• General
  
• African American Drama
  
• By Genre
  
• By Theme
  
• Classics
  
• Crime & Criminals
  
• Cult Classics
  
• Family Life
  
• Gay & Lesbian
  
• Independently Distributed
  
• Love & Romance
  
• Military & War
  
• Murder & Mayhem
  
• Period Piece
  
• Religion
  
• Sports
  
• Television
  

  ---

• Cheap computer software
  
• Online books store
  
• Books, Music, DVD, Electronics and others
  
• Italian charm bracelets
  
• spreadsheets in Excel

List Price: $19.98
Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.99 (25%)

Cleopatra

Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, George Cole
ASIN : B000BZISSU
Sales Rank : 3978
Director : Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543224518
UPC : 024543224518
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Manufacturer : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Running Time : 192

Description

Richard Burton, Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor star in one of the greatest screen spectacles ever made - the story of the Queen of the Nile and her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. The film is distinguished by superb performances from Burton and Harrison (nominated for an Oscar), but at its center is Elizabeth Taylor in one of the most glamorous roles of her career. Astounding in scope and grandeur, the picture won Oscars for cinematography, sets and special effects. It's famous moments include moviedom's most flamboyant entrance - Cleopatra's dazzling arrival in Rome. Bolstered by a talented supporting cast and utterly stunning backdrops, here is a truly epic portrayal of the woman who conquered two of Rome's greatest soldiers, affected the course of history, and became synonymous with beguiling beauty - Cleopatra.

Amazon.com essential video

This 1963 extravaganza, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, is certainly an epic historical drama with all the elements: elaborate sets, intricate costuming, name actors, a factual basis, and an overlong script (just over four hours). But the acting is well performed and the backdrops are lush, making this a film worth seeing. Elizabeth Taylor is Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen who seduces Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) in a political move to hold onto her empire. When Caesar is killed in the Roman Senate, Cleopatra looks to Marc Antony (Richard Burton) for his support, practically enslaving him with her wiles. Taylor is dramatic in her role, at times overly serious, but stunning nonetheless as the woman described as "well versed in the natural sciences and mathematics. She speaks seven languages proficiently. Were she not a woman one would consider her to be an intellectual." While the film does seem to drag at moments, it deserves the four Oscars it won for cinematography, art direction-set direction, costumes, and special effects. Don't confuse this Cleopatra with the 1934 version directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Claudette Colbert. --Jenny Brown

List Price: $14.98
Price: $10.49
You Save: $4.49 (30%)

The Best Years of Our Lives

Actors: Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo
ASIN : 0792846133
Sales Rank : 1629
Director : William Wyler
Studio : MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780792846130
ISBN : 0792846133
UPC : 027616850133
Release Date : December 18, 2000
Publisher : MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer : MGM (Video & DVD)
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : MGM (Video & DVD)
Running Time : 172

Description

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to becomea nightmare. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past? Featuring a brilliant cast that includes Myrna Loy and Virginia Mayo, this postwar classic garnered* seven OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Heart-wrenching, touching and "filled with emotional dynamite" (The Hollywood Reporter), it remains "one of the best films about war veterans ever made" (American Movie Classics). *1946: Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Writing/Screenplay, Film Editing, Music/Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Amazon.com essential video

Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, actor, and screenplay, William Wyler's brilliant drama about domestic life after World War II remains one of the all-time classics of American cinema. Inspired by a pictorial article about returning soldiers in Life magazine, the story focuses on three war veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell in unforgettable roles) and their rocky readjustment to civilian life in their Midwestern town of Boone City. Capturing the contradictory moods of America in the mid to late 1940s, this three-hour drama spans a complex range of honest emotions, from joyous celebration and happy reunion to deep-rooted ambivalence and reassessment of personal priorities. A movie milestone when released in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives still packs a punch with powerful, timeless themes. --Jeff Shannon

List Price: $9.95
Price: $7.99
You Save: $1.96 (20%)

