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“THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY”

London’s Sun Telegraph called it “The most popular series in the history of British television.” That’s really high praise considering the competition such as “Brideshead Revisited,” “Upstairs, Downstairs,” and the first version of “The Forsyte Saga.” If they meant comedy, they may be right. It’s a comedy/drama about a never-give-up family
in the English countryside during the carefree 1950s. My master says he remembers that decade in Chicago and wishes we were back then. Catherine Zeta Jones zoomed to stardom as the beautiful flirtatious daughter, and David Jason plays the patriarch whose main occupation is avoiding paying taxes. The series ran from 1991-1993 and Granada and BFS Video have brought it back in a handsome five DVD set with enhanced picture and sound and lots of extras. Treat yourself to some evenings of fun with this entertaining story from the novels of H.E. Bates who wrote “Love for Lydia,” another of my favorite Brit miniseries available on DVD.

Max’s rating: Two paws up, lots of tail wags.

Other movies on DVD I liked this month:

“MONA LISA SMILE”
Julia Roberts plays a young art history teacher at an all-female college in the early 1950s who tries to teach the girls that there’s more to success than marrying well. On the learning side are Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhall, and Marcia Gay Harden who teach her a thing or two about what’s most important to a woman in their prime.
It’s fun and nostalgic and don’t we wish the ‘50s were back again. From Columbia Tri-Star.

“FIELDS OF FIRE”
A rare look into the lives of some hard-working and hard-living people in Australia before and during World War II, this is heavy drama with some pretty heavy breathing scenes. It’s a chance to learn about a country and its people we still know little about, acted to the hilt by some fine young actors. From Carlton International and BFS Video.





“ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED”

Winner of the 1995 Oscar for best documentary feature,
Kenneth Branagh and Glenn Close narrate the life of the girl who became the most widely known of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. (Yes, Mel, there was a Holocaust.) Vintage newsreels, photographs, and a rare home movie tell us more than previously has been known about Anne, her family, and their protector. Made by the BBC and Disney Channel, it is now available on a DVD from Sony Pictures Classics.

“JUSTICE PAINTED BLIND”
Mystery fans will get a good dose of everything they like in this new entry in the Brit TV series “Wire in the Blood.” Robson Green buries himself inside the character of Dr. Tony Hill, a brilliant but slightly off-kilter clinical psychologist, this time trying to learn who strangled a young woman. Carol Jordan plays the detective inspector who helps him track down killers in each episode.
From Wellspring/Lance.

CATHERINE COOKSON FESTIVAL
My master and I love the DVD releases of the novels of Catherine Cookson, one of England’s best and most prolific authors of recent years. Her stories are always period-set, usually in the 1800s, and are full of fascinating and not always lovable characters. Plot twists abound and you feel as if you’re living with these people, not just watching them. Three of the most recent releases of movies made from her novels are now available on DVD. “The Tide of Life” is about a girl on the brink of womanhood who selflessly cares for her younger sister through thick and thin. “The Girl” is about a young woman whose lot in life is to raise her unfaithful husband’s illegitimate daughter. “The Secret,” based on Cookson’s only mystery-thriller novel, centers upon a diamond and a murder, with a nail-biting ending. All three are from Granada and BFS Video.
And although not presently available on DVD, two more Cookson gems are on VHS: “The Wingless Bird,” from WGBH Boston Video, my favorite of all her novels made into movies or mini-series; and “The Glass Virgin,” from BFS Video. You like good stories? Try all of these.

“THE BRONTES OF HAWORTH”
If you’ve ever wondered where the authors of the gothic romantic masterpieces Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre got their often dark and stormy story ideas, you’ll wonder no more after seeing this docudrama about their lives. Carlotte and Emily Bronte and their sister Anne and poet brother Bramwell lived lives plagued by drink, drugs, unhappy love affairs, and premature death. The three sisters’ main release was to put all the tragedies of their lives into novels that have become classics. And they wrote about where they lived, on the fog-shrouded Yorkshire moors. Poet and playwright Christopher Fry wrote the screenplay and the actors, unknown to most Americans, are splendid. On DVD from Granada and BFS Video.

