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Hollywood Q & ALetters. We get letters. And we’d like to answer them here, each time we update this column. So email us here at movieirv@moviesunlimited.com and we’ll print the letters in this column. Here are a couple of our recent queries:
Question: Hi!! I am happy I found this site. I would like to know if you know of a movie. I think it stars Ginger Rogers. She works in a factory and dreams of being rich. She gets an idea to pretend to be a missing heiress she reads about. She goes to an older lady’s house and must pass a test. She is put in a room of toys and must find the toy she slept with as a baby. She figures out, by elimination, that the toys have been in the room all these years. She comes upon the last 2 and picks an old ragged doll. It is it and she is declared the long lost baby. She does finally confess that she is not, but they love her and decide they don't care. Can you also let me know if the following movies will ever be available on DVD. THANK YOU so much for this great site!!!!!
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Answer: Could the movie be the 1946 film Cinderella Jones, with Joan Leslie rather than Ginger Rogers? In this film, Ms. Leslie wants to be declared the recipient of a $10 million inheritance, and dumps her bandleader boyfriend in order to find a smarter guy at a university. As for the titles you requested, there’s a rumor the 1951 Robert Taylor oater Westward The Women may surface late this coming spring. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn has been announced and cancelled by Fox several times over the years, and there's some scuttlebutt that it's back on target for sometime in '09. The other movies are nowhere in sight, although we sure get requests for The Thief Of Baghdad (now owned by MGM/Fox), Martin Ritt’s wartime drama Five Branded Women (Paramount), and Two Rode Together, John Ford’s late career western with James Stewart and Richard Widmark.
Question: Greetings. I am wondering if you have heard any thing about a release of Turner Home Entertainment's Treasure Island starring Charlton Heston. I would think with the recent death of Mr. Heston, plus the appearance of a pre-Batman Christian Bale, the release would definitely garner some interest. I did purchase the movie when it was released on VHS. But I think it would be even better on DVD. Thanks. Answer: We’ve heard nothing of late regarding this fine 1990 adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story. It is owned by Turner and Warner, and we’ve received many calls for it. Heston’s son Fraser directed, and the cast also included Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee and Richard Johnson.
Question: I'm a newcomer to your column and enjoy it a great deal. I'm a western movie fan and am wondering if there is any chance in the foreseeable future for the DVD release of the following films: The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday with Lee Marvin from 1976; The Wrath Of God with Robert Mitchum from 1972; Hannie Caulder with Raquel Welch from 1971? Thanks. Answer: You’re obviously a fan of offbeat westerns, and, frankly, we’re perplexed at the absence of these quirky films on DVD. Sadly, none are on any upcoming slate. Great Scout with Marvin, Elizabeth Ashley, Oliver Reed, Robert Culp and the lovely Kay Lenz was a bid for Lee to return to the funny type of sagebrusher he won an Oscar for (Cat Ballou). It was also one of the mid-1970s efforts by American-International Pictures to heighten its profile as a major Hollywood studio after being known as an exploitation house. MGM/Fox owns the film now. The Wrath Of God, with Mitchum as a conman posing as a man of the cloth (a la Night Of The Hunter), Frank Langella as a South American dictator, and Rita Hayworth as Langella’s mother (!) is controlled by Warner, but no word on its DVD release. Hannie Caulder, an unusual western with Welch seeking help from bounty hunter Robert Culp after being raped, is a Paramount release, and not likely to get onto DVD soon because of the company’s continuing neglect of its fine library.
Question: Dear Movie Irv: Any chance that the TV series Peyton Place will ever make it to DVD? This TV soap opera was the beginning of a lot of major stars, such as Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow. The series also featured Dorothy Malone, Barbara Parkins and other great actors. It would be great to see this series again. Also, any chance of another new Joan Crawford box set? I'm still looking for Female On The Beach, This Woman Is Dangerous and Johnny Guitar. Thanks for your column. I've had many questions answered here.
Answer: Our contact at Fox has no word on a Peyton Place release date yet, but he’ll keep us posted. You put the series in fine perspective, mentioning the then-young stars involved in the series (you can add such names as Leigh Taylor-Young and Micky Dolenz). There is a chance of a new Crawford set, but they will not combine those films you mentioned because they are from different companies. Female On The Beach (1955), with Joan and Jeff Chandler, is a Universal picture; This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) with Dennis Morgan is owned by Warner; and the great Johnny Guitar (1954) is now controlled by Lionsgate. Question: Here’re some titles of recent vintage that I’m looking for on DVD:
Doublecrossed (Dennis Hopper) I’m also searching for these classics:
Adventure (Clark Gable) Also, I recently read that Warner has released several new to DVD Paul Newman movies (Silver Chalice, Helen Morgan Story, The Outrage, When Time Ran Out, and Rachel, Rachel). Any word on any of his other films...The Prize, Until They Sail, Lady L, Sometimes A Great Notion, WUSA, etc...
