The Upcoming Classics Thread. UPDATED; Warner & Fox/MGM R2, Friedkin's Cruising...

[John Hodson]

DVD Active has artwork for that R1 Cary Grant Collection from Sony mentioned earlier, here.

[kanedaa]

Hopefully this is new info. From Sony/MGM you can expect a R1 Midnight Cowboy (Collector's Edition) on 21st February 2006. This 2-Disc set includes all-new extras including all-new documentaries, a tribute to Director John Shlessinger and new interviews with Dustin Hoffman, John Voight and more. It will be Digitally Remastered from an All-New High Definition Transfer and includes a collector's booklet.

Expect official info to start appearing - presuming they don't have a change of heart - from 12th December (the "announce" date).

Also, maybe not strictly for this Classic forum but I can't be bothered starting a new thread elsewhere. Erik the Viking (Director's Cut) from Sony/MGM on 21st February 2006 with Audio Commentary by Director Terry Jones.

[John Hodson]

Hallelujah! So no Schlesinger commentary from the Criterion LD? Pity, but not a deal breaker.

Thank you Dave.

[kanedaa]

It wasn't mentioned on the retailer info sheet I got it from, but that's far from conclusive evidence it won't be on the disc. Fingers crossed for now.

Thought these war films might be of interest as well.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Mike

I find it hard to believe anyone would want yet another version of "The Ten Commandments". I would however join corkbuoy in quite happily shelling out for a "Stalag 17" with some extras. Wonderful film.

I'm not even sure the fact that Paramount is doing a 'Ben-Hur' with Chuck's biblical epic will make me join the queue for it. At DVD Empire the description reads:

Includes the 1956 version and the original 1923 version!

...I'm combining my New Year's resolution with an eleventh Commandment; 'Thou shalt stop double-dipping (excepteth whenth they, er, produceth those HD versions of shiny flat kinomatographs thou really, really, wanteth to be heavenly perfection.')

DVD Active has artwork for the new of the R2 release of the movie of Kung Fu here. Before it became a parody of itself, and disappeared in a puff of smoke from a giant Californian spliff, I recall the series as a decent watch and this movie as a very watchable western.

[John Hodson]

Barrie Maxwell at The Bits, here, outlines much of what we know already, but snippets of what we don't...

Flicker Alley's proposed release of F.W. Murnau's Phantom has been delayed until February in order to include some new supplementary materials that have become available...

...Fox has plans to offer up its six Laurel and Hardy films from the 1940s on DVD in 2006. The films, possibly offered in two groups of three, are: Great Guns (1941), A-Haunting We Will Go (1942), The Dancing Masters (1943), Jitterbugs (1943), The Big Noise (1944), and The Bullfighters (1945), but there are no details as to specific timing.

...Geneon-Pioneer will release a whole raft of public domain titles on November 22nd. The titles are: Almost a Bride (1949, with Shirley Temple), The Baby (1973, with Ruth Roman), Bad Man's River (1972, with Lee Van Cleef), The Big Combo (1955, with Cornel Wilde), Captain Apache (1971, with Lee Van Cleef), Code 7 Victim 5 (1964, with Lex Barker), Cover-Up (1949, with Dennis O'Keefe), The Crooked Way (1949, with John Payne), Cry of Battle (1963, with Van Heflin), Don't Trust Your Husband (1948, with Fred MacMurray), Five Savage Men (1970, with Michele Carey), Fort Algiers (1953, with Yvonne De Carlo), God's Little Acre (1958, with Robert Ryan), Have a Nice Funeral, My Friend (1970, with Gianni Garko), Horror Express (1972, with Christopher Lee), House of Seven Corpses (1973, with John Ireland), The Mad Bomber (1973, with Vince Edwards), Men in War (1957, with Robert Ryan), A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979, with David Niven), Pancho Villa (1972, with Telly Savalas), Penny Gold (1973, with James Booth), Psychomania (1973, with George Sanders), The Tiger and the Flame (1952), A Town Called Hell (1973, with Robert Shaw), Without Honor (1949, with Laraine Day). The films will also be released in four box sets of six titles each on December 13th, under the headings of Cinema Deluxe Action Pack, Cinema Deluxe Drama Pack, Cinema Deluxe Terror Pack, and Cinema Deluxe Western Pack. These sorts of releases are always a gamble, but there are a few interesting titles there that at $6 a pop might be worth a flyer. The six packs sell for about $22 online.

