WARNER ARCHIVE: Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 7

The Forbidden Hollywood line continues with the announced release of Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 7 from the Warner Archive Collection.

The 4-disc set includes: The Hatchet Man (1932), Skyscraper Souls (1932), Employees’ Entrance (1933) and Ex-Lady (1933).

This new set adds to the total of over 1,100 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Forbidden Hollywood, Volume Seven shines the spotlight on four of the era’s most scandalous sizzlers starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Loretta Young and quintessential screen scoundrel Warren William in two of his best.

The Hatchet Man (1932)
A Tong executioner (Robinson) allows his wife (Young) to run off with a gangster only to learn she’s been sold into prostitution.

Skyscraper Souls (1932)
A financier (William) stops at nothing to gain control of a 100-story office building and a "naive" Maureen O’Sullivan.

Employees’ Entrance (1933)
A tyrannical department store manager (William) chases after profits and Loretta Young.

Ex-Lady (1933)
An artist (Davis) who doesn’t believe in marriage reluctantly weds her lover (Gene Raymond) only to discover he’s seeing another woman.

BRIT VCI: Attenborough, Bogarde in Boys in Brown This June

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Boys in Brown (1949)
June 18th
VCI
Retail: $19.99, Our: $15.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

VCI has set a June 18th release date for Boys in Brown (1949) starring Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jack Warner.

Retail will be $19.99, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $15.99.

SYNOPSIS:
Jackie (Attenborough) lives with his widowed mother and dreams of marrying Kitty (Barbara Murray), the girl across the street. To escape the poverty trap, he participates in a robbery that goes wrong and is sentenced to three years in reform school.

Based on a play by Reginald Beckwith.

BONUS FEATURE:
  • Photo Gallery

TIMELESS: The Virginian - The Complete Eighth Season in July

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
The Virginian - The Complete Eighth Season
July 16th
Timeless Media Group
Retail $59.99, Our: $44.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority 

Timeless Media has set a street date of July 16th for The Virginian - The Complete Eighth Season.

With today's announcement, Timeless completes the series by making all episodes of The Virginian available on DVD (Season 9 "The Men from Shiloh" came out in October 2011).

The 9-disc set will retail for $59.99, but is available at ClassicFlix.com for only $44.99.

SHOUT!: Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - The Complete Series in July

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - The Complete Series
July 2nd
Shout! Factory
Retail: $139.99, Our: $109.99
Buy Now

More great TV from Shout! Factory as they have announced a July 2nd street date for The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - The Complete Series.

The 20-disc set will feature all 147 episodes from the comedy series which had a four-year run.

No word on single season sets, but hopefully their release schedule will be similar to their Leave it to Beaver output, which had Season 3 and the complete series come out in the same month (June 2010), followed by Seasons 4, 5 and 6 every three months. When single season sets are released, we will have them available for rent.

Retail will be $139.99, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $109.99.


"Hello, I'm Dobie Gillis, and I love girls - tall ones, short ones, blonde ones, dark ones, any kind of girl..."

Based on the novels created by Max Shulman, this television classic starred Dwayne Hickman as Dobie, a middle-class 17-year-old whose main goal in life was to find the girl of his dreams, Bob Denver (Gilligan’s Island) co-stars as Dobie’s beatnik friend Maynard G. Krebs, whose passion was to avoid work at any cost, and Frank Faylen and Florida Friebus as Dobie’s parents, who were never too far away to worry about Dobie’s future.

Throughout its 147 episodes, the series ran the gamut from the hilarious (Dobie and Maynard sharing a tuxedo in order to attend a society party together), to the ridiculous (Maynard drinking a student chemist’s formula and turning into a monster) to the touching (Dobie convincing a poor but brilliant student to stay in school).

Guest stars include Rose Marie, Bill Bixby, Sally Kellerman, Ronny Howard, Sherry Jackson, Michele Lee, John Banner, Norman Fell, Howard McNear, Charles Lane, and a host of others.

A ground-breaking series that has often been said to be far ahead of its time, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis premiered on CBS in the fall of 1959 and was a counter-culture hit through all four years of its network run.

BONUS FEATURES:
  • New Interviews
  • Radio Show
  • Promos
  • Still Gallery

WARNER ARCHIVE: Bomba, Volume 1 Plus More Film Noir

Bomba the Jungle Boy, Vol. 1 and four film noir's make up this week's Warner Archive wave.

