With June now a memory, we are heading into a new month with another batch of terrific new releases. Leading things off are several Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton titles from the Warner Archive Collection ensuring that you’ll be starting your July with plenty of Hollywood style befitting the legendary pair. Here’s a rundown of what titles are available this week!
The Sandpiper (1965)
Vincente Minnelli directs Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in this bittersweet romantic tale about Laura Reynolds (Taylor), a liberated artist living on the California coast, who begins a torrid affair with a married minister, Dr. Edward Hewitt (Burton), who’s also the headmaster at her son’s school. Eva Marie Saint, Charles Bronson also star; features the Oscar-winning song “The Shadow of Your Smile.”
The V.I.P.s (1963)
Lush, multi-character melodrama looks at the lives and loves of a group of travellers waiting at a fog-shrouded London airport, including an actress (Elizabeth Taylor) caught between the husband she recently fled (Richard Burton) and a suave Lothario (Louis Jourdan); a filmmaker (Orson Welles) trying to skip on his tax burden; a businessman (Rod Taylor) in peril of losing his company; and a dotty duchess (Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner Margaret Rutherford).
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Controversial, emotionally charged drama stars Marlon Brando as Weldon Penderton, a latently gay army major stationed in 1948 Georgia and unhappily married to the shrewish Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor). While Leonora has an affair with one of Weldon’s fellow officers (Brian Keith), he finds himself drawn to a young non-com (Robert Forster). Julie Harris also stars in director John Huston’s powerful adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel.
The Comedians (1967)
Having failed to unload his struggling Haitian hotel abroad, a cynical businessman (Richard Burton) returned to the island in pursuit of his interests–including his affair with the Uruguayan ambassador’s wife (Elizabeth Taylor). However, he docked just as Papa Doc Duvalier’s regime hit its brutal stride–with stunning consequences for everyone in his orbit. Suspenseful drama based on Graham Greene’s politically charged novel co-stars Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness, Paul Ford, Lillian Gish.
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)
Director/co-writer Paul Bartel’s darkly comic satire focuses on the crazy lives of widowed former television star Claire Lipkin (Jacqueline Bisset) and her divorced socialite friend and house guest Lisabeth Hepburn-Saravian (Mary Woronov). The ladies become the subjects of a wager when their respective employees (Ray Sharkey, Robert Beltran) bet to see who will be the first to sleep with the other’s boss. With Ed Begley, Jr. Wallace Shawn, Arnetia Walker.
Controversial, emotionally charged drama stars Marlon Brando as Weldon Penderton, a latently gay army major stationed in 1948 Georgia and unhappily married to the shrewish Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor). While Leonora has an affair with one of Weldon’s fellow officers (Brian Keith), he finds himself drawn to a young non-com (Robert Forster). Julie Harris also stars in director John Huston’s powerful adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel.
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (2020)
Big-screen reprise for Essie Davis as Kerry Greenwood’s stylish Jazz Age sleuth finds Phryne Fisher engineering the daring rescue of Bedouin political prisoner Shirin (Izabella Yena) from her Jerusalem cell. The audacious act would embroil Miss Fisher in a desert adventure to determine whether the disappearance of Shirin’s tribe resulted from an ancient curse…or contemporary skullduggery. Nathan Page, Rupert Penry-Jones, Ashleigh Cummings, Miriam Margolyes, John Waters also star.
Hair (Olive Signature)(1979)
The landmark off-Broadway musical comedy that made headlines in the ’60s for its controversial themes and on-stage nudity gets a big-screen reworking by director Milos Forman. A young draftee (John Savage) from Oklahoma meets up with a fun-loving band of hippies in Central Park and falls in love with a beautiful socialite (Beverly D’Angelo). Songs include “Aquarius,” “Hair,” “Easy to Be Hard,” and “Good Morning Starshine.” Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly D’Angelo, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, and Cheryl Barnes star.
Christmas In Evergreen: Tidings of Joy (2019)
For stalled NYC novelist Katie Connell (Maggie Lawson), she’d hoped that a working vacation to Evergreen, Vermont–writing a piece on the town’s year-round seasonal spirit for her business magazine editor mother–would snap her out of her funk. After she turned to local librarian and former big-town beat reporter Ben Baxter (Paul Greene) for color, though, she’d be writing an unexpected chapter to her story. Franchise favorite entry co-stars Holly Robinson Peete, Barbara Niven.
To End All Wars (Director’s Cut)(2001)
Riveting World War II drama, based on actual events, centers on a British regiment that is captured by the Japanese and used as slave labor to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle. As the days wear on, the troops become divided when some agree to help a determined major (Robert Carlyle) plan an escape while others follow a religious captain (Ciarán McMenamin) in his quest for spiritual enlightenment. Kiefer Sutherland, Mark Strong, Sakae Kimura also star.
