Synopsis: The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is a romantic comedy-western directed by the legendary Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve,Sullivan’s Travels) and starring Betty Grable (I Wake Up Screaming), Cesar Romero (The Joker of TV’s Batman), Rudy Vallee (The Palm Beach Story) and Olga San Juan (Blue Skies). In this wild six-gun farce set in the old west, Grable plays a hot-tempered racy saloon entertainer named Freddie who’s as quick with a pistol as she is to kick up her heels. During a fray, Freddie accidentally shoots a judge while trying to protect her boyfriend (Romero) – she leaves town disguised as a schoolteacher and woos a mine owner (Vallee) while trying to escape persecution. Sturges co-wrote the screenplay with Earl Felton (The Narrow Margin), based on a story by Felton.

Synopsis: In this tense film noir thriller, Victor Mature (Cry of the City) plays Frankie Christopher, a sports promoter who’s in the hot seat, relentlessly grilled by a ruthless detective after the murder of a fashion model he made famous. Weighing even more heavily against him is the fact that he’s in love with the dead girl’s sister (Betty Grable, Pin Up Girl). But Frankie’s not the only suspect in this taut expose of New York’s cafe society. The police detective also obsessively pursues Frankie’s partner, a gossip columnist, and hotel night clerk. Filled with plot twists and turns, I Wake Up Screaming will have you guessing until its surprising ending. The amazing cast includes Carole Landis (Four Jills in a Jeep), Laird Cregar (The Lodger) and Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon). Wonderful direction by H. Bruce Humberstone (Wonder Man), with a screenplay by Dwight Taylor (Pickup on South Street), based on a novel by Steve Fisher (Dead Reckoning).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Noir Historian Eddie Muller

Synopsis: The great Charles Crichton (A Fish Called Wanda, The Lavender Hill Mob) directed this hilarious slapstick comedy – Angela Barrows (Constance Cummings, Blithe Spirit) is a man-eating business woman who is sent by her American employer to investigate their export opportunities in Edinburgh. En route she meets Robert MacPherson (Robert Morley, Topkapi) a businessman who asks for her help to bring his company into the 20th century. The staff, led by Mr. Martin played by screen legend Peter Sellers (The Party, After the Fox) has other ideas however, and a comic battle between the old and new business methods soon brakes out. A vintage Sellers comedy that ranks amongst his funniest – co-starring Donald Pleasence (Halloween,The Great Escape).

Synopsis: The tough guy hero of the 40s and the excitement of the 80s come together in this dazzling remake of the classic Mickey Spillane (The Girl Hunters) thriller, I, THE JURY. Straight from the school of the hard-boiled detective comes private eye, Mike Hammer – played by the ruggedly sexy Armand Assante (Q&A). Hammer sets out to get the guys who did in his friend Jack – his quest for vengeance leads him onto the paths of the CIA, a sexy doctor and a kinky killer. All along the way, there are spectacular chases and incredible excitement. Richard T. Heffron (Futureworld) directed this first-rate action-packed thriller with a screenplay by Larry Cohen (Maniac Cop) and a strong supporting cast featuring Barbara Carrera (Never Say Never Again), Laurene Landon (…All the Marbles), Alan King (Casino), Geoffrey Lewis (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) and Judson Scott (TV’s The Colbys and V).

Special Features: Includes a Brand New Audio Commentary by Steve Mitchell, producer/director ofKing Cohen and Film Historian Nathaniel Thompson

Synopsis: Western Union tells the story of two brothers whose destinies have brought them back together – Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott, Canadian Pacific) is an ex-criminal whose job is to protect the Western Union workers against attacks by gangs of bandits. Things become more complicated when he learns that his renegade brother, Jack Slade (Barton MacLane, The Maltese Falcon) is leading one of these gangs. The tension increases as the daughter of Vance’s boss comes into the picture with her young and inexperienced suitor, Richard Blake (Robert Young, Father Knows Best). With Vance and Richard waging psychological warfare over her affections, gangs of bandits threaten the men at every turn. Legendary director Fritz Lang (Spies, Metropolis) makes striking use of Technicolor enhancing the actual western landscapes with virtuoso photography and signature Fritz Lang psychological suspense to elevate this western tale of destiny and desire. The top-notch cast also features Dean Jagger (Rawhide), John Carradine (The Hurricane) and Chill Wills (The Alamo).