...On January 24th, Image celebrates Black History with a couple of releases - a recent documentary about the progress of black actors on screen (Small Steps, Big Strides) and the four-disc box set, Treasures of Black Cinema, which includes The Devil's Daughter, Gang War, The Bronze Buckaroo, and Up in the Air, all originally released in 1939 or 1940. Other Image offerings will be The Day of the Dolphin (1973, with George C. Scott) on February 7th and The Naked City: Volume 3 (12 episodes of the TV series) on March 14th.

Mackinac Media will be introducing an animation series called "The Golden Age of Cartoons". The first offering, coming on December 13th, will be Popeye: Original Classics from the Fleischer Studio. It will contain 10 cartoons digitally remastered from 35mm material: Little Swee Pea (1936), I'm In the Army Now (1936), I Never Change My Altitude (1937), A Date to Skate (1938), Customers Wanted (1939), The Paneless Window Washer (1937), Me Musical Nephews (1942), Popeye Meets Sinbad (1936 - colour), Popeye Meets Ali Baba (1937 - colour), and Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp (1939 - colour). The second offering, also on December 13th, will be Attack of the 30s Characters. It will contain 16 cartoons remastered from 35mm and 16mm material: Congo Jazz - starring Foxy (1930), In Wonderland - starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1931), Bars and Stripes - starring Krazy Kat (1931), Lady, Play Your Mandolin - starring Foxy (1931), Noah's Outing - starring Farmer Al Falfa (1932), In the Bag - starring Tom and Jerry (1932), Is My Palm Red - starring Betty Boop (1933), Funny Face - starring Flip the Frog (1933), The Mad Doctor - starring Mickey Mouse (1933), Jolly Good Felons - starring The Little King (1934), Jack Frost - Comi-Color Cartoon (1934 - colour), Rainbow Parade - starring The Merry Kittens (1935 - colour), The Beachcombers - starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1936), To Spring - Happy Harmonies (1936 - colour), Porky's Railroad - starring Porky Pig (1937), and The Paneless Window Washer - starring Popeye (1937). Both discs will have extensive bonus material. Other classic animation releases coming from Mackinac will include Cultoons: Ads and Oddities on February 14th (14 cartoons including lost work by Cy Young, one of Walt Disney's special effects artists, animated commercials from Dr. Seuss, promotional shorts from Chad & Al Stahl and Hugh Harmon Productions, and Monkey Doodle by Les Elton, one of the strangest cartoons ever made!); Cartoons for Victory on February 14th (20 cartoons featuring cartoons from the First Motion Picture Unit, USN; five "Private Snafu" shorts [voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc]; Warner Brother's The Return of Mister Hook, in which Hook dreams about using his war bond savings to fulfill his postwar dreams; and many other American WWII cartoons), and Felix the Cat and Aesop's Fables both on April 11th. Finally, Mackinac will release Buster Keaton: Industrial Strength (2 discs) and Operation Manhunt (1954, with Harry Townes) on January 17th.

...Roan Group will have The Fighting Westerner [aka Rocky Mountain Mystery] (1935, with Randolph Scott) available on December 6th. In addition, Albert Schweitzer, the 1957 Oscar winning documentary narrated by Burgess Meredith, is now apparently available. Roan's release includes over 40 minutes of additional footage restored to the film.

...VCI has moved the release of Gorgo to November 29th and has also set January 17th as the date for the appearance of The Tall Texan (1953, with Lloyd Bridges), The Cowboy (1954, directed by Elmo Williams), The Oregon Trail (1939, with Johnny Mack Brown), and Flaming Frontiers (1938, with Johnny Mack Brown). The latter two are serials previously planned for a December 6th release.

[John Hodson]

Just added a few titles to the R1 January 2006 listing in the first post: Mystery Squadron, the serial from VCI, Fox is, for some strange reason, hacking a disc out of the current set and producing a Cleopatra 2 Disc SE, and Image, now that they own Criterion, has lowered the price on the excellent The Day of the Dolphin disc (previously on Homevision) and set to re-release it on their own label. Great news that Fox has rescheduled Julia too.

