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DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Warners) (1932/1941) Warner Brothers has been justifiably proud of, and received a great deal of deservedly positive press about its painstakingly perfect restorations of such popular classics as SINGIN' IN THE RAIN , CASABLANCA, and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, but I'm continually amazed that the almost equally dazzling quality of the transfers for some of their "lesser" classics (ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, MILDRED PIERCE, NOW VOYAGER, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON etc.) goes comparatively unheralded. Such is the case with their release of the 1941 version of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, which manages to squander the prodigious talents of my favorite actor, Spencer Tracy, in two roles for which he is laughably unsuited, but does contain a breath-taking turn by Ingrid Bergman (her fourth U.S. film) that alone more than justifies the purchase of this dvd. (The fact that the far superior '32 pre-code version is included on side B, and in the best, and most complete shape I've ever seen it in, is a major added plus.) And again, the full screen transfer of the '41 version is perfection personified. ADAM HAD FOUR SONS (Columbia) Miss Bergman again, as a young governess who keeps a family from destroying itself, (her third U.S. release) effortlessly turns what could have been a maudlin soap-fest into a rich and absorbing dramatic experience, aided considerably by the tastefully understated performance of the sadly forgotten Warner Baxter, in what would be his last leading role in a major film. The full screen transfer is good, and hats off to Columbia for releasing such lesser known golden age classics to video. IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU (Columbia) Columbia strikes again with this charming film, the fourth collaboration of star Judy Holliday and director George Cukor. This time Holliday plays a young model who devises a unique solution to the problem that she's unable to find steady work as a model: she uses all of her savings to rent a large billboard overlooking Columbus Circle featuring her name in the hopes that the publicity will find her work. The story is paper thin, but Holliday's comic timing and charm, combined with the effortlessness and naturalism of Jack Lemmon's film debut (qualities which Lemmon gradually lost as his status ascended) make this forgotten trifle an extremely pleasurable experience. The anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer is every bit the equal of Columbia's most recent Holliday release THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC. FLAT TOP (Artisan) Chalk this one up as a very agreeable surprise. One of the last films released by the soon to expire mini-major monogram pictures, this B-picture about the tensions between an air-craft carrier skipper (Sterling Hayden) and his exec officer (Richard Carlson) holds up far better than many of the similarly themed major studio war films of the day, such as OPERATION PACIFIC and THE FROGMEN. Hayden is just great , Carlson is very good, and the full screen Cinecolor(!) transfer is just fine. The integration of actual color wartime footage is skillfully done. (Columbia Home Video) Columbia Pictures seems to be the only major studio willing to release, on a consistent level, golden-age films from their massive backlog that aren't necessarily the most famous, nor the biggest box-office hits of their day, but practically all of which are discoveries , that perhaps because of their relative obscurity, provide endlessly fascinating viewing in this day and age. among the most interesting is Otto Preminger's 1958 adaptation of Francois Sagan's then controversial novel about an amoral French girl (luscious Jean Seberg) who's obsessed with ending her father's (David Niven) affair with a comparatively straight-laced Deborah Kerr. Nothing much really happens , but the shallow, pleasure-seeking existence of these denizens of the beautiful French Riviera is show-cased to perfection, in both black-and-white and color, by an absolutely gorgeous 2.35:1 (16X9) transfer. the mono soundtrack is crisp and free of defect. (M-G-M Home Video)
I
know, I know--we're only supposed to review films from the cinema's
"golden age." why then are we reviewing this French 1990
adaptation of Edmund Rostand's famous novel? simply because this is one of
the rare cases when the "contemporary" version far outshines the
thread-bare, hammy and hack-neyed version of the early 50's, for which
Jose Ferrer unaccountably won the best actor Oscar. every
aspect of this production, including Gerard Depardieu's flawless
performance in the title role, puts the previous and best-forgotten
rendition in the shade. the 1.66:1 widescreen transfer is unfortunately
not anamorphic, but is reasonably good given that limitation, and the
clear stereo surround track has very little rear channel activity, but
adds a modest dimensionality to this, the finest CYRANO ever committed to
film. (Warner Bros. Home Video)
Everything
that was terrific about Warner's recent double bill of the 1932 and 1941
DR.JEKYLL & MR.HYDE is duplicated to perfection on this dvd, as both
the British 1940 version and the far more sumptious, and somewhat less
effective, 1944 versions are included. to be able to compare both
version's of Patrick Hamilton's play about a murderous Victorian-era
husband 's attempts to drive his wife mad is cinemaddict heaven. while the
full-screen transfer of the '44 version has some hair-line scratches, it's
generally very good, as is the '40 version , which is, understandably, in
slightly rougher shape.
