Lucas, Wilfred

Modern Times (2 Disc Special Edition)

Man vs. machine! And the winner is every comedy fan when Charlie Chaplin's Tramp confronts assembly-line woes in this classic chosen in 1998 as one of the American Film Institute's Top-100 American Films. The Little Tramp punches in and wigs out inside a factory where gizmos like an employee-feeding machine may someday make the lunch hour last just 15 minutes. Bounced into the ranks of the unemployed he teams with a street waif (Paulette Goddard) to pursue bliss and a paycheck finding misadventures as a roller-skating night watchman a singing waiter whose hilarious song is gibberish a jailbird and more. In the end as Tramp and waif walk arm and arm into an insecure future we know they've found neitherbliss nor a paycheck but more importantly each other. The times and satire remain timeless in Modern Times.Running Time: 83 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085393765125

Charlie Chaplin is in glorious form in this legendary satire of the mechanized world. As a factory worker driven bonkers by the soulless momentum of work, Chaplin executes a series of slapstick routines around machines, including a memorable encounter with an automatic feeding apparatus. The pantomime is triumphant, but Chaplin also draws a lively relationship between the Tramp and a street gamine. She's played by Paulette Goddard, then Chaplin's wife and probably his best leading lady (here and in The Great Dictator). The film's theme gave the increasingly ambitious writer-director a chance to speak out about social issues, as well as indulging in the bittersweet quality of pathos that critics were already calling "Chaplinesque." In 1936, Chaplin was still holding out against spoken dialogue in films, but he did use a synchronized soundtrack of sound effects and his own music, a score that includes one of his most famous melodies, "Smile." And late in the film, Chaplin actually does speak--albeit in a garbled gibberish song, a rebuke to modern times in talking pictures. --Robert Horton

Dodge City

This is the film that inspired the Mel Brook's classic 'Blazing Saddles.' Classic Warner Brothers Western about a cowboy out to tame the wild west. Famout for a great barroom brawl scene.Running Time: 104 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. UPC: 012569528024

TCM Archives - The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland)

Unlike many silent screen comedians, Laurel & Hardy made a seamless transition to talkies, and this TCM Archives double-feature showcases some of their funniest work from the early 1930s. As always, TCM/Warner has packaged this must-have set for true film buffs: The prints are pristine, image quality is crisp and clean, sound quality is the best available (allowing for some hiss and minor drop-offs due to the age of the soundtracks), and bonus features have been chosen with care and authority, including several highlight excerpts from Laurel & Hardy short subjects. While continuing to enjoy their priceless partnership with producer Hal Roach, Stan & Ollie were at their sound-era peak in The Devil's Brother (1933), a hilarious adaptation of the Auber operetta Fra Diavolo (also the film's alternate European title), in which "Stanlio" and "Ollio" find themselves entangled in the exploits of the Marquis de San Marco, a notorious singing bandit named "Fra Diavolo" (played with adequate panache by Dennis King) who's set his sights on the lovely Lady Pamela (played by '30s screen queen Thelma Todd). Plots in Laurel & Hardy films are almost always perfunctory, but this is one of the better ones, lending Stan & Ollie ample opportunity to cut loose with Roach-invented gags and trademark slapstick. The highlight has to be Stan's drunken laughing fit, a miraculously sustained bit of hilarity (with Ollie eventually joining in) that's absolutely infectious and irresistible--it's impossible to watch without laughing right along with Stan.

Bonnie Scotland (1935) finds L&H in Gunga Din territory (or if you prefer, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer) as they arrive in Scotland hoping to collect "MacLaurel's" inheritance, only to end up recruited into a Scottish infantry regiment in the Indian desert. The comedy is mildly compromised by a standard-issue romance plot involving costars June Lang and William Janney, but whenever Stan and Ollie are onscreen, the laughs are consistently plentiful and timelessly entertaining. Adding expert context to the comedy, audio commentaries by film historians and lifelong L&H fans Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann are packed with knowledgeable information out each film, the careers of the cast members, working methods at Hal Roach studios, shooting locations, and fascinating anecdotal details (such as the fact that long-time L&H supporting player James Finlayson was the direct inspiration for Homer Simpson's beloved exclamation, "D'Oh!" on TV's long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons. The package is rounded out by "Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story," an excellent TCM feature-length documentary, narrated by Chevy Chase, that extensively chronicles the many varieties of short subjects produced during the 1930's and '40s--essentially an extension of Vaudeville and newsreels that gave rise to many of Hollywood's finest performers during the golden age of the studio system. All in all, this is a perfect DVD set for longtime Laurel & Hardy fans, or newcomers to their classic brand of comedy. --Jeff Shannon

They were one of the movies' most successful and best-loved comic duos probably because their irresistible slapstick antics were underscored by an indomitable optimism. Beginning with shorts made at the Hal Roach Studios Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy struck a universal chord by sharing a contentious yet benign friendship that always survived whatever indignities their mutual bumbling brought upon them. This TCM Archives two-disc collection focuses on the team at their zenith during the sound era and spotlights two features produced by Roach for MGM. The Devil's Brother (1933) (also known as Fra Diavolo) is a laugh-filled adaptation of the Auber operetta in which "Stanlio" and "Ollio" tangle with a notorious robber baron. The delightful Bonnie Scotland (1935) is a misadventure that takes the boys to Scotland and India.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 012569678880 Manufacturer No: 67888

Brother Orchid

Racket Boss John Sarto tired of gang violence quits and goes to Europe for "culture." His fortune soon dissipated by European swindlers he returns to the old mob; but new boss Jack Burns finds him strictly superfluous. Narrowly escaping being rubbed out Sarto is taken in by the monastery of the "Little Brothers of the Flower." His unique talents prove very useful to the monks...especially when Sarto's old mob forces them out of the flower market.Running Time: 128 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS UPC: 883929002702 Manufacturer No: 1000035744

Three Stooges - Dizzy Doctors

Includes 6 hilarious episodes:

Dizzy Doctors (1937): Larry, Curly and Moe make a grand mess of things when they mistake the medicine they're selling for auto polish.

