A little more transparency, please

Last night I watched a great classic film that I had DVR'd from Turner Classic Movies -- "Four's a Crowd" (1938), starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, and Patric Knowles, directed by Michael Curtiz. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with a cast like that?

TCM's weekend daytime host, Ben Mankiewicz, introduced the picture and noted that DVDs can be ordered through Warner Archive, a new service that allows customers to purchase one-off copies of movies that are considered to be too "small" to warrant full DVD release. Warner Archive is a terrific idea for people like me who love old movies. After all, TCM is the only reason that I still subscribe to cable; otherwise, it's 400 channels and nothing to watch. (For more background on Warner Archive from the other PoleStar Partners blog, click here.)

So why am I complaining? It's not a big deal, but I would have been much happier if Mr. Mankiewicz had just added a throw-away phrase like "from our sister company." Many people know that Turner Classic Movies and Warner Brothers are both owned by Time Warner, but there are also a lot who don't know that, and -- you know me -- I believe in full disclosure.

Would I not buy the "Four's a Crowd" DVD from Warner Archive if I knew that it was a sister company to TCM? No, it would still be on my wish list. But if I came across that information after the fact, I would have a "what else aren't they telling me?" moment.

And I hate those. Don't you?