Talbot, Lyle

Tobor the Great

Two brilliant scientists create a robot for the purpose of exploring deep space but the mechanical marvel is stolen by enemy agents . Only the scientists' psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed for evil purposes.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 031398232834 Manufacturer No: 23283

There's No Business Like Show Business

This 1954 dinosaur brings together two giants of Broadway, Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin, just as their moment was passing forever, to create one last hurrah: a celebration of the glories that were vaudeville. Still, it's hard to imagine that Broadway--or nightclub entertaining, for that matter--was ever quite this lavish and satisfying. The story centers on a married couple, the Donahues (Dan Dailey and Merman), who live on the road as vaudeville entertainers, and since they have children, begin incorporating the kids into the act. Eventually, the kids grow up to be Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, and Johnny Ray, and they begin having interests of their own. Donald's is an ambitious showgirl (Marilyn Monroe), whose standoffish response to his romantic overtures drives him to drink. Best for its lavish, splashy production numbers built around some of the best of the Berlin songbook, including the title tune and "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody." --Marshall Fine

An all-star cast that includes Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, Johnnie Ray and Mitzi Gaynor sparks this tuneful Irving Berlin musical that depicts the trials and triumphs of a veteran vaudeville family. Molly (Merman) and Terry (Dailey) Donahue start out as a duo and keep adding kids to the act until they finally become The 5 Donahues. Their busy, sometimes tumultuous lives aren't always easy, but the Donahues have plenty of love to get them through the hard times and more than enough talent to keep them on top. Highlighted by one classic Irving Berlin song after another and an array of dazzling production numbers, this upbeat, utterly delightful tale of life on the stage proves, beyond and doubt, that There's No Business Like Show Business!

The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet? The title alone is amusingly absurd. Unless your idea of adventure includes picnics, hay rides, recreational horseback riding, and square dances, the word hardly applies. As revealed in this four-disc, 24-episode boxed set (the first official Ozzie and Harriet release on DVD) that cherry-picks some of the best moments from the entire 1952-66 run, this was a show so mild it made Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood look like The Wire--and that was a big part of its considerable charm.

Bandleader Ozzie, singer Harriet (nee Hilliard), and sons David and Ricky had already been on the radio for several years before the television show appeared; there had also been a feature film, Here Come the Nelsons (with Rock Hudson). The TV series, likely the only one ever to feature an entire family portraying themselves, continued where the radio show had left off, with Ozzie (who directed, produced, and co-wrote the vast majority of the episodes) as the well-meaning but sometimes confused, bumbling patriarch, Harriet his sensible but gentle foil, David the dutiful, self-effacing older son, and Ricky the mischievous youngster. Things naturally changed over the next decade and a half, as the boys grew up, went to college, and got married, but the dynamic remained essentially the same. Ozzie and Harriet was nothing if not wholesome. The parents were decent, honest folks; never dictatorial or authoritarian, they guided their sons but gave them enough space to make their own decisions, and David and Ricky were as clean-cut as they come. Of course, there was also Ricky's emergence as a singing star. Broadcast in 1957, "Ricky, the Drummer" was his musical debut (he sings and plays the skins with surprising skill), and the boxed set does a decent job of charting his growth from a somewhat wooden 16-year-old into a legitimate musician with a great band (featuring James Burton on guitar) and undeniable charisma; Rick Nelson was no Elvis Presley, but he had far more substance than other teen idols of the era.

Fourteen years is a long run for any TV show (only The Simpsons has surpassed it in the sitcom category), and by the time The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet started airing episodes in color in the '65-66 season, it had run out steam. Still, this is a classic bit of Americana that will find favor with old and new viewers alike. Bonus features include commentary on four episodes by David (the only living member from the original show) and Sam (son of Rick) Nelson, along with a 1949 radio broadcast, home movies, and more. --Sam Graham

Mae West - The Glamour Collection (Go West Young Man/ Goin' To Town/ I'm No Angel/ My Little Chickadee/ Night After Night)

Sexy and curvaceous Hollywood icon Mae West made a name for herself with the five films gathered here. MAE WEST: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION includes the films NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, I'M NO ANGEL, GOIN' TO TOWN, GO WEST YOUNG MAN, and MY LITTLE CHIKADEE. See individual descriptions for details.

Format: DVD MOVIE

The triumph of personality is beautifully demonstrated in Mae West: The Glamour Collection, a bundle of five comedies featuring the never duplicated (if often imitated) Ms. West. Never altering her insouciant, sexed-up persona, Mae West sashays through these films like a tour guide in a well-lit bordello, cheerfully cracking herself up with a series of perfectly-timed one-liners. Since she wrote her own material, there was no separation between the lady (what a feeble word) and her scandalous dialogue.

