Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Classic Box Sets
Four box sets of classic movies - ALL must haves are raved about in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Four box sets of classic movies - ALL must haves are raved about in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Joan Crawford Collection Volume 2 - From Warner Home Video. It’s been almost
three years since the first Joan Crawford film Collection (highly recommend, it includes The
Women, Mildred Pierce, Humoresque, Possessed, and The Damned Don’t Cry) so this boxed set is
indeed welcome for fans of perhaps the greatest movie star of all time. This set includes
1934’s Sadie McKee, 1940’s Strange Cargo, 1941’s A Woman’s Face, 1949’s Flamingo Road, and
1953’s Torch Song. This volume covers a great span of Crawford’s career and succinctly
captures her evolution from fresh faced star to Great Actress and vividly shows her tenacity.
Changing with the times was Crawford’s forte but this set of films also speaks to her ability
to give the public what they wanted – regardless of her own wishes.
In Sadie McKee Crawford essays perhaps the best version of the many films in which she
played a shop girl who rises to the cream of society attended by heartbreak and plenty of
life lessons. The film is close to Joan’s own story and she fits it like a glove. Her co-stars
are real life husband number two Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold as a wealthy, sweet
tempered but drunken playboy (an early version of Dudley Moore’s Arthur character) who
marries Crawford during a liquor-infused revelry. Clips from this film were used by director
Robert Aldrich for Joan’s character to watch in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.
Next up is the last of Crawford’s films with Clark Gable, with whom she had a long time
“friends with benefits” relationship. Strange Cargo is really Gable’s picture in which a group
of escaped prisoners in a French penal colony make a break for freedom in the tropics.
Crawford plays a showgirl who comes along because she’s fallen hard for Gable. Not
surprisingly, she’s tough and sassy and her chemistry with Gable is terrific. This is a nice
adventure yarn and the rare Crawford picture that straight men might enjoy.
I think Crawford reached the height of her beauty and acting ability in A Woman’s Face
though sadly, this 1941 effort from gay director George Cukor was a box office failure.
Crawford plays Anna Holm, the ringleader of a group of criminals involved in blackmail and
other illegal activities in Sweden. Anna’s embittered character is the direct result of the
hideous scarring of the right side of her face and it’s not until the intervention of a brilliant
plastic surgeon (Melvyn Douglas) that she is finally given a second chance at life. But before
the surgery Anna has fallen under the spell of a cultured sophisticate (played by Conrad
Veidt) who convinces her to take a job as a governess to his young nephew – the only
person standing between him and a forture. The Veidt character wants Crawford to kill the
kid and for a time Anna attempts it. The final half of the picture takes place at the home of
Veidt’s uncle in a snow covered, forested area. Cukor’s final sequence in which the guests at
the uncle’s birthday party go on a sleigh ride at night is beautifully shot. Crawford gives a
remarkably restrained performance, toning down most of the Great Lady stuff for once and
she deserved at least an Oscar nod for her work in this delicious hokum. Marjorie Main and
other MGM contract players offer terrific support.
By the time Crawford filmed Flamingo Road eight years later she had left MGM, resurrected
her career at Warner Bros. with her triumphant work in Mildred Pierce in 1945 and was now
once again on the wane. But that doesn’t mean that Flamingo Road isn’t a terrific edition to
the Crawford canon – it’s one of the movies in which the actress gave the public the new,
tougher Crawford they’d come to crave. She wanted to do a movie about a school teacher
but Warners wouldn’t have it and cast her instead in a latter day version of her “shop girl
who rises to the top” roles. Crawford does just that going from a carnival dancer to the
height of small town society, all while trying to get back at meanie Sydney Greenstreet (who
really IS mean) for having her jailed on trumped up charges and breaking up her romance
with Zachery Scott. This overheated camp really sets in stone the Crawford tough girl, over
the top persona that she would present to the public for years to come.
Finally, the set concludes with one of Crawford’s most beloved films, 1953’s Torch Song.
Beloved because of its duality, I think. Torch Song is both a camp classic in which her
character, Jenny Stewart, is so tough and uncompromising that she practically grinds a blind
pianist into the dirt, and true to life because it once again presents a very close mirror to
Crawford’s own life story, giving the over the top film an undercoating of pathos (a minor
one at any rate). This one includes the infamous “black face” number with Crawford
“dancing” and singing (dubbed by India Adams) to “Two Faced Woman,” a song cut that
same year from The Bandwagon.