Goofs and Saddles (1937): The Stooges make the Wild West even wilder, when they take on cattle rustlers and rope in the bad guys along with a ton of laughs.

Three Little Sew and Sews(1938): Anchors aweigh for fun when the Stooges enlist in the Navy. The zaniness is non-stop as the boys chase down a spy in this high seas hijinks classic!

Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin is in glorious form in this legendary satire of the mechanized world. As a factory worker driven bonkers by the soulless momentum of work, Chaplin executes a series of slapstick routines around machines, including a memorable encounter with an automatic feeding apparatus. The pantomime is triumphant, but Chaplin also draws a lively relationship between the Tramp and a street gamine. She's played by Paulette Goddard, then Chaplin's wife and probably his best leading lady (here and in The Great Dictator). The film's theme gave the increasingly ambitious writer-director a chance to speak out about social issues, as well as indulging in the bittersweet quality of pathos that critics were already calling "Chaplinesque." In 1936, Chaplin was still holding out against spoken dialogue in films, but he did use a synchronized soundtrack of sound effects and his own music, a score that includes one of his most famous melodies, "Smile." And late in the film, Chaplin actually does speak--albeit in a garbled gibberish song, a rebuke to modern times in talking pictures. --Robert Horton

One of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films. In "Modern Times," The Little Tramp battles it out with technology, unemployment, jail, burglars, demanding customers, bosses and "The Gamin." He wins some and loses more but, at the end, walks undaunted into the sunrise. Although it is known as Charlie Chaplin's last silent film, "Modern Times" is remarkably unsilent. From the opening notes of the rich orchestral score to the first and last time the voice of The Little Tramp is heard near the end of the film, the effect is of a film that speaks with a clear, well-rounded voice.

Forbidden Adventure & Forbidden Women

Monkey-Loving Women! That's the jaw-dropping gimmick at the core of Forbidden Adventure one of the most outrageous exploitation films ever unleashed. Supposedly based on a 1912 expedition to Cambodia two explorers lead a safari of topless native women (who allegedly were recruited from a Los Angeles whorehouse!) to the lost city of Angkor and find it jealously guarded by apes. Amazingly the "monkey domination" that destroyed Angkor centuries ago begins to affect the women of the safari who join the apes for a little "monkey adoration" of their own: "The monkey worship had our girls in its grasp!" Alternately known as Angkor and The Gorilla Woman this mind-melting mix of racism and Darwinian excess was theatrically released by the notorious Dwain Esper (Maniac) and ran afoul of local censors almost everywhere it played. Wow.Plus: When young Prince Sigore returns to his home "on an Unknown Island in the South Pacific" he has two goals: bring democracy to his people and yup visit the Forbidden Women in the Temple of the Golden Chamber. There he's promptly poisoned by the Sultan's evil sister-in-law who appoints herself ruler and opens the royal torture chamber for business in this sultry stew of Philippine footage and U.S.-added nudity! Two Exotic Oddities eager to "Divulge Heretofore Unheard of Orgies of Wild Women!" Hotcha.System Requirements:Running Time 215 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 014381317121 Manufacturer No: ID3171SWDVD

The Return of Chandu

This classic cliffhanger, in 12 mesmerizing chapters, stars Bela Lugosi in a rare turn as the hero. He plays Chandu, a mystic magician with supernatural powers, who battles the black magic Cult of Ubasto on the magic island of Lemuria, in order to free the lovely Princess Nadji. Inventive sets and excellent music make for entertaining fun! Bonus Features: Chapter Selection Menu|Actor Bios|VCI Cliffhanger Promo|Bonus Serial Trailers. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 208 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1934; SRP - $19.99.

The Return of Chandu the Magician, Vol. 2

Modern Times - Chaplin Collection (Limited Edition Collector's Set)

Charlie Chaplin is in glorious form in this legendary satire of the mechanized world. As a factory worker driven bonkers by the soulless momentum of work, Chaplin executes a series of slapstick routines around machines, including a memorable encounter with an automatic feeding apparatus. The pantomime is triumphant, but Chaplin also draws a lively relationship between the Tramp and a street gamine. She's played by Paulette Goddard, then Chaplin's wife and probably his best leading lady (here and in The Great Dictator). The film's theme gave the increasingly ambitious writer-director a chance to speak out about social issues, as well as indulging in the bittersweet quality of pathos that critics were already calling "Chaplinesque." In 1936, Chaplin was still holding out against spoken dialogue in films, but he did use a synchronized soundtrack of sound effects and his own music, a score that includes one of his most famous melodies, "Smile." And late in the film, Chaplin actually does speak--albeit in a garbled gibberish song, a rebuke to modern times in talking pictures. --Robert Horton