Greetings!

First, I'd like to say I'm new to this web site, and this chat board, but I have found it very interesting so far.

Now, without further ado, I'd like to ask about a subject that I know, from reading the previous posts on this board back to May of 2004, has already been done to death. I'd like to apologize in advance, and ask for patience from the board's regulars, but I've just gotta ask again.

I haven't seen most of the Charlie Chan movies for probably 30 years, and I'd love to see them again. It appears that the only way to accomplish this is to purchase the movies. Naturally, I want the best quality viewing experience I can get, at a reasonable price of course, and I'd like have any fresh recommendations anyone would be willing to offer.

I know, from my research on this board, that the dennisflicks DVDs are probably the highest-quality DVDs available, but I'm just not willing to pay $10 a movie. Beyond that I know that the OldTimeRadio UK DVDs get the most, and the highest, recommendations, followed by those from The Vintage Playhouse. Still, I can't help wondering if anybody has any other opinions, or any thing else to add.

Does anyone know what the source material is for these DVDs? I gather that the dennisflicks DVDs have been copied from broadcasts on the Fox movie Channel, but I'd sure like to know where any of the other vendors have gotten their copies?

Further, I am concerned about the issue of compression. Most of the vendors seem to sell their DVDs with three Chan movies on each disk. I know that the movies are short. 75 minutes or less according to the ChanFilms web site, but still that adds up to 3 1/2 hours worth of content per DVD, and that seems like an awful lot to put on one, assumedly single sided, single layer, DVD. I have never viewed a DVD-R, or a compressed movie, although I hear that with the right software a rather high degree of compression can be achieved without significant degradation of the viewable image, but still, 3 1/2 hours on 1 disk seems like a lot. Would anybody be able to offer any perspective on this and how it affects the Chan movies?

On a related subject; I have found several vendors on eBay who are offering the Chan movies at two movies per disc. This seems much more reasonable, if they are actually using good source material and merely using a lesser compression ratio. However if they are just taking the movies that they have purchased from another vendor like OldTimeRadio UK or whoever, and then copying them two to a disc to make it seem like a better value, then that is not so good. I have written to a couple of these eBay vendors to ask about their source material, and compression ratios, but I do not get any response. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Finally, I found a company called Golden Day Films that claims they are "converting (the) films from their original film stock into DVD versions..." They are selling the 42 films for $99.99, although they too distribute three films per DVD. Has anybody ever bought from, or heard of this company? Their Web address is: www.goldendayfilms, if anybody wants to take a look.

Frankly, they sound a little too good to be true to me. I mean, where would one get the original film stock of all of these old movies? Does anybody think this is even possible?

I suppose I should just suck it up and buy the DVDs from OldTimeRadio UK and just be happy with whatever I get. Maybe I just need to hear it one more time first, but any input any of you may have to any of my questions would certainly be appreciated.

Thank you for your time, and my apologies for this overly long post.

Sincerely,

Doug D.

Well.. I have all 42 of the CC films that still exist
starring Oland,Toler, and Winters...I was fortunate
to get the majority Of mine from AMC & FOX..although
I do have all commercial copies that are availible
of both the Fox & Monogram entries...You buy off E-bay
@ your own risk....Andy @ Oldtime Im sure all will
agree is honest..You wont get burned. You want really
good crisp copies, Then buy from Dennis, he is also
very honest & known to the CC community...There are
some other folks I could recommend as well from the
CCMB...Tom Dubel , Doug Palmer , Now If you want the
absolute best copy of The Black Camel..you must seek
out "Johnny Dollar" Just my .02


cheers/mike

Hi Doug,

Anytime someone says they're transferring from "original film stock" I immediately dismiss them. More than likely they're using old 16mm prints which may or may not be in good condition. What irritates me is that they're making claims that make it seem like they're putting out commercial quality product when that simply isn't possible.

The best Chan prints out there are those which were captured digitally (ie DVD recorder) from the FMC showings. They can be replicated fairly cheaply via a PC based DVD burner. As Mike said, several folks on the Chan board have these copies at their disposal.

If you have items you can trade, my advice is to post a message on the Chan.net board stating you'd like to get some Chan DVDs and would anyone like to trade. I've done some trading with some folks and one can build up a nice collection of films (Chan or otherwise) without spending anything more than postage. Unfortunately I don't have a PC based burner otherwise I could be a more active trader.

Finally, if you want a very good quality DVD-R, then one film per DVD is much, much better than three. You can get "ok" quality with three, but the picture won't be as detailed and the quality begins to suffer if you're using a big screen TV. I will say that some of the newer Panasonic DVD burners can produce DVDs where 3 films per DVD wouldn't look as bad as it would on the older burners.


