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The Case of the Sure Thing - 'Racket Squad' (1950) Life of Riley - Pilot (1948)
Cool and Lam (1958) Count the Man Down - pilot 'Nero Wolfe' (1959)
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This is a special series of lost classic
programs from the Golden Age of TV. The series has been
restored by SabuCat Productions from the best archival
film elements available in high definition, some of the
programs have not been seen since they were originally
broadcast. Volume Two features 4 half-hour lost pilots. *** Volume Two – Rare ‘Pilots’ with four episodes on Blu-ray. “The Case of the Sure Thing” stars Reed Hadley, Louise Currie and Milburn Stone and introduced the series “Racket Squad,” which lasted for three seasons and was nominated for two Primetime Emmys. The program reportedly may have inspired parts of the Hollywood hit The Sting. First broadcast on CBS June 7, 1951, the pilot contains original network commercials as originally broadcast. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, “Cool and Lam” stars Billy Pearson, Benay Venuta, Alison Hayes and Sheila Bromley in a light-hearted, detective yarn featuring characters first created by Erle Stanley Gardner. Bertha Cool runs a detective agency and Donald Lam is her junior partner, hence “Cool and Lam.” “The Life of Riley” features Lon Chaney Jr., Rosemary DeCamp and John Brown. It stars Chaney as Chester Riley and was produced in 1948, but by the time the first season went into full production in 1949, Chaney had been replaced by Jackie Gleason. “Nero Wolfe” stars Kurt Kasznar, William Shatner and Alexander Scourby in another one-off production based on characters created by Rex Stout. Also included on the disc is a bonus CBS blooper reel hosted by James Arness. |
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Review:
VCI - Region FREE - Blu-ray| Box Cover |
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Coming to the UK, on Blu-ray, from VCI, in March, 2020:
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| Distribution |
VCI |
| Runtime |
0:30:20.318 x 4 |
| Video |
Disc Size: 23,339,948,642 bytes Example Episode Size: 5,672,491,008 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.99 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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Bitrate:
VCI Blu-ray
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| Audio |
LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
| Subtitles | English (SDH), None |
| Features |
Release
Information: Studio: VCI
Disc Size: 23,339,948,642 bytes Example Episode Size: 5,672,491,008 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.99 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
Chapters: 6 X 4 |
| Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. VCI are distributing Television's Lost Classics Volume Two on Blu-ray - restored via SabuCat Productions. We have reviewed Volume One HERE.
There are 4
X 1/2 hour-long episodes - and while some appear to be
live - The Life of Riley starts with this
forward: "Presenting an experiment in transcribing a
television show on 35 mm film in an effort to arrive at
a method to eliminate the risks of acting errors and
production failures that have been and will continue to
be a serious problem in 'live" presentations. The
producer wishes to thank Eilmtone, Inc., for its
resourcefulness in the physical production, which was
achieved in tremendous haste, and which augurs even more
finished quality in future production, when the proper
amount of time can be devoted to the task of raising the
standards of television. - Irving Brecher ". These
are far from the height of the format but look superior
to, the often warped, kinescope (as seen in
Volume One)
but belie the source limitations. The live
advertisements are humorous - extolling the value of
Philip Morris cigarettes or Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The
visuals have imperfections including scratches and
speckles but are certainly very watchable. This is a
single-layered
Blu-ray
disc with a supportive bitrate. Despite the marginal quality it was great to just see these - with notably having the Cool and Lam episode directed by Jacques Tourneur and introduced by Erle Stanley Gardner of Perry Mason fame. Also to see a young William Shatner pre-Star Trek fame. Fans of vintage entertainment will probably get some enjoyment out of this Blu-ray series. I did.- Gary Tooze |
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
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The Case of the Sure Thing - 'Racket Squad' (1950)
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'Live' Advertisements - beginning, during and ending the feature
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Life of Riley - Pilot (1948)
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Cool and Lam (1958)
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'Live' Advertisements / Intros - beginning, during and ending the feature
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Count the Man Down - pilot 'Nero Wolfe' (1959)
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| Box Cover |
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Coming to the UK, on Blu-ray, from VCI, in March, 2020:
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| Distribution |
VCI |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
