Garv’s Pick of the Week: Doctor X (Warner Archive)
For the release week of April 20th:
Garv’s Pick of the Week: Doctor X [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Last year, the Warner Archive Collection released a Blu-ray of the new restoration of Michael Curtiz’s two-strip Technicolor horror Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). That disc made my “Picks of the Year” list. Now, the same team from the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation have worked their restoration magic on Michael Curtiz’s earlier foray into the realm of the macabre, Doctor X (1932). This new Blu-ray includes both the Two-strip Technicolor restoration and the Black & White version (taken from slightly different angles or different takes). It’s another contender for the best of the year. In fact, I like this release even more than the Mystery of the Wax Museum Blu-ray. You can find my full review of the disc HERE.
Additional Titles of Interest —
Mutiny on the Bounty [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Clark Gable and Charles Laughton butt heads on the high seas in this 1935 classic. This film was previously released as a Blu-ray digibook in 2010, but I believe that release is out of print.
Each Dawn I Die [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: This 1939 prison picture with James Cagney and George Raft gets an HD upgrade.
Broadway Melody of 1940 [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Fred Astaire never had a better tap partner than Eleanor Powell. This was their only on-screen pairing.
Annie Get Your Gun [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: One of the great stage musicals of all time got its film adaptation in 1950. Sure, some of the depictions of Native Americans are problematic, but the same could be said of nearly every Western-themed picture made prior to the 1970s. This movie would make an interesting double-feature with Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976).
Green Dolphin Street [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: I’ll watch anything with Van Heflin.
The Furies [Blu-ray / Criterion]: Anthony Mann made this Western the same year as Winchester ’73. That’s good enough for me.
Memories of Murder [Blu-ray / Criterion]: This 2003 film from director Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite) is finally getting an American Blu-ray release. I hear it’s fantastic.
The Best of Mickey [Blu-ray / Disney Movie Club Exclusive]: Fantasia (1940), Fantasia 2000, and Celebrating Mickey (a collection of short subjects from 1928 to 2013) are collected together in this Blu-ray release. This is exclusive to members of the Disney Movie Club, so it can only be obtained here: Disney Movie Club
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