THE HONEYMOONERS "CLASSIC 39" COLLECTION (Paramount Home Video) Any
fans of these classic episodes who've seen them on television repeats, and
even in their laserdisc incarnations, are simply going to be bowled over
by the stunningly improved visual quality of every episode on this
terrific five dvd set. How did they do it? I haven't a clue, but they did
it, and even though this is only February, I find it hard to believe that
this won't be on my end of the year list as the best classic t.v. release
of 2004.
(Paramount Home Video)
Because
I'd only seen HUD in murky, grainy pan-and-scan versions on television, I
always had a problem staying with this story of a rebellious son (Paul
Newman) of a respectable rancher (Melvyn Douglas) who's continually at
odds with his aging father. That is, until I saw this immaculate
widescreen 16:9 enhanced Paramount dvd! This transfer makes it
abundantly clear why James Wong Howe won the Oscar for best black &
white cinematography (Newman was nominated for best actor, and both
Patricia Neal and Douglas won for best actress and supporting actor.)
Additionally, this excellent dvd includes a restored version of the
original mono soundtrack, as well as an excellent new 5.1 surround track
which is vastly preferable. This dvd is the only way to experience this
great film.
PLANET OF THE APES--35TH ANNIVERSARY WIDESCREEN EDITION (20th Century Fox Home Video)
The
last laserdisc release of APES was really very good (the less said
about the original non-anamorphic dvd the better!) But the wonders of
modern dvd technology have now given us the best APES we are likely to see
for a long, long time. The anamorphic 2:35.1 image is absolutely pristine,
and, in fact, looks vastly superior to any theatrical showing I've ever
seen, and the 5.1 soundtrack is very good indeed, though the laserdiscs
low-end was somewhat superior, due to the lack of compression. The film
still works its magic, and I have to say a great deal of credit must go to
Charlton Heston, whose larger-than-life sincerity validates this fantastic
tale much in the same way that Gregory Peck did in THE OMEN. (Warner Bros. Home Video)
This highly fictionalized account of an actual event, in which an Arab chieftain (Sean Connery) kidnaps an American widow (Candice Bergen) and her children, thereby igniting a chain of events that include President Theodore Roosevelt (an uncommonly excellent Brian Keith) shouldn't be as entertaining as it is, due to some regrettable casting (terminally dull Darrell Fetty and laughably awful Geoffrey Lewis) and an occasionally inconsistent screenplay, but it is, to put it bluntly, a real hoot, primarily because Sean Connery, (his Scottish brogue in full flower!) strides through this fanciful tale like a good-humored Collossus, aided by, in my opinion, the best score Jerry Goldsmith ever composed, and some really terrifically staged action scenes. Warner's anamorphic widescreen transfer is aces, and the 5.1 Dolby soundtrack, though it favors the front channels, is fine.- THE "BEST" OF 1932, '35 '36, '39, and '42 Lovers of Golden Age Classic releases on d.v.d. should worship at the Warner Bros Home Video altar, for while all other studios dole out their respective classics in frustratingly irregular dribs and drabs, Warners has been consistently sharing their bounty in increasingly generous portions. A case in point is the simultaneous release of four classics that were recognized by the Academy as "best picture" (GRAND HOTEL, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, MRS. MINIVER) and a fifth (GOODBYE MR. CHIPS) that took home the trophy for "best actor." My personal favorite of the group. Here is a film that crams more stars (Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore), more glamour, more wit, more suspense, more drama into its swiftly moving 112 minute running time than anything before or since. The full-screen transfer is surprisingly good for a film of this age, and Warner's inclusion of footage from the premiere is a welcome addition to this superlative release.
