Ulmer, Edgar G

The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)

Hannibal

VCI is very pleased to present this epic motion picture, which has been mastered from the original negatives and presented in all its widescreen glory for the first time on home video! Love and war intertwine in this fanciful adaptation of history. The brilliant Carthaginian general, Hannibal (Victor Mature) despises Rome. Fueled by vengeance, he drives his army of elephants through the treacherous, frozen Alps into Italy, crushing anyone who dared to oppose him. As a strategy to break the morale of his enemies, Hannibal captures the beautiful Sylvia of Rome (Rita Gam) so she may see the might of his army and spread the news of impending doom to her people. However, a love grows between the two that will eventually be his undoing. This big-budget spectacle produced by Warner Bros. was shot in Technicolor and SuperCinescope and literally features a cast of thousands... over 4,000 foot-soldiers, 1,500 horsemen, 45 elephants and a vast assortment of war machines were employed in the historic battle of Cannae alone. Bonus Features: Anamorphic Widescreen Enhanced for 16 x 9 Monitors, Photo & Poster Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer, Bios, Scene Selection Menu. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 100 minutes; Color; 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1960; SRP - $14.99.

The Man From Planet X

Daring reporter John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) narrates this gripping tale of an alien's attempt to take over a tiny village in Scotland. As the story opens, Lawrence is visiting his old friend, Professor Elliot, who's made the startling discovery of a new planet that is approaching Earth at breakneck speed. Soon Elliot's lovely daughter, Enid, has spotted a mysterious craft in the middle of the moor. Lawrence and Elliot decide to investigate, inexplicably allowing the clearly evil Dr. Mears to assist. Lost the plot? Not to worry! The Man from Planet X cheerfully helps slower viewers by offering expository dialogue as frequently as humanly possible. "Look!" says Elliot, "It seems as if he's trying to turn that knob to the right, but doesn't have the strength or coordination," as the alien tries to turn the knob to the right, but doesn't have the strength or coordination. All seems lost as the alien begins using telepathy to control the local villagers. Luckily for the Earth, the alien's superior mind-control powers are not matched with superior common sense--he never bothers to give his slaves such crucial commands as "Don't tell the enemy my entire plan!" or "Let me know if any outsiders show up!" or "By the way, don't follow the commands of anybody but me!" A guaranteed hoot of an evening. --Ali Davis

Detour

Detour

Suspense as startling as a strangled scream! This is it, the defining motion picture in all of "film noir," written by Academy Award-nominee Martin Goldsmith (The Narrow Margin) and directed by legendary B-movie maker Edgar G. Ulmer (Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Black Cat). Tom Neal (The Brute Man, The Pride of the Yankees), handsome 1940's leading man, brings to thrilling life a down-on-his-luck nightclub performer who takes one wrong turn and picks up the meanest femme fatale in all of "noir," played to perfection by the incomparable Ann Savage (The Dark Horse, The Spider) in one of the most powerful and riveting performances ever recorded on celluloid.

The Man from Planet X

The weirdest visitor the Earth has ever seen! When a space traveler lands in the foggy moors of the scottish Highlands, his intentions are anything but evil-until he gets a lesson in just how silly some members of the human race can be. Written and produced by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen.

Detour (1945)

Strange Illusion

Clean-cut American teen Jimmy Lydon is tormented by nightmares in which his deceased father warns him about Mom's new boyfriend, and he feigns madness to infiltrate a mental hospital where he suspects the answers lie. Yes, it's Hamlet refigured as a suburban film noir thriller with a psychiatric twist. Former Hollywood leading man Warren William is thoroughly wolfish as a silver-haired lothario whose slick charm and classy manners hide a disturbing taste for teenage girls, and Sally Eilers plays his mark, the young widow with two teenage kids and a sizable life insurance payoff. B-movie legend Edgar G. Ulmer (Detour) overcomes a starvation budget to create a modest little thriller with understated mood, simple but eerie dream sequences, and a creepy undercurrent of corruption and sexual deviance. --Sean Axmaker

Edgar G. Ulmer - Archive

All Day Entertainment's ongoing DVD celebration of the films of legendary indie pioneer Edgar G. Ulmer began in 1999 with two DVD volumes that have since become very hard to find collector's items. This deluxe boxed set collects these first two special editions plus a third bonus disc representing a magnificent overview of the career of this pioneering film talent. DELUXE 3-DISC SET INCLUDES: BLUEBEARD, a Parisian tale of murder, madness and puppeteers starring John Carradine DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL, a chiller in which the daughter of the infamous mad scientist is terrified that she has inherited her father's curse THE STRANGE WOMAN, a riff on Gone with the Wind with Hedy Lamarr as a conniving manipulator who exploits her sexual allure to destroy the men around her MOON OVER HARLEM, a rarely-seen noir musical featuring an all-black cast STRANGE ILLUSION, a middle American film noir version of Hamlet SPECIAL FEATURES: The definitive transfers digitally mastered from restored 35mm preservation elements Swiss Family Robinson, Ulmer's rarely seen one-hour color TV pilot Goodbye Mr. Germ, Ulmer's educational children's short Daughter of Dr. Jekyll Theatrical Trailer, Two Featurettes, and Isolated Music & Effects Soundtrack Bluebeard Unmasked!: Featurette The Strange Woman Audio Commentary by David Kalat and Video Interview with Ulmer?s wife, Shirley Ulmer Theatrical Trailers for The Man from Planet X, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Amazing Transparent Man, Beyond the Time Barrier and The Cavern Photo Galleries and more!

Light Ahead

THE LIGHT AHEAD (Fishke the Lame)
USA, 1939, 94 minutes, B&W, Yiddish with English subtitles, preserved, digitally restored and re-mastered
Produced & Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer for Carmel Productions, Inc.
Based on stories by: S.Y. Abramovitch (Mendele Mokher Seforim)
Screenplay by: Chaver Pahver, Sherle (Shirley) Ulmer, Edgar G. Ulmer
Photography by: J. Burgi Contner, E. Hyland
Edited by: Jack Kemp
Art Directors: Edgar G. Ulmer, Robert Benny
Starring: Isidore Cashier, Helen Beverly, David Opatoshu, Rosetta Bialis, Tillie Rabinowitz, Anna Guskin, Celia Bodkin, Jennie Cashier

Audaciously adapted from the writings of 19th century Yiddish novelist Mendele Mokhir Sforim, The Light Ahead is the greatest of Edgar G. Ulmer's shtetl films. Here, the director counterpoints his pastoral Green Fields to criticize the poverty and superstition that oppress a pair of star-crossed lovers. Made on the eve of World War II, The Light Ahead is at once romantic, expressionist, and painfully conscious of the danger about to engulf European Jews.

DVD Extras:
Ø Program Notes by J. Hoberman
Ø Interview with actor David Opatoshu
Ø Biography of Edgar G. Ulmer