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20th CENTURY-FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT has been doing a sensational job releasing its catalogue titles on DVD. They also handle the MGM label and it’s under that imprimatur that vintage film fans are delighting in two new collections celebrating beloved Golden Age movie icon Gary Cooper and “Spaghetti Western” maestro Sergio Leone. GARY COOPER: MGM MOVIE LEGENDS COLLECTION is a must-have set with worthwhile films ranging across Coop’s career. Incredibly, his first major movie, the 1926 silent THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH is included here in a sparkling print. Unseen for years, it’s one of the great epics of the Twenties, set against the backdrop of the fight to bring water to the Southern California desert. The elaborate Samuel Goldwyn production, directed by Henry King, stars Goldwyn’s vastly popular silent stars Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, with Cooper in support as a ranch foreman. Discovered by King through a homemade screen test, the 25-year-old Coop exhibits the natural charm that would make him a superstar a year later when he was seen in a brief but unforgettable role in William Wellman aviation classic WINGS. The film itself boasts the typical high Goldwyn production polish, and a thrilling flood setpiece. It is just remarkable to me that rare gems like THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH, IN OLD ARIZONA (1929, from Fox), S.O.S. ICEBERG (1933, from Kino) and LADIES MAN (1931, on last year’s Carole Lombard collection from Universal) are actually available on DVD, but they are, and let’s have more of them, please!
The massive volume of fan mail sent to Cooper at Paramount caused the studio to sign him, and he starred in a long series of hits, including THE VIRGINIAN (1929), MOROCCO (1930), CITY STREETS (1931), IF I HAD A MILLION (1932), DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) and LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1935). In 1934 Cooper signed a deal that put him under dual contract to Samuel Goldwyn. This DVD collection includes two neglected films he made for the great producer. H.C. Potter’s THE COWBOY AND THE LADY (1938) is a romantic comedy pairing him with Merle Oberon; Walter Brennan (a frequent Coop sidekick, e.g. THE WESTERNER, MEET JOHN DOE, PRIDE OF THE YANKEES) and Patsy Kelly co-star. The title pretty much tells the story, as high society girl Merle falls for cowboy Coop. There’s a funny backstory to the film’s genesis – the great Leo McCarey, director of THE AWFUL TRUTH, LOVE AFFAIR, and GOING MY WAY, pitched the story to Goldwyn while under the influence, and the producer bought it on the spot for $50,000. The next day McCarey couldn’t remember the story and had to piece it together from witnesses! Cooper and Goldwyn also made the underrated adventure classic THE REAL GLORY (1939), directed by Henry Hathaway, who had already directed Coop in LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER and SOULS AT SEA. It’s a terrific slam-bang action tale set in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, with Cooper, David Niven and Broderick Crawford as outnumbered American soldiers fighting a Moro uprising. Hathaway directs in blood-and-thunder style with some genuinely exciting combat sequences.
By 1954, the 53-year-old Cooper had won two Oscars (for 1941’s SERGEANT YORK and 1952’s HIGH NOON) and become an iconic face of the United States (John Wayne would inherit that mantle). He teamed with young and virile Burt Lancaster for the violent, colorful Western VERA CRUZ, one of the first pictures directed by Robert Aldrich, who would go on to make genre classics like KISS ME DEADLY (1955), ATTACK! (1956), WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) and THE LONGEST YARD (1973). VERA CRUZ is a minor classic very much ahead of its time, set during the Mexican Revolution of 1866. With its gritty, sweaty look, ultra-violence (for its time) and cross-and-double cross plotting, it’s a clear forerunner to the Spaghetti Western craze of a decade later, and a film that very much influenced Sergio Leone.
