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[Tom Hayman]

Dear Ken Barnes,

Having bought several of your DVDs, I must thank you for the pleasure you have given me and my family. We bought the Road pictures and the Fred and Ginger sets alos the outstanding Holiday Inn. We have just ordered the Cary Grant Collection. Now your recent efforts regarding Fox promise to result in something equally exciting.

With so few of the great classic films being screened on TV, the DVD has become our main source of interest. Mr. T. Melton suggested a box set of Tyrone Power and I must tell you that my mother was his biggest fan. We recently bought "The Mark of Zorro" and we loved it. So my mother says she would buy a box set of his films without hesitation if it contained
"Johnny Apollo" and "The Black Swan."

Of course, like everyone else, we'd love to have "Daddy Long Legs" -most especially if you are diong it as a special edition.

Thank you.
T.H.

[John Grazzelli]

The Fox vaults contain many fine films that may never be seen again either because of the passing of time or because they are not considered commercial. I'm now in my late '50s and I developed a love of classic movies from my late father who introduced me to many great Fox classics of the 1930s - "The Bowery" (1931) starring Wallace Beery, George Raft and Fay Wray is a truly great film that paints a more convincing picture of 19th century New York than Martin Scorcese's overblown "Gangs of New York" - and not only is it far more exciting to watch, it's far more entertaining. The version I saw was on VHS from an old TV transmission and the print was pretty beat up. Being more than 70 years old, the original has probably deteriorated completely by now.

If a good copy found its way onto DVD, I'd buy it immediately. Likewise, the 1935 "Les Miserables" - the finest screen version ever of this oft-told story.

In the late 1930s, Fox produced the first two Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce "The Hound of the Baskervilles"
and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" ( both 1939). These would make an excellent two-disc release.

Also worth having is the 1939 Technicolour "Jesse James" with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda. This would be worth doing as a double feature DVD with its sequel "The Return of Frank James" ( the latter directed by Fritz Lang also in superb Technicolor ).

As for the 1940s, I would go along with all of the other requests that have been pouring in over the last few days. I can add little else to what has already been said.

[D. Bryant]

I have just purchased Maureen O'Hara's autobiography - after seeing her on Richard and Judy's TV show. It's a lively book and she - at 84 - is a very lively lady. So what about a box set of Maureen's Fox films ?

Suggested titles "How Green Was My Valley," "The Black Swan"
"Do You Love Me" and "Miracle on 34th Street"

The latter - an Oscar winning classic - actually deserves a special edition all to itself.

Miss O'Hara could - and should - be interviewed. This would bind the set together nicely.

[Clive Fuller]

Diamond Horseshoe
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Irish Eyes are Smiling


I would like to see the Betty Grable Collection in a DVD box format

[R. Sharpe]

I can well understand the reason for placing this subject in the Fred Astaire section - the demand for "Daddy Longlegs" more than justifies it.

I'm fascinated by the wealth of titles that has been requested. What surprises me is that with all the interest in the likes of Betty Grable, Shirley Temple, James Stewart, Film Noir and classic westerns,no one has mentioned John Wayne's Fox output. I know that most of it is out on individual DVDs but I would have thought that a box set of the Duke - with a nicely produced set of extras would make an enticing catalogue item. Does anyone agree ?

[R.H.]

A box set of John Wayne is always a good idea, but please not "The Barbarian and the Giesha" which may be his worst ever film ( next to "The Conqueror"). "North To Alaska" and "The Commacheros" are fine and "The Undefeated" is just so-so. Put these together with his first starring role "The Big Trail"(1930) and you could have the makings of a good box set.

"Trail" has an interesting history. Firstly, it was the film that turned Marion Mitchell "Duke " Morrison into John Wayne. Secondly, it was one of the earliest films to be shot in 70 mm, which is why it flopped. There were insufficient theatres with the equipment and screens to show it.
A standard 35 mm version was released too late to take advantage of the publciity and the film became a casualty of the Depression.

Since next year marks the 75th anniversary of "The Big Trail" what chance is there of reviving the original 70 mm print as an anamorphic DVD ? Now that would make an interesting box set.

[D. Mitchell]

I'm a great fan of the Fox musicals and,of course, a SE of "Daddy Long Legs" is a must, but the suggested box set of Betty Grable is also something that should be considered. How about "Down Argentite Way"
"Tin Pan Alley" "Diamond Horseshoe" and "Mother Wore Tights" for openers ?

