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Business isn’t exactly booming for private detective “Peter Joseph Detweiler” (George Peppard), better known as P.J. His makeshift office is in a bar belonging to his only friend “Charlie” (Herb Edelman), his sporadic jobs include entrapping cheating wives, and he is not above drowning his sorrows in liquor. So when wealthy magnate “William Orbison” (Raymond Burr) offers him a substantial fee to be a bodyguard for his mistress, “Maureen Prebble” (Gayle Hunnicutt), he jumps at the chance.
John Guillermin directed this action drama, which has not had a home video release on any format. There doesn't seem to be any legal reason for its absence. The film was copyrighted by Universal Pictures in 1968, who renewed the copyright in 1995. Philip Reisman Jr. co-wrote the story with long-time Universal writer-director Edward J. Montagne, and provided the original screenplay. Perhaps the film elements have been misplaced or lost in some fire or flood. The film was not particularly profitable in its day; its $2.9 million gross barely places it in the top 100 films released in 1968. But a number of lower-grossing films have been released from that year alone.
My guess is that it's just a lack of star-power for the film. The Universal Vault Series has released the lower-grossing 1968 films A LOVELY WAY TO DIE (Kirk Douglas) and CHARLIE BUBBLES (Albert Finney). But apparently George Peppard doesn't cut it. Universal has also not released its even lower-grossing 1968 Peppard film WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT FEELING GOOD? (with Mary Tyler Moore). And the lower-grossing-still 1968 Peppard film HOUSE OF CARDS (with Orson Welles; also directed by John Guillerman) has only been released outside the U.S., where Welles is the selling point. On the Spanish DVD cover, the third-billed Welles' image and name are featured above Peppard and co-star Inger Stevens:
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. P.J. has been listed on our board.
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Posted: |
Aug 27, 2019 - 12:46 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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If you weren't already aware, the 1980 Brooke Shields film THE BLUE LAGOON was a remake of a 1949 British film. Starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston, THE BLUE LAGOON was based on a novel by H. de Vere Stackpoole. Reviewing the film in London, Variety said that "As the production relies for its appeal mainly on its eye-filling virtues, little demand has been made on the cast. Jean Simmons displays a sarong to advantage and Donald Houston has little more to do than show off his manly torso." Variety concluded that "For British audiences, the title and star are virtually enough to insure healthy business, but the picture has few other attractions to interest Yank exhibs."
Still, even Variety had to admit that Geoffrey Unsworth's "Technicolor photography of a glorious South Sea setting" provided an "appropriate romantic background" for the story. That apparently was enough to convince Universal-International to import the Rank production to the States.
Today, Leonard Maltin gives the film three out of four stars and says that it's "slowly paced, but refreshing." Clifton Parker scored the film. Nine minutes of his music was re-recorded for a 2005 Parker compilation CD from Chandos.
THE BLUE LAGOON has not appeared on any home video format. The U.S. copyright on the film currently seems to be with Janus Films since the mid-1980s.
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Posted: |
Sep 11, 2019 - 1:11 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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With a director like Raoul Walsh and stars like Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper, and Fay Wray, it's surprising that a film like THE BOWERY has not appeared on any home video format. Chalk it up to the film's 1933 vintage, and the fact that, as Leonard Maltin puts it, "This film has something to offend seemingly every racial and ethnic group!", adding that Pert Kelton "is a hoot as a saloon soubrette." Variety said that the picture "delivers as entertainment" and called the production "high grade." Although released by United Artists, the film was a 20th Century production. Fox retains ownership today, and included the picture among 100 older films that were transferred in high definition and made available for streaming or download in 2015, for the studio's 100th anniversary.
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71 pages--I'm not looking through them.
Has anyone else mentioned the excellent The Grey Fox, with an elegant performance by Richard Farnsworth and a great score by Michael Conway Baker and the Chieftans.
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I have youtube streamed to my TV now and I've found so many unreleased films on here.....however it does seem that YouTube are removing a lot of them.
Copyright holders are putting increased pressure on YouTube to remove protected materials, even if the owners have no current plans for release themselves. I have noted, however, that a number of the films on the Pinterest board are available for legal (paid) streaming (from Amazon and others) even if they are not available on physical media.
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If you weren't already aware, the 1980 Brooke Shields film THE BLUE LAGOON was a remake of a 1949 British film. Starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston, THE BLUE LAGOON was based on a novel by H. de Vere Stackpoole. Reviewing the film in London, Variety said that "As the production relies for its appeal mainly on its eye-filling virtues, little demand has been made on the cast. Jean Simmons displays a sarong to advantage and Donald Houston has little more to do than show off his manly torso." Variety concluded that "For British audiences, the title and star are virtually enough to insure healthy business, but the picture has few other attractions to interest Yank exhibs."
Still, even Variety had to admit that Geoffrey Unsworth's "Technicolor photography of a glorious South Sea setting" provided an "appropriate romantic background" for the story. That apparently was enough to convince Universal-International to import the Rank production to the States.
Today, Leonard Maltin gives the film three out of four stars and says that it's "slowly paced, but refreshing." Clifton Parker scored the film. Nine minutes of his music was re-recorded for a 2005 Parker compilation CD from Chandos.
THE BLUE LAGOON has not appeared on any home video format. The U.S. copyright on the film currently seems to be with Janus Films since the mid-1980s.
Sorry for my long hiatus from this amazing thread, made possible by the valuable contributions by Bob DiMucci. This title has been added to our board.
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With a director like Raoul Walsh and stars like Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper, and Fay Wray, it's surprising that a film like THE BOWERY has not appeared on any home video format. Chalk it up to the film's 1933 vintage, and the fact that, as Leonard Maltin puts it, "This film has something to offend seemingly every racial and ethnic group!", adding that Pert Kelton "is a hoot as a saloon soubrette." Variety said that the picture "delivers as entertainment" and called the production "high grade." Although released by United Artists, the film was a 20th Century production. Fox retains ownership today, and included the picture among 100 older films that were transferred in high definition and made available for streaming or download in 2015, for the studio's 100th anniversary.
Thanks Bob for another solid entry to our board.
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