UNIVERSAL: 10 Classic Westerns Collection

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Universal Classic Westerns March 12th Universal Retail $14.98, Our: $12.99

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Next week, Universal Classic Westerns from Universal is scheduled to street.

There is nothing new in the set, but it includes 10 great Westerns on 3 discs for the low retail price of $14.98. Details below.

NOTE: The DVD's are not two-sided (DVD-18's), but single sided DVD-9's. 

Universal is proud to present 10 classic Westerns from the Golden Age of Hollywood in this 3-disc set.

DISC 1:

When the Daltons Rode (1940, 81 min.)
Randolph Scott, Brian Donlevy and Broderick Crawford give career-defining performances in this rousing Western classic based on the legend of the notorious Dalton gang.

When young lawyer Tod Jackson (Scott) arrives in pioneer-era Kansas, he learns his rancher friends, Grat and Bob Dalton (Donlevy and Crawford), are in danger of losing their land in a crooked development deal. Jackson tries to help them, but a fake murder charge turns the Daltons into outlaws. Now, Jackson is trapped between duty to his friends and obligation to the law in this action-filled adventure co-starring Kay Francis, George Bancroft and Andy Devine.

Texas Rangers Ride Again (1940, 68 min.)
To investigate ranch foreman Joe Yuma’s (Anthony Quinn) cattle rustling racket, Texas Ranger Jim Kingston (John Howard) poses as a fugitive outlaw to infiltrate the crooked gang.

The Spoilers (1942, 87 min.)
John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott shine in this all-star adventure classic about gold and greed in an Alaskan boomtown during the 1890s. When honest ship captain Roy Glennister (Wayne) gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to seductive saloon singer Cherry Malotte (Dietrich) for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara (Scott). It's an adventure as wild as the Northwest Territory itself, featuring an all-out fight to the finish between Wayne and Scott that's considered one of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed!

The Virginian (1946, 90 min.)
Based on the best-selling love story of the West, The Virginian stars Joel McCrea as a local ranch hand who risks losing his best friend and the woman he loves when forced into a showdown with ruthless cattle thieves.

When Molly Wood (Barbara Britton), a well-educated Easterner, arrives in a small Wyoming town to be the new schoolteacher, the Virginian (McCrea) and his best friend, Steve (Sonny Tufts), immediately vie for her affection. Against the warnings of his friend, Steve falls in with the corrupt Trampas' (Brian Donlevy) gang and is caught cattle rustling. The Virginian must choose between their friendship or upholding the severe laws of the West.

DISC 2:

Albuquerque (1948, 91 min.)
Randolph Scott gives a stunning performance in this tale of greed and revenge in the Wild West. When Cole Armin (Scott) comes to Albuquerque to work for his successful Uncle John, he soon learns that the family business is out to eliminate any local competition.

Tiring of his uncle's underhanded tactics, Cole switches to a rival operation run by Ted Wallace and his sister Celia. But Cole soon learns John Armin is not a man to be crossed as the trio must fight for their business, and their lives, against his uncle's ruthless henchman, Juke Murkil (Lon Chaney Jr.), in this thrill packed Western.

Whispering Smith (1948, 89 min.)
Film legend Alan Ladd heads up a superior cast in this riveting, heart-pounding tale of crime and punishment. Luke "Whispering" Smith (Ladd) is a by-the-book, no-nonsense railroad detective who learns his friend, Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston) , has been fired from his railroad job. Seeking vengeance, Sinclair begins helping outlaw Barney Rebstock (Donald Crisp) wreck trains. Now, Smith must find and bring his old friend to justice... at any cost, in this suspenseful adventure filled with pistol-packing action.

Comanche Territory (1950, 76 min.)
Jim Bowie’s (Macdonald Carey) mining rights negotiation gets complicated when a beautiful saloon owner (Maureen O’Hara) rouses the local townsfolk.

DISC 3:

Sierra (1950, 83 min.)
Ring Hassard (Audie Murphy) and his father Jeff (Dean Jagger) live in a hidden valley in the mountains where they capture and tame wild horses. When Ring comes to the rescue of Riley Martin (Wanda Hendrix), a woman lawyer who has lost her way on the trail, it leads to a romance between them but also opens an investigation into Jeff's shadowy past and accusations of murder.

