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March can either come in or go out like a lion, so it’s fitting that later this month you’ll be able to roar with Leo the lion as a pair of classic MGM films make their Blu-ray debut, courtesy of the Warner Archive label. There are also vintage flicks from RKO and (naturally) Warner Bros., all in beautiful 4K restoration. And for you animation buffs, there’s a new collection of vintage Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons and a star-filled Hanna-Barbera ’70s Saturday morning favorite.
The Gay Divorcee (1934) – Cole Porter’s 1932 Broadway hit, “Gay Divorce,” became a perfect debut starring vehicle for dance legends-to-be Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who play an American dancer and a geologist’s estranged wife, respectively, whose inevitable romance is sidetracked by a case of mistaken identity in an English seaside resort. With Betty Grable, Alice Brady, and Edward Everett Horton. The score includes Porter’s “Night and Day,” and four songs written expressly for the screen, including “The Continental,” first recipient of the Best Song Academy Award. 105 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Includes the original theatrical trailer, two bonus cartoons and two live-action shorts, and a “Screen Guild Playhouse” audio broadcast with Frank Sinatra and Gloria DeHaven.
Honky Tonk (1941) – Clark Gable and Lana Turner’s first of four films together was this glossy romantic western. Gable stars as con artist Candy Johnson, who plans to take over an entire frontier town with the help of crooked Judge Cotton (Frank Morgan). But the scheme hits a snag when Candy marries Cotton’s beautiful, good-hearted daughter Elizabeth, (Turner) and the judge exposes him for the scoundrel he really is. Claire Trevor, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills also star. 105 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Includes the original theatrical trailer, a bonus “Tom and Jerry” cartoon and “Our Gang” short, and a “Lux Radio Theater” audio broadcast with Turner and John Hodiak.
It All Came True (1940) – On the lam after shooting an informant, hood Chips Maguire (Humphrey Bogart) blackmails a musician (Jeffrey Lynn) into holing him up at his mom’s theatrical boarding house. When Chips learns that the kindly old girl’s behind on her taxes, he rallies the home’s talented, if chronically unemployable, residents to turn the place into a money-making nightspot. Infectious, music-filled romp co-stars Ann Sheridan, ZaSu Pitts, Una O’Connor. 97 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English DTS mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Includes the original theatrical trailer and two bonus Warner Bros. cartoons.
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) – Celebrated and acid-tingued New York critic Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) had the misfortune of a slip-and-fall while the guest of a small-town Ohio family. The worse luck belonged to his reluctant hosts, as the cantankerous convalescent turns their household upside down while meddling in the love life of his long-suffering secretary (Bette Davis). Wonderful film adaptation of the Kaufman/Hart stage comedy also stars Richard Travis, Ann Sheridan, Billie Burke, Jimmy Durante, and Mary Wickes. 113 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Includes the original theatrical trailer, a bonus “Bugs Bunny” cartoons and musical short, the featurette “Inside a Classic Comedy,” and a “Lux Radio Theater” audio broadcast with Lucille Ball and Clifton Webb.
Tea and Sympathy (1956) – Director Vincente Minnelli’s filming of the Robert Anderson stage drama (underplaying the play’s controversial homosexual theme) chronicles the relationship between a New England prep school student teased by his peers for being “unmanly” and his housemaster’s wife. Deborah Kerr, John Kerr, and Leif Erickson re-create their Broadway roles; look for Darryl Hickman, Dean Jones, and Tom Laughlin among the students. 122 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Includes the original theatrical trailer and a bonus “Tom and Jerry” cartoon.
Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault, Volume 2 – Fifty-one long-sought classics from the Warner Bros. animation department–including “Country Boy” (1935), “Boulevardier from the Bronx” (1936), “The Daffy Duckaroo” (1942), “The Bird Came C.O.D.” (1942), “Ain’t That Ducky” (1945), “A-Lad-in His Lamp” (1948), “I Taw a Putty Tat” (1948), “Bone Sweet Bone” (1948), “Dr. Jerkyl’s Hide” (1954), “Boston Quackie” (1957), “Fastest with the Mostest” (1960), and “Mother Was a Rooster” (1962)–are collected in a two-disc set. 6 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics – Get ready for some gold medal comedy with this 1977-79 Saturday morning series, as three teams of favorite Hanna-Barbera characters–including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Captain Caveman, Speed Buggy, Mumbly, and, of course, Scooby-Doo–travel around the globe to take part in wacky sports competitions. With the voice talents of Marilyn Schreffler, Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Daws Butler, Gary Owens, and Heather North. Three-disc set includes all 24 episodes plus the 2012 film “Scooby-Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games.” 9 3/4 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH).
Each of these titles will street on March 24 (except for Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, which comes out on March 31). Follow the above links to pre-order them from Movies Unlimited, and stay tuned to MovieFanFare for more new release announcements from Warner Archive and other companies.