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[Ken Barnes]

Thanks James for your incisive comments. I agree that audio commentaries are generally more interesting ( and more repeatable ) than on-screen interviews. But by and large the distributors prefer to SEE something rather than LISTEN. I guess they think this is better for selling to dealers. It's a debate which I try to steer clear of.

We have not yet pursued the idea of contacting surviving crew members - although Mr. Montagne sounds like an interesting proposition. The fact is, we are still putting the deal together and until everything is finalised, we are not certain what the programming will include. Changes are taking place all the time.

So watch out for announcem,ents.

Once again, many thanks for your continued interest.

Cheers
Ken

[Ryan]

James, you're right in doubting that Martin and Grey did a commentary for The Big Store, the new DVD doesn't include one from anybody. However, two of the films do have commentaries: Glenn Mitchell on A Day at the Races and Leonard Maltin on A Night at the Opera. It's an enjoyable collection, though, that I've found myself already re-watching.

[James M]

I did not expect anything. Just think though, they could have had audio commentaries by or interviews with Kitty Carlisle A Night at the Opera, Vivian Fay from A Day at the Races, cannot think of anyone for Room Service (Ann Miller having died earlier this year), Jerry Maren (Little Prof Atom) from A Day At the Circus, Irving Brecher screenwriter of A Day at the Circus and Go West, June MacCloy from Go West and Lisette Verea from A Night in Casablanca. But I guess they didn't.

[James M]

I notice that Irving Brecher appears on the commentary for the Meet me In St Loius DVD

[Phil Jellicoe]

Dear Ken Barnes,

The Fred and Ginger Collection is an absolute knockout. Will you be doing a Volume Two - again with Ava ?

[James LM]

The oldest fiom to have an audio commentary by a surviving cast or crew member is of course The Old dark House with Gloria Stuart (Kino Video). Edward Montagne is stillalive (he is 92), he was an assistant director on several W.C. Fields films. Robert Stillman could well be alive, Elaine May I am not so sure about.

[Ken Barnes]

Hi James,

Thanks for your constructive suggestions which I have passed on to Hart Sharp Video. I don know that there are some plans to include Arnold Stang. Kim Novak has passed on the idea - but we're hoping she will change her mind. The DVD will not be available until around March of next year, so we're trying to achieve what we can to make it a definitive edition.

As for "Second Chorus," we have already obtained a print of "Me and the Ghost Upstairs" and I'll also pass on your suggestions re. Edward Montagne.

Ken

[Christoph Nestel]

[Ken Barnes]

Hi Christoph,

Good to hear from you again. The planned Region 1 DVD of "Second Chorus" has not happened for various reasons ( mainly the huge number of versions that are on the market ) and the same goes for "Royal Wedding."

I was in Los Angeles last September and met with George Feltenstein, head of Warner Home Entertainment. He told me that "Royal Wedding"
had been issued by some supermarket chain for ONE DOLLAR and had sold over 485,000 units. "We can't compete with that kind of marketing."
So it's unlikely that Warners will do it.

As for Fred keeping copies of his own movies, I doubt if he did. When I knew him, he didn't seem to be interested in his old films. Of course, this was before DVD. If he were alive today, I'm sure he'd feel differently.

Our DVD of "Daddy Long Legs" has done very well in the USA and will be issued as a Region 2 release in the UK and Europe in August. It does not contain a German dubbed sountrack.

Thanks for getting in touch

Best
Ken

[Ryan]

That's a shame people have to suffer bad prints of Second Chorus since any bargain basement company can produce public domain film DVDs. I see what the number crunchers are thinking in terms of sales, but it's reasonable to believe via outlets such as Amazon, and other websites, that offer reviews of their products from regular consumers, that a superior version of the film could gain notice. There are people out there looking for such a thing after all. A dozen years ago there were the same plethora of lousy quality prints of S.C. on the VHS format, but you could still locate some that did it right. They were usually distinguished by their higher pricetags.
Concerning Fred Astaire having his own footage, I've read that he once pieced together a reel or two of his own dancing numbers all strung together with the dialogue inbetween removed. That would be a great thing to see on DVD.

[Ken Barnes]

Hi Ryan,

Good to hear from you. I thoroughly agree with your comments and I would love to do a really detailed DVD compilation of SC and "Royal Wedding" ( I now have a very good print of the latter ). Unfortunately, the international market has become so saturated with these two titles that, even with Ava's participation, an out take of "Me and the Ghost Usptairs" plus a possible contribution from Jane Powell, I can't get the support to do the project.

Last year I met with George Feltenstein of Warner Home Video and he was bemoaning the fact that some supermarket chain had notched up 486,000 units ay ONE DOLLAR apiece of RW and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

I do agree that genuine collectors will pay for a really first class product.especially if it has some well-produced extras. But distributors will simply not spend the money. It would seem that the worst thing to happen to a classic movie is that it falls into the public domain.

By the way, I believe Universal have plans to release our SE of "Holiday Inn" later this year. At least that'e the impression they have given me.

Keep well
Best
Ken

[Ken Barnes]

Good question, Mark. Your guess is as good as mine.