Warner Archive Announces October Releases (UPDATED)
HomeWarner Archive Announces October Releases (UPDATED)
Posted September 15, 2025 06:23 PM by Webmaster
Warner Archive has announced its October batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: The Racket (1951), Rafferty And The Gold Dust Twins (1975), Lovely to Look At (1952), A Summer Place (1959), and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).
UPDATE: Warner Archive has added four additional titles to its slate: The Master of Ballantrae (1953), Out of the Fog (1941), The Mad Miss Manton (1938), and Manhattan Melodrama (1934).
The Racket
Description: Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) is an old-fashioned kind of gangster. If someone crosses you, settle it with a fist or a bullet. Tom McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) is an old-fashioned kind of cop. Grab the bad guy, not the bribe. But they are both living in a corrupt new world on both sides of the law, efficient green-eyeshade types who run a crime ring like a corporation. They will not mind if Scanlon and Tom McQuigg square off . if they bring each other down. Ryan and Mitchum, who co-starred in the ground-breaking Crossfire return for another tense, character-driven, twist-laden film noir. Who'll stab you in the back? You'll be surprised. Making its Blu-ray debut, newly remastered from a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative, THE RACKET this new presentation draws the audience into this Film Noir classic as never before.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
Rafferty And The Gold Dust Twins
Description: Gunny Rafferty (Alan Arkin) is a lonely ex-marine adrift in the sea of humanity known as Los Angeles. In the morning, he leaves his rundown apartment and drives his beat-up car to a boring, mind-numbing job. But today is going to be different when Gunny meets two footloose female drifters Mac and Frisbee (Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips) who cajole him into take a road trip to New Orleans. Resigning himself to the situation, Rafferty joins forces with this terrible twosome. On the road, their odyssey shifts into high gear as these lovable losers get into one comic misadventure after the other. Two of their victims, Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti) and Harry Dean Staton (Paris, Texas) get humorously stung by the antics of consummate femme fatale/pool hustler Frisbee. Eventually romance brings Rafferty and Mac together. Even Frisbee's hostile attitude softens as these lost souls form a compassionate fondness for each other. Finishing their journey on a bittersweet, but hopeful note, director Dick Richards (co-producer of Tootsie) crafted a funny and tender twist on the road movie that celebrates the human spirit.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
Lovely to Look At
Description: In this delightful 1952 M-G-M musical, a remake of the earlier musical hit Roberta, legendary director Mervyn LeRoy conducts an all-star with superb Jerome Kern melodies, spectacular dance numbers, and a show-stopping fashion show finale. Would-be Broadway producers (Red Skelton, Howard Keel and Gower Champion) decide to raise money by selling Skelton's half-interest in a Parisian dress salon. When they fly to Paris to meet the co-owners (Kathryn Grayson and Marge Champion), they soon discover the salon is as down and out as they are. A plan is quickly devised to turn dress sales around with a musical fashion show. But everything gets side-tracked when everyone starts to fall in love-complicated by the arrival of Keel's old girlfriend (played by a ravishing Ann Miller). With songs like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and I Won't Dance, stand-out dance routines by the Champions, and a charming cameo appearance by Zsa Zsa Gabor, it's easy to see why Lovely To Look At is a standout musical providing enchanting entertainment.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
A Summer Place
Description: Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee star as two young lovers whose relationship catalyzes the end of their parents' marriages during a vacation on a Maine island, A Summer Place. Young, innocent and in love on an idyllic island, Johnny (Donahue) and Molly (Dee) face the anger and guilt unleashed by the dissolution of their parents' relationships after Molly's father (Richard Egan) rekindles an affair he had with Johnny's mother before either was married. Now, can young love survive as Johnny and Molly witness the enmity that has replaced the passion their parents once felt in this classic romance?
