Knight at HOME at the Movies
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
A Bounty of Boxed Sets
This batch of boxed sets offers something for every taste -- from the oh-so literate, prosaic Tennessee Williams collection
to several of the offbeat and little seen Altman films, to a trio of Lucy-Desi delights, and finally for the TV buffs, a 3-disc
Merv Griffin set that puts the viewer into a time tunnel backward to the heyday of the daytime talk show. There's enough
here to keep you occupied until next week's recommendations!
This batch of boxed sets offers something for every taste -- from the oh-so literate, prosaic Tennessee Williams collection
to several of the offbeat and little seen Altman films, to a trio of Lucy-Desi delights, and finally for the TV buffs, a 3-disc
Merv Griffin set that puts the viewer into a time tunnel backward to the heyday of the daytime talk show. There's enough
here to keep you occupied until next week's recommendations!
The masterful plays of gay writer Tennessee Williams which took Broadway by storm
beginning in the mid-40s did not always transfer quite so successfully to the screen. The
homoerotic element present in all of Williams work (and I am prepared to take on
challengers who quibble with this assertion) was freely expressed on the stage. But these
elements were often trimmed, altered or reimagined when most of his great plays were
adapted by Hollywood throughout the morally rigid 50s and early 60s. But Williams'
fascination with brute male sexuality and the inability of many of his characters to
withstand its force, nevertheless, slipped under the radar of the censors and arrived intact
in the movies. Warner Home Video has now collected six of the Williams movies that
each exhibit elements of this carnality in their Tennessee Williams Collection.
The set kicks off with the one true film masterpiece made from his plays. This, of course,
is A Streetcar Named Desire, the 1951 movie that brought Marlon Brando forever into the
public consciousness and won Oscars for just about everyone connected with it (except
Brando who lost to Humphrey Bogart). There's no denying the physical beauty and
unbelievable animal magnetism of Brando. One look at him in his sweaty t-shirt is to
understand Kim Hunter's carnal surrender (and the audiences, too). Brando's brutish
sensuality, his breathtaking good looks and muscular physique signaled the arrival of a
new kind of masculinity on screen (one that continues to this day). Rough trade had
finally made it out of the underground of Kenneth Anger and onto the big screen.
Beautifully shot, acted, and scored by the tremendous Alex North, the movie was truly
ground breaking in its frank treatment of the pleasures of the flesh over starry eyed
romance. Warner's 2-disc set includes a feature length Kazan career bio, a raft of new
featurettes, commentaries and more -- including the rare Brando screen test. Highly
recommended.
That just scratches the surface as the set also includes the gothic melodrama-comedy,
the quirky Baby Doll (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) that features plenty of fireworks
between Elizabeth Taylor in her white slip and Paul Newman as her closeted gay husband,
trying to drown the memories of his love for his late "close friend" Skipper with lots of
whiskey. Burl Ives and Judith Anderson offer memorable support as Big Daddy and Big
Mama. Newman returned for Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) as the ultimate male hustler,
Chance Wayne to Geraldine Page's delicious Hollywood diva, Alexandra DeLago but
though Vivien Leigh is mesmerizing in one of her last roles, she fails to connect with
Warren Beatty (and his shaky Italian accent) in the overheated Roman Spring of Mrs.
Stone (1961) the previous year. Finally, Ava Gardner plays a sexy, good natured version
of herself in The Night of the Iguana (1964) opposite defrocked priest Richard Burton,
Deborah Kerr, and Oscar nominated Grayson Hall (later of "Dark Shadows" fame) as Sue
Lyon's closeted lesbian protector.
Each of these titles, many coming to DVD for the first time, include new featurettes and
are available separately but the set is the only place to get the little seen 1973 Tennessee
Williams South, the lyrical bio in which the writer relays his own story aided by scenes
from his plays acted by stage luminaries Maureen Stapleton, Colleen Dewhurst, and
Jessica Tandy in her only screen rendition of her original Blanche DuBois.
