MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- Movie Review by Porfle



( "GONE WITH THE WIND 75TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is loaded with extras, one of which is the following film in its entirety.)

Originally posted on 10/3/14

 

Back in the crazy days of my youth when I was known to do such things, I read a book by Garson Kanin called "Moviola." It consisted of three novellas, highly fictionalized accounts of actual events in three different eras of what we know as Hollywood. In 1980, the book was turned into a mini-series which aired on NBC-TV over three nights. These three segments now exist as individual TV-movies, sometimes with the word "Moviola" in the titles, sometimes not.

The first and last segments (chronologically) are known as "Moviola: The Silent Lovers", which tells the story of Greta Garbo and her ill-fated lover John Gilbert, a silent actor with a voice unsuited for "talkies", and "Moviola: This Year's Blonde", a glitzy biography of 50s bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Between these two eras, representing a Hollywood which was in 1939 at its creative and financial peak, is perhaps the most entertaining of the three, MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR.

Modestly mounted, relatively sedate, and much smaller in scale than the real-life events must have been, the film adequately dramatizes the details behind legendary producer David O. Selznick's most gargantuan (I so rarely have an opportunity to use that word in a sentence) undertaking, a daring screen adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's runaway bestselling Civil War novel "Gone With the Wind" which would eventually become the highest-grossing and most popular movie of all time.

Selznick's search for the perfect actress to play sought-after lead role Scarlett O'Hara is thus turned into an amusing and mildly absorbing comedy-drama-soap opera of movie moguls, actresses, and agents (and various other Hollywood types) all trying to outmaneuver each other.

The story is played mostly for grins as both seasoned pros and young, unknown starlets all vie for the plum role of Scarlett O'Hara in Selznick's impending blockbuster. Some try to charm and even sleep their way into the role while others, like Joan Crawford, wield what power and influence they may have.

But it's all for naught when, during filming of the burning of Atlanta (in which a stand-in was used as the hitherto uncast Scarlett), Selznick first lays eyes on British actress Vivien Leigh, a chance discovery made by his agent brother Myron. After that historic moment, all bets are off.

Before this, however, comes the film's centerpiece--an extended party sequence in which Selznick has gathered all the prospective Scarletts together in one place. This scenario is rich in cattiness and can probably be truly appreciated only by those already interested in the story and the people involved.

For anyone who doesn't remember or care about these former superstars of film, or the inner machinations of big-studio Hollywood filmmaking in general, I imagine that the entire sequence will just sit there like an unloved Jello mold while they wonder what the big fuss was all about. Others, however, may find themselves savoring every nuance.

A parade of low-level TV stars do their best to portray these film legends, which somehow manages to assume its own kind of charm. Edward Winter, known mainly as Colonel Flagg on TV's "MASH", tackles the role of dashing alpha male Clark Gable in amusing style, while "Cagney and Lacey" co-star Sharon Gless takes a wild shot at being his beloved and equally famous wife Carole Lombard.

I barely recognize some of the minor players filling in for the likes of Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Miriam Hopkins, Lucille Ball, etc. but they give it the old college try. Some of the casting choices are puzzling--I don't see Charlie Chaplin in actor Clive Revill (GENTLEMEN BRONCOS) at all--while others, including Tony Curtis as an unflappable David O. Selznick and Carrie Nye as Tallulah Bankhead, are right on the mark.

Other familiar faces include Bill Macy ("Maude"), George Furth (BLAZING SADDLES), and Harold Gould as Selznick's father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer. A brief appearance by a popular TV actress of the time, Morgan Brittany ("Dallas"), as Vivien Leigh brings the story to a pleasing albeit curiously anti-climactic ending.

Having recently watched a lot of documentary material on the subject, I found MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR to be an unspectacular yet enjoyable "Reader's Digest" version that's easy to take. And for anyone who saw it when first broadcast almost 35 years ago, its modest appeal will be enhanced by a dash of nostalgia.

Read our review of  "Gone With the Wind" HERE.

Full coverage of the "Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition" can be found HERE.


Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- Movie Review by Porfle

STEEL -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/25/10

 

I'd heard that STEEL (1997) was pretty bad, so of course I couldn't wait to see it. Would it be fun-bad or just bad-bad? Or, as sometimes happens, would I be one of the few people who, in my own insane sort of way, actually thinks it's good? Don't forget, I liked STAN HELSING.

Well, okay--I just got through watching this movie, and I didn't think it was good. In fact, it's not only stupid, it's the champagne of stupid. However, this has got to be one of the most entertaining bad-superhero movies ever made. First of all, it's got lovable lug Shaquille O'Neal as the superhero, and he can't act. That's worth a whole bunch of fun points right there. Second, Shaquille wears a homemade steel suit of armor that makes him look like a giant cockroach, and I never get tired of watching him bop around in it like a big clumsy kid. When he shoots a grappling line out of his wrist band and all two tons of him get reeled up into the air, it's almost surreal. Third--and this is important--it's got the one and only Judd Nelson as the over-the-top evil villain. Scoooore!

Loosely based on the DC Comics character, John Henry Irons is an Army officer who designs top secret weapons but becomes disenchanted with his job when a fellow officer, Susan Sparks (Annabeth Gish), is crippled during a demonstration for a visiting senator. The mishap is caused by Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson), an ambitious officer seeking wealth and glory. When they're discharged from the Army, John Henry goes to work in a steel mill and lives with his grandma, while Burke takes over an illegal weapons business and starts selling top secret arms to terrorists.

Using local gang members in a heavily-armed Humvee, Burke begins a city-wide crimewave that prompts John Henry into action. With a wheelchair-bound Sparks at the keyboard of his junkyard nerve center and his uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree) providing the junkyard, "Steel" suits up and goes into the amateur superhero business. He has a bit of trouble maintaining his secret identity, however, since there aren't that many 7'1" black guys running around the neighborhood, and it isn't long before Burke targets his family. Steel tracks Burke down to a warehouse where he's conducting business with terrorists from around the world, but is ambushed and powerless to act when Sparks and his teenage brother Martin (Ray J.) are held hostage.


STEEL was made in 1997, but it looks an awful lot like one of those 70s-era superhero movies that came out before Hollywood learned how to make superhero movies that didn't suck. Kenneth Johnson, creator of such television series as "The Incredible Hulk" and "Six Million Dollar Man", directs in the same pedestrian style as one of those shows except with a much bigger budget to throw away. In other words, it's like a wonderfully elaborate but crappy TV show episode.

Some of the effects are okay, such as the sonic cannon that blasts things with amplified sound waves, and the grand finale is so packed with explosions that things I didn't even know could explode were blowing up all over the place. Not so impressive, however, is Steel's magnetic suit capability--when guns, knives, and trashcan lids start flying at him and sticking to his suit, it looks like something out of a Warner Brothers cartoon.

Shaq looks a little weird tooling around on his motorcycle, too, since his bulk makes it look like a minibike. One of the goofiest things about the movie, however, has got to be Steel's junkyard lair, with a scrap heap secret entrance that opens up so he can scoot in and elude the police.

The dialogue tries to be clever but rarely rises above the level of this remark from Burke to one of his young lackeys: "Eat the hot dog. Don't BE the hot dog." (Now that's some useful advice!) Richard Roundtree gets to remind us of past glories when he admires Steel's gadget-filled hammer--he especially likes (you guessed it) the "shaft." Later, he reacts to a surprising development by uttering the classic line, "Well, I'll be dipped in shit and rolled in bread crumbs." Grandma (Irma P. Hall) funnies things up with her attempts to open up a restaurant called Black and Bleu, featuring recipes combining fancy French cuisine with soul food. In one running gag, her special hominy souffle' keeps falling because her big old grandson keeps makin' too much noise around the house.

