New to View: April 4

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, April 4, unless otherwise noted:
Lucky Jordan (Blu-ray)
Release date: March 21
Details: 1942, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Alan Ladd stars as Lucky Jordan, a New York City racketeer who is drafted into the Army, despite numerous attempts to weasel out of his duty.
His half-hearted attempts at military life get him in trouble, and he compounds the issue by going AWOL. To do so, he steals a car that, unknown to him, carries valuable military plans.
When Jordan learns that a gangland rival, Slip Moran (Sheldon Leonard), is working with Nazi spies, saboteurs and assassins, Jordan, with the help of a beautiful and perky WAC, played by Helen Walker, has a change of heart and reforms.
With the United States embroiled in World War II, “Lucky Jordan” offered a combination of gangster thrills and patriotism.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The primary extra is a commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan.

Thanks for the Memory (Blu-ray)
Release date: March 21
Details: 1938, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bob Hope and Shirley Ross scored a hit with the song “Thanks for the Memory” in the earlier feature, “The Big Broadcast of 1938.” The number was a hit, winning an Academy Award for best song.
So it was natural that Paramount Pictures would capitalize on that by pairing Hope and Ross in another movie and title it “Thanks for the Memory.”
In this comedy Hope and Ross play a married couple. He’s a writer trying to complete a novel, while his wife is the bread winner.
Complicating matters, as they usually do in such romantic comedies, Ross works for her husband’s publisher, who also is her ex-fiancé.
Various other issues keep Hope’s character from his typewriter until the fadeout when everyone lives happily ever after.
The supporting cast includes Charles Butterworth, Otto Kruger, Hedda Hopper, Patricia Wilder, Roscoe Karns, Eddie Anderson, Laura Hope Crews, Emma Dunn, Edward Gargan and Jack Norton.
After the release of the film, Hope adopted “Thanks for the Memory” as his theme song.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by filmmaker-historian Michael Schlesinger is the major extra.

Never Say Die (Blur-ray)
Release date: March 21
Details: 1939, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Martha Raye (who gets top billing) and Bob Hope star in this madcap comedy about an heiress (Raye) and a hypochondriac millionaire (Hope) who, through circumstances, marry so each can avoid an arranged marriage.
Hope’s John Kidley, because of a misdiagnosis, believes he only has a month to live, while Raye’s Mickey Hawkins prefers poor man Henry Munch (Andy Devine) to the pompous prince chosen by her father.
A lot of the film takes place in the Swiss Alps where, among other aspects, a deadly widow, portrayed by Gale Sondergaard, sets her sights on Kidley and his millions.
Sondergaard’s Juno Marko and Alan Mowbray’s Prince Smirnov chase the newlyweds on their honeymoon.
The comedy includes a duel at dawn, lots of comedy and some Hope one-liners.
The movie, directed by Elliott Nugent, was written by Don Hartman, Frank Butler and Preston Sturges.
The cast also includes Sig Rumann, Ernest Cossart and Monty Woolley.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historians Paul Anthony Nelson and Lee Zachariah is the main extra.

The Belle Starr Story (Blu-ray)
Release date: March 21
Details: 1968, Raro Video-Kino Lorber
The lowdown: Elsa Martinelli stars in this spaghetti Western co-directed by Lina Wertmüller.
The movie has a feminist slant as he details how Martinelli’s Belle Starr was abused and dominated by men in her early years.
As an adult, she can out-ride, out-shoot and out-smoke any man as she makes her way through the West, dressed in a man’s outfit.
When she meets Larry Blackie, an on-again, off-again relationship develops that is contentious and sometimes violent. They become involved in a robbery that goes bad and Starr must rescue Blackie, which she does.
Though found of each other, Blackie decides he must go his own way, but hopes to see Belle again someday.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan.

Paris Police 1900 (DVD)
Release date: March 21
Details: 2020, MHz Choice-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set that takes place in 1899 France, a time of turmoil. The French president has died, anti-Semitism is on the rise and the far right is expanding.
Police chief Louis Lepine is urgently called out of retirement to restore order in Paris.
While these events are transpiring, the discovery of a woman’s torso in a suitcase floating down the Seine spurs a young and ambitious detective, Jouin, into action, even though Paris police headquarters is rife with corruption.
Among those men in Officer Joseph Fiersi who deals in blackmail and moonlights as a hitman for the undercover police. He takes a special interest in Jouin’s investigation and pressures Meg Steinheil, the prostitute accused of killing the frail French president during a tryst to work as a spy for him.
Over the 438 minutes of this show, the paths of these individuals will cross and eventually they will unite to save France.
Technical aspects: 16:9 anamorphic widescreen picture; French Dolby digital; English subtitles.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Chrissy Judy (DVD & digital) (Dark Star Pictures)
El Houb (The Love) (DVD & digital (Dark Star Pictures)
Hunt Club (DVD & digital & VOD) (Uncork’d Entertainment)
South Park: The Complete Twenty-fifth Season (Blu-ray & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
War Trap (DVD & VOD) (Indican Pictures)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The First Step (8 Above-Desktop Entertainment)
Juniper (Amazon-Apple TV+-Greenwich Entertainment)
Living With Chucky (Cinedigm-Bloody Disgusting)
Mickey and Friends 10 Classic Shorts: Volume 2 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
APRIL 5
The Big Door Prize: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now (www.netflix.com/lewiscapaldi) (Netflix)
Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
Ted Lasso: Season 3, Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Wu Tang: An American Saga: Season 3, Episode 10 (Hulu)
APRIL 6
Beef (www.netflix.com/BEEF) (Netflix)
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Episodes 1 & 2 (Paramount+)
APRIL 7
Balloon Animal (Buffalo 8)
Blood Covered Chocolate (Terror Films)
Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker (Apple TV+)
Chupa (www.netflix.com/Chupa) (Netflix)
Extrapolations: Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
Hello Tomorrow!: Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
On a Wing and a Prayer (Amazon Prime)
Summoning Sylvia (The Horror Collective)
Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu)

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.