Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Classics Roundup (Late Fall 2007)
Get ready to travel all the way from 1939 to 1982 in this wide ranging classics roundup.
Get ready to travel all the way from 1939 to 1982 in this wide ranging classics roundup.
Last year Warner Home Video packaged together five female driven star vehicles that had been previously released and
named the set The Leading Ladies Collection. It featured Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, Joan Crawford in Mildred
Pierce, Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal, Elizabeth Taylor in Father of the Bride, and Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder. A great
set (and still available) for classics fans that hadn’t already picked up those films. Now Warner as released The
Leading Ladies Collection, Vol. 2 but this time they’ve included five titles that are new to DVD, making this an
essential set off the bat. That the set includes Sandy Dennis in her best screen work (in 1967’s Up the Down Staircase),
Susan Hayward in one of her signature performances (1955’s I’ll Cry Tomorrow), and George Cukor’s last film (the junky
guilty pleasure, 1981’s Rich and Famous) is another reason to grab it. The other two films in the set – Joanne Woodward in
the 1966 western dramedy Give the Little Lady a Hand and director Alan Parker’s best film, the little seen Diane Keaton-
Albert Finney vehicle Shoot the Moon (from 1982) – pretty much seal the deal if you’re looking for another reason to pick
this up. Some of the titles have trailers and other vintage featurettes and a couple have new commentaries and these
are bonuses in what is already a stellar quintet.
In I’ll Cry Tomorrow, the biopic of singer Lillian Roth who turns to drink after years of domination by a controlling stage
mother, Hayward gives one of her best drenched in tears and laughter performances. The intensity of the emotion that
Hayward brings to her role (and to many of her other star driven roles) isn’t to everyone’s taste – she’s so nakedly
emotional she borders on camp. But for the devoted (and I’m among them) Hayward’s willingness to go all out on screen
is thrilling to watch. Next up is Dennis in Up the Down Staircase as the new teacher in an inner city New York City school
facing tough, sullen kids and indifferent faculty members. 40 years after being first released, the problems seem quaint,
the kids non-threatening, and the fact that teaching and learning is actually going on in a classroom almost
revolutionary. But the performances (Dennis is supported by a cast of top New York stage veterans including Eileen
Heckert, Ruth White, Frances Sternhagen in her first real part, and others) are expert and the movie, bathed in one of
those perky, wistful sixties music scores (by Fred Karlin) is delightfully entertaining. I hadn’t seen the Woodward picture
in which she co-stars with Henry Fonda and enjoyed it and her work and his – as always – but didn’t find it particularly
involving as it revolves around the game of poker which instantly puts me to sleep. But for fans of comic westerns, all the
rage at the time, this will do the trick.
Finally, we have the pleasures of Rich and Famous, Cukor’s remake of the Bette Davis-Miriam Hopkins vehicle Old
Acquaintance and Parker’s Shoot the Moon. In the former, Jacqueline Bisset and Candace Bergen are two college friends
who both end up becoming writers (Jackie the good one who doesn’t sell, Candy the bad one who does). The movie
follows their up and down friendship, their various romantic relationships, and several hair pulling scenes. At one point
Bisset is picked up by a very sexy Matt Lattanzi as an escort who has a nude scene with her that was plenty shocking at
the time (and is easily re-imagined as a gay liaison). As noted, this is a fun, guilty pleasure just this side of camp.
“Dark Shadows” actor David Selby (Quentin) is also on hand as is Meg Ryan in an early role. The set concludes with the
little seen but terribly good Shoot the Moon, the 1982 vehicle in which the marriage of Diane Keaton and her irascible, hard
drinking husband Albert Finney is coming apart. It’s as much Finney’s movie as hers (both deserved Oscar nods) and is
filled with little details that resonate well beyond the screening. It might just be Finney’s finest work and Keaton matches
him scene for scene. I’m thrilled that this film is now getting another chance on DVD. For a beautifully realized human
drama, there’s not many that can touch it (and the last shot of the movie is also unforgettable).
A quick note that Outland has been re-released by Warner Home Video and is a great film that should have done
better. A futuristic, High Noon in space, the movie stars Sean Connery and a tart, acerbic Frances Sternhagen (a role that
should have led to bigger and better ones). Unfortunately, the picture was eclipsed upon its release by the juggernaut
that was called Raiders of the Lost Ark. Outland is a film worth adding to your collection.
