“Warner Bros. And The Homefront Collection” Includes Two New To DVD Titles From Warner Home Video On November 11
(July 23, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – Warner Home Video (WHV) gives three cheers for the red, white and blue, saluting the studio’s WWII legacy with a special new DVD collection entitled “Warner Bros. and the Homefront.” Arriving in stores November 11, Veterans Day, this highly anticipated three-disc set is built around the three all-star, song-filled extravaganzas made by the studio’s finest talents during the tumult of WWII.
Headlining the collection is the first-ever WHV release of one of the biggest box-office hits of the era, “Irving Berlin’s This is the Army,” starring Ronald Reagan, George Murphy and Mr. Berlin himself, presented in its original roadshow format for the first time since its opening engagements. The collection also contains the long-awaited DVD debuts of two irresistible musical cavalcades featuring the biggest WB stars trying their hands at musical entertainment in “Thank Your Lucky Stars” and “Hollywood Canteen.”
The “Warner Bros. and the Homefront” collection is laden with an impressive array of special features, including commentaries, vintage Warner short subjects and Looney Tunes classics from WWII. Most significantly, the collection also contains “Warner at War,” a brand-new documentary which explores the studio’s fierce patriotism and unswerving dedication to aiding our country’s armed services on the battlefront, while entertaining those left behind at home.
“Warner Bros. and the Homefront” will be available as a collection only and will sell for $39.92 SRP. Order due date is October 7.
About the Films
“Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army” (1943)
Irving Berlin showed his abiding love for his country with, among other cultural accomplishments, decades of Broadway hits, the unofficial national anthem “God Bless America” (Veterans Day will mark the 70th Anniversary since the song was first performed and introduced to America and the world on “The Kate Smith Hour” 1938 Armistice Day CBS Radio Show broadcast, and as recreated in the movie version) and this World War II spirit-lifter. Originally conceived as a Broadway musical, the original stage production featured 350 real-life GIs, giving their singing-and-dancing all to raise nearly $2 million (then an astronomical sum) for Army Emergency Relief. At every performance, the highlight of the show was the moment when its composer, Mr. Berlin himself, would take center stage and sing “Oh, How I Hate to get up in the Morning.” The show was such an enormous success that Warner Bros. assembled a film adaptation with lightning speed, in order to spread the show’s unique blend of patriotism and entertainment to audiences everywhere. This Academy Award®-winning screen adaptation stars (future U.S. Senator) George Murphy and (future U.S. President) Ronald Reagan cast as a father and son producing team who put on one stupendous military musical revue before the son marches off to war. Most of the same GIs who earned standing ovations every night on Broadway appear in the film version, along with leading lady Joan Leslie and guest stars Joe Louis, Kate Smith and even Irving Berlin himself. Directed by Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca”), “This is the Army” was an instant big-screen smash with audiences and critics, and became the top grossing film of 1943. All proceeds from the film were donated by Warner Bros. to Army Emergency Relief, and in 1950, Jack Warner donated the film itself to that organization. Removed from authorized distribution for more than a half century, Warner Home Video is proud to make the original roadshow version of the film available, under exclusive license from Army Emergency Relief and the God Bless America Fund.
