April 2006: Dietrich, West, Lombard

by John Gallagher

GLAMOUR GIRLS : Universal Home Entertainment has been listening to the fans – as owners of the 1929-1949 Paramount library they've been besieged by consumers to release some of this great product to DVD (just look at the Turner Classic Movies message boards). A couple of years ago came Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields collections, and last year the fantastic five-film Gary Cooper and an equally awesome Bela Lugosi collection. They've just released three MUST-HAVE sets (like the previously cited collections), all bargain-priced (check out Amazon.com), with all the films looking like new.

MARLENE DIETRICH: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION gives us five Dietrich opuses, including three Paramounts directed by her mentor, the great stylist Josef von Sternberg, who introduced Dietrich to American audiences with. MOROCCO (1930) after their success with the German-made THE BLUE ANGEL (1930). MOROCCO is one of the most important early American sound films, with Sternberg in total command of every inch of his frame. Like all the Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations, the story is pure camp – woman-with-a-past Dietrich is pursued by debonair playboy Adolphe Menjou but loves French Foreign Legionnaire Gary Cooper (who looks almost as beautiful as his co-star) – but the sets, costumes, camerawork, lighting and direction are exquisite. MOROCCO is one of those works of art that reward the viewer no matter how many times one has seen it.

BLONDE VENUS (1932) is Sternberg and Dietrich's contribution to the “fallen woman” cycle of the Depression years, with Dietrich torn between husband Herbert Marshall and lover Cary Grant (27 years old, in his first year in Hollywood). Through it all, Dietrich remains a devoted mother to adorable Dickie Moore (fresh from a stint as one of Hal Roach's Our Gang), selling her body to care for her child. BLONDE VENUS is endlessly entertaining, endlessly inventive, best known today for the opening nude swimming scene, and the outrageous musical number “Hot Voodoo” (which Bertolucci memorialized in his 2004 THE DREAMERS).

Sternberg's DISHONORED (1931), with Dietrich as a Mata Hari-like spy and SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932), with Dietrich pitted against Chinese revolutionaries, are not included in this set and hopefully will be released at a later date, and although THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934), with Dietrich as Catherine the Great is available as a Criterion release, it is an atypically inferior print, so hopefully Universal will release that as well. SHANGHAI EXPRESS is considered by most critics to be the artistic zenith of the Sternberg-Dietrichs,   but the most outrageous movie the team made (and unfortunately their last) is – the incomparable THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN (1935). In a Spanish setting sublimely photographed by her mentor, Dietrich plays the ultimate man-eater, sexily and gleefully destroying her devoted suitor, Lionel Atwill. THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN is quite simply one of the greatest movies turned out by Golden Age Hollywood, and one of the most gorgeous looking black-and-white films ever made.

Sternberg and Dietrich parted when audiences tired of their esoterica; these films were 20 years ahead of their time. Dietrich moved to Universal studios and underwent a major re-invention with DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, a super Western comedy, and the even more entertaining SEVEN SINNERS (coming soon from Universal as part of a John Wayne collection), the first of three with Duke. FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS (1941) is included here to represent this period of her work, the lesser of the three Universals, but fun nonetheless. The director is Rene Clair, and her co-stars gentleman Roland Young and tough guy Bruce Cabot, with stalwarts Mischa Auer and Andy Devine in comic relief. The final film in this collection is one of her weakest vehicles, Mitchell Leisen's GOLDEN EARRINGS (1947) with Dietrich as a gypsy vamping Ray Milland. I would have much preferred DISHONORED, SHANGHAI EXPRESS or Rouben Mamoulian's 1933 SONG OF SONGS, but I'm not complaining! This collection is a must for your DVD collection …

… and so is MAE WEST: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION!  Once again, we get five films from the woman who single-handedly inspired the Production Code with her sexual innuendos and her unabashed erotic attitudes. Her first movie is here, the utterly delightful NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1932). It's really a George Raft vehicle set in a Paramount backlot New York; he's a reformed gangster running a lavish speakeasy, trying to get some class by romancing a Park Avenue dame (Constance Cummings); Mae has a supporting part but makes her screen time count. Just look at her first scene – as she checks her coat, the coat-check girl comments on Mae's jewelry: “My goodness, what beautiful jewels.” Without skipping a beat, Mae says “Goodness had nothin' to do with it, dearie” as she sashays away. This is a very little known movie but I have a fond spot in my heart for it – Raft was new to films, having just made a splash as the coin-flipping gangster in SCARFACE, but he has a natural quality and charisma and was a great favorite with audiences. He made nearly 20 pre-Code films from 1932-35, and many are worth rediscovery, especially MADAME RACKETEER (1932), THE BOWERY (1933), THE TRUMPET BLOWS (!934) and SHE COULDN'T TAKE IT (1935).

