DVD discs have been around since 1995, Blu-ray discs since 2006, yet there are still important films that have never been released in either format and a number of prior DVD releases that cry out for the superior picture and sound of Blu-ray that have yet to be upgraded to the newer format.

In order to keep the discussion to a manageable number, I’ll discuss just twenty films for consideration, all of them released theatrically between 1933 and 1977. Five of these films have never been released on DVD. Five have been released on Blu-ray outside of the U.S. but not domestically. Ten have been not been released on Blu-ray at all.

Never on DVD:

Those who think Laura Hope Crews gave her greatest performance as Aunt Pittypat in Gone With the Wind have never seen John Cromwell’s 1933 film The Silver Cord in which the great stage actress repeats her Broadway triumph as the domineering mother who comes between one son and his wife and another and his fiancée. Irene Dunne, Joel McCrea, Eric Linden and Frances Dee are all splendid but it’s Crews’ show. A Spanish import exists, but Warner Bros. owns the U.S. rights to this RKO pre-code classic, making it a natural for the Warner Archive.

No one seems to know why Curtis Bernhardt’s 1951 film The Blue Veil hasn’t been shown commercially since it was a TV staple in the early 1960s. Aside from a showing at a 2007 retrospective of Joan Blondell films in 2007, the RKO classic remains unavailable, a real pity since it showcases one of Jane Wyman’s finest performances for which she won the Golden Globe over Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire. She and Blondell were nominated for Oscars out of a first-rate cast that also includes Charles Laughton, Agnes Moorehead and Natalie Wood. It’s another one for the Warner Archive.

Rumor has it that the William Inge estate wants more money for the DVD rights than Warner Bros. is willing to pay for Delbert Mann’s 1960 film of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs which used to be an AMC staple. The domestic drama featured a superb cast that includes Robert Preston, Dorothy McGuire, Eve Arden, Angela Lansbury, Shirley Knight, Lee Kinsolving, Frank Ovedton and Richard Eyer, all in unforgettable roles. Knight was nominated for an Oscar, Knight and Kinsolving for Golden Globes, and Arden for the now-defunct Laurel Award.

Warner Archive has been promising a DVD release of Frank Perry’s 1969 film Last Summer since 2009. Apparently they are still searching for a decent print from which to make copies. Highly controversial at the time of its release, it is nevertheless one of the best coming-of-age films of the era featuring powerhouse performances from Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison and the forgotten Catherine Burns who was Oscar nominated for her stunning portrayal of the lonely fat girl.

Music rights have kept Richard Brooks’ 1977 film Looking for Mr. Goodbar from being released on DVD. The film, based on a real-life incident, contains Diane Keaton’s arguably best performance as the dedicated schoolteacher who is murdered as her sexual appetites spin out of control. Tuesday Weld was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Keaton’s even more liberated sister and Richard Kiley, Richard Gere and Tom Berenger also turn in strong performances. Keaton won the Oscar for the same year’s Annie Hall which also won Best Picture.

Not on Blu-ray in the U.S.:

A box-office disappointment in 1937, Leo McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow was rediscovered in revival houses in the 1970s and has been a favorite of film buffs ever since. Those in the know agree with McCarey who famously said in his acceptance speech as that year’s Oscar winner for best direction for the classic screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, “thanks, but you gave it to me for the wrong picture.” Criterion released a standard DVD version of the film providing renewed proof that Beulah Bondi and Victor Moore gave Oscar worthy performances as an in-the-way old couple. There’s no reason Criterion can’t match the Masters of Cinema British release.

Beautifully filmed on location in and around Marseilles, Joshua Logan’s 1961 film Fanny is both a condensed version of Marcel Pagnol’s 1930s Fanny trilogy (Marius/Fanny/Cesar) and Harold Rome’s celebrated 1954 Broadway musical which retains the show’s score as background music but is not sung despite its principal cast’s well-known singing ability. Nominated for five Oscars, the film starred Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer and Horst Buchholz as Pagnol’s Fanny, Panisse, Cesar and Marius, respectively. Image Entertainment put out a DVD in 2008, but the U.S. distribution rights seem to be in limbo. Currently the only available Blu-ray is a German import, albeit one that is playable on U.S. players.

Nominated for six Oscars, Otto Preminger’s 1963 film The Cardinal is the screen version of Henry Morton Robinson’s international bestseller. This richly textured panoply of the turbulent first half of the 20th Century follows the life of a humble but ambitious priest who takes a circuitous path to becoming a prince of the Church. The film covers everything from church and world politics to the Church’s stance on abortion to the dominance of the Ku Klux Klan in the American South to the welcome of the Nazis by the Cardinal of Vienna. Tom Tyron, John Huston, Burgess Meredith, Romy Schneider, Carol Lynley, Ossie Davis, Raf Vallone, Tullio Carminatti and many others excel under Preminger’s superb direction. Jerome Moross’ magnificent score is a giant plus. The Spanish import Blu-ray is playable on U.S. players.

