Top 10 Classic Film Blu-rays of 2014

While film geeks like myself may complain about the lack of catalog titles being released on Blu-ray by the major studios, 2014 was an amazing year for classic films in high definition. If you know where to look, that is.

When it comes to classic films, the studios are still reluctant to release them themselves, which is why they license them out to third party labels. Companies like the Criterion Collection, Kino, Twilight Time, Olive Films and Shout Factory in the U.S. and Arrow Video and Masters of Cinema in the U.K. ensure that films that may otherwise forever be locked in vaults actually get released.

One studio that has been great when it comes to licensing out titles is 20th Century Fox. The studio’s home video distribution also handles MGM’s catalog and have liberally handed out titles from that library to Criterion, Twilight Time, Kino and Shout. Soon, Olive will even be putting out some MGM titles.

Occasionally, the studios will handle big-name classics themselves. The best studio for that Warner Bros. Home Video. They’ve put out some surprising classics on Blu-ray themselves, while the team at the Warner Archive Collection has stepped up their game when it comes to Blu-rays.

So, let’s get started...

[new page = Film Noir]

10. The Warner Archive Collection only recently began releasing Blu-rays of films Warner Bros. Home Video doesn’t think will sell very well to a mass audience. WAC really stepped up its game this year, with two includible film noir releases - Jacques Tournet’s classic Out of the Past and Possessed with Joan Crawford. The films have never looked better here.

[new page = Ichabod and Mr. Toad]

9. Another surprising classic release came from Disney, which included a two-pack of The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad/Fun And Fancy Free in its 2014 wave of catalog titles. However, the reason why it is a landmark release is because of the inclusion of The Reluctant Dragon, the Robert Benchley-hosted Disney studio tour film from 1941.

Here’s my full review.

[new page = Duck You Sucker]

8. As I noted in the intro, most MGM titles get released by one of the specialty labels, but Fox surprised just about everyone with its own release of Sergio Leone’s underrated Western classic Duck You Sucker! (A Fistful of Dynamite). While the film was clearly not given a new restoration for the release and the disc doesn’t include a real menu, but it’s really cool to see that all of Leone’s major films are on Blu-ray now. If you think you know Leone because you’ve seen the Man with No Name films, think again.

[new page = The Pawnbroker]

7. Olive Films releases so many Blu-rays that it’s hard to keep track of them. But one of their stand-outs this year was Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker. Rod Steiger plays a Holocaust survivor who owns a pawn shop in Harlem and is about to give up on life completely. Steiger gives one of the best performances of the 1960s here. Sure, the disc includes no bonus material, but the film looks magnificent. This was one movie I had been waiting to see for years and it was worth the wait.

[new page = Frank Capra on Blu-ray]

6. Frank Capra’s classics finally came to Blu-ray this year. Yes, It’s A Wonderful Life and Lady For A Day have been out for a few years, but two of his most beloved movies came out just weeks apart.

First, Criterion released It Happened One Night, which features the very first silent film Capra ever made. Then, Sony released Mr. Smith Goes To Washington in a lovely digi-pack itself. Both include the Frank Capra’s American Dream documentary, but the beautiful restorations of the films is the real story. Hopefully, 2015 sees even more Capra classics in hi-def.

[new page = Witness for the Prosecution]

5. Kino’s MGM releases have been a bit hit-or-miss, only because Kino doesn’t do any work on the films themselves. They only release what Fox gives them. So while Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes looked terrible, Wilder’s Witness of the Prosecution looked gorgeous. Witness is one of the best courtroom thrillers and is highlighted by wonderful performances from Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich.

[new page = Jacques Tati]

4. Criterion’s The Complete Jacques Tati box set would probably be considered the best set of the year, had the set not included less-than-stellar transfers of all the alternate versions of the iconic French comedian’s films. Still, this is one of those film-school-in-a-box sets, as the bonus material delves into the painstaking process Tati went through for each of his wonderful films.

[new page = Jacques Demy]

3. The Essential Jacques Demy is another flawed but incredible set from Criterion. Despite the terrible transfer for Demy’s first film, Lola, all the other films are treated beautifully. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort are just gorgeous. Plus, Une Chambre en Ville is a revelation.

[new page = The Train]

2. Twilight Time’s release of John Frankenheimer’s The Train was the best release of an MGM title this year, at least based on what I’ve seen. While it only has Twilight Time’s standard selection of bonus features, the commentary from historians is really all you need for a behind-the-scenes look at the film. It’s really one of the best action movies from the ‘60s and has a wonderfully gritty performance from Burt Lancaster. If you were disappointed by George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, check this one out.

[new page = Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies]

1. Criterion took a year off from releasing a Charles Chaplin movie, but Flicker Alley made up for it with their incredible release of Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies. Made during 1916 and 1917, these films show Chaplin truly refining his skills as a filmmaker, just before he would finally begin making films longer than 26 minutes. The set of 12 films includes one of Chaplin’s most famous, The Immigrant, which follows The Tramp’s journey to America. The set also includes the new The Birth of the Tramp documentary, which is a great course for Chaplin newbies.