Olive Films

[knives]

Are you kidding? I keep loving them and buying them because no one else is interested in directors likes like Mann or Vorhaus or Hugo Fregonese. And in HiDef let, alone masterpieces like the Fords or Ophuls or McCareys. I don't care if Olive isn't the pinnacle of Maria Palazzola or Uncle Wrigley refined transfers, although I do wish they could include HOH subs. But they are putting out stuff I really want and can get to see in as close to 35mm cinema format possible through a good PJ literally before I die.

What from Fregonese have they released? What I've seen is an absolute joy and would love to see some of that genius especially in HD.

[rockysds]

The just announced "Blowing Wild" is a Fregonese.

[feihong]

Blowing Wild is pretty awesome.

[isakborg]

Anyone know what the hold-up is regarding Amazon and Olive films? Ruthless, China Gate, and Sun Shines Bright have been "temporarily unavailable" since their release day.

[Forrest Taft]

Not sure this is an Amazon issue. I pre-ordered China Gate from ImportCDs. They usually ship Olive titles 2 weeks before release, but China Gate is still on Back-Order, and on the product page it says 'Ships in 5-10 Days'.

[isakborg]

I have the same problem. Olive's Facebook page (have to scroll to find it) notes that the delays are due to some hang-up with a distributor but is being resolved. No due date.

[Perkins Cobb]

That's weird. All three are on the new release shelf at Kim's Video in NYC.

[jurples]

importcds shipped my china gate blu-ray this morning.

[chatterjees]

importcds shipped my china gate blu-ray this morning.

My importcds order is still pending as "open"!!! But, I got their ph number...

[Stefan Andersson]

Mister Lime, Olive Films insider, reports on HTF that Olive has licensed The Big Combo, Men in War and God´s Little Acre from Ignite-Films, formerly TV Matters, for 2013 release. Ignite mentions several HD restos on their site so these films could probably look good. Hopefully Big Combo will be in 1.85 and both cuts of God´s Little Acre (as on the French Wild Side DVD) will be included.

Ignite also has Man with the Golden Arm, Human Factor and four other Premingers, all restored by TLE Films, Germany, famous for their resto work on Lang´s M. The Preminger titles not released by WB in the US could maybe be released by Olive.

BTW, Olive´s Blu of McLintock! is taken from the TLE resto.

[swo17]

Great news about the Manns!

[jindianajonz]

Great news about the Manns!

Grammatically it should be "Menn"

[Perkins Cobb]

The Big Combo has never looked good on home video. If they can get a decent Blu together, it'll be a revelation.

[warren oates]

The Big Combo has never looked good on home video. If they can get a decent Blu together, it'll be a revelation.

Agreed. John Alton's amazing cinematography deserves better. A good Blu-ray transfer of this title could be worthy of the top ranks of all b&w Blus.

[swo17]

Preorders are only available to order maybe a month before street date. There's also a fair possibility that your preorder will just sit there forever until it is eventually canceled. You're probably best off just waiting for the street date to pass before ordering something from them.

[Cash Flagg]

You're probably best off just waiting for the street date to pass before ordering something from them.

Their prices do go up slightly across the board after release date - Olives from $14.19 each plus shipping to $14.43. For those looking for additional items to order, they have the upcoming Hell's House and Of Human Bondage (although both are listed under the latter title for some reason) for $15.69.

[Adam X]

Shipping to Oz isn't too bad, and for my one order with them so far, they packed things pretty decently - certainly better than the average Amazon packing of late.
The one bonus is that they upgrade shipping to a courier at no extra cost, if you order enough. Of course no where do they say at what point that occurs.

[Forrest Taft]

Preorders are only available to order maybe a month before street date. There's also a fair possibility that your preorder will just sit there forever until it is eventually canceled. You're probably best off just waiting for the street date to pass before ordering something from them.

For what it's wortth, this has never happened to me. The only pre-order that has not shipped 2 weeks prior to street date is China Gate, which is still pending

[swo17]

Come to think of it, the time it happened to me was for The Quiet Man, whose preorder was, perhaps accidentally, available several months before the release date for more than 50% off. Maybe that was an exception.

[britcom68]

Robert Harris is less enthusiastic than others, but still pleased, with A Quiet Man, anybody here with a copy yet that can comment?

Did anyone see the picture - in 1952 or in the aftermath? The late Mr. Farber certainly did and for him it had the air of "some of the sunless, remembered look of a surrealist painting". Whatever that was supposed to mean, I wouldn't trust a man who loathed John Ford ("old wrangler type ... marred by a phlegmatically solemn Irish personality") and abhorred The Quiet Man ("no better than the overrated Informer and a bit worse than the recent potboiler ..."). Not to mention his other hogwash like "the women of Ford, who tend to be desexualized mother-figures". All of us have seen Maureen O'Hara, haven't we.

