New DVD's to make your little classic-movie-loving heart go pitter patter!

March 22, 2009

Did anyone else see this post on ClassicFlix???

Warner Brothers is releasing 115 Classic Movies on DVD!! I am so giddy I can barely contain my excitement! Here are some of the fantastic highlights:

Dance, Fools, Dance (31) - Joan Crawford/Clark Gable
Chained (34) Joan Crawford/Clark Gable
Emma (32) Marie Dressler/Myrna Loy/Jean Hersholta
Private Lives (31) Robert Montgomery/Norma Shearer
On Borrowed Time (39) Lionel Barrymore/Beulah Bondi
Once Upon a Honeymoon (42) Cary Grant/Ginger Rogers
Possessed (31) Joan Crawford/Clark Gable
Wild Orchids (29) Greta Garbo/Lewis Stone
Strange Interlude (32) Norma Shearer/Clark Gable
Beast of the City (32) Walter Huston/Jean Harlow
Too Hot to Handle (38) Myrna Loy/Clark Gable
Close to My Heart (51) Ray Milland/Gene Tierney
The Moonlighter (53) Barbara Stanwyck/Fred MacMurray
Invitation (52) Van Johnson/Dorothy McGuire
Payment on Demand (51) Bette Davis/Barry Sullivan
A Lion is in the Streets (53) James Cagney/Barbara Hale
The Single Standard (29) Greta Garbo/Nils Asther
The Kiss (29) Greta Garbo/Conrad Nagel

(The picture is Marie Dressler in Emma, one of my all-time favorite films)

14 comments:

Matthew Coniam said...

Beast of the City! At last!!!
I've had a scratchy old VHS taken from a 16mm print of this for years; and ever since the Forbidden Hollywood 2 box set came out, those pristine clips from it in the documentary have been taunting me...
Its reputation is sure to grow now everyone can easily see it. It's the best early thirties gangster film of them all, fully the equal of Scarface, Public Enemy, Little Caesar. Incredibly realistic, downbeat and powerful, fantastic performances by Huston and Harlow and the Wallace Ford performance that should have made a huge star of him. Every scene is great, the climax is amazing, Tully Marshall is great fun as a crooked lawyer.
MGM were as gritty as Warners when they wanted to be.
Looking forward to Strange Interlude and Possessed, too. Dance, Fools, Dance I can vouch for: terrific pre-Code hi-jinx.
When are they coming out?

Unknown said...

On the ClassicFlix website, it says the release date was today, and sure enough: here on WB they have all the DVDs for sale!

I looked on amazon, and they don't have them up, so maybe WB is going to be the only one to sell them?

I haven't had the chance to see Beast of the City yet, so I'm really looking forward to it! I adore Walter Huston. I haven't seen Strange Interlude yet, either. Dance, Fools, Dance is one of my favorite pre-codes, but I already have a copy from TCM.

I know exactly what you mean about those scratchy 16mm-VHS transfers. I was desperate to own Emma, and so I have a DVD copy like that-- of course now that's it's really on DVD I'll buy it.

Raquel Stecher said...

These are actually made-to-order, so technically they are not really available on DVD. Each one is custom made when an order is received. You can only buy them from the Warner Bros. shop. http://tinyurl.com/c2euln

Still good though! I saw at least 5 Norma Shearer films so I am happy!

Unknown said...

Sheesh, if they're made to order, why not just release them all?? Right?

Raquel Stecher said...

This is an experiment to see if it works. They are testing this new service with 115 titles. If it's a hit, they could open the floodgates (at least I hope they will). You can vote for titles you want to release too!

Unknown said...

Hmm... are you a secret spy for WB? How do you know this? lol! I'm so excited-- we'll all have to stock up to show them it's working :)

Millie said...

"Once Upon A Honeymoon"?

I am SO super-duper excited! I haven't seen this in years (and considering I'm not yet out of high school...I was very young the last time I saw it)! I've been waiting and waiting for this!

Anonymous said...

This is totally exciting. I'm going to search for some of the hard to find Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. titles I've been dying to see for so long. If each one of us just buys one, that might be enough interest to get all the other companies to do this.

And I want to know how Raquelle gets all her info too! She's ahead of the curve on everything!

vivienne strauss said...

Nice to hear some GOOD news for a change :)

Unknown said...

Millie- I saw it on TCM recently and I adore it. Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant were a great pairing.. they should have starred together more often.

casey- Like which ones? Have you seen Union Depot? I love that one.

vivienne- indeed!

Raquel Stecher said...

I have my connections... Mostly I am very nosy and I also am a faithful reader of Laura's Miscellaneous Musings. She's always got good DVD news & info on her blog. :-) (I promise she didn't pay me to say that).

Genevieve said...

Soooo excited for Once Upon a Honeymoon!!!! You totally just made my day : )

Unknown said...

Have you seen Once Upon a Honeymoon yet? It's a wonderful movie! Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant were a fantastic pair.

Anonymous said...

Definitely Union Depot! I adore that one, too! And Joy of Living, (with Irene Dunne), Man of the Moment, The Life of Jimmy Dolan and Love is a Racket. In fact, I'll never be happy until I have his entire film collection on DVD. :)