Archive: April 2014

  • The Girl Next Door: Jeanne Crain

    Jeanne Crain was the quintessential girl next door, a teenager who became a star overnight and went on to a long and successful career while also parenting a large family off the screen. Crain was born in the California desert town of Barstow on May 25, 1925.  Her family later moved to Los Angeles, where legend has it she was spotted by Orson Welles while she was on an RKO studio tour.  He had her tested for The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)...

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  • WARNER ARCHIVE: 5 in Richard Dix Wave

    Five Richard Dix films have been announced by Warner via their Archive Collection this week. They are: Ace of Aces (1933) - Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Bellamy His Greatest Gamble (1934) - Dorothy Wilson, Bruce Cabot Men Against the Sky (1940) - Kent Taylor, Edmund Lowe, Wendy Barrie, Granville Bates, Grant Withers The Public Defender (1...

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  • FOX ARCHIVES: I'd Climb the Highest Mountain, Cardinal Richelieu

    Fox, via their Cinema Archives line, has announced two new releases this week: I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) - Susan Hayward, William Lundigan, Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Lynn Bari, Ruth Donnelly, Kathleen Lockhart, Alexander Knox Cardinal Richelieu (1935) - George Arliss, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold, Cesar Romero, ...

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  • WARNER: Ball of Fire, Dead End, Little Foxes & Time Machine Blu

    Warner has scheduled July release dates for 3 Goldwyn classics previously released by MGM, but long since out of print: Ball of Fire (1941), Dead End (1937) and The Little Foxes (1941). Each will retail for 4.98. And making its Blu bow in the same month will be the Sci-Fi classic The Time Machine (1960). Retail for it will be 9.98.  Artwork and bonus feature...

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  • The Old Corral: Guy Madison Profile

    If Guy Madison (1922-1996) had done nothing but star in the hugely successful syndicated TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951-58), he’d have made his mark on 50s popular culture. But Western fans know Madison rode tall in theaters, too. He made some excellent medium-budget Westerns, which are under-represented on DVD. Born Robert Mo...

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  • The Casting Trampoline Part I: Might-Have-Beens (1927-1939)

    Fact or fiction: Groucho Marx was seriously considered for the part of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.  Try googling that.  You will receive an education in the collision of fact, distortion, half-truth, and mythologizing that makes Hollywood history.  You’ll find websites clamoring to give you the Groucho/Rhett connection.  Skim a little for the first limitation on the claim:  apparent...

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  • FOX ARCHIVES: Dante's Inferno & 60's Biblical Epics

    Dante's Inferno (1935), starring Spencer Tracy and Claire Trevor, is making it's DVD debut thanks to Fox's Cinema Archives line. Also coming are two Biblical epics: Esther and the King (1960) starring Joan Collins and Richard Egan and Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) starring Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli. While it has not been confirmed, the latter two are likely pan and scan. Due on April 8th, these ne...

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  • WARNER ARCHIVE: Tim Holt Western Collection, Vol. 4

    A welcome announcement this week as after a long hiatus in the series (since 2011), Warners' Archive Collection will be releasing Tim Holt Western Collection, Vol. 4. The 3-disc 9-film set will be available here on April 8th and adds to the total of over 1,200 Warner Archive titles exclusively available for rent at ClassicFlix.com.

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  • BLU CRITERION: Hard Day's Night, All That Heaven Allows

    Criterion has scheduled June street dates for their Blu-Ray / DVD Combo's of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955). Both are making their Blu debut and come with loads of bonus features (below). Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appeara...

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  • TV Time: If Movie Stars Graced Sitcoms

    I realize this is TV Time, but there's a big crossover between the worlds of classic television and movies, and in fact I often wish the intersection was even bigger. So all of you TV snobs who look down your noses at Hollywood films, be patient with me this time out because we’re gonna combine the two mediums. How many times have you watched a movie from the classic era of Hollywood--let's say the thirties and forties--and thought...

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