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“TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS”

My master says it’s hard to believe, but he first saw this Masterpiece Theatre series in 1980 and it is still one of his very favorites. I could see why, after having just watched the DVD release with him. The 13-part series on four discs kept me glued to his big screen TV as I curled up in his lap over four evenings. It’s the story of a Welsh coal miner’s son who comes back from World War I to teach at a boarding school even though he doesn’t have a degree. He learns on-the-job over two decades and becomes beloved of the boys he teaches. To tell more would be to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet. John Duttine stars in a memorable performance and miniseries. Treat yourself to some of the best story-telling you’re likely to see for years. From BBC and Acorn Media. Max’s rating: Two paws up, tail wags, and lots of “Woo Woos!”


“THE FORSYTE SAGA”
Part Two of the new version of the Masterpiece Theatre series based on the novels of John Galsworthy focuses on the love of Fleur, daughter of Soames and Annette, and Jon, son of Irene and Jolyon in the 1920s. Emma Griffith Malin and Lee Williams play the young lovers, while Rupert Graves, Damian Lewis, and Gina McKee reprise their roles from Part One. From Granada and Acorn Media. Oh boy, this is good stuff, although it is unfair to compare it with the 1967 Masterpiece Theatre series which my master says was fantastic. That also is out on DVD and is highly recommended; from BBC Video.

“HORACIO HORNBLOWER: THE NEW ADVENTURES”
“Exciting, old-fashioned adventure,” says USA Today. “As smart as it is entertaining.” “Jolly good yarns, adroitly unraveled.” They got that right, praising this third installment in the series based on the novels of C.S. Forester. Ioan Gruffudd reprises his role as the brash young British naval captain in two more stories of adventure on the high seas in the very early 1800s, still unsettling times with the French after Napoleonic derring-do. This is just great stuff, not to be missed. On two DVDs from A&E and NewVideo, with extras including interviews with the director, producer, and costume designer.




“ALL MY LOVED ONES”
A British stockbroker, Nicholas Winton, saved over 600 Czech children from Nazi extermination before the start of World War II by arranging for them to be transported to England where foster parents took them into their homes. Most of them never saw their birth parents again. The true story is told in this very heart-warming and moving DVD from Wellspring. Lest we forget.

Best Mystery of the Month

“SHADOWS RISING”
Car chases? Bloody corpses? Not here, even though it’s about investigating a serial killer. The Brits typically focus on who and why dunnit, not what. Robson Green, one of the best actors going in any country, plays a clinical psychologist trying to unravel the mystery with the distracting help of a beautiful blonde detective inspector played by Hermione Norris. Based on the books of Val McDermid, this is a new entry in the “Wire in the Blood” series that beats most if not all thrillers Hollywood churns out by the bucket-of-blood-full. From Lance and Wellspring.

 

Best Comedy of the Month

“THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY 1&2”
Both the original 1980 movie and the 1988 sequel are on this two-disc set that takes us into the hilarious adventures of a bewildered Australian bushman trying to understand modern life. Starring real-life bushman Nixau, the first movie, in which he tries to understand events after a Coke bottle falls from the sky, became an international sensation. In the sequel, he searches for his children who stow-away on a poacher’s truck. Inspired lunacy from Columbia Tri-Star.

More February Releases

“RADIO”
This is based on the life of a mentally challenged black man nicknamed Radio because he is always with one as he wanders a small Southern town in 1976. The high school football coach befriends him but that alienates just about everyone. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris are outstanding in their roles as Radio and the coach in this inspirational movie that gives us a lot to think about. A feel-good movie for the whole family. From Columbia Tri-Star.

 

“THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COLLECTION, VOLUME TWO”

Jeremy Brett did Holmes differently, and some like him best, but it’s worth remembering that before Brett there was Basil Rathbone as the Arthur Conan Doyle master-sleuth. And Nigel Bruce as befuddled Doctor Watson. Four of the Rathbone Holmes’ movies from the mid 1940s are offered in this handsome four-disc boxed set: “Pearl of Death,” “The Scarlet Claw,” “The Spider Woman,” and “The House of Fear.” The movies are presented like-new, digitally remastered by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. In gorgeous black and white, as all mystery movies ought to be filmed and seen. From MPI Home Video.

“WODEHOUSE PLAYHOUSE, SERIES THREE”
John Alderton, one of the best comic actors today, stars in seven more stories from the BBC television series featuring some typically off-kilter Brits in looney situations. It has “That extraordinary mixture of innocence, sly wit, and sheer idocy,” says the UK British Standard, and we agree because they are such a welcome relief from mindless American television sitcoms and their annoying laugh-tracks.

 

“THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT”
Later-day Stooges are still lots of fun to watch in this full-length feature film, even if Curly is played by Joe DeRita. The loonies infiltrate a spooky mansion where a kookie scientist has invented a rocket-like machine sought by Martians to destroy the earth. Okay, with NASA trying to learn if there was life on Mars, this is how the Stooges went about it. From Columbia Tri-Star.

