Rapper, Irving

Now, Voyager (Keepcase)

A tender love story a taut psychological drama an inspiring tale of physical and spiritual transformation. Now Voyager is all three as well as a Bette Davis career milestone resulting in her sixth Best Actress Oscar nomination. She magically plays Charlotte Vale a spinster who defies her domineering mother (fellow Oscar nominee Gladys Cooper) to discover love heartbreak and eventual contentment. More magic is generated by a top-notch ensemble Max Steiner?s Academy Award-winning score and an improvised moment by Paul Henreid that became an instant classic: he lights two cigarettes at once and hands one to Davis. For the ultimate in romantic melodrama it's Now Voyager now then and forever.Running Time: 117 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569675391

In this 1942 melodrama, founded on the novel by Olivia Higgins Prouty (who also wrote the novel on which Stella Dallas was based), Bette Davis stars as Charlotte Vale, a dowdy, repressed woman who, overwhelmed by her domineering mother, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She finds help at a sanitarium from a kind psychiatrist (Claude Rains), who turns her into a beautiful, confident woman. As a new person, she takes a pleasure cruise, where she meets Jerry (Paul Henreid), an architect trapped in an unhappy marriage, saddled with a troubled daughter. The two fall in love, but, of course, the romance is doomed. Yet their paths cross on occasion, and, despite their feelings, Charlotte finds satisfaction in helping Jerry's depressed child. The film will seem familiar to new viewers--the campy style was the pattern for many tearjerkers to come, and its most famous line has been oft repeated ("Don't ask for the moon--we have the stars"). But the heartstrings are tugged, and as Paul Henreid chivalrously lights two cigarettes and hands one over to the doleful-eyed Davis, pull out the box of tissues--you're gonna need 'em. --Jenny Brown

Marjorie Morningstar

Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly make a cute (if not exactly convincing) couple in this Hollywood soap-opera version of Herman Wouk's coming-of-age romance. French/Russian Natalie Wood is decidedly non-ethnic as Marjorie Morgenstern, the starry-eyed Jewish college girl who falls in love with summer resort small-timer Gene Kelly (who never quite sells himself as a show-biz dreamer with limited talent). A stolid mix of modern, clear-eyed romance and old-fashioned melodrama, it nonetheless manages to slip in some frank (for 1958) discussions of sex and the single girl and sketch out an intriguing portrait of Jewish life in New York's upper crust between the romantic complications. Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor are excellent as Marjorie's success-obsessed parents, pre-Adam 12 Martin (Marty) Milner offers his boy-next-door charm as the former flunky turned Broadway success, and Ed Wynn is delightful as her eccentric uncle. --Sean Axmaker

The Bette Davis Collection (The Star / Mr. Skeffington / Dark Victory / Now, Voyager / The Letter)

Even in the 21st century, very few film stars create and define their own genre--and certainly not in the complete way Bette Davis did. The Bette Davis Collection gives an exceptionally good survey of essential Bette, with four of the five films absolute knock-down classics from her long reign at Warner Bros. Davis's personality was so strong that she tended to overpower her directors, but William Wyler was one of the few to maintain his own distinctive style with her, and The Letter (1940) is a triumph for both of them. At a humid Malaysian plantation, Davis kills a man in the brilliant opening sequence, and the remainder is a darkly suggestive unraveling of the complicated explanation.

Dark Victory (1939) and Now, Voyager (1942) would be on anybody's list of most representative Davis pictures. In the former, she's a doomed heiress nobly losing her eyesight, a multiple-handkerchief situation that proved one of her biggest hits. Voyager allows Davis one of her favored techniques (appearing frumpy for at least part of her performance) as a mother-dominated spinster who comes out of her shell. Her match with Paul Henreid--and the music of Max Steiner--turns this into one luscious melodrama.

If Mr. Skeffington (1944) is not as celebrated as those films, it is nevertheless a characteristic Warners work-out. Davis wasn't shy about playing unsympathetic roles, and Fanny Skeffington--vain, selfish, married for practicality--is an exasperating tour de force. She gets good support from Claude Rains as the sensible, adoring husband. The Star (1952) is no classic, but its Pirandellian aspects will appeal to the actress's fans: Bette plays a washed-up Oscar-winning star desperate to get herself back in the public eye (think if it as a less witty postscript to All About Eve). There's some hint the main character is modeled more on Joan Crawford than Bette herself, in which case Davis must have loved playing it.

Extras are modest, with short featurettes giving background on three of the discs, and director Vincent Sherman providing commentary for Mr. Skeffington. But the films themselves, and their neurotically intense star, are quite capable of standing alone. --Robert Horton

The Bette Davis Collection includes 3 new-to-DVD classics, featuring Davis in multiple Emmy-nominated performances as a captivating adulteress, a manipulative beauty, and a former Oscar-winning actress recovering from the end of her career.