But wait! There’s more Gary Cooper! 20th-Fox/MGM supplements this Gary Cooper collection with three more Goldwyn-produced titles and a fourth produced by Cooper himself. King Vidor’s THE WEDDING NIGHT (1935) was Cooper’s first for Goldwyn, a brilliant drama with Cooper and Helen Vinson as a sophisticated Manhattan couple patterned very much on Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. When the party life impacts on Coop’s writing, he and the missus repair to the Connecticut farmhouse he’s inherited. Vinson quickly heads back to the city while Cooper stays on to write a novel, falling under the spell of a charming, simple country girl, an immigrant Polish peasant played by the much maligned Goldwyn import Anna Sten. The rest of the story is sheer melodrama, but in the hands of Vidor (THE BIG PARADE, THE CROWD, THE CHAMP, STELLA DALLAS) it’s quality melodrama, highlighted by the superb cinematography of in-house Goldwyn cameraman Gregg Toland (CITIZEN KANE) and the always-present Goldwyn production values. Goldwyn’s ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO (1938), directed by Archie Mayo, is one of the few misfires of Cooper’s impressive career. The script underwent a battalion of writers and Coop is simply miscast as the 15th Century Italian explorer. It’s a visually impressive film (John Ford directed some second unit exteriors), Basil Rathbone is always fun, and a very young Lana Turner has a bit as one of the palace concubines, but it definitely falls into the so-bad-it’s-good category.
Not so with Howard Hawks’ BALL OF FIRE (1941) one of the great screwball comedies of the era, with a screenplay written by no less a comedy genius than Billy Wilder with partner Charles Brackett (Wilder’s last script before directing his own first feature THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR). It is essential viewing, a modern day re-telling of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES. Barbara Stanwyck is Sugarpuss O’Shea, the stripper girlfriend of gangster Joe Pastrami (Dana Andrews). When she’s forced to go on the lam, she insinuates herself into the stuffy mansion workplace of seven dotty professors writing an encyclopedia. Cooper plays Bertram Potts, studying slang; the wonderful supporting cast of professors includes Richard Haydn, S.Z. Sakall (CASABLANCA), Oscar Homolka (SABOTAGE) and Henry Travers (“Clarence” in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE). If you haven’t seen BALL OF FIRE you are guaranteed to fall in love with this movie. Interestingly, during the same year, Cooper worked with Stanwyck (on MEET JOHN DOE) and with Hawks (on SERGEANT YORK). BALL OF FIRE, MEET JOHN DOE and his Best Actor Oscar-winning SERGEANT YORK, all from 1941, demonstrate Cooper’s great artistry and versatility. Finally, there’s CASANOVA BROWN (1944), a minor but entertaining Cooper vehicle that was slightly racy at the time, as Coop discovers he’s a father. There are the usual fish out of water gags with Coop playing “mother” to the baby, a fun performance from Frank Morgan (THE WIZARD OF OZ), and the charming Teresa Wright (PRIDE OF THE YANKEES) as his love interest. Cooper and Nunnally Johnson produced, enlisting director Sam Wood, who had directed Coop in PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS and SARATOGA TRUNK. The most eagerly awaited DVD release of the year HAS to be THE SERGIO LEONE ANTHOLOGY, originally planned as an MGM release, then a Sony release when they took over MGM, and now finally and gladly, 20th has released it in all of its glory. They have done a spectacular job here, collecting remastered versions of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964), its sequel FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965), the completely restored THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966), and the lesser known Leone masterpiece DUCK, YOU SUCKER (1972). Each film comes with an accompanying disc loaded with extra features. There were hundreds of so-called Spaghetti Westerns made in Spain by Italian directors in the Sixties; FISTFUL wasn’t the first, but it was the one that put the genre on the map. Leone “borrowed” the plotline from Kurosawa’s YOJIMBO (1961) and cast American TV actor Clint Eastwood, the star of the series RAWHIDE, as The Man with No Name, an enigmatic bounty hunter with no discernible morals or conscience, who plays two warring gunfighter families against the other. Leone originally wanted Henry Fonda, James Coburn or Charles Bronson (all of whom he would later work with), Eastwood only did it for a trip to Italy; on original prints Leone’s credit read “Directed by Bob Robertson”; Eastwood borrowed his poncho from the RAWHIDE costume department … and much to everyone’s surprise, the low-budget A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS became a huge international hit, making Eastwood a global star, and Leone (who quickly restored his real name to the credits) an auteur to reckon with. The Man with No Name became a Sixties icon as recognizable as Sean Connery’s James Bond. Dirty, gritty, unapologetic, the film rejuvenated a very tired genre … with its success due in no small measure to the incredible musical score by Ennio Morricone, a component that lifted all of Leone’s work into sheer opera. For the sequel, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, Leone threw a second bounty hunter into the mix – Lee Van Cleef, an experienced character actor with Hollywood credits in such Westerns as Zinneman’s HIGH NOON (1952), Sturges’ GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL (1957), Mann’s THE TIN STAR (1957), King’s THE BRAVADOS (1958), Boetticher’s RIDE LONESOME (1959), the Hathaway-Ford-Marshall HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962) and Ford’s THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962). These were movies that Leone knew intimately. The director digested all these Westerns and more and possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre, giving him the artistic authority to turn the genre on its head. Eastwood and Van Cleef – it was a great combo in a great movie. The restoration on this title is impeccable, and rewards the viewer with repeat viewings. Leone’s Civil War epic THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) is included as well, the same fully restored version that’s been available for a couple of years. No less a genre authority than Quentin Tarantino has called this the best directed movie ever, and it certainly represented a new high for Leone. This time Eastwood and Van Cleef were joined by the irrepressible Eli Wallach (the NBR’s 2006 Career Achievement honoree; see my interview with him in the February 2007 edition of this column). The real treat of THE SERGIO LEONE ANTHOLOGY is DUCK, YOU SUCKER, a mucho neglected Western that went through a series of title changes, including A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE and the most appropriate, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE REVOLUTION. Rod Steiger (in a role intended for Eli Wallach) plays a Mexican bandit-turned-rebel, with James Coburn as an explosives expert on the run from the Irish “troubles.” As loaded with action and excitement as Leone’s previous work, DUCK hinges on the volatile relationship between the two men; as always,
Morricone’s music becomes a character in the film.
Extras abound in THE SERGIO LEONE ANTHOLOGY. Sir Christopher Frayling provides fascinating audio commentary on all four titles; his book Something to Do with Death is the definitive Leone study. All the films include comprehensive documentaries as well. When A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS had its network TV premiere in the late 70s, the network hired Monte Hellman to direct a prologue in which Harry Dean Stanton as lawman sending The Man with No Name out on a mission to stop the bad guys. It only aired once and was beta-taped by a fan; it’s included here along with interviews with Hellman and Stanton. Both FISTFUL and its sequel include interviews with Eastwood and a then-and-now location comparison, and many radio spots. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY include 18 minutes of deleted footage, deleted scenes, a piece on the re-construction of the audio re-recording, a poster gallery, and a featurette on Morricone. DUCK, YOU SUCKER has radio spots, location comparisons, and a great featurette about last year’s Leone exhibit at the Gene Autry Western museum in Los Angeles.
Fox has also put together the TYRONE POWER COLLECTION, another must-have set. Rouben Mamoulian’s BLOOD AND SAND (1941), a remake of the 1922 Valentino bullfighting saga, teams Power with Rita Hayworth and Linda Darnell. Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan won a well-deserved Oscar for their stunning color cinematography, and director of photography Richard Crudo gives a detailed audio commentary on the subject. SON OF FURY: THE STORY OF BENJAMIN BLAKE (1942), directed by John Cromwell (father of James), is a superb swashbuckler, thanks to an intelligent Philip Dunne screenplay, with Power as a disinherited 18th Century aristocrat consigned to a South Seas island. The exceptional supporting cast includes Gene Tierney, Frances Farmer, George Sanders, Roddy MacDowall, John Carradine and Elsa Lanchester. The disc includes a track isolating Alfred Newman’s marvelous score, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Henry King’s Technicolor CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947) is the gem of this set, a severely underrated period picture with Power as a refugee from the Spanish Inquisition, joining Cortes’ expedition to conquer Mexico and the Aztecs. The luscious Jean Peters (a future Mrs. Howard Hughes) makes her screen debut as the peasant girl devoted to Power and Cesar Romero gives the performance of his career as Cortes. There’s a commentary track with the great film historian Rudy Behlmer and colleagues Jon Burlingame and Nick Redman, an isolated Alfred Newman score (one of his best, and Oscar-nominated), and a featurette on Tyrone Power’s leading ladies. King’s THE PRINCE OF FOXES (1949) is another outstanding film, set in Renaissance Italy, filmed on location, with Power pitted against the evil Cesare Borgia, played with customary relish. The costumes and sets cry out for Technicolor, but it’s still a lush-looking black-and-white classic thanks to Leon Shamroy’s Oscar-nominated cinematography. There’s another isolated Alfred Newman music score, and a Movietone News clip of Power’s marriage to Linda Christian. Henry Hathaway’s THE BLACK ROSE (1950) is an epic adventure set during the Crusades, with Orson Welles in his glory as a Mongol warrior, and Jack Hawkins in able support. Jack Cardiff’s color cinematography is especially noteworthy, shooting on location in Morocco. A featurette reuniting Power’s daughters and son, and wife Linda Christian is included. Power was one of the greatest stars of the Forties and Fifties; a fixture at 20th Century-Fox, he made 39 movies there between 1936 and 1957, helping build the Darryl Zanuck-run studio into a major film factory. Tragically, he died at the age of 44 while filming King Vidor’s SOLOMON AND SHEBA (1959), a wonderful actor as well as one of the most handsome matinee idols of all time. There are lots more Power films in the Fox vaults awaiting DVD release, and hopefully this collection’s success will merit further sets.
