Other Classic Reviews (Continued)

As a classic enthusiast, I have always been most partial to Warner Bros amongst all the Golden Age studios. Any films with any of the likes of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn, Pat O'Brien, Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Alexis Smith, and so on starring in them, is welcome grist for my mill. I'm pleased to pass on recommendations for several such films, all available from the WB Archive of MOD (manufactured-on-demand) DVDs in full frame transfers that reflect the original 1.37:1 aspect ratios.

In the first half of the 1930s, James Cagney laboured through numerous slight but short, nifty, and usually timely urban action dramas that focused on his pugnacious side and gave full rein to his way with a well-turned phrase or wisecrack and well-placed fist. A couple of them worth your time are 1931's Taxi and 1935's Frisco Kid.



In the entertaining and swift-moving Taxi, Cagney plays the leader of a group of independent cab owners feeling the squeeze from the big cab companies. When his brother is shot by a racketeer, Jimmy really ups the ante. Loretta Young co-stars and there are lots of familiar Warner faces such as George E. Stone, Guy Kibbee, and George Raft. The WB Archive MOD disc has plenty of speckles and debris, but it's bright and offers decent contrast so that one is never feeling short-changed. The mono sound is fine with just some minor hiss. There are no supplements. Recommended. Frisco Kid is an atmospheric and exciting melodrama that finds Cagney playing a poor sailor who manages to gain power and influence along San Francisco's Barbary Coast. He seems a little out of place in the 19th century period piece, but carries the day with a forceful, battling performance. The supporting cast includes Margaret Lindsay, Ricardo Cortez, Donald Woods, Barton MacLane, and George E. Stone, with direction by studio stalwart Lloyd Bacon. The WB Archive MOD disc for Frisco Kid is cleaner looking than that of Taxi while maintaining a similar level of brightness and good contrast. The mono sound is also cleaner and the theatrical trailer is included. Recommended.

The Sisters (1938) finds Errol Flynn first-billed before Bette Davis in a tale set around the time of the San Francisco 1906 earthquake.



Flynn has one of those ne'er-do-well roles he handled so adroitly, in this case winning the heart of a warm, intelligent woman (Davis), marrying her, and then deserting her. Davis's character has two sisters (Anita Louise and Jane Bryan) who have their own marital trials. The film, adapted from Myron Brinig's 1937 best-selling novel, manages to bring in elements of the 1904 and 1908 presidential elections, the dawning women's movement, as well as the aforementioned earthquake. The latter is quite effectively staged though not as impressive (nor intended to be) as MGM's effort for its 1936 film San Francisco. Both Flynn and Davis are in top form in their roles, and we have the pleasure of appearances by Warner regulars Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Alan Hale, Dick Foran, Patrick Knowles, Harry Davenport, and many others. The WB Archive MOD DVD offers a fairly crisp presentation that conveys a good gray scale though shadow detail could be better. There is some very minor speckling. The mono sound is in good shape with just a few instances of crackle and the theatrical trailer has been included. Recommended.

The beguiling piece of Americana known as "One Sunday Afternoon", a play by James Hagan, was filmed by Paramount in 1933 under the same title with Gary Cooper.



Warner Bros. then acquired the rights and made the story about a turn-of-the-century dentist whose young married life is complicated by an old flame and her beau into the 1941 film The Strawberry Blonde with James Cagney. Warners returned to the well in 1948 for another remake, this time a Technicolor musical version starring Dennis Morgan as dentist Biff Grimes and entitled One Sunday Afternoon. The latter is now available from the WB Archive as a MOD DVD. This musical remake is amiable fare indeed and with performances that are nicely done and a strong and likable story, it makes for a very pleasant diversion on a rainy or snowy afternoon. Dennis Morgan's efforts are too often under-rated, but he was a multi-talented performer capable in both dramatic and musical roles, as here. In One Sunday Afternoon, there's good support from the likes of Janis Paige, Dorothy Malone, and Don DeFore. The musical numbers, though not tunefully memorable beyond perhaps the title song, are at least well staged by LeRoy Prinz and Technicolor gives the film's whole look an effective lift. It's worth noting too that the film is an interesting entry in the filmography of mainly action director Raoul Walsh (who had old friend Alan Hale's son, Alan Hale Jr., in the cast for good measure). The Archive release features a very fine transfer that has a crisp image with excellent colour fidelity. The mono sound is strong and we get the theatrical trailer as the sole supplement. Recommended.

