Vidor, King

The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition)

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the yellow brick road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and decor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
The Wizard of Oz DVD released in 1999 was loaded with extra features, but it's now safe to throw away that version in all its cardboard-package glory in favor of this new two-disc edition. First things first: All the bonus material from the earlier disc is there (with one small exception). That includes the Angela Lansbury-hosted documentary The Making of a Movie Classic; the outtakes and deleted scenes, including Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" reprise and the home-movie recording of "The Jitterbug"; the sketches and stills and composer Harold Arlen's home movies; the audio underscores and radio programs; the 1979 interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley; and other items too numerous to mention. (Some text introductions to the features have been replaced by narration by Lansbury, for whatever reason.) Brand-new to the 2005 edition is a sharp restoration using Warner's Ultra Resolution process and an accompanying featurette on how it's done. The technicians also discuss how the sound was remixed, though that would have been more effective had it included surround-sound demonstrations (the featurette is in 2.0). Other features on the new set include a commentary track by critic John Fricke supplemented by vintage cast interviews (he offers a lot of trivia, and debunks the myth that Shirley Temple was ever close to getting the Dorothy role); profiles of nine cast members and clips of other movies they appeared in (including Toto); a lightly animated 10-minute storybook again narrated by Lansbury; 2001 and 2005 behind-the-scenes featurettes; and a 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast. Oh, and if you were still wondering about the missing material mentioned above--the 1999 disc included one-minute excerpts of three early treatments of The Wizard of Oz. Those excerpts are not included in the two-disc special edition, but the third disc of the three-disc collector's edition includes the complete versions of those treatments and more. --David Horiuchi

An All-New Wizard of Oz With State of The Art Ultra-Resolution Picture Quality and Over 10 Hours of Bonus Extras.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by John Fricke and multiple cast and crew members.
Biographies:We Haven't Really Met Properly - includes 9 orginal cast biographies
Deleted Scenes:If I Only Had a Brain; If I Only Had a Heart; Triumphal Return to Emerald City; Over the Rainbow; The Jitterbug
Documentary:Memories of Oz -2001 TCM documentary
Featurette:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook; Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz; The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz; Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
Music Clips:Audio Vault Includes: Over the Rainbow; Munchkinland Medley Rehearsal Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Sequence Recordings; Munchkinland Medley Voice Tests; If I Only Had a Brain; We're Off to See the Wizard; If I Only Had a Heart; If I Only Had the Nerve/We?re Off to See the Wizard; Emerald City/The Merry Old Land of Oz; If I Were King of the Forest; The Jitterbug; Over the Rainbow/Triumphal Return to Emerald City; Kansas Underscoring; Munchkinland Underscoring; and more
Music Only Track
Newsreel:Cavalcade of the Academy Awards Excerpt - 1939 newsreel
Other:Another Romance of Celluloid: Electrical Power - 1938 MGM short; Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo; Good News of 1939 Radio Show; 12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
Photo gallery:Oz on Broadway; Pre-MGM; Sketches and Storyboards; Costume and Make-up Tests; Richard Thorpe's Oz; Buddy Ebsen; Oz Comes to Life; Behind the Scenes; Portraits; Special Effects; Post Production; Deleted Scenes; Original Publicity
TV Special:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic - 1990 TV special
Theatrical Trailer:1939 What is Oz? Teaser; 1940 Loews Cairo Theater Trailer; 1949 Re-issue Trailer; 1949 Grownup Re-issue Trailer; 1970 Children's Matinee Re-issue Trailer; 1998 Warner Bros. Re-issue Trailer; Texas Contest Winners [1939 trailer]

The Fountainhead

Exhibiting a darker edge to his hero persona, the strapping Gary Cooper has the (Frank Lloyd) Wright stuff as architect Harold Roark, a "fool visionary" who refuses to conform his artistic ideas to popular taste. His inflexibility makes enemies out of a tabloid architecture critic and a tycoon (Raymond Massey), who proclaims, "All men can be bought... there are no men of integrity." Keating (Kent Smith), a former classmate, urges Roark to take "the middle of the road so it's sure to please everybody." But Roark will not compromise, and when one of his building designs is radically altered without his consent, he resorts to drastic measures. Adapted for the screen by Ayn Rand from her towering and controversial bestseller, The Fountainhead is about as subtle as that phallic drill Roark wields so impressively, which catches the frenzied eye of the formidable Dominique Francon (Patricia Neal in her film debut). She recognizes Roark's nobility, but fears he has no chance "in a world where beauty, genius and greatness have no chance." Rand did little to dilute her polemics for the screen, resulting in melodramatic scenes that border on high camp, such as Roark and Francon's rather sexually charged discussion about limestone. Rand practiced what she preached. According to a bonus featurette about the making of the film, she refused to trim Roark's then-unprecedented six-minute courtroom speech in which he defends his actions. Even for those who don't adhere to her philosophy, The Fountainhead does offer something rarely seen on screens these days, a man of unshakable principles. And Hollywood could sure note Rand's object lesson about the perils of mediocrity and catering to "the mob." For Cooper fans, The Fountainhead is an essential addition to your DVD library. --Donald Liebenson

