Kino Lorber Studio Classics

[Moe Dickstein]

I'll be interested to hear the commentary on Life Stinks. It's a deeply flawed film but it's very endearing on many levels and I appreciate Brooks trying to stretch out but he fails by not being able to let go of some of the wackier humor that doesn't fit into the overall tone of emotion he goes for later.

[AfterTheRain]

The Oblong Box is forthcoming in a new HD transfer.

[britcom68]

On Facebook, Kino has announced DVD-only releases of I Want to Live!(1958) and Lilies of the Field(1963).

[PfR73]

Might want to move britcom68's post & this response to the Kino MGM Acquisitions thread. As with other MGM properties that Kino has/is releasing DVD-only, that might indicate the Blu-Ray rights are with Twilight Time.

[Ashirg]

I updated the first post with Ignite Films and CBS/Paramount titles released by Kino Lorber Classics. Bad Man's River (1971) and Captain Apache (1971) from Ignite Films announced for October on DVD and blu-ray. Maybe the post can include all Kino Lorber Classics acquisitions and not just from MGM.

[criterionsnob]

Kino is bringing John Cassavetes' A Child is Waiting (1963), to Blu-ray later this year.

[Ashirg]

They announced John Ford's The Hurricane coming soon from KL Studio Classics. I'm not sure if that opens Samuel Goldwyn library to them.

[AfterTheRain]

A Samuel Goldwyn production managed to slip past Warner Bros.: John Ford's The Hurricane to be released on DVD and Blu-ray via the Kino Classics line.

Just happened to see another member's post regarding this; sometimes I gotta look before I post.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Kino is bringing John Cassavetes' A Child is Waiting (1963), to Blu-ray later this year.

Pretty psyched for its arrival so I can have a nearly complete collection of Cassavetes films (should I ever bother with Big Trouble?)

I can't remember, and I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me, how much was changed between Cassavetes' original cut and final version? I know Stanley Kramer reshaped the film extensively in post-production. I'm not sure what differed between the two cuts beyond Kramer wanting the children to be more victims who needed protection while Cassavetes went the opposite way.

[whaleallright]

was there ever a proper "Cassavetes cut" or was it simply that he was not a participant in the editing of the film?

[knives]

It sounds like he was involved early on, but not for long enough to edit a proper cut.

[Gregory]

Not long enough to edit a proper cut? I'm not sure where that comes from. Cassavetes was extensively involved in the editing for several weeks in March and April '62 (with Kramer cajoling him), and Cassavetes finished and approved it on April 20, so there was a "director's cut." But during the next few days Kramer's staff drastically recut it, and Cassavetes had to show up to Kramer's private screening not knowing what he was going to see. He saw Kramer's vision of the picture and demanded that his name be taken off it. He disowned it and considered it to be Kramer's film, not his own, so my own view is that it should never be referred to as "Cassavetes's A Child Is Waiting."
It's often referred to that way just because he was the director, of course, but it didn't really end up being his work. The differences were that significant. Cassavetes's edit had included much more footage of the children, so that they were the central focus of the film. Kramer objected to having them so much in the foreground, and his own very different edit not only changed that but attempted to make the film feel more sentimental—optically creating close-ups out of medium shots, slowing down reaction shots, other such tinkering, and adding more "mood music."

In hindsight, there was probably no way Cassavetes and Kramer could have successfully worked together, so the whole thing was ill-fated from the start because their visions of the film were so different and they stuck to them so stubbornly. And so many of the principals involved were openly suspicious of Cassavetes and his methods—the screenwriter Abby Mann, and the two big stars, Garland and Lancaster. The whole thing was fraught with conflict and in the end no one got their way completely, but in my view it ended up being Kramer's sentimentalized picture. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from watching it, and anyone with a serious interest in Cassavetes will likely want to see it if they haven't already, to see what remains of his influence on the final film, which Kramer couldn't completely wipe away.

[knives]

As I understood it the soundtrack still needed extensive work on that Cassavetes and much of Kramer's meddling was on that point. If I'm wrong though I bow to you on this. That said I do think the camera work has enough of his flourishes to make watching the film at least worth it. Rowlands' cameo is also pretty good.

[doh286]

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs coming soon on blu-only.

[whaleallright]

thanks, Gregory, for the production history!

[Ashirg]

Special Features for some of the September KL Studio Classics releases:

Vigilante Force - Reversible Art
• Audio Commentary with Director George Armitage and Filmmaker Elijah Drenner
• Trailers

House of the Long Shadows
• Brand New Interview with Director Pete Walker
• Audio Commentary with Director Pete Walker
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle
• Trailers

Unforgettable
• Making-of Featurette
• "Stars, Director and Producer" Soundbites
• Unedited B-Rolls
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Billy Two Hats
• Interview with Director Ted Kotcheff
• Trailers

Busting - Reversible Art
• Audio Commentary by Director Peter Hyams
• Selected Scenes Commentary by Star Elliott Gould with Film Critic Kim Morgan
• Trailers

The Satan Bug - Reversible Art
• Audio Commentary by Film Critic and Historian Glenn Erickson
• Original Theatrical Trailer

[captveg]

They announced John Ford's The Hurricane coming soon from KL Studio Classics. I'm not sure if that opens Samuel Goldwyn library to them.

It appears not, as MisterLime has stated it's licensed via MGM.

[domino harvey]

Kino will be releasing the following cartoons this year and in 2016:

1. KL Cartoons Volume 1: The Ant and the Aardvark (17 Classic Cartoons).
2. KL Cartoons Volume 2: The Inspector (34 Cartoons in a two-disc set).
3. KL Cartoons Volume 3: Crazy Legs Crane (16 Cartoons).

Coming in 2016:

1. Blue Racer (17 Cartoons)
2. Dogfather (17 Cartoons)
3. Misterjaw (34 Cartoons) (2 Discs)
4. Roland and Ratfink (17 Cartoons)
5. Sheriff Hoot Kloot (17 Cartoons)
6. Tijuana Toads (17 Cartoons)

[Cinephrenic]

Great news for classic cartoon collectors like myself. Bring on the Pink Panthers next.

[Ashirg]

Covers for September:




Reversible covers:

[Ashirg]

John Frankenheimer's The Fourth War (1990) - BRAND NEW 2015 HD MASTER!

[pointless]

The Crooked Way (Robert Florey, 1949)

Kino Lorber have confirmed that they will release on Blu-ray Robert Florey's film The Crooked Way (1949), starring John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Eand llen Drew. The release, which will be sourced from a brand new master, will arrive on the market later this year.

[Ashirg]

Updated master list with The Crooked Way. MisterLime also said they are working on 5-film Fantomas collection.

[domino harvey]

By suggestion, the previous MGM-only thread has been expanded to cover the other studios the Kino Lorber Classics label line has been licensing from

[Ashirg]

To my comment

I wish Kino Lorber can release more noirs from MGM's DVD-R line - 99 River Street, The Big Night, The Captive City, Chicago Confidential and the most problematic transfer, The Killer Is Loose.

MrLime responded

Good News! We've got the rights to at least two, maybe three.