TCM and Universal team up to offer classic movies on DVD

October 29, 1:45 AMNY Classic Movies ExaminerCliff Aliperti

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Great news, Classic Movie fans, TCM is teaming up with Universal to give us access to more classic gems!

From the Turner Classic Movies press release:

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE) have entered into an extensive new partnership to offer classic movie fans rare vintage films, all digitally remastered, on DVD on a made-to-order basis. The TCM Vault Collection Presented by Universal marks USHE’s first foray into the manufactured-on-demand (MOD) arena. TCM began offering MOD featuring lost titles from the RKO library.

Announced so far:

Universal Cult Horror Collection (films also available as singles )
The 5 titles in this set are "Murders in the Zoo" (1933), "Mad Doctor of Market Street" (1942), "The Strange Case of Dr. Rx (1942), "The Mad Ghoul" (1943), and House of Horrors (1946).

DVD releases October 31; TCM runs "Murders in the Zoo" that same date

"Remember the Night" (1940)
DVD available November 22; TCM airs "Remember the Night" December 6 and 24

Cary Grant Collection (films also available as singles)
3 titles: "The Eagle and the Hawk" (1933), "The Devil and the Deep" (1932), "The Last Outpost" (1935)
DVD releases January 2010

The complete horror set is being released with a suggested retail price of $49.99. All single titles appear to be available at $19.99, though no prices were given as of yet on the Cary Grant titles or set.

The press release also gives us a glimpse at the future:

Future Universal collections and titles for rollout on DVD and TCM include vintage films from Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, Deanna Durbin, director Douglas Sirk and many more.

Commentary: Between this announcement and the rolling out of the Warner Archives releases 2009 is really shaping up to be an important year for fans of classic films. While I see no mention of digital downloads for these TCM/Universal releases (an option available for many of the Warner Archives releases), what we are clearly looking at here is the future for our movie collections, and that future is bright.

Some may scoff at the prices, after all, no mention of extras and so I expect these TCM/Universal releases to be as bare bones cut and dry as the Warner Archives titles are, however now is the time for all of us--the classic movie fans who have been screaming for some of these titles for years--to put our money where our mouths are.

Any effort at releasing these long out of print and often never in print titles deserves our attention. While we happily pay $10-$15 for mainstream titles chock full of extras, isn't it worth it to pay out an extra $5-$10 to have an opportunity to grab something which may never have been available before?

I believe what we've seen this year is a really great sign of a bright future for classic films in terms of availability going forward. This despite any failure of mainstream DVD releases.

Enjoy the movies!