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The High and the Mighty (1954). This drama about a crippled airplane in peril features a strong cast headed by John Wayne, was a huge box office hit in its day, and earned six Oscar nominations (winning for Dimitri Tiomkin's score). Yet after a few TV airings and a very limited home video release (both over 20 years ago), the film has never resurfaced, kept under wraps by Wayne's estate. Reportedly, it's currently tied up because Warner Bros. and the estate can't agree on who should foot the restoration costs (what's wrong with splitting them down the middle?).
Suggested Extra Features: How about a feature on how the public often misses out on many great works because of ceaseless red tape? OK, that's not likely, but certainly a documentary on director William "Wild Bill" Wellman, who had already led a robust life (Foreign Legion, barnstormer) before becoming the accomplished director of (among others) Wings, Public Enemy and The Ox-Bow Incident. Also include one on Tiomkin, who didn't earn a deserved 23 Oscar nominations (and four wins) for having a tin ear.
Lust For Life (1956). Perhaps Kirk Douglas' finest hour, delivering an impassioned performance as tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh (Anthony Quinn earned a supporting actor Oscar as fellow painter Paul Gauguin).
Suggested Extra Features: The 1956 short film Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light, used to promote the release of Lust for Life. A PBS or A&E documentary on the man. A look at other screen Van Goghs, including Tim Roth in Vincent & Theo and Martin Scorsese in Akira Kurosawa's Dreams. A photo gallery allowing viewers to click through many of the artist's paintings.
Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965). Who says only good movies deserve to be on DVD? This all-time turkey, also known under the title Mars Invades Puerto Rico, finds an android astronaut named Frank taking on invaders from Mars.
Suggested Extra Features: What a potential treasure trove of nifty extras! How about resurrecting the original Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew (read: Joel, not Mike) to offer their inimitable commentary on the grade-Z proceedings? Or the disc's creators could include a feature on all the truly awful movies based on Mary Shelley's creation, including Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. And before he became a raving rightwing idiot, Michael Medved (with brother Harry) penned a pair of amusing Golden Turkey Awards books (yes, this movie's in them), making him a good choice for an audio commentary.
The Fearless Vampire Killers, Or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck (1967). In the wake of his Oscar win for The Pianist, several of Roman Polanski's other films have been released on DVD for the first time (The Tenant, Knife in the Water, etc.), so the time is right for this cult favorite that takes a comic approach to bloodsuckers.
Suggested Extra Features: How about extra scenes? This was shown in the US at running times of both 98 and 107 minutes, but reportedly even more footage was included in its European airings. A piece on Sharon Tate, the movie's co-star, Polanski's wife (they met on this set), and the most prominent of Charles Manson's victims on that fateful night in 1969. If MGM/UA is feeling really ambitious, they could also include a look at Dance of the Vampires, the 2002 Broadway adaptation starring Michael Crawford that opened to wretched reviews and closed in less than three months.
Reds (1981). Warren Beatty's awesome, Oscar-winning (and unjustly forgotten, it seems) epic about American journalist and communist John Reed, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and largely focusing on his relationship with Louise Bryant (a superb Diane Keaton), has been mentioned in past years as an upcoming DVD release, but nothing so far.
Suggested Extra Features: All-star audio commentary with Beatty, Keaton and Jack Nicholson (who portrays playwright Eugene O'Neill). A comprehensive making-of documentary. Plus, there are enough available documentaries about these characters and events that a two-disc DVD set would be almost a requisite.
The Thin Blue Line (1988). Errol Morris' extraordinary documentary, centering on a man who went to prison for a murder he likely didn't commit, was so convincing that the case was reopened and the accused was set free.
Suggested Extra Features: A follow-up piece detailing what has happened during the ensuing years to its principal players, particularly Randall Adams (the wrongly imprisoned man) and David Harris (the likely killer, who ended up on Death Row for a subsequent murder). A couple of sample episodes from Morris' Bravo series First Person. And as one of the first films to bring attention to the Academy's bad habit (throughout the late 80s and most of the 90s) of ignoring the year's best documentaries, here would be the place to post a list of all these notable no-shows (Roger & Me, Hoop Dreams, Crumb, etc.).
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