This is a gorgeous edition of Cecil B. DeMille's lavish classic, anchored by Claudette Colbert's tremendous performance in the title role. This is also the film's first stand-alone DVD release; it was previously issued as part of the "Cecil B. DeMille Collection" box set.

Extras: full frame, audio commentary, featurettes (on Colbert, DeMille and the Production Code)

The previous seven films are all in black and white, of course, but the next three are examples of Technicolor at its brightest, using every color of the rainbow in eye-popping fashion.

"A Song Is Born" (MGM, 1948, $14.98)

Howard Hawks directed this funny musical remake of his 1941 farce "Ball of Fire," this time with Danny Kaye as a repressed leader of music scholars (one of them played by Benny Goodman). They learn about "new" jazz by recruiting New York talent: Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet and more. The first half is loaded with great music; the second half focuses more on the farce as they unwittingly provide a hideout for a mobster's moll (Virginia Mayo).

Extras: full frame

"It's a Pleasure!" (MGM, 1945, $14.98)

This is the first of Olympic ice-skater Sonja Henie's films to land on DVD, perhaps because it's her only color film (a much better choice would have been "Sun Valley Serenade"). But Henie shines on the ice and gives her all to the creaky plot about her marriage to an alcoholic hockey star.

Extras: full frame

"The Goldwyn Follies" (MGM, 1938, $14.98)

This is the least of all the movies here, a strange spoof of Hollywood that has Kenny Baker singing "Love Walked In" so many times you may want to scream. The plot has Adolphe Menjou as a movie producer who hires country girl Andrea Leeds to advise on how to give his new film a common touch. What can you say about a movie that mixes the nonsense of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthey and the Ritz Brothers with performances by the American Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera?

Extras:full frame

E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com