Category Archives: DVD Blu-Ray Review

Bette Davis, Girl Reporter! FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935) from Warner Archive

Posted on July 29, 2013 by willmckinley

Bette Davis might hate me for saying this, but I love her early films. Movies like THREE ON A MATCH (1932), THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1935), and even the misguided SATAN MET A LADY (1936) are all eminently watchable, even if … Continue reading →

Posted in DVD Blu-Ray Review, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, FRONT PAGE WOMAN, George Brent, Gordon Wescott, Grace Hayle, Header Menu, J. Carrol Naish, Roscoe Karns, Warner Bros, Wini Shaw, Women Are Bum Newspapermen | 15 Comments

Silent Film Evangelist Kickstarts Restorations of Classics

Posted on July 23, 2013 by willmckinley

Spike Lee, Zach Braff, and Ben Model? Like some elite entertainment industry players whose names may be better known, Model, the Manhattan-based musician and composer, is using the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to finance a film release. But there are a … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Silent Film | Tagged "Ben Model", "Bruce Lawton", "Raymond Griffith", "Silent clowns film series", "Silent comedy", "Silent film", "Silent movies", "Steve Massa", Accidentally Preserved, Kickstarter, Louie Fazenda, Musty Suffer, Spike Lee, Zach Braff | 1 Comment

Dive into the 1960s with HELLO DOWN THERE on DVD from Warner Archive

Posted on July 14, 2013 by willmckinley

On June 25, 1969, Paramount Pictures released HELLO DOWN THERE, a family oriented film about a teenaged rock band that performs infectiously hummable bubblegum pop songs. A month later, RCA Records released “Sugar, Sugar,” an infectiously hummable bubblegum pop song … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged AFRICA: TEXAS STYLE, Archies, AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA, “Hey Little Goldfish”, “I Can Love You", Charlotte Raye, CLARENCE, Cowboy in Africa, Flipper, Gary Tigerman, Gentle Ben, GENTLE GIANT, Glub, HELLO DOWN THERE, Ivan Tors, Janet Leigh, Jeff Barry, Jim Backus, Kay Cole, Lee Meredith, Lou Wagner, Monkees, Paramount, Richard Dreyfuss, Ricou Browning, Roddy McDowell, Sea Hunt, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, THE CROSS-EYED LION, Tony Randall | 9 Comments

WOMEN IN BONDAGE (1943) from Warner Archive: Hitler Wants Your Baby!

Posted on June 17, 2013 by willmckinley

If Lifetime had made movies during World War II, they might have resembled WOMEN IN BONDAGE (1943), a heavy-handed hybrid of soap opera, war movie, and women-in-prison picture from Poverty Row powerhouse Monogram. This rarely seen programmer recently made its … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged Frank Bentick Wisbar, Gail Patrick, Gertrude Michael, H.B. Warner, Hitler, Houston Branch, Maris Wrixon, Mein Kampf, Monogram Pictures, Motion Picture Production Code, Nancy Kelly, Nazi, Poverty Row, Pre-Code, Roland Varno, Steve Sekely, Tala Birell, Warner Archive, WOMEN IN BONDAGE | 8 Comments

What I Learned From ROSEMARY’S BABY

Posted on May 31, 2013 by willmckinley

You can learn a lot from ROSEMARY’S BABY, the 1968 film adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel, available on DVD and Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection. But here’s the most important lesson: never date an actor. If only someone had warned … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review | Tagged Criterion Collection, John Cassavetes, Mia Farrow, Patsy Kelly, Peyton Place, Ralph Bellamy, Roman Castevet, Roman Polanski, ROSEMARY'S BABY, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, William Castle | 12 Comments

The Best Warner Bros. Musical Warner Bros. Never Made

Posted on May 30, 2013 by willmckinley

Confession: I have a man crush on 1930s crooner Dick Powell. Although he was pushing 30 when he made his film debut for Warner Bros., Powell seemed perpetually boyish and unspoiled by the harsh realities of Depression Era adulthood. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Fox Cinema Archives | Tagged "Darryl F. Zanuck", 42nd Street, Alan Dinehart, Ann Dvorak, Busby Berkeley, Dick Powell, Fox Cinema Archives, Fred Allen, GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, Gus Kahn, Hail the Conquering Hero, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, Patsy Kelly, Raymond Walburn, Ruby Keeler, Thanks A Million, Warner Bros | Leave a comment

Rarely Seen Jack Benny Film Makes DVD Debut

Posted on May 20, 2013 by willmckinley

The title character in Sidney Lanfield’s comedy THE MEANEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1943) is not particularly mean, nor is he particularly funny. But he is portrayed by the otherwise hilarious Jack Benny, with support from radio sidekick Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Fox Cinema Archives | Tagged BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN, CHARLEY’S AUNT, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, Priscilla Lane, THE MEANEST MAN IN THE WORLD | 5 Comments

Henry Koster’s FRAULEIN (1958)

Posted on April 12, 2013 by willmckinley

Watching the DVD of Henry Koster’s FRAULEIN (1958) from 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives was one of my most frustrating classic film viewing experiences in recent memory. You can read all about it in my review at Cinema Sentries. In the meantime, … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Fox Cinema Archives | Tagged 20th Century Fox, CinemaScope, Dana Wynter, Dolores Michaels, Fox Cinema Archives, FRAULEIN, Henry Koster, James Edwards, Maggie Hayes, Mel Ferrer, Theodore Bikel | 3 Comments

GOD’S GIFT TO WOMEN (1931) from Warner Archive: One Kiss and You Die!

Posted on January 2, 2013 by willmckinley

The year is 1931. Three undressed women catfight over the lover they share – wrestling in his bed, tearing at each other’s skimpy negligees. One of them is Louise Brooks, pansexual star of some of the sultriest silent films ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Classic Film, DVD Blu-Ray Review, Pre-Code Film, Warner Archive Collection | Tagged "Raymond Griffith", 1931, A STAR IS BORN, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Barbara Stanwyck, Billy House, Charles Winniger, DIARY OF A LOST GIRL, Eleanor Gutchrlein, Frank Fay, Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, G.W. Pabst, GOD'S GIFT TO WOMEN, Hays Code, Header Menu, Joan Blondell, Joseph Jackson, Karla Gutchrlein, Laura La Plante, Louise Brooks, Margaret Livingston, Michael Curtiz, Motion Picture Production Code, Norman Maine, PANDORA’S BOX, Safe in Hell, Sisters G, The Code, The Devil Was Sick, Warner Archive Collection, Warner Bros, Yola d’Avril | 7 Comments

She Works Hard For the Money: The Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection on DVD from TCM

Posted on December 10, 2012 by willmckinley

Sex sells, the old saying goes. It also employs, or at least it did in movies made before enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code began in 1934. In the The Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection, a five-film DVD set from … Continue reading →