Another stellar set from Warner Home Video is the long awaited first Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection. Six
Stanwyck films are included in the five-disc collection which we can hope is the first of many. Stanwyck, Hollywood’s most
natural and versatile actress, plays a variety of roles in the movies which range from 1935’s Annie Oakley up to 1954’s
Executive Suite. In between we get My Reputation (1946), East Side, West Side (1949), and To Please a Lady (1950) and
Jeopardy (1953) as a double feature on one disc. The movies offer Stany a range of emotions to play – from the sharp
shootin’ Annie to the unfairly victimized widow in My Reputation to the tough as nails reporter in To Please a Lady (co-starring
with Clark Gable). While I’m a fan of each of these movies (Executive Suite and East Side, West Side especially), my
favorite is My Reputation, a pre-cursor to the Douglas Sirk suburban rich white lady pictures of the 1950s in which Stanwyck
is shunned by her WASP neighbors (and two sons) when she has the nerve to date too soon (George Brent as a cocky
Army officer) after the death of her husband. Lush and melodramatic, the picture offers some great, terse scenes
between Stany and Lucille Watson as her conservative neighbor and Eve Arden as her fun loving best friend. This is the
first time all these movies have been released on DVD and obviously for Stanwyck fans, this set is a must have.
There’s more for Stanwyck fans with the release of 1939’s Golden Boy, recently released by Sony Pictures. Based on
Clifford Odets successful play, the movie featured the debut of William Holden as the poor but sensitive, talented classical
violinist who also has a talent for boxing, a quicker ticket to fame and riches. Holden, who is gorgeous, falls under the
spell of Stanwyck as the cynical fiancée of boxing promoter Adolph Menjou and decides that the risk to his hands is worth
going for the title. But in doing so he risks losing a life of art and culture, the love and devotion of Stany, and the eternal
displeasure of his father (Lee J. Cobb). A tart, tough script is softened by the love scenes and several in which the power
of music and artistry is argued over the brutality of boxing. It’s a wondrous movie, expertly made by director Roubin
Mamoulian and Stanwyck, whose character has lightning fast emotional shifts, is quite compelling. This is another film
from Hollywood’s miracle year – 1939 – and Sony’s edition is a terrific add for your classics collection. They’ve included
some great special features as well, with a rarely seen Stanwyck television performance from the mid 50s (she plays the
wife of a sheriff in a story about facing anxiety and fear) as a highlight.
There’s more Susan Hayward on tap for classics fan with another of her signature performances in With a Song In My
Heart, the 1952 biopic about the unfortunate plane crash that nearly killed singer Jane Froman. Froman supplies the
vocals for Hayward in this lush Technicolor adaptation of her life, Rory Calhoun plays the handsome Army officer who
saves Froman’s life after the plane crash, David Wayne is the brash first husband, Thelma Ritter is the crusty supportive
nurse, and an unbelievably handsome Robert Wagner is the soldier who makes a memorable impression during one of
Froman’s shows. The movie, a tear jerker par excellence, ends with Froman’s rousing, patriot “states” medley. The disc
from Fox Home Entertainment, is part of their Marquee Musicals Collection and like other titles in the series is given the
deluxe treatment: a restored, remastered print, a set of postcard reproductions of gallery stills, an informative insert, slip
cover packaging, and several newly recreated featurettes rounding out the vintage ones that are also here. (Film
historians Miles Krueger and Drew Caspar, Fox’s go to film experts, must do nothing all day but record these features by
the by!)
named the set The Leading Ladies Collection. It featured Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, Joan Crawford in Mildred
Pierce, Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal, Elizabeth Taylor in Father of the Bride, and Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder. A great
set (and still available) for classics fans that hadn’t already picked up those films. Now Warner as released The
Leading Ladies Collection, Vol. 2 but this time they’ve included five titles that are new to DVD, making this an
essential set off the bat. That the set includes Sandy Dennis in her best screen work (in 1967’s Up the Down Staircase),
Susan Hayward in one of her signature performances (1955’s I’ll Cry Tomorrow), and George Cukor’s last film (the junky
guilty pleasure, 1981’s Rich and Famous) is another reason to grab it. The other two films in the set – Joanne Woodward in
the 1966 western dramedy Give the Little Lady a Hand and director Alan Parker’s best film, the little seen Diane Keaton-
Albert Finney vehicle Shoot the Moon (from 1982) – pretty much seal the deal if you’re looking for another reason to pick
this up. Some of the titles have trailers and other vintage featurettes and a couple have new commentaries and these
are bonuses in what is already a stellar quintet.