Based on the novel by philosopher Ayn Rand this is the story of architect Howard Roark. An idealist Roark believes he can balance his values with the needs of society. His mentor disagrees - encouraging him to compromise his integrity rather than suffer for his artistic goals.Running Time: 112 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569571624 Manufacturer No: 65716

The Wizard of Oz

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and décor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon

Duel in the Sun

From the acclaimed producer of Gone With the Wind comes a torrid tale of passion and romance that s loaded with all the sweep and panache of a giant American action movie (The New Yorker)! Flawlessly cast (The Film Daily) with a bevy of film legends including Jennifer Jones Gregory Peck Joseph Cotten Lionel Barrymore and Lillian Gish this salacious saga is virtually impossible not to love (The Hollywood Reporter)!When her father is hanged for murdering his wife the stunning beauty Pearl (Jones) is taken in by a wealthy Texan his wife and their two grown sons (Peck and Cotten). But Pearl soon becomes trapped in an emotional tug-of-war between her love for one son and her lust for the other igniting the most tempestuous triangle the West has ever seen!System Requirements: Running Time 146 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 027616905741 Manufacturer No: 1006373

Legendary producer David O. Selznick dreamed of another magnum opus like his 1939 production of Gone with the Wind; he also purposed to make Jennifer Jones, his ladylove and eventually second Mrs. Selznick, a megastar. Accordingly, he micromanaged the making of Duel in the Sun (Lust in the Dust to some), an extravagant Technicolor epic about the collision of the old West with the new, wide-open spaces with railroads and barbed wire, and hot-blooded outlaws with civilized folk, often wimpy or unwell. Beginning among giant rocks drenched in a blood-red sunset, with velvet-voiced Orson Welles intoning the leibestod legend of doomed Pearl Chavez and her demon lover, Duel never strays far from lush romanticism, spiced with a dash of S/M. Orphaned Pearl (Jones) comes to live at Spanish Bit Ranch, where frail Laura Belle McCanles (Lillian Gish) tries to make a lady of her, despite her questionable origins and insistent voluptuousness. Sexual license versus law--Pearl's choices--are symbolized by the McCanles brothers: dark, undisciplined Lewt (a lubriciously wicked Gregory Peck) and reasonable, forward-looking, repressed Jesse (Joseph Cotten). The cast is huge (Lionel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Harry Carey, Herbert Marshall, Charles Bickford, Butterfly McQueen) and there are unforgettable set pieces: summoned by a cacophony of bells, the gathering of McCanles cowboys from the four corners of the earth; Pearl in heat, clutching Lewt's leg and being dragged across the floor as he makes his getaway to Mexico; and the lovers' final shootout among those red rocks, as orgiastic a finale as you could ask for. --Kathleen Murphy

War and Peace

Despite its reputation as an oversimplified epic, King Vidor's War and Peace remains a stellar showcase of Hollywood prestige. While Cecil B. De Mille was reviving ancient Egypt for The Ten Commandments, Vidor was transforming Italian countryside into war-torn Russia, bringing massive resources to bear on this sumptuous, if ultimately misguided adaptation of Tolstoy's classic. Given the marquee casting of Audrey Hepburn as Natasha and then-husband Mel Ferrer as decorated battle hero Prince Andrei, this is a movie you watch for star value, not literary fidelity (for the latter, look to Sergei Bondarchuk's Russian version). Henry Fonda serves Tolstoy more effectively as Pierre, whose passive observation of Napoleon's invasion turns this grand moral tale into an intimate study of individual passions. The battle scenes (directed by Mario Soldati) remain impressive, as does the film's grand parade of pomp and circumstance. Slow, regal, and peppered with brilliance, this epic falls short of classic but it's still a visual feast. --Jeff Shannon

Epic portrayal of Tolstoy's novel of Russia during the Napoleonic invasion at the turn of the 19th century.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 8-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Gary Cooper - The Signature Collection (Sergeant York / The Fountainhead / Dallas / Springfield Rifle / The Wreck of the Mary Deare)