If you doubt this, check out Night After Night, her film debut. The first half of the picture is an unremarkable gangster comedy: George Raft in his usual inert form, Constance Cummings the good girl, capable comic support from Roscoe Karns and Alison Skipworth. Then West blowses in, and it's all over. Within a minute she's tossed off an eternal signature line (hatcheck girl: "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds." West: "Goodness had nothin' to do with it, dearie") and disrupted the high-class aims of gangster Raft. The other actors look agog at this unapologetic force of libido. Watching this, you might recall the first time you ever saw Groucho Marx or Bill Murray on film--the movie itself disappears, replaced by gratitude that someone like this exists.

I'm No Angel followed her first starring vehicle (She Done Him Wrong, not included here), and its lunatic plot--Mae as a lion tamer taken up by New York society--does nothing to slow the barrage of sexual innuendo. West hums her way through the film with the kind of confidence that must have inspired countless fans to try something disreputable. Cary Grant is the bemused recipient of West's attention. Goin' to Town is nearly as good, as dance-hall gal Mae inherits an oil fortune, then sets her cap for the haughty Englishman working on her, uh, wells. West's style is undiminished (she was in her mid-forties already), although by this time the Production Code--concocted in part as a horrified response to her first films--was trimming her entendres.

Tamer still is the tongue-in-cheek Go West Young Man, although the spectacle of West (playing a "temperamental" movie star) leering after hunky Randolph Scott is pleasant. My Little Chickadee, made at Universal after her run at Paramount ended, is the legendary pairing with W.C. Fields. It's full of great bon mots from both drawlers, even if the sum is less than its parts. Disapproving Margaret Hamilton tells Fields of West, "I'm afraid I can't say anything good about her." Fields replies, "I can see what's good, tell me the rest." These five films are a good introduction to the rest. Beulah, peel me a grape. --Robert Horton

The Busby Berkeley Collection (Footlight Parade / Gold Diggers of 1933 / Dames / Gold Diggers of 1935 / 42nd Street)

The Busby Berkeley Collection is a 6-disc compilation of five remastered Warner Bros. classics from one of the greatest motion picture choreographers of all time.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569678460 Manufacturer No: 67846

The Busby Berkeley Collection celebrates the work of one of the most visually inventive director-choreographers in the history of film. The centerpiece is of course 42nd Street (1933). This is the quintessential backstage musical in which young Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) goes from wide-eyed chorus girl to leading lady, urged by Warner Baxter, "You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" A cast that also includes Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers (when she was an RKO contract player and before she teamed up with Fred Astaire) performs "Shuffle Off to Buffalo, " "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," and the title tune, in which Keeler tap-dances on a black surface that turns out to be the roof of a car. Berkeley's numbers are known for their kaleidoscopic patterns, their stark black-and-white contrast, and their sheer sense of spectacle. But more than anything, they're known for their celebration of women. By the dozens, they dance, play pianos, frolic in waterfalls, and, in some of the most overtly sexual numbers, stand spread-eagled in a line as the camera passes through their legs. In many ways, the title song from Dames sums it up best: "What do you go for / to see a show for? / Tell the truth, you go to see those beautiful dames."

While Berkeley choreographed and directed the musical sequences in these films, the plot sections were generally directed by others such as Lloyd Bacon. Keeler and Powell were the most frequent headliners, supported by character players such as Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, and Ned Sparks, and most of the songs were contributed by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The stories aren't much, usually revolving around the putting-together of a musical show as well as the lives and loves of chorus girls. The term "gold diggers," which is the source of the title of two of the films included in this set, refers unflatteringly to chorus girls in search of wealthy husbands.

Gold Diggers of 1933 opens with a justly famous shot of Ginger Rogers wearing an outfit of coins and singing "We're in the Money" first in English then in pig Latin. Gold Diggers of 1935 is capped by "The Lullaby of Broadway," a 14-minute story-within-a-story that seems one of the inspirations for Singin' in the Rain's "Broadway Melody." Dames (1934) has the aforementioned title tune as well as "I Only Have Eyes for You" (with Powell singing to dozens of Keeler faces). Footlight Parade changes things up a bit by starring James Cagney as a producer desperately cranking out musical numbers. Keeler and Powell emerge from their bit-character roles to headline two of the big productions stacked together at the end, while Cagney replaces Powell in the third, showing off the vaudeville hoofing skills he would use later in 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy.