Judd Nelson is at his wonderful worst as Burke and is a joy to watch, coolly dispatching a rival coworker (the stunning Claire Stansfield, who played the Jersey Devil on "The X-Files") in an elevator "accident" or hawking super-weapons to terrorists as though he were in a lethal infomercial. Annabeth Gish hits what is probably a career low here but is likable as Sparks, while Richard Roundtree seems to enjoy playing the old geezer role. Other familiar faces that crop up here and there belong to the likes of Charles Napier, Rutanya Alda, Kerrie Keane, and Gary Graham.

The DVD, part of the Warner Archive Collection, is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital, and image and sound are good. The only extra here is a trailer.

STEEL is definitely as bad as I've always heard, but I had fun groaning at the funny parts, laughing at the dramatic parts, and marveling at how flat-out cheesy it all was. It's consistently entertaining in spite of itself, and, best of all, it isn't boring. So if you're a junk film junkie like me, check it out! If not...you should probably watch something else.

 

 

STEEL -- DVD review by porfle

RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/8/10

 

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the paperback collections of Robert Ripley's famous cartoons which began appearing in newspapers in the early 20s. Ripley's intriguing sketches depicted a wide variety of credulity-stretching oddities from around the world and invited us to... "Believe It Or Not!" Most of us remember the popular 1982 TV show of the same name with host Jack Palance, but several decades before that, during the years of 1930-32, theater audiences were thrilled and amazed by a series of Warner Brothers-Vitaphone one-reelers featuring the man himself, Robert Ripley.

These nostalgic short films, all 24 of which have now been collected on two discs for the Warner Archives Collection's RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, might be seen today as a bit of an oddity themselves. Ripley appears as our host in most of them, popping up in a variety of scenarios which allow him to display samples of the strange stories he's collected over the years. These framing scenes are lighthearted and very corny, and Ripley, despite his stiff demeanor, total lack of acting skills, and pronounced overbite, comes off as an amiable sort who relates his stories with such cheerful enthusiasm that we don't mind taking his word for it even when he may be selling us a load of clams.

The first short opens in his office, where we see the talented artist sketching cartoons for his latest "Believe It or Not" newspaper entry. The film series' format is established here, in which we'll see a mixture of actual people, movie footage, animated cartoons, and Ripley's own drawings, all of which he narrates to some appreciative
audience. Later shorts will feature him before a gaggle of reporters on the deck of a ship, addressing people at a charity bazaar or "Believe It or Not" fan club gathering, giving presentations aboard trains and airplanes, and even testifying in court after the veracity of his claims has been challenged. In each case, Ripley wows his fans and wins over his skeptics before the fadeout.

It's fun watching him draw in that familiar style of his. With the sure hand of a master cartoonist he renders sketches of an African with horns growing out of his forehead, an eight-year-old mother from China with her nine-year-old husband, and an amazing baby from Germany who could talk at the age of eight weeks, read the Bible at the age of one, and speak French, German, and Latin before he was three. In one charming trick sequence he draws a picture of a cute Chinese boy that turns into the real thing and sings "Hello Baby."

Ripley's extensive travels yield a wealth of interesting film clips from all over the world. We learn of strange marital customs from Africa and the Holy Land, such as a prison for nagging wives, and see sights such as the Tree of Abraham which is the world's oldest living thing, a turtle with two heads, a horse with eight hooves, a working automobile that can be assembled from various parts in mere minutes, a man with no arms who shoots a shotgun and drives a truck, a collection of the world's smallest books, a high-wire-walking dog, and the proverbial one-armed paper hanger. In one amusing clip we see a 128-year-old former slave from Mississippi spanking her 100-year-old daughter over her knee for being a naughty girl.

Other in-person guests include a man who can pick up twelve billiard balls with one hand, a woman who can read eight words per second, and a man who is able to grow 7 inches in height before our eyes. One of the most fanciful shorts tells the story of a little boy named Billy who blows off his homework to read Mr. Ripley's latest book, then falls asleep and dreams that he is invited into a giant mock-up of the book by the author himself in order to experience the wonders within. With the kid's exaggerated acting style, Ripley's own endearingly inept thespian skills, and a generally clumsy and hokey treatment of the premise, the short is enjoyably dumb.

Unfortunately, the last few shorts in the series lack Ripley's participation (he's supposedly on another expedition "in search of the strange, curious, and unbelievable") and consist of film clips narrated by someone named Leo Donnelly. Lacking Ripley's earnest charm, Donnelly instead comes off as a Pete Smith clone complete with doggedly unfunny delivery and bad puns. An example: "We hadda get somebody's goat for this, and here he is...the only four-horned goat in captivity. Just like some people I know, always horning in. A pesky old goat, and that's no kid." As groanworthy as these episodes are, however, they still feature lots of interesting footage.

The DVDs are full-screen with Dolby Digital sound. Image quality is very good despite the expected rough spots here and there. Both discs contain 12 shorts apiece, each introduced with a jaunty theme tune. There are no individual titles and the shorts are identified only by their production numbers.

If you've never seen Robert Ripley's intriguing newspaper cartoons, this set of delightfully dated short films is a good introduction to the fascinating world of "Ripley's Believe It or Not." Even today, his celebrated showcase of the world's most unusual people and things continues to amaze and amuse.

 

RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT -- DVD review by porfle

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK -- DVD review by porfle

 

 

Originally posted on 9/14/09

 

 

Here's another one of those "ABC Movie of the Week" made-for-TV horror gems that still lingers in the minds of those who saw it back in the 70s. I missed DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) then, but if I had seen this modest but effective fright flick in my younger days I'm pretty sure it would've made an indelible impression on me, too.

Kim Darby and Jim Hutton play Sally and Alex Farnham, a young couple who have just moved into a big old mansion left to them by her late grandmother. It's a fixer-upper, so they've hired Mr. Harris (William Demarest), an old handyman who's worked around the place for years, to do some repairs. When Sally opens up a dark, creepy basement room with a bricked-up fireplace, Mr. Harris sternly warns her to leave it alone.

Curious, Sally unbolts the fireplace's side door and peers inside with a flashlight at what appears to be a deep pit. Unwittingly, she's just unleashed a malevolent force into the house. She begins to glimpse hideous troll-like creatures lurking around, and hears them chattering about killing her. Alex doesn't believe her, of course, and calls a doctor, thinking that stress has driven her off the deep end. Sally is sedated, rendering her helpless on the very night that the creatures have chosen to make their move.

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK starts out like it's going to be a ghost story a la THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, but the first sight of one of those vile little trolls peering out at Sally through a potted plant during a dinner party heads the whole thing up a different alley altogether. I was actually in the mood for a ghost story, so I was a little disappointed at first. Then, the idea of these evil, revolting things skittering around behind the walls and popping out of secret panels kind of grew on me. The scene with Sally taking a shower as they creep up on her with a straight razor is especially unnerving.

Four years past her portrayal of the spunky Mattie Ross in TRUE GRIT, Kim Darby does a good job going through all the various states of uncertainty, fear, and finally stark terror that are required of her as Sally Farnham, despite some really bad hair. The late, lamented Jim Hutton (WHERE THE BOYS ARE, THE GREEN BERETS) brings his familiar lanky persona to the role of Alex, who's initially a bit of an insensitive jerk but finally comes around when the sinister goings-on in his new house can no longer be denied.

