3 More Alice in Wonderland Releases

In addition to Universal's Alice in Wonderland (1933) coming out next Tuesday, three separate Alice in Wonderland releases are set to coincide with Tim Burton's upcoming Alice release.

The first from Infinity Entertainment, Alice Through the Looking Glass (TV, 1966), already streeted on February 9th. It is in color and stars Jimmy Durante, Nanette Fabray, Ricardo Montalban, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Palance, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers, Judi Rolin, Roy Castle, Robert Coote and Richard Denning.

Also expected from Infinity on March 30th is Alice in Wonderland - Classic Film Collection. The main attraction on this 2-disc set is the previously unreleased silent Alice in Wonderland (1915) and two shorts from Walt Disney's Alice Comedies (although we don't know the actual shorts yet).

Out next Tuesday from BBC Warner is Alice in Wonderland (TV, 1966). The black-and-white BBC adaptation stars Anne-Marie Mallik, Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Jo Maxwell Muller, Alan Bennett, Finlay Currie, Leo McKern, and Peter Cook. It was formally released by Homevision, but is now out of print.

All three can also be found in the Recent Additions section.

Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus

Recently released from E1 Entertainment, Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus is now available for rent. The 4-disc contains 7 Omnibus installments that haven't been seen since their original broadcasts. Details below.

SYNOPSIS:
The golden age of television's most distinguished production, Omnibus brought sophistication, refinement and sparkling intelligence to a national audience. Leonard Bernstein, whose Omnibus appearances rank among the series highlights, made his television debut with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" in 1954 and later won two Emmy Awards for his presentations on jazz, conducting, musical comedy, 20th century composition and Bach. Now for the first time since their original live broadcasts, these acclaimed performances can be seen in their entirety, restored and re-mastered on DVD.

DISC 1:

  • Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (1954)
  • The World of Jazz (1955)

DISC 2:

  • The Art of Conducting (1955)
  • American Musical Comedy (1956)

DISC 3:

  • Introduction to Modern Music (1957)
  • The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1957)

DISC 4:

  • What Makes Opera Grand? (1958)

BONUS FEATURE:

  • Handel's Messiah (1955)

SHOUT FACTORY: Ultimate Goldbergs, Ironside - Season 3

It's been almost a year since Warner started a new way of distributing its properties by announcing their Warner Archive line of DVDs. Through WBShop , and a few large, hand-picked e-tailers, it has changed the way classic film fans get their movies.

Now Shout Factory is also limiting its points of distribution by exclusively selling The Ultimate Goldbergs and Ironside - Season 3 only on their site. And while the sale of these releases may be exclusive to Shout Factory, nowhere else will they be available for rent except at ClassicFlix.com.

UPDATE 03/17/2010: We have learned that the creators of this set, The UCLA Film & Television Archive, also have this available for sale. Purchaes made at the UCLS FTA help with the funding of future classic releases so buy yours today at cinema.ucla.edu/goldbergs.

About the releases:

The Ultimate Goldbergs is a 6-disc set that contains all 71 episodes known to exist. It will be released on March 23rd. Bonus features are 12 radio shows plus a 24-page booklet.

Ironside - Season 3, a 7 disc set, came out on January 19th and is available now.

They can also be found HERE in the Recent Additions section.

ARTWORK ADDED: Spartacus (Blu-Ray)

--Artwork Added to Previous Announcement--

ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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Spartacus (Blu-Ray) - 50th Anniversary Edition
May 25th
Universal
Retail: $26.98, Our: $20.99
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Universal has announced a May 25th release date for Spartacus (Blu-Ray) - 50th Anniversary Edition.

Unlike the 2006 HD-DVD release of Spartacus, this hi-def release comes with plenty of bonus features (below). Oddly, no standard definition edition has been announced to coincide with this blu release.

