Warners westerns; Flynn Box & How The West Was Won coming September

[John Hodson]

As reported at the DVD Forums, Play.com is listing two September R2 releases that have been previously flagged for R1 release by Warners this year - an 'Errol Flynn Collection' (which Warners said, IIRC, was going to be westerns oriented), and 'How The West Was Won' (said to be a full blown SE). No details of contents, extras, etc.

Probably a good guide that an R1 announcement is on its way.

[chris bennett]

As reported at the DVD Forums, Play.com is listing two September R2 releases that have been previously flagged for R1 release by Warners this year - an 'Errol Flynn Collection' (which Warners said, IIRC, was going to be westerns oriented), and 'How The West Was Won' (said to be a full blown SE). No details of contents, extras, etc.

Probably a good guide that an R1 announcement is on its way.

Thanks John, - that Errol Flynn box means that my Dad's Christmas presesnt is sorted!

[canlabmaster]

How the West Was Won should be quite a visual treat. It will have undergone state-of-the-art processing to meld the three Cinerama components of the picture seamlessly and also remove the side distortions which arise from the image not being projected on a curved screen. It promises to be amazing. Here's a link for some info, but there is more on the process to be found on the web.

[Andrew Smith]

Really looking forward to seeing How the West Was Won again, properly this time. This link has a great comparrisson.

http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2006/apr-...ame1_large.jpg

My only complaint is that the colours seem a little too muted.

[John Hodson]

As I understand it, these were test runs by HP to check out the technology and shouldn't be taken as representative of the finished article. Hopefully.

[MarkH]

In the words of RTD "Hooray! Marvellous!!" Can't wait for a decent HTWWW!

[rickcurz]

I have the old letterboxed Warners DVD of HTWWW and it is passable, but only just. Letterboxed with all the dirt and distortions in place. Don't think I ever got around to watching it all the way through; better sell it on before the new issue turns up.

[Bodie]

I have the VHS of HTWWW and that's a film that seriously needs work in terms of restoration. That line that runs down the screen is really irritating; shows how little care was taken with VHS releases. Indeed, most of the 'pan and scan' VHS jobs were terrible IMHO.

I haven't actually seen it for about 5 years, though- remember it being very enjoyable.

[canlabmaster]

I have the VHS of HTWWW and that's a film that seriously needs work in terms of restoration. That line that runs down the screen is really irritating; shows how little care was taken with VHS releases

Up till now there wasn't much that could be done to get rid of or minimise the vertical lines where the panels overlap. You could see these on the original Cinerama presentations even though the edges of the panels were "feathered" and overlapped. But in any case, the VHS release was taken from a 35mm scope composite where the panel joins would have been part of the picture as it were and pretty much impossible to remove, at least with the technology available at that time.

[John Hodson]

I'm not wholly convinced the joins between panels should be altogether eradicated; these were indeed part of the original theatrical presentations and directors were mindful of them, composing many shots accordingly, where possible, to disguise them.

By all means smooth them out, but they should still be present IMHO. Lots of speculation too that Warners may employ a 'Smilebox' presentation (as seen briefly in one of the documentaries on the R1 'King Kong' set) to give a flat representation of a curved screen.

Certainly this DVD will be a whole lot better than the last time I saw HTWWW at Bradford; that print had seen better days (and varied in quality from panel to panel!), but it was still an exhilarating experience.

[Richard Crowther]

Certainly this DVD will be a whole lot better than the last time I saw HTWWW at Bradford; that print had seen better days (and varied in quality from panel to panel!), but it was still an exhilarating experience.

Not to mention coming from a censored German print (the axe attack is missing), with German titles, intermission and exit cards. The six track audio was wonderful, however.

