Boutique label Twilight Time has revealed that it is planning to release limited Blu-ray editions of Delmer Daves'
Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), starring Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, and Anne Bancroft, and Richard Brooks'
Bite the Bullet (1975), starring Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Ben Johnson, and Jan-Michael Vincent. Street date for both is March 8th.
Demetrius and the Gladiators
This enormously successful sequel to
The Robe continues the story of Demetrius (Victor Mature,
My Darling Clementine), the Greek slave who, after the death of his master, is sentenced to train as a gladiator in the Roman arena. There, his newfound Christian faith is put to the test when he has to contend not only with the swordsmen and wild beasts of the arena, but also the evil and sensuous Messalina (Susan Hayward,
The Snows of Kilimanjaro) and the mad emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson,
The Virgin Queen).
Bite the Bullet
Nominated for Oscar Awards for Best Music and Best Sound,
Bite the Bullet, is an epic Western adventure featuring an award-winning cast. Directed by Richard Brooks (
In Cold Blood), the film's turn of the century tale of high stakes and harsh tests of endurance glorifies the kind of gutsy men and women who built this country. Gene Hackman (
The Conversation) plays a former roughrider who matches wits with a lovely but shady lady in distress (Candice Bergen,
Soldier Blue). James Coburn (
The Magnificent Seven) is a drifting ex-cowboy who joins a grueling 700-mile race and competes against a young, reckless cowboy (Jan-Michael Vincent,
The Mechanic), a haughty English sportsman (Ian Bannen,
The Flight of the Phoenix), and a gutsy Pony Express rider (Ben Johnson,
The Wild Bunch).