Santa Fe Trail 1940, Errol Flynn (1 Viewer)

[ABritch]

I would love to see Errol Flynn's "Santa Fe Trail" (1940) restored and issued on Blu-Ray, but a decent print is hard to find even on DVD. Does Mr. Harris restore obscure films such as this?

Does anyone know why this A-List film fell into Public Domain and why won't Warner Bros. get the copyright back?
Does anyone know what PD label currently is issuing the best looking print on DVD?


thank you
Anthony

 

[jra66]

It was released on Blu-ray in Germany and I purchased it. pretty cheap. I spot checked it and it isn't great, but it is better than any DVD release. By far it is the best it has ever looked.

https://www.amazon.de/Santa-Trail-G...qid=1501172488&sr=8-1&keywords=santa+fe+trail

With that being said, a restored version would be wonderful.

 

[Garysb]

Does anyone know why this A-List film fell into Public Domain and why won't Warner Bros. get the copyright back?
thank you
Anthony

I believe the old copyright law required that the copyright be renewed after 28 years. If a copyright was not renewed on time the copyright expired and then the work goes into public domain. Once a work goes into public domain it can't go back to being protected by copyright. It the case of the film, "It's a Wonderful Life" which seemed to go back to being protected, the film itself did go into public domain after 28 years which is why it was shown on every TV station during the holiday season for many years. However I think the short story it was based on, "The Greatest Gift", was still protected by copyright and any story elements used in both "The Greatest Gift" and "It's A Wonderful Life" were protected and so Paramount was able to get the public domain copies removed. As far as "Santa Fe Trail" the copyright was most likely not renewed in error by United Artist, who owned the film at the time the copyright expired. I don't know the film well enough to know if there any underlying rights that are still protected . If not, there is nothing Warner Bros. can do.

On a hopeful note Warner Bros. did release a legit DVD version of the musical 'Royal Wedding" which is also in public domain.

 

[J. Casey]

I would be surprised if WB didn't have good materials on this title, but getting them to release it would be another matter. Of course, we do have the precedents of ROYAL WEDDING and THIS IS THE ARMY (although far from pristine).

 

[ABritch]

WB through Warner Archive just released Flynn's "Silver River". I'd heard it needed restoration and that's why it wasn't in Flynn's last western film box set but it looked fine. Whatever cleanup (if any) was done they could do the same to Santa Fe Trail" and it might look light-years beyond the PD discs. Besides "Santa Fe Trail", WB only has "The Perfect Specimen" (1937) left to release of their Flynn films. Here's hoping they both end up on Warner Archive soon, My Flynn collection is almost complete

 

[Robert Harris]

I believe the old copyright law required that the copyright be renewed after 28 years. If a copyright was not renewed on time the copyright expired and then the work goes into public domain. Once a work goes into public domain it can't go back to being protected by copyright. It the case of the film, "It's a Wonderful Life" which seemed to go back to being protected, the film itself did go into public domain after 28 years which is why it was shown on every TV station during the holiday season for many years. However I think the short story it was based on, "The Greatest Gift", was still protected by copyright and any story elements used in both "The Greatest Gift" and "It's A Wonderful Life" were protected and so Paramount was able to get the public domain copies removed. As far as "Santa Fe Trail" the copyright was most likely not renewed in error by United Artist, who owned the film at the time the copyright expired. I don't know the film well enough to know if there any underlying rights that are still protected . If not, there is nothing Warner Bros. can do.

On a hopeful note Warner Bros. did release a legit DVD version of the musical 'Royal Wedding" which is also in public domain.

A tiny bit more complex.

Public Domain is not necessarily forever. Beyond underlying, which can sometimes be licensed (mx), there are also our odd American laws, which can do everything and anything our legislative bodies desire.

See Uruguay Accord, and GATT Treaty. These odd laws allowed foreign owners of films to regain copyright of works, whether originally copyrighted or not, and turn major resellers of goods -- think Barnes & Noble, Amazon, into criminal organizations, that break the copyright laws on a daily basis.

If you don't wish to support piracy, steer clear of Amazon.

Domestic productions remained unaffected.

 

[Garysb]

WB only has "The Perfect Specimen" (1937) left to release of their Flynn films. Here's hoping they both end up on Warner Archive soon, My Flynn collection is almost complete

I believe "The Perfect Specimen" has some rights problems which is why it hasn't been shown on TCM in many years or perhaps ever. It was shown on TNT prior to the existence of TCM. I had it on VHS tape recorded from TNT at one time.

 

[Spencer Draper]

Thanks for the info on the German BD. This is a Flynn title I've meant to see for ages. It was made unavailable due to rights issues as far as I knew. I've been meaning to find the only official release, but that was a Roan group LD and is usually pretty expensive and rare.

 

[ABritch]

I believe "The Perfect Specimen" has some rights problems which is why it hasn't been shown on TCM in many years or perhaps ever. It was shown on TNT prior to the existence of TCM. I had it on VHS tape recorded from TNT at one time.