[John Hodson]

A quick trawl through Play.com;

In March Warners are releasing an R2 version of Lust for Life, look out too for The Adventures Of Superman: Complete Season 2 (1953), Tintin Feature Film Box Set (3 Discs), 42nd Street, Axe (Harry Novak), Wait Until Dark

In February: The Wild Bunch: The Special Edition, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid: The Special Edition, Crossplot, The Peckinpah Collection (The Wild Bunch: The Special Edition, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid: The Special Edition, Ballad Of Cable Hogue, Ride The High Country), Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss, The Trial

[John Hodson]

From The Bits:

...Paramount's already announced March slate is shaping up to include a new 3-disc collector's edition of The Ten Commandments, The Thing Called Love, a new Stalag 17: Collector's Edition, a Billy Wilder Collection (containing Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17 and Sabrina).

Universal's ...moved the street date for The Richard Pryor 4-Movie Collection to 2/7 as well (the set includes Brewster's Millions, Bustin' Loose, Car Wash and Which Way is Up? for SRP $26.98).

By the way, it looks like 20th Century Fox is working on new single-disc releases of all of the classic Planet of the Apes movies. No word yet on whether they'll be remastered, or include any extras, but look for at least Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of Planet of the Apes on 3/28.

And Buena Vista has officially announced ...The Devil and Max Devlin, (1/17).

[John Hodson]

From DVD Drive-in:

Dark Sky Films has announced the specifics and have unleashed the cover art for their highly anticipated DVD releases from 1960s cult producer/director Del Tenney. The double-feature disc of HORROR OF PARY BEACH with CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE will include two commentaries with Tenney, a video interview with Tenney, a photo gallery and theatrical trailers. The single release of VIOLENT MIDNIGHT (aka PSYCHOMANIA, BLACK AUTUMM) will include a commentary track with Tenney, a photo gallery and theatrical trailers. All three titles will have new anamorphic widescreen transfers and be the fully UNCUT versions of the films. These two discs have a street date of March 26 and retail for $14.98 each.

Cover art here.

[John Hodson]

DVD Empire has artwork up for that R1 The Ten Commandments; Anniversary Edition here

[John Hodson]

From DVD Reviewer:

Second Sight will release the wonderful 40s musical Stormy Weather, featuring some of the greatest black musicians of all time on the 30th of January.

Andrew L Stone directs this fantastic extravaganza featuring some of the era’s greatest entertainers, with Lena Horne and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in the lead roles along with the talents of Dooley Wilson, Cab Calloway, Katherine Durham, Fats Waller and The Nicholas Brothers.

Set around the theme of a Big Stage Show, it showcases 14 lively performances, with great moments from the flamboyant Fats Waller performing his signature tune Ain’t Misbehavin’, Cab Calloway doing The Jumping Jive and joining Bill Robinson on the dance floor The Nicholas Brothers perform a draw dropping routine at the finale that has to be seen to be believed.

But the most memorable star of the show is Lena Horne, having just made Cabin In The Sky, her truly amazing rendition of the title song is one of the greatest moments in the history of musicals.

The DVD will be priced £15.99.

No mention of any extras unlike the R1 edition. Also from the same site:

InDVD will release Sons and Lovers on the 13th of February 2006. Based on the DH Lawrence classic novel this was directed by legendary British Cameraman and double Oscar® winner Jack Cardiff in 1960.

Cardiff, who was cinematographer on A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The African Queen and The Prince and the Show Girl, amongst many others, directs for the first time in this story of family life and love in early 20th Century England. He's still working as a cinematographer at 91 (who said we had to worry about pensions?), and his last short film includes John Mills final performance.

The cast list of Sons and Lovers is full of great names from stage and screen including: Trevor Howard, Dean Stockwell, Wendy Hiller, Mary Ure, Heather Sears and Donald Pleasence.