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
The Master of Ballantrae
The gleam in his eye matches that of his drawn sword. Errol Flynn, the greatest of swashbuckling stars, triumphs again in The Master of Ballantrae. In his final swashbuckling adventure for Warner Bros., Flynn portrays Ballantrae Castle's Jamie Durisdeer, a heroic Highlander-turned-pirate in a colorful version of Robert Louis Stevenson's masterwork of gallantry. William Keighley, who directed Flynn in The Prince and the Pauper and The Adventures of Robin Hood, delayed his retirement from moviemaking to guide this lavish adventure shot on location in Scotland (including Eilean Donan Castle), the Cornwall section of England and Sicily by two-time Oscar® winner Jack Cardiff. And what a rousing adventure it is. En Garde, movie fans!
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
Out of the Fog
John Garfield and Ida Lupino star in this big-screen adaptation of Irwin Shaw's play "The Gentle People". Tailor Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) and lowly cook Olaf Johnson (John Qualen) are saving their money to go in as partners on a large fishing boat and make a long-desired career change. One night, small-time gangster Harold Goff (John Garfield) bullies them into paying him five dollars a week and then has them sign a document saying the money is repayment on a loan. When Jonah's self-centered daughter Stella (Ida Lupino) takes up with Goff, the pair decide to do away with him. Buttressed by a sharp screenplay by Robert Rossen and Jerry Wald (The Roaring Twenties), and sturdy direction from Anatole Litvak, OUT OF THE FOG is a prescient and powerful story worthy of re-discovery.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
The Mad Miss Manton
This zany screwball comedy classic finds Barbara Stanwyck starring as dizzy heiress Melsa Manton. Melsa, and her manicured band of Park Avenue pranksters think Manhattan is an amusement park built just for them. When Melsa stumbles across a murder victim, the pranksters decide to play detective. The only trouble is the murderer is playing too – for keeps. Henry Fonda is Gotham reporter Peter Ames, who falls headlines-over-heels for Melsa. They're destined for romance, with a few detours on the way, including a missing body, a safecracker, a charity ball rife with motives, and mystery as well as another corpse (kept conveniently cold in fridge). It's a witty, madcap whodunit. Leave it to Stanwyck and Fonda to show exactly how it's done!
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama holds a special place in movie lore. It is the film notorious gangster John Dillinger saw with his mysterious "lady in red" before exiting the theater and walking right into an FBI ambush. Even without that momentous historical footnote, Manhattan Melodrama would be a film to reckon with. Because Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy -- three of the greatest stars ever to shine in the M-G-M heavens -- bring to memorable screen life this Oscar -winning* Best Original Story about boyhood pals who end up on opposite sides of the law...and who fall for the same woman. The film marked the only pairing of rugged Gable and urbane Powell, and it marked the first-ever teaming of frequent partners Powell and Loy. Director W. S. Van Dyke liked what he had seen of the Powell-Loy chemistry. Over the objections of Louis B. Mayer, he cast them next in his low-budget detective film, The Thin Man. The rest, as is much associated with this fine film, is history.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
The Curse of Frankenstein 4K Blu-ray
Description: In 1957, Hammer Films carved out their own place in cinema history by revisiting a classic horror tale, Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN and bringing the fabled story into a modern era with a new take on the material. With a highly original screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, splendid direction from Terence Fisher, and stellar performances by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN became an instant classic, and began Hammer's reign as the leading producer of horror films for many years to come.
Warner Bros. had the honor of being the film's original distributor, and the relationship between Hammer Films and WB became a vital partnership between the two companies.
Nearly 70 years later, Hammer Films and the Warner Archive Collection have proudly joined together to bring forth THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in an all-new fully restored 4K HDR presentation (with three different aspect ratios) and an impressive array of new bonus features, as well as legacy pieces, that will allow fans to immerse themselves in the history of THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HAMMER FILMS as never before.
