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WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

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WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Old 10-27-10, 12:33 PM
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WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Just wanted to pass the word that the WB Archive's has just released a bunch of long awaited Lon Chaney Sr. films. I just bought UNHOLY THREE (1925), UNHOLY THREE (1930/Talkie Version), THE MONSTER and HE WHO GOT SLAPPED. MR. WU and MOCKERY were also released. I've tried to stay away from these WB Archives, but I really want to see these films. Just a heads-up.

Last edited by pbishop69; 10-27-10 at 01:09 PM.
Old 10-27-10, 01:05 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

[QUOTE=pbishop69;10455488E I've tried to stay away from these WB Archives, but I really want to see these films.[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean. I try to stay away from them too. But if they're the only release that were ever going to get ...well, I don't know.
Old 10-27-10, 03:25 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Or just wait another year or so when they're inevitably offered for streaming/download. It's not like there's any chance of them running out of discs or anything so there's really nothing to lose.
Old 10-27-10, 04:11 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by Lemmy
Either you want them or you don't. I'm so tired of people hating burned DVDs. They're just fine.

So all these people writing in saying they are having problems with WB Archives are just making it up then? Okay.
Old 10-27-10, 04:39 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by pbishop69
So all these people writing in saying they are having problems with WB Archives are just making it up then? Okay.
Not necessarily "making it up" ...... but I remember years ago people talking about how VHS tapes would practically become unwatchable after a few years. Well, I have VHS tapes of material recorded from TV more than 20 years ago, and they still looks fine (as fine as VHS can look, that is).
Old 10-27-10, 04:48 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Skipping, freezing and pixelation (sp?) has been an issue with these WB Archives. That's a fact. I've bought 4 so far for my dad and he has had a problem with 1 out of the 4. Freezing issues. Not off to a good start.
Old 10-27-10, 06:44 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

I guess we can forget about the Chaney box set that Warner promised a couple of years ago. Here's a quote from the exchange at the WHV chat at HTF:


[PatrickMcCart] Warners...are there plans for more Lon Chaney? Mainly both The Unholy Three (1925/1930) films, Tell It to the Marines, and He Who Gets Slapped. Keep up the excellent work!

[Warner] Seriously Patrick, we know you are a big supporter of WHV, and we thank you. Yes, there will be a LON CHANEY COLLECTION VOLUME II, with all the films you mention plus two others. UNHOLY THREE has been restored from the original camera neg."


Does that mean they simply dumped these titles in the archive bin, particularly after the money spent on restoring the films? Where's the line? Can we expect an archive release of "The Magnificent Ambersons" any day now?

I personally have no problem with the "archive" concept in the world that we live in today. What I do have an issue with is the apparent lack of quality control that was not the case with WHV pressed DVD in it's heyday.
I think if Warner had implemented this program, offering bare bones DVDs with basic artwork at a rational price point (say, $9.99) there wouldn't be the level of discontent that pops up on every thread associated with the archive.

Last edited by mike7162; 10-27-10 at 06:57 PM.
Old 10-27-10, 06:46 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by pbishop69
Skipping, freezing and pixelation (sp?) has been an issue with these WB Archives. That's a fact. I've bought 4 so far for my dad and he has had a problem with 1 out of the 4. Freezing issues. Not off to a good start.
You get that kind of problems every now and then with so called "regular" dvds, as well. You people are acting like it's this huge problem that's only with archive burned dvds.
Old 10-27-10, 07:55 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

And on queue we get the resident Archive booster.

It is a huge problem due to the percentage of failures. Even that might be acceptable if they were priced appropriately as low end merchandise. I've got over 3000 pressed titles. I've had exactly one, Apollo 13, crap out on me in over 13 years of disc buying. Now granted, I am in no position to check them all each month but I have yet to pull one off the shelf and not have it work. Want to try those odds on Archive discs? Just curious, because of the 10 I've bought, 2 arrived DOA and had to be replaced right out of the gate. But hey, keep telling yourself they're just the same as regular discs. Just don't expect anybody to believe you.

Last edited by mdnitoil; 10-27-10 at 08:08 PM.
Old 10-27-10, 10:44 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by mike7162
I think if Warner had implemented this program, offering bare bones DVDs with basic artwork at a rational price point (say, $9.99) there wouldn't be the level of discontent that pops up on every thread associated with the archive.
Bingo. If these were $9.99 each I'd take a chance on a few more of them and could stomach the problems easier, but with the $20+ each price tag on a lot of them, + shipping I just can't see doing it.
Old 10-28-10, 12:09 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

The Chaney's were recently on sale for 50% off, so there was your $9.99 price point, including shipping. They are still on sale for 40% off, free shipping. With that said, I agree with previous post that failure rate will be around 1 out of 5. I've got around 100 of these things now, all bought for less than $10 during sales. Warner has replaced all defective burns for me at no charge. It's a hassle but you have to check each disc immediately upon arrival to make sure it loads. I've had a couple of discs freeze up during viewing months later...WB still replaced them. So far I'm a happy customer despite initial skepticism. Most importantly I've got some great movies that previously were impossible to see.
Old 10-28-10, 04:33 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by mike7162
I guess we can forget about the Chaney box set that Warner promised a couple of years ago. Here's a quote from the exchange at the WHV chat at HTF:


[PatrickMcCart] Warners...are there plans for more Lon Chaney? Mainly both The Unholy Three (1925/1930) films, Tell It to the Marines, and He Who Gets Slapped. Keep up the excellent work!

