Cinema Retro's plea for studios to release worthwhile films on DVD.

Here's one of those glorious 007 spoofs from the mid 1960s. A Man Called Dagger starred Paul Mantee, Terry Moore, Sue Ane Langdon, Jan Murray (!) and our old pal Richard Kiel, in his pre-Jaws mode.Click here to watch the trailer. If you have any suggestions for films you'd like to see on DVD, send them to us at cinemaretro@hotmail.com

Ok, I'm a bit confused about this new Universal Wolfman film. The posters say "coming soon" and give a date of 12/2/10. Are we seeing trailers and promos for a film with a release date that is actually more than a year away??? That's some sort of pre-release publicity record in my book. 

Bill Shaffer

Topeka, Kansas 

Retro responds: Bill, it's long been said that Americans and Brits are two peoples separated by a common language. You can extend that to how we designate dates on the calendar, as well. The posters in question were designed for the British market, which puts the day first, followed by month, then year. Thus, the anticipated release date is 12 February 2010. Universal executives would have heart palpitations if they were to carry this expensive film through the end of 2010 before releasing it. The movie seems to have been in production since Lon Chaney Jr. originally played the role...- Lee Pfeiffer

By Lee Pfeiffer

VCI Entertainment, which has traditionally specialized in quality video releases of public domain films, is aggressively moving into the realm of Blu-ray with some prestigious releases. The top of the list is the Blu-ray debut of the 1951 version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sim in what is considered to be the definitive screen interpretation of Scrooge. It's hard to argue with that assessment, but I would give equal rank to George C. Scott's superb performance in the 1980s TV movie. VCI has pulled out all the stops with this release, offering the best print I've seen to date. After decades of being shown in TV syndication, many of the prints we've literally grown up with look as milky as Marley's ghost. This digitally remastered print was struck "from a new 1080p, 24fps high definition transfer master produced from the 35mm negative and fie grain." The resulting release isn't flawless...some nitpickers have pointed out there are visible defects in certain aspects of the print, but the average person won't be a humbug and will applaud VCI for its efforts.

An erotic photo of Sharon Tate and husband Roman Polanski is set to be auctioned on December 7 and is expected to fetch up to $12,000. The photo was taken by David Bailey shortly before Tate's notorious murder by the Manson gang. For more click here