Sally's best friend Joan is played by the pretty Barbara Anderson of TV's "Ironside", and in a refreshing change from the usual cliche', Joan isn't having an affair with Alex and they aren't trying to drive Sally crazy. (That seems to be a popular "twist" in movies like this, and the fact that it doesn't happen is the real surprise.) Hollywood veteran William Demarest, needless to say, is reliably solid as the old handyman. Pedro Armendariz, Jr. appears as Sally's emotional interior decorator.

John Newland of TV's "One Step Beyond" directs the film with his usual taste and restraint. He manages to create a very eerie atmosphere inside that big, dimly-lit house. The creatures are pretty effective as well, portrayed by actors running around in oversized sets and wearing some of the ugliest monster masks I've ever seen. There's none of the violence and gore that audiences so often require in order to "scare" them these days--after all, this was 70s network TV--but the film evokes a feeling of dread and unease that gradually builds toward a suspenseful climax that's surprisingly downbeat.

As part of Warner Brothers' Archive Collection, the DVD is totally no-frills and the film itself is transferred from available materials with no remastering or restoration. As such, it looks as it might if you caught it during a late viewing on a local TV station. While more discerning videophiles may cringe, for me this only adds to the nostalgia factor and these burn-on-demand DVDs of titles from the Warner vault are a great idea.

Despite the title, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK actually wants us to be afraid of the dark. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if I'd seen it when it first aired, it would've scared the crap outta me. Watching it now, though, I'm merely entertained. And that weird sensation of little furry creatures brushing past my legs during the movie is just my imagination, heh heh.

 

 

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK -- DVD review by porfle

DOGVILLE COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/28/09

 

 

Back in the old days, studios sometimes tended to get a little experimental with their short subjects. And sometimes they got just plain nutty. Nowhere is this more evident than in MGM's bizarre and fascinating "Dogville" shorts, all nine of which are now available in the DOGVILLE COLLECTION, a 2-disc set from Warner Brothers' Archive Collection.

Directed by Jules White ("The Three Stooges") and Zion Myers, these shorts are corny take-offs on various movie genres and sometimes certain films in particular, using dogs in place of human actors. This means you'll see different breeds of dogs wearing clothes, walking around, hanging out in bars, etc. and speaking with dubbed voices. The miniature sets and props are great--sometimes I'd forget they weren't full-sized. Some shots of dogs driving cars, flying (and parachuting out of) airplanes, riding in buses and fire engines, and just about anything else you can think of, are ingenious.

Are these shorts funny, you ask? Well, the sight of a bunch of dogs strolling around on their hind legs wearing clothes and "acting" out scenes from old movies just can't help being occasionally funny, especially when the costumes and setpieces are more elaborate. Every once in a while a dog's expressions will synch perfectly with the dubbed dialogue and be laugh-out-loud hilarious. And even when it doesn't work, you just sit there mesmerized, thinking, "What the hell am I watching?"

Of course, the thing that will make some viewers uncomfortable and others refuse to watch altogether is the possibility of animal cruelty. To what degree any actual abuse might be involved here in these pre-SPCA shorts is hard to ascertain--mainly the dogs just look like they'd rather be somewhere else instead of wearing clothes and pretending to be movie actors, often sporting a distinct "WTF?" expression.

The most bothersome aspect is the use of harnesses and invisible wires to make the dogs walk around on their hind legs. The sight of entire chorus lines of dogs being manipulated in these contraptions is especially worrisome. However, I didn't see anything in any of the shorts that I would consider out-and-out abuse. I assume (naively, perhaps) that these dogs were valuable to MGM and well cared for during the shoots, and that they at least didn't have it as rough as they would if they were being forced to pull sleds in the Yukon.

Running from 1929 to 1931, the series is wonderfully antique-looking with beautiful opening titles. Dubbing and sound effects are well-done considering that talking pictures were still in their infancy, and the editing is snappy and cartoon-like. The first three Dogville shorts are billed as "All Barkies", after which each is officially designated "A Dogville Comedy." MGM's celebrated mascot Leo the Lion sounds like he has a frog in his throat in his first few appearances, loses his voice altogether for a few shorts, and then finally comes back in fine voice for the last ones.

1929's "Hot Dog" takes place in a speakeasy and concerns a roguish playboy named Joe Barker out on the town with Clara Bone, another dog's wife. When she worries that her husband might show up and catch them together, he brags, "I've been chased by some of the best husbands in town!" There's an all-dog band banging away on their instruments while the entertainment onstage consists of some lovely canine hula dancers in grass skirts. "You never looked at me like that," complains one lady dog to her husband, to which he replies, "You never LOOKED like that!" Naturally, the husband does show up, leading to a violent confrontation. "There's my wife with some yellow cur! I'll kill that dirty dog!" is another example of the pun-filled dialogue. The story ends with a dramatic courtroom scene.

In "College Hounds", a spoof of the old campus football comedies, we find a dorm room full of students going about their daily business--shaving, brushing their hair, relaxing in the bath, lifting weights, ironing their clothes--as they discuss the upcoming big game. Later, a scoundrel with big money bet on the other team hires a femme fatale to lure hometown hero Red Mange into a trap so he'll miss the game. There's a really bizarre love scene, and an even more bizarre football game with two whole teams full of dogs in uniforms being scooted around like puppets on a tiny football field.

"Who Killed Rover?" is a Phido Vance murder mystery complete with knives, guns, and all sorts of scary goings on. An all-dog wedding ceremony leads to a romantic honeymoon night with a rather risque' scene--the groom enters the bedroom, whisks the pillow off one of the twin beds, and nestles it next to the other one. Ooh, suggestive! This one has a surprisingly downbeat ending.

"The Dogway Melody", a spoof of backstage musicals, is one of the best. A slick-talking smoothie hustles to get his girlfriend into the big show, which consists of a series of mind-boggling production numbers including an elaborate version of "Singin' in the Rain."

Then comes the impressive war movie spoof "So Quiet on the Canine Front", which features a full-scale WWI battle sequence with machine guns, cannons, and flea grenades. Private Barker is enlisted to go behind enemy lines disguised as a nurse and ends up at the wrong end of a firing squad before his pal rescues him in the nick of time.

"The Big Dog House" tells of a mild-mannered bookkeeper for the Dogville Department Store who is framed by his boss Mr. Barker (related to Private Barker, perhaps?) for embezzlement and murder, and sent to Dogville Penitentiary. A funny spoof of hardboiled prison pictures, this one has another suspenseful ending with the innocent dog on his way to the electric chair as his girlfriend Trixie, after hearing Mr. Barker's deathbed confession, races with the governor to stop the execution.

Heartbroken soldiers in the Foreign Legion recount their sad tales of romantic betrayal in "Love Tails of Morocco", which offers several entertaining flashbacks in various settings. In "The Two Barks Brothers", gypsies steal a baby who later becomes a shiftless tramp named Oscar, while his twin brother grows up to be an anti-liquor crusading district attorney. Underworld beer king "Scartail" Growler hires Oscar to slip some gin into the D.A.'s water pitcher, leading to a hilarious scene in which the D.A. tries to deliver a temperance speech to some conservative citizens while getting sloppy drunk.

