A handful of 4K UHD and standard Blu-ray releases have helped make the season bright and cheerful.

Sony has unexpectedly released 1942’s The Talk of the Town, which has never had a Blu-ray release, direct to 4K UHD.

Nominated for 7 Oscars, The Talk of the Town was one of two classic comedies made by George Stevens in 1942. The other was the even more popular Woman of the Year, but it was The Talk of the Town that earned more Oscar nominations.

Woman of the Year was nominated for just two Oscars, Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn) and Original Screenplay, winning the latter. The Talk of the Town was nominated for Best Picture, Original Story, Screenplay, Film Editing, Black-and-White Cinematography, Black-and-White Art Direction, and Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, not winning any.

The stars of The Talk of the Town were three of Hollywood’s best at the peak of their careers. Cary Grant, who was nominated for an Oscar for Stevens’ 1941 film, Penny Serenade opposite Irene Dunne, during the filming of The Talk of the Town, received top billing as an escaped would-be murderer. Jean Arthur, who would have to wait another year for her first and only Oscar nomination for Stevens’ The More the Merrier, played the small-town girl who hides him in her attic. Ronald Colman, a 1942 Oscar nominee for his other film that year, Mervyn LeRoy’s Random Harvest opposite Greer Garson, which was also an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, plays the temporary renter of Arthur’s home, a noted law professor and Supreme Court candidate. All three were superb as were such supporting players as Edgar Buchanan, Glenda Farrell, Charles Dingle, and Rex Ingram.

While the film remains enjoyable, modern audiences may find it a bit too talky as well as highly improbable. The presentation, however, is one of the best for films of its era. The rich Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a joy to listen to along with the sharp HDR picture.

Extras include commentary from author Marilyn Ann moss and a previously released Talking About Talk of the Town featurette.

Warner Archive has released three major films new to Blu-ray.

1943’s Mr. Lucky won no awards but was one of the most popular films of its year. Directed by H.C. Potter (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House), it starred Cary Grant as a swindler who falls in love with his mark (Laraine Day). The film’s supporting cast was headed by Charles Bickford and Gladys Cooper, both of whom received Oscar nominations for that year’s The Song of Bernadette. Bickford later received his second nomination for Potter’s The Farmer’s Daughter in 1947, the same year that Grant and Cooper were reunited in Henry Koster’s The Bishop’s Wife which also starred Bickford’s Oscar-winning co-star in The Farmer’s Daughter, Loretta Young.

Mr. Lucky was later done as TV series directed by Blake Edwards in the 1959-60 season with John Vivyan in Grant’s role.

1947’s Nora Prentiss, directed by Vincent Sherman, had a marketing campaign similar to that of Mildred Pierce. The campaign proved to be unsuccessful but audiences over the years have made Nora Prentiss one of the best-loved films noir of the period.

Ann Sheridan has the title role as a nightclub singer drawn into the downward spiraling life of a doctor played by Kent Smith. The supporting cast is headed by Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, and Rosemary DeCamp as Smith’s wife with Wanda Hendrix and Robert Arthur as their children. To say more might spoil the fun, so just watch it.

1951’s The Tall Target was both Anthony Mann’s return and his farewell to film noir. The esteemed director had already begun his career change to westerns with Winchester 73, The Furies, and The Devil’s Doorway in 1950, but returned to the genre that made him famous for the first time since 1949’s Side Street.

Dick Powell had one of his last starring roles as a New York City detective travelling on a train from New York to Baltimore to prevent an attempted assassination of Abraham Lincoln on his way to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration in 1961. It’s a fictional story based on a purported true incident. Although we know Lincoln was not assassinated on the journey, there is still plenty of suspense in figuring out how he will be saved by Powell whose character’s name is John Kennedy in the film made nine years before the similarly named man became president.

Kino Lorber has released a new-to-Blu-ray edition of 1963’s For Love or Money

Director Michael Gordon made a triumphant return to films with 1959’s Pillow Talk following his early career peak with 1950’s Cyrano de Bergerac during Hollywood’s red scare. The grandfather of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt continued in the comedic tradition of Pillow Talk with several more films including this film.

For Love or Money stars Kirk Douglas in a rare comedic role as an attorney hired by wealthy widow Thelma Ritter to find husbands for her three daughters, played by Mitzi Gaynor, Leslie Parrish, and Julie Newmar. Douglas is a bit stiff in the role, which would have been better served by either Gordon’s Pillow Talk star Rock Hudson, or his Move Over, Darling star James Garner, but the film is saved by Gaynor and co-stars Gig Young and Thelma Ritter.

Ritter, who spent her career mostly playing nurses and maids, is a joy to behold in a rare glamorous role. She is imperious as if to the manor born while being hilarious at the same time. See it for her.

Audio commentary is provided by film historians Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell.

Happy viewing.