[John Hodson]

And for R1, that Warners westerns press release in full, courtesy of the HTF:

Saddle Up August 26 with WHV’s Western Collections…

HOW THE WEST WAS WON
THE SPECTACULAR CINEMATIC EPIC IS RESTORED TO ALL ITS “CINERAMA®” GLORY WITH THREE BONUS-FILLED EDITIONS: ULTIMATE COLLECTORS,
TWO DISC-SPECIAL & BLU-RAY™ HI-DEF!

Ten More Movies Available in Two Collections: Warner Home Video Western Classics Collection and Errol Flynn Westerns

Burbank, Calif. April 28, 2008 – The wondrous western historical saga How the West Was Won gallops onto home theatre screens August 26th in three new restored and remastered editions. One of only two narrative feature films produced in the original Cinerama® three-panel widescreen process, How the West Was Won is a stunning epic, following four generations of a courageous New England farm family as they travel to the fertile Ohio Valley during America’s early westward expansion.

M-G-M and Cinerama®, Inc. spared no expense to give this sprawling Western saga the huge vistas made possible with the original Cinerama® process. After its initial theatrical engagements in theaters equipped with three synchronized projectors for Cinerama® presentation, the film was subsequently presented on traditional theater screens with the three separate Cinerama® panels being optically joined to form a standard 35mm 2.35:1 widescreen image, leaving most subsequent viewers puzzled by the annoying ‘join lines.’

Following several years of careful development, the technicians at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging perfected a technology that could finally eliminate the ‘join lines,’ and unify the images into a superb viewing experience that captures the essence of the production’s initial road show exhibitions, with an aspect ratio of 2.89:1.

This ultimate western film gets the Ultimate treatment with How the West Was Won Ultimate Collector’s Edition ($59.92 SRP). The two disc Standard Definition Ultimate Collector’s Edition is loaded with collectible memorabilia including a 20-page theatrical press book reproduction, 10 behind-the-scenes photo cards and 10 postcards, and an exclusive movie poster offer. Streeting simultaneously will also be a glorious Blu-ray™ Hi-Def ($34.99 SRP) version. Exclusive to Blu-ray is the “SmileBox” version of the film which presents the image with a unique curvature that virtually recreates the true Cinerama® experience in a home theater. This Blu-ray™ Hi-Def Edition comes with a special Digi-book packaging featuring 32-pages of rare press materials and behind-the-scenes photos. The third new edition is a Two Disc-Special Edition in standard definition ($20.97 SRP).

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including John Wayne, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Gregory Peck, Lee J. Cobb, Debbie Reynolds and Carroll Baker star in How the West Was Won. Set between 1839 and 1889 against the backgrounds of the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, buffalo hunters, the Pony Express and the first transcontinental railroad, the film consists of five segments, with direction by Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall, and written by James R. Webb and John Gay, suggested by a Life Magazine series of the same name. The film was the winner of 3 Academy Awards® (Best Screenplay, Best Sound and Best Editing) as well as being nominated for an additional five Oscars®, including Best Picture. In 1997, How the West Was Won was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the US National Film Registry.

How the West Was Won Special Features:
Film Historian Commentary
Dave Strohmaier’s critically-acclaimed, feature-length documentary Cinerama® Adventure
The Making of How the West Was Won (Archival featurette)
Original Theatrical trailer

WARNER HOME VIDEO WESTERN CLASSICS COLLECTION

To further celebrate the western genre, Warner Home Video proudly announces the DVD debut of 6 long-awaited favorites, each newly remastered especially for this release.

Escape from Fort Bravo (1954)
Union officer William Holden contends with Confederate prisoners inside Fort Bravo…and fierce Indians outside. John Sturges (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven) directs.

Special Features:
· Theatrical trailer

Many Rivers to Cross (1955) First ever home-video release!
Trapper and resolute bachelor Bushrod Gentry comes to Kentucky, where a marriage-minded lass is waiting. Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker team in a comedy/adventure.

