To quote the immortal Jack Benny, “There'll be a pause while everyone says, 'Who cares!'” Nevertheless, of all the many home vid platters I've spun during the past year, these are the ones I enjoyed the most. Some of these choices are no-brainers; others appealed to my aberrant quirky side. So, agree or disagree, these are my recommendations. Might I remind you that there are still a couple of days left for last minute holiday purchases; then there's that gift card post-Chanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa loot. I can’t help but think that if you buy just one of these and get real happy...well then…I’ve made a difference. So, in alphabetical order, get ready, set…GO!.
1) CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON(Shanachie 417; $39.95) One of the most fondly-remembered comedy shows in the history of television, this 4-disc 780 minute collection failed to live up to my expectations because quite frankly...IT EXCEEDED THEM! The brilliant writing and directing of Nat Hiken, the fantastic ensemble cast, and the unlikely but terrific chemistry between co-stars Fred Gwynne and Joe E. Ross are sure to bring tears of joy to your punim. Thirty episodes and not a dud in the batch, this collection is a comedy lover's dream. I'm chortling now just from recollecting dysfunctional couple Leo and Sylvia Schnauser's violent domestic battles on such volatile topics as: Who's better – Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly? Or Lucille Toody's old high school pa-turned-stalkerl – forever damaged due to her unholy obsession with Ramon Navarro. A supplementary interview with surviving cast members Charlotte Rae and Hank Garrett is the icing on the cake – if only for emphasizing the horrors of working with hooker lovin' and chronic masturbator scumbag Ross. (1961-1962; DVD).
2) CITIZEN KANE: 70th ANNIVERSARY EDITION(Warner Home Video 300037340; SRP: $64.95) The wedding of Orson Welles' masterful 1941 deep focus movie and Blu-Ray was a technological collision meant to happen. It's almost as if Welles and d.p. Gregg Toland foresaw the future...Okay, I'm stretching it, but you get the idea. Now get the damn disc! (1941; Blu-Ray).
3) THE FLIM-FLAM MAN (Twilight Time/20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment; Limited Edition available exclusively at www.screenarchives.com; SRP: $19.95) Guaranteed that this wacky 1967 comedy would indisputably have had W.C. Fields nodding in approval – were it not for the fact that he was already dead…or pondering the success of suing for plagiarism. George C. Scott, in wizened make-up, cons the rubes and destroys towns in this CinemaScope laff riot featuring a plethora of upper echelon character actors, including Slim Pickens, Alice Ghostley, Harry Morgan, Albert Salmi, Jack Albertson and Strother Martin. Can’t leave out the eternally cute-as-a-button presence of Sue Lyon nor the jaunty toe-tapping Jerry Goldsmith score either. Scott's over-the-top/over-the-hill portrayal of Mordecai Jones is right up there with other Twilight Time performances, such as Keenan Wynn in Stagecoach and Melvyn Douglas in Rapture, making the small but growing DVD/Blu-Ray concern the crazy old bastard home video company of choice! (1967; DVD).
4) THE KREMLIN LETTER(Twilight Time/20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment; Limited Edition available exclusively at www.screenarchives.com. SRP. $19.95) Call me insane, but I LOVE this 1970 John Huston-directed loopy thriller. In fact, it's one of my favorite Huston pics as well as all-time spy flicks. Let’s face it: the only thing better than seeing Richard Boone in anything – is watching him in a movie where he's the star...And where else can you see George Sanders as a double-dealing drag queen, Orson Welles as a bisexual commie, Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson as a sadomasochistic couple or Barbara Parkins opening a safe with her toes. A beauteous 16 x 9 Panavision transfer too! (1970; DVD).
5) THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING(Warner Home Video; 300036332; SRP: $34.95) Another Huston Seventies pip, easily one of his greatest late works! Believe me, you've never truly seen or heard this epic Kipling adventure until you give this 1080p re-master a spin. It's like watching an entirely different movie...and a wonderful one. You can tell that this project meant a lot to this director, as, at some point, co-stars Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer all end up talking like him. (1975; Blu-Ray).