Thanks very much, Irv, you da man!
Answer: Well, will I still be da man if I don’t have good news for you? Your list is terrific, a mix of famous and not-so famous, and then there’s Paul Newman titles to boot. We’d guess the best odds of a debut on DVD in 2009 are: The Devil’s Disciple, Freebie And The Bean, and The Prize. As for the others, they are long shots, at least for the immediate future. We have been waiting for WUSA for a long time.
Question: Keep up the good work on your column. I was wondering if Universal every plans to release another Deanna Durbin set or just more of her movies in general, like Mad About Music, Nice Girl?, His Butler's Sister, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, Hers To Hold, Spring Parade, For The Love Of Mary and others. I was also wondering if Warner is ever planning on re-releasing Little Shop Of Horrors on DVD with the original ending?
Answer: Universal owns the Deanna Durbin films and they tell us they are “under consideration” for DVD release, but that’s been the word for a long time. As for Little Shop, the infamous ending that was punted after test screenings is not in Warner’s plans for release, due to the orders of producer David Geffen. It runs 23 minutes and was once circulating in an incomplete black-and-white version that was not supposed to be issued.
Question: I have been looking for a long time for two 20th Century Fox films from the middle ‘50s.....The Egyptian and Desiree.....Egyptian has been shown on FX and TCM, but not Desiree....Thanks for checking....
Answer: Both films are much-requested, but each supposedly in need of some print restoration and attention, so it’s not likely we’ll see either in the coming months. Both are expensive costume dramas featuring Jean Simmons. The Egyptian (1954) offers Edmund Purdom as Sinuhe, a healer who has several adventures before finding his fate, with Simmons as a barmaid he wishes to marry. Desiree (1955) stars Marlon Brando as Napoleon Bonaparte, Simmons as the title character with whom the Little Corporal is smitten, and Merle Oberon as Josephine.
Question: I was wondering if the movie Forever Amber (1947) with Linda Darnell is scheduled to be released anytime soon, as it is one of my favorite films. Also, are there any plans for more Olivia de Havilland films to be released, especially To Each His Own (1946) and Hold Back The Dawn (1941)? Thanks for your help.
Answer: Forever Amber is a Fox production as well, and this sublime bodice-ripper with Darnell as the adventurous paramour of a series of men, including King Charles II, is not currently slated for DVD arrival. Cornel Wilde, George Sanders, and Glenn Langan play some of her lovers. Word is that late 2009 could see its DVD arrival, hopefully with a prologue that was originally in the film that told audience members that the studio didn’t agree with the protagonist’s amorous behavior. As for Olivia, neither of these two Paramount Pictures, now controlled by Universal, is currently slated for DVD.
Question: I have been searching for the movie Never Say Goodbye starring Rock Hudson and made in 1956 for years now with no luck. Do you have any info on this film, please? Other films I would like to find are Green Dolphin Street and Come September (Gina Lollobrigida and Rock Hudson).
Answer: The melodrama Never Say Goodbye, with Rock as a medic-turned-surgeon who meets up with the German wife he abandoned, is a Universal picture, but we’ve no word on its arrival on DVD. By the way, Clint Eastwood, then a contract player at the studio, has a small role. Sadly, there’s no word to be had either on Green Dolphin Street, with Lana Turner and Donna Reed as Newfoundland-based sisters who fall for New Zealander Richard Hart. This 1947 MGM soaper is Warner's property now. As for Come September, double-check our site, because this 1961 Universal opus is most certainly available through us.
Question: I’ve heard but have never seen a movie called F.T.A. with Jane Fonda. It’s about the Vietnam War, and I believe Donald Sutherland is in it. Any chance of it being released on DVD? Answer: We just—and I mean just—got word that it will be out in the first quarter of ’09. The 1972 documentary traced the controversial efforts of an acting troupe headed by Fonda and Sutherland that toured towns neighboring army bases and offered enlisted men entertainment with a message that the Pentagon never would have signed off on.
Question: I just love movies. A couple of my relatives have been inquiring about Tap Roots. I believe it stars Susan Hayward. It has never been available on DVD or video. Neither have we seen it on TV in a very long time. Can you tell me what happened to this movie? Also, Toy Tiger with Jeff Chandler is one I have been trying to locate. Do you know anything about this movie?
