anyway).

As for the actual film, it looks quite good and, aside from a hopeful Criterion release, I am happy I got it. It seems to be the same exact release, menus and all, of the standalone WB release that is long OOP and, frankly, too pricey.

Due to the recent WB Archive details, I suspect an Ambersons release in the next year or two. Who knows, but there is enough mystery and special feature type additions out there to make it a potentially momentous release. For collector's and completists, there's nothing inherently wrong with the Classic Moms set. It's the most affordable way to add it to your collection right now.

albucat
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#180 Post by albucat » Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:26 pm

Confirmation from Jonathan Rosenbaum that this will be out (likely in November), alongside information about Kiarostami's Life and Nothing More and the rest of the Koker trilogy (early next year)... and yes, I will be purchasing both.

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Oedipax
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#181 Post by Oedipax » Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:19 pm

That's exciting! Criterion for the Welles and the Kiarostami?

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FrauBlucher
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#182 Post by FrauBlucher » Sun Jun 10, 2018 5:06 pm

I really hope that one of the supplements on the forthcoming release is a mini doc and/or interviews pertaining to the Mercury Theater players.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#183 Post by HitchcockLang » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:03 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 5:06 pm
I really hope that one of the supplements on the forthcoming release is a mini doc and/or interviews pertaining to the Mercury Theater players.
That along with Too Much Johnson (which has been released on blu-ray somwhere--not the US) would be truly Magnificent.

Hatfield Peverel
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#184 Post by Hatfield Peverel » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:01 pm

What would make more sense is for Criterion to include Journey Into Fear, the third and final Mercury production at RKO, which was at least partially directed by Welles. It also exists in two distinct versions.

The remaining fragments of Pampered Youth, the earlier 1925 silent adaptation of Ambersons, would also be a boon (and I believe some of that made it onto the laserdisc).

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HitchcockLang
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Re: The Magnificent Ambersons

#185 Post by HitchcockLang » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:56 pm

Hatfield Peverel wrote:
Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:01 pm
What would make more sense is for Criterion to include Journey Into Fear, the third and final Mercury production at RKO, which was at least partially directed by Welles. It also exists in two distinct versions.

The remaining fragments of Pampered Youth, the earlier 1925 silent adaptation of Ambersons, would also be a boon (and I believe some of that made it onto the laserdisc).
Or material pertaining to It's All True if they aren't planning a separate release.

beamish14
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Re: Forthcoming: the Magnificent Ambersons

#186 Post by beamish14 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:09 pm

Hopefully the massive resurgence of interest in Welles over the last few years will lead to a full-scale restoration of all the
It's All True material that's sitting in UCLA.

With WB licensing out Ambersons, I'm hopefully Journey into Fear will be next. I can't wait to see the alternate cut of that.

albucat
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Re: Forthcoming: the Magnificent Ambersons

#187 Post by albucat » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:20 pm

It's one of those movies where a release could take a lot of different directions depending on what story they want to tell about the movie. Hopefully wherever they take it, they go all out.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Forthcoming: the Magnificent Ambersons

#188 Post by Roger Ryan » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:49 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:09 pm
...With WB licensing out Ambersons, I'm hopefully Journey into Fear will be next. I can't wait to see the alternate cut of that.
Ten years ago or so, when WB were interested in releasing a deluxe version themselves, it was planned for Journey Into Fear to be included as part of the Ambersons package or, at least, be issued at the same time. There is a logic to this since both films were being developed simultaneously back in mid-1941 and even had an overlapping shooting schedule for a couple of weeks. Still, given that there are two extant versions of Journey, it would be better for this title to get a separate (Criterion!) release.

In an ironic counterpoint to the whole Ambersons debacle, Welles was actually able to negotiate pulling Journey from release so he could rework the film. Given only a little time and money to do this, it appears he took the version that had been given a limited theatrical release (already twenty minutes shorter than a more complete preview version), added Joseph Cotten's first-person narration, and cut an additional four-or-five minutes to speed up the pacing and keep everything from the perspective of Cotten's character. Additionally, Welles wrote and directed a new ending scene. Had Welles only been able to "rescue" Ambersons (released only four weeks prior to the first release of Journey) in the same fashion, cinema history might have been different.

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: the Magnificent Ambersons

#189 Post by swo17 » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:08 pm


nolanoe
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#190 Post by nolanoe » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:18 pm

Yea boi!

Part of me had hoped this would also include some "restoration work/edit", but... never gonna happen...

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DarkImbecile
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#191 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:27 pm

This edition looks appropriately packed! Exciting that there's so much Welles action these days between this and the imminent Other Side of the Wind

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mizo
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#192 Post by mizo » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:30 pm

That Dick Cavett interview is one of the most abundantly entertaining hours of TV ever. It would be worth the purchase price alone! (Of course, you can also watch it here)

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Drucker
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#193 Post by Drucker » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:34 pm

Was nervous Carringer would be excluded based on his criticism of the film. Glad he's included.

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Big Ben
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#194 Post by Big Ben » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:41 pm

I only ever saw this on an old 4:3 TV some years ago when Robert Osbourne introduced it. I remember liking it quite a bit but it sort of dropped off my radar because there wasn't any real way to see it at the time. I recall a DVD being released in a bundle deal or something some years after that but this is the first real proper home release of this film anywhere correct?

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domino harvey
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#195 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:43 pm

It was released on a DVD included with the Blu-ray box of Citizen Kane, but it was a separate DVD with its own case and UPC. I sold mine for fifty bucks as soon as word of this release was uttered

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DeprongMori
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#196 Post by DeprongMori » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:08 pm

Not its first home video release. I picked it up in the four DVD collection from TCM entitled “Classic Moms”. Aside from The Magnificent Ambersons, it also included Mildred Pierce, Mrs. Miniver, and I Remember Mama. A pretty sweet deal for under $10.

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domino harvey
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#197 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:14 pm

The other three movies in that set are all way better than this one, too...

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hearthesilence
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#198 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:14 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:43 pm
It was released on a DVD included with the Blu-ray box of Citizen Kane, but it was a separate DVD with its own case and UPC. I sold mine for fifty bucks as soon as word of this release was uttered
Argh, where, ebay? Mine went for $20, though that's still much more than what I paid for it.

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domino harvey
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#199 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:16 pm

Yep, just checked and I sold it last November for $48

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Roger Ryan
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Re: 952 The Magnificent Ambersons

#200 Post by Roger Ryan » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:00 pm

Most of the bonus features are what I expected, but I'm very pleasantly surprised about the Christopher Husted interview. Husted's fascinating liner notes to the re-recorded full soundtrack to the film (released in the early 90s) tipped me off to Welles' brilliant original structure which was to present a series of scenes in the film's first half that are mirrored by scenes in the second half (often taking place in the same space), each of which comment ironically on the earlier companion scenes. Herrmann's original score supported this structure by using similar themes and motifs for the companion scenes with the cues in the second half of the film becoming increasingly minor key or outright discordant. Sadly, much of that intriguing structure was ruined by the re-editing/re-shooting, not to mention the elimination of nearly half of Hermann's cues. I look forward to hearing Husted's take in 2018.

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