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Release: March 23, 2010

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Product Description Though ignored at the time of its release, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life is now recognized as one of the great American films of the 1950s. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most indelible roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot. This Eisenhower-era throat-grabber, shot in expressive CinemaScope, is an excoriating take on the nuclear family. That it came in the day of Father Knows Best makes it all the more shocking—and wildly entertaining. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary featuring critic Geoff Andrew (The Films of Nicholas Ray) Profile of Nicholas Ray (1977), a half-hour television interview with the director New video appreciation of Bigger Than Life with author Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City) New video interview with Susan Ray, widow of the director and editor of I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies Theatrical trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: A new essay by critic and video maker B. Kite Amazon.com Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life is a great American film long esteemed overseas but little known in its own land. That should change with this addition to the Criterion Collection--the film's first-ever U.S. video release, and a paradigm of what Criterion exists to do. James Mason (who also produced the picture) is wonderfully subtle in an unlikely role, a Middle American schoolteacher named Ed Avery who's afflicted with a rare inflammation of the arteries. Only experimental hormone treatment can save the man from increasing pain and early death--but misuse of the drug leads to a darkening and distortion of his gentle personality and a nightmare situation for his family. Bigger Than Life isn't a cautionary lesson in the perils of "miracle drugs," even if its genesis was a New Yorker article about a real-life case of cortisone abuse. Instead, consider the film as an adult, flip-side variant of Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (made the year before): an EKG of the American middle class in the Eisenhower era. The medical issues on the surface pale beside, in Jonathan Lethem's phrase, "the anxieties just under the skin of the film"--the personal, cultural, and socio-economic dilemmas that mostly remain unspoken, and unanswerable. The picture is a landmark in the evolution of CinemaScope. Ray was among the first directors to explore the possibilities the wide screen held for psychological and emotional expressiveness (as opposed to mere pictorialism and spectacle), and he uses it brilliantly even though most of the film transpires within a middle-class home. The house is cunningly designed and visualized to seem commonplace, and probably '50s audiences in America registered it that way--just another glance at their everyday reality--while foreign audiences saw lucid and powerful abstraction. Ray invests every sector with dynamic potentiality and meaning, including the acre of thicket and scrub out back that realistically shouldn't be there a stone's throw from the Averys' picture-perfect suburban street. Add the director's bold use of color to underscore the disquiet and intensify the emotional environment, and we have an exemplary modern film. This comes through all the more strongly on the DVD and especially in Blu-ray; the home screen enhances both the abstraction and the specificity of Ray's vision. In the meticulous digital restoration of the original camera negative, the colors are more crisply and definitively there than in any shopworn repertory print or standard TV broadcast. --Richard T. Jameson

$6.99

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A carefree bachelor’s lifestyle is upended when his younger brother moves in and quickly proves even more irresponsible than he is.

