# What are among the biggest-name movies unavailable on DVD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061 "2006-04-24T22:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/1 "2006-04-24T22:35:08Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=368781). I am not a deep DVD aficionado, so I am curious: what are among the most renowned and eagerly-awaited movies that have yet to be released on DVD? I’d have though virtually any major studio release of the last 30-40 years would be available on DVD, but I learned in the thread linked above that _Yentl_ was not available on DVD. I was kind of surprised by that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/2 "2006-04-25T01:27:16Z")
For reasons I can’t fathom: **Hamlet** , Kenneth Branagh version. It’s been ten years, but it still isn’t out on DVD nor does there seem to be any soild plan to release it in the near future (a post at IMDB claims that the studio said it might not be released until 2008 now). ---
**Author:** ![Berserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Berserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berserker)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/3 "2006-04-25T01:47:01Z")
The African Queen ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/4 "2006-04-25T02:28:47Z")
Song of the South ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/5 "2006-04-25T02:34:52Z")
Does Star Wars count? ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/6 "2006-04-25T05:03:59Z")
**El Cid (1961)** **The Interns (1962)** **The V.I.P.s (1963)** **Move Over, Darling (1963)** **The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)** **The Sandpiper (1965)** **Grand Prix (1966)** **Willard (1971)** All among the top ten grossing films of their year. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/7 "2006-04-25T05:55:00Z")
The following are not available on DVD in North America: • _The Big Parade_ (1925), one of the top-grossing movies of the silent era • _Wings_ (1927), winner of the first Academy Award for Best Picture • _The Wedding March_ (1928), directed by Eric von Stroheim • _Mädchen in Uniform_ (1931), early lesbian classic • _She Done Him Wrong_ (1933), starring Mae West and Cary Grant • _Zero for Conduct_ (1933), French classic about rebellious school boys • _Naughty Marietta_ (1935), Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy • _The Crime of Monsieur Lange_ (1936), directed by Jean Renoir • _Dancing Pirate_ (1936), the second full-color feature • _Partie de campagne_ (A Day in the Country) (1936), directed by Jean Renoir • _Show Boat_ (1936), directed by James Whale • _Angel_ (1937), starring Marlene Dietrich, directed by Ernst Lubitsch • _Make Way for Tomorrow_ (1937), directed by Leo McCarey • _The Prisoner of Zenda_ (1937), starring Ronald Colman • _Tevya_ (1939), Yiddish-American production, based on same stories as _Fiddler on the Roof_ • _Knute Rockne All American_ (1940), “Win one for the Gipper” • _Swiss Family Robinson_ (1940), Disney bought it and suppressed it when they did their own version in 1960 • _They Knew What They Wanted_ (1940), starring Carole Lombard and Charles Laughton, from Sidney Howard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. • _Hellzapoppin_ (1941), movie version of famously anarchic Broadway show • _Tobacco Road_ (1941), directed by John Ford, from Erskine Caldwell’s best seller • _A Canterbury Tale_ (1944), directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger • _Winged Victory_ (1944), directed by George Cukor, written by Moss Hart • _Song of the South_ (1946), Disney • _The Fallen Idol_ (1948), directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene • _Letter from an Unknown Woman_ (1948), directed by Max Ophüls • _Jour de fête_ (1949), starring Jacques Tati • _Los Olvidados_ (1950), directed by Luis Buñuel • _La Ronde_ (1950), directed by Max Ophüls • _Ace in the Hole_ (1951), starring Kirk Douglas, directed by Billy Wilder • _Death of a Salesman_ (1951), playwright Arthur Miller didn’t like Fredric March’s performance, and he controlled the non-theatrical rights • _Miracle in Milan_ (1951), magic realism in an urban slum; one of my personal favorites, directed by Vittorio De Sica • _El_ (1953), directed by Luis Buñuel • _The Living Desert_ (1953), Oscar-winning documentary • _The Earrings of Madame de . . ._ (1953), directed by Max Ophüls • _The Naked Spur_ (1953), starring James Stewart, directed by Anthony Mann • _Voyage in Italy_ (1954), directed by Roberto Rossellini • _Princess Yang Kwei-fei_ (1955), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • _Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?_ (1957), starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall • _The Lovers_ (1958), starring Jeanne Moreau, directed by Louis Malle • _Brink of Life_ (1958), directed by Ingmar Bergman • _Porgy and Bess_ (1959), the Gershwin estate now controls the rights, and they don’t like the movie version • _House of Usher_ (1960), starring Vincent Price, directed by Roger Corman • _Wild River_ (1960), starring Montgomery Clift, directed by Elia Kazan ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/8 "2006-04-25T06:23:12Z")
