Posted: 9/21/15 at 4:58pm
Apologies in advance if this should be in the off-topic board. I just received the Show Boat (1951 version) DVD that I ordered on amazon. While watching it, I'm appalled at how terrible the quality is. The resolution is horrible, and there are strange, drastic changes in coloration. The sound is equally bad. Is this typical of all transfers of this film, or have I just gotten a bad copy?
Posted: 9/21/15 at 5:26pm
you got ripped off; report it to amazon to get your money back and give the phony seller a bad review.
Showboat is magnificently restored. One of MGM's/Turner's crown jewels.
Posted: 9/21/15 at 5:53pm
I believe the DVD of SHOW BOAT that is available now was first released in 2000. Subsequently, the film may have been restored...but a restoration has not been released on DVD or Blu-ray. I own the current DVD of the 1951 MGM production and, while it is not unwatchable by any means...I'm sure it could look a lot better than it does; especially if it has, as Steve C. says, been restored... Perhaps the restoration is what you now see when the film is broadcast.
Posted: 9/21/15 at 6:43pm
I still think the restored version is available. Also TCM shows the restored versions shortly before they come out on blu-ray. Like Easter Parade or Kismet; they are beautiful. The restored Doctor Zhivago and restored Metropolis are on tonight.
The Showboat set I referred to is the collection of all three Showboats with a ton of extras. It came out on laser disc and also on dvd I think. All of three them were painstakingly restored and look flawless.
Posted: 9/21/15 at 9:04pm
I find it hard to believe that this cornerstone of the MGM musicals is unavailable in its restored version on DVD. Maybe not yet on Bluray but even that's unlikely.
Posted: 9/21/15 at 9:15pm
Steve C. said: "I still think the restored version is available. Also TCM shows the restored versions shortly before they come out on blu-ray. Like Easter Parade or Kismet; they are beautiful. The restored Doctor Zhivago and restored Metropolis are on tonight.
The Showboat set I referred to is the collection of all three Showboats with a ton of extras. It came out on laser disc and also on dvd I think. All of three them were painstakingly restored and look flawless.
"
Only on laserdisc. The first and only release of the superior 1930s Show Boat was a year or two ago from (I think) Warners On Demand. It looks pretty fine--and claims to be remastered although I wish the film would have gotten a BluRay and some extras...
Posted: 9/21/15 at 10:24pm
Yes, the LD release of THE COMPLETE SHOW BOAT was a treasure. I've been told that among the reasons for the delay of a DVD version are missing sound reels and prologue footage from the 1929 version, and the need for a complete restoration of the 1951 version (that special LD release of the 1951 version was actually TOO color-saturated). Unfortunately, I've also been told money is short, and I think some material may be lost forever. I wonder if the recent DVD release of the 1936 version might have been taken from the earlier Criterion LD? What I miss the most is all the supplemental and unused audio tracks from the 1951 studio sessions. I didn't hold on to my LD copy, thinking a DVD release would be just around the corner. The more fool I.
Posted: 9/22/15 at 2:54am
I swear that there was serious talk about a complete collection of the three films being released (for some anniversary or another--either of one of the films or the musical itself,) and it was stated that the delay was due to the need for new remastering. And then nothing more was said--and then the On-Demand release of the 1936 version rather quietly snuck through (although it was one of the few Warner Bros Archive discs that originally had a fully pressed release (ie not technically burned on demand,) for its first run so they must have perceived some demand for it. (The WBArchive site says: "
Initial quantities of this release will be traditionally replicated (pressed) in anticipation of high consumer demand.
This film is newly remastered." For what it's worth...)
Hasn't some of the sound prologue footage for the silent film always been missing? It's been a while and I can't recall how much of that (with the original cast members,) is shown when TCM shows it. Either way, it's a frustrating situation.
