What I've Seen and Where I Need to Go

[gunnar]

Reza, you mentioned in an old thread that you watched Portrait of Chieko from someone's private collection on their blog. Do you happen to know if that is still available and whether that person would mind my viewing the film? If it's not available or you can't recall where exactly it was or if there is another reason, that's okay. I'll hope that it shows up some day. I visited Japan in 2018 and plan to go back there again in a few years. I don't think the film is anymore available there, but who knows by then.

Unfortunately that blog got shut down. It had many links to rare films including Portrait of Chieko.

Thanks, anyway. Since it exists, though, I'll hope that it shows up elsewhere eventually.

[Reza]

Reza, you mentioned in an old thread that you watched Portrait of Chieko from someone's private collection on their blog. Do you happen to know if that is still available and whether that person would mind my viewing the film? If it's not available or you can't recall where exactly it was or if there is another reason, that's okay. I'll hope that it shows up some day. I visited Japan in 2018 and plan to go back there again in a few years. I don't think the film is anymore available there, but who knows by then.

Unfortunately that blog got shut down. It had many links to rare films including Portrait of Chieko.

[gunnar]

I wonder why all of the above have remained exclusively with Archives, Universities or Museums. Shouldn't they be put out there for the "world" to watch and enjoy?

I've kept hoping that TCM or somebody would get the rights to some of these movies that are locked away and show them on air. Seeing them restored and issued on dvd/bluray would be even better, but it probably wouldn't be worth it financially. Glorious Betsy was locked away in an archive until recently when somebody put it on Youtube. Maybe there is hope of the rest showing up online some day.

I found out that The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) is available at UCLA so they have six of the films that I still need. I was planning to take a driving trip out west in April with a stop in LA to visit the UCLA film library. That got postponed due to the pandemic, but I'm hoping to make that trip at some point. I would also plan to visit the Academy Archive to see Sorrel and Son. I tend to visit the east coast every 5 years or so and I could squeeze in a visit to the Library of Congress to see The Cop (and what's left of The Dove). Visiting MOMA while in New York to see The Noose should be possible.

That would just leave the lost/incomplete films plus Three Russian Girls and Portrait of Chieko.

Reza, you mentioned in an old thread that you watched Portrait of Chieko from someone's private collection on their blog. Do you happen to know if that is still available and whether that person would mind my viewing the film? If it's not available or you can't recall where exactly it was or if there is another reason, that's okay. I'll hope that it shows up some day. I visited Japan in 2018 and plan to go back there again in a few years. I don't think the film is anymore available there, but who knows by then.

[Reza]

Three Russian Girls (1943) - I've heard that this one may be at the BFI in England so if I ever go over there again... Hopefully it turns up elsewhere before that

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) - This is supposed to be at Eastman House

The Noose (1928) - This is supposed to be at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

The Cop (1928) - The Library of Congress has this so I'll watch it the next time I'm in D.C.

Sorrell and Son (1927) - I think that this is in the Academy archive

Drag (1929) - UCLA has this one

The White Parade (1934) - UCLA

The Barker (1929) - UCLA

Sal of Singapore (1928) - UCLA

The Right to Love (1930) - UCLA

plus a couple of incomplete films that I'll try to watch what is available

The Dove (1927) - Library of Congress

The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1928) - BFI

I wonder why all of the above have remained exclusively with Archives, Universities or Museums. Shouldn't they be put out there for the "world" to watch and enjoy?

[gunnar]

I started watching all of the Best Picture winners back in 2008 and after I finished that, I added on all of the nominees as well. It took a year or two to finish that off, except for The Patriot (which is lost) and The White Parade (which I hope to see at UCLA some day).

A couple of years later, I decided to try and watch all of the nominees in the acting and directing categories. I finished that off in about 3 years, except for lost films and those stuck in film archives.

I started getting the itch again in 2018 and am now working on all of the other categories, except short films and documentaries (which I don't care much for). I have around 850 movies left on my list with about 600 of them available through my local library systems or through interlibrary loan. I've found the rest on Youtube or other sites with only a few left to be found:

Portrait of Chieko (1967)

Three Russian Girls (1943) - I've heard that this one may be at the BFI in England so if I ever go over there again... Hopefully it turns up elsewhere before that

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) - This is supposed to be at Eastman House

The Noose (1928) - This is supposed to be at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

The Cop (1928) - The Library of Congress has this so I'll watch it the next time I'm in D.C.