[Warner] Seriously Patrick, we know you are a big supporter of WHV, and we thank you. Yes, there will be a LON CHANEY COLLECTION VOLUME II, with all the films you mention plus two others. UNHOLY THREE has been restored from the original camera neg."


Does that mean they simply dumped these titles in the archive bin, particularly after the money spent on restoring the films? Where's the line? Can we expect an archive release of "The Magnificent Ambersons" any day now?

I personally have no problem with the "archive" concept in the world that we live in today. What I do have an issue with is the apparent lack of quality control that was not the case with WHV pressed DVD in it's heyday.
I think if Warner had implemented this program, offering bare bones DVDs with basic artwork at a rational price point (say, $9.99) there wouldn't be the level of discontent that pops up on every thread associated with the archive.


So WB went out of their way to restore UNHOLY 3 and they decided to dump this title into the WB Archives? Unbelievable!
Old 10-28-10, 04:36 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by JerryKILL
The Chaney's were recently on sale for 50% off, so there was your $9.99 price point, including shipping. They are still on sale for 40% off, free shipping. With that said, I agree with previous post that failure rate will be around 1 out of 5. I've got around 100 of these things now, all bought for less than $10 during sales. Warner has replaced all defective burns for me at no charge. It's a hassle but you have to check each disc immediately upon arrival to make sure it loads. I've had a couple of discs freeze up during viewing months later...WB still replaced them. So far I'm a happy customer despite initial skepticism. Most importantly I've got some great movies that previously were impossible to see.

How did you get 50% off? I got mine for 30% off at WBSHOP.
Old 10-28-10, 07:44 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by pbishop69
How did you get 50% off? I got mine for 30% off at WBSHOP.
It's over now, but there was a sale a few days back:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-bargain...-oct-25-a.html
Old 10-28-10, 07:49 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Dammit! So I missed this sale by a day. Figures.
Old 10-28-10, 11:59 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Has anyone seen these films? Any good? WB Archives is selling a 3-disc set with these titles:

Disc 1
Find the Blackmailer (1943)
Smiling Ghost, The (1941)

Disc 2
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Hidden Hand, The (1942)

Disc 3
Mystery House, The (1938)
Patient in Room 18, The (1938)
Old 10-28-10, 01:46 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

All I can say is that I've watched about a half dozen of these and I've had no problems. Plus, from what I hear, Warner is willing to stand behind them if there is a problem. I've had three pressed DVDs I've bought over the years that were DOA. I had to eat all three of them because I didn't watch the movies right after I bought them.

As long as I can work sales to get the price point where I want it, I'll keep buying Archive DVDs. I won't buy any of them at $20 though.
Old 10-28-10, 03:30 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by pbishop69
Has anyone seen these films? Any good? WB Archives is selling a 3-disc set with these titles:

Disc 1
Find the Blackmailer (1943)
Smiling Ghost, The (1941)

Disc 2
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Hidden Hand, The (1942)

Disc 3
Mystery House, The (1938)
Patient in Room 18, The (1938)
It's a lot of programmer mystery/thriller stuff, not terrible. From what I recall, disc 2 is the highlight.
Old 10-30-10, 10:10 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

What are some other great horror films from the WB Archives? Anyone got some recommendations?
Old 10-31-10, 07:18 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by pbishop69
Has anyone seen these films? Any good? WB Archives is selling a 3-disc set with these titles:

Disc 1
Find the Blackmailer (1943)
Smiling Ghost, The (1941)

Disc 2
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Hidden Hand, The (1942)

Disc 3
Mystery House, The (1938)
Patient in Room 18, The (1938)
Pretty good price on this set, it's tempting.
Old 11-02-10, 12:58 AM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

I can't believe that Warners didn't include closed captioning on the 1930 version of "The Unholy Three." Trying to understand what Harry Earles is saying is just about impossible.
Old 11-02-10, 02:58 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather
You get that kind of problems every now and then with so called "regular" dvds, as well. You people are acting like it's this huge problem that's only with archive burned dvds.
But it's always clearly identifiable error in either the authoring or the manufacture. For example, the Anchor Bay discs that went bad (they turned a bronze colour) had a manufacture problem.

Overall, standard pressed DVD's experience problems very rarely indeed - given the huge number that have sold and how long they've been around, we'd have heard of it if there was a problem with them by now.

The issue with DVD-R's is two fold: first, they are inherently more sensitive and unstable. They have to be because otherwise you wouldn;t be able to write to them. Second, that instability is closely linked to the quality of manufacture. There are excellent quality discs, and rubbish ones. The question is - how aware is Warner of this, and what are they doing about it?