The films are presented in their typical (and very welcome) “Warners Night at the Movies”
settings – complete with cartoon and shorts before the main feature. Warners has also
included a few new featurettes on the Crawford legacy with both film historians and Christina
Crawford participating. Both very interesting and entertaining. Obviously, this one’s a must
have.
three years since the first Joan Crawford film Collection (highly recommend, it includes The
Women, Mildred Pierce, Humoresque, Possessed, and The Damned Don’t Cry) so this boxed set is
indeed welcome for fans of perhaps the greatest movie star of all time. This set includes
1934’s Sadie McKee, 1940’s Strange Cargo, 1941’s A Woman’s Face, 1949’s Flamingo Road, and
1953’s Torch Song. This volume covers a great span of Crawford’s career and succinctly
captures her evolution from fresh faced star to Great Actress and vividly shows her tenacity.
Changing with the times was Crawford’s forte but this set of films also speaks to her ability
to give the public what they wanted – regardless of her own wishes.
In Sadie McKee Crawford essays perhaps the best version of the many films in which she
played a shop girl who rises to the cream of society attended by heartbreak and plenty of
life lessons. The film is close to Joan’s own story and she fits it like a glove. Her co-stars
are real life husband number two Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold as a wealthy, sweet
tempered but drunken playboy (an early version of Dudley Moore’s Arthur character) who
marries Crawford during a liquor-infused revelry. Clips from this film were used by director
Robert Aldrich for Joan’s character to watch in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.
Next up is the last of Crawford’s films with Clark Gable, with whom she had a long time
“friends with benefits” relationship. Strange Cargo is really Gable’s picture in which a group
of escaped prisoners in a French penal colony make a break for freedom in the tropics.
Crawford plays a showgirl who comes along because she’s fallen hard for Gable. Not
surprisingly, she’s tough and sassy and her chemistry with Gable is terrific. This is a nice
adventure yarn and the rare Crawford picture that straight men might enjoy.
I think Crawford reached the height of her beauty and acting ability in A Woman’s Face
though sadly, this 1941 effort from gay director George Cukor was a box office failure.
Crawford plays Anna Holm, the ringleader of a group of criminals involved in blackmail and
other illegal activities in Sweden. Anna’s embittered character is the direct result of the
hideous scarring of the right side of her face and it’s not until the intervention of a brilliant
plastic surgeon (Melvyn Douglas) that she is finally given a second chance at life. But before
the surgery Anna has fallen under the spell of a cultured sophisticate (played by Conrad
Veidt) who convinces her to take a job as a governess to his young nephew – the only
person standing between him and a forture. The Veidt character wants Crawford to kill the
kid and for a time Anna attempts it. The final half of the picture takes place at the home of
Veidt’s uncle in a snow covered, forested area. Cukor’s final sequence in which the guests at
the uncle’s birthday party go on a sleigh ride at night is beautifully shot. Crawford gives a
remarkably restrained performance, toning down most of the Great Lady stuff for once and
she deserved at least an Oscar nod for her work in this delicious hokum. Marjorie Main and
other MGM contract players offer terrific support.
By the time Crawford filmed Flamingo Road eight years later she had left MGM, resurrected
her career at Warner Bros. with her triumphant work in Mildred Pierce in 1945 and was now
once again on the wane. But that doesn’t mean that Flamingo Road isn’t a terrific edition to
the Crawford canon – it’s one of the movies in which the actress gave the public the new,
tougher Crawford they’d come to crave. She wanted to do a movie about a school teacher
but Warners wouldn’t have it and cast her instead in a latter day version of her “shop girl
who rises to the top” roles. Crawford does just that going from a carnival dancer to the
height of small town society, all while trying to get back at meanie Sydney Greenstreet (who
really IS mean) for having her jailed on trumped up charges and breaking up her romance
with Zachery Scott. This overheated camp really sets in stone the Crawford tough girl, over
the top persona that she would present to the public for years to come.
Finally, the set concludes with one of Crawford’s most beloved films, 1953’s Torch Song.
Beloved because of its duality, I think. Torch Song is both a camp classic in which her
character, Jenny Stewart, is so tough and uncompromising that she practically grinds a blind
pianist into the dirt, and true to life because it once again presents a very close mirror to
Crawford’s own life story, giving the over the top film an undercoating of pathos (a minor
one at any rate). This one includes the infamous “black face” number with Crawford
“dancing” and singing (dubbed by India Adams) to “Two Faced Woman,” a song cut that
same year from The Bandwagon.