In addition to the 3-disc 4K Blu-ray presentation (2 4K Blu-ray BD-100s, and a Blu-ray bonus disc of special features), there will also be a new 3-disc Blu-ray edition featuring the same exact content in High Definition. Both the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Collector's editions will be available on October 14 from your favorite online retailer.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UPDATE: Warner Archive has added four additional titles to its slate: The Master of Ballantrae (1953), Out of the Fog (1941), The Mad Miss Manton (1938), and Manhattan Melodrama (1934).
The Racket
Description: Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) is an old-fashioned kind of gangster. If someone crosses you, settle it with a fist or a bullet. Tom McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) is an old-fashioned kind of cop. Grab the bad guy, not the bribe. But they are both living in a corrupt new world on both sides of the law, efficient green-eyeshade types who run a crime ring like a corporation. They will not mind if Scanlon and Tom McQuigg square off . if they bring each other down. Ryan and Mitchum, who co-starred in the ground-breaking Crossfire return for another tense, character-driven, twist-laden film noir. Who'll stab you in the back? You'll be surprised. Making its Blu-ray debut, newly remastered from a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative, THE RACKET this new presentation draws the audience into this Film Noir classic as never before.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
Rafferty And The Gold Dust Twins
Description: Gunny Rafferty (Alan Arkin) is a lonely ex-marine adrift in the sea of humanity known as Los Angeles. In the morning, he leaves his rundown apartment and drives his beat-up car to a boring, mind-numbing job. But today is going to be different when Gunny meets two footloose female drifters Mac and Frisbee (Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips) who cajole him into take a road trip to New Orleans. Resigning himself to the situation, Rafferty joins forces with this terrible twosome. On the road, their odyssey shifts into high gear as these lovable losers get into one comic misadventure after the other. Two of their victims, Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti) and Harry Dean Staton (Paris, Texas) get humorously stung by the antics of consummate femme fatale/pool hustler Frisbee. Eventually romance brings Rafferty and Mac together. Even Frisbee's hostile attitude softens as these lost souls form a compassionate fondness for each other. Finishing their journey on a bittersweet, but hopeful note, director Dick Richards (co-producer of Tootsie) crafted a funny and tender twist on the road movie that celebrates the human spirit.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
Lovely to Look At
Description: In this delightful 1952 M-G-M musical, a remake of the earlier musical hit Roberta, legendary director Mervyn LeRoy conducts an all-star with superb Jerome Kern melodies, spectacular dance numbers, and a show-stopping fashion show finale. Would-be Broadway producers (Red Skelton, Howard Keel and Gower Champion) decide to raise money by selling Skelton's half-interest in a Parisian dress salon. When they fly to Paris to meet the co-owners (Kathryn Grayson and Marge Champion), they soon discover the salon is as down and out as they are. A plan is quickly devised to turn dress sales around with a musical fashion show. But everything gets side-tracked when everyone starts to fall in love-complicated by the arrival of Keel's old girlfriend (played by a ravishing Ann Miller). With songs like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and I Won't Dance, stand-out dance routines by the Champions, and a charming cameo appearance by Zsa Zsa Gabor, it's easy to see why Lovely To Look At is a standout musical providing enchanting entertainment.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
A Summer Place
Description: Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee star as two young lovers whose relationship catalyzes the end of their parents' marriages during a vacation on a Maine island, A Summer Place. Young, innocent and in love on an idyllic island, Johnny (Donahue) and Molly (Dee) face the anger and guilt unleashed by the dissolution of their parents' relationships after Molly's father (Richard Egan) rekindles an affair he had with Johnny's mother before either was married. Now, can young love survive as Johnny and Molly witness the enmity that has replaced the passion their parents once felt in this classic romance?
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 14.
The Master of Ballantrae
The gleam in his eye matches that of his drawn sword. Errol Flynn, the greatest of swashbuckling stars, triumphs again in The Master of Ballantrae. In his final swashbuckling adventure for Warner Bros., Flynn portrays Ballantrae Castle's Jamie Durisdeer, a heroic Highlander-turned-pirate in a colorful version of Robert Louis Stevenson's masterwork of gallantry. William Keighley, who directed Flynn in The Prince and the Pauper and The Adventures of Robin Hood, delayed his retirement from moviemaking to guide this lavish adventure shot on location in Scotland (including Eilean Donan Castle), the Cornwall section of England and Sicily by two-time Oscar® winner Jack Cardiff. And what a rousing adventure it is. En Garde, movie fans!
