RAND NEW: Embassy Home Entertainment has just launched a new video brand called Charter Entertainment, which will concentrate on theatrical releases and offer a wide variety of genres from comedy, drama and action/adventure films to horror and science fiction features.
Charter`s initial releases, available Wednesday, will include the epic adventure ”Zulu,” starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine; Joan Rivers`
”Rabbit Test,” starring Billy Crystal as the world`s first pregnant man;
Agatha Christie`s murder mystery ”Ten Little Indians,” starring Oliver Reed and Elke Sommer; and the comical ”A Man, a Woman and a Bank,” starring Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams. All these titles (and more) will sell for $59.95 each.
GO WEST: Playhouse Video has released six westerns this month, each $59.95. ”The Undefeated” is a post-Civil War drama pitting John Wayne against Rock Hudson in Mexican standoff. Wayne teams up with Maureen O`Hara and Richard Boone in ”Big Jake,” in which the Old West is making an uneasy transition to modern times. Dean Martin and James Stewart star as the Bishop brothers, fighting on opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon line, in
”Bandolero!” The film also features Raquel Welch and George Kennedy.
”Butch and Sundance: The Early Days” is the story of how the famous outlaw duo met and became partners in crime. Cassidy is played by Tom Berenger, with William Katt potraying Harry Longabaugh a.k.a. the Sundance Kid. Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Tony Franciosa, Edmond O`Brien and Jim Brown star in ”Rio Conchos,” a saga centering on the theft of 2,000 Spencer rifles (and the attempt to recover the goods). ”When the Legends Die” is a touching tale of the passing of Indian legends. Frederic Forrest stars as a Ute Indian named Tom Black Bull; Richard Widmark is an aging cowboy who helps him adapt to the white man`s world.
OLDIES: The Nostalgia Merchant has introduced five new titles to its list of classics from Hollywood`s Golden Age. The new titles sell for $19.95 each. They include ”The Magnificent Ambersons,” Orson Welles` masterful adaptation of a Booth Tarkington novel about a wealthy small-town family who loses its fortune and status; Alfred Hitchcock`s ”Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” a rare screwball comedy from the master of suspense that stars Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery; and ”None But the Lonely Heart,” a story about a London drifter (Cary Grant) who faces the impending death of his mother, played by Ethel Barrymore, who won an Oscar for her role. There`s also an early ”space movie,” ”Stranger From Venus,” which was a remake of ”The Day the Earth Stood Still”; and ”Cartoon Parade No. 2,” a compilation of clips starring Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Little Lulu.
FOREIGN INTRIGUE: There`s a new title in Media Home Entertainment`s Cinematheque Collection of foreign films. ”My New Partner” (Media Home Entertainment, $59.95) is a French Caesar Award-winning farce about a 20-year veteran of the Paris police force who is assigned to break in a new partner.
