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Murder by Death, newly released on Blu-ray by Shout Select, was a major box-office hit in 1976. Starring three Oscar winners, Alec Guinness, David Niven, and Maggie Smith; and six other nominees, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan, Peter Falk, Elsa Lanchester, James Cromwell, and James Coco, Neil Simon’s script was a spoof of 1932’s The Old Dark House with nods to 1945’s And Then There Were None.

Directed by Robert Moore, the film begins with host Truman Capote inviting five famous detectives to his decrepit mansion to solve a murder yet to be committed. The detectives and their guests include thinly disguised versions of Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man (Niven, Smith), Sam Spade and his Girl Friday from The Maltese Falcon (Falk, Brennan), Charlie Chan and his adopted No. 3 son (Sellers, Richard Narita), Hercule Poirot and his chauffeur (Coco, Cromwell), and Miss Marple and her nurse (Lanchester, Estelle Winwood). Capote’s household includes a blind butler (Guinness) and a deaf and dumb temporary cook (Nancy Walker). The screaming doorbell is comprised of Fay Wray’s screams from King Kong.

Both Myrna Loy and Katharine Hepburn were originally attached to the film, but Loy (who would be replaced by Maggie Smith) had second thoughts about playing a spoof of her beloved Nora Charles. Hepburn, who was to have played Agatha Christie, decided she didn’t want to do the film if Loy wasn’t in it. She was replaced by Estelle Winwood whose character was then changed to that of Miss Marple’s nurse.

Not all of it works – the drawn out ending, for example, is a huge disappointment, but when it works, it really works with the jokes coming fast and furious.

The first major production of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray since 1945’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1970’s The Secret of Dorian Gray was released in the U.S. as Dorian Gray.

Filmed by Italian director Massimo Dallamano in English and later dubbed in Italian, both soundtracks are available on the sparkling new Blu-ray from Raro.

Primarily a showcase for Helmut Berger on the heels of his breakthrough role in 1969’s The Damned, the actor doesn’t disappoint, dominating every scene despite strong support from the likes of Richard Todd, Herbert Lom, Margaret Lee, Isa Miranda, and Eleanora Rossi Drago. Unfortunately, Marie Liljedahl in the pivotal role of Sybil Vane is not in the same league. Unlike Angela Lansbury, whose portrayal of Sybil earned her an Oscar nomination for the 1945 version, Liljedahl does not play her as a singer with the voice of an angel but as aspiring actress who can’t act. It’s debatable whether it’s the character or the actress playing her who has the problem.

Warner Archive’s Blu-ray release of 1958’s Horror of Dracula is from the BFI restoration that first appeared on Blu-ray in the U.K. in 2012. The opening credits bear the title Dracula, the U.K. release title. Universal’s theatrical release was renamed Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the 1931 classic then still being revived in theatres.

The film, generally considered the best of the many film versions of the horror classic, changes relationships between characters as well as various situations, keeping up the level suspense throughout the film. Peter Cushing is top-billed as Van Helsing, the year after he played the title scientist in The Curse of Frankenstein. Christopher Lee plays Dracula in the first of his many portrayals of the character. Michael Gough, Alfred in 1989’s Batman, played Arthur. Melissa Stribling, the wife of director Basil Dearden (Sapphire, played Mina. John Van Eyssen, who played Jonathan Harker, gave up acting in 1961 and later became Chief Production Executive at Columbia in the U.K. He was Ingrid Bergman’s companion in her last years.

The Criterion Edition 2K Blu-ray restoration of Julien Duvivier’s 1946 film of Georges Simenon’s Panique brings back from obscurity one of the great films of its day.

This was the first post-war film for Duvivier (Pepe le Moko) who had spent the World War II years in the U.S. Aside from the enduring Maigret, Monsieur Hire on which Panique is based, is the most famous work of the prolific Swiss-born author who himself moved to the U.S. in 1945, returning to Europe in 1955.

The great Michel Simon (The Two of Us) stars as a recluse in the Paris suburbs who is suspected of killing a woman by his neighbors who consider him strange. Meanwhile, Monsieur Hire claims to have evidence of the real killer but hesitates to give it to the police because he is in love with a woman (Viviane Romance) who is involved with the killer.

The film is highly atmospheric with twists and turns at every corner. The climactic scene is truly harrowing, albeit with a very satisfying denouement. The acting of Simon, Romance, and Paul Bernard as her lover is first-rate and the supporting performances are equally superb. This is a film well worth discovering or if you’ve been lucky enough to have seen it in the past, to re-discover.

Extras include a newly filmed interview in English with Simenon’s youngest son, Pierre.

Long in planning, the new to Blu-ray 1940 Warner Bros. film, The Sea Hawk was intended as a follow-up to Errol Flynn’s 1935 Warner Bros. hit Captain Blood from the Rafael Sabatini novel. Taking the title of another Sabatini novel but using a completely different source, it was to feature two of Flynn’s co-stars from that film, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone. However, by the time it was made, de Havilland and Rathbone bowed out and were replaced by Brenda Marshall and Henry Daniell. Ironically, unlike Rathbone, Daniell couldn’t fence, his dueling had to be done by a stuntman disguised by fancy camerawork which fortunately works very well.

Flynn’s costumes are the same ones he wore in 1939’s The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, in which he played a different character opposite Bette Davis as Elizabeth I. Here he’s once again playing in Elizabeth’s court, but this time she’s played by Flora Robson who had previously played her to great acclaim in 1937’s Fire Over England.

The film was nominated for four Oscars including one for Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score. Korngold had previously won for his score for 1938’s Flynn – de Havilland – Rathbone starrer, The Adventures of Robin Hood.

This week’s new releases include White Boy Rick and The Go-Getters.

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