DVD supplements are generous. The sixth disc is the 163-minute Busby Berkely Disc, a former laserdisc program that collects just the musical numbers from nine films without the plot filler. Most of the numbers are already included in the films in this collection, but there are also one number each from Fashions of 1934, Wonder Bar, In Caliente, and Gold Diggers of 1937. Also on the discs are new and old featurettes (one tracks the development of 42nd Street from book to screen to stage), and vintage cartoons and shorts (one promotional short has Berkeley on-screen talking up Dames). Picture quality is about the same as on the Astaire and Rogers Collection, Vol. 1: good for the age of the material, but with noticeable fuzz and print damage. --David Horiuchi

Plan 9 from Outer Space

Sometimes a movie achieves such legendary status that it can't quite live up to its reputation. Plan 9 from Outer Space is not one of these movies. It is just as magnificently terrible as you've heard. Plan 9 is the story of space aliens who try to conquer the Earth through resurrection of the dead. Psychic Criswell narrates ("Future events such as these will affect you in the future!") as police rush through the cemetery, occasionally clipping the cardboard tombstones in their zeal to find the source of the mysterious goings-on. More than just a bad film, Plan 9 is something of a one- stop clearinghouse for poor cinematic techniques: The time shifts whimsically from midnight to afternoon sun, Tor Johnson flails desperately in an attempt to rise from his coffin, and flying saucers zoom past on clearly visible strings. Fading star Bela Lugosi tragically died during filming, but such a small hurdle could not stop writer-producer-director Ed Wood. Lugosi is ingeniously replaced with a man who holds a cape across his face and might as well have "NOT BELA LUGOSI" stamped on his forehead. Plan 9 is so sweetly well- intentioned in both its message and its execution that it's impossible not to love it. And if you don't, well, as Eros says, "You people of Earth are idiots!" --Ali Davis

Plan 9 From Outer Space Cult Director Ed Wood's "cinematic masterpiece" _ and also regarded as one of the worst movies ever made! Plan Nine is so bad it's good. Alien invaders use their dreaded "Plan Nine" to re-animate dead earthlings. They wreak havoc and unleash a host of things bizarre, macabre, horrific, and just plain horrible. Using footage from a Bela Lugosi movie he was unable to finish (due to Lugosi's untimely death), Wood proved again he would and could make a film under any circumstances. Hubcaps on wires doubling for flying saucers, stumbling living dead, concrete visible beneath fake grass, and mattresses visible for actors to fall on are just a few of the unbelievable gaffes and goofs you'll see. The result is a comical and campy spoof of science fiction movies themselves. The cast includes TV horror queen Vampira, a host of zombies, military buffoons, and Lugosi in his last performance. Plan Nine has taken on a legendary status of its own and is a MUST for any serious cult film fan. Original Theatrical Trailer: 2 min. Film: Approx. 80 min.

Bonus Material: The Ed Wood Story Hear the story of "Hollywood's best incompetent director" from the people who knew him best and who starred in the film about him. Johnny Depp, who played Ed, and Martin Landau, who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi, talk about Mr. Wood and his legendary style _ or lack thereof, as well as Lugosi. Dolores Fuller, Wood's wife and star of several of his classics, talks about the man and his methods. Maila Nurmi, Vampira herself, talks about the creation of her persona. Johnny Legend recalls Tor Johnson. And Bela Lugosi, Jr. clues you into some of the mysteries about his father. ORIGINAL TRAILERS from Wood classics include Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, Sinister Urge, The Bride and the Beast, and Plan Nine from Outer Space. Approx. 40 min.

Plan 9 from Outer Space

Sometimes a movie achieves such legendary status that it can't quite live up to its reputation. Plan 9 from Outer Space is not one of these movies. It is just as magnificently terrible as you've heard. Plan 9 is the story of space aliens who try to conquer the Earth through resurrection of the dead. Psychic Criswell narrates ("Future events such as these will affect you in the future!") as police rush through the cemetery, occasionally clipping the cardboard tombstones in their zeal to find the source of the mysterious goings-on. More than just a bad film, Plan 9 is something of a one- stop clearinghouse for poor cinematic techniques: The time shifts whimsically from midnight to afternoon sun, Tor Johnson flails desperately in an attempt to rise from his coffin, and flying saucers zoom past on clearly visible strings. Fading star Bela Lugosi tragically died during filming, but such a small hurdle could not stop writer-producer-director Ed Wood. Lugosi is ingeniously replaced with a man who holds a cape across his face and might as well have "NOT BELA LUGOSI" stamped on his forehead. Plan 9 is so sweetly well- intentioned in both its message and its execution that it's impossible not to love it. And if you don't, well, as Eros says, "You people of Earth are idiots!" --Ali Davis

This is it! The most popular Atomic Age cult film of the twentieth century. Winner of two Golden Turkey Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director of All Time, the immortal Edward D. Wood, Jr.! It's all here, the not-so-special effects, aliens in skating skirts zooming around in string-powered flying saucers to implement the ninth plan of Earth's conquest (the first eight failed) with an army of zombies (well, three actually), Vampira, Tor Johnson and Bela Lugosi in his legendary "postmortem" performance (with Ed's chiropractor standing in for Bela after his death). This truly original movie, Ed Wood's "Citizen Kane," is a hymn to all those who have ever tried to create something intelligent and meaningful, only to fail miserably every step of the way.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (In Color)

