Here’s your rundown of what new titles are now available. There’s plenty of great picks, so let’s get right to it!
Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) forms a stage act with cornpone comic Red Skelton, then has to bail him out when he takes the fall for a con job, in “Maisie Gets Her Man” (1942). Allen Jenkins, Donald Meek co-star. Maisie joins the assembly line at an aircraft plant, and gets into it with roommate Jean Rogers over test pilot James Craig, in “Swing Shift Maisie” (1943). Then, “Maisie Goes To Reno” (1944) in search of a band singer job, and gets caught up in a blackmail scheme. Ava Gardner, John Hodiak, Tom Drake co-star. “Up Goes Maisie” (1946) when she helps inventor George Murphy test his remote-controlled helicopter. Stephen McNally, Hillary Brooke co-star. The last series entry finds “Undercover Maisie” (1947) helping the LAPD break a bunco ring. Barry Nelson, Leon Ames co-star.
A tough-as-nails ex-dancehall girl (Joan Crawford) opens a saloon/gaming hall on the outskirts of an Arizona town whose residents–led by a rancher (Mercedes McCambridge) who blames Crawford’s outlaw lover (Scott Brady) for her brother’s death–try to shut her down. Into this frontier feud rides Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a mysterious wanderer from Crawford’s past. Called an anti-McCarthyism allegory and a proto-feminist drama, director Nicholas Ray’s cult western co-stars Ward Bond, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine.
Lavishly rendered take on the de Maupassant novel stars Robert Pattinson as the handsome journalist in 1890s Paris who navigates the boudoirs of society’s most influential women in his hunt for prestige and power. Effective drama co-stars Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colm Meaney.
Intense, erotic crime thriller with Gina Gershon as an ex-con who, after having a sexual liaison with neighbor Jennifer Tilly, joins forces with her to dupe gangster boyfriend Joe Pantoliano out of $2 million in laundered loot. Stylish, sizzling suspenser from the Wachowski Brothers features titillating sex scenes and plenty of plot twists.
From the “Despicable Me” team comes this charming, computer-animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ cautionary fable about Ted (voiced by Zac Efron), a 12-year-old boy living in the synthetic city of Thneedville, who searches for a real tree to impress a girl (Taylor Swift). Ted’s quest leads him to the Once-ler (Ed Helms), who tells the tale of the Lorax (Danny DeVito), a cantankerous orange creature whose pleas to keep the Truffula Trees from being cut down fell on deaf ears.
All 22 episodes from the first season–including the “Pilot,” “Game Ogre,” “Three Coins In A Fuchsbau,” “The Thing With Feathers,” and “Woman In Black”–are featured in a five-disc set.
Offbeat espionage thriller stars Margaret Lockwood as Frances Gray, a renowned entomologist recruited by British Intelligence for a risky assignment. It seems a fictional Iron Curtain country has developed a way to use insects as a means of waging germ warfare and Gray may be the only person who can stop the diabolical plot. Dane Clark, Marius Goring co-star.
Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt
Still bucking for reinstatement as police chief of Paradise, Stone (Tom Selleck) must bring all of his instincts to bear when the community is rocked by an audacious mob-related double homicide. Eighth telefilm inspired by the Robert B. Parker novels co-stars Kathy Baker, William Devane, William Sadler, Robert Carradine.
All 18 episodes from the third season–including “I Don’t Want To Do This Without You,” “Nora,” “Forced Family Fun,” “Just Smile,” and “My Brother’s Wedding”–are featured in a four-disc set.
Prototypical terror-on-a-train suspenser from Britain follows a French inspector (Frank Vosper) who must find those responsible for an on-board murder and an art theft before the locomotive pulls into Rome. First feature from Gaumont boasts an exceptional ensemble cast including Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwicke, Hugh Williams, Finlay Currie, Joan Barry, Donald Calthrop.
A long-abandoned Colorado silver mine is reopened 70 years after a deadly and mysterious cave-in, but the excavation unleashes the bloodthirsty tentacled creatures responsible for the first disaster…creatures that are eager for some fresh victims. Chilling horror tale from Sunn Classic Pictures (“In Search of Noah’s Ark”) stars Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Jeff Harlan.
The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss’ Deluxe Edition)
One of the most beloved children’s stories of all time, Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat” comes to life in this animated TV special. On a rainy day at home, siblings Dick and Sally have their lives turned upside down when a sassy chapeaued feline arrives at their door. Together with the messy Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat and his new friends have the adventure of a lifetime.
Released from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for a murder he didn’t commit, Phillip Davidson (John Mills) is consumed with anger and bitterness. But he finds himself at a crossroads, faced with making the most important decision of his life: Should he seek revenge against those responsible for his wrongful incarceration or put the past behind him and get on with his life? John McCallum, Elizabeth Sellars co-star in this powerful drama from the U.K.
Based on the Bret Harte story, this provocative western finds a gambler (Dale Robertson), a bandit (Cameron Mitchell), and a dance hall girl (Anne Baxter) trapped together in a snowbound cabin. Isolated from civilization in their remote mountain prison, the three make an unlikely team as they battle the elements–and their own worst instincts–in order to survive. With Miriam Hopkins, Craig Hill.
In this Civil War-era saga, Van Heflin leads a squad of Confederate soldiers–Peter Graves and Lee Marvin among them–on an escape route to Canada as the war ends. Planning to rob banks and set a small Vermont town ablaze to retaliate against the North, Heflin masquerades as a businessman to walk among his enemies incognito…but his scheme is complicated by his infatuation with local widow Anne Bancroft. With Tommy Rettig, James Best.
The Rookies: The Complete Second Season
All 23 episodes from the second season–including “Cauldron,” “Down Home Boy,” “Sound of Silence,” “Trial of Doubt,” and “Death Watch”–are featured in a six-disc set.
While flying through a hurricane, former Navy pilot Lt. Willard Slattery (Richard Widmark) reflects upon his life. As he flashes back to his various regrets–including having an affair with his best friend’s wife and taking a job smuggling drugs–he wonders if he can find redemption before the storm spells his doom. With Linda Darnell, Veronica Lake, John Russell.
For details and availability of more of this week’s new releases, click here.
Here’s a look at last week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases.