Over the last 12 years, Warner Home Video has released about 1,200 vintage films from its vast library on DVD. But that still leaves about 3,800 feature titles that have yet to make their digital debuts. At the studio's current release rate of 100 per year, they wouldn't all be available until midcentury.
So in an industry first, the company today is, in a manner of speaking, inviting the public into the vaults to order what it wants. And like the neighborhood pizzeria, it won't make it till you order it.
Among the titles available are several early Clark Gable films, including "Possessed" and "Men in White"; "Love," Greta Garbo's silent version of "Anna Karenina"; "This Woman Is Dangerous," with Joan Crawford; "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," with Raymond Massey; and "Wisdom," with Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore.
The only catch: Not everything in the vault is on the menu yet.
The consumer who visits
www.warnerarchive.com initially will find 150 classic titles from Warner Bros. Pictures, MGM and RKO that each can be ordered either as a computer download ($14.95) or as a DVD ($19.95) that arrives in the mailbox approximately five days after purchase.
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But now there is a system that permits manufacturing on demand -- not only creating the DVD but also placing it into a hard plastic case featuring custom art, wrapping it and shipping it.
"We can make two DVDs or we can make 2,000 [of a title]," says Feltenstein. (Sorry, Blu-ray fans: It doesn't work for you.)
What the DVDs don't come with are any extras -- no commentary tracks, no deleted scenes, no "making-of" features. You get the film and, if it's available, the original trailer.
As for picture quality, the website allows customers to preview each title to see how it looks.
"We have digital masters of all of these films that have been created by the company as part of preservation and restoration [of films]," Feltenstein says. "Some of them are in better condition than others. Most of them are pretty good. All of the films will be released in their original aspect radio."
Warner Home Video will continue to release titles from its library in the traditional manner -- including some of those being offered now in the manufacture-on-demand series. This simply speeds up their availability for fans who don't want to wait any longer.