It will be a single disc and retail for $26.98, but is available at ClassicFlix.com for only $20.99.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Interview with Peter Ustinov
  • Interview with Jean Simmons
  • Behind-the-Scenes Footage
  • Vintage Newsreels
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Production Stills
  • Concept Art
  • Costume Designs
  • Saul Bass Storyboards
  • Posters & Print Ads
  • My Scenes
  • BD Live

Spartacus (Blu-Ray) - 50th Anniversary Edition in May

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Spartacus (Blu-Ray) - 50th Anniversary Edition
May 25th
Universal
Retail: $26.98, Our: $20.99
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Universal has announced a May 25th release date for Spartacus (Blu-Ray) - 50th Anniversary Edition.

Unlike the 2006 HD-DVD release of Spartacus, this hi-def release comes with plenty of bonus features (below). Oddly, no standard definition edition has been announced to coincide with this blu release.

It will be a single disc and retail for $26.98, but is available at ClassicFlix.com for only $20.99.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Interview with Peter Ustinov
  • Interview with Jean Simmons
  • Behind-the-Scenes Footage
  • Vintage Newsreels
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Production Stills
  • Concept Art
  • Costume Designs
  • Saul Bass Storyboards
  • Posters & Print Ads
  • My Scenes
  • BD Live

SPLASH: Paramount Titles Coming Through Olive Films

Olive Films is about to make a big splash in the shrinking pool that are classic film releases on standard DVD (not DVD-R).

In new territory for the online retailer/wholesaler, Olive has confirmed that they have licensed 27 films (below) from the Paramount library. Release dates are not solid yet, but they hope to have the first batch out by June.

After June, the schedule should be three to four per month, with a ballpark of 20 out by years end.

And while they all don't fall within the scope of our site (our focus is on pre-1960 films and we don't carry any made after 1969), we'll be sure to carry a majority of them.

Stay tuned for more details...

  • Rope of Sand (1949)
  • Union Station (1950)
  • Dark City (1950)
  • Appointment with Danger (1951)
  • My Favorite Spy (1951)
  • Off Limits (1953)
  • Knock on Wood (1954)
  • The Mountain (1956)
  • The Savage Innocents (1960)
  • On the Double (1961)
  • Summer and Smoke (1961)
  • Escape from Zahrain (1962)
  • Where Love Has Gone (1964)
  • Crack in the World (1965)
  • Harlow (1965)
  • Sands of the Kalahari (1965)
  • Promise Her Anything (1965)
  • Hurry Sundown (1967)
  • Skidoo (1968)
  • Riot (1969)
  • Tropic of Cancer (1970)
  • WUSA (1970)
  • Hannie Caulder (1971)
  • Such Good Friends (1971)
  • Fear Is the Key (1972)
  • Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)
  • Face to Face (Ansikte mot ansikte) (1976)

The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 2 in May

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The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 2
May 18th
E1 Entertainment
Retail: $29.98, Our: $19.99
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One of last year's extremely pleasant surprises was E1's The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 1. Now, E1 has announced a May 18th release date for The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 2.

The 2-disc set will present 12 more of the series' 36 episodes featuring such stars as Buddy Ebsen, Peter Falk, Joan Blondell and James Best. Bonuses include the un-aired pilot and a 16-page booklet.

It will retail for $29.98, but is available at ClassicFlix.com for only $19.99.


WARNER ARCHIVE: Rosie O'Grady, Valley of Decision in Latest Wave

The musical-comedy The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950) starring June Haver and Gordon MacRae, and the romantic-drama The Valley of Decision (1945) with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck, are just two of the seven Warner Archive titles that have been added at WBShop.

The other five are musicals including three early sound and two from the early 50's in color.

All 7 titles can also be found HERE in the Recent Additions section.

They are now available for rent at ClassicFlix, but may be approximately four weeks before they are available for shipment.

The total number of Warner Archive titles now exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com is 373.