Anyone can enjoy today and in the aftermath of 2013 the glorious technicolours of The Red Shoes - thanks to an exemplary restoration and to a meticulous high-def-digitalization. But where is the adequate TQM? What is there hidden "in the vaults" of UCLA, as Robert Harris dares to make us curious about?

It should be better than the newest botch of that Paramount-smokescreen called Olive. We know that TQM is not for Paramount what Casablanca means for Warners. In fact they had nothing to do with the movie. By multifarious mergers and un-mergers inside the Viacom-Empire they acquired the rights, hardly knowing what to do with the stuff. Unfortunately, obligations do not go along with such rights.

I'm of a certain age but not old enough to have seen the movie in 1952. But I've read a lot about its appearance:

To start with that nasty Yates fellow (head of Republic): "Everything's all green. Tell the cameraman to take the green filter off." (of course ignored by Ford and Hoch)

"Visually, the movie endorses Sean's Edenic vision. The vibrant greens and scalding reds of Innisfree are so bright as to make Oz look drab by comparison." (William C. Dowling In: EIRE-IRELAND: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies 2002)

"Three-strip dye transfer Technicolor was ... generally used not for naturalism but for glorious artifice. The deep scarlet of the roses is one such example, the greenness of the fields another - Ford was actually accused of painting the fields." (Tag Gallagher)

And as the old master himself has spoken to Bogdanovich:
"Color is much easier than black and white for the cameraman; it's a cinch to work in if you've any eye at all for color or composition. ... but it can go awfully wrong and throw a picture off. There are certain pictures, like The Qiet Man, that call for color - not a blatant kind - but a soft, misty color."

"It was photographed in the rain - or Irish mist, as they call it in Ireland. That helped the picture a lot."

And a word from the daughter, Barbara Ford, after leaving the cutting room: "It looks just like a fairyland."

I must confess, I see nothing of the sort in the recent Blu-ray.

Building on The Quiet Man discussion, I just heard about this upcoming event through Iowa Public Radio while driving to work. It will be the first time Maureen O'Hara will be visiting not only my home state, but also speaking in-person at the John Wayne Museum about co-star John Wayne.

Of course what I want to know, and what the Winterset website announcement doesn't detail, is how they will be showing the films- dvd/blu, film?

[chatterjees]

Did anybody receive their copies of China Gate and Hell's Half Acre (if you have ordered this one!)? Man, these are taking too much time now!!! ](*,) they are still not shipped for me from importcds...

[rockysds]

If your order is more than a couple of weeks old you should contact ImportCDs with the order number. I have encountered the problem a couple of times with pre-orders.

Since this order reached 21 days old before we received stock on this item, our system automatically canceled the rest of the order. You did not receive notice of this since our system cannot be directly connected to the website. This makes it so that the website is not updated and therefore does not send out an automatic update to you. We are very sorry about this but in order to receive this item you will need to reorder it. If the item price has increased since your last order we will refund you for the difference. Also, we can issue you a refund for the handling fee on the order if this is the only item you need to order at this time. All you need to do is email us the old and new order numbers clearly marked. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,
ImportCDs Customer Service
ImportCDs.com

[chatterjees]

If your order is more than a couple of weeks old you should contact ImportCDs with the order nu,ner. I have encountered the problem a couple of times with pre-orders.

Since this order reached 21 days old before we received stock on this item, our system automatically canceled the rest of the order. You did not receive notice of this since our system cannot be directly connected to the website. This makes it so that the website is not updated and therefore does not send out an automatic update to you. We are very sorry about this but in order to receive this item you will need to reorder it. If the item price has increased since your last order we will refund you for the difference. Also, we can issue you a refund for the handling fee on the order if this is the only item you need to order at this time. All you need to do is email us the old and new order numbers clearly marked. Please let us know if you have any further questions.
ImportCDs.com

Thanks, yeah, I have encountered such problem before with some of last month's releases! I had to place an order again after it got cancelled automatically! I will contact them.

[jurples]

my china gate blu-ray arrived yesterday.

[Adam X]

If your order is more than a couple of weeks old you should contact ImportCDs with the order number. I have encountered the problem a couple of times with pre-orders.

Since this order reached 21 days old before we received stock on this item, our system automatically canceled the rest of the order. You did not receive notice of this since our system cannot be directly connected to the website. This makes it so that the website is not updated and therefore does not send out an automatic update to you. We are very sorry about this but in order to receive this item you will need to reorder it. If the item price has increased since your last order we will refund you for the difference. Also, we can issue you a refund for the handling fee on the order if this is the only item you need to order at this time. All you need to do is email us the old and new order numbers clearly marked. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,
ImportCDs Customer Service
ImportCDs.com

Was this for pre-ordered or back ordered items?
If the former, it makes me wonder why they bother offering pre-orders at all if their system can't hold an order for more than 3 weeks.