The films are presented in their typical (and very welcome) “Warners Night at the Movies”
settings – complete with cartoon and shorts before the main feature. Warners has also
included a few new featurettes on the Crawford legacy with both film historians and Christina
Crawford participating. Both very interesting and entertaining. Obviously, this one’s a must
have.
I could write as much about these three sets as I did the Crawford one but I suspect you might have DVD review fatigue! But
don't let the fact that I'm writing less about these three wonderful releases leave you with the impression that they're not any
less worth your time. They are! Let's get to them now...
Forbidden Hollywood Collection (Vol. 2) – From Warner Home Video. The follow-up to Warners previous exemplary set
featuring pre-code films (read: naughty and salacious), this grouping of five films, all dating from 1930-1933, is even
stronger. We start off with two of Norma Shearer's strongest films, The Divorcee (for which she won the Oscar) in which Norma
finds out hubby is cheating and decides that two can play at that game. It changed the image of virginal Norma and led her to
her sexiest role in A Free Soul in which she commands mob boss Clark Gable to "put 'em around me." This melodrama finds
Shearer as a spoiled rich girl involved with baddie Gable who is defended by Lionel Barrymore (in a scene chewing, Oscar
winning performance) for murder. Lots of juicy fun. Next up is a real treasure - Barbara Stanwyck in Night Nurse in which she
teams with Joan Blondell and is threatened by surly Clark Gable as the chauffeur for the neglected kiddies that Stanwyck is
taking care of. Racy and fun. My favorite of the set is an early Bette Davis picture from 1932 (again featuring Joan Blondell
and Ann Dvorak), Three on a Match. The three leading ladies make the mistake of lighting their cigarettes with the same
match, thus tempting fate. Dvorak who is unlucky cigarette lighter number three plays a wealthy but bored housewife who
descends into drinking, drug addiction, and prostitution and I mean QUICKLY. The other ladies have their share of problems
but it's nothing compared to what Dvorak, who finally sees the light of day (of course) goes through. Lots of fun. Finally,
there's a rare starring role with Ruth Chatterton, Female, in which she plays a man crazy boss who keeps her casting couch and
supply of studs handy. The superb new documentary, Thou Shalt Not, which details the circumstances leading to the creation of
the morals code is also included.
Stanley Kramer Film Collection – From Sony. Producer-director Stanley Kramer is remembered for his "message
pictures," and to some as a bleeding heart liberal but as the five wildly diverse movies in this entertaining set attest, Kramer's
range was far greater than just message films. Oh, there were plenty of those, to be sure and one of his most entertaining,
1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? is included along with a welcome second disc of bonus features about the making of the
film. It's wonderful seeing new footage with Katharine Houghton reminiscing about the making of her debut and working
alongside her aunt Katharine Hepburn and watching Spencer Tracy gives his last performance (he died less than two weeks
after finishing his part). Sadly, though, Sidney Poitier doesn't participate though Kramer's widow and others do. The set also
includes the strangely wonderful 5000 Fingers of Doctor T, Kramer's fantasy film from 1953 that starred Tommy Rettig as the
little boy who hates his piano teacher and Hans Conried as the uber gay teacher (he performs what is perhaps the gayest
musical number of all time, "Dress Me Up" while being attended by his hunky henchmen). This bizarre, vastly entertaining little
oddity came from the mind of Dr. Seuss (now if only one of the new Seuss pictures could capture the same flavor as Dr. T I'd
be happy). From that same year came the ultimate biker movie, The Wild One with Marlon Brando leading a gang of bikers in
terrorizing a small town and thrilling the bored young ladies (and one suspects, a few of the young laddies as well). Brando is
the perfect malcontent rebelling against "whatever you've got" and wearing a leather jacket like nobody's business. New to DVD
is 1952's Member of the Wedding with Julie Harris recreating her stage triumph as 12-year old Frankie who is really having
growing pains. Miraculous Ethel Waters plays her patient black caregiver and Brandon DeWilde is the little boy next door, lonely
and plaintive who just wants to be liked by Frankie. Harris who was 26 at the time certainly captures the pain and confusion of
the Awkward Age - almost to an embarrassing degree. There are moments of unbearable sadness while at other times you
just want Harris to shut the hell up. The film stays pretty much in the kitchen set of the play. This is very much of its time and
requires a patient, theatre loving viewer to truly enjoy it. Finally, there is 1965's Ship of Fools which features an all-star cast
aboard an ocean liner in 1933. Based on Katherine Ann Porter's best selling novel, the film mixes politics, romance and plenty
of melodrama. Vivien Leigh, matched up with brutish Lee Marvin as a slovenly baseball player, gives her last performance,
another sad, lost southern lady. Elizabeth Ashley plays a rich girl keeping hunky husband George Segal and fretting about it
through the whole picture. Jose Ferrer plays a viscous anti-Semite and Oskar Werner and Simone Signoret have the most
effecting story as two world weary souls, a drug addicted countess and the ship's doctor with the weak heart who supplies her
with drugs as he falls in love with her. Michael Dunn, cinema's most notable dwarf of the period, appears as the narrator and
everyone onboard, it seems, is doomed by world events about to unfold. The film has a wonderful score by Ernest Gold. The
set, which is packaged in a nice keepsake box, has an illustrated booklet and several of the discs have new making of
featurettes. Although Kramer only directed two of the pictures (Fools and Dinner) as his widow makes clear, his stamp was
strongly on all these pictures.