Springfield Rifle, one of five films included in this set, may miss the bullseye as a true Gary Cooper classic, but there's a line that speaks to his enduring status as a screen icon and "American Legend." In this 1952 Western, his follow-up film to High Noon, Cooper's character has been drummed out of the army and branded a coward. Suffice to say that all is not what it seems, and an observer is asked how Coop will handle the pressure. The response: "He'll stand up." That is quintessential Cooper. He's a stand-up guy, and the "dang swangest hero," as he is hailed in Sergeant York, this collection's calling card. Directed by Howard Hawks and co-written by John Huston, Sergeant York earned Cooper an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Alvin York, a Tennessee mountain hellraiser who finds religion after surviving a lightning strike. His newfound pacifist beliefs are put to the supreme test when he is forced to enlist in WWI. Cooper also displays the (Frank Lloyd) Wright stuff as architect Harold Roark in The Fountainhead (1949), adapted for the screen by Ayn Rand from her towering and controversial bestselling novel about a "fool visionary" who refuses to compromise his principles or conform his work to popular taste. The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), his penultimate film, finds Cooper desperately trying to clear his name before an inquiry determines what really happened aboard the mysteriously abandoned eponymous ship. Costar Charlton Heston gives him a run for Most Piercing Blue Eyes honors. Last, and least, but still entertaining, is Dallas (1950), in which Cooper stars as a Confederate outlaw who impersonates a sheriff to settle an old score. Cooper is not the most chameleon-esque of actors, but in these representative films, he displays intriguing shadings to his heroic persona. Roark in The Fountainhead has a definite dark side, while his "Reb" Hollister in Dallas is something of a rascal.

Of the DVD presentations, Sergeant York gets the two-disc "Special Edition" treatment, with dry, but informative commentary by film historian Jeanne Basinger, a made-for-cable TV special about Cooper hosted by Clint Eastwood, and a welcome Warner Bros. cartoon, Tex Avery's "Porky's Preview" and short subject, "Lions for Sale," that replicate an old fashioned night out at the movies. The Fountainhead DVD includes a featurette about the making of the film. Cooper stands alone among Hollywood's leading men, but beyond his formidable presence, classic film buffs will bask in the nostalgic pleasures of Max Steiner's music in four of the five films, and appearances by great character actors (Walter Brennan and George Tobias in Sergeant York, a young Richard Harris in Mary Deare). --Donald Liebenson

Collection of 5 of the stoic one's best films from the Warner Bros. library.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569829930 Manufacturer No: 82993

Ruby Gentry

Academy Award®-winning* actress Jennifer Jones (Duel in the Sun The Song of Bernadette) delivers a powerful performance (The Hollywood Reporter) as a strong-willed Southern beauty from the wrong side of the tracks in this bold sweeping drama co-starring Oscar® winners** Charlton Heston and Karl Malden.She was raised in the rugged swamplands. He was born into wealth and privilege. Yet from the moment Ruby (Jones) first laid eyes on Boake (Heston) she vowed to have him for her own. Now the residents of the small tidewater town will do everything in their power to stand in her way. But they ve never seen a passion like this one and they ve never met a woman like Ruby!System Requirements: Running Time 82 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 027616903853 Manufacturer No: 1006183

Hallelujah

Made in 1929, Hallelujah is an artifact of no small historical significance: the first major studio movie with an all-black cast and a white director (the esteemed King Vidor), it was also one of the earliest "talkies" after the silent film era. But it also has considerable artistic merit; simply put, Hallelujah is damned entertaining. Sure, the story isn't exactly subtle, a morality tale chronicling the tribulations of Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes), a poor cotton farmer who, succumbing to the carnal charms of the sexy Chick (Nina Mae McKinney, who was sometimes known as "the black Garbo"), finds himself caught up in a soul-scarring cycle of sin and salvation. There's also some painful dialogue of the "Where is you gwine?" and "Honey, I likes anything you's got!" variety. But the major themes presented here--temptation and transgression, redemption and repentance--are pure and universal, the dancing and singing (including two songs by Irving Berlin) are marvelous, and there are several scenes of extraordinary intensity. Those include Zeke's family's weeping, wailing response to the tragic death of his younger brother, followed by the repentant Zeke's turning to God, a sequence in which he's transformed into a latter day Martin Luther King, Jr., preaching with rhythms and cadences of hypnotic power. DVD extras include audio commentary by historian Donald Bogle, plus two shorts ("Pie, Pie Blackbird" and "The Black Network") featuring McKinney's singing, Eubie Blake's music, and the Nicholas Brothers' dance moves. A final note: Victoria Spivey, who portrays Missy Rose, the down home girl devoted to Zeke, was also one of the finest blues singers of the time. When she underwent a career revival in the early 1960s, she formed a record label whose first recording featured accompaniment by none other than Bob Dylan. --Sam Graham

