15 Top Movies That Should Be On DVD, But Aren't

I just did a quick inventory of all the great movie titles that have not been given their due on DVD, and the sheer quantity stunned me. I know that rights issues and other legal quandaries can tie up creative assets for years, but surely if determined minds really applied themselves, some resolutions could be reached.

One inevitable problem is that in the almighty pursuit of revenues, more time and effort gets applied against marketing often mindless new product than in promoting the best of our film heritage. To illustrate this mind-set, when I asked one aspiring West Coast titan several years back why "Bringing Up Baby" , arguably the definitive screwball comedy, was not out on DVD, he replied with a straight face, "Who cares about two dead actors and a leopard?" Scary, I thought. (Something must have registered in our conversation, though, as the DVD is now available).

I must ask the question: how hard can offering these overlooked, first-rate titles be? Most of them have been previously released on VHS, which would be of some consolation except that the VCR has gone the way of the dinosaur. And how about the idea of rescuing major titles from the poor quality DVD oblivion of "public domain" status- for example, why must I watch a lousy transfer of Frank Capra's classic "Meet John Doe" ?)

The fast-approaching reality of a fully on-demand universe means that consumers will rightly expect that for a price, they will be able to access high quality versions of most any movie they want, so those entities that keep outstanding content away from the public, whatever the reason, will hopefully decide to re-assess their position. Or is this simply wishful thinking?

My own perhaps naïve view is that though commerce-driven, great films also represent a vital cultural resource. Though hardly a life-or-death issue, withholding them from public consumption out of greed or simple neglect does constitute an injustice of sorts. Though cynics will scoff, I firmly believe that what we consume by way of popular entertainment helps determine the overall quality of our lives.

We all have special movies that we've always wanted to see in our DVD section, but never have (please feel free to share yours, by the way).

Covering most every genre and period, here is my partial wish list:

1. Red Dust (1932)- A young Clark Gable plays a macho white hunter in Africa opposite a trashy Jean Harlow and a proper Mary Astor. Predictably the women do most of the hunting. Remade to lesser effect twenty years later as "Mogambo" (with Gable repeating his earlier role).

2. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)- The late Leslie Howard's signature role as masked hero of the French Revolution, posing incognito as an English dandy. Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey co-star. (Public domain title).

3. Ruggles Of Red Gap (1936)- Charles Laughton plays an English butler whose master loses him in a card game to a rich hayseed American, and who is then forced to relocate to the untamed West. Talk about culture shock. Roland Young and Charlie Ruggles (no relation) co-star. One of our finest screwballs, bar none.

4. Love Affair (1939)- Leo McCarey's original version of "An Affair To Remember", with the Cary Grant/ Deborah Kerr roles essayed by Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. Less glossy than the remake, but more affecting in my view, with an enchanting Dunne.

5. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)- Starring Joseph Cotten, this was Orson Welles's second film about a family unwilling to adapt to the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. Taken out of Welles's hands and chopped down to 90 minutes, the film still outclasses most other options, and would make a mint on curiosity value alone.

6. The Uninvited (1944)- Spooky, subtle ghost story with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as siblings who purchase sea-side house with a grim, hidden past. Chilling, literate film introduced the classic tune, "Stella By Starlight". A forgotten gem.

7. Life With Father (1947)- William Powell plays late nineteenth century patriarch Clarence Day opposite Irene Dunne in this charming and nostalgic family comedy, based on the hit play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Look for a young, adorable Elizabeth Taylor. (Public Domain title).

8. The Gunfighter (1950)- Henry King's signature Western about a gun-slinging outlaw who learns the difficulty of making a clean break with his past. One of Gregory Peck's finest early performances.

9. The African Queen (1951)- Bogie won Oscar playing a broken down ship's Captain who gets into all manner of adventures with spinster Katharine Hepburn in John Huston's first-rate adventure outing.

10. Viva Zapata! (1952)- Marlon Brando expertly portrays Mexican activist turned statesman Emilio Zapata in Elia Kazan's under-exposed historical drama. Also a superb showcase for Anthony Quinn, who plays Zapata's brother.

11. Two Women (1960)- Sophia Loren won Academy Award as a mother who experiences rape (along with her young daughter) at the hands of marauding soldiers during World War 2. A late career peak for director Vittorio De Sica (Public Domain title).