Release: October 18, 2022

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This collection features three pugilistic film noir classics: FLESH AND FURY (1952) – Screen legend Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) sizzles in the knock-out boxing film noir Flesh and Fury from director Joseph Pevney (The Midnight Story). Gold-digging blonde Sonya Bartow (Jan Sterling, Ace in the Hole) and retired fight manager Pop Richardson (Wallace Ford, He Ran All the Way) take deaf-mute boxer Paul Callan (Curtis) under their wing. Now Paul is all but unstoppable…until reporter Ann Hollis (Mona Freeman, Angel Face) appears and falls for the handsome prizefighter. With a three-way bout under way for influence over Paul, he takes matters into his own hands, but learns the hard way that getting what he wants isn’t necessarily a happy ending. Flesh and Fury features rousing boxing sequences, gripping drama and an exceptional cast: Curtis excels in one of his first starring roles, and Sterling is sensational as the money-hungry bombshell. Featuring Harry Guardino (Madigan) as Lou Callan, Paul’s brother. THE SQUARE JUNGLE (1955) – Tony Curtis (The Vikings) stars as a grocery clerk turned prizefighter in the riveting film noir The Square Jungle. Eddie Quaid (Curtis), in danger of losing his father to alcoholism and his girl Julie (Pat Crowley, There’s Always Tomorrow) through lack of career prospects, goes into boxing. His cop friend McBride (Paul Kelly, Crossfire) finances him; ex-con Bernie Browne (Ernest Borgnine, Marty) trains him. Three years later, he’s a challenger for the championship, and Julie re-enters his life. Can she win him back from a predatory blonde? And why does the prospect of Eddie’s winning worry Bernie more than his losing? Directed by Jerry Hopper (Naked Alibi) and featuring a fine supporting cast that includes Jim Backus (Bright Victory), David Janssen (Macho Callahan), John Marley (I Want to Live!), Leigh Snowden (Outside the Law) and real-life heavyweight champ Joe Louis. WORLD IN MY CORNER (1956) – Screen great Audie Murphy (To Hell and Back) is a scrappy young fighter named Tommy Shea — “born in a dump, educated in an alley” — in the electrifying film noir World in My Corner. The up-and-coming boxer catches the eye of the wealthy Robert Mallinson (Jeff Morrow, Captain Lightfoot), who allows him to train at his Long Island estate. Shea soon falls for Mallinson’s daughter, Dorothy (Barbara Rush, Magnificent Obsession), but fears he doesn’t have the money to support her in proper style. To get this money, he decides to work for crooked promoter Harry Cram (Howard St. John, Strange Bedfellows), even though this means dropping his honest manager, Dave Bernstein (John McIntire, Johnny Stool Pigeon). As the big fight approaches, however, he begins to have second thoughts. Directed by Jesse Hibbs (Ride a Crooked Trail), World in My Corner is a bang-up drama with a hard-hitting performance by Murphy. Special Features: • Brand New 2K Masters • NEW Audio Commentary for FLESH AND FURY by Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer • NEW Audio Commentaries for THE SQUARE JUNGLE and WORLD IN MY CORNER by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller • Theatrical Trailer (World in My Corner) • Optional English Subtitles

Release: October 7, 2003

$6.99

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Amateur astronomer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and his fiancee Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) are stargazing in the desert when a spaceship bursts from the sky and crashes to the ground. Just before a landslide buries the ship, a mysterious creature emerges and disappears into the darkness. Of course, when he tells his story to the sheriff (Charles Drake), John is branded a crackpot; but before long, strange things begin to happen, and the tide of disbelief turns… Based on a story by acclaimed writer Ray Bradbury, It Came from Outer Space is a science fiction classic that is as thought-provoking and tantalizing today as it was when it first "landed" on the sliver screen. Bonus Content: The Universe According to Universal Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver Photograph and Poster Gallery Theatrical Trailer Production Notes Cast and Filmmakers Recommendations

Release: October 3, 2023

$7.99

Description

Based on a story by acclaimed writer Ray Bradbury, It Came from Outer Space starring Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush is a science fiction classic that is as thought-provoking and tantalizing today as it was when it first "landed" on the silver screen. When amateur astronomer John Putnam (Carlson) and his fiancée Ellen Fields (Rush) are stargazing in the desert, a spaceship bursts from the sky and crashes to the ground. Just before a landslide buries the ship, a mysterious creature emerges and disappears into the darkness. Of course, when he tells his story to the sheriff (Charles Drake), John is branded a crackpot. Before long, strange things begin to happen, but will the tide of disbelief turn in time?

Release: August 20, 2019

$7.99

Description

Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator—at the very moment that a beloved local doctor has a heart attack and dies waiting for the lifesaving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk’s most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor’s widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations. TWO BLU RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • High definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Audio commentary from 2008 featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty • Magnificent Obsession, John M. Stahl’s 1935 adaptation of the same novel, newly restored • From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers (1991), a documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt • Interviews from 2008 with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, in which they pay tribute to Sirk • Theatrical trailer • PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