The final short, "Trader Hound", lampoons the enormously popular jungle adventure "Trader Horn" which would in turn inspire MGM's "Tarzan" series. Using the same music and basic plot, this spoof begins with a safari into darkest Africa in search of the great white goddess, Nina T-Bone. This film seemed promising but turned out to be one of the worst of the series--much time is devoted to the antics of human actors in animal costumes, with an extended battle between a lion and a gorilla proving particularly boring. The whole thing is narrated by Pete Smith in his usual unfunny (to me, anyway) style. However, the dramatic appearance of Nina T-Bone and the climactic chase as the hunters flee a tribe of dog-eating cannibals liven things up at the end.

As usual with the Warner Archive series, this burn-on-demand DVD set is taken from the best available video masters in the Warner vault, but with no remastering or restoration. Thus, the picture quality is less than perfect, yet considering the age of these shorts they look and sound quite good. Average running time is 15 minutes each.

The entertainment value of these DOGVILLE COLLECTION shorts is, of course, a matter of taste, not to mention one's tolerance for seeing dogs being manipulated like puppets to walk around on two legs and perform other human-like activities. While several moments elicited big laughs, the overall effect of this series of novelty films is a sort of dazed incredulity at their utter strangeness. I would love to see a roomful of stoners watching these things and flipping out.

 

 

DOGVILLE COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

THE OUR GANG COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 9/13/09

 

Back in the 20s and 30s, the downright funniest movie shorts came from that bustling hotbed of comedy genius, Hal Roach Studios. One day in 1922, Hal had the idea of putting a bunch of everyday kids together in front of the camera and letting them act natural, with a minimum of scripting and direction. This resulted in the beloved and wildly successful series, Hal Roach's Rascals (or "Our Gang", after the title of their first film), out of which came some of the most popular child actors of all time. A few, like Jackie Cooper, continued their acting careers into adulthood, while most lapsed into obscurity after their brief stardom.


In 1938, Roach sold the series to MGM, and a brand new era began in the Rascals' saga--one which might be referred to as "The Unfunny Years." These 52 MGM shorts, which make up the Warner Archive's 5-DVD set THE OUR GANG COLLECTION, are irresistibly fascinating to me not for their great performances or comedy content, which are in short supply, but for two other reasons altogether. One, they're the shorts that I grew up with first, so they have a deep nostalgic value to me. These things are just ingrained in my memory, and watching them again is like reliving the past. And two, they document the decline and eventual demise of Our Gang and their classic series.


Most of these slickly-produced shorts have little or none of the simple humor, spontaneity, or natural performances encouraged at Roach. Indeed, the ones that aren't pale imitations of the earlier films are either preachy "teach the kids a lesson" sermons ("Don't Lie", "Time Out For Lessons") or plotless music and dance reviews intended solely as novelty shorts or WWII morale boosters ("Doin' Their Bit", "Melodies Old and New", "Calling All Kids"), with the Gang often lost amidst a sea of anonymous showbiz kids and cringe-inducing production numbers.

"Ye Olde Minstrels" is the first of these practically plotless musical novelties. In this case, the Gang gets all worked up about helping the Red Cross and decides to put on yet another show, this time with the help of Froggy's uncle who's an old-time minstrel man. After a couple minutes' obligatory exposition the big show is in full gear, on a big stage with elaborate costumes and sets and a bunch of other faceless child performers.


A precision (well, not quite) dance number is followed by some creaky old vaudeville patter from Spanky, Froggy, and Mickey, and then Froggy's uncle finishes the show with a blackface song and dance routine to which the audience responds with raucous applause. It's all really quite awful, and about as far as you can get from those charmingly makeshift shows the Gang used to put on in their old barn. The later WWII clunkers with their tired military gags, racist jokes, and almost masturbatory patriotism, are even worse.


One by one, key players in one of the Gang's most revered line-ups--Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, and Porky--fall by the wayside due to advancing age, making way for less talented or appealing kids to replace them in these increasingly entertainment-free MGM productions. The loveable Darla Hood bites the dust after the laughing-gas comedy "Wedding Worries", and veteran laugh-getter Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's last gasp is "Kiddie Kure", with guest star Thurston Hall. The quintessential bully, Tommy "Butch" Bond, makes several menacing and memorable appearances as Alfalfa's two-fisted romantic rival before stepping aside for the considerably less appealing Freddy "Slicker" Walburn.


Porky's disappearance breaks up his beautiful team-up with Buckwheat, who, as it turns out, is the only member of this particular group to make it to the bitter end in the fittingly-titled fizzle, "Tale of a Dog" (1944). Arguably the most popular and well-known Our Ganger of all time, George "Spanky" McFarland, holds out against encroaching puberty until "Unexpected Riches" marks his swan song. Without a doubt, Spanky and Alfalfa were two of the most genuinely talented and skilled comic actors in the Gang's history, and despite the bad scripts they were given to perform in later years, they brought a vitality and watchability to these shorts that were sorely lacking after their departure.


Froggy, the homely, bespectacled kid with the deadpan delivery and steamboat voice, appeared in "The New Pupil" and "Waldo's Last Stand" before becoming an official Gang member in "Kiddie Kure." Froggy was actually a pretty talented and funny kid when he wasn't over-directed and had good material to work with. Unfortunately, as the series grew progressively less funny, he was saddled with the unenviable task of delivering joyless, leaden punchlines (usually nonsensical quotes from various aunts and uncles) intended to end humorless stories with a "laugh."

Taking Darla's place as "the girl" was Janet Burston, whose brief debut was a hilariously bad rendition of something called "Tippy Tippy Tin" in "All About Hash." Critic Leonard Maltin pretty much excoriates Janet in his essential history of the series, "Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals", but I think she was a talented singer and dancer and was cute as a button.


Again, it's the material that does her in--the depressing "Family Troubles" finds her running away from home in tears because she's not getting enough attention, then getting "adapted" by an older couple who decide to teach her a lesson by treating her like a galley slave. But in the shameless WWII flag-waver "Calling All Kids", her song-and-dance number "I Love a Man in Uniform" is bubbling with personality and fun. So you can count me among the small group of fans who think that Janet was actually an asset to these shorts rather than an element in their decline.


Easily the most famous of the latter Gangers was the future Robert Blake, known here by his real name, Mickey Gubitosi. Maltin's book rightly points out Mickey's artificial acting style, which is obvious from his very first appearance as a junior Ganger in "Joy Scouts" and is evidenced by broad, practiced gestures, hammy expressions, and overly declarative line readings. Still, he's a cute kid and I like him.


In later years Blake told of how he blustered his way into a leading role by being able to deliver lines that another kid actor couldn't, and ended up helping to support his family with his acting wages. So it's no surprise that little Mickey Gubitosi can be seen selling every line and gesture with everything he's got--the little guy's doing what he can to put food on his family's table and clothes on their backs! There would be plenty of time for subtlety and craftsmanship later in his acting career. Anyway, it's interesting to watch the future "In Cold Blood" star (and tabloid mainstay) ham it up as a precocious tyke.


This Warner Archive Collection DVD set is a major event for Our Gang fans. All 52 original uncut MGM shorts are here, and save for a rough patch here and there, the picture quality is fine. There are no extras--not even a menu with a funny picture on it or anything--but that's the point of the Warner Archive's no-frills policy of putting obscure and/or hard-to-find fan favorites on DVD that would normally be collecting dust in their vaults.


I honestly don't know if these shorts will appeal to people who didn't grow up with them and now look back on them with fond nostalgia. Several of the earlier ones--such as "Aladdin's Lantern", "Men in Fright", and "Clown Princes"--retain much of the charm of the Hal Roach shorts, and even some of the inferior ones still get by on the personalities of Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, and the rest. But most of the latter entries in this collection have little conventional entertainment value and appeal only as strange, puzzling artifacts of their era and retro-camp novelties.


As such, the worst of them boast almost the same perverse fascination as films such as REEFER MADNESS and GLEN OR GLENDA? The world in which the filmmakers at MGM place Our Gang is ultimately a dour, humorless place dominated by glowering authority figures (whom we're supposed to respect) and rigidly upstanding citizens. There's a joyless, almost ghostly unfunniness hanging over this dreary MGM backlot world as the "Our Gang" series meanders toward its ignominious end, one from which I, both out of nostalgia and a strange kind of curiosity, find myself unable to look away. To me, this is genuinely fascinating stuff. It's just the kind of thing ERASERHEAD's Henry Spencer might watch when he isn't staring into the radiator.

 

 

THE OUR GANG COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

BAD RONALD -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 9/12/09

 

 

 

Back in the 70s, when it was still a novelty to see movies that were made exclusively for TV instead of theaters, there was a series called "ABC Movie of the Week." Imagine--brand new movies made just for TV, every week! We couldn't wait to see what this series would offer next, and for awhile they came up with a string of films--such as DUEL, TRILOGY OF TERROR, DAUGHTER OF THE MIND, and THE LOVE WAR--that would have the whole school buzzing the next day.

One of these made-for-TV gems that, to this day, still lingers in the minds of those who saw it back then is BAD RONALD (1974), now being released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection. Aging child actor Scott Jacoby plays Ronald Wilby, a shy teenager who lives with his overprotective mother (Kim Hunter, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, PLANET OF THE APES) and often retreats into a fantasy world he calls Atranta. Distraught after being ridiculed by a girl who refused to go out with him, Ronald runs into a young neighbor girl and, in a fit of anger, accidentally kills her.

Panic-stricken Ronald buries the girl and rushes home to tell his mother. Imagining the worst, she instructs Ronald to convert their downstairs bathroom into a hidden room where he can hide until things have settled down enough for them to move somewhere else. The plan works perfectly--until Ronald's mother dies during an operation and he's left to fend for himself. Things get even more complicated when another family, the Woods--consisting of a mother, a father, and three daughters--moves into the house.

Technically, BAD RONALD is typical of these movie-of-the-week entries, with modest production values that give the film the look of an extended TV show episode. Veteran television director Buzz Kulik (BRIAN'S SONG, the similar CRAWLSPACE) is up to the task of telling this offbeat story in an interesting way and giving it a few creepy suburban-gothic touches.

Kim Hunter, of course, is great in her brief scenes as Ronald's mother, the last sympathetic figure in his life. Jacoby really underplays his role although this tends to emphasize Ronald's growing detachment from reality. The idea of him living alone in that hidden room--isolated, disheveled, and growing ever more mentally unbalanced--is intriguing, especially when he starts creeping around scrounging for food and spying on the family who moves into the house. A nosy old biddy next door, Mrs. Schumacher (Linda Watkins), adds tension by constantly peering through the windows.

Pippa Scott and a young Dabney Coleman are Mr. and Mrs. Wood, while sisters Lisa and Cindy Eilbacher play the two older daughters, Ellen and Althea, and Cindy Fisher is the youngest, Babs. The film grows steadily more creepy as they begin to notice various things amiss inside the house and eventually get the sick feeling that there's an unknown presence watching their every move. Voyeuristic Ronald's numerous peepholes enable him to keep tabs on the family and develop a dangerous obsession with the youngest daughter, Babs, whom he envisions as the fair princess to his valiant prince of Atranta. When he can no longer remain in hiding and finally makes his presence known to her, all hell breaks loose.

Someone recently described the Warner Archive Collection as "down and dirty, no frills" DVDs, intended to offer a selection of obscure and/or previously unavailable films that certain fans have wished for over the years. That's what the BAD RONALD DVD is--simply a passable copy (in 1.37:1 full-screen) of a film that didn't look that great originally, on a barebones burn-on-demand disc with no bonus features or chapter titles and a generic menu. Since I value the movie more than the extras, and am happy that films like this are available at all, this is fine with me. A much more in-depth discussion of the Warner Archive Collection can be found here.

A real gem among made-for-TV movies of the 70s, BAD RONALD is one of those low-key and subtly effective psychological horror-thrillers that just stays with you. Mention it to anyone who saw it back then and chances are they'll nod and smile as the memory of Ronald lurking in his hidden lair, peering furtively out at the world, comes creeping back to them.

BAD RONALD -- DVD review by porfle

GENESIS II -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 10/26/09

 

 

Talk about a trip down memory lane...I don't think I've seen GENESIS II since it first aired way back in 1973. In those days we Trekkers went coo-coo whenever anything Gene Roddenberry-related was shown. After all, the original "Star Trek" was it--there were no movies, no spin-offs, no new episodes, nothing like the Trek glut that would come later. So the occasional failed pilot film from the Great Bird of the Galaxy would be aired, and we in our fervent Trek-fueled deliriums would wail: "Why? Why won't those idiots at the networks pick these up and make TV shows out of them? Why won't they ever learn?" Now, however, after a decades-long cooling off period and with considerably more hindsight, I can watch a Roddenberry pilot film like this and think, "Oh...so that's why."

Not to say, however, that watching GENESIS II isn't lots of fun in a nostalgic sort of way, because it is. For those of you who have never seen it--and who probably think it's the sequel to some movie called GENESIS--it's about a scientist (one of those handsome, action-guy scientists with a cool moustache, that is--not the boring, real kind) named Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) who offers himself as the guinea pig in his own experiment in suspended animation which, if successful, will someday allow humans to travel great distances in space. But something goes wrong, and Hunt's pressurized chamber deep within Carlsbad Caverns gets buried during an earthquake. Dylan Hunt's experiment is a success, all right--he sleeps for 154 years, until he's discovered by people from the future.

They're a boring bunch, these members of the Pax group--a collection of pacifist, unisex intellectuals dedicated to restoring culture and civilization to a world ravaged by nuclear war. All, that is, except for the alluring and exciting Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley at her most alluring and exciting), who nurses Hunt back to health and then informs him that Pax is really an evil organization out to subjugate the weak and take over the world. She helps him escape Pax's Carlsbad Caverns headquarters and takes him via underground shuttle to her own city that's populated by genetically-superior mutants.

Yes, Lyra-a is half-mutant (Roddenberry always liked having a character who was half-something), meaning that she has two hearts and thus two navels. My main memory of GENESIS II from my younger days is Mariette Hartley casually stripping down to her undies to reveal her double navelage to Hunt (which was Roddenberry's revenge for not being allowed to show navels on "Star Trek") and announcing, "I'm a mutant." Hey, I was going through puberty--that sort of thing tended to stick in my mind.

Lyra-a's city bears a striking resemblance to the University of California campus (because the movie was filmed there) and is filled with snooty chicks and perfectly-coiffed guys who look like dungeon masters in a gay S&M club. ("Star Trek" alumnus Bill Theiss must've been watching ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW when he designed their campy costumes.) These butch dudes are none too subtle--their preferred method of keeping slaves in line is a rod (known as a "stim" because it stimulates pleasure and pain nerve centers) that springs erect (hello!) when activated (yeah, baby!)

