According to digitalbits.com Universal is working on a 4K release of this gem. As the film was not properly copyrighted and hence became public domain Universal never bothered to put the film out in either DVD or BR. Not even VHS I believe. Better late than never, however. Surely they're giving it a proper restoration for 4K. Can't wait!
shareKeeping my fingers crossed on this - it's way past time to present this masterpiece in a format that matches its greatness.
shareIt premiered at Cannes this year as part of a program they have for showcasing restored classics. Nothing official yet, but rumour has it Universal plans to give it a limited theatrical showing, followed by a home theatre release this fall.
shareI have seen one-eyed jacks on DVD in dollar stores. I'm a reseller and it's part of the collection of western videos and I just watched it today. There are about 40 westerns from the 1930s on. It's a great collection.
So I don't understand about the copyright being in public domain. The dvd is out there for this movie.
I've been watching a bunch of "older" movies including Ben-Hur and Cleopatra and I notice a stark difference with today's movies: scriptwriting. The actors actually had many many lines of script and they had a chance to act.
Nowadays because of CGI, the actors act against the animation and special effects and there's very little script to say.
Hey, wrightinchicago, never said the dvd wasn't out there. Being public domain any company can release it, and many have. The problem with this is that these companies do not restore the film from the original negative, but simply copy it from a print, such as VHS copies already in circulation. Of the multitude of DVDs out there some are said to be of reasonable quality, others downright awful. Films of OEJs vintage need to be restored, which is what Paramount has finally done here, thank goodness.
shareThis is my absolute favourite in terms of western movies and certainly in the top 10 of all movies. Love it no end.