20th Century Fox Studio Classics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

20th Century Fox Studio Classics refers to a collection of films ranging from the late 1920s to the late 1960s released on DVD by 20th Century Fox.

Contents

[edit] Features and Pricing

The DVDs usually include inserts with reproductions of the movie poster as well as trivia bits. The collection is notable for having a very high production quality with plenty of extras for every movie, including commentaries, trailers, newsreel footage, biographical features, and outtakes. The films are usually also shown with digitally restored sound and visuals.

DVDs in the series, unlike those in many other premium collections, tend to be fairly inexpensive, with an SRP of $14.99 (US). Copies of some of them, such as The Day the Earth Stood Still can be found for under $10 at retail stores.

[edit] DVDs in the Series

Film Title Original Release Year Spine Number
Sunrise 1927 none - see below
All About Eve 1950 01 - see below
Gentleman's Agreement 1947 02
How Green Was My Valley 1941 03 - see below
An Affair to Remember 1957 04 - see below
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 05
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 1947 06
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing 1955 07
The Song of Bernadette 1943 08
Anastasia 1956 09
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness 1958 10
Titanic 1953 11
The Mark of Zorro 1940 12 - see below
The Ox-Bow Incident 1943 13 - see below
My Darling Clementine 1946 14 - see below
The Diary of Anne Frank 1959 15
Peyton Place 1957 16
The Grapes of Wrath 1940 17
Desk Set 1957 18
The Snake Pit 1948 19
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969 20
Zorba the Greek 1964 21
Alexander's Ragtime Band 1938 22
The Three Faces of Eve 1957 23
Three Coins in the Fountain 1954 24
How to Steal a Million 1966 25
Leave Her to Heaven 1945 26
A Letter to Three Wives 1949 27
Return to Peyton Place 1961 28
Anna and the King of Siam 1946 29
The Razor's Edge 1946 30
The Best of Everything 1959 31
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte 1964 32 - see below
In Old Chicago 1937 33
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 1956 34
Orchestra Wives 1942 35
The Rains Came 1939 36
Two for the Road 1967 37
The Black Swan 1942 38
The Keys of the Kingdom 1944 39
The River's Edge 1957 40

Sunrise was simply labeled "Limited Edition" and did not have a spine number. It was available only through a mail-order offer which has since expired, but it is included in the Studio Classics: Best Picture Collection boxset which also contains All About Eve, Gentleman's Agreement, and How Green Was My Valley.

All About Eve and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte are set to be replaced by new editions, scheduled for release in April 2008. The two films will be included in a Bette Davis boxed set.

An Affair to Remember has since been replaced by a two-disc "50th Anniversary Edition", released January 15, 2008.

The Mark of Zorro has since been replaced by a "Special Edition", released in 2005, that offered the same extras as the Studio Classics release, but with a colorized version of the film on the flipside of the disc.

The Ox-Bow Incident was originally scheduled for a December 2003 release, but when 20th Century Fox pulled Laura from the schedule, it was moved up to the November slot.

How Green Was My Valley, My Darling Clementine, and The Grapes of Wrath were later released in December 2007 as part of the Ford at Fox DVD collection as well as individually with new cover art (but the same discs).

[edit] Spinoff Series

The success of the series has spawned three other DVD lines:

- Fox Film Noir

- Marquee Musicals

- Cinema Classics Collection

[edit] European Releases

The European [R2] collection differs slightly, the first 98 DVDs being as follows:

