Along with the Eric Idle-Terry Jones-Michael Palin program DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, the 1967 British television series AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW made comedy history by directly leading to the formation of the classic Monty Python troupe. Pairing future Python members Graham Chapman and John Cleese with nascent comic talents Tim Brooke-Taylor (THE GOODIES), Marty Feldman (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) and Aimi MacDonald (MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE), the series pioneered the surreal brand of sketch comedy for which Python would become known (and, indeed, marked the first appearance of the legendary "Four Yorkshiremen" skit). Even though many of the show's original episodes were erased and thought to be lost forever, this volume presents a collection of salvaged episodes which, along with DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET,... Less

A Night At The Opera (1935) The Marx Brothers, Kitty CarlisleDirector:  Sam WoodCo- stars: Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont96 minutes, Black and WhiteDVD: Region 1 Although some purists hold out for Duck Soup (1933), many Marx Brothers fans consider A Night at the Opera the team's best film. Immediately after the credits roll, we are introduced to Groucho Marx as penny-ante promoter Otis B. Driftwood. After a sumptuous dinner with a beautiful blonde at a fancy Milan restaurant, Driftwood tries to cadge another free meal from his wealthy patroness, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont). The dignified dowager complains that Driftwood had promised to get her into high society, but has done nothing so far. Otis B. counters by introducing Mrs. C to pompous opera entrepreneur Gottleib (Sig Rumann); all... Less

While DUCK SOUP has risen to become emblematic of the Marx Brothers at their zaniest A NIGHT AT THE OPERA represents the brothers at their finest. Under the inspired supervision of the boy genius Irving Thalberg the script was penned by two of Hollywood's wittiest screenwriters George Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind; the production values are substantially greater than in previous Marx Brothers works; the romantic leads Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones are charming first-rate stars; the supporting cast led by Margaret Dumont Sig Rumann and Herman Gottlieb turn in excellent performances; and the bent of the humor is honed from the surreal to a pointed attack on the lifestyles of the wealthy. The circuslike stateroom scene is among the funniest in motion-picture history. Harpo's performance of the... Less

Along with the Eric Idle-Terry Jones-Michael Palin program DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, the 1967 British television series AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW made comedy history by directly leading to the formation of the classic Monty Python troupe. Pairing future Python members Graham Chapman and John Cleese with nascent comic talents Tim Brooke-Taylor (THE GOODIES), Marty Feldman (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) and Aimi MacDonald (MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE), the series pioneered the surreal brand of sketch comedy for which Python would become known (and, indeed, marked the first appearance of the legendary "Four Yorkshiremen" skit). Even though many of the show's original episodes were erased and thought to be lost forever, this volume presents a collection of salvaged episodes which, along with DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET,... Less

A Day at the Races is the Marx Brothers at their commercial and popular peak, working with a top Hollywood director (Sam Wood of The Pride of the Yankees), supported with a healthy screen budget paying for such extras as a blue-tinted ballet sequence, love songs from crooner Allan Jones, and decorative sets. But the brothers are also at the top of their game in terms of their own comic material and timing. The story finds Groucho, Chico, and Harpo helping out at a sanatorium, where their longtime foil in the movies, Margaret Dumont, is the leading patient. The film has some of the trio's funniest and most memorable bits and a dazzling horserace at the climax. Not quite as good as its predecessor, A Night at the Opera, this is still a highlight in the Marxian filmography. --Tom Keogh

This is the Marx Brothers at their commercial and popular peak, working with a top Hollywood director (Sam Wood of The Pride of the Yankees), supported with a healthy screen budget paying for such extras as a blue-tinted ballet sequence, love songs from crooner Allan Jones, and decorative sets. But the brothers are also at the top of their game in terms of their own comic material and timing. The story finds Groucho, Chico, and Harpo helping out at a sanatorium, where their longtime foil in the movies, Margaret Dumont, is the leading patient. The film has some of the trio's funniest and most memorable bits and a dazzling horserace at the climax. Not quite as good as its predecessor, A Night at the Opera, this is still a highlight in the Marxian filmography. --Tom Keogh

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical... Less

Bela Lugosi, John Archer. Creepy thriller about a twisted psychology professor who uses a charity as a front to commit crimes, buries his enemies in a basement and brings them back from the dead with a dangerous drug. 1942/b&w/60 min/NR/fullscreen .

The final film of the original Andy Hardy series finds the boyish protagonist unlucky in love once again. Andy (often considered one and the same as Mickey Rooney himself) has just returned home after serving in World War II. His latest plan is to go to college and marry the girl of his dreams, Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). A series of hilarious mistakes, hijinks, and misfortunes stack up against the well-intentioned romancer. For example, Kay reveals that she already engaged to someone else. Wounded, Andy considers fleeing to South America, but opts instead to stay put, and falls for a South American beauty (Lina Romay) instead. This features the original cast, including Lewis Stone as Andy's wise father.

