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Warner Bros. Working on DVD Release of The Hanging Tree


Warner Bros. also continues to work actively on The Hanging Tree (1959, with Gary Cooper). There is much more work to do on the photochemical restoration for the original elements, but the results should be worth the wait. A pressed DVD release is currently planned, but no release timing has yet been set.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/barriemaxwell/maxwell100509.html#dir

This October 5th posting means there will no DVD release in time for the 50th anniversary of the movie. Although the DVD cover will no doubt say 50th Anniversary Edition whenever the movie comes out on DVD. Some of the DVD release delay may be linked to Warner Bros. mastering this movie in Blu-ray as well as SD. It would be nice if this movie gets the full 4K Lowry treatment.

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Good to learn someone is doing something about this fine movie! Yes, it would sure be nice to see it getting the Blue Ray treatment.
Pity about its 50th Anniversary!
While we're on the subject of Anniversaries -
What ever happened to the 50th of "The Big Country" (1958)? ZERO! HUH!

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[deleted]

glad to hear there's work on a restoration of this fine movie.

i've read that rights to this movie are owned by the Cooper estate, and the estate had withheld dvd rights. (the reported poor quality of the original elements may have had something to do with the estate's reluctance.)

i recall that "The Hanging Tree" was shown briefly (one month of broadcasts) on cable tv premium stations in the early 80's. that copy wasn't noticeably inferior at the time of the broadcasts. so, what happened in the interim to the quality of the print? (i ask this rhetorically, no answer needed.)

anyway, no official release date (through jan 16, 2010) is set as yet for the dvd.

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I found it at "marquee-video.com"

Waffles Anyone
rstory-3
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731

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Baroda -- Cooper's company -- owns 75% of The Hanging Tree. Cooper was an extraordinary businessman (Burt Lancaster once said Cooper was the single best businessman he ever dealt with; Cooper held up agreeing to Vera Cruz until the very, very last moment, when Lancaster agreed to give him 10% from dollar one), and wangled a great deal for Baroda when negotiating with WB for distribution.
However, this presented a problem once The Hanging Tree finally became available after 15 years of legal limbo because of the Dorothy Johnson estate.

The original negative was in terrible shape. But WB, understandably, was loathe to invest hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in restoration, since it was only entitled to 25% of dvd rights, too. There were negotiations between Baroda (run by Cooper's daughter, Maria) and WB in 2008, and perhaps some adjustments were made.

Originally, The Hanging Tree was set to come out on the Cooper Signature Collection, but the print was too poor. There are rumors it might be coming out this year, double disc, etc.

Martin Scorsese has a print, kept up in Rochester, NY. He leant it to the Museum Of The Moving Image in NYC a few years back, but the Dorothy Johnson estate stepped in and blocked its showing. In 2001, The Hanging Tree played in Helena, Mt., as part of a Cooper tribute, but the print was awful. Came from UCLA.

Can only hope this grand film finally sees the light of day this year.

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I am watching this fine movie right now on TCM. Someone has obviously restored it because the print on TV is outstanding, though it's not in letterbox for some weird reason.

I still don't understand why the film is not available on DVD. It's truly exceptional, with a great performance for an ailing Coop.

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Glad to see this has finally made it to DVD. Some years ago I watched it in an excellent print on a movieola at the Library of Congress: their copyright print. But it wasn't widescreen. This didn't seem to affect the compositions, however.

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