CRITERION: M (Blu-Ray) in May

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M (Blu-Ray) (1931)
May 11th
Criterion
Retail: $39.95, Our: $31.99
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Creepiness comes to Blu-Ray as Criterion has announced a May 11th release date for Fritz Lang's M (1931).

The bonus features (below) on this single DVD release will be identical to the previous 2-disc standard version, with the exception of the addition of M's long-lost English-language version.

It will retail for $39.95, but is available here at ClassicFlix.com for only $31.99.

SYNOPSIS:
A simple, haunting phrase whistled off-screen tells us that a young girl will be killed. "Who is the murderer?" pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann.

In this harrowing masterwork M, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller. The Criterion Collection is proud to present a new restoration of this landmark film.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Audio Commentary by German Film Scholars Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M and Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry Of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife
  • A Conversation with Fritz Lang - A 50 minute interview film by William Friedkin
  • Claude Chabrol's M Le Maudit, a short film inspired by M, plus an interview with Chabrol by Pierre-Henri Gibert and Lang's filmmaking techniques.
  • Classroom tapes of M editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history
  • Interview with Harold Nebenzal, the son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
  • The long-lost English-language version of M.
  • A physical history of M
  • Stills gallery with behind the scenes photos, and production sketches by art director Emil Hasler
  • PLUS: A 32 Page Booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanely Kauffmann, a 1963 interview with Lang and the script for a missing scene, and contemporaneous newspaper articles

WARNER ARCHIVE: She's Working Her Way Through College

Warner has added She's Working Her Way Through College (1952) over at WBShop.

The technicolor muscial-comedy starring Virginia Mayo and Ronald Reagan is scheduled for release on Tuesday and is 35% at a reasonable $12.96. It is now available for rent at ClassicFlix, but may be approximately four weeks before it's available for shipment.

SYNOPSIS:
Let other coeds wait tables or shelve library books. Burlesque queen Hot-Garters Gertie is working her way through college one article of clothing at a time! Virginia Mayo and Ronald Reagan headline this rollicking campus musical comedy based on the stage and screen classic The Male Animal.

Hoping to leave the daily bump ’n’ grind behind, gorgeous Gertie (Mayo) enrolls at Midwest State, where she proceeds to complicate the lives of a handsome theater arts professor (Reagan), Midwest’s star quarterback (Gene Nelson) and jealous rival “Poison” Ivy Williams (Patrice Wymore). It takes a smash-hit student musical, featuring tunes by Sammy Cahn and Vernon Duke, to put everything right.

The total number of Warner Archive titles now exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com is 366.

CRITERION: Stagecoach, Standard and Blu in May

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Stagecoach (1939)
May 25th
Criterion
Retail $39.95, Our: $29.99
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Stagecoach (Blu-Ray) (1939)
May 25th
Criterion
Retail $39.95, Our: $31.99
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Criterion has announced a May 25th release date for Stagecoach (1939) in both a standard 2-disc DVD set and single disc Blu-Ray release.

Previously released in 2006 in a 2-disc special edition by Warner, new rights holder Criterion is, well, giving Stagecoach the Criterion treatment as bonus features are plenty (below) and all new.

NOTE: We normally retire older versions of any title when a superior version comes out to reduce confusion as to which DVD to rent. However, we'll leave Warner's release in our inventory as it contains completely different bonus features that may be of interest.

SYNOPSIS:
This is where it all started. John Ford’s smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances—traveling a dangerous route from Arizona to New Mexico—Stagecoach features outstanding performances from Hollywood stalwarts Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, and, of course, John Wayne, in his first starring role for Ford, as the daredevil outlaw the Ringo Kid. Superbly shot and tightly edited, Stagecoach (Ford’s first trip to Monument Valley) is Hollywood storytelling at its finest.