Fox Home Video has released the Robert Altman Collection, which includes four of
his films -- his undisputed black comic masterpiece, Mash (1970) and three of his little
seen films from the second half of the 70s -- none of them available previous to this set
in home viewing editions. Though Mash is the drawing card of the set, true fans of the
film will want the 2-disc Special Edition instead though the version here does have a few
special feature. But even if you already have Mash, the set is worth having as the other
films aren't available singly and they are worth adding to the collection of any true Altman
follower.
First up is The Wedding (1978), in which Altman upped Nashville's character count from 24
to 48 (everyone from Carol Burnett to Lillian Gish are in it). It takes a while to get your
bearings and figure out who's who in this account of new money marrying into old money
and the reception that follows on the north shore Chicago estate of the groom's parents.
The film is broken down into a series of low comedy scenes mixed with high drama and
there are a slew of reversals as the movie heads into the home stretch. As the
champagne gets consumed secrets are revealed, naturally, and yes, there are lesbian
and gay subtexts here and there. An interesting curio that features actor Dennis
Christopher, Desi Arnaz, Jr., and multitudes of others.
Next is A Perfect Couple (1979), a truly offbeat romantic comedy in which the conservative
Paul Dooley meets and falls in love with Marta Heflin, a singer in a rock band after the two
meet through a video dating service. The romance is a wash but the band that Heflin
sings with (called "Keepin' 'em off the Streets" in the film) is terrifically interesting. The
band is one of those late 70s super groups featuring several lead singers (Heflin
included), an overbearing band leader (played by Jesus Christ Superstar himself, Ted
Neeley), and assorted backing musicians. The singers include a lesbian couple who are
having a baby whose father is the other lead singer, who just happens to be gay. When
Heflin reveals all this to Dooley, it's a momentary deal breaker -- he's not ready to
embrace such "deviance" but by the end, of course, he's calmed down in time for a
spectacular musical finish. The inclusion of the gay characters, lovingly portrayed,
seemed revolutionary at the time and it's nice the barely seen film (which features a lot of
hot rock songs and lovely ballads) is finally available. A soundtrack was briefly released
on Lions Gate Records and may finally get a CD release -- it's terrific.
Altman's futuristic cat and mouse murder mystery, set in a frozen mall, 1979's Quintet
rounds out the set. Paul Newman adds weight to the offbeat film. New featurettes have
been put together for each of the movies -- a nice bonus.
WB Home Video has also released the three cinematic teamings of Lucille Ball and Desi
Arnaz. The Lucy & Desi Movie Collection contains the hilarious from start to finish
The Long, Long Trailer made in 1954 and directed by Vincent Minnelli, Forever Darling from
1955 and 1940's Too Many Girls. Trailer is the best of the trio as well as the most familiar
(the story of newlyweds honeymooning in that horribly long and delightfully absurd trailer
of the title). The other two titles offer plenty of laughs, however. Darling presents the
patented Lucy-Ricky characters (with new names, of course) and places them in the woods
during a camping trip for the predictable country-phobic comedy situations. The addition
of James Mason as a Guardian Angel is a nice touch.
I'd not seen the peppy Too Many Girls, the black and white college musical done for RKO
before encountering it here. This is the movie noted for the off screen meeting of Lucy
and Desi but it has plenty of great songs (courtesy of Rogers & Hart) to liven up its typical
rah-rah-sis-boom-bah football players vie for affections of zany rich girl plot. And it's not
hard to see why Desi took Lucy's breath away. He easily steals the picture (performing hot
numbers with Ann Miller like "Spic and Spanish") with his dreamy looks, singing abilities,
and overabundance of unaffected charm. Each of the films includes vintage shorts and
cartoons along with trailers. A nice comedic set and a must for Lucy-Desi fans.
Finally, Alpha Entertainment has released a 3-disc set that features many of the
thousands of fascinating guests afternoon talk show maven Merv Griffin interviewed in
what seems to be forever on television. The Merv Griffin Show - 40 of the Most
Interesting People of Our Time set is broken down into comedians on one disc
(from Totie Fields to Jerry Seinfeld), big time film stars (Grace Kelly, Jack Benny, John
Wayne) on the next, and political and television personalities (Nixon, Walter Cronkite) on
the third. Griffin is consistently intimate, no matter the setting and the interviews offer
fascinating glimpses into the subjects lives at the moment of the tapings.
