Movies not on DVD. Why not?

[Graybeard]

How does a studio which owns the rights to films decide what to release? Here are 3 that I think would have popular appeal.

Blythe Spirit (1945)- Noel Coward comedy that just had a successful revival on Broadway. Out of print in the U.S.

Mister 880 (1950) - A lovable old man, played by Edmund Gwenn, prints and passes very crude dollar bills but is able to elude the Feds for years.(A nice companion piece to "Miracle on 34th Street").

Mediterraneo (1991) - Very funny comedy about Italian soldiers stranded on a Greek island during WWII. Won the Oscar as Best Foreign Film.

What other films have you found to be unavailable?

[hobbit709]

1. Work Is A Four Letter Word.

[murielm99]

2. Bridge to the Sun n/t

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

3. There is a movie called A Thousand Clowns

with Jason Robards, from 1965, that is a favorite of a close friend of mine, who keeps telling me how great it is, and how I would love it. I do want to see it, but it is not available as far as I can tell.

[sarge43]

7. I saw the theater release. It is great. n/t

[peacefreak]

4. Hear My Song

One of the funniest movies ever, that nobody's heard of.
Truly, Madly, Deeply with Juliet Richardson & Alan Rickman
Resurrection with Ellen Burstyn

[kentauros]

5. They decide by money alone,

as in how much profit they can make over production and distribution costs. There might also be copyright problems with the original makers of the movie, and the current owner doesn't have the rights to release it. That alone would prevent movies from even being made available by download only, something I wish these studios would implement instead of always going with a physical copy release.

So, while we wait for Hollyweird to make sense and do something sensible, your best bet is to look to the torrent sites, such as this one, for "public domain movies" :D

http://www.publicdomaintorrents.net

[sarge43]

6. Young Winston

Seven Percent Solution

Pimpernel Smith

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Reach for the Sky

[bikebloke]

8. I saw Mediterraneo on VHS.

And just took a quick look. It is on DVD, though not for Region 1. Maybe later...

[zen_bohemian]

9. Beach Boys: An American family

it was a made for tv movie on the Beach Boys for ABC, it has been shown a few times, but as far as I know, it's never been made into a DVD set, I would buy it if I could get it.

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. Das Versprechen (1995)

Also known as "The Promise"

It's available on VHS, but not AFAIK on DVD.

Info. from IMDb:

Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Writers: Peter Schneider (dialogue), Felice Laudadio, and 1 more credit »
Stars: Corinna Harfouch, Meret Becker and August Zirner

Plot summary:
"East-Berlin, 1961, shortly after the erection of the Wall. Konrad, Sophie and three of their friends plan a daring escape to Western Germany. The attempt is successful, except for Konrad, who remains behind. From then on, and for the next 28 years, Konrad and Sophie will attempt to meet again, in spite of the Iron Curtain. Konrad, who has become a reputed Astrophysicist, tries to take advantage of scientific congresses outside Eastern Germany to arrange encounters with Sophie. But in a country where the political police, the Stasi, monitors the moves of all suspicious people (such as Konrad's sister Barbara and her husband Harald), preserving one's privacy, ideals and self-respect becomes an exhausting fight, even as the Eastern block begins its long process of disintegration."



Read more:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111613/

I saw this movie in a German class and thought it was quite good. I haven't seen the VHS tape shown above, but I assume it includes English subtitles. I can't think of any reason why an American audience wouldn't enjoy this movie.