|
Yes! Justice was finally achieved at the Academy Awards … our greatest working director, Martin Scorsese, won his first Best Director Oscar, aptly (or perhaps presciently) presented to him by three of his fraternal colleagues, George Lucas, Francis Coppola, and Steven Spielberg. It was a beautiful moment for movie buffs, and overshadowed the announcement a few minutes later that Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED had been voted Best Picture of 2006.
Here’s what I wrote about THE DEPARTED in the NBR gala journal (the movie won NBR Awards for Best Director -- his second from the NBR; the other one was for AGE OF INNOCENCE – and Best Ensemble):
“Any new film by Martin Scorsese is cause for celebration. His latest, the cop thriller THE DEPARTED, is cause for dancing in the streets. It is an Instant Classic, vintage Marty right up there with GOODFELLAS and CASINO, violent and funny, more complex than either of those masterworks. Jack Nicholson is sublime as another great Scorsese villain, the equal of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Bill the Butcher or Robert DeNiro’s Jimmy Conway; Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg do the best work of their careers, and Scorsese gives actress Vera Formiga (a familiar face in many indies, including her Sundance-winning turn in DOWN TO THE BONE) a mainstream movie-star making role (a la Juliette Lewis in CAPE FEAR, Lorraine Bracco in GOODFELLAS and Cathy Moriarty in RAGING BULL). At the NBR screening of THE DEPARTED, I asked DiCaprio, the veteran of Scorsese’s GANGS OF NEW YORK and THE AVIATOR, how, after decades of police movies and TV shows, the genre could be as revitalized as it is in THE DEPARTED. The actor commented, simply, that Martin Scorsese knows his vintage movies – words that should be heeded by every film student out there. Know what’s come before, the way a writer studies Shakespeare and Faulkner. It is no coincidence that our greatest living director is also one of our greatest film historians. As Peter Bogdanovich has said, if you haven’t seen a movie from 1932, it’s not an old movie, it’s a new movie. Every frame of THE DEPARTED is informed by Scorsese’s prodigious cinematic knowledge, yet he creates an entirely new and original masterpiece, with the cast of the year.”
To celebrate his long overdue Oscar, pick up WHV’s DVD of THE DEPARTED. It’s even more fun on repeat viewings, with the labyrinthine twists and turns of William Monahan’s Oscar-winning screenplay, adapted from Andrew Lau’s Hong Kong thriller INFERNAL AFFAIRS. The two-disc Special Edition has some terrific extras. There are nine additional scenes introduced by Scorsese, most of which add footage to existing scenes … and it’s all good stuff, cut primarily to keep the film moving. Even at 151 minutes, the movie flies. We get an excellent feature-length documentary, SCORSESE ON SCORSESE, originally broadcast on TCM; the featurette THE STORY OF THE BOSTON MOB, about the real-life gangster the Nicholson character is based on; the featurette CROSSING CRIMINAL CULTURES, about the influence of growing up in Little Italy on Scorsese’s life and work; and of course the theatrical trailer. This one is obviously imperative to own.
Another great director, Oliver Stone – also honored at the NBR Awards with a Freedom of Expression award for WORLD TRADE CENTER – was pretty well drubbed (unfairly) by critics for his 2004 epic ALEXANDER. That title went to DVD, then came out again as a Director’s Cut in 2005, and is available now as ALEXANDER REVISITED: THE FINAL CUT from WHV. The saga of Alexander the Great is indeed one of the greatest stories ever told, and Stone did a smashing job in recreating the world of 300 years before Christ, chronicling the spectacular military accomplishments and the personal intrigues. If you liked the film in the first place, ALEXANDER REVISITED is a must, a double disc with an additional 45 minutes consisting primarily of action scenes and sequences between Alexander and his mother; Stone has also restructured the narrative, making it more cohesive. At three-and-one-half hours, the movie takes on a whole new dimension, and actually plays better than its previous incarnation. My only complaint is still the casting—Colin Farrell (outstanding in another period film, THE NEW WORLD) in the title role, Angelina Jolie as his mother, Rosario Dawson as his wife, Jared Leto as Hephaistion, his life-long companion – all seem too modern for their roles. Even so, this is the definitive ALEXANDER. Stone provides a video introduction to the movie: “Over the last two years I have been able to sort out some of the unanswered questions about this highly complicated and passionate monarch – questions I failed to answer dramatically enough. This film represents my complete and last version … I don’t know how many filmmakers have managed to make three versions of the same film, but I have been fortunate to have the opportunity because of the success of video and DVD sales in the world, and I felt if I didn’t do it now, with the energy and memory I still have for the subject, it would never quite be the same again. For me, this is the complete ALEXANDER, the clearest interpretation I can offer. For those who didn’t appreciate the original, rest assured this is my last pass, as there is no more footage to be found. And for those of you who did like it, please share with me my passion for ALEXANDER, every sublime and awkward pixel of it.” I’d love to see this same opportunity given to Scorsese for GANGS OF NEW YORK; I saw a fascinating cut that was a full hour longer than what Miramax released theatrically and on DVD, and while we’re at it, how about Tarantino’s KILL BILL REVISITED? (Incidentally, you can participate in a discussion board at the ALEXANDER website: http://alexanderthemovie.warnerbros.com).
