Coming Soon – From the Warner Archive
Article Series by Ray Schillaci
Warner Archive Collection has announced “merriment, music and mystery” with several titles on both Blu and DVD. Some are new to Blu, others unavailable until now, and that is cause for film lovers to celebrate. Pricing is reasonable for most of these titles, although Amazon appears to beat out Warner’s pricing on every one of their films.
On Blu:
One of my favorite films of the ’70s is Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King. This big adventure is a first class production. The illustrious writer/director, John Huston, who gave us The Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo and The African Queen takes the helm of this sweeping epic and imbues the film with legendary performances by both Sir Sean Connery and Michel Caine. The only downside to this disc is the packaging. In 2011, Warners put out a gorgeous Blu-ray book. But, that version now goes for $40 on up while the Archive version is an inexpensive $19.99 and Amazon has it for $17.99.
After the Thin Man is a classic ’30s comedy/crime/mystery sequel that eventually became a part of a very successful franchise of six films largely due to the chemistry of its two stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. Powell and Loy play Nick and Nora Charles. Nick is a retired police detective and Nora is a wealthy heiress. They enjoy drinking, a constant flirtatious exchange and solving crimes. Sounds familiar? Perhaps the ’60s British series The Avengers or the ’90s series Hart to Hart come to mind. But, it was Dashiell Hammett’s amusing crime-solving couple Nick and Nora that started it all. If you have not seen any of the six films it is time to dive into these delightful mysteries.
Room For One More is a ’50s family comedy/drama that is enhanced with the presence of Cary Grant. He has the ability to inject humor into just about any situation which he proved in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. In this film, Grant plays “Poppy” Rose, stuffy husband to Betsy Drake’s good hearted Anna who yearns to foster a child. Poppy has no interest since they already have three kids and a houseful of pets, but Anna prevails when she adopts a discontent 13 year-old girl. But, it doesn’t stop there. Anna ends up adopting a troublesome 12 year-old boy as well. The Rose’s biggest dilemma is trying to find alone time which many a parent can relate to. It’s both a sad and sweet story with plenty of laughs at Cary Grant’s expense.
In the musical category, Warner Archive is rolling out two films ten years apart, both originally stage musicals and romantic comedies. The exception, one is originally from MGM.
Good News is the earlier one starring two big stars in their day. June Allyson not only starred in the classic comedy My Man Godfrey, she went on to a number of appearances on popular television series like Vega$, Simon & Simon, The Love Boat and The Incredible Hulk, to name a few. Peter Lawford was best known famously as part of the “Rat Pack” (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop) and for his parts in The Longest Day and Ocean’s 11. The director Charles Walters would go on to do several memorable musicals including The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
The film takes place in 1927 at a fictional college where football is king. Football star Tommy (Lawford) is a ladies man and can have just about anyone he wants until he meets the new attractive student at school and is cut down quickly to size as she insults him in French. Tommy enlists the aid of the student librarian, Connie (Allyson), to teach him French. If you’ve seen Grease, you could probably guess where this is going. The songs are bouncy and fun. Although dated, it still plays at a brisk 93 minutes.
The Pajama Game started as a successful Broadway musical. The exuberance of this film is not only from the material, but from three key players: directors George Abbott and Stanley Donen, and star Doris Day. Donen is responsible for one of the most famous Hollywood musicals, Singin’ in the Rain and he proved to be a great mimic of Hitchcock with Charade.
Abbott was better known as a writer, sharing duties on both The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees (one of my personal favorites – still waiting for a Blu debut), and was also the director of the latter. Doris Day had a career that expanded over 70 years. She had done everything from musicals and comedy to thrillers. One of the very few actresses in her day that was able to successfully crossover from the big screen to the small screen with The Doris Day Show that lasted over five years.
The Pajama Game takes place in a pajama factory where the new superintendent, Sid, inadvertently falls in love with one of the workers, Babe (Day), who is also part of the union’s leadership. As labor relations become strained so does their relationship. The union’s fair request is ignored and Babe leads a work slow-down, intentionally messing up the PJs and eventually sabotaging machines. This leads to her boyfriend firing her. Sid manages to redeem himself by prying into the unethical dealings of the company.
The film is an enjoyable romp with catchy songs and fun choreography. It’s underrated as far as musicals go, but never forgotten since it has proven to be a popular staple in both little theater and high schools. The film is also the only successful movie musical about labor unions. Sure, Disney had Newsies, but it was a box-office bomb. The Pajama Game has also been rated as one of the best movies about unions alongside On the Waterfront, How Green Was My Valley and The Grapes of Wrath. All the more reason to catch this great musical.
On DVD:
All three films premiering on DVD are great collectables, and I only wish they were available on Blu. All of them happen to be comedies, two from the golden era of the ’40s and one from the rebellious era of the ’70s, and all have dynamic star power.
