Coming to DVD: Ministry of Fear (1944)

There was an early Christmas present today for admirers of Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944): It will be released by the Criterion Collection on March 12, 2013.

This is wonderful -- and some would say overdue -- news about a great movie which has previously been released in the United States only on VHS.

The extras listed are curiously minimal for a Criterion release, consisting of an interview, an essay, and a trailer.

That said, I'm delighted that a restored version of this film will finally be available on DVD; it will have a simultaneous Blu-ray release. I reviewed MINISTRY OF FEAR last year and loved it. The movie is filled with memorable set pieces and deserves to be more widely known.

MINISTRY OF FEAR stars Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, and Dan Duryea.

Kudos to Criterion for the excellent DVD cover art.

Criterion is also reissuing THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943), previously released on DVD a decade ago. This time around a restored print will also be released on Blu-ray. The majority of the extras appear to match the 2002 release.