Synopsis: Scott Glenn (The Challenge) is caught in a deadly game of international terrorism where money, malice and murder are the keys to survival. Present day Italy, a country plagued by the vicious savage attacks of merciless terrorists. Daily newspaper headlines cry out the latest tragedies of bombings, murders and kidnappings. Creasy (Glenn), a former CIA agent, now a broken shell of his old self and on the brink of total collapse, accepts a position of a bodyguard for the young daughter (Jade Malle) of one of the country’s wealthiest families. He reluctantly grows attached to the little girl, giving her the friendship, guidance and support her parents are unwilling to provide. But when the child is kidnapped by a group of vicious terrorists, Creasy is thrown into a ferocious world of treachery and turmoil… filled with rage, he’s transformed into a Man on Fire, fighting for her life at whatever the cost. The stellar cast includes Joe Pesci (Goodfellas), Brooke Adams (Cuba), Jonathan Pryce (Brazil), Paul Shenar (Scarface), Danny Aiello (Jacob’s Ladder) and Lou Castel (Fist in the Pocket). Man on Fire was remade in 2004, with Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and Christopher Walken.

Synopsis: In this gritty film noir, two childhood best friends take divergent paths; one becomes a cop and the other a violent criminal. Martin Rome (Richard Conte, Thieves’ Highway), a cop killer and jewel thief escapes from prison with two police detectives, Lt. Candella (Victor Mature,After the Fox) and Lt. Collins (Fred Clark, Daddy Long Legs) hot on his trail. Not only is Rome wanted for murder, but also accused of masterminding a major jewel heist. On the run, Rome is helped by his sleazy lawyer and two girlfriends, Teena (Debra Paget, Broken Arrow) and Brenda (Shelley Winters, He Ran All the Way)… his plan is to recover the hidden gems and leave the country before his childhood friend (Mature) and partner catches up with him. From Robert Siodmak, the director of The Killers, Criss Cross and The Spiral Staircase.

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Noir Historian Eddie Muller

Synopsis: Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), Dana Andrews (Boomerang) and Henry Fonda (The Ox-Bow Incident) deliver dazzling performances in this highly polished and slick love triangle directed by the great Otto Preminger (Laura). Daisy Kenyon (Crawford) is a lovelorn commercial artist caught in a romantic triangle with two men – one she loves but cannot have and one whose love she cannot return. While in an emotionally draining love affair with married attorney Dan O’Mara (Andrews), who refuses to leave his wife, she meets returning army sergeant Peter Lapham (Fonda) – a decent and gentle man who instantly falls in love with her. Although she carries a torch for Dan, she knows Peter will give her the secure life she desires and she agrees to marry him. But when Dan divorces his wife, Daisy is suddenly torn between her obligations… and her passions. Featuring stunning black-and-white cinematography by legendary award-winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy (Leave Her to Heaven, The King and I,Cleopatra).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Noir Historian Foster Hirsch | From Journeyman To Artist: Otto Preminger at Twentieth Century Fox Documentary | Life In The Shadows – The Making of Daisy Kenyon Featurette

Synopsis: Iconic director Eli Kazan (On the Waterfront) garnered critical acclaim for this vividly portrayed, suspenseful 1947 true crime drama set in Connecticut, where the true events actually happened. When a beloved priest is gunned down, the local police chief (Lee J. Cobb, Man of the West) is under enormous pressure to find his murderer. Based only on vague descriptions by the townspeople, he undertakes a massive manhunt, eventually arriving at two suspects, one denies the crime and the other confesses. The State’s Attorney, Henry L. Harvey (Dana Andrews,Daisy Kenyon) is appointed to the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove one suspect’s innocence and other’s guilt. Also starring Arthur Kennedy (Elmer Gantry), Jane Wyatt (Pitfall), Sam Levene (The Killers) and Ed Begley (12 Angry Men) – Boomerang is gripping film noir entertainment from start to finish.