The Bomba set will feature the first six films in the 12-film series across three discs.

The four noir's are:
  • A Dangerous Profession (1949) - George Raft, Ella Raines, Pat O'Brien, Bill Williams, Jim Backus
  • Fall Guy (1947) - Leo Penn, Robert Armstrong, Teala Loring, Elisha Cook Jr., Douglas Fowley
  • FBI Code 98 (1963) - Jack Kelly, Ray Danton, Andrew Duggan, Philip Carey
  • Loophole (1954) - Barry Sullivan, Dorothy Malone, Charles McGraw, Don Haggerty, Mary Beth Hughes
All will be available here at ClassicFlix on May 14th.

These new DVDs add to the total of over 1,100 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com.



OLIVE: Retreat, Hell! Standard & Blu in June

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Retreat, Hell!
June 18th
Olive Films
Retail: $24.95, Our: $17.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Retreat, Hell! (Blu-Ray)
June 18th
Olive Films
Retail: $29.95, Our: $21.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

The Joseph H. Lewis Korean War drama Retreat, Hell! (1952) has been scheduled for release by Olive Films on standard DVD and Blu-Ray this June 18th.

Considered by most as one of the greatest Korean War films ever made. A U.S. Marine battalion headed by Lt. Col. Steve L. Corbett (Frank Lovejoy, Shack Out on 101) and Capt. Paul Hansen (Richard Carlson, Flat Top) must fight its way out of a frozen mountain pass despite diminishing supplies, freezing temperatures and constant attacks by overwhelming numbers of Chinese and North Korean soldiers.

The stellar cast includes Russ Tamblyn (billed as Rusty) in his first “adult” role, future-director Lamont Johnson (The McKenzie Break), and real-life war hero Peter Ortiz, one of the most decorated Marine officers of World War II. Directed by legendary filmmaker Joseph H. Lewis (The Big Combo, Gun Crazy). Co-written and produced by Milton Sperling (Merrill’s Marauders). 

OLIVE: Barbary Coast & Venus Going Blu, Plus Bronson Western

Three more titles are coming from Olive Films this June 18th on both standard DVD and Blu-Ray.

New to both DVD and Blu-Ray is Showdown at Boot Hill (1958) starring Charles Bronson, Robert Hutton, John Carradine and Carole Mathews.

Previously released on DVD, Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) and One Touch of Venus (1948) are making their Blu debuts.

Details can be found in the recent additions section.






WARNER ARCHIVE: Dr. Kildare Plus Nick Carter & Sloane Mysteries

Dr. Kildare - Season 1 and two mystery triple features make up this week's Warner Archive wave.

Kildare will be a 9-disc set and features all 33 episodes of the first season, plus the "lost" never-aired pilot with Wendell Corey and Vera Miles.

Also out is Nick Carter Mysteries with all three Walter Pidgeon quickies and the Sloane Mysteries Triple Feature featuring three different sets of co-stars playing the amateur sleuths.

All will be available here at ClassicFlix on May 7th.

These new DVDs add to the total of over 1,100 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com.






Bonanza - Season 6 in July

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Bonanza - Season 6, Vol. 1
July 9th
Paramount
Retail: 41.99, Our: $34.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Bonanza - Season 6, Vol. 2
July 9th
Paramount
Retail: 41.99, Our: $34.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

More T.V. Westerns from Paramount as they have announced Bonanza - Season 6, Vol. 1 & Bonanza - Season 6, Vol. 2 for release in on July 9th.

Volume 1 is reported to be a 5-disc set, while Volume 2 has four discs.




CRITERION: Lord of the Flies on Standard & Blu in July

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Lord of the Flies
July 16th
Criterion
Retail $29.95, Our: $23.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
Lord of the Flies (Blu-Ray)
July 16th
Criterion
Retail $39.95, Our: $31.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

Released on standard DVD thirteen years ago by Criterion, Lord of the Flies (1963) will get an upgrade as they have announced a July 16th street date on both DVD & Blu-Ray.

Both come with all the bonus features from the previous release, plus a few extra (details below).



In the hands of the renowned experimental theater director Peter Brook, William Golding’s legendary novel on the primitivism lurking beneath civilization becomes a film as raw and ragged as the lost boys at its center.