With its fast-paced action sequences and lavish period-piece production design the Hong Kong film SHOWDOWN AT COTTON MILL is one of the forgotten and rarely seen classics of old-school kung fu cinema. Shaw Brothers regular Chi Kuan Chun stars as a master of the Southern Fist fighting style prompting the imperial Ching dynasty to send in a Wu Tang Northern Leg master to take down the rebel in an action-packed series of martial-arts battles.System Requirements: Running Time 84 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAM ES/MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Rating: NR UPC: 787364677290

The crème de la crème of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious Grand Hotel, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary (Joan Crawford) succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist (Wallace Beery). In yet another, a fatally ill office clerk (Lionel Barrymore) spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar, a disfigured doctor (Lewis Stone) dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent- setting ensemble piece of frothy, bubbly, tear-jerking super soap cemented the... Less

The crème de la crème of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious Grand Hotel, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary (Joan Crawford) succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist (Wallace Beery). In yet another, a fatally ill office clerk (Lionel Barrymore) spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar, a disfigured doctor (Lewis Stone) dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent- setting ensemble piece of frothy, bubbly, tear-jerking super soap cemented the... Less

Along with the Eric Idle-Terry Jones-Michael Palin program DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, the 1967 British television series AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW made comedy history by directly leading to the formation of the classic Monty Python troupe. Pairing future Python members Graham Chapman and John Cleese with nascent comic talents Tim Brooke-Taylor (THE GOODIES), Marty Feldman (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) and Aimi MacDonald (MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE), the series pioneered the surreal brand of sketch comedy for which Python would become known (and, indeed, marked the first appearance of the legendary "Four Yorkshiremen" skit). Even though many of the show's original episodes were erased and thought to be lost forever, this volume presents a collection of salvaged episodes which, along with DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET,... Less

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical... Less

In their last film for Hal Roach, Oliver goes berserk working for a horn factory. After tearing the place apart, he is sent home to recuperate from a nervous breakdown known as "hornaphobia." The cure would be a sea voyage and fresh air, but Ollie insists that the boat remain tied to the dock since he doesn't like the high seas. However, an escaped killer (played by Rychard Cramer) sneaks on board at night to hide from the police. The boat is accidentally set adrift, and the boys must face the ill-tempered killer alone. But what will save the day? The answer is totally outrageous. Bonus Features: Picture Gallery & Trailer.These DVD's are produced by Nostalgia Family Video and Come in a "No Frillz" set. DVD titles come in clear clamshell packaging with no DVD menu and no individual title... Less

Hilarious comedy in which Wheeler and Woolsey are two soldiers AWOL in Paris.

This beautiful box set chronicles the classic silent works of German expressionist F.W. Murnau and American romanticist Frank Borzage, two filmmakers who influenced each another's mystical, dreamlike styles when the former began making movies for the Fox Film Corporation in the 1920s and '30s. Murnau's SUNRISE and CITY GIRL are accounted for and brimming with surreal pathos, as are eight gems from Borzage: LAZYBONES, SEVENTH HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, LUCKY STAR, THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS, SONG O' MY HEART, LILIOM, and BAD GIRL. Also featured is a documentary that revisits in intimate detail the time these two masters spent at the legendary Fox Studios.

Easter, a soldier of fortune and gunrunner, leaves his family behind escaping from the authorities and an American detective named Mason. His globe hopping escape leads him finally to South America, where he is hired to organize a band of revolutionaries, unaware that they plan to eliminate him when his job is done. Here, also, he encounters his own son, on track to waste his own life in pursuits similar to Easter's. Written by Jim Beaver {jumblejim@prodig y.net}

The crème de la crème of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious Grand Hotel, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary (Joan Crawford) succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist (Wallace Beery). In yet another, a fatally ill office clerk (Lionel Barrymore) spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar, a disfigured doctor (Lewis Stone) dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent- setting ensemble piece of frothy, bubbly, tear-jerking super soap cemented the... Less

The crème de la crème of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious Grand Hotel, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary (Joan Crawford) succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist (Wallace Beery). In yet another, a fatally ill office clerk (Lionel Barrymore) spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar, a disfigured doctor (Lewis Stone) dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent- setting ensemble piece of frothy, bubbly, tear-jerking super soap cemented the... Less

Absolutely one of the most hilarious movies ever made, this classic farce featuring the outrageous genius of the Marx Brothers is a chance to see some of their best bits woven together seamlessly in a story of high society, matchmaking, and chaos. In order to bring two young lovers together, brothers Groucho, Chico, and Harpo must sabotage an opera performance even as they try to pass themselves off as stuffed shirts. Featuring the classic sequence where Groucho piles as many people as possible into a ship's stateroom, A Night at the Opera is a deliciously zany romp worth watching again and again. --Robert Lane

Bela Lugosi, John Archer. Creepy thriller about a twisted psychology professor who uses a charity as a front to commit crimes, buries his enemies in a basement and brings them back from the dead with a dangerous drug. 1942/b&w/60 min/NR/fullscreen .

