James Cagney Signature Collection

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Gigi M. · #1 Post by **Gigi M.** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:51 am

[quote]Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of James Cagney: The Signature Collectionfor 24th April 2007. The Oscar winning screen icon comes to life in this collection that includes five new-to-DVD films â€“ The Bride Came C.O.D., Captain of the Clouds, The Fighting 69th, Torrid Zone and The West Point Story. Cagney's versatile talent is on display opposite a star-studded array of screen favorites including Bette Davis, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien. Special features on each title in the Collection include the entertaining â€œWarner Night at the Moviesâ€

Derek Estes · #2 Post by **Derek Estes** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:14 pm

Not to sound ungrateful, but I was really counting on The Strawberry Blonde making it in this set. Oh well, It will still be nice to get more Cagney.

shearerchic · #3 Post by **shearerchic** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:42 pm

Derek Estes wrote:Not to sound ungrateful, but I was really counting on The Strawberry Blonde making it in this set. Oh well, It will still be nice to get more Cagney.

don't fret my child...olivia de havilland will be your saviour.

filmnoir1 · #4 Post by **filmnoir1** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:59 pm

It is really great to see Warner's continue to put such care and devotion to their classic film catalogue. I will definitely be picking this up for Captain of the Cloud (an underrated Curtiz film) and Torrid Zone, a strange film that demonstrates how Warner Brothers strategy changed in regards to WW II.

souvenir · #5 Post by **souvenir** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:15 pm

With this and the Mitchum set, it appears that Warner Bros. decided to go back to releasing all the titles individually in their box sets. I'm guessing we'll have the choice of regular amarays for individual releases vs. the "superslim packaging" on sets.

Jefty · #6 Post by **Jefty** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:16 pm

yes--Torrid Zone is fascinating (which almost makes up for the absence of The Strawberry Blonde--but I like these De Havilland-set rumours going 'round!)--it was the film that really launched Ann Sheridan's career (I suppose an Ann Sheridan signature collection is out of the question right?), and it offers a (still quite problematic, of course) critique of American economic imperialism in Latin America that no studio other than Warners would have given us(imagine the George Tobias character in an MGM film? impossible!)

ByMarkClark.com · #7 Post by **ByMarkClark.com** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:10 pm

Derek Estes wrote:Not to sound ungrateful, but I was really counting on The Strawberry Blonde making it in this set.

I was hoping for THE OKLAHOMA KID!

alandau · #8 Post by **alandau** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:01 pm

another underwhelming list from Warners

#9 Post by **Matt** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:51 pm

alandau wrote:another underwhelming list from Warners

It's only underwhelming because most of Cagney's well-known pictures have already been released and Warner is really good about not forcing people to re-purchase existing releases in new box sets. Real fans of Cagney should not be disappointed by the majority of films in this set, though.

ByMarkClark.com · #10 Post by **ByMarkClark.com** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:58 am

Well, I agree with that. I was disappointed in both Bette Davis sets because I already owned 2 or three movies in each set. At least they're giving us all new-to-DVD titles. I suppose diehards would quibble over the selections, regardless.

Jefty · #11 Post by **Jefty** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:04 am

Matt wrote:
alandau wrote:another underwhelming list from Warners
It's only underwhelming because most of Cagney's well-known pictures have already been released and Warner is really good about not forcing people to re-purchase existing releases in new box sets. Real fans of Cagney should not be disappointed by the majority of films in this set, though.

I'm not at all sure what you mean by this--there are about 20 Cagney films that ought to have been on the list ahead of The West Point Story, don't you think? I was surprised and delighted by the inclusion of Torrid Zone (and also quite pleased with Bride Came COD), but that doesn't mean I can't do a little second-guessing about the rest of the menu.

It's one thing to argue that movies like Strawberry Blonde and the 8 to 10 great Cagney films from the early 30's are being saved for other sets--it's quite another to argue that these five were the only films left that could have been released...

Gregor Samsa · #12 Post by **Gregor Samsa** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:54 am

As a side note, they're offering some fine cartoons on this set, being careful enough to avoid ones that have been released in the LTGC range, save for a couple ('What's Cookin' Doc?", 'A Wild Hare') that appeared as part of compilation films.

filmnoir1 · #13 Post by **filmnoir1** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:24 pm

I hope that this first set leads to another Cagney collection which will perhaps include his first appearance with Edward G. Robinson in Smart Money, or maybe we will see them release his only role where he speaks Yidddish Taxi. I also hope they eventually release his film where he begins as an usher in a Warner Brothers theater and eventually becomes a major star (Ladykiller: which also has some great comedic moments with monkeys).