Charlie Chan Collection - Volume 4 – From Fox Home Video. Finally, four more Charlie Chan films to enjoy. These little
programmers beginning in 1938 mark the entrance of Sidney Toler into the leading role following the death of the beloved
Warner Oland who many have felt was the one and only Chan. But Toler brought a breath of fresh air to the part of the
detective that takes the series in another direction that is very welcome. For one, there is a decided energy and self-awareness
in Toler's performances. Chan still suffers fools and their subtle (and not so subtle) racial slurs but he lets the audience know
that he's one up on these idiots. Chan's Number One son was also replaced herein out by the more bumbling, stumbling
Number Two Son, Jimmy played by Sen Yung The films themselves - Charlie Chan in Honolulu, in Reno, at Treasure Island, and
in the City of Darkness - are still fast paced and have adept supporting casts and exotic locales to recommend them. The best
of the set is Charlie Chan at Treasure Island which takes place during the fabled international fair and includes Cesar Romero
(the closeted gay actor) as the Great Rhadini, who lives in a really creepy house. The films are often viewed by modern
audiences as being politically incorrect but this still doesn't impair the fact that for mystery fans, they're very entertaining.
don't let the fact that I'm writing less about these three wonderful releases leave you with the impression that they're not any
less worth your time. They are! Let's get to them now...
Forbidden Hollywood Collection (Vol. 2) – From Warner Home Video. The follow-up to Warners previous exemplary set
featuring pre-code films (read: naughty and salacious), this grouping of five films, all dating from 1930-1933, is even
stronger. We start off with two of Norma Shearer's strongest films, The Divorcee (for which she won the Oscar) in which Norma
finds out hubby is cheating and decides that two can play at that game. It changed the image of virginal Norma and led her to
her sexiest role in A Free Soul in which she commands mob boss Clark Gable to "put 'em around me." This melodrama finds
Shearer as a spoiled rich girl involved with baddie Gable who is defended by Lionel Barrymore (in a scene chewing, Oscar
winning performance) for murder. Lots of juicy fun. Next up is a real treasure - Barbara Stanwyck in Night Nurse in which she
teams with Joan Blondell and is threatened by surly Clark Gable as the chauffeur for the neglected kiddies that Stanwyck is
taking care of. Racy and fun. My favorite of the set is an early Bette Davis picture from 1932 (again featuring Joan Blondell
and Ann Dvorak), Three on a Match. The three leading ladies make the mistake of lighting their cigarettes with the same
match, thus tempting fate. Dvorak who is unlucky cigarette lighter number three plays a wealthy but bored housewife who
descends into drinking, drug addiction, and prostitution and I mean QUICKLY. The other ladies have their share of problems
but it's nothing compared to what Dvorak, who finally sees the light of day (of course) goes through. Lots of fun. Finally,
there's a rare starring role with Ruth Chatterton, Female, in which she plays a man crazy boss who keeps her casting couch and
supply of studs handy. The superb new documentary, Thou Shalt Not, which details the circumstances leading to the creation of
the morals code is also included.