The crme de la crme of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious Grand Hotel where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron John Barrymore who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary Joan Crawford succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist Wallace Beery. In yet another a fatally ill office clerk Lionel Barrymore spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar a disfigured doctor Lewis Stone dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent- setting ensemble piece of frothy bubbly tear-jerking super soap cemented the A-list status of... Less

Premiered at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles, February 8, 1915, under the title THE CLANSMAN. Premiered in New York City at the Liberty Theater on March 3, 1915, as THE BIRTH OF A NATION. The film toured the rest of the country as a road show attraction. In 1906, the same Liberty Theater had housed a run of Thomas Dixon's stage play, THE CLANSMAN, which was one of the sources for the film. At the New York premiere, Dixon stated that he would have "allowed none but the son of a Confederate soldier to direct the film version of THE CLANSMAN." (New York Times, 3/4/1915) THE BIRTH OF A NATION was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1992. The film originally ran 13,058 feet on 12 reels. At 16 frames per second, it ran approximately 185 minutes. This... Less

This beautiful box set chronicles the classic silent works of German expressionist F.W. Murnau and American romanticist Frank Borzage, two filmmakers who influenced each another's mystical, dreamlike styles when the former began making movies for the Fox Film Corporation in the 1920s and '30s. Murnau's SUNRISE and CITY GIRL are accounted for and brimming with surreal pathos, as are eight gems from Borzage: LAZYBONES, SEVENTH HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, LUCKY STAR, THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS, SONG O' MY HEART, LILIOM, and BAD GIRL. Also featured is a documentary that revisits in intimate detail the time these two masters spent at the legendary Fox Studios.

Hollywood's golden year of 1939 found the Marx Brothers At the Circus, up to their usual mischief if not their usual standards. It's a lesser effort but still a rollicking good time, casting Groucho, Chico, and Harpo as the would-be saviors of a financially troubled circus. Of course, Groucho gets the lion's share of zingers as crackpot lawyer J. Cheever Loophole (especially when sparring with his quintessential straight-lady, Margaret Dumont), and Irving Brecher's zippy dialogue (with a last-minute polish by Ben Hecht) is custom fit to the Marxes' vaudeville roots. This was the Marxes' third movie for MGM, and the studio's insistence on sappy romantic subplots and a wimpy romantic lead (Kenny Baker) occasionally stalls the manic momentum. Fortunately there's ample compensation, including... Less

Hilarious comedy in which Wheeler and Woolsey are two soldiers AWOL in Paris.

Crafty underworld leader The Wasp will stop at nothing to steal Professor Houston's radium-energy machine. The Wasp wreaks havoc on such sites as a radio station, a dam, and a power plant in his attempts to get the invention, but luckily master Magician Mandrake is there every step of the way to right the wrongs. The star of Colorful King Features newspaper comic strip, brought to life by Columbia Pictures in 1939 in twelve adventurous episodes including: "Shadow On The Wall," "Trap Of The Wasp," "City Of Terror," "The Secret Passage," "The Devil's Playmate," "The Fatal Crash," "Gamble For Life," "Across The Deadline," "Terror Rides The Rails," "The Unseen Monster," "At The Stroke Of Eight," and "The Reward Of Treachery."

Crafty underworld leader The Wasp will stop at nothing to steal Professor Houston's radium-energy machine. The Wasp wreaks havoc on such sites as a radio station, a dam, and a power plant in his attempts to get the invention, but luckily master Magician Mandrake is there every step of the way to right the wrongs. The star of Colorful King Features newspaper comic strip, brought to life by Columbia Pictures in 1939 in twelve adventurous episodes including: "Shadow On The Wall," "Trap Of The Wasp," "City Of Terror," "The Secret Passage," "The Devil's Playmate," "The Fatal Crash," "Gamble For Life," "Across The Deadline," "Terror Rides The Rails," "The Unseen Monster," "At The Stroke Of Eight," and "The Reward Of Treachery."

Crafty underworld leader The Wasp will stop at nothing to steal Professor Houston's radium-energy machine. The Wasp wreaks havoc on such sites as a radio station, a dam, and a power plant in his attempts to get the invention, but luckily master Magician Mandrake is there every step of the way to right the wrongs. The star of Colorful King Features newspaper comic strip, brought to life by Columbia Pictures in 1939 in twelve adventurous episodes including: "Shadow On The Wall," "Trap Of The Wasp," "City Of Terror," "The Secret Passage," "The Devil's Playmate," "The Fatal Crash," "Gamble For Life," "Across The Deadline," "Terror Rides The Rails," "The Unseen Monster," "At The Stroke Of Eight," and "The Reward Of Treachery."