TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

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sevenarts
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TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#1 Post by sevenarts » Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:46 pm

Just got word of this in an Amazon E-mail:
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, the studio with the world's largest film library, is beginning an exciting new partnership with the authority in classic film, Turner Classic Movies. With the TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection, the two companies will release a collection of 60 top films in 15 themed groups. The TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection will whet the appetite of both serious film buffs and a new generation of movie lovers, giving them an easy way to build a personal library of classic films.

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: American Musicals includes four song-and-dance favorites, starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and others:
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Band Wagon
Singin' in the Rain
Easter Parade

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals includes four classic tuners, starring Howard Keel, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell, and others:
Show Boat
Annie Get Your Gun
Kiss Me Kate
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Saddle up for TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: John Wayne Westerns, featuring four from the Duke:
The Cowboys
Fort Apache
Rio Bravo
The Searchers

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Romantic Comedies includes four hilarious films, all starring Katharine Hepburn (with co-stars Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, and James Stewart):
Adam's Rib
Woman of the Year
The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Best Picture Winners includes four Oscar-winning films, including Casablanca, two memorable MGM musicals, and Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver:
Casablanca
Gigi
An American in Paris
Mrs. Miniver
The Amazon page has the full details. Four movies for $20, might be a good deal for those who don't have some of these classics already.

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#2 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:11 pm

FYI these are all the existing first discs of any of the newer special editions. So Gigi for instance is just the first disc of the 2-disc special edition. But beware, they are flipper discs. Still, an absurdly good deal depending on how little you care about what's on some of the second discs-- the Howard Keel set would seem to be the best deal, as three of the four titles are only single disc editions to begin with

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Matt
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#3 Post by Matt » Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:32 pm

domino harvey wrote:FYI these are all the existing first discs of any of the newer special editions.
So will they still have everything that's on those first discs: on Singin' in the Rain, for example, the commentary and trailer?

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#4 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:35 pm

Yes, they're direct ports

so lightly here
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#5 Post by so lightly here » Wed May 13, 2009 12:43 am

Does anybody know if the transfer for "McCabe & Mrs Miller" on the newish "TCM Greatest Classic Films: Western Adventures" is a new transfer? I would highly doubt it at the obscenely low price point for this set.

Also, what is exactly up with Amazon's "tell me when this is on blu-ray" tagline mean? They certainly don't have any real idea if Mc&Mrs is coming out on BR in the foreseeable future, do they?

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#6 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:30 am

New sets coming September 1:

Horror: House of Wax 1953 / The Haunting 1963 / Freaks / Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1941

Murder Mysteries: The Maltese Falcon / The Big Sleep / Dial M for Murder / The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946

Science Fiction: 2001 A Space Odyssey / Soylent Green / Forbidden Planet / The Time Machine 1960


New sets coming November 3:

Comedy: Arsenic and Old Lace / A Night at the Opera / the Long Long Trailer / Father of the Bride

Holiday: Christmas in Connecticut / A Christmas Carol 1938 / The Shop Around the Corner / It Happened on 5th Avenue

Family: Lassie Come Home / Flipper / The Incredible Mr. Limpet / National Velvet

Hitchcock Thrillers: Suspicion / Strangers on a Train / The Wrong Man / I Confess

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Finch
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#7 Post by Finch » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:44 pm

If The Big Sleep came in a restored print (they've been promising this for ages), I'd buy the Murder Mysteries set in a second despite already owning the SE of Maltese Falcon. I'm assuming these are reissues of existing versions (in the case of the Hawks, from, what, 1999 or so?)?

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#8 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:48 pm

Yes, as explained above. Though I have no idea which side of the Big Sleep's disc they're including here

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Highway 61
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#9 Post by Highway 61 » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:48 pm

Mr Finch wrote:If The Big Sleep came in a restored print (they've been promising this for ages), I'd buy the Murder Mysteries set in a second despite already owning the SE of Maltese Falcon. I'm assuming these are reissues of existing versions (in the case of the Hawks, from, what, 1999 or so?)?
According to their second to last HTF chat, Warner has no plans to touch the Big Sleep. I remember their response being something along the lines of "We don't see how the current edition can be improved."

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Finch
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#10 Post by Finch » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:49 am

Highway61, I didn't know Warner have backpedalled on this one unless I confused it with another title. I don't own Postman and Dial M yet, so I'm going to get this set.

Tuco
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THEM

#11 Post by Tuco » Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:09 pm

DVD Beaver shows a Feb. 10th release of a two DVD set with THEM, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, WORLD WITHOUT END and SATELLITE IN THE SKY,from Turner Classics. Does anyone have information regarding doutde materials, aspect ratio, etc.? Or can I safely assume that these Turner releases are spot-on?

