DVDs:

  • Universal Backlot Series – The Barbara Stanwyck Collection
    Includes Internes Can’t Take Money, The Great Man’s Lady, The Bride Wore Boots, The Lady Gambles, All I Desire and There’s Always Tomorrow. I own two of these films already in a Stanwyck four-pack but figured it was worth the price to own the other four, which are more difficult to find on single DVDs (or available, but more expensive). You can never have too much Stanwyck in your collection!
  • The Aviator
    From Grammy’s collection. Special features include commentary by Martin Scorsese, a deleted scene, and eight documentary featurettes.
  • The March of the Penguins
    From Grammy’s collection. Special features include Of Penguins and Men, National Geographic’s Crittercam: Emperor Penguins, a classic cartoon (8 Ball Bunny), and a theatrical trailer.
  • Night and Day
    Adding to my Cary Grant collection with this Cole Porter biopic. Special features include two shorts (Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra and Musical Movieland), a Bugs Bunny cartoon (The Big Snooze), and a gallery of trailers for Cole Porter musicals.
VHS:
I inherited several VHS tapes (and two of the DVDs listed above) from my Grammy, who sadly passed away in August. I own most of these movies on DVD already but kept the tapes anyway, since I watched most of them with her when I was younger (and since I’m the only person in the family who still has a working VHS player, haha). Here’s the list:
  • Casablanca – 50th Anniversary Edition
    Includes a “making of” documentary narrated by Lauren Bacall and an original theatrical trailer.
  • Citizen Kane – 50th Anniversary Edition
    Includes the film and an anniversary special feature called Reflections on Citizen Kane.
  • Giant – 40th Anniversary Edition
    Two cassettes. Includes a newsreel and George Stevens, Jr. introduction on the first cassette (before the film) as well as theatrical trailers, behind the scenes material, and Hollywood/New York premiere footage on the second cassette (after the film).
  • Gone With the Wind
    We were lucky enough to find in my grandma’s apartment the original VHS tapes that she used to introduce my sister and I to her favorite film, Gone With the Wind. I can’t watch the film without thinking of Grammy, and I have so many memories of watching these two cassettes specifically with her. My sister and I will probably have a VHS viewing party of the film in Grammy’s honor, and then I’ll display the cassettes on one of my shelves.
  • North by Northwest
    No frills added to this Hitchcock VHS, just the wonderful film itself.

MISC.:
No classic film-related books or magazines this month, but a couple of random items:

  • Stuffed animals – Mickey, Minnie, and Rudolph
    More inherited from Grammy. She loved bears/stuffed animals and had a pretty sizable collection. My sister and I divided them. She always told us that when she was gone we had to keep the bears, even if it meant renting out a storage unit specifically for them, haha. I gave a home to Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (plus several bears that have nothing to do with Hollywood) and have displayed them in my movie room.
  • Ingrid Bergman “Legends of Hollywood” Forever Stamps
    I visited the post office and couldn’t resist picking up a sheet of twenty Ingrid Bergman stamps. I’m not a stamp collector, but I love Ingrid Bergman and was in the “treat yourself” mood, haha. Naturally, I also took the opportunity to tell the woman at the counter more than she ever wanted to know about Ingrid’s films/classic film, since she told me she didn’t know who Ingrid Bergman was.