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The Red Shoes - Criterion Collection

It's been said that this 1948 classic has been responsible for the ballet lessons of more young girls than any other film. It's not hard to understand why: Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's dark fairy tale presents the ballet as an exquisite, magical work of art; but under the theatrics and glory is an all-consuming lifestyle with the power to destroy those who love it perhaps too much. Moira Shearer practically glows as Victoria "Vicky" Page, a young woman consumed by a will to dance who is accepted into the highly prestigious ballet company run by perfectionist Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Meanwhile, a gifted young composer, Julian Craster (Marius Goring), is brought on board as an orchestra coach, and later conductor and composer of the ballet that will make Vicky's name: The Red Shoes, one of the most beautiful and dramatic dances ever captured on film. Professional and personal jealousies soon pull this creative team apart, however, and Vicky is torn between her love of Julian, her responsibility to Boris, and her need to dance. Powell and Pressburger recast Hans Christian Andersen's sad story as a modern romantic melodrama, highlighted by beautiful dances and shot, not as stage ballets, but rather as expressionist cinematic dramas on impossibly grand sets awash with bold color and beautifully captured in glorious Technicolor by cinematographer Jack Cardiff. It's a brilliant melding of dance and drama as Vicky's real life mirror's the tragic story she danced in the Red Shoes ballet. --Sean Axmaker

A glorious Technicolor epic that influenced generations of filmmakers, artists, and aspiring ballerinas, The Red Shoes intricately weaves backstage life with the thrill of performance. A young ballerina (Moira Shearer) is torn between two forces: the composer who loves her (Marius Goring), and the impresario determined to fashion her into a great dancer (Anton Walbrook). Criterion is proud to present The Red Shoes in its DVD premiere.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

One more terrific film from a terrific year for movies--1939, the year of Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Stagecoach, among others--Sam Wood's Goodbye Mr. Chips is a deeply stirring work starring Robert Donat as the old schoolmaster who looks back upon his life. Told mostly in flashbacks, the film wraps itself around a history of an older England as seen through the generations of boys who pass through Mr. Chips's classroom. Greer Garson is her usual classy, sexy-intelligent self as Donat's wife, their earlier courtship one of the film's highlights. Get out the Kleenex for this one. --Tom Keogh

The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Despite its melodramatic title, which carried on a '50s doomsday naming convention, this taut 1961 English science fiction thriller offers an object lesson in the power of story over special effects. When both the Soviets and the West detonate nuclear tests simultaneously, the seismic double whammy jolts the earth off its axis and onto a new orbit sending it fatally closer to the sun--a fate that writer-director-producer Val Guest views from the street-level perspective of its principal characters, rather than an off-world vantage point. The street in question, however, is London's Fleet Street, the venerable hub of its newspaper and tabloid publishers, and the hard-nosed reporters growing realization that their number is up carries its own stark punch. Edward Judd is Peter Stenning, a rugged, appropriately grim reporter, Leo McKern is tough but compassionate editor Bill Maguire, and Janet Munro is Stenning's love interest, in an elfin, sexy turn that's a striking contrast to her best-known turn in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People. With an effects arsenal that consists largely of a spray bottle to apply beads of "sweat," Guest and his small but crack cast are surprisingly effective, and the cold war plot hook still works, thanks to its uncomfortable proximity to more contemporary environmental terrors. --Sam Sutherland

After the US and Soviets explode nuclear devices simultaneously, the Earth gets knocked off its axis.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: UN
Release Date: 8-JUN-2004
Media Type: DVD

Rembrandt

Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Charles Laughton brilliantly captures the inner turmoil of the passionate 17th-century genius in probably the finest acting performance ever recorded on celluloid (The Observer)! In Amsterdam of 1642, master painter Rembrandt Van Rijn (Charles Laughton), enjoys a rich, full life in a beautiful, blinding, swirling mist of fame and fortune. But with the sudden death of his beloved wife and muse, his work takes a dark, sardonic turn that quickly offends even his most loyal patrons. Bankrupt and bereft, he finds comfort in the arms of pretty, young Hendrickje (Elsa Lanchester), a servant in his home. Now, offered a surprising second chance at love, will he summon the courage to overcome his demons or will tragedy continue to haunt one of the greatest painters who ever lived? *1932 33: Actor, The Private Life of Henry VIII

Anna Karenina (1948)

Vivien Leigh in the most magnificent love story every written ! Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister Anna Karenina to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna's companion on the train from St. Petersburg is Countess Vronsky who is met at the Moscow station by her son. Col. Vronsky looks very dashing in his uniform and it's love at first sight when he looks at Anna and their eyes meet. Back in St. Petersburg they keep running into each other at parties. Since she has a husband and small son they must be very discreet if they are going to see each other alone.System Requirements:Run Time: 111 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 024543425717 Manufacturer No: 2242571

