Raft, George

Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)

BLACK WIDOW (1954) (DVD MOVIE)

Ginger Rogers steals the show as a selfish, snide Broadway superstar in Nunnally Johnson's Black Widow, preening, snooping, gossiping, and bestowing air kisses in equal abundance. This late-era (1954) color film noir is as delicious for its fabulous performances as for its dishy look at showbiz, fangs and all. Think of it as All About Eve with murder. Rogers is Carlotta Marin, a grande dame of the thea-tah, married, it would seem happily, to Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner). Discussing friends whose marriage is threatened by an alleged affair, Brian assures Lottie they wouldn't face such disgrace. "After all," he deadpans, "we have an understanding." "What kind of understanding?" Lottie asks warily. "The understanding that if you catch me with another woman, you'll break my neck." The two collapse in laughter. Yet at the heart of Black Widow is something grim, the death of a young, ambitious writer named Nancy (Peggy Ann Garner), who gloms onto a theater producer (Van Hefflin), who's in love with his wife, Iris (Gene Tierney, heartbreakingly lovely). Nancy's death appears to be self-inflicted, and yet as each piece of evidence--a weird suicide note, a threatening letter received in the mail--piles up, things begin to point to murder.

The cast is excellent, especially delivering the great backbiting dialogue. And the plot contains more twists than Lombard Street in San Francisco, and will keep viewers guessing, and riveted, to the end. Extras include a great commentary by Alan K. Rode, an expert in film noir, as well as two wonderful featurettes, on the careers of Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney respectively. Robert Osbourne offers his always insightful thoughts on the roles of Rogers, especially, as she sought to carve out a career after being paired with Fred Astaire. These solo steps are not to be missed.--A.T. Hurley

Some Like It Hot

Maybe "nobody's perfect," as one character in this masterpiece suggests. But some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. In Chicago, during the Prohibition era, two skirt-chasing musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the wrath of gangland chief Spats Colombo (George Raft), the boys, in drag, join an all-woman band headed for Florida. They vie for the attention of the lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), a much-disappointed songbird who warbles "I'm Through with Love" but remains vulnerable to yet another unreliable saxophone player. (When Curtis courts her without his dress, he adopts the voice of Cary Grant--a spot-on impersonation.) The script by director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. Aspiring screenwriters would be well advised to throw away the how-to books and simply study this film. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy." Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behavior. The results, however, are sublime. --Robert Horton

When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting, they quickly board a southbound train to Florida, disguised as Josephine and Daphne, the twonewestand homeliestmembers of an all-girl jazz band. Their cover is perfect...until a lovelorn singer (Marilyn Monroe) falls for Josephine, an ancient playboy (Joe E. Brown) falls for Daphne, and a mob boss (George Raft) refuses to fall for their hoax! Nominated* for 6 Academy Awards(r), Some Like It Hot is the quintessential madcap farce and one of the greatest of all film comedies (The Motion Picture Guide). *1959: Director, Actor (Lemmon), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography (B&W), Art Direction (B&W), Costume Design (B&W, winner)

Some Like It Hot (Collector's Edition)

When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting they quickly board a southbound train to Florida disguised as Josephine and Daphne the twonewestand homeliestmembers of an all-girl jazz band. Their cover is perfect...until a lovelorn singer (Marilyn Monroe) falls for Josephine an ancient playboy (Joe E. Brown) falls for Daphne and a mob boss (George Raft) refuses to fall for their hoax!Nominated* for 6 Academy Awards® Some Like It Hot is the quintessential madcap farce and one of the greatest of all film comedies (The Motion Picture Guide).*1959: Director Actor (Lemmon) Adapted Screenplay Cinematography (B&W) Art Direction (B&W) Costume Design (B&W winner)System Requirements:Run Time: 122 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 027616151209 Manufacturer No: 15120

