Cornucopia of Classics on Blu-ray This Month

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

This Thanksgiving weekend, film buffs can be thankful for the wide variety of notable older titles released to Blu-ray this month; from quirky independents and critically acclaimed masterpieces, to popular Hollywood hits and Oscar-winning classics - all in plenty of time for Christmas shopping (although many may need to be ordered on-line, as local stores are unlikely to stock them all).

November 2 alone saw the release of two Best Picture winners, David Lean’s World War II epic “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957), and Robert Wise’s beloved smash hit “The Sound of Music” (1965), along with holiday favorite “White Christmas” (1954), and children’s favorites “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968) and “The Goonies” (1985). On November 9 came the clever horror-comedy “Tremors” (1990), the off-beat animated apocalyptic musical “Rock & Rule” (1983), and the original Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin version of “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960).

Last week three classic silent comedies made it to Blu-ray: Charlie Chaplin’s still-timely “Modern Times” (1936), and a double-feature disc of Buster Keaton’s truly amazing “Sherlock, Jr.” (1924), with his fun romantic parody “Three Ages” (1923).

Also last week, the Criterion Collection released the brilliant rural noir thriller, “Night of the Hunter” (1955), the only film ever directed by actor Charles Laughton, and Warner Bros. came out with Laughton’s most famous starring film on Blu-ray, the Best Picture winner from 1935, “Mutiny on the Bounty.”

Finally, Just out this week is yet another silent film classic, the new restoration of Fritz Lang’s futuristic allegory, “Metropolis” (1926), along with a must for independent film fans—the Criterion Collection’s box set called “America Lost & Found: The BBS Story.” This has seven features by a group of filmmaker friends that included Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Henry Jaglom, and Bob Rafelson.  The titles include major classics and interesting experiments: “Head” (1968), “Easy Rider” (1969), “Five Easy Pieces” (1970), “Drive, He Said” (1971), “The Last Picture Show” (1971), A Safe Place” (1971), and “The King of Marvin Gardens” (1972).

“OCEAN’S ELEVEN”

The recent remake of “Ocean’s Eleven” was popular enough to spawn two sequels, but the 1960 version of the story has a different kind of charm a half-century later. One of the last films directed by veteran Lewis Milestone, it is also an enjoyable light-hearted heist comedy. Its pacing drags at times, as it takes about an hour to bring together the eleven old army buddies who plan to knock off five Las Vegas casinos at midnight on New Year’s Eve, but the overall sense of fun and a few odd twists keep it intriguing.

Today the original film is far more interesting as a record of the personal chemistry and ad-lib camaraderie among the group of celebrity friends known as “The Rat Pack.” This included singer superstars Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., actor Peter Lawford, and various other entertainers who worked in TV, movies, and nightclubs during the 1950s and 60s.

The stars made this film on a lark, shooting from the end of their midnight stage acts until dawn. It’s also got an early pre-starring appearance by North Dakota native Angie Dickinson, and cameos by several major stars. The film is an excellent example of 1960-era pop culture and a valuable document of the Vegas casino scene before it shifted its focus about a decade later to become what it is today.

The Blu-ray of this 50th anniversary edition has a very fine high-definition transfer that preserves the original film grain and a wide Panavision image with sharp details and vivid colors. The original mono soundtrack is good (with French and Spanish dubs as alternates), although audiophiles will miss the fact that there is no updated stereo remix, especially with its two song numbers and Nelson Riddle score.

A modest but nice selection of bonus features includes a pretty interesting commentary that alternates between separately recorded reminisces of Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Angie Dickinson. There are also a half-dozen brief featurettes about Las Vegas and the five casinos featured in the film; a “Tonight Show” clip featuring Dickinson and Sinatra talking about the film (and giving away its ending); a trailer; plus an “easter egg” clip of the 1990s demolition of one of the hotels. All bonus features are standard-definition.

“OCEAN’S ELEVEN” on Blu-ray -Movie:  B /  Video:  A / Audio: A / Extras:  B-

“MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY”

Almost exactly 75 years after its theatrical premiere, Frank Lloyd’s classic MGM seafaring epic “Mutiny on the Bounty” made its Blu-ray debut. For his excellent acting, Charles Laughton became forever associated with ruthless Captain Bligh and with ship movies in general. Superstar Clark Gable shaved his mustache for his iconic role as reluctant rebel First Officer