Archive for June 2017
How Not to Repair a DVD
Posted on: June 27, 2017
Option 1: Use Scotch tape, scratch remover and melt with a blow torch.
Option 2: Contact us and we’ll send a speedy replacement.
A customer tried Option 1 and sent us the following unedited message:
“hi, could you please refund me on the dvd disc. I played this dvd disc on my dvd player, and it did NOT work. I took it out and found huge scratches and huge cracks in the disc. I repaired the huge scratches with scratch remover, and I repaired the huge cr acks with scotch tape. I then put it back in the dvd player to see if it would play better, but it would NOT play better AT ALL. the lasers inside the dvd player would NOT even recognize the dvd disc AT ALL. it was too IMPOSSIBLE to even be recognizable AT ALL. my other dvd discs work perfectly normal and great on my dvd player, and my dvd player still works perfectly normal and great as well. it’s just that the dvd disc would NOT even play well AT ALL. my other ones did. I just about tried everything I could even do to repair this dvd disc, but NONE of the ideas worked AT ALL. it was just too IMPOSSIBLE to even be recognizable, and there was absolutely NOTHING else I could even do about it AT ALL. I tried to send the dvd disc back to you, but when I was down in my basement welding something together, I had it with me, and when it fell out of my pocket, i accidentally melted the whole entire item with a blow torch. the whole entire item completely melted down into tiny little specs, and there is absolutely NOTHING left of this item WHATSOEVER. i have absolutely NO replacement for this item WHATSOEVER. so please refund me. i need my money back. thank you.”
You couldn’t make this up! Of course, we promptly returned his money along with an apology for his inconvenience.
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Who needs a real pirate ship?!
What’s more fun to watch than a B-movie produced by Robert L. Lippert? A double-feature produced by TWO Robert L. Lippert’s (Sr. and Jr.), both featuring B-movie stalwart Robert Clarke, one filmed in AnscoColor with Lon Chaney, Jr. as a priest, and with a script by Star Trek producer Fred Freiberger. Oh, and a rowboat for a “ship”! With a lineup like that, who needs Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, or even a real pirate ship?
I’d about given up hope of finding color film elements on “The Black Pirates” (Lippert/1954) until a few years ago when my friend, producer Sam Sherman, revealed he had been storing the original negative for decades under the Spanish release title, “El Pirata Negro.” It came into Sam’s possession this way: In the mid 1940s, Robert L. Lippert and William Pizor formed Screen Guild Productions, which later became Lippert Pictures. Pizor was in charge of international sales. (Pizor founded two low budget studios)
In 1954, Lippert acquired distribution rights for seven years to “The Black Pirates,” which was co-produced by Robert L. Lippert, Jr. and Mexican producer, Ollalo Rubio, under the banner of Salvador Films Corp. For some unknown reason “The Black Pirates” negative ended up in Pizor’s film vault.
Pizor’s son, Irwin, also a producer, took over the vault after the elder Pizor died in 1959, and Sam Sherman maintains it to this day.
Sam gave me the negative. Thank you, Sam!
But, there were problems: the AnscoColor negative had excellent color, but odd looking streaks in some of the reels. Poor lab work? (It was done in Mexico) Improperly stored? For sure. Lippert Jr. told me the negative had been stored under hot and humid conditions in El Salvador where the film was mostly shot. Since I don’t like releasing movies with blemishes, the DVD release was tabled until hopefully a good print or some other usable element could be found.
Then, in 2016, another old friend, Wade Williams, gave me an original 35mm color print, and it had those same blemishes! Conclusion: The movie must have been shown in theatres with the same imperfections I’d rejected for a DVD release. Tiffany Clayton* has done the digital restoration work on the majority of my movies and she tasked with fixing this one, and the resulting image is probably better than when it looked in theatres.
One other thing, only the Spanish main and end titles survived, so we used them. No big deal.
The difficulties I had in locating good film materials is nothing to what Lippert, Jr. endured while producing the movie. He told me the movie was “shit.” The experience, yes, the movie – not nearly so bad. Find out exactly what he had to say about making the movie in a reenacted interview as part of the DVD special features.
SWASHBUCKLER DOUBLE-FEATURE from The Sprocket Vault
“The Black Pirates” (1954)
Cast: Anthony Dexter, Robert Clarke, Martha Roth, Lon Chaney, Jr., Toni Gerry, Víctor Manuel Mendoza
Location filming in El Salvador highlights this hot blooded tale of pirates landing in a Latin American town in search of buried treasure, and learning that a church was built over the spot. A pirate chief enslaves the townspeople and forces them to dig for it–but more twists lie ahead. Script by Star Trek producer Fred Freiberger.
74 min | Color | 1.87:1/widescreen | NR
“Tales of Robin Hood” (1952)
Cast: Robert Clarke, Mary Hatcher, Paul Cavanagh, Wade Crosby, Whit Bissell, Ben Welden, Robert Bice
In 12th-century Nottinghamshire, ruthless tax collectors oppress the simple folk. Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of Sherwood Forest, a new hero is born: Robin Hood a sharp-witted swashbuckler joined by his Merry Men steals from the rich and gives to the poor–AND, on his own, romances the lovely Maid Marian. Some scenes were filmed on the set of “Joan of Arc” (1950). Originally produced as a TV pilot, but released theatrically.
1952 | 60 min | B&W | 1.37:1 |NR
Bonus Features:
Interviews with Robert L. Lippert, Jr. and Robert Clarke by Tom Weaver (reenactments)
Original trailer to “The Black Pirates”
Order DVD on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZFBT15
Keep up to date with our new Sprocket Vault releases by liking us on Facebook www.facebook.com/sprocketvault/
Visit our site regularly and sign up for our email list.
Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel:
*You can find more restoration work by Tiffany Clayton on her LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyclayton/
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