In I’ll Cry Tomorrow, the biopic of singer Lillian Roth who turns to drink after years of domination by a controlling stage
mother, Hayward gives one of her best drenched in tears and laughter performances. The intensity of the emotion that
Hayward brings to her role (and to many of her other star driven roles) isn’t to everyone’s taste – she’s so nakedly
emotional she borders on camp. But for the devoted (and I’m among them) Hayward’s willingness to go all out on screen
is thrilling to watch. Next up is Dennis in Up the Down Staircase as the new teacher in an inner city New York City school
facing tough, sullen kids and indifferent faculty members. 40 years after being first released, the problems seem quaint,
the kids non-threatening, and the fact that teaching and learning is actually going on in a classroom almost
revolutionary. But the performances (Dennis is supported by a cast of top New York stage veterans including Eileen
Heckert, Ruth White, Frances Sternhagen in her first real part, and others) are expert and the movie, bathed in one of
those perky, wistful sixties music scores (by Fred Karlin) is delightfully entertaining. I hadn’t seen the Woodward picture
in which she co-stars with Henry Fonda and enjoyed it and her work and his – as always – but didn’t find it particularly
involving as it revolves around the game of poker which instantly puts me to sleep. But for fans of comic westerns, all the
rage at the time, this will do the trick.
Finally, we have the pleasures of Rich and Famous, Cukor’s remake of the Bette Davis-Miriam Hopkins vehicle Old
Acquaintance and Parker’s Shoot the Moon. In the former, Jacqueline Bisset and Candace Bergen are two college friends
who both end up becoming writers (Jackie the good one who doesn’t sell, Candy the bad one who does). The movie
follows their up and down friendship, their various romantic relationships, and several hair pulling scenes. At one point
Bisset is picked up by a very sexy Matt Lattanzi as an escort who has a nude scene with her that was plenty shocking at
the time (and is easily re-imagined as a gay liaison). As noted, this is a fun, guilty pleasure just this side of camp.
“Dark Shadows” actor David Selby (Quentin) is also on hand as is Meg Ryan in an early role. The set concludes with the
little seen but terribly good Shoot the Moon, the 1982 vehicle in which the marriage of Diane Keaton and her irascible, hard
drinking husband Albert Finney is coming apart. It’s as much Finney’s movie as hers (both deserved Oscar nods) and is
filled with little details that resonate well beyond the screening. It might just be Finney’s finest work and Keaton matches
him scene for scene. I’m thrilled that this film is now getting another chance on DVD. For a beautifully realized human
drama, there’s not many that can touch it (and the last shot of the movie is also unforgettable).
A quick note that Outland has been re-released by Warner Home Video and is a great film that should have done
better. A futuristic, High Noon in space, the movie stars Sean Connery and a tart, acerbic Frances Sternhagen (a role that
should have led to bigger and better ones). Unfortunately, the picture was eclipsed upon its release by the juggernaut
that was called Raiders of the Lost Ark. Outland is a film worth adding to your collection.
Another stellar set from Warner Home Video is the long awaited first Barbara Stanwyck Signature Collection. Six
Stanwyck films are included in the five-disc collection which we can hope is the first of many. Stanwyck, Hollywood’s most
natural and versatile actress, plays a variety of roles in the movies which range from 1935’s Annie Oakley up to 1954’s
Executive Suite. In between we get My Reputation (1946), East Side, West Side (1949), and To Please a Lady (1950) and
Jeopardy (1953) as a double feature on one disc. The movies offer Stany a range of emotions to play – from the sharp
shootin’ Annie to the unfairly victimized widow in My Reputation to the tough as nails reporter in To Please a Lady (co-starring
with Clark Gable). While I’m a fan of each of these movies (Executive Suite and East Side, West Side especially), my
favorite is My Reputation, a pre-cursor to the Douglas Sirk suburban rich white lady pictures of the 1950s in which Stanwyck
is shunned by her WASP neighbors (and two sons) when she has the nerve to date too soon (George Brent as a cocky
Army officer) after the death of her husband. Lush and melodramatic, the picture offers some great, terse scenes
between Stany and Lucille Watson as her conservative neighbor and Eve Arden as her fun loving best friend. This is the
first time all these movies have been released on DVD and obviously for Stanwyck fans, this set is a must have.