Anyway, Dylan discovers that Lyra-a's people, the Tyranians (tyrants--get it?) are really the bad guys after all, and, along with some wimpy-looking Pax commandos, passes out a bunch of stolen stims to the slaves (who, for some reason, all have mall-hair) and leads a revolt. In a thrilling action sequence, the revolting slaves run around tackling mutants and poking them with their stims. Fist-pump!

Poor Liam Dunn pops up as one of the sniveling slaves in one scene, looking as though Mr. Hilltop from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN has taken a really wrong turn somewhere. As for these Pax characters whose adventures we were supposed to want to follow every week, they're rather unlikable and I didn't have the slightest desire to hang out with them. (I'd never say that about the crew of the Enterprise. Except for Chekov.) They don't even believe in having recreational sex, for Pete's sake. Oh, I'm sure that, given half a season or so, Dylan would've eventually warmed up the dormant libido of cute little Harper-Smythe (Lynne Marta) with his manly 20th-century charms.

Percy Rodriguez is okay as their leader, and naturally Majel Barrett gets shoehorned in as a council member. You'll also recognize familiar character actor Titos Vandis as another good guy. The only really cool Pax dude is the great Ted Cassidy as "Isiah", and he looks embarrassed in the goofy wig and toga he's forced to run around in. As for Alex Cord, I'd forgotten what a dull actor he was. Thank goodness Mariette Hartley is still as hot as I remembered--I felt a little envious of her chamber slaves.

The Carlsbad Caverns headquarters of Pax looks pretty neat but has kind of an Irwin Allen vibe, although that underground shuttle is just plain awesome. There are some nice exteriors, too. But most of the interior sets are drab, and so is the photography by Trek vet Jerry Finnerman. John Llewellyn Moxey's direction is similarly uninspired.

Kind of like Homer Simpson banging on his TV and shouting "BE MORE FUNNY!!!", I can remember watching this back in the 70s and trying to will it to be better. The concept seemed pretty good, or at least it seemed like a way to make vaguely "Star Trek"-type stories on Earth instead of in space. The different countries which had evolved into strange, unknown civilizations since the big war would be kind of like alien planets...the sleek sub-shuttle that spanned all the continents of the world was sort of like the Enterprise...the Pax organization was a little like Starfleet...the sleep-dart guns were similar to phasers.

That is, if you really, really used your imagination. But wouldn't it be nice if Gene Roddenberry had used his imagination, so we wouldn't have to? That is, instead of coming up with something that was not only a bland rehash of "Star Trek", but pretty much a rip-off of "Buck Rogers", too? BANG BANG BANG--BE MORE GOOD!!!

Deep down, I knew that no matter how much I banged on my TV set, GENESIS II wouldn't be anywhere near as good as "Star Trek" even if it ever did became a series, which I also knew wasn't gonna happen any more than either SPECTRE or QUESTOR were going to become a series. "Is this it?" I thought at the time. "Was 'Star Trek' the whole load? No more goodies from the Bird?"

To make things worse, the film ends with the Pax leaders forcing action-guy Dylan Hunt to promise that, from now on, he'll never hurt or kill anyone. Somewhere along the line, Gene Roddenberry got the idea that totally non-militaristic and non-violent heroes would be irresistible to the viewing public. He even tried to retroactively convince us, and Paramount, that "Star Trek" had always been this way and that the upcoming movies should reflect this wonderfully pacifistic attitude. I don't know about you, but a bunch of non-violent wimps running around not hurting the bad guys isn't exactly my idea of action-packed thrills. (Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer didn't think so, either.) Besides, Captain Kirk used to beat the hell out of any green, scaly sucka who looked at him wrong!

The DVD is part of the Warner Archives Collection, in which films that would normally languish in their vaults are dusted off and burned to disc sans restoration. This means that the (1.33:1) picture and (mono) sound quality are about on the level of a late-night viewing on your local TV station. But since your local TV station shows infomercials now instead of movies like this, these no-frills DVDs are a nice way to be able to see obscure titles.

As a one-shot TV-movie that we were never in any danger of revisiting every week anyway, this attempt by Gene Roddenberry to get another sci-fi series on the air is still a novel experience for the old-school Trek fan or the young Trek-curious, and it's better than the follow-up, PLANET EARTH, with John Saxon. Less forgiving viewers will be tempted to rip into it MST3K-style. And even if you have fond, hazy memories of GENESIS II, don't be surprised if it disappoints.

 

 

GENESIS II -- DVD review by porfle

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE -- DVD review by porfle

 

 Originally posted in 2009

 

 

A tasty romance-slash-murder mystery with an outstanding cast, King Vidor's lightly noirish LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951) recalls the days when a "woman's picture" didn't necessarily have to put male audience members into a stupor. 

 

With its opposing camps facing off across miles of wasteland, a man who may have been falsely accused of murder, and a woman whose love is clouded by fear and suspicion, it's almost like something Emily Brontë and Alfred Hitchcock might've knocked off together during a tipsy weekend on a West Texas dude ranch.

 

When New York stage actress Shelly Carnes (Ruth Roman) is ordered by her doctor to go West, she falls for a young man named Trevelyan (Richard Todd) whom she meets when they both take shelter during a storm. 

 

 At the Tumble Moon Ranch she meets Liza McStringer (Mercedes McCambridge) and her crippled younger brother String (Darryl Hickman) and finds out that the reclusive Trevelyan has just been acquitted of murdering his wife after his second trial resulted in a hung jury. Liza, who clearly has a thing for him, was the jury member who kept him from being convicted. 

 

Shelly and Trevelyan's next meeting leads to a whirlwind romance and a quickie marriage. But on their wedding night, Shelly's growing doubts about her new husband's innocence are confirmed when Liza admits to having witnessed the murder--and hints that the killer was indeed Trevelyan. 

 

This is a good old-fashioned atmospheric thriller that's lean and well-paced. Simply yet stylishly directed by King Vidor, with good use of southwestern locations, the story is taut and suspenseful and never lapses into melodrama. The editing, except for a couple of curiously jarring moments, is noticeably good and the crisp black and white photography is a pleasure to look at. Master film composer Max Steiner contributes a robust musical score. 

 

Mercedes McCambridge, with her natural and self-confident (and somehow peculiar) Method acting style, is fascinating to watch from her first moment on the screen. What an interesting young actress she was. She's subtle yet spellbinding during her long expository speech to Shelly, going about little bits of business around the kitchen in an offhand way and then deftly rolling a cigarette with one hand and lighting it as she delivers her dramatic exit line. After that I looked forward to watching the rest of her performance during the movie, and does it ever pay off before it's over.

Ruth Roman, on the other hand, gives a first-rate "movie star" performance as the affable and attractive heroine. Until recently I'd only seen some of her later roles (both she and McCambridge appear in the 1979 TV-Western "The Sacketts" as older and much more timeworn women) and never realized how cute and appealing she was in her younger days--she reminds me a little of Debra Winger. Her character is cocky and adventurous, yet vulnerable enough to make us want to take care of her during the dicey situations she keeps getting herself into. As the mysterious Trevelyan, Richard Todd is an intriguingly enigmatic romantic figure, managing to make us like him even as we're wondering whether or not he's really a murderer. 

 

Appearing only briefly is Zachary Scott as Trevelyan's friend Harvey Fortescue Turner, an idle playboy who knows more about the murder than he's telling. Kathryn Givney and Frank Conroy are Myra and J.D. Nolan, wealthy ranchers who raised Trevelyan as their own after the death of his parents. Familiar character actor Rhys Williams plays the local priest, Father Paul, a reluctant witness whose testimony was damaging during Trevelyan's trial. Former child actor Darryl Hickman is effective as Liza's troubled brother, String. 

