Stars include: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Charles Boyer, Mary Astor, Olivia de Havilland, Dennis Morgan, Charles Coburn, Paul Lukas and many more. Full details below:
The Old Maid (1939)
Based on an Edith Wharton novel and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Old Maid tells the sad story of Charlotte, a woman whose circumstances force her to give up her illegitimate child and pose as the child’s “old maid” aunt, thereby facing a lifetime of maternal sacrifice. As Charlotte, Bette Davis gives one of her most nuanced performances, aging from wide-eyed girl to gray-haired martinet. Miriam Hopkins provides effective counterbalance with her portrayal of Charlotte’s effusive cousin, who raises the little girl. Two women, one child – and a brilliant example of melodrama as art.
BONUS FEATURES:
Bette Davis is at the height of her phenomenal screen career, with co-star Charles Boyer in their only film together. The plot is rich in mystery and grand emotion; a powerful period drama honored with three 1940 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
From Rachel Field’s fact-based bestseller, the story follows Henriette (Davis), governess at the Paris home of the Duc de Praslin (Boyer) and his jealous wife (Barbara O’Neil). When governess and nobleman are drawn to each other, the Duchess erupts in fury…and meets a bloody fate. Soon Henriette and the Duc face a world eager to believe that the Duc murdered his wife. And that gentle Henriette was a willing accomplice.
BONUS FEATURES:
Tempestuous, ambitious concert pianist Sandra Kovac (Mary Astor) shares a bond with down-to-earth Maggie Van Allen (Bette Davis) and her little boy Pete. Sandra’s chic New York friends can’t imagine what the two women have in common. What they don’t know is that Pete is actually Sandra’s son – and the son of the heroic aviator (George Brent) that both women love. Powerful emotions rage against a backdrop of powerful music in the film that earned Astor a 1941 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her stellar performance opposite the legendary star who always gives a tour-de-force performance. This story of a great passion, a great sacrifice…and a great lie showcases two great actresses.
BONUS FEATURES:
Two-time Best Actress Oscar winners and lifelong friends Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland square off as sisters (guess who’s the bad one) in In This Our Life, a must-see for fans of melodrama at its juiciest. Director John Huston, fresh from his The Maltese Falcon success, includes a cameo role for his father Walter, just as he did in Falcon. And Max Steiner’s powerful music underscores the film’s driving emotional force.
What Stanley Timberlake wants, she takes. So, on the eve of her marriage to another, she runs off with her sister’s husband, the first of many betrayals that lead to disaster…and to a compulsively watchable brew of deceit, racial bigotry, latent incest and violent death.
BONUS FEATURES:
Lillian Hellman’s 1941 stage hit (adapted by Dashiell Hammett) retains its emotional and intellectual power in this suspenseful movie awarded the New York Film Critics 1943 Best Picture prize, and lauded as ”a distinguished film, full of sense, power and beauty” by the NY Times. The praiseworthy film about standing up for what is right, at all odds, stars Paul Lukas repeating his Broadway triumph as Kurt Muller, a German underground leader who arrives with his family in Washington, DC and soon finds the tentacles of Nazi terror have a very long reach. Lukas’ passionate performance earned him an Oscar, beating out Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Bette Davis, who took on the film because she believed in its importance, portrays Muller’s wife with ringing integrity. Lucile Watson as a socialite whose complacency is “shaken out of the magnolias” and George Colouris as a shady blackmailer also memorably reprise their stage roles. The film was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
BONUS FEATURES:
The three stars (Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains) and director (Irving Rapper) of Now Voyager reunite for this glamorous, angst-ridden melodrama set to a thrilling Erich Wolfgang Korngold score. A favorite of Davis fans, Deception inspired one of the best-known reviews in movie history: “It’s like grand opera, only the people are thinner. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world” (Cecelia Ager, PM).
Based on Louis Verneuil’s 1928 play Jealousy, the film tells the story of pianist Christine Radcliffe separated from her great love, cellist Karel Novak by World War II. Unexpectedly reunited with him, Christine desperately strives to hide her wartime dalliance as the mistress of a wealthy, sadistic composer (Rains), with devastating results.
BONUS FEATURES:
Based on an Edith Wharton novel and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Old Maid tells the sad story of Charlotte, a woman whose circumstances force her to give up her illegitimate child and pose as the child’s “old maid” aunt, thereby facing a lifetime of maternal sacrifice. As Charlotte, Bette Davis gives one of her most nuanced performances, aging from wide-eyed girl to gray-haired martinet. Miriam Hopkins provides effective counterbalance with her portrayal of Charlotte’s effusive cousin, who raises the little girl. Two women, one child – and a brilliant example of melodrama as art.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1939 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Technicolor historical short Lincoln in the White House
- Howard Hill sports short Sword Fishing
- Classic cartoons The Film Fan and Kristopher Kolumbus
- Trailers of The Old Maid and 1939’s Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Bette Davis is at the height of her phenomenal screen career, with co-star Charles Boyer in their only film together. The plot is rich in mystery and grand emotion; a powerful period drama honored with three 1940 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
From Rachel Field’s fact-based bestseller, the story follows Henriette (Davis), governess at the Paris home of the Duc de Praslin (Boyer) and his jealous wife (Barbara O’Neil). When governess and nobleman are drawn to each other, the Duchess erupts in fury…and meets a bloody fate. Soon Henriette and the Duc face a world eager to believe that the Duc murdered his wife. And that gentle Henriette was a willing accomplice.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by The Women of Warner Bros. author Daniel Bubbeo.