Warner Home Video offers a typically outstanding five-disc box set, the LITERARY CLASSICS COLLECTION, six vintage films based on classic novels. Peter Ustinov directed and co-starred in the superior adaptation of BILLY BUDD (1962), based on the Herman Melville sea-going saga set during the Napoleonic era. As the captain of the British man o’war Avenger, Ustinov heads an excellent cast that includes Robert Ryan, Melvyn Douglas, and in a screen debut that earned him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, Terence Stamp in the title role of the midshipman who is the epitome of goodness. Ustinov was allowed to make a literate, intelligent picture that holds up as one of the best American films of the early Sixties. Terence Stamp is on hand for an interesting audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh, who directed him in THE LIMEY. CAPTAIN HORATIO HORNBLOWER (1951), based on the C.S. Forester book, is also a nautical adventure set during the Napoleonic Wars, with Gregory Peck as the titular stalwart. The film benefits from the lusty direction of veteran Raoul Walsh, always at his best with this kind of picture, providing lots of Technicolored action and a voluptuous leading lady, Virginia Mayo, a Walsh favorite from WHITE HEAT and COLORADO TERRITORY. Unlike previous Warner Bros. adventures like CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935) and THE SEA HAWK (1940), HORNBLOWER was filmed on locations in the French Riviera on several fully-rigged ships. Keep an eye out for Christopher Lee in a small role as a Spanish captain. The DVD restores Guy Green’s gorgeous color photography, and includes the Oscar-nominated short MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE (1951), the Bugs Bunny cartoon CAPTAIN HAREBLOWER, and the audio-only Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Peck and Mayo.
Vincente Minnelli directed a Hollywoodized version of MADAME BOVARY (1949) for MGM, from the Flaubert novel, a rather listless but opulent re-telling with Jennifer Jones in the title role, supported by James Mason, Van Heflin and Louis Jourdan. It’s a faux French film, not up to the 1933 Jean Renoir or the 1981 Claude Chabrol, and certainly hampered by the censorship of the day. The film is somewhat famous for a rather over-directed ballroom sequence in which Minnelli runs through a bag of directorial tricks to heighten the drama and scandal of his 19th Century courtesan. Like many MGM movies of the Golden Age, it’s beautifully appointed with sets and costumes (a Minnelli specialty) but this one ultimately plays like dated soap opera. The DVD includes the Pete Smith short THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS and the cartoon OUT-FOXED. MGM made period France much more entertaining in THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1948), George Sidney’s adaptation of the oft-filmed Alexandre Dumas classic. The movie is tremendous fun, with Gene Kelly perfectly cast as D’Artagnan, Lana Turner as Lady deWinter, June Allyson as Constance, Frank Morgan and Angela Lansbury as King Louis and Queen Anne, and as the Three Musketers Athos, Aramis and Porthos, Van Heflin, Robert Coote and Gig Young. It’s lovingly and lavishly made, sumptuously photographed in Technicolor by the Oscar-nominated Robert Planck. Extras include a FitzPatric Traveltalk short, LOOKING AT LONDON, and a classic cartoon, WHAT PRICE FLEADOM.
