One of (few) complaints that I hear levied against streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu is that their selections are too small. I hear this most often in the context of Netflix, which is understandable considering that Netflix’s streaming library contains approximately 20,000 titles compared to the 100,000+ titles available on DVD/Blu-ray. However, as Dave Kehr points out in his recent NY Times piece, “Streaming Video’s Emerging Bounty”, there are plenty of hidden gems in those streaming libraries. What’s more, there’s a good chance that streaming services like Netflix may be the only way to see films that don’t merit a physical reissue.
…perfection is not always a virtue, and streaming, with its forgivingly low resolution, provides a perfectly acceptable showcase for movies that do not exist in the flawless prints now considered essential for DVD, and particularly Blu-ray, release. There are many movies of interest without reputations or stars big enough to justify the expense of a full-scale digital restoration, but I cling to the conviction that it’s better for films to be seen with dust spots or dubious color than not seen at all. Streaming does, or should, open a niche for films that otherwise wouldn’t be economically viable.
Netflix, for example, makes it possible to follow the late career of Mitchell Leisen, one of Paramount’s most gifted contract directors, with five otherwise unseeable films including the noirish melodrama “No Man of Her Own,” starring Barbara Stanwyck. Here too are nine films from the erratic but interesting Lewis R. Foster, three starring Ronald Reagan in his slipping-down days as a movie star: “Cavalry Charge” (a k a “The Last Outpost”), “Hong Kong” and “Tropic Zone”.
It’s particularly gratifying to see a handful of titles emerging from Republic Pictures, a very rich library that Viacom, its current owner, has allowed to fall into disuse. Famous for its Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns of the ’30s and ’40s, Republic also produced a wide range of crime films, musicals and melodramas that have been virtually invisible for decades. Just by returning a fraction of this material to the public eye Netflix would be doing a valuable service to critics and historians, as well as fans.
Kehr also links to InstantWatcher, a very powerful tool for keeping track of Netflix and Hulu’s streaming titles. I’d been using FeedFliks to keep track of upcoming streaming titles, but InstantWatcher appears to be much more in-depth with their extensive filtering capabilities. (Which, for example, allow you to easily view all HD streaming titles from Netflix.)