 | The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection
Buy new: $45.99 / Used from: $38.63 Paramount cares so little for their classics they sold the rights to the pre-code Marx classics to Universal. The transfers are good on these old films but the extras are bare. Just a couple of interviews with the Marx Bros. on the Today Show.
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 | The Marx Brothers Collection (A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Races/A Night in Casablanca/Room Service/At the Circus/Go West/The Big Store)
Buy new: $47.99 / Used from: $29.94 Irving Thalberg brought the Marx Bros. from Paramount and they made two great films - "Night at the Opera" and "Day at the Races". Then Thalberg died and their output at MGM was never the same. However, this set does have some great extras and commentary that you can't find elsewhere.
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 | Robert Mitchum - The Signature Collection (Angel Face / Macao / The Sundowners / Home from the Hill / The Good Guys and the Bad Guys / The Yakuza)
Buy new: $43.99 / Used from: $37.99 A good collection of Mitchum films under the control of WHV. Shows a good range of performances with commentary for "Angel Face", "Macao", and "The Yakuza". Featurettes or documentaries on the films are included for "Macao", "The Sundowners", "Good Guys & Bad Guys", and "The Yakuza". No vintage shorts or cartoons in this package.
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 | The Essential Steve McQueen Collection (Bullitt Two-Disc Special Edition / The Getaway Deluxe Edition / The Cincinnati Kid / Papillon / Tom Horn / Never So Few)
Buy new: $49.99 / Used from: $30.00 A great collection of Steve McQueen's films. If you like 60's and 70's era action and adventure, get this one. Plus several of the films have commentary tracks.
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 | The Paul Newman Collection (Harper / The Drowning Pool / The Left-Handed Gun / The Mackintosh Man / Pocket Money / Somebody Up There Likes Me / The Young Philadelphians)
Buy new: $43.99 / Used from: $33.48 The two jewels in this collection are "Somebody Up There" and "The Young Philadelphians". The other five are great performances but just not the top tier of Newman films. There is commentary on Somebody Up There, Young Philadelphians, Left Handed Gun, and Harper, and a featurette is included on The Drowning Pool. No other extras to speak of except a few trailers.
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 | Tyrone Power Collection (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile)
Buy new: $44.99 / Used from: $37.07 Films made by Power while at Fox, this is a great set with some terrific extras. There have been some complaints about the mastering and video quality of these movies, though.
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 | Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon)
Buy new: $34.99 / Used from: $32.01 A collection of Power in his non-swashbuckling roles. Some films are very early in his career, and some like "I'll Never Forget You" and "Johnny Apollo" are among his very best.
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 | Elvis Presley - The Signature Collection (It Happened at the World's Fair / Speedway / Spinout / Harum Scarum / Jailhouse Rock / Viva Las Vegas)
Buy used from: $36.45 If I knew the first thing about Presley's films I would comment. I don't.
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 | Ronald Reagan - The Signature Collection (Knute Rockne All American / Kings Row / The Hasty Heart / Storm Warning / The Winning Team)
Buy new: $44.99 / Used from: $27.99 Reagan was a better actor in better films than you've probably heard. This is a good collection I'm proud to own, and I'm a Democrat! "Storm Warning" & "Winning Team" have no extras, but the other three all have vintage shorts and cartoons. "Hasty Heart" is the only film with commentary, and "Knute Rockne" has an audio-only Lux Radio Theatre broadcast with Pat O'Brien and Ronald Reagan.
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 | Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist (The Emperor Jones / Body and Soul / Borderline / Sanders of the River / Jericho / The Proud Valley / Native Land / Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist) - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $47.49 / Used from: $54.99 Documentaries and commentaries abound in this set. Robeson was a versatile artist and this set commemorates him well.
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 | The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection (Babes in Arms / Babes on Broadway / Girl Crazy / Strike Up the Band)
Buy new: $28.99 / Used from: $27.99 Four great musical films done by the duo plus a bonus disc of extras and interviews. This does not include their Andy Hardy films.