Born Free

Actors: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye, Omar Chambati
ASIN : B0000844M8
Sales Rank : 3918
Director : James Hill, Tom McGowan
Brand : Sony
Studio : Sony Pictures
Region Code : 99
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780767881371
ISBN : 0767881370
UPC : 043396077515
Release Date : December 04, 2003
Publisher : Sony Pictures
Manufacturer : Sony Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sony Pictures
Running Time : 95

Product Description

A true story of elsa the lioness who was raised by game warden george adamson and his wife joy. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 04/24/2007 Starring: Virginia Mckenna Bill Travers Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Pg

Amazon.com

Born Free is a bona fide family classic. The tale of how Kenya game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy (on whose book the film is based, with Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers in the principal roles) adopted and raised three orphaned lion cubs, taking a particular shine to the one they call Elsa before helping her return to the wild, is familiar by now; so's John Barry's Oscar-winning title song. And while the movie has its flaws (it contains references to "Bwana George" and such that would be considered frightfully un-PC nowadays), the animal footage, especially that of the lions in their various stages of development, is extraordinary and timelessly entertaining. DVD bonus features are limited to theatrical trailers, but the digitally remastered film can be viewed in both widescreen and full screen. A keeper. --Sam Graham

List Price: $19.98
Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.99 (25%)

Ultimate Flint Collection (Our Man Flint / In Like Flint)

Actors: James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, Jean Hale, Andrew Duggan, Anna Lee
ASIN : B000HT3PF6
Sales Rank : 5495
Director : Daniel Mann, Gordon Douglas
Brand : Ultimate
Studio : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543385042
UPC : 024543385042
Release Date : December 07, 2006
Publisher : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Manufacturer : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Running Time : 222

Description

Disc 1: **Our Man Flint- Widescreen Feature

*Commentary by Film Historians Eddie Friedfeld & Lee Pfeiffer *Theatrical Trailer *Fox Flix: In Like Flint Fathom Modesty Blaise

Disc 2: **In Like Flint-Widescreen Feature

*Commentary by Eddie Friedfeld & Lee Pfeiffer *Theatrical Trailer *Fox Flix: In Like Flint Fathom Modesty Blaise

Disc 3: **Special Features Disc includes: *Dead On Target-TV Movie *The Musician's Magician *Future Perfect *Spy School *Spy Vogue *Feminine Wiles *In Like Flint - Puerto Rico Premiere *Spy-er-rama *A Gentleman's Game *Spy Style (6:46) *The Making of Bouillabaisse

*Screen Tests: Gila Golan for Our Man Flint James Coburn & Gila Golan for Our Man Flint Deanna Lund for In Like Flint

*Trailers: The Chairman The Quiller Memorandum Deadfall Peeper The Magus Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls

Amazon.com

There's really been only one rival to James Bond: Derek Flint. That's because of James Coburn's special brand of American cool. He's so cool, in fact, that he doesn't care to save the world. That is, until he's personally threatened. He's a true libertarian, with more gadgets and girls than Bond, but with none of his stress or responsibility. In Our Man Flint (1966), he's totally unflappable as he thwarts mad scientists who control the weather--and an island of pleasure drones. Lee J. Cobb costars as Flint's flustered superior, and Edward Mulhare plays a British nemesis with snob appeal. For fans of Austin Powers, incidentally, the funny-sounding phone comes from the Flint films. However, the best gadget remains the watch that enables Flint to feign death. There's a great Jerry Goldsmith score, too.

There was bound to be a Flint sequel, and In Like Flint (1967) delivers the same kind of zany fun as its predecessor. Flint is recruited once again by Lee J. Cobb to be the government's top secret agent, this time to solve a mishap involving the President. Turns out, the Chief Executive has been replaced by an evil duplicate. The new plan for world domination involves feminine aggression, and Flint, with his overpowering charisma, is just the man to turn the hostile forces around. In Like Flint is still over the top, but some of the novelty has worn off, and it doesn't have quite the same edge as the original. Even Jerry Goldsmith's score is a bit more subdued. But the film still has James Coburn and that funny phone. --Bill Desowitz

List Price: $14.98
Price: $10.49
You Save: $4.49 (30%)

Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision)

Actors: Joe Basulto, Joseph Calleia, Ray Collins, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor
ASIN : 6305999872
Sales Rank : 7895
Brand : Universal
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9786305999874
ISBN : 6305999872
UPC : 025192047022
Release Date : December 31, 2000
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 95

