laureatedvd.com

[Rego]

There are some wonderful musical films with incredible dance sequences made by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle that are just crying out for the Laureate Treatment; Bitter Sweet, Sunny. Good Night Vienna to name but a few any chance Please Ken ?

[Ken Barnes]

In a recent TV show on Channel Four to find the biggest box office successes in Britain, people were surpised to find so many of Anna Neagle's films in the list ( mostly with Michael Wilding ). Strangely enough, very few of her films have been issued on DVD. Yet none of them appear to be in the public domain.

I suspect that the reason they have not been released is because the company ( or companies ) holding them are populated with executives who have never heard of her. You'd be surprised at the lack of knowledge that exists in video companies these days.

As for my company, I can only work on items when I am commissioned to do so. I am forever requesting certain films to be considered for DVD release and,mostly, they fall on deaf ears.

But, as a friend of mine said recently, "There may come a day when every classic film will eventually be available on DVD." Let's hope so.

[J.D.]

Dear Mr. Barnes,

I noticed that you recently praised Universal's box set of Monster movies - saying that it was better than the U.S. counterpart, so I bought this £84 set on Amazon for just £57 and I agree it's an excellent package. But the credit should not go to Universal U.K. simply because they've added five extra titles. It's the extras - all of which were produced in the U.S. - that make this such a bargain for film buffs. The documentaries on the Frankenstein films of James Whale and the coverage of the Dracula films are all highly interesting and the various audio commentaries are all outstanding.

Thanks for recommending this set.

[K.Pollitt]

I agree that Universal's Monster Legacy DVD Collection is good value and the packaging with its three busts of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man is cool, but I wish they had given us the complete "Mummy" series and left out such pedestrian titles as "The She Wolf of London" and "House of Dracula", etc. Also, let's not give Universal's London office too much credit for this package, all the excellent extras were produced through Los Angeles office including the fine Kevin Brownlow documentary.

[M.Welham]

I agree with K. Pollitt about Universal's Monster Legacy box set. But while the set does contain a number of truly awful B pictures and even the original Bela Lugosi Dracula is not exactly the classic it's claimed to be, the set as a whole is well worth buying.

Universal pioneered the horror film genre and this set not only
contains some of the greatest ever examples of the genre "Frankenstein"(1931), "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) "The Invisible Man"(1933) et al, it has a whole host of outstanding extras - audio commentaries, documentaries ( loaded with interviews and rare facts) all topped off with Kevin Brownlow's superb 95 minute doscumentary "Universal Horror" narradted by Kenneth Branagh. It's Universal's UK office who added the worst of the B pictures to give it "extra value." While it's fine to have all of the "Wolf Man" films and all of the "Frankenstein" cycle, the inclusion of such turkies as "Deacula's Daughter" and "The She Wolf of London" and "Ghost of Frankenstein" could have been replaced by "The Mummy's Hand" and "The Mummy's Curse" which would have given a more rounded feeling to the collection.

But, as the John Wayne box set made very clear, Universal's London office is not populated by people who know what they're doing when it comes to classic films, so we must be grateful for what this Monster collection offers and, especilly, for Amazon's generous price reduction.
My advice is go for it. Horror fans won't find better value anywhere.

[Eric Appleyard]

I couldn't agree more with M. Welhame, Universal's Monster legacy box set is a must for anyone who loves the old Universal horror movies. It's worth getting for the generous gathering of extras - great audio commentaries by such noted American film historians as Rudy Beh;mer and Scott McQueen and a whole batch of featurettes that will keep any film buff engaged for hours on end.

[Kevin Craig]

In response to M. Welham's comments on Universal's Monster Legacy box set regarding the missing films in "The Mummy" series, these can be obtained quite reasonably on Region 1 as a two-disc set titled "The Mummy Legacy Collection" comprising the 1932 original and all five sequels. Also in this series of two-disc sets you can get the complete
"Invisible Man" series and the Bela Lugosi Legacy Collection.

It does mean,of course, that a couple of films in the Region 2 box set will be duplicated - but that's a small price to pay for such fabulous value.

I would recommmend that you order these - and any other Region 1 discs - from Store4 who offer the best value prices I have encountered.

[G.B.]

Congratulations on your wonderful presentation of "Citizen Kane" - far better than the Warners Region 1 version and one of the most interesting and informative audio commentaries ever. Is there any chance of a similar treatement on "The Magnificent Ambersons" ?

[D.Prosser]

I am in total agreement with G.B. The Ken Barnes audio commentary on Citizen Kane is far better and much more engrossing than the ones on the Region 1 edition. The extras are better and, best of all, so is the picture quality. So what better idea than to have him produce a similar DVD on
The Magnificent Ambersons ?