WELL BOYS AND GIRLS, IN DECEMBER 2002 I LOCATED A COPY OF THE VHS FORMAT MOVIE:
"THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY"
IT IS AVAILABLE ON VHS ONLY, WAITING TIME FROM ORDER TO DELIVERY CAN BE 3-4 WEEKS AND I ORDERED MINE ON DECEMBER 22, 2002 AND IT ARRIVED IN 48 HOURS.

THE MOVIE IS A BIT GRAINEY, DARK IN A COUPLE OF SCENES, ESPECIALLY AT THE END, BUT VOICE AND SCRIPT ARE PERFECT.

I HAD THOUGHT OF MAKING A CHARGE PAYABLE BY CASHIER'S CHECK FOR THIS SERVICE, BUT THEN NOBODY CHARGED ME, JUST A LOT OF ELBOW GREASE LOCATING THE MOVIE.

WHEN ORDERING THE MOVIE, THEY'LL SAY IT CAN BE 3-4 WEEKS, BUT SOMETIMES YOU GET LUCKY, AND LIKE ME IT WAS 48 HOURS LATER IT CAME IN THE MAIL.

for further information, please contact:

PLEASE CONTACT RICHARD D. OSTROW
c/o
M25WhiteFeather@aol.com

Did you buy it from e-bay? If so, you more than likely have a pirated version. Although there are other companies pirating what's not legally theirs to sell or distribute. The movie " The High And The Mighty" along with "Island in the Sky" are in legal dispute over distribution rights, between the studios and Batjac productions (Dukes own company)!
So buyer beware! If you buy these, expect poor quality at best. And wait until there released from whoever wins the legal battle. At least then the money is going to the rightful distributor. And you'll have a higher quality video or DVD to watch.

Ethan

There are good legal copies of "The High and the Mighty" out there. Most will come from video rental store that either go out of buisness, or oldstock sold off.
The last time this movie was aired on cable was on HBO in the mid eighties. It was presented in its' full widescreen version, including intermission. I had it recorded on VHS until 4 years later my VCR ate it for a late night snack (this is why I enjoy DVDs).
The way that the companies are cranking out John Wayne films ( as of now there have been about 12 released in 2003 so far and selling very well I hear!) I should expect "THATM" will surley be released on DVD format within the near future. I would just sit back and wait for it release! On some other message boards, there are a LOT of people who want this movie, it would be insane not to release it soon.

I recieved "The High & The Mighty" from a person who knew that I had never seen before. It is a copy that was recorded a long time ago, and rerecorded several times. It is good enough to enjoy, but the quality is fair to say the best. However, I enjoyed getting to see this movie since I wasn't born when this movie was released, and too young for the re-releases.

Anyway, I am not sure where you got your information, but this movie and "Island in the Sky" are tied up in court between Warner Brothers Studios, and Batjac (John Wayne company) productions over years of dispute due to ownership rights. There has been no ruling in this case at this time that I know of, so I am curious as to your source of knowing any kind of release of "THATM" on DVD.

Also curious of what you know about the legal copies of this movie.

Hondo ;)

Greetings Hondo!


First, I would like to say that my information of the release of "TH&TM" is not based on any studio press release. I am only saying that with the release of a major portion of John Wayne movies on DVD, it is in my opinion only that I feel that this movie will be eventually released within a couple of years. Over half of John Waynes movies have been released on DVD already, and more are being announced. Batjac may own the rights to this movie, but with out Warner to put the money into cleaning it up, putting it in DVD format, and shipping it to the public, Batjac won't make a penny on it as Batjac doesn't have these type of resourses.


As far as Island In The Sky, I have read that the real problem with this movie is that the studios can't find a decent clean copy of the film that can be used for restoration to DVD. Most copies are pretty worn out, torn, or far to damaged for any type of use.