Taking an innovative documentary-like approach, Brook shot Lord of the Flies with an off-the-cuff naturalism, seeming to record a spontaneous eruption of its characters’ ids. The result is a rattling masterpiece, as provocative as its source material.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Audio Commentary by Director Peter Brook, Producer Lewis Allen, Director of Photography Tom Hollyman, and Cameraman/Editor Gerald Feil
  • Excerpts from the novel, read by author William Golding
  • A deleted scene, with a reading by Golding and commentary
  • Interview with Peter Brook (2008)
  • Collection of Behind-the-Scenes material, featuring home movies, screen tests, outtakes and stills
  • New Interview with Gerald Feil
  • Excerpts from Gerald Feil's 1972 documentary The Empty Space, showing Brook's methods
  • Something Queer in the Warehouse - A piece composed of never-before-seen footage shot by the boy actors during production, with new voice-over by Tom Gaman, who played Simon
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey Macnab and an excerpt from Brook’s book The Shifting Point

Jack Benny - Lost Episodes

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
The Jack Benny Program - The Lost Episodes
July 23rd
Shout! Factory
Retail: $29.93, Our: $23.99
Buy Now Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

Well... Likely to be in the running for best DVD release of 2013, Shout! Factory has announced The Jack Benny Program - The Lost Episodes for release on July 23rd.

The 3-disc set will feature 18 episodes UNSEEN SINCE THEIR ORIGINAL BROADCAST. Guest stars abound and bonus features are included (below).

Retail will be $29.93, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $23.99.


The Jack Benny Program and its legendary star are counted among the most dazzling jewels in the crown of American comedy. From its beginnings as an immensely popular radio program to its heyday on television, the daily trials and tribulations of the beloved comedian kept millions of fans laughing for over 30 years.

Here at last are 18 long-lost episodes — unseen since their original broadcast — that have been lovingly restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Jack, Don, Mary, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson and a constellation of guest stars are all here in this first-of-its-kind DVD collection of The Jack Benny Program.

Guest stars include Natalie Wood, Red Skelton, Gary Cooper, George Burns, John Wayne, Dick Van Dyke, Billy Graham, Milton Berle, Tony Curtis and President Harry Truman.

BONUS FEATURES:
  • New Interviews With Director Norman Abbott, Benny Secretary Dorothy Ohman and Actor/Writer/Satirist Harry Shearer
  • Comedy Bits From The Jack Benny Television Specials
  • Hearst Newsreels

FOX ARCHIVES: 7 in Jane Withers Wave

Jane Withers gets her own wave with seven of her films coming out on April 30th.

They are:
  • Chicken Wagon Family (1939) - Leo Carrillo, Marjorie Weaver, Spring Byington, Kane Richmond
  • The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) - Janet Gaynor, Henry Fonda, Charles Bickford, Slim Summerville, Andy Devine
  • Golden Hoofs (1941) - Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Kay Aldridge, George Irving
  • High School (1940) - Joe Brown Jr., Paul Harvey, Lloyd Corrigan, Cliff Edwards
  • Little Miss Nobody (1936) - Jane Darwell, Ralph Morgan, Sara Haden, Harry Carey
  • Paddy O'Day (1935) - Pinky Tomlin, Rita Hayworth, Jane Darwell
  • Rascals (1938) - Rochelle Hudson, Robert Wilcox
Part of the Fox Cinema Archives line, they can be found in the recent additions section.

Laurence Olivier & Gloria Swanson Have a Perfect Understanding

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE:
Perfect Understanding
June 4th
Cohen Media
Retail $24.98, Our: $19.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
Perfect Understanding (Blu-Ray)
June 4th
Cohen Media
Retail $34.98, Our: $27.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

Fresh off their classic debut release The Thief of Bagdad (Blu-Ray) starring Douglas Fairbanks, which received rave reviews, Cohen Media has announced Perfect Understanding (1933) on both standard DVD and Blu-Ray.

Set for release on June 4th, the British set comedy of manners stars Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier. Bonus features, if any, are not forthcoming.


A comedy of manners in which two people marry on the condition that each will retain his or her individual freedom. But when each subsequently flaunts their extra-marital escapades in the face of the other, it precipitates an amusing battle of the sexes.

This classic comedy has been fully restored and is being presented in its original form for the first time on DVD. Stars Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard) and Laurence Olivier (Hamlet).

