This new Olive Films release was dropped through the mail slot today, for which I count myself a fortunate man. (Though I would count myself as still more fortunate if Olive would kindly upgrade VW's screeners to Blu-ray.) I watched two of the cartoons while eating a late breakfast; they were both restored from UM&M TV Corp. fine grains or negatives, so the source materials date back only to 1955. The surreal "Chess Nuts" (1932) looks like a fine grain, nice but not too substantial an improvement over what we have seen before; but the hilarious "Betty Boop, M.D." (also '32), with its uproarious closing poke at Fredric March's Mr. Hyde, looks a good deal more detailed and suggests negative sourcing.
I am annoyed, as I imagine many other collectors are or will be, that Olive Films appears to have been guided in compiling the
Boops by which titles are
not in the public domain. As a result, these sets are pitched to casual fans rather than being given the deluxe box set, complete-and-in-chronological-order treatment. (IndieWire's Jerry Beck has pointed out that only one title in this set, "Betty Boop's Rise To Fame" (1934), is in the public domain. There are a dozen cartoons in this set, ranging from 1932 to 1937, and a second "Essential Collection" has been announced for September.
BETTY BOOK THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION VOLUME 1 streets August 20. $24.95 DVD, $29.95 BD.