Not for Publication (1984)
Paul Bartel puts an ’80s spin on the screwball comedy genre with this tale of Lois Thornedyke (Nancy Allen), a New York City tabloid reporter who also works in Mayor Franklyn’s office (Laurence Luckinbill). Franklyn has designs on Lois, but she and photographer Barry Denver (David Naughton) are more interested in exposing his honor as part of a sleazy political conspiracy. Alan Rosenberg, Alice Ghostley, Cork Hubbert also star.
Evil: Season One (2019)
Forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) got canned by the DA over a case where the defendant made an insanity plea based on claimed demonic possession. A new job offer quickly came from seminarian/Vatican assessor David Acosta (Mike Colter), who investigates strange phenomena to determine whether they have scientific basis–or result from intervention from above…or below. Supernatural CBS drama co-stars Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti, Kurt Fuller. All 13 episodes from the series’ debut season are included in this three-disc set.
Ten Little Indians (1989)
Believing they’ve been invited to take part in an African safari, 10 strangers congregate at a remote hunting camp in the middle of the jungle. But they soon discover that the only ones being hunted are them as they start getting killed one at a time as punishment for a murder each has committed. Now, they must determine if the host who has accused them in absentia is actually one of their number. Donald Pleasence, Frank Stallone, Brenda Vaccaro, Herbert Lom star in this offbeat filming of the Agatha Christie classic
Come and See (Criterion Collection)(1985)
During the 1943 Nazi invasion of Byelorussia, a teenage boy (Alexsei Kravchenko) enthusiastically joins the partisan forces defending his homeland, but is slowly robbed of his innocence, his conscience and his very soul by the horrors of war and genocidal German atrocities he witnesses, in this visually gripping drama from director Elem Klimov.
Deerskin (2019)
Kicked to the curb by his wife, aging loser Georges (Jean Dujardin) thought he’d start changing luck and life by blowing all his cash on a roadside peddler’s supposedly magical buckskin jacket. Though the stylish apparel lets the locals of the Alpine town he enters mistakenly believe he’s a movie producer, the real bill for the cursed clothing is about to come due. Expectedly fringe dark farce from director Quentin Dupieux co-stars Adele Haenel, Albert Delpy, Marie Bunel.
Beecham House (Masterpiece)(2019)
Delhi, 1795: Having disgustedly resigned his commission with the East India Company, Britisher John Beecham (Tom Bateman) returned to his family’s palatial estate, determined to establish independent–and fair–commerce with the community. The inevitable pitfalls and clashes with his old-world clan, and the culture writ large, fuel this intriguing historical drama from Gurinder Chadha. Lesley Nicol, Marc Warren, Dakota Blue Richards, Lara Dutta, Grégory Fitoussi co-star.
Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash (2020)
The October 20th, 1977 plane crash that killed several members of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd is the focus of this enthralling biopic. With three of his bandmates, their assistant road manager, and both of the plane’s pilots dead, drummer Artimus Pyle (Ian Shultis) was able to help his fellow survivors by pulling them out of the wreckage. Taylor Clift, Samuel Kay Forrest, Rich Dally III, Chris Peritore also star.
Wild Palms (1993)
Producer Oliver Stone’s five-part miniseries is set in early-21st-century Los Angeles, where attorney Harry Wyckoff (Jim Belushi) joins a media group headed by sinister politician Sen. Anton Kreutzer (Robert Loggia), who wants to revolutionize TV through the use of “virtual reality.” Soon, Wyckoff and his family are flung into a nightmarish world filled with strange visions and dangerous conspiracies. Dana Delany, Angie Dickinson, Kim Cattrall also star.
Patty Hearst (1988)
The incredible true story of the heiress who was kidnapped by urban radicals in 1974 and (according to Hearst and the film) tortured and brainwashed into joining her captors is brought to the screen by director Paul Schrader. Natasha Richardson stars as Hearst, the rich young woman who comes to question her core values while in captivity. Searing drama based on Hearst’s autobiography, “Every Secret Thing,” co-stars Frances Fisher, William Forsythe.
The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection
Italian writer/director Umberto Lenzi helmed popular peplums, created extreme poliziotteschi, and invented the Italian cannibal phenomenon. Hollywood actress Carroll Baker was the Golden Globe winning/Academy Award nominated star of Baby Doll, Giant and The Carpetbaggers. Together in the late ’60s/early ’70s, they made four landmark films that changed the erotic thriller and giallo genres forever. For the first time, experience the complete Lenzi/Baker collaboration on six discs, featuring restored uncensored versions, alternate edits, remastered soundtracks, exclusive Special Features and more.
Click here for an overview of all of this week’s new releases.