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
Out of the Fog
John Garfield and Ida Lupino star in this big-screen adaptation of Irwin Shaw's play "The Gentle People". Tailor Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) and lowly cook Olaf Johnson (John Qualen) are saving their money to go in as partners on a large fishing boat and make a long-desired career change. One night, small-time gangster Harold Goff (John Garfield) bullies them into paying him five dollars a week and then has them sign a document saying the money is repayment on a loan. When Jonah's self-centered daughter Stella (Ida Lupino) takes up with Goff, the pair decide to do away with him. Buttressed by a sharp screenplay by Robert Rossen and Jerry Wald (The Roaring Twenties), and sturdy direction from Anatole Litvak, OUT OF THE FOG is a prescient and powerful story worthy of re-discovery.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
The Mad Miss Manton
This zany screwball comedy classic finds Barbara Stanwyck starring as dizzy heiress Melsa Manton. Melsa, and her manicured band of Park Avenue pranksters think Manhattan is an amusement park built just for them. When Melsa stumbles across a murder victim, the pranksters decide to play detective. The only trouble is the murderer is playing too – for keeps. Henry Fonda is Gotham reporter Peter Ames, who falls headlines-over-heels for Melsa. They're destined for romance, with a few detours on the way, including a missing body, a safecracker, a charity ball rife with motives, and mystery as well as another corpse (kept conveniently cold in fridge). It's a witty, madcap whodunit. Leave it to Stanwyck and Fonda to show exactly how it's done!
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
Manhattan Melodrama
Manhattan Melodrama holds a special place in movie lore. It is the film notorious gangster John Dillinger saw with his mysterious "lady in red" before exiting the theater and walking right into an FBI ambush. Even without that momentous historical footnote, Manhattan Melodrama would be a film to reckon with. Because Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy -- three of the greatest stars ever to shine in the M-G-M heavens -- bring to memorable screen life this Oscar -winning* Best Original Story about boyhood pals who end up on opposite sides of the law...and who fall for the same woman. The film marked the only pairing of rugged Gable and urbane Powell, and it marked the first-ever teaming of frequent partners Powell and Loy. Director W. S. Van Dyke liked what he had seen of the Powell-Loy chemistry. Over the objections of Louis B. Mayer, he cast them next in his low-budget detective film, The Thin Man. The rest, as is much associated with this fine film, is history.
STREET DATE: OCTOBER 28.
The Curse of Frankenstein 4K Blu-ray
Description: In 1957, Hammer Films carved out their own place in cinema history by revisiting a classic horror tale, Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN and bringing the fabled story into a modern era with a new take on the material. With a highly original screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, splendid direction from Terence Fisher, and stellar performances by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN became an instant classic, and began Hammer's reign as the leading producer of horror films for many years to come.
Warner Bros. had the honor of being the film's original distributor, and the relationship between Hammer Films and WB became a vital partnership between the two companies.
Nearly 70 years later, Hammer Films and the Warner Archive Collection have proudly joined together to bring forth THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in an all-new fully restored 4K HDR presentation (with three different aspect ratios) and an impressive array of new bonus features, as well as legacy pieces, that will allow fans to immerse themselves in the history of THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HAMMER FILMS as never before.
