Classic Movie Update + Happy Fourth of July!

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July.

By Jason Apuzzo. • Given the recent dust-up over the new-look Wonder Woman, we thought we’d let Lynda Carter lead things off by wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July.  Lynda certainly has a way of raising everone’s spirits.  I know that just looking at the picture above has put me in a kind of patriotic fervor.

The glorious Lynda Carter.

We’ve put the entire Wonder Woman TV series in the LFM Store below for your perusal and patriotic edification.  I remember liking the show back in the day, but my sense is that’s its appeal must only be greater now.  May I be frank?  I’d rather spend hours watching Lynda Carter than Jack Bauer.  But’s that’s just me.

In any case, the show lasted for 3 seasons – all of which are gathered together in this tidy little collection.

Turner Classic Movies has a nice run today of patriotic films.  My personal recommendations: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the highly underrated The Devil’s Disciple (has Laurence Olivier ever been better?) and Yankee Doodle Dandy.  I can’t actually watch James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy because I get too emotional.  God bless Michael Curtiz – he’s probably the greatest director ever, and nobody even knows it.   All these movies are available in the LFM Store below.

• Humphrey Bogart is coming to Blu-ray in a big way this October.  Visit the HeatVision blog at The Hollywood Reporter to read about the new Humphrey Bogart: The Essential Collection that will be coming to Blu-ray.  As the picture below illustrates, this collection is basically going to have all the best stuff Bogey did for Warner Brothers.  Plus, I believe that Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon will be released separately on Blu-ray.  You can pre-order Treasure and Maltese in the LFM Store below.

Bogart on Blu-ray.

• New York’s Film Forum is presenting a 32-film Anthony Mann retrospective from 25 June – July 15.  Mann was easily one of our greatest directors, and a personal favorite of mine.  You can read more about that film series here.  I’ve put a few Anthony Mann classics in the LFM Store below.

• Eminent film writer David Bordwell has an interesting piece up on his site now about John Ford’s work as a silent film director … and somewhat related to this, Turner Classic Movies will be doing a mini-festival on July 10th of films shot at Monument Valley, which will (obviously) include Ford’s Stagecoach, The Searchers, My Darling Clementine, Sergeant Rutledge, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.  I actually think Cheyenne Autumn is the best looking film Ford ever shot in Monument Valley, although the film is a bit tedious and left wing.  We’ve got a few Ford-Monument Valley films in the LFM Store below.

Raquel Welch as Hannie Caulder.

• Producer Elliot Kastner has died.  Kastner produced, among other films, one of my absolute all time favorites: Where Eagles Dare.  You can read the article about his life and career in Variety.  He will be missed.  Pick up Where Eagles Dare in the LFM Store below.

• Carol Reed’s Night Train to Munich is finally getting a decent DVD release (Criterion, of course), and Turner Classic Movies has a review of it.  In other news, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-John McTiernan classic Predator is coming to Blu-ray, as is a restored version of Visconti’s The Leopard – which recently had a screening at the LA Film Festival.  All these films are available in the LFM Store.

• The magnificent Greenbriar Picture Shows classic movie blog has a wonderful 2-part look at the career of Orson Welles, see here and here.  I really love what they do at that site.  For the heck of it, I’ve put one of my favorite Welles books in the LFM Store: Peter Conrad’s Orson Welles: The Stories of His Life.

• Praise be to the heavens … Raquel Welch’s Hannie Caulder is finally coming to DVD!  You can read a new DVD review of the film at Turner Classic Movies.  This film is a major cult classic and it’s a crime that it hasn’t been available except on cheap VHS copies for years.  The film stars Raquel, along with Christopher Lee and Ernest Borgnine.  You can pre-order it in the LFM Store below.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!

Posted on July 4th, 2010 at 12:15am.

Published by

Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo is co-Editor of Libertas Film Magazine.

6 thoughts on “Classic Movie Update + Happy Fourth of July!”

  1. Happy 4th of July you guys! Nice photos of Wonder Woman (love her patriotic outfit) and Raquel Welch. Now how about some cheesecake shots of some guys, hmmm…?

    1. That’s what I’m talking about, here. I actually just started watching the original “Wonder Woman” series on DVD. It is a total hoot, and Lynda looks incredible.

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