This week, the most interesting DVD to appear on release lists is:

“A Night to Remember” (1958)

With James Cameron’s epic 1997 mega-production of “Titanic” due to rise again on April 4 in eye-popping 3D, Criterion is offering a timely, spiffed-up rerelease of the highly regarded and historically accurate British dramatization of the maritime disaster, “A Night to Remember” (due out on DVD Tuesday).

Drawn from the meticulously researched book of that title by Walter Lord and directed by acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker (“Don’t Bother to Knock”), “A Night to Remember” was released in 1958, just five years after Hollywood’s romanticized and highly mythologized “Titanic,” which starred Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb.

Lord’s book hewed rigorously close to the truth and proved extremely popular among readers eager for an accurate picture of the 1912 disaster that claimed the lives of more than 1,500 of the huge ocean liner’s 2,200 passengers.

Baker’s film adaptation, told with almost documentary-like detail, offers a more even-handed yet still dramatic portrayal of the R.M.S. Titanic’s sinking from the viewpoint of 2nd Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, the most senior ship’s officer to survive the disaster.

Although the film upholds one erroneous belief of the time – that the Titanic sank in one piece instead of breaking in half as its bow began to go down – its screenplay by suspense master Eric Ambler nonetheless corrected many popular misconceptions about the tragedy and accurately depicted many ironic facts of the monumental, industrial-age disaster – such as the woeful lack of sufficient lifeboats to serve the passengers and the noble ship’s band playing calming music to the last possible moment.

In tandem with the gussied-up version of Cameron’s soaring epic, Criterion’s DVD – loaded with extras, such as audio commentary by historians, an hour-long British TV documentary and British and U.S. theatrical trailers – should be a welcome addition to any history buff’s library.

“A Night to Remember” (1958) is not rated and runs 123 minutes on two discs. It’s being released by Criterion Collection.

- Dennis King

Hard to believe it’s been 70 years since the director and the many credited and uncredited screenwriters of “Casablanca” struggled right up to the end of filming with the dilemma of whether to let Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) have or have not in that final airport scene.

Should Rick, a hardnosed café owner who remains stubbornly neutral, selflessly allow Ilsa, his former lover, to get on that plane with her freedom-fighting, concentration-camp-escapee husband (Paul Henreid as the heroic Victor Lazlo), or should he selfishly keep her with him in Casablanca, an uncertain, tension-filled stopover haven for refugees fleeing Nazi rule?

The 1942 Michael Curtiz-directed film has been listed by the American Film Institute as the No. 3 best film of all time, and the screen’s greatest love story. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Lines such as “Here’s lookin’ at you kid” and “Round up the usual suspects,” and especially the song “As Time Goes By,” have become iconic in movie history (along with the infamous misquote, “Play it again, Sam).”

Warner Home Video is releasing a massive box set on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of this movie that is at once a tear-jerking love story and an inspiring narrative study in wartime sacrifice, with healthy shots of cloak-and-dagger intrigue and hardboiled action thrown in for good measure.

The limited and numbered box includes a razor-sharp Blu-ray remastering of the film, a regular DVD copy of the film, 14 hours of bonus materials, including two new documentaries—“Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic” and “Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director Your Never Heard Of,” and three previously released documentaries on the history of the Warner brothers themselves and the building of their studio.

Other goodies for the insatiable collector include a 60-page hardback book filled with rare behind-the-scenes photos, storyboards, production notes and studio office memos, a mini-reproduction of a 1942 French theatrical poster, and a set of four coasters in a keepsake box, so you can drink along with Rick as he grieves over the woman who broke his heart back in Paris. At least they’ll “always have Paris.”

Here’s lookin’ at a little over 50 bucks worth of movie-buff stuff, kid. It’s worth it if you’re that big of a fan.

— Gene Triplett

Some call it “the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made.” Certainly, “Charade” has almost all the elements the Master of Suspense ever incorporated in his films, including mystery, romance, baffling plot twists, characters who aren’t who they seem to be, action, sudden jolts, gallows humor and, of course, suspense, all set against an exotic locale.

The 1963 thriller even has animated opening credits that strongly resemble the titles Saul Bass designed for “Psycho,” and a musical score that underlines the moments of tension and deadly peril with pulse-quickening effectiveness. And, hey, there’s even Cary Grant, veteran of four of Hitchcock’s best, in the lead role.

But that’s Maurice Binder’s (the early James Bond films) handiwork on the credits, and instead of Bernard Herrmann supplying the musical moodiness, we have the jazzier, more rhythmic and (at the time) more contemporary touches of Henry Mancini on the soundtrack.

And that’s Stanley Donen in the director’s chair, best known for such lighthearted musical fare as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” So Cary gets to throw in a little of the screwball shtick he’s so good at but that Hitch would never allow, such as taking a shower wearing suit and tie, or pulling a goofy face — although such stuff is kept to a minimum here.

