My Three Sons: The First Season, Vol. 1
by Earl Bellamy
from Paramount
Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition)
by George Seaton
from 20th Century Fox
Edmund Gwenn is Kris Kringle, who takes a takes a job at Macy's during the Christmas season, only to have his true identity questioned.
Genre: Feature Film Family
Rating: NR
Release Date: 21-NOV-2006
Media Type: DVD
The original 1947 version of this Valentine Davies story follows the misadventures of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) as he gets a job playing Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City. Natalie Wood is the little girl who tells him she doesn't believe in Santa, and Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are the couple who help Kris through a trial in which he must prove he's the jolly fellow from the North Pole. A sweet movie and perennial Christmas favorite, this is one of those movies that gets under your skin and must be revisited every so often. --Tom Keogh
I Love Lucy: The Complete Series
from Paramount Home Video
No Description Available.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 23-OCT-2007
Media Type: DVD
Rose of Washington Square
by Gregory Ratoff
from 20th Century Fox
Set in the colorful Prohibition era this "genuinely captivating" (Los Angeles Times) musical stars Alice Faye as a rising Ziegfeld star who is faithful to her crooked scheming husband (Tyrone Power) even after his showdown with the law. Co-star Al Jolson performs many of his legendary songs.Behind the Scenes "Rose of Washington Square" is one of Alice Faye's most popular screen roles and marks her final teaming with Tyrone Power. The film also features some of her most memorable songs including "My Man."System Requirements:Running Time: 86 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 024543536963 Manufacturer No: 2253696
Going My Way (Universal Cinema Classics)
by Leo McCarey
from Universal Studios
This lovable Leo McCarey picture is a sentimental favorite about a dynamic young priest who adds sparkle to a parish overseen by crusty old priest who could sure use some luster. Crosby single-handedly wins over the local toughs by organizing a football team and bolstering the parish coffers with a little ditty he sells. The whole thing just sings.Youthful Father Chuck O Malley (Bing Crosby) led a colorful life of sports song and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy but his level gaze and twinkling eyes make it clear that he knows he made the right choice. After joining a parish O Malley s worldly knowledge helps him connect with a gang of kids looking for direction and handle the business details of the church-building fund winning over his aging conventional superior (Barry Fitzgerald). Songs such as "Swinging on a Star" sparkle and both Crosby and Fitzgerald do a fine job tugging at the heartstrings in a gentle irresistible way that will make viewers return to this lovely film again and again. The overwhelming popularity of this film upon its release was only heightened by the many Academy Awards it won and its sequel THE BELLS OF SAINT MARY S starring Crosby and Ingrid Bergman was released in theaters the next year to eager fans and more awards.System Requirements:Run Time: 126 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 025193236920 Manufacturer No: 61032369
This irresistible Oscar winner from writer-director Leo McCarey (An Affair to Remember) stars Bing Crosby as a low-key, crooning priest who joins the parish of a no-nonsense but sweet old Irish man of the cloth (Barry Fitzgerald). While Bing turns local toughs into a choir, the elder priest worries over the church building fund and whether he'll get a chance to see his old mother back in Ireland before she dies. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be won over by this charmer, with a lovely ending guaranteed to make you bawl for a week. --Tom Keogh
Miracle on 34th Street
by George Seaton
from 20th Century Fox
The original 1947 version of this Valentine Davies story follows the misadventures of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) as he gets a job playing Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City. Natalie Wood is the little girl who tells him she doesn't believe in Santa, and Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are the couple who help Kris through a trial in which he must prove he's the jolly fellow from the North Pole. A sweet movie and perennial Christmas favorite, this is one of those movies that gets under your skin and must be revisited every so often. --Tom Keogh
Carole Lombard - The Glamour Collection (Hands Across the Table/ Love Before Breakfast/ Man of the World/ The Princess Comes Across/ True Confession/ We're Not Dressing)
by Edward Goodman
from Universal Studios
A queen of the silver screen Hollywood star Carole Lombard carved a place for herself in film history with her roles in the six films gathered here: MAN OF THE WORLD WE'RE NOT DRESSING HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE LOVE BEFORE BREAKFAST THE PRINCESS COMES ACROSS and TRUE CONFESSION. See individual descriptions for details.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 025192845420 Manufacturer No: 28454
In the 1930s, nobody combined glamour, romantic comedy, and drama better than Carole Lombard. Having entered show-biz at the age of 12, the former Jane Alice Peters (b. Oct. 6, 1908, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) distinguished herself from equally stellar contemporaries like Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, and Jean Arthur by establishing her versatility as a fashion icon whose beauty was matched by playful intelligence and a bright, independent persona (on screen and off) that predated feminism by 40 years and made her an appealing foil for admiring male costars. As this delightful half-dozen of her lesser-known features makes abundantly clear, her meteoric success was entirely well-deserved, and The Glamour Collection shows her as a star on the rise, gaining confidence and adoring fans with each new picture. As one of Paramount's most valued contract players, she starred in five of the six films included here (Love Before Breakfast was a loan-out to Universal), beginning with 1931's Man of the World, a Parisian romance written by Herman J. Mankiewicz (10 years before Citizen Kane) and headlined by future Thin Man star William Powell as an expatriate con artist who falls for Lombard's spoiled heiress--a romantic pairing made all the more believable by the stars' real-life marriage later that year.