Stanley Kramer Film Collection – From Sony. Producer-director Stanley Kramer is remembered for his "message
pictures," and to some as a bleeding heart liberal but as the five wildly diverse movies in this entertaining set attest, Kramer's
range was far greater than just message films. Oh, there were plenty of those, to be sure and one of his most entertaining,
1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? is included along with a welcome second disc of bonus features about the making of the
film. It's wonderful seeing new footage with Katharine Houghton reminiscing about the making of her debut and working
alongside her aunt Katharine Hepburn and watching Spencer Tracy gives his last performance (he died less than two weeks
after finishing his part). Sadly, though, Sidney Poitier doesn't participate though Kramer's widow and others do. The set also
includes the strangely wonderful 5000 Fingers of Doctor T, Kramer's fantasy film from 1953 that starred Tommy Rettig as the
little boy who hates his piano teacher and Hans Conried as the uber gay teacher (he performs what is perhaps the gayest
musical number of all time, "Dress Me Up" while being attended by his hunky henchmen). This bizarre, vastly entertaining little
oddity came from the mind of Dr. Seuss (now if only one of the new Seuss pictures could capture the same flavor as Dr. T I'd
be happy). From that same year came the ultimate biker movie, The Wild One with Marlon Brando leading a gang of bikers in
terrorizing a small town and thrilling the bored young ladies (and one suspects, a few of the young laddies as well). Brando is
the perfect malcontent rebelling against "whatever you've got" and wearing a leather jacket like nobody's business. New to DVD
is 1952's Member of the Wedding with Julie Harris recreating her stage triumph as 12-year old Frankie who is really having
growing pains. Miraculous Ethel Waters plays her patient black caregiver and Brandon DeWilde is the little boy next door, lonely
and plaintive who just wants to be liked by Frankie. Harris who was 26 at the time certainly captures the pain and confusion of
the Awkward Age - almost to an embarrassing degree. There are moments of unbearable sadness while at other times you
just want Harris to shut the hell up. The film stays pretty much in the kitchen set of the play. This is very much of its time and
requires a patient, theatre loving viewer to truly enjoy it. Finally, there is 1965's Ship of Fools which features an all-star cast
aboard an ocean liner in 1933. Based on Katherine Ann Porter's best selling novel, the film mixes politics, romance and plenty
of melodrama. Vivien Leigh, matched up with brutish Lee Marvin as a slovenly baseball player, gives her last performance,
another sad, lost southern lady. Elizabeth Ashley plays a rich girl keeping hunky husband George Segal and fretting about it
through the whole picture. Jose Ferrer plays a viscous anti-Semite and Oskar Werner and Simone Signoret have the most
effecting story as two world weary souls, a drug addicted countess and the ship's doctor with the weak heart who supplies her
with drugs as he falls in love with her. Michael Dunn, cinema's most notable dwarf of the period, appears as the narrator and
everyone onboard, it seems, is doomed by world events about to unfold. The film has a wonderful score by Ernest Gold. The
set, which is packaged in a nice keepsake box, has an illustrated booklet and several of the discs have new making of
featurettes. Although Kramer only directed two of the pictures (Fools and Dinner) as his widow makes clear, his stamp was
strongly on all these pictures.
Charlie Chan Collection - Volume 4 – From Fox Home Video. Finally, four more Charlie Chan films to enjoy. These little
programmers beginning in 1938 mark the entrance of Sidney Toler into the leading role following the death of the beloved
Warner Oland who many have felt was the one and only Chan. But Toler brought a breath of fresh air to the part of the
detective that takes the series in another direction that is very welcome. For one, there is a decided energy and self-awareness
in Toler's performances. Chan still suffers fools and their subtle (and not so subtle) racial slurs but he lets the audience know
that he's one up on these idiots. Chan's Number One son was also replaced herein out by the more bumbling, stumbling
Number Two Son, Jimmy played by Sen Yung The films themselves - Charlie Chan in Honolulu, in Reno, at Treasure Island, and
in the City of Darkness - are still fast paced and have adept supporting casts and exotic locales to recommend them. The best
of the set is Charlie Chan at Treasure Island which takes place during the fabled international fair and includes Cesar Romero
(the closeted gay actor) as the Great Rhadini, who lives in a really creepy house. The films are often viewed by modern
audiences as being politically incorrect but this still doesn't impair the fact that for mystery fans, they're very entertaining.