20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment does yet another fantastic job with THE SAND PEBBLES (1966). Steve McQueen, in his finest performance, plays a sailor on the U.S.S. San Pablo, patrolling the Yangtze River in 1926, as revolution swirls around the ship; the “Yankee Go Home” attitude of the Chinese rebels clearly paralleled the era’s Vietnam War. It is also director Robert Wise’s finest hour, coming off the critical and commercial successes of WEST SIDE STORY (1961), TWO FOR THE SEESAW (1962) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965). We get a two-disc set here, with a beautifully restored 183-minute theatrical version on one disc, and the rarely shown, unrestored roadshow version, running 196 minutes on the other. Again there are lots of cool extras – audio commentary from Wise and actors Candice Bergen, Richard Crenna and Oscar nominee Mako; isolated Jerry Goldsmith score with audio commentary from historians Nick Redman, Jon Burlingame and screenwriter Lem Dobbs; an intro to the roadshow version by Wise and producer Richard Zanuck; a slew of contemporary and new featurettes and documentaries, and even a reprint of the Mad magazine spoof “Sam Pebbles”! This is the ultimate Steve McQueen movie (he was nominated for his only Oscar, losing to Paul Scofield’s A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS), a brilliant, thoughtful, intelligent historical epic.
WARNER HOME VIDEO presents a second group of Directors Showcase DVDs: Sidney Lumet’s PRINCE OF THE CITY (1981), Alan Myerson’s STEELYARD BLUES (1972), Ulu Grosbard’s STRAIGHT TIME (1978) and John Badham’s WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY? (1981). Of this batch, I’ve only previewed PRINCE OF THE CITY (STRAIGHT TIME is a must, with one of Dustin Hoffman’s best performances). PRINCE cast Treat Williams and a huge cast of terrific NYC character actors (126 speaking parts including Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban, Lindsay Crouse) in the true story of an NYPD detective who cooperates in an investigation of corrupt cops. It’s a dense and powerful film, one of the best of the 80s, with 130 locations presenting a mean and gritty New York City. Williams is simply terrific, as is the whole cast down to the smallest bit role. It’s a picture that seems to be overshadowed by Lumet’s SERPICO (1973) and DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975), but there are many riches to be mined here. Special features include a new documentary, PRINCE OF THE CITY: THE REAL STORY.
