Warner Archive for 2019

[Mike Gebert]

If you really want Gaslight (1940) in blu-ray, the BFI has put it out.

[silentfilm]

Jezebel (Blu-ray)

Jezebel is noted for its sumptuous sets and costumes, Fay Bainter’s Oscar-winning performance, William Wyler’s vivid direction, highlighted by a horrifying re-creation of a yellow fever epidemic, and of course, Bette Davis’ fiery performance that won the 1938 Best Actress Academy Award.



Moonfleet (Blu-ray)

Adventure and intrigue await all ye who venture into the small and sinister village of Moonfleet on the windswept moors of Dorsetshire. Particularly as directed by master-of-menace Fritz Lang, this colorful tale of a young boy's experiences among some really bad companions enthralls in the tradition of Kidnapped and Treasure Island.



Wagon Master (Blu-ray)

John Ford’s Wagon Master is one of the legendary filmmaker’s personal favorites, a visually stirring celebration of Western will and cooperation set to the soundtrack crooning of the Sons of the Pioneers. Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond (who would later lead TV’s Wagon Train) and other familiar Ford stock company players take the reins in this glorious paean to the pioneer spirit. “Wagons west!”

[s.w.a.c.]

Exciting to have a BD of Moonfleet. I've only seen it in SD on TCM (and on laserdisc before that), so this will be a vast improvement.

[SilentsPlease]

So glad The Thin Man can finally be seen in HD, and in a 4k restoration to boot. All discs and streaming versions of all the Thin Man films have been in SD only. Let's hope they will restore all the sequels too.

[silentfilm]

THE THIN MAN (1934) New 2019 1080p HD Master from a new 4K Scan of the Best Archival Elements
William Powell and Myrna Loy light up the screen in this intoxicating screwball murder mystery that is as seductively charming now as it was 85 years ago. Debutante Nora shocked 5th Avenue when she married laconic gumshoe Nick Charles; Nick, on the other hand, shocked himself by getting the one girl who was every bit his match in wit and detection. And it's a good thing, too, because it will take both their minds, and many jiggers of gin, for them to solve the disappearance of The Thin Man and save his daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan). Painstakingly restored from a 4K scan of the best available elements, The Thin Man sparkles like the finest vintage champagne in glorious black and white on this wondrous Blu-ray Disc. Special Features: 1936 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast Starring Powell and Loy (Audio Only); 1957 Episode of "The Thin Man" television series-"Scene of the Crime"; Theatrical Trailer (HD)




MERRILL'S MARAUDERS (1962) New 2019 1080p HD Master
Writer/Director and decorated Army Veteran Sam Fuller lends his considerable storytelling talent and gift for hard-charging understatement to the true tale of one of the most extraordinary and harrowing military campaigns in human history. Brigadier General Frank Merrill (Jeff Chandler) leads Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), deep behind enemy lines and through miles of dank, dense, disease ridden jungle in a desperate bid to ensure the enemy will never have the ability to link up. Ty Hardin Will Hutchins and Claude Akins play some of the dogfaces that were part of this all-volunteer force in this Sam Fuller production that stands alongside Steel Helmet and The Big Red One as boots-on-the-ground recreations of the misery and the heroics of military life. And all the glory arrives as new as yesterday thanks to this new 1080p HD presentation. Also includes Theatrical Trailer (HD). 16x9 Letterbox




DAREDEVIL DRIVERS (1938) New to DVD
Racecar driver Bill Foster (Dick Purcell) has the talent to collect racing trophies, but his reckless stunts on the track gets him banned from the racing association altogether. Hitting the road with his loyal sidekick, mechanic Stub Wilson (Vaudeville veteran Charley Foy), Bill crashes into a bus owned by Neeley Transport. Bill is determined to sock Neeley's president in the nose because of the damage to his racing car, only to discover that the president is the attractive Jerry Neeley (Beverly Roberts) - a woman who proves immune to Bill's charms. Bill goes to work for Tommy Burnell (Donald Briggs), the owner of a rival bus company that is sabotaging Neeley Transport. Once Bill learns he's working for the wrong side, he goes out of his way to help Jerry save her company. This B-movie classic serves up an entire movie serial's worth of thrills and chills into a streamlined entertainment machine, ably delivered by a cast and crew of true show business veterans (including radio star Gloria Blondell, sister of Joan).



DOUBLE DANGER (1938) New to DVD
Gentleman crime novelist Bob Crane (Preston Foster) and debutante Carolyn Martin (Whitney Bourne) lead lives of luxury. Both are gifted with loyal attendants - Crane, his valet Fentriss (Cecil Kellaway), and Carolyn with Taylor (Paul Guilfoyle), her driver. Each are intimate friends with Police Commissioner Theron (Samuel S. Hinds). But unknown to their social circle and the world at large, they are both master jewel thieves. Crane's criminal alter-ego "The Gentleman" has long eluded Commissioner Theron, but Theron has finally narrowed his list of suspects down to two - Crane and Foster. Theron sets a clever trap with the aid of jeweler Gordon Ainsley (Donald Meek), for whom "The Gentleman" has long been a thorn in his side, by inviting both suspects to his country estate. Unfortunately for Theron, his mousetrap is set for one mouse and the amount of mischief he has invited is more than he expected!




