Noble House

[Lauryn]

This will sound off topic at first, but I recently bought a cheap copy of "Live Wire" on DVD, and after slow forwarding through certain scenes which are part of every Pierce Brosnan fan's advanced education, I was skimming through the rest when I couldn't remember the model of Mercedes Danny O'Neill was driving (and camping out in, etc.) It looks like the, ubiquitous in the 80's, 380SL. Always liked the styling, though, esp. striking in the convertible, but I digress.

Anyway, to get to Hong Kong and the Taipan from here, I was searching google for Mercedes models and came across a blog by a chap who styles himself "Ian Dunross" and there are some lovely photos housed there of Pierce, Deborah Raffin, and Ben Masters at the Edinburgh "Star Ferry" Pier in HK. Sadly, the historic pier has been recently closed, and is scheduled for demolition.

hk.myblog.yahoo.com/w126s/article?mid=164&prev=172&next=136

[Ace]

Not off topic at all -- what a great find with the photos! I really really wish they'd get on re-mastering Noble House (ditto Manions) for DVD but they've taken so long I'm despairing it will ever happen.

but I recently bought a cheap copy of "Live Wire" on DVD, and after slow forwarding through certain scenes which are part of every Pierce Brosnan fan's advanced education,

And bwahahahahahhahahah!!! There's a car in that movie? Who knew?

Ace

[Lauryn]

admin said:

Not off topic at all -- what a great find with the photos! I really really wish they'd get on re-mastering Noble House (ditto Manions) for DVD but they've taken so long I'm despairing it will ever happen.

All the more desirable because, for "Noble House" in particular, the video / sound quality of all the VHS versions, whether multiple or single tape, goes from bad to almost unwatchable.

but I recently bought a cheap copy of "Live Wire" on DVD, and after slow forwarding through certain scenes which are part of every Pierce Brosnan fan's advanced education,

And bwahahahahahhahahah!!! There's a car in that movie? Who new?

Don't slight it. I've had some of my best Pierce Brosnan / Danny O'Neill fantasies in that car. Exceptionally good handling and no bombs involved, though underwear was indeed optional.

[lotsofluck]

I have signed up on Amazon.com for a notice when Noble House becomes available on DVD. It seems like a couple years ago that I signed up for it. Also it looks like it will be a region 2.


Although I also searched for Manions on Amazon it seems they don't even offer the option to receive notification when it becomes avaliable. Anyone have any ideas about letting the owners know there is interest in this being made avaliable on DVD. Kate Mulgrew fans might also be interested in this, if we could maybe petition the owner like we did for Remingon Steele.

I have both these on VHS but the tapes are becoming seriously worn out.

[susan]

I don't know- maybe I didn't get that right- but I have a Noble House DVD (actually it's two) and it's region 2.

[Ace]

Noble House has been released on Region 4 in Australia (with some really dodgy artwork) and made it's way to part of Europe (though I don't think sold at major online places like Amazon) . But it's not actually remastered -- though it's better than the VHS tapes. I think it's tapes recorded onto DVD and not using digital masters let alone remastered prints.

Supposedly Noble House like another Clavell/NBC mini-series -- Shogun -- was poorly maintained and pretty damaged. So it took years to remaster the Shogun print. I don't even know if they're working on the NH one.

As for Manions, I've never read any plans to release it on DVD -- which is a shame and doesn't make much sense considering it's two leads. Now to do work on Manions might really be a chore since the print was rather dark and sometimes muddy to begin with but if it's a choice between OK and getting it or waiting til it's pristine and never getting it, I choose the OK.

Ace

[loogthan]

I'm curious about the Noble House DVDs available from Australia. My DVD player is for Region 1 DVDs. Is there a way to unlock the DVD region restrictions to play other regions?

[Ace]

It depends on your player. There are hacks for many players available but some are unchangeable.

www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

There's also the option of playing them on your computer or making copies of the disc on your computer if you have a DVD-RW that are region free and then playing those on your DVD player.

