Welcome To Burnt Offerings

Tuesday, 04 June 2013 15:57

Welcome To Burnt Offerings

by Dr Adam Jahnke

Since the Warner Archive Collection introduced the concept of Manufactured On Demand DVDs, I’ve written a number of times about my enthusiasm for the format. As a longtime champion of forgotten and obscure movies with my JET’s Most Wanted project, I immediately recognized that MOD was the best way for many of these movies with an admittedly limited appeal to finally be released on DVD. For awhile now, we’ve been trying to figure out a way to increase our coverage of MOD discs on The Bits. This column is the result of these efforts.

Every week, Burnt Offerings will take a closer look at what’s newly available from Warner Archive and other MOD programs from Sony, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Universal. I’ll run down what’s new and take a look at what’s coming down the pike. I’ll also be digging through the Warner Archive Collection and reviewing titles I think are particularly exceptional, noteworthy or unusual. Some of these will be recent additions to the collection, others will be titles that have been available for awhile. There are over 1,500 titles available on Warner Archive alone, so it’s easy for stuff to fall through the cracks. Burnt Offerings will try to catch them.

With that, let’s take a look at Warner Archive’s new releases for the week of June 4, 2013!

WARNER ARCHIVE – NEW THIS WEEK

Terror On A Train (1953) – Not to be confused with the Jamie Lee Curtis slasher flick Terror Train, this one stars Glenn Ford as a bomb disposal expert tasked by British police with finding and defusing a time bomb placed on board a train. The movie was directed by famed cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff (he shot Hitchcock’s Notorious).

The Decks Ran Red (1958) – James Mason stars as the new captain of a troubled freighter. Broderick Crawford and Stuart Whitman play two mutinous crew members who are plotting to murder everybody else on board and sell the ship. Dorothy Dandridge co-stars and Andrew L. Stone directs. A great title and an intriguing plot. I’m looking forward to checking this one out.

The Reformer And The Redhead (1950) – A political romantic comedy starring June Allyson and Dick Powell, a real-life married couple at the time. Powell plays a mayoral candidate who helps out Allyson when her zookeeper father loses his job. From the great comedy screenwriting team Melvin Frank and Norman Panama.

Right Cross (1950) – Allyson and Powell were busy in 1950. In this one, they’re two corners of a love triangle opposite Ricardo Montalban as a boxer in love with his promoter (Allyson). Several familiar faces pop up in supporting roles, including Lionel Barrymore and Marilyn Monroe as the awesomely named Dusky Ledoux.

The F.B.I.: The Complete Fifth Season (1969-70) – The long-running Efrem Zimbalist Jr. series hits its halfway point with a season chockfull of guest stars, including Robert Duvall, Jeff Bridges, Vera Miles and Harrison Ford.

In Vogue: The Editor’s Eye (2012) – HBO Documentary Films goes behind the pages of the iconic fashion magazine, including interviews with editors, photographers, designers and celebrities. Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the team behind such great documentaries as The Eyes Of Tammy Faye and Inside Deep Throat.

COMING SOON

The Howard Hawks classic Air Force is coming back into print thanks to Warner Archive. It’s available for pre-order now and is scheduled to begin shipping June 11.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray collection will introduce Hugh Hudson’s prestige Tarzan epic Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes. Currently available for pre-order, the disc is currently scheduled for June 25.

THIS WEEK’S REVIEW

This week’s Warner Archive review is the camp classic Sincerely Yours starring the one and only Liberace! You can check it out here.

And that’s this week’s Burnt Offerings! I hope you enjoy the new column and we’ll see you again next Tuesday.

- Dr. Adam Jahnke

Published in Burnt Offerings: MOD DVD

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