Trotting out some oldies -- and a few landmark goodies

Don Hahn, the producer of such Disney animated hits as “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast,” admits “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was one of the most difficult films he ever worked on.

“Roger Rabbit” (1988) is one of several older titles that recently debuted on DVD, ranging from an acclaimed Humphrey Bogart film to a Bob Fosse musical ... no, not “Chicago.”

Hahn was an associate producer on “Roger Rabbit,” the landmark comedy mystery that seamlessly blended live action with animation. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and starred Bob Hoskins as a 1930s gumshoe working both in Hollywood and “Toontown” who must help a fast-talking “toon” named Roger Rabbit (the voice of Charlie Fleischer), who is accused of murdering the chief of Acme Studios.

Along the way, Hoskins’ Eddie Valiant encounters a whole roster of toon stars from the Disney and Warner Bros. stables, including Daffy Duck, Donald Duck and Dumbo.

“We had the [exterior] shoot in Los Angeles, but we shot most of the interiors in London,” recalls Hahn. “We had the animation studio in London, and then Industrial Light & Magic [the special-effects house] was in Northern California. So the geography of it was difficult. And then the budget was astronomical. It was like $30 million. We would get phone calls to stay on track. Plus it was unknown territory. There was so much animation. It was like making a complete live-action movie and a complete animation movie at the same time.”

“Roger Rabbit” (Disney, $30), which featured 50 minutes of animation, was made the old-fashioned way, with no computers -- just hand drawings and optical printers to fuse the live action and animation. “It is a one-of-a-kind movie,” Hahn says. “I don’t think we’ll see any like it again. All the elements came together.”

“Roger Rabbit” helped spur the renaissance in animated films. “Animation was nothing at the time,” Hahn says. “People were making animated films, but it wasn’t the big blockbuster, money-making thing it has become since. So it was a little bit of a flier to say let’s make a movie to celebrate all the old toons and all the old animation.”

The two-disc set includes the three Roger Rabbit shorts, “Tummy Trouble,” “Roller Coaster Rabbit” and “Trail Mix-Up,” a family-oriented look at the making of the film with host Fleischer, and a game. The second disc includes a nice wide-screen transfer of the film; entertaining commentary from Zemeckis and producer Frank Marshall, among others; a split-screen comparison of a scene with and without animation; a deleted scene with commentary; a behind-the-scenes documentary, and a fun featurette on rehearsing the scenes with puppets serving as stand-ins for the toons.

Grant at his comic best

Fans of Cary Grant will want to check out two vintage comedies with the suave British actor that were recently released on DVD ($25 each). The best of the lot is the seminal 1937 screwball comedy “The Awful Truth,” for which director Leo McCarey won his first Oscar. Grant and Irene Dunne give a master class in comedy acting in this exhilarating, fast-paced romantic farce about a happily married couple who separate and divorce over a silly misunderstanding. Of course, the two are still madly in love. Ralph Bellamy is just a hoot as an Oklahoma millionaire rube who comes a-courtin’ Dunne. But Mr. Smith, the rambunctious, wire-haired fox terrier who was the original Asta in “The Thin Man” movies, steals almost every scene

“The Talk of the Town,” from 1942, is a crackerjack comedy directed by George Stevens and nominated for seven Academy Awards. Grant is perfectly cast as an outspoken, small-town political activist who is unjustly accused of burning down the local factory -- causing the death of one of the workers. After he is sentenced to death, he escapes from prison and hides out in the attic of a schoolteacher (Jean Arthur) he’s known since childhood. Arthur has rented out her house to a famed law professor (Ronald Colman), so Grant pretends he’s the gardener to stay in the house.

Humphrey Bogart only received three Oscar nominations during his nearly 30-year film career, finally winning the Academy Award for 1951’s “The African Queen.” But he gives perhaps his most complex and emotionally naked performance in Nicholas Ray’s superlative 1950 romantic drama “In a Lonely Place” (Columbia TriStar, $25). Bogey is at his world-weary apex as Dickson Steele, a Hollywood writer who has a hair-trigger temper. After he is given a book to read for a writing assignment, Steele decides to ask his favorite hangout’s hatcheck girl to come to his apartment and tell him about the story. When she is found murdered the next day, Steele is considered the prime suspect until one of his neighbors, a lovely sometime-actress named Laurel (Gloria Grahame), tells the cops that she saw the girl leave Steele’s apartment. Steele and Laurel become quick friends and even quicker lovers, but his violent temper and outbursts convince Laurel that perhaps he really is the killer.

“In a Lonely Place” is a riveting, superlative piece of filmmaking and has been painstakingly restored by Columbia. The DVD includes a short but heartfelt tribute to the film by Curtis Hanson of “L.A. Confidential” fame and a look into the restoration process.

Universal just released two lavish, big-budget musicals from the 1960s on DVD. Neither is great but they’re worth a peek. “Thoroughly Modern Millie” ($20) from 1967 is an overlong souffle made palatable by some snappy musical numbers and the charm of its stars, Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, James Fox, Carol Channing and Beatrice Lillie. George Roy Hill directed the film, which has been adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.

“Sweet Charity” ($15), which was released in early 1969, marked the first film directed by Bob Fosse of “Cabaret” fame, creator of the original Broadway production of “Chicago.” He also directed and choreographed “Sweet Charity” to great acclaim on Broadway in 1966. Though there are some terrific musical numbers in this, like “Big Spender,” it’s more lumbering than entertaining. Shirley MacLaine, Chita Rivera and John McMartin star. The DVD also features an alternate ending and a nostalgic interview with Fosse, who died in 1987, conducted during production.