Apparently this film is only available far removed from the original studio negative in a dupey (a copy of a copy), edited and unwatchable "public domain" print, TCM has now shown it twice. Fire-prone Universal has the rights to the original Paramount material. If it's to be restored or simply made available in a decent print, is it up to that org.?
shareYes, its very disappointing. I've actually seen it two or three times and some parts of it get so filmy (no pun intended) that its very hard to actually see the picture. But being a major Lombard and MacMurray fan, its still worth the effort! Real good movie and great acting job by MacMurray drifting from comedy to drama in the same role.
shareTCM almost always airs "public domain" prints of the titles when they are available ie: MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE and the other Lombard titles MY MAN GODFREY, NOTHING SACRED, and MADE FOR EACH OTHER. These are prints you can find at dollar stores on DVD for a buck. It no doubt saves TCM some money but it would be nice if they would instead go to those original studios and pay for these titles just like their other films so we can see excellent prints of them. I'm just grateful TCM doesn't do this too often (show public domain stuff).
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I'm watching an AMC DVD release and the quality is really disturbing. Both the sound and picture quality is horrible. About 1/3 of the scenes are way too dark and the other 2/3rds are way too contrasty. The lines are barely understanda.
The movie itself is good. It is a shame that nobody has released this in a restored version.
This actually appears to be a rare time when Universal is innocent when it comes to a vintage Paramount movie. In the late 1940's Paramount sold the rights to a remake to 20th Century-Fox (it became When My Baby Smiles at Me with Betty Grable and Dan Dailey) and with it Fox undoubtably acquired the rights and ownership of the original film. Fox has not done much with it's own 1930's movies beyond Shirley Temple and Alice Faye films so it appears they have little interest in restoring this film and marketing it, especially with the original now in public domain and copied all over the place (probably the same print is being copied over and over by various companies making the prints even worse). Sad but true, SWING HIGH SWING LOW seems to be the least likely of any old "classic" movie to be restored given the situation.
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