As far as legal copies of "The High and the Mighty", what I know is, that in '79 or '80, when VHS movies cost about $50 to $75 dollars each, my father bought one because he enjoyed watching John Wayne and my father was a commercial airline pilot. I was 22 or 23 at the time so my memory is clear about the event. There were about five other copies of the movie on the shelf. Those tapes are not as good as the quality of todays VHS tapes, but they would be better than nothing. I often check at Movies Unlimited.com once a month as they deal with rare hard to find movies and I hope that a copy will show up eventually. Thus I do know copies are out there its just a matter of finding one.



B) Baron von Rassilon

Greetings to you Baron,

Thank you for the information. I was not aware that copies of "The High And The Mighty" was released on video. I was aware that VHS made a debut back around 1980, but it was too new, expensive, and most of us didn't have a machine. Of course, schools had them for years previous, because I recall seeing one for the first time around 1974. Enough of the history.

I didn't get interested in collecting John Wayne movies until 1990, and started out in the JW collection with TimeLife Videos, and then I went out getting all I could find. I have been searching for "THATM" with no success. When I made the transition into DVD just before Christmas 1997, I have 71 of his VHS movies. I am now collecting DVD's and have about 21 Duke movies.

I have been in contact with Batjac Productions about the movie, but no release date has been made on either VHS or DVD. They informed me that it has never been released, but either they were not completely honest or didn't know for sure of the early release. That lead me to believe that the copies out were pirated.

I have been keeping up with the information from them for about 10 years now, so when you said something to the effect, I thought you knew something about "THATM". I also heard that Michael Wayne had the original negative of "Island in the Sky" and it is in excellent shape, but due to copyright conflicts, was not releasing that movie until Batjac wins the dispute from Warner (Island in the Sky was released through Warner). So there is a conflict with what we've heard about that movie. You might be right about Warner having the equipment that Batjac doesn't have, which might explain why some of the other productions they have exclusive rights to are not out right now. (McLintock, Hondo, etc.)

I am truely excited about the new releases of Duke coming this year, and look forward to purchasing them for my collection. My goal is to get all his movies from 1939 until 1976 (Stagecoach - The Shooist). Then I will go to his "B" movies.

Baron, thanks for some of the insight. I have been educated with some things I didn't know before. I will check into the "Island in the Sky" and see what I can find out about that story. It's been a while since I enquired about it.

Hope your day is great.

:rolleyes: Hondo Duke Lane

I have purchased three tapes/DVD's of The High and The Mighty in the past few months.

The first was purchased on EBAY. The picture quality was poor. I sent it back to the seller and they sent me a DVD but the picture was still poor.

The second tape was from a web site that finds hard to find videos. Again the picture was only fair at best.

The third tape came from a person that sent me an email and said he had a copy of it with the best picture quality he has seen. I would rate it as good. Full screen instead of letterboxed but OK to watch.

B) Greetings one and all!

Thanks Hondo for the info on "Island in the Sky". I surley hope that they will come to end of their dispute.
Yes, VHS were expensive in the early 80's, my RCA cost me about $1,000 and it loaded the tapes in the top.

I started my John Wayne collection 5 years ago. The only movie other than that of his I had was "TH&TM" from a recording from HBO years ago. It was crystal clear and top quallity veiwing. I have a friend with a copy she made before mine was shown on HBO (she got hers from WGN station) and it has commercials in it, as well as being of poor quality(before digital) Man I wish I had mine, for I could put it on DVD-R and keep a great copy of it. :angry: Anyway my current collection status is DVD: 37 With[U]VHS[U] either recorded or bought: 31 movies. I have a website that I can keep track of his movies that are released on VHS or DVD format, I may post it here for all to view so they can keep check.
PS Hondo, McLintok has been released on DVD, both on Goodtimes @ 122 minutes (the one I own) and Delta @ 127 minutes.

I would like to see Hondo released in its true movie form, 3-D on one side of the DVD and non 3-D on the flip side. Wouldn't that be killer? I know they can reissue movies in their original 3-D form on DVD.

