The Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 2 (Marked Woman / Jezebel / The Man Who Came to Dinner / Old Acquaintance / What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Two-Disc Special Edition)

Plot Summaries

    *
      What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
          o Stars Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy, Julie Allred
          o Directors: Robert Aldrich
          o Theatrical Release Date: October 31, 1962
          o Rating Unrated
          o Genres: Drama, Horror, Thriller
          o Synopsis Two aging film actresses live as virtual recluses in an old Hollywood mansion. Jane Hudson, a successful child star, cares for her crippled sister Blanche, who's career in later years eclipsed that of Jane. Now the two live together, their relationship affected by simmering subconscious thoughts of mutual envy, hate and revenge.
    *
      Jezebel
          o Stars Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Crisp
          o Directors: William Wyler
          o Theatrical Release Date: March 10, 1938
          o Rating Approved
          o Genres: Drama
          o Synopsis Set in antebellum New Orleans during the early 1850's, this film follows Julie Marsden through her quest for social redemption on her own terms. Julie is a beautiful and free spirited, rapacious Southern belle who is sure of herself and controlling of her fiancé Preston Dillard, a successful young banker. Julie's sensitive but domineering personality--she does not want so much to hurt as to assert her independence--forces a wedge between Preston and herself. To win him back, she plays North against South amid a deadly epidemic of yellow fever which claims a surprising victim.
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      The Man Who Came to Dinner
          o Stars Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis, Jimmy Durante
          o Directors: William Keighley
          o Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 1942
          o Genres: Comedy
          o Synopsis Lecturer Sheridan Whiteside slips on the ice on his way into the home of a prominent Ohio family. The Dr. says Whiteside must remain confined having broken his leg. He begins to meddle with the lives of everyone in the household and, once his plots are underway, learns there is nothing wrong with his leg. He bribes the doctor. The owner discovers the fraud, but Whiteside blackmails him (he finds out that the owner's sister is an axe murderer) and resumes control.
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      Marked Woman
          o Stars Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Eduardo Ciannelli
          o Directors: Lloyd Bacon
          o Theatrical Release Date: April 10, 1937
          o Rating Approved
          o Genres: Drama, Crime
          o Synopsis Mary Dwight works as a hostess at the Club Intime run by ruthless gangster Johnny Vanning. When one of her "clients" is murdered prosecutor David Graham questions Mary but she won't cooperate and Vanning is acquitted. When Mary's sister Betty is killed by one of Vanning's thugs she decides to spill the beans and is beaten into disfigurement. At her bedside all the hostesses agree to testify.
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      Old Acquaintance
          o Stars Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran
          o Directors: Vincent Sherman
          o Theatrical Release Date: November 27, 1943
          o Rating Approved
          o Genres: Drama
          o Synopsis Established serious author Kit inspires hometown pal Millie who writes a trashy novel published with Kit's help. Millie's husband Preston leaves her. Ten years of trashy novels later Millie tries to reconcile, but Preston is marrying another. Millia accuses Kit of husband-stealing. Later Kit learns of Millie's daughter Diedre's affection for Rudd, whom Kit was thinking of marrying. Kit blesses their union and makes up with Millie.
    *
      Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
          o Stars Susan Sarandon, Bette Davis, Ruthie Davis, Michael Merrill, James Woods
          o Directors: Peter Jones, Mark A. Catalena
          o Theatrical Release Date: May 3, 2006
          o Rating TV-14
          o Genres: Documentary, Biography
          o Plot Outline Combining unprecedented access to Davis' vast personal archives with original interviews, this documentary reveals a startling portrait of one of hollywood's most gifted and enigmatic stars.
    *
      All About Bette
          o Stars Jodie Foster, Bette Davis
          o Directors: Susan F. Walker
          o Theatrical Release Date: July 17, 1994
          o Genres: Documentary, Biography
    *
      Porky's Hero Agency
          o Stars Mel Blanc
          o Directors: Robert Clampett
          o Theatrical Release Date: December 4, 1937
          o Genres: Animation, Family, Short, Comedy
          o Synopsis Porky is reading the myth of the Greek gorgon, who turned everyone she looked at into stone. Mother tells him it's bed time; he dreams of being the hero that saves Greece, Porkyakarkus. The Gorgon runs a photo studio; Porky sneaks in and grabs her life-restoring needle, saving civilization just before he wakes up.
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      The Mice Will Play
          o Stars Mel Blanc, Bernice Hansen
          o Directors: Tex Avery
          o Theatrical Release Date: December 18, 1938
          o Genres: Family, Animation, Short, Comedy
          o Synopsis The mice are on the loose after hours in a doctor's office, playing with the various pieces of medical apparatus. Susie Mouse is caged for research until her lover Johnnie frees her. A mouse orchestra plays a swinging wedding song. But throughout, a cat is stalking...
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      She Was an Acrobat's Daughter
          o Stars Mel Blanc
          o Directors: Friz Freleng
          o Theatrical Release Date: April 10, 1937
          o Genres: Animation, Short, Comedy, Family, Music
          o Synopsis An evening at the local movie theater, including a sing-along led by Maestro Stickoutski at he Mighty "Fertilizer" organ, a "Goofy-Tone" newsreel, and the feature, "Petrified Florist," a spoof of 'The Petrified Forest (1936)' featuring caricatures of
    *
      Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 9: Stars on Horseback
          o Stars William Boyd, Joe E. Brown, Virginia Bruce, Bing Crosby, Larry Fine
          o Directors: Ralph Staub
          o Theatrical Release Date: May 12, 1939
          o Genres: Documentary, Short
          o Plot Outline Hollywood stars attend a horse show.
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      Fin n' Catty
          o Stars Robert C. Bruce
          o Directors: Chuck Jones
          o Theatrical Release Date: October 23, 1943
          o Genres: Family, Animation, Short, Comedy
          o Plot Outline "As everyone knows," the narrator begins, "goldfish must have water... and cats hate water." And so it goes.
    *
      Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
          o Stars Bob Eberly, Evelyn Oaks, Jimmy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Ray McKinley
          o Directors: Lloyd French
          o Rating Approved
          o Genres: Short, Music
          o Synopsis In a nightclub setting,
    *
      So You Think You Need Glasses
          o Stars George O'Hanlon, Art Gilmore, Rodney Bell
          o Directors: Richard L. Bare
          o Theatrical Release Date: December 26, 1942
          o Rating Approved
          o Genres: Comedy, Short
    *
      Six Hits and a Miss
          o Stars Rudolf Friml Jr., Six Hits and a Miss, Ruby Keeler, Paul Draper
          o Directors: Jean Negulesco
          o Theatrical Release Date: October 24, 1942
          o Genres: Short, Music
          o Plot Outline A musical which begins with six men and a woman singing; then a dance number; finally, the six men and woman sing again.