Special Features:
· Theatrical trailer

Cimarron (1960 remake)
Oklahoma is theirs…if they can tame it. Glenn Ford stars in the decades-spanning tale of the famed land rush and of settlers sinking deep roots. Anthony Mann (Winchester ’73) directs this two-time Oscar® winner.

Special Features:
· Theatrical Trailer

The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Lawman William Holden is sworn to uphold the law but destined for a showdown with his
outlaw past when former partner Richard Widmark resurfaces. Directed by John Sturges.

Special Features:
· Theatrical Trailer

Saddle the Wind (1958) First ever home-video release!
Blood for blood; brother against brother. An ex-gunslinger’s attempts to go straight meet a fury of violence ignited by his brother. Robert Taylor stars in Rod Serling’s taut tale.

Special Features:
· Theatrical Trailer

The Stalking Moon (1968)
A suspenseful manhunt saga. A relentless foe tracks Army scout Gregory Peck as he attempts to lead a woman (Eva Marie Saint) once held captive by Apaches to safety.

Special Features:
· Theatrical Trailer

ERROL FLYNN WESTERNS
Warner Home Video continues its year-long 85th anniversary celebration by saluting one of the studio’s very-own legendary greats – Errol Flynn. Despite his Tasmanian roots and elegant British diction, Flynn made an ideal all-American cowboy. With his steely gaze, lean frame and understated humor, he tamed the West in eight thrilling sagebrush sagas. WHV presents four of Flynn’s classic “oaters” making their DVD debuts and available exclusively as a collection.

Montana (1950)
The star heads for the wide-open spaces of Montana in this adventure saga about a bitter range war. Errol Flynn plays an Australian transplant looking to buy grazing land. But the cattle-raising locals won’t sell to interlopers, especially one they consider the most contemptible excuse for a human being ever to cross the Great Plains: a sheep rancher. Flynn’s San Antonio co-star Alexis Smith is a flame-haired beauty with an eye for the newcomer…until she learns his occupation. In time, she’ll put aside her disdain for the handsome stranger.

Special Features:
· Vintage Newsreel
· Warner Night at the Movies 1950 Short Subjects Gallery
· Joe McDoakes Comedy Short: So You Want a Raise
· Classic Cartoon: It’s Hummer Time
· Trailers of Montana and 1950’s Chain Lightning
· Bonus Gallery of Santa Fe Trail Series Western Shorts: Oklahoma Outlaws, Wagon Wheels West and Gun to Gun

Rocky Mountain (1950)
Errol Flynn saddles up for his final Western starring as Confederate Captain Barstow in a brawny tale directed by William Keighley (co-director of Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood) and filmed wholly in the rugged environs of Gallup, New Mexico. Co-star Patrice Wymore became Mrs. Flynn weeks before the film’s release. And drawling character actor Slim Pickens (Blazing Saddles) makes his debut as one of Captain Barstow’s men.

Special Features:
· Commentary by biographer Thomas McNulty [McNulty looks at Flynn’s career, his unique qualities as a Western hero and his romance with costar Patrice Wymore.]
· Warner Night at the Movies 1950 Short Subjects Gallery
· Vintage Newsreel
· Trailers of Rocky Mountain and The Breaking Point
· Bonus Gallery of Santa Fe Trail Series Western Shorts: Roaring Guns, Wells Fargo Days and Trial by Trigger
· Classic Cartoon: Two’s a Crowd
· Joe McDoakes Comedy Short So You Want to Move

San Antonio (1945)
San Antonio features blazing action in Technicolor® (a rip snorting saloon gunfight), suspense (a tense showdown in the granddaddy of Texas monuments, the Alamo) and a beautiful girl (Alexis Smith as a sultry songbird) to add romantic luster to the heroics.