 

Ruth Roman's femme fatale gaze from the cover of this Warner Archive Collection DVD is hardly indicative of her character, but it looks cool anyway. The full-screen image and English Dolby 2.0 sound are good considering that this burn-on-demand title, like the rest of the Archive series, isn't restored or remastered but simply transferred from the best video master in the Warner Brothers' vaults. This means that picky videophiles will probably cringe at some of the scratches and pops. 

 

I barely notice them, having gotten used to seeing much worse prints on TV and in theaters over the years. In fact, the less-than-perfect picture quality only increases the film's nostalgic appeal for me. 

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE is the kind of movie that I took for granted back when you could see this kind of stuff on TV all the time. Now that old black and white films are, sadly, a real rarity amidst a sea of infomercials and other cheap filler, getting to watch this classy thriller on DVD is a real treat.

 

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE -- DVD review by porfle

THEN CAME BRONSON -- Movie/TV/DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 8/9/20

 

Currently rewatching THEN CAME BRONSON (1969), the pilot movie for the TV series starring Michael Parks, via the Warner Archive Collection DVD.

The premise of the movie and subsequent series is that disillusioned newspaper reporter Jim Bronson (Parks) reacts to the suicide of his friend (Martin Sheen) by chucking it all--his job, his conformity, his adherence to other people's rules--and setting off on his Harley to discover America while rediscovering himself.

Every week he went to a different place and interacted with different characters, the first being a runaway bride played by a very endearing young Bonnie Bedelia (DIE HARD, DIE HARD 2, HEART LIKE A WHEEL) who latches onto him out of loneliness and desperation.

This classic scene from the movie became part of the weekly series' opening. Click to enlarge.

During their time together the pensive, introspective Bronson teaches her empathy and self-reliance while she helps mend the heartache he suffered after his friend's death. The episodic nature of the story serves as a sampling of what Bronson will encounter in the weeks ahead as the series continues.

Though the show was wildly popular with young viewers, Parks only stayed with it for one season. There was talk of replacing him with Lee Majors, but thankfully this never happened.

The pilot movie contains one of two very cringey scenes for "Bronson" fans.  The first comes when he enters a hill climb competition and his Harley-Davidson Sportster street bike suddenly turns into a much smaller dirt bike.

The other memorably cringey scene for fans comes in a later episode where his bike is damaged considerably after rolling down a rocky cliff and he manages to fix it with a rock (known as the legendary "Bronson Rock").

The film is also noteworthy for its co-star Bonnie Bedelia, who would win plaudits for her starring role in the film biography "Heart Like A Wheel" and later gain fans as Bruce Willis' wife "Holly" in the "Die Hard" films.

Parks had such a strangely-affected acting style--one which was extremely mumbly and eccentric even among the most devoted "method" actors--that it's interesting seeing him in a scene with a more traditional actor like Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, or Akim Tamiroff and watching how awkwardly their acting styles clash. They may as well be from different planets as the other actors try to make their performances relate somehow to his.

From the MAD Magazine satire of the show. Click to enlarge.

The series itself harkened back to earlier days in television when writers used anthology shows (which this resembles) to wax eloquent about various issues and explore human relations in terms more intimate, poetic, and occasionally pretentious than other shows usually allowed. 

Much later in his career, Parks would achieve renewed fame and popularity as Texas lawman Earl McGraw in a series of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino films.

But to most of his fans he'll always be Jim Bronson, cranking up his Harley and heading off to somewhere he's never been before to meet new people and change their lives.

THEN CAME BRONSON -- Movie/TV/DVD Review by Porfle

The Wait Is Over - Just Announced: "Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season"

Starring Original Cast Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni and Jason Dohring from the Iconic Series

VERONICA MARS (2019):
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

Uncover the Mystery on DVD October 22, 2019

Coming to Blu-rayTM via Warner Archive Collection

BURBANK, CA (July 31, 2019) –Hey Marshmallows…The wait is over! Television’s favorite super-sleuth is back, and on a mission to save Neptune! Discover more secrets, snooping, and seduction like you have never seen before as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season on DVD October 22, 2019. Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season contains all 8 edge-of-your-seat episodes from the first season along with exhilarating extra content including the Veronica Mars at Comic Con 2019 bonus feature! The DVD is priced to own at $24.98 SRP ($30.99 in Canada). Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season will also be available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers (available on August 19th in the U.S.).

Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season will be available on Blu-rayTM courtesy of Warner Archive Collection. The Blu-rayTM release includes all bonus features on the DVD and is also arriving October 22, 2019. Warner Archive Blu-ray releases are found at wb.com/warnerarchive and your favorite online retailer.

Spring breakers are getting murdered in Neptune, thereby decimating the seaside town's lifeblood tourist industry. After Mars Investigations is hired by the parents of one of the victims to find their son's killer, Veronica (Kristen Bell) is drawn into an epic eight-episode mystery that pits the enclave's wealthy elites, who would rather put an end to the month-long bacchanalia, against a working class that relies on the cash influx that comes with being the West Coast's answer to Daytona Beach.

“You don’t need to be a superfan to get hooked on this new series,” said Rosemary Markson, WBHE Senior Vice President, Television Marketing. “Both fans and newcomers of the critically-acclaimed series alike will be in for a treat as they relive their favorite episodes from the first season, along with the Veronica Mars at Comic Con 2019 extra feature for a deeper investigation behind the scenes.”

Veronica Mars (2019) is executive produced by Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars, 2004; Veronica Mars, 2014 feature film; iZOMBIE), Diane Ruggiero-Wright (iZOMBIE, Veronica Mars, The Ex List), Dan Etheridge (Veronica Mars, Party Down), and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, The Good Place, Bad Moms) and stars Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars, Person of Interest), and Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars, Ringer).


SPECIAL FEATURES

    Veronica Mars at Comic Con 2019


8 ONE-HOUR EPISODES

    Spring Break Forever
    Chino and the Man
    Keep Calm and Party On
    Heads You Lose
    Losing Streak
    Entering a World of Pain
    Gods of War
    Years, Continents, Bloodshed

DIGITAL
The first season of Veronica Mars will be available to own on Digital on August 19 (in the U.S.). Digital allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital is available from various retailers including Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play, Vudu, PlayStation, Xbox and others.

BASICS
Digital Release: August 19, 2019 (in U.S.)
DVD Release: October 22, 2019
DVD Order Due Date: September 17, 2019
DVD Presented in 16x9 widescreen format
Running Time: Feature: Approx. 456 min
Enhanced Content: Approx.30 min

UNITED STATES

DVD
Price: $24.98 SRP
2 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English

CANADA

DVD
Price: $30.99 SRP
2 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees.

The Wait Is Over - Just Announced: "Veronica Mars (2019): The Complete First Season"

THE JOURNEY -- DVD review by porfle

Political intrigue and forbidden romance are among the ingredients in Anatole Litvak's 1959 potboiler THE JOURNEY, which pits a brash, blustery Yul Brynner against a coolly refined yet passionate Deborah Kerr in this DVD from the Warner Archive Collection.

A disparate group of travelers trying to fly out of Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 are taken by bus to an inn near the Austrian border, detained by the Russians until Major Surov (Brunner) receives clearance from his superiors.  Lady Diana Ashmore (Kerr) is aiding an injured political fugitive named Fleming (Jason Robards, Jr. in his screen debut), with whom she is in love and hopes to escape, but their plans are thrown into disarray when Surov develops a romantic obsession with Lady Ashmore.  