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Re: THEM

#12 Post by Foulard » Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:02 pm

Tuco wrote:DVD Beaver shows a Feb. 10th release of a two DVD set with THEM, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, WORLD WITHOUT END and SATELLITE IN THE SKY,from Turner Classics. Does anyone have information regarding doutde materials, aspect ratio, etc.? Or can I safely assume that these Turner releases are spot-on?
These have already been issued by Warner as two double feature discs, so I'd guess they'll be exactly the same. But cheaper!

Tuco
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#13 Post by Tuco » Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:12 pm

That's the problem - THEM was shot 1.75, the current DVDs are 1.33. I wanna see my bugs in the correct aspect ratio!

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#14 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:25 pm

Is it open-matte?

Tuco
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#15 Post by Tuco » Sat Jan 30, 2010 12:35 am

I'm trying to find that out, thanks to your question. Can't find the answer looking through the web. I did read that most post-1954 spherical (flat) movies were shown matted. No matter, it's a great bug movie...

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Jeff
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#16 Post by Jeff » Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:33 pm

It was shot in late '53. It was almost certainly photographed at 1.37 and very likely intended to be shown that way. If it was later matted to 1.75 for theatrical screenings (and IMDb is hardly authoritative on that), I would say that it was probably only as an afterthought to exploit the fervor for "widescreen" brought on by Cinemascope.

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Cinephrenic
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#17 Post by Cinephrenic » Tue May 11, 2010 3:20 pm

Digital Bits:
Warner and TCM have also set a pair of new DVD box sets for release on 9/7 (SRP $27.92 each). Look for TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Gangsters (includes High Sierra, Little Caesar, The Public Enemy and White Heat) and TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Hammer Horror (includes Horror of Dracula, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, The Curse of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must be Destroyed).

Jonathan S
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#18 Post by Jonathan S » Thu Oct 14, 2010 1:36 pm

It seems even Warner isn't mean enough to dump Lassie in their Archive. On Feb 1 they release the Lassie Greatest Classic Films Set including a new-to-DVD title Hills of Home. Of course, if you bought the existing Lassie set of three films you'll have to buy them again just to get this one... another string to Warner's racket!

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Finch
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#19 Post by Finch » Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:08 pm

Cinephrenic wrote:Hammer Horror (includes Horror of Dracula, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, The Curse of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must be Destroyed).
That's an excellent selection actually. I wonder if this will feature the recent restoration of Dracula or if it's just a repackaging of the old transfer (probably the latter).

HarryLong
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#20 Post by HarryLong » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:03 pm

Finch wrote:
Cinephrenic wrote:Hammer Horror (includes Horror of Dracula, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, The Curse of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must be Destroyed).
That's an excellent selection actually. I wonder if this will feature the recent restoration of Dracula or if it's just a repackaging of the old transfer (probably the latter).
From what I've heard, the latter. Even down to the same onscreen menus. Didn't this also come out as a set under Warner in addition to two two-disc sets? I'd suspect a bunch of leftovers in the warehouse plopped into new packaging eceptthat I know the two-fers ended up in a slew of closeout bins.

EDIT:
Ah, no. A quick trip to Amazon shows some Warner Colections of 4 or 6 films... but none in precisely the combination of the TCM set.

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domino harvey
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#21 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:15 pm

Warners has been releasing a lot of these lately, and some feature some hard to track down titles now. The Elizabeth Taylor one has the OOP BUtterfield 8, which was going for $50+ not too long ago, for instance, and the Burt Lancaster one has Executive Action and Seven Days in May

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#22 Post by matrixschmatrix » Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:36 pm

It looks like there's still more of these coming out next month- is there a better listing than this anywhere? I'm annoyed every time I buy a DVD and then find out it's also in one of these, at half the price and with three other movies.
Last edited by matrixschmatrix on Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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swo17
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#23 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:40 pm

You can do a custom search on DVD Aficionado, like this one.

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#24 Post by matrixschmatrix » Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:47 pm

That's helpful, thanks.

One of the upcoming releases is another four Astaire and Rogers musicals from the Ultimate set- the only orphans left are Carefree and The Barkleys of Broadway. The fact that they're putting out second volumes of these seems heartening, as the first ones left a lot of strays.

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Matt
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Re: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections

#25 Post by Matt » Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:48 pm

I wonder how they make the decision of what goes on these collections and what goes onto a Warner Archive disc. I'm thinking specifically of Gaslight, which would have been the marquee title on any "thrillers" set.

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