What a pleasant surprise to learn of this! At long last, Gary’s Emmy-winning performance in George Wallace is finally being released on DVD. For those of you who’ve never seen this due to lack of availability, you are in for a real treat.
Preorder from Amazon here for $18.49. Excerpts from the official press release are below the artwork.
George Wallace, the acclaimed TNT original mini-series chronicling the career of the three-time Governor of Alabama and four-time Presidential candidate, will come to DVD for the first time when Warner Home Video (WHV) releases a special 2-disc set January 20, 2009. Based on the book by Marshall Frady, this epic bio directed by the legendary John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, Ronin, Reindeer Games) stars Academy Award® -nominated actor Gary Sinise (CSI:NY, Forrest Gump, Ransom) as the infamous politician and segregationist George Wallace.
Wallace has traditionally been branded a racist, but Frankenheimer’s film suggests that his lust for power and status drove his cronyism with white supremacists, securing his place in history as one of the most destructive and hated American politicians of his time. Sinise – who won an Emmy® Award for this performance – brilliantly captures both the corruption and the belated search for redemption. Mare Winningham (Grey’s Anatomy, Wyatt Earp, St. Elmo’s Fire) plays his first wife and Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Changeling, Kung Fu Panda, Beowulf) – in her first major role - his adoring second.
In addition to Sinise, both Frankenheimer and Winningham won an Emmy® for their work (Best Director and Best Supporting Actress respectively for 1997).
The film also won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series for 1997 and Jolie won the Golden Globe that year for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries.
“The release of this moving political drama on January 20th coincides with the inauguration of this country’s first African-American president, and serves as reminder of the tremendous strides the United States has made since Wallace’s day,” commented Rosemary Markson, WHV Vice President, TV and Special Interest Marketing. “The combination of the top tier talent in this film combined with the outstanding directorial skills of John Frankenheimer have resulted in a true classic.”
George Corley Wallace was elected Governor of Alabama as a Democrat for three terms (1963-1967, 1971-1979 and 1983-1987) and ran for U.S. President four times, running as a Democrat in 1964, 1972 and 1976. On May 15, 1972, while campaigning in Laurel, Maryland, Wallace was shot five times, leaving him paralyzed and wheelchair-bound until his death in 1998.
George Wallace will feature a newly-created bonus featurette including exclusive interviews with Jolie, Sinise and Winningham and archival interview footage of the late Frankenheimer, writer Marshall Frady and executive producer Mark Carliner. Frankenheimer’s widow, Evans Frankenheimer, also gives a new interview for the piece.
We’re told that official announcements will be made at Comic-Con next week, so that should settle the matter one way or the other. (And just for the record, I’d personally be thrilled if it were true.)
