Valley of the Kings, 1954 and Lady of the Tropics, 1939 are now available on DVD from WB Shop and other retailers. Prices vary.
Valley is a swashbuckler set in 1900. It is about Mark Brandon, the archaeologist who inspired Indiana Jones. Eleanor Parker and Carlos Thompson co-star. It is huge fun and beautifully photographed.
Lady is an odd film set in Viet Nam in the 1930s. Serial houseguest Robert Taylor falls in love with Hedy Lamarr, a mixed race beauty. His acceptance of her as she is is pretty enlightened as everyone else thinks he’s nuts. It’s not the most believable film but it is visually great and entertaining.
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About giraffe44
I became a Robert Taylor fan at the age of 15 when his TV show, "The Detectives" premiered. My mother wanted to watch it because she remembered Mr. Taylor from the thirties. I took one look and that was it. I spent the rest of my high school career watching Robert Taylor movies on late night TV, buying photos of him, making scrapbooks and being a typical teenager. College, marriage and career intervened. I remember being sad when Mr. Taylor died. I mailed two huge scrapbooks to Ursula Thiess. I hope she got them. Time passed, retirement, moving to Florida. Then in 2012 my husband Fred pointed that there were two Robert Taylor movies that evening on Turner Classic Movies--"Ivanhoe" and "Quentin Durward." I watched both and it happened all over again. I started this blog both for fans and for people who didn't know about Robert Taylor. As the blog passes 200,000 views I'm delighted that so many people have come by and hope it will help preserve the legacy of this fine actor and equally good man.
Robert Taylor Actor 
Hello, I’m a French journalist and filmmaker doing a documentary about Taylor and Stanwyck. Is there a way I could contact you ? Thanks in advance.
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You can reach me at judithh@hiraethcelticgoods.com.
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A Yank at Oxford, Remember, the controversial Song of Russia & a few other new ones also are available from the WB Shop
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I wonder what version of Song of Russia they have. The one they played recently on TCM was different from one I partially watched online. Frankly, I thought it was silly. Judith
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Judith:
The one I watched recently on TCM was the same one I had watched online & actually recorded on VHS during the Taylor Star of the Month tribute in 2010. It was full of propaganda with footage showing happy Russians returning from the fields singing, the Moscow subway looking fantastic, a speech by an actor playing Stalin referring to his people as “free” as they were fighting Hitler. Of course, they weren’t free from Stalin & his successors. I found it enjoyable in spite of the propaganda – nice love story with the beautiful music of Tschaikowsky & good acting. Taylor did a good job in spite of his reluctance to make the film. He was right about the propaganda, however.
I plan to add it to my DVD collection anyway as well as Remember, Lady of the Tropics & of course Valley of the Kings. I still have the DVD of that which you sent me.
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Hi, dianne. It’s interesting that this version was the same as the one you saw before. I know I saw a different early scene but maybe it was changed later. Who knows: not one of Mr. Taylor’s best despite the fact he looked wonderful. Didn’t he get a lot of exercise? He ran and ran. Now, if only “Rogue Cop” would come out on DVD! Judith
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I have a colorized VHS version of that which I taped years ago from TNT. Also have colorized tapes of Camille, Waterloo Bridge, Westward the Women, Ambush, Devil’s Doorway (don’t know why they left his eyes blue but they did; if it had been filmed in color I’m sure he would have worn brown contacts). Had a colorized version of 3 Comrades but that tape came apart one time when I was rewinding it. I do like colorized movies, especially westerns. They did a beautiful job with Camille where many costumes were left, very effectively, in B&W. I think Hollywood ripped us off for years with not making more color films, & I think it was mostly to save money. I remember when I was a grade school kid I wanted to see every movie made in Technicolor, the only good color process until the 1950s. I begged my mother to take me to see Gone With the Wind as a reissue when I was about 8. She said I would never sit through it. I did, & so many more times in theatres & on TV I know all the lines – everybody’s lines (well, almost). When TV went all color it forced the movie makers to make most films in color.
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Hi, dianne. I like color films as well. I always thought that it was odd that “The Power and the Prize” was filmed in cinemascope (?–wide screen) and b&w. The widescreen added nothing with most of it on indoor sets and color would have enhanced it a lot. I do love “Gone with the Wind” but I’ve never seen it on the big screen. I’d dearly to see “Quo Vadis” on a decent screen. It’s odd that by 1959 they were still making some films in color and others in b&w. For instance “The Law and Jake Wade,” in color and “The Hangman,” 1959 in b&w. That one really could have used color. But some films work really well in b&w, for instance “High Wall” where the b&w pallet was used brilliantly. Judith
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I agree. Some films work really well in B&W. Add “Above & Beyond” to my colorized collection.
I have a 52″ high-def flat screen so screen size doesn’t concern me much. Also, since breaking my right hip in July 2013, doing the steps at a cineplex is uncomfortable as far as new movies are concerned, so I watch the ones I really want to see via pay-per-view. And would you believe, I broke my left hip on March 12 & am still recovering & having visits from visiting therapists, so I do’t expect to go to a theatre in the near future for any reason.
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Sorry, make that don’t in the last line.
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Oh, Dianne, I’m so sorry to hear about your hip. Are you getting it replaced? I had one replaced in 2012 and it worked out pretty well–no more pain. We have a good size TV but not the gigantic image you get at a theatre. That said, we hardly ever go to the theatre, although we did make Jurassic World. We recently went to a horse show at a local arena and I had an awful job getting up and, especially, down the stairs. Fortunately people were nice and one man let me hold onto him. My husband was there too for assistance. Get well soon and watch a lot of Robert Taylor videos.
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After both hip breaks, I had partial, ball & socket replacements.
Also, in June 2011, I had surgery for stage 3 ovarian cancer, followed by a series of chemo treatments with quarterly follow-up tests & CT scans. Miraculously, I was still in remission as of December 2015. I guess God isn’t ready for me yet.
Videos are at my home about 30 miles away from my sister’s home, where I am staying for awhile because her house is basically a ranch with a basement, with essentials on one floor. After the March hip surgery I was sent to a rehab for 16 days before coming here. It was a combination nursing home/rehab & my roommate was a very nice 88-year-old woman who asked me what day it was many times a day. I always told her & tried to help her in other ways within my physical limitations (had to learn to walk again). Anyway I was really glad to get out of there & come to stay with my sister, who is still working, for awhile.
Thanks for your interest in my health.
Best wishes to you & Fred.
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