Warner Home Video's The Women Makes Its Blu-ray Bow On May 6

Warner Home Video was busy this past week with an onslaught of new DVD and Blu-ray Product offerings.   Leading the parade of hits is director George Cukor’s 1939 cinematic gem, The Women, which will be making its Blu-ray bow on May 6.

Bonus goodies for this all-star (135 different actresses, including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine) pre-war New York society comedy (based on Clare Boothe Luce’s stage play) include two vintage documentaries — “From the Ends of the Earth” and “Hollywood: Style Center of the World” — and alternate sequences.

Also getting a May 6 Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack release (with UltraViolet) is the latest feature-length super hero animated film, director Ethan Spaulding’s Son of Batman.

On the DVD release front, look for a five-film collection on Jan. 28 titled Bill Elliott Detective Mysteries.   

The B-movie series (as Hollywood made them) was giving way to episodic television during the mid-1950s … this was one of the last “formula” theatrical series (probably should have been a TV series) to be launched.   

Included in this unique detective series, which starred Western icon Bill Elliott as Los Angeles Sheriff Detective Andy Doyle, are: Dial Red 0 (1955, written and directed by Daniel B. Ullman), Sudden Danger (1955, co-starring Beverly Garland and Tom Drake), Calling Homicide (1956, co-starring Don Haggerty — he would appear as Elliott’s partner in the final three films in the series), Chain of Evidence (1957) and Footsteps in the Night (also 1957).

On Feb. 4, future president Ronald Reagan stars in the DVD debut of director William Keighley’s 1938 Virginia Military Institute comedy, Brother Rat.   Jane Wyman, the future first wife of Reagan, was his co-star.   

On the same date Warner Home Video is releasing the 1940 sequel, Brother Rat and a Baby, which also teamed Reagan and Wyman, along with Wayne Morris, Eddie Albert and Pricilla Lane (all back for the sequel).

A double-disc collection of Tom and Jerry television adventures has been added to the Feb. 18 release schedule — title is Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble.   And lastly, Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection #8 (a double disc set) will be available on May 13.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report