Maybe "nobody's perfect," as one character in this masterpiece suggests. But some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. In Chicago, during the Prohibition era, two skirt-chasing musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the wrath of gangland chief Spats Colombo (George Raft), the boys, in drag, join an all-woman band headed for Florida. They vie for the attention of the lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), a much-disappointed songbird who warbles "I'm Through with Love" but remains vulnerable to yet another unreliable saxophone player. (When Curtis courts her without his dress, he adopts the voice of Cary Grant--a spot-on impersonation.) The script by director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. Aspiring screenwriters would be well advised to throw away the how-to books and simply study this film. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy." Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behavior. The results, however, are sublime. --Robert Horton

Scarface (Universal Cinema Classics)

Howard Hawks's Scarface was one of the first "talkies" to reclaim the fluidity of the late-silent masterpieces, while also tapping into a feral new energy that came with talking smart and moving smarter on the motion picture screen. Outgunning such contemporaries as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy--in terms of both its ferocious death-dealing and dynamic style--the movie was interfered with by censors and kept out of circulation for decades thanks to its eccentric producer, Howard Hughes. It remains the gold standard among classic gangster pictures. Paul Muni's portrayal of Al Capone surrogate Tony Camonte etched a screen original: a merciless assassin who's not only reflexively criminal but pre-civilized, almost pre-evolutionary, a simian shadow ready to rub out the world if he can't have it for his own. This is still one of the greatest, darkest, most deeply exciting films American cinema has produced. Those demonically ubiquitous X's--starting with that titular scar gouged into Tony's cheek--rival "Rosebud" for resonance. --Richard T. Jameson

Generally regarded to be the best of the classic gangster films, Scarface tells the exciting story of organized crime's brutal control over Chicago during the Prohibition era. Oscar winner Paul Muni gives an electrifying performance as Tony Carmonte, an ambitious criminal with a ruthless drive to be the city's top crime boss. Produced and directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, Scarface was a groundbreaking film which established both Paul Muni and George Raft as major Hollywood stars, while influencing all gangland films to follow.

Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 1 (The Public Enemy / White Heat / Angels with Dirty Faces / Little Caesar / The Petrified Forest / The Roaring Twenties)

The Public EnemyThe taut realistic time capsule of the Prohibition Era. James Cagney's breakthrough role! With 2 minutes of Recovered Footage not seen in over 70 years.White Heat"Made it Ma! Top of the world!" Cagney's psychotic Cody Jarrett sparks this searing classic.Angels With Dirty FacesGhetto kids admire a swaggering killer. With Humphrey Bogart Pat O'Brien and the Dead End Kids.Little CaesarLoosely based on Al Capone! Edward G. Robinson dishes it out in a fiery masterwork.The Petrified ForestBogart grabs notice as fugitive and hostage-taker Duke Mantee. With Bette Davis.The Roaring Twenties"He used to be a big shot." Cagney vs. Bogart in a racketeer rumble.System Requirements:Running Time: 541 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/CRIME Rating: NR UPC: 883929005192 Manufacturer No: 1000036315

For a knock-out combination of timeless entertainment and vintage studio history, you can't do much better than The Warner Brothers Gangsters Collection. In the 1930s and '40s, Paramount specialized in glossy comedies, MGM popularized lavish musicals, Universal produced signature horror classics, and Fox scored hits with sophisticated dramas. But it was Warner Bros. that generated controversy--if not always box-office profits--with so-called "social problem" films, and that meant gangsters. When viewed in their pre- and post-Prohibition context and in chronological order (Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, 1931; The Petrified Forest, 1936; Angels With Dirty Faces, 1938; The Roaring Twenties, 1939; White Heat, 1949), these six films definitively capture Warners' domination of the mobster genre, and to varying degrees, they all qualify as classics.

