Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Wanted on DVD!

The list of most wanted on DVD gets smaller and smaller all the time. Still, there's a few things we'd love to see out on DVD. Here they are in no particular order:

1) "American Hot Wax" -- Great 1978 rock film starring Tim McIntyre as legendary disc jockey Allen Freed and co-starring Jay Leno, Fran Dreschler, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. Why this one isn't on DVD is anyone's guess, but we suspect it has to do with music rights.

2) "The Devil and Miss Jones" -- No, this isn't the porn film, but the 1941 comedy starring Charles Coburn, Jean Arthur, Spring Byington and Bob Cummings. It was originally released on VHS, but has yet to appear on DVD. Why? (It happens to be one of our favorite old films, too.) (Note: "The More the Merrier," which re-teamed Arthur and Coburn two years later, is on DVD and available through Amazon.com.)

3) "Let It Be" -- This 1970 Beatles film may never show up on DVD if the rumors we've heard are correct. This was not a favorite film of the four Beatles. And even though two of them aren't around to prevent it, their widows want to respect their wishes. Still, we've heard that the film has been restored and maybe, just maybe it'll get released. But for now, don't hold your breath.

4) "Batman" -- That's the Adam West-Burt Ward TV series we're referring to. It has yet to show up, though the 1966 feature film, which isn't as good as the series, has been on DVD for several years and priced very inexpensively. West was asked about this possibility a few years ago and said he knew nothing about it happening. A shame.

5) "The Green Hornet" -- The companion TV series is also not on DVD. A great show. Why isn't it there?

6) "Quick Draw McGraw" -- Hanna Barbera has released many of its core cartoon characters on DVD, but not Quick Draw and Baba Louie (or our fave, El Kabong).

7) "Dr. Syn Alias the Scarecrow" -- Patrick McGoohan starred as Dr. Syn in this 1964 Disney adaptation, shown on "Wonderful World of Color" and separately. McGoohan's character gave us nightmares as a young boy. We'd love to see this one released.

8) "The Monkey's Uncle" -- Released on VHS, the 1965 film starred Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk and featured a great theme song featuring Walt Disney's teen star Annette and the Beach Boys. We'll guess again it's music rights, but this one needs to be out. Walt would have wanted it.

Know of any DVDs you'd like released? Let us know and we'll feature them in an upcoming column.

And if you're interested in discussing this or other DVD issues, join our Yahoo DVD Watch discussion group.





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