By : Chris Tribbey | Posted: 10 Aug 2009
ctribbey@questex.com
Blu-ray Disc fans will have a reason to give a damn Nov. 17, when Warner Home Video pulls one of the all-time greats out of the vault for high-def.
For its 70th anniversary, Gone With the Wind will be available as a limited and numbered Ultimate Collector’s Edition, with both Blu-ray ($84.99) and DVD ($69.92) offerings. The two-disc Blu-ray and five-disc DVD collections, housed in velvet boxes, come with three new documentaries:
• 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year, a Turner Classic Movies documentary that aired in July, looks at the other great films from that year, including The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
• Gone With the Wind: The Legend Lives On takes a look back at the legacy of the film with interviews, archival footage, and visits to historical sites and museums.
• Moviola: The Scarlett O’Hara Wars, a 1980 TV special that’s never made it to home video.
The collector’s editions include a 40-page hardcover book, a reproduction of the 1939 original film program, a CD soundtrack sampler, and eight 5×7-inch art prints. The film is split across the first two discs on the DVDs to accommodate the 220 minute-plus movie running time, with optional commentaries by historian Rudy Behlmer. There is not split of the movie on Blu-ray.
An exclusive planned for the Blu-ray release is a separate DVD of MGM: When the Lion Roars documentary.
“As we’ve done with our spectacular new Wizard of Oz, this new GWTW Blu-ray continues to maximize what the format can do,” said Jeff Baker, EVP and GM for Warner Home Video theatrical catalog. The Blu-ray edition comes with restored and remastered picture.
“It’s six times higher resolution than standard DVD and the most pristine audio available today,” Baker said. “Viewing GWTW on Blu-ray is seeing it again for the first time.”
Bonuses for the collector’s editions include the 1989 The Making of a Legend TV documentary (which the studio also is breaking out as a separate title on its own at $14.97); newsreels about the film’s premiere and the 1961 Atlanta Civil War Centennial; a 1940 MGM short called “The Old South”; foreign-language sample scenes; an “About the Cast” featurette with Olivia Mary de Havilland, the last surviving member from the principal cast; a documentary covering all the main and supporting stars; and trailers.
A bare-bones two-DVD set for $24.98 also will be available. All versions will include an offer for a limited edition copy of the original movie poster.
On Nov. 13-14, Warner and Turner Classic Movies will support an anniversary celebration of the film in Marietta, Ga., home to the Gone With the Wind Museum: Scarlett on the Square, opened there in 2003. The weekend will include a screening of the film, a red carpet event, vintage 1930s cars and a costume ball.
Warner will market the releases heavily with national TV spots on Hallmark, TBS, TNT, AMC, Food Network and high-def channels. Print holiday guides will heavily feature the releases (prebook Oct. 13) and online campaigns will hit IMDb, EW, People and iVillage.
This morning I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sally Tippett Rains, a St. Louis based writer, to discuss her new book. She’s a delightful person! She even gave me a sneak peek at her upcoming book: The Making of a Masterpiece: The True Story of Margaret Mitchell’s Classic Novel ‘Gone with the Wind’. The soft cover book covers the topic of Gone with the Wind–the book, film, and legend. The book, published by Global Book Publishers in Beverly Hills, California (www.bookpubintl.com), is 371 pages long and due out in November, making its debut at the Marietta event. This book contains new, never-told interviews and information about the phenomenon that is Gone with the Wind! For more information about Mrs. Rains, please visit her website at http://www.writeasrains.net/