DVD Special Features:
• Commentary by Joan Leslie, Dr. Drew Casper
• “Edge of Darkness” trailer
• Newsreel
• 1943 WB short: “The United States Army Band”
• 1943 WB cartoon: “Confusions of a Nutsy Spy”
• All new WHV Documentary: “Warner at War”
• Original theatrical trailer “Thank Your Lucky Stars” (1943) The stars come out to play in the joyous World War II-era “Thank Your Lucky Stars.” A breezy, behind-the-Hollywood-scenes story about young talents hoping for a big break glitters with specialty numbers featuring Golden Era greats. Virtually every Warner star under contract to the studio braved the opportunity to sing and dance for the good of the nation’s morale, with the result making the film an instant classic. The one Warner star who declined to break character was perhaps the studio’s biggest, but Humphrey Bogart’s appearance in a scene being out-tough-guyed by S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall virtually steals the film. Legendary song and dance man Eddie Cantor takes a leading role in the film’s story, with Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie featured as the romantic leads. The film also provided Dinah Shore with her film debut, taking on several of the film’s great songs by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz. Warner stars best known for more serious roles let their guard down in memorable musical sequences including John Garfield, Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Hattie McDaniel, Olivia de Havilland and Miss Bette Davis, whose witty, wry, jitterbugging rendition of “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” is “the cherry on the top” (Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical). DVD Special Features: • “Watch on the Rhine” trailer
• Newsreel
• 1943 WB shorts: “Food and Magic,” “Three Cheers for the Girls,” “The United States Navy Band”
• 1943 WB cartoon: “Falling Hare”
• Theatrical trailer “Hollywood Canteen” (1944) The legendary “Hollywood Canteen” was a massive and glamour-filled nightclub for GIs, located in the heart of tinseltown. Stars from every studio in town sacrificed any extra hours they could to help entertain soldiers who were temporarily in Los Angeles. The Canteen was where Joan Crawford might cook the eggs and John Garfield might scrub out the frying pan. The movie “Hollywood Canteen” is a snappy, starry salute to that World War II landmark, built around a storyline involving a corporal who wins a date with winsome Joan Leslie. Real-life Canteen co-founders Bette Davis and Garfield plus dozens more luminaries – including The Andrews Sisters, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Barbara Stanwyck and even Roy Rogers with his horse Trigger – dazzle the troops as well as modern fans in “a great big scrambled vaudeville show with enough talent to have made a dozen fine movies” (Howard Barnes, New York Herald Tribune). DVD Special Features: • “The Conspirators” trailer
• 1944 WB shorts: “Proudly We Serve,” “Report from the Front,” “I am an American”
• 1944 WB cartoon: “Stage Door Cartoon”
• 1945 WB cartoon: “Herr Meets Hare”
• 1946 WB cartoon: “Hollywood Canine Canteen”
• Theatrical trailer All films are in B&W except for “Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army”; All Titles Not Rated About the God Bless America Fund and the Army Emergency Relief "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin was first published in 1938. It was premiered by Kate Smith on her CBS Network radio program for Armistice Day, November 11, 1938 -- seventy years to the date of this WHV release. Almost as soon as the song began generating revenue, Mr., Berlin established The God Bless America Fund to benefit American youth. (Note: while "GBA" is responsible for nearly 80% of the revenue collected and distributed by The God Bless America Fund, it is joined by 17 other songs that were donated by Mr. Berlin to the fund, including the score to his WWII all-soldier revue, "THIS IS THE ARMY"). Over $10,000,000 has been distributed to date, primarily to two youth organizations with which Mr. Berlin and Mrs. Berlin were personally involved: the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, and the Greater New York Councils of the Boys Scouts of America. These councils do not discriminate on any basis, and are committed to serving all segments of New York City's diverse youth population. Around the turn of the 21st Century, The God Bless America Fund was distributing an average of $200,000 per year. The song took on enormous prominence in the days following 9/11, and as its profile surged, so did the revenue it generated. In 2002, The God Bless America Fund distributed over $900,000 to its beneficiaries. Over the past five years, the Fund continues to generate -- and distribute -- an average of $500,000 annually. Established in 1942 by the Secretary of War, to relieve distress of members of the Army and their dependents, the Army Emergency Relief has helped more than 3 million Soldiers and their Families with over $1 billion in assistance during these last 66 years. With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment. Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.# # #
