Customer Reviews

Studio Classics Collection Gift Set

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The previous reviewer asked an excellent question - Why part with all of that money if you don't even know what films are included? So, I looked it up and here's the list:

In Old Chicago (1937), Nominated Best Picture, won Best Supporting Actress
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Nominated for Best Picture
The Rains Came (1939), Stars Myrna Loy in an OK sentimental disaster film.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Nominated Best Picture, in AFI top 100 Films.
The Mark of Zorro (1940), Stars Tyrone Power in title role.
How Green Was My Valley (1941), Won Best Picture
The Black Swan (1942), Tyrone Power & Maureen O'Hara in a pirate film.
Orchestra Wives (1942), Stars Glenn Miller and his band.
The Ox-Bow Incident(1943), Nominated for Best Picture starring Henry Fonda.
The Song of Bernadette (1943), Nominated for Best Picture, won Best Actress.
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), Gregory Peck nominated for Best Actor
Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Melodrama with Cornell Wilde & Gene Tierney
Anna and the King of Siam (1946), Rex Harrison in non-musical version of "The King and I".
My Darling Clementine (1946), John Ford, who actually knew Wyatt Earp, directs Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp.
The Razor's Edge (1946), nominated for Best Picture.
Gentleman's Agreement (1947), - Won best picture, direction, supporting actress (Celeste Holm).
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Gene Tierney as a widow plus Rex Harrison as the ghost she falls in love with.
The Snake Pit (1948), Nominated for best picture, stars Olivia DeHaviland as a mental patient.
A Letter to Three Wives (1949), nominated for Best Picture. 1 of 3 husbands has left his wife - but which one?

All About Eve (1950), Won Best Picture, helped revive Bette Davis' career
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), A terrific early sci-fi film
Titanic (1953), stars Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck as a feuding couple aboard the doomed ship.
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Nominated best picture
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Nominated best picture
Anastasia (1956), Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress as the amnesiac heiress to the Russian throne.
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), Gregory Peck as a businessman trying to balance his career and home life.
An Affair to Remember (1957), Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr in a great romance
Desk Set (1957), One of Tracy & Hepburn's better films.
The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Best Actress award for Joanne Woodward as a woman with three personalities.
Peyton Place (1957),classic melodrama and Nominated Best Picture
The River's Edge (1957, An OK Western/film noir combo.
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958),stars Ingrid Bergman as a missionary in China.
The Best of Everything (1959), 1950's view of the world of secretaries. Joan Crawford as an evil boss.
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Nominated Best Picture, won 3 others.

Return to Peyton Place (1961), a mediocre sequel to the original.
Zorba the Greek (1964), Nominated Best Picture, stars Anthony Quinn.
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Bette Davis in a great bizarre tale.
How to Steal a Million (1966), classic 60's comedy with Peter O'Toole & Audrey Hepburn.
Two for the Road (1967), Nominated for best screenplay, great love story told in flashbacks.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), Best Actress for Maggie Smith as a schoolteacher with unconventional ideas.

All in all, this is a good collection of 40 critically acclaimed and award-winning films from the years 1937-1969 that continue to be popular. They encompass all genres, and I count only two real clunkers among them - "Return to Peyton Place" and "The Rains Came". There are a lot of Academy Award winners among them - and I'm not talking just Best Song or Best Cinematography either. I counted 15 nominations for best picture, and a few actually won the top award. With the price heavily discounted as it is, it works out to six dollars per classic movie, which is a pretty good deal.

My impression is that this is just a DVD bundle, not a collector's edition of any kind. Thus I would not anticipate any extras other than those that are already on the included individual DVD's containing the movies themselves.

This is a great value for some very good films indeed (about $6 per film at Amazon's discount). However, as one of the other reviewers noted, this is a bundle, not a proper collection. That means that all 40 films are separately wrapped with Fox's infuriating security stickers that do not come off cleanly. After spending an hour removing the stickers, you can expect to find DVD cases sticking together because of all the adhesive residue. Tacky in both the literal and figurative senses!

Otherwise a great deal (especially when you consider that most if not all titles include an audio commentary and other special features.)

No - Studio Classics are not the great musicals of MGM, but it is a group of great movies from Hollywood. All but four of the movies are Oscar winners in a major category and four best picture winners. You need to like the black and white movies of the late 30's into the 40's and the All-Star color classics of the 50's. Not certain I'd call this a "collection," since it is a pretty eclectic group of movies, but a treasure chest of viewing pleasure for those that can watch a great movie again and again. Bring on the popcorn!

I was waiting for this 40 disk set to become available again but realize they will not. The repackaged collection is being made available now. Amazon currently has them listed as "classic quads". If you click on the tag 20th century fox studio classics you will see the current list. They come as a set of four movies. Each selection is on its own disk with special features. I watched my first one this morning, The Sun Also Rises, from Volume 3.

Great price per movie. Earlier reviewer was complaining about the sticky stickers. Well don't remove them. Just take a sharp knife and slice the sticker, then leave them on the dvd's.

You would think for five hundred and fifty five dollars there would at least be a list of the movies included!!