Hallelujah is a cinematic milestone: the first all-black feature from a major studio and famed director King Vidor's (The Champ The Big Parade) first talkie. But the film surpasses its historical significance telling a story of such profound dignity and understanding that it as fresh and moving as the day it premiered. Featuring a largely unknown cast and infused with spirituals folk songs blues and jazz (Irving Berlin provided two songs for the production) Hallelujah follows the fortunes of Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes) a poor cotton farmer. He succumbs to the temptations of Chick (Nina Mae McKinney) a mercenary honky-tonk girl finds salvation in religion and falls again when his obsession for Chick overpowers his better self. Love loss passion redemption and brilliant moviemaking: Hallelujah has it all.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 012569676763 Manufacturer No: 67676

Stella Dallas

Barbara Stanwyck gave one of her inimitable and wonderfully enigmatic performances as a mill worker who marries her way into high society and soon experiences layers of frustration. Channeling her restlessness, she soon makes a positive though highly self-sacrificial decision on her daughter's behalf, and endures the agony of being replaced in her husband's life by an old, blue-blooded flame. King Vidor (The Crowd) directs with a fascinating sense of duality about Stanwyck's character: is her lower-caste vulgarity something to sneer at or something to applaud for the contrast she presents to the mannered upper classes? Stanwyck plays the riddle brilliantly, right down to the final moment of her character's weird self-satisfaction at being ostracized from her daughter's honeyed life. --Tom Keogh

True heroines don't always save lives. Sometimes they re simply mothers with an everlasting devotion to their children. Such is the case in Stella Dallas. Starring Barbara Stanwyck in an Academy Award®-nominated* performance that s "as courageous as it is fine" (The New York Times) this enduring classic is a "vivid and authentic cross-section of American life [full of] deeply moving emotional power" (The Hollywood Reporter)!Even after her marriage to well-bred Stephen Dallas (John Boles) ends irrepressible Stella (Stanwyck) is determined to give their daughter (Anne Shirley) the life she never had. And when it comes down to her child s happiness versus her own Stella s sacrifice is truly the epitome of bravery.*1937: Actress System Requirements: Running Time 106 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 027616881526 Manufacturer No: 1004045

The Wedding Night

One of the lesser-known satisfactions in Gary Cooper's career is this 1935 King Vidor film, an offbeat blend of romance, comedy, and tragedy. It begins in screwball territory: Cooper plays a novelist whose partying ways have stalled his career and made his new manuscript unpublishable. He and wife Helen Vinson like the high life (any resemblance to Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald is probably intentional), and she doesn't stick around while he tries to write a new book in a quiet Connecticut country house. The isolation puts him into proximity with a heartfelt young immigrant girl (Anna Sten), whose Polish community provides a subject for his new book.

If you think Cooper was a merely the High Noon guy, a lanky Western hero, this is one of the movies (among many) that dispel the idea: his utter naturalness is a gold standard for a certain kind of movie-star acting. Directing him on the set the first day, Vidor worried about the star's mumbling and forgetfulness with dialogue. "Imagine my amazement," Vidor later wrote, "when I watched our first day's work on the screen and observed and heard a performance that overflowed with charm and personality." Anna Sten was another issue: the Russian actress had been brought to the U.S. with great fanfare by producer Samuel Goldwyn, because he wanted to have his own foreign Garbo/Dietrich under contract. Her cool presence failed to generate audience interest, and Goldwyn gave up on her after The Wedding Night. She's a problem, but Cooper keeps it going, and the movie itself is unexpectedly warm. --Robert Horton

In this Samuel Goldwyn production directed by King Vidor the studio's intent was to make Russian-born Anna Sten a star but it didn't succeed.Sten plays Manya Nowak a Polish farm girl attracted to Tony Barrett (Gary Cooper) a novelist with writer's block who has retreated to a Connecticut farmhouse to find his muse. Barrett's wife Dora (Helen Vinson) misses the city and returns there while Tony decides to use Manya as a character in his next novel.They become friends and Tony learns that her straightlaced father Jan (Sigfried Rumann) has betrothed Manya to Fredrik Sobieski (Ralph Bellamy) whom she does not love. Manya and Tony spend a chaste night together when a blizzard shuts them in. Her father drags her home and demands that she marry Fredrik immediately. Many arguments and disagreements ensueFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 027616075369 Manufacturer No: M107538