CRITERION: The Uninvited, I Married a Witch in October

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

I Married a Witch October 8th Criterion Retail: 29.95, Our: $23.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

I Married a Witch (Blu-Ray) October 8th Criterion Retail: 39.95, Our: $31.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Uninvited October 22nd Criterion Retail: 29.95, Our: $23.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Uninvited (Blu-Ray) October 22nd Criterion Retail: 39.95, Our: $31.99

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Two of our members most requested films have been announced by Criterion on DVD and Blu-Ray: I Married a Witch (1942) and The Uninvited (1944).

Both are making their DVD and Blu debuts and come with minimal bonus features (below).


Veronica Lake casts a seductive spell as a charmingly vengeful sorceress in this supernatural screwball classic. Many centuries after cursing the male descendants of the Salem puritan who sent her to the stake, this blonde bombshell with a broomstick finds herself drawn to one of them—a prospective governor (Fredric March) about to marry a spoiled socialite (Susan Hayward).

This most delightful of the films the innovative French director René Clair made in Hollywood is a comic confection bursting with playful special effects and sparkling witticisms.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio interview with director René Clair
• Trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker Guy Maddin and a 1970 interview with Clair

A pair of siblings (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) from London purchase a surprisingly affordable, lonely cliff-top house in Cornwall, only to discover that it actually carries a ghostly price; soon they’re caught up in a bizarre romantic triangle from beyond the grave.

Rich in atmosphere, The Uninvited, directed by Lewis Allen, was groundbreaking for the seriousness with which it treated the haunted-house genre, and it remains an elegant and eerie experience, featuring a classic score by Victor Young. A tragic family past, a mysteriously locked room, cold chills, bumps in the night—this gothic Hollywood classic has it all.

BONUS FEATURES:

• New visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

CRITERION: Ministry of Fear, Verdoux, Colonel Blimp & Blob in March

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Blob (Blu-Ray) March 12th Criterion Retail: $39.95, Our: $31.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp March 19th Criterion Retail: $29.95, Our: $23.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Blu-Ray) March 19th Criterion Retail: $39.95, Our: $31.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Ministry of Fear March 12th Criterion Retail: $19.95, Our: $15.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Ministry of Fear (Blu-Ray) March 12th Criterion Retail: $29.95, Our: $23.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Monsieur Verdoux March 26th Criterion Retail: $29.95, Our: $23.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Monsieur Verdoux (Blu-Ray) March 26th Criterion Retail: $39.95, Our: $31.99

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Criterion has announced their March slate and it includes 3 titles making their Blu debuts (Colonel Blimp, Ministry of Fear & Monsieur Verdoux) and one (Fritz Lang's Ministry of Fear) bowing on DVD & Blu-Ray.

Bonus features abound on Blimp and Verdoux, while The Blob's appear to be 100% carry over from the standard release. Ministry of Fear has the least and it is reflected in the lower price point for each respectively.

Details below.


"Beware Of The Blob!" One of the great cult classics, The Blob melds '50s schlock sci-fi and teen delinquency pics even as it transcends these genres with strong performances and ingenious special effects. Made outside of Hollywood by a maverick film distributor, a crew experienced in religious and educational shorts, and a collection of theatrical talent from Philadelphia and New York, The Blob helped launch the careers of superstud Steve McQueen and composer Burt Bacharach. BONUS FEATURES:

• Two audio commentaries: one by producer Jack H. Harris and film historian Bruce Eder; the other by director Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr. and actor Robert ("Tony") Fields
• Theatrical Trailer
• BLOB-abilia!: collector Wes Shank's rare trove of stills, poster, props (including the Blob itself!), and other ephemera
• PLUS :An essay by critic Kim Newman

Considered by many to be the finest British film ever made, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is a stirring masterpiece like no other.

Roger Livesey dynamically embodies outmoded English militarism as the indelible General Clive Candy, who barely survives four decades of tumultuous British history (1902 to 1942) only to see the world change irrevocably before his eyes. Anton Walbrook and Deborah Kerr provide unforgettable support, he as a German enemy turned lifelong friend of Candy’s and she as young women of three consecutive generations—a socially committed governess, a sweet-souled war nurse, and a modern-thinking army driver—who inspire him.

