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Hollywood Q & ALetters. We get letters. And we’d like to answer them here, each time we update this column. So email us here at movieirv@moviesunlimited.com and we’ll print the letters in this column. Here are a couple of our recent queries:
Question: Hi Irv. Love your column and I do have a question that has puzzled me for quite some time. Why does it take so long for some TV series to come out with new seasons. Do you know when the 3rd season of Hart To Hart will come out. Or do you know when the 2nd season of McMillan & Wife will come out. The first season has been out for some time. And finally, how long will it take for the 3rd season for seaQuest DSV to come out. The second one just came out sometime last month. Hope you can answer this question and relieve my mind. Also, do you know if the following movies will be coming to DVD soon:
The Man From The Diner's Club - starring Danny Kaye. Most of his films are out on DVD.
Thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Hope you can Make My Day. Answer: Well, we’re not sure our answers will “make your day,” but we’ll at least try to answer the questions. Each studio has their own priorities regarding the release of TV show, and most are based on how the previous collections have sold. So it becomes quite frustrating when studios take a year or even more between TV series DVD releases. Sony is mum on Hart To Hart, as is Universal on seaQuest DSV (although you’d think the recent passing of Roy Scheider should hasten its release). However, Universal’s indicated that another McMillan & Wife should be out by year’s end. As far as the movies you mentioned, their absence on DVD is a mystery to us, too. The Man From The Diner’s Club with Danny Kaye, which was available for years on super 8mm (remember that!?), has never been on VHS or DVD, and since it is from the notorious slow Sony, I wouldn’t expect anytime soon. And it’s amazing that The Ballad Of Josie, one of Doris Day’s last screen efforts, is nowhere to be found either. Why doesn’t Universal put that in a set with Midnight Lace? As for Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the rest of the Bowery Boys, Warner has control of the series (which was originally from Allied Artists), and has been looking for suitable materials to put them out on DVD. The search has been going on for a while, so we don’t if Sach, Slip and company will be landing anytime soon.
Question: Hi Irv, you have a great column here. I'm sure you have probably been asked this question before, but here goes: I'm a big fan of the television series 77 Sunset Strip and I would like to be able to purchase this series in a boxed set or at least seasons 1 thru 5. I was told that Warner Home Video was going to be releasing this and some other classic shows on DVD. Do you have any info on this? Some of these shows are available from private collectors but I have found that they are not good quality. I would appreciate your insight. Thanks. Answer: Warner does indeed own the popular show with Roger Smith, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, one of the coolest shows of the late 1950s-early 1960s. However, the company’s plans for the series are not clear at this time. A few years back. they said they were going to make them available for downloading only, but this idea seems to have gone by the wayside. We checked with an inside source, and they say it’s not on the current slate of DVD releases, so we doubt we’d see it in the near future. We don’t suggest buying the less-than-acceptable DVD copies out there through unlicensed sources. So, we’re sorry to say, Warner is leaving us all in the dirt with this classic title.
Question: As always, I enjoy your Q and A each month. I was wondering if there are any plans in the near future to release the Cecil B. DeMille film North West Mounted Police (with Gary Cooper)? Also, two films that I would love to see released are The Victors (which I think is a most interesting film, and one I vividly remember from my youth), and Neighbors starring John Belushi. The Belushi film, a particularly dark comedy, has always fascinated me, and in my opinion has never gotten the credit it is due. And The Victors is never even shown on television....what gives??? Thanks so much, Irv.
Answer: For some reason, North West Mounted Police has not gotten the attention it deserves, and would be a welcome component of either a DeMille collection or a Coop set. Universal owns the rights to the 1940 Paramount title, and we understand a release is planned “down the road”—er, trail—but no one’s talking when. It’s a fine adventure with a terrific cast (including Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, Preston Foster, Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, and Lon Chaney, Jr.). The Belushi-Dan Aykroyd vehicle Neighbors, an extremely odd and unsettling 1981 film, is not on Sony’s list of must-releases, but, frankly, we’re not sure what is lately. And The Victors has really been out of commission. The only film directed by produced-screenwriter Carl Foreman (The Bridge On The River Kwai, High Noon), the 1963 WWII drama is also owned by Sony, we believe. You probably missed it, but the Military Channel recently had a rare showing of the film which stars George Peppard, Vince Edwards, George Hamilton, Elke Sommer, Eli Wallach and a young Albert Finney. Thanks for writing!