Vivien Leigh is a "Scarlett" woman as tragic heroine Anna Karenina, unhappily married to "colossal bore" Alexei (Ralph Richardson), who neglects her to attend to affairs of state. When Anna meets the dashing Count Vronsky (Kieron Moore), she begins an affair of her own that scandalizes St. Petersburg and leads to her ostracization from high-society circles and, in a heartbreaking scene, her beloved son. Pepe Le Moko director Julien Duvivier's 1948 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's oft-filmed book has stretches that make the film seem as long and cold as a Russian winter night, but the ravishing Leigh as the doomed Anna keeps the fires burning. The "thoughtless and selfish" Anna is a distant relation of the willfull Ms. O'Hara from Gone with the Wind, although her ultimate comeuppance leaves no hope for "another day." This is a high-minded prestige production (Tolstoy gets his name above the title), but it offers the more simple, old fashioned pleasures of a Hollywood melodrama. --Donald Liebenson

Horrors of the Black Museum

London is fear struck, and Scotland Yard is baffled by a series of strange murders that have plagued the city. Stories of the atrocities, by crime journalists Edmond Bancroft (Michael Gough -- yes, the same loveable 'Alfred Pennyworth' from the new Batman movies), come to their own conclusions missed by the "Yard". This is because of the fact that Edmond is behind these horrible crimes in order to create material for his writing. Along with his assistant, Rick (Graham Curnow) who helps him run a private "Black Museum" filled with murder and torture devices. We have also included the original American International introduction called Hypno-Vista, featuring Emile Franchel... Registered Psychologist, that greeted all American theatergoers on its initial release. Features the classic eyeball-gouging binoculars scene. REALLY GRUESOME!!! Bonus Features: Anamorphic Widescreen Enhanced for 16x9 monitors| Two commentaries: one by Producer Herman Cohen, the second by film reviewer David Del Valle & composer Gerard Schurmann| Video Tribute to Producer Herman Cohen| Phone Interview/Video Featurette with Herman Cohen| Original U.S. Hypnovista opening featuring psychologist, Emile Franchel| Original U.S. Theatrical Trailer| Original European Theatrical Trailer| Photo Gallery| Bonus Horror Trailers| 18 Scene Selections. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 94 minutes; Color; 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1959; SRP - $14.99.

Horrors of the Black Museum

The promotion announced that this film was released in "Hypnovision" which gives an idea of the story. Edmond Bancroft a frustrated crime reporter and thriller writer wants accurate crimes for his next book so he hypnotizes his assistant to make him commit the required crimes. Events chronicled in this movie are based on actual crimes and events chronicled in Scotland Yards Black Museum. Martin Scorsese was instrumental in having a print of Horrors of the Black Museum donated to New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. AKA: Crime in the Museum of Horrors (1959 Every instrument of murder in Black Museum was from an actual murder and is in Scotland Yards Black Museum. Herman Cohen/ Producer

Konga

Horror producer Herman Cohen, the genius behind Trog, Berserk, and the immortal I Was a Teenage Werewolf, here brings the world giant-ape action with a British twist. Konga is, of course, a King Kong rip-off, but the filmmakers are so refreshingly brazen about it that it's hard to mind. Botanist Dr. Charles Decker returns from Africa with some brand-new plants and an adorable chimpanzee buddy named Konga. Decker has some revolutionary ideas about "finding the first link in modern evolution between plant and animal life," but don't think about them too much, they'll just give you a headache. The upshot is that Decker develops a serum that makes Konga grow really big. (Primatology fans will be interested to note that Decker's serum also mysteriously turns Konga from a chimpanzee into a gorilla. The wonders of science are myriad.) Alas, like so many of his horror-movie-scientist brethren, Decker is a cold-hearted, ruthless creep who soon has the superstrong Konga doing his evil bidding. In addition to its guy-in-a-gorilla-suit pleasures, Konga offers poorly scaled dolls of the lead characters, fetching giant Venus flytrap puppets, and a genuinely good performance by Michael Gough as the ever more evil Dr. Decker. --Ali Davis

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-DEC-2005
Media Type: DVD

Yongary Monster From the Deep / Konga (Double Feature)

As You Like it

The Bard's brilliant comedy with Sir Laurence Olivier in his first Shakespearian role. Elisabeth Bergner stars as Rosalind the daughter of an exiled Duke who falls in love with Orlando (Olivier) the son of one of her father's courtiers. When Orlando continues to ignore her Rosalind decides the best way to be at his side is by disguising herself as a boy. Her deception works too well as Orlando would rather be in the boy's company than hers. How Rosalind works out her predicament is part of the fun in this early sound film adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 014381566628 Manufacturer No: ID5666DSDVD