Blu-Ray News #347: The Abbott & Costello Show, Season One (1952).

Bob Furmanek of The 3-D Film Archive has announced their most ambitious and labor-intensive effort yet — working with TCA Television Corp. and the Lou Costello Estate to restore and preserve The Abbott & Costello Show from its original 35mm camera negatives! This mammoth project is being propelled by a Kickstarter campaign. Click the title card above to participate.

What we see today comes from standard-definition transfers done back in the 80s, that have been “sharpened” and monkeyed with over the years for DVD release. (My old 16mm prints were better-looking!)

For this new release, the 26 Season One episodes will be scanned from 35mm master elements in 4K resolution — and each episode will be digitally cleaned, frame by frame.

These shows are terrific — it’s still considered one of the greatest TV shows ever, and I’m so stoked The 3-D Film Archive is giving them the four-star treatment they did for Africa Screams (1949) and Jack And The Beanstalk (1952). Can’t wait to see Stinky, Mike The Cop and Hillary Brooke in all their 4K glory. Essential.

Let’s Help Bob With Bud And Lou And Jack!

Robert Furmanek restored one of Abbott & Costello’s funniest films, Africa Screams (1949), for its stunning Blu-Ray release, and he and his are are back with Jack And The Beanstalk (1952).

Working with the only surviving 35mm color camera negative footage, this should be incredible. As before, there will a Kickstarter campaign to help cover the restoration costs — and to let you help make it happen. More details to come!

Blu-Ray Review: Africa Screams (1949).

Directed by Charles Barton
Original Story and Screenplay by Earl Baldwin
Music by Walter Schumann
Cinematography: Charles Van Enger
Film Editor: Frank Gross
Music by Walter Schumann

Cast: Bud Abbott (Buzz Johnson), Lou Costello (Stanley Livington), Clyde Beatty (himself), Frank Buck (himself), Max Baer (Grappler McCoy), Buddy Baer (Boots Wilson), Hillary Brooke (Diana Emerson), Shemp Howard (Gunner), Joe Besser (Harry), Burton Wenland (Bobo), Charles Gemora (The Ape)

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Back in December, we were given the opportunity to help The 3-D Film Archive restore Africa Screams (1949) for Blu-Ray. If you were one of those that did, you’re probably feeling pretty good about yourself right now. And you should, because the results of that Kickstarter campaign, and the painstaking work it funded, are really something to see.

The new Africa Screams Blu-Ray, available from ClassicFlix, shows what a little money — coupled with a whole lot of love, dedication and technical knowhow — can accomplish. One of Abbott & Costello’s funnier movies, an independent production, Africa Screams has been rescued from the PD slag heap and allowed to shine every bit as bright as its richer cousins from Universal. And that’s quite a feat indeed.

Robert Furmanek of The 3-D Film Archive is the author (with Ron Palumbo) of one of my all-time favorite film books, Abbott & Costello In Hollywood. This is not Bob’s first time working with this movie — he put together a terrific, extras-packed laserdisc back in the pre-HD late 80s. (That’s it on the left.) My love of Africa Screams came from watching that disc many, many times. For Blu-Ray, Bob had to start all over. The 35mm camera negative and a fine grain positive, both on nitrate stock, were scanned in 4K, and those scans were given a painstaking clean-up. The results are staggering at times.

Africa Screams (1949) was an independent production from Nassour Studios. It offered a chance for more dough for Bud & Lou, so they were pretty stoked for this one. The team was riding high — they’d just done Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), both one of their best pictures and one of their biggest hits.

Charles Barton, who directed A&C Meet Frankenstein, was hired on, along with Charles Van Enger, who shot it, and Frank Gross, who cut it. Bud & Lou also brought in friends like Hillary Brooke, Shemp Howard, Joe Besser and Max and Buddy Baer. So they both stacked the deck and made sure they’d have a good time doing it.

