Home Entertainment
January 7, 2008
“The Bette Davis Collection Volume 3” - Six Fully Restored And New To DVD Titles From Warner Home Video On April 1
(January 7, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – On April 1st Warner Home Video (WHV) marks the return of the incomparable First Lady of Warner Bros., Bette Davis, with the debut of “The Bette Davis Collection Volume 3” honoring the legendary actress on what would have been her centennial birthday. The six-disc gift set will include six fully restored titles: “In This Our Life,” “The Old Maid,” “All This, and Heaven Too,” “The Great Lie,” “Deception” and “Watch on the Rhine.” The Collection also celebrates the success of Volumes 1 and 2 wherein these two previously released classic collections will now feature the same newly designed packaging being introduced with this latest release. “The Bette Davis Collection Volume 3” will sell for $59.92 SRP and the order due date is February 26, 2008.
“Warner Night at the Movies,” an innovative DVD experience developed by WHV, will be included with each classic Davis film. These are special selections that help recreate the authentic movie-going experience of the time, with attractions like newsreels, cartoons and trailers from the years each film was released. There are also new featurettes, archival radio dramatizations, select commentaries and more.
Often dubbed the “Fifth Warner Brother” for her confrontational, take-charge approach, Bette Davis earned an impressive 10 Oscar® nominations (winning twice for her roles in “Dangerous” and “Jezebel”) during the course of her legendary 60-year career. Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts and made her Broadway debut in 1929 in “Broken Dishes” before settling in Hollywood in 1931. Following a short stint with Universal, she signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. where she made more than 50 films and was the studio’s most bankable asset for nearly two decades. Her breakthrough performance in “Of Human Bondage” opened the studio’s (and Hollywood’s!) eyes to her immense talent and led to such classic films as “Dark Victory,” “The Letter,” “Now, Voyager,” “The Little Foxes” and “All About Eve.” Davis starred in more than 100 films; was the highest paid woman in America in 1942; became the first female honored with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was named the first woman president of the Motion Pictures Academy of Arts and Sciences.
About the Films
“In This Our Life” (1942)
Two-time Best Actress Oscar® winners and lifelong friends Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland square off as sisters (guess who’s the bad one) in “In This Our Life,” a must-see for fans of melodrama at its juiciest. Director John Huston, fresh from his “The Maltese Falcon” success, includes a cameo role for his father Walter, just as he did in “Falcon.” And Max Steiner’s powerful music underscores the film’s driving emotional force.
What Stanley Timberlake wants, she takes. So, on the eve of her marriage to another, she runs off with her sister’s husband, the first of many betrayals that lead to disaster…and to a compulsively watchable brew of deceit, racial bigotry, latent incest and violent death.
Special Features:
• Commentary by film historian Jeannine Basinger
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1942 short subjects gallery:
• Trailers of “In This Our Life” and 1942’s “Desperate Journey”
• Subtitles: English & Français (main feature only) “The Old Maid” (1939) Based on an Edith Wharton novel and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Old Maid” tells the sad story of Charlotte, a woman whose circumstances force her to give up her illegitimate child and pose as the child’s “old maid” aunt, thereby facing a lifetime of maternal sacrifice. As Charlotte, Bette Davis gives one of her most nuanced performances, aging from wide-eyed girl to gray-haired martinet. Miriam Hopkins provides effective counterbalance with her portrayal of Charlotte’s effusive cousin, who raises the little girl. Two women, one child – and a brilliant example of melodrama as art. Special Features: • “Warner Night at the Movies” 1939 short subjects gallery:
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1940 short subjects gallery:
• Subtitles: English & Français (main feature only) “The Great Lie” (1941) Tempestuous, ambitious concert pianist Sandra Kovac (Mary Astor) shares a bond with down-to-earth Maggie Van Allen (Bette Davis) and her little boy Pete. Sandra’s chic New York friends can’t imagine what the two women have in common. What they don’t know is that Pete is actually Sandra’s son – and the son of the heroic aviator (George Brent) that both women love. Powerful emotions rage against a backdrop of powerful music in the film that earned Astor a 1941 Best Supporting Actress Oscar® for her stellar performance opposite the legendary star who always gives a tour-de-force performance. This story of a great passion, a great sacrifice…and a great lie showcases two great actresses. Special Features: • “Warner Night at the Movies” 1941 Short Subjects Gallery:
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1946 short subjects gallery:
• Commentary by film historian Bernard F. Dick
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1943 short subjects gallery:
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• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1942 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
Technicolor® patriotic short “March On, America!”
Technicolor® musical short “Spanish Fiesta”
• Trailers of “In This Our Life” and 1942’s “Desperate Journey”
• Subtitles: English & Français (main feature only) “The Old Maid” (1939) Based on an Edith Wharton novel and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Old Maid” tells the sad story of Charlotte, a woman whose circumstances force her to give up her illegitimate child and pose as the child’s “old maid” aunt, thereby facing a lifetime of maternal sacrifice. As Charlotte, Bette Davis gives one of her most nuanced performances, aging from wide-eyed girl to gray-haired martinet. Miriam Hopkins provides effective counterbalance with her portrayal of Charlotte’s effusive cousin, who raises the little girl. Two women, one child – and a brilliant example of melodrama as art. Special Features: • “Warner Night at the Movies” 1939 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
Technicolor® historical short “Lincoln in the White House”
Howard Hill sports short “Sword Fishing”
Classic cartoons “The Film Fan” and “Kristopher Kolumbus”
Trailers of “The Old Maid” and 1939’s “Confessions of a Nazi Spy”
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1940 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
Technicolor® patriotic short “Meet the Fleet”
Classic cartoons “Hollywood Daffy” and “Porky’s Last Stand”
Trailers of “All This, and Heaven Too” and 1940’s “Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet”
• Subtitles: English & Français (main feature only) “The Great Lie” (1941) Tempestuous, ambitious concert pianist Sandra Kovac (Mary Astor) shares a bond with down-to-earth Maggie Van Allen (Bette Davis) and her little boy Pete. Sandra’s chic New York friends can’t imagine what the two women have in common. What they don’t know is that Pete is actually Sandra’s son – and the son of the heroic aviator (George Brent) that both women love. Powerful emotions rage against a backdrop of powerful music in the film that earned Astor a 1941 Best Supporting Actress Oscar® for her stellar performance opposite the legendary star who always gives a tour-de-force performance. This story of a great passion, a great sacrifice…and a great lie showcases two great actresses. Special Features: • “Warner Night at the Movies” 1941 Short Subjects Gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
Broadway Brevities short “At the Stroke of Twelve”
Oscar®-nominated Technicolor® Sports Parade short “Kings of the Turf”
Hollywood Novelty short “Polo with the Stars”
Classic cartoon “Porky’s Pooch”
Trailers of “The Great Lie” and 1941’s “The Strawberry Blonde”
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1946 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
Oscar®-winning* Technicolor® Sports Parade Short “Facing Your Danger”
Technicolor® Specials Short “Movieland Magic”
Classic cartoon “Mouse Menace”
Trailers of Deception and 1946’s “A Stolen Life”
• Commentary by film historian Bernard F. Dick
• “Warner Night at the Movies” 1943 short subjects gallery:
- Technicolor® patriotic short “March On, America!”
Musical short “Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra”
Classic cartoon “The Wise Quacking Duck”
Trailers of “Watch on the Rhine” and 1943’s “Mission to Moscow”