Steve

Hi Steve!

Thanks for the reply!

A couple of follow up questions if you don't mind.

Regarding the FMC showings; can I assume these would only include the Fox produced Chans, or did FMC show the Monogram ones as well?

Regarding Panasonic DVD burners; are these PC based burners? (I don't think I've ever heard of Panasonic as a Maker of PC based DVD burners.) If so, can you point me in the direction of where to find some information as to what makes them better burners?

Trading is an interesting idea, unfortunately I have nothing to trade as I am brand new to collecting the Chan films and currently own none, but thanks anyway.

I'm still hoping to hear more from others on this board, but it does seem very quiet here. Perhaps I just need to allow a little more time. Again, thanks Steve, and thanks too to Mike for his reply.

Sincerely,

Doug D.

You are correct doug in your assertion about FMC
only airing the Fox entrys, as that stands to reason.
Many of the Monograms used to show up on TNT,TBS,and
of course TCM. but since the 2003 Debaucle, where a
small minority of angry asians seemingly pulled off
the impossible and got virtually all the networks to
put a [permanant?] hiatus on airing any CC film, We
are not gonna have the option of recording fron TV.
If I were you, Id buy the Chanthology set [6 DvD]..
Then buy the bulk from Andy@OldtimeUK..You'll have all
the films to enjoy...If they're really your thing,
refine later, with higher grade copies. As to your
other Query...Sorry Im not much of an expert on DvD
recorders...yet

Hi Doug,

Panasonics are tabletop (hook to your TV) burners. They do not make PC based burners. I don't have a PC burner, but have been advised that Plextor makes a good burner.

You might try out the DVD recorder forums at www.avsforum.com for more information.

As far as trading, I didn't say it very well, but a lot of folks will trade for non Chan material if you have something they are interested in.

Steve

I'm new here too, but I couldn't help but jump in with my two cents worth. Please forgive me if I ramble on a bit.

I have been collecting Chan movies for a while now, and short of the wonderful quality of the films aired on Fox, I have been quite happy with the quality of Tory's. But like you, I kinda object to paying $10 or more for a B&W B flic even if the quality is exceptional. Still, given the abysmal quality of some others, one simply must make a choice.

An alternative certainly is to trade movies with other collectors. E.G. I just discovered Mr. Moto. I would love to swap some CC copies for Mr. Moto copies, if anyone is interested ;)

I have been making my own DVDs for a while now, and while am far from expert, I think I can offer some commentary on the topic. All DVDr's are not created equal, even using the same media, and the same source material.

wrt the issue of compression, I will first state that the quality of playback at a given compression rate is largely determined by the sampling rate of the original material, and the quality of the original encoder. Second, low action B&W films do not require nearly as many bits as modern color action flics. So three CC movies on a DVDr (about 3.5 hrs or material) does not scare me too much if I do it myself, but I do not routinely trust others to deliver at this grade.

All I can advise is to buy one and view it and see if it is acceptable. It *might* be just fine, or it might not.

I have been recording old westerns lately from the satellite for my own amusement. I find that putting four one-hour movies on a DVDr at a very low bit rate using my equipment, produces playback on my 100" projection system that is almost indistinguishable from the original airing. This is at a rate under 2 MBit/s, using B&W source material that doesn't have a huge amount of action.

On the other hand, my daughter has a standalone DVD recorder (A panasonic I think, but I'm not sure) and putting more than one such movie on a disc with it results in digital artifacts and tiling. I find it acceptable for color action movies only at the highest encoding rate it will manage, and then I notice slight artifacts on fast motion.

From this experience I would NOT buy a standalone DVD recorder. I have seen output from two of them (I have a friend who has one too, a different brand/model from my daughters) and they are both severely wanting.

One more data point, I have a cheapie Adaptec AVC-2200 encoder that I use to digitize VHS tapes. It produces output at a rate of around 5 MBit/s that is clearly inferior to my quasi-homebrew off-air system recording at <3.5 MBit/s. It's ok for making DVD copies of my VHS collection (soon to be sold as scratch tapes at the local flea market ;) but if I were recording a higher quality source, I wouldn't use it. It's acceptable, indeed better than the standalones, but far from state of the art.

So in the end it depends on just how serious you are about getting quality movies vs. how much you're willing to spend. If you routinely spend $20 for hollywood's latest action flic, then $10 for a good, clean copy of a Chan film does not sound so bad. But if you're planning on buying them in lots of 40 or so, that's still a lot of money ;)

Cheers,
Nathan