12. A Thousand Clowns (1965)- Magical black comedy features a tour-de-force turn by Jason Robards as an irresponsible dreamer at risk of losing custody of his adoring, like-minded nephew. William Daniels and Barbara Harris provide stellar support.

13. The Wrong Box (1966)- Wacky, wildly clever British comedy involves machinations within one eccentric family to determine who will receive a sizable inheritance. Michael Caine and Peter Sellers star, along with old pros John Mills and Ralph Richardson.

14. Cousin, Cousine (1975)- Saucy Gallic concoction has two distant cousins (Marie-Christine Barrault and Victor Lanoux) meeting at a wedding, and gradually embarking on a very sweet, light-hearted affair, much to the consternation of their respective neurotic, high-maintenance spouses. Just the kind of sexy, sassy romance that the French do best.

15. The Dead (1987)- John Huston's final film brings to life the bittersweet characters and setting of James Joyce's "Dubliners". Clearly a labor of love for the dying director, the film stars daughter Anjelica, who is surrounded by a strong Irish cast.

For close to 2,000 outstanding titles on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com.

Comments

[Robert J. Elisberg - Huffpost Blogger]

For all the discussion here about movies available as public domain or imports but in lesser quality -- I'm nonetheless drawn to the three movies on this list that were reported to have NO availability at all...two of which, alas, are especially-dear faves of mine. "A Thousand Clowns" and "The Wrong Box."

It's worth noting a few facts which make their omissions all the more galling: that "A Thousand Clowns" was nominated for Best Picture, and its Martin Balsam won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor . And the stunning cast of "The Wrong Box" also includes Peter Cook and Dudley Moore -- and its screenplay was written by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, who had recently written the now-legendary musical, "A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the Forum."

I look forward to these and others on the fine, deserving list (and elsewhere) making it into the world...

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

thanks for this...I'm with you all the way.

[jmillbran]

Still missing:
"Cluny Brown"--Lubitch's last film and a minor gem
"Chimes at Midnight"--someday, please?
"Hill Street Blues"--I've been waiting for season 3 for two years, now
"Baron Prasil"--a lovely Czech live action/animated film and the basis for "Baron Munchausen"
"Moonlight­ing"--with Jeremy Irons, an 80's film from Jerzy Skolimowski
"Smash Palace"--a marital drama from New Zeland

PS--
"Song of the South" was a Japanese laserdisc import (in English, with removable subtitles); it shows up on ebay from time to time.

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

of this list, I agree most on "moonlight­ing"...nev­er saw cluny brown.

[SergioM]

OOPS! You made a mistake. The Gunfighter IS on DVD. It's part of the Fox Western Classics 3DVD set along with Garden of Evil and the terrific, tense and underrated Rawhide. I should know, I saw it a few months ago

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

aha- of course they won't let you buy the dvd without buying the whole package.

[SergioM]

Though there are several Ebay sellers who sell the DVDs from the multi-DVD sets separately.. That's how I got the DVD of Rawhide and some Humphrey Bogart DVDs that were part of a multi-DVD set package.

[RicksCafe529]

I'm still waiting for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945), one of my favorites around Christmas time. Supposedly this has been in the works for a while, but nothing yet...

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

this movie still brings me to tears.
james dunn is haunting.

[daemos1]

You forgot Robot ninja

[SgtHudson]

Great list, John!
I'm still waiting for WUTHERING HEIGHTS starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon.
Very happy to see that THE UNINVITED made your wish list.

[Steamboater]

Wasn't there also a film called "The Uninvited" with Claude Raines and I think Audrey Totter?

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

the unsuspected, perhaps?

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

thanks.
wuthering is another great example.
it was out before years ago, and I still have that copy.

[Ken Volok]

"Nowhere" by Gregg Araki (late 1990s)

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

missed that one-- but araki's an interesting director.

[JTaverner]

STATE OF SIEGE dir. by Costa-Gavras

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

Love Montand in this.
you can get "Z" on dvd, thankfully.

[delfry]

Sands of the Kalahari is one I've been waiting for, and I know I can buy a VHS converted to DVD but it's not really the same thing. This movie has everything and it's hard to imagine why it's not out on DVD.
Check it out for yourself:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059675/

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

thanks for this...
vhs to dvds are a waste of time in my experience--they reproduce like a public domain dvd...

[RevMetheus]

Its not a movie, but its a total tragedy that WKRP In Cincinnati will never be released to DVD due to prohibitive music use costs.