  1. All About Eve
  2. The Big Trail
  3. The Boston Strangler
  4. The Comancheros
  5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
  6. The Fly
  7. The Grapes of Wrath
  8. Heaven Knows, Mr Allison
  9. Heidi
  10. Hello, Dolly!
  11. How Green Was My Valley
  12. How to Steal a Million
  13. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
  14. Lady in Cement
  15. Leave Her to Heaven
  16. Peyton Place
  17. The Sand Pebbles
  18. The Undefeated
  19. Von Ryan's Express
  20. The Young Lions
  21. The 300 Spartans
  22. An Affair to Remember
  23. The Agony and the Ecstasy
  24. The Bible… In the Beginning
  25. Buffalo Bill
  26. D-Day The Sixth of June
  27. Fantastic Voyage
  28. A Farewell to Arms
  29. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  30. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
  31. Halls of Montezuma
  32. How to Marry a Millionaire
  33. The Hunters
  34. The Longest Day
  35. Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
  36. North to Alaska
  37. The Song of Bernadette
  38. Thirteen Rue Madeleine
  39. Wing and a Prayer
  40. Zorba the Greek
  41. Anastasia
  42. Bandolero!
  43. The Blue Max
  44. Crash Dive
  45. Demetrius and the Gladiators
  46. The Desert Rats
  47. The Diary of Anne Frank
  48. Gentleman's Agreement
  49. The Mark of Zorro
  50. Return of the Fly
  51. The Robe
  52. Sink the Bismarck!
  53. Star!
  54. To the Shores of Tripoli
  55. Viva Zapata!
  56. Between Heaven and Hell
  57. Born to Be Bad
  58. The Bravados
  59. The Desert Fox
  60. Desk Set
  61. The Enemy Below
  62. Flaming Star
  63. Journey to the Center of the Earth
  64. Kiss Them for Me
  65. Love Me Tender
  66. People Will Talk
  67. Three Coins in the Fountain
  68. Twelve O'Clock High
  69. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
  70. A Yank in the R.A.F.
  71. The Gunfighter
  72. Titanic
  73. Miracle on 34th Street
  74. Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
  75. The Street With No Name
  76. The Flight of the Phoenix
  77. Somewhere in the Night
  78. The Dark Corner
  79. Heaven Can Wait
  80. The Razor's Edge
  81. The Poor Little Rich Girl
  82. Stowaway
  83. Captain January
  84. Our Little Girl
  85. Morituri
  86. The Barbarian and the Geisha
  87. What a Way to Go!
  88. Wild in the Country
  89. My Friend Flicka
  90. The Curse of the Fly
  91. Thieves' Highway
  92. The Purple Heart
  93. Anna and the King of Siam
  94. Down Argentine Way
  95. In Old Chicago
  96. Swamp Water
  97. The Virgin Queen
  98. Guadalcanal Diary
  99. As Young As You Feel
  100. Bus Stop
  101. The Seven Year Itch
  102. Let's Make It Legal
  103. Don't Bother To Knock
  104. Love Nest
  105. Niagara
  106. Let's Make Love
  107. There's No Business Like Show Business
  108. River Of No Return
  109. We're Not Married
  110. Monkey Business
  111. ?
  112. Tony Rome
  113. ?
  114. The Detective
  115. Irving Berlin's Second Fiddle
  116. The Gang's All Here
  117. On the Avenue
  118. Sun Valley Serenade
  119. Daddy Long Legs
  120. Orchestra Wives
  121. The Dolly Sisters
  122. Pin Up Girl
  123. My Blue Heaven
  124. That Night In Rio
  125. Doctor Dolittle
  126. Cheaper By The Dozen
  127. Belles On Their Toes
  128. Thunderhead - Son Of Flicka
  129. Green Grass Of Wyoming
  130. The Story Of Ruth
  131. Francis Of Assisi
  132. The Greatest Story Ever Told
  133. David And Bathsheba
  134. The House On 92nd Street
  135. Laura
  136. House On Telegraph Hill

Released on March 26th 2007 were [spine numbers awaiting verification]:

  1. Belles On Their Toes
  2. Cheaper By the Dozen
  3. David & Bathsheba
  4. Francis of Assisi
  5. The Greatest Story Ever Told
  6. Green Grass of Wyoming
  7. The Story of Ruth
  8. Thunderhead Son of Flicka

Note regarding spine numbers 99-114: Eleven Marilyn Monroe films were released as part of the collection in April 2006 [As Young as You Feel, Bus Stop, Don't Bother to Knock, Let's Make It Legal, Let's Make Love, Love Nest, Monkey Business, Niagara, River of No Return, The Seven Year Itch and There's No Business Like Show Business], and stayed in print for only one month, being replaced by the "Marilyn Monroe 80th Anniversary" collection. These were most likely spine numbers 99-109. The Dolly Sisters and Pin Up Girl were also slated for release one month later, but did not appear [until February 2007]. These two releases were most likely spine numbers 110 and 111. Spine number 112-114 remain unaccounted for.

[edit] European Box Sets

On 10th October 2005, five box sets were released to tie in with the collection. They each featured five of the Studio Classics releases in slimline DVD cases [rather than the standard ones used for the main collection], with slightly modified inserts to fit the cases and without spine numbers. The five collections are:

Classic Award Winners:
All About Eve
How Green Was My Valley
Gentleman's Agreement
Zorba the Greek
The Grapes of Wrath

Classic Encounters:
Anastasia
Three Coins in the Fountain
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
An Affair to Remember

Classic War Movies:
Von Ryans Express
The Young Lions
The Hunters
The Sand Pebbles
The Desert Fox

Classic War Stories:
The Longest Day
Sink the Bismark!
The Desert Rats
Twelve OClock High
A Farewell to Arms

Fantastic Classics:
The Fly
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Fantastic Journey
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

On 26th March 2007, a box-set entitles The Greatest Stories Ever Told was released containing the following eight films:

Francis of Assisi
The Story of Ruth
The Bible... In the Beginning
The Song of Bernadette
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Passion of the Christ
The Robe
Demetrius and the Gladiators

[edit] See also

Fox Cinema Classics

Criterion Collection - A similar series of high-quality DVD releases.

[edit] External links