Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: December 2019

Cobra Woman 12/31/19

Charlie Largent approaches this High Kitsch classic with an open mind and an appreciative eye: the remastering of this wartime Technicolor hit is dazzling. Talent-challenged but curvaceous Maria Montez, a genuine cult figure, can’t act and certainly can’t dance — but she has what the GIs overseas wanted to see, and the censors let her show it. Jon Hall and Sabu aid and abet Robert Siodmak’s arrow-straight direction. The script is dreamlike, the dialogue ultra-campy; add an excellent music score and the film’s effect is actually quite pleasing. Membership in the Maria Montez cult fan club helps; I hope Charlie tells his story about when a festival screened five Montez trailers in a row. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/31/19

Passport to Pimlico 12/31/19

Much of Ealing Studios’ core appeal begins right here, with T.E.B. Clarke’s astute look at the character of pragmatic, energetic Londoners, who in this fantasy face an outrageous situation with spirit, pluck, and a determination not to be cheated. What happens when a few square blocks of London discover that they’re no longer even part of the British Empire?  A classic of wartime ‘adjustments,’ the ensemble comedy even begins with a Tex Avery- like ode to rationing. With Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Sydney Tafler and Betty Warren. On Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics.
12/31/19

Dr. Cyclops 12/28/19

It may be a little creaky, but Dr. Cyclops is a genuine classic of the imagination, from a time long before pulp fantasy dominated Hollywood filmmaking. For 1940 audiences this must have felt like a strange dream. Five humans are miniaturized and terrorized by Albert Dekker’s Dr. Thorkel, a card-carrying mad scientist. Held firm by a giant rubber hand, ‘Mr. Crabby’ Charles Halton keeps an unfortunate appointment with a horrifying fate. Who will survive, and how big will they be?  Did Thorkel change his name to Soberin, move to California, and steal The Great Whatzit? Kino’s new HD transfer of this oddball gem is a wonderment — the Technicolor is outstanding, better than Paramount’s old nitrate studio print.. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/28/19

The Fugitive Kind 12/28/19

Marlon Brando is back in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending. The cameraman is Boris Kaufman and the director is Sidney Lumet; Marlon’s a classic tomcat drifter in a dangerous parish, who attracts two women. Acting styles mesh, or mix without blending — Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward each get opportunities to shine. It’s all poetics and symbolism — dig the snakeskin jacket! — in a fairly realistic setting. The extras include three Williams one-act plays. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
12/28/19

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 12/24/19

Two givens for Los Angeles living in 1969: perpetual driving around listening to the radio, and stereo cartridge needles dropping onto record grooves. Those things were the basics of our existence! CineSavant closes out his pre-Christmas cheer with his favorite picture of ’19. It’s possibly Quentin Tarantino’s best. Yes, yes I know it has that crazy finale, but overall it has much less violence than most anything else he’s done. Plus it has scenes that can be described as heartwarming, and quietly sentimental… practically new territory for this director. The respect shown for Sharon Tate is gratifying. Bring us more great stories that inspire you this way, Mr. T. ! On 4K UltraHD, Blu-ray + Digital from Sony/Columbia.
12/24/19

The Cotton Club Encore 12/24/19

They say you Can’t Go Home Again, but Francis Coppola has pulled a real magic trick — his 1984 gangland musical ended up heavily compromised by outright racism producers that didn’t like the half of the story that favored a black show-biz drama. All the gangster action has been retained in this impressive Encore recut, but with twenty new minutes of performances and backstage intrigues. Gregory and Maurice Hines’ tap dances are extended, and musical numbers have been restored, with the terrific Lonette McKee getting special emphasis. The show was always good, and now it’s much better. On Blu-ray + DVD + Digitalfrom Lionsgate.
12/24/19