OK, back to Mae West. Inexplicably, her breakthrough starring role in SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933) is not included in the set, but its equally enjoyable follow-up, I'M NO ANGEL (1933) is.   In what is arguably her best movie, Mae is at her raunchy best as a circus lion-tamer romancing Cary Grant; check out her outfit in the opening number to see what got the censors' blood boiling. GOIN' TO TOWN (1935) is disappointing, as the new Code rules have clearly sanitized her persona, and she isn't helped by a bloodless leading man, Roger Pryor, but Henry Hathaway's GO WEST, YOUNG MAN (1936) is lots of fun, with Randolph Scott as the cowboy who tames the movie star. MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940) is undoubtedly one of West's most popular movies, but it is already available on the W.C. Fields set. This collection is worth the money just for NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, I'M NO ANGEL and GO WEST, YOUNG MAN; hopefully sales will be strong enough to merit another Mae West collection with SHE DONE HIM WRONG, Leo McCarey's BELLE OF THE NINETIES (1934) and EVERY DAY'S A HOLIDAY (!937). Raoul Walsh's KLONDIKE ANNIE (1936) was released by Universal on DVD a while ago, and is readily available on E-bay or Amazon.

We get SIX movies in CAROLE LOMBARD: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION . Her best films are already available -- TWENTIETH CENTURY (Sony), MY MAN GODFREY (Criterion), NOTHING SACRED (Kino), and TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Warners), plus NOW AND FOREVER (Universal) – but we can never have enough Carole! She was one of the most effervescent movie stars to ever light up the silver screen, beautiful,   down-to-earth, equally adept at comedy or drama (and a major influence on a generation of actresses, most notably and vocally, Lucille Ball). This collectiwith a real pleasant surprise, the sophisticated comedy MAN OF THE WORLD (1931), co-starring her soon-to-be husband William Powell at his most cosmopolitan, as a con man getting over on tourists in Paris. Prior to 1934's TWENTIETH CENTURY, Carole was usually just a lovely clotheshorse (with the exception of 1932's NO MAN OF HER OWN, in which she co-starred with another future hubby, Clark Gable), and that's what she's relegated to in MAN OF THE WORLD. Still, it's a good film, scripted by Herman J. Mankiewicz (CITIZEN KANE), directed by an excellent filmmaker, Richard Wallace; both the movie and the director are completely forgotten today. [His best films are THUNDER BELOW (1933), YOUNG IN HEART (1938), THE FALLEN SPARROW (1943), and SINBAD THE SAILOR (1947).]

By 1934, Lombard had come into her own, and she is luminous and stunning in WE'RE NOT DRESSING (1934), a retelling of THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON with Carole shipwrecked on a deserted island with Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, and Burns and Allen. She spends most of the picture rejecting Bing – even though he sings the lovely “May   I?” to her – until of course succumbing to the crooner's charms.   Mitchell Leisen's HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE (1935) is one of her best vehicles; she's a manicurist, the object of Fred MacMurray and Ralph Bellamy's affections. This romantic comedy absolutely sparkles, a wonderful example of the kind of entertainment at which Paramount excelled. Lombard made LOVE BEFORE BREAKFAST (1936) on loanout to Universal, a slight trifle with Preston Foster and Cesar Romero as her love interests (her next Universal picture was Gregory LaCava's brilliant MY MAN GODFREY); even so, it's nice to have such a rare title available. William K. Howard directed THE PRINCESS COMES ACROSS (1936),   a top-notch comedy-mystery with Lombard as fake royalty, embroiled with murder and Fred MacMurray on a transatlantic cruise. TRUE CONFESSION (1937) reunites Lombard with MacMurray and TWENTIETH CENTURY's John Barrymore in a screwball comedy that tries a little harder than it should.   Buy this set, too, so we can get another Lombard collection with her two George Raft pictures BOLERO (1934) and RUMBA (1935), her teamings with Gable (NO MAN OF HER OWN) and Gary Cooper (I TAKE THIS WOMAN), and the kooky pre-Code WHITE WOMAN (1933) with Charles Laughton.

Bravo to Universal Home Entertainment for these franchise collections, and stay tuned for their Cecil B. DeMille set, coming later this spring.