Most startling is the length of time Griffin allows his guests to spin their anecdotes which
sometimes ramble. It's almost inconceivable in our age of the instant sound bite and
witty rejoinder to imagine Jack Benny being given 10 (!) minutes to relay what today would
be a 30-second joke (punch line included). The residual effect of this, however, is to get
a true sense of what these famous folks were really like.
beginning in the mid-40s did not always transfer quite so successfully to the screen. The
homoerotic element present in all of Williams work (and I am prepared to take on
challengers who quibble with this assertion) was freely expressed on the stage. But these
elements were often trimmed, altered or reimagined when most of his great plays were
adapted by Hollywood throughout the morally rigid 50s and early 60s. But Williams'
fascination with brute male sexuality and the inability of many of his characters to
withstand its force, nevertheless, slipped under the radar of the censors and arrived intact
in the movies. Warner Home Video has now collected six of the Williams movies that
each exhibit elements of this carnality in their Tennessee Williams Collection.
The set kicks off with the one true film masterpiece made from his plays. This, of course,
is A Streetcar Named Desire, the 1951 movie that brought Marlon Brando forever into the
public consciousness and won Oscars for just about everyone connected with it (except
Brando who lost to Humphrey Bogart). There's no denying the physical beauty and
unbelievable animal magnetism of Brando. One look at him in his sweaty t-shirt is to
understand Kim Hunter's carnal surrender (and the audiences, too). Brando's brutish
sensuality, his breathtaking good looks and muscular physique signaled the arrival of a
new kind of masculinity on screen (one that continues to this day). Rough trade had
finally made it out of the underground of Kenneth Anger and onto the big screen.
Beautifully shot, acted, and scored by the tremendous Alex North, the movie was truly
ground breaking in its frank treatment of the pleasures of the flesh over starry eyed
romance. Warner's 2-disc set includes a feature length Kazan career bio, a raft of new
featurettes, commentaries and more -- including the rare Brando screen test. Highly
recommended.
That just scratches the surface as the set also includes the gothic melodrama-comedy,
the quirky Baby Doll (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) that features plenty of fireworks
between Elizabeth Taylor in her white slip and Paul Newman as her closeted gay husband,
trying to drown the memories of his love for his late "close friend" Skipper with lots of
whiskey. Burl Ives and Judith Anderson offer memorable support as Big Daddy and Big
Mama. Newman returned for Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) as the ultimate male hustler,
Chance Wayne to Geraldine Page's delicious Hollywood diva, Alexandra DeLago but
though Vivien Leigh is mesmerizing in one of her last roles, she fails to connect with
Warren Beatty (and his shaky Italian accent) in the overheated Roman Spring of Mrs.
Stone (1961) the previous year. Finally, Ava Gardner plays a sexy, good natured version
of herself in The Night of the Iguana (1964) opposite defrocked priest Richard Burton,
Deborah Kerr, and Oscar nominated Grayson Hall (later of "Dark Shadows" fame) as Sue
Lyon's closeted lesbian protector.
Each of these titles, many coming to DVD for the first time, include new featurettes and
are available separately but the set is the only place to get the little seen 1973 Tennessee
Williams South, the lyrical bio in which the writer relays his own story aided by scenes
from his plays acted by stage luminaries Maureen Stapleton, Colleen Dewhurst, and
Jessica Tandy in her only screen rendition of her original Blanche DuBois.
Fox Home Video has released the Robert Altman Collection, which includes four of
his films -- his undisputed black comic masterpiece, Mash (1970) and three of his little
seen films from the second half of the 70s -- none of them available previous to this set
in home viewing editions. Though Mash is the drawing card of the set, true fans of the
film will want the 2-disc Special Edition instead though the version here does have a few
special feature. But even if you already have Mash, the set is worth having as the other
films aren't available singly and they are worth adding to the collection of any true Altman
follower.
