News From the Lake

News in a nutshell: getTV prepares you for Christmas and what’s new on DVD and Blu-ray.

getTV has had great success with their airing of variety shows, particularly The Judy Garland Show, and they’ll be continuing the trend with their upcoming Christmas offering. The studio announced plans to air a cadre of Christmas-themed variety shows including The Andy Williams Show and Merv Griffin Show every Wednesday between November 25th and December 23rd. They’ll also do a full 30-hour marathon of all their Christmas variety shows on Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas Day. The full getTV schedule is on their website.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

Warner Archive: Warner Archive celebrates Novarember this month with several films featuring actor Ramon Navarro – Devil May Care (1929), In Gay Madrid (1930), Daybreak and Son of India (both 1931), The Son-Daughter (1932), Laughing Boy (1934), and The Night is Young (1935). They’re also debuting four 1950s musicals: two starring Lana Turner (The Merry Widow (1952) and Latin Lovers (1953)), Marge and Gower Champion’s Everything I Have is Yours (1952), and Jane Powell in The Girl Most Likely (1958). You can order all of these on-demand via Warner Archive.

TCM Vault: The TCM Vault announced two titles available for purchase. Starting things off is the Blu-ray debut of The Egg and I (1947) starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. This doesn’t look to have any additional bonus content. They’re also releasing a four-disc tribute to Alan Ladd with Alan Ladd: The 1940s Collection. The four titles included – 1942’s Lucky Jordan, And Now Tomorrow (1944), Two Years Years Before the Mast and O.S.S. (both 1946) – have never been released on DVD, but the set still lacks the long-demanded version of The Great Gatsby Ladd starred in. Like The Egg and I Alan Ladd: The 1940s Collection won’t have bonus features. You can purchase both of these via the TCM Shop website.

Criterion: Criterion announced two classic titles entering the collection – Charlie Chaplin’s classic The Kid (1921) and Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967). Both are first-time additions to the collection with a wealth of bonus content. The Kid arrives on February 16th while The Graduate drops February 23rd.

Shout Factory: And for those who enjoy cheesy sci-fi you can pick up The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962) on December 22nd. The film is best known for being lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (the episode is actually included on the Blu-ray as a bonus feature). Other bonus content will include audio commentaries, stills, and trailers.