Kino Lorber Studio Classics has unveiled the details of their May 2023 4K UHD and Blu-Ray releases including works from such icons as Robert Mitchum, Anna May Wong, John Travolta, Burt Reynolds, David Niven and more. Get all the details on this incredibly packed lineup below:
FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XIII
[SPY HUNT/THE NIGHT RUNNER/STEP DOWN TO TERROR]
Street Date: 5/2/23
Synopsis: This collection features three film noir classics.
SPY HUNT (1950) – The manhunt that rocked the world! Noir great Howard Duff (Johnny Stool Pigeon, Woman in Hiding, Shakedown) stars with the beautiful Märta Torén (One Way Street, Deported, Sirocco) in this compelling Cold War thriller. Steve Quain (Duff), escorting two zoo-bound black panthers on a train from Milan to Paris, is unaware that a secret agent, Catherine Ullven (Torén), has concealed an incriminating microfilm in the collar of one of the animals. But when the train is derailed in the Swiss Alps and the panthers escape, she is forced to involve him in her mission, which now includes enemy spies hunting the microfilm, the animals, Catherine and Steve. Directed by George Sherman (Larceny, The Sleeping City, The Raging Tide) from the novel Panther’s Moon by Victor Canning (Golden Salamander, Family Plot, Masquerade).
THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) – Are mental patients turned loose too soon? Ray Danton (Outside the Law, The Big Operator, The Longest Day) stars as Roy Turner, a man with a violent past who is prematurely released from an overcrowded institution. Realizing that he cannot handle the pressures of big-city life, he moves into a small-town beachside motel and falls in love with Susan Mayes, warmly played by Colleen Miller (Four Guns to the Border, Man in the Shadow, Step Down to Terror), the daughter of the motel’s owner. When her father finds out about Roy, he threatens to have him recommitted unless he leaves his daughter alone. Roy snaps, and commits a crime from which there is no turning back. Abner Biberman (The Price of Fear, Behind the High Wall, Gun for a Coward) directs this black-as-night yet sympathetic look at mental illness.
STEP DOWN TO TERROR (1958) – Step by step…he made a career out of love…and murder! Based on the same source material as Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, this suspense-soaked noir stars Colleen Miller (Playgirl, The Night Runner, Hot Summer Night), Charles Drake (I Was a Shoplifter, Female on the Beach, No Name on the Bullet) and Rod Taylor (The Time Machine, The Birds, Darker Than Amber). Pursued by detectives, killer Johnny Walters (Drake) leaves the city to visit his family in a small California town. Among the household: his dead brother’s alluring widow Helen (Miller), who soon is attracted to him. But ominous events and conflicting evidence leave Helen suspicious of her beloved brother-in-law, as director Harry Keller (The Unguarded Moment, Quantez, The Female Animal) expertly ratchets the tension.
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Masters | NEW Audio Commentary for THE NIGHT RUNNER by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Dr. Eloise Ross | NEW Audio Commentaries for SPY HUNT and STEP DOWN TO TERROR by Entertainment Journalists/Authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry | Theatrical Trailers (The Night Runner / Step Down to Terror) | Optional English Subtitles
[DANGEROUS TO KNOW/KING OF CHINATOWN/ISLAND OF LOST MEN]
Street Date: 5/2/23
Synopsis: This collection features three Hollywood classics from the 1930s starring screen icon Anna May Wong.
DANGEROUS TO KNOW (1938) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Picadilly) reprises her acclaimed Broadway role in this romantic crime drama from the pen of Edgar Wallace (Chamber of Horrors). Racketeer Steve Recka (Akim Tamiroff, The General Died at Dawn) rules his town and the sultry, silk-gowned Madam Lan Ying (Wong) with an iron hand. But when he falls for the enchanting Margaret Van Kase (Gail Patrick, Death Takes a Holiday), a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, he makes frantic efforts to win her and turns his back on the loyal Lan Ying. Dangerous to Know comes elegantly directed by Robert Florey (The Crooked Way) with the sparkling supporting cast of Lloyd Nolan (Portrait in Black), Harvey Stephens (The Cheat), Roscoe Karns (Night After Night), Porter Hall (Murder, He Says), Hedda Hopper (Little Man, What Now?), Ellen Drew (If I Were King) and Anthony Quinn (The Ghost Breakers).
KING OF CHINATOWN (1939) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Shanghai Express) co-stars with the “czar of a city of sin,” Akim Tamiroff (Desire), in the ripping crime yarn King of Chinatown. Violence and death stalk the Chinese faction of a big American city, but one man, Dr. Chang Ling (Sidney Toler, Shadows Over Chinatown), and his daughter, Dr. Mary Ling (Wong), defy the gangsters who are responsible, and, against terrific odds, bring peace to their oppressed neighbors. Wong gives a powerful and pioneering performance as a respected surgeon faced with a shocking moral dilemma. Directed by Nick Grinde (Million Dollar Legs), shot by Leo Tover (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and featuring J. Carrol Naish (Beau Geste), Philip Ahn (China), Anthony Quinn (The Last Train from Madrid), Bernadene Hayes (Dick Tracy’s Dilemma) and Roscoe Karns (It Happened One Night).