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
  • Bucking Broadway (1917), a fifty-four-minute silent western by John Ford, with new music by Donald Sosin
  • Extensive video interview with Ford from 1968
  • New video interview with Dan Ford, biographer and grandson of the director, about Ford’s home movies
  • New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
  • New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher
  • New video feature about Monument Valley
  • New video interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong about Stagecoach’s stuntman Yakima Canutt
  • Radio dramatization of Stagecoach from 1949
  • Theatrical trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and the short story that inspired the film

BACK ON SCHEDULE: The Virginian - Season 1 in May

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The Virginian - The Complete First Season
May 25th
Timeless Media
Retail: $79.98, Our: $54.99
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We finally have a little clarity from Timeless Media regarding Season 1 of The Virginian. After announcing two separate volumes for Season 1 for general release due on March 9th, then pulling back to only allow those sets in club stores, they have now set a general public release date of May 25th for The Virginian - The Complete First Season.

Whereas season one was going to be contained on twelve discs in two separate volumes, this newly announced set will be in a collector's tin and be on ten discs.

It will retail for $79.95, but is available here at ClassicFlix.com for only $54.99. Full details, including bonus features are below.

SYNOPSIS:
The Virginian was the first 90 minute television western airing in prime time on NBC from 1962-1971. The stellar cast included James Drury, Lee J. Cobb, Doug McClure, Gary Clark, and Roberta Shore, and each week brought talented guest stars to The Virginian.

Fully Restored and Digitally Remastered, Full Color Episodes from the NBC Vault. Guest Stars include Bette Davis, George C. Scott, Eddie Albert, Charles Bickford, Shirley Knight and Fabian.

BONUS FEATURE:

  • Exclusive Interviews with James Drury, Roberta Shore, Gary Clark, Robert Fuller and Peter Brown

FLICKER ALLEY: The Italian Straw Hat in April

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The Italian Straw Hat (1927)
April 6th
Flicker Alley
Retail: $29.99, Our: $23.99
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More from Flicker Alley as they've officially announced an April 6th release date for Rene Clair's The Italian Straw Hat (1927). The single disc release of this classic silent comedy comes with English intertitles with options for French subtitles.

It will retail for $29.95, but is available here at ClassicFlix.com for only $23.99. Full details, including bonus features are below.

SYNOPSIS:
Rene Clair’s sparkling comedy of manners is a witty, delicate, inspired satire on propriety and behavior in the bourgeois mind-set. Transposing the action of the perennial stage farce from 1851 to a summer wedding day in 1895 – the birth of cinema – Clair recalls detail, costume and design captured by the first movies. The Italian Straw Hat – Un Chapeau de paille d’Italie – triumphantly survives its 1927 journey from stage to screen; a dozen eccentric characters, superbly acted, try desperately to keep up appearances in the face of disaster, their attitudes, concerns and gestures exquisitely stylized under Clair’s deft orchestration. The sets and costumes, too are a charming combination of the suffocating and the exact.

A bridegroom is riding to his marriage when his horse eats a straw hat hanging on a branch while its owner, a married lady, is behind a bush with her lover, a fierce hussar. She cannot go home without her hat, so the groom interlaces his wedding with an attempt to find madam a twin chapeau, launching a series of misunderstandings and embarrassments. The Italian Straw Hat has few cinematic equals and inspired Pauline Kael to observe “One of the funniest films ever made… so expertly timed and choreographed that farce becomes ballet.”

This is the only fully complete edition of The Italian Straw Hat ever available to American viewers. The film was mastered in high definition at 19 frames per second from the original 35mm negative used for the English release in 1930. As that version had been subjected to about twenty edits, all the missing pieces were restored from an original French print. Intertitles are in English, with optional subtitles of the original French text.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • A Choice of Two New Accompaniments:
    • Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
    • Pianist Philip Carli
  • Rene Clair's 1928 Short, La Tour (The Eiffel Tower)
  • Ferdinand Zecca’s 1907 Short Noce en Goguette (Fun After The Wedding)
  • Complete 1851 Play Un Chapeau de paille d’ Italie by Eugene Labiche and Marc Michel. English translation of 1916 as The Leghorn Hat (DVD-ROM)
  • PLUS: Booklet with Essay by Lenny Borger and Iris Barry

FLICKER ALLEY: Georges Melies Encore on Tuesday

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Georges Melies Encore
February 16th
Flicker Alley
Retail: $19.99, Our: $14.99
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Overlooked because it was thought to be a compilation of Flicker Alley's previous 5-disc set, we have now added Georges Melies Encore as it is a supplement to the previous set, with all new material, and not a compilation.