I've read a great deal of criticism lately about Clark Gable's performance as Fletcher Christian in this legendary sea-faring epic, and I couldn't disagree more. True, he doesn't attempt a British accent and his demeanor is decidedly Yank, but that seems completely immaterial to me, especially when compared with the ludicrously self-indulgent Marlon Brando, and the deadly dull and preening posturings of non-actor Mel Gibson in the two deservedly disastrous BOUNTY remakes. Gable, possessor of the most forthright and least "fancy" acting style of any superstar, is the perfect complement to Charles Laughton's brilliant, but heavily embroidered interpretation of Captain Bligh. The full-screen transfer has a certain amount of grain, but is an entirely reasonable rendering of this terrific film.
This stupendous 185 minute (!!) super-production which details the life and career of the legendary showman Florenz Ziegfeld (smoothly and stunningly enacted by the great William Powell) in a sporadically entertaining but highly inaccurate fashion, punctuated by some absolutely terrific musical numbers (one watches Ray Bolger's solo in rapt disbelief!) is, of all the releases reviewed in this article, the one that dates the most, due, primarily, to its marathon length, and the artificially fluttery and mannered performance of Luise Rainer as Ziegfeld's first wife Anna Held, for which she won one of her two successive best actress Oscars. At the time, and long afterward, Ms. Rainer's tearful telephone monoloque was considered the essence of High Art, but,especially in contrast to the incomparably easy and natural style of the perpetually delightful Powell, everything that Rainer does here seems jarringly false. Warner's has gratifyingly included the roadshow overture and intermission music which add to the "event" feel of this massive production , and the fullscreen transfer is very good at times, and, particularly in a shipboard scene which is rife with copious amounts of grain, less so. However, taking into consideration the exemplary quality of the Warner classic transfers as a whole, it seems obvious that this is the best source material available.
It's hardly a revolutionary theory, but I've always maintained that the true test of a great performance is how well it holds up over the years, and here, sixty-five years later, to absolutely validate that statement, is Robert Donat's Oscar-winning Mr. Chips, the kind of role, and acting tour-de-force, that defies the passage of time, and, if anything, actually improves with age. Donat brilliantly plays a stiff, unpopular schoolmaster who is converted by the love of a woman (Greer Garson's film debut) into an inspirational molder of lives. GOODBYE MR.CHIPS grows on you as few films do, and Warner's has provided a much better than average full-screen transfer of this truly touching, and timeless, gem.
A flawless full-screen transfer, easily the best of the bunch, shows off MRS. MINIVER at her very best, and, in fact, I refuse to believe it looked any better during its initial record-breaking ten week run at Radio City Music Hall. As for the film itself, it must be viewed within the context of its times. For the fact is, this highly influential film (Winston Churchill christened MRS. MINIVER as being more vital to the nation than a fleet of destroyers) is a highly idealized M-G-M (mis)conception of war-time England, a fact which doesn't diminish its prodigious entertainment value one iota. Both Greer Garson and Teresa Wright richly deserved their Oscars for best actress and best supporting actress, respectively, but I continue to marvel at the fact that in virtually all the d.v.d. reviews I've seen of MRS. MINIVER and HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY the wonderful Walter Pidgeon is barely, if ever mentioned. I suppose that's what happens when a fine actor hones and refines his craft to such an extent that the work, and considerable effort behind it, become invisible.
-DICK DINMAN
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Promotional still from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
Opening frame from "Adam Had Four Sons"
Closing frame from "It Should Happen to You"
Sterling Hayden
Jean Seberg and David Niven
Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano
Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman
Ralph Cramden emotes
The hunk of Hud, Paul Newman
Going ape
Connery, a good-humored colossus
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