Tex Avery Screwball Classics Vol. 2 and More Upcoming WAC Blu-rays
The Warner Archive Collection posted a huge list of upcoming Blu-rays on their Facebook page yesterday, including the second collection of Tex Avery’s MGM cartoons. There are some fantastic titles in this list. Personally, I want most of them. Some (if not all of them) are expected to ship in December. I hear that the Tex Avery release is scheduled for December 1st.
Here’s the announcement:
Take a Sneak Peek at New Blu-ray Releases coming soon:
TEX AVERY SCREWBALL CLASSICS – VOLUME 2
New 2020 1080p HD Masters from 4K Scans of best surviving preservation elements!
Run Time: 149:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 4×3, 1.37:1 Full Frame
Product Color: COLOR
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Feature: Documentary “Tex Avery: King of Cartoons”
Welcome back for another three-ring circus of animated comedy from the legendary leader of cartoon fun – director Tex Avery. In the first ring, Avery serves up some of his finest one-shot creations: cartoons featuring cats who hate people, wacky cuckoo clocks, kooky cavemen and lovelorn French fleas. We also meet up again with Avery’s attractive Red Riding Hood, a pair of amorous wolves and his durable all-around fall guy, Spike. The second ring is a showcase for Avery’s ironically deadpan “Happy Hound”: Droopy. This time, Droopy appears in a number of guises – each one funnier than the last. As bandleader “John Pettybone,” he leads his jazz-playing fleas to the heights of canine stardom. Out West, as a homesteader and a sheepherder, he has his final showdowns with the Wolf. The third ring offers a whimsical glimpse into the future – or at least a future from the POV of the mid-20th century – with a plethora of zany postwar inventions. While none of the cartoons “of tomorrow” foresaw smartphones or Blu-ray players, these far-fetched contraptions, gadgets, houses and farms, televisions, and various modes of transportation could only come from the madcap mind of Avery and his MGM crew. Uncut, restored and remastered in High Definition for the first time, Tex Avery Screwball Classics Collection Volume 2 is another must-own collection from the master of hand-drawn mayhem.
This 21 cartoon collection includes:
- LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD
- THE CUCKOO CLOCK
- MAGICAL MAESTRO
- ONE CAB’S FAMILY
- CAT THAT HATED PEOPLE
- DOGGONE TIRED
- THE FLEA CIRCUS
- FIELD AND SCREAM
- THE FIRST BAD MAN
- OUT FOXED
- DROOPY’S DOUBLE TROUBLE
- THREE LITTLE PUPS
- DRAGALONG DROOPY
- HOMESTEADER DROOPY
- DIXIELAND DROOPY
- COUNTERFEIT CAT
- VENTRILOQUIST CAT
- HOUSE OF TOMORROW
- CAR OF TOMORROW
- TV OF TOMORROW
- FARM OF TOMORROW
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) – 2 DISC SPECIAL EDITION
New 2020 1080p HD Restoration Masters from 4K Scans of Preservation Separation Elements
Run Time: 83:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: Disc One-1.85:1-16×9 Widescreen and 1.66:1-16×9 Widescreen
Product Color: COLOR
Disc Configuration: 2-BD 50
- Special Features: New feature commentary by Screenwriter/Film Historian Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr, Newly Remastered 1.37:1 Open Matte version of feature. New Featurettes include: The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film, Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein and the English Gothic Tradition, Torrents of Light: The Art of Jack Asher, Diabolus in Musica: James Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror, Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The first, and perhaps the best of the long-running series of horror films from the house of Hammer, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in this landmark interpretation based on the famous Mary Shelley story. Baron Victor Frankenstein becomes friends with one of his teachers, Paul Krempe. At first, both men are fascinated by the potential of their re-animating experiments. Eventually, though, Krempe refuses to help with Frankenstein’s human experiments. However, he is drawn back into the plot when Frankenstein’s creature kills a member of the house staff. For its U.S. Blu-ray debut, Warner Archive is proud to present this deluxe 2 Disc Special Edition, featuring two theatrical aspect ratio presentations, meticulously remastered and restored from preservation separations, as well as bonus disc with the restoration presented in “open-matte” format, as was seen for years on television, plus four exciting new retrospective featurettes, an expert commentary, and the original theatrical trailer.
THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946)
New 2020 1080p HD Restoration from 4K Scan of the Original Nitrate Technicolor Negatives
Run Time: 102:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 4×3 Full Frame
Product Color: COLOR
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Features: Feature-length audio commentary by Director George Sidney, Three Deleted Musical sequences: March of the Doagies, March of the Doagies (reprise), and My Intuition. Scoring stage sessions (audio only) featuring pre-recordings made for the film including the unused “Hayride”. “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” Remixed in Stereo (HD), Original Theatrical Trailer (HD).
Judy Garland headlines The Harvey Girls, a joyous slice of Americana celebrating the “Harvey House” restaurants that brought extra helpings of civilization to the Old West. Famed M-G-M musical producer Arthur Freed brought together an impressive cast of talents for this box-office hit which features a delightful original score by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Johnny Mercer, who earned an Oscar for their On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe as the Best Song of 1946. Garland once again shares the screen with her “Oz” co-star Ray Bolger, clowns with Virginia O’Brien, falls in love with leading man John Hodiak, and faces off against wicked saloon gal Angela Lansbury in one of the most entertaining and enduring musical classics to come from Metro’s golden age, now fully restored to its original Technicolor luster for its Blu-ray debut.
HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949)
New 2020 1080p HD Master
Run Time: 87:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1, 4×3 Full Frame
Product Color: B&W
Disc Configuration BD 25
- Special Feature: Lux Radio Theater broadcast (12/18/50) with Robert Mitchum and Laraine Day, Original Theatrical Trailer
RKO’s resident “bad boy” Robert Mitchum (Out of the Past) surprised audiences with his softer side in this classic Yule-themed romantic comedy. Mitchum portrays Steve Mason, a department-store clerk who loses his job, yet buys an electric train set for a child he scarcely knows. It must be Christmastime. Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh are warmly matched in Holiday Affair, a seasonal favorite scripted by Isobel Lennart (later to adapt Mitchum’s The Sundowners) and directed by Hope/Crosby “road movies” veteran Don Hartman.
MISTER ROBERTS (1955)
New 2020 1080p HD Remaster from 4K Scan of Original Negative
Run Time: 121:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 – English
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1-16×9 LETTERBOX
Product Color: COLOR
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Features: Commentary by Jack Lemmon, Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
The USS Reluctant carries cargo along World War II’s forgotten Pacific seaways. Beyond the horizon, the real war passes its stir-crazy crew by. Mister Roberts, directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, is the classic story of men fighting to survive – not war’s dangers, but its indignities. Henry Fonda’s reprise of his Tony®-winning Broadway role returned him to movies after seven years away. Jack Lemmon won his first Academy Award® as hapless, lecherous Ensign Pulver. James Cagney’s petty, scrappy Captain makes a fierce adversary. In his final film, William Powell makes world-weary Doc a sage for the ages. Mister Roberts has moments of unforgettable humor. But sadness tempers the comedy. No shot is fired. No blood is spilled. Yet Mister Roberts endures as one of our most truthful war sagas.
YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN (1950)
New 2020 1080p HD Remaster from 4K Scan of Original Nitrate Elements
Run Time: 112:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 4×3 Full Frame
Product Color: B&W
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Features: Lux Radio Theater broadcast (3/3/52) with Kirk Douglas and Jo Stafford; Vintage WB Cartoons: HILLBLLY HARE (HD); HOMELESS HARE (HD) and HURDY GURDY HARE (HD); Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
With a secondhand trumpet and the loving guidance of a brilliant bluesman, a lonely boy grows into manhood as a superb musician whose talent carries him from honky-tonks to posh supper clubs. But his desperate search for an elusive high note – trapped in his mind but impossible to play – starts him on a boozy downward slide. Charged with dynamic performances by Kirk Douglas (the title role), Doris Day, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael, and pitch-perfect direction by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), the film is a feast of hot, cool, moody jazz. Legendary Harry James dubbed Douglas’ hornwork. Day brings another fine instrument – her voice – to four standards. Movie and music lovers will be glad to meet this Man.
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940)
New 2020 1080p HD Remaster
Run Time: 99:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1. 4×3 Full Frame
Product Color: B&W
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Features: Vintage MGM promotional film: “The Miracle Of Sound”; Screen Guild Theater radio broadcast (9/29/40) with Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan; Lux Radio Theater broadcast (6/23/41) with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche.
Ernst Lubitsch adds his unique style of directorial aplomb to this timeless love story that marked the third of Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart’s four film appearances together. A 1936 play by Nikolaus Laszlo called “Perfumerie” was the basis for this timeless love story set in a Budapest shop. With a witty screenplay adaptation by Samson Raphaelson, Stewart and Sullavan play bickering gift-shop workers Alfred and Klara, unaware that they have fallen in love with each other as secret pen pals who only know their respective correspondents as “Dear Friend”. The charm of the stars ably supported by a sterling supporting cast headed by Frank Morgan make this timeless classic one to enjoy over and over again. The story was later filmed as “In The Good Old Summertime” with Judy Garland and Van Johnson in 1949, and as “You’ve Got Mail” in 1998. It was also the basis of the 1963 Broadway musical favorite “She Loves Me”. Beautifully remastered from protection film elements made right from the original nitrate negative, this new Blu-ray presentation of the original 1940 classic is a joy to behold.
IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVENUE (1947)
New 2020 1080p HD Remaster from 4K Scan of Best Surviving Nitrate Elements
Run Time: 115:00
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio Specs: DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1. 4×3 Full Frame
Product Color: B&W
Disc Configuration: BD 50
- Special Feature: Lux Radio Theater Broadcast (5/19/1947)
As he does every winter, hobo Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) moves in to a mansion on New York City’s 5th Avenue while its owners are away for the winter and invites all his hobo friends in from the cold. But this Christmas, Mary O’Connor (Ann Harding) comes home unexpectedly after a quarrel with her boyfriend to find her house occupied by jovial street dwellers. To make matters even worse, her father (Charles Ruggles) disguises himself as a hobo to get an invitation to stay in his own home — and keeps his identity secret in this perennial Christmas favorite about rediscovering family and the joy of being together. Don DeFore (Romance on the High Seas) and Gale Storm (My Little Margie) co-star as the young love interests in this first release from Allied Artists Productions.
