Coming to DVD: Granger, Lockwood, Carroll

There's some really wonderful DVD news to share from VCI Entertainment: in April and May VCI is releasing four classic British films in the United States.

The most exciting release, on May 15th, is the superb LOVE STORY (1944), starring Stewart Granger, Margaret Lockwood, and Patricia Roc. This film about a pianist with a heart condition and an RAF flyer who is losing his vision features the memorable "Cornish Rhapsody" and distinctive location shooting. I reviewed the film, seen via the Region 2 Stewart Granger Collection, in 2010, and I recommend it very highly.

LOVE STORY has also been released under the title A LADY SURRENDERS.

Also coming on May 15th: FANNY BY GASLIGHT (1944), also known as MAN OF EVIL, starring Granger, James Mason, and Phyllis Calvert; and CARAVAN (1946) with Granger, Anne Craword, and Jean Kent. Like LOVE STORY, these films were previously on DVD only in Region 2.

It's fantastic to see some of the films from Britain's "Gainsborough Cycle" start to come out on DVD in the U.S. There's information about these films in my review of THE MAN IN GREY (1943), which starred Lockwood, Mason, Granger, and Calvert. Perhaps in time that film will be coming from VCI as well, along with titles like THE WICKED LADY (1945), MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1945), THEY WERE SISTERS (1945), and more.

There's also an excellent film being released by VCI on April 24th: Madeleine Carroll, Conrad Veidt, and Herbert Marshall in I WAS A SPY (1933). I reviewed this WWI suspense film in 2010. Carroll is superb in a difficult storyline. Much of her acting is wordless; indeed, as I wrote at the time, the film at some points has the feel of a silent film.

I hope classic film fans will support and enjoy these interesting releases!