Sorrell and Son (1927) - I think that this is in the Academy archive

Drag (1929) - UCLA has this one

The White Parade (1934) - UCLA

The Barker (1929) - UCLA

Sal of Singapore (1928) - UCLA

The Right to Love (1930) - UCLA

plus a couple of incomplete films that I'll try to watch what is available

The Dove (1927) - Library of Congress

The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1928) - BFI

My list was a lot larger earlier in the year, but I found Hoa-Binh on Facebook, Glorious Betsy on Youtube and others have shown up as well. I've also gotten some help from a couple of other people on some of the others like Marie-Louise, Women in War, and Mercy Island.

[Precious Doll]

I enjoy collecting discs of favourite films and have been upgrading my DVDs to Blu Rays as back catalogue titles are released. Due to the pandemic and the closure of cinemas I've had lots more time to revisit old favourites and its been a treat. I love the fact that I have so many films to choose from in my collection and I've always been a collector all things related to cinema but have culled a fair bit of stuff over the last three years.

I've really cut down on 'blind buys' with discs unless it is something I really want to see because there is next to no resell value anymore.

I was in the process of getting rid of more film posters and lobby cards when the pandemic started but that is on hold and given the economic impacts that are occurring now with worse to follow I don't see me selling very much in the future.

In terms of viewing illegally downloaded films I only make the exception of hard to find titles. I'd be more than happy to pay top dollar for everything that I want to see but if producers and production companies won't even make the effort to have their product released in that manner it remains the only way to even view many films.

I would have thought that by 2020 everyone, anywhere in the world would have been able to stream for a reasonable price anything and everything from around the globe but various issues prevail that have prevented that.

Furthermore I find the quality of Blu Rays and even DVDs to be superior to streaming.

[Reza]

It is funny, Reza, but I have had the opposite reaction to the pandemic. I have found that during this shelter-in-place, I haven't cared about checking off boxes that I haven't seen as much as taking time for some revisits (which I rarely do). I have gone back and watched stuff I have seen in decades to see if it has changed, or watching some favorites with the family just to get my mind off things. We all react differently, I guess...

No it's not that I have completely stopped reviewing films - I do sometimes watch old movies again on the spur of the moment usually because something triggers off a particular memory about them and I wish to revisit them. Like recently I watched again Notting Hill, North West Frontier, Capricorn One, the Planet of the Apes series etc.

But I prefer to seek out older films which I've never seen - like I'm now going through the Charles Farrell-Janet Gaynor films, old Italian films by De Sica, Pietro Germi, with Sophia Loren, french films of Jean Gabin and exploring a lot of the Japanese classics - Ozu, Naruse, Mizoguchi. And I love watching B Westerns from the 1950s. I have links to at least 30 foreign film Oscar nominees which I'm gradually wading through. I just feel that at my age I'd rather visit stuff I haven't seen (but have read so much about over the years) as time becomes a factor which one is fighting against.

[Big Magilla]

I haven't watched TCM since Comcast started charging a separate monthly fee for it just before last Christmas, but I have seen 1930s Pert Kelton, whether it was in Bed of Roses or something else, I can't remember.

She was always a treasure, whether it was in those spic 'n' span commercials or as the original Alice Kramden opposite Jackie Gleason in The Honeymooners. She later played the character's mother in an episode with Audrey Meadows who took over the role when Kelton was blacklisted.

[Mister Tee]

It goes without saying that TCM is an unending source for older films, from the classics to the intriguingly obscure. The other night I watched an early 30s (pre-Code) LaCava movie called Bed of Roses, which featured an unrecognizable Pert Kelton -- 30 years before The Music Man, and sexy as all get-out as a reformed hooker. A few weeks ago, there was a series of fun amnesia-themed films. I must DVR 2-5 movies a week off TCM.

I saw Pool of London on Filmstruck (RIP) two years ago. It's very worthy, as are most Dearden movies. In fact -- to bring this full circle -- TCM has an afternoon of later Dearden movies running tomorrow afternoon.

[Big Magilla]

I've said this before, but it bears repeating.

