New DVD Releases: Week of 4-26-10

04.26.10 | Chris Cummins | New Releases This WeekPrint this Post

Tags: Barbara Stanwyck

This is a great week to be a classic film fan, with new releases showcasing the works of Barbara Stanwyck and Deanna Durbin.  Other notable titles making their DVD and Blu-ray debuts include Heath Ledger's final film, a romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, the rare I Love Lucy movie and the first season of a cult TV classic. There's a lot of information to get to, so let's begin.

The Barbara Stanwyck Collection

This three-disc set features 8 1/2 hours worth of classic performances from Babara Stanwyck. Includes the first film to feature Dr. Kildare, Internes Can't Take Money (1937) which finds ex-convict Stanwyck seeking help from the caring medico (Joel McCrea) to save her kidnapped daughter from a gangster. With Lloyd Nolan. Then, an elderly Stanwyck looks back on her romance with frontiersman and eventual U.S. senator McCrea in the sweeping drama The Great Man's Lady (1942), co-starring Brian Donlevy. Next, horse breeder Stanwyck's marriage to author/Civil War buff Robert Cummings is endangered thanks to neighbor Diana Lynn in the comedy The Bride Wore Boots (1946). With Robert Benchley, Natalie Wood. The Lady Gambles (1949) has Stanwyck being bitten by the gaming bug while visiting Las Vegas with reporter spouse Robert Preston. With Stephen McNally and, as a bellhop, Tony Curtis. After leaving for an affair and a stage career, early 1900s actress Stanwyck tries to reunite with husband Richard Carlson and their children in the Douglas Sirk melodrama All I Desire (1953). Lastly, toy manufacturer Fred MacMurray sees an escape from a stifling homelife when old flame Stanwyck returns in Sirk's There's Always Tomorrow (1956), with Joan Bennett.

It's Complicated

A decade of divorce behind them, a successful Santa Barbara bakeshop owner (Meryl Streep) and her married ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) unexpectedly reconnect at their son's graduation, leading to a torrid affair. Now, Streep will have to decide if she wants to be Baldwin's "other woman" or if she has a future with the charming architect (Steve Martin) she's hired to redesign her kitchen. Lake Bell, Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson and John Krasinski co-star. Despite the title, there really isn't anything complicated about this film at all. Unless you find formulaic romantic comedies perplexing.

Deanna Durbin: The Music and Romance Collection

Universal's beloved singing sensation receives the full star treatment with this five-disc set. In Mad About Music (1938), vain movie star Gail Patrick decides she wants to forget about daughter Deanna Durbin, so she sends her to a Swiss boarding school. Songs include "I Love to Whistle." Then, smitten with journalist Melvyn Douglas, teenager Deanna ignores former beau Jackie Cooper until Douglas sets things right, in the romance That Certain Age (1938). Songs includes "You're as Pretty as a Picture." Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) offers Durbin as a young woman getting tangled up in her sisters' love affairs. Songs include "Because" and "The Last Rose of Summer." Then, eager for a shot at Broadway stardom, would-be actress Deanna works to become the protege of veteran stage star Charles Laughton, in the comedy  Because of Him (1946). And, in her final film, For the Love of Mary (1948), Deanna plays a White House telephone operator who gets help from her unseen chief executive boss in straightening out her romantic problems.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Due to Heath Ledger's untimely death shortly after work on the film began, Terry Gilliam's latest fantasy is a fascinating yet bittersweet work. The magical nature of the story allowed Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to stand-in for Ledger as his character, but the movie feels disjointed--as if its heart was ripped from it. Given the tragic off-screen drama that marred the production, this is understandable.

I Love Lucy: The Movie and Other Great Rarities

Your Lucille Ball collection isn't complete until you own this collection of rare treasures featuring the red-headed comedy great and her TV cohorts. In addition to "I Love Lucy: The Movie" (1953)--a feature-length film edited together from the episodes "The Benefit," "Breaking the Lease," and "The Ballet," along with exclusively shot footage--this collection also includes a colorized version of the episode "Lucy Goes to Scotland," the lost pilot, highlights of Lucy and Desi's first joint TV appearance in 1949 on "The Ed Wynn Show," and much more. Even though Lucy may be gone, releases like this prove that her legacy will continue to live on for ages to come.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete First Season

"How's my hair"? Previously only available in a massive complete series box set, Garry Shandling's pre-The Larry Sanders Show sitcom comes to DVD in this four-disc set that collects all 16 episodes from the first season. The hilarious and innovative 1986-90 Showtime series ignored nearly every sitcom convention, frequently breaking the "fourth wall" and featuring characters who were aware they were part of a TV show. Shandling starred as a neurotic stand-up comic (so, pretty much himself), Molly Cheek was his platonic friend Nancy, and Michael Tucci, Bernadette Birkett, and Scott Nemes were the neighboring Schumachers.

For details and availability of more of this week's new releases, click here.

Here's a look at last week's New DVD Releases.