MovieChat Forums > Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Discussion > CRITERION DVD & Blu -- 4/12/16

CRITERION DVD & Blu -- 4/12/16


Criterion will release Only Angels Have Wings on both DVD ($29.95) and Blu-ray ($39.95) on April 12, 2016.

Bonus features include:

* New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
* Audio excerpts from a 1972 conversation between filmmakers Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich
* New interview with film critic David Thomson
* Howard Hawks and His Aviation Movies, a new program featuring film scholars Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
* Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, and Thomas Mitchell, and hosted by director Cecil B. DeMille
* Trailer
* PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Sragow

New cover by Francesco Francavilla

Here's the link to the Criterion web page:

https://www.criterion.com/films/28831-only-angels-have-wings

Criterion keeps mining the Columbia library for great films, and while so far all their titles had been previously released by the studio itself, there's nothing as good as a Criterion edition. I believe this is only their second Howard Hawks film, the first being the iconic Red River.

reply

Thanks for letting us know about this Hob. I can't wait to check this one out on Blu-ray. One of Howard Hawks best films, filled with so many wonderful characters and performances.




Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

reply

Good to have a region-free Blu-ray player, isn't it?!

Indeed, Maddy, this is one of Howard Hawks's most quintessential films -- a small, isolated group of tough, resourceful men facing a perilous challenge, helped by an equally tough, resourceful woman...or in this case, two women. During his career Hawks was regarded as an excellent commercial director, but it took later generations to fully assess and appreciate his films as art. Fortunately he lived just long enough to see himself hailed as one of the giants of 20th-century film.

Incidentally, my apologies if the date in my subject line momentarily dismayed you. Of course, I rendered it in the American style, but I realize that at first blush you might have thought you had to wait until December 4 for the release!

reply

Hi hob.

I can't see this Blu-ray on Amazon, is it only available through the Criterion website? Alas I only have a region 2 player, I'm thinking of getting a region free one though, there's loads of films I want but they're only available as region 1 imports which is annoying.

I have to say that whenever my family and I have visited America the way you write your dates has always confused and amused us. I still don't understand why you write the date that way. How did that come about?





Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

reply

Hi Maddy -- If you're speaking of where you can see the film on line, I can't be of much help to you, I'm afraid. I still prefer "physical media", buying the discs themselves, which of course also gives you the non-disc extras, of which Criterion includes many. I really don't like watching films on line unless there's no alternative. I know Criterion streams films on Hulu but you'll get better information visiting their website. Sorry I can't be of more help to you.

But this is a good reason why you should invest in a region-free player. I don't yet have an R0 Blu-ray player but I do have an R0 DVD player, which is how I've been able to see so many great British films not available here on Region 1 (the Ealing classics, for example, and many others). There are even quite a number of Hollywood films never released here, but that are on disc from R2 countries, mainly from Spain of all places, though some from France or the UK. I have a number of Japanese and Russian films as well. And of course, as you say, the reverse situation also holds true, about films unavailable on R2. The price of these things is very cheap, considering -- about $50 or $60 here, and while I haven't looked I would imagine the rough equivalent would hold true in Britain, maybe £40 or £50 as in my experience electronics are a bit more costly in the UK than the US. But you should check it out. An R0 Bu-ray would play virtually everything in any format in the world, including of course one's own region's discs.

One interesting thing for me is that, because the PAL system in Britain and elsewhere shows films at the equivalent of 25 frames per second (vs. the standard theatrical 24 FPS, which is how they're displayed in most other regions), a film on disc in the UK has a shorter running time than its actual running time. I remember watching The Day the Earth Stood Still with my wife's nephew in Essex a couple of years ago -- it ran 88 minutes vs. its actual 92, and I could tell the difference while watching. But you have more lines of resolution than we have, so a somewhat better picture.

As to our dating system, well, I have no idea why it's rendered differently in America than elsewhere. Even my wife, who's English, dislikes it, and insists it's illogical, apparently on the grounds that it's not what she grew up with. I guess it depends on what you're used to. Yet even in Britain almost everyone I speak with says "April the 12th", not "12 April" in conversation, despite rendering it in reverse when writing. Anyway, remember that while your family may be confused and amused by our dates, I can assure you those very feelings are reciprocated when we Yanks are in Britain!

reply

Maddy, keep checking with Amazon UK because Criterion is releasing this for region B as well. Criterion is releasing several region B blu rays for you non region free friends in Europe. Hope that helps.

reply

Criterion is releasing a region B of this blu ray for the European fans that aren't region free.
Check Amazon UK for the listing.

reply