New to DVD & Blu-Ray - Week of 12/16/2012

In 18th-century Italy, contessa Betty Grable finds her castle commandeered by Hungarian military officer Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and his troops. Turning to the portrait of her lookalike ancestress for advice, she actually gets a response...and the counsel she receives is stranger still! Fluffy musical-comedy co-stars Cesar Romero, Walter Abel, Reginald Gardiner; Ernst Lubitsch's last, posthumous directing credit (completed by an unbilled Otto Preminger). 89 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono.

Repurposing of "House of Strangers" to (of all things) a circus setting follows a domineering show-family patriarch (Nehemiah Persoff) whose lifetime of underhanded dealings fosters resentment, misery, and a power struggle amongst his children. Effective drama co-stars Esther Williams, Cliff Robertson, Robert Vaughn, David Nelson, Margia Dean. 112 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono.