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new releases for Jan 10

You better have some money socked away or some Christmas gift cards this week!

This week from Warner Archive-- click for the direct route

Profuse apologies about my mixup last time on the Black Book (Reign Of Terror) which did indeed come out last week! I’ll make up for my mistake by putting special and well deserved focus on this movie, because it’s an interesting historical noir set during the French Revolution, with secret operatives, corrupt police, and power mad figures all trying to get and keep their hands on the titular Black Book, Robespierre’s hit list of people in the way of his taking over the nation.  Richard Basehart, Robert Cummings, Arlene Dahl, Charles McGraw were often seen in noir, and aside from the setting, all the other genre elements are there too, including the look (courtesy John Alton, who worked on the noirs He Walked By Night, T-Men, Raw Deal, The Big Combo) and the direction (Anthony Mann, who besides some brilliant westerns also helmed the noirs T-Men, Raw Deal, and Side Street). 

Also at WAC this week:

Monogram Cowboy Collection volume 2: Fort Osage, Wagons West, Canyon Raiders, The Gunman, Stage to Blue River, Night Raiders, Montana Incident, & Wyoming Roundup.

The Last Hunt, Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger

Cheyenne, season 3 complete

Welcome to Hard Times, Henry Fonda western

The Day of the Evil Gun, Glenn Ford western

The Squaw Man double feature, 2 versions, same story by C.B. Demille done silent in 1914, then his re-do in 1931 with Warner Baxter and Lupe Velez

OTHER RELEASES THIS WEEK:

Dennis the Menace, 4^th and final season

Looney Tunes Showcase: Volume 1, basically a Blu-ray sampler

Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1994-2003

Hawaii Five-O: The 12th and Final Season

Best of Petticoat Junction collection of 12 episodes

Touch of Evil 100th anniversary

North by Northwest Blu-ray, excellent Hitchcock thriller with Cary Grant as the wrong man chased through some of the greatest scenes ever filmed—one the greatest film scores ever by Bernard Hermann. a basic release without the book or the special bells& whistles of a previous bluray edition

Cool Hand Luke Blu-ray, A 1-disc Academy Award winner edition

Treasure of the Sierra Madre Blu-ray.  Another 1-disc Academy Award winner edition; a special Blu-ray came out last fall

Humphrey Bogart was around this time in his career changing gears from a smooth and often romantic screen star to a more layered, complicated and in this case far less appealing figure. For all Bogart’s fantastic, if disturbing work though, it was grizzled Walter Huston who won an Oscar for his role in the classic directed and written by his son John Huston, who won Oscars for both of those roles. There is possibly no greater cinematic story of the corrosive power of greed when it’s the sole motivating force for man (Bogart as Dobbs) with no scruples, soul or sympathy (even for those who save his life) and whose sanity crumbles under the weight of his paranoia. Few morality tales are as rich, character studies as bleak, or cosmic payback as fitting or just. Bogart’s masterful performance is a series of calculations as he measures situations, obstacles, men and their very lives against his lust for gold, and in his paranoia always judges them threats to be eliminated. Huston is the seen-it-all wise elder who only seems zany, Holt is the younger, more innocent and stable Curtin (in a role initially earmarked for John Garfield) as well as familiar Warner face Bruce Bennett as an aspiring partner. Studio head Jack Warner was reportedly a little nervous about Bogart’s image in the movie and it wasn’t a hit at the time but good thing John Huston got his way with both story and ending; Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a mine that not only yielded golden statuettes, but more importantly, continues to reward the viewer and stands as a lasting classic. And to think, I got through this whole bit without even mentioning “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” 

the “Missing Ambersons” — Does anyone know what happened to the stand alone Magnificent Ambersons that was supposed to come out “soon”?