Fox Classics Arrive on DVD for the Very First Time

[pro-bassoonist]

PRESS RELEASE:

LOS ANGELES, CA (September 26, 2013) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing their latest selection of vintage films on DVD from their popular Fox Cinema Archives collection beginning today through October 22. Launched in 2012, Fox Cinema Archives already includes more than 200 classic films drawing from the studio’s deep vault of movies. The collection dives into the studio’s rich catalog to resurrect some of the most memorable films from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

In the coming weeks, 10 essential titles will be added to Fox Cinema Archives, including classic war, western and film noir fare, giving film buffs the opportunity to enhance their collection by purchasing a variety of iconic films at major top-tier retailers. The release schedule for this wave of titles can be seen below.

Providing the best home entertainment experience possible, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is committed to bringing classic films from the studio’s vault into the homes of film aficionados and collectors with its Fox Cinema Archives collection. We aim to provide the best home entertainment experience possible for titles released under the Fox Cinema Archives banner, but are often limited to the film’s available source material.


Available Now - War

Farewell to Yesterday (1950), 89 min.
Narrated by Tony Award®-winning actor Sidney Blackmer1, this documentary portrayal of the cultural and social forces which led the world to war in the 1930s and 1940s, starting with the rise of the Third Reich and their leader Adolf Hitler, shows the war in all its horror.

Decision Before Dawn (1951), 119 min.
During World War II, as the American army approaches Nazi Germany, the U.S. recruits German prisoners to serve as spies for the Allies. Starring Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill, and Oscar-nominee Oskar Werner2, Decision Before Dawn was nominated for two Academy Awards® (Best Film Editing and Best Picture) and a Golden Globe® (Best Cinematography – Black & White).


Available Now - Western

The Cisco Kid and The Lady (1939), 73 min.
When The Cisco Kid comes upon a dying miner who's been attacked by bandits, he vows to secure the rights to the mine for the man’s orphaned infant and find her mother. Golden Globe-nominee Cesar Romero3 leads the star-studded cast, including Marjorie Weaver, Chris-Pin Martin, and George Montgomery, in this edition of the franchise.

The Gay Caballero (1940), 57 min.
Golden Globe nominee Cesar Romero3 once again stars in The Gay Caballero, leading an all-star cast of Sheila Ryan, Robert Sterling, and Janet Beecher. When the Kid rides into town with his faithful friend Gordito (Chris-Pin Martin) he finds that he is believed to be dead. What's even more shocking is that, in a mix-up of identity, he was accused of stealing Susan Weatherby's land. So in a race against time, he must prove his innocence and that he is the true Cisco Kid.


October 8 – Film Noir (Mystery/Drama)

Cry of the City (1948), 95 min.
In this gritty crime drama that was nominated for the Writers Guild of America’s Robert Meltzer Award®, two childhood best friends take divergent paths; one becomes a cop (Victor Mature), and the other a cop-killer (Richard Conte). The killer must grapple with confessing to a murder he did not commit in order to save his girlfriend from being framed for the crime.

Moss Rose (1947), 81 min.
Set in turn-of-the-century London and starring Peggy Cummins, Victor Mature and Oscar-winner Ethel Barrymore4, Moss Rose tells the suspense story of a woman trying to solve the mystery of a friend's murder when she finds that she may be the next victim.


October 15 – Film Noir (Mystery/Thriller)

Backlash (1947), 66 min.
This murder mystery follows the story of a man (Richard Travis) who tries to frame his wife (Jean Rogers) for a murder that he himself committed. As the plot thickens, Detective Jerry McMullen (Larry J. Blake) slowly gets to the bottom of the case and the incentive behind why it was committed.

Circumstantial Evidence (1945), 67 min.
When a man (Primetime Emmy-nominee Michael O’Shea5) well known for his foul temper is wrongly convicted of murder, his young son and a family friend (Primetime Emmy-winner Lloyd Nolan6) work to prove him innocent.


October 22 – Film Noir (Sherlock Holmes)

Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), 79 min.
Sherlock Holmes (two-time Oscar-nominee Basil Rathbone7) and his partner Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate the legend of a hound, a creature that may be after the heirs of the famed Baskerville estate where several deaths have occurred on the moor.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), 81 min.
Sherlock Holmes (Oscar® nominee Basil Rathbone7) and his partner (Nigel Bruce) are at it again in attempt to stop his greatest Professor Moriarty (George Zucco) and his attempt to steal the Crown Jewels.

Pro-B

[chip75]

It's very interesting to think of Sherlock Holmes as film-noir. But I guess a lot of the identifying nature's of them match up.

It would be great fun to imagine Homes as the hard-boiled detective in a Los Angeles 1940's setting. Out of all the genres film-noir is my favourite. It always fires my imagination.

[manicsounds]

Especially since the 2 Fox Holmes movies are set in Victorian England... not present day. Although the later Rathbone/Bruce films are set in present day 1940s.

Strange that Fox are releasing these 2 movies on DVD-R when there is an outstanding BD set of the Rathbone/Bruce films, for which Fox licensed these 2 titles out.