In addition to the 3-disc 4K Blu-ray presentation (2 4K Blu-ray BD-100s, and a Blu-ray bonus disc of special features), there will also be a new 3-disc Blu-ray edition featuring the same exact content in High Definition. Both the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Collector's editions will be available on October 14 from your favorite online retailer.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- THREE-DISC (TWO 4K BLU-RAYS/BLU-RAY) COMBO PACK RELEASE
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THREE VERSIONS OF THE FILM:
- U.S. Theatrical version in 1.85:1 ratio
- UK Theatrical version in 1.66:1 ratio
- UK Theatrical Version in 1.37:1 with side mattes-Open Matte
- HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- NEW DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK, plus additional options
- NEW Commentary with author and critic Kim Newman, horror anthologist and writer Stephen Jones and Barry Forshaw, author of British Gothic Cinema.
- NEW Commentary with Heidi Honeycutt, writer, filmmaker and film programmer, and cult movie expert Toby Roan.
- Archival commentary with Hammer experts Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby.
- Archival commentary with writer/producer Dr. Steve Haberman and filmmaker and film historian Constantine Nasr.
- TITLE TBC: Phil Leakey's Creature make-up is the stuff of legend and an inspiration to generations of budding make-up artists. Igor Studios' Lou Elsey and Academy Award-winning Dave Elsey recreate Leakey's iconic make-up on actor James Swanton alongside comments from Phil himself courtesy of a previously unheard audio interview and a newly-recorded interview with Phil's son Peter.
- TITLE TBC: Wardrobe Mistress Molly Arbuthnot's contributions to Hammer's gothics are often overlooked but cannot be underestimated. Professor Melanie Bell and the BFI's Jo Botting discuss Molly and her work alongside contributions from actor Melvyn Hayes, who was costumed by Molly at Bray for his role as young Victor;
- TITLE TBC: Jimmy Sangster rose through the production ranks at Hammer to become one of their key creatives and an influence on many who followed. Writer/actor Mark Gatiss, writer/publisher Dick Klemensen, author Stephen Laws, screenwriter/novelist Stephen Gallagher, screenwriter/producer David Pirie and writer/publisher Wayne Kinsey discuss the man and the lasting impact of his work; A previously unheard audio interview with cinematographer Jack Asher gives a personal insight into one of his best-known works.
- Beside the Seaside: Actor Madeline Smith visits Peter Cushing's beloved hometown of Whitstable in the company of Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey, to learn more about the man behind the actor.
- A Gothic History of Frankenstein: Scriptwriter and novelist Stephen Volk discusses Shelley's original novel, its adaptation to cinema and the legacy of Hammer's genre-defining 1957 film.
- Restoration featurette: A look behind-the-scenes at how the new 4K restoration of The Curse of Frankenstein was made. Frankenstein Reborn:
- Archival featurette that looks at the making of this iconic film with actor Melvyn Hayes, Hammer experts Denis Meikle and Jonathan Rigby and James Bernard's biographer David Huckvale. Also includes archive footage of Michael Carreras and Jimmy Sangster. Life With Sir: Archive featurette that gives a gentle and heartwarming portrait of Peter Cushing by Joyce Broughton, his secretary and friend.
- The Resurrection Men: Archive featurette where Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine's Dick Klemensen explains the revolutionary nature of The Curse of Frankenstein and how it gave birth to a new type of horror.
- Hideous Progeny: Archive featurette where Christopher Frayling discusses the transgressive nature of the English gothic literary tradition and its monstrous offspring, gothic cinema.
- Torrents of Light: Archive featurette where cinematographer David J. Miller examines Jack Asher's artistry as a lighting cameraman on the Hammer gothics.
- Diabolus in Musica: Archive featurette where composer Christopher Drake reflects on the skill and talent of James Bernard and his ongoing influence as the sound of Hammer Horror.
- Alternative Eyeball Scene: Included uncut in the main feature, this alternative version of the eyeball scene shows how it was edited to appease the censors.
- Promotional materials: Trailer materials were compiled (and restored where possible) as part of the 4K restoration process of the main feature.
- Also featured is one of the 8mm cutdown versions of the film that were commercially available in the 1960s
- mage Gallery: An image gallery, including behind-the-scenes shots, alongside tracks from James Bernard's iconic score.
- Optional English SDH, French, German, Italian, and Spanish subtitles