Our example of Pat O'Brien's work in this suite of WB films is 1937's Slim, a saga about the men who string high voltage wire.



Frequently teamed with Cagney in films, Pat O'Brien gets a youthful Henry Fonda in this one. Naturally, O'Brien is the veteran lineman who takes novice Fonda under his wing. Under the capable direction of Ray Enright, it's all rather exciting fare with a few touches of humour and romance, the latter injected via Margaret Lindsay and Jane Wyman. Also in the cast is Stuart Erwin along with familiar faces such as J. Farrell MacDonald, John Litel, and Joe Sawyer. The WB Archive release of Slim is a remastered edition that offers a very strong and rather clean image that's sharp and very well detailed. Black levels are good and overall contrast strong. The mono sound is in very good shape and the theatrical trailer has been included as the lone supplement. Recommended.


New Announcements

Criterion's Blu-ray and DVD release of Harold and Maude (1971, Ruth Gordon) has been delayed from April 17th to June 12th. Meanwhile, June 12th will bring Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush on both Blu-ray and DVD (2-disc set). Both the original 1925 silent version and the 1942 version to which Chaplin added music and narration will be included. The Samurai Trilogy will come to both Blu-ray and DVD (3-disc set) on June 26th. Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune, the trilogy comprises Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955); and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956). Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) will be available on DVD and Blu-ray from a new HD digital restoration on June 26th also.

Film Chest, via Synergy Entertainment, will release on March 20th a 3-disc, 16 episode Collector's Set of People Are Funny from the classic Art Linkletter TV show's first season (1955). Blu-ray releases of The Red House (1947, Edward G. Robinson) and The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946, Barbara Stanwyck) are planned for April 24th and May 29th respectively.

Flicker Alley will release Melies' A Trip to the Moon (1902) on Blu-ray on March 27th (taken from a colour nitrate source).

Fox is offering two Walmart exclusives with a May 8th release of two John Wayne titles on Blu-ray: The Big Trail (1930) and The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958). The latter will also be available on DVD for the first time. If past Fox/Walmart exclusive arrangements are any indication, both Blu-rays will eventually also make their way to the open market.

Grapevine Video's March releases consist of three silent titles and one silent rerelease plus three sound double feature DVDs. The silent rerelease is The Nut (1921, Douglas Fairbanks) taken from complete new print and featuring a new organ score by David Knudtsen. The other silent titles are White Oak (1921, William S. Hart), Her Sacrifice (1926, Gaston Glass), and The Shamrock and the Rose (1927, Mack Swain). The three sound double feature releases are: Chinatown After Dark (1931, Rex Lease)/Night Life in Reno (1931, Virginia Valli); Police Patrol (1933, Pat O'Malley)/Laughing at Life (1933, Victor McLaglen); and Rawhide Romance (1934, Buck Cartwright)/Range War (1934, Reb Russell).

Kino adds to its Selznick Collection of releases authorized by the Selznick Estate with a planned May 1st release of Bird of Paradise (RKO, 1932, Joel McCrea). Both Blu-ray and DVD versions will be available. Then on June 26th, Blu-ray and DVD versions of Selznick's Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936, Freddie Bartholomew) are expected.

The MGM MOD program has three classic releases set for March 27th: Pharaoh's Curse (1957, Mark Dana), Vice Raid (1960, Mamie Van Doren), and Sergeant Dead Head (1965, Frankie Avalon).

MPI has announced a March 20th availability for the 1964-65 TV series, My Living Doll: Volume 1. Then on May 8th, we'll get Dark Shadows: The Complete Original Series - 1225 episodes (from 1966-1971) on 131 discs. The release will include more than 100 bonus interviews with the actors and production personnel - its cast included Kate Jackson, Oscar nominee Grayson Hall and Hollywood Golden Era movie star Joan Bennett, plus a 96-page booklet with photographs and episode summaries, DVDs of bloopers, a behind-the-scenes documentary and a cast reunion - all housed in a coffin-shaped box. For those preferring just a sampling of the series, individual discs (Fan Favorites and The Best of Barnabas) each containing 9 episodes will also be available.

Olive Films dips into its Paramount arrangement to deliver DVDs of The Buccaneer (1938, Fredric March), The Jayhawkers (1959, Jeff Chandler), and Pony Express (1953, Charlton Heston) on April 24th. The Jayhawkers will also be available in a Blu-ray version. Blu-ray and DVD versions of three Paramount westerns will be released on May 22nd: Denver & Rio Grande (1952, Sterling Hayden), Run for Cover (1955, James Cagney), and Silver City (1951, Edmond O'Brien). Also coming on the same date will be The Lawless (1950, Macdonald Carey) on DVD and John Cassavetes's Too Late Blues (1961, Bobby Darin) on both DVD and Blu-ray.

Screen Archives Entertainment (the same folks who handle Twilight Time's output) have announced a program of two classic Blu-ray releases a month from Fox on an exclusive basis. Coming on April 3rd will be Zorba the Greek (1964, Anthony Quinn) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940, Henry Fonda), with each release featuring the supplements that accompanied Fox's earlier Studio Classics DVD versions. The suggested price of $30 is not attractive and one wonders how these releases will be marketed when availability goes wide. There was some speculation that that would occur in June, now confirmed by Fox to be on the 5th of that month.

Shout! Factory has plans for Hazel: The Complete Third Season on May 15th and Route 66: The Complete Series (24 discs) on May 22nd. April 17th will see the appearance of Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials. This is a segment of last year's Ernie Kovacs Collection that is now being offered as a stand-alone release. Timeless Media Group will give us The Gene Autry Show: Season 2 (26 episodes on 4 discs) on April 10th with Riverboat: The Complete Series following on May 15th.

As reported in the Bits earlier this week, Sony's long anticipated release of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) on Blu-ray appears to be imminent, perhaps in early June. We should have an official studio announcement soon.

TCM in conjunction with Universal will add to its Vault Collection on June 5th with the release of Women in Danger: 1950s Thrillers. It will be a 4-disc set containing Woman in Hiding (1950, Ida Lupino), Female on the Beach (1955, Joan Crawford), The Unguarded Moment (1956, Esther Williams), and The Price of Fear (1956, Merle Oberon).

Timeless Media Group will have The Gene Autry Show: The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons for release in a four-DVD box set on April 10th. Then on May 22nd there will be a DVD box set of four feature films in The Gene Autry Collection 2. This set will showcase Gene's Columbia Pictures films with four fully restored and uncut musical Westerns: The Cowboy and the Indians, The Blazing Sun, Hills of Utah, and On Top of Old Smoky.

Twilight Time will have two Blu-ray releases on March 13th. From Columbia, we'll get Bite the Bullet (1975, Gene Hackman) and from Fox, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954, Victor Mature). April's releases come on the 10th. They will be Columbia's Bell, Book and Candle (1958, James Stewart) and Fox's Desiree (1954, Jean Simmons) both on Blu-ray. May 8th will bring Journey to the Center of the Earth (Fox, 1959, James Mason) on Blu-ray.

