Warner Archive Podcast

It's a Blu-ray Bonanza with three films coming to HD with sparkling new 1080p masters. First up, Spencer Tracy stars as the one-armed stranger in John Sturges' stark and sweeping Noir/Western/Social Commentary film Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). Reprising her Tony-winning Broadway role, Judy Holliday plays an answering service operator in the 1960 musical Bells are Ringing co-starring Dean Martin. Audrey Hepburn brings all her formidable skills to bear in the suspense classic Wait Until Dark (1967). Then we move on to five WB rarities presented for the first time on DVD including the frothy comedy Easy to Love (1934) with Mary Astor, the scandalous romance of Desirable (1934) with George Brent, the sensitive, underplayed and compelling character study Journal of a Crime (1934) with Ruth Chatterton and Adolphe Menjou, the fast-paced rouser Red Hot Tires (1935) with and finally Errol Flynn delivers up one of his best dark dramatic performances in Silver River (1948), the tale of a good man gone bad.

William Wellman's war drama Battleground (1949) explodes on to Blu-ray with a stunning new master for 2017 featuring an all-star ensemble that includes Van Johnson, George Murphy, Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, James Whitmore and Marshall Thompson. Hanna-Barbera's canny cartoon classic Top Cat: The Original Series is back in print on DVD deftly mixes Bilko-like scheming and scamming with Bowery Boys buffoonery with Arnold Stang voicing Top Cat and the great Allen Jenkins as Officer Dibble. Also back in print is the 2003-4 anime-inspired toon, Xiaolin Showdown: The Complete First Season along with with Xiaolin Showdown: The Complete Second Season (2004-05) presented for teh first time in DVD and in it's original 16x9 aspect ratio. Finally we go over a series of back in print DVDs including Libeled Lady (1936) with Jean Harlow, The Harvey Girls (1946) and In the Good Old Summertime (1949) with Judy Garland, and I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) with Susan Hayward.

First up for this Holiday Podcast are Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015) and Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love (2016) - both contemporary TV holiday movies are now available on Blu-ray. Then we present The Snorks Season 3 and 4 collected in one volume on DVD which finishes off the series. Next we review several incredible films finally Back in Print on DVD including Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell in Macao (1952), Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier in Something of Value (1957), John Ford directing the great Woody Strode in Sergeant Rutledge (1960) along with Mitchum and George Kennedy in The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969). To wrap up the year we bring back three of our most requested sets, Forbidden Hollywood Volumes 1-3 which collectively feature Waterloo Bridge (1931), Baby Face, Red-Headed Woman, The Divorcee, A Free Soul, Night Nurse, Three on a Match, Female, Other Men's Women, The Purchase Price, Frisco Jenny, Midnight Mary, Heroes for Sale and Wild Boys of the Road. Happy Holidays and wishing everyone the best 2017!

Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen reunite for It's Always Fair Weather (1955) featuring Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Dan Dailey in top form and now on stunning Blu-ray. Edmond O'Brien stars as a defense attorney in Sam Benedict (1962-63), a riveting legal drama new to DVD. Back in Print DVDs discussed include Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' final film pairing The Barkley's of Broadway (1949), the rockin' revue Jamboree (1957) and John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May (1964) starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

Deftly mixing comedy, romance, suspense and wonder, Nicholas Meyer's Sci-Fi bonanza, Time After Time (1979) arrives looking time-warp fresh in this new 1080p Blu-ray. The third volume of FitzPatrick TravelTalks shorts were produced for MGM from 1940 to 1953 to provide poignant and picturesque postcards of the four corners of the Earth, from pre-war New Orleans to post-war Western Germany and are now on DVD. The Middle Season 7 (2015-16) sees each member of the Heck clan breaking out of their comfort zones and navigating new. We move on to four back-in-print Western DVDs starring Errol Flynn including Virginia City (1940), San Antonio (1945), Montana (1950) and Rocky Mountain (1950). We wrap up with a back-in-print six part mini-series, Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (2010), a lavish original documentary that chronicles the advent of a new American art form, from humble peep shows to tent pole spectaculars.

Neil Simon pens an acerbic Valentine for then wife Marsha Mason and hands a young Richard Dreyfus a breakout career-defining role in The Goodbye Girl (1977) now on Blu-ray. Then we discuss the final entry in the Steve Urkel saga, Family Matters Season 9 (1997-98) which literally ends with Urkel shot into space. Next, we bring several films back in print to DVD including two with Gary Cooper -- westerns Dallas (1950) and Springfield Rifle (1952) -- two with Robert Mitchum (noir thrillers The Racket (1951) and His Kind of Woman (1951) -- and two with Paul Newman -- The Mackintosh Man (1973) and a sequel to 1966's Harper, The Drowning Pool (1975).

First up, we chat about Michael Anderson (Logan's Run) directs the great George Pal's final production, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975) now on Blu-ray. Moving on to TV Animation on DVD, we unearth The Peter Potamus Show - one of the great animal cartoons from Hanna Barbera. Then we highlight a bunch of DVDs reissued for the first time in 16x9 Widescreen including Michael (1996) with John Travolta, the animated musical Cats Don't Dance (1997) and Grind (2003). Also of note, although Deathtrap (1982) and Ladyhawke (1985) have been issued in widescreen on Blu-ray, we've updated the DVDs to reflect the new master. Also back in print, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994).

