Warner Archive New Releases: Doc and Dolores

WITH KATHY BATES, MICHAEL J. FOX, LAUREN GRAHAM, ALEXIS BLEDEL, JANET LEIGH, BASIL RATHBONE, TOM KEENE, DENNIS O’KEEFE, BETTE DAVIS & DORIS DAY
DOLORES CLAIBORNE (1995) New to Blu-ray with a 2017 1080p HD Remaster
This searing Stephen King best-seller, one long cry of confession from an extraordinary character, is artfully adapted to the screen via director/producer Taylor Hackford in this mid-nineties instant classic. Kathy Bates stars as the titular Dolores (a career favorite of Ms. Bates), a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer. And this is not the first time Ms. Claiborne has been suspected of killing. Jennifer Jason Leigh co-stars as Dolores’ estranged daughter Selena, whose suspicions of her mother’s guilt lead to a shocking truth. Christopher Plummer also stars as the lawman determined to make Claiborne face justice at last. Shot on location with Nova Scotia filling in for rural Maine, Dolores Claiborne‘s artful marriage of drama and suspense is rendered in crystal clarity via this 1080p HD presentation. Also featuring David Straithern, Eric Bogosian, John C. Reilly and Judy Parfitt. 16×9 Letterbox
DOC HOLLYWOOD (1991) New to Blu-ray with a 2017 1080p HD Remaster
This much requested fan-favorite Michael J. Fox vehicle careens onto Blu-ray Disc at last, in a better than Bel Air presentation thanks to its 1080p HD makeover. City slick vs. country hick shine like never before in this ’90s with fish-out-of-water cinema sensation inspired by real events. Michael J. Fox plays an unlikeable med school graduate whose dreams of Beverly Hills avarice are undone following a car crash in the “Squash Capital of the South”. The young plastic surgeon must perform community medical service for the local yokels – who may just have more to teach the arrogant medico than med school. With Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers and Bridget Fonda. 16×9 Widescreen
GREAT TV ON DVD & BLU-RAY
GILMORE GIRLS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE (2016) New to Blu-ray
Written, directed and executive produced by series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Daniel Palladino, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life picks up the threads in this tale of a most unusual mother, Lorelai (Lauren Graham), and daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), nearly a decade after the much-acclaimed Gilmore Girls ended its seven-season run. Presented as four mini-movies, one for each season of the year, we are reintroduced to Stars Hollow to find both the familiar and the unfamiliar. Lorelai (Lauren Graham) still runs the Dragonfly Inn, but now lives with Luke (Scott Patterson). Her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), now 32, juggles career complications and ex-boyfriends, while matriarch Emily (Kelly Bishop) adjusts to widowed life. In four memorable chapters studded with drop-ins by quirky Stars Hollow friends, the Gilmores confront long-standing unresolved issues, going head-to-head with passionate heart-to-hearts. 16×9 Widescreen
LIVING SINGLE: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON (1995-96) New to DVD
Season three of this beloved sit-com about young singles sharing a brownstone starts up where the second season left off – with Regine (Kim Fields) angrily moving out! Khadijah (Queen Latifah) has a great job running her own magazine and interviewing high-level athletes, but her publishing career is facing serious setbacks. Max (Erika Alexander) and Kyle (T.C.Carson) struggle for control in their relationship, which damages their romance. Overton (John Henton) angers Synclair (Kim Coles) when he opens his ex-files, but he ultimately decides to take their relationship to the next level – which she meets with resistance. Also, after a complicated courtship, Scooter returns to propose marriage to Khadijah. 3-Disc, 27-Episode Collection.
DOUBLEHEADER DOUBLE FEATURES
STRICTLY DISHONORABLE (1930, 1951) New to DVD
Shortly before Hollywood came calling, Preston Sturges conquered Broadway and Strictly Dishonorable was the comedy king’s crown jewel of the Great White Way. Hitting the screen soon after its stage incarnation, Strictly Dishonorable is a ribald romance loaded with double entendre and good intention. Isabelle Perry, a Southern belle (Sidney Fox) elects to spend the night in a New York speak-easy following a fight with her New Jersey fiancé. Famous opera singer Tino Caraffa (Paul Lukas) and retired Judge Dempsey (Lewis Stone) befriend the girl, with one declaring his strictly dishonorable intent and the other scheming to safeguard her virtue. The opera element is enlarged for the 1951 remake, in order to better showcase leading man Ezio Pinza’s (South Pacific) prodigious vocal talents. The speak-easy is exchanged for a sham marriage, with chorus girl Isabelle (Janet Leigh) setup to protect the reputation of Gus Caraffa (Pinza). But Isabelle’s intentions are not so pure…