The real treat of this set is THE PRISONER OF ZENDA in both the black-and-white 1937 David O. Selznick version and the 1952 Technicolor MGM film. Anthony Hope’s 1894 novel provides the basis for the classic double-role film, as Englishman Rudolph Rassendyll, vacationing in a Ruritanian country, is found to be a distant cousin and dead ringer for the hard-partying King Rudolph. When Rudolph is kidnapped by the villainous Black Michael and Rupert of Hentzau in an effort to take over the throne, the King’s loyalists engage Rassendyll to pose as the King. Ronald Colman is magnificent as Rassendyll/The King (he had played a dual role in the interesting and rare 1933 Sam Goldwyn production of THE MASQUERADER), with C. Aubrey Smith and a young David Niven as his confederates, and two wonderful villains in Raymond Massey (Michael) and an especially dashing Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (Rupert). Madeleine Carroll and Mary Astor provide the love interests. John (father of actor James) Cromwell directed (with an uncredited assist from Woody Van Dyke for the famous climactic Colman-Fairbanks duell); Selznick’s production is up to the high standards that would yield GONE WITH THE WIND and REBECCA within a few years, and this is really one of the great romantic adventures of the Golden Age, further blessed by the cinematography of James Wong Howe. The 1952 remake, directed by Richard Thorpe, is lushly filmed in Technicolor, and is practically a scene for scene redo, with Stewart Granger in the double role (a thankless task after Ronald Colman), with James Mason as Rupert and Deborah Kerr in the Carroll role. The 1937 film is on Side A of the disc with a Pete Smith short, PENNY WISDOM, the cartoon THE WAWARD PUPS, and a radio adaptation with Colman; the 1952 version is on Side B with the TravelTalk short LAND OF THE TAJ MAHAL and the Oscar-winning short JOHANN MOUSE.
Warner Home Video has hit upon another great theme (following FILM NOIR, CONTROVERSIAL CLASSICS, TOUGH GUY COLLECTION, and MOTION PICTURE MASTERPIECES) and let’s hope we see more LITERARY CLASSICS down the line.
WHV brings four features from four great European directors to DVD for the first time – Neil Jordan’s THE BUTCHER BOY (1998), Federico Fellini’s GINGER AND FRED (1986), Tony Richardson’s THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER (1962) and Nicolas Roeg’s PERFORMANCE (1970), all with new widescreen digital transfers. Pat McCabe’s best-selling novel provided the source material for THE BUTCHER BOY, one of Neil Jordan’s best (if sometimes bizarre) pictures in a career that has seen him alternate big-budget studio films like INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE and MICHAEL COLLINS with more personal works like THE CRYING GAME and BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (also from a McCabe novel). THE BUTCHER BOY falls into the latter category, a searing, quirky black comedy portrayal of a dysfunctional family starring Jordan perennial Stephen Rea and the phenomenal young Eamonn Owens, a terrific actor who has gone on to appear in ANGELA’S ASHES, THE MAGDALENE SISTERS and BREAKFAST ON PLUTO. Jordan is on hand for the DVD commentary. GINGER AND FRED is one of Fellini’s warmest movies, a nostalgic story about a popular retired dance team who had specialized in mimicking Astaire and Rogers reunited for a latter-day TV special. There are plenty of Fellini touches (and faces) and lots of humor, but the real joy in this movie is the casting of his two favorite actors, his wife Gulietta Massina (LA STRADA, NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, JULIET OF THE SPIRITS) and his alter-ego Marcello Mastroianni (LA DOLCE VITA, 8 ½, CITY OF WOMEN); Fellini’s entire career is represented between these two greats. This is not one of the Maestro’s all-time best, but with Massina and Mastroianni, what’s not to like? THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER comes from the late 50s-early 60s British cycle of “angry young man” films, a creative movement in literature, theatre, rock ‘n roll, and film centered on the alienation of working class English youth, the children of World War Two. Tony Richardson directed one of the first, LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1959), and Alan Sillitoe wrote one of the best, SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1961, John Lennon’s favorite film), and the pair teamed up for LONELINESS, a symbolic drama about the struggle between long distance runner Tom Courtenay and his school principal Michael Redgrave. Courtenay made a stunning screen debut, and went on to a career that included BILLY LIAR, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO and THE DRESSER. The long-awaited PERFORMANCE is one of the ultimate cult movies – on the surface a drama about a gangster (James Fox) who hides out in the home of a rock star (Mick jagger), but not-so-down deep a trippy, psychedelic compendium of cinematic pyrotechnics from eccentric master Donald Cammell co-directing with Nicolas Roeg. It’s a film that requires multiple viewings, and we can thank WHV for giving us the original uncut theatrical version (originally rated “X” back when MIDNIGHT COWBOY and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE garnered the same rating!) with all the sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll intact. Photography, editing, art direction, music from The Rolling Stones (“Memo from Turner”) and Randy Newman (a smashing cover of Crazy Horse’s “Gone Dead Train”) – Cammell brews them together like a mad alchemist to create one of the most original movies ever, unlike anything else you’ve ever seen. Roeg was an accomplished cinematographer (second unit on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, first unit on MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and PETULIA) when he joined forces with Cammell, a painter, on PERFORMANCE, which he also photographed. Roeg went on to direct WALKABOUT, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH and a series of interesting thrillers with wife Theresa Russell. Cammell only directed a couple of more features (including DEMON SEED and WHITE OF THE EYE) and some U2 videos before blowing his brains out in 1996. The PERFORMANCE DVD comes with new and vintage featurettes.