A loose adaptation of The Admirable Crichton, We're Not Dressing (1934) is Depression-era entertainment at its most diverting, employing a full stable of Paramount players (including George Burns and Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman, and a young "Raymond" Milland) in a shipwreck romance between socialite Lombard and singing sailor Bing Crosby, who croons songs aplenty (including "Stormy Weather") and shares equal screen-time with an affectionate bear! Directed by Norman Taurog (best known for his later work with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley), it's every bit as fun as the Marx Brothers hits from the same period. Arguably the best film in this set, Hands Across the Table is noteworthy for the typically stylish direction of Mitchell Leisen, who brings his reliable sophistication to the tale of a New York manicurist (Lombard) who must choose between potential suitors Fred McMurray (as a would-be heir to a fortune) and disabled ex-pilot Ralph Bellamy. (This being 1934, Norman Krasna's otherwise excellent script restricts Bellamy to the romantic sidelines with outdated feel-good sentiment.) Love Before Breakfast (1936) is a similarly enjoyable but typically chauvinistic dose of '30s high-society love-play, in which Lombard bounces between boyfriend Cesar Romero and a Wall Street tycoon (Preston Foster) who knows what's best for her and bosses her around accordingly. In the mystery/comedy The Princess Comes Across (1936), McMurray returns as a lovestruck bandleader, falling for Lombard's radiant Swedish princess (played as a playful nod to Greta Garbo) on a cruiser bound for Hollywood.
After completing the classic Nothing Sacred, Lombard (who married Clark Gable in 1939) teamed with McMurray yet again in True Confession (1937), a black screwball thriller/comedy elevated by the presence of comedy stalwarts John Barrymore, Edgar Kennedy and Una Merkel. It rounds out The Glamour Collection in fine form (Lucille Ball is said to have modeled her TV persona after Lombard's character), and leads the way to such later classics as Made for Each Other (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). Tragically, Lombard's outstanding career was cut short when she perished (along with her mother and 20 other passengers) in a 1942 plane crash. Fortunately for DVD collectors, these six films (all remarkably well-preserved with clear image and sound) serve as a fitting tribute to Lombard's unique talent, allowing movie lovers of all ages to rediscover one of the most alluring queens of the silver screen. --Jeff Shannon
Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at Home
by Walter Doniger
from Sony Pictures
Kill The Umpire - Ex-baseball player Bill Johnson (William Bendix) failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law Jonah Evans (Ray Collins) a retired umpire and enters an umpire-training school. Assigned to the Texas League he does fine until the championship play-offs when a riot develops over one of his calls. The involved player is knocked unconscious in the proceedings and cannot verify that Bill made the correct call. Despite lynch mob plans to at least tar-and-feather him Bill's family - his daughters Lucy (Gloria Henry) and Susan (Connie Marshall) and his wife Betty (Una Merkel) - help Bill reach the ballpark safely the next day through a series of hair-raising encounters.Safe At Home! - Young Hutch Lawton brags to his Little League buddies that his dad knows Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Forced to "put up or shut up" Hutch goes to spring training camp where he is lectured about honesty being the best policy. He returns to face his buddies with the truth to find the entire Little League team invited to camp.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES UPC: 043396168824 Manufacturer No: 16882
Kill the Umpire and Safe at Home reside cozily on this family-friendly disc, a pair of entertaining movies about baseball-crazy characters with very different reasons for getting close to the game. The 1950 Kill the Umpire stars William Bendix as Bill Johnson, a working man so enamored of America's pastime that he regularly loses jobs because he can't stay out of his favorite New York ballpark when he's supposed to be at the office. Loudly disdainful of all umpires, Bill gets both a blessing and a comeuppance when his father-in-law (Ray Collins), a retired ump, sends him off to umpire school to learn the profession he deserves. After a lot of resistance, Bill understands the basic nobility of being the guy people love to hate despite also being necessary to baseball. The script is by Frank Tashlin, the animation director who would soon have better things to do in the 1950s and beyond, such as directing Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and guiding Jerry Lewis in some of his best vehicles. Indeed, Kill the Umpire, in many ways, looks like a collection of old cartoon gags connected by Bendix's charming performance. But under the sure hand of seasoned director Lloyd Bacon (Knute Rockne All-American), it all comes together nicely.
The 1962 Safe at Home is built around the presence of New York Yankees stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who prove stiff but game playing themselves in the story of a little boy who gets in trouble for overstating his friendship with them. Young Hutch Lawton (Bryan Russell), a motherless child trying hard to help his preoccupied dad (Don Collier) build a business, brags to his Little League team that he knows Maris and Mantle, then sets out on a journey to talk the legendary sluggers into going back with him to meet the team. William Frawley (who also appears in Kill the Umpire) helps keep the pace going as the Yankees' manager, and Patricia Barry is a welcome presence as Mr. Lawton's love interest. --Tom Keogh
The Fighting Seabees
by Edward Ludwig
from Republic Pictures
The Lemon Drop Kid
by Frank Tashlin
from Bci / Eclipse
Bob Hope plays a small-time con artist with a fondness for lemon candy in this film based on a Damon Runyon story. When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran (Fred Clark) out of his track winnings, the Kid promises to repay Moose the money by Christmas. Creating a fake charity for "Apple Annie" Nellie Thursday, the Kid tricks his gang into donning Santa suits and "collecting dough for old dolls" like Nellie who have nowhere to live. Radio personality Marilyn Maxwell assists as the Kid's girlfriend, while William Frawley and Jay C. Flippen play the lovable, gruff crooks that fall for the Kid's Santa scam.
Hope is great as the fast-talking sharpster, and the comical gangsters are well worth the price of admission. Music by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston (including the classic Christmas song "Silver Bells") makes The Lemon Drop Kid that much sweeter. --Mark Savary
+++