• _General della Rovere_ (1959), directed by Roberto Rossellini • _When a Woman Ascends the Stairs_ (1960), directed by Mikio Naruse • _Shoot the Piano Player_ (1960), directed by François Truffaut • _Last Year at Marienbad_ (1961)_, directed by Alain Resnais • El Cid (1961)_, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, directed by Anthony Mann • _Whistle Down the Wind_ (1961), children find a vagrant in a barn and think he is Jesus; directed by Bryan Forbes • _La Jetée_ (1962)\*, avant-garde, post-apocalyptic science fiction • _Dog Star Man_ (1962-1963), avant-garde classic, directed by Stan Brakhage • _Autumn Afternoon_ (1962), directed by Yasujiro Ozu • _America, America_ (1963), directed by Elia Kazan • _Charulata_ (1964), directed by Satyajit Ray • _The Red Desert_ (1964), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni • _Goldfinger_ (1964), the third James Bond movie • _Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors_ (1964), directed by Sergei Parajanov • _Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!_ (1965), cult classic, and John Waters’ favorite movie • _Pierrot le fou_ (1965), directed by Jean-Luc Godard • _Simon of the Desert_ (1965), directed by Luis Buñuel • _The War Game_ (1965), British docudrama about a nuclear war - Available on DVD in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/9 "2006-04-25T07:36:52Z")
_Hercules Returns_ isn’t out on DVD as far as I know, nor is _Zulu Dawn_- at least, not in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/10 "2006-04-25T07:41:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > • _Goldfinger_ (1964), the third James Bond movie Really? I’m sitting here holding a legitimate, retail DVD of _Goldfinger_ as I type this. ALL the James Bond movies (including _Never Say Never Again_ are on DVD in Australia… I find it hard to believe that _Goldfinger_ is available in Australia, but not in the US… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/11 "2006-04-25T07:53:04Z")
None of the first five James Bond movies are available on DVD in the U.S., although they are available in Canada, and can be easily bought online as imports. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/12 "2006-04-25T10:38:34Z")
**A Canterbury Tale** (1944) is available on DVD this side of the Pond. Can’t say the same about \*\*The Warlord \*\* (1965), though. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/13 "2006-04-25T14:28:23Z")
Some of these _were_ on DVD but went out of print. I’m glad I bought a copy of **Last Year at Marienbad** - strange that would be deleted. The Bond films were on American DVDs once. I believe Disney’s **Jungle Book (1967)** is currently out of print, another top ten blockbuster. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/14 "2006-04-25T14:38:16Z")
These things go in and out of print. I have several of the Bond DVDs, but just _try_ getting them in the stores now. **taras Bulba** is in the same boat – it came out a while back on DVD, but isn’t currently “in print” ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/15 "2006-04-25T14:43:07Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > None of the first five James Bond movies are available on DVD in the U.S., although they are available in Canada, and can be easily bought online as imports. All of the James Bond DVDs have been released in the USA, not once, but twice. The first series were bare-bones “flippers”, with (non-anamorphic) widescreen on one side, fullscreen on the other. The second series were Special Editions with commentaries, documentaries, the works. The Bond DVDs went out of print a long time ago, and are currently out of print due to Sony’s purchase of MGM. This affected many DVD release schedules, including _Erik the Viking_ (I assume) – but, considering the vast profitability of the James Bond series, you can GUARANTEE that they will eventually see the light of day again, probably as 2-disc Mega-Super-Duper Editions, once all the red tape is sorted out. There might be other legal issues I’m not aware of, but James Bond is way too much of a money-making franchise for any company to let fall by the wayside. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/16 "2006-04-25T14:46:40Z")
> [@Ellis Aponte Jr.](#): > > I believe Disney’s **Jungle Book (1967)** is currently out of print, another top ten blockbuster. Heh. Disney. Disney’s got a habit of releasing their A-list animated films on a seven-year schedule. This goes back to the VHS days when they would release a title (Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, etc.) accompanied by a HUGE marketing campaign, and make sure everyone knows that it’s for a “limited time only”. And, that’s no lie. After a year, the VHS/DVD goes on moratorium, returns to the vault, and gathers dust for another 7 years while prices soar on eBay and bootlegs abound. It’s a crappy way of doing business (or ingenious, depending on your perspective) but, at least, you can rest assured that ANY major Disney film WILL see a Super Duper Golden Piss In Your Pants Edition if you wait long enough. Except Song of the South, of course. But that’s a different story… ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/17 "2006-04-25T14:51:10Z")