The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh 12/21/19

Walt goes radical, or as radical as the Disney brand could go. In the 1760s, an HRPMS (hobgoblin rogue phantom marsh smuggler) called The Scarecrow gives His Majesty’s forces a run for their money. We kids loved the theme song, the spooky cinematography, and especially Patrick McGoohan’s terrific voice and scarecrow disguise — he’s sort of a Masked Superhero 200 years before Watchmen. This is a Disney Club offering, so good luck getting a copy if you’re not a member. It’s not the feature cut-down but all three shows beautifully remastered in widescreen and color, sayeth the review of CineSavant’s in-house HRPMS, Charlie Largent. On Blu-ray from The Disney Club.
12/21/19

Brother Can You Spare A Dime? 12/21/19

Philippe Mora’s impressive documentary epic sees 1930s America through the movies, through music, and the evasions of official newsreels. Franklin Delano Roosevelt preaches prosperity while James Cagney slugs his way through the decade as a smart-tongued everyman — in a dozen different roles. This was a new kind of documentary info-tainment formula: applying old film footage to new purposes. On Blu-ray from The Sprocket Vault / VCI.
12/21/19

Trapped 12/17/19

Noir Nirvana isn’t found amid literary swells and hoity-toity art connoisseurs — but in the trenches of humble Eagle Lion Films, where Richard Fleischer, Lloyd Bridges and a hotter-than-hot Barbara Payton steamed up the streets of Los Angeles circa 1949. The Film Noir Foundation experts give us an expertly curated slice of hardboiled crime — Eddie Muller dubs it ‘To Live and Die in L.A.,’ but in the year that the Reds took over mainland China, and the USSR exploded its first Atom bomb. Muller, Alan Rode, Julie Kirgo, Mark Fleischer and Donna Lethal assemble several authoritative extras. On Blu-ray from Flicker Alley / Film Noir Foundation.
12/17/19

The Pumpkin Eater 12/17/19

Reviewer Charlie Largent wanted to write up the Indicator disc of this title several years ago. We missed that UK release, but Jack Clayton’s show is included on the The Anne Bancroft Collection, reviewed separately just below. Largent focuses on this show, in which Ms. Bancroft fleshes out Harold Pinter’s portrait of an unhappy housewife, who keeps having children in an unfulfilling marriage. Peter Finch, James Mason, Richard Johnson and Maggie Smith co-star! On Blu-ray from Shout Select.
12/17/19

The Anne Bancroft Collection 12/17/19

I asked for this set so Mr. Largent could review The Pumpkin Eater, but I didn’t want the rest of the package slip by unremarked. The word is that Mel Brooks himself pulled strings to round out these titles, from companies that normally don’t collaborate: Fox, Criterion, Olive, MGM, Sony. The eclectic range of shows gives us Ms. Bancroft at her best: Pumpkin Eater,plus Don’t Bother to Knock, The Miracle Worker, The Graduate, Fatso, To Be or Not To Be and 84 Charing Cross Road. All are beautiful transfers, carrying over plenty of extras. On Blu-ray from Shout Select.
12/17/19

Major Dundee 12/14/19

Sam Peckinpah’s ‘Mangled Masterpiece’ gets a new lease on life with this Austrian import, which corrects all the things that bugged me about Twilight Time’s impressive Blu-ray back in 2013. This is the first time that the original uncut Preview-International version of Major Dundee has come to Blu-ray with the original soundtrack. The Two-Disc set includes a longform making-of docu from the prolific producer Mike Siegel, and the other extras make an extensive raid of our combined Dundee photo archives. On Blu-ray from Explosive Media GmbH.
12/14/19

Downton Abbey 12/14/19

Ah yes, we have a winner for the best ‘Comfort Food Movie’ of them all. When a trailer for this show popped up at a screening of The Farewell back in August, I heard gasps of excitement from the (slightly older-skewing) audience, as if everyone’s favorite relatives were coming back to town. Loyal fans of the massively popular TV series will be delighted: if you enjoyed it week by week or streaming, you’re going to love this ‘one more time’ get together with the elegant Crawleys and their engaging domestic staff. On Blu-ray + DVD + Digital from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
12/14/19

