Howard Hughes in Hollywood: Volume 1 - BLU-RAY

Flicker Alley and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas proudly announce Howard Hughes in Hollywood, the first volume of a planned two-volume series that spotlights, for the first time ever, early works by the mogul turned Hollywood hitmaker. This set includes Two Arabian Knights (1927), restored by the Academy Film Archive, and The Racket (1928), newly restored by Flicker Alley. Both include new bonus features and are available for the first time on home video in any . Just 20 years old when he arrived in Los Angeles, Hughes left a mark on the filmmaking industry through sheer determination. Although his two earliest forays into producing remain lost, his first two hits, Two Arabian Knights and The Racket survive, thanks to the efforts of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Film Studies program, who was instrumental in acquiring the extensive Howard Hughes motion picture papers and film materials. Based on a then-recent pulpy adventure serial, Two Arabian Knights was reimagined as a comedy of male bonding. With director Lewis Milestone at the helm and William Boyd and Louis Wolheim headlining as the title pair, the story follows two American soldiers, captured by German forces and sent to a prison camp, escaping to Arabia where they meet and compete for the affections of the lovely Mirza (Mary Astor), who has her own reasons for wanting to go on the run. Two Arabian Knights, which went on to win Best Directing (Comedy Picture) for Milestone at the first Academy Awards®, is presented in a stunning restoration by the Academy Film Archive and features a triumphant orchestral score performed by the Robert Israel Orchestra. Hughes followed that hit with The Racket, a ripped-from-the-headlines proto-noir showcasing a new type of cinema gangster, Italian Americans, and the big city political corruption that empowered them. Thomas Meighan stars as James McQuigg, an honest co