Universal Legacy Collection

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intothenitrate
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Universal Legacy Collection

Post by intothenitrate »

I was pretty excited when the Universal Legacy Collection came out. They are beautifully packaged DVD sets--organized "by monster"--and include the original Dracula/Frankenstein/Mummy etc. along with the sequels, commentaries and well-made extras.

I bought the Frankenstein collection a while back. It's two discs. Disc one is single-sided and disc two is double-sided. Side two of disc two didn't play on my Panasonic player. I searched around on the internet and found some comments by fans who had a similar problem. True, House of Frankenstein isn't exactly the best of the series, but it still bugged me that it didn't play.

So several weeks ago, I went to the NBC Universal website and used the Contact Us link to post my grievance and ask for satisfaction. It was somewhat of a lark and I didn't really expect that they would do anything for me. But guess what? Customer service at Universal sent me an email that included an email link to the manufacturer who mastered the discs. [Gaffe-off? Dead end?] I repeated my story in an email to the manufacturer. They wrote back promptly and said that they would be sending me a claim form and a postage-paid envelope to mail back the defective disc, which I did. [There was no mention of a sales receipt, which I probably didn't have anyway.]

Yesterday when I got home from work, there was a brand new, shrink-wrapped, complete set waiting for me. Disc two, side two worked flawlessly, and I enjoyed House of Frankenstein and a couple of documentaries before going to bed.

I just wanted to give credit where credit was due.
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moira finnie
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Re: Universal Legacy Collection

Post by moira finnie »

True, House of Frankenstein isn't exactly the best of the series, but it still bugged me that it didn't play.
That's great, 'nitrate and it's good to read about a corporate entity that isn't run by unresponsive dolts.

One quibble: House of Frankenstein is great, foolish fun. I love J. Carrol Naish's hunchbacked Daniel, who keeps hoping that Dr. Niemann (Boris Karloff) will finally get around to getting him a new body. The weakest link in this monstrous outing: John Carradine's anemic Dracula (he really did need some red corpuscles). :wink:
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intothenitrate
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Re: Universal Legacy Collection

Post by intothenitrate »

Quibble accepted. The pathos of "Friend Daniel" was a little heavy handed, but not too bad. Karloff as Dr. Niemann really "brings it," but he always does. And I couldn't believe they could kill off Sig Rumannn in the first reel. That's pretty bold.
"Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day."
Goodnight Basington
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moira finnie
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Re: Universal Legacy Collection

Post by moira finnie »

How do you feel about Son of Frankenstein (1939-Rowland Lee) with Basil Rathbone, Basil and Bela? It may be my favorite sequel. I also love the mammoth set design.
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Re: Universal Legacy Collection

Post by klondike »

moirafinnie wrote: I also love the mammoth set design.
And that's a lot to love - those props are nearly cyclopean - sort of Gothic with a proto-Soviet twist!
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