Sony Pictures Choice Collection: November
Here’s the latest batch of titles releasing under the Sony Pictures Choice Collection manufacture-on-demand program:
“Platinum Blonde” (1931): In the film that fueled her legendary career, Jean Harlow (The Public Enemy) stars in this romantic comedy directed by Academy Award® winner Frank Capra (Best Director, It Happened One Night, 1934). Written to showcase Harlow’s talent, looks and charm, PLATINUM BLONDE is a glorious spoof of the newspaper business in New York City during the Depression. Ann Schuyler (Harlow), a wealthy socialite, meets reporter Stew Smith (Robert Williams, Devotion) and the two fall madly in love. The comedy begins as she tries to transform him from a ruffian newsman into a convincing gentleman. “Stew,” who is quick with wisecracks, is slow to realize the dangers of being a kept man. At first, he likes the idle life of the rich, but there’s trouble in paradise. Soon this “Cinderella Man” turns the social register upside down with his mocking repartee. To his rescue is Gallagher (Loretta Young, The Stranger), a sympathetic friend and co-worker at the newspaper. She comforts and consoles Stew and, in classic Capra style, helps him right into her own arms.
“The Lady Objects” (1938): A young married couple — William (Lanny Ross, Gulliver’s Travels) and Ann (Gloria Stuart, Titanic) — struggles as William’s career as an architect is foundering, while Ann’s law career is on the upswing. The strain of their divergent career paths causes friction between the two, leading William to leave his career and become a nightclub singer, and the two separate. But when William is wrongly accused of murder, it is up to Ann to help win the case and set William free.
“Return to the Blue Lagoon” (1991): Return to the enchanting South Pacific where an exciting new adventure unfolds. When two young lovers lose their lives at sea, they leave behind their young son Richard (Brian Krause, Sleepwalkers). Kind-hearted widow Sarah Hargrave (Lisa Pelikan, Lionheart) and her daughter, Lilli (Milla Jovovich, The Fifth Element), rescue the orphan, but through tragic circumstances, the children are abandoned on a deserted island. As days turn into years, the boy and girl experience the blissful awakening of tender young love. But their rapture is violently interrupted by the troublesome crew of a passing ship and the new temptations that it brings. Their dreams of returning to society quickly fade when their hearts tell them that nothing is worth sacrificing the purest of loves. Full of romance and action, this sequel to the smash hit is a coming-of-age story that your whole family will enjoy.
“Fire Down Below” (1957): Hollywood legends Rita Hayworth (Gilda), Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter) and Academy Award® winner Jack Lemmon (Best Actor in a Leading Role, Save the Tiger, 1973) team up in this high seas adventure tale of smoldering passion and deception, shot on location in Trinidad and Tobago. Hayworth is the torrid siren-turned-sailor who comes between two best friends and sends temperatures rising. When FIRE DOWN BELOW was released, it attracted not only the public’s adoration, but it also had the critics looking at Hayworth for the first time as a serious actress instead of just another Hollywood glamour girl.
“The End of the Affair” (1955): From the novel by Graham Greene comes this story of star-crossed lovers whose short affair begins and ends as tumultuously as the war that is its backdrop. In England during World War II, Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr, The King and I, 1956) is the bored wife of a British civil servant. When Mr. Miles (Peter Cushing, Horror of Dracula) introduces her to American writer Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson, The Caine Mutiny) at one of the couple’s cocktail parties, she is unable to deny her attraction to him, or resist his interest in her. Almost as quickly as the two become deeply involved, spinning their dreams into plans for a long future together, Sarah mysteriously brings their affair to an end. With the help of private detective Albert Parkis (John Mills, Gandhi), Maurice sets out to find out why: did Sarah never love Maurice, or did she love him too much?
“Doctor Faustus” (1967): Of the many films they made together, nowhere is the seductive power of Richard Burton (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Elizabeth Taylor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) better showcased than in this brilliant adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s classic play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. First dramatized in the 16th century, the legend of Doctor Faustus is the immortal tale of a German conjurer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of adventure and excitement. It has proved to be one of the richest legends of our time, inspiring countless plays and motion pictures. In this classic version, Burton stars as the aging scholar who makes a deal with the devil for youth, knowledge and a dazzling mistress. But when Faustus begins to regret his decision, the devil’s assistant, Mephistophilis, sends Taylor as the spellbinding seductress who seals Faustus’s fate. This lasting achievement is distinguished by its visual beauty and the great performances of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
“Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River” (1968): It’s one of Jerry Lewis’s zaniest films, filled with the hilarious antics for which he’s famous! Jerry (Boeing, Boeing) plays George Lester, an American in London, whose grandiose schemes constantly get him into trouble. His first outrageous plan turns his wife’s ancestral palace into a Chinese disco, an idea she hardly appreciates. Forced to raise money to restore the mansion, George unveils an even crazier scheme with the help of his friend, William Homer (Terry-Thomas, I’m All Right Jack), to sell stolen plans for an electronic oil drill. George smuggles the plans into Lisbon where he is supposed to make the big deal, but then learns the plans are phony! He promises his wife he’ll finally settle down, but wait – he has just one more idea!
“Land Raiders” (1969): A ruthless Arizona rancher, Vince Cardenas (Telly Savalas, TV’s “Kojak”), believes in only two things: land and power. So when the US government announces its plan to give Forge River Valley to the Indians, Vince kills Washington’s envoy and frames the Apache for his murder. Inciting the townspeople to attack and wipe out the tribe, Vince plans to claim the two million acres for himself. And all that stands in his way is Paul (George Maharis, Route 66), his vengeance-obsessed brother, who’s just learned Vince was his fiancée’s secret lover, and may be the man responsible for her drowning all those years ago.
“Cactus Flower” (1969): A delightful comedy sparked by crazy, mixed-up situations and the kooky, Academy Award®-winning film debut of Goldie Hawn (Best Actress in a Supporting Role, 1969). Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple, 1968) also stars as Julian Winston, an easygoing bachelor dentist whose delicately balanced scheme to get married crumbles under some unexpected circumstances. Winston is stringing along his dizzy blonde mistress, Toni (Hawn), by telling her that he has a wife and children. But when he learns that she has tried to commit suicide over him, he promises to marry her. Toni, refusing to be a home wrecker, insists on first meeting Winston’s wife, so he convinces Stephanie (Ingrid Bergman) – his starched and no-nonsense nurse – to pose as his wife. Winston’s scheme leads to unforeseen twists and surprises for everyone.
