Auntie Mame 4K (1958/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Broadway Melody Of 1938 (MGM/Blu-ray*)/Captain Horatio Hornblower (1950/Blu-ray/*all Warner Archive)/The Gay Desperado (1936 w/DVD**)/Poverty Row Classics: East Side Kids (1940)/Let's Get Tough (1942/Monogram w/DVD/**both MVD/VCI Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B-/B/B- & C+/B- & C+ Sound: B-/C+/C+/C+ & C/C+ & C Extras: B-/B-/C+/C+/C Films: C+/B-/C+/C/C+

PLEASE NOTE: The Auntie Mame 4K, Broadway Melody Of 1938 and Captain Horatio Hornblower Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Now for a look at a set of classic films restored and reissued...

Morton DaCosta's Auntie Mame 4K (1958) has been thoroughly and remarkably restored by Warner Bros./Warner Archive in one of the best recoveries and restorations of the year. We covered the still decent Blu-ray (included in this set) on its own when it was first released at this link:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15106/Auntie+Mame+(1958/Warner+Archive+Blu-ray)/A+Fish

Scarlett Johansson named this one of her favorite films and it has a larger following than I think people realize, though some might find it stuffy or just too much in other ways, it is a time capsule of another era of wealth and glamour, fictional or otherwise. Cheers again to the supporting cast that includes Forest Tucker, Coral Browne, Fred Clark, Lee Patrick, Willard Waterman, Peggy Cass, Pippa Scott, Joanna Barnes and Roger Smith, but it is star Rosalind Russell that carries the film and here, you can see that more clearly than ever.

Extras include a small booklet reproduction of the original pressbook, while the disc adds the very pleasant surprise of an Isolated Music Score track in DTS-MA lossless 2.0 Stereo by Bronislaw Kaper on both disc versions that is somehow NOT listed on the package (!!!???,) Original Theatrical Trailer, new Conversation with Jan Hadzlik and Dave Karger at the 2026 TCM Film Festival and new Restoration Before & After featurette.

For more on the 1974 Lucille Ball feature film Mame musical, try this link:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15345/Mame+(1974/Warner+Archive+Blu-ray)/Melanie:+Live

Roy Del Ruth's The Broadway Melody Of 1938 comes from a series of musical films that try to launch new talents and use simple storylines to string together their musical numbers, sometimes spectacular at that and is part of a cycle that includes such films from other studios. We previously looked at this with its 1936 predecessor and noted that these films are ''often spoofed classics (see several cartoon shorts from the time if you do not believe me) are legendary all-star musical parties as the characters have cute meets and any excuse for interaction, showing off MGM's latest acting talent and launching into expensive production numbers... Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor and Buddy Ebsen return for the 1938 blast and are joined by Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland among others. You can even see why the less-known names were here, because the studio rightly believed in their talents.''

I liked this one even more than the previous film, despite the absence of Jack Benny, the songs are not that bad if not offering a big classic, though a young Judy Garland singing a novelty version of ''You Made Me Love You'' to a picture of Clark Gable (''Dear Mr. Gable'') a year before The Wizard Of Oz has always been a curio. All the actors have talent and they shine well enough and so much so that all serious film fans and especially those of Musicals should see this one at least once. Glad to experience the upgrade!

Extras include an Original Theatrical Trailer, odd inclusion of the John Nesbit one-reeler That Mothers Might Live on child bed syndrome, Romance of Celluloid MGM promotional short for some of their 1937 - 1938 feature film releases, Two Radio Promos, Six Audio Outtakes, the James FitzPatrick TravelTalk short Glimpses of Peru, animated 1938 MGM short Pipe Dreams, A Song Selection menu, and Alternate Audio Cues for ''Everybody Sing'' as the cast takes turns singing parts of the production number in five takes, over two parts.

Raoul Walsh's Captain Horatio Hornblower (1950) has Gregory Peck as the Napoleonic-era title hero in a film that has some battle and fighting moments, but with Virginia Mayo, Stanley Baker, Robert Beatty, James Kenney, Terence Morgan, James Robertson Justice, Michael Goodliffe, a young Christopher Lee, an uncredited Richard Johnson and an uncredited Diane Cilento (the one-time wife of Sean Connery) as Maria Hornblower, its far more melodramatic than you might expect.

Was that to make it Oscar-worthy instead of being an A-budget level version of a B-movie about pirates, who knows, but it does muddle the nearly two hours up a bit and also makes it look like maybe they were trying to save a few bucks by cutting an action sequence or two. Still, I like the actors, the money is on the screen in costumes and sets, all knowing it was being shot in Technicolor, so it is still worth a look, of course. Just make sure you have patience and are not on the tired side.

Extras include a Lux Radio Theater version of the movie with Peck & Mayo, classic WB live-action short My Country 'Tis Of Thee and classic Warner animated Technicolor short Captain Hareblower.