There’s more for Stanwyck fans with the release of 1939’s Golden Boy, recently released by Sony Pictures. Based on
Clifford Odets successful play, the movie featured the debut of William Holden as the poor but sensitive, talented classical
violinist who also has a talent for boxing, a quicker ticket to fame and riches. Holden, who is gorgeous, falls under the
spell of Stanwyck as the cynical fiancée of boxing promoter Adolph Menjou and decides that the risk to his hands is worth
going for the title. But in doing so he risks losing a life of art and culture, the love and devotion of Stany, and the eternal
displeasure of his father (Lee J. Cobb). A tart, tough script is softened by the love scenes and several in which the power
of music and artistry is argued over the brutality of boxing. It’s a wondrous movie, expertly made by director Roubin
Mamoulian and Stanwyck, whose character has lightning fast emotional shifts, is quite compelling. This is another film
from Hollywood’s miracle year – 1939 – and Sony’s edition is a terrific add for your classics collection. They’ve included
some great special features as well, with a rarely seen Stanwyck television performance from the mid 50s (she plays the
wife of a sheriff in a story about facing anxiety and fear) as a highlight.
There’s more Susan Hayward on tap for classics fan with another of her signature performances in With a Song In My
Heart, the 1952 biopic about the unfortunate plane crash that nearly killed singer Jane Froman. Froman supplies the
vocals for Hayward in this lush Technicolor adaptation of her life, Rory Calhoun plays the handsome Army officer who
saves Froman’s life after the plane crash, David Wayne is the brash first husband, Thelma Ritter is the crusty supportive
nurse, and an unbelievably handsome Robert Wagner is the soldier who makes a memorable impression during one of
Froman’s shows. The movie, a tear jerker par excellence, ends with Froman’s rousing, patriot “states” medley. The disc
from Fox Home Entertainment, is part of their Marquee Musicals Collection and like other titles in the series is given the
deluxe treatment: a restored, remastered print, a set of postcard reproductions of gallery stills, an informative insert, slip
cover packaging, and several newly recreated featurettes rounding out the vintage ones that are also here. (Film
historians Miles Krueger and Drew Caspar, Fox’s go to film experts, must do nothing all day but record these features by
the by!)
Two other new additions to Fox’s Marquee Musicals Collection, both getting the same top drawer treatment, are the little
known but enjoyable Bloodhounds of Broadway with handsome 50s star Scott Brady caught between perky showgirl
Mitzi Gaynor and Marguerite Chapman. A lesser but still enjoyable musical in the Guys & Dolls mode (and based on
stories from the same source, writer Damon Runyan). Released in 1952. The Girl Next Door from 1953 is another
little known musical which stars June Haver (known as the pocket Grable because of the pint size Haver’s similarities to
her) and Dan Dailey as a widower and a retired movie star who play a pair of next door neighbors and would be lovers
whose walk down the aisle is stymied by Dailey’s son, Billy Gray (from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Moonlight Bay), who
is still smarting from the death of his mother. The film has endless charm, several delightful and rather outré musical
numbers, and two (count ‘em) animated sequences to boot. And lenty of that patented Fox blazing Technicolor and
artifice as well.
Early this fall MGM Home Video released what surely must have been the film to have received the most special edition
requests. With a two disc edition of The Graduate – 40th Anniversary Edition they’ve finally granted the wish of
fans of the movie. First off, the movie is presented in its original widescreen edition – a terrific improvement over the
previous full frame version, second they’ve loaded the disc with several new featurettes and a bonus commentary track
with stars Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross and director Mike Nichols who is joined by director Steven Soderbergh, a big
fan, like all of us, of the film. I’m thrilled to have the detailed making of featurette with all the behind the scenes
information as The Graduate remains, in my opinion, as fresh and funny today as when it was released in 1967. It’s also,
hands down, director Mike Nichols’ greatest film, a true black comedy masterpiece and if there’s a lack in the special
featurettes, it’s that Nichols doesn’t participate in them and that, of course, the late Anne Bancroft didn’t live to partake as
well. The 2nd disc includes four of the iconic Simon & Garfunkel songs that pervade the movie – a nice bonus – but I still
think you should pick up the soundtrack if only for those two pop sugar instrumental classics by Dave Grusin which I wrote
about a while back in my soundtrack recommendations.