The Hassards encounter more trouble when a gang of horse thieves led by Big Matt Rango (Richard Rober) steal from them and then polot to kill them before justice is served. Wanda Hendrix, who was married to Audie Murphy at the time, makes a fetching heroine and Sierra is notable fore an early appearance by Tony Curtis in a villainous role and a colorful performance by Burl Ives who performs several Western ballads including "Drift Along" and "Hideaway."

Kansas Raiders (1950, 81 min)
Jesse James (Audie Murphy) and his brothers join William Quantrill (Brian Donlevy) and his vengeful raiders in an effort to save the Confederacy.

Tomahawk (1951, 82 min.)
Van Heflin stars as the legendary Indian sympathizer Jim Bridger in Tomahawk.

When the U.S. government decides to build a wagon route to Montana's gold in 1866, they must run through the middle of the Sioux hunting grounds. Bridger fights for justice and territorial rights for the Sioux Indians, which leads to full-scale conflict between the cavalry and Indians.

Featuring a strong supporting case including Yvonne De Carlo as a traveling wagon-show singer, Alex Nicol as a prejudiced lieutenant, Preston Foster and Rock Hudson as other members of the cavalry, and Susan Cabot as a Cheyenne woman, this Technicolor classic boasts superb scenery and action on a grand scale.

TCM: Directed by Billy Wilder - Five Graves to Cairo & A Foreign Affair

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: TITLES:

Directed by Billy Wilder (TCM Vault) October 16th Universal Five Graves to Cairo (1943), A Foreign Affair (1948)

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Universal is coming out with a 2-disc Billy Wilder set on October 16th.

Directed by Billy Wilder will contain Five Graves to Cairo (1943) and A Foreign Affair (1948) and should also have all the bonus features usually associtated with the TCM Vault line.

Available exclusively for purchase at TCM.com, this set will be available for rent here at ClassicFlix and nowhere else! Details below.
-- The 1940s marked an important transition in Billy Wilder's career, one that saw him emerge as one of Hollywood's most talented writer/directors with a double Oscar win for 1946's The Lost Weekend (Best Director, Best Screenplay).

Presented for the first time on DVD, restored and remastered, this double feature is reflective of Wilder’s astringent wit, piercing intelligence and attraction to controversial subject matter that yielded some of his finest work during this decade.

Five Graves to Cairo (1942)
In this wartime espionage thriller, a British corporal goes undercover to infiltrate Field Marshall Rommel’s command and expose his plans to the Allies.

A Foreign Affair (1947)
The delightfully cynical comedy follows a prim Congresswoman who gets caught up in the decadence and black market world of post-war Berlin to often comic effect.

TCM VAULT: Dietrich in Dishonored & Shanghai Express This February

More Universal titles, via TCM's Vault line, are on their way as a Marlene Dietrich double feature with Dishonored (1931) and Shanghai Express (1932) is now up for pre-order and exclusive to TCM.com

Its will be available to rent here at ClassicFlix and has release date of February 6th. No additional specs are known at this time.

Dishonored / Shanghai Express (TCM Vault)
Turner Classic Movies and Universal Studios Home Entertainment present the 2-disc Marlene Dietrich Double Feature: Dishonored & Shanghai Express. Marlene Dietrich, directed by Josef von Sternberg, appears in two of their best collaborations.

Dishonored (1931, 91 min.)
Inspired by the exploits of the famous World War I spy Mata Hari, Dishonored is a striking espionage thriller about a widow (Marlene Dietrich) who is forced to turn to prostitution to support herself. Recruited by the Austrian Secret Service as a spy, she becomes an expert in ferreting out secrets from the enemy but meets her match in the form of a Russian agent named Kranau (Victor McLaglen).

Shanghai Express (1932, 80 min.)
Set against the backdrop of a Chinese civil war, Shanghai Express is an opulent romantic adventure that focuses on a diverse group of passengers traveling by express train from Peking to Shanghai. Among them is Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook), who finds himself reunited with his former lover, now an infamous adventuress who calls herself Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich). Desire and deception follow, culminating in a tense hostage situation when their train is hijacked by a Chinese warlord.