It will retail for $19.95, but is available here at ClassicFlix.com for only $14.99. Details below.


Georges Méliès built the world's first movie studio in 1896 and from it cascaded many fantastic films, as featured on Flicker Alley’s monumental thirteen-hour, five-DVD box, Georges Méliès, First Wizard of the Cinema. Since it was published, an additional 26 films produced by Méliès between 1896 and 1911 have been found and made available for this single-disc, supplemental collection. They further support that Méliès was the most accomplished filmmaker in the world during the first years of cinema.

The films collected here are presented as in the earlier set, in chronological order with brand new music. Although the print quality is variable, most look very nice; five boast beautiful, original hand-coloring, while another five have original English narrations written by Méliès. Two are fragments, as the complete films are lost. As a bonus, this collection also includes two films in the Méliès style by Segundo de Chomon, which for many years were misidentified as Georges Méliès’ own work.

Taken on its own, this collection is a fine survey of Méliès’ achievements. The Haunted Castle from 1896 relies on shot-substitution, the filmmaker’s first trick discovery; it is a work in 21 shots at a time when everyone else in the world was making only single-shot films! An Hallucinated Alchemist is a beautifully-colored trick film from 1897, which survives in perfect condition. Among other surprises, the set includes military re-enactments (The Last Cartridges, Sea Fighting in Greece), dream films (The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship, Under the Seas), dramatic narratives (The Wandering Jew and The Christmas Angel, both with original narrations), slapstick comedies (How Bridget’s Lover Escaped, The King and the Jester, The Cook’s Secret), and, of course, a substantial group of the lovely trick films that Méliès is best known for today.

Reviewing the original set, Michael Wilmington wrote that “Méliès was a true genius, a cinematic artist of the first rank, and this collection proves it. Not only did he write and direct his little gems, but he designed and executed the gorgeous sets and fantastic creatures, and he's also the bald, slender, bearded lead actor or comedian in many of them… don't let the antique style (no close-ups, painted backdrops) throw you, and you'll be infallibly, wildly entertained.” Here, for your pleasure, are more than two dozen additional Méliès films, a treasure trove collection from one of cinema’s very first masters!

ARTWORK ADDED: Barbara Stanwyck Collection

Artwork added to previous announcement. Click here to see.

TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection in June

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TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection
June 8th
Warner
Retail $39.92, Our: $29.99
Dark Alibi (1946), Dangerous Money (1946), The Trap (1946), The Chinsese Ring (1947)
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Warner has announced a June 8th release date for their first boxed set for 2010: TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection. The four Chan programmers, 3 with Sidney Toler and 1 with Roland Winters, will be on four discs.

Bonus features are not yet known, but if they are typical TCM Spotlight specs, fans should be in for a treat.

Retail will be $39.92, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $29.99.

Gale Storm - America's Sweetheart Collection in March

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Gale Storm - America's Sweetheart Collection
March 16th
Infinity
Retail $19.98, Our: $14.99
Tom Brown's School Days (1940), Uncle Joe (1941), Jesse James at Bay (1941), City of Missing Girls (1941), Let's Go Collegiate (1941),
Lure of the Islands (1942), Gambling Daughters (1941) & Rhythm Parade (1942)
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Infinity Entertaiment, along with Hollywood Select Video, have announced Gale Storm - America's Sweetheart Collection for release on March 16th.

