'Forbidden Hollywood' on DVD

Here's a disparate batch of movies new to DVD, led by a third collection of pre-Production Code films that were quite adult for their time.

"Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three: William Wellman at Warner Bros." (TCM/Warner, 1931-33, b/w, four discs, $49.92). Filmmaker William Wellman is largely unknown to modern moviegoers, but some of his films are very well remembered.

Among them are "Wings" (the first winner of the best-picture Oscar), "The Public Enemy" (which made James Cagney a star), "A Star Is Born" (the original nonmusical version), "Nothing Sacred" (classic screwball comedy), "The Ox-Bow Incident" (a classic Western) and "The High and the Mighty" (the first epic disaster flick).

Wellman also made some of the best, although largely forgotten, hard-bitten dramas of the pre-code era, before Hollywood's self-censorship kicked into gear in 1934. Six fascinating examples made between 1931 and 1933 are in this set, along with a pair of documentaries on Wellman, who led a life as rowdy as his movies.

The films here include a pair that were previously released on VHS: "The Purchase Price," with Barbara Stanwyck as a mail-order bride with a dark past; and "Heroes for Sale," with war veterans overcoming impossible odds during the Depression.

And four movies make their home-video debut: "Other Men's Women," with Mary Astor pursued by a pair of suitors who work for the railroad (with James Cagney in a supporting role); "Frisco Jenny," the sordid story of a brothel madame; "Midnight Mary," starring Loretta Young, who shines as a hard-luck dame trying to get ahead; and perhaps the best film in the box, the provocative "Wild Boys of the Road," about tough homeless kids riding the rails during the Depression.

Extras: full frame, audio commentaries, two documentaries on Wellman, shorts, cartoons, trailers

"To Catch a Thief: Centennial Collection" (Paramount, 1955, $24.99).

"The Odd Couple: Centennial Collection" (Paramount, 1968, G, $24.99).

The "Centennial Collection" titles are digitally cleaned-up reissues of classics, with loads of bonus features on a second disc. I wish Paramount would get busy and let us have more of its never-released vintage titles, but when the reissues look this good it's hard to complain.

Alfred Hitchcock's classic low-key mystery-thriller "To Catch a Thief" is gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera, a cat-burglar yarn bolstered by two of Hollywood's greatest stars — Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. (Besides new stuff, the previous disc's bonus features are all here, save one — the Peter Bogdanovich/Laurent Bouzereau audio commentary, replaced by a commentary from film historian Drew Casper.)