Really, Warner Bros lost the rights to their film?
I don't think its ever been on video.
it has aired on TCM, here is a stream of that print; https://ok.ru/video/292727753358

IMDB doesn't indicate a rights holder for home video:

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (1937) (USA) (theatrical)
• First National Film Distributors (1937) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. First National Films (1938) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. First National Films (1938) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Associated Artists Productions (AAP) (1956) (USA) (TV)

 

[JoHud]

Really, Warner Bros lost the rights to their film?

They haven't lost all rights for the film persay, it's just that most likely the source material's owner's are blocking it from distribution, either a past agreement or WB unwilling to pay royalties, etc

Remember, if a movie is based on another work, the studio has to still be able to have permission to use that work in order to still show the movie if the work is still under copyright by a third party.

Don't expect Perfect Specimen to be released anytime soon. Santa Fe Trail has a better chance as things stand now.

 

[ABritch]

They haven't lost all rights for the film persay, it's just that most likely the source material's owner's are blocking it from distribution, either a past agreement or WB unwilling to pay royalties, etc

Remember, if a movie is based on another work, the studio has to still be able to have permission to use that work in order to still show the movie if the work is still under copyright by a third party.

Don't expect Perfect Specimen to be released anytime soon. Santa Fe Trail has a better chance as things stand now.

thank you.

I've got the TCM broadcast of "Perfect Speciman" on a dvd which will suffice for now.
i need a replacement for my "Santa Fe Trail" DVD, mine sucks - i recorded it off of TCM last week, that print looks great!

"Istanbul" is another Flynn orphan, a Universal film that hasn't been on DVD/Blu. I have a you tube download from the old VHS release.

most recent news, about a year old is that an incomplete print of "Hello God" has been found and is currently at the Eastman House awaiting restoration.

Flynn's other bit parts and cameos are available on DVD except one as noted **

It's a Great Feeling 1949 Warner Brothers
Always Together ** 1947 Warner Brothers
Thank Your Lucky Stars 1943 Warner Brothers
Don't Bet on Blondes 1935 Warner Brothers
The Case of the Curious Bride 1935 Warner Brothers
In the Wake of the Bounty 1933 Expeditionary Films/Universal Pictures / Umbrella Entertainment

his forays into Cuba are also on DVD

Cuban Story 1959 Fenix Producciones / Films Victor Pahlen
Cuban Rebel Girls 1959 Exploit Films / VCI Entertainment

Just for fun, here are Flynn's lost films (Hello God recently found):

The Story of William Tell 1954 Errol Flynn Productions / - Unfinished film, now "lost" 1-2 minutes seen in a documentary in 2004, now lost
Hello God 1951 Errol Flynn-William Marshall Productions / Cavalcade Pictures - Film negative and prints "lost" (Found 5 of 7 reels 2013, under restoration at Eastman House)
Murder at Monte Carlo 1934 Warner Brothers - First National Pictures - First lead role / British Film Film negative and prints "lost"
I Adore You 1933 Warner Brothers - First National Pictures - Bit part, extra / British Film Film negative and prints "lost"

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Thanks for the info on the German BD. This is a Flynn title I've meant to see for ages. It was made unavailable due to rights issues as far as I knew. I've been meaning to find the only official release, but that was a Roan group LD and is usually pretty expensive and rare.

The Roan version of Santa Fe Trail is available on DVD at Deep Discount for $6.29. I've seen some posts on various message boards saying that the Roan DVD is out of print, but Deep Discount lists it as in stock. I haven't seen the Roan DVD but as I recall the Road laserdisc was pretty good.

 

[Robin9]

I would be surprised if WB didn't have good materials on this title, but getting them to release it would be another matter. Of course, we do have the precedents of ROYAL WEDDING and THIS IS THE ARMY (although far from pristine).

Warners also released proper DVDs of Till The Clouds Roll By and The Last Time I Saw Paris even though there were already several other DVDs in circulation. Sadly, they have not released The Flame And The Flesh which I, as a Lana Turner fan, want badly.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Roan version of Santa Fe Trail is available on DVD at Deep Discount for $6.29. I've seen some posts on various message boards saying that the Roan DVD is out of print, but Deep Discount lists it as in stock. I haven't seen the Roan DVD but as I recall the Road laserdisc was pretty good.

I have that Roan DVD and I just sampled it again this morning. It's not very good.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

I have that Roan DVD and I just sampled it again this morning. It's not very good.

I suppose that the LD isn't very good either, by today's standards. It's probably been close to 20 years since I watched it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I suppose that the LD isn't very good either, by today's standards. It's probably been close to 20 years since I watched it.

The 2012 Intergroove Blu-ray release is an improvement over the DVD. It isn't up to normal blu-ray standards, but it is an improvement over the Roan DVD.