**Walloon** … I appreciate yor effort, but those movies are the kind I’d have expected not to be out on DVD because of their age. I had put the “past 30-40” years disclaimer in the OP, but didn’t call enough attention to it. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/18 "2006-04-25T16:13:55Z")
The fall of the House of Usher is available on Amazon, and you get Pit & Pendulum with it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/19 "2006-04-25T16:57:10Z")
Three years ago I went looking for Scarface for my son. It seems it was releasedin a rather crappy version and is no longer distributed. I thought they were planning an anniversary edition but I haven’t seen it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061/20 "2006-04-25T18:41:44Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I had put the “past 30-40” years disclaimer in the OP, but didn’t call enough attention to it. • _Mouchette_ (1967), directed by Robert Bresson, recently named by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 movies of all time • _The Fixer_ (1968), starring Alan Bates • _If…_ (1968), directed by Lindsay Anderson • _Memories of Underdevelopment_ (1968) • _Rachel, Rachel_ (1968), starring Joanne Woodward, directed by Paul Newman • _Pretty Poison_ (1968), one of Gene Siskel’s Top 10 of the year • _Arthur Rubinstein — The Love of Life_ (1969), Oscar-winning documentary • _Anne of the Thousand Days_ (1969), nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor • _Downhill Racer_ (1969), starring Robert Redford, directed by Michael Ritchie • _The Learning Tree_ (1969), autobiographical story written and directed by the late Gordon Parks, the first feature by a black director to be released by a major studio • _Oh! What a Lovely War_ (1969), another pick by Gene Siskel for the Top 10 of the year • _The Conformist_ (1970), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci • _Hospital_ (1970), documentary by Frederick Wiseman, won three Emmys • _King: A Filmed Record_ (1970), Oscar-nominated documentary • _Husbands_ (1970), written and directed by John Cassavetes • _Performance_ (1970), starring James Fox and Mick Jagger, co-directed by Nicholas Roeg • _Tristana_ (1970), directed by Luis Buñuel • _The Clowns_ (1970), directed by Federico Fellini • _The Devils_ (1971), sexual hysteria in a medieval convent, directed by Ken Russell • _Harold and Maude_ (1971), black comedy, cult classic • _Mary, Queen of Scots_ (1971), starring Vanessa Redgrave • _The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe_ (1972) • _The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid_ (1972), directed by Phil Kaufman • _Day for Night_ (1973), directed by François Truffaut, won three Oscars • _O Lucky Man!_ (1973), directed by Lindsay Anderson • _Thieves Like Us_ (1974), directed by Robert Altman • _Give 'em Hell, Harry!_ (1975), one-man show starring James Whitmore as Harry Truman • _1900_ (1976), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci • _Providence_ (1977), directed by Alain Resnais • _Berlin Alexanderplatz_ (1980), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder • _Mon oncle d’Amérique_ (1980)_, directed by Alain Resnais • Prince of the City (1981), directed by Sidney Lumet • Reds (1981), directed by and starring Warren Beatty • Blade Runner (1982)_, directed by Ridley Scott • _The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time_ (1982), documentary • _El Norte_ (1983) • _Stranger Than Paradise_ (1984), directed by Jim Jarmusch • _The Last Emperor_ (1987)_, multiple Oscar-winner, including Best Picture • Throw Momma from the Train (1987)_ • _Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown_ (1988)_, directed by Pedro Almodóvar • The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) • Henry V (1989)_, starring Kenneth Branagh • _Beauty and the Beast_ (1991), Disney • _The Double Life of Veronique_ (1991) • _The Player_ (1992)_, directed by Robert Altman • Hard Boiled (1992)_, cult classic, directed by John Woo • _Schindler’s List_ (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg • _Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould_ (1993)_, which if nothing else inspired an episode of The Simpsons • Ulysses’ Gaze (1995)_, recently picked by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 movies of all time • _Lolita_ (1997)_, directed by Adrian Lyne from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov • Topsy-Turvy (1999)_, directed by Michael Leigh • _Talk to Her_ (2002)\*, directed by Pedro Almodóvar - Available on DVD in Canada. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-among-the-biggest-name-movies-unavailable-on-dvd/354061.md?page=2)