The second wave of Warners’ DVD Decision 2006, based on fans’ online Amazon.com voting, is in stores with Mervyn LeRoy’s staid Greer Garson-Walter Pidgeon biopic MADAME CURIE (1943); Michael Crichton’s sexy sci-fi LOOKER (1981) starring Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey and Leigh Taylor-Young; the adolescent martial arts adventure GYMKATA (1985) from director Robert Clouse (ENTER THE DRAGON) with gymnastics champ Kurt Thomas; and the dreadful Kirk Douglas-Faye Dunaway-Deborah Kerr triangle drama THE ARRANGEMENT (1969) in which the otherwise brilliant Elia Kazan, adapting his own best-seller, ill-advisedly adjusted his mise-en-scene to suit contemporary (and now very much dated) tastes. My favorite of the batch is Raoul Walsh’s perverse Civil War drama BAND OF ANGELS (1957), a typically lusty Walsh exercise finally available in its proper CinemaScope dimensions. Based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren (ALL THE KING’S MEN), it’s a delightfully overwrought melodrama with Clark Gable as a plantation owner who has raised slave Sidney Poitier as a son; when Southern belle Yvonne deCarlo is found to be part-African she’s put on the auction block and bought by Gable! In 1957 this was hot stuff; now it’s High Fifties Camp.
Last month’s Valentine’s Day releases from WHV present a nice blend of the old and the new. Vincente Minnelli’s THE CLOCK (1945) is a charming love story told in simple, direct fashion. It was Judy Garland’s first adult role; paired with the tragic Robert Walker, she gives one of her best performances as a Manhattan office worker who meets a G.I. on a two-day pass and engages in a whirlwind romance before he ships off to war. Garland and Walker have wonderful chemistry, and so do Garland and the director – they married shortly after filming ended. Rarely has New York City played such a significant role in a movie, as Minnelli insinuates the city into every frame of the movie, and has his sweethearts interact with a memorable cast of Gotham characters. The National Board of Review named THE CLOCK, a rare non-musical Arthur Freed production, one of the year’s Ten Best. The DVD includes a Pete Smith short, HOLLYWOOD SCOUT, and the Tex Avery cartoon SCREWY TRUANT. Ben Hecht was one of the great cynics of Hollywood, writing SCARFACE, THE FRONT PAGE, NOTHING SACRED, ANGELS OVER BROADWAY, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, NOTORIOUS, KISS OF DEATH, but once in a while he scripted an unabashed romance like WUTHERING HEIGHTS or GONE WIT THE WIND. His novella MIRACLE IN THE RAIN was turned into a feature film in 1956 by cinematographer-turned-director Rudolph Mate; like THE CLOCK it involves a romance between a New York secretary (Jane Wyman) and a soldier on leave (Van Johnson), but MIRACLE is a full-fledged five-hankie weepie, almost unbearably maudlin. A very young Alan King is on hand for a couple of scenes of comic relief, and there are some lovely Manhattan locations, including an extended sequence in Central Park (my father remembers seeing them filming). The disc includes two segments from the vintage WARNER BROS. PRESENTS TV series. Just a few years later, Warners had another huge hit with a very different love story, A SUMMER PLACE (1959), based in the wake of PEYTON PLACE on a steamy novel by Sloan Wilson. The unforgettable Max Steiner theme dominates an extremely well-crafted soap opera of illicit love. Delmer Daves was an extremely underrated director, equally adept at action (DESTINATION TOKYO, TASK FORCE), noir (DARK PASSAGE), and especially Westerns (BROKEN ARROW, JUBAL, 3:10 TO YUMA, COWBOY, THE HANGING TREE). While A SUMMER PLACE has a certain time capsule feel to it (not to mention a huge nostalgia quotient for 60-somethings), the movie stills holds up as compelling drama today thanks to Daves’ direction and a cast headed by Dorothy McGuire, Richard Egan, Arthur Kennedy, Constance Ford, and of course teen idols Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. BLUME IN LOVE (1973) is one of the best films from writer-director Paul Mazursky, a fantastic romantic comedy-drama about a guy (George Segal at his best) in love with his ex-wife (Susan Anspaugh) and in “like” with her new boyfriend (Kris Kristofferson). This is an incredibly charming and ultimately touching examination of human foibles in the face of love and loss, highly recommended for those who haven’t seen it or have forgotten how good it is. Joan Micklin Silver’s CROSSING DELANCEY (1988) is another complete charmer, with Amy Irving as a single professional in Manhattan at the mercy of her loving grandmother (Yiddish theatre veteran Reizl Bozyk) and a Lower East Side matchmaker (the hilarious Sylvia Miles). They try to set her up with the local pickle man (Peter Reigert) and the results are funny and heart-warming. It’s another winner.