Presented for the first time on DVD, these two films have been fully restored and re-mastered and confirm Dietrich’s iconic status as a glamorous and enigmatic movie siren while demonstrating von Sternberg’s reputation as a supreme stylist of mood and atmosphere through his dazzling command of the medium.

TCM VAULT PRE-CODE: The Song of Songs, This Is the Night in May

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: TITLES:

Pre-Code Double Feature (TCM Vault) May 2nd Universal The Song of Songs (1933), This Is the Night (1932)

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More Universal owned titles, via TCM's Vault line, are on their way as a Pre-Code Double Feature is now up for pre-order at TCM.com and is set to release on May 2nd.

The likely two-disc set features The Song of Songs (1933) with Marlene Dietrich, Brian Aherne and Lionel Atwill; and Cary Grant's feature debut This Is the Night (1932) starring Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young and Thelma Todd.

And while this set may be exclusive to TCM, nowhere else will these films be available to rent except at ClassicFlix.com. Put them in your rental queue now and they will be available for shipment in early May.

SYNOPSIS:
Before the industry's strict "Production Code" was enforced in 1934, screen censorship standards were more permissive in Hollywood than any other time until the late sixties, allowing for explicit taboo subject matter. Known today as the "Pre-Code" period, movies made between 1929 and mid-1934 capture some of the most decadent and intriguing filmmaking ever to hit the screen. Paired here together for the first time are two key "Pre-Code" classics.

The Song of Songs (1933)
Starring one of Hollywood's most glamorous screen legends, Marlene Dietrich, The Song of Songs is the story of Lily, a beautiful but naive peasant girl who is lured into posing as a nude model for aspiring sculptor Richard (Brian Aherne). Their working relationship quickly develops into a passionate love affair but, unable to commit himself to marriage, Richard abandons Lily and she is forced to marry a lecherous baron (Lionel Atwill) who has bribed her aunt.

This Is the Night (1932)
Featuring Cary Grant in his screen debut, This is the Night is a sparkling comedy of innuendo and amorous infidelity. Claire (Thelma Todd) plots to rendezvous with her lover Gerald (Roland Young) in Venice for the weekend. When her husband Stephen (Grant) returns home unexpectedly, plans are hastily rearranged for a group outing joined by Gerald's pal Bunny (Charlie Ruggles) and Germaine (Lily Damita), a penniless woman hired to pose as Gerald's wife. Soon, Germaine finds herself ardently pursued by all three men while Claire tries to hide her jealousy.

Marlene - Maximilian Schell Documentary in October

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Marlene October 6th Kino Retail $29.99, Our: $23.99

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Released by Image Entertainment 10 years ago, and out of print for some time, the 1984 Maximilian Schell documentary Marlene has been announced by Kino with an October 6th release date. It is in German and English with optional English subtitles.

Retail will be $29.99, but it's available at ClassicFlix.com for only $23.99. Details below.

SYNOPSIS:
An Oscar nominee for Best Documentary and winner of the 1986 New York Film Critic’s Circle non-fiction film prize, Marlene is a “portrait of a remarkably strong-willed woman, stage-managing her career right up to the bitter end” (New York Times) that brilliantly lifts the veil on a movie star of the brightest magnitude as she is fading into twilight.

In September of 1982, Oscar winning actor and director Maximilian Schell (Julia, The Man in the Glass Booth) arrived in Paris for a series of on-camera interviews with Marlene Dietrich intended for a documentary film on the screen icon’s life and work. Despite having agreed to participate, the near-recluse Dietrich withdrew permission for her Judgment at Nuremburg co-star to film in her flat. Instead, in over 40 hours of audio-taped interviews, the 81 year-old screen legend provoked a battle royale of conversational mind games leading to unforgettably raw and truthful emotional revelations.

Using Dietrich’s candid, bruising, infuriating, and occasionally touching off-camera musings on childhood, marriage, sex, love, collaborators, co-stars, life, death, and the Holocaust, Schell “sets her words, like a score, to the stunning film images of the young Marlene.” (Washington Post). The hypnotic final result – buoyed by self-reflexive making-of footage, and an impressionistic re-creation of the sunless Paris flat where star and filmmaker fenced, fought, and ultimately connected – is the “Sunset Boulevard of documentaries” (Washington Post).