Criterion and Fox / MGM / Universal

[HistoryProf]

My wish list for top 5 releases from both studios:

1. "Taking Off" (Milos Forman, 1971) UNIVERSAL
2. "Comfort and Joy" (Bill Forsyth, 1984) UNIVERSAL
3. "The Incident" (Larry Peerce, 1967) FOX
4. "Sons and Lovers" (Jack Cardiff, 1960) FOX
5. "Resurrection" (Daniel Petrie, 1980) UNIVERSAL/"Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" (Abraham Polonsky, 1969) FOX

After years of wanting to see it i finally caught Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" off of TCM tonight. Man what a fantastic film. Apparently it was completed before Butch and Sundance, but held until after hoping that there would be some spill over success. Polonsky was also a blacklist victim of McCarthy's...making me wonder if some of that is still keeping this out of the dvd market.

Despite casting Robert Blake as a Paiute Indian, the film is very very good and a quintessential "70s" film with understated realism. John Ford, this is not.

Anyway...any word on this from any corner of the movie universe? What are the chances something like this could end up in the Criterion Collection?

[zachhh]

does FOX still own the rights to Attenborough's "Magic"? I would love a nice release. I believe there's only a barebones MPI dvd available to purchase.

[AfterTheRain]

does FOX still own the rights to Attenborough's "Magic"? I would love a nice release. I believe there's only a barebones MPI dvd available to purchase.

I've seen it on TV with the Paramount logo preceding the film, but I'm not sure if Fox has it or Paramount does. I also know there is a 2-disc Dark Sky release of the film available.

[flyonthewall2983]

This may be purely a pipe dream on my part, but would there be a good chance for Public Enemies to join the Collection? The recent exchange of the Do The Right Thing features makes me think the CC would have a big Universal title up their sleeve, and what better one than this one.

[zachhh]

i've always been pissed that Universal has done nothing with any Veronica Lake films such as I Married a Witch!, The Blue Dahlia, The Glass Key. Clearly theres a rights issue to release them here in the states since the three have been released in R2 regions?

[Ashirg]

I Married a Witch is not Universal. It's currently owned by Castle Hill.

[Jonathan S]

The UK DVD of I Married a Witch is a poor quality unofficial release from Orbit Media, though the BBC show a nice transfer quite regularly. As to the other two titles, they are among a list of Paramount classics (e.g. WC Fields and Dietrich films) that Universal has decided to release over here but not in the States. But then there are plenty of old British movies that have only been released in the US!

[tojoed]

There's a Madman region 4 release of I Married a Witch, which I'm sure is a good one.

[Jeff]

There's a Madman region 4 release of I Married a Witch, which I'm sure is a good one.

Criterion has acquired the rights to I Married a Witch from The Caidin Trust. They've got a full slate, so who knows when they'll get to it, but it's in the queue.

[domino harvey]

Sometimes the only thing that gets me out bed in the morning is knowing that I Married a Witch coming out on Criterion eventually

[tojoed]

Criterion has acquired the rights to I Married a Witch from The Caidin Trust. They've got a full slate, so who knows when they'll get to it, but it's in the queue.

Thanks, Jeff. It's good to know that Criterion will be getting to it eventually. I would have bought the Madman, but they suffer from, what we doctors call, Optimum Syndrome - an irrational hatred of the deaf.

[alandau]

Just watched I Married a Witch recently on youtube. It was a chilhood favourite that sadly lives up to the hype that sometimes you SHOULD not relive your childhood memories. It's boring and contrived (as is most Clair's work). Give me a Dieterle 40's fantasy-romance anytime.

[domino harvey]

Wrong. It totally lives up to alandau's memories

[zachhh]

alandau thinks it was a refreshingly whimsical comedy

[ianungstad]

With Bigger than Life already solicited and Night Train to Munich and The Thin Red Line seemingly in production, what other gems should Criterion try and license now that we are starting to see titles from Fox again?

My three biggest wants are Viva Zapata, Wild River, Five Fingers.

It would also be amazing if Fox would let Criterion do a special edition of The Innocents. I've always been surprised that Fox has never done a special edition of their own.

I've never seen the film but I always thought The Left Hand of God sounded interesting and something that might interest Criterion.

[Jeff]

[W]hat other gems should Criterion try and license now that we are starting to see titles from Fox again?

Lubitsch's Cluny Brown, the forever unavailable The Brasher Doubloon, Siodmak's long-rumored Cry of the City, Pretty Poison (current U.S. disc is bare bones)...and, because I'm a completist, John Huston's The Kremlin Letter and Altman's HEALTH.

[jaredsap]

Wild River, Five Fingers

These are on iTunes by the way. WILD RIVER in HD. Fox has it ready to go should Criterion convince them to give it up...

Some additional picks:

DEADLINE U.S.A.
NO DOWN PAYMENT
VIOLENT SATURDAY
THE RAID
THE BOWERY
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

[Highway 61]

what other gems should Criterion try and license now that we are starting to see titles from Fox again?

I'd be happy with any Preminger. The man is long overdue for a scholarly release. Though I've never seen it, his Le Courbeau remake would have been a natural choice for Criterion, but now that the Clouzot is going OOP, I doubt they'll touch it. His widescreen films would also look stunning on Blu, I'm sure.

[domino harvey]

A Preminger at Fox Eclipse set with Forever Amber, A Royal Scandal, Margin For Error, Centennial Summer, In the Meantime Darling, the Fan, and the Thirteenth Letter would be IDEAL. If seven is too many, maybe drop Forever Amber and the 13th Letter and make it a Preminger's Comedies set?

None of his widescreen films are Fox except Carmen Jones and River of No Return, which are already out in fine editions.

[ianungstad]

Fox certainly hasn't been very kind to Elia Kazan, that's for sure! You almost have to wonder if someone at the studio is still holding a grudge against Kazan or something. Any of the Kazan's that have been listed would be great. We could toss Man on a Tightrope and Boomerang on the list too.

Haven't seen either but I've seen many people make requests for both The Flim-Flam Man and The Incident.

[Cronenfly]

VIOLENT SATURDAY

Amish Ernest Borgnine!

[HistoryProf]

With Bigger than Life already solicited and Night Train to Munich and The Thin Red Line seemingly in production, what other gems should Criterion try and license now that we are starting to see titles from Fox again?

My three biggest wants are Viva Zapata, Wild River, Five Fingers.

It would also be amazing if Fox would let Criterion do a special edition of The Innocents. I've always been surprised that Fox has never done a special edition of their own.

I've never seen the film but I always thought The Left Hand of God sounded interesting and something that might interest Criterion.

Ooo....the Innocents would be fantastic! classic horror is definitely under-represented in the collection, and The Innocents is a profoundly important contribution to the genre...and the fox disc is atrocious.

[ianungstad]

What's wrong with the Fox disc? I thought the transfer and audio were good. I just didn't like that it only came with the trailer in terms of supplements.

[tojoed]

The Fox disc is , indeed, very good, I don't know what the Prof was watching. However, the BFI disc is sensational.

[zachhh]

speaking of Preminger, i would love to see Saint Joan in R1 finally