WHV is the leader in DVD box sets of vintage titles, and their new releases maintain the high standards they’ve established. The LUCILLE BALL FILM COLLECTION reminds is there’s more to the redhead legend than I LOVE LUCY, with six movies spanning her film career. DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940) is something of a cult film, a backstage musical drama notable for the feminist attitudes of director Dorothy Arzner, one of the few women directors of Golden Age Hollywood. Ball and Maureen O’Hara play serious dancers; while O’Hara remains true to the ballet, Ball moonlights as burlesque queen Tiger Lily White. The disc includes the 1940 Warner Bros. cartoon MALIBU BEACH PARTY and the 1940 WB short JUST A CUTE KID. THE BIG STREET (1942) gives Lucy an atypical role as a nasty gold digger, especially cruel to the busboy (Henry Fonda) who worships her. It’s a moving fable based on a story by Damon Runyon (GUYS AND DOLLS), full of quirky Runyonesque characters. Extras include the vintage musical short CALLING ALL GIRLS (1942) and the classic cartoon THE HEP CAT (1942). These two movies wrapped up Ball’s RKO contract, and she moved to MGM, where one of her best vehicles was Roy Del Ruth’s DuBARRY WAS A LADY (1943), a delightful nightclub musical from the Arthur Freed unit, co-starring Red Skelton, Gene Kelly, Zero Mostel, and Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with songs from the original Cole Porter Broadway score, “Friendship,” “Katie Went to Haiti,” and “Do I Love You?” The movie is super fun, lavishly produced, and gorgeously photographed by the legendary Karl Freund (METROPOLIS, DRACULA, THE GOOD EARTH … and ten years later, I LOVE LUCY). And you have to see Zero Mostel, 25 years before Mel Brooks’ THE PRODUCERS, doing a hilarious impersonation of Charles Boyer in ALGIERS, plus a slammin’ swing tune, “Can I Git It” by Dorsey and the boys. Lucy and Bob Hope play the domestic comedy straight in Don Weis’ CRITIC’S CHOICE (1963), based on a popular play by Ira Levin (NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS, DEATHTRAP). The cute comedy casts Hope and Ball as a married couple; he’s a famous theatre critic set to review a new play, which he doesn’t know has been written by Lucy. It’s a mildly diverting entertainment; the disc has a vintage comedy short, CALLING ALL TARS (1935), starring Hope three years before his first feature, and the Oscar-nominated cartoon NOW HEAR THIS. Finally, there’s Lucy in the title role of the wealthy eccentric MAME (1974), based on the hit Broadway musical by Jerry Herman, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee in turn based on AUNTIE MAME. Robert Preston, Bea Arthur, Bruce Davison and Joyce Van Patten co-star; songs include “We Need a Little Christmas” and “If He Walked into My Life,” and there’s a vintage featurette. Let’s just say this one’s for hardcore Lucy fans. The KATHARINE HEPBURN 100th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION honors the actress on the anniversary of her 100th birthday with six films all new to DVD, spanning her whole career. A year after making her screen debut in A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT, Hepburn won her first Oscar for Lowell Sherman’s MORNING GLORY (1933), playing an aspiring actress who tries to make it on the Great White Way. Adolphe Menjou, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and C. Aubrey Smith co-star. While the film is dated for modern audiences (except for vintage Broadway buffs), Hepburn is always interesting to watch, and the movie itself contrasts nicely with the similarly themed but much better STAGE DOOR (1937, also available from WHV). The disc includes a vintage Pete Smith short and a Bosko cartoon. George Cukor’s SYLVIA SCARLETT (1936) is the notorious cult movie with Hepburn in disguise as a boy for most of the film, co-starring opposite Cary Grant for the first time (their other classics were BRINGING UP BABY, HOLIDAY and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY). While the movie was a famous failure at the time, it was an important role for Grant, perhaps the first film that showcased the Cary Grant persona audiences would come to know and love. There’s a vintage Fitzpatrick TravelTalk short on Los Angeles and the classic cartoon ALIAS ST. NICK. I’m happy DRAGON SEED (1944), based on the Pearl Buck, is included even though it’s something of an embarrassment, with Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon and a cast of Caucasian actors playing Chinese peasants, their features taped to simulate Asian characteristics. The story is compelling and the production values noteworthy, and the picture important as an historical propaganda curio. The Screwy Squirrel cartoon HAPPY GO NUTTY and the vintage short ROMANCE OF CELLULOID is included. The highlight of the collection is the terrific, rarely revived film noir UNDERCURRENT (1946), beautifully directed by Vincente Minnelli. The psychological thriller casts Hepburn and Robert Taylor as newlyweds; he tells her his long-lost brother (Robert Mitchum in one of his first starring roles) is a psychopath but she starts to believe that he’s the psycho. Extras include the vintage Oscar-nominated short TRAFFIC WITH THE DEVIL and the classic cartoon LONESOME LENNY. Harold Bucquet’s WITHOUT LOVE (1945) is another welcome addition, the least known Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn picture, brightened by their marvelous chemistry. It’s a wonderful romantic comedy inspired by THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943), with the stars helping with the wartime housing shortage. Lucille Ball, Keenan Wynn and Gloria Grahame co-star; the team responsible for THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart and playwright Philip Barry provide the story and screenplay. Hepburn made the tenth and final collaboration with her close friend George Cukor with a charming TV version of Emlyn Williams’ play about a teacher in an early 1900s Welsh mining community, previously filmed in 1945 with Bette Davis in the starring role. The WORLD WAR TWO COLLECTION VOL. 2 is one of the best of the year, with six terrific war movies. Howard Hawks’ great AIR FORCE (1943) has an ensemble cast (John Garfield, Harry Carey, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy) but the real star is the Mary Ann, a B-17 bomber on its way from San Francisco to Honolulu on December 6, 1941 … arriving just in time for the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. The charts the crew’s life on the B-17, with fantastic dog fights that directly inspired George Lucas’ starship dogfights in STAR WARS (1977). The disc includes the Oscar-nominated Technicolor short drama WOMEN AT WAR, and two WWII propaganda cartoons, FIFTH COLUMN MOUSE and SLAP HAPPY DAFFY. Mervyn LeRoy’s THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944) is another stunner, with Spencer Tracy as Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, orchestrating the famous aerial raid on Tokyo in 1942. van Johnson, Robert Walker and Robert Mitchum excel as US pilots forced to crash land in Japanese-held China after the successful bombing attack (the film won an Oscar for its still effective special effects. There are three shorts on this disc – the Oscar-nominated Pete Smith specialty MOVIE PESTS, the Passing Parade short A LADY FIGHTS BACK, and the cartoon BEAR RAID WARDEN. Phil Karlson’s HELL TO ETERNITY (1960) was perhaps the most graphic American war film to date, with lots of blood and FX squibs, and a provocative-at-the-time striptease scene. The sex and violence made this a memorable film for fanboys like me who saw it when they were kids (I seem to remember seeing this movie with my grandmother at the Walker Theater in Bensonhurst when I was only six or seven). Jeffrey Hunter (John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS, THE LAST HURRAH, SERGEANT RUTLEDGE) stars in this true story as Guy Gabaldon, raised by a Japanese-American family in Los Angeles before the war, learning fluent Japanese. He sees his adoptive family incarcerated in American concentration camps before joining the Marines and seeing combat on Saipan, where he single-handedly captured 800 Japanese. Sam Wood’s COMMAND DECISION (1949) is a stage-bound military drama, revealing its stage origins, but still eminently watchable for a few good aerial scenes and some dramatic confrontations debating strategy in the war room. The all-star cast includes Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, John Hodiak and Edward Arnold. The disc includes one of the best Tex Avery cartoons, the surreal KING SIZE CANARY and a Passing Parade short, SOUVENIRS OF DEATH. George Seaton’s 36 HOURS (1964) is an intriguing thriller with James Garner as an amnesiac trying to remember the plans for D-Day, thinking it’s 1950; it’s really 1944 and he actually in a fake hospital set up by the Nazis to learn the Allies’ secrets. Eva Marie Saint and Rod Taylor co-star. Sidney Lumet’s THE HILL (1965) is another gem in this collection, a heavy-duty drama about British soldiers confined to a disciplinary camp in the Libyan desert. Sean Connery, in the midst of his James Bond success, proved he was an actor to reckon with here, ably supported by Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Ian Hendry and Ossie Davis. A vintage featurette is included.
In my opinion, ROOTS (1977) is the greatest mini-series in TV history, an event that had a lasting impact on our culture. The small-screen adaptation of Alex Haley’s novel about the tragedy of African-American slavery through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to emancipation established the mini-series as a format and is still an intensely moving experience. Consider these stats: 100 million viewers, nearly half of our nation, tuned in for the finale. An amazing 85% of all TV homes saw all or part of the series, and the show won nine Emmys. WHV has released ROOTS: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION and it’s a wonderful package with several documentaries and cast commentaries. It’s still a tremendous work (even if the East Coast settings were clearly filmed on arid Southern California hills and valleys). And what a cast – LeVar Burton as young Kuta Kinte, John Amos as Kuta as an adult, Maya Angelou, Moses Gunn, Ed Asner, Louis Gossett Jr., Lorne Greene, Lynda Day George, Vic Morrow, Raymond St. Jacques, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Leslie Uggams, MacDonald Carey, George Hamilton, Ian McShane, Lillian Randolph, Richard Roundtree, Ben Vereen, George Stanford Brown, Lloyd Bridges, Doug McClure, Burl Ives, Chuck Connors, Yvonne deCarlo, Richard Farnsworth, Brion James, Yaphet Kotto, Olivia Cole and O.J. Simpson(!).