- Warner Night at the Movies 1940 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Technicolor patriotic short Meet the Fleet
- Classic cartoons Hollywood Daffy and Porky’s Last Stand
- Trailers of All This, and Heaven Too and 1940’s Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet
- Audio-only bonus: Radio show adaptation with the film’s stars
Tempestuous, ambitious concert pianist Sandra Kovac (Mary Astor) shares a bond with down-to-earth Maggie Van Allen (Bette Davis) and her little boy Pete. Sandra’s chic New York friends can’t imagine what the two women have in common. What they don’t know is that Pete is actually Sandra’s son – and the son of the heroic aviator (George Brent) that both women love. Powerful emotions rage against a backdrop of powerful music in the film that earned Astor a 1941 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her stellar performance opposite the legendary star who always gives a tour-de-force performance. This story of a great passion, a great sacrifice…and a great lie showcases two great actresses.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Warner Night at the Movies 1941 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Broadway Brevities short At the Stroke of Twelve
- Oscar-nominated Technicolor Sports Parade short Kings of the Turf
- Hollywood Novelty short Polo with the Stars
- Classic cartoon Porky’s Pooch
- Trailers of The Great Lie and 1941’s The Strawberry Blonde
Two-time Best Actress Oscar winners and lifelong friends Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland square off as sisters (guess who’s the bad one) in In This Our Life, a must-see for fans of melodrama at its juiciest. Director John Huston, fresh from his The Maltese Falcon success, includes a cameo role for his father Walter, just as he did in Falcon. And Max Steiner’s powerful music underscores the film’s driving emotional force.
What Stanley Timberlake wants, she takes. So, on the eve of her marriage to another, she runs off with her sister’s husband, the first of many betrayals that lead to disaster…and to a compulsively watchable brew of deceit, racial bigotry, latent incest and violent death.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by film historian Jeannine Basinger
- Warner Night at the Movies 1942 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Technicolor patriotic short March On, America!
- Technicolor musical short Spanish Fiesta
- Classic cartoon Who’s Who in the Zoo
- Trailers of In This Our Life and 1942’s Desperate Journey
Lillian Hellman’s 1941 stage hit (adapted by Dashiell Hammett) retains its emotional and intellectual power in this suspenseful movie awarded the New York Film Critics 1943 Best Picture prize, and lauded as ”a distinguished film, full of sense, power and beauty” by the NY Times. The praiseworthy film about standing up for what is right, at all odds, stars Paul Lukas repeating his Broadway triumph as Kurt Muller, a German underground leader who arrives with his family in Washington, DC and soon finds the tentacles of Nazi terror have a very long reach. Lukas’ passionate performance earned him an Oscar, beating out Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Bette Davis, who took on the film because she believed in its importance, portrays Muller’s wife with ringing integrity. Lucile Watson as a socialite whose complacency is “shaken out of the magnolias” and George Colouris as a shady blackmailer also memorably reprise their stage roles. The film was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Career profile Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano
- Commentary by film historian Bernard F. Dick
- Warner Night at the Movies 1943 short subjects gallery:
- Technicolor patriotic short March On, America!
- Musical short Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
- Classic cartoon The Wise Quacking Duck
- Trailers of Watch on the Rhine and 1943’s Mission to Moscow
The three stars (Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains) and director (Irving Rapper) of Now Voyager reunite for this glamorous, angst-ridden melodrama set to a thrilling Erich Wolfgang Korngold score. A favorite of Davis fans, Deception inspired one of the best-known reviews in movie history: “It’s like grand opera, only the people are thinner. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world” (Cecelia Ager, PM).
Based on Louis Verneuil’s 1928 play Jealousy, the film tells the story of pianist Christine Radcliffe separated from her great love, cellist Karel Novak by World War II. Unexpectedly reunited with him, Christine desperately strives to hide her wartime dalliance as the mistress of a wealthy, sadistic composer (Rains), with devastating results.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by film historian Foster Hirsch
- Warner Night at the Movies 1946 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Oscar-winning Technicolor Sports Parade Short Facing Your Danger
- Technicolor Specials Short Movieland Magic
- Classic cartoon Mouse Menace
- Trailers of Deception and 1946’s A Stolen Life
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