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is Ed Wood's unintentionally hilarious film in which aliens plan to take over the world by resurrecting only three corpses. Horror icon Bela Lugosi died during production and was replaced by a chiropractor who hid his face behind a cape. The film also features Vampira and wrestler Tor Johnson. Quite possibly the best bad movie ever made PLAN 9 with its hubcap flying saucers on strings is sure to entertain.System Requirements:Running Time 93 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 796019794633 Manufacturer No: 79463

Sometimes a movie achieves such legendary status that it can't quite live up to its reputation. Plan 9 from Outer Space is not one of these movies. It is just as magnificently terrible as you've heard. Plan 9 is the story of space aliens who try to conquer the Earth through resurrection of the dead. Psychic Criswell narrates ("Future events such as these will affect you in the future!") as police rush through the cemetery, occasionally clipping the cardboard tombstones in their zeal to find the source of the mysterious goings-on. More than just a bad film, Plan 9 is something of a one- stop clearinghouse for poor cinematic techniques: The time shifts whimsically from midnight to afternoon sun, Tor Johnson flails desperately in an attempt to rise from his coffin, and flying saucers zoom past on clearly visible strings. Fading star Bela Lugosi tragically died during filming, but such a small hurdle could not stop writer-producer-director Ed Wood. Lugosi is ingeniously replaced with a man who holds a cape across his face and might as well have "NOT BELA LUGOSI" stamped on his forehead. Plan 9 is so sweetly well- intentioned in both its message and its execution that it's impossible not to love it. And if you don't, well, as Eros says, "You people of Earth are idiots!" --Ali Davis

Batman and Robin - The Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection

There's no Batmobile, and Robert Lowery looks a bit, ahem, well-fed as the Caped Crusader, but Columbia Pictures' 1949 black-and-white serial Batman and Robin is up to its cape and cowl in cliffhangers, crime capers, and good old-fashioned rock-em-sock-em action. Directed at a breakneck pace by serial vet Spencer Gordon Bennett, the Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection's 15 episodes pits Lowery's Batman and Johnny Duncan as the Boy Wonder against arch-villain The Wizard, who has designs on a remote-control device that doubles as a death ray. Jane Adams's Vicki Vale is on hand to fall into peril at least once per episode, while Ed Wood regular Lyle Talbot looks on sternly as Commissioner Gordon. Viewers weaned on Tim Burton's dark, sleek interpretation of the Batman mythos will undoubtedly groan over the creaky dialogue and performances (creator Bob Kane was no fan, either), but fans with designs on absorbing every bit of Bat-trivia possible will probably get a kick out of this well-intentioned attempt at bringing the Dark Knight's adventures to screen. The episodes are divided onto two DVDs, which offer no extras. --Paul Gaita

Night Screams 50 Movie Pack

Get ready for a nail-biting journey into terror and madness that is strewn with bloody corpses rocked by terrifying creatures and fraught with chilling suspense and horror. Terror is brought to life in this chilling collection featuring stars such as Basil Rathbone Lon Chaney Jr. Cameeron Mitchell Caroll Baker Dennis Hopper E.G. Marshall Ginger Rogers Robert Vaughn and many more! You get 50 full-length feature films that have been carefully selected and digitally re-mastered to deliver maximum value.Movies:1. Anatomy of a Psycho2. Bloody Pit of Horror3. Buried Alive4. Carnage5. City of Missing Girls6. The Crooked Circle7. Daughter of the Tong8. Death Warmed Up9. The Devil's Sleep10. Drums of Africa11. The Dungeon of Harrow12. The Embalmer13. The Face at the Window14. A Face in the Fog15. Frankenstein 8016. The Ghost and the Guest17. Ghosts on the Loose18. Grave of the Vampire19. Green Eyes20. House of Danger21. House of Mystery22. House of Secrets23. I Killed That Man24. The Invisible Killer25. Killers of the Sea26. Kiss Me Kill Me27. The Lion Man28. Manfish29. Midnight Phantom30. The Midnight Warning31. Murder at Midnight32. Nabonga33. Night Tide34. A Passenger to Bali35. The Phantom Express36. The Phantom of 42nd Street37. The Phantom38. The Savage Girl39. A Scream in the Night40. The Shadow of Silk Lennox41. She Gods of Shark Reef42. A Shot in the Dark43. Sisters of Death44. Son of Ingagi45. Strangers of the Evening46. The Tell-Tale Heart47. The Thirteenth Guest48. The Ticket of Leave Man49. Wanted: Babysitter50. The Wasp WomanSystem Requirements:TRT: 3474 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 826831070322 Manufacturer No: MV07032