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Classic film fans will find the Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection as delicious as any multi-course buffet. The films combines some better-known titles (Executive Suite, Annie Oakley) with some lesser-known gems (My Reputation, Jeopardy) as well as some cool vintage extras.

Robert Wise directed Executive Suite (1954), a still-relevant portrait of cutthroat corporate shenanigans, starring Frederic March and William Holden (in a truly dazzling performance) as the sharks in the corner-office tank. Stanwyck plays an heiress with her trademark unflappability–and with possibly the steeliest business persona of them all. Extras include an enthusiastic commentary by Wall Street director Oliver Stone, as well as a vintage short and cartoon.

Annie Oakley (1935), the oldest film in this collection, went a long way toward cementing Stanwyck’s tough-talking (and yes, straight-shooting) persona. Stanwyck is brassy and bold, and mighty fearless as the Old West legend. There’s a fair amount of humor, too, in the screenplay and deft direction of George Stevens. Extras include a vintage short and cartoon.

Stanwyck stretches her acting wings in the soapy love story My Reputation (1946). It’s hard to imagine the tough-dame Stanwyck worrying about anything so ephemeral as a reputation, but in this well-acted film, she’s convincing as a young widow who cautiously tries to date again, only to set tongues wagging, and scandalizing even her own children. Extras include a great musical short featuring Jan Savitt and Band, and a vintage cartoon.

Mervyn LeRoy directs a fabulous cast in the film noirish thiller/melodrama East Side, West Side (1949), involving a bored married couple, past infidelities, and murder. Ava Gardner’s a standout as the “other woman” who comes between Stanwyck’s Jessie and James Mason’s Brandon. The cinematography is atmospheric and taut. Even the supporting cast dazzles in its own right–Cyd Charisse, William Frawley, William Conrad, and a winsome Nancy Davis (the future First Lady). Extras include a short film and a fun Tex Avery cartoon, “Counterfeit Cat.”

To Please a Lady (1950) may have one of the least appropriate film titles ever–it’s a high-octane drama set around the world of early car racing, with a romance between Stanwyck and Clark Gable as the hook. But the film itself is a blast, especially for the well-shot, adrenaline-rush scenes of car racing, decades before the polish of NASCAR. Gable’s a reckless driving champ and Stanwyck’s the hard-nosed reporter who revs up his heart. Stanwyck’s Regina catches racing fever: “It’s like the Fourth of July and the heavyweight fight and the World Series all rolled into one.” Amen, sister.

Jeopardy (1953) appears as a “double feature” on one disc with To Please a Lady. It’s a fascinating psychological thriller that presages a whole genre of “ticking time-bomb” peril films, and also suggests a pivotal scene in Sometimes a Great Notion. Stanwyck plays a happily married wife, vacationing in Mexico with her husband (Barry Sullivan), who becomes trapped in the surf–and as the tide comes in, his luck may run out. A frantic Stanwyck has to make scary choices if her husband–and she–is to survive. The extra on this disc is an audio-only radio interview with Stanwyck. –A.T. Hurley

Barbara Stanwyck – The Signature Collection (Annie Oakley / East Side, West Side / My Reputation / Executive Suite / Jeopardy / To Please a Lady) is available at Amazon for $37.99. To Order click here
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