This Month in WB History
With summer upon us and with this time of year being a primetime period for watching movies, we thought we’d take a look back at just a few cinematic memories from the illustrious Warner Bros. Film Library that were released this month in previous years. From suspense thrillers and comedy classics to an Oscar-winning documentary and more recent tent-pole blockbusters, here are 15 films that are currently available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. Whatever your viewing preference these are 15 must-sees. Happy Viewing!
Key Largo (1948)
A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Edward G. Robinson holes up—and holds at gunpoint—Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore and Humphrey Bogart in writer/director John Huston’s classic. Despite the iconic cast of legends, it was Claire Trevor who picked up an Oscar as Robinson’s moll. Recently released on Blu-ray for the first time.
Gigi (1958)
Winner of nine Academy Awards, including “Best Picture,” this romantic musical starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jordan remains a Hollywood classic. From the Lerner/Lowe team that also brought you the more well-known My Fair Lady.
North By Northwest (1959)
Cary Grant teamed with director Alfred Hitchcock for the fourth and final time in this superlative espionage caper of mistaken identity that leads to the famous epic conclusion on the face of Mount Rushmore. One of the American Film Institute's Top 100 American Films and recipient of three Academy Award nominations.
The Great Race (1965)
Screen legends Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Jack Lemmon star in Blake Edwards’ comedy classic about an early 20th Century auto race from New York to Paris. Cartoonish, farcical and side-splitting funny, The Great Race also features the pie fight to end all pie fights!
Chisum (1970)
The ultimate man’s man, John Wayne, stars as real-life cattle king John Chisum who must battle a land-grabbing developer during New Mexico's Lincoln County War of 1878. A true highlight of Wayne’s 200+ film career and recently released on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Deliverance (1972)
Directed by John Boorman, this controversial film stars Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox as four inexperienced campers who find themselves in a gut-wrenching fight for survival against the merciless forces of nature and the brutality of man. Their only escape is a terrifying canoe ride down the raging rapids of the Chattooga River.
Arthur (1981)
A huge hit in 1981, Dudley Moore gives a memorable (and Oscar-nominated) performance as a drunken, child-like millionaire who finds himself unexpectedly in love with a wise-cracking waitress, played brilliantly by Liza Minnelli. But Sir John Gielgud steals the show in his Oscar-winning performance as the stoic, yet sarcastic butler, Hobson.
The World According to Garp (1982)
Based on John Irving’s best-selling novel, Robin Williams plays a sweet-natured writer whose life is a weird minefield of violence, adultery, fatherhood, feminism and eerie coincidence. In addition to Williams’ memorable role, Glenn Close (in her film debut) as Garp’s formidable mother and John Lithgow as a transgender ex-NFL player give their own Oscar-nominated performances.
The Lost Boys (1987)
One of the iconic teen films to come out of the ‘80s, The Lost Boys also influenced the way Hollywood has looked at vampires ever since. Starring a who’s who of new young talent, including Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, director Joel Schumacher noted later: “We really didn’t know what we were doing. A lot of people at the studio didn’t think you could mix horror and humor.” But they did, and with lasting results.
The Client (1994)
Arguably the best adaptation of a John Grisham novel, Susan Sarandon (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Tommy Lee Jones square off in this fast-paced legal thriller about a small-time lawyer and her young client who accidentally gets mixed up with a mob kingpin and the U.S. Attorney determined to bring him down no matter the cost to her client.
Contact (1997)
Directed by Academy Award-winner Robert Zemeckis, this thoughtful and philosophical epic became a social event at the time of its release, bringing out the debate between the power of faith and the rules of science. Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey lead an all-star cast in this gripping story of a radio astronomer who receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth and the human reaction of what it all means.
March of the Penguins (2005)
Winner of the Academy Award for “Best Documentary,” this Morgan Freeman-narrated look at the odd mating ritual of the penguin in the Antarctic was not only informative but truly enjoyable on a mainstream level. In fact, it actually did better at the box office than the films that were nominated for that year’s “Best Picture.” A truly amazing movie for the whole family.
The Dark Knight (2008)
One of the most successful movies of all-time earning more than $1 BILLION worldwide and also major critical acclaim, Christopher Nolan set a new standard for superhero flicks with this second outing in his Dark Knight trilogy. The late Heath Ledger won the Academy Award posthumously for his unforgettable performance as The Joker.
Inception (2010)
Following The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan wrote and directed this mind-bending sci-fi thriller that grossed more than $800 million worldwide while receiving eight Oscar nominations (winning four). Starring an international cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard, Inception remains a truly original and unique piece in the history of cinema.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Guillermo del Toro introduced massive human-piloted robots called Jaegers into the global lexicon with this movie that was larger than life in both presentation and scope. A true sci-fi epic, Pacific Rim tells the tale of mankind’s fight against monstrous aliens the likes of which we had never seen before on the big screen.