Website a gold mine for film buffs

Still can’t find that particular title you’ve always wanted on DVD? The Warner Archive just might be the place.

The new online service offers hundreds of movies and short subjects not available at your local video store. It’s a gold mine for the avid movie buff and devotees of movie history.

The titles range from the silent era to the current decade.

There’s “Sunrise at Campobello” (1960), chronicling FDR’s initial bout with polio, starring Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson; the Glenn Ford Western “The Fastest Gun Alive” (1956); the Tarzan films starring Lex Barker and Gordon Scott; and the Our Gang collection, which includes the 52 films produced by MGM after it took over from Hal Roach, and the Robert Benchley shorts.

There are also the likes of “Beau Brummel” (1924) with John Barrymore, “God is My Co-Pilot” (1945) with Dennis Morgan, “The D.I.” (1957) with Jack Webb, “Rage” (1972) with George C. Scott and “Wrestling Ernest Hemingway” (1993) with Robert Duvall and Richard Harris.

A number of TV movies and miniseries also are available.

To check out this movie treasure trove, go to www.warnerarchive.com and browse through the catalog. Films are listed by genre and by decade.

You can read a full synopsis of each film as well as sample clips before you decide to purchase. Each is priced at $19.95 but there are also numerous special buys.

Order a film and Warner will press you a copy and send it to you (in about five days) housed in an attractive case. Films also can be downloaded for $14.95 each.

There also are plans to make the DVDs available through Amazon and Movies Unlimited.

The archive makes films that probably won’t appeal to a mass audience available to those who truly want to see them.

“When we started we had over 2,000 films that weren’t on DVD; many of them were the more obscure films,” said George Feltenstein, senior vice president in charge of the Warner classics catalog.

“At the same time, the video landscape was changing,” he said. “Many video retailers went out of business.

“With the archive we can serve so many niches by customizing our product. Because these films are not mass-produced, we don’t have to worry about dozens of returns.”

New titles are being constantly added to the archive.

“Our goal is to make practically every film in our library available,” Feltenstein said. “I was up until 4 in the morning the other day working on some releases with Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak.”