Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Classics Roundup (Mid-Summer 2006)
Nothing makes me happier than a stack of classic movies on DVD (okay, almost nothing). New recommendations:
Nothing makes me happier than a stack of classic movies on DVD (okay, almost nothing). New recommendations:
A lot of ink has been spilled over the fateful coupling of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and the evidence of the
sparks they created together onscreen are a continued pleasure to watch. Now Warner Home Video has collected their
four screen teamings in Bogie & Bacall - The Signature Collection. This is the latest in their ongoing series of
these great collections. Garbo, Grant, Garland, and others have all received the Signature Collection treatment and these
sets are ALL must haves for any classics fan. They're beautifully packaged, the films are usually restored and they're
almost always bargained priced. This new set collects the previously released Bogie-Bacall movies and adds new features
to sweeten the package. First off, of course, is 1945's To Have and Have Not. This story of intrigue set during WWII again
plants Bogie firmly in Casablanca territory and introduces the stunning Bacall as his love interest. Ace director Howard
Hawks keeps things moving and the sexual tension between his two leads at a boil (this is the movie with the famous
"whistle blowing" dialogue exchange). Bacall gives a debut performance that is so assured its no wonder her work
electrified audiences. This is truly the definition of "a star is born."
The follow-up, 1946's The Big Sleep finds Bogart as arch detective Phillip Marlowe trying to get to the bottom of a
blackmail/murder case involving two wealthy sisters, the thumb sucking siren (played by Martha Vickers) and her older but
wiser, already married and divorced sibling (Bacall) whom Bogie insists on calling "Mrs. Rutledge." The goings on are so
convoluted that its nearly impossible to follow but again the teaming of the two leads trumps everything and its the most
entertaining of the Bogie-Bacall movies. The disc includes an excellent featurette that compares both the 1945
pre-release version and the 1946 feature that included more scenes between Betty and Bogie. Both versions are also
included -- a nice bonus. Dark Passage, the 1947 follow-up, another noir thriller followed (marred by the first section shot
in subjective viewpoint -- a drag), and then with 1948's Key Largo, the teaming of these two screen giants came to an end.
John Huston's Largo features an Oscar winning performance by Claire Trevor and terrific work by Edward G. Robinson as a
gangster and his moll holed up (along with their hostages) in a deserted hotel during a hurricane. Bogie and Bacall take
on the baddies and the film is very entertaining if not as dark or complicated as the first two B&B movies. All the discs
include vintage extras which recreate the actual movie going experience of the era -- another nice touch.
Warner Home Video also recently released Clark Gable - The Signature Collection. The six titles in the set offer a
nice sampling of some of The King's best movies. His first pairing with Joan Crawford (there would be six in all) and the
debut of Fred Astaire helps along 1933's Dancing Lady, an early musical of the Golddiggers variety. China Seas with Jean
Harlow and Rosalind Russell from 1935 is a variation on the previous year's big hit, Red Dust (which would be remade in
1953 as Mogambo, with Gable reprising his same role is also included here). There's a nice bit of fluff with 1937's Wife vs.
Secretary in which Gable matches wits with Harlow and Myrna Loy and Boom Town from 1940 with Gable and Tracy fighting
over Claudette Colbert while both men make and lose fortunes in the oil fields. But my favorite in the set is the new to
DVD special effects extravaganza, San Francisco. This 1936 romantic drama again finds Gable and Tracy battling over
a woman...opera singer Jeanette MacDonald (at her most appealing) who has traveled to the City by the Bay just in time
to sing some arias, fall in love with Gable's Blackie Norton, ignore the warnings of Tracy's Priest, and find herself in the
midst of the city's fabled earthquake. This sequence, thanks to MGM's amazing, Oscar winning special effects, is still
something to see -- and then of course, there's about 25 versions of that title song sung throughout. Entertaining and
very old-fashioned. Makes a great double feature with 1938's In Old Chicago (which pretty much uses the same plot but
drops the cultured opera stuff). The disc offers the alternate ending, a full length profile on Gable hosted by Liam Neeson
from 1996 and some vintage material. Available in the set or by itself.
Another terrific classic is getting the deluxe treatment. This is MGM Home DVD's Some Like It Hot - Collector's
Edition, a two-disc celebration of the 1959 Billy Wilder free-for-all that has been hailed as the funniest comedy of all
time. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are a scream as jazz musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre by
mistake and are forced to dress in drag and join an all girl band during the height of the Roaring Twenties. Marilyn
Monroe plays Sugar Kane, the band's singer who always ends up with the "fuzzy end of the lollipop" until she hooks up
with the duo during a gig in Florida. Packed with trademark Wilder-I.A.L. Diamond witty rejoinders and gleeful sight gags,
the film is as enjoyable its 10th time as its first. A commentary track, culled from interview material with Lemmon and
Curtis is added to the first disc while the second has two new, info and anecdotal packed making of featurettes along with
others collected together for the first time. There's even a reunion of several of the ladies from Sweet Sue's orchestra.
