TCM Vault Collection

[Props55]

[b][/b]The Glenn Ford set looks good but I'd really love to see them tackle the last remaining Burt Lancaster noirs from Paramount and Universal: DESERT FURY, I WALK ALONE and KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS.

[feihong]

I've seen Undercover Man. Ford is good playing a nice descent federal agent in it, there's some nice crowded-streets chasing in some scenes, and it was basically a pleasant, if 100% predictable thriller, with Ford playing a sort of Eliot Ness figure. The suspense is all rather displaced, though, from Ford and his agents onto the neighborhood hoods Ford is trying to get to testify against Capone. One funny element is that--probably for legal reasons--they refrain from calling Capone by name throughout the film. So the villain is always referred to with very awkward delivery as "The Big Man." I wouldn't go out of my way to buy that movie unless I were a Ford or Lewis completist, though. It's a far cry from My Name is Julia Ross, Gun Crazy, Jubal or The Big Heat.

[mteller]

TCM is now listing a "Glenn Ford - Undercover Crimes" set for March.

Does anyone recommend any of these films? Link here.

I've seen Framed, Convicted and The Undercover Man. None of them are great, all three are very very routine, but they're all at least okay. Undercover Man is probably the best of them.

[AfterTheRain]

Karloff: Criminal Kind is the next set in the TCM Vault line; the set - which includes The Criminal Code (1931), The Guilty Generation (1931), and Behind the Mask (1932) is listed for release on April 16th. Here's the link.

Also, previous TCM Vault titles Sierra (Audie Murphy) and The Virginian (Joel McCrea) will released along with previous Universal Vault titles Comanche Territory, Tomahawk, and The Texas Rangers Ride Again as part of a 10 film Classic Westerns Collection from Universal on March 12th; the other five titles in the collection - Albuquerque, When the Daltons Rode, The Spoilers, Kansas Raiders, and Whispering Smith - were previously released on DVD. If you missed out on Sierra, The Virginian, Comanche Territory, Tomahawk, or The Texas Rangers Ride Again, I would suggest picking up the collection.

[domino harvey]

I've been taking a break but I felt a moral imperative to check in to give everyone a warning: I pre-ordered the Horizons Westerns set months ago and it only just came out two days ago. My copy arrived today and two of the five discs were fucking DVD-Rs. Is nothing sacred anymore?

[warren oates]

Domino, can you say which films are DVD-Rs? Hope it's not Backlash or Horizons West.

[domino harvey]

Saskatchewan and Pillars of the Sky were the DVD-Rs in my copy, but YMMV. TCM wouldn't let me get a refund, but they are sending me out another copy of the set gratis. I will report back if the same discs are DVD-Rs in the second set, which should either be double-confirmation or cast further doubt on the safety of pre-ordering these sets to avoid this very scenario

[Props55]

Thanks for the heads up Domino. I'd completely forgotten about this set (can't have too many Widmark westerns!) but don't like the idea of "mixed media" in the initial run of these TCM sets. But I believe this has happened before. * * * * * Yes, just checked and Perkizitore posted last August that his Sony Noir III had JULIA ROSS as a DVD-R. No one else seemed to have a problem regarding this particular new twist (my set was all pressed) but there was apprehension that this could happen again. And now it has. Please keep us posted.

[kingofthejungle]

I don't understand this partially DVD-R nonsense. Since this is a box-set, you'd think they would press the same number of discs for each title - why the need for DVD-R's for a few of them? I mean, it's not like these titles are offered separately (at least not yet). It's baffling.

I should get my copy in today, so I'll report back if there are any problems.

What makes this particularly frustrating is the chance you already take with the transfer quality of these Universal sets. It looks like they could, at the very least, offer us pressed copies of the twenty-year old video dubs they so frequently pawn off on us as adequate mastering. At least with the Sony sets, you can be somewhat confident in the a/v quality.

[kingofthejungle]

Just opened my copy of Western Horizons -- same story domino reports, Pillars of The Sky and Saskatchewan are DVD-R, the rest pressed.

