With time on their hands, empty nesters watch videos at home
Wonder what empty nesters and senior citizens are doing now that their children have moved away and they have extra time on their hands? They’re apparently watching movies and specials at home.
For software manufacturers, the 50-plus crowd is a burgeoning market, one with members who have disposable incomes and a hunger for old-fashioned entertainment, and Hollywood studios are flooding the market with offerings for them. Titles geared to that older demographic include:
Hope springs eternal
To celebrate the 100th birthday of Bob Hope, who hit the century mark on May 29, two companies have released major collections spotlighting the work of the legendary comedian.
With “The Best of Bob Hope on VHS” ($49.99) and “The Bob Hope Ultimate DVD Collection” ($59.99), R2 Entertainment has packaged a comprehensive salute to the entertainer, who is joined by guests such as John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Barbra Streisand and Loni Anderson. Both the five-tape and three-disc sets contain: “The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter Volumes 1 & 2” (vintage television footage); “Celebrity Bloopers” (outtakes of the subject and his guest stars); “Salute to the Troops” (performances for America’s fighting forces); and “Hope for the Holidays” (a retrospective of the comic’s USO Christmas tours).
The “DVD Collection” contains additional extras, including short films from the 1930s, comments on his World War II adventures and his first radio appearance.
In addition, Universal Studios Home Video has opened its vaults and released Hope’s “Road” pictures with Bing Crosby, as well as other vintage motion pictures. The individual titles ($9.99 each, tape; $14.99 each, DVD) are: “Road to Singapore” (1940), “The Ghost Breakers” (1940), “Road to Zanzibar” (1941), “Road to Morocco” (1942) and “Road to Utopia” (1945). “The Road to Hong Kong” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only), co-starring Joan Collins and released in 1962, is also available.
The four “Road” movies from Universal are also offered in a special box set ($29.99, tape; $39.99, DVD).
In addition, Universal is offering six double-feature sets ($9.99 each, tape; $14.99 each, DVD) starring Hope. They are: “The Big Broadcast of 1938″/”College Swing,” “My Favorite Blonde”/”Star Spangled Rhythm,” “Louisiana Purchase”/”Never Say Die,” “Monsieur Beaucaire”/”Where There’s Life,” “Sorrowful Jones”/”The Paleface” and “Caught in the Draft”/”Give Me A Sailor.”
Fox brings out ‘Classics’
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is also appealing to older viewers with the “Studio Classics” line, which made its debut earlier this year and features titles with striking images thanks to digital re-mastering.
Under the program, Fox goes to its vaults and each month releases a critically acclaimed vintage title, which retails for $9.99 and $19.99 on tape and DVD, respectively.
The Studio Classics released thus far are: “All About Eve” with Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders and Celeste Holm; “Gentleman’s Agreement” with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and John Garfield; “How Green Was My Valley” with Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara and Roddy McDowell; “An Affair to Remember” with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” with Michael Renne and Patricia Neal, “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison; “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” with William Holden and Jennifer Jones; and “The Song of Bernadette,” also with Jones.
The titles being released through the end of the year as part of the “Studio Classics” collection are: “Anastasia” with Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner (July 1); “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” with Bergman and Curt Jurgens (Aug. 5); “Titanic” with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwick (Sept. 2); “The Mark of Zorro” with Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone (Oct. 7); “Laura” with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews (Nov. 4); and “The Ox-Bow Incident” with Henry Fonda (Dec. 2).
More titles for mature viewers
Numerous individual titles have been released in recent months for those either close to retirement or already finished with their careers. Those include:
– “The Banger Sisters” (Fox; $19.99, DVD only) with Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon in an R-rated comedy about two middle-aged friends who in the 1960s traveled the country as rock groupies.
– “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown” (MGM; $14.99 each, DVD only) with Pam Grier as a pistol-packing heroine in two early blaxploitation titles released in 1973 and 1974, respectively.
– “A Doll’s House” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only) with Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins in a G-rated adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play about a 19th century woman’s attempt to maintain a sense of freedom.
– “Equus” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only) with Richard Burton and Peter Firth in an R-rated adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s emotionally compelling play about a troubled adolescent stable boy who blinds six horses.
– “High Noon: Collector’s Edition DVD” (Artisan; $19.99, DVD only) with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in the 1952 Western about a sheriff forced to stand alone against a revenge-seeking gang.
– “A Kiss Before Dying” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only) with Robert Wagner in a change-of-pace role as a psychotic killer in a 1956 dark thriller about a handsome young sociopath so obsessed by the idea of becoming wealthy that he turns to murder.
– “Of Mice and Men” (MGM; $19.99, DVD only) with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise as Lennie and George, respectively, in a touching PG-13 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel about friendship.
– “The Paper Chase” (Fox; $14.99, DVD only) with John Houseman and Timothy Bottoms in the popular PG-rated melodrama about a stern law professor and the students studying under him.
– “The Producers” (MGM; $24.99, DVD only) with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the outrageous Mel Brooks comedy that became a Broadway sensation.
– “Rio Grande: Collector’s Edition DVD” (Artisan; $19.99, DVD only) with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in John Ford’s towering frontier epic about life in the United States Cavalry.
– “Serpico” (Paramount; $24.99, DVD only) with Al Pacino in the fact-based, R-rated story of a New York police officer challenging corrupt cops.
– “The Unforgiven” (MGM; $14.99, DVD only) with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn in a 1960 frontier drama about the turmoil created by a Native American girl who was adopted and raised by a family of settlers.