WHV also has two sitcom sets to delight Baby Boomers. WELCOME BACK KOTTER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON collects the first 22 episodes of what has to be one of the dumbest shows ever. Yet I find myself laughing at the antics of teacher Gabe Kaplan and his Brooklyn “sweathogs” and the show was a huge hit so they must have done something right. Check out a young James Woods in one of the very first episodes as stuffy debate team coach. There’s a very good documentary and the original screen tests of the kids … including a fascinating John Travolta as a pre-Vinnie Barbarino “Eddie Barbarini”. His acting is way over-the-top but there’s no denying he had awesome star charisma. F TROOP: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON heralds the transition of the soldiers of Fort Courage from black and white to color, with guest stars including Milton Berle, Harvey Korman, and especially Vincent Price as a vampire. Regulars Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Ken Berry and Frank DeKova were excellent comedians; both KOTTER and F TROOP have warm spots in the hearts of all Boomers.
UNIVERSAL: Billy Ray’s SHATTERED GLASS (2005) showed a directorial talent to respect; he tops himself with BREACH (2007), based on the true story of the biggest security breach in U.S. history. This is one of the best films of the year so far; the film, Ray, and stars Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney should all be remembered at Oscar time … but probably won’t, since the Academy seems to only consider movies released between October and December. Besides great performances and perfect direction, BREACH is loaded with suspense and smarts. Most deleted scenes included on DVDs aren’t missed from the final cut; the deleted scenes included here work as good as anything in the movie. There’s also a commentary from Ray, alternate scenes, documentaries, and an episode from Dateline about the real “mole.” Highly recommended.
HBO: LONGFORD (2006), directed by Tom Hooper (HBO’s ELIZABETH I) is a scintillating true story about a young woman (Samantha Morton) who committed the heinous murders of five children on the English moors in 1967, and a British aristocrat (Jim Broadbent), a devout Christian, who fought for penal rights of prisoners. Peter Morgan (THE QUEEN, LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) has a knack for bringing telling detail and searing characterization to real-life dramas and LONGFORD is no exception (it was honored with three BAFTAs, for Broadbent, Morgan and the editing). The story has some real surprises and Hooper handles the narrative beautifully. Broadbent, Samantha Morton and Andy Serkis (the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, KING KONG) do some of the best work of their careers, and the movie is well worth a look. Tom Hooper is a brilliant director and I eagerly look forward to his JOHN ADAMS miniseries for HBO. THE HARD WAY (2007) is an above average heist movie; we’ve seen it a million times before, and there’s nothing really outstanding about the picture but the cast does make it entertaining: Henry Thomas, David Boreanz, Nick Lachey, Vera Farmiga, Bruce Dern, Peter Weller, and Gary Busey. There’s a commentary with director Ari Ryan and producer Scott Gold, bloopers, and behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew. Of the ultra low-budget CREEPSHOW III (2007) … well, let’s just that I and II were significantly better (and CREEPSHOW II wasn’t that good) – unless you’re a horror freak who has to see EVERYTHING. All others, beware.
BUENA VISTA: Buena Vista’s PRIMEVAL (2007) is a giant crocodile monster movie; only this is based on a true story! Nicknamed Gustave, this legendary 25-foot man-eating croc actually terrorized the backwaters of an African nation. Director Michael Katleman doesn’t insult our intelligence as he keeps the film fast-paced, suspenseful, and occasionally scary as hell, packed with an ominous atmosphere of dread and anxiety. I fell off my couch at one fright in the river that involves a kid retrieving a toy. Bonus features include audio commentary by Katleman and visual effects supervisor Paul Linden, deleted scenes, and a “croc-umentary” about the making of the film
PARAMOUNT: HUSTLE AND FLOW director Craig Brewer avoids the sophomore jinx with an exceptional second feature, the Faulkneresque melodrama BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2007), featuring stellar work by Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake. The atmosphere drips with a Deep Southern Gothic vibe a la Faulkner and Tennessee Williams, and Brewer once again demonstrates his special affinity for using music in film; hip hop in HUSTLE AND FLOW, and the blues in BLACK SNAKE MOAN. Documentaries, director commentary and deleted scenes are included. Also from Paramount are collectors’ editions of two of Eddie Murphy’s best, both directed by John Landis, TRADING PLACES (1983) and COMING TO AMERICA (1988). They include lots of fun extras, including new and vintage documentaries and interviews; I’m partial to TRADING PLACES, with Murphy and Dan Aykroyd switching lives and lifestyles through the evil machinations of the wonderfully villainous Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche.