JARHEAD (2005): When the NBR screened JARHEAD last fall, I conducted a post-screening q-and-a with the film's director, Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY, ROAD TO PERDITION). I thought JARHEAD was outstanding filmmaking; Mendes told production stories, and made us all laugh recounting how Jamie Foxx (who plays a Marine drill instructor) cracked up cast and crew by doing his character as Ray Charles. Jake Gyllenhaal had a breakthrough performance as the young Marine who goes from boot camp to the Gulf War, and Peter Saarsgaard did his usual outstanding job. Mendes perfectly captured the ennui of men at war with no war to fight, and delivered powerful imagery of burning Iraqi oilfields. Upon its release, JARHEAD received mixed reviews and did average business – not enough action for mainstream audiences, and not condemning enough of American foreign policy in the Middle East for others. Upon watching the pristine Universal DVD, I stick to my original opinion – JARHEAD was one of the best films of 2005, and will probably look better as time goes on. The DVD includes 35 minutes of deleted scenes and lots of interviews.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005), the most critically acclaimed, controversial, and overhyped (“it changes the way we look at film”) movie of the year comes to DVD, with Rodrigo Prieto's glorious cinematography looking even better than it did in the theatre. The film's sexual agenda drove the critics to rapture; bottom line, BROKEBACK is good, powerful drama but hardly a masterpiece. Larry McMurtry and Diane Ossama deserved their screenwriting Oscar, but with the exception of his first couple of Taiwanese films (THE WEDDING BANQUET, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN), I've always felt Ang Lee to be our most overrated major director (SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, THE ICE STORM, and RACE WITH THE DEVIL in particular; CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is fake in every respect, check out HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS for the real deal, and let's not even mention HULK).

Jake Gyllenhaal does a good deal of posturing and posing, and as his wife, Anne Hathaway is given ridiculous “aging” makeup, but Heath Ledger and especially Michelle Williams are completely brilliant, conveying their emotional pain in a chillingly convincing manner. There's also an exceptional score from Gustavo Santoalalla. The NBR voted BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN the 2005 award for Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal) and Director (Lee); my personal choices were Peter Saarsgaard (JARHEAD,THE DYING GAUL) and George Clooney (GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK) and Peter Jackson (KING KONG) – but hey, that's just me! If you haven't seen BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, by all means do so; it's just too important a film. The disc includes a series of documentaries featuring interviews with the major players.

Some people would say KING KONG (2005) was the most over-hyped of last year's flicks, and while it's a close second to BROKEBACK, for me it was the best movie of the year, a brilliant re-invention of a major American fairy tale. Peter Jackson made this movie with a deep reverence and love for the original 1933 Merian Cooper-Ernest Schoedsack epic, and used digital technology to re-imagine the story, wisely keeping it in its early 30s setting. It's a thrill to watch the DVD, perfectly re-capturing the awe of the theatre experience, from the genius evocation of 1933 New York to the primitive lost world of Skull Island. Naomi Watts does an admirable job channeling Fay Wray, with Jack Black doing a different but worthy version of Carl Denham, and the part of Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) changed from a hard-boiled seaman to an Arthur Miller-like writer (Adrian Brody). As for Kong, aided by technology and Andy Serkis' model characterization, he is loaded with personality, and emerges as the first fully realized digital creation in film history.

The most fan-friendly of all filmmakers, Jackson gives us a whole disc of extras, including a continuation of his production diaries (for a real treat, pick up PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG PRODUCTION DIARIES, which I reviewed in the last column), a documentary about the basis for Skull Island, and an excellent documentary on 1933 New York City.

MILLIARIUM ZERO : The fighting men of another war are the subject of WINTER SOLDIER, hitherto a practically lost film. On January 31, 1971, over 100 Vietnam veterans (including a young John Kerry) gathered at a Detroit Howard Johnson's hotel to openly and publicly talk about the war atrocities they had committed or witnessed. An anonymous group of filmmakers, including Barbara Kopple (HARLAN COUNTY USA), and Bob Fiore (PUMPING IRON) were there to document the event and make this documentary, which premiered at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Virtually unseen since then, WINTER SOLDIER emerges as a significant and essential piece of American history, by turns compelling, repulsive, heartbreaking, and infuriating. These young men are brutally candid as they recount their stories; the tenor of the times is evident by the very fact that none of the filmmakers' names are listed in the credits. Milliarium Zero (a division of Milestone Film and Video) rights that wrong – and the neglect of this important film – with a DVD loaded with bonus features. The filmmakers reunite for a roundtable reminiscence, there are several shorts culled from the footage, a stills gallery, and DVD-Rom. Visit www.wintersoldierfilm.com for more information.