6) MYSTERIOUS ISLAND(Twilight Time/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; Limited Edition available exclusively through www.screenarchives.com. SRP: $34.95). This splendid Cy Endfield (Zulu)/Ray Harryhausen (do I really need to mention titles?) collaboration (based on Jules Verne's 19th century novel) ranks as one of the most pleasing examples of the latter's masterful stop-motion animation virtuosity. Calling it exciting doesn't do it justice (as I had said in my earlier review, “...you can practically smell the popcorn”). In Blu-Ray all this marvelous stuff is further heightened – not the least by Bernard Herrmann's stupendous score, presented in 5.1 surround, courtesy of a remix from the original British stereo release prints! (1961; Blu-Ray).
7) SANDS OF THE KALAHARI (Olive Films/Paramount Home Entertainment; OF267; SRP: $24.95). Cy Endfield strikes again! This time the creatures threatening another set of (air) ship-wrecked survivors aren't animated – they're real murderous baboons...and one human one – if you count Stuart Whitman. The follow-up project to Endfield and co-star Stanley Baker's Zulu, this sadly underrated slam-bang action adventure deservedly gets new life on DVD. Beautiful location cinematography (faithfully rendered in the fine 16 x 9 anamorphic transfer), a great cast (featuring Susannah York, Harry Andrews, Nigel Davenport and Theodore Bikel alongside Baker and Whitman) and gripping suspense make for one powerful Technicolor cocktail. And did we mention monkeys? (1965; DVD).
8) SKIDOO(Olive Films/Paramount Home Entertainment; OF266; SRP: $24.95). The difference between most people and me on this jaw-dropping hippie/LSD/gangster comedy is that the majority considers it a guilty pleasure. I, on the other hand, embrace it as a masterpiece of auteur cinema. Under Otto Preminger's brain-fried supervision, the stellar cast, led by a turned-on Jackie Gleason, proves what decades of the Teutonic director's co-workers had long decreed: that he was freakin' out of his mind! It's the ultimate psychedelic retro groovy Technicolored Panavision trip. But not a guilty pleasure. Preminger's racial powder keg Hurry Sundown, (also released this past year by Olive, and which I likewise enjoy)...now THAT'S a guilty pleasure! (1968; DVD).
9) TCM GREATEST CLASSIC LEGENDS FILM COLLECTION: JOHN FORD WESTERNS (Warner Home Video/Turner Entertainment Company; 300035398. SRP: $22.95). Hey, what's there to argue with? A quartet of John Ford westerns (two with John Wayne) from immaculate pristine 35mm transfers for under twenty-five bucks! And they all have Harry Carey, Jr. in them – as if you need any other reason to gallop to your nearest video store/online shopping center and lasso a copy. Do I even have to describe the merits of such acknowledged gems as SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, WAGON MASTER (my personal Ford favorite) or the 1948 Technicolor 3 GODFATHERS? Plus there's an Ultra-Panavision 16 x 9 bonus of the director's 1964 worth-another-look Native American epic CHEYENNE AUTUMN. If you pass this up, you're as goofy as Hank Worden. And don't expect me to apologize for that crack (it's a sign of weakness). (1948-1964; DVD).
10) VIOLENT SATURDAY(Twilight Time/20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment; Limited Edition available exclusively through www.screenarchives.com. SRP: 19.95). The only ones sicker than psychopathic villainous trio Stephen McNally, J. Carrol Naish and substance-sniffing Lee Marvin are the denizens of the town they plan to rampage in this glorious CinemaScope color noir from director Richard Fleischer. Although the transfer isn't 16 x 9, the picture quality is as dazzling as the glow from co-star Richard Egan's roughly 237 teeth. The audio utilizes the 1955 directional stereo tracks – an added determinant for enjoying Hugo Friedhofer's thundering score. Besides there's nothing more satisfying than seeing gun-shy Victor Mature team up with violence-hating Quaker Ernie Borgnine for some pulse-pounding nasty revenge. (1955; DVD).
Can hardly wait to see what 2012'll bring!
Happy New Year, folks!
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