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Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

The super-series ends on a very high note with this final installment of Luke Skywalker’s space adventures. One of the best entries in the series, it ties all the loose ends together wonderfully while mixing adventure with character development. The movie has fantastic special effects and there are more than six hours of special features. From LucasFilms.  Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of tail wags.

Batman Begins

Holy prequel!, this is great stuff. Who would have thought that going back to the beginning of the Batman story would make it all so much more exciting and interesting. Not played for laughs, as much of the earlier Batman movies were, this latest story takes itself seriously. Christian Bale is fantastic as young Bruce Wayne who becomes the caped crusader. Lending terrific support are Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Tom Wilkinson, and Katie Holmes.

Put this one on your must-see list. From Warner Bros.

Max’s rating: Two paws up and lots of “Woo Woo Woos!”

The Charles Dickens Collection
Three of Dickens’s best-loved works, all dramatized on BBC and Masterpiece Theater, are collected in a handsome boxed set of 5 DVDs from WGBH Boston Video. Maggie Smith, Bo Hoskins, and Daniel Radcliffe star in “David Copperfield;” Michael Kitchen, Keira Knightley, Julie Walters, and Sam Smith head the cast in “Oliver Twist;” and Ioan Gruffud and Charlotte Rampling star in “Great Expectations.” The set makes for superior entertainment and a great Christmas gift.

Love in a Cold Climate
Two of Nancy Mitford’s best-selling novels are the basis for this excellent DVD, following three young British beauties in 1930s upper class romance and drama and how World War II changes their lives. The “ravishing BBC tale of privilege and passion” originally aired on Masterpiece Theatre and boasts British superstars Alan Bates and Anthony Andrews heading the cast. The period is beautifully recalled in costumes, mansion settings, cars, and social manners. Mitford once lived in one of the historic homes featured in the movie. Top-notch entertainment from Acorn Media.

Foyle’s War, Set 3
You can easily become addicted to this superior series of World War II mysteries set in England and written by Anthony Horowitz who scripted the Poirot and Midsomer Murders BBC television series. Set three continues the tradition starring Michael Kitchen as the veteran detective who delves into mysteries on the home front in southern England as the war rages over Europe. “For mystery fans, Foyle is a must-see,” says the Houston Chronicle, and we agree heartily. From Acorn Media.

 

 

All the King’s Men
Not the 1949 movie about Huey Long, but a new British film dramatizing the true story of a British regiment that vanished in World War I. The Sandringham Company made up entirely of servants, grooms, and gardeners from King George V’s Norfolk Estate marched into the battle against the Turks in Gallipoli on Aug. 12, 1915, and simply disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again. Queen Alexandra ordered an investigation into the fate of the battalion, but no trace of the men was ever recovered. Maggie Smith plays the Queen. This is excellent historical drama from WGBH Boston Video.

 

Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Series 1,2,3
Now all three sets of this very popular British mystery television series are available in one handsome boxed set of 4 DVDs. Mystery novelist Elizabeth George keeps us guessing as suave upper crust detective Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) matches sleuthing skills with working-class Sergeant Barbara Havers (Sharon Small) to unravel some of the most heinous and suspenseful crimes. Really good mystery stuff from WGBH Boston Video.

 

A Foreign Field
Alec Guiness and Leo McKern play British war veterans who meet an American widow played by Lauren Bacall when they travel to Normandy on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Besides recalling the invasion, the men search for the same lost love, played by Jeanne Moreau. Directed by Charles Sturridge, who brought us “Brideshead Revisited” and other classics, it is a Masterpiece Theater gem I highly recommend. From Acorn Media.

Little House on the Prairie, Season 9
First shown on television in the 1982-83 season, this new boxed set of DVDs follows more adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family in the 1870s. Extras include a new 88-page limited edition book about the series, interviews with some of the cast, and an exclusive documentary, “Laura’s Legacy.” Excellent viewing for the whole family, from Goldhil Entertainment.


Swiss Family Robinson
Richard Thomas of “The Waltons” stars as the head of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson fictionalized Swiss family that survived adventures on a remote desert island. The 6-DVD boxed set follows the family from its being marooned on the island to its rescue and resettlement in Boston.  Great family entertainment from Questar.

