U.S. label ClassicsFlix has prepared a trailer highlighting the ten titles it remastered and released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2018. They are Raw Deal (1948), The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952), Down Three Dark Streets (1954), Five Steps to Danger (1957), Merrily We Live (1938), Casanova Brown (1944), Along Came Jones (1945), Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series, The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd / Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection Silver Series, and I Met My Love Again (1938) Silver Series.
Synopsis: All Joe Sullivan wants is "a breath of fresh air." But when you're serving time in stir for robbery, fresh air is a rare commodity. That's about to change though as mob boss Rick Coyle has greased the skids inside the prison walls, so Joe can make it outside where girlfriend Pat will be waiting.
But things don't exactly go as planned for the duo as car trouble during their getaway forces them to get help from the only person nearby -- strait-laced legal assistant Ann Martin, whom they kidnap and use to evade capture. Things aren't going as planned for Rick either who set up the escape fully expecting the fugitive to get "cut down" so he could keep the $50,000 he owes Joe for taking the rap for him.
Synopsis: A Dutch company's owner bankrupts his own company, burns the incriminating ledgers and plans to run to Paris with the company payroll. But he is caught in the act by his accountant who challenges his actions, leading to a reversal of roles.
Synopsis: When federal agent Zack Stewart turns up dead, his partner, agent John Ripley, vows to find the murderer and takes control of all of the cases that Stewart was on when he was killed. One investigation involves a ring of thugs who hijack cars, another deals with a mobster on the lam, and the third revolves around blackmail and kidnapping. Unfortunately for Ripley, each case is so dangerous that he may not live long enough to find the man who killed Stewart.
Synopsis: Stranded in a small California town after experiencing car trouble, vacationing John Emmett is spared the tedium of bus travel when he has a chance meeting with Ann Nicholson—who offers him a lift if he'll agree to split the driving duties to Santa Fe. He soon learns that Ann is actually a patient recovering from a nervous breakdown, however, and a simple little road trip blossoms into a Cold War nightmare as the couple are ensnared in a web of mystery involving vital national security secrets!
Synopsis: Hilarious farce concerns a dizzy socialite with a penchant for hiring ex-cons and bums to help tend to her family's needs. After an unshaven writer shows up at her door asking to use the phone, she mistakenly believes him to be a tramp and gives him a job working as a servant. Quickly, her new employee uses his life skills to get the household in order as he falls for her eldest daughter. Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Ann Dvorak, Billie Burke star.
Synopsis: Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright star in this comedy, which also features a fine supporting cast that includes Frank Morgan. Cooper stars as Casanova Brown, a small-town professor who steals his own baby when he learns his estranged wife (Wright), who is planning to remarry, is intent on putting the child up for adoption.
Synopsis: Melody Jones (Gary Cooper) is a mild-mannered cowpoke who barely knows the difference between a six-shooter and a carbine rifle, but when he rides into Paynesville, he immediately commands the respect - and fear - of the entire town. The locals believe he's the notorious Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea), a ruthless outlaw who's been terrorizing the frontier with his daring robberies and lightning-fast draw. At first, Jones enjoys his newfound fame, but that quickly ends when he finds himself the target of a bloodthirsty posse, a determined private investigator, Jarrad's double-crossed partners and the most dangerous enemy of all: Jarrad himself!
Synopsis: In 1957, Hal Roach Studios brought the comic strip couple to the small screen with Pamela Britton as Blondie and Lake reprising his role as Dagwood. Blondie also stars Stuffy Singer and Ann Barnes as the Bumstead children (Alexander, formerly Baby Dumpling, and Cookie). It also features Florenz Ames as J.C. Dithers, Dagwood's autocratic boss and Harold "The Great Gildersleeve" Peary as Dagwood's friendly nemesis Herb Woodley. Elvia Allman is also part of the fun, with guest appearances by Alan Mowbray, Frank Nelson, Barbara Nichols, June Vincent, Judi Meredith, Gregg Palmer, Alan Reed, William Schallert, Pamela Duncan, Fritz Feld and many more!
Synopsis: For the first time on home video comes all 21 of Hal Roach's two-reelers starring the lovely Thelma Todd and the pugnacious Patsy Kelly. These timeless shorts showcase the incredible comedic talents of an unsung duo who simply wanted to make audiences laugh... and succeeded!
In Hollywood, the laugh factory operated by Roach was known to one and all as "The Lot of Fun." Established in 1915, the studio hosted many of the familiar names in comedy at one time or another: Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase and the popular and iconic team of Laurel and Hardy.
Determined to find the female equivalent of "The Boys," Roach paired Thelma Todd (already under contract and a veteran of several Chase shorts) with comic actress ZaSu Pitts. Thelma and ZaSu appeared in 17 shorts between 1931 and 1933 that were very popular with moviegoers, but their fruitful partnership ended when Pitts and Roach failed to come to terms on a new contract.
After seeing comedienne Patsy Kelly in the stage production of Flying Colors, Roach agreed that she was the perfect replacement for ZaSu, and the new team of Todd-Kelly was soon putting out hilarious efforts like Babes in the Goods (1934), Maid in Hollywood (1934) and Top Flat (1935). All-American Toothache (1936) would be their final pairing as Todd's tragic death brought an end to the girls' entertaining partnership.
Though efforts were made to jump-start the franchise with Pert Kelton and Lyda Roberti, the writing was on the wall where Roach's two-reelers were concerned as the producer soon transitioned solely to "streamliners" and feature films.
Synopsis: College sweethearts Julie Weir (Joan Bennett) and Ives Towner (Henry Fonda) are very much in love and engaged to be married. But because Ives feels like a "nobody", he asks Julie if she could wait until he makes something of himself. Julie consents, but after two long years and without a wedding date in sight, she meets and impulsively marries Michael, a charismatic writer.
However, Julie soon finds out that her new husband (Alan Marshal) is a loafer who is more interested in partying than supporting his family. Things then go from bad to worse when Michael is accidentally killed (at a party), leaving Julie and her daughter penniless and stranded in Paris.
But her Aunt William (Dame May Whitty) hasn't given up hope that Julie could rekindle her romance with Ives and provides her with enough money to come back home to Vermont. Will Julie's arrival be enough to blunt the attentions of a young co-ed (Louise Platt) who has intentions of marrying Ives herself?
Producer Walter Wanger brought Allene Corliss' novel Summer Lightning to the big screen in 1938 as I Met My Love Again, directed by Arthur Ripley and Joshua Logan. It would be the motion picture debut for Logan, a celebrated stage director (whose early theatrical productions starred Fonda and his pal James Stewart) who wouldn't receive credit on another film until 1955.
I Met My Love Again also served as the cinematic debut of actress Louise Platt (whom Wanger would later cast in Stagecoach), in addition to offering an excellent showcase for such favorites such as Dame May Whitty and a young Tim Holt. Above all, it's the luminescent teaming of Henry Fonda and Joan Bennett in a film that will be a favorite of those who believe love triumphs over all!