[Ray Falks]

Put me down for a box set of Betty Grable. But please include "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim."

Also I should add my interest in Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat."

[Jim Patterson]

It's interesting that the other major studios -Warner, MGM, Universal, RKO - release their classic musicals on DVD while Fox keep theirs under wraps- with the exception of the Rodgers and Hammerstein films.

Let's hope that we do get a special edition of "Daddy Longlegs" and the Miller films. This might be the start of something interesting.

[Phil Jellicoe]

It makes a lot of sense for Fox to consider their classic catalogue for DVD. Now that Sony have acquired the massive MGM library of some 4,000 films, we collectors are going to be spoiled for choice.

I hope that Ken Barnes ( who is the only really good DVD producer in Europe ) gets to work on some of these Fox films. His presentations of other classics has often proved better than many U.S. DVDs - and he is certainly on a par with anything that Criterion has done.

Certainly, there could be no better producer for "Daddy Long Legs."

[P. McKenna]

I think that 20th Century Fox musicals - even more than MGM - were the big hitmakers of the 1940s. Think of the biggest songs of the 1940s and most of them came from Fox musicals "Chattanooga Choo Choo" ( Sun Valley Serenade,1941 ), "At Last," "Serenade In Blue" "I Got A Gal in Kalamzoo" ( Orchestra Wives.1942) "You'll Never Know" (Oscar winner
from Hello Frisco Hello -1943), "THe More I See You" " I Wish I Knew" (Diamond Horseshoe.1945) "It Might As Well Be Spring" ( Oscar winner from State Fair.1945) and the list goes on and on.

"State Fair," of course, is already on DVD individually and on the Rodgers and Hammerstein. But the others have yet to be given the DVD treatment. Releasing the two Glenn Miller films and a Betty Grable box set would go a long way to filling the gaps. And let's not foget that great Jerome Kern-Leo Robin score for "Centennial Summer" (1946) - which was Kern's last score.

[Christoph Nestel]

[Ken Barnes]

Well done, Christoph. We can always count on you to come up with something interesting and out of the ordinary. I just wanted to reply to this before I left for the States.

The subject of 20th Century Fox has become our biggest talking point. In just over a week we've had more than 300 hits and over 50 messages.

I informed Matthew Perry of Fox of this. He is already looking into the many requests and I hope to get together with him later this month for a chat and,hopefully, a progress report. I will certainly bring your comments regarding foreign soubdtracks to his attention.

Thank you so much

Ken

[Malcolm Macfarlane]

And don't forget Bing Crosby! How about 'High Time' and the 1966 version of 'Stagecoach' on a single DVD? Fox has also got 'Say One For Me' but I think that's one that should not be re-released.

[Christoph Nestel]

Hello Ken,


that's fine - thanks a lot.


For the Glenn Miller films a "music only track" would be a good feature as the isolated music tapes seem to exist.


In spite of the huge demand on the Miller films I just realized that nobody mentioned that Fox also owns two films that show BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTA at the height of his career. May be the reason is because those two also belonging to the category "never released on home video worldwide". And that's why I forgot about them myself so far. I have to admit that I personally know only excerpts from THE GANG'S ALL HERE - these are great ! Whereas GANG is a lavish Technicolor extravaganza with the Goodman band occasionally steppin' in to play several tunes, the latter one was in b/w and concepted as a full vehicle for Goodman. SWEET AND LOW-DOWN may be the Goodman equal to ORCHESTRA WIVES. I believe Benny's band and his music is featured very well in both films.

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THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1943, Directed by Busby Berkely)
Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Edward Everett Horton

SWEET AND LOW-DOWN (1944, Directed by Archie L. Mayo)
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Linda Darnell, Lynn Bari, Jack Oakie

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The third important Goodman film would be Norman Z. McLeods THE POWERS GIRL (1943) which has the legendary "Umbrella Dance sequence". But this was an independent production and is not owned by Fox.


BTW: ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND (1938) has recently been released in Region1 and I would recommend it to everybody who likes Fox musicals. There are three musical numbers deleted from the final print, newsreel footage and an audio commentary as bonus. Buy it !


Best, Christoph