DOLLAR DVDS OLD FILMS, SHOWS FINDING NEW LIFE AT BARGAIN STORES.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

The 99 Cents Only chain is touting the usual array of discount items in its advertisements this week: Soap, aluminum foil, candy bars, cat food - and DVDs?

These 99-cent-priced DVDs, displayed under a sign stating ``Why rent when you can own?'' are far from new releases. They include such old television shows as ``The Dick Van Dyke Show,'' ``The Lucy Show'' and ``The Beverly Hillbillies'' as well as movies featuring the likes of John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant.

``I've just got stacks of them,'' said LaVerne Lucian, a retired secretary who shops at a 99 Cents Only store in Panorama City. ``I go in all the time and look and I've bought a total of about 40 of them. This is really great for people who love old black-and-white movies and television shows.''

Target, Sav-on and several competitors in the dollar-an-item discount market also have gotten into the business of highlighting DVDs at prices so low almost anyone can build their own collection.

Discount DVDs mainly involve old TV sitcoms, movie Westerns, dramas and comedies as well as cartoons.

``People just descend on them, like it's free,'' said DVD industry analyst Ralph Tribbey. ``You pick up six movies for six bucks and there you go.''

Among the better-known movie titles are ``His Girl Friday,'' starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell; director Roger Corman's original ``The Little Shop of Horrors,'' starring Jack Nicholson; ``Road to Bali,'' with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby; ``Suddenly,'' starring Frank Sinatra; and the spooky Vincent Price film ``House on Haunted Hill.''

These and other titles have fallen into the public domain because their copyrights expired and were not renewed, making them cheap for companies to produce without having to shell out royalty fees.

The discs cost about 50 cents to produce and are packaged inside cardboard sleeves instead of the usual DVD cases. Most of the time they come without menus and chapter stops. Depending on the distributor, the quality of these DVDs can vary greatly from soft-focus prints to pristine.

``They are public domain so you'll see 17 different versions of 'Bonanza' or 'Lucy Show.' But you aren't going to see 'Star Wars - Episode III' in dollar stores,'' said Tribbey, editor of the industry newsletter DVD Release Report.

Genius Products Inc., based in Solana Beach, Calif., is the supplier of most of the discs being advertised at the 99 Cents Only stores this week. They declined to speak about their product.

Martha Lopez, a buyer for the 99 Cents Only chain, said the DVDs are one of the most popular items sold in the stores, which have 225 locations in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.

``DVD is the new thing,'' said Lopez. ``They sell well all year round because people are always watching movies. I myself was able to get a large collection of the 'Lucy' programs for home.''

Some grocery and drug stores are also selling the discount DVDs. At the Sav-on Drugs chain, movies are being sold in a standard hard-plastic case for as low as $1.99. Those titles include ``Two Women,'' featuring Sophia Loren's Oscar-winning performance, and such cartoon classics as ``Felix the Cat'' and ``Betty Boop.''

``People have a pretty voracious appetite for this content. It's amazing,'' said Brian Austin, president of PC Treasures Inc., whose company sells low-cost DVDs in Target stores and other chains. ``Initially, it's probably the mere thought of getting a DVD for a dollar but I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it.''

Austin's company, based in Oxford, Mich., has tried to stand out from the competition with double features such as pairing John Wayne and Ronald Reagan Westerns on a single disc along with a cartoon.

``It kind of makes it like the old days in the theaters,'' he said.

Philadelphia-based Global Multimedia Corp. sells its discs for a slightly higher price of $1.50 to $2 to various chains including Duane Reed drugstores in New York and are just entering the Southern California market.

``It is a pure, pure impulse buy,'' said Global Chief Executive Officer Gary Delfiner. ``Nobody thinks about spending $1 to $2 when they know that with DVDs, the cheapest they can find in mass merchandisers are $5.99.''

Global dove into the discount DVD market last October, has released nearly 50 titles to date, and is already approaching sales of 2 million units. Although their titles are similar to competitors, Global's discs also have Spanish subtitles, chapter stops, five episodes of sitcoms compared with the usual four, and two hours of cartoons instead of the standard 60 minutes.

``The titles that we sell are recognizable and popular. Whether it be 'The Three Stooges,' 'Our Gang,' 'Tarzan,' 'The Andy Griffith Show' or 'Abbott and Costello,' every title we put out is recognizable and popular with the mass buyer,'' Delfiner said.

While the movies might come inside a cardboard sleeve, Delfiner said his company uses bright graphics and color packaging to make the packaging appealing to customers.

Vintage cartoons have been big sellers, according to several of the companies, with ``Popeye,'' ``Mighty Mouse,'' ``Gumby'' and ``Casper'' being among the most popular.

``The kids watching these cartoons today are as enamored with them as we were when we first saw them 25 to 30 years ago,'' Austin said. ``And for the parents, it's nostalgia.''

In addition to old television series and classic movies, some lesser- known movies have drawn interest including ``Dementia 13,'' the directorial debut of Francis Ford Coppola; and Marlon Brando's ``One-Eyed Jacks.''

``You cannot just sell anything,'' Delfiner said. ``There are obscure titles that we pass on. It's got to be something that people want to buy.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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