First up is The Wedding (1978), in which Altman upped Nashville's character count from 24
to 48 (everyone from Carol Burnett to Lillian Gish are in it). It takes a while to get your
bearings and figure out who's who in this account of new money marrying into old money
and the reception that follows on the north shore Chicago estate of the groom's parents.
The film is broken down into a series of low comedy scenes mixed with high drama and
there are a slew of reversals as the movie heads into the home stretch. As the
champagne gets consumed secrets are revealed, naturally, and yes, there are lesbian
and gay subtexts here and there. An interesting curio that features actor Dennis
Christopher, Desi Arnaz, Jr., and multitudes of others.
Next is A Perfect Couple (1979), a truly offbeat romantic comedy in which the conservative
Paul Dooley meets and falls in love with Marta Heflin, a singer in a rock band after the two
meet through a video dating service. The romance is a wash but the band that Heflin
sings with (called "Keepin' 'em off the Streets" in the film) is terrifically interesting. The
band is one of those late 70s super groups featuring several lead singers (Heflin
included), an overbearing band leader (played by Jesus Christ Superstar himself, Ted
Neeley), and assorted backing musicians. The singers include a lesbian couple who are
having a baby whose father is the other lead singer, who just happens to be gay. When
Heflin reveals all this to Dooley, it's a momentary deal breaker -- he's not ready to
embrace such "deviance" but by the end, of course, he's calmed down in time for a
spectacular musical finish. The inclusion of the gay characters, lovingly portrayed,
seemed revolutionary at the time and it's nice the barely seen film (which features a lot of
hot rock songs and lovely ballads) is finally available. A soundtrack was briefly released
on Lions Gate Records and may finally get a CD release -- it's terrific.
Altman's futuristic cat and mouse murder mystery, set in a frozen mall, 1979's Quintet
rounds out the set. Paul Newman adds weight to the offbeat film. New featurettes have
been put together for each of the movies -- a nice bonus.
WB Home Video has also released the three cinematic teamings of Lucille Ball and Desi
Arnaz. The Lucy & Desi Movie Collection contains the hilarious from start to finish
The Long, Long Trailer made in 1954 and directed by Vincent Minnelli, Forever Darling from
1955 and 1940's Too Many Girls. Trailer is the best of the trio as well as the most familiar
(the story of newlyweds honeymooning in that horribly long and delightfully absurd trailer
of the title). The other two titles offer plenty of laughs, however. Darling presents the
patented Lucy-Ricky characters (with new names, of course) and places them in the woods
during a camping trip for the predictable country-phobic comedy situations. The addition
of James Mason as a Guardian Angel is a nice touch.
I'd not seen the peppy Too Many Girls, the black and white college musical done for RKO
before encountering it here. This is the movie noted for the off screen meeting of Lucy
and Desi but it has plenty of great songs (courtesy of Rogers & Hart) to liven up its typical
rah-rah-sis-boom-bah football players vie for affections of zany rich girl plot. And it's not
hard to see why Desi took Lucy's breath away. He easily steals the picture (performing hot
numbers with Ann Miller like "Spic and Spanish") with his dreamy looks, singing abilities,
and overabundance of unaffected charm. Each of the films includes vintage shorts and
cartoons along with trailers. A nice comedic set and a must for Lucy-Desi fans.
Finally, Alpha Entertainment has released a 3-disc set that features many of the
thousands of fascinating guests afternoon talk show maven Merv Griffin interviewed in
what seems to be forever on television. The Merv Griffin Show - 40 of the Most
Interesting People of Our Time set is broken down into comedians on one disc
(from Totie Fields to Jerry Seinfeld), big time film stars (Grace Kelly, Jack Benny, John
Wayne) on the next, and political and television personalities (Nixon, Walter Cronkite) on
the third. Griffin is consistently intimate, no matter the setting and the interviews offer
fascinating glimpses into the subjects lives at the moment of the tapings.
Most startling is the length of time Griffin allows his guests to spin their anecdotes which
sometimes ramble. It's almost inconceivable in our age of the instant sound bite and
witty rejoinder to imagine Jack Benny being given 10 (!) minutes to relay what today would
be a 30-second joke (punch line included). The residual effect of this, however, is to get
a true sense of what these famous folks were really like.