20 th CENTURY-FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT : There are hours upon hours of laughs and guffaws in Fox eight-disc MEL BROOKS COLLECTION . In chronological order, the set includes THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1970), his follow-up to THE PRODUCERS (1968), a relatively gentle (for Mel) comedy tale based on a 1920s Russian story about the search for furniture loaded with jewels. Brooks stars with Ron Moody (OLIVER!), Dom DeLuise and a young Frank Langella. BLAZING SADDLES (1973, on loan here from Warners), starring Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little, made Mel Brooks a household name, a rip-roaring, irreverent Western parody that established the Brooks style. There are dozens of outrageously memorable moments – Count Basie and his Orchestra playing in the desert; Mongo (Alex Karras) and the bean-farting sequence; Madeline Kahn doing a dead-on Dietrich imitation a la DESTRY RIDES AGAIN; the scene between the Governor (a cross-eyed Mel Brooks) and villain Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman); the last reel brawl. A fascinating hour-long audio interview with Brooks is included on the disc; among other things it reminds us that Richard Pryor (Brooks wanted him as the sheriff, but couldn't sell the front office) was one of the film's writers.

It was hard to believe that Mel could top BLAZING SADDLES, but he did, with YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), a lovingly lunatic tribute to Universal's FRANKENSTEIN (1931), THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939). It's one of the funniest movies ever made – for some the funniest, with Gene Wilder as the heir to the Frankenstein legacy, Peter Boyle as the monster, Madeline Kahn as their mate, Marty Feldman as hunchback Igor, Cloris Leachman as the Judith Anderson-like housekeeper, Teri Garr as Wilder's sexy assistant,   Kenneth Mars as the Inspector based on Lionel Atwill's Krogh from SON, and a priceless Gene Hackman in a cameo as the blind hermit from BRIDE. There's tons of fun in the DVD extras – Mel Brooks commentary, making-of documentary, interviews with Wilder, Feldman and Leachman, seven deleted scenes, and best of all, an outtakes and bloopers reel.

SILENT MOVIE (1976) was an extremely inventive comedy with Brooks as Hollywood director Mel Funn, who, with sidekicks Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman, tries to round up stars for their new movie for studio chief Sid Caesar. Some of the biggest stars of 1976 -- Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli and Anne Bancroft – make cameo appearances, and directorially, Brooks is in top form in this all-silent movie. He never achieved a cohesive, coherent work like these previous films again, although all of his movies have joys for the comedy connoisseur. HIGH ANXIETY (1977) was a parody of Hitchcock films (co-scripted by Barry Levinson) starring Brooks and regulars Leachman, Korman and Kahn; it was hit or miss, as was MEL BROOKS' HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 (1981).   This was a terrific idea, covering spoofs of the Stone Age, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution; there's a lot of funny stuff, but it's decidedly uneven. Brooks choreographer Alan Johnson directed Mel and real-life wife Anne Bancroft in an ill-advised remake of Lubitsch's TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1983); not that this film is bad, it's just that it's impossible to get Carole Lombard, Jack Benny and Ernst Lubitsch out of your mind. ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (1993) is an improvement on his previous few films, a return to the surreal style of BLAZING SADDLES.   The movie benefits from an excellent cast, including Cary Elwes as Robin, Dave Chappelle as Isaac Hayes' son, Dom DeLuise as a mob boss, Richard Lewis as Little John, Tracey Ullman as a sorceress, and Mel Brooks as Rabbi Tuckman.

Add SPACEBALLS (1987), LIFE STINKS (1991),   DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT (1991), his Broadway and film productions of THE PRODUCERS, not to mention his 2,000 YEAR OLD MAN recordings with Carl Reiner, and there's no question that Mel Brooks has given us an hilarious comic legacy. Most of the best of it is right here in THE MEL BROOKS COLLECTION.

