The saga of the Black Knight DVD. 

The Black Knight Alan Ladd's Biggest adventure.

Due to its Stonehenge connection, this movie has been on my watch list for a while now. When I saw one pop up on ebay I decided to get a copy for my collection. I had intended on referencing the Stonehenge connection (and movie set) used in this film as part of a future mutterings on the subject.

Alas the copy I purchased turned out to be just that a copy and I found myself back in the market for an original/commercial copy.

I provide here a record of what I have received, and my exploits in attempting to get a legitimate copy for my collection. I use these pictures and scans as examples for what to look for in identifying bootleg DVD's such as this one appears to be.

As it turns out the film "Black Knight 1954" is part of the TCM holdings and has NOT been made available on DVD yet. I say YET because I casted the 100th vote on their website today to have it released on DVD asap, hopefully a few more people will vote and it gets published.

TCM #27873 Black Knight 1954

What I did find on the TCM website, much to my enjoyment was the Stonehenge clip, along with several other notable clips, were free to watch on the TCM website.

I will update this mutterings with what I expect to be a favorable response from ebay and paypal when all is sorted out. I was not shocked to see that the DVD and Movies category was not provided as a choice on their dispute form. "Other tangible item" looked like the best choice.
Using Google I found The Black Knight 1954 Alan Ladd - For Sale $9.95 (#14829279) Listed: 10-21-06 by moviestation45 a Member of iOffer.com since: May 28, 2004 as a Rare Movie Store. When I checked last, there were 5 copies available. It looks like this bootleg has been floating around for several years due to the fact that all the copies listed there have the same watermark on the cover as the one I purchased on ebay. I wonder how many of these were distributed? It may become a collectable someday :-)
I am reasonably sure that current sellers of this DVD are not the pirate here, that took place long ago, and had TCM ever released this film on DVD, it would most likely to have received the original I had hoped it to be.
I am happy to say, a refund was handled promptly via paypal. As far as eBay is concerned, you can count one more happy camper here.

VSO-Software generated Copy on screen with the Box it came in.
VSO-Software generated Copy on screen with the Box it came in.

Origional poster at www.moviegoods.com Used without permission as the Jacket cover for this DVD, complete with it's original watermark and all.
Origional poster at www.moviegoods.com Used without permission as the Jacket cover for this DVD, complete with it's original watermark and all.

A Faint Watermark from www.moviegoods.com who's advertisement for the movie poster was lifted and used as the cover art.
A Faint Watermark from www.moviegoods.com who's advertisement for the movie poster was lifted and used as the cover art.

Holding a Laser Printed Label to the light reveals the recognizable surface created by the fused toner, as opposed to the look of ink-jet or offset printing.
Holding a Laser Printed Label to the light reveals the recognizable surface created by the fused toner, as opposed to the look of ink-jet or offset printing.

No label or markings on the disk of any kind indicate the transfer of nothing but bits.
No label or markings on the disk of any kind indicate the transfer of nothing but bits.

A quick glance at the working side, proved it to be a Burned DVD-R not production DVD.
A quick glance at the working side, proved it to be a Burned DVD-R not production DVD.

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