Warner Archive Collection New Releases: Silver Screen Icons

Irene Dunne: Never Dull

CONSOLATION MARRIAGE (1931) Irene Dunne shares the screen with Pat O’Brien in this adult romancer about a pair of broken hearts that take up contracted nuptials in lieu of being with the ones they love. But complications arise when their respective inamoratas return looking to rekindle lost love. Co-starring Myrna Loy and John Halliday. Directed by Paul Sloane.

ANN VICKERS (1933) John Cromwell directs Sinclair Lewis’ tale of a young social worker (Dunne) who gets loved and lost by a soldier cad (Bruce Cabot), ending in a most personal tragedy. Virtue being more than skin-deep, Ann Vickers dedicates her life to prison reform. But while she is able to overcome entrenched male opposition, the liberal minded Vickers meets Judge Barney Dolphin (Walter Huston) which may spell even more scandal and heartbreak.

SWEET ADELINE (1934) Show Boat’s composers par excellence, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II lend their songsmithery to this showstopper that traces a gal’s trials and tribulations on her journey from beer hall to Broadway. Irene Dunne is said sweet Adeline whose path to success is encumbered by dual Romeos and vengeful divas. Co-starring Donald Woods, Hugh Herbert, and Ned Sparks with songs including “Here Am I”, “Lonely Feet”, “Why Was I Born?”, and “Don’t Ever Leave Me”.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1950) This rodeo romp pairs Ms. Dunne up with Fred MacMurray for a city mouse/country mouse romance. Big city songwriter Kay Kingsley (Dunne) gets whisked off her feet by western rancher Chris Heyward, and leaves the Great White Way for a buffalo-roaming home. Add two step-daughters (Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau), a saddle bum sidekick (Andy Devine) and a curmudgeon neighbor (William Demarest) who controls access to aqua to the mix and maybe following one’s heart isn’t quite the right thing to do. One of the last features Irene Dunne would shoot before segueing into semi-retirement and TV work. Features songs by Kay Swift and directed by George Marshall.

John Barrymore: The Great Genius

THE MAD GENIUS (1931) John Barrymore is all ice and fire in this harrowing tale of a crazed puppet-master who will do anything to secure the destiny of his protégé. Ivan Tsarakov is the bastard, crippled offspring of a prima ballerina, whose dreams of aerial flight are dashed by deformity. Adopting a runaway fleeing from an abusive father (Boris Karloff), Tsarakov abandons his marionettes and molds the child into Fedor Ivanoff (Donlad Cook), the greatest dancer of the age. But when ballerina Nana (Marian Marsh) threatens to ignite some life into Fedor’s heart, Tsarakov seeks to destroy her. Also starring the always delightful Charles Butterworth. Directed by Michael Curtiz.

THE GREAT MAN VOTES (1939) Garson Kanin directs the great man Barrymore in this beloved family comedy about an irascible dipsomaniac widower philosopher that has greatness thrust upon him. Gregory Vance was perhaps once a truly great scholar, but tragedy has laid him low. Working as a night watchman in order to provide for his two children (Peter Holden and Virginia Weidler), Vance’s situation goes from desperate to dire when he loses his jobs and his in-laws seek to take his children. But destiny has other plans for Vance, as he is the sole voter left in his great city’s bellwether voting district and the politicos come a-courtin’.

Discs for Discovery

RAPA NUI (1994) Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) directs this most unique epic historical drama depicting the downfall of the great builders of Easter Island. Jason Scott Lee and Esai Morales play boyhood friends and rivals for the affections of the same woman (Sandrine Holt) but more than romance divides them. One is a member of the ruling Long Ears, the other of the servant class Short Ears. And the Long Ears are slowly driving the Short Ears to madness and revolt with the demands for even more costly colossal statues as the island’s resources are bled dry. Shot on location in the South Seas, Rapa Nui is a movie myth unlike any you have seen. 16×9 Widescreen

INDEPENDENCE DAY (1983) Kathleen Quinlan and David Keith star in this late-coming-of-age tale set in small town America. Mary Ann Taylor (Quinlan) dream of city life as an artist, but former big man-around-town Jack Parker (Keith) returns to tell her that city life is just as lost as country life.  Also stars Frances Sternhagen and Dianne Wiest. Directed by Robert Mandel. 16×9 Widescreen

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