Africa Screams is a spoof of jungle pictures, complete with appearances by Clyde Beatty and Frank Buck. Costello works in the adventure books section of a department store (he even wears a safari outfit). He and Abbott end up joining an expedition to search for a giant ape. It’s really a bunch of crooks after a secret diamond mine. A map to the mine was printed in an old book, which Costello claims to remember. They end up not only battling the bad guys, but being captured by cannibals and coming face to face with Charles Gemora in one of his great gorilla costumes.

The picture has plenty of opportunities for Costello’s classic scared routine (the gorilla, a crocodile, etc.) and Abbott’s abuse of his chubby friend. Shemp Howard is terrific as a near-sighted big game hunter and Hillary Brooke is as perfect as she ever is when dealing with Bud & Lou. Of course, it’s all very silly — and at times, extremely funny. 

Now back to the Blu-Ray. Black and white movies really benefit from high definition, and Africa Screams is a sterling example. The sharpness, the deep, rich shadows and the expanded contrast levels help create a sense of depth that can be really effective at times. You see it in film noir quite a bit, and in this picture, it makes the scenes shot on the jungle set really come alive (though you never, ever think it’s an actual jungle). This restoration was probably an uphill battle, but you’d never know if from looking at the results. Every frame is perfection.

It’s loaded with special features, too — trailers, outtakes, stills, a TV appearance, some old interviews, a 3-D comic book (with glasses even!) and a wonderful commentary from Ron Palumbo, Furmanek’s co-author on Abbott & Costello In Hollywood.

Africa Screams is one of Abbott & Costello’s best pictures (I’d put it at #2). This is certainly the best presentation any of their films has received on Blu-Ray — and if you’ve seen the Shout Factory box, you know just how high the bar is. Highly, highly recommend.

Blu-Ray News #152: Five Steps To Danger (1957).

Directed by Henry S. Kesler
Starring Ruth Roman, Sterling Hayden, Werner Klemperer, Richard Gaines, Charles Davis, Jeanne Cooper

I can’t get enough of Sterling Hayden — I’d watch a film of him brushing his teeth. Five Steps To Danger (1957), a cool Cold War espionage story, has been a hard one to track down over the years. All that’s about to change with a new 4K restoration and Blu-Ray from ClassicFlix. Judging from their previous releases, we can count on it looking like a million bucks.

So far, the only release date from ClassicFlix is early 2018. Man, I’m really looking forward to this one.

Blu-Ray News #149: Crime Of Passion (1957).

Directed by Gerd Oswald
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano

ClassicFlix has Gerd Oswald’s Crime Of Passion (1957) on the way, both Blu-Ray and DVD. This was an early direction gig for Oswald, but he did some great stuff right out of the gate, such as A Kiss Before Dying (1956) and Fury At Showdown (1957, a personal favorite). He had a real knack for getting the most out of a tiny budget and tinier schedule — and the results are always stylish. This made him perfect for later TV work like The Outer Limits and Star Trek.

Of course, with a cast like this one — Stanwyck, Hayden, Burr, etc., how could he miss? Crime Of Passion was dismissed as just another B noir back in the day, and it certainly deserves the reappraisal it’s received over the years. It’ll be great to have it spiffed up on Blu-Ray, where Joseph LaShelle’s camerawork can really shine. Highly recommended.

Blu-Ray News #144: T-Men (1947).

Directed by Anthony Mann
Starring Dennis O’Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart, Charles McGraw, Frank Ferguson

I’m so glad Classicflix is spiffing up Anthony Mann’s T-Men (1947) for Blu-Ray. It’s one of the most visually striking pictures of the 40s, thanks to the great John Alton. I can’t wait to see his shadows in high definition.

Dennis O’Keefe and Alfred Ryder are treasury agents trying to bust up a counterfeit ring, and they end up trying to infiltrate the Detroit mob. Mann gets things to a full boil almost immediately, and we spend the rest of the hour and a half wondering when it’s all gonna blow apart — and how little of the cast will still be alive.

