Before he was Bond

Just in from MGM is their October DVD catalog lineup, with another fine batch of classics, semi-classics and so-bad-they're-good guilty pleasures. First up on 10/15 is a wave of well-priced favorites at $19.95 a pop, with the only extras being trailers. Presented in anamorphic widescreen are Paul Newman in Exodus, Best Picture nominee The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, and classic Peter Sellers in The World of Henry Orient and The Angel Levine; featuring non-anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen transfers are How to Murder Your Wife and The Hoodlum Priest, and in their original 1.37:1 aspect ratios, The Big Knife and Barbary Coast. Extras are minimal with only trailers (Russians also includes a featurette) but retail is $19.95 a pop.

Up next on 10/8 are a bunch of $14.95 budget comedies, including Dana Carvey in Clean Slate, 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag, The Billion Dollar Hobo and Charles Bronson as The Mechanic. All feature new anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers plus trailers. More cheapie releases include new single-disc double features with a flick on each side of the disc: Missing In Action II / Missing In Action III, American Ninja 2 / American Ninja 3, and The Longshot / They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way. Alas, all are presented in full frame only with trailers as extras.

Finally, on 10/15 comes the only Bond never-before-released on DVD, the spoof Casino Royale. Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with a new 5.1 Dolby Digital remix, extras include the original 1954 TV movie, a featurette, trailers and a collectible booklet. Retail is $19.95.