With its stilted visuals and pulpy plot, Little Caesar remains stuck in the stiff, early-sound era, but it's still a prototypical powerhouse, with Edward G. Robinson's titular "Rico" setting the stage for all screen gangsters to follow. The Public Enemy made James Cagney a star (who can forget him smashing a grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face?), and Humphrey Bogart repeats his Broadway success in The Petrified Forest, a stagy adaptation of Robert Sherwood's play, still enjoyable for Bogey's ever-threatening malevolence. Then it's a Cagney triple-threat in Angels (with Pat O'Brien), racketeering in The Roaring Twenties (with Bogart), and especially the jailbird classic White Heat, with a fiery finale and an exit line ("Made it Ma! Top o' the world!") that epitomized Cagney's iconic, tough-guy image. In many ways Cagney was Warner Bros., and this Gangsters Collection pays enduring tribute to him and the important films that forged the studio's rugged reputation. --Jeff Shannon

Some Like It Hot

Maybe "nobody's perfect," as one character in this masterpiece suggests. But some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. In Chicago, during the Prohibition era, two skirt-chasing musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the wrath of gangland chief Spats Colombo (George Raft), the boys, in drag, join an all-woman band headed for Florida. They vie for the attention of the lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), a much-disappointed songbird who warbles "I'm Through with Love" but remains vulnerable to yet another unreliable saxophone player. (When Curtis courts her without his dress, he adopts the voice of Cary Grant--a spot-on impersonation.) The script by director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. Aspiring screenwriters would be well advised to throw away the how-to books and simply study this film. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy." Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behavior. The results, however, are sublime. --Robert Horton

Forgotten Noir Collector's Set (Arson Inc. / Loan Shark / Portland Expose / Shadow Man / Shoot to Kill / They Were So Young)

From 1947 thru 1957, a six-pack of forgotten film noirs that you won't want to miss. Murder, Mystery and Scandal…it's all here! This incredible set includes: Portland Expose, They Were So Young, Loan Shark, Arson Inc, Shadow Man, Shoot to Kill. Some first time on video and/or DVD. PORTLAND EXPOSE: In the 1950's LIFE Magazine printed a blistering exposé on the rampant sin, crime and Teamsters-controlled corruption that at the time had a stranglehold on Portland, Oregon. Producer Lindsley Parsons seized upon the considerable publicity and assembled a cast of great character actors for the starring roles. Although the film crew was threatened with physical violence, the result is a dark and gritty filmed-on-location crime drama that contains considerable violence for a 1950's movie, most notably a violent rape scene with the Frank Gorshin character and a teenage girl. THEY WERE SO YOUNG: Five European models arrive in Rio de Janeiro and become trapped in a white slavery ring. An exciting crime melodrama with Raymond Burr at his villainous best! LOAN SHARK: Tough ex-con George Raft is hired by a factory owner and a union leader to help smash a loan-sharking mob preying on their employees. To obtain the necessary evidence, Raft puts his life on the line by joining the gang. ARSON INC: A Bureau of Fire Investigation agent goes under cover to confront a ruthless arson ring that has left a trail of bodies, burned out buildings with various and sundry carnage! SHADOW MAN: A saloon owner falls in love with the abused wife of a heavy gambler. He is snared into a web of intrigue when an ex-girlfriend is found murdered in his apartment. SHOOT TO KILL: A tale of plotting and counterplotting commences after the new district attorney and an escaped gangster are killed in a car crash! Bonus Features: Anamorphic Widescreen - Enhanced for 16x9 Monitors| Original Theatrical Trailers| Commentary by Assistant Director Lindsley Parsons Jr| Original Advertising Materials| Bios| Photo Gallery| Scene Selection| "Inside Lippert" (Part 1: 1907-1949) as told by Robert L Lipert Jr| "Loan Shark" Audio Commentary by Richard M Roberts| Movie Trivia| "Inside Lippert" (Part 2: 1950-1976) as told by Robert L Lippert Jr.| "Shoot to Kill" Schedule & Luana Walters Wardrobe Plot| Day Player & Stuntman Contracts ("Shoot To Kill")| Original Script - Sample pages with Director's Notes ("Shoot To Kill"). Specs: 3-DVD9; Dolby Digital; 428 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1957, 1954, 1952, 1949, 1953, 1947; SRP - $29.99.

Sextette

Each Dawn I Die

Although innocent reporter Frank Ross is found guilty of murder and is sent to jail. While his friends at the newspaper try to find out who framed him Frank gets hardened by prison life and his optimism turns into bitterness. He meets fellow-inmate Stacey and they decide to help each other.Running Time: 92 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569677388 Manufacturer No: 67738

Ava Gardner Signature Collection