A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) Back on Blu-Ray
Elia Kazan directs Marlon Brando in his Broadway breakout role of Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' instant canon drama about a faded Southern rose and a working class brute desperate to express himself. Fellow stage production vets Kim Hunter and Karl Malden also make the transition to the big screen while Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois demonstrates her extraordinary ability as an actor, matching Brando beat for beat and breaking our hearts while stealing the show. Special Features: Movie and Audio Outtakes; Marlon Brando Screen Test; Feature-Length Profile - Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey; 5 Insightful Documentaries - A Streetcar on Broadway, A Streetcar in Hollywood, Censorship and Desire, North and the Music of the South, An Actor Named Brando; Commentary by Karl Malden and Film Historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young; Theatrical Trailer (HD).

[silentfilm]

THE LETTER (1940) New 2019 1080p HD Master

In a career packed to the rafters with show-stopping performances, Bette Davis delivers up one of her best in this W. Somerset Maugham adaptation directed by the great William Wyler. In this torrid, tropical melodrama, Davis plays Leslie Crosbie, a wealthy socialite who stuns her island community when she guns a man down on the steps of her plantation estate. Leslie's claim of self-defense develops serious cracks when a blackmailer turns up with incriminating correspondence. While her attorney (James Stephenspn) risks his legal career, Leslie's husband Robert (Herbert Marshall) struggles to understand her heart. Meticulously restored for this new 1080p HD presentation, Wyler's masterful camerawork, Davis' layered and chilling performance, and the outstanding contributions from an superb supporting cast are all given in life in this revelation of a release of an acknowledged piece of classic cinema. Special Features: Alternate Ending Sequence; 2 Audio-Only Bonuses: Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Davis, Marshall and Stephenson from 4/21/41 and Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Davis and Marshall from 3/6/44; Theatrical Trailer (HD)



THE SET-UP (1949) New 2019 1080p HD Master

Robert Wise directs film noir icons Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter in this real-time film noir boxing drama that portrays the final fight in palooka pugilist Stoker Thompson's (Ryan) career. While Stoker's wife Julie (Totter) implores him to give up the ring, Stoker's simple credo of "fighters gotta fight" keeps him tied to the squared circle. But Stoker is in the dark about this particular fight - his manager has promised a gangster that Stoker will take a dive. Too bad he didn't tell Stoker... A miracle of lean and luscious direction, all of The Set-Up 's grit and glory sparkles in this scintillating 1080p HD transfer that packs a wallop. Special Feature: commentary by director Robert Wise and Martin Scorsese.



POPEYE THE SAILOR THE 1940s VOLUME THREE (1948-49) New 2019 1080p HD Masters From 4K Scans of the Original Negatives

This set finishes out Popeye's second decade of screen stardom with cartoons originally released to movie theaters in 1948 and 1949. In these cartoons, Popeye and Olive travel back to prehistoric times, ancient Greece and the Sherwood Forest. They visit Plymouth Rock and the Old West, then battle assorted baddies in the Egyptian desert, the freezing Arctic and the Ozarks. Of course, Bluto is back as Popeye's number-one nemesis, tackling the sailor man as a rival lumberjack, a fanatic flying ace and a lecherous vaudeville hypnotist. But that's not all! Popeye also has his fists full with a pair of pet dogs, irritating houseflies and a quartet of spinach-hating, sound-alike nephews. He ultimately meets his match when Olive decides to throw her hat in the ring and makes a run for U.S. president! Collection includes Olive Oyl for President; Wigwam Whoopee; Pre-Hysterical Man; Popeye Meets Hercules; A Wolf in Sheik's Clothing; Spinach vs Hamburgers; Snow Place Like Home; Robin Hood-Winked; Symphony in Spinach; Popeye's Premiere; Lumberjack and Jill; Hot Air Aces; A Balmy Swami; Tar with a Star; Silly Hillbilly; Barking Dogs Don't Fite; The Fly's Last Flight. Also available on DVD!