The 3-disc set, all likely PD quality transfers, will have a total of eight films, with three making their DVD debut (blue font above). The other five were previously released by Alpha.

Also in the set are three episodes from My Little Margie and two episodes from The Gale Storm Show. While we don't know exactly which episodes are included, we know there won't be any previously released episodes from The Gale Storm Show (aka Oh! Susanna) as this will be its DVD bow.

Co-stars include Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, Zasu Pitts, Billy Halop, Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Frankie Darro, Marcia Mae Jones, Mantan Moreland, Keye Luke, Frank Faylen, Margaret Dumont in feature films from practically every genre.

Retail will be $19.98, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $14.99. Details below.

From small-town girl to national stardom, celebrate the meteoric rise to fame of one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars of the ‘50s in Gale Storm: America’s Sweetheart on DVD from Infinity Entertainment Group.

Winner of a national 1940s talent search on CBS radio’s Gateway to Hollywood, Texas teen Josephine Cottle (soon to become Gale Storm) literally took Hollywood by storm, becoming a legendary star of radio, film, television, records and stage.

DISC 1:

Tom Brown's School Days (1940, 86 min.)
When private tutor Thomas Arnold (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) becomes headmaster at Rugby, a boy's preparatory school in England, he puts into place a policy of strict punishment for unruliness and bullying. Arnold finds an ally in Tom Brown (Jimmy Lydon), a new student who is subjected to hazing and abuse by a group of older boys and is pressured by his friends to keep quiet about it.

Fed up, he leads his fellow classmates in an underground rebellion against their tormentors. But certain unspoken rules still apply at the school and Brown loses his hero status when he is accused of breaking the Rugby code of silence.Based on a novel by Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days costars Billy Halop of the Dead End Kids and Freddie Bartholomew, a prolific child actor who starred in a number of other period films including David Copperfield and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Uncle Joe (1941, 55 min.)
Socialite debutante Clare (Gale Storm) worries her well-to-do parents with fast living and a gutter romance with decadent and impoverished painter Paul D'Arcy. In an attempt to smother the embers of their forbidden love, Clare's parents send her away to visit Uncle Joe (Slim Summerville).

Joe is a simple but wise farmer who spends his time inventing all manner of newfangled laborsaving devices while shyly courting spinster Julia (the incomparable comedic actress Zasu Pitts). At first distressed by the folksy gait of Joe's hometown of Baysville, Clare takes to the country when all the local boys, who use to tease her, now come a-courting.

When Julia defaults on her mortgage and her home is threatened with repossession by the bank, Clare, Uncle Joe and the boys rally together to save her house by winning a limerick contest on the radio. Ardor blossoms between Clare and Dick, son of the local banker, while the youngsters also seek a way to awaken Uncle Joe and Julia to their autumnal passion for each other.

Brimming with whimsy and crackerjack performances marinated with mirth, Uncle Joe is a sweet natured and warm slice of hilarity.

Jesse James at Bay (1941, 56 min.)
Jesse James (Roy Rogers), a Robin Hood-like hero, comes to the aid of defenseless Missouri settlers that have been swindled out of their land by the ruthless railroad magnate Phineas Krager (Pierre Watkin). After James robs one of Krager's trains and holds up his bank, Krager plots his revenge by persuading a dead-ringer James look-alike, Clint Burns (Rogers in a dual role), to pose as the outlaw and pillage the unknowing landowners' property.

When word gets out that the real Jesse James has been shot and abandoned by his gang, Burns rides off to finish him off and collect the $10,000 reward for his capture. Not only is Jesse James at Bay one of Roy Rogers' most engaging vehicles, but the supporting cast of "Gabby" Hayes, Roy Barcroft and Gale Storm is consistently impressive.

Plus 1 episode of My Little Margie.

