Tweet Universal Rarities MOD in August?

Some other forums have reported that in August Turner will be releasing a MOD dvd of "Universal Rarities." Does anyone have any knowledge of this, or what it might contain?

This was on the "leaked" list of Universal's planned releases for its centennial, and since all the others have shown up so far it seems likely that the Universal rarities will. A press release and/or Movies Unlimited pre-order should be coming sometime in May or June, as the pattern so far this year has been the appearance of one or the other three months in advance.

-HA

It looks like this collection will consist of
Million Dollar Legs (1932)
Belle of the Nineties (1934)
Artists and Models (1937)
Souls at Sea (1937)

http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D60041%20%20&altid=60290

None of them Universal, and none of them *particularly* rare, but still nice to have available.

-HA

It looks like this collection will consist of
Million Dollar Legs (1932)
Belle of the Nineties (1934)
Artists and Models (1937)
Souls at Sea (1937)

http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D60041%20%20&altid=60290

None of the Universal, and none of them *particularly* rare, but still nice to have available.

Jack Benny gets his first lead in Artists & Models? Guess they never saw The Medicine Man (1930).

Don't think SOULS AT SEA or ARTISTS & MODELS have ever been released on home video in any format. I'll definitely pick these up but I sure had my fingers crossed for NIGHT WORLD.

[Danny Burk]

SOULS AT SEA has been available on a R2 DVD for quite some time (Amazon has it for about $8); same for MILLION DOLLAR LEGS, as part of the large WC Fields set. The latter also includes IF I HAD A MILLION and, I think, one or two others that haven't had a US release.

You're right, Danny. TILLIE AND GUS is another one in that set that hasn't seen a U.S. release.

If these are like the other sets in TCM's Universal Vault Collections, they won't be "MOD" in the sense of being replicated on DVD-R, but pressed discs, at least in initial release.

SOULS AT SEA has been available on a R2 DVD for quite some time (Amazon has it for about $8); same for MILLION DOLLAR LEGS, as part of the large WC Fields set. The latter also includes IF I HAD A MILLION and, I think, one or two others that haven't had a US release.

I suppose I can understand why video companies issue their products in region-encoded releases. But why would they also have different versions of the same product in different regions (such as omitting IF I HAD A MILLION from the US issue) ? Is it a matter of territorial rights to the various films, as is the case with much of the Hal Roach catalog?

I used to have a 16mm one-reel Castle Films clip of the Fields/Skipworth vignette in IF I HAD A MILLION, so I know it has been previously released in the US. I also thought it was absolutely hilarious, too bad that it's not available in its country of origin! SETH

[Danny Burk]

I suppose I can understand why video companies issue their products in region-encoded releases. But why would they also have different versions of the same product in different regions (such as omitting IF I HAD A MILLION from the US issue) ? Is it a matter of territorial rights to the various films, as is the case with much of the Hal Roach catalog?

I used to have a 16mm one-reel Castle Films clip of the Fields/Skipworth vignette in IF I HAD A MILLION, so I know it has been previously released in the US. I also thought it was absolutely hilarious, too bad that it's not available in its country of origin! SETH

It's really more than just a different version; it's one BIG box of Fields films in the UK as opposed to 2 small boxes in the US. There are quite a few titles in the UK box that aren't in the US sets, although a few were later released as stand-alone titles here. Same thing with a BIG Dietrich box in the UK, while we got a micro-collection in the US.

Why, you ask? Who knows....for whatever reason, Universal's marketing department thought that nice big boxes would sell better in the UK than in the US. I have no idea whether that's true, but it all amounts to part of the reason that a multi-region player is essential. (Notwithstanding those folks who are bothered by the 4% PAL speedup; I don't notice it myself.) Ironically, IF I HAD A MILLION was in the first batch of laserdiscs that Universal released around 1979.

The Fields films on the giant British set that haven't been released in America as part of the 2 boxed sets are Six of a Kind, Big Broadcast of 1938, and Mississippi (which ARE all available on a separate US DVDs), Follow the Boys, Tillie and Gus, If I had a Million, and Million Dollar Legs.

The Fields films on the giant British set that haven't been released in America as part of the 2 boxed sets are Six of a Kind, Big Broadcast of 1938, and Mississippi (which ARE all available on a separate US DVDs), Follow the Boys, Tillie and Gus, If I had a Million, and Million Dollar Legs.

Am I glad I got the British set, I knew they'd never release some of those titles on DVD in the US.