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Noir Historian Imogen Sara Smith | Audio Commentary By Film Historians Alain Silver and James Ursini

Synopsis: The great Henry Hathaway (23 Paces to Baker Street) directed this classic film noir set in New York City during World War II – The House On 92nd Street is a riveting spy thriller. Reporting to FBI counterterrorist agent George Briggs (Lloyd Nolan, Somewhere in the Night), William Dietrich (William Eythe, Wing and a Prayer) becomes a double agent in order to infiltrate a cell of German spies gathering information about construction of the atom bomb. Hoping to identify its highest-level operatives, the FBI allows the spy ring to continue operations in their 92nd Street headquarters. As the Nazis close in on the bomb, the tension explodes in this gripping film! The great cast includes Signe Hasso (The Seventh Cross), Gene Lockhart (Meet John Doe) and Leo G. Carroll (Spellbound).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Noir Historian Eddie Muller

Synopsis: Few film directors have mastered the art of suspense, thrills and intriguing plot twists the way that John Brahm (The Undying Monster) did – many consider his 1944 remake of the Alfred Hitchcock silent film about Jack the Ripper to be far superior to the original! After a mysterious young man named Slade (Laird Cregar, I Wake Up Screaming) rents a London flat, a murder spree begins nearby and the landlady suspects her new lodger to be Jack the Ripper. Kitty (Merle Oberon, Wuthering Heights), a talented singer ignores warnings about the crimes from her new love interest, Inspector John Warwick (George Sanders, Hangover Square) who’s assigned to the case – or the man who may have committed them and soon she becomes Slade’s object of obsession in this pulse-pounder that packs an unsettling punch. Featuring stunning cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard (A Kiss Before Dying) and great supporting performances by Sara Allgood (Blackmail) and Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Rope).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gregory William Mank | Audio Commentary by Film Historians Alain Silver and James Ursini | The Man In The Attic: The Making of The LodgerFeaturette | The Lodger Vintage Radio Show Performed by Vincent Price and Cathy Lewis | Restoration Comparison

Synopsis: Few film directors have mastered the art of suspense, thrills and intriguing plot twists the way that John Brahm (Hangover Square) did – when Helga Hammond (Heather Angel, The Informer) hears about a legend whereby a male member of her family is about to be sacrificed every few years, she discounts the legend as nonsense. But when Helga’s brother, Oliver (John Howard, Lost Horizon) is attacked by a horrific beast that is part man and part wolf, it appears that the legend is true. When Scotland Yard inspector (James Ellison, I Walked with a Zombie) investigates the link between the werewolf and the family, he discovers an even more shocking truth! One of the film’s key features is the gorgeous cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard (The Lodger).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tom Weaver | Concerto Macabre: The Films Of John Brahm Featurette | Restoration Comparison

100 RIFLES

Synopsis: Jim Brown (El Condor), Raquel Welch (Fathom) and Burt Reynolds (White Lightning) set the screen ablaze in this intense and muscular western, bursting with rousing nonstop action and humorous charm. When an American police officer (Brown) comes to Mexico to arrest criminal (Reynolds) for robbery, he finds himself detained by both an Indian revolution against the Mexican government… and the luscious figure of the thief’s sidekick (Welch). As the government steps up its plan of total extermination of the Indians – the stolen loot buys needed weapons for the battle and the American policeman ends up joining the fray. Tom Gries (Breakheart Pass) directed and co-wrote this rousing action-adventure with Clair Huffaker (Rio Conchos) based on a novel by Robert MacLeod (The Appaloosa). The stellar cast includes Fernando Lamas (Jivaro) Dan O’Herlihy (Robocop), Spaghetti Western legend, Aldo Sambrell (Navajo Joe) and soap opera icon Eric Braeden (Victor Newman of The Young and the Restless).

