News From the Lake for November 26th, 2014

News in a nutshell: TCM and Disney partner up, a few television channels prepare their holiday programming, and what’s new on DVD and Blu.

Disney came up in a discussion with Robert Osborne and the TCM programmers during this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, and it appears they had something up their sleeves all along as recent news indicates TCM and Disney are partnering up. If you’ve been to Disney World you’ve taken a ride on “The Great Movie Ride,” a fantastic journey through various classic and contemporary film scenes that put you right in the movies. Recently, it was feared that the ride, housed in a replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, would be changed up and it’s been difficult keeping it up to date. TCM’s first order of business will be refreshing the ride’s pre-show and finale with an introduction by TCM host Robert Osborne. Other TCM branding, including banners, posters, and display windows, will be integrated into the ride, as well. Additionally, and for those who aren’t planning a Floridian visit, TCM is launching Treasures From the Disney Vault, an on-air showcase of Disney’s live-action and animated films, documentaries, and made-for-television series premiering December 21st at 8pm. This is amazing as the Disney Channel abandoned their own Vault Disney series in the early-2000s which did show their classic film output. As a huge Disney nut I can’t wait to fill my Tivo with stuff from here!

In sadder news, acclaimed director Mike Nichols passed away this week and TCM will honor him on December 6th with three of the director’s iconic films starting at 8pm ET: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Graduate (1967), and Carnal Knowledge (1971).

The folks at getTV are preparing for the holidays with the presentation of the rare 1957 holiday special, Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank starring Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. The special airs November 30th at 10pm ET. A special promo spotlighting the special can be watched below:

MeTV is also getting into the holiday spirit with a full week of Thanksgiving-themed programming all the way till this Friday. Shows scheduled to air the rest of this week include That Girl, Daniel Boone, Make Room for Daddy, and The Donna Reed Show. You can find the complete schedule at the MeTV website.

 I mentioned in last week’s update that the Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles was opening their latest exhibit, “Tyrone Power: Man, Myth, & Movie Idol” and there was a star-studded premiere for it that included Powers’ children, Tyrone Power, Jr. and Taryn Power, as well as actors such as Bewitched’s Erin Murphy and West Side Story’s George Chakiris. The exhibit is in honor of Powers’ centennial and includes vintage costumes and mementos. If you’re in the L.A. area stop by (tell them Kristen at Journeys in Classic Film sent you!). The exhibit runs through January 11th.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

Olive Films: Olive just announced two titles earlier in the week (The Weapon and Track the Man Down), but are also debuting World for Ransom (1954) and Woman They Almost Lynched (1953) on DVD and Blu. No bonus content is planned for either release; both are available January 20th.

Universal: Universal isn’t wasting time after dropping over a dozen titles onto DVD back in October. They’ve released another eight, exclusively available for purchase on Amazon and rental at ClassicFlix. The odd one is Love Letters (1945), a movie that garnered star Jennifer Jones an Academy Award nomination. How it’s being unceremoniously dumped onto MOD as opposed to getting a full-court press is beyond me. Other titles being released: All My Sons (1948) starring Edward G. Robinson and Burt Lancaster, Her Jungle Love (1938) with Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland; High, Wide, and Handsome (1937) starring Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott; Men With Wings (1938) with Fred MacMurray, Margaret Sullavan and Henry Fonda in The Moon’s Our Home (1936); John Saxon, Sandra Dee, and Teresa Wright in The Restless Years (1958), and Carole Lombard’s White Woman (1933).