Product Details

    * Actors: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran
    * Directors: Vincent Sherman, William Wyler, Lloyd Bacon, Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
    * Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, NTSC
    * Language: English
    * Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
    * Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
    * Number of discs: 7
    * Rating UNRATED
    * DVD Release Date: May 30, 2006

    * DVD Features:
          o Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
          o Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)

          o Marked Woman
          o New featurette: Marked Woman: Ripped from the Headlines
          o Two classic cartoons: Porky's Hero Agency, She Was an Acrobat's Daughter
          o Theatrical trailer
          o Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
          o 1.33, English Mono
          o B&W, 96 min.

          o Jezebel
          o Commentary by film historian Jeannine Basinger
          o New digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
          o New featurette: Jezebel: Legend of the South
          o Vintage musical short: Melody Masters: Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
          o Classic cartoon: The Mice Will Play
          o Theatrical trailer
          o Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
          o B&W, 103 min.
          o 1.33, English mono

          o The Man Who Came to Dinner
          o New featurette: The Man Who Came to Dinner: Inside a Classic Comedy
          o Vintage Joe McDoakes comedy short: So You Think You Need Glasses
          o Classic cartoon: Six Hits and a Miss
          o Theatrical trailer
          o Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
          o B&W, 113 min.
          o 1.33, English mono

          o Old Acquaintance
          o Commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Boze Hadleigh, author of Bette Davis Speaks
          o New featurette: Old Acquaintance: A Classic Woman's Picture
          o Vintage short: Stars on Horseback
          o Classic cartoon: Fin 'n' Catty
          o Subtitles: French, Spanish
          o B&W, 110 min.
          o 1.33, English mono, French mono

          o What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Two-Disc Special Edition
          o Commentary by Charles Busch and John Epperson (Lypsinka)
          o Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
          o All About Bette, hosted by Jodie Foster
          o A Film Profile: Joan Crawford
          o Vintage featurette: Behind the Scenes with Baby Jane
          o The Andy Williams Show excerpt featuring Bette Davis
          o 1.85 anamorphic widescreen, English mono, French mono
          o Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
          o B&W, 133 min.

          o Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
          o Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
          o 1.33, English 2.0
          o B&W and color, 88 min.

Meredy's Review

FIVE DAVIS LANDMARKS AND A SUPERBLY CRAFTED BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY EXTRA DISC MAKE THIS A MUST-HAVE FOR BD FANS!

Warner Brothers has done it again!

If it weren't just June, I'd vote this as the best classic film set of the year, but next week comes John Wayne/John Ford, and after that Clark Gable, and after that Lord knows what Warner Bros. has in store for us.

The greatness of each of these films is well-known. WB has done them proud, with outstanding transfers, and much-needed, gorgeous improvements on BABY JANE and JEZEBEL. The extras on BABY JANE show why a two-disc from WB are truly worth the extra cost. Just great stuff.

Then OLD ACQUAINTANCE, which was never on VHS, finally arrives on video, this time in a stunning DVD, no less with a commentary by its 99-year-old, sharp as a tack director, Vincent Sherman. God bless him. He has all his memories and shares them with us during a sparkling transfer of a Davis tour-de-force.

And we finally get MARKED WOMAN on DVD. The first film Davis made after her attempt to leave Warners because of bad scripts. She got a great one on her return, and this one is a must-have, with an equally terrific Bogie as her leading man.

If you have the old DVD of JEZEBEL, it will make a nice cocktail coaster because the restored version here is a gigantic improvement of her Oscar-winning masterpiece.

You also get the terrific ensemble comedy THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER looking and sounding equally superb.

The vintage extras included are terrific, but the brand new biographical film on Davis by Peter Jones, called STARDUST: THE BETTE DAVIS STORY, is a brilliant work. It isn't a sugar-coated, superfluous piece of fluff. It tries (and succeeds) to delve into the Davis psyche. The answers aren't always pretty, but neither is real life. People who live in plastic bubbles may not like to hear that Davis was not always a happy person. But, that's why this film, so wonderfully and sensitively constructed, (with exceptional narration provided by the magnificent Susan Sarandon), is such a fine piece of work in its own right. Those who prefer the A&E Biography connect-the-dots approach to stars' careers found on some Fox discs may not be happy with this, because it shows Davis warts and all. But it also celebrates her incomparable genius, and the price she had to pay for that gift.

I can't recommend this super set highly enough.