The Brave One

This family favorite, a south-of-the-border variation of the classic boy-and-his dog story, stars Michel Ray as Leonardo, a young Mexican boy who appeals to the president of Mexico to spare his beloved bull from death in the bullfighting ring. Does the bull meet a grisly fate at the hands of a sombrero-topped matador? We're not telling, but charming performances and some gentle tear jerking make The Brave One an agreeable movie for kids. The film is also known for an interesting footnote of Hollywood history: When it won the Academy Award in the now-defunct category of best original story, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (using the pseudonym "Robert Rich") was unable to accept the Oscar due to the infamous Hollywood blacklist. He officially claimed the award in 1975. --Jeff Shannon

A film full of warmth and sensitivity. "The Brave One" is the love story of a boy and a bull. Gitano -- or Gypsy -- is the name the boy gives the bull whose life he saves during a storm. The animal follows him around like a puppy until the legal owners spirit the mature Gitano away to do battle with matador Fermin Rivera in the Plaza de Mexico bullring in Mexico City. The boy protests in vain at the cruelty of the arena and finally secures a "pardon" for his pet signed by the President of Mexico but he is too late. The bullfight continues. What follows is such a display of courage that the crowd calls for the "undulto" -- a demand that the bull be allowed to live. Released in 1956 by RKO. Not Rated. Dolby Digital - Stereo, DVD-5, Widescreen 2.35:1, Scene Selection, Cast Bios, Original Theatrical Trailer. Bonus Features: Scene Selection| Theatrical Trailer| Actor Bios. Specs: DVD5; Dolby Digital Stereo; 100 minutes; Color; 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1956; SRP - $9.99.

Studio One: Pontius Pilate (1952)

Season 4, Episode 30 of the television series, "Studio One".

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Now, Voyager (Snap case)

In this 1942 melodrama, founded on the novel by Olivia Higgins Prouty (who also wrote the novel on which Stella Dallas was based), Bette Davis stars as Charlotte Vale, a dowdy, repressed woman who, overwhelmed by her domineering mother, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She finds help at a sanitarium from a kind psychiatrist (Claude Rains), who turns her into a beautiful, confident woman. As a new person, she takes a pleasure cruise, where she meets Jerry (Paul Henreid), an architect trapped in an unhappy marriage, saddled with a troubled daughter. The two fall in love, but, of course, the romance is doomed. Yet their paths cross on occasion, and, despite their feelings, Charlotte finds satisfaction in helping Jerry's depressed child. The film will seem familiar to new viewers--the campy style was the pattern for many tearjerkers to come, and its most famous line has been oft repeated ("Don't ask for the moon--we have the stars"). But the heartstrings are tugged, and as Paul Henreid chivalrously lights two cigarettes and hands one over to the doleful-eyed Davis, pull out the box of tissues--you're gonna need 'em. --Jenny Brown

Joseph and His Brethren

From the pages of the Old Testament comes the story of Joseph, beloved son of Jacob and steadfast servant of God. He is presented as the favored son of Jacob and Rachel, sold as a boy into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of Joseph's dreams and of his coat of many colors given him by Jacob. In Egypt, Joseph gained a position of authority in the household of his master, Potiphar, and was later imprisoned on the false accusations of Potiphar's wife. He was released after interpreting Pharaoh's dream of the lean and fat cows. Pharaoh renamed him Zaphnath-paaneah and took him into favor. Due to the obedience of Joseph to his God, Egypt is greatly blessed. Joseph's recognition of his brothers in the famine years when he was governor over Egypt is a famous scene.

Another Man's Poison

Bette Davis pulls out all the stops as Janet Frobisher, a devious, selfish vixen who will stop at nothing to get what she wants in Another Man's Poison, a drama deliciously full of unexpected twists and turns. Frobisher is a rich mystery writer who falls in love with her secretary's fiancé and lures him away. But her happiness is far from ensured. She first must deal with a long forgotten ex-convict husband who tries to blackmail her, and then she must scheme her way out of the clutches of her husband's ruthless partner, George Bates (Gary Merrill, Davis's husband in real life). Davis proves why she remains such an acting legend as she dominates the screen in the kind of part that only she could bring to life so vividly.

The Brave One

This family favorite, a south-of-the-border variation of the classic boy-and-his dog story, stars Michel Ray as Leonardo, a young Mexican boy who appeals to the president of Mexico to spare his beloved bull from death in the bullfighting ring. Does the bull meet a grisly fate at the hands of a sombrero-topped matador? We're not telling, but charming performances and some gentle tear jerking make The Brave One an agreeable movie for kids. The film is also known for an interesting footnote of Hollywood history: When it won the Academy Award in the now-defunct category of best original story, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (using the pseudonym "Robert Rich") was unable to accept the Oscar due to the infamous Hollywood blacklist. He officially claimed the award in 1975. --Jeff Shannon

The Leading Ladies Collection (Now Voyager / Mildred Pierce / For Me and My Gal / Father of the Bride / Dial M for Murder)

Includes:M For MurderFather Of The BrideFor Me And My GalMildred PierceNow VoyagerFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 012569756250 Manufacturer No: 75625