Grant and Audrey Hepburn are a perfect match, despite a 25-year age difference that almost caused Grant to turn down the part (he insisted on a rewrite having Hepburn’s character romantically pursue his, instead of the reverse, which seemed to him more dignified), and Peter Stone’s screenplay provides them with loads of witty and sophisticated repartee.

Hepburn is Reggie, a frustrated wife who’s about to divorce her mysterious husband when he turns up murdered, and she finds herself stalked all over Paris by three very shady characters (James Coburn, George Kennedy and Ned Glass) who think she’s in possession of money her late husband stole from them. Slovenly CIA agent Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau at his slouching, deadpan best) also believes she’s in possession of the loot, even if she doesn’t know it. And Grant is the suave, charming stranger whose motives for coming to her aid are unclear and increasingly suspect. Still, Reggie is hopelessly smitten with him. The story keeps you guessing right up to the very last scene. Delicious.

The Grant-Hepburn chemistry was so perfect it seemed they’d been working together for years, although this was their only teaming, and the film is still great fun to watch nearly 50 years later, especially for Hitchcock fans — even though Hitch had nothing to do with it, except maybe by way of influence.

Extras include two short “100 Years of Universal” featurettes: “The Carl Laemmle Years” and “The Lew Wasserman Years.”

— Gene Triplett

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“This Is Not a Movie”

If you ever feel overwhelmed by the glut of music, TV, movies, videos, social media, advertising and assorted other electronic detritus that seem to dominate our lives, then Mexican filmmaker Olallo Rubio’s dystopian mélange “This Is Not a Movie” (due out on DVD Tuesday) will most likely send you over the edge.

Rubio, a well-known Mexican radio personality whose popular program focuses on music, social issues and American pop culture, proves to be a trickster when it comes to moviemaking. This, his second film, is shot in English and set in the garish, neon environs of Los Vegas, where reality, horror, fantasy and hallucination mingle freely.

The story is a hodgepodge of earnest but pessimistic musings about the nature of reality and the worth of mankind. With the apocalypse on the horizon, a wayward pilgrim named Pete (Edward Furlong of “American History X”) locks himself in a Vegas hotel room and tries to sort out the meaning of things through a buzzing onslaught of film, TV, disinformation, drugs, hallucinations and propaganda.

In the tortured, psychedelic journey that follows, Pete takes on three distinct personas as he (and the filmmaker) struggle to make some point about the chaos of modern life. With a puzzling appearance by Peter Coyote as a corporate CEO of Propaganda and a jangly original musical score by Guns N Roses guitarist Slash, the movie ambitiously reaches for profundity but grasps only cool confusion.

It’s makes an artful stab at some big social message, but it’s such an incoherent mess that “This Is Not a Movie” more than lives up to its title (and not necessarily in a good way).

“This Is Not a Movie” is rated R and runs 99 minutes. It’s being released by Lorber Films.

- Dennis King

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“The Best of Betty White”

Having just turned 90, actress Betty White is as feisty and active as ever, recently landing an Emmy Award for her role in the sitcom “Hot in Cleveland” and contributing a distinctive vocal performance in the top-rated movie “Dr. Suess’ The Lorax.” She’s the living, breathing, wisecracking epitome of show-biz longevity and in recent years, with her naughty old lady act winning a growing following, White has also found numerous ways to recycle her career highs into a lucrative DVD business.

With much of her most popular TV work readily available on various DVD collections, she’s also taken to trotting out many of her roles in largely forgotten series for the video market. One of these is the deceptively titled “The Best of Betty White,” due out on DVD Tuesday.

This so-called “best” collection is in no way related to her memorable, iconic work as lascivious Sue Ann Nivens in “Mary Tyler Moore” (1973-77) or her turn as ditzy widow Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls” (1985-92).

Rather, it’s a compilation of 20 episodes from two largely forgotten sitcoms from her early TV years – “Life With Elizabeth” (1953-55) and “Date With the Angels” (1957-58). The two-disc set contains 10 episodes each from the two series.
“Life With Elizabeth” was expanded from a series of skits White created on the show “Hollywood on Television,” and it featured White and Del Moore as a couple who live an ordinary suburban life but regularly manage to get into comic predicaments.

“Date With the Angels” had White appearing as newly married Vicki Angel, who along with her insurance salesman husband (Bill Williams) inevitably get themselves and their neighbors into various domestic scrapes.

Both series featured an impressive list of guest stars – many, like White, just starting on the road to a long career. They include Nancy Kulp, Chuck Connors, Hugh O’Brien and Jack Narz, among others.

“The Best of Betty White” is not rated and runs 517 minutes on two discs. It’s being released by Pop Flix.