Release: October 18, 2022

$6.99

Description

This collection features three pugilistic film noir classics: FLESH AND FURY (1952) – Screen legend Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) sizzles in the knock-out boxing film noir Flesh and Fury from director Joseph Pevney (The Midnight Story). Gold-digging blonde Sonya Bartow (Jan Sterling, Ace in the Hole) and retired fight manager Pop Richardson (Wallace Ford, He Ran All the Way) take deaf-mute boxer Paul Callan (Curtis) under their wing. Now Paul is all but unstoppable…until reporter Ann Hollis (Mona Freeman, Angel Face) appears and falls for the handsome prizefighter. With a three-way bout under way for influence over Paul, he takes matters into his own hands, but learns the hard way that getting what he wants isn’t necessarily a happy ending. Flesh and Fury features rousing boxing sequences, gripping drama and an exceptional cast: Curtis excels in one of his first starring roles, and Sterling is sensational as the money-hungry bombshell. Featuring Harry Guardino (Madigan) as Lou Callan, Paul’s brother. THE SQUARE JUNGLE (1955) – Tony Curtis (The Vikings) stars as a grocery clerk turned prizefighter in the riveting film noir The Square Jungle. Eddie Quaid (Curtis), in danger of losing his father to alcoholism and his girl Julie (Pat Crowley, There’s Always Tomorrow) through lack of career prospects, goes into boxing. His cop friend McBride (Paul Kelly, Crossfire) finances him; ex-con Bernie Browne (Ernest Borgnine, Marty) trains him. Three years later, he’s a challenger for the championship, and Julie re-enters his life. Can she win him back from a predatory blonde? And why does the prospect of Eddie’s winning worry Bernie more than his losing? Directed by Jerry Hopper (Naked Alibi) and featuring a fine supporting cast that includes Jim Backus (Bright Victory), David Janssen (Macho Callahan), John Marley (I Want to Live!), Leigh Snowden (Outside the Law) and real-life heavyweight champ Joe Louis. WORLD IN MY CORNER (1956) – Screen great Audie Murphy (To Hell and Back) is a scrappy young fighter named Tommy Shea — “born in a dump, educated in an alley” — in the electrifying film noir World in My Corner. The up-and-coming boxer catches the eye of the wealthy Robert Mallinson (Jeff Morrow, Captain Lightfoot), who allows him to train at his Long Island estate. Shea soon falls for Mallinson’s daughter, Dorothy (Barbara Rush, Magnificent Obsession), but fears he doesn’t have the money to support her in proper style. To get this money, he decides to work for crooked promoter Harry Cram (Howard St. John, Strange Bedfellows), even though this means dropping his honest manager, Dave Bernstein (John McIntire, Johnny Stool Pigeon). As the big fight approaches, however, he begins to have second thoughts. Directed by Jesse Hibbs (Ride a Crooked Trail), World in My Corner is a bang-up drama with a hard-hitting performance by Murphy. Special Features: • Brand New 2K Masters • NEW Audio Commentary for FLESH AND FURY by Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer • NEW Audio Commentaries for THE SQUARE JUNGLE and WORLD IN MY CORNER by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller • Theatrical Trailer (World in My Corner) • Optional English Subtitles

Release: June 7, 2011

$6.99

Description

A Vietnam veteran on the run stumbles onto a film set and becomes entangled with a brilliant, manipulative director

Release: August 25, 2026

$6.99

Release: August 25, 2026

$7.99

Release: May 26, 2020

$7.99

Description

Brand New 2K Master! He led the Apache nation against Geronimo’s pillaging hordes! The two sons of Apache leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler, Broken Arrow) have conflicting views of the white men who trespass their land. Taza (Rock Hudson, Bend of the River) argues for peaceful co-existence, but his younger brother Naiche (Rex Reason, This Island Earth) joins Geronimo (Ian MacDonald, High Noon) on the warpath. One of the few westerns made in the 1950s that attempted to present a positive view of Native Americans, Taza, Son of Cochise, co-starring Barbara Rush (Magnificent Obsession), was the second of eight movies that Hudson made with director Douglas Sirk (The Tarnished Angels). Filmed on location in Utah, the natural setting of the desert is one of the movie’s many assets which is vividly captured by the glorious Technicolor cinematography by the great Russell Metty (Spartacus, Midnight Lace). This special edition includes both the 3-D and 2-D versions of the film. 3-D restoration by 3-D Film Archive! Special Features: -Brand New 2K Restoration -Includes both the 3-D and 2-D Versions of the Films -NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle, Author/Screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner and 3-D Expert Mike Ballew -Optional English Subtitles -Dual-Layered BD50 Disc -Theatrical Trailer

Release: June 25, 2024

$6.99

Description

When scientists discover a distant planet is on a catastrophic collision course with Earth, the government refuses to believe the evidence. It's now up to private citizens to finance and build a spaceship to carry a limited number of people and animals to another planet to begin a new civilization. Massive tidal waves, earthquakes, the impending destruction of our world and deciding who gets to live or die brings out the best and the worst in people. This human emotional drama produced by George Pal (The War Of The Worlds), combined with Academy Award -winning special effects, make When Worlds Collide one of science-fiction's pioneering classics.

Release: October 18, 2022

$6.99

Description

A promising boxer rises through the ranks while struggling with ambition, loyalty, and corruption outside the ring.