Special Features:
· Warner Night at the Movies 1945 Short Subjects Gallery:
· Vintage Newsreel
· OscarÒ-Nominated* Vitaphone Varieties Short Story of a Dog
· Vintage Shorts: Frontier Days and Peeks at Hollywood
· Classic Cartoons: A Tale of Two Mice and Wagon Heels
· Trailers of San Antonio and The Corn Is Green

Virginia City (1940)
In his second Western, Errol Flynn again teams with Dodge City director Michael Curtiz to play an undercover Union officer determined to stop a gold-laden train rolling to Dixie. Randolph Scott is a Johnny Reb ramrodding the shipment, Miriam Hopkins is a beguiling spy, Humphrey Bogart is a pencil-mustached desperado, and pioneering stuntman Yakima Canutt pulls off a daring stagecoach feat.

Special Features:
· Commentary by historian Frank Thompson [Thompson discusses this all-star collaboration with Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Randolph Scott and Miriam Hopkins, and the challenges faced by director Michael Curtiz throughout production.]
· Warner Night at the Movies 1940 Short Subjects Gallery
· Vintage Newsreel
· TechnicolorÒ Shorts: Cinderella’s Feller and The Flag of Humanity
· 1936 WB Short: The Light Brigade Rides Again
· Classic Cartoons: Cross Country Detours and Confederate Honey
· Trailers of Virginia City and A Dispatch from Reuters


WARNER HOME VIDEO WESTERN CLASSICS COLLECTION
Street Date: August 26, 2008


HOW THE WEST WAS WON
165 minutes - Rated G
5.1 Dolby Digital – 2.89 Widescreen

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION
$59.92 SRP

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: SPECIAL EDITION
$20.97 SRP

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: BLU-RAY™ HI-DEF
$34.99 SRP

WARNER HOME VIDEO WESTERN CLASSICS COLLECTION
$59.92 SRP Collection; $12.97 SRP Individual Titles
All Films Not Rated




Escape from Fort Bravo
Run Time: 99 minutes
Catalog#: 1000036331
Color/16x9 1.75 stereo
Many Rivers to Cross
Run Time: 94 minutes
Catalog #: 1000036330
Color/16x9 2.35 stereo

Cimarron
Run Time: 147 minutes
Catalog #: 1000036299
Color
16x9 2.35 stereo

The Law and Jake Wade
Run Time: 101 minutes
Catalog #: 1000036298
Color
16x9 2.35

Saddle the Wind
Run Time: 84 minutes
Catalog #: 1000036297
Color
16x9 2.35

The Stalking Moon
Run Time: 109 minutes
Catalog #: 1000036296
Color
16x9 2.35

ERROL FLYNN WESTERNS
Catalog #: 1000027305
$49.92 SRP (available as a collection only)
All Films Not Rated

Montana
Run Time: 76 minutes
Color
Rocky Mountain
Run Time: 83 minutes
B&W

San Antonio
Run Time: 106 minutes
Color

Virginia City
Run Time: 121 minutes
B&W

SmileBox for HTWWW in Blu-ray only...bugger.

[Farley Flavors]

Certainly this DVD will be a whole lot better than the last time I saw HTWWW at Bradford; that print had seen better days (and varied in quality from panel to panel!), but it was still an exhilarating experience.

Not to mention coming from a censored German print (the axe attack is missing), with German titles, intermission and exit cards. The six track audio was wonderful, however.

Seven track audio actually - five screen channels with left and right surrounds. And it is indeed truly wonderful, especially as the sound for the Cinerama movies was recorded live in multi-channel.

Bradford has more recently screened the new print of HTWWW struck a few years back for the relaunch of the Seattle Cinerama theatre. Even so, I'd probably take a battered and faded Cinerama print over a DVD release, no matter how good.

[John Hodson]

Indeed; I'm grumbling about the lack of SmileBox on the SD, but in truth, attempting to recreate the Cinerama experience on my 42" screen would be a tad futile.

I'm wondering now whether that 'Errol Flynn Collection' at Play.com truly reflects the R1 box, or will it be cut down? If not, it's a bargain right now.

[Ian W]

HTWWW box artwork at DVD Times

Blu-Ray artwork