Ball of Fire (’41) may be too dated for some. But, for those that appreciate The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields and others of that nature, this film is “the cat’s pajamas.” That old term means it’s highly exceptional, and I used that term because of the lead character, Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), a professor of slang working with seven other much older professors developing an encyclopedia. Now, the slang of the forties may have some lost, but the intentions are pretty funny, especially when Potts encounters a ribald nightclub singer who hooks up with him to hide from the cops so she can keep her gangster boyfriend’s location unknown.
Barbara Stanwyck, who would later be best known for her role in the ’60s TV western The Big Valley, is the fast talking Sugarpuss O’Shea. She sets up the comic hijinks while strait-laced Gary Cooper, better known for his dramatic roles in Sergeant York and High Noon, is the comic foil. Dana Andrews (said prunes gave him the runes…) is the snake of a gangster who only wants to marry his girlfriend so she cannot testify against him. The seven other professors come off like a comical seven dwarfs. This is a long lost comedy that is rarely seen on cable or streaming. Time to catch it now.
At one time, Bob Hope was a comedy institution. His self deprecation was mimicked by Woody Allen. His silliness probably inspired Chevy Chase and Will Ferrell. The man was the master of rapid fire one-liners and dominated the media from radio, television and film. His successful run of films from the early ’40s to the mid ’50s were a masterclass of showmanship. The Princess and the Pirate (’44) is just one of his many classics that must be seen for a good belly laugh.
Hope plays cowardly actor Sylvester the Great, on a ship with a princess that is running away from her father to marry a commoner. The ship is hijacked by a pirate known as “the Hook” and the crew is killed except for the princess and Sylvester who has disguised himself as a gypsy woman. Sure, we’ve seen comedies with guys in drag before, but Hope takes it to a whole new level with his comic timing.
Funnier yet, the ships grungy tattoo artist has taken a shine to Sylvester’s gypsy woman. It should be noted that the marvelous Walter Brennan plays the tattooist, keeping up with Hope’s comic timing. Brennan was a marvelous character actor with a distinct cadence that could do drama as well as comedy from his early start in the ‘20s to the mid ’70s. He was most famous for his roles in Red River, To Have and Have Not, Support Your Local Sheriff and The Over-the-Hill Gang among others.
Big surprise, the tattooist actually guessed the gypsy woman is a man and involves Sylvester and the princess in a plan to snag the Hook’s treasure. At one point, Sylvester stretches his acting ability by disguising himself as the Hook with hilarious results. Bloodthirsty pirates, another kidnapping, a crooked political leader, and a treasure map that gets tattooed on an unconscious Sylvester makes up one of the best Bob Hope vehicles for home video.
The ’70s ushered in a very different type of western. Perhaps the shadow of the Vietnam War affected some of the filmmakers having them deliver a different type of western that was sometimes thought-provoking, retrospective, and breaking the typical western boundaries – Jeremiah Johnson, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, El Topo, Little Big Man, A Man Called Horse and Warner’s There Was a Crooked Man to name a few. Warner’s unusual classic tale is a first rate production with a marvelous cast.
Writer/director/producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s name was synonymous with classic movies, including multi Oscar-nominated and winning films All About Eve, The Philadelphia Story, and ’72’s Sleuth. Mankiewicz would take the reins of this darkly comic western fable and turn the genre on its ear. But, he would not be the writer as he was with many of his projects. The credits would go to David Newman and Robert Benton who had just come off of writing Bonnie and Clyde. Mankiewicz assembled a big name cast that included Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith and Lee Grant.
Douglas is Paris Pitman, Jr. a charming and ruthless outlaw involved in a $500,000 robbery where he had killed his partners and hid the money. Pitman is caught and placed in an Arizona prison with a warden that wants to cut a deal with him. Let him escape if he splits the money. But, the plan is blown with a prison uprising and the warden is killed.
The new warden is an enemy of Pitman and former sheriff, Woodward W. Lopeman (played by Fonda). But, the two learn to work together to improve conditions in the prison. This is not without Pitman having ulterior motives. He eventually escapes, killing those who helped him with the prison break. Once again, Lopeman is out to catch his man.
The whole movie centers on Kirk Douglas’ despicable character which in most cases would not be easy to watch. But, Douglas’ charm breaks through and his performance is mesmerizing. The film is not a fast moving, rip-roaring western, but more of a low-key, smart tale laced with sardonic humor. There Was a Crooked Man may not be for everybody. Those who are prepared for something more intelligent with the sting of humor of a rattlesnake will probably enjoy this excellent production.
Warner Archive halted its streaming service back in 2018 and most of the films were being seen through FilmStruck. But, that service went defunct inn 2019. Now, many of the Warner Archive movies can be seen on HBO Max through the TCM hub, but not all. This leaves turning to the Warner Archive or Amazon for these titles. I know for some cinephiles this will only add to their libraries. Enjoy.
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