If a film is released on home video as a manufactured-on-demand title, one would legitimately expect it not to come out again as a pressed DVD. MODs are, after all, a consequence of the growing apathy toward physical media. However, the one company outside the United States actively involved in by-request product, France’s Gaumont, has a different perspective, as titles made available in its Collection Découverte find their way to Gaumont Classiques, a splendid series of special editions on DVD and Blu-ray. That was the case with Claude Autant-Lara’s Le blé en herbe (1953) and Ettore Scola’s Splendor (1989). Aux deux colombes (1949) has just shown up in the box set Sacha Guitry, un esprit français. Although double-dipping tends to irk some consumers, the mere fact that Gaumont will spend time and money to upgrade deserving films that proved satisfactory sellers as MODs is deserving of high praise. And so, Antoine et Antoinette (1947), Les mystères de Paris (1962), Les jeux de l’amour (1960), Le farceur (1961) and Un papillon sur l’épaule (1978) will join Gaumont Classiques next year. Here is the lineup for the first three quarters of 2012:

January– Le masque de fer (1962, Henri Decoin) and Les mystères de Paris (André Hunebelle)

February– Les aventures d’Arsène Lupin (1957, Jacques Becker)

March– Boulevard du Rhum (1971, Robert Enrico) and Un papillon sur l’épaule (Jacques Deray)

April–  Les jeux de l’amour and Le Farceur (both directed by Philippe de Broca)

May– Elena et les hommes (1956, Jean Renoir) and Les soeurs Bronte (1979, André Téchiné)

June– Le bossu (1960, André Hunebelle) and Les mariés de l’an II (1971, Jean-Paul Rappeneau)

July– Querelle (1982, Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and Un amour de Swann (1984, Volker Schlondorff)

September– Antoine et Antoinette and Montparnasse 19 (1958, both directed by Jacques Becker)