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MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.

Show Boat

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...

MGM’s remake of the grand musical can’t be ignored — the restored transfer is stunning, demonstrating the studio’s technical skill at full tilt. There are good aspects to this version, even if it’s mostly a missed opportunity more notable for production backstories than for itself. It’s Kathryn Grayson’s high water mark at MGM, and Howard Keel does yeoman’s work on his side. MGM’s musical arrangements of the Hammerstein / Kern songbook is as good as ever. Most critics in 1951 thought it superior because it was in Technicolor; and it was one of the top $ money earners of the year.

Show Boat

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 108 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield, Regis Toomey, Adele Jergens, Owen McGiveney,...

Still one of Tracy and Hepburn’s best, this follow-up to Adam’s Rib works on all levels. It rings the feminist rights gong just hard enough, and drums the notion that women deserve a chance to achieve their potential without sex discrimination getting in the way. Katharine Hepburn is at her most attractive when being athletic. Some fine star-making supporting action adds to the fun, especially the contribution of a young Aldo Ray.

Pat and Mike

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 95 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray, William Ching, Sammy White, George Mathews, Gussie Moran, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Don Budge, Alice Marble, Frank Andrew Parker, Betty Hicks, Beverly Hanson, Helen Dettweiler, Loring Smith, Phyllis Povah, Charles Bronson, Frank Richards, Jim Backus, Chuck Connors, Joseph E. Bernard, Owen McGiveney, Lou Lubin, Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer, William Self, Frankie Darro.

It’s a promising project for Allied Artists: William Cameron Menzies does a spooky horror movie in 3-D! Something creepy’s going on in a mysterious Scottish castle, something to do with problems in the lineage to a Barony. It’s also a 3-c epic: Candles, Cobwebs and Corridors. Add a frightened, shivering heroine in a nightgown and the horror recipe is complete. It’s another restoration treat from the 3-D Film Archive.

The Maze

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 80 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95

Starring: Richard Carlson. Veronica Hurst, Katherine Emery, Michael Pate, John Dodsworth, Hillary Brooke, Stanley Fraser, Lillian Bond, Owen McGiveney, Robin Hughes.

Cinematography: Harry Neumann

Film Editor: John Fuller

Original Music: Marlin Skiles

Written by Daniel B. Ullman, from a novel by Maurice Sandoz

Produced by Richard V. Heermance, Walter Mirisch

Production Design and Directed by William Cameron...