Is someone at Warner checking to make sure they are buying quality discs with quality dyes (and, as we know, brand offers no assurance since a number of "quality brands" actually uses cheap and nasty rubbish that gets rebadged) and randomly sampling those discs to make sure they are what they claim?

It is known that poor quality discs can and do fail - not only in the initial burn (which is fine, since it;s Warner that end up with a coaster) but also some will appear to burn but are actually error ridden and, worst of all, discs that spontaneously go tits up six months or a year later.

This leads us on to the issue of how long Warner will stand by these discs.

Remember that problem with DVD-18 discs? All emanating from a Mexican factory - doubtless chosen as a lowest bidder. And how long it took for Universal to actually admin there was a problem at all, followed by claims it was a player issue?
Old 11-02-10, 03:10 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by Lemmy
Either you want them or you don't. I'm so tired of people hating burned DVDs. They're just fine.
It's not just the burned discs that hack me off though. It's the pricing.

These are minimum investment products at a premium price.

I remember when the Archive was first discussed, and the statements about how "lower production costs" made it possible to release things that (allegedly) viable for standard releases.

So how come these things cost two or three times as much? It sure isn't investment into things like restoration (minimal to non-existant) or extras (usually completely lacking).

It's no wonder that all the studios are jumping onto this little bandwagon, and more and more titles are going into the Archive.

What business is going to turn down the opportunity to spend less making a product and charge a ton more for it?

They must regret not having thought of this years ago. Think of all those movies they released in boxsets for twenty dollars they could have shoved into MOD and charged twenty dollars a film for.

It's easy to get so misty eyed over seeing films we want released at all that we get blinded as to how much we're getting screwed over by the pricing.

And it doesn't help that the studios virtually monopolise the supply, eliminating the normal price competition as well. I'm surprised they actually let them trickle through to Amazon/DeepDiscount etc.

As I live in the U.K. I couldn;t buy 'em direct anyway.

I laughed out loud when I saw the Chaney set promoting itself as a "value" set and witha price-tag of seventy bucks. Then I saw you can buy the Inner Sanctum set (with FIVE films) for under ten bucks, if you look hard enough!
Old 11-03-10, 01:02 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

Originally Posted by Nebiroth
It's not just the burned discs that hack me off though. It's the pricing.

These are minimum investment products at a premium price.

I remember when the Archive was first discussed, and the statements about how "lower production costs" made it possible to release things that (allegedly) viable for standard releases.

So how come these things cost two or three times as much? It sure isn't investment into things like restoration (minimal to non-existant) or extras (usually completely lacking).

What business is going to turn down the opportunity to spend less making a product and charge a ton more for it?

They must regret not having thought of this years ago. Think of all those movies they released in boxsets for twenty dollars they could have shoved into MOD and charged twenty dollars a film for.

It's easy to get so misty eyed over seeing films we want released at all that we get blinded as to how much we're getting screwed over by the pricing.

And it doesn't help that the studios virtually monopolise the supply, eliminating the normal price competition as well. I'm surprised they actually let them trickle through to Amazon/DeepDiscount etc.

As I live in the U.K. I couldn;t buy 'em direct anyway.

I laughed out loud when I saw the Chaney set promoting itself as a "value" set and witha price-tag of seventy bucks. Then I saw you can buy the Inner Sanctum set (with FIVE films) for under ten bucks, if you look hard enough!
Pricing for MOD is too expensive, IMO, but prices for some of the multiple disc sets are a little better, and the pricing for tv shows is almost comparable to pressed discs.

I haven't read any reviews of the Chaney set so I don't know if any restoration work has been done - has anyone seen these yet and can actually comment on the quality of these?

I'm not sure how many times we go through the same scenario of talking about how the market for pressed discs in the USA seems to have collapsed. Basically sets were not selling and with retailers cutting back on dvd product the studios must see this as an easy and cost effective way to make some money.
As always, you don't have to buy these movies if you don't want to (and I know that if you are outside the US you cannot buy the Warner Archvies directly from Warners anyway). With over 700 titles available at the Warner Archives I doubt we'll see a return to those nice boxed sets which we could pick up after a few months for a fraction of the suggested retail price (because the studio got stuck with too much stock that they couldn't shift). You can either wait until they get released in another region; or pray that at some stage in the future the market will recover enough for pressed discs to make a come back in the US (good luck with that). With streaming movies taking off in the US it's possible that the market for discs (dvd-r or otherwise) will slow down a lot more than they have already.

Do I like the MOD market? Absolutely not - but a market is there, seems to be doing well and is providing a service for those people who want to use it.
Old 11-03-10, 01:34 PM
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Re: WB Archive Lon Chaney Films

^

Pretty much my thoughts. I'm not happy about it, but I don't see any alternative. So I wait for coupons/sales and then buy what I want. Which so far is a big pile of silents and a few other select titles.

Even a few TV shows that I've been waiting to continue have shown up now as MOD at Amazon. When the only other alternative is bootlegs, the choice is easy. I much prefer how things were 5 years ago, but I'll live with what I get at this point. In fairness to the studios, for the most part, they're digging pretty deep at the bottom of the barrel at this point. (Not meant as a negative... I *love* some of the dregs down there.)

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