- Dennis King

Little Bill Daggett: “You’d be William Munny out of Missouri. Killer of women and children.”

Will Munny: “That’s right. I’ve killed women and children. I’ve killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I’m here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned.”

So goes the exchange between the sheriff and the gunfighter before Clint Eastwood’s final blazing showdown — in a Western anyway.

At least that’s what Eastwood claims in one of several interviews included in the extras of the 20th anniversary Blu-ray edition of “Unforgiven.” The actor/director says he always intended the 1992 horse opera to be his last, and so far he’s kept his word.

But he certainly left the genre with a bang, literally and figuratively speaking, with his character gunning down five men in one blazing swoop, and his movie raking in big bucks at the box office and four Oscars at the 1993 awards ceremony for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman as Little Bill Daggett), Best Editing and, for Eastwood, Best Director.

It is only the third Western after “Cimarron” (1931) and “Dances with Wolves” (1990) ever to win a Best Picture statuette.

So how could a story about an outlaw who’s killed women and children garner so much adulation?

Perhaps it was how Eastwood, directing from David Webb Peoples’ superb screenplay, portrayed the grim consequences of violence, and how he dealt with themes of aging, human limits and mortality in an a starkly honest and sometimes moving way.

Eastwood sat on this script for years, waiting until he was old enough to play Munny, a reformed outlaw and killer, struggling to raise two children on a failing farm, until a bounty offered by vengeful prostitutes lures him out of retirement. The excellent Morgan Freeman plays Munny’s old partner, and Hackman is convincingly mean-spirited as the brutal sheriff of Big Whiskey, Wyo., where the action centers.

Photographed in artful noir tones by Jack Green, Eastwood’s last roundup is now packaged inside a 54-page hardback book full of behind-the-scenes photos and insight, complete with four documentaries and an episode of the ’50s TV series “Maverick,” guest-starring a very young Eastwood as — what else — a gunfighter.

— Gene Triplett

She is a peppy young ingénue come to Hollywood to break into the movie biz. He’s a dashing but dissipated matinee idol on the down side of his career.

Sounds like the outline of Michel Hazanavicius’ Oscar-winning “The Artist,” the silent, black-and-white homage to Hollywood’s golden age. But in fact, it’s an age-old tinseltown plot that’s informed everything from 1932’s “What Price Hollywood?” to three versions of “A Star is Born.”

Now, Kino Classics has released a Blu-ray edition of the original “A Star is Born” (1937), directed by William Wellman and starring Janet Gaynor as starry-eyed farm girl Esther Blodgett and Frederic March as the alcoholic movie star Norman Maine. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two, for Best Original Screenplay and an honorary Oscar for groundbreaking color photography.

The story has almost fable-like contours (which Hazanavicius adroitly spun for his clever throwback film) in which fresh-faced young Esther gets her big break, marries her idol Norman and finds her star rising just as the drunken and devil-may-care Norman’s career goes into a tragic tailspin.

Twice more “A Star is Born” was adapted for major studio releases – in what many consider the superior 1954 version, directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Garland and James Mason and in a roundly rejected 1976 rock interpretation by director Frank Pierson with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

But Wellman’s version has its dedicated fans, especially for the smart, tart script credited to Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. At once naïve and idealistic, yet surprisingly frank and sharply cynical, its worldly dialogue bears the unmistakable stamp of Algonquin Round Table wit Parker, along with some uncredited contributions from cohorts Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., Budd Schulberg and producer David O. Selznick (who once told Parker he thought he could make a perfectly fine movie without employing any screenwriters at all).

While the film is marked by gorgeous color photography and innovative lighting, the transfer from the original 35 mm print is obviously aged and marked by scratches, reel-change cues and various imperfections. Nevertheless, “A Star is Born” retains a certain literary luster that makes it feel like a timeless document of Hollywood’s dream factory.

The rather spare extras featured on the Blu-ray disc include a coming-attractions trailer, a collection of poster art and black-and-white stills and a brief sequence of wardrobe tests.

- Dennis King

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: Complete Collection”

Long before the current cinematic march of penguins (“The March of the Penguins,” “The Penguins of Madagascar” and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”), there was a natty TV penguin that set the standard for all flightless, Antarctic birds to come. He was Tennessee Tuxedo, and the full collection of his television cartoons will be released Tuesday for the first time on DVD.

“Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: Complete Collection” is a six-disc set that contains all 70 episodes of the series that ran from 1963-66. The half-hour episodes are highlighted with additional material featuring Tooter the Turtle, Klondike Kat and other classic characters.