ISLAND OF LOST MEN (1939) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Daughter of Shanghai) clashes with J. Carrol Naish (Sahara) in this rousing remake of 1933’s Carole Lombard/Charles Laughton starrer White Woman. Cabaret singer Kim Ling (Wong), the daughter of a Chinese general who has been accused of absconding with government funds, arrives in the Straits Settlements. There she meets Gregory Prin (Naish), a half-caste gunrunner and head of a jungle empire where he treats the Malaysians ruthlessly. She agrees to accompany him in search of her father, as she has several reasons to believe Prin is responsible for the general’s disappearance. Directed by Kurt Neumann (The Secret of the Blue Room, The Fly) and co-starring Anthony Quinn (Road to Singapore), Eric Blore (Road to Zanzibar), Broderick Crawford (Seven Sinners) and Ernest Truex (His Girl Friday), Island of Lost Men is a torrid mix of thrills, mystery and adventure.
Bonus Features: Brand New 4K and 2K Masters | NEW Audio Commentary for DANGEROUS TO KNOW by Film Historian Samm Deighan | NEW Audio Commentary for ISLAND OF LOST MEN by Entertainment Journalists/Authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry | NEW Audio Commentary for KING OF CHINATOWN by Author/Film Historian David Del Valle and Archivist/Film Historian Stan Shaffer | King of Chinatown Theatrical Trailer (Nitrate Restoration in 4K) | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/9/23
Synopsis: From co-writer/producer Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element) comes the sharp and sumptuous sci-fi/comedy/thriller Kamikaze. Michel Galabru (Subway) is Albert. He’s old, bored, batty and unemployed…but brilliant with computers. Albert embarks on a mission to get rid of the people he hates most—the televised kind—and invents a way to kill TV announcers, on air, from the comfort of his own home. Police are baffled, but Richard Bohringer (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover) as Inspector Romain Pascot dedicates himself to the chase. Also starring Dominique Lavanant (Roberto Benigni’s The Monster), the cult ’80s classic Kamikaze bursts with slick widescreen visuals by cinematographer Jean-François Robin (L’Amour Braque) and pulsing musical soundscapes by composer Éric Serra (GoldenEye), complementing the explosive satire on couch-potato culture.
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller | Au coeur du cinéma: Interview with Director Didier Grousset (25:37) | Objectif Kamikaze: Documentary (34:04) | Theatrical Trailer | In French with Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/9/23
Synopsis: Screen legend John Travolta (Face-Off) and Arye Gross (The Couch Trip) star as two hip but down-on-their-luck New Yorkers who think they’re relocating to a small town in Nebraska to open a nightclub. What they don’t know is that they’ve been abducted by a KGB operative (Charles Martin Smith, The Hot Spot) to the Soviet Union, where they’ll unwittingly serve as “experts” on all things cool in America. The town, created expressly for KGB spies-in-training, includes seductive agent Kelly Preston (SpaceCamp), who gets into a real undercover situation with Travolta. Eventually, the two Yanks realize they’ve been duped and devise a spectacular escape. Directed by comedy great Dave Thomas (Strange Brew), this red-hot Cold War farce also features Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl), James Keach (Moving Violations) and Brian Doyle-Murray (Cabin Boy).
Bonus Features: Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative by Paramount Pictures | NEW Interview with Director Dave Thomas | Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K) | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/9/23
Synopsis: When it comes to non-stop action, Stone Cold is red hot! NFL superstar Brian “The Boz” Bosworth (One Man’s Justice, Midnight Heat) makes his movie debut as John Stone, the only cop tough enough to take out a gang of stone-cold killers. Going undercover, he has to pose as an outlaw biker to win the trust of their diabolic leader Chains and his right-hand psychopath Ice, played by screen legends Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Hard Target) and William Forsythe (Out for Justice, The Devil’s Rejects). Stone soon discovers there’s more to these bikers than heavy metal mayhem. They’re plotting a paramilitary assault on the State Capitol, where one of their men has been sentenced to execution. In a spectacular climax, Stone is up against the gang and on his own. And the killers soon discover that if you go up against John Stone, he’ll burn you cold…Stone Cold. From director Craig R. Baxley (Action Jackson, Dark Angel), it’s a full-tilt, in-your-face thriller packed with explosive effects and breathtaking high-wire tension!