Answer: Tap Roots, released by Universal and directed by the prolific George Marshall, is set in a county in Mississippi that secedes from the state rather than join its fight for the south during the Civil War. Among the principal characters are an abolitionist (Ward Bond), a Native American (Boris Karloff), a newspaper publisher (Van Heflin), and the abolitionist’s daughter (Hayward). Though filmed nearly a decade after Gone With The Wind, some compared the film to the MGM blockbuster. It has never made it to DVD, and, unfortunately, don’t expect it any time soon. Not so coincidentally, it was GWTW that brought Susan to Hollywood, as she tested for the coveted role that Vivien Leigh eventually nabbed. Toy Tiger, also a Universal Picture and a remake of Deanna Durbin’s Mad About Music, tells of a fatherless son who boasts of his dad’s accomplishments to his boarding school classmates. Eventually, Chandler, a co-worker of the boy’s mother (Laraine Day), has to pose as the father. Here, too, DVD arrival for this one is unlikely. Question: Hi Irv, love your column and always look forward to reading it. Do you remember a TV series in the 1990s called Family Matters? It was on for about 9 years. Will there be any seasons of this very funny sitcom on DVD in the near future. Also, when will the studios release the following:
Hart To Hart, Season 3 Lastly, do you have any information on the following movies that have never been on VHS or DVD, EVER.
The Man From The Diner’s Club
Thank you for your time. I hope you have some information on all of these titles. Answer: Family Matters was one of the longest-running, most popular shows of the 1990s and, of course, featured the lovable nerd Urkel (Jaleel White) in the cast, but Warner has not made any recent waves about it landing on DVD. A few years back, rumors swirled about Matters making its DVD debut, but plans were scotched. As for the other TV titles you mentioned, seaQuest DSV and McMillan And Wife have been bandied about for a later-in-2009 release. Lots of people want Robert Wagner in Switch (if that’s what you meant?) with Eddie Albert, but nary a word—discouraging or otherwise—from Universal. As for the movies you were interested in, you’re right: None have been on VHS or DVD despite the calls we’ve gotten for all of them over the years, especially Man From The Diner’s Club with Danny Kaye and Ballad Of Josie with Doris Day. Sorry to say, none of these are on any studio’s imminent release schedule, so, in this case, patience, patience—for all of us.
Question: I saw The Wizard Of Oz In Concert on cable (maybe A&E), and loved it to say the least. Is this on DVD or VHS? Now with regards to the movies that have been mentioned like
Palm Springs Weekend; When Ladies Meet; Good Neighbor Sam and so many more. I guess Warner owns them, will they sell them to us? What do we need to do as consumers to rally together?
Answer: Well, first the good news—sort of. Palm Beach Weekend is on its way, but only as part of the upcoming four-disc Warner Brothers Romance Classics Collection, along with Parrish, Susan Slade and Rome Adventure. Also, we expect Good Neighbor Sam out by mid-2009 from Sony, along with other Jack Lemmon titles like The Notorious Landlady and Operation Mad Ball. As for When Ladies Meet with Robert Taylor, Joan Crawford, and Greer Garson, you can complain to Warner about getting on the schedule. As for The Wizard Of Oz In Concert, you probably saw it on TBS. It was available on VHS for a while, but never released on DVD, a fate that has also befallen other Turner properties that people often request. No word on this unique take on the MGM film with the likes of Jewel, Roger Daltrey, Nathan Lane, Jackson Browne, Natalie Cole, Joel Grey, and Debra Winger.
Question: When the Natalie Wood Collection from Warner is released on February 3, 2009, do you know if Inside Daisy Clover will be released separately? I already own Gypsy and Splendor In The Grass and I'm not interested in the other titles. I don't care to buy the whole set for one title.
Answer: Sorry to say, you need to buy them all together—at least at first. It is a frustrating marketing decision, we can agree. Sometimes, Warner does get around to putting them out on their own, but we don’t know for sure if or when. Late word is that they will now be offering Sex And The Single Girl individually, but no such luck about Inside Daisy Clover or the other Natalie set-exclusives.
Question: I've been desperately trying to find on DVD or VHS No Sad Songs For Me starring Margaret Sullavan. Unfortunately, I don't think it's available in either format. I'm hoping I haven't missed it on TCM any time recently. Any news on this movie?
Answer: Unfortunately, there has never been a home video release for No Sad Songs, the 1950 film with Sullavan as a terminally ill woman trying to hide the truth of her incurable disease from her husband. It is a Columbia title, so it’s possible TCM could run it, as they have licensed some of Sony’s Columbia library for broadcast. The chances of Sony putting the drama out on DVD in the near future, however, is slim to none, sorry to say.
Question: Is there any hope/info as to the future release of Take Her, She's Mine with Jimmy Stewart and Sandra Dee, or The Late George Apley with Ronald Colman? Thanks.
Answer: The terrific Take Her, She’s Mine is owned by Fox and not on their current schedule, despite our efforts to alert them of all the requests we’ve received for it. Joseph Mankiewicz’s The Late George Apley, a social satire about the romantic mores of a Boston family circa 1912, also belongs to the studio, but no word on that one, either.
Question: Hi, do you know when the next seasons of ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will be released?
Answer: ER: The Complete Tenth Season will be out in early March 2009 and can be ordered now on our website. You can do the same with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Year Eight, due out in mid-February, 2009.
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