WARNER BROS .: Laurel and Hardy are perhaps the most beloved comedy team in history, a major influence on those who followed – Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Gleason and Carney. The TCM ARCHIVES LAUREL AND HARDY COLLECTION is a special treat, with two of the boys' best, THE DEVIL'S BROTHER (1933) and BONNIE SCOTLAND (1935). Both titles have played over the years in truncated versions; here they are complete, uncut, and digitally restored. THE DEVIL'S BROTHER is an 18 th Century operetta, with Dennis King as the bandit Fra Diavolo, Stan and Ollie as his servants Stanlio and Ollio, and James Finlayson and Thelma Todd as the nobility they try to rob. This is overall one of Stan and Ollie's very best features, with Stan's hilarioud drunk scene and the “earsie, eyesie, nosie” bit. BONNIE SCOTLAND brings the boys to the McLaurel homestead to claim an inheritance (a bagpipe), then sends them into the British Army to fight in India, making for some great service comedy routines (Finlayson is on hand again as their sergeant). Both films benefit from exceptionally informative audio commentaries by Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann.

Laurel and Hardy made a number of guest star appearances through the years, and this DVD assembles them all in one place. THE ROGUE SONG (1929), an early two-strip Technicolor operetta, is a lost film; one sequence with Stan and Ollie was discovered, however, and is included here, along with their magic act from THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929, hosted by Jack Benny. The boys did some great work with Lupe Velez in HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934) and with Patsy Kelly in PICK A STAR (1937); all the Laurel and Hardy footage from these films are here as well. Rounding out this highly recommended DVD is a feature-length TCM documentary, ADDED ATTRACTIONS, about vintage Hollywood short subjects; hosted by Chevy Chase, it includes dozens of clips of Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Our Gang, Charley Chase and many, many more.

Just in time for Easter comes the FILMS OF FAITH COLLECTION. The keystone film here is Fred Zinnemann's THE NUN'S STORY (1959), with Audrey Hepburn in one of her finest performances as a young Belgian girl who becomes a nun to serve as a surgical nurse in the Congo. Zinnemann paints on a quiet but epic canvas, spanning from pre-war Belgium and Hepburn's first assignment in a mental asylum to her years in Africa, then back to her homeland during World War Two. The actress' performance is a gem, full of nuance as she continually questions her faith. This was an important film in its day, nominated for eight Oscars (this was the year of BEN-HUR). The National Board of Review voted THE NUN'S STORY the Best Film of the year, and gave its Best Director honors to Fred Zinnemann and Best Supporting Actress to Dame Edith Evans as the Mother Superior.

The set also includes John Brahm's THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA (1952). In 1917, three Portuguese children receive a vision of a heaven-sent woman with a message of faith for war-ravaged mankind. As word spreads, thousands of pilgrims descend upon the village, upsetting the delicate balance between church and the totalitarian state. The tale is simply and compellingly told, aided by Max Steiner's Oscar-nominated score. THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN (1968) , on the other hand, is an overblown overwrought adaptation of the Morris West best-seller about the election of a new Pope (Anthony Quinn) and the attendant political fallout. The lavish production features an all-star cast (Laurence Olivier, Oskar Werner, David Jansse, Vittorio DeSica, Sir John Gielgud, Leo McKern), an excellent Alex North score (re-mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1), and lots of colorful pomp and circumstance. The NBR gave McKern a Best Supporting Actor nod, and named the film Best Picture of the Year (!), over THE LION IN WINTER, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, CHARLY, OLIVER!. PLANET OF THE APES, and ROMEO AND JULIET.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (2005): Liev Schreiber makes a dazzling directorial debut with this picaresque road movie, adapted from a portion of Jonathan Safran Foer's acclaimed novel. Elijah Wood scores as a young man who journeys from Brooklyn to the Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis in 1942. He hires a Ukrainian guide, a hip-hop-obsessed young man hilariously played by real-life punk rocker Eugene Hutz, to drive him to find the site of the lost village, and the ride is consistently entertaining and ultimately profound. When the NBR screened the movie last fall, Schreiber, Wood and Hutz were my guests for the q-and-a, and the director spoke about “stealing” shots in the Ukraine, a notoriously impossible place to film, while doubling most of the locale in Hungary. He also talked about focusing on one portion of the book -- which includes an 800-year-old history of the village – because of the budget limitations. His adaptation is true to the novel, and indeed enhances it with the performances he elicits from his fine cast. This is a movie the director can be proud of, and a movie for us to cherish. The DVD includes several deleted scenes.

I was delighted to have Natalie Portman, director James McTeigue, producer Joel Silver, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt and Stephen Rea as my guests after the March NBR screening of V FOR VENDETTA . Check out the podcast at http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/696/696841p1.html.