Product Description

Heston and leigh are newlyweds framed for murder by a corrupt police chief. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 07/06/2004 Starring: Charlton Heston Janet Leigh Run time: 111 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Orson Welles

Amazon.com essential video

Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon

List Price: $14.98
Price: $10.49
You Save: $4.49 (30%)

The Keys of the Kingdom

Actors: Gregory Peck, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Rose Stradner, Roddy McDowall
ASIN : B000FFJ83K
Sales Rank : 4741
Director : John M. Stahl
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543239208
UPC : 024543239208
Release Date : December 11, 2006
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 1 to 2 days
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 137

Description

A marvelous spectacle spanning six decades and two continents, The Keys of the Kingdom is the glorious epic that introduced audiences to screen newcomer Gregory Peck.

After losing his parents and his childhood sweetheart to tragedy, Francis Chisholm (Peck) joins the priesthood and devotes himself to a life of service and compassion. But Chisholm?s unorthodox beliefs raise eyebrows among his superiors, especially Bishop Angus Mealy (Vincent Price). And when he is sent to the farthest reaches of China to rebuild an abandoned mission, Chisholm faces his greatest challenge of all: to tame a hostile land, win over a superstitious people and save his parish from an invading army. Nominated* for four Academy Awards®, including Best Actor (Peck), The Keys of the Kingdom is a ?towering film stamped with greatness? (The Independent).

List Price: $19.98
Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.99 (25%)

The Bad Seed

Actors: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden
ASIN : B00027JYNK
Sales Rank : 3726
Director : Mervyn LeRoy
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790792101
ISBN : 0790792109
UPC : 085393352424
Release Date : December 10, 2004
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 129

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/13/2005 Run time: 129 minutes Rating: Nr

Amazon.com

"A basket full of kisses for a basket full of hugs." Those are chilling words, at least when uttered by that ice princess, Patty McCormack. As Rhoda Penmark, she is as pretty as a porcelain doll but drips venom with each curtsey and polite response. Little Rhoda's mother is terrified she has passed on her own mother's corruption. Oops, turns out she's right. This passes the test of time, as it still gets under your skin. The character development is tight and the story very involving. Not even Freddy Krueger had the ability to scare like tiny McCormack, looking just like a little adult while she literally beats out the competition for a penmanship award. However, director Mervyn LeRoy's hands were tied over the ending, which was changed from the source material--Maxwell Anderson's hit Broadway play. A supposedly more appropriate, and moral, ending was demanded by the studio. This was remade (badly) in 1985. --Rochelle O'Gorman

List Price: $19.98
Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.99 (25%)

Now, Voyager (Keepcase)

Actors: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville
ASIN : B0008ENIKM
Sales Rank : 4370
Director : Irving Rapper
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419810862
ISBN : 1419810863
UPC : 012569675391
Release Date : December 14, 2005
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 9 to 12 days
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 117

Description

A tender love story, a taut psychological drama, an inspiring tale of physical and spiritual transformation. Now, Voyager is all three, as well as a Bette Davis career milestone, resulting in her sixth Best Actress Oscar nomination. She magically plays Charlotte Vale, a spinster who defies her domineering mother (fellow Oscar nominee Gladys Cooper) to discover love, heartbreak and eventual contentment. More magic is generated by a top-notch ensemble, Max Steiner?s Academy Award-winning score and an improvised moment by Paul Henreid that became an instant classic: he lights two cigarettes at once and hands one to Davis. For the ultimate in romantic melodrama, it?s Now Voyager now, then and forever.