“HEROES AND VILLAINS”
An intriguing idea excellently executed: hour-long dramatizations of the lives of three very interesting Brits not many of us known about. Jim Broadbent plays Col. Alfred Wintle` who single-handedly captured an entire French village during World War II and wound up in the Tower of London for thanks. Jennifer Saunders plays Lady Hester Stanhope, one of my master’s favorite oddballs from history, who gave up a life of London society in the 1800s to travel the Middle Eastern countries that are in the news today. Rowan Atkinson stars as Sir Henry Birkin, an eccentric race car driver of the 1920s and 1930s. Three top stars in three off-beat docudramas well worth the watching. Titles of the true life stories of real heroes and villains are “The Last Englishman,” “Queen of the Desert,” and “Full Throttle.” From Target and BFS Video.

“BARNEY MILLER”
Fans of the television series will enjoy seeing the first season on two DVDs from Columbia Tri-Star.

“THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS”
If you’ve been wondering about this one, so am I, and I just saw it. The secret must be that the writer decided to keep it from the audience. Unless it’s that the couple in this “modern” drama of family life has a very boring marriage and the husband hallucinates about everything so you’re not quite sure he saw his wife kissing another man. Maybe the secret is how the producers expect an audience to watch two hours of three little kids watching TV or throwing up from the flu. Leah Rozen of People Magazine said about it, “A secret worth sharing!” Okay, Leah, what the blue blazes IS the secret? From Columbia Tri-Star.

Docudramas of the Month

 

“SPELLBOUND”
You might think a documentary about eight kids, finalists in the National Spelling Bee contest, would be a little on the dull side. You’d be wrong, because the kids take the competition as seriously as if they were training for the Olympics. The Oscar nominee for best documentary of 2002 is from Columbia Tri-Star.

“THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE”
A new and provocative “Theory of Everything” that might even confound Einstein was excitingly presented by physicist Brian Greene in a NOVA television special about the so-called “string theory.” Now it can be seen in this 3-hour DVD From WGBH Boston Video. Critics hailed it, saying “This is a grand intellectual adventure” and “Remarkably creative and ambitious filmmaking.”

“BE GOOD, SMILE PRETTY”
“A beautiful film… a kind of journey of sadness and joy at the same time,” says Senator John Kerry about this award-winning docudrama. It’s the story of an American daughter’s journey to learn about her GI-father’s death in Vietnam. They don’t come much more real or touching than this. From Docudrama and NewVideo.

“ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE”
Okay, the subject of people positive with the HIV virus may not be what you consider entertainment, but this film from Peter Adair has been called “Moving, surprising, compelling, engrossing, exemplary,” and has won prizes at the Berlin and Sundance film festivals. Eleven people ranging in age from 17 to 60, chosen from 125 who are HIV positive, tell their often surprisingly heart-warming and uplifting stories so we can better understand how the AIDS virus can be caught and lived with. From Docudrama and NewVideo.

For Puppies and Kids

 

"THE TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER”
Not only children but the whole family will enjoy seeing the enchanting world of the creator of Peter Rabbit come to life in this DVD with music and dancers of England’s Royal Ballet in costumes of Peter and his friends. Choreographed by and starring Sir Frederick Ashton. From Anchor Bay.

“LOOK MOM! I HAVE GOOD MANNERS”
A must for every parent: a half-hour DVD with kids showing kids some of the basics of good manners. It’s interactive and fun as Willy Dooright hosts a show that clues kids in to how to help people get along with each other through “simple-kindness, consideration, respect, and common sense.” Hey, it’s worth a half hour and the cost of renting or buying this DVD to tune your kid in to the far-out world of good manners. From Thinkeroo.

“A TRIP TO THE DENTIST”
A puppet called Pinatta shows kids how to survive a visit to a dentist in this half-hour award-winning DVD. From Boggle-Goggle Enterprises.

“DOGGY POO”
Yes, you read that right. This DVD follows the adventures of a canine dropping that has a life of its own and is in search of some respect and friendship. Sounds nutty, but it’s really quite charming. From Central Park Media.

BONES TO PICK

How smart are today’s actors compared with stars of yesteryear? Ralph Stutter of Pahrump, Nevada asked that of Parade’s Personality Parade editor Walter Scott: “It seems to me that today’s Hollywood stars are less educated than the stars of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. True or false?”

Scott replied: “False. Gable, Lombard and other stars back then were carefully polished by the Hollywood system and given mature roles to play. As a result, they seemed more sophisticated than they really were. Today’s stars, such as Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, are better educated as actors but generally play less-sophisticated roles because they are part of a culture that doesn’t esteem maturity.”

Who can really say whether today’s stars are smarter than yesterday’s? Today’s stars may have college degrees, but are they more intelligent or mature than Gable, Lombard, Tyrone Power, Laurence Olivier, Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn or others of the 1930s-1950s?

I don’t think so.

But Scott, you do have point regarding the roles today’s stars play. It is all part of the “dumbing-down of America.” We might see more mature movies today if not only the actors were cast in more mature roles, but more mature writers, directors, and producers gave them more mature roles. Thank heaven we have DVDs and video tapes of actors of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s in mature movies. Their likes may never pass this way again. Amen.

I bet you didn't know, but besides reviewing movies, I sing opera. Click here to see and hear me rehearsing the Barcarolle from "Tales of Hoffman."

Maybe you would like to visit my master's web site with highlights of his huge collection of old movie magazines, Bijou Follies
Two more web sites I recommend are: Errol Flynn and Jeffrey Hunter