The Sound of Music has been released on 4K Ultra HD by Disney which now controls the 20th Century-Fox catalogue.

The film of course looks and sounds better than it ever has in the format. Officially called the film’s 60th Anniversary edition, it is being released six months past its 60th anniversary which occurred in March. It does, however, coincide with Julie Andrews’ 90th birthday which occurred on October 1st.

The set consists of three discs, the film in 4K Ultra HD, the film in standard Blu-ray and tons of extras on a second standard Blu-ray disc, none of which are brand-new.

The film, which was at the time of its initial release, the most successful film of all time, was the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s last Broadway musical. Since then, there have been stage versions performed all over the world. There have been elaborate TV productions as well, one in the U.S., and another in the U.K., which were particularly well received. Nevertheless, the 1965 film version remains the one we keep coming back to.

Hollywood tried to duplicate its magic with elaborate musicals between 1966 and 1973, before giving up. Nominated for ten Oscars, it won five including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise). Andrews, who had won the prior year’s Oscar for Mary Poppins, was nominated as the postulant nun who becomes the world-renown Maria von Trapp. Former operetta star Peggy Wood, who had also been a early TV star in (I Remember) Mama, was also nominated for her portrayal of the Mother Abbess who sends Maria on her way. Other notable performances are provided by Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp, Eleanor Parker as Baroness Schraeder, Richard Hayden as Herr Detweiler and Charmian Carr and the other actors who played the von Trapp children.

Included in the extras are commentary by Andrews, Plummer, and Carr, a separate commentary by Wise, and interviews with Rodgers, Hammerstein, and von Trapp family members, and, of course, the famous sing-along version.

Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray of two Sylvia Sidney pre-code classics, Confessions of a Co-Ed and Ladies of the Big House.

Both are from 1931, the year in which Sidney became a major star in three other films, City Streets released before Confessions of a Co-Ed and American Tragedy and Street Scene which were released after Co-Ed but before Ladies of the Big House.

Sidney was the central character in Confessions of a Co-Ed but Phillips Holmes fresh from the success of The Criminal Code and Stolen Heaven had top billing as the cad who romances and leaves her whereupon pregnant Sidney marries Norman Foster on the rebound. An unbilled Dickie Moore plays Sidney’s son. It was already his 17th film.

This one has a lot of twists and turns but is surprisingly good for a little film co-directed by David Burton and Dudley Murphy. Commentary is provided by film historian David Del Valle.

The next film for both Holmes and Sidney was An American Tragdey in which they had the roles played by Montgomery Clift and Shelley Winters in its better-known remake, A Place in the Sun.

Sidney had sole star billing in Ladies of the Big House which is also interesting if a bit more predictable.

She plays a naïve florist who is pursued by a gangster before she falls for a charming stranger played by Gene Raymond and marries him, infuriating the gangster who then commits a murder for which she and Raymond are framed. Sidney is up against the clock and the gangster’s cronies in the D.A.’s office as she tries to prove Raymond’s innocence as well as her own before Raymond is to be hanged.

Directed by Marion Gering, commentary on this one is provided by film historian and archivist Stan Shaffer.

The Film Foundation has released the 2024 restored version of 1945’s The Story of G.I. Joe on Blu-ray.

Originally titled Ernie Pyle’s Story of G.I. Joe, William A. Wellman’s film was released exactly two months to the day after Pyle’s assassination by a sniper’s bullet on an island in the Pacific in April, 1945 shortly before the end of World War II.

Filmed a year earlier, the film follows Pyle, played by Burgess Meredith, as he talks to foot soldiers on their way to Rome, particularly members of a platoon led by Robert Mitchum in his first major role after a series of smaller ones. A major hit, the film was nominated for four Oscars including Best Screenplay, Score, Song (“Linda”), and Supporting Actor (Mitchum).

Shockingly, this would be Mitchum’s only Oscar nomination in his long career. Curiously, the only film for which he received a major film award was 1960’s Home from the Hill for which he won the National Board of Review award for Best Actor. He won no major awards recognition for his performances in such films as Out of the Past, The Night of the Hunter, Ryan’s Daughter, or Farewell, My Lovely to name a few in which he was equally unforgettable.

Extras include a brand-new interview with William Wellman, Jr. and commentary by Alan K. Rode.

Imprint has released a no-frills Blu-ray release of 1958’s The Matchmaker directed by Joseph Anthony.

This is the film version of Thornton Wilder’s 1956 play which as the source material for Jerry Herman’s 1964 musical, Hello, Dolly!

Shirley Booth was Dolly, with Anthony Perkins as Cornelius, Robert Morse as Barnaby, Shirley MacLaine as Irene Molloy, and Paul Ford as Horace Vandergilder. It’s fine but seems to be missing something, which is of course, Herman’s score.

Also, newly released by Imprint is Sydney Pollack’s 1968 film, This Property Is Condemned, a sudsy romance with Natalie Wood and Robert Redford set in Depression era Mississippi. This one is made memorable by its extras which include a brand-new feature on Pollack and two on Wood.

Commentary is by filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat.

Happy viewing.