There've been two 'waves' of releases so far. The downside is that this is only available in the USA at the moment. Here's what initially caught my eye...
I can now officially take Doc Savage - Man of Bronze off my 'not on DVD' list. The 1975 adaption, of the long-running 1930s pulp action hero adventures, isn't popular with every fans of the bronze giant, but it still deserves to be out there. I reviewed the movie, fondly, here.
Want to see Francis Ford Coppola's 1969 'existential road movie'? Now you can - a youthful James Caan, Robert Duvall and Shirley Knight starred. I shouldn't be surprised when films by important directors aren't available, but I am.
Looking for information on early 'flight panic' movie Zero Hour, (the movie that largely inspired Airplane!), I heard about The Crowded Sky and it's close links with the genre. It's based on an Arthur Hailey book that was adapted before he had the huge hit with Airport (the template for 70s disaster movies). The Crowded Sky also pre-dates Dana Andrews mid-air collision in Airport 1975. Now if only I lived in America, I could get to see it...
Hammer films were all made by the same British studio but distributed by many different American distributors. Tracking them all down has become a lifetime quest. But Hammer fans can now see the psycho-thriller Crescendo (1970) starring Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) and James Olsen (The Andromeda Strain, Moon Zero Two).
Many of the movies on offer are early black-and-white film. Rasputin and the Empress (1932) impressed me greatly when I caught on late-night TV. A grand recreation of the legendary puppet master and his friendship with the Russian royal family. This is the only time the three heavyweights of the Barrymore acting dynasty starred together. Drew's grandad John has a terrifying showdown with Lionel, as Rasputin, where they beat bloody hell out of each other, in a violent approximation of real-life events. This movie being 'pre-code', it's a still shocking scene today.
Hopefully, this will be a success and Warners will continue to dust off more treasures from their vaults, and maybe other studios will follow on.
There's a video store in Seattle that's buying all of these WB Archives so folks can rent them. By chance, I happen to have rented two of the films you mention here—THE CROWDED SKY and CRESCENDO. I hadn't heard of them before and they were both awesome. I'll have to check out the others you mention. ANGEL BABY (1961) is another impressive title in the group.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of ANGEL BABY and your review makes it a must-see. Of course, outside the US, these releases are very expensive to obtain.
ReplyDeleteANGEL BABY was shown on the Beeb; I think I still have my VHS recording of it. Good film, but don't feel compelled to upgrade to the WA DVD-R. I managed to get someone to help me out with the first batch of titles...I kinda wished I'd waited as the later offers meant I could have gotten much more for my money. But isn't it always the case?!
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