News From the Lake for the Week of June 19th, 2013

Pretty slow news week  what’s new from Criterion and Warner Archive.

Warner Archive pays tribute to the life of actress Esther Williams, who passed away last week, by releasing a newly remastered copy of Jupiter’s Darling (1956) directed by George Sidney and co-starring Marge and Gower Champion.  The Archive will also be releasing two films starring the legendary Bette Davis: Front Page Woman (1935) and Winter Meeting (1948).  The former stars Davis as a newspaper writer sparring against a fellow writer played by George Brent; comparisons to His Girl Friday are acknowledged by Warner Archive.  The latter has Davis playing a socialite spinster engaged in wacky hijinks.  You can order all of them from Warner Archive.  Remember, these films are made on demand using the best prints available and contain no bonus content.

The Criterion Collection has announced their slate of films for September (plenty of time to start saving up).  In terms of new releases, they’ve announced DVD and Blu-ray releases for the 1978 French comedy, La Cage Aux Folles (famously remade into a Broadway musical, and a 1990s remake with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams); they’ve also announced three of Italian neorealist Roberto Rossellini’s films that he made with Ingrid Bergman (Stromboli, Europa ’51, and Journey to Italy).  In terms of updated releases you can snag Blu-ray copies of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Richard Linklater’s Slacker, and Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata.

That’s all from the Lake this week (told you it was slow).  See you next Wednesday with more news!