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 | Barbara Stanwyck - The Signature Collection (Annie Oakley / East Side, West Side / My Reputation / Executive Suite / Jeopardy / To Please a Lady)
Buy new: $33.99 / Used from: $28.99 Due for release in October 2007. Commentary track on Executive Suite only. All others give you the standard Warner Night at the Movies treatment. There is a Lux Radio adaptation of My Reputation (audio only).
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 | James Stewart - The Signature Collection (The Cheyenne Social Club / Firecreek / The FBI Story / The Naked Spur / The Spirit of St. Louis / The Stratton Story)
Buy new: $38.99 / Used from: $27.89 This is a good collection of Stewart films from the latter half of his career including a delightful double-feature starring Stewart and life-long friend Henry Fonda. The bad point is there are no commentary tracks and no biographical material for any of the films.
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 | The Elizabeth Taylor Signature Collection (National Velvet / Father of the Bride / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / Butterfield 8)
Buy new: $35.99 / Used from: $24.97 Four great performances in four great films. The only problem here is that "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is in Warner's collection of Tennessee Williams films, so if you want one collection you've got duplication if you get the other. Also, this is an older (2004) collection, and there has been a Deluxe Edition release of "Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" since then that is not in this set.
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 | Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2-Disc Special Edition / The Comedians / The Sandpiper / The V.I.P.s) 5 Disc Set
Buy new: $38.99 / Used from: $36.24 Virginia Woolf is classic, The Comedians and The V.I.P.s are pleasant enough, and "The Sandpiper" is just not so good. Plus Taylor & Burton are just not sympathetic characters in this strange film. An OK set, just not as good as some of the others. Warner Home Video does not hold the rights to Cleopatra, so you can't blame them for that exclusion.
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 | The John Wayne Signature Collection (Stagecoach / The Searchers / Rio Bravo / The Cowboys)
Buy used from: $11.69 Do not get this. Get the John Wayne-John Ford film collection instead. It's a better value. Then just get Rio Bravo and the Cowboys separately.
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 | John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection (The Searchers Ultimate Edition / Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition / Fort Apache / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Long Voyage Home / They Were Expendable / 3 Godfathers / The Wings of Eagles)
Buy new: $57.99 / Used from: $46.77 This is a great set. My personal recommendation for any Wayne fan.
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 | The John Wayne Century Collection (Big Jake, Donovan's Reef, El Dorado, Hatari!, Hondo, In Harm's Way, Island in the Sky, McLintock!, Rio Lobo, The High and the Mighty, etc.)
Buy new: $74.99 / Used from: $69.99 Contains commentary and assorted other extras for McLintock, True Grit, High and the Mighty, Hondo, and Island in the Sky. In Harm's Way has a "Making of" featurette. No extras on any of the other films other than the occasional trailer.
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 | The John Wayne Film Collection (Without Reservations / Allegheny Uprising / Tycoon / Reunion in France / Big Jim McLain / Trouble Along the Way)
Buy new: $31.49 / Used from: $29.93 A good collection of diverse and great performances by Wayne in some of his lesser known films.
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 | John Wayne Legendary Heroes Collection (Blood Alley / McQ / The Sea Chase / Tall in the Saddle / The Train Robbers)
Buy new: $41.99 / Used from: $21.90 This is a set of middling quality films starring Wayne. I'd get this one after I picked up the Wayne-Ford Collection and The John Wayne Film Collection.
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 | TCM Spotlight - Esther Williams, Vol. 1 (Bathing Beauty / Easy to Wed / On an Island with You / Neptune's Daughter / Dangerous When Wet)
Buy new: $31.99 / Used from: $27.89 Her best films and a very good TCM interview program to boot. All films have vintage shorts and cartoons, but none of the films have commentary.
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 | Mega Signature Collection
The cost of collecting these sets individually and together is about equal. Instead of buying this collection, get all of the sets individually and omit the collections of Henry Fonda and John Wayne. Henry Fonda's set duplicates 3 films that are in other Warner collections. Instead, use the money you save and get the John Wayne - John Ford collection instead.
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