Please keep us posted with updates with Bajac. I am looking for a website that you can start a petition email. We'll start one for The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky, what do you think??

:o Cinerama, I too found "TH&TM" on DVD at eBay and other websites. I believe they will be bootlege only. Unless you really want the movie and want to put up with poor quality, I'd just wait.

Hondo! If you have an email address for Batjac or Warner, please let me know. I am getting a ipetition together for people to sign. It might not do much good, but atleast they will be aware of people who want this movie released for its 50th anniversary. I need any links you might have. Once I have it ready, I'll let you have the URL to post or send to other John Wayne website to post. I would like your input on this if I may.

B) "ave a day!

Baron,

Let me get back with you on your request for an e-mail address to Batjac. I'm out of town, due to a family member's illness, and not at my computer to get the address. It will be a few days before I can get back to it.

I wanted to tell you briefly about Goodtimes Video. They illegally made these movies (McLintock, Hondo) without authorization, and are being sued. If you've seen the quality of these movies, you'd see how bad they are. Batjac was going to release those two together back in 1999, but changed their minds and haven't announced anything since. Can't wait until Batjac gets their act together and send out their products. Just have to wait for Michael Wayne or his death so his family will do something. He's closing in on 70 in the next three years. Can't believe that.

Cheers,
Hondo

Yeah I heard about the Goodtimes VS Batjac. Here is a link to the ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

If you know legal jargon, have at it. :rolleyes: Batjac vs Goodtimes Video (http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1998/0responses/98-1426.resp.html) I came across this while trying to find somethingon the despute between Batjac & Warner. What do you think?

Baron,

I am no lawyer, but this lawsuit has been going on for many years with no solution. I know that Michael Wayne has no intention of releasing any of the movies that are distributed by Batjac Productions without distribution rights of full ownership, ever. Warner Brothers has concluded that they are the proper owners to the movie rights, and that is where we stand. I forgot how long this has been going on, but it has been at least 20 years.

As for Batjac vs. Goodtimes Video. Goodtimes had gotton a hold of some bad copies of some of Duke's movies and distributed to the public without permission. The quality is very poor, but good enough to sell at a cheap price to unsuspecting consumers who are John Wayne fans, and want his movies for their collection. About 10 years ago, a VHS copy of "McLintock" was produced from Goodtimes the same time Batjac put theirs out. I unsuspectivly saw both copies, and inquried about the quality of the two, the salesman told me that Batjac was the original copy of "McLintock" and the better of the two. I purchased that copy.

So, this has been going on for a while as well. I am not sure what the hold ups are about, but it seems that no one is in any hurry for a solution. Michael Wayne (eldest son of Duke) has reported that he will soon destory the negatives as to let anyone take it from the John Wayne Estate. If he does what he says, then he would destory a great culture and loose a quality of filmology of Duke. It all comes down to money, and that really bothers me. But what's new? So, that is all I know at this time.

I've seen the lawsuit, and don't fully understand it. I'm suprised that this isn't an open and shut case, but again, I don't know anything about copyright law.

Sincerely
Hondo

Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty are the two most wanted John Wayne movies, I remember watching them both when I was little....I wish AMC or TNT would broadcast either of them.

Brian
Tulalip Wa

Ever since JW's death back in 79 when Michael took over Wayne Enterprises, there was the quest of fans urging him to release Island, McLintock, Hondo and High&Mighty - to no result. There were petitions sent to Batjac before, signed by many fans.
Only when a bootleg company released a short version of McLintock, Michael was quick to release his own "Producer's Cut" with all scenes intact.
There was talk around the beginning of the 90s to release High&Mighty on Laserdisc, and Michael was quite enthusiastic about the wide screen in an interview - yet I myself have never seen it released on LD.
Then in 92, he released Hondo with a mighty campaign - he said he only waited till the technique was ripe to show it in 3D on Television. The result was quite stunning! I still have my glasses.
But as far as High&Mighty and Island go, there are no "official" releases. Batjac owns the rights, and Michael was always quoted to "wait for the right moment" to release them. There are bootleg copies out there, of course - if you must have them and if you are willing to pay the price. The quality isn't good, of course - but then, who wants to wait another 10 years to see them!