Bonus Features: Brand New HD Masters – From 2K Scan of the 35mm InterPositive | THE BOZ Goes Hollywood: NEW Interview with Star Brian Bosworth | THE BROTHERHOOD: NEW Interview with Actor Lance Henriksen | BREAKING FREE: NEW Interview with Actress Arabella Holzbog | PLAYING STRAIGHT: NEW Interview with Actor Sam McMurray | NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema | Two Theatrical Trailers (Newly Mastered in 2K) | Optional English Subtitles
THE LONGEST YARD (1974) (4K UHD AND BLU-RAY)
Street Date: 5/16/23
Synopsis: Hollywood great Burt Reynolds (White Lightning, Semi-Tough) leads the downfield charge in this raucous, rough-and-tumble comedy-drama coached by legendary director Robert Aldrich (Vera Cruz, The Dirty Dozen). Reynolds plays one-time pro quarterback Paul Crewe, now behind bars for leading the state police on a wild chase in a “borrowed” car. Eddie Albert (Hustle) is the sadistic, scheming warden who recruits Crewe to form a team of convicts to go up against the warden’s polished, semi-pro team of prison guards in a championship game. Crewe has agreed that his crew—dubbed the “Mean Machine”—will provide only passive resistance to the squad of brutal guards. But the gridiron showdown turns into a gritty game of cunning strategy as the Mean Machine defies the warden’s iron-fisted control and attempts to go the distance in The Longest Yard. Featuring Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, Bernadette Peters, Richard Kiel and a rowdy roster of real-life football greats, it’s survival of the fiercest. And the funniest!
Bonus Features: Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini, Authors of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ROBERT ALDRICH?: HIS LIFE AND HIS FILMS (4KUHD & Blu-ray) | Audio Commentary by Star Burt Reynolds and Writer/Producer Albert S. Ruddy (4KUHD & Blu-ray) | Doing Time on THE LONGEST YARD: Featurette (Blu-ray) | Unleashing THE MEAN MACHINE: Featurette (Blu-ray) | Theatrical Trailer – Newly Mastered in 4K (Blu-ray) | Newly Commissioned Art by Sean Phillips | Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc / Dual-Layered BD50 Disc | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/16/23
Synopsis: Jaded, cynical, edgy. The iconic Burt Reynolds (Shamus, Heat) is Lt. Phil Gaines, a case-hardened Los Angeles detective who finds himself drawn into a dark, complex puzzle that involves the death of a teenaged girl. Complicating his investigation is his sizzling relationship with an icy hooker, played by cinema goddess Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour, Mississippi Mermaid), who has a dangerous connection to the case—one of her high-powered clients is a main suspect. Moreover, the victim’s unstable father blurs the focus of Gaines’ investigation even further by embarking on his own erratic, inept sleuthing. Ben Johnson, Paul Winfield, Eileen Brennan, Eddie Albert, Ernest Borgnine and Jack Carter also star in a suspenseful, gritty tale of urban corruption and murder directed by the legendary Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen, The Longest Yard).
Bonus Features: Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini, Authors of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ROBERT ALDRICH?: HIS LIFE AND HIS FILMS | Theatrical Trailer | 8 TV Spots | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/23/23
Synopsis: Based on the 1936 screwball classic starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, the 1957 remake of My Man Godfrey stars David Niven (Bedtime Story) and June Allyson (The Opposite Sex). On a mad scavenger hunt, socialite Irene Bullock (Allyson) stumbles upon grizzled street person Godfrey (Niven) underneath an East River bridge. Claiming him as a scavenger item, Irene wins the contest. Delighted and impressed with him, the daffy heiress makes him the new family butler. As Irene succumbs to his romantic charms, Godfrey slowly wins over the entire family with his extraordinary wit and style—all except Irene’s jealous sister Cordelia (Martha Hyer, Paris Holiday). This cunning, class-act comedy comes handsomely produced by Ross Hunter (There’s Always Tomorrow, The Art of Love) and directed by Henry Koster (The Bishop’s Wife, Flower Drum Song).
Bonus Features: Brand New 2K Master | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critic and Author Simon Abrams | Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K) | Optional English Subtitles
Street Date: 5/23/23
Synopsis: A scorching love triangle ignites between the iconic Jane Fonda (Klute, Coming Home), sultry Lola Albright (Kid Galahad, Lord Love a Duck) and Alain Delon (The Sicilian Clan, Un Flic) in René Clément’s Joy House (Les Félins). Delon stars as Marc, a dashing young con man on the run from the mob. After seeking refuge in the Riviera villa of the widowed Barbara (Albright) and her curvaceous cousin, Melinda (Fonda), Marc becomes trapped in the passionate snares of both women, who are full of sinister surprises. A neglected masterpiece from director René Clément (Forbidden Games, Is Paris Burning?, Rider on the Rain, And Hope to Die), Joy House weaves a wicked web of hidden desires and all-too-human corruptions. Lalo Schifrin (Coogan’s Bluff) provides the eerie musical score; Henri Decaë (Le Samouraï) serves up the sumptuous cinematography.