Set against the background of a grimy village near Nottingham, this story of a coal-miner’s son with promising artistic talents unfolds with sensitivity and intelligence. Caught up in his mother’s possessiveness and his father’s violent bouts, Paul Morel (Stockwell) sacrifices his chance to study art in London and the local girl he loves, and eventually becomes involved with a woman separated from her husband. Mary Ure gives a fine performance as the mistress, one of many in this powerfully acted, award-winning film.

This special DVD presentation also incorporates a newly filmed 30 minute interview with Jack Cardiff and photo galleries and biographies.

Promised in widescreen the DVD will be priced £12.99.

Jack Cardiff interview The old boy still puts himself around doesn't he? BTW, Sky has shown Sons and Lovers quite alot recently - a very nice print - and featured a Cardiff interview; I wonder if it will be one and the same?

Disk art at DVD Times here

[John Hodson]

File under 'rumour' from the DVD Talk forum. Apparently MPI (responsible for the wonderful R1 'Sherlock Holmes' releases) is set to release Becket in the third quarter of next year, and...

According to noted archivist Robert Harris, the film has been fully restored by AMPAS (including "R" rated scenes from the European cut.) Hopefully, the delay in the DVD's release has been caused by MPI negotiating with the Academy for the use of their print (like they did with UCLA for the Sherlock Holmes films.)

[John Hodson]

DVD Times on those aforementioned Warner's Black History Month Titles and The Busby Berkeley Collection for R1.

[John Hodson]

From DVD Reviewer:

Warner Home Video will be celebrating the 78th Academy Awards early with the release of four unforgettable Oscar-winning® films spanning five decades, on the 13th of February 2006. Displaying a wealth of talent and Hollywood glamour that encompasses Paul Newman, Joan Crawford, Robert Mitchum and Spencer Tracy, these timeless classics will be winning over audiences old and new.

Multiple Academy Award winner David Lean (Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia) directs Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles in Ryan’s Daughter, a moving story of love, passion and commitment in a small village set against the Irish Revolution.

Lovely, headstrong Rosy Ryan (Miles) cannot forsake her passionate romance with the handsome British officer (Christopher Jones). Yet there is a greater love- the devotion of her reserved schoolteacher husband Charles (Robert Mitchum), who stands by Rosy when her illicit affair leads to a charge of treason. Director David Lean and screenwriter Robert Bolt frame this brooding tale within the expansive beaches, craggy cliffs and heathered hills of Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, all set to Maurice Jarre's breathtaking score. Nominated for four Academy Awards including 'Best Actress in a Leading Role’ and 'Best Sound', it won two Oscars for Freddie Young's lush cinematography and John Mills' memorable portrayal of a town simpleton.

Special features on this two-disc set include an audio Commentary by Cast and crew, 5-part Anniversary Documentary and the theatrical trailer. Fully remastered for its DVD debut the much anticipated release comes with Dolby Surround 5.1 and is priced at a recommended £19.99.

Academy Award winner Paul Newman stars with George Kennedy (The Dirty Dozen, Airport) in Cool Hand Luke the story of a man who will not surrender to authority; even at the cost of his own life. When Luke Jackson (Newman) is sentenced to a Southern prison for a minor infraction, his intelligence, calm under pressure and inability to accept defeat soon gain him the respect of his fellow inmates on the chain gang--and the nickname Cool Hand Luke. But they also earn Luke the enmity of the warden, who cannot allow any inmate to challenge his authority. When Luke's mother dies, he decides to escape ... and he is determined not to let anyone get in his way.

George Kennedy won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the film was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor (Newman), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

The DVD has no special features listed and will have a recommended price of £15.99.

Joan Crawford delivers a critically acclaimed performance as Mildred Pierce, a woman clawing her way to success to provide her daughter with everything she lacks. No sacrifice is too much- ending her middle class marriage, climbing to the top of a male-dominated business world and marrying a man she doesn't love- but is murder a step too far? Based on a novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity), this stylish film noir rejuvenated screen icon Joan Crawford's career and earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

The DVD includes a documentary Profile Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star and is priced at a recommended £15.99.