Ace

[sparklingblue]

loogthan said:

I'm curious about the Noble House DVDs available from Australia. My DVD player is for Region 1 DVDs. Is there a way to unlock the DVD region restrictions to play other regions?

Can you ask the store you bought it to "hack" it for you? They are probably better at this than the average user (no offence). The guy at my store did it for me and now my player plays any region.

[loogthan]

I have one more question to ask. If the Noble House DVD is Region 0 but in PAL format, it is still not playable on my Region 1 DVD player?

[Ace]

Most newer DVD players will play PAL as will most newer TVs (newer as in the last few years) . I'd check model numbers of both via a google search to make sure though.

Ace

[sparklingblue]

loogthan said:

I have one more question to ask. If the Noble House DVD is Region 0 but in PAL format, it is still not playable on my Region 1 DVD player?

My TV and DVD player are both PAL, being models sold in Europe. But they play US DVDs in NTSC format. So hopefully this means it works the other way round as well.

[loogthan]

If anyone is interested, there are DVDs of Noble House from Australia available on ebay, listed as Region 0 in the PAL format. I just purchased one and hope that it will play on my DVD player.

[Ace]

Yes, that's the only DVD or sale. It claims it's not really DVD quality but rather master VHS quality on DVD. But still it's much better than the tapes.

And because you mentioned the Ian and Kasey scenes in the 80's days topic -- voila.

www.mediafire.com/?d413yzwfvmb

It's 27mb and 5 min of their scenes together.

[Ace]

Ellen's Pierce Brosnan Online has up the 1988 TV Guide cover story on Noble House along with some great TV Guide ad scans I haven't seen since 1988.

[johnnytodd]

Ah Noble House - the series I love most just after Remington Steele.
I remember watching it on TV on Christmas when it first aired...I instantly got hooked...

The reason why I like this series is Pierce Brosnan ahem I mean the atmosphere created which represents a lot of Hong Kong during the British era: the Western world, represented by the wealthy trading companies and tough business and the Eastern world, represented by superstitious? beliefs and a pragmatic (or in our eyes frustrating) way to deal with problems (believe me, I know what I am talking about, dealing with China on a business level every day).

I am glad that they put in on DVD, even if the quality is not the best, but better than nothing in my opinion

[Lauryn]

johnnytodd said:

Ah Noble House - the series I love most just after Remington Steele.
I remember watching it on TV on Christmas when it first aired...I instantly got hooked...

The reason why I like this series is Pierce Brosnan ahem I mean the atmosphere created which represents a lot of Hong Kong during the British era: the Western world, represented by the wealthy trading companies and tough business and the Eastern world, represented by superstitious? beliefs and a pragmatic (or in our eyes frustrating) way to deal with problems (believe me, I know what I am talking about, dealing with China on a business level every day).

It would be fascinating if you could tell of some of your experiences with China and how they relate -- You could call it "Everything I Need To Know About Business I Learned From Noble House." <wink>

Until trade with the West began to expand so massively in recent years, we were taught in America to think of China as this monolithic Communist society. Though Hong Kong plays by rules of its own, one of the lessons of "Noble House," it seemed to me at the time, was that the Chinese were quite as interested in money as Westerners were.

Oh, and welcome to the board. I love your user name. I like to think that PB still wishes, at times, he was Johnny Todd. After all, he does watch "Little Britain" on the telly!

[johnnytodd]

"Everything I Need To Know About Business I Learned From Noble House."

I am sorry for my late reply, but this topic required a lengthy and thorough re-watch of Noble House in order to get this right…

(Please bear in mind that the following observations are solely based on my own humble opinion and experiences )


Quote: Ian Dunross: “When you are in China it’s always best to act like the Chinese”

That’s the most important rule. When in China, do as the Chinese do. Though you’ll never really blend in, Chinese appreciate it when you’re trying to live according to their habits. Just don’t be insulted when they laugh about you when you have managed again to pronounce a Chinese word all wrong or if you do anything else which strikes you as perfectly normal, but strikes them as very strange. Smile and don’t lose your face.