UNIVERSAL has been steadily releasing more titles in its Cinema Classics line, opening their treasure trove of vintage Paramount and Universal pictures. THE HEIRESS (1949) and ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942) are new to DVD, while ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) and GOING MY WAY (1944) have been re-packaged. All look stunning in their new transfers. William Wyler’s THE HEIRESS is a special treat, an exquisite adaptation of the Ruth and Augustus Goetz play Washington Square, in turn based on the Henry James novella. Olivia deHavilland won her second Oscar (after TO EACH HIS OWN) for her performance as Catherine Sloper, the repressed daughter of emotionally abusive doctor (Ralph Richardson), courted by handsome young Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift). Wyler’s perfectionism and devotion to quality is evident in every frame, with its exceptional detail to the 1850 Old New York setting, brilliant staging within the townhouse set that makes up most of the film’s running time, and a musical score by no less an artist than Aaron Copland. And of course the acting here is just sensational (the NBR voted Richardson the Best Actor of 1949). THE HEIRESS is a must see classic for the ages, winner of four Oscars (actress, art direction, music, costume design) out of eight nominations (picture, director, supporting director, cinematography). Leo McCarey’s GOING MY WAY won seven Oscars for picture, director, actor (Bing Crosby), supporting actress (Barry Fitzgerald), original story, screenplay, song (“Swinging on a Star”) with nominations for cinematography and editing; it’s a beloved classic, with Bing’s Father O’Malley charming cantankerous Father Fitzgibbon (Fitzgerald) as he tries save St. Dominic’s Church from demolition. Incredibly, this was the first time an actor (Fitzgerald) was nominated for an Oscar in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor category.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, Lewis Milestone’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel, is more essential viewing. Just ten years after World War One, Milestone and producer Carl Laemmle, Jr. present the war from the German point-of-view, following a group of young men (headed by Lew Ayres) from classroom to trenches. It’s an epic production full of poetic touches, one of the great motion pictures of its time, presented here in its Library of Congress restoration. ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942) is good campy fun, directed by John Rawlins, pairing Jon Hall, Maria Montez and Sabu (the first of six Hall-Montez teamings), with Billy Gilbert, Turhan Bey, John Qualen and Shemp Howard in support. Walter Wanger’s production earned Academy Award nominations for cinematography, art direction, sound and music. All four of these Cinema Classics are introduced by TCM host Robert Osborne and include the theatrical trailers.
HOLLYWOODLAND (2006) was one of last year’s most underrated films, dealing with an incident well known to every baby boomer – the mysterious death of George “Superman” Reeves. Ben Affleck surprised critics and audiences with an excellent performance as Reeves, winning Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Director Allen Coulter (THE SOPRANOS, SEX AND THE CITY) did a marvelous job recreating 1950s Hollywood, and keeps Paul Bernbaum’s script absorbing. Diane Lane as Reeves’ lover, wife of MGM honcho Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), Adrian Brody as a private eye and Robin Tunney as a party girl all give excellent performances. I don’t want to spoil the film if you haven’t seen it, but the filmmakers offer compelling evidence as to what really happened with Reeves’ “suicide.” The DVD includes deleted scenes, several very good featurettes about making the movie, and a director’s commentary. Highly recommended.
So is Dreamworks Home Entertainment’s DVD of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (2006). With this and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, Clint Eastwood reached a directorial pinnacle last year with American and Japanese versions of the siege of Iwo Jima. FLAGS is based on James Bradley’s best-seller; Bradley’s father was one of the Marines who raised the flag over Iwo Jima. The movie tells the story of the men in the celebrated photograph, and the U.S. government’s subsequent propaganda use of the photo through a series of bond rallies. The ensemble cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Barry Pepper, and most memorably, Adam Beach as the tragic Pima Indian Ira Hayes. My only complaint with the movie-versus-the-book is that Clint focuses on the battle and the bond tour, but doesn’t spend too much time on getting to know the boys before the war; in the book, we spent an equal amount of time before, during and after the war, and consequently we had a greater emotional investment in the young men. Nevertheless, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is a mighty achievement, though overshadowed by the Eastwood masterpiece LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.