Anthony Mann: “This is what I really call my first film. I was responsible for its story, for its structure, its characters and for actually making it.  This was my first real break towards being able to make films the way I wanted.”

Mann and Alton’s use of LA and Detroit locations and their overall documentary-style treatment really add to the realism and tension of the whole thing. Oh, and did I mention it’s got Charles McGraw, Wallace Ford and Frank Ferguson in it? This movie’s absolutely essential.

Blu-Ray News #136: The Noose Hangs High (1948).

Directed by Charles Barton
Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol, Cathy Downs, Mike Mazurki, Fritz Feld

I’ve always felt that The Noose Hangs High (1948) was one of Abbott & Costello’s funniest movies. The team was on a real roll at this time — this one came out a couple months before the immortal Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Africa Screams (1949) would soon follow.

The Noose Hangs High is coming to Blu-Ray from ClassicFlix. It was their first independent production, and when on their own, they tended to just write a picture around their old tried-and-true  routines. Maybe that’s why they tend to be some of their best films. This one contains “Mudder And Fodder,” which alone is worth the price of the Blu-Ray. High recommended.

Blu-Ray Review: The Killer Is Loose (1956).

Directed by Budd Boetticher
Screenplay by Harold Medford
From a story by John Hawkins and Ward Hawkins
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Music by Lionel Newman
Film Editor: George Gittens

Cast: Joseph Cotten (Det. Sam Wagner), Rhonda Fleming (Lila Wagner), Wendell Corey (Leon Poole), Alan Hale (Denny), Michael Pate (Det. Chris Gillespie), John Larch (Otto Flanders), Dee J. Thompson (Grace Flanders)

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To me, there’s nothing more satisfying than a little movie that pays off big. And Budd Boetticher’s The Killer Is Loose (1956) is that in spades.

Detective Joseph Cotton accidentally shoots Wendell Corey’s wife while arresting him for bank robbery. On his way to prison, Corey swears he’ll get his revenge. And when he escapes, his only thought is to put Cotton through the same pain he suffered: the loss of his wife.

Where do you begin with this thing? From Lucien Ballard’s cinematography to Budd Boetticher’s crisp direction to the editing by George Gittens to the terrific cast, this movie knocks everything out of the park. Wendell Corey was never better than he is here as the milquetoast banker turned robber and murderer. You somehow feel sorry for him, even as you wish they’d hurry up and blow him away. Rhonda Fleming is quite good as Cotton’s wife, Corey’s target. It’s a part that’s pretty unlikable — she hates her husband being a cop, forcing Cotton to not only search for Corey, but conceal the fact that Fleming is who he’s after. Then there’s the great use of LA locations and the decision to set some of the film’s tensest scenes in the most mundane of places (kitchens, suburban neighborhoods, lettuce fields, etc.).

1956 was a great year for movies, and many of the folks behind The Killer Is Loose were on a roll. Boetticher was about to begin his superb Ranown Cycle with Randolph Scott — Seven Men From Now would arrive in a few short months. Rhonda Fleming’s next picture was Allan Dwan’s Slightly Scarlet (1956). And Lucien Ballard would continue working with Boetticher on the Ranown pictures and shoot The Killing (1956) for Stanley Kubrick.

Ballard (beside camera with scarf) and Boetticher (in front of Ballard) shooting on an LA bus.

Ballard’s camerawork not only sets this movie apart, it allows the new Blu-Ray from ClassicFlix to really shine. This is exactly how a black and white film should look in high definition. Film grain is present throughout, in a good way. Contrast levels are near-perfect, the blacks are very true and the proper 1.85 aspect ratio is preserved (the full-frame DVD looks awful clunky in comparison). And the lossless audio is rock solid.

The Killer Is Loose is a picture I’ve been lifting up for years, and this Blu-Ray is just as easy to recommend. Trust me, you need this.