Bonus Features: 2K Restoration by Gaumont | NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson | Includes Both the English and French Audio Tracks | Theatrical Trailer | Optional English Subtitles
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (4K UHD BLU-RAY)
Street Date: 5/30/23
Synopsis: A tall, handsome “preacher”—his knuckles eerily tattooed with “love” and “hate”—roams the countryside, spreading the gospel…and leaving a trail of murdered women in his wake. To Reverend Harry Powell, the work of the Lord has more to do with condemning souls than saving them, especially when his own interests are involved. Now his sights are set on $10,000—and two little children are the only ones who know where it is. “Chill…dren!” the preacher croons to the terrified boy and girl hiding in the cold, dark cellar…innocent young lambs who refuse to be led astray. The legendary, lone directorial effort of actor Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution), The Night of the Hunter stars Robert Mitchum (Out of the Past) in the most daring and critically acclaimed performance of his career, opposite the equally spellbinding Shelley Winters (He Ran All the Way) and Lillian Gish (Duel in the Sun). Ominous and hauntingly suspenseful, this extraordinary noir classic remains “one of the most frightening movies ever made” (Pauline Kael) and “one of the greatest of all American films” (Roger Ebert).
Bonus Features: Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative (4KUHD) | NEW Audio Commentary by Novelist and Critic Tim Lucas (4KUHD) | Isolated Music and Effects Soundtrack (4KUHD) | LOVE AND HATE: Filmmaker Ernest Dickerson on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Blu-ray) | LITTLE LAMBS: Actress Kathy Garver on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Blu-ray) | HING, HANG, HUNG: Artist Joe Coleman on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Blu-ray) | Theatrical Trailer (Blu-ray) | Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc | Optional English Subtitles
FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XIV
[UNDERCOVER GIRL/ONE WAY STREET/APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW]
Street Date: 5/23/23
Synopsis: This collection features three film noir classics.
UNDERCOVER GIRL (1950) – The Inside Story of America’s Daring Police Women! NYPD cop Christine Miller (the wonderful Alexis Smith, Conflict, The Turning Point) goes undercover to investigate her father’s killing in this electrically charged thriller directed by noir master Joseph Pevney (Shakedown, Female on the Beach). Posing as a drug buyer named Sal Willis, Christine infiltrates a narcotics ring in order to take down the crooks responsible for her father’s death. But blackmail, gunplay, murder and other duplicities await her as she embarks on her most dangerous case. The sterling cast also features Scott Brady (Undertow), Richard Egan (Violent Saturday), Gladys George (The Maltese Falcon), Edmon Ryan (Topaz), Gerald Mohr (Gilda), Royal Dano (Man in the Shadow), Connie Gilchrist (Flesh and Fury) and Regis Toomey (The Big Sleep).
ONE WAY STREET (1950) – Menacing Mason vs. Dangerous Duryea! Screen great James Mason (Odd Man Out, The Man Between, North by Northwest) stars in this south-of-the-border film noir about a stolen fortune, a borrowed woman and a man too many. After stealing an L.A. gangster’s money—and his girlfriend—the crooked Dr. Frank Matson (Mason) hides out in a small Mexican village. When the townspeople take him in, he decides to live an honest life in Mexico. But, in true noir fashion, destiny awaits the doc in fatalistic Los Angeles. Co-starring Dan Duryea (Scarlet Street, Storm Fear) as the maniacal mobster and Märta Torén (Spy Hunt, Deported) as his moll, One Way Street was the first U.S. picture from prolific Argentine director Hugo Fregonese (Blowing Wild, Black Tuesday, Marco Polo).
APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW (1957) – Was This the Man They Hunted…or the Killer Who Hunted Them? Alcoholic reporter Paul Baxter (George Nader, The Female Animal, The Unguarded Moment) has drowned his career in liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when Baxter is a bystander at the arrest of a notorious criminal. But he suddenly finds himself up against a wall and at the wrong end of a deadly set-up in Appointment with a Shadow, a compelling CinemaScope noir co-starring Joanna Moore (Touch of Evil, Ride a Crooked Trail), Brian Keith (Chicago Confidential, The Rare Breed) and Virginia Field (Waterloo Bridge, The Earth Dies Screaming), helmed by Richard Carlson (director of Riders to the Stars and star of Creature from the Black Lagoon) and co-written by suspense specialist Alec Coppel (Vertigo, Moment to Moment).
Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary for UNDERCOVER GIRL by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo | NEW Audio Commentary for ONE WAY STREET by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Costume Historian Elissa Rose | NEW Audio Commentary for APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW by Film Historian David Del Valle and Filmmaker David DeCoteau | Theatrical Trailers for ONE WAY STREET and APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW (Both Newly Mastered in 2K) | Optional English Subtitles
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.