Colonel Blimp is both moving and slyly satirical, an incomparable film about war, love, aging, and obsolescence shot in gorgeous Technicolor.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio Commentary Featuring Director Michael Powell with Martin Scorsese
• Video introduction by Scorsese
• A Profile of “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” a twenty-four-minute documentary
• Restoration demonstration, hosted by Scorsese
• Interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell’s widow
• Gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes production stills
• Gallery tracing the history of David Low’s original Colonel Blimp cartoons
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Molly Haskell

Suffused with dread and paranoia, this Fritz Lang adaptation of a novel by Graham Greene is a plunge into the eerie shadows of a world turned upside down by war. En route to London after being released from a mental institution, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister underworld with possible Nazi connections.

Lang was among the most illustrious of the European émigré filmmakers working in Hollywood during World War II, and Ministry of Fear is one of his finest American productions, an unpredictable thriller with style to spare. BONUS FEATURES:

• New interview with Fritz Lang scholar Joe McElhaney
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Glenn Kenny

Charlie Chaplin plays shockingly against type in his most controversial film, a brilliant and bleak black comedy about money, marriage, and murder. Chaplin is a twentieth-century Bluebeard, an enigmatic family man who goes to extreme lengths to support his wife and child, attempting to bump off a series of wealthy widows (including one played by the indefatigable Martha Raye, in a hilarious performance).

This deeply philosophical and wildly entertaining film is a work of true sophistication, both for the moral questions it dares to ask and the way it deconstructs its megastar’s loveable on-screen persona. BONUS FEATURES:

• Chaplin Today: “Monsieur Verdoux,” a 2003 program on the film’s production and release, featuring filmmaker Claude Chabrol and actor Norman Lloyd
• Charlie Chaplin and the American Press, a new documentary featuring Chaplin specialist Kate Guyonvarch and author Charles Maland
• New video essay featuring an audio interview with actress Marilyn Nash
• Radio advertisements and trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and reprinted pieces by Chaplin and critic André Bazin
  

MORE BLU HITCH: Dial M for Murder (3D), Strangers on a Train

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Dial M for Murder (Blu-Ray) 3D October 9th Warner Bros. Retail: $35.99, Our: $30.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Strangers on a Train (Blu-Ray) October 9th Warner Bros. Retail: $19.98, Our: $15.99

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Hitchcock fans will be pleased.

A day after Universal announced a 15-disc Alfred Hitchcock Blu-Ray set, Warner Bros. has announced two more Hitch films on Blu: Dial M for Murder (Blu-Ray) 3D and Strangers on a Train (Blu-Ray).

Streeting on October 9th, Dial M will be presented in standard Blu as well as Blu-Ray 3D. Bonus features are not yet known.

Strangers comes out on the same day and will carry over the commentary from the standard 2-disc special edition (leaving out the Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic documentary, 3 featurettes and a newsreel). It will also be the "final release version" as the "preview version" will not be included.

NOTE: The Dial M case is lenticular.

TCM VAULT: Colbert and MacMurray Romance Collection

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: TITLES:

Claudette Colbert & Fred MacMurray Romantic Comedy Collection (TCM Vault) November 15th Universal The Gilded Lily (1935), The Bride Comes Home (1935), Family Honeymoon (1949)

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More Universal titles, via TCM's Vault line, are on their way as the Claudette Colbert & Fred MacMurray Romantic Comedy Collection is now up for pre-order at TCM.com. It's release date is set for November 15th.

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 the latter half of November.

SYNOPSIS:

The Gilded Lily (1935)
In this romantic comedy, Claudette Colbert stars as a stenographer who remains oblivious to the desires of friend/newspaper reporter Fred MacMurray as she pursues a rich Englishman. When she turns down the wealthy man's marriage proposal, an overjoyed MacMurray writes an article about the event--making Colbert an instant star. But will the pair end up together?

The Bride Comes Home (1935)
Following the collapse of her father's business, penniless socialite Claudette Colbert takes a job working with gruff magazine editor Fred MacMurray and charming writer Robert Young. Before you can say "battle of the sexes," Colbert and MacMurray transform their bickering into romance--and wedding plans. But when an argument sends his would-be bride into the arms of Young, MacMurray hatches a plan to get her back.

Family Honeymoon (1949)
When a botany professor marries a widow with three children, the entire family takes a madcap honeymoon vacation to the Grand Canyon. This doesn't sit too well with the instructor's scheming ex, who plots to win back the heart of her old flame. But when she meets up with the happy groom and his new clan at their destination, the stage is set for some Arizona awkwardness.