BLU: Shane & The Odd Couple in June

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

The Odd Couple (Blu-Ray) June 4th Warner Bros. Retail: $19.98, Our: $15.99 SPECIAL 3-Day Price $13.98

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Shane (Blu-Ray) June 4th Warner Bros. Retail: $19.98, Our: $15.99 SPECIAL 3-Day Price $13.98

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Warner Bros. has scheduled a June 4th street date for The Odd Couple (Blu-Ray) and Shane (Blu-Ray).

Bonus features, if any, are not yet known.

Each single disc release will retail for $19.98, and can be purchased here at ClassicFlix for only $15.99. However, for three days only (until March 28th), we'll have them for the special pre-order price of $13.98.

TCM VAULT: Audie Murphy Westerns Collection in June

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: TITLES:

Audie Murphy Westerns Collection (TCM Vault) June 6th Universal Sierra (1950), Ride Clear of Diablo (1954), Drums Across the River (1954), Ride a Crooked Trail (1958)

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More Audie Murphy has been the call, and Universal has heard it loud and clear with the scheduled D-Day release of their Audie Murphy Westerns Collection.

Owned by Universal, and released via TCM's Vault line, this set is now up for pre-order at TCM.com.

The likely four-disc set features:

• Sierra (1950) - Wanda Hendrix, Burl Ives, Dean Jagger, Richard Rober, Tony Curtis
• Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) - Susan Cabot, Dan Duryea
• Drums Across the River (1954) - Walter Brennan, Hugh O'Brian, Jay Silverheels, Regis Toomey, Bob Steele
• Ride a Crooked Trail (1958) - Gia Scala, Walter Matthau, Henry Silva

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 June.

SYNOPSIS:
The most decorated American soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy parlayed his heroic exploits on the battlefield into a successful film career in Hollywood. His handsome, boyish appearance and shy, soft-spoken manner made him an appealing and uniquely different kind of action hero which provided an intriguing contrast to his athletic skill and quiet intensity.

While Murphy was lauded for his fine performances in John Huston's The Red Badge of Courage (1951) and his own film autobiography To Hell and Back (1955), the actor's real claim to fame was his convincing embodiment as a movie archetype - the strong, resilient man of the West.

Of the 44 films that he made, more than half of them were westerns. The Audie Murphy Westerns Collection presents four of his best entries in this popular genre, each digitally remastered.

CRITERION: Charade (Blu-Ray) in September

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Charade (Blu-Ray) (1963) September 21st Criterion Retail: $39.95, Our: $31.99

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Criterion has announced a September 21st street date for Stanley Donen's Charade (Blu-Ray).

This hi-def release will be on a single disc and have the same bonus features (below) as the previously released standard DVD.

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

SYNOPSIS:
A trio of crooks relentlessly pursue a young American (Audrey Hepburn) through Paris to recover the fortune her dead husband stole from them. The only person she can trust is a suave, mysterious stranger (Cary Grant). A deliciously dark comedic thriller, Stanley Donen's Charade dazzles with style and macabre wit to spare. Unavailable for nearly three years, The Criterion Collection is proud to re-release this ’60s spy classic in a gorgeous new anamorphic transfer.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio commentary: A conversation with Stanley Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone
• The Films of Stanley Donen: A selected filmography, with an introduction by Donen biographer Stephen M. Silverman
• Peter Stone’s career highlights
• Original theatrical trailer

Bigger Than Life (1956) - Standard & Blu in March

WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Bigger Than Life (1956) March 23rd Criterion Retail $39.95, Our: $29.99

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WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE:

Bigger Than Life (Blu-Ray) (1956) March 23rd Criterion Retail $39.95, Our: $31.99

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Criterion has announced a March 23rd release date for Bigger Than Life (1956). Both a standard and a Blu-Ray release are part of the announcement and each will be a single disc release. Bonus features and a synopsis are below.

SYNOPSIS:
Though ignored at the time of its release, Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life is now recognized as one of the great American films of the 1950s. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most indelible roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot.

This Eisenhower-era throat-grabber, shot in expressive CinemaScope, is an excoriating take on the nuclear family. That it came in the day of Father Knows Best makes it all the more shocking—and wildly entertaining.

BONUS FEATURES

• Audio commentary featuring critic Geoff Andrew (The Films of Nicholas Ray)
• Profile of Nicholas Ray (1977), a half-hour television interview with the director
• New video appreciation of Bigger Than Life with author Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City)
• New video interview with Susan Ray, widow of the director and editor of I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic and video maker B. Kite

Paramount Centennial Wave 3 - The Odd Couple, To Catch a Thief

What: To Catch a Thief (Centennial Collection) When: March 24th Studio: Paramount Price: Retail $24.99, Our: $17.99

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What: The Odd Couple (Centennial Collection) When: March 24th Studio: Paramount Price: Retail $24.99, Our: $17.99

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Continuing at about a once every two month pace, Paramount has announced release numbers 6 and 7 in their Paramount Centennial Collection. They are To Catch a Thief (Centennial Collection) and The Odd Couple (Centennial Collection).

To Catch a Thief was released as a Special Edition two years ago, and has several new featurettes (side by side below). The only bonus feature that didn't carry over to the new release is the Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau commentary. This is the first such special treatment for The Odd Couple.

They will retail for $24.99, but are available at ClassicFlix.com for only $17.99. Details below.

SYNOPSIS:
American expatriate John Robie living in high style on the Riviera is a retired cat burglar. He must find out who a copy cat is to keep a new wave of jewel thefts from being pinned on him. High on list of prime victims is Jessie Stevens, in Europe to help daughter Frances find a suitable husband. Lloyds of London insurance agent is using a thief to catch a thief. Take an especially close look at scene where Robie gets Jessie's attention, dropping an expensive casino chip down decolletage of French roulette player.

BONUS FEATURES (FOR NEW RELEASE):

• Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Film Historian
• Featurettes:
  • A Night with the Hitchcock's
    
  • Unaccteptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America
  • Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief
    
  • Behind the Gates: Stars of the 50's
  • The Making of To Catch a Thief
    
  • Behind the Gates
  • Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation
  • Edith Head: The Paramount Years
• Original Theatrical Trailer
  
• If You Love To Catch Thief, You’ll Love this Interactive Travelogue
• Galleries

BONUS FEATURES (ON 2007 RELEASE):

• Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau
• Four Featurettes:
  
  • Writing and casting To Catch a Thief
  • The Making of To Catch a Thief
  • Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation
  • Edith Head - The Paramount Years
• Theatrical Trailer

SYNOPSIS:
Neil Simon has a special genius for finding the great hilarity in ordinary people doing everyday things. Like two divorced men who decide to share a New York apartment. That's the premise of The Odd Couple, though there's nothing odd in the casting of two Oscar-winning talents like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The two veteran funnymen work together with the precision timing of a vaudeville team, but always with bright spontaneity. Lemmon plays fussy Felix, fastidious to a fault. He proves that cleanliness is next to insanity. Matthau is Oscar, who wreaks havoc on a tidy room with the speed and thoroughness of a tornado. An enduring and endearing picture, with the intelligence one usually misses in comedies.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Commentary by Charlie Matthau and Chris Lemmon
• Featurettes:
  • In the Beginning
  • Inside The Odd Couple
  • Memories from the Set
  • Matthau & Lemmon New
  • The Odd Couple: A Classic
• Galleries
• Theatrical Trailer