Christmas in July 12/10/19

At least the title sounds Christmas-themed!  Preston Sturges’ sweet trifle is as simple as a sit-com mix-up, but the charm is in the lovable characters (the core of Sturges’ formidable stock company) and the sincerity of all concerned. Ellen Drew is the most deserving fianceé ever to pine for a wedding ring, and Dick Powell an oh-so-earnest Dagwood Bumstead type who banks his future on a goofball coffee slogan contest — just try and figure out the meaning of his winning slogan. In his second film Sturges confirmed himself as Hollywood’s newest comedy genius writer-director — although William Demarest’s perpetually flustered character is so well written and played, we’d think that the actor was simply living the part.. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/10/19

The Story of Temple Drake 12/10/19

Hoo-haw! One of the most notorious pre-Code shockers comes to Criterion — and proves to be a superior drama with an entirely mature, sound outlook on the political issues around women’s sexuality and personal freedom. Taken from a raw novel by William Faulkner, this tale of rape and terror stars Miriam Hopkins in one of the bravest, best performances of its era. Truth-telling like this always comes at a price — Temple Drake was a prime target for the oppressive Production Code, with the result that Hopkins’ achievement was banned and unseen for over thirty-five years. Also starring Jack La Rue and William Gargan. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
12/10/19

Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection 12/07/19

It’s a monster box — reviewer Charlie Largent only found out how big when he began to wade into the extras. It’s enormous — 28 films, from One Night in the Tropics(1939) through Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955), all remastered in HD, with sixteen audio commentaries and an additional disc of extra goodies. And I peeked, and finally saw Abbott & Costello Go to Mars — in Blu-ray HD, I can identify more of the Venusian beauties! The exhaustive extras include many commentaries. Did I forget to say this is a BIG set? A&C fans can schedule a movie a week until next August. On Blu-ray from Shout Select.
12/07/19

The Beast with a Million Eyes 12/07/19

Once again CineSavant becomes intrigued by a minor genre opus normally dismissed in a sentence or two; this Roger Corman production may fall short of his other early efforts because it tried to be too cerebral and then ran afoul of the Hollywood Guilds. David Kramarsky is listed as director but it’s hard to know how many of the credits are accurate — or simply bogus. Monstermaker extraordinaire Paul Blaisdell apparently came to the rescue with 11th-hour special effects to give the ambiguous, invisible alien menace more substance. Scorpion’s release has a new transfer and a commentary by Tim Lucas. On Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing.
12/07/19

Fritz Lang’s Indian Epic 12/03/19

At the end of his career, Fritz Lang returned to Germany and a producer who gave him a big budget to remake a silent classic in color, with an international cast and locations in remote India, including a palace never seen in a movie before. The two-movie, 200-minute epic was chopped in half for America and dubbed in English. Seen in its full Eastmancolor glory, The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb form an old-fashioned storybook tale, with its special charm lying in our knowledge of Fritz Lang’s fixation on fatalism and intricate patterns of betrayal and intrigue. Plus the films contain the erotic highlight of the decade, the spectacle of star Debra Paget’s scorching ‘temple dances’ before an all-male audience of admirers. With Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyther and a huge anatomically correct faux-Indian idol. On Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics.
12/03/19

Slaughterhouse-Five 12/03/19

Kurt Vonnegut’s quirky sci-fi novels didn’t always adapt well to film, but George Roy Hill’s 1972 effort is a faithful winner. The filmmaking craft used to ‘unstick’ Billy Pilgrim in time is nothing short of brilliant, highlighting the camera talent of Miroslav Ondricek and the editing skill of Dede Allen. The book even has a built-in sex angle that the film doesn’t shy away from — providing our first encounter with Valerie Perrine as a starlet kidnapped by aliens curious about human mating habits. The somber, sometimes spiritually-defeatist tone of the show represents the book well; it ought to be better known. Starring Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Holly Near, Perry King and Friedrich von Ledebur. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
12/03/19