Finally, another very strong recommendation for Paramount Home Video’s Chinatown – Special Collector’s
Edition. Director Roman Polanski’s 1974 masterwork, a modern day noir set in Los Angeles in the 1930s, contains one
of Jack Nicholson’s greatest performances. He is matched by Faye Dunaway as his cool, tragic love interest and John
Huston in a creepily effective performance as Dunaway’s father. The script by Robert Towne has been the template for
dozens of subsequent pictures and the music – oh that music – surely this was composer Jerry Goldsmith’s greatest
triumph. All this and much more are detailed in the new special edition featurettes that are included. Dunaway, however,
doesn’t participate and apparently had an extremely fractious on set relationship with Polanski.
Though not nearly the classic that Chinatown is, The Two Jakes, Nicholson’s 1990 sequel certainly has its moments. It’s
much denser and harder to follow (and was besmirched at the time of its release by a very troubled production) but
Harvey Keitel (the other of the two Jakes) is marvelous and there is great support from Madeline Stowe and Meg Tilly and
the sultry “Don’t Smoke In Bed” by Peggy Lee which plays over the title credits sets the tone for the late 40s setting
beautifully. Paramount has included some nice featurettes in this new DVD edition and both this and Chinatown make for
a great double feature.
known but enjoyable Bloodhounds of Broadway with handsome 50s star Scott Brady caught between perky showgirl
Mitzi Gaynor and Marguerite Chapman. A lesser but still enjoyable musical in the Guys & Dolls mode (and based on
stories from the same source, writer Damon Runyan). Released in 1952. The Girl Next Door from 1953 is another
little known musical which stars June Haver (known as the pocket Grable because of the pint size Haver’s similarities to
her) and Dan Dailey as a widower and a retired movie star who play a pair of next door neighbors and would be lovers
whose walk down the aisle is stymied by Dailey’s son, Billy Gray (from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Moonlight Bay), who
is still smarting from the death of his mother. The film has endless charm, several delightful and rather outré musical
numbers, and two (count ‘em) animated sequences to boot. And lenty of that patented Fox blazing Technicolor and
artifice as well.
Early this fall MGM Home Video released what surely must have been the film to have received the most special edition
requests. With a two disc edition of The Graduate – 40th Anniversary Edition they’ve finally granted the wish of
fans of the movie. First off, the movie is presented in its original widescreen edition – a terrific improvement over the
previous full frame version, second they’ve loaded the disc with several new featurettes and a bonus commentary track
with stars Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross and director Mike Nichols who is joined by director Steven Soderbergh, a big
fan, like all of us, of the film. I’m thrilled to have the detailed making of featurette with all the behind the scenes
information as The Graduate remains, in my opinion, as fresh and funny today as when it was released in 1967. It’s also,
hands down, director Mike Nichols’ greatest film, a true black comedy masterpiece and if there’s a lack in the special
featurettes, it’s that Nichols doesn’t participate in them and that, of course, the late Anne Bancroft didn’t live to partake as
well. The 2nd disc includes four of the iconic Simon & Garfunkel songs that pervade the movie – a nice bonus – but I still
think you should pick up the soundtrack if only for those two pop sugar instrumental classics by Dave Grusin which I wrote
about a while back in my soundtrack recommendations.
Finally, another very strong recommendation for Paramount Home Video’s Chinatown – Special Collector’s
Edition. Director Roman Polanski’s 1974 masterwork, a modern day noir set in Los Angeles in the 1930s, contains one
of Jack Nicholson’s greatest performances. He is matched by Faye Dunaway as his cool, tragic love interest and John
Huston in a creepily effective performance as Dunaway’s father. The script by Robert Towne has been the template for
dozens of subsequent pictures and the music – oh that music – surely this was composer Jerry Goldsmith’s greatest
triumph. All this and much more are detailed in the new special edition featurettes that are included. Dunaway, however,
doesn’t participate and apparently had an extremely fractious on set relationship with Polanski.
Though not nearly the classic that Chinatown is, The Two Jakes, Nicholson’s 1990 sequel certainly has its moments. It’s
much denser and harder to follow (and was besmirched at the time of its release by a very troubled production) but
Harvey Keitel (the other of the two Jakes) is marvelous and there is great support from Madeline Stowe and Meg Tilly and
the sultry “Don’t Smoke In Bed” by Peggy Lee which plays over the title credits sets the tone for the late 40s setting
beautifully. Paramount has included some nice featurettes in this new DVD edition and both this and Chinatown make for
a great double feature.