itdo,

Thanks for the recent history of the four movies. I, of course, have the producer's cut of McLintock! on VHS, and Hondo, which I was stunned at the story line. Didn't see it in the 3-D format, and the VHS release is not in 3-D. I do know that Michael Wayne and Warner were fighting for the rights of THATM and Island, but no answer yet. Earlier this year, Michael Wayne passed away, and Melinda Wayne, Michael's sister has taken the reins of John Wayne Enterprises which includes Batjac Productions.

:unsure:

Someone posted recently that the later two are in a production lab being set up for DVD format. Or that's what they said on the board. I haven't been able to verify anything about that, but keeping a close eye on it. I want to be the first wave to get my copy of the two.

<_<

Also, a video vender has stated to me that Batjac Productions is finalizing the production of their legal copy of McLintock! I haven't been able to verify that information, either. :ph34r:

:huh: I was just wondering if Melinda is trying to get these movies out to the general public before the year is out or sometime next year? ;)

:) You seem to have an ear on these things, and I am of course like many, many others are looking forward to the DVD releases of these 4 highly demanded movies.

The High And The Mighty
Island in the Sky
Hondo
McLintock!

Just looking forward to getting these for the collection. I do have a bootleg copy of THATM, and liked it alot. I have yet to see Island. Keep us posted. I know you are in Switzerland, but I bet you have US connections.

Did you know that The Treasure of Sierra Madre announced release yesterday for September 30, 2003. Just another classic coming to DVD?


Cheer, Hondo B)

Hondo,
I just returned from the store about 30 minutes ago. I just bought a four pack DVD set for 14.99.

The Star Packer/Hurricane Express
The John Wayne Story: The Early Years
The John Wayne Story: The Later Years
McLintock!

McLintock is already out on DVD.

Monique ;)

Monique,

You are right that the DVD box set has a copy of McLintock! This is a version that is produced by Goodtimes, and it is unauthorized from the John Wayne estate. If you see this version, you will get a bad copy of this movie. It will be grainy, and unfocused. JW Enterprises has a lawsuit against Goodtimes production. Sorry that this is a bad copy for you, Monique.

My advise is to not buy anything from Goodtimes video. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Cheers, Hondo B)

Hondo :huh:

Well it might be a goodtimes DVD :( But it is really clear :huh:

But thanks for the information <_< I'll get another proper copy when I find one :rolleyes:

I love the information one can find out here :rolleyes:

Monique ;)

Hi guys
Some four five years ago shortly after Hondo came out on video I bought McLintock on video issued by the Video Collection. The picture was perfect. A couple of weeks ago I bought a McLintock DVD issued by RSS pictures quality is poor but the DVD was bought four less than four pounds.
With regard to Island in the Sky I write to a friend in Canada and he put me on to an acquaintance who when I contacted him sent me gratis seventeen video films of Duke Wayne. Among other these included Hangman's House, Men Without Women, Salute, (films which never see the light of day in England and which I had given up all hope of ever seeing) The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky. Of the latter am just old enough to remember going to see tham at the age of nine and eleven. The quality of the THATM is poor and barely watchable but the Island in the Sky, considering my copy is a copy from a copy, is quite watchable. I belong to the John Wayne Film Society in England and recently they have issued Idol of the Crowds, Rookie of the Year, Conflict, The Sea Spoilers and The Colter Craven Story which I have ordered but not yet received. They have also recently issued the theme music from Red River on CD Marco Polo 8.225217 by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Choir accompanied by a 31 page booklet. A web site is also advertised on www.naxos.com
Arthur Arnell