Katharine Hepburn earned the eleventh of her twelve Oscar nominations and the third of her four wins as Eleanor of Aquitaine opposite Peter O’Toole who earned the third of his eight Oscar-less nominations as Henry II in Peter Glenville’s terrifically acted 1968 film of The Lion in Winter. James Goldman’s screenplay and John Barry’s score deservedly also won Oscars for this 12th Century royal family battle royale. Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, John Castle, Jane Merrow, Nigel Terry and Nigel Davenport provide outstanding support. Alas, the only available Blu-ray is a Danish import.

Its eleven Oscar nominations without a win created a record held solely by Herbert Ross’ 1977 film The Turning Point until it was joined by The Color Purple nine years later. The gorgeously photographed film is notable for the performances of Anne Bancroft as an aging ballerina and Shirley MacLaine as her one-time rival who gave up dancing to marry and have a family. Now MacLaine’s daughter, Bancroft’s goddaughter (Leslie Browne) is poised on the brink of her own promising career. The film’s highlights include numerous ballet performances and one of the screen’s most famous catfights. This is another one that is only available on Blu-ray as a Danish import.

Not on Blu-ray anywhere:

One of the most popular double-bills of revival houses in the 1960s and 70s was of two George Cukor-directed comedy classics, 1933’s Dinner at Eight and 1939’s The Women. Warner Bros. released The Women on Blu-ray early in 2014, but where is Dinner at Eight which is arguably a better early all-star cast movie than 1932’s Grand Hotel which Warner Bros. released on Blu-ray in January 2013. Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke and company richly deserve a Blu-ray upgrade.

1930s runner-up: Cukor’s 1935 version of David Copperfield.

John M. Stahl’s 1944 film of The Keys of the Kingdom was rumored for release in Region B (U.K.) a couple of years ago but it never happened. Nominated for four Oscars including Gregory Peck’s first of his five nominations, this film from A.J. Cronin’s novel about a missionary priest in China features great supporting performances from an eclectic cast that includes Thomas Mitchell, Rosa Stradner, Vincent Price, Edmund Gwenn, Benson Fong, Cedric Hardwicke, James Gleason and Anne Revere.

1940s runner-up: Mervyn LeRoy’s 1942 film of Random Harvest.

One of the screen’s great comedies, Morton DaCosta’s 1958 film of Patrick Dennis’ novel and play, Auntie Mame, wisely allowed Rosalind Russell to recreate her Broadway triumph as everyone’s favorite madcap aunt. Unlike Angela Lansbury whose triumph in the musical version, called simply Mame, resulted in her being replaced on screen by non-singing, non-dancing Lucille Ball. The wonderful supporting cast includes Coral Browne, Forrest Tucker, Patric Knowles, Peggy Cass, Roger Smith, Joanna Barnes, Pippa Scott, Lee Patrick, Willard Waterman, Henry Brandon, Fred Clark and Connie Gilchrist.

1950s runner-up: John Ford’s political comedy, 1958’s The Last Hurrah.

It took more than two hundred years for Henry Fielding’s bawdy 1749 novel Tom Jones to be filmed. Let’s hope it doesn’t take that long for Tony Richardson’s Oscar-winning 1963 film to come to Blu-ray, or for that matter for this splendid film just to regain its once glorious reputation. While the shock value of some of its scenes wore off decades ago, the film’s joyous energy has not. Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joyce Redman, Diane Cilento, Joan Greenwood, David Warner, Lynn Redgrave, Peter Bull and the rest of the splendid cast blend seamlessly, backed by John Addison’s tinkling score, John Lassally’s cinematography and Richardson’s direction. Why wasn’t this given a 50th Anniversary Edition in 2013?

1960s runner-up: Fred Zinnemann’s 1966 Oscar winner A Man for All Seasons.

Peter H. Hunt’s 1972 film of Sherman Edwards’ Tony Award-winning musical 1776 about the writing of the declaration of independence has never been seen the way it was intended to be. At President Richard M. Nixon’s request, one of the show’s greatest songs, “Cool, Cool Considerate Men” was excised from the film because the chamber piece made fun of congressional conservatives. The sequence was included in the DVD release as an “extra” but really belongs in its proper place within the film. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait until the country’s 150th Anniversary in 2026 for this to come to Blu-ray.

1970’s runner-up: David Lean’s underrated 1970 gem Ryan’s Daughter.

This week’s new releases include Boyhood and Get On Up.