I also second the motion for The Oklahoma Kid

ByMarkClark.com · #14 Post by **ByMarkClark.com** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:05 pm

I'm thinking SMART MONEY may show up as part of whatever they call the next GANGSTERS/TOUGH GUYS set. I'm also hoping for BROTHER ORCHID and KID GALLAHAD, among others, in that one.

And, hey, isn't about time (or past due) for an Edward G. Robinson Signature Collection?

Jefty · #15 Post by **Jefty** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:44 pm

ByMarkClark.com wrote:isn't about time (or past due) for an Edward G. Robinson Signature Collection?

I should say so! Warners have never done justice to their incredible catalog of thirties films, and, although this has been changing a little bit (again, Torrid Zone was a wonderful surprise), there are so many key titles that have never been released on any home video format--i.e. They Won't Forget, Five Star Final, many of the great early thirties Cagney roughneck comedies, Dust Be My Destiny, Dr. Clitterhouse, etc. etc. In the case of the first two on that list, especially, I have to assume there are issues with the transfers, because these are tremendously important films in the history of the American cinema...

there's definitely enough left in the vaults to fill a sequel or two to the Gangsters/Tough Guys line (perhaps one labeled "The Warner Social Problem Films"--although the most famous of those, I Am A Fugitive, is already out there, in the company of the great Fury + a bunch of fifties/sixties films... which is fine, but grouping it with Five Star, They Won't Forget, Out of the Fog, Dust Be My Destiny...even Litvak's and Don Siegel's insanely wonderful Blues in the Night... would have made more sense... ah well!), a Robinson box, AND another Cagney box...

bring em on!

#16 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:34 pm

Jefty wrote:It's one thing to argue that movies like Strawberry Blonde and the 8 to 10 great Cagney films from the early 30's are being saved for other sets--it's quite another to argue that these five were the only films left that could have been released...

I don't think I was arguing either point, actually. If I am arguing anything, it's that Cagney, even in his not-great films, is always an interesting actor to watch and that "failures" are often just as fun to watch as "masterpieces." The West Point Story shows Cagney in the kind of role that he liked to play, but often didn't get to because of typecasting.

Jefty · #17 Post by **Jefty** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:20 pm

Matt wrote: If I am arguing anything, it's that Cagney, even in his not-great films, is always an interesting actor to watch and that "failures" are often just as fun to watch as "masterpieces." The West Point Story shows Cagney in the kind of role that he liked to play, but often didn't get to because of typecasting.

True enough (and I'm with you on the point that he--along with many of the other great stars of this period--is ALWAYS interesting to watch)--but that doesn't mean that I can't arrange the films into a kind of personal hierarchy, when it comes to time to consider which of them will be released first (or at all!)... Naturally, everyone's list will be slightly (or extremely) different, but I can't imagine that very many Cagney fans were clamoring for West Point Story.

#18 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:44 pm

Jefty wrote:but I can't imagine that very many Cagney fans were clamoring for West Point Story.

Please, don't shatter my cherished illusion that the world wants nothing as much as it wants more Roy del Ruth films on DVD.

shearerchic · #19 Post by **shearerchic** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 4:21 am

Jefty wrote:I should say so! Warners have never done justice to their incredible catalog of thirties films, and, although this has been changing a little bit (again, Torrid Zone was a wonderful surprise), there are so many key titles that have never been released on any home video format--i.e. They Won't Forget, Five Star Final, many of the great early thirties Cagney roughneck comedies, Dust Be My Destiny, Dr. Clitterhouse, etc. etc. In the case of the first two on that list, especially, I have to assume there are issues with the transfers, because these are tremendously important films in the history of the American cinema...

there's definitely enough left in the vaults to fill a sequel or two to the Gangsters/Tough Guys line (perhaps one labeled "The Warner Social Problem Films"--although the most famous of those, I Am A Fugitive, is already out there, in the company of the great Fury + a bunch of fifties/sixties films... which is fine, but grouping it with Five Star, They Won't Forget, Out of the Fog, Dust Be My Destiny...even Litvak's and Don Siegel's insanely wonderful Blues in the Night... would have made more sense... ah well!), a Robinson box, AND another Cagney box...

Your post makes me very curious to know what films they will have in the promotion they mentioned last year with films never released on any home video format. They also said they would eventually do an Edward G. Robinson set as well as a John Garfield one.

bjeggert82 · #20 Post by **bjeggert82** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:57 pm

Cover art is up on DVDtimes.

hearthesilence · #21 Post by **hearthesilence** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:42 pm

Man, what a wasted opportunity this was. One of the great star-driven box sets that could've been was a James Cagney box set that focused on the neglected gems of his early years: Blonde Crazy (1931), Lady Killer (1933), Hard to Handle (1933), Picture Snatcher (1933), Jimmy the Gent (1934), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), etc.

James Cagney Signature Collection

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