 

Classics on DVD

Gone with the Wind

 

 

 

The Wizard of Oz

 

 

What a month for some of the greatest movies that are fully restored in picture and sound and out now on DVD. Even their earlier restorations on DVD can’t compare with the new boxed sets of these two giants of Hollywood’s golden era. Besides seeing the movies as you never have before, the extras on companion discs tell you more about the two films than you might ever expect to know. Just wonderful DVD sets that would make great Christmas gifts. Both titles from Warner Bros.

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Preston Sturges’s hilarious 1944 farce in which Betty Hutton can’t remember which soldier made her pregnant, and Eddie Bracken tries to make an honest mother out of her. Laugh-filled even 60 years later, from Paramount. Now I hope they will bring out a DVD of Sturges’s “Hail the Conquering Hero,” his second WW2 comic masterpiece, again with Bracken.

Documentaries

 

The Jewish Experience
A very impressive and comprehensive study of Israel from its creation as a state in 1948 to the present. A 7-DVD set of award-winning documentaries including two segments that won Academy Awards as best documentary features –-“Genocide,” about the Holocaust, and “The Long Way Home,” about Holocaust refugees from 1945 to 1948. The collection is narrated by Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Whoopi Goldberd and others, and is from Koch-Lorber.

Backstairs at the White House

A fascinating half-century of American history fills this Emmy-nominated 1979 NBC television miniseries. It is an intimate look at life in the White House through eight administrations, from Taft through Eisenhower, as remembered by a black mother and daughter who served as maids to the presidents and their families for 52 years. Heading the star-filled cast are Leslie Uggams, Olivia Cole, Louis Gossett Jr., Cloris Leachman, Julie Harris, Kim Huinter, Claire Bloom, and Celeste Holm. A very special 4 DVD boxed set docudrama from Acorn Media.

Expo: Magic of the White City

Gene Wilder narrates this documentary about the fantastic Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Critics call it “A dazzling trip back to another time,” “Does the impossible,” and “One of the year’s finest… this one is a must-see.” There never was a world’s fair like this one and there never could be one like it again. From Inecom Entertainment Company.

 

 

Broadway’s Lost Treasures III

The third compilation of great musical performances from the Tony Awards archives features Broadway show-stopping numbers from Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, Alfred Drake, Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Zero Mostel, and others from shows including “Gypsy,” “Damn Yankees,” “West Side Story,” “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot,” and other hits.

The French Chef 2 with Julia Child

Over a dozen of the beloved chef’s kitchen classics are for your pleasure in this second collection from the first lady of French cuisine. Eighteen episodes from her ground-breaking Public Television culinary series are in this 3-DVD set from WGBH Boston Video, bloopers and all. Bon appetite!

World Traveller Adventures

A group of British pop music lovers, Spiral Revolution, that formed in the late 1980s takes viewers on a cultural journey across Europe, India, and Africa in an attempt for mutual understanding and appreciation. While it has generated some controversy and may not be for everyone, the DVD’s three musical journeys are a fascinating look into worlds discovered by the group in their humanitarian odyssey with electronic music.  From Uncivilized World DVD.

Ballroom Dancing Basics

Dancing is great exercise, and this DVD shows how you can learn the steps and techniques of ballroom dancing. U.S. professional dance champions Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin show how simple it is to dance like a pro. The DVD from Acorn Media includes a CD with ballroom dance music and a booklet with dance steps.

For Puppies and Kids

 

 

Doggy Daycare DVD

I told you about this last month, but since it's on my favorite subject, I thought I'd remind you of it. It's an hour-long DVD showing 60 dogs of a variety of breeds having fun indoors and out that will keep your dog relaxed and happy when you're away from home. All profits from the sale of the DVD go to animal charities to help needy animals during the coming holiday season. This would be a great Christmas gift for your dog. For more information on how to order it, visit www.doggydaycareDVD.com.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
“Mutants and Monsters” contains five new adventures including a Halloween thriller, “All Hallows Thieves.” Preteens will especially like this scary addition to the series from 4Kids Home Video and FUNimation Entertainment.

My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas

The first DVD from the popular series of animated features has the pony friends in a Christmas fantasy adventure. Interactive features include sing-alongs that young children will enjoy. From Paramount Home Entertainment.

 

 

 

Good News!

“The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” George Lucas’s fantastic television series from 1992-93, is coming to DVD!

All 30 hour-long episodes are being lovingly restored in both picture and sound. The series followed Indy as a boy and also as a young man (Sean Patrick Flanery does a great job in this role) into adventures and romance while meeting famous people from the early 1900s into the 1920s and 1930s and taking part in historic events of those years, from World War I France to the birth of jazz in America. Sixty documentaries about real famous people and historical events of each episode also are being prepared to go with them. Long-awaited on DVD, unfortunately the wait will be a little longer because Lucas says the series won’t be ready for about another 18 months. It will be well worth waiting for.

