Two 1930s Mitchell Leisen Titles Coming to Bluray
Kino Lorber Studio Classics dated and detailed two Blu-ray releases of classic 1930s titles from director Mitchell Leisen. As a Preston Sturges fanatic, I’m especially happy about the release of Easy Living (1937).
Here are the details from the Kino Lorber Studio Classics Facebook page:
Coming July 23rd on BD!
Two Classics by Mitchell Leisen! Sold Separately!
Death Takes a Holiday (1934) with optional English Subtitles
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
- Theatrical Trailer
B&W 79 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
From Mitchell Leisen, the legendary director of Easy Living, Midnight and Remember the Night. When the Grim Reaper (Fredric March, Nothing Sacred, Inherit the Wind) pays a visit to a family of wealthy socialites, it turns out that he’s not there on his usual business. Intent on entering the human world for a three-day holiday, Death takes the form of a visiting prince, and assumes all the pleasures and pains that go with flesh and blood existence. Experiencing, for the first time, all that humanity has to offer, he becomes enamored of Grazia (Evelyn Venable, Double Door), a woman both in love with life and infatuated with death. Co-starring Henry Travers (Clarence, the angel of It’s a Wonderful Life) and Gail Patrick (My Man Godfrey), this thrilling and evocative portrayal of death’s lesson and life’s blessing is one of the all-time classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
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Easy Living (1937) with optional English subtitles
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
- Trailers
B&W 88 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
From Mitchell Leisen, the legendary director of Death Takes a Holiday, Midnight and Remember the Night. Hollywood greats Jean Arthur (A Foreign Affair) and Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) shine in this screwball comedy written by the great Preston Sturges (Christmas in July). Mary Smith (Arthur) is a poor working girl who literally has a fortune dropped in her lap when a wealthy financier (Edward Arnold, Meet John Doe) tosses a sable coat out a window and it lands on her. Everyone automatically assumes she’s his mistress, and soon her fairytale-like rags-to-riches lifestyle threatens a very real romance with an inept waiter (Milland). Easy Living is a delightful comedy full of misunderstandings and high-society slapsticks.
