MovieChat Forums > Show Boat (1936) Discussion > At the rate they're going -

At the rate they're going -

posted 14 years ago by critic-2
6 replies | jump to latest

DVD's will be becoming extinct by the time this movie gets issued on DVD.

The only films I know that have taken longer to be issued on authorized DVD's are the Orson Welles-directed films.

It really is ridiculous. Surely Turner (or Warners, or whoever owns the rights) must be aware of how badly we "Show Boat" fans want this version to come out on an authorized DVD.

Not even Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" took this long.

[–] gs-web 14 years ago

Don't you get it? A film has to be complete cr_p in order to be quickly released on DVD. If it has a singer that is unable to sing in anything but flats and sharps, adds 14-20 notes into each measure, and speaks with a crackly voice, then studio execs will bend over backwards to hurry a release.

[–] critic-2 13 years ago

- then they should just give up on that one and go ahead and release the 1936 version. Not many people are going to really care about seeing a part-talkie film in primitive sound anyway. Maybe some diehard completists will, but what the rest of us want is simply the 1936 film on DVD. Or will we just have to settle for watching it online?

[–] fast_fierce_and_funny 13 years ago

Not many people are going to really care about seeing a part-talkie film in primitive sound anyway.

Speaking as a newly-minted Helen Morgan fan, I'd like to see the 1929 version, if only because it's an historical artifact.

That said, I'd be perfectly happy if they were to release a less-than-perfect DVD of the 1936 version of Showboat, just to get the thing out there. I think it's great that the publisher (purportedly) wants to put out an "Ultimate Collector's" version with the 1929, 1936, and 1951 films all in one set, but honestly, the longer they put off the release, the more likely that film fans are going to turn elsewhere just so they can have a copy of the top-flight film they've loved for so long.

I see that someone (not me) is flogging an "unauthorized version" on DVD on a Certain Internet Auction site, and if the publishers don't hurry up and get the thing out there, already, I think someone else is going to drink their milkshake on them. Based on what I've read here, I understand that shelf space might be at a premium in brick-and-mortar shops, but I'm at a loss to understand why they can't simply offer the disc through an online vendor and let word-of-mouth do the rest.

At any rate, I just saw Applause (1929) last week, and if there was ever a film buff eager to pick up the 1936 version of Showboat, it's me. If the studio is worried about taking a bath on the thing in these money-conscious times, they could simply put it out as an MOD disc, then issue the "Ultimate Collector's" edition once they see that enough people are willing to pay, say, $20 for a bare-bones version. Then they can do the usual double-dip thing and offer the "UC" edition six months later.

So: I'll give them one more year to piddle around with it. If I don't see an Official Release by the summer of 2012, (I'm trying not to be unreasonable here) I'll start looking elsewhere just so I can get some sort of copy.

I'm not sure why the publisher seems to think film buffs have to wait around for them to get off their fat, wobbly [anatomical reference expunged] to see a film, but they need to wake up, realize it's not 1986 anymore, and that the Internet has bred a "gotta have it now"-type culture that doesn't typically reward people for sitting on stuff.

/steps off soapbox

[–] zigfried-2 13 years ago

Can't they just use the elements of the Laser Disc set and copy it to DVD or Blu Ray?

[–] critic-2 13 years ago

That's what I was wondering. But there was a biography of Ziegfeld on A&E Biography once (you might be able to see it online), and it had scenes from the prologue to the 1929 film that aren't on the laserdisc. I don't see why Turner can't use this footage.

Here's the link to that "Ziegfeld" biography. It has footage of Jules Bledsoe (the original Joe) singing "Ol' Man River". The episode lasts about an hour, so you'll have to be patient.

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/tv/Biography/96420/1610534273/The-Great-Z iegfeld/videos?cmpid=FCST_rdrct05&cmpid=syn_rss

I have seen the 1936 "Show Boat" on TCM several times and the print they show looks just fine to me. I don't see why they don't just make the DVD from this print.

Update: It's now December 2011 and I am sick of waiting. If Ted Turner's behind the delay, he should be ashamed.

[–] tms1983 12 years ago

Don't mean to rub it in, but I grabbed a copy of the MGM/UA videocassette of the 1936 version right before it went out of print. Not going to lie: a finer musical has not been made!

"Snozberries? Who ever heard of a snozberry?"