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

never knew that was the reason, but makes sense. that was a ground-breaking show...

[AlButerol]

What are you babbling about? I could find all but three of the titles you mention digitally remastered on DVD. The following twelve titles are available on commercial DVDs on Amazon:

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) - yes
Ruggles Of Red Gap 1936 - yes
Love Affair 1939 - yes
Life With Father (1947) - yes
the gunfighter (1950) - yes
The African Queen (1951) - yes
Viva Zapata! (1952) - yes
Two Women (1960) - yes
Bringing Up Baby 1938 - yes
Meet John Doe 1941 - yes
Cousin, Cousine (1975) - available at Amazon UK only
The Dead 1987 - yes

The remaining three titles are not available on commercial DVD, but can be purchased from collectors who transfer from VHS or TV to DVD and sell on sites like the Video House, Classic Movies, and sell.com. They can charge for the media containing the movie (but not the movie itself) because the copyright has run out. Movies available from such sources include:

The Uninvited 1944 - classic movies
A Thousand Clowns (1965) - sell.com
The Wrong Box (1966) - video house

Classic movies are available on DVD if you just take a few minutes to look for them.

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

what am I babbling about?
let me throw that one back at you.
if you look closer at these dvds you'll note they are not major studio releases.
your "ruggles" dvd is offered by "Nostalgia Entertainment"...
these are public domain, cheap knock-off varieties which I decry in my piece.
my point, if you take the time to read carefully, is that these movies deserve first-rate presentation, which they're not getting. also if you read my piece again, you'll see I acknowledged "Bringing Up Baby" was finally released on dvd several years ago.

[Steamboater]

And "The African Queen" is an import. Take a look at the languages and there's English, German and Swahili. Not standard fare for an American release at all.

[AlButerol]

I don't think your original posting did make it clear that you were lamenting the lack of first-rate releases versus some other type of inferior DVD release. Could you please explain what the quality difference is between public-domain releases and first-rate releases. Is there any way for one to tell when a DVD advertised for sale is substandard without actually purchasing it? I'm not tryimg to trip you up. I'm sincerely interested.

[GomboMan]

I think that even worse than no DVD, is a bad DVD release, such as The Maltese Falcon. Although it's supposed to finally be released in a restored Blu-Ray, I'll believe it when I see it.

[jackbond]

Um, #2 is on DVD and Netflix has it. I stopped there. Does ANYONE do fact checking any more?

[Steamboater]

Try deepdiscou­ntdvds.com Prices are competitive and often less and shipping is free. I found "Outrageous", the Canadian film starring female impersonator Craig Russell e.g., Mae West, Merman, Garland, Carol Channing etc for $5.00 total. I looked for that one for a long time as he did his own singing and the film has some wonderful acting by Hollis McLaren, his schizoid female friend. It's over $12.00 plus shipping at Amazon.

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

I've used them, and they are aptly named.

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

jack- stay with me now...see where I say "public domain title- what that means is you can get a dvd copy but it's not from the major studios and so the source material stinks...which means bad picture quality and sound. do tell me if a major studio has remastered and released any of these titles lately. and I do check my facts.

[ptgkc]

Draw a picture, remember on Seinfield when Jerry had to videotape a first run movie? They ended up with a movie with an alternate ending with Elaine's bad dancing. Jerry expained he was still big, it was the bootlegs that got smaller.

The versions may not be that bad, but films deserve 1st run release.

I never found DVD for 1983's Reuben, Reuben with Tom Conti and 2 Oscar nominations. Conti plays a character based on poet Dylan Thomas. Are movies like this doomed to be lost?

[7snider7]

I'd like to see Paul Verhoeven's "Soldier of Orange", featuring Rutger Hauer, in a Region 1 release. That was an epic film that belongs in the canon of outstanding WWII films, yet it is unavailable to my knowledge.

[Steamboater]

Great film and available too but expenisve.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=Soldier+of+Orange&x=22&y=19

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

I'm lucky to have a copy...

[John Farr - Huffpost Blogger]

I've had the dvd for a while--great film.

[Steamboater]

If anyone is looking for hard-to-find films, check out RobertsVideos.com

I found a few here that are almost impossible to find and if he doesn't have it, ask if he knows where you can get them because he told me of some other place too. Some are on VHS and some DVDr's.