James Stewart Signature Collection in August - Artwork added

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of James Stewart: The Signature Collection for 15th August 2006. Honouring one of America’s most beloved actors and classic Hollywood leading men this signature collection includes six of Stewart’s films -- all new to DVD -- being released in the five-disc collection: The FBI Story, The Naked Spur, The Spirit of St. Louis, The Stratton Story and a double feature DVD that features two irresistible pairings of Stewart and his dear friend Henry Fonda: The Cheyenne Social Club/Firecreek, both available for the first time on video in widescreen presentations. This superb collection presents Stewart in a variety of different roles that underscore his incomparable versatility as an actor and features Stewart in powerful performances opposite a star-studded array of screen favourites including Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, June Allyson and Agnes Moorehead. The DVDs also include expert commentaries, theatrical trailers for each film, and a bevy of vintage comedy shorts, classic cartoons that have become the distinctive hallmark of Warner Home Video classic DVD presentations. This impressive assemblage of Stewart at his best will sell as a collection for $49.92 SRP, with all titles available individually for $19.97 SRP.

The FBI Story (1959)
Stewart portrays one of J. Edgar Hoover’s finest and Vera Miles co-stars as his steadfast wife in this salute to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The colorful career of Agent Chip Hardesty (Stewart) covers 1924 to the late ’50s. Along the way he tangles with everything from the Ku Klux Klan to a bomber who commits mass murder for insurance money. His fiercest exploits come in the ’30s when he stares down a gun barrel at Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, Ma Barker and John Dillinger. From two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Don Whitehead’s bestseller and directed by veteran Hollywood hit maker Mervyn LeRoy.

Features include:

• Theatrical trailer
• Languages: English & Français
• Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)

The Naked Spur (1953)
“Plain arithmetic: Money splits better two ways instead of three,” smooth-talking outlaw Ben Vandergroat reasons to his captors, three bounty hunters thrown together by chance. They’re taking Ben to justice in Abilene, but he has other ideas. If he can set the men against each other – play on their greed, their fears, their vanities – he may be able to make his break to freedom.

In the third of his five landmark Anthony Mann-directed westerns, James Stewart stars as the relentless leader of bounty hunters caught in the snare of the hunted (Robert Ryan). Tough, tense, and towering as tall as its breathtaking Colorado Rockies setting, The Naked Spur is simply “one of the best Westerns ever made” (Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide).

Features include:

• Vintage short Things We Can Do Without
• Classic cartoon Little Johnny Jet
• Theatrical trailer
• Languages: English & Français
• Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)

The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
On May 21, 1927, the world changed. “Lucky Lindy” landed outside Paris. And people who previously talked about the limitations of air travel suddenly dreamed of its limitless possibilities.

The Spirit of St. Louis is six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder’s recreation of the struggles and success of Charles A. Lindbergh, the pioneering flyboy who, like test pilots and astronauts to follow later, had the “right stuff” of aviation heroism. Lindbergh fan James Stewart, himself a pilot, sought the role but was initially turned down. But his persistence paid off, as Stewart added Lindy to his gallery of indelible portrayals of American heroes. He and Wilder together manned the cockpit of a stirring epic entertainment.

Features include:

• New digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
• Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
• The Spirit of St. Louis Premiere
• Vintage Joe McDoakes comedy short So Your Wife Wants to Work
• Classic cartoon Tabasco Road
• Theatrical trailer
• Languages: English & Français
• Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)

The Stratton Story (1949)
Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton is an affable long drink of water with an easy, whip like delivery and a pitch so unhittable the young phenom racks up consecutive 15-win seasons. But Stratton’s greatest victory doesn’t come on the green diamonds of our national pastime.

Stewart portrays Stratton, who loses a leg in an accident just as his career is on the rise…and whose triumph over despair and disability leads him to pitch again. Stewart signed on for the role when he realized the film would be an inspiration to injured World War II GIs. The film still inspires. Awarded an Oscar® for Best Motion Picture Story, directed by Sam Wood (The Pride of the Yankees) and supported by a top cast that includes June Allyson, Agnes Moorehead, Frank Morgan and real-life ballplayers, The Stratton Story is sports biography at its best. The pairing of Allyson and Stewart was so successful, that they appeared together again in 1954’s
The Glenn Miller Story and Strategic Air Command (1955).

Features include:

• Vintage Short Pest Control
• Classic Cartoon Batty Baseball
• Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Show with Stewart and Allyson
• Theatrical trailer
• Languages: English & Français
• Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Film Only)

The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)/Firecreek (1968)
They can be tough as leather. Or as down-home as any pair of good ol’ boys. Either way, there’s a sense of warm respect between Henry Fonda and Stewart, the two stars whose off-camera friendship goes back to their days as struggling actors and roommates. The Cheyenne Social Club [Side A] casts them as saddle-weary Texans who, surprised to find they’ve inherited a Wyoming bordello, feel honor-bound to defend it against a gun-wielding gang. Gene Kelly produced and directed this mix of fun and Western action. Next comes a firestorm of character-driven excitement in Firecreek [Side B]. Fonda plays an outlaw preying on small towns, and Stewart is the jittery, $2-a-month part-time lawman who must find the courage to stop him.

Features include:

• First-Time Widescreen home video debut [16x9 2.4:1] for both movies
• Vintage The Cheyenne Social Club featurette The Good Time Girls
• Theatrical trailers
• Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature films only)