Collections of Goodies

You really get your money’s worth in the new series of DVDs from American Home Treasures and BFS Video that puts three movies on a disc, by genre. Four of my favorites, among over a dozen available, are these:

“GREAT COMEDY TEAM MOVIES” with Laurel and Hardy (my favorite comedy team ever) in “The Flying Deuces;” Abbott and Costello in “Africa Screams;” and Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos and Andy in “Check and Double Check.”

“CLASSIC AWARD-WINNING MOVIES” with Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes in “A Farewell to Arms;” Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, and Merle Oberon in “The Private Life of Henry VIII;” and James Cagney and Sylvia Sidney in “Blood on the Sun.”

“LEGENDARY KNIGHT MOVIES” with Cornel Wilde in “Sword of Lancelot;” Peter Firth in “King Arthur and the Young Warlord;” and Gary Lockwood and Basil Rathbone in “The Magic Sword.”

“GREAT DOWNUNDER MOVIES” with Mel(forgive him, for he knoweth not what he doeth) Gibson in a pre-violence movie, “Tim;” Rupert Everett in “The Right Hand Man;” and Steve Bisley in “The Chain Reaction.”

Strictly for Laughs

“ROAD TO A GREEK WEDDING” is another funny take on modern Greek life. In this one, a Greek insurance agent and a beautiful manager of a failing dance company find each other on the rebound after each is dumped by their former lover. It’s light and delightful, from Ardustry Home Entertainment.

 

Two Reprises
Columbia Tri-Star brings two not-too-oldies back on DVD. “FIRE DOWN BELOW,” a 1957 melodrama, has Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon vying for the affections of Rita Hayworth not on a slow boat to China, but an even slower island-hopping tramp boat. “TOKYO JOE” has Humphrey Bogart in post-World War II Tokyo involved in smuggling and blackmail in this 1949 drama, one of his lesser outings.

There are so many more deserving Columbia pictures worth bringing back on DVD, such as “HERE COMES MR. JORDAN” with Robert Montgomery getting a new body after being prematurely called to heaven; Barbara Stanwyck indelible as a Western lady enticed into Oriental romance in “THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN;” Ida Lupino murdering to find a new home for her nutsy sisters in “LADIES IN RETIREMENT;” and Rosalind Russell in the 1942 first version of “MY SISTER EILEEN,” so much funnier than the 1955 remake. Is anybody at Columbia listening?
These are four CLASSICS worthy of new DVD releases.

And while we have Columbia’s attention (haha), how about a DVD of Frank Capra’s masterpiece, “LOST HORIZON,” WITHOUT the added scenes and still photos that are in the dreadful restored version? Capra would sue if he saw what was done to put back those unnecessary scenes and photos. They stop the movie DEAD. Thank heaven I have a video tape of the UNRESTORED version.
If only the people who browse through the archives of what movie studios have that can be restored and brought out on DVD knew what great films their vaults contain. But that means they have to be over 50, and who values the knowledge of anyone over 50 today? Try even anyone over 40.

“FINAL CUT”
Thanks, Replay Home Entertainment and MTI Video, for bringing this mediocre mystery out on DVD. It isn’t much except that it has Jude Law in an early performance, but that’s enough to make it better than most movies out today. He should have won this year’s Oscar for best actor in
“Cold Mountain,” but Hollywood loves a bad boy who appears to be changing for the better, so Sean Penn got it. For being overwrought on film.

“TAKE ME HOME: THE JOHN DENVER STORY”
You may not have known how unhappy John Denver was until you see this biopic with Chad Lowe as the country-western singer who died in a plane crash. Thank heaven Lowe doesn’t sing, but John does, in 15 of his most popular songs. The Minneapolis Star Tribune says it’s “a tribute that’s as tender as one of his ballads.” Yes, but it is a sad story with music. From American Home Theater and BFS Entertainment.

