New DVDs: Wilder's 'Ace' and Poe's 'Cat'

Pick of the week: Ace in the Hole
Dog of the week: The Hills Have Eyes II

The re-emergence of any Billy Wilder film is an event; in this case, it's one of his best-regarded works getting the Criterion treatment. Kirk Douglas stars in "Ace in the Hole," a remarkably prescient 1951 movie about low-life media. Douglas plays a cynical reporter who tries to get back to the big time by exploiting the misery of a trapped miner. Double-bill it with "The Sweet Smell of Success."

Another winner from the "Masters of Horror" morgue: The folks behind "The Re-Animator" crank out Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat" using Poe's personal demons and domestic drama to frame the tale. Jeffrey Combs plays the hell out of the crazy old horror meister.

And "Gunsmoke" fans can celebrate the release of the series' entire first season. Before the TV western got all soft, moral and colorful, "Gunsmoke" writers such as Sam Peckinpah had the freedom to tell tales of rape, slavery, thrill kills, child abuse and, of course, prostitution. Miss Kitty. Think about it. (Read the "Gunsmoke" series review.)

New and notable:
Ace in the Hole (The Criterion Collection)
Masters of Horror: The Black Cat (Anchor Bay)
The Business: Season 1 (Genius Products)
Factory Girl (The Weinstein Co.)
Gunsmoke: The First Season (Paramount)
The Happy Hooker Collection (MGM)
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (New Yorker Video)
Premonition (Sony)
Red Dawn Collector's Edition (MGM)
The Rookies season 1 (Sony)
Showgirls Fully Exposed Edition (MGM)
TCM Spotlight: Esther Williams (Warner Home Video)
Voyagers! The Complete Series (Universal)
Yo-Yo Girl Cop (Magnolia)

Complete list of today's releases on my pal Harley's site, onvideo.org

Comments

[Chris Morris]

An even more perfect double-bill with "Ace in the Hole": Sam Fuller's "Shock Corridor," which I watched with my son last night. There's even a similar plot hook: Newsie Peter Breck gets himself committed to a state mental hospital to solve a murder and win the Pulitzer. Of course, he goes nuts -- and learns all about the Sick Soul of America in the process.

Took a look at the top of "Ace" yesterday. Spotless transfer.

[Glenn A]

That was the first Sam Fuller movie I'd ever seen, off a Criterion laserdisc think it was. Yeah, that's a must-see for fans of the hard and weird.

Thanks for the comment.