This is the version fans of the film need to have.
sparks they created together onscreen are a continued pleasure to watch. Now Warner Home Video has collected their
four screen teamings in Bogie & Bacall - The Signature Collection. This is the latest in their ongoing series of
these great collections. Garbo, Grant, Garland, and others have all received the Signature Collection treatment and these
sets are ALL must haves for any classics fan. They're beautifully packaged, the films are usually restored and they're
almost always bargained priced. This new set collects the previously released Bogie-Bacall movies and adds new features
to sweeten the package. First off, of course, is 1945's To Have and Have Not. This story of intrigue set during WWII again
plants Bogie firmly in Casablanca territory and introduces the stunning Bacall as his love interest. Ace director Howard
Hawks keeps things moving and the sexual tension between his two leads at a boil (this is the movie with the famous
"whistle blowing" dialogue exchange). Bacall gives a debut performance that is so assured its no wonder her work
electrified audiences. This is truly the definition of "a star is born."
The follow-up, 1946's The Big Sleep finds Bogart as arch detective Phillip Marlowe trying to get to the bottom of a
blackmail/murder case involving two wealthy sisters, the thumb sucking siren (played by Martha Vickers) and her older but
wiser, already married and divorced sibling (Bacall) whom Bogie insists on calling "Mrs. Rutledge." The goings on are so
convoluted that its nearly impossible to follow but again the teaming of the two leads trumps everything and its the most
entertaining of the Bogie-Bacall movies. The disc includes an excellent featurette that compares both the 1945
pre-release version and the 1946 feature that included more scenes between Betty and Bogie. Both versions are also
included -- a nice bonus. Dark Passage, the 1947 follow-up, another noir thriller followed (marred by the first section shot
in subjective viewpoint -- a drag), and then with 1948's Key Largo, the teaming of these two screen giants came to an end.
John Huston's Largo features an Oscar winning performance by Claire Trevor and terrific work by Edward G. Robinson as a
gangster and his moll holed up (along with their hostages) in a deserted hotel during a hurricane. Bogie and Bacall take
on the baddies and the film is very entertaining if not as dark or complicated as the first two B&B movies. All the discs
include vintage extras which recreate the actual movie going experience of the era -- another nice touch.
Warner Home Video also recently released Clark Gable - The Signature Collection. The six titles in the set offer a
nice sampling of some of The King's best movies. His first pairing with Joan Crawford (there would be six in all) and the
debut of Fred Astaire helps along 1933's Dancing Lady, an early musical of the Golddiggers variety. China Seas with Jean
Harlow and Rosalind Russell from 1935 is a variation on the previous year's big hit, Red Dust (which would be remade in
1953 as Mogambo, with Gable reprising his same role is also included here). There's a nice bit of fluff with 1937's Wife vs.
Secretary in which Gable matches wits with Harlow and Myrna Loy and Boom Town from 1940 with Gable and Tracy fighting
over Claudette Colbert while both men make and lose fortunes in the oil fields. But my favorite in the set is the new to
DVD special effects extravaganza, San Francisco. This 1936 romantic drama again finds Gable and Tracy battling over
a woman...opera singer Jeanette MacDonald (at her most appealing) who has traveled to the City by the Bay just in time
to sing some arias, fall in love with Gable's Blackie Norton, ignore the warnings of Tracy's Priest, and find herself in the
midst of the city's fabled earthquake. This sequence, thanks to MGM's amazing, Oscar winning special effects, is still
something to see -- and then of course, there's about 25 versions of that title song sung throughout. Entertaining and
very old-fashioned. Makes a great double feature with 1938's In Old Chicago (which pretty much uses the same plot but
drops the cultured opera stuff). The disc offers the alternate ending, a full length profile on Gable hosted by Liam Neeson
from 1996 and some vintage material. Available in the set or by itself.