Amazon.com essential video

In this 1942 melodrama, founded on the novel by Olivia Higgins Prouty (who also wrote the novel on which Stella Dallas was based), Bette Davis stars as Charlotte Vale, a dowdy, repressed woman who, overwhelmed by her domineering mother, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She finds help at a sanitarium from a kind psychiatrist (Claude Rains), who turns her into a beautiful, confident woman. As a new person, she takes a pleasure cruise, where she meets Jerry (Paul Henreid), an architect trapped in an unhappy marriage, saddled with a troubled daughter. The two fall in love, but, of course, the romance is doomed. Yet their paths cross on occasion, and, despite their feelings, Charlotte finds satisfaction in helping Jerry's depressed child. The film will seem familiar to new viewers--the campy style was the pattern for many tearjerkers to come, and its most famous line has been oft repeated ("Don't ask for the moon--we have the stars"). But the heartstrings are tugged, and as Paul Henreid chivalrously lights two cigarettes and hands one over to the doleful-eyed Davis, pull out the box of tissues--you're gonna need 'em. --Jenny Brown

List Price: $59.98
Price: $43.99
You Save: $15.99 (27%)

The Paul Newman Collection (Harper / The Drowning Pool / The Left-Handed Gun / The Mackintosh Man / Pocket Money / Somebody Up There Likes Me / The Young Philadelphians)

Actors: Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Lauren Bacall, Joanne Woodward, Dominique Sanda
ASIN : B000HWZ4DE
Sales Rank : 5719
Director : Arthur Penn, Jack Smight, John Huston, Robert Wise, Stuart Rosenberg
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569816763
UPC : 012569816763
Release Date : December 14, 2006
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 779

Product description

Includes: Harper (1966), Drowning Pool (1975), The Left Handed Gun (1958), Pocket Money (1972), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), and The Young Philadelphians (1959).

Amazon.com

Paul Newman's career slipped onto an unstoppable track with Somebody Up There Likes Me, his 1956 biopic about boxer Rocky Graziano. Of course that was his second picture, the first being the oft-joked-about bungle The Silver Chalice. Newman's Method-y intensity and dazzling good looks brought him stardom, and his intelligence and uncommon seriousness as an actor kept his movies interesting, especially as he tackled some of the best roles of the "antihero" era--an era he helped create.

Somebody Up There Likes Me is included in The Paul Newman Collection, a bulging seven-DVD package that shakes out thusly: three late-1950s titles from the beginning of his career, one mid-sixties hit, and three lesser films of the early 1970s. It's by no means a "best of" compilation, being limited to Warners and MGM titles, but it gives a flavor of Newman in his prime time. He got the Graziano role after James Dean died, and his performance is a very busy, post-Brando jumble of tics and mumbles. The movie holds up nicely as a boxing picture, and the location NYC shooting won an Oscar for cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg (you can see why director Robert Wise got hired to do West Side Story after this). Sal Mineo and Steve McQueen are in the cast as Newman's fellow j.d.s.

The Left-Handed Gun (1958), based on a teleplay by Gore Vidal, is a truly weird, compulsively watchable artifact from the psychological-Western genre. Newman plays Billy the Kid, glowering and grimacing like a rebel without a cause. It's one of those films that has much more to do with the time it was made than the time it is set; also notable as the big-screen debut for stage and TV director Arthur Penn. The Young Philadelphians (1959) is more conventional, an entertaining soap opera about a young lawyer (Newman) with an old-money Philly name but no money, who gets burned by love and decides to connive his way to the top. Young Robert Vaughn snagged an Oscar nomination for a showy turn as an alcoholic society lad.

Harper (1966) is chockfull of kooky mid-Sixties design and Rat Pack patter (courtesy screenwriter William Goldman). But it must be said that Newman is miscast as the melancholic private eye of Ross Macdonald's literary world, here re-imagined as a wisecracking hepcat who mugs his way through a missing-persons investigation. The supporting cast is a weird over-the-hill gang including Lauren Bacall, Janet Leigh, and Shelley Winters. That film's hero, Lew Harper (renamed from Macdonald's "Archer"), returned in 1976's The Drowning Pool, a more bearable if somewhat humdrum whodunit set in New Orleans. Newman's wife, Joanne Woodward, has a supporting part, but the picture is most notable for an early Melanie Griffith nymphet role.