VCI will release The One That Got Away (1957, Hardy Kruger) on May 1st. The Fighting Sullivans (1944, Anne Baxter) had also been planned for that date, but for now has been delayed indefinitely. Meanwhile, April 24th will bring the Carry On 1969 double feature of Carry On Camping and Carry On Again Doctor (both with Sid James); I Was a Spy (1933, Madeleine Carroll); Power (1934, Conrad Veidt); and the serial The Perils of Pauline (1933, Evalyn Knapp). May 15th will see four more releases in VCI's Rank Collection of films: Love Story (1944, Margaret Lockwood), Fanny by Gaslight (1944, James Mason), Caravan (1946, Stewart Granger), and Eagle's Wing (1978, Martin Sheen). Additional releases in the Rank Collection are also coming on June 5th. Flame Over India (1959, Lauren Bacall and Kenneth More, aka The Northwest Frontier) will receive both Blu-ray and DVD treatment. Carry On Double Feature Vol. 4 (1970's Carry on Up the Jungle and Carry On Loving); Carry On Double Feature Vol. 5 (1971's Carry On Henry VIII and Carry On At Your Convenience); and Rome Express (1933, Muriel Aked, one of the UK's best films of the year) will all be available on DVD only.

February 21st additions to the WB Archive of MOD discs are: Untamed (1929, Joan Crawford), Back Pay (1930, Corinne Griffith), Blessed Event (1932, Lee Tracy), Thirteen Women (1932, Myrna Loy), Fast Workers (1933, John Gilbert), Dangerous (1935, Bette Davis), Night Song (1947, Dana Andrews), and The Steel Trap (1952, Joseph Cotten). On February 28th, the Archive additions include Buster Keaton at MGM Triple Feature (1931-32) which contains Parlor, Bedroom and Bath; Speak Easily; and The Passionate Plumber. Then Harry Langdon stars in A Soldier's Plaything (1930) while Laurel & Hardy highlight Pick a Star (1937); Kay Francis stars in Play Girl (1941); and Anne Baxter teams with Steve Forrest in Bedevilled (1955). Finally there are three double feature discs: a Dorothy Mackaill pre-Code pair of Bright Lights (1930) and The Reckless Hour (1931); the pre-Code pair of Ruth Chatterton in The Crash (1932) and Bebe Daniels in Registered Nurse (1934); and the bandleader Kay Kyser double feature of Playmates (1941) and Swing Fever (1943). March 6th, kicks off with a Joan Blondell/Glenda Farrell 1935 double feature of Traveling Saleslady and Miss Pacific Fleet; The Miniver Story (1950, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon are back); Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1944, Simone Simon); and Fearless Fagan (1952, Carleton Carpenter). Also on tap for that date are four Jim Brown films: ...tick...tick...tick (1970, also with Fredric March), The Split (1968), Kenner (1969), and The Slams (1973). March 13th additions include: Tarzan Season One, Part 1 and 2 (1966,67, Ron Ely), Rage in Heaven (1941, Ingrid Bergman), Joan of Paris (1942, Michele Morgan), Hooray for Love (1935, Ann Sothern), and Panama Hattie (1942, Ann Sothern). The latter two releases are intended to whet the appetite for upcoming "Maisie" releases (no date yet). Also on the 13th, we'll get The Spiral Staircase (1975, Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Plummer) and The Strawberry Statement (1970, Bruce Davison, includes a bonus disc of the uncut international version).

Warner Bros. has announced further DVD releases in its TCM Greatest Classic Legends Film Collection. A Doris Day volume of Calamity Jane, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Love Me or Leave Me, and Romance on the High Seas is available on March 13th as is one on Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story, Stage Door, Little Women, Morning Glory) and on Edward G. Robinson (The Little Giant, Kid Galahad, Larceny Inc., Bullets or Ballots). Others on Humphrey Bogart (They Drive by Night, Across the Pacific, Passage to Marseille, Action in the North Atlantic) and (The Petrified Forest, High Sierra, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, All Through the Night) and on Joan Crawford (Humoresque, Mildred Pierce, The Damned Don't Cry, Possessed) are set for June 26th. All titles as usual have been previously available as individual DVD releases.

Well once again, that's it for this outing. I'll return again soon.

Barrie Maxwell
barriemaxwell@thedigitalbits.com