KIND LADY (1935, 1951) New to DVD
“Broadway’s Dramatic Thunderbolt!” topped the posters for both movie versions of Edward Chodorov’s hit Broadway shocker, based on a Hugh Walpole story – and the lightning struck twice on the screen as well. The first screen version appeared soon after the play’s sensational stage debut, with character great Aline MacMahon playing the lead role of wealthy spinster Mary Herries. Much younger than the stage version of Mary, Aline’s performance up against Basil Rathbone’s charming narcissist Henry Abbot crackles with psycho-sexual tension between its leads before descending into true household horror that mixes the Brechtian and the bizarre. The 1951 version, under director John Sturges, returns Mary to her more advanced age with grande dame Ethel Barrymore making one of her final screen performances. Maurice Evans’ Henry is more cold-blooded, while Angela Lansbury and Keenan Wynn add menace building it all up to a Hitchcock-ian climax.
UNCONVENTIONAL WESTERNS
RENEGADES OF THE WEST (1932) New to DVD
Western star Tom Keene plays old West ex-con Tom Bagby, newest addition to the cattle rustling gang headed by Curly Bogard (Rockcliffe Fellowes). Concerned about Tom’s cough, Curly sends Tom to see Dr. Fawcett (Rosco Ates) where Tom captures the eye of Doc Fawcett’s daughter, Mary (Betty Furness). Doc Fawcett quickly tumbles to Tom’s jailbird background, and forbids Betty from associating with the probable owlhoot. Unbeknownst to all, Tom is secretly undercover as a cattle rustler, looking to tie Curly to his father’s murder. Before Tom can get the dirt on Curly and crew, Tom surprises townfolk and desperado alike when he unexpectedly adopts a child (Roland Southern). As Curly warms to the child, Tom discovers the true culprit only for his old cell-mate, Blackie (Jim Mason), to come calling… What’s a six-shooter single dad to do?
THE KID FROM TEXAS (1939) New to DVD
Yarn-spinning yokel William Quincy Malone (Dennis O’Keefe) is unique among fellow Texan cowpuncher since he taught himself polo with a croquet mallet with the help of a hundred-trick pony by the name of Lone Star. Unlike his fellow Texan ranch riders, Malone dreams of the East, so when a brother-sister pair of dilettante debutantes (Anthony Allen and Florence Rice) purchase Lone Star with an eye toward the polo pitch, with the aid of a press agent pal (Jack Carson) Malone transforms himself into Wild Bill Malone, the greatest polo player in Texas. Heading west to Queens and a wild west show with ranch buddy Snifty (Buddy Ebsen), Wild Bill gets a shot at redemption and romance by bringing polo to the rodeo.
DAVIS AND DAY, BACK IN PRINT
THE OLD MAID (1939) Back on DVD
Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins star in this Civil War-era drama about two rival Southern belles. When Delia breaks her engagement to Clem in favor of a wealthier man, Clem seeks comfort in Delia’s cousin Charlotte, who gets pregnant. Before Clem can marry her however, he is killed in the war. After years pass, Charlotte falls in love with Jim’s brother and becomes engaged to him. But Delia’s spite and jealousy threaten to cause further tragedy for Charlotte.
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939) Back on DVD
In one of the most stunningly designed movies from Hollywood’s golden age, Michael Curtiz directs the historical drama of Elizabeth I’s love for the Earl of Essex, which threatens to destroy her kingdom. Bette Davis and Errol Flynn lead a star-studded cast, including Olivia de Havilland, Vincent Price, Nanette Fabray, and Leo G. Carroll.
STARLIFT (1951) Back on DVD
Sgt. Mike Nolan (Dick Wesson) and Cpl. Rick Williams (Ron Hagerthy) are the part of the air crew who shuttle soldiers to Korea and try to impress a group of movie starlets by claiming that they’re going to be sent into combat. But when one of the starlets, Nell Wayne (Janice Rule), falls in love with Rick, Warner Bros. launches a major publicity blitz culminating with a special musical USO show – featuring all their stars! Featuring Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson, Ruth Roman and more!
APRIL IN PARIS (1952) Back on DVD
Thanks to a bureaucratic bungle, Ethel “Dynamite” Jackson (Doris Day) is invited to a cultural junket in Paris instead of Ethel Barrymore. When Dynamite meets the bungler responsible for her SNAFU invite, she discovers he’s a dancing diplomat (Ray Bolger) and the two fall for each other. Naturally the attaché already has a fiancée… Also stars Claude Dauphin. Directed by David Butler.
TUNNEL OF LOVE (1958) Back on DVD
Doris Day, Richard Widmark, Gig Young and Gia Scala star in this comedy of errors about a loving, childless couple desperate to adopt the mystery baby that comes into play. A baby whose parentage may be more natural than adopted… Gene Kelly direct this tale of suburban semi-scandal based on the Broadway play.

 

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