GENIUS PRODUCTS is the home entertainment distributor for the new TWC (The Weinstein Company). Their first few releases reflect the same commitment to quality evidenced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax video label. WOLF CREEK (2005) is a grueling Australian horror film, a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, written and directed by Greg McLean. Suggested by true events, the story involves three young travelers whose car breaks down in the Aussie Outback; they end up in the horrific clutches of Mick Taylor (John Jarratt), a twisted cross between Crocodile Dundee and Freddy Krueger, The hi-definition cinematography proves once again that 35mm film is on its way out, as the filmmakers create an eerie visual environment that is indistinguishable from film. The chills are played completely straight, in the tradition of recent horror hits TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and SAW, and are equally graphic and brutal; in fact, the unrated edition of WOLF CREEK is recommended for hardcore horror fans only. They won't be disappointed – John Jarratt creates one of the most evil villains ever to wield a blade. The DVD includes audio commentary by McLean, the two excellent lead actresses, and exec producer, and there is a lengthy and informative making-of documentary.

At the other end of the dramatic spectrum comes Stephen Frears' delicious MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS (2005), a charming comedy set in wartime London, based on   the true story of eccentric Mrs. Henderson (Judi Dench) who offered nude tableaux in the Windmill Theatre, never closing despite Nazi blitz bombing. The delightful cast – Bob Hoskins as the proud impresario, Kelly Reilly as the revue's blonde centerpiece, Will Young as the gay choreographer, Christopher Guest as a government censor and Thelma Barlow as Mrs. Henderson's dowager friend – won last year's NBR Award for Ensemble Acting. Frears is such a wonderfully versatile director (THE GRIFTERS, HIGH FIDELITY, DANGEROUS LIASONS, THE HI-LO COUNTRY, PRICK UP YOUR EARS) and knows how to subtly shift the tone from titillating farce to heartfelt emotion (Mrs. Henderson visiting her son's grave; the montage of Kelly Reilly and the young soldier). MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is both saucy and inspiring – a unique combination indeed.

PARAMOUNT:   Take one hot hip-hop star (Eminem), a world-class director (Curtis Hanson), the story of the kid's rise from poverty to stardom, and you've got the smash hit 8 MILE (2004). Last year the formula was repeated when Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson teamed up with Jim “My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Father,” “In America” Sheridan and the result was the only slightly less successful GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN.' In both cases, it was a master stroke to engage a brilliant director; Sheridan lifts the seen-it-before story above and beyond the average. He also wisely manages to control 50's performance, and supports him with the brilliant Terrence Howard (this was one of the three films for which the National   Board of Review gave Terrence their Breakthrough Actor Award at January's awards gala; Queen Latifah presented the award). What's really striking about this movie is that it feels like a remake and updating of an old Jimmy Cagney movie with the gangs and guns, and cocaine replacing bootleg liquor. A special kudo goes to Declan Quinn's striking cinematography and the exceptional sound mix that totally does justice to the music. The DVD includes a making-of documentary.

Paramount has a lot of great releases set for the coming months, including William Wellman's TRACK OF THE CAT and the rest of the non-Wayne Batjacs; a SGT. BILKO 50 th Anniversary set; the first volume of Martin and Lewis movies; some great noirs including the 1947   BODY AND SOUL; and some terrific double-bill John Wayne Republics.

NO SHAME FILMS (www.noshamefilms.com ) gives a lavish treatment to all its releases. THE DESERT OF THE TARTARS (1976), for example, resurrects Valerio Zurlini's haunting, existential drama of a remote frontier outpost and the soldiers who serve there in a two-disc set that includes interviews with star Guiliana Gemma, cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, a collectible booklet, posters, stills, and a CD of Ennio Morricone's fragile musical score. Barely screened in the United States, the film is blessed with Vittorio Gassman, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey,Jacques Perrin, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Max von Sydow, and above all the stunning photography on locations at the ancient and isolated Bam Citadel in Iran. Described as “BEAU GESTE meets WAITING FOR GODOT,” the film creates a palpable mood of ennui and despair, not unlike Antonioni's best work. While the title suggests an extravagant adventure movie, in reality this is an extravagant psychological journey, worth taking for the serious cineaste. George Pan Cosmatos' MASSACRE IN ROME (1973) also gets the double-disc treatment. Richard Burton and Marcello Mastroianni star in the true story of Roman underground resistance to the Nazi occupation. Cosmatos employs a most effective documentary approach, a la Z or BATTLE OF ALGIERS. Morricone (who scored the latter) contributes his usual fine score. Extras include interviews with the late Cosmatos and Mastroianni, cinematographer Marcello Gatti, and real-life partisans and historians.

                                      JOHN GALLAGHER

                                          jgmovie@aol.com