YOU CAN'T BUY LUCK (1937) New to DVD

Joe Baldwin (Onslow Stevens) is a high stakes gambler, race horse owner and HIGHLY superstitious - his one weakness when it comes to gambling. But Joe has a perfect system for controlling the odds - he generates good luck by acts of good will. Convinced that his philanthropy increases the number of people "pulling for him" skewing luck to his favor, Joe is the ultimate self-interested altruist. But his luck heads south when a fulfilled wish for rain on the track to help his horse ruins an orphanage's outdoor party causing the kids to pull against Joe. Eager to persuade the kids to root for him instead of against him, Joe organizes a lavish party as an apology and ends up falling for teacher Betty McKay (Helen Mack). Wishing to marry Betty, Joe heads north to break it off with his gold-digging good luck charm Jean (Maxine Jennings), but her return from a European voyage brings complications to Joe's life - including murder!


THE MAN WHO DARED (1939) New to DVD

The Carter family has just settled down for dinner when an explosion shatters the peace. The Carter's next-door neighbor, a crusading investigator working with District Attorney Palmer (Fred Tozere) to take down their city's criminally corrupt mayor and his political machine, was the victim of a car bombing. The Carters witness crooked cop Nick Bartel (John Gallaudet) leaving the scene of the crime, now placing them at the center of the D.A.'s case against the Mayor. Palmer is confident that the civic-minded Carters' testimony will help take down the Mayor, but under his direction, Bartel terrorizes the Carters. After the youngest member of the Carter family is kidnapped, grandfather and Spanish-American War veteran Ulysses Porterfield (Charley Grapewin) takes matters into his own hands to save his family and District Attorney Palmer's court case.



MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982) New 2019 1080p HD Master

Mark Linn-Baker makes his debut and Peter O'Toole is a delight in this tale from director Richard Benjamin inspired by producer Mel Brooks' experiences working for Sid Caesar's legendary Your Show of Shows . Young Benjy Stone (Baker), tyro comedy writer/production assistant on "King" Kaiser's (Joseph Bologna) Cavalcade of Comedy TV show, is overjoyed when his childhood idol, swashbuckling screen star Alan Swann (O'Toole), gets booked as the host. But when Swann is discovered living on the dipsomaniac side of the street, King wants to sack him from the show. Desperate to defend his hero, Benjy makes a plea on his behalf. Annoyed by Benjy's temerity, King puts Swann under Benjy's charge with the caveat that if Swann falls off the wagon while they are rehearsing, it will cost Benjy his job. All goes almost smoothly until Swann finds out Cavalcade is broadcast live and he's "not an actor, (he's) a movie star!" The production's skillful recreation of early 1950s New York, Richard Benjamin's comedic gifts as a director throughly infused with a human touch, and one of O'Toole's most celebrated performances effervesce as never before thanks to this intoxicating High Def Master. Special Feature: commentary by director Richard Benjamin. 16x9 Widescreen

[wich2]

Special Features: 1936 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast Starring Powell and Loy (Audio Only)

(Geez, "Audio Only"? Woulda thunk it?

[Brooksie]

I usually scroll through these lists thinking that there's one or two things I might buy, maybe ... this time there's two must-buys and one quite-possibly-will buy - I've been waiting for a Blu of the superb The Set-Up (1949) for ages; then I scroll down and find My Favorite Year (1982) too!? Go easy, now!

I also remember You Can't Buy Luck (1937) being an enjoyably quirky little mystery-comedy-drama. When I was researching RKO's box office for that year, I was surprised to learn that it was one of the studio's top earners of the year, relative to its small budget. As such, it was a rare vindication of then-studio head Sam Briskin's philosophy, imported from Columbia Pictures, that decent story and direction can overcome a lack of names in the cast - though not enough to save him from being ousted the following year.

[colbyco82]

The Blu-ray releases recently have been great, but they have really slowed/stopped releasing new-to-dvd films in the past couple months. I hope they start those up again soon.

[silentfilm]

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1962) New 2019 1080p HD Master from 4K Scan of the Original Negative
When Blake Edwards' powerful film of J.P. Miller's heartrending teleplay Days of Wine and Roses hit movie screens, it won critical raves, box-office success and shone brightly as a career highlight for its two stars, Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick who play a couple caught in alcoholism's web. A San Francisco public-relations hotshot is a "social" drinker...who never stops socializing. His vivacious wife starts drinking to keep him company. They live for good times, but eventually good times turn bad. A poignant, harrowing portrait of human lives at their lowest, it also reflects filmmaking at its height. Phil Lathrop's gorgeous and glorious Black and White cinematography, Lemmon's and Remick's searing performances and Henry Mancini's heartbreaking score are all revealed as never before in this pristine High Definition transfer that pays proper respect to a true cinema classic. Special Features: Commentary by Director Blake Edwards; Vintage Jack Lemmon Interview; Theatrical Trailer. 16x9 Widescreen

This was the only pre-1965 movie the Warner Archive released in October, as they released several horror films and TV series' seasons instead of films from the classic Hollywood era.

[Clem Dickey]

I've been waiting for a Blu of the superb The Set-Up (1949) for ages

The IMDB summary is intriguing. How much money can a gambler make by arranging for a fighter *who has never won* to take a dive? I have to find out.

