Warner Archive has announced that it will add tree new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: John Sturges'
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), William A. Wellman's
Battleground (1949), and Terence Young's
Wait Until Dark (1967).
Bad Day at Black Rock
Folks in Black Rock have their own way of welcoming mysterious, one-armed stranger John J. Macreedy. He's welcome to leave. Or they'll make sure he leaves in a pine box. Two-time Academy Award(r) winner* Spencer Tracy (a 1955 Best Actor Oscar(r) nominee for this film) plays World War II veteran Macreedy, who keeps his own counsel about why he's come to Black Rock and who keeps his wits about him when confronted with threats and violence. Director John Sturges (The Great Escape) ramps up the tension while revealing Macreedy's mission and the town's grim secret. Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin are among the town's thugs and lap dogs. "I'm half horse, half alligator," one says. They'll find Macreedy is even tougher stuff. This timeless classic makes exceptional use of the then-new CinemaScope screen, set to a pulsating musical score by the great Andre Previn.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary Track by film historian Dana Polan
- Original Theatrical Trailer
STREET DATE: JANUARY 17
Battleground
December 1944. A civilian victim of the Battle of Bastogne scrounges through garbage to find a scrap of food. "I don't even see those things," a war-numbed GI says. "I want to remember them!" his buddy snaps. Bastogne veteran Robert Pirosh remembers with his Oscar(r)-winning* screenplay for Battleground, a gripping tale of 101st Airborne troops resisting Hitler's fierce, final counter-offensive. Directed by William A. Wellman (The Story of GI Joe), the superb cast includes James Whitmore as a bantam rooster of a Sergeant, and Van Johnson as a wisecracking PFC (as in "Praying for Civilian"). Rugged and unsparing, Battleground - nominated for six Academy Awards(r) including Best Picture - makes sure we all remember.
Special Features:
- Classic Tex Avery Cartoon - Little Rural Riding Hood
- Classic MGM Pete Smith Specialty - Let's Cogitate
- Original Theatrical Trailer
STREET DATE: JANUARY 10.
Wait Until Dark
Now two are left: Susy, recently blinded and still learning how to live in a sighted world, and Roat, a psychopathic killer. Roat wants a heroin-stuffed doll he thinks Susy has. All Susy wants is to survive. Dim the lights, check the door's chain lock, and brace yourself for a chiller as polished as the steel of Roat's blade. Audrey Hepburn earned her fifth Academy Award(r) nomination as Susy. Alan Arkin is pure evil as Roat, master of disguise and accents. Jack Weston and Richard Crenna costar as his henchmen. Building to a heart-pounding one-on-one confrontation, Wait Until Dark belongs to the screen's most memorable thrillers" (David Shipman, The Story of Cinema).
Special Features:
- Featurette - Take a Look in the Dark-Alan Arkin and Producer Mel Ferrer Reminisce
- About the Making of the Film
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- "Warning" Teaser Trailer
STREET DATE: JANUARY 27.