CODE BLACK: Craig DiBona has been a fixture on the New York scene for years, operating many films for master cinematographers Gordon Willis, Vittorio Storaro and Owen Roizman, and himself serving as director of photography on a season of OZ, two seasons of HACK, a season of JONNY ZERO, and my Ben Gazzara feature BLUE MOON. There isn’t a shot he hasn’t executed (like the incredible opening of CARLITO’S WAY), and his list of credits is staggering – the Cassavetes GLORIA, A BRONX TALE, GODFATHER III, DIE HARD III, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES, AWAKENINGS, TOOTSIE, MEET JOE BLACK, YOU’VE GOT MAIL, THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, PRIZZI’S HONOR.
Now Craig has brought all that experience to directing his first feature film (which he also photographed), the poetic drama RAIN (2006). Based on one of the V.C. Andrews series of novels, adapted by Andrew Neiderman (author of the novel THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, and ghostwriter for the late Andrews these past 20 years), RAIN is a heartwarming story that never gets schmaltzy, with Brooklyn Sudano (daughter of Donna Summer) as a musical prodigy raised by an African-American family who discovers she is the daughter of a rich socialite. She goes to live with a wealthy relation (Faye Dunaway) and pursues her musical dreams Di Bona tells the simple story in a simple way, letting the emotions of the material dictate his directorial choices. As one would expect from such a fine cinematographer, his camera is always in the right place, and matches the feel of the story with warm tones. He also knows a thing or two about actors, and elicits beautiful performances from Dunaway, the great Robert Loggia, Giancarlo Esposito, Khandi Alexander (CSI MIAMI) and especially Sudano, who, if RAIN is any indication, has a bright future indeed. The DVD comes packaged with a new Rain novel. These books and this character have a huge fan base, and DiBona and Company have done an admirable job in remaining faithful to those fans; if you’re unfamiliar with them, the movie works on its own merits as a well-made, engaging and entertaining motion picture.
THEATRE: I saw a wonderful new Off-Broadway play, THE DESIRE, written and directed by Jackie Alexander, running at Brooklyn’s Billie Holiday Theatre through June 24. This comedy-drama really has it all – a wonderful story that operates on several levels, scintillating dialogue, compelling direction, a fantastic cast. The play takes place at the East Hampton beach house of Ty Jenkins, an ambitious African-American attorney on the verge of a partnership at a prestigious law firm. Over the course of a weekend, life suddenly gets very complicated as he juggles a marital engagement and an affair, a dinner party with his boss and the boss’ wife, and the unexpected arrival of his salt-of-the-earth cousin, a refugee from Hurricane Katrina, who may or may not also be an escaped criminal. This six-character play is tight as a drum, eleven perfectly constructed scenes balancing serious issues like fidelity, family, race and government failure re Katrina with character-driven humor that had the audience howling gleefully in between the dramatic stretches.
As Ty, Wendell B. Franklin is the anchor that holds down the piece, and he is ably supported by Kerri Miller as the girlfriend and especially Kellie E.McCants as the fiancée; her suspicions about “the other woman” are among the play’s joys. Shane Taylor has the juicy role of Ty’s cousin Willie, and he makes the most of every minute he’s on stage, including an hilarious rendition of Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” that brought down the house. Anthony Sandkamp is perfectly cast as Ty’s boss Bob, and, as she did as the “awards girl” at the NBR Awards Gala in January, gorgeous Heidi Kristoffer lights up the stage with pure starshine as Bob’s wife Marlene; she gives life to what could easily just be a stereotype as a country club spouse. Among the show’s highlights are her meeting with Willie, and their interaction as he tells of his experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Jackie Alexander is also a filmmaker (he wrote, directed and acted in the award-winning indie JOY), and THE DESIRE has all the makings of a terrific movie. In the meantime, the play could easily withstand a move to Broadway (www.thebillieholiday.org).
JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
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