Spencer Tracy won an Academy Award for his performance as a humble fisherman who teaches a spoilt rich kid some valuable lessons about life and love in this classic adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous which was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

Harvey (Freddie Bartholomew) has never wanted for anything in his life--except friends and family. But when the boy gets seasick on an ocean liner bound for Europe and falls overboard, he faces death alone in the mid Atlantic until a Portuguese fishing vessel rescues him. The ship will not return to port until its hold is full of fish, and while at sea, the ungrateful Harvey will have to do something he has never done before--work for his keep. Over several months, Harvey receives from the fisherman Manuel (Tracy) the love he never felt from his father, and comes to understand the value of hard work-- learning more then he would ever have done in a lifetime of prep schools and comfortable jobs.
This DVD will be priced £15.99.

No extras for CHL? Nuts...

Artwork is at DVD Times here and here

[John Hodson]

From DVD Times:

Optimum Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Long Weekend for 16th January 2006 priced at £12.99. A lost cult classic of the Australian New Wave of the 70s, LONG WEEKEND is a sinister, eerie tale of nature at its most dangerous.

Urban couple Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia’s (Briony Behets) marriage is on the rocks. As a last ditch attempt to save their relationship, Peter arranges for the couple to spend the long weekend together camping at a remote beach on the Australian coast. With Marcia preferring to stay someplace more luxurious, their romantic getaway gets off to a bad start – and then they hit an animal on the lonely road.

When they finally reach their destination, they find that nature is not in an accommodating mood. As one disaster after another emerges, the tensions between Peter and Marcia rise to the surface.

Preempting Open Water by 25 years, LONG WEEKEND is a chilling meditation on modern life, from the writer of Razorlight and Roadgames and is finally available in the UK in its original Cinemascope ratio.

[Gary Couzens]

"Razorlight" sounds interesting, though I think they'll find that Everett de Roche actually wrote Razorback.

[John Hodson]

Interesting news from the HTF. Mnay etailers have the two-disc SE of Scrooge, which was originally to have been released around now, as, bizarrely, coming April, but...

Originally Posted by Douglas R

I have just received the Region 2 two-disc version direct from DD Home Entertainment although it doesn't seem to be available at high street stores. There are pluses and minuses. Compared to the R1 VCI version, the picture quality is a lot sharper but the contrast is too great and the sound quality is not as good.

The DD version contains much extra material such as two 14 minute silent versions of the story and two 30 minute BBC radio plays. One with Alec Guinness and the other with Ralph Richardson. There's also a 15 minute interview with George Cole plus the colorised version (but we won't discuss that). There is a particularly good 24 page booklet about the film.

The one extra which I was really looking forward to was the commentary track by George Cole which is advertised on the box but unfortunately is nowhere to be found on the discs! Maybe this is an ommission on advance copies of the DVD (or a mistake on the packaging) which would account for why the DVD is said to have been delayed until Easter.

And from Davis DVD: Sony Home Entertainment will release ...Erik the Viking: Director's Cut, Midnight Cowboy: Collector's Edition and Monty Python And The Holy Grail: Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition on February 21st

[John Hodson]

From USA Today, a little more info on that aforementioned boxset:

One of America's greatest playwrights, Tennessee Williams, will be honored with a DVD box set arriving in stores April 11.

Warner Home Video's Tennessee Williams Film Collection ($80) includes two-disc special editions of the two most celebrated film adaptations of Williams' plays —Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire— as well as four other films that have never before been available on DVD: Sweet Bird of Youth, Night of the Iguana, Baby Doll and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. Also included is the CBC documentary Tennessee Williams' South.

Warner's George Feltenstein says the films are remarkably faithful to Williams' original plays, given the era in which they were produced. "The only minor thing that inhibits them — and which is painful for us purists — is that certain censorship issues that existed when some of the earlier films were made affected the fidelity of the original plays," Feltenstein says.

"In the end of A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella goes back to Stanley despite the fact that he destroyed her sister, because her lust is just too strong. But in the movie, she says no, not ever. And of course the relationship between Skip and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is very skirted around because of the censors at the time."

Extras in the collection include new "making of" documentaries for each film, rare screen tests with stars Marlon Brando, Rip Torn and Geraldine Page, and a 1947 radio broadcast with Brando.

[kanedaa]

Full details on the Tennessee Williams Collection over on DVDTimes. Warner seem to be entering the New Year with a vengeance!