Teachers will you that you haven't really read a book until you've read it three times. I feel the same way about movies.

Sometimes, I'll see a film and either love it or hate it. I'll see it a second time and either reinforce my initial reaction or form a new one. The third time, I'll usually form a lasting impression.

These on-line services are fine for checking something out once but if want to catch it a second or third time you'd better hurry before the service cancels it. There's nothing in them for collectors or for showing friends and relatives down the line. For that you need your own collection be it a digital disc or a hard copy.

When I'm ill or as I am now, in the pandemic imposed quarantine, I can only take so much hard news and can never find anything on TV or the various streaming services that holds my attention for long but thankfully I have a vast hard disc collection that I can turn to instead. If I want, I can and do binge-watch my entire collections of various mystery series. I just finished 25 years of Poirot for the third time.

I am also still finding old films I've never seen or haven't seen in a long time on sparkling new Blu-ray editions. Case in point: two I watched last night, 1951's Pool of London which included as an extra an on-camera interview with 102-year-old star Earl Cameron and 1954's An Inspector Calls which included as an extra an on-camera interview with co-star Jane Wenhem (Albert Finney's first wife and mother of his only child) who died in 2018 at the age of 90. You don't usually get extras like that with streaming services and as far as I know, you never get commentaries which are often quite informative but which should never be listened to unless you've seen the film before.

[FilmFan720]

I also still get Netflix-by-disk, and the collection is vast. I strongly suggest that. I also suggest the Watch TCM app if you have cable, or access to someone's cable log-in. It isn't permanent, but just an on Demand collection of what has been on the channel lately (now it seems to keep things on there for three weeks, which is a longer period than it used to be), so you can't really plan, but it always has dozens of Oscar nominees/winners at a time. Also, check to see if your library has either Hoopla or Kanopy. Both of them are free streaming services with a library card, and have an overwhelming amount of good stuff.

I have never streamed a free, illegal movie online and never will. I believe in paying and supporting the artists who made the work.

It is funny, Reza, but I have had the opposite reaction to the pandemic. I have found that during this shelter-in-place, I haven't cared about checking off boxes that I haven't seen as much as taking time for some revisits (which I rarely do). I have gone back and watched stuff I have seen in decades to see if it has changed, or watching some favorites with the family just to get my mind off things. We all react differently, I guess...

[mlrg]

The last time I bought a DVD was probably 8 years ago and I have around 400 discs in the shelf. Never bought a single blue ray disc. I decided to “collect” movies digitally. I have around 1500 titles in a hard disk. It saves space, and money. When I die, hopefully in many years to come, someone can place the hard drive in a small paper bag and toss it in the bin. Probably by then I will have it’s content stored in a cloud or a chip inside my head

[dws1982]

I know the concept of Netflix-on-disc is viewed as antediluvian at this point, but there are a whole lot of old movies available for rent that way. I don't expect the service to survive, given how streaming has conquered the world, but it's where you'll find a huge number of movies from earlier decades.

This is true. I watched tons of classics (both rare and well-known) through the Netflix disc service. Several years ago I moved and money was tight, so I cancelled, but it was a great service. If I didn't have access to TCM on Demand (though my parent's DirecTV service) I would definitely consider re-subscribing.

[OscarGuy]

I don't rewatch many films. Except for a small number of films, I don't enjoy rewatching movies. As to the free part, the issue I have, and always will have, is that I won't stream illegally or watch movies that have been illegally obtained.

[Reza]

So what's the deal here with you guys searching for old movies to watch by checking out paid-for-view channels?

Are you against watching almost every movie you can think off out there on free streaming links?

And buying and collecting blu-rays? How many times can you watch a movie when there are so many we have on our lists that we haven't seen nor have the time especially for us of a certain age. I stopped collecting when I discovered movies streaming for free. I would rather watch the hundreds of films out there which I have never seen instead of paying huge bucks for Ugetsu on blu-ray (or whatever film) which I have already seen before.

This pandemic has made it clear none of us has time on our hands. The little time I have I would rather check out a movie I've never seen before and for free.

I keep wondering what is going to become of my books, movies, autograph and magazine collection when I'm dead. Collecting is nice when you are young but now even the young have no guarantee for a long and healthy life.

Best to watch new stuff, and for free, is the way I've decided to go with.