Special Features: Audio Commentary by Lee Pfeiffer, Publisher of Cinema Retro Magazine with Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld and Paul Scrabo

Synopsis:
The Inspector: The screen’s most comically inept detective wreaks havoc on the boulevards of Paris as he, with the help of his sidekick Deux Deux, wages a single-minded (and narrow-sighted) battle for justice. (34 Cartoons/2 Discs)
Roland and Rattfink: The timeless melodramatic tradition of duelling polar opposites became the foundation of many an animated conflict, but never were Good and Evil so stylistically rendered as in the R&R cartoons. (17 Cartoons)
The Ant and the Aardvark: A&A revived the timeless cartoon conflict of predator and prey, and modernized it with an irreverent sense of humor and a splashy color palette emblematic of the late 1960s and early 70s. (17 Cartoons)
Tijuana Toads: Like an amphibian Laurel & Hardy, TT revives the thin guy/fat guy formula for comedy, and endows it with a distinctive south-of-the-border flavor. Toads Pancho and El Toro engage in madcap mischief while seeking to advance themselves within the biological food chain. (17 Cartoons)

Special Features: “Goodbye, Warner Bros., Hello DePatie-Freleng” Documentary | “Of Ants, Inspectors and Cranes” Documentary | “DePatie-Freleng’s Odd Couples” Documentary | DePatie-Freleng’s Music and Sound Mix-ologists” Documentary | Audio Commentaries for Selected Films by author Mark Arnold, Historian Jerry Beck, Filmmaker Greg Ford, Cartoon Writer William Hohauser and Friz Freleng (archival audio).

Synopsis: Modern-day American businessman Jim Ferguson (Alex Hyde-White) is propelled into a one-of-a-kind adventure when he is hurled through time into World War I. His mission could determine the end of the war… and destroy his life as he tries to save famed daredevil flying ace Captain James “Biggles” Bigglesworth (Neil Dickson) with the courageous help of Colonel William Raymond played by screen legend Peter Cushing (The Skull) in the final role of his iconic career. Ferguson soon finds himself going back and forth between contemporary London and a world of old-fashioned spy games and breathtaking aerial battles. Created by a real-life military hero, Captain W.E. Johns, Biggles is based on the character from Johns’ popular novels that has enthralled millions in Britain and Europe for decades and continues to do so. Wonderfully directed by cult-great John Hough (Sudden Terror, The Legend of Hell House, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry).

Special Features: Interview with Star Neil Dickson | Interview with Star Alex Hyde-White | Audio Commentary with Director John Hough moderated by James McCabe | On-camera Intro by John Hough

Synopsis: Richard Lester (Juggernaut, How I Won the War) directs this no-holds-barred whirlwind comedy fueled by mistaken identities, mayhem and macabre madness. At stake is a stolen fortune hidden in a coffin, aboard a speeding coast-to-coast train. On the case are the delightfully outrageous Louis Gossett Jr. (The Laughing Policeman) as an ace criminal and as is his gorgeous and foul-mouthed protégé. But standing in their way is the thief ready to kill for his $5,000,000 loot, a confused FBI agent who wants to arrest everyone in sight. Full of twists and turns with one bizarre surprise after another, there’s a little sex, lots of action, and with a fortune up for grabs, there’s only one rule – Finders Keepers! The hilarious and talented cast includes Michael O’Keefe (Caddyshack), Beverly D’Angelo,National Lampoon’s Vacation), Pamela Stephenson (Superman III), Ed Lauter (Breakheart Pass), David Wayne (How to Marry a Millionaire), Brian Dennehy (Gorky Park), Jack Riley (High Anxiety), John Schuck (Thieves Like Us) and the great Jim Carrey (Dumb & Dumber) in one his earliest roles.