First up, Body Snatchers (1993) comes to Blu-ray! Arthouse maverick Abel Ferrara trains his indie eye upon Jack Finney's always relevant masterpiece of paranoia for this third go-round with the pod people in this 1990s' take on The Invasion of The Body Snatchers. Then we move on to Wheeler and Woolsey RKO Comedy Classics Collection Volume 2, a six film DVD collection featuring the underrated comedy team Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. Films include The Cuckoos (1930), Dixiana (1930), Too Many Cooks (1931), Everything's Rosie (1931), Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934) and Silly Billies (1936). We end with the documentary One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film (2014) which follows the life and work of this maverick film icon.

Nicholas Ray's fervid Film Noir classic On Dangerous Ground (1951) looks great on Blu-ray thanks to this scintillating 2016 4k master created from the original camera negative. Then we move on to TV with the DVD and Blu release of Constantine: The Complete Series (2015-16) starring Matt Ryan and based on the wildly popular comic book character from DC Comics. Hanna-Barbera's The Kwicky Koala Show, now on DVD, features contributions from the legendary Tex Avery. Then we bring four classics back in print to DVD including John Ford's The Lost Patrol (1934) and The Informer (1935), the widescreen wonder Helen of Troy (1956) and Robert Benton's The Late Show (1977) starring Art Carney.

Director Clint Eastwood serves up Savannah in style with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) on Blu-ray starring Kevin Spacey. Then we chat about the freshest TV on disc with The Vampire Diaries' spin-off, The Originals, now on Blu-ray with S3 (2015-16). Classic TV animation fan? Than you should check out Adult Swim's Mike Tyson's Mysteries now on DVD with S2 (2015-16). Next we discuss Classic Horror back in print starting with the Hollywood Legends of Horror set that includes Doctor X (1932), The Return of Dr X (1939), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Mark of the Vampire (1935), Mad Love (1935) and The Devil-Doll (1936). Then we move on to two double features from legendary producer Val Lewton including The Leopard Man (1943)/The Ghost Ship (1943) and Isle of the Dead (1945)/Bedlam (1946). Finally we chat about three New Line 90s genre films back in print including Guyver (1991) with Mark Hamill and Guyver 2: Dark Hero (1994) both based off the same Japanese Manga series. Finally we wrap up with The Mangler (1995) based on the story by Stephen King.

It's our 300th podcast episode! And we celebrate with a new blu-ray featuring Doris Day and James Cagney in Love Me Or Leave Me (1955). New TV on disc includes Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season (2015) on Blu-Ray, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 (2015-16), Childrens Hospital: The Complete Sixth and Seventh Seasons (2015-16) and Family Matters: The Complete Eighth Season (1996-97). New films on DVD include When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932) with Jackie Cooper and the multi-disc Monogram Cowboy Collection Volume 9: Johnny Mack Brown (1946-48) which includes the films The Gentleman from Texas (1946), Trailing Danger, Land of the Lawless, The Law Comes to Gunsight, Code of the Saddle, Flashing Guns (1947), Frontier Agent, The Fighting Ranger and The Sheriff of Medicine Bow (1948).

A generation or two before Leo DiCaprio was The Revenant, Richard Harris walked in the same shoes as the pioneer legend of Hugo Glass in Man in the Wilderness (1971) and it's now on Blu-ray. Then we move on to new TV discs including the first season of Lucifer (2016) on blu-ray and the third season of the award-winning comedy, Mom (2015-16) on DVD. Strap in for a new collection of historic Technicolor travel shorts with Fitzpatrick Travel Talks Volume 2 (1934-45). And finally we talk about two never-before-on-DVD releases, Moby Dick (1930) with John Barrymore and Alfred the Great (1969) with David Hemmings.

A generation or two before Leo DiCaprio was The Revenant, Richard Harris walked in the same shoes as the pioneer legend of Hugo Glass in Man in the Wilderness (1971) and it's now on Blu-ray. Then we move on to new TV discs including the first season of Lucifer (2016) on blu-ray and the third season of the award-winning comedy, Mom (2015-16) on DVD. Strap in for a new collection of historic Technicolor travel shorts with Fitzpatrick Travel Talks Volume 2 (1934-45). And finally we talk about two never-before-on-DVD releases, Moby Dick (1930) with John Barrymore and Alfred the Great (1969) with David Hemmings.

Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman scorch the screen to cinders in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) on blu-ray. New to DVD, Mark Curry is the coolest sub in Hanging' with Mr. Cooper Season 1 (1992-93). Then we have three new releases starring Edward G. Robinson that have never been on any home video format: The Widow From Chicago (1930), Blackmail (1939) and Unholy Partners (1941).

Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman scorch the screen to cinders in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) on blu-ray. New to DVD, Mark Curry is the coolest sub in Hanging' with Mr. Cooper Season 1 (1992-93). Then we have three new releases starring Edward G. Robinson that have never been on any home video format: The Widow From Chicago (1930), Blackmail (1939) and Unholy Partners (1941).