It’s only March but one of the DVDs-of-the-Year will undoubtedly be Disney’s two-disc Platinum Edition of PETER PAN (1951). Sir James Barrie’s fantasy adventure was the perfect source material for Walt Disney, at the height of his artistry when this picture was made, with Bobby Driscoll voicing Peter and Hans Conreid doing Captain Hook. It’s a classic adventure for the proverbial children of all ages, given the extravagant Disney DVD treatment. The company does something unique with its vintage animated features – in addition to all new digital restoration with enhanced picture and sound (and man, it looks and sounds sensational), restored theatrical soundtrack and an all-new 5.1 home theater mix, plus historical goodies like documentary footage of Walt himself explaining why he choose to make PETER PAN, deleted songs and a never-before seen alternate opening, the Disney folks add loads of stuff for the kids. They’ve created something called Camp Never Land, with multi-level games (Sudoku Challenge, Tarrrget Practice, Tinker Bell’s Fantasy Flight) and Peter Pan’s Virtual Flight taking you over the London skyline with the original Kid Who Won’t Grow Up. It’s one way to get the kids into the movie but the movie stands on its own merits, one of the finest animated achievements ever from Disney.
Beautiful blonde girl-next-door Alice Faye (1915-1998) was one of the greatest musical stars of the Golden Age, and 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment honors her with a terrific box set with four of her best features. Roy Del Ruth’s ON THE AVENUE (1937) pairs her with Dick Powell (on loan from Warners), although the female lead is technically the non-musical Madeleine Carroll. The slight story embroils the stars in a triangle romance in a Broadway setting, an excuse for comic shenanigans from the Ritz Brothers and songs by Irving Berlin (including “This Year’s Kisses,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “Slumming on Park Avenue”). Like so many vintage Hollywood pictures, a wonderful supporting cast of character actors adds to the fun – George Barbier, Alan Mowbray, Cora Witherspoon, Walter catlett, Douglas Fowley, Joan Davis, Stepin Fetchit, Sig Ruman and Billy Gilbert. The DVD has a restoration comparison and a deleted scene with the Ritz Brothers, Zanuck’s ultimately unsuccessful answer to the Marxes. Irving Cummings’ LILLIAN RUSSELL (1940) stars Alice in the title role as the famous Gay Nineties entertainer in a very good biopic, handsomely appointed with production and costume design. At the time the picture was made, the era it portrayed was within memory, akin to a movie made today set in the 1950s, so the nostalgia value ran high. Russell was also one of the first pop culture stars, awash in celebrity and high living, and a high-powered cast play her suitors – Henry Fonda, Don Ameche, Warren William,a nd Edward Arnold reprising his role of Diamond Jim Brady from 1935’s DIAMOND JIM.. Alice sings standards like “After the Ball,” “The Band Played On” and “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” as well as songs written specifically for the film (“Adored One,” “Blue Lovebird”). Once again we get a restoration comparison, plus a very good featurette about the real Lillian Russell. Cummings’ THAT NIGHT IN RIO (1941) is a quintessential Fox musical – garish Technicolor in an exotic locale with Faye and Ameche warbling songs by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. The formula would alternate Alice with Betty Grable and Ameche with John Payne, with backlot locations including Miami, Havana, Frisco and the Rockies. Without the resources or starpower of MGM, the Fox musicals had to rely on personality, and Alice Faye had plenty of it to spare, as did co-star Carmen Miranda. The RIO DVD again has restoration comparison, a featurette about Alice Faye, and a deleted Faye-Ameche number. Fox chieftain Darryl Zanuck, who had supervised Busby Berkeley musicals when he ran Warners in the early 30s, borrowed the director from Metro to direct THE GANG’S ALL HERE (1943), the notoriously campy musical starring Faye, Miranda, Phil Baker, and Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. Berkeley’s musical numbers (especially the lavish “Polka Dot Polka” finale) rate among his most outrageous. Not much in the way of story here, but who cares? This is kooky crazy Berkeley choreography at its best. Lots of extras on this one – commentary by USC film professor Drew Casper, featurettes on Berkeley and Faye, an excerpt from the Phil Harris-Alice Faye show, a deleted scene and a restoration comparison. Two years after this movie, Alice Faye retired from the screen at the height of her fame, only 30 years old, returned for the 1962 version of STATE FAIR, then again in the late Seventies. Thanks to TV revivals she never lost her fan base, and we can all enjoy her lighting up the screen in this box set.
