Now available from Chelsea Rialto Studios - an exclusive blu-ray release of Sol Lesser's production of Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN. This 1940 film stars Martha Scott, William Holden, Frank Craven, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter, Guy Kibbee, Beulah Bondi, Stuart Erwin and Phillip Wood. The music is by Aaron Copland and the film was directed by Sam Wood.
Long in the public domain, OUR TOWN has invariably been available in dupe prints with poor picture and sound. This blu-ray release was transferred from a near-mint original 16mm print. Also included on the blu-ray is a 1952 episode of THE LILLI PALMER SHOW with Lilli's guest Thornton Wilder. This exclusive Blu-Ray release is $20 plus shipping and can be ordered at http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com.
I have been so sick of crudball prints of this filmization of one of America's greatest stage works. This is wonderful news. Recall watching the TV version with Hal Holbrook the night it aired and have also seen the Newman version. Both have things to offer but there is nothing like a contemporaneous from-stage-to-screen adaptation, ending change notwithstanding. Snippet or two of Copland's score entered Field Of Dreams--one piece of Americana to another.
No, I'm only doing blu-rays because these are vintage 16mm prints from my personal collection. So to ensure the highest quality of reproduction I'm limiting to blu-ray. The mastering is completely different for both and since these are completely niche, I'm starting out this way. I have the prints professionally transferred to digital. Then I take over and do the editing and mastering, and put together the extras. The next release will be Andrew Stone's HI DIDDLE DIDDLE. While the titles I am releasing are in the public domain, I am only using original prints.
I haven't see OUR TOWN in 35 years, when I watched it on one of the first public domain VHS tapes that came out. (I think it was on Goodtimes Video.) Looks like it's time to get reacquainted. The FOCUSfilm DVD that was issued in 2003 claimed to be sourced from "original negative elements," which is an odd turn of phrase. I wonder what they really used. If someone had found the actual camera negative (or even a clean 35mm print) we probably would have heard about it by now.
No, I'm only doing blu-rays because these are vintage 16mm prints from my personal collection. So to ensure the highest quality of reproduction I'm limiting to blu-ray.
Wow! How did that one slip into the public domain? Compare THE CONSTANT NYMPH, by a far less famous writer, which was tied up for decades because of the original author's rights. Playwrights normally have great control over performing rights, don't they?
Wow! How did that one slip into the public domain? Compare THE CONSTANT NYMPH, by a far less famous writer, which was tied up for decades because of the original author's rights. Playwrights normally have great control over performing rights, don't they?
Well, the same thing happened with LIFE WITH FATHER. In some cases, a company only buys limited picture rights (HELLZAPOPPIN) that expire typically after 25 years. Apparently not so with OUR TOWN or LIFE WITH FATHER. Now, with FATHER, Warner Bros. could not distribute it even though it was P.D. because it would be in violation of their contract. So they had to renegotiate to get permission to televise. As far as I know they still don't have rights for home entertainment.
Universal can distribute HELLZAPOPPIN internationally but not domestically. I believe the same applies to THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE. Both contracts were negotiated by Jules Levy for his Mayfair Productions.