“DEAD IN A HEARTBEAT”
Judge Reinhold and Penelope Ann Miller star in a thriller about a city held hostage by a madman. It does what it sets out to do, which may be to make you forget how awful real life is because of terrorism, unemployment, etc. From BFS Entertainment.
THE GOOD NEWS IS…
… that the original “STAR WARS” trilogy is finally going to be released, and restored, on DVD, Sept. 21. Let the force be with you as you run to your nearest DVD store to buy the 3-movie set with a fourth disc holding extras. The movies won’t be sold individually.
And more classic Charlie Chaplin movies will be released this month by Warner: “CITY LIGHTS,” “THE KID,” “SHOULDER ARMS,” and his dark comedy “MONSIEUR VERDOUX.”

From TV to DVD

“STARSKY AND HUTCH,” the 1975-79 hit television series, is available on DVD from Columbia Tri-Star. Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul are fun to watch again as streetwise undercover detectives in this 5 DVD set which includes the series pilot and all 22 episodes of the cop buddy series.

 

New Year’s Resolution

“KEEPING FIT IN YOUR 50s”
Remember you promised you would lose some pounds and inches this year? If you’ve already broken that promise (and you know the only way to lose pounds and inches is to eat less and exercise more), give yourself a fresh new start with the three-DVD boxed set which is aimed at those in their 50s, but can be for those younger. The exercises cover aerobics, strength, and flexibility, “workout essentials for a changing body.” Model Cindy Joseph demonstrates the exercises designed by Robyn Stuhr, an exercise physiologist with 20 years experience in sports medicine. From Acorn Media.

For Kids and Puppies

“NEW FRIENDS FOR THOMAS”
The popular series about the happy train engine goes down some new tracks in this latest entry. With more special features such as songs and games. From Anchor Bay.

“LITTLE ALVIN AND THE MINI-MUNKS”
The lovable Chipmunks and Chipettes spend a weekend at La Lu’s cottage. Okay, not exactly classic material, but fun for the youngest in the household and they learn some life lessons along the way. From Bagdasarian Productions.

BONES TO PICK

THE PASSION ACCORDING TO SAINT MEL

My master remembers when church leaders banned “The Outlaw” (1943) because Jane Russell played her role in Howard Hughes’ Billy the Kid mishmash too hot and with too much cleavage. So, of course, everybody went to see it. My friend Jay Robert Nash’s review of it in his multi-volume Motion Picture Guide: “One of the shabbiest, contrived, and cornball westerns ever made.”

My master also remembers when church leaders banned “The Moon Is Blue” (1953) because its subject was too risqué -- the seduction of a virgin -- played by wholesome Maggie McNamara, with two of the screen’s most likeable leading men -- William Holden and David Niven. So, of course, everybody went to see it. Jay Robert Nash said: “This pleasant trifle received more publicity and, therefore, more business than it deserved.”

Today’s variation on the theme of “ban or knock it and everybody’ll see it” is Mel Gibson’s new take on Jesus’ final hours, “The Passion of The Christ.” Christians and Jews are reportedly so divided on it, mainly because of its nearly endless bloody Crucifixion. Don’t forget: it’s just a movie, and you know how often Hollywood gets it right. Hey, we all know Mel loves to make violent movies. And was Saint Mel there when they crucified our Lord? My suggestion is, instead of playing into Mel’s brilliant but irresponsible marketing strategy, read the book. It’s probably on a dusty book shelf in your home: The Bible.

My biggest objection to Mel Gibson is, ever since his first movie up to his last, he pops his eyes. I tune out actors who pop their eyes to the camera. It’s even more grating to me than when they’re on television talk shows and every other word out of their mouth is “Like” and “You know.”

OVERLOOKED AT OSCARS:

One of today’s best actors gave the most fantastic performance of the year and wasn’t even mentioned as a possible Oscar candidate, much less nominated: Ralph Fiennes in “Spider.” A close second to him was Ian McKellan in “Loving Walter,” who also was totally ignored in this year’s Oscar race. Both actors played mentally-disturbed men in movies that will be impossible to forget. Next year, you’ll be wondering who won last year and for what.

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