What’s the best horror movie in the last 25 years? I say hands down it’s Jonathan Demme’s THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991). 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment now releases MGM DVD product, and they’ve done a smashing job with the two-disc Collectors Edition. I vividly remember the experience of seeing this movie for the first time in a packed theater, as FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) interrogates cannibalistic mastermind Hannibal Lechter (Anthony Hopkins) about a serial killer on the loose. One scene after another scared the hell out of the audience; by the climax with Foster face-to-face with psycho Ted Levine, the suspense was practically unbearable. Re-live that experience by watching this version in the dark – it still has the power to scare, far more than torture fests like the SAW movies. Demme’s direction is absolute perfection, manipulating us with a mise-en-scene that would have made Hitchcock proud. This was the first movie since 1934’s IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT to sweep the top five Oscars – Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay (Ted Tally, based on the Thomas Harris novel); it won NBR Awards for Best Film, Director, and Supporting Actor (Hopkins in this category unlike the Oscars). Special mention must also be made of Tak Fujimoto’s atmospheric cinematography, Craig McKay’s invisible editing, and Howard Shore’s evocative score. All the stops have been pulled out for this Collectors Edition, with hours of bonus features including five new documentaries, a vintage making-of featurette, 22 deleted scenes, more than 100 still photographs, TV spots, theatrical trailer and a promotional phone message from Anthony Hopkins.
Tony Bill’s World War One aviation epic FLYBOYS (2006) came and went last fall in theatres. That was a tremendous shame, because I think it was one of the best movies of the year. Home audiences are finding that out now with the 20th Century-Fox/MGM DVD, another two-disc Collectors Edition. Before the U.S. entered the war in 1917, a group of daring young men volunteered to fly for France in the Lafayette Escadrille, fighting German aces in flimsy bi-planes in brutal aerial dogfights. Many movies have celebrated the exploits and sacrifices of the WWI aviators – WINGS (1927) by William Wellman, an actual veteran of the Lafayette Flying Corps; Howard Hughes’ HELL’S ANGEL’S (1930), Howard Hawks’ THE DAWN PATROL (1930) and Edmund Goulding’s 1938 remake, Wellman’s MEN WITH WINGS (1938) and LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE (1958), Richard Fleischer’s THE BLUE MAX (1966). FLYBOYS is the first picture since Roger Corman’s VON RICHTOFEN AND BROWN (1971) to tackle the subject (other than a segment of Scorsese’s THE AVIATOR depicting the making of the Hughes’ film), and Tony Bill does complete justice to the genre. Certain clichés are unavoidable in these kinds of films, but Bill plays it straight, and he’s cast wisely, with James Franco, Martin Henderson and David Ellison as the fliers and Jean Reno their commandant. The director fills the movie with exciting action sequences, making for one of the best adventure movies in a long time. Bill and producer Dean Devlin provide audio commentary, there are making-of featurettes and a documentary about the real Lafayette Escadrille, deleted scenes, and a DVD-ROM game. People often say “They don’t make ‘em like they used to,” but FLYBOYS belies that thought.
SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT has a slew of great new recent releases, including some of the best pictures of 2006. The National Board of Review named Pedro Almodovar’s VOLVER as Best Foreign Film; his star Penelope Cruz was on hand at our January awards gala at Cipriani in New York to present his award. Another in a series of Pedro’s homage to women, this time he and Cruz channel Vittorio DeSica and Sophia Loren in a sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious, sometimes supernatural masterpiece. Special features include commentary from director and star, and making-of featurettes. Will Smith earned a Best Actor nomination for THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (2006), the true story of Chris Gardner, who against all odds triumphed over a broken marriage, eviction and poverty to raise his young son and become a success. It’s an inspirational tale that benefits from Smith’s great humanity and his love for real-life son Jaden Smith (wonderful here in his screen debut), and knowing direction by Gabriele Muccino, directing his first English-language film after his outstanding Italian dramas RICORDATI DI ME (2003) and L’ULTIMO BACI (2001). Muccino provides audio commentary, and there are featurettes on making the film in San Francisco, the father-son relationship of Will and Jaden, the real Chris Gardner, the Rubik’s Cube that figures in the plot, and a music video of the song “I Can.”
After co-writing films like PRIVATE BENJAMIN, BABY BOOM and FATHER OF THE BRIDE, Nancy Meyers has emerged as a true romantic comedy auteur, with WHAT WOMEN WANT, SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE and THE HOLIDAY (2006) some of the brightest examples of the genre in years. THE HOLIDAY is an absolute joy, with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swapping houses in Los Angeles and the British countryside, respectively, during the Christmas season after bad romantic break-ups. Cameron falls for Kate’s cousin Jude Law while Kate, with an assist from the delightful Eli Wallach, hooks up with Cameron colleague Jack Black. THE HOLIDAY is a wholly satisfying feel-good movie with fine performances by all, truly the perfect date movie. The DVD has a making-of featurette and audio commentary from writer-director Meyers with music composer Hans Zimmer, production designer Jon Hutman and editor Joe Hutshing.