Hooray for Supporting Actors!

 

This month, I’m starting another new feature in the column, an on-going tribute to supporting actors and actresses who helped make movies as great as they were, and sometimes still are. Movies today rarely let supporting players do more than act as wallpaper. In older movies, they had more to do and we loved them.

Let’s start with this fine actor:
Howard DaSilva (1909-1986) was born Howard Silverman in Cleveland, Ohio, to Jewish parents born in Russia. He was a steelworker before acting on the stage and appeared in several Broadway musicals including “Oklahoma!” in 1943 in which he originated the role of villainous Jud Fry. He also originated the role of Benjamin Franklin in the 1969 Broadway musical “1776,” and also played him in the 1972 film version. DaSilva appeared in more than 60 films, most notably as Ray Milland’s bartender in “The Lost Weekend” in 1947, and as Wilson, garage owner husband of Shelley Winters who gets run over by a car and killed in the 1949 version of “The Great Gatsby” in which Alan Ladd played Gatsby. Years later, DaSilva played Meyer Wolfsheim, an underworld friend of Gatsby’s, in the 1974 film version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald literary masterpiece in which Robert Redford played Gatsby. My master says Ladd played Gatsby better than Redford and the Ladd movie remains the best film based on the novel. He also has a video tape of the Ladd film. DaSilva was nominated for a Tony Award as best featured actor in a Broadway musical for his role in “Fiorello!", which my master said he saw and loved. DaSilva won an Emmy for his supporting role as a USO show manager in “Verna, USO Girl,” a 1978 television movie that starred then unknowns Sissy Spacek and William Hurt (my master also has a video tape of this terrific movie). DaSilva was among the actors unfairly blacklisted for alleged un-American activities in the 1950s and, unable to find work in movies, he returned to the stage and also appeared on television. He died of lymphoma at the age of 76 in Ossining, N.Y.

 

Classic Movies on TV This Month

 

 

On Turner Classic Movies in November:
The Misfits, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, Pride and Prejudice, My Man Godfrey, Sunset Boulevard, Story of Louis Pasteur, The King of Kings (silent), Valley of Decision, Random Harvest, The Letter, Mildred Pierce, Ride the High Country, These Three, Dead End, Gaslight, Shadow of a Doubt, The Magnificent Ambersons, Jezebel, Shall We Dance, Gunga Din, North by Northwest, Penny Serenade, Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Mogambo, H.M. Pulham Esq., The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Four Daughters, Now Voyager, Mr. Skeffington, To Be or Not to Be, Nothing Sacred, In Name Only, Battleground, Of Human Hearts, Command Decision, They Died with Their Boots On, They Were Expendable, Bataan, So Proudly We Hail, Topper, The Pink Panther, Counsellor-at-Law, The Women, I Married a Witch, The Thief of Bagdad, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Best Years of Our Lives, Modern Times, The Lady Eve, Double Indemnity, A Day at the Races, The Shop Around the Corner, It Happened One Night, Sense and Sensibility, The Freshman (1925), Rebecca, Suspicion, Notorious, King Kong (1933), A Passage to India, The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, The Merry Widow, The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Citizen Kane, The Court Jester, My Fair Lady, A Christmas Story, All Mine to Give, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Brigadoon, How the West Was Won, A Christmas Carol (1938), Oliver Twist (1948), David Copperfield (1935), Captain Blood, The Spiral Staircase, The Big Sleep, Captains Courageous, Meet Me in St. Louis, Sounder, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, Key Largo, The Major and the Minor, Ivanhoe, 42nd Street, That’s Entertainment 1,2,3, The Petrified Forest, To Have and Have Not, Casablanca, Phantom of the Opera (1925), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932.)

On Fox: Cluny Brown, The Razor’s Edge, Jane Eyre, Julia, In Old Chicago, State Fair (1945), Carousel, Breaking Away, The Leopard, Hello Dolly!, The Longest Day, Twelve O’Clock High, The Snake Pit, Phar Lap, Lifeboat, Captain from Castile, The Man from Snowy River, The Princess Bride, The Rains Came, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Heaven Can Wait, Young Mr. Lincoln, Last of the Mohicans (1992).