Another terrific classic is getting the deluxe treatment. This is MGM Home DVD's Some Like It Hot - Collector's
Edition, a two-disc celebration of the 1959 Billy Wilder free-for-all that has been hailed as the funniest comedy of all
time. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are a scream as jazz musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre by
mistake and are forced to dress in drag and join an all girl band during the height of the Roaring Twenties. Marilyn
Monroe plays Sugar Kane, the band's singer who always ends up with the "fuzzy end of the lollipop" until she hooks up
with the duo during a gig in Florida. Packed with trademark Wilder-I.A.L. Diamond witty rejoinders and gleeful sight gags,
the film is as enjoyable its 10th time as its first. A commentary track, culled from interview material with Lemmon and
Curtis is added to the first disc while the second has two new, info and anecdotal packed making of featurettes along with
others collected together for the first time. There's even a reunion of several of the ladies from Sweet Sue's orchestra.
This is the version fans of the film need to have.
After a long hiatus, Fox Home Video is back with three new titles in their stellar Fox Studio Classics series. Though the
titles are lesser known than others in the series (All About Eve, Titanic, Peyton Place, etc.), they are nevertheless great
additions to the series and Fox is to be commended for releasing these in such nice editions.
First up is the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day, 1942's The Black Swan. Impossibly handsome (and offscreen
bisexual) Tyrone Power stars as the macho pirate who kidnaps beautiful Maureen O'Hara and then falls hard for her. The
swashbuckling rarely stops inbetween the romantic interludes and there's nice support from Thomas Mitchell, George
Sanders and especially closeted gay actor Laird Cregar, who takes to the 1700's frilly costumes like a duck to water. The
whole is filmed in that breathtaking, artificial technicolor that seemed to only exist in the 1940s. A Sunday afternoon
family classics staple that more than likely inspired Disney's original theme park pirate ride.
The 40s was also the decade of the Catholic movies and after the stunning success of Going My Way and others of this ilk,
20th looked around for their own Priest-in-crisis movie and came up with 1944's Keys of the Kingdom. For this tale of
a young, earnest priest struggling on his first assignment in faraway China they turned to Broadway and came up with
instant matinee idol and star Gregory Peck. The handsome Peck is joined onscreen in this thoughtful drama (it plays
beautifully as a double feature with 1959's Nun's Story) by Vincent Price, Roddy McDowall, and Thomas Mitchell (in another
great example of support). Well made drama.
Finally, we get the little known but tense little thriller, The River's Edge. This 1957 drama stars Ray Milland in an early
baddie role (played two years after Dial M for Murder) who forces a couple (Debra Paget and Anthony Quinn) who are
struggling to make a go of it in New Mexico on a small ranch, help him in his quest for a stolen fortune. Milland is
alternately suave and nasty and Paget (so memorable in The Ten Commandments the year earlier) nicely holds her own
against Milland and Quinn. A nifty little suspense programmer.
Each of the discs comes with informative, illustrated insert booklets and several extra features and expert commentaries
by film histories. They're also bargain priced -- another hallmark of this terrific series.
titles are lesser known than others in the series (All About Eve, Titanic, Peyton Place, etc.), they are nevertheless great
additions to the series and Fox is to be commended for releasing these in such nice editions.
First up is the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day, 1942's The Black Swan. Impossibly handsome (and offscreen
bisexual) Tyrone Power stars as the macho pirate who kidnaps beautiful Maureen O'Hara and then falls hard for her. The
swashbuckling rarely stops inbetween the romantic interludes and there's nice support from Thomas Mitchell, George
Sanders and especially closeted gay actor Laird Cregar, who takes to the 1700's frilly costumes like a duck to water. The
whole is filmed in that breathtaking, artificial technicolor that seemed to only exist in the 1940s. A Sunday afternoon
family classics staple that more than likely inspired Disney's original theme park pirate ride.
The 40s was also the decade of the Catholic movies and after the stunning success of Going My Way and others of this ilk,
20th looked around for their own Priest-in-crisis movie and came up with 1944's Keys of the Kingdom. For this tale of
a young, earnest priest struggling on his first assignment in faraway China they turned to Broadway and came up with
instant matinee idol and star Gregory Peck. The handsome Peck is joined onscreen in this thoughtful drama (it plays
beautifully as a double feature with 1959's Nun's Story) by Vincent Price, Roddy McDowall, and Thomas Mitchell (in another
great example of support). Well made drama.
Finally, we get the little known but tense little thriller, The River's Edge. This 1957 drama stars Ray Milland in an early
baddie role (played two years after Dial M for Murder) who forces a couple (Debra Paget and Anthony Quinn) who are
struggling to make a go of it in New Mexico on a small ranch, help him in his quest for a stolen fortune. Milland is
alternately suave and nasty and Paget (so memorable in The Ten Commandments the year earlier) nicely holds her own
against Milland and Quinn. A nifty little suspense programmer.
Each of the discs comes with informative, illustrated insert booklets and several extra features and expert commentaries
by film histories. They're also bargain priced -- another hallmark of this terrific series.