Quote: Ian Dunross: “Old friends should assist old friends”

So true. If you don’t know your partner in China you do have a rough standing there. If you know them, doing business will be a lot easier for you. So the production manager of our partner company once told me when I thanked him for treating my order preferentially even though I knew that they had other, more important orders to deal with: „You know, it’s very easy. I am the boss, so I just go in there and tell them: do it!“


Quote: Ian Dunross: „The only way to deal with problems is the Asian way… Tomorrow will take care of tomorrow’s problems.“

Yes, the Asian way. In case of problems, hide your head in the sand and hope that the storm passes by quickly and leaves you unscathed. If you are lucky, your Western partner has lost patience by now and stops bothering you with some petty problems. If not, then go back hiding. And if that doesn’t work, just come up with some non-descript answer, meaning „no“ the Asian way but will be regarded as a „yes“ by the “foreign devils”.


Quote: Chinese secretary: “We try, Mr Bartlett, we always try”

They certainly do try. Even if it won’t result in the desired outcome. But trying is the first step, isn’t it?


Quote: Paul Choy: “It is not our family’s affair”

If it is, things are suddenly a lot easier. For Chinese, family comes first. Then friends. And then the rest. Maybe.

Once there was a big newspaper article in a Chinese magazine. A house had caught fire. A Westerner came by and helped to evacuate the house. The Chinese were very astonished about that, as it wasn’t the Westerner’s family or friends. And yet he concerned himself with their affairs… strange people, these "long noses"….


Quote: Orlanda: “You see, face is sometimes more important than life here”

Yes, always be patient and friendly. Don’t lose your face, you will never regain it. So just smile and keep on persisting in a friendly way. If you are lucky, it will work.

I always crack up at the scene when Linc and Casey are having their first lunch with Ian at the Noble House. Linc tries to nail Ian with business details, and Ian always retreats, referring to lunch. That’s so typical, the blunt Western approach and the subtle Chinese approach to doing business. So telling and so true!


Quote: Quillon Gornt: “You’ll find that we are very superstitious here. Joss is terribly important.”

But isn’t that just the appeal, the mystery of Asia?

[Yuliya]

How very interesting. Thank you so much.

I have two questions. (No good deed ever goes unpunished, you know that, don't you?)

- When Chinese do business in the West with western companies, do they try to learn western habits or do they usually coninue dealing in the same way they do at home?

- Is it really not considered rude laughing at somebody over there or do they not care how rude they are to strangers? I'm particularly interested because a former colleageu whom I wouldn't call a nice, polite person compared to other Chinese I had a pleasure to know) once found my hair very funny. And believe me, it wasn't. It was done for some evening occasion - curled up and lay in nice, lively waves opposite to my usual straight and simple style. I didn't want to ask but I wondered if it was a normal reaction for the guy.

[johnnytodd]

I am glad you liked my review

Well, about your questions...(and mind you, this is still in my point of view, other people may have experienced differently)

Question 1 is answered with a definite "both". It partly depends on the person you are dealing with, actually. Most do try to understand Western ways and act accordingly, but only up to a certain point. Beyond this they just smile and refuse to do what you'd like them to do - much to my annoyance and frustration.
I guess this is also about a lack of understanding on both sides about the other partner's (business) cultures....

Question 2 is difficult to answer.
I guess in general our definition of "rude" widely differs from their definition.
In Asia you just smile, even if very unpleasant things happen. Smiling is a way to hide embarrassment or discomfort and thus is a way to protect yourself from losing face.
Chinese do also not consider it to be rude to stare at you, point at you, talking about you even if you are present (and you can understand them), laughing at you, reading the postcards you are just writing to your friends (even if they have no idea about your language) or to jump the queue. It's just the way it is.

In case of your colleague - hard to tell. It might very well be that he didn't like your hair, but couldn't tell so (as you don't say such things in Asia) and just laughed as a retreat. I can't imagine, though, that he wanted to hurt your feelings, but I couldn't tell for sure, not knowing this guy. So maybe it's a good thing he's your ex-colleague