Warner Bros. Opens Their Archives
Every once in a while I’ll come across an article complaining that modern Hollywood is churning out too many films. The idea is that in the past movie studios were more selective, but nothing could be further from the truth. They were really cranking them out back then, it just doesn’t seem that way because only a select few titles are able to elbow their way into today’s overcrowded market. That’s why I’m intrigued by The Warner Archive. There you can purchase obscure Warner Bros. films that aren’t likely to get a proper release any time soon, if ever.
This may be one of the most important movie news stories of the past few years. It’s obvious that Warner Bros. has put a lot of thought and effort into releasing material that other studios might not consider to be worth the time. And while there are bound to be more bad movies than good, I have little doubt that within a few years we’re going to see the film canon shifting slightly as little-known gems are rediscovered. There are only 155 titles available so far, but Warner Bros. intends to release another 20 films every month, with the intention of having a selection of over 6,800 films accessible through the service. That’s over five times the amount of films that they’ve released on DVD, or a whole new world of undiscovered cinema for those brave enough to dig in. Is this something you would take advantage of? And are there other hidden treasures, at Warner Bros. or otherwise, that you’d want to see dug up?
Comments (6)
Awesome piece of news. This is really interesting. I’m curious about how the releases work. They’re clearly not available anywhere other than this site. What is your source for this story? I’m really curious about this and want to read more. Thanks a lot for this! here are some (older) movies I would really like to see out on DVD eventually:
–shanghai express (criterion apparently owns the rights to this for a dvd release…)
1932 German expressionist film dir. by josef von sternberg, starring marlene dietrich
i started watching a shitty awful vhs transfer of this, and turned it off, not wanting the watching expreience to by muddy and shaky. i hope criterion does well by this one (which they inevitably will..)
–secret beyond the door (republic/lionsgate)
1948 noir dir. by fritz lang, starring michael redgrave & joan bennett
–blue dahlia (universal)
1946 noir dir. by george marshall, starring alan ladd & veronica lake
this is presumed to be where the elizabeth short’s nickname “black dahlia” came from
–party girl (warner)
1958 gangster film dir. by nicholas ray, starring robert taylor, cyd charisse & lee j. cobb
–while the city sleeps (warner)
1956 noir dir. by fritz lang, starring dana andrews & george sanders.
–bamboo blonde (warner)
1946 war/musical/comedy film dir. by anthony mann, starring jane greer, frances langford, & ralph edwards.
yeah, i like films noir…
but i really hope these last three are amongst warners archive releases. that would be great. the noir box sets warner released are pretty amazing.
Posted by Richard on March 23rd, 2009Shit…forgot. Gloria Grahame is one of my favorite actresses. A lot of her movies have never been released on DVD:
human desire (columbia)
1954 noir dir. by fritz lang, starring glenn ford & gloria grahame.
based on the same emile zola novel that inspired renoir’s le bete humaine.
naked alibi (universal intl.)
1954 film dir. by jerry hopper, starring gloria grahame & sterling hayden
not as a stranger (mgm/united artists)
1954 melodrama dir. by stanley kramer, starring olivia de havilland, robert mitchum, frank sinatra, gloria grahame, lee marvin, & charles bickford
the cobweb (mgm)
Posted by Richard on March 23rd, 20091955 film dir. by vincente minnelli, starring richard widmark, gloria grahame, lauren bacall, lillian gish, fay wray, &* susan strasberg.
Richard, there’s a link below the headline titled ’source’ if you want to read more, though the link in the post to The Warner Archive itself might suffice. it seems that they may be running polls to determine some of their subsequent releases, so you may want to keep your eye on it.
I like film noirs as well, but I would bet that Warner Bros. will continue to release most of their titles in that genre on actual retail DVDs as opposed to putting them through the archive.
Posted by Wintle on March 23rd, 2009Wow, I have no idea how I missed that source link.
Posted by Richard on March 23rd, 2009Sorry about that.
Heck yeah. Finding movies that are awesome and already made is always good fun.
Posted by Ian on March 24th, 2009Hopefully Black Belt Jones will appear soon..
Posted by Nemesis on March 25th, 2009Leave a Reply