DISC 2:

City of Missing Girls (1941, 73 min.)
A number of young girls turns up dead or missing, and the one connection they have is that they were all students at a drama school. The town District Attorney suspects that the school is a front for a prostitution racket, and when he is framed and blackmailed in an attempt to stop his investigation, a female reporter goes undercover to try to expose the racket and clear the D.A.'s name.

Let's Go Collegiate (1941, 62 min.)
Jeff (Mantan Moreland) dreams of being a fraternity brother at Rowley University. He pledges a frat house after observing how "being educated" helps to attract the attention of the pretty sorority sisters. Jeff's obnoxious pal Frankie (Frankie Darro) is a big man on campus due to his friendship with rowing legend Bob Terry. When Frankie brags to his classmates that he's bringing Bob to the big sorority dance, his popularity skyrockets. Unfortunately for Frankie's reputation, Bob is drafted. Panicked at the thought of losing face, Frankie blackballs Jeff into a hair-brained scheme to hire an acquaintance, Hercules Beaver, to impersonate the famous rower. Hercules does better than expected and soon has the entire university eating out of his palm, until Frankie discovers that the imposter is actually a dangerous and wanted criminal. Now Jeff and Frankie must scramble to keep themselves out of jail.

Lure of the Islands (1942, 63 min.)

Plus 1 episode of The Gale Storm Show.

DISC 3:

Gambling Daughters (1941, 65 min.)

Rhythm Parade (1942, 69 min.)

Plus 2 episodes of My Little Margie and 1 of The Gale Storm Show.

UNIVERSAL BACKLOT: The Barbara Stanwyck Collection in April

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The Barbara Stanwyck Collection (Universal Backlot)
April 27th
Universal
Retail $49.98, Our: $37.99
Internes Can't Take Money (1937), The Great Man's Lady (1942), The Bride Wore Boots (1946), The Lady Gambles (1949), All I Desire (1953), There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
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Proving they have not abandoned their Backlot series, nor standard DVD releases, Universal has announced an April 27th release date for The Barbara Stanwyck Collection.

The 3-disc set spans 19 years over Ms. Stanwyck's career and boasts such co-stars as Joel McCrea (twice), Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett, Brian Donlevy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Robert Benchley and Lloyd Nolan.

Bonus features will be trailers for a few of the titles. Retail will be $49.98, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $37.99.

WARNER ARCHIVE: The Bride Goes Wild (1948), Plus 3 Early Sound

Four more Warner Archive titles have been added at WBShop including The Bride Goes Wild (1948) and three early sound films starring Richard Barthelmess -- Weary River (1929), Son of the Gods (1930) and Central Airport (1933).

The Bride Goes Wild stars Van Johnson and June Allyson and is the third of their five co-starring films.

They are now available for rent at ClassicFlix, but may be approximately four weeks before they are available for shipment.

The total number of Warner Archive titles now exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com is 365.

WARNER ARCHIVE: Ensign Pulver (1964) Added

Ensign Pulver (1964) has been added at WBShop in the War and Peace sale section. The Warner Archive release is now available for rent at ClassicFlix, but may be approximately four weeks before it's available for shipment.

SYNOPSIS:
Sign on for a lighthearted , seeworthy oceangoing comedic voyage that begins where the classic Mister Roberts left off. Doug Roberts is gone, but feckless Frank Pulver (Robert Walker Jr.) remains to battle boredom aboard the World War II-era cargo ship Reluctant. His weapons range from a slingshot to a surgical scalpel. His target is the tyrannical captain (Burl Ives). His cohort is the genial keeper of the joy juice, Doc (Walter Matthau). And his aim is hilariously true.

Producer/director/co-writer Joshua Logan piped aboard a top supporting crew of young talents on the brink of fame, including Jack Nicholson, Larry Hagman, Peter Marshall, James Coco, James Farentino, George “Goober” Lindsey and in a delightful comic turn as missionary-trained natives, renowned dramatic actors Al Freeman Jr. and Diana Sands. Heave to for hilarity.

The total number of Warner Archive titles now exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com is 361.