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How did the reputation of actor, playwright and filmmaker Sacha
Guitry, once the toast of French theater and cinema and popular culture, slip
into such obscurity over the years? In the United States he is barely a footnote
and his films all but impossible to see. This box set of four comedies from the
'30s, all written and directed by leading man and defining personality Guitry,
goes a long way to correcting both oversights. " The Story of a Cheat" (1936), the comic memoir of a
reluctant scoundrel ("What have I done to the Lord that people constantly
solicit me to engage in crime?"), takes the idea of narration to a new level
with snappy flashbacks and running commentary. The visual credits sequence alone
(which surely inspired Orson Welles' brilliant trailer to "Citizen Kane") is a
treat. " The Pearls of the Crown" features an even more
intricately woven narrative design, a tale that bounces through history (and
multiple languages) and over the globe to trace the journeys of seven perfect
pearls. The drawing room sex romp " Désiré" (1937) and the comically
romantic rectangle " Quadrille" (1938) fill out the
set. Guitry's intricate narratives are endlessly inventive, and his
writing sparkles with comic invention, droll wit and continental sophistication.
And as a leading man, he's a model of easy elegance and knowing experience. The
no-frills Eclipse presentation comes on four discs in four thinpak cases in a
paperboard sleeve. No supplements beyond excellent notes on each film by Michael
Koresky. |
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| Dark City / Paramount Film Noir |
Charlton Heston made his Hollywood debut as the stony leading
man of "Dark City," a hardhearted veteran turned gambler who becomes hunted by a
psychotic killer out to revenge one of his marks. Heston doesn't have much
dimension beyond his flinty gruffness and emotional distance, but he's got
confidence, strength and a solid screen presence that anchors the film. Lizabeth
Scott is his soggy sometime girlfriend, Viveca Lindfors, the widow who melts his
icy heart, and Dean Jagger, Don DeFore and Ed Begley co-star. Watch for Jack
Webb as a sneering hyena of a bully and Harry Morgan as the target of his
grinning cruelty: the future "Dragnet" team as uneasy partners in crime. Olive
Films also releases two other noir-tinged Paramount crime films this week: " Union Station" (1950), starring
William Holden, and " Appointment With Danger," starring
Alan Ladd. The prints are fine but unrestored, and there are no
supplements. |
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| Batman: Under the Red Hood |
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The latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie comes right out
of a dramatic story line from the comic book. The violent and dark story is
definitely not for young kids, but it's smart pulp writing and well put together
for a direct-to-DVD animation. The DVD includes promotional featurettes for
other animated originals. Exclusive to the Blu-ray is the animated short "DC
Showcase: Jonah Hex" (a little slim but appropriately adult with gallows humor),
solid featurettes on the two Robins of the comic book series and four episodes
from the animated "Batman" series, plus a digital copy of the film for portable
media players.
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| Hannie Caulder |
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Raquel Welch is a frontier widow who trains under an eccentric
bounty hunter (Robert Culp) to revenge herself upon a trio of scurvy outlaws.
Pulled in all directions, it goes for the sun-baked look and corrupt culture of
spaghetti westerns and the violence of "The Wild Bunch" (casting Ernest Borgnine
and Strother Martin furthers the connection), and then shoehorns a romantic
angle into the whole affair. Director Burt Kennedy, a natural at comic westerns,
is lost in this misguided project, but Christopher Lee stands out as a reclusive
gunsmith with a philosophical approach to his art. No supplements.
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| Joy / Joy and Joan |
Two pieces of '80s-era Eurotica arrive on DVD in their
uncensored form for the first time in the U.S. "Joy" (1983), a post-"Emmanuelle"
romp starring America-born/Canada-raised Claudia Udy as a French model whose
uninhibited sexuality makes her a jet-setting celebrity, is a continental
skinflick with a touch of elegance. Brigitte Lahaie takes over the role for the
sequel " Joy and Joan" (1983), also released
from Severin. According to the notes, both prints were rescued from brothels.
But of course. "Joy" features a reflective 11-minute interview with Claudia
Udy. |
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Sean Axmaker is a film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a DVD
columnist for MSN Entertainment and a contributing writer for GreenCine.com,
Turner Classic Movies Online, Parallax View and Asian Cult Cinema, among other
publications. Find links to all of this and more on his shamelessly self-promoting blog.
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