[silentfilm]

OPERATION CROSSBOW (1965) New 2019 1080p HD Master


This seamless blending of historical fact and action/adventure fiction from director Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters, Logan's Run ) was an instant war-time espionage classic when released. What begins as a war-time procedural as British Intelligence races to understand just what the Nazi's are constructing turns into a desperate one-way spy mission as the V1 rockets starts raining drone of death terror on blitzkrieg battered Britain - and the far more deadly missile V2 is waiting in the wings. George Peppard stars as Lieutenant John Curtis, the Allied espionage agent who infiltrates the secret Nazi weapons facility, and Sophia Loren stars as the wife of the scientist whose identity Curtis has assumed, along with a huge cast (Trevor Howard, John Mills, Tom Courtenay, Paul Heinried, Lilli Palmer, Anthony Quayle among others) that carefully presents this tale from both the Allied and the Axis perspective. Operation Crossbow flies onto your widescreen high definition screen ready for this challenge thanks to this clearly explosive 1080p HD presentation. Special Features: Vintage Featurette "A Look Back at Crossbow"; Theatrical Trailer (HD). 16x9 Letterbox

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952) New 2019 1080p HD Master From 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative


An all-star assembly of talents, both in front of (Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame, Leo G. Carroll, Dick Powell) and behind (John Houseman, Charles Schnee, Cedric Gibbons, Helen Rose, Robert Surtees) the camera for maestro Vincente Minnelli's cynical and charming backstage look at business and shenanigans of commercial cinema. Deploying guile and glamor in equal measure, the tale of a true Hollywood hustler unspools with panache and pathos. Douglas stars as Jonathan Shields, a striving studio mogul, desperate for a hit, who arranges a meeting with a top star (Lana Turner), screenwriter (Dick Powell) and director (Barry Sullivan). But before he can give the greenlight, it's time for all his sins to be revisited. This five-time Academy Award® winner (Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Gloria Grahame, Best Writing, Screenplay - Charles Schnee, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black & White - Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis, Keogh Gleason, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Robert Surtees, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White - Helen Rose) gets the A-list treatment it so richly deserves on this sumptuous new HD master created from scan of the original negatives and painstaking restored, all in glorious, silver screen sheen Black and White. Special Features: Feature Length Documentary "Lana Turner...A Daughter's Memoir"; Scoring Session Music Cues; Theatrical Trailer (HD)

THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1959) New 2019 1080p HD Master


Nuclear doomsday has come. Ralph (Harry Belafonte) is sure he is the last person alive. Then a woman (Inger Stevens) appears and the two form a cautious friendship that¹s threatened when a third survivor (Mel Ferrer) arrives. There are no external monsters to battle in this urban apocalypse landscape. Instead, the monsters - fear, intolerance, jealousy - lurk within the human heart. Suspenseful and unsettling, The World, The Flesh and The Devil proved a seminal "last man" movie that is both prescient and powerful. Loaded with stunning vistas of an unpopulated New York City, its visual influence ripples on down though a diverse series of successors such as Omega Man and The Quiet Earth, while its forthright confrontation of racial and sexual politics is both surprising and inspiring. Screenwriter/Director Ranald MacDougall's (Mildred Pierce, Dark of the Sun) Sci-Fi stunner is reborn, thanks to this crisp and crackling 1080p presentation in glorious Black and White. 16x9 Letterbox

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING (1956) New 2019 1080p HD Master From 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative


The young town of Denver, right before the outbreak of the Civil War, is the setting for this Western drama from acclaimed director Jacques Tourneur (Out of the Past, Stars in My Crown ). Recently rescued from Indian ambush, laconic Southern loner Owen Pentecost (Robert Stack) rides into town and into the hearts of saloon girl Boston (Ruth Roman) and frontier entrepreneur Ann Merry (a pants-wearing and liberated Virginia Mayo). With Boston's aid, Owen wins the deed of the local saloon in a card game against its menacing and card-cheat owner, the aptly named Jumbo Means (Raymond Burr). With secession causing tensions to rise between Denver's Northern majority and its Southerner minority, Owen is pressured to support his Confederate brothers, but he remains firmly committed to his one true cause - gold! And there's two million dollars of it that needs to be smuggled out before the start of the war! Jacques Tourneur's filmography stand among the most accomplished in the annals of Tinseltown and straddles a wide swath of genres and styles. Often overlooked, and most certainly underrated, returning one of his works to the public's perusal in a sweeping 1080p Blu-ray that does justice to its Super Scope Technicolor presentation is a particular pleasure. Special Features: Four Jacques Tourneur MGM shorts, The Ship That Died, Strange Glory, The Face Behind the Mask and The Magic Alphabet. 16x9 Letterbox