SHAFT’S BIG SCORE (1972) New 2019 1080p HD Master 

Following the astonishing breakout and genre defining success of 1971’s Shaft, star Richard Roundtree, director Gordon Parks and screenwriter Ernest Tidyman reunited for this follow up that plunges Shaft into the middle of a gang war. John Shaft (Roundtree) gets a pre-dawn phone call from a panicked friend, Cal Asby, but he arrives at Asby’s funeral home just before the building blows up. Searching for Asby’s killer, Shaft discovers that Asby ran a gambling racket, doing business with Harlem gang lord Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn). Now the racket’s cash is missing; rival gangs are battling for Asby’s turf – and it’s up to John Shaft to find the killer and the missing stash of cash in time to prevent a war on the streets. Upping the action in every way, Gordon Park’s astonishing extended climactic chase (car/boat/foot/helicopter/high caliber) roars off the screen thanks to this like new 1080p HD presentation. 16×9 Letterbox

 

SHAFT IN AFRICA (1973) New 2019 1080p HD Master

Journeyman genre master John Guillermin (Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure) steps in to direct the Shaft franchise’s next entry with a big budget boost out of the exploitation zone and into Bond-style action-adventure. Subject to a most unorthodox recruitment, John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is shanghaied from the Big Apple for a voyage to Mother Africa in order to tackle the evil of the returning slave trade. With an undercover assist in Ethiopia by the lovely Aleme (Vonetta McGee), Shaft goes native just in time to get captured by the slavers. Too bad for them! Shaft in Africa arrives ready for action-adventure reassessment thanks to this eye-popping, pristine 1080p HD presentation that serves up Shaft’s intercontinental sensation as never before. 16×9 Letterbox

 

A PATCH OF BLUE (1965) New 2019 1080p HD Master 

Sidney Poitier cemented his ascent to the Tinseltown firmament with this Guy Green (Light in the Piazza) directed drama about a friendship between a black office worker (Poitier) and an uneducated blind white girl (Elizabeth Hartman in her screen debut). Selina d’Arcy lives with her racist, prostitute mother Rose-Ann (Shelley Winters, in an Academy Award® winning performance) and her alcoholic grandfather Ole Pa (character great Wallace Ford in his final film performance) and has scant knowledge of the outside world. But a chance encounter with the kindly Gordon Ralfe alters the trajectory of her life. This groundbreaking drama’s glorious black and white photography from Robert Burks (Vertigo) shines as never before in this crisp 1080p HD presentation, while Jerry Goldsmith’s soaring score has all the room it needs to deliver its sweep. Special Features: Commentary by Director Guy Green; Featurette “A Cinderella Named Elizabeth”; Theatrical Trailer (HD). 16×9 Letterbox

 

THE GOLDEN ARROW (1962) New 2019 1080p HD Master 

Bandit chief Hassan (Tab Hunter) infiltrates Damascus with a daring plan. Impersonating a prince from the “Island of Flames,” he joins the nobles contending for the hand of beautiful Princess Jamila (Rosanna Podesta), intending to kidnap her for ransom. The suitor’s contest revolves around the legendary Black Bow, a weapon of the true savior and Sultan of Damascus. Whosoever can bend the bow will wield the invincible power of the Golden Arrow, as well as claim the hand of Jamila and become ruler. No one is more astonished than Hassan when he succeeds in bending the Black Bow, but the brash young thief ignores the call to heroism, kidnaps the princess anyway and loses the Golden Arrow. With the aid of three magical spirits, Hassan must embark on a a series of supernatural challenges to recover the lost arrow that refine his spirit and prepare him for battle against Baktiar, the evil vizier that controls Damascus. This scimitar and sandal epic soars across fantastic locations and sweeping spectacle thanks to the buoyant direction of journeyman genre-master Antonio Margheriti (Wild, Wild Planet).

1930s Classics Now on DVD

MAKE WAY FOR A LADY (1936) Now on DVD

Fresh from her breakout success in Anne of Green Gables, Anne Shirley shines and sparkles as ebullient and excitable high school student June Drew in this tale of Love’s Labors Lampooned. June’s belief of a happy home life with her doting widower father, publisher Christopher Drew (Herbert Marshall), is shattered when she overhears the mother of her best friend opining that June is preventing her father from finding a new love. This call to (melodramatic) action causes June to take it upon herself to become a matchmaker and set out to find a spouse for her father. Misunderstanding a dedication in a book her father published, June moves heaven and earth in a futile attempt to “re-unite” her father with worldly author Valerie Broughton (Margot Grahame). A reunion that is a figment of June’s overactive imagination and threatens to derail Chris’ very real romance with June’s teacher, Miss Emerson (Gertrude Michael).

 

THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937) Now on DVD 

James Stanton was a legacy surgeon – the latest in a long line of society doctors. But his secret passion is planes, and no-one, not even his hospital’s board and his own father was going to talk him out of his hobby. After a tragic accident tars Stanton with unjust scandal, Beal quits the medical profession and rides the rails as a hobo. Making his way to California he meets up with Dick Miller (Philip Huston), an old flying friend, and Dick offers Stanton a job at Roberts Aviation. Stanton agrees to be a mechanic, provided that Dick keeps his true identity a secret. Roberts Aviation has a soul-saving surprise in store for Stanton – a flying hospital plane, staffed by the striking and sharp Doris King (Joan Fontaine, making her debut as a leading lady). The canny Doris sets about drawing Stanton out of his shell, but his twin abilities of flying and surgery grab the attention of a nosy reporter who uncovers Stanton’s secret.

NOTE: These DVDs are Manufactured on Demand (MOD); to order, fans must visit The Warner Archive Collection, WB Shop.com, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.