EDIT: Also, a note on the A/V quality, all are reasonably ok-ish though underwhelming, probably looking slightly lesser than the Audie Murphy and Joel McCrea sets, but none as atrocious as The Unguarded Moment from the 'Women In Danger' set. My guess is they're all older transfers that have had little work done to them. Both Horizons West and Dawn At Socorro appear to have slight greenish tints that could have easily been fixed. Backlash probably fares best -- the colors at least look right, and it is finally available in it's proper 1.85:1 aspect ratio, though it does appear a bit soft.

[warren oates]

Same discs are DVD-Rs in my set as well. And I can agree with kingofthejungle about the only title I've previously seen, Backlash, which looks much better to my eye than the previous U.K. release.

Since this hasn't happened to me before, anyone care to shed a little light on how the DVD-R thing could be some kind of innocent negligence on Universal or TCM's part? Some talk above seemed to imply that certain other sets, like some film noir boxes, had shipped previously in their earliest versions with DVD-Rs but later on all titles ended up coming pressed? Why would that be? At this point it's hard for me to see what's happened as anything but a fully conscious and cynical attempt to deceive the only consumers left who would pay for physical media. The DVD-Rs in the set look exactly the same on the label side and there's no indication anywhere on the box that not all discs are pressed.

[domino harvey]

Update: Unsurprisingly, the "replacement" set was identical to the one I'd already received, and over on HTF everyone's been getting the same deal. But hey, my loss can be your gain: I'll sell anyone reading this my second set (3 pressed, 2 DVD-Rs, remember) for $25, half what it'd cost you from TCM. Just PM me

[domino harvey]

Has TCM abandoned this experiment? The last forthcoming set is the Karloff, announced months ago, and silence ever since...

[Max von Mayerling]

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics IV is up (for August release).

[Perkins Cobb]

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics IV is up (for August release).

Title list.

[Max von Mayerling]

A "Randolph Scott" 4 disc collection is up for September 2013. The Doolins of Oklahoma, the Walking Hills, Coroner Creek, and 7th Cavalry.

[domino harvey]

Something foul is afoot with the Randolph Scott TCM set, which was supposed to come out September 2nd-- release date on TCM is now December 2nd and on MoviesUnlimited it's January 2nd of next year?

[rockysds]

John Ford: The Columbia Films on October 10th. Contains The Whole Town's Talking, The Long Gray Line, Gideon of Scotland Yard, The Last Hurrah and Two Rode Together.

[domino harvey]

Hmm... the Long Gray Line and the Last Hurrah already had pressed R1 releases from Sony and Two Rode Together has a R2 plus the forthcoming Twilight Time Blu. Gideon of Scotland Yard is pretty lackluster and I have not seen the Whole Town's Talking but only TCM rips circulate to my knowledge

[warren oates]

Glad we know about the forthcoming Twilight Time Two Rode Together. I might have bought the set for that title alone.

[kingofthejungle]

Man, I consider myself a Ford completist, but the only one of those titles I need is Gideon of Scotland Yard. It's hard to justify spending $50 for that one.

If Twilight Time is going to be the only outlet for catalog Columbia pics in HD, I do hope they'll consider The Long Gray Line.

[knives]

Hmm... the Long Gray Line and the Last Hurrah already had pressed R1 releases from Sony and Two Rode Together has a R2 plus the forthcoming Twilight Time Blu. Gideon of Scotland Yard is pretty lackluster and I have not seen the Whole Town's Talking but only TCM rips circulate to my knowledge

The Whole Town's Talking is pretty fun and not a typical Ford picture, but it doesn't offer anything unique once you get a hold of the premise.

[domino harvey]

In case anyone was trigger-shy in the wake of Western Horizons Gate, the forthcoming Noir set just arrived and is all pressed discs

[Titus]

In case anyone was trigger-shy in the wake of Western Horizons Gate, the forthcoming Noir set just arrived and is all pressed discs

Regarding the Western Horizons set, the copies I received around a month ago both came with entirely pressed discs.

[domino harvey]

That's hilarious. TCM, in classic Western villain form, played the heavy and punished those who supported the release by preordering and rewarded those who sat it out! You are a lucky son of a gun