Question: Hi. I saw on Movies Unlimited’s site that they're releasing a Dirty Harry ultimate box set. Also coming out in June is a special edition of the first film, Dirty Harry. Do you know if the studio will be releasing the other films separately or not?
Answer: Yes. Besides the Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition, which will contain all of Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan flicks, Warner will also individually release Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool in deluxe special editions.
Question: With the recent landslide of releases of vintage Toho Studios' science fiction/monster movies, does Sony have Battle In Outer Space on its schedule for DVD anytime soon? I remember this is a child as being somewhat of a sequel to The Mysterians. Well, at least the alien spaceships looked identical in both movies.
Answer: Thanks for the email. From what we understand, Sony does not own Battle In Outer Space. Further, you’re right; the film has some similarities to the classic The Mysterians. Toho still controls the rights, but we’re not sure to whom the title was licensed—if anyone? Tokyo Shock has The Mysterians, for example, while the Godzilla films have been licensed to different companies. It’s possible that Battle In Outer Space has not been part of a deal on DVD yet, given Toho’s reputation as being difficult to deal with in terms of licenses for American distribution. For the record, the film was from the great Japanese director Ishiro Honda, who gave us the original Godzilla, King Of The Monsters, The Mysterians and the much-requested The H-Man.
Question: Do you have any information regarding whether or not the following movies are planned for release on DVD anytime soon? Look forward to reading your column. Just wish you would publish it more often. I'm certain you must receive a zillion inquiries regarding older movies that folks like me would love to see released on DVD such as; PT-109, The Cottage, Monte Carlo, Sins, The Miniver Story, Sodom And Gomorrah, anything with the classy Susan Hayward (especially Back Street), Rome Adventure, The Hawaiians, Stanley And Livingston (Spencer Tracy), Magnificent Obsession, Rich Man, Poor Man (Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte) and Mistral's Daughter (Stacy Keach, Lee Remick). Thanking you in advance.
Answer: Wow. All great titles! PT-109 has been mentioned from Warner from time to time and we’ll likely see a special edition of it, perhaps by year’s end. With the exception of The Hawaiians, the James Michener adaptation which we’ve heard being bandied about from Fox/MGM, and Stanley And Livingston, also from Fox, we’ve heard nothing on possible DVD release dates for the remainder of your list. And these two seem to be down the road, too. Sorry! Thanks for the correspondence.
Question: Thanks for your great "Hollywood Q & A" column that gives old movie buffs such as myself (68, but still hanging in there) a chance to check out forthcoming DVD releases or at least present our wish lists for those DVD's we'd like to see. As a die-hard Glenn Miller fan, I've been waiting a long time for the DVD release of Sun Valley Serenade. The DVD version of Orchestra Wives, his only other movie appearance, was released in the U.S. over two years ago. Sun Valley Serenade was released on DVD in England in February 2007 and in Australia in April 2007. Any idea why the DVD release of this movie in the U.S. (Glenn Miller's home country) has been delayed? And do you have any idea when it may be released?
Answer: Hi there. A recent check with Fox tells us this title, which also features Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle and (in a cameo) Dorothy Dandridge, is not on the horizon for the near future. It’s sad for fans of Miller and those of Henie, who’ve clamored for a collection of the skating sensation’s vehicles. Thanks for the nice words.
Question: Okay, I have all 4 volumes of Charlie Chan as well as the Chanthology. When are they planning to release more so I can be ready to get them? I am a big Charlie Chan fan, especially of those with Warner Oland and Sidney Toler.
Answer: The nice people at Fox tell us the fifth and final Charlie Chan collection will be out sometime in the fall. Keep in mind that Chanthology is the one collection from MGM, but the other volumes are from Fox, and this will be a Fox release, which means they will feature Warner Oland as the Asian sleuth. Incidentally, the latter Chan adventures, which feature Roland Winters and were produced by Monogram, are owned by Warner, but supposedly the quality of the films are in pretty bad shape at this time.
Question: Do you have any idea if and when the movie Harriet Craig, starring Joan Crawford will be coming on DVD? It’s a classic Joan-the-bitch role.
Answer: This 1950 redo of Craig’s Wife is held by Sony/Columbia, and while it’s been mentioned for their future plans, we don’t expect it anytime soon. So Harriet (“No man is ready for marriage—he has to be trained!”) will have to wait for her DVD arrival.
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