This movie deserves to be put on DVD. PLease Univesal, PLEASE put it on DVD for us poor folk to buy?
shareI would like to second that motion. I am trying to track down where I can buy Murder in the Blue Room. That's why I'm on this site checking it out. Universal, Please Please put it on DVD
shareAdd me to the list of putting this delightful "horror-comedy" on DVD!!! Does anyone know where we can contact Universal directly and voice this???
shareI too have been looking for this movie for years! Please Universal, DO put it out on DVD for us collectors of the best of the 1940's comedy-mysteries.
Does anyone on this message board know if the original film, 'The Missing Guest' made in 1938 is available on DVD?
I'll request both films thru Turner Classic Movies website, and see if they can find both films. If you fellow posters would do the same, it would help to have more than just my request. Just go to TCM's website + click on the 'request a film' link.
Thanks! Patti
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Guys/Gals,
I totally agree with your concensus that this movie needs to be on DVD. I remember seeing this show on the late night movie when I was a college freshman back in 1973. I really got a kick out of it. What can I say? I really didn't get off on Greg Brady and the Brady Bunch Rock Band!
As I remember the girls sang a song to the butler, that was a hoot. I believe the title was "The Boogie Woogie Bogeyman". I'm sure that kids and young adults in the 1940's enjoyed this little parody of the Andrews Sisters' hit, "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Of COmpany B". Does anyone know where we can get the sheet music for it? I think it would be great for a elementary school Halloween show for the PTA.
Sincerely, Perry Bland
theres a ghost in tin pan alley, walking down the piano keys, he's a jiving ghost who can make the most of his rythmic tendencies
All three versions of this are quite good in their own ways. It would make a great "Triple Feature" DVD. Come on Universal! While we're at it, how about releasing Hellzapoppin', too!
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It would be a great if this mystery were released with a good transfer by Universal but it probably won't happen any time soon. Haven't noticed that it has been shown on TCM either. It is sold by "Old Time Entertainment" on the Internet at a reasonable price ($12-$15) but it will be bootleg so I cannot vouch for the quality of the print.
shareI looked up this web site (Old Time Video)and decided to buy a copy of it. I had previously bought a copy from another web site that was horrible (Ioffer.com). You could tell it was recorded on VHS and then transferred to DVD.
As with Old Time Entertainment, it was the same thing. Recorded on VHS from an old night movie then transferred to DVD. Old Time Entertainment's version was far superior than the first web site. I paid 9.99 for my copy of Murder In The Blue Room, and 9.99 for Secret In The Blue Room. While they are not pristine as I preferred, I was able to get a copy. How much was edited out by TV? I wish I knew.
My only concern with sales like this is whether or not it is legal with the FBI and the movie companies. It was recorded legally from TV, then transferred to DVD, then sold by the individual as a way to make some extra money. That's where the gray area comes in. Where does the legalistics start and end? I am very much against illegal down loads (one guy told me the other day that he watched Iron Man 2 on his computer before it was released in the United States).
I'm glad to at least have a good version of Murder In The Blue Room. I wish it would have been totally legal, and maybe it was. I am highly suspicious of this form of way to gain access to these old shows.
I remember working at a small theater in the mid 1970's and asking the owner to try and play Murder In The Blue Room. One of Universals employees who had worked there for 40 years had never heard of the movie. So much for Universal knowing anything (at least back then).
Maybe Universal has lost the print. Maybe it was destroyed in their warehouse fire. I still don't understand why Universal just doesn't make a statement that it will be or will not be release by them.
The problem here is that there isn't enough call for films of this type. If suddenly WalMart was clamoring for 100,000 copies of Murder in the Blue Room, then they would fall all over themselves to get it released. The movie companies are not unaware of the market for these old films, but they don't see much revenue to be made in releasing them, so they don't. They also keep tabs on the "collector" market in homemade dupe DVD's. As a rule they don't mess with it, even though it is illegal to be doing it. To answer your question about whether or not it is a lost film, I can assure you it is not lost. I recently picked up an excellent 16mm print of it on e-Bay. At one time it was "illegal" to own such film prints, however a Supreme Court decision was handed down that said it was no more illegal to own a copyrighted film print than it was to own a copyrighted book. One has no right to reproduce it, sell reproductions, or show it for profit.
Technically, it is illegal, and, as the first responder to your posting pointed out, the studios usually don't bother prosecuting--or even sending cease-and-desist letters to the people who do it. It's almost like a store prosecuting a kid with a lemonade stand. However, I've heard on one of these very IMDb threads that once in a while they do wake up and send out their lawyers, so....
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