The signature voice of the series came from Don Adams, who played bumbling spy Maxwell Smart on TV’s “Get Smart” and later voiced the animated gizmo cop “Inspector Gadget.” Adams gives nasally voice to the wisecracking Tennessee Tuxedo, a wily penguin who, along with his dimwitted walrus pal Chumley (Bradley Bolke) and cohorts Yakety Yak and Baldy Eagle (Kenny Delmar), constantly complains about living conditions at the Megalopolis Zoo.

The animals’ chief nemesis is scheming zookeeper Stanley Livingstone (Mort Marshall) and his assistant Flunky. In an ongoing campaign to best authorities, Tennessee often enlists the aid of brainy scientist friend Phineas J. Woopee (Larry Storch) and his zippy three-dimensional blackboard, the 3-D BB.

One thing that makes the Tennessee Tuxedo series seem classic and timeless was the show’s mission to both entertain and educate its young viewers. While many of Tennessee’s schemes backfired, they generally employed some valid scientific principle or moral lesson that gave their comic chaos lasting meaning.

The show was produced at the same studio that turned out “The Bullwinkle Show” and other Jay Ward productions. As a result, many animators trained in the Jay Ward style were employed on “Tennessee Tuxedo,” giving the shows a similar style.

“Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: Complete Collection” is not rated and runs 1,260 minutes on six discs. It’s being released by Shout! Factory.

- Dennis King

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“The Spiders: Kino Classics Edition”

Long before Steven Spielberg directed the globetrotting adventures of dashing archeologist Indiana Jones, the estimable German filmmaker Fritz Lang plotted out intriguing derring-do for a more-than-worthy predecessor named Kay Hoog, a high-society sportsman whose cliffhanging escapades are featured in “The Spiders,” due out on DVD Tuesday.

This 1919 silent is actually composed to two short featurettes from a series of four that Lang had planned. They focus on the exploits of Hoog (Carl de Vogt, whose stony countenance often earned comparisons with American cowboy star William S. Hart), a wealthy San Francisco adventurer who regularly crossed swords with a secret criminal cabal known as the Spiders.

The first adventure, titled “The Golden Lake,” takes Hoog to the jungles of Peru in pursuit of a hidden cache of Incan gold. There, he comes up against Spiders mastermind Lio Sha (Ressel Orla) as they clash with primitive tribesmen and fight off efforts to turn them into human sacrifices.

The second adventure, “The Diamond Ship,” finds Hoog navigating a labyrinth of tunnels beneath the streets of Chinatown in search of a legendary lost jewel known as the Buddha Head Diamond. Along the way he again encounters Spider henchmen and a devious plot to rule all of Asia.

Packed with more than enough treasure maps, double-dealing, mysterious twists, exotic sets, coded puzzles, wild plot turns and death-defying escapes, Lang’s pulpy, rapid-clip tales possess enough serial zest to propel several Indiana Jones movies.

Though the Kino prints are seriously worn and scratched, the tales still seem as fresh and urgent today as any of Spielberg’s affectionate tributes to serial adventures in the Indiana Jones series. Unfortunately, Lang never got around to making the last two features in the Kay Hoog quartet.

“The Spiders: Kino Classics Edition” is not rated and runs 150 minutes. It’s being released by Kino International.

- Dennis King

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker”

A movie that strives to present itself as a long-lost hipster gem from 1970, the preciously titled “Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker” (due out on DVD Tuesday for the first time) is really just a pretentious hodgepodge of cultural clichés in service of one snotty, self-indulgent central character.

The character at the core of this orphaned film is a disaffected Princeton grad named Jonathan (the late Jordan Christopher of “Angel, Angel, Down We Go”), who shuns the corporate rat race and opts for a life of partying and eking out a living as a New York City cab driver (to “show the world the back of my neck”). This dedicated curmudgeon vents his daily frustrations by kicking pigeons in the park.

The story, such as it is, is drawn from a “Catcher in the Rye”-style novel by David Boyer and plays out as a typical, meandering, navel-gazing “arrested adolescent” tale (and a pale imitation of the vastly superior “The Graduate,” which was released three years earlier).

Typically, it features a lot of pseudo-world-weary monologues by Jonathan and oddball encounters with his embarrassingly clichéd, eccentric friends. There’s a leather-clad biker and closet virgin; a flamboyantly gay, caftan-wearing interior decorator and Jonathan’s fleeting love interest, a flighty young hippie girl determined to “find herself” while her middle-class parents foot the bills.

But Jonathan is essentially a lazy, commitment-phobic, largely unappealing jerk, and so none of his tiresomely kooky, episodic adventures amount to much.

The film was originally released briefly by MGM and then abandoned. It was then sold to a small indie studio, rereleased in 1970 under the title “Pigeons” and quickly (and justifiably) faded into obscurity.

“The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker” is rated R and runs 93 minutes. It’s being released by Scorpion

- Dennis King