Slow-paced and, at 126 minutes, perhaps a tad overlong, THE JOURNEY is carried mainly by Brynner's robust performance and Kerr's refined appeal, along with several interesting supporting players.  Robert Morley is properly British as television journalist Hugh Deverill, who fancies himself the group's spokesman. 

E.G. Marshall and Anne Jackson are a typical middle-class American couple trying to get back home with their two children, played by Flip Mark and a miniscule Ron Howard.  Kurt Kasznar (TV's "Land of the Giants") is likable as the sympathetic innkeeper, Csepege, who helps coordinate Diana and Mr. Fleming's eventual escape attempt into Austria.

The interiors tend to be stagey but some fine location footage breathes life into the film.  A couple of dinner scenes with Surov playing host to the group are rife with rising tension as the Russian officer prods the nervous assemblage for information about the mysterious Mr. Fleming while also enjoying their company. 

A career soldier, Surov's inner clash between his humanity and devotion to duty makes for a volatile combination, his "simple human hunger for a talk, a debate, an argument" with his unwilling guests compounded by his sudden infatuation with Diana. 

 

As her lies about Mr. Fleming grow more transparent, his unpredicatable nature becomes a threat to both her and the entire group.  Also haunting him is the accusatory face of a young freedom fighter, Eva (Anouk Aimée), who represents the hatred of the Hungarians toward him and his fellow Russian soldiers. 

With Diana and Fleming's attempted escape comes a change in Surov's demeanor that's as marked as that of Brynner's Pharoah after the Exodus.  Here, the film finally heats up as Surov's devotion to duty takes on renewed vigor as a response to his earlier weakness.  This provokes irrational hostility toward Diana from her fellow travelers, some of whom even suggest that she not only hand over Fleming to the major but also give in to his obvious desire for her in order to take the heat off of them.

The film is a fairly absorbing example of old-fashioned storytelling but it's Brynner who keeps it watchable.  Intrigued by Diana's courage and beauty, delighted with the cat-and-mouse game he plays with the travelers, his Major Surov also becomes a tragic figure who feels stifled by his long marriage to the military and yearns to "cheat on the bitch" by doing something entirely human for once. 

Surov's grief over the death of a beloved horse makes his character even more sympathetic, while Litvak and screenwriter George Tabori wisely choose to make the other Russian characters a realistic group of war-weary soldiers who are tired of fighting.  Interestingly, all of their scenes are spoken in Russian with no subtitles or translations, yet the intent is clear enough that none are needed.

The DVD from the Warner Archive Collection is in 16x9 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound.  There are no subtitles.  The sole extra is a trailer.  The print used is generally good save for some rough patches here and there. 

THE JOURNEY's political conflict is embodied by Yul Brynner's emotive theatrics and Deborah Kerr's understated, internalized acting style, while the film itself unfolds its story at a stately pace until the somewhat abrupt and jarring ending.  Not quite a memorable viewing experience, it's still worth a watch for its authentic locations and interesting cast.


Buy it at Amazon.com

THE JOURNEY -- DVD review by porfle

LEGENDS of the SUPERHEROES - Rare Batman (Adam West) TV Special comes to DVD

Warner Archive Collection proudly announces the DVD premiere of the rarely seen and long awaited release of…

LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES

Starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin

Available for the FIRST TIME EVER ON DVD, exclusively from the WarnerArchive.com: http://bit.ly/WAC_SuperHeroes

Meticulously restored from the original Two-Inch Master (once thought lost) this rare treasure is a must see for any Batman/superhero fan.  The DVD release includes two episodes THE CHALLENGE and THE ROAST (seen on TV), plus Deleted Scenes (never before seen).

Synopsis:

Heroes and villains of DC Comics square off in the two-part, live-action, made-for-TV (with a laugh track!) smackdowns of Legends of the Super Heroes. The Challenge: Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward of the live-action Batman TV series) lead The Flash, Green Lantern and more JLA members against The Riddler (Frank Gorshin reprising his TV role), Mordru, Weather Wizard and other Doom-dealers. The Legion’s ultimate gambit: trick the heroes into downing a diabolical depowering drink! The Roast: Poking fun beats swapping punches when celebrity host Ed McMahon emcees a rowdy rave-up. Who knew DC Super Heroes and villains packed as much verbal wit as physical grit when not locked in mortal combat? These Legends will leave you laughing.

LEGENDS of the SUPERHEROES - Rare Batman (Adam West) TV Special comes to DVD

DYING ROOM ONLY -- DVD review by porfle

Here's a fun little flick for fans of made-for-TV movies from the 70s and especially the "ABC Movie of the Week." DYING ROOM ONLY (1973) is one of those low-budget thrillers that used to have the family glued to the TV and provided fodder for playground talk the next day.

Cloris Leachman and Dabney Coleman play Jean and Bob, a vacationing couple on their way home to L.A. who stop off at a secluded diner with an adjoining motel in the middle of the desert. Ross Martin is Jim, the surly fry cook who seems to begrudge them the slightest attention, and Ned Beatty is Tom, a fat redneck in a cowboy hat who simply exudes ill intent as he guzzles beer at the counter. When Jean goes to the ladies' room to wash her face, she returns to find that Bob has vanished without a trace.

Jim and Tom claim to have no idea where he went, growing more hostile and dismissive as the increasingly frantic Jean continues to press them. A visit from the local sheriff (Dana Elcar) is no help since he believes Bob simply took off and left her there. Finally, Jean gets a room at the motel and starts snooping around on her own, which leads to a night of terror and death.

"Simple but effective" would be a good way to describe this movie, which takes place entirely in and around the diner and motel (except for one brief scene near the end) and depends on the skills of the filmmakers and the cast to pull it off. Prolific television director Philip Leacock keeps Richard Matheson's lean, mean story on track from beginning to end, creating a growing sense of tension and dread that keeps us on edge. While 1997's BREAKDOWN would tell a very similar story on a much grander, action-oriented scale, this one unwinds like a page-turning short story. We're caught up in Jean's predicament from the start and are carried along with her frantic efforts to find her husband as the situation gets scarier and more desperate every minute.

As Jean, Cloris Leachman demonstrates what a great actress she is with a convincing performance that carries the film. No matter what she's required to do in each scene, she always plays it just right and never goes over the top. Ross Martin (best known as Artemis Gordon of TV's "The Wild, Wild West") is wonderfully hostile as Jim, the mysteriously uncooperative fry cook, while Ned Beatty makes the most of his chance to be the threatening hillbilly for a change. Louise Latham is effective as a creepy motel clerk, as is Dana Elcar in the role of the sheriff. Naturally, we don't see much of Dabney Coleman since his character disappears about ten minutes into the movie, but he's his usual rascally self.

The DVD is in full-screen and Dolby English mono, with no subtitles or extras. As a no-frills burn-on-demand entry in the Warner Brothers Archive Collection, the print hasn't been restored or remastered in any way. But despite some speckles and a rough patch here and there, it looks fine to me. More discerning videophiles may disagree.

Once again, the WB Archive has dusted off a nostalgic relic from those great TV-movie days of the 70s, and I especially enjoyed watching this one since I somehow missed it the first time around. DYING ROOM ONLY may not be a classic, and it certainly isn't an epic, but as a low-key suspense thriller it's definitely a keeper.

Buy it at Amazon.com

DYING ROOM ONLY -- DVD review by porfle