Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release three undisputed classics on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on April 4, 2023 as a part of the year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio. The Maltese Falcon (1941), Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and Cool Hand Luke (1967) will be available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital. The Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Packs will include an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with each feature film in 4K with HDR, a Blu-ray disc with the feature films and pre-existing special features, and a Digital version of the feature films. Details on these films can be found below:
The Maltese Falcon
Synopsis: Academy Award® winner Humphrey Bogart stars in this classic film noir as tough San Francisco private detective Sam Spade in the classic, convoluted story of Spade’s involvement with a deadly band of international thieves who will lie, double cross and murder to obtain a small, jewel-encrusted statue known as The Maltese Falcon. Sam Spade’s (Bogart) partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan), accepts a job protecting a young woman (Mary Astor). Neither Spade nor Archer believe the woman or the story she tells them, but they do believe her money. Then, when Archer is murdered, Spade’s search for the killer drags him in the web of lies and death spun by the desperate people seeking The Maltese Falcon.
The 1941 film is directed by John Huston in his directorial debut. The screenplay is by Huston and is based on the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, and Sydney Greenstreet.
The Maltese Falcon was nominated for three Academy Awards® for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet) and Best Adapted Screenplay (John Huston). Considered one of the greatest films of all time, it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The Maltese Falcon Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
- Commentary by Eric Lax
- “Warner Night at the Movies”
- “Sergeant York” Trailer
- “New Highlights of the Roosevelt Churchill Parley” (newsreel)
- “The Gay Parisian” (1941 WB short)
- “Meet John Doughboy” (1941 WB cartoon)
- The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Brid
- Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart
- Breakdowns of 1941 (WB short)
- Make-up Tests
- 2/8/43 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
- 9/20/43 Screen Guild Theater Broadcast
- 7/3/46 Academy Award Theater Broadcast
- Trailers
- 1936 “Satan Met a Lady”
- 1941 “The Maltese Falcon”
Rebel Without A Cause
Synopsis: James Dean stars in a movie that shocked the United States with a performance that still electrifies the screen twenty-five years after his untimely death prior to the film’s release. In this archetypal drama of teenage angst and rebellion, three high school students who should lead idyllic lives in their stable, comfortable suburban families explode with a violence and sexuality that their parents cannot understand. This film–which ripped the façade from the post-war American dream to expose the rage of the country’s youth–resonates with an energy that has made it a modern classic and a powerful coming-of-age story.
The 1955 film is directed by Nicholas Ray from a story by Ray, a screenplay by Stewart Stern and an adaptation by Irving Shulman. It is produced by David Weisbart and James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, and William Hopper.
In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the Library of Congress‘s National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.”
Rebel Without a Cause Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
- Commentary Douglas L. Rathgeb
- “James Dean Remembered” (1974 TV special)
- “Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents” (featurette)
- “Dennis Hopper: Memories from the Warner Lot” (featurette)
- Screen Tests
- Wardrobe Tests
- Deleted Scenes
Cool Hand Luke
Synopsis: Academy Award® winner Paul Newman stars with George Kennedy in this story of a man who will not surrender to authority–even at the cost of his life. When Luke Jackson (Newman) is sentenced to a Southern prison for a minor infraction, his intelligence, calm under pressure and inability to accept defeat soon gain him the respect of his fellow inmates on the chain gang–and the nickname Cool Hand Luke. But they also earn Luke the enmity of the warden, who cannot allow any inmate to challenge his authority. When Luke’s mother dies, he decides to escape … and he will not allow anyone to stop him.
The 1967 film is directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The screenplay is by Donn Pearse and Frank R. Pierson and is based on the Pearce’s 1965 novel of the same name. The film is produced by Gordon Carroll and stars Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Canon, Robert Drivas, Lou Antonio, Strother Martin, and Jo Van Fleet.
Cool Hand Luke was nominated for four Academy Awards® for Best Actor (Paul Newman), Best Supporting Actor (George Kennedy) and Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium (Don Pearce and Frank Pierson) and Best Original Music Score (Lalo Schifrin) and won for Best Support Supporting Actor.
Cool Hand Luke Ultra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
- Commentary by Eric Lax
- “A Natural-Born World-Shaker: Making Cool Hand Luke” (featurette)
- Trailer
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.