• “Edge of Darkness” trailer
• Newsreel
• 1943 WB short: “The United States Army Band”
• 1943 WB cartoon: “Confusions of a Nutsy Spy”
• All new WHV Documentary: “Warner at War”
• Original theatrical trailer “Thank Your Lucky Stars” (1943) The stars come out to play in the joyous World War II-era “Thank Your Lucky Stars.” A breezy, behind-the-Hollywood-scenes story about young talents hoping for a big break glitters with specialty numbers featuring Golden Era greats. Virtually every Warner star under contract to the studio braved the opportunity to sing and dance for the good of the nation’s morale, with the result making the film an instant classic. The one Warner star who declined to break character was perhaps the studio’s biggest, but Humphrey Bogart’s appearance in a scene being out-tough-guyed by S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall virtually steals the film. Legendary song and dance man Eddie Cantor takes a leading role in the film’s story, with Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie featured as the romantic leads. The film also provided Dinah Shore with her film debut, taking on several of the film’s great songs by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz. Warner stars best known for more serious roles let their guard down in memorable musical sequences including John Garfield, Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Hattie McDaniel, Olivia de Havilland and Miss Bette Davis, whose witty, wry, jitterbugging rendition of “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” is “the cherry on the top” (Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical). DVD Special Features: • “Watch on the Rhine” trailer
• Newsreel
• 1943 WB shorts: “Food and Magic,” “Three Cheers for the Girls,” “The United States Navy Band”
• 1943 WB cartoon: “Falling Hare”
• Theatrical trailer “Hollywood Canteen” (1944) The legendary “Hollywood Canteen” was a massive and glamour-filled nightclub for GIs, located in the heart of tinseltown. Stars from every studio in town sacrificed any extra hours they could to help entertain soldiers who were temporarily in Los Angeles. The Canteen was where Joan Crawford might cook the eggs and John Garfield might scrub out the frying pan. The movie “Hollywood Canteen” is a snappy, starry salute to that World War II landmark, built around a storyline involving a corporal who wins a date with winsome Joan Leslie. Real-life Canteen co-founders Bette Davis and Garfield plus dozens more luminaries – including The Andrews Sisters, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Barbara Stanwyck and even Roy Rogers with his horse Trigger – dazzle the troops as well as modern fans in “a great big scrambled vaudeville show with enough talent to have made a dozen fine movies” (Howard Barnes, New York Herald Tribune). DVD Special Features: • “The Conspirators” trailer
• 1944 WB shorts: “Proudly We Serve,” “Report from the Front,” “I am an American”
• 1944 WB cartoon: “Stage Door Cartoon”
• 1945 WB cartoon: “Herr Meets Hare”
• 1946 WB cartoon: “Hollywood Canine Canteen”
• Theatrical trailer All films are in B&W except for “Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army”; All Titles Not Rated About the God Bless America Fund and the Army Emergency Relief "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin was first published in 1938. It was premiered by Kate Smith on her CBS Network radio program for Armistice Day, November 11, 1938 -- seventy years to the date of this WHV release. Almost as soon as the song began generating revenue, Mr., Berlin established The God Bless America Fund to benefit American youth. (Note: while "GBA" is responsible for nearly 80% of the revenue collected and distributed by The God Bless America Fund, it is joined by 17 other songs that were donated by Mr. Berlin to the fund, including the score to his WWII all-soldier revue, "THIS IS THE ARMY"). Over $10,000,000 has been distributed to date, primarily to two youth organizations with which Mr. Berlin and Mrs. Berlin were personally involved: the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, and the Greater New York Councils of the Boys Scouts of America. These councils do not discriminate on any basis, and are committed to serving all segments of New York City's diverse youth population. Around the turn of the 21st Century, The God Bless America Fund was distributing an average of $200,000 per year. The song took on enormous prominence in the days following 9/11, and as its profile surged, so did the revenue it generated. In 2002, The God Bless America Fund distributed over $900,000 to its beneficiaries. Over the past five years, the Fund continues to generate -- and distribute -- an average of $500,000 annually. Established in 1942 by the Secretary of War, to relieve distress of members of the Army and their dependents, the Army Emergency Relief has helped more than 3 million Soldiers and their Families with over $1 billion in assistance during these last 66 years. With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment. Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.