Rouben Mamoulian's The Gay Desperado (1936) is a rarer comedy co-produced by Mary Pickford (whose estate's vaults happened to have this film surviving in it) with incredibly politically incorrect comic Mexican bandits (banditos?) and some equally inept other characters throughout, but the twist here is that it was made as a vehicle for opera singer Nino Martini (who definitely has a great voice) and early work by a then 18-year-old (!!!) Ida Lupino, when she could have become another actress in the mode of Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn instead of the Noir icon, Hollywood lead and groundbreaking early female director she eventually became.

The script is weak, formulaic and predictable as expected, including Lupino's character being kidnapped. That makes it repetitive, but the parts that do work are worth suffering through those that do not and/or have not aged well. Leo Carillo is the lead bandit and Mischa Auer is among the supporting actors classic film fans will also recognize. All in all, glad to see it restored and released. Its great that the Pickford vaults have so many interesting films and let's hope this series of releases from it keep rolling along because they are always interesting.

Extras include a reversible cover, a nicely illustrated booklet on the film including informative text and another excellent, while the discs add a visual essay ''Opera, Bandits & The Hollywood Western'' by Dr. David Wilt, a Poster and Photo Gallery.

Last but not least, the Poverty Row Classics set features Robert F. Hill's East Side Kids (1940) and Wallace Fox's Let's Get Tough (1942) offers the gang first known as The Dead End Kids, then the East Side Kids here, but ended as The Bowery Boys and Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey and company ended a great 21 year run as Monogram transformed into Allied Artists. We covered the later films on this DVD release:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12996/The+Bowery+Boys:+Volume+Four+(1946+-+1958/Mo

Still a bit politically incorrect as the series would continue to be to the end, it has some giggles if not outright laughs and these have a little more energy than the later entries. With only a few films here, you get an idea of what the series offered, why it was a hit in its time and maybe why it is not always as remembered as other comedy series. It is at least a time capsule of a by gone era and for that, it is worth a look for those serious interested in something different and comedy that still sometimes does work.

Extras include the featurette Poverty Row Powerhouse.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Auntie Mame 4K is a remarkable upgrade form the already fine 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition Blu-ray we covered before that is repeated in this set. Originally shot in the underrated Technirama format and issued in dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints, the old transfer was decent, but you can now see the full color, all the hard work and money on the screen in a way that is a revelation. The whole film is far more palpable and warm and rich (in more ways than one) that result in an impact that was lost until Warner spent the time and money to save this.

As the bonus featurette shows, it took a combination of the fading and problematic original camera negative, three black and white strips that made up the Technicolor negative separations and other print materials to save this and like the amazing work on Curse Of Frankenstein, they pulled it off. There can still be slight softness and microflaws in parts, but WOW can this deliver. That absolutely includes demo shots and an amazing color test for the best 4K projectors and 4K HDTVs around.

The sound includes DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Mono lossless mixes, the latter representing the only soundtrack the film (remarkably) was ever released with, while the 5.1 mix uses all kinds of additional sources to deliver the best possible sound and it is an upgrade worthy of the great picture throughout. Though there are still sonic limits, its the best sounding classic on this list and the film has certainly never sounded better.

Auntie Mame joins Spartacus, the original Pink Panther, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, The Miracle, The Leopard and The Golden Head among the few Technirama feature films that have been saved and restored. That is too few and so many more great films made this way also deserve the same treatment and will hopefully get it, including films Warner has like Sayonara, For The First Time, John Paul Jones, the 1961 King Of Kings, World By Night No.1 & No.2, Gypsy, Merrill's Marauders, The Golden Arrow and The Music Man. If they turn out this well, they'll all be worth looking forward to.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image transfers on Broadway Melody Of 1938, Gay Desperado, East Side Kids and Let's Get Tough can show their age and are at the mercy of the surviving materials, but they all play very well, especially Broadway Melody Of 1938, whose MGM vault materials have survived the best, despite some softness far outdoes its old DVD version and is the largest-budgeted release here. All have their visual moments, with the rest also offering regular 1.33 X 1 DVD versions that are much weaker and are only here for convenience.

Broadway Melody is here is well restored DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless sound, while the rest get slightly older sounding PCM 2.0 Mono and the DVDs get even slightly weaker still, lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Melody is the second oldest film here, but sounds the best of the four, though not as much as I had wished, yet better than its old DVD version. Whether better soundtracks are out there somewhere on the other films, Melody sounds about as good as it likely ever will.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 color digital High Definition image transfer on Captain Horatio Hornblower can show the age of the materials used in parts, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film, bringing out how good this must have looked in original 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless sound has also been as restored as possible and can have some nice sonics here and there, but it also shows its age more than I wish it did and you can only expect so much.

To order the Auntie Mame 4K, Broadway Melody Of 1938 and/or Captain Horatio Hornblower Warner Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo