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Tuesday, 01 April 2014 13:29

Burnt Offerings For April 1, 2014

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It’s a bit of a slow week for Warner Archive but the next waves of Sony and Fox titles are here to pick up the slack, ready to be manufactured upon your demand.

Visit the Warner Archive shop for all your Warner and Sony needs, Amazon for Fox and add discs a’plenty to your shopping carts. [Read on here...]

Purchase titles from Warner Archive and support The Bits!

 

NEW FROM THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) – Warner Archive released the 1937 remake of this with Joan Crawford just about a month ago. Now it’s time for the original with Norma Shearer and Basil Rathbone, still working the kinks out of this new fad called “talkies”.

Her Cardboard Lover (1942) – Norma Shearer’s final film casts her as a socialite who engages songwriter Robert Taylor to pose as her paramour in an attempt to get rid of her ex-lover George Sanders. Directed by George Cukor from a play adapted by, among others, P.G. Wodehouse, this seems like it ought to have a better reputation considering all the talent involved.

First Cousin Once Removed (2012) – Filmmaker Alan Berliner paints a portrait of his cousin, poet Edwin Honig, as he struggles with Alzheimer’s in this HBO documentary.

Life According To Sam (2013) – More non-fiction from HBO with filmmakers Sean and Andrea Fine getting to know the Berns family and their son, Sam, who suffers from the rare progressive aging disorder, progeria.

The Class: The Complete Series (2006-07) – The short-lived sitcom about a group of third-grade classmates who reunite as adults comes to DVD. I don’t remember this show at all but it stars several people who went on to become familiar faces, including Jason Ritter, Lizzy Caplan, Jon Bernthal and Lucy Punch.

 

NEW FROM 20TH CENTURY FOX CINEMA ARCHIVES

The Gay Deception (1935) – Frances Dee wins big in the lottery (five thousand whole dollars!) and immediately heads to New York to blow the whole wad, catching the eye of prince Francis Lederer. Directed by William Wyler.

Bachelor Flat (1962) – The great Frank Tashlin directs this JET’s Most Wanted pick, an attempt to turn UK comic Terry-Thomas into a star in the US. His co-stars include Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer and Celeste Holm.

The Marriage Of A Young Stockbroker (1971) – Richard Benjamin stars as the bored title character who begins looking outside his marriage for kicks. Co-stars Adam West with a screenplay by the late Lorenzo Semple, Jr.

 

NEW FROM THE SONY PICTURES CHOICE COLLECTION

Alamo Bay (1985) – Twilight Time recently released this Louis Malle film on Blu-ray and it’s still available (as of this writing) from Screen Archives Entertainment. But if you’d rather go the MOD route for some reason, Sony’s got you covered.

Bait (1954) – Cult auteur Hugo Haas directs and co-stars in this odd noir about mining partners at odds and the blonde bombshell (Cleo Moore) who comes between them.

Confessions Of A Window Cleaner (1974) – Robin Askwith and Anthony Booth starred in several “Confessions” movies in the 1970s, naughty British comedies in the Carry On mold. This one was the first, directed by Val Guest, and maybe the best, although they’re all reputed to be pretty god-awful.

Confessions Of A Driving Instructor (1976) – Askwith and Booth return for more. Millions of others did not.

The Devil’s Playground (1937) – Richard Dix and Dolores Del Rio star in this remake of Frank Capra’s 1928 film Submarine.

Lightning Guns (1950) – Charles Starrett returns as The Durango Kid in this Western potboiler.

Thunder At The Border (1966) – Rod Cameron and Pierre Brice star as Old Firehand and Winnetou in this German-made Western based on the popular (in Germany, anyway) characters created by Karl May.

Too Tough To Kill (1935) – There’s trouble down below with Victor Jory as the foreman of a mine owned by corrupt syndicate-types.

- Adam Jahnke