Pocket Money (1972) is one of those only-in-the-seventies movies that pairs Newman with Lee Marvin in a drowsy, nearly plotless comedy. Both actors give elaborate performances: Newman plays a numbskull two-bit cattle broker who takes absolutely everything literally, and Marvin is his buddy in Mexico who signs on for an ill-considered cattle-buying job. One of the credited screenwriters is Terrence Malick, and the movie has a highly eccentric feel for language. Finally, The Mackintosh Man (1973) is one of the periodic duds that director John Huston would crank out in his otherwise starry career, with Newman as a spy on an incomprehensible case in England. The first half is a red herring, and Dominique Sanda (more recently of The Conformist) is out of depth with the English language. It's a bleak film with a kind of grinding fascination, and the Maurice Jarre score is catchy but fatally overused. --Robert Horton

List Price: $26.98
Price: $23.99
You Save: $2.99 (11%)

Cary Grant: Screen Legend Collection (Big Brown Eyes / Kiss and Make Up / Thirty Day Princess / Wedding Present / Wings in the Dark)

Actors: Joan Bennett, Cary Grant, George Bancroft, Conrad Nagel, Gene Lockhart
ASIN : B000HA4WS4
Sales Rank : 12017
Director : Harlan Thompson, James Flood, Marion Gering, Raoul Walsh, Richard Wallace
Brand : UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
Studio : Paramount Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0025193115522
UPC : 025193115522
Release Date : December 14, 2006
Publisher : Paramount Pictures
Manufacturer : Paramount Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount Pictures
Running Time : 385

Product Description

One of Hollywood's MostPopular and Admired Leading Men! This Collection Illustratesthe Talented Witty and Debonair Actor at His Best!System Requirements:Running Time: 78 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 025193115522 Manufacturer No: 61031155

Amazon.com

Cary Grant was on the cusp of stardom when he made the five Paramount films included in this nicely priced Screen Legend Collection. You won't find any classics here, but this entertaining collection makes it clear that Grant's beloved screen persona was developing quickly. Paramount executive B.P. Schulberg had signed 28-year-old Grant to a five-year contract in 1932, and the British-born actor had already appeared in 15 films by the time he appeared in 1934's Thirty Day Princess, the first and arguably best feature in this three-disc set. Cowritten by Preston Sturges and bearing familiar trademarks of Sturges's later screwball classics, the plot finds newspaper publisher Grant falling for a visiting princess (Sylvia Sidney), only to discover that his affections are wrapped up in a breezy case of mistaken identity. Sidney plays two roles with seamless elegance (including impressive split-screen scenes in which she appears with herself), and Grant's suave demeanor is employed to good effect. The little-known gem Kiss and Make-Up was released barely two months later in 1934, with Grant in Paris as a Max Factor-like cosmetics mogul who marries a glamorous former client (Genevieve Tobin) but finds true love with his faithful secretary (Helen Mack) when he comes to his senses. The great character actor Edward Everett Horton costars as Mack's would-be suitor, giving this overlooked comedy an additional boost of amusement.

1935's Wings in the Dark will interest film historians because it was cowritten by pioneering female writer-director Nell Shipman, whose Howard Hawks-ian sense of adventure is on full display in an otherwise creaky melodrama in which inventor and aviator Grant is blinded by a gas explosion, and emerges from self-pity to stage a daring air rescue of his aviatrix wife (Myrna Loy). After being loaned out to RKO for his breakthrough role in 1935's Sylvia Scarlett opposite Katharine Hepburn, Grant returned to Paramount for Big Brown Eyes (released in April 1936), playing a crime-beat reporter paired with Joan Bennett in a lightweight mystery that benefits greatly from director Raoul Walsh's facility with streetwise plots and gritty handling of a baby-killer subplot involving jewel thieves Walter Pigeon and Lloyd Nolan. Wedding Present followed six months later (October '36), reuniting Grant and Bennett as competitive reporters whose relationship is strained when Grant is promoted to editor. Like all five films in this Screen Legend Collection, it's a light and thoroughly enjoyable vehicle for Paramount players including William Demarest, who went on to character-role stardom in the comedies of Preston Sturges. Cary Grant is in fine form here, and his music-hall experience is put to good use in several lightweight musical numbers. All in all, you can't go wrong with a five-film set for this price, especially since Grant was already showing a canny awareness of his own soon-to-be-iconic image. --Jeff Shannon