Warner Archive Collection August 19 Releases: Moonshiners, Maya and Mothers (Superior)
SEVENTIES Ensembles
THE MOONSHINE WAR (1970) Literary crime king Elmore Leonard adapts his novel about a war of wills waged by a pair of ex-army buddies – one’s a bootlegger, the other’s a federal agent. Both parties bank on prohibitions repeal, and local ‘shiner Son Martin (Alan Alda) is sitting on a secret stash of hundreds of barrels he cooked up with his pappy before the war. Agent Frank Long (Patrick McGoohan) is looking to score a takedown when the locals deliver one humiliation too many, and Frank makes a deal a devil (Richard Widmark) to get his hands on Son’s stash. It’s a deal that drags the whole town into terror. Also starring Will Geer, Harry Carey, Jr, John Shuck, Bo Hopkins, Melodie Johnson and Max Showalter. Directed by Richard Quine.
LOLLY MADONNA XXX (1973) A crew of acting titans and future superstars unite in this adaptation of Sue Grafton’s” The Lolly Madonna War.” Two families, the Feathers and the Gutshalls, once close but now riven by a rivalry over a rural Tennessee meadow that erupt in an escalating war of wills. Season Hubley plays innocent girl Roonie Gill who, thanks to a phony postcard, is mistaken for Lolly Madonna, the imaginary intended of a Gutshall lad. With Feather patriarch Laban (Rod Steiger) refusing to believe she is not the mythical Lolly Madonna, Gutshall patriarch Pap struggles with his own unruly clan in a bid to protect the innocent girl. At times lyrical and allegorical, at others savage and unsettling, all the players in the feud are etched with sympathy by the superb cast which includes Jeff Bridges, Scott Wilson, Ed Lauter, Kiel Martin, Gary Busey and Randy Quaid. Directed by Richard Sarafian.
NASTY HABITS (1977) A distaff staff of acting all-stars shine in this Watergate satire set amongst the confines of a convent. Glenda Jackson plays the tricky nun, who will stop at nothing to ensure her succession to the power of a superior mother. Melina Mercouri plays the foreign born master of statecraft, while Sandy Dennis delights as the dean of truthtellers among the sisters. Anne Jackson, Geraldine Page, and Ann Meara are also found wearing wimples, while their real-life spouses Eli Wallach, Rip Torn, and Jerry Stiller are also on hand and clearly having a blast. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, from the stage play by Robert Enders adapted from the novel “The Abbess of Crewe” by Muriel Sparks.
SIXTIES Adventures
MAYA: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1967-68) Adapted from the motion picture of the same name by Stirling Silliphant (“In the Heat of the Night”), the TV version of Maya brings the film’s two young stars, Jay North (“Dennis the Menace”) and Sajid Khan to the small screen for some very big adventures. Montana transplant Terry Bowen journeys deep inside the hills and valleys of India¹s wilds in search of his missing father alongside a pair of very special companions, valiant orphan Raji and his wondrous, compassionate elephant “mother,” Maya. Together, the trio crosses the land in search of clues to the fate of Terry’s father, while coming to the aid of the needy and opposing the oppressive. You’ll discover hidden wonders and awesome dangers galore in this 5-Disc, 18-Episode Collection, as Terry, Raji and Maya encounter tiger boys, missing scientists, runaway princesses, rogue American treasure hunters, man-eating tigers and more in this rousing adventure series. Filmed entirely on location in the villages and jungles of India.
NOTE: These DVDs are Manufactured on Demand (MOD); to order, fans must visit The Warner Archive Collection, WB Shop.com, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