The announcement of another ROCKY sequel wasn’t exactly met with the same anticipation of say, INDIANA JONES IV, but ROCKY BALBOA (2006) is an excellent movie, reuniting us with everyone’s favorite boxing underdog. Writer-director Sylvester Stallone adds a spiritual element to the franchise that is quite refreshing and the result is one of 2006’s finest entertainments. Burt Young returns as brother-in-law Paulie, but Adrian (Talia Shire) has passed to the Great Beyond; Rocky speaks to her grave like a character from a John Ford movie. Rocky runs an Italian restaurant and tells tall boxing tales about the old days, struggles to maintain a relationship with his grown son (Milo Ventimiglia), and falls for a neighborhood girl (Geraldine Hughes), but the crux of the story involves Rocky coming out of retirement to fight heavyweight champ Antonio Tarver. ROCKY BALBOA is a very pleasant surprise and a must for everyone with a warm spot in their heart for the Italian Stallion. There’s a Stallone audio commentary, a reel of boxing bloopers, deleted scenes and alternate ending, and featurettes on the production.
SPHE also dips into the Columbia catalogue for some goodies. David Lean planned to make a movie about the life of Mahatma Gandhi in the late 50s; when LAWRENCE OF ARABIA beckoned, Richard Attenborough inherited the project. Though he had the full cooperation of Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and the Indian government, it took Attenborough 20 years to get the film made. GANDHI (1983) is an epic in the Lean tradition, with the life of the great man of peace and non-violent protest in the foreground of the majestic story of India winning freedom from England. The film was honored with countless awards, including Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Actor (Ben Kingsley in the star-making titular role) and National Board of Review awards for film and actor. Twenty-five years later, the film is as good as ever, and this two-disc Collectors Edition is the definitive edition. At 191 minutes, GANDHI is a remarkable achievement, with a supporting cast including Martin Sheen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Candice Bergen (as photographer Margaret Bourke-White), and in a bit part, Daniel Day-Lewis as a South African bully. Extras include an introduction and audio commentary from Sir Richard Attenborough, an interview with Sir Ben Kingsley, vintage newsreel footage, and nine featurettes. Fred Zinnemann’s A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966) was another Oscar winner for Best Picture, as well as director and actor (Paul Scofield) and a National Board of Review winner for film, director, actor, and supporting actor (Robert Shaw). Zinnemann tells the story of Sir Thomas More, England’s Roman Catholic Chancellor, torn between his duty to the crown and his allegiance to the church when King Henry VIII (Shaw) demands a divorce. The screenplay by Robert Bolt (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO) is beautifully constructed, and Zinnemann balances Scofield’s austerity with Shaw’s bombast in an intensely dramatic battle between church and state. Orson Welles, Wendy Hiller, Susannah York and Leo McKern round out the cast. This is a beautiful, meaningful film, directed with a simplicity and purity that suits the subject. A featurette on the real Saint Thomas More is included.
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941) is a great Columbia comedy classic, directed by the neglected Alexander Hall (TORCH SINGER, MY SISTER EILEEN, BEDTIME STORY). Robert Montgomery is at his best as a prizefighter killed in a plane crash, given another chance to come back to earth and fight for the title. A fantastic supporting cast includes Claude Rains, James Gleason, Evelyn Keyes and Edward Everett Horton. This is one of the best of the so-called “White Magic” fantasy movies popular in the Forties (no doubt in reaction to the losses of World War Two) that include A GUY NAMED JOE, ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER, and the most famous of all, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. MR. JORDAN was nominated for Oscars for Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor (Gleason) and Cinematography and won for Story (Harry Segall) and Original Screenplay (Sidney Buchman, Seton I. Miller); it also made the National Board of Review’s Top Ten list.
Speaking of Columbia classics, Turner Classic Movies has licensed the Columbia catalogue from Sony and has begun broadcasting some terrific titles that have been absent from TV for years. The first titles aired include Hawks’ THE CRIMINAL CODE (1931), Rowland V. Lee’s THE GUILTY GENERATION (1931), Frank Capra’s DIRIGIBLE (1931), THE MIRACLE WOMAN (1931) and FORBIDDEN (1932), entries in the BOSTON BLACKIE, LONE WOLF and CRIME DOCTOR series, and John Cromwell’s THE GODDESS (1958), starring the “female Brando” Kim Stanley in one of her few feature films. Check your listings for more Columbias on TCM.
JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
|
