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Ken Barnes · Guest

Dear Mark,

Firstly, while the quality on "Royal Wedding" is not as good as we would like, it was the best print available to us - and we were able to remove just about all the scratches. It's not quite as bad as some people say. In fact, if you would like to check our Reviews section, you can see what certain professionals said about it.

In the case of "Charade," I believe it can still be ordered on Amazon U.K.

The quality on the Bing Universal double features is fine and I can recommend them.

In the case of Fred and Ginger - a possible second set would
NOT include "Roberta" ( because this was bought up by MGM in 1952 so that it would not rival their Technicolor remake
"Lovely To Look At " ) or "The Barkleys of Broadway" ( which is an MGM film) All of the classic MGM titles are now issued by Warner Brothers via Ted Turner. Mr. Turner owns the RKO catalogue for the USA ONLY. Universal have the UK rights - which is why we were able to issue the Fred and Ginger set and "Citizen Kane"

"Lover Come Back" is a Universal film and will almost certainly be issued next year as part of a Doris Day boxed set which is currently being discussed.

We don't have any plans for early Bogart and "The Roaring '20s" for the simple reason that we have no catalogue rights. Although you may be interested to learn that Warners have now issued a 2-disc Special Edition of "Casablanca" that includes out-takes ( I can't wait to buy this one myself)

We may be releasing the two Sinatra RKO musicals "Higher and Higher" and "Step Lively" - although there are no definite plans at present. But announcements will be made in our News and Coming Soon section of the website.

Thank you so much for your kind interest

Best
Ken

Ken Barnes · Guest

Mark,

The selection of titles for Doris Day has not yet been decided - but will probably consist of "Pillow Talk,"
"Lover Come Back," " Send Me No Flowers" and either "A Touch of Mink" or "The Thrill Of It All." There will almost certainly be some interesting extras.

Also, there are plans to do a 50th Anniversary Special Edition of "Young At Heart." The Sinatra office in Los Angeles has already stated that they will co-operate in this project. We will be approaching Miss Day to see if she will contribute. We may know something this side of Christmas.

Re.picture quality on "Royal Wedding." On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say 7. But on the extras ( which include an interesting audio conversation with Ava Astaire McKenzie
and myself plus a graphic breakdown of how the "dancing on the ceiling" routine was achieved - Ava was there when they filmed it ) I would say a definite 9.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Regards
Ken

Dominic McHugh · Guest

Dear Ken

It's great to hear about the Doris Day possibilities. I really would hope, though, that 'That Touch of Mink' would be the choice rather than 'The Thrill of it All' - I think it stands up better to repeated viewing, and of course a certain amount of tension between the stars - like both Grant and Day wanted the same side of their faces to be filmed, causing problems - makes a much more entertaining experience.

Also, I can't wait for the Fred and Ginger set, as you are undoubtedly the man to do it. It's a shame about Roberta - I would have thought that by now the 'rivalry' between it and the remake could have been cleared up? The owners of the MGM rights are clearly never going to do anything with the original version, and it would be such a shame to lose this film forever. Can nothing really be done?

It's great to witness these forthcoming plans, showing how there really is still a market for quality films of the past. I look forward to F&G with excitement.

Best wishes

Dominic

Ken Barnes · Guest

Good to hear from you, Dominic. The first batch of Universal's boxed sets is an exciting event on the DVD calender.

I think you're right about "That Touch of Mink" and I'll certainly plump for it.

Regarding "Roberta," there's always a possibility that Ted Turner will issue it on DVD. I hear that he's going to be doing some Fred and Ginger in the States in 2004 - so who knows?

Hopefully, next year will bring great possibilities for more fine classic releases. Just keep watching our News and Coming Soon sections.

Release date on this first batch is now Nov 10.

Thanks for your encouragement

Best
Ken