WARNER ARCHIVE: Eddie Cantor & Bowery Boys, Volume 2

In January, Warner Bros. released their first wave of Samuel Goldwyn acquired titles on standard DVD. Now, two Goldwyn films with old Banjo Eyes himself will be released as part of Warner's Archive line: Whoopee! (1930) & Kid Millions (1934).

Also out are twelve more with Slip and Sach, and the rest of the Bowery Boys in The Bowery Boys, Vol. 2.

The 4-disc set will contains:
  • Spook Busters (1946)
  • Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947)
  • Bowery Buckaroos (1947)
  • Smuggler’s Cove (1948)
  • Ghost Chasers (1951)
  • Let’s Go Navy! (1951)
  • Hold That Line (1952)
  • Loose in London (1953)
  • Clipped Wings (1953)
  • Private Eyes (1953)
  • The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
  • High Society (1955)
All will be available here at ClassicFlix on April 30th.

These new DVDs add to the total of over 1,100 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com. 

Second Chorus - Standard & Blu in May

WHAT:
WHEN:
STUDIO:
PRICE: 
Second Chorus (Blu / DVD)
May 14th
Film Chest
Retail: $19.98, Our: $14.99
Buy Now
Add to QueueAdd to Queue Top Priority

Previously released on DVD, Second Chorus (1940) has been announced by Film Chest with a May 14th street date on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

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


Students who were in the college band together go searching for a job and end up in Artie Shaw's band. In only his second film after ending his legendary partnership with Ginger Rogers in 1939, Fred Astaire returned to the screen in the frothy big band musical Second Chorus.

Excited about the opportunity to work with legendary big band leader Artie Shaw, Fred signed on for this romp co-starring Burgess Meredith and a winning Paulette Goddard. Shenanigans abound: Fred and Burgess play friendly rivals, musicians who purposely flunk their college courses in order to maintain lucrative jobs as college band leaders, but the real attraction,of course, lies in Fred’s musical numbers.

With lyrics by the legendary Johnny Mercer (“Dream”, “Moon River”) and music by both Hal Borne (Astaire’s rehearsal pianist) and Artie Shaw, Second Chorus received Academy Award nominations for Best Song (“Would You Like to Be the Love of My Life?”) and Best Score. But it’s the film’s terrific final number, “Poor Mr. Chisholm”, that’s the real award winner, with Fred whirling through an all-stops-out sensational tap while simultaneously conducting Artie Shaw’s top of the line big band—proof yet again of Astaire’s unquestioned status as the greatest dancer in Hollywood history.

WARNER ARCHIVE: Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 6

The Forbidden Hollywood line continues with the announced release of Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 6 from the Warner Archive Collection.

The 4-disc set includes: The Wet Parade (1932), Downstairs (1932), Mandalay (1934) and Massacre (1934).

This new set adds to the total of over 1,100 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Audacious, controversial and shockingly frank, Forbidden Hollywood, Vol. 6 turns the spotlight on adultery, alcoholism, and prostitution, issues the Production Code would soon ban from the screen.

Starring the pre-Code era’s biggest stars, including John Gilbert, Richard Barthelmess, Myrna Loy, Kay Francis and Ann Dvorak, these four rarely seen gems are a provocative reflection of Hollywood's desire to push the limits in a more innocent time.

The Wet Parade (1932)
Demon whiskey brings ruin to two families in this all-star adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s impassioned novel.

Downstairs (1932)
A philandering chauffeur (John Gilbert) creates havoc in an upper-class household.

Mandalay (1934)
A Russian refugee (Francis) seeks revenge upon the ex-lover (Ricardo Cortez) who sold her into slavery.

Massacre (1934)
A college-educated Sioux (Barthelmess) wreaks vengeance upon the white officials who abused his family and cheated his people. 

COLUMBIA: Rita Hayworth in Latest Wave of Four

Sony has announced four Columbia Classic DVDs for release on May 7th.

A couple of crime dramas, including a quota quickie starring Rita Hayworth, are coming:
along with a couple of Westerns:
  • Adventures in Silverado (1948) - William Bishop, Gloria Henry, Edgar Buchanan, Forrest Tucker, Edgar Barrier
  • The Thrill Hunter (1946) - Buck Jones, Dorothy Revier, Edward LeSaint, Eddie Kane, Arthur Rankin