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Received this teaser from Variety.com:


-------------------------
MARX BROS. PRESSED INTO SERVICE ON DVD

Maltin records new commentary for 'Night at the Opera'

Warner Home Video will release seven classic Marx Brothers movies for the
first time on DVD, with the five discs due out May 4.
-------------------------

I'm not a paid subscriber any longer to Variety.com, so I can't access the
article to find out what the 7 titles are and what the special features are.
Besides 'Night at the Opera,' what are the other 6 titles? And why are 7
movies on 5 discs? Are they double-sided? It might not leave much room for
extras...

Thanks...Curtin/Dobbs

"Curtin/Dobbs" <> wrote:

> Received this teaser from Variety.com:
>
> -------------------------
> MARX BROS. PRESSED INTO SERVICE ON DVD
>
> Maltin records new commentary for 'Night at the Opera'
>
> Warner Home Video will release seven classic Marx Brothers
> movies for the first time on DVD, with the five discs due
> out May 4.
> -------------------------
>
> I'm not a paid subscriber any longer to Variety.com, so I
> can't access the article to find out what the 7 titles are
> and what the special features are. Besides 'Night at the
> Opera,' what are the other 6 titles?

Well, I'm not a VARIETY subscriber, either, so I can't check
out the article myself. But since it's Warner that's releasing
it, I would assume that the set includes the seven titles
Warner owns, which are:

(1) A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
(2) A DAY AT THE RACES
(3) ROOM SERVICE
(4) AT THE CIRCUS
(5) GO WEST
(6) THE BIG STORE
(7) A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA

The five films prior to A NIGHT AT THE OPERA -- THE COCOANUTS,
ANIMAL CRACKERS MONKEY BUSINESS, HORSE FEATHERS, and DUCK
SOUP -- are Paramount titles owned by Universal. The one
after A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA -- LOVE HAPPY -- is owned by
Republic/Artisan.

Warner also owns what is technically the "last" Marx Bros.
film, THE STORY OF MANKIND, though it's not consider in
their oeuvre, because they (a) aren't the stars, and (b)
don't appear together in it. It's also not a comedy (at
least, not intentionally).

> And why are 7 movies on 5 discs? Are they double-sided?
> It might not leave much room for extras...

OPERA and RACES excepted, they're all under 90 minutes
each, which means that two of them could fit reasonably
comfortably on a DVD-9 (single-sided, double-layered).
In fact, one possible breakdown for the set would be:

(1) A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, with specific extras for the film.
(2) A DAY AT THE RACES, with specific extras for the film.
(3) ROOM SERVICE / AT THE CIRCUS
(4) GO WEST / THE BIG STORE
(5) A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA, plus general extras on the Marx
Bros. and their films.

(Nota bene: I'm not saying that this is the way they break
down. I'm just suggesting one possibility.)

-- jayembee

<< what the 7 titles are >>

Well, without doing any delving, since it's a WB release, they have the rights
to: "Night at the Opera", "Day at the Races," "At the Circus", "Go West", "The
Big Store"
and "Room Service" . Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's
distributed by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.

ojunk (AAbrams0264) wrote:

> Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's distributed
> by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.

Well, Warner released it on VHS about five years ago, which
is why I assumed that they owned the rights (at least, the
video distribution rights) to it, and suggested it as the
likely seventh film in the set.

-- jayembee

jayembee wrote:


>>Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's distributed
>>by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.
>
>
> Well, Warner released it on VHS about five years ago, which
> is why I assumed that they owned the rights (at least, the
> video distribution rights) to it, and suggested it as the
> likely seventh film in the set.

So, is it from MGM's library (and Warner's jurisdiction) or not?

(And keeping in mind Warner's history with the movie, Groucho's point
must be emphasized that, yes, the Marxes *were* using "Brothers" long
before the Warners were...)

Derek Janssen

>>>Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's distributed
>>>by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.
>>
>>
>> Well, Warner released it on VHS about five years ago, which
>> is why I assumed that they owned the rights (at least, the
>> video distribution rights) to it, and suggested it as the
>> likely seventh film in the set.
>
>So, is it from MGM's library (and Warner's jurisdiction) or not?
>
>(And keeping in mind Warner's history with the movie, Groucho's point
>must be emphasized that, yes, the Marxes *were* using "Brothers" long
>before the Warners were...)
>
>Derek Janssen
>

To settle any uncertainty once and for all, the collection will include:

A Night at the Opera
A Day at the Races
Room Service
At the Circus
Go West
The Big Store
A Night in Casablanca



John Larrabee
Co-founder: Laurel & Hardy Central
http://laurelandhardycentral.com

(To respond via e-mail, remove "nixspam")

Derek Janssen <> wrote:

> jayembee wrote:
>
>
>>> Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's distributed
>>> by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.
>>
>> Well, Warner released it on VHS about five years ago, which
>> is why I assumed that they owned the rights (at least, the
>> video distribution rights) to it, and suggested it as the
>> likely seventh film in the set.
>
> So, is it from MGM's library (and Warner's jurisdiction) or not?

No, it's not from MGM's library. It was originally a United
Artists release, and ownership issues get really tangled
when it comes to UA.

-- jayembee

On 31 Jan 2004 03:06:25 GMT, ixspam (Card53) wrote:

>
>To settle any uncertainty once and for all, the collection will include:
>
>A Night at the Opera
>A Day at the Races
>Room Service
>At the Circus
>Go West
>The Big Store
>A Night in Casablanca

Thank you for this...any knowledge if the previous released issues
will have been remastered....or is this about the best we're going to
get.

Thanks

In article < >,
jayembee <> wrote:
> (AAbrams0264) wrote:
>
>> Maybe the 7th is "A Night in Casablanca" -- it's distributed
>> by Castle Hill and I think they have a WB connection.
>
>Well, Warner released it on VHS about five years ago, which
>is why I assumed that they owned the rights (at least, the
>video distribution rights) to it, and suggested it as the
>likely seventh film in the set.

Rather ironic. When the film was made, Warner sent a cease and desist
letter, claiming ownership of "Casablanca" for title purposes. Groucho
sent back a scathing reply threatening to countersue, since the Marx Bros.
had been using "Brothers" for years before the Warners...
--
"The Pseudo Politically Correct term that I would use to describe the mind set
of postmodernism is "epistemologically challenged": a constitutional inability
to adopt a reasonable way to tell the good stuff from the bad stuff."
- Chip Morningstar

Richard S. Foster <> wrote:

> ixspam (Card53) wrote:
>
>>To settle any uncertainty once and for all, the collection will include:
>>
>>A Night at the Opera
>>A Day at the Races
>>Room Service
>>At the Circus
>>Go West
>>The Big Store
>>A Night in Casablanca
>
>Thank you for this...any knowledge if the previous released issues
>will have been remastered....or is this about the best we're going to
>get.

I'm not clear on what you're asking. None of the above-listed films
have been released before on DVD (except for a Region 4 edition of A
NIGHT IN CASABLANCA).

Are you perhaps wondering if the five movies that had been previously
released on DVD, and are now out of print, are going to be reissued?

Universal hasn't made any announcement about them, but I would assume
that they are (hopefully) working on restoring them.

-- jayembee