Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Happy Holidays
Four holiday recommendations to help you celebrate with your DVD!
Four holiday recommendations to help you celebrate with your DVD!
MGM Holiday Classics Collection – From MGM DVD. This collection includes the
1947 version of The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven that is a
MUST for annual Christmas time viewing (it also includes a number of It's a Wonderful Life
cast members in small roles). Next up from Wonderful Life director Frank Capra is his less
well remembered Pocketful of Miracles from 1961. Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, and Hope
Lange enact yet another story from "Guys & Dolls" writer Damon Runyon of hoods,
showgirls, and a scrapping bag lady with a bag of lucky apples. Davis gives it her all and
she's given some expert supporting players (and lovely Ann Margret who debuts here as
her daughter) but Ford is just downright embarrassing he's so bad. Still, the sets are
lovely, the Cinderella in reverse (age-wise, that is), is charming enough and with the
feature on DVD one can zip through the interminable Ford scenes (in most he's bickering
with Lange or his henchman Peter Falk). Finally, new to DVD (officially) is the 1934 Laurel
& Hardy staple, March of the Wooden Soldiers in a what looks like a new print, uncut, and in
a form that reveals why the comic duo were such big stars. No extras on any of the films
but the retail price makes this set worth picking up.
It's a Wonderful Life (2 Disc Collection) – From Paramount Home Video comes
another edition of this perennial Christmas classic with James Stewart, Donna Reed, et al.
For purists, last year's 60th anniversary edition, with it's improved print quality and
plethora of special features, was a long awaited present. The only reason to go out and
stock up again is because this includes a new version that has been colorized - making it
more palatable for younger or more B&W phobic audiences. I was skeptical,
remembering the earlier colorization job done on Miracle on 34th Street. But digital
technology has made a huge difference and now the color looks more like 40s Technicolor
than something processed through a machine. I'll always prefer the B&W version but the
film does look beautiful in this new colorized option so I say give it a jingle.
The House Without a Christmas Tree – From Paramount Home Video this 1972
CBS television special starring Jason Robards, Mildred Natwick and Lisa Lucas is a gem.
The story revolves around Robards as a bitter widower who refuses to let his rambunctious
adolescent daughter have a Christmas tree because it reminds him of the wife who died
after the daughter's birth. Natwick plays Robards mother who is at times tart, sensitive,
and wise. But free spirited Addie, brainy and creative, isn't about to let her father's
excuses stop her this year. The resolve to the story is profoundly moving without being
cloying thanks to the crack acting abilities of Robards and Lucas who keeps up with him.
This is a special I've watched every year it's been available and I'm thrilled to trade in my
vhs copy for this pristine DVD.
Dickens of London – From Koch DVD comes this 1977, 13 part Masterpiece Theatre
miniseries on the life of author Charles Dickens. If you're a fan of these episodic, highly
literary shows (and given the proper mood, I certainly am), this is an exceptional one.
But I'm including the recommendation here for the bonus that Koch has packaged with
the series. This is the bonus disc, An Evening with Charles Dickens in which gay British
actor/author Simon Callow recreates one of Dickens' own famed public readings of his
best known work, "A Christmas Carol." Callow, who has toured the world in a one-man
show playing the author, gives a thrilling performance (it's shown in two half hour
installments). Better, the mood is amplified by the audience being dressed in period
costume. It's just Callow and his marvelous voice channeling all the memorable Dickens
characters: the three ghosts, Tiny Tim, Scrooge, Marley, Fezziwig, etc. A Christmas
viewing experience for the literary and theatre going set.
1947 version of The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven that is a
MUST for annual Christmas time viewing (it also includes a number of It's a Wonderful Life
cast members in small roles). Next up from Wonderful Life director Frank Capra is his less
well remembered Pocketful of Miracles from 1961. Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, and Hope
Lange enact yet another story from "Guys & Dolls" writer Damon Runyon of hoods,
showgirls, and a scrapping bag lady with a bag of lucky apples. Davis gives it her all and
she's given some expert supporting players (and lovely Ann Margret who debuts here as
her daughter) but Ford is just downright embarrassing he's so bad. Still, the sets are
lovely, the Cinderella in reverse (age-wise, that is), is charming enough and with the
feature on DVD one can zip through the interminable Ford scenes (in most he's bickering
with Lange or his henchman Peter Falk). Finally, new to DVD (officially) is the 1934 Laurel
& Hardy staple, March of the Wooden Soldiers in a what looks like a new print, uncut, and in
a form that reveals why the comic duo were such big stars. No extras on any of the films
but the retail price makes this set worth picking up.
It's a Wonderful Life (2 Disc Collection) – From Paramount Home Video comes
another edition of this perennial Christmas classic with James Stewart, Donna Reed, et al.
For purists, last year's 60th anniversary edition, with it's improved print quality and
plethora of special features, was a long awaited present. The only reason to go out and
stock up again is because this includes a new version that has been colorized - making it
more palatable for younger or more B&W phobic audiences. I was skeptical,
remembering the earlier colorization job done on Miracle on 34th Street. But digital
technology has made a huge difference and now the color looks more like 40s Technicolor
than something processed through a machine. I'll always prefer the B&W version but the
film does look beautiful in this new colorized option so I say give it a jingle.
The House Without a Christmas Tree – From Paramount Home Video this 1972
CBS television special starring Jason Robards, Mildred Natwick and Lisa Lucas is a gem.
The story revolves around Robards as a bitter widower who refuses to let his rambunctious
adolescent daughter have a Christmas tree because it reminds him of the wife who died
after the daughter's birth. Natwick plays Robards mother who is at times tart, sensitive,
and wise. But free spirited Addie, brainy and creative, isn't about to let her father's
excuses stop her this year. The resolve to the story is profoundly moving without being
cloying thanks to the crack acting abilities of Robards and Lucas who keeps up with him.
This is a special I've watched every year it's been available and I'm thrilled to trade in my
vhs copy for this pristine DVD.
Dickens of London – From Koch DVD comes this 1977, 13 part Masterpiece Theatre
miniseries on the life of author Charles Dickens. If you're a fan of these episodic, highly
literary shows (and given the proper mood, I certainly am), this is an exceptional one.
But I'm including the recommendation here for the bonus that Koch has packaged with
the series. This is the bonus disc, An Evening with Charles Dickens in which gay British
actor/author Simon Callow recreates one of Dickens' own famed public readings of his
best known work, "A Christmas Carol." Callow, who has toured the world in a one-man
show playing the author, gives a thrilling performance (it's shown in two half hour
installments). Better, the mood is amplified by the audience being dressed in period
costume. It's just Callow and his marvelous voice channeling all the memorable Dickens
characters: the three ghosts, Tiny Tim, Scrooge, Marley, Fezziwig, etc. A Christmas
viewing experience for the literary and theatre going set.
