Warner Archive December Releases
The Warner Archive Collection announced four upcoming Blu-ray releases today, and I want them all! Included is one of the top tier Hammer horror films, a Errol Flynn swashbuckler, the color Popeye shorts from the 40s (which I never thought would get a video release), and an Emmy Award-winning miniseries with a well-seasoned William Holden.
Specific release dates have not been announced, but most (if not all of these titles) are expected in December. Here are the announcements from the Warner Archive Facebook page:
THE SEA HAWK (1940)
NEW 2018 1080p HD Master!
Run Time 127:00 (Original Theatrical Release Cut, Restored)
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO – 1.37:1, 4 X 3 STANDARD
Product Color BLACK & WHITE
Disc Configuration BD 50
Special Features:
- Leonard Maltin hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1940 (SD) with Newsreel, Alice in Movieland theatrical short, Porky’s Poor Fish cartoon(HD), Virginia City Theatrical Trailer (SD).
- Featurette (SD) “The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action”.
- Sea Hawk Theatrical Trailer (HD).
Cannons thunder, blades clatter and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s incomparable music swirls and flourishes in The Sea Hawk. In one of his best roles, Errol Flynn plays Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe, who commandeers a 40-gun galleon, endures captivity, then boldly escapes to warn England of Spain’s armada. Working on his 10th of 12 movies with Flynn, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) masterfully directs the film’s blend of royal intrigue and derring-do heroics – made on a then-lavish $1.7-million scale that included construction of two full-sized ships.
The film was stirringly topical in its day. When Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson) exhorts her country to maintain fighting readiness against tyranny “now and forever,” audiences knew forever had come: Hitler had launched his World War II air siege of England.
POPEYE THE SAILOR: The 1940s, VOLUME ONE (1943-1945)
NEW 2018 1080p HD MASTERS CREATED FROM 4K SCANS OF THE ORIGINAL NITRATE TECHNICOLOR NEGATIVES
Run Time 99:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio 4 X 3 FULL FRAME, ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO – 1.37:1
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration BD 50
Lost at sea for decades – this set collects the first two Technicolor® seasons of Popeye’s animated theatrical shorts (1943-44 and 1944-45), making them available for the first time ever on home video: complete, intact and outrageously funny. What else would you expect from a two-fisted, spinach-munching sailor man?
The 1940s brought new sights and sounds to America’s favorite cartoon star. Regulars Olive Oyl and Bluto return, while Popeye resumes his riotous relationship with his shipmate Shorty and his naughty nephews Pipeye, Poopeye, Peepeye and Pupeye. With the addition of full color, cartoonists were now free to let loose with journeys to exotic lands and give Popeye a fresh stock of new friends and foes.
But it’s the eternal love triangle, Popeye and Bluto competing for the attention of Olive, that drives the majority of these zany situations – as well as the hilarious action-packed gags. Whether our heroes are posing as circus acrobats or puppeteers or even taking turns at being Superman, these gems from the Golden Age of Hollywood will blow you down with laughter.
Collection includes Her Honor, The Mare; The Marry-Go-Round; We’re On Our Way To Rio; The Anvil Chorus Girl; Spinach Packin’ Popeye; Puppet Love; Pitchin’ Woo At The Zoo; Moving Aweigh; She-Sick Sailors; Pop-Pie A La Mode; Tops In The Big Top; Shape Ahoy; For Better Or Nurse; Mess Production.
Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s Volume 1 is intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children. Also available on DVD!
HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
NEW 2018 1080p PRESENTATION SOURCED FROM THE HAMMER/BFI RESTORATION
Run Time 82:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO – 1.66:1, 16 X 9 WIDESCREEN
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration BD 25
Includes Original UK Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, Britain’s premier masters of the macabre, bring the Horror of Dracula to vivid, full-color death in this retelling of Bram Stoker’s spellbinding vampire tale. Dracula (Lee), a centuries-old Transylvanian nobleman damned to an eternal half-life, regularly finds new victims. He also finds Dr. Van Helsing (Cushing), a scientist who becomes the Count’s implacable foe in a deadly game of bat-and-mouse.
This is the UK version titled “DRACULA”, and featuring footage previously restored by the British Film Institute and Hammer Films. Warner Archive’s new release restores the original color palette of the film, using dye-transfer Technicolor prints as reference, and has been meticulously cleaned of film-related damage for a superior presentation
The dread is here – as are the power and pathos of this genre landmark by which Hammer Studios ushered in a new era of screen chills from classic evildoers. Tremble through that era again. Unleash the horror.
Also new on remastered DVD!
THE BLUE KNIGHT (1973)
NEW 2018 1080p HD Master!
Run Time 188:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO – 1.33:1, 4 X 3 STANDARD
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration BD 50
Oscar®-winner* William Holden made his first major TV appearance in decades with this landmark adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh’s depiction of life on the LAPD beat. Nominated for five Emmys® and winning three (including an acting award for Holden), The Blue Knight pioneered “novels for television” and told the story of LA cop Bumper Morgan (Holden) and his final week before retirement.
The years have taken their toll on Bumper, both within and without, but this tarnished chevalier of the streets is still dedicated to protecting the public that he mistrusts from the criminal elements in its midst. There are just a few things Bumper needs to get done before collecting his pension and getting married to college instructor Cassie Walters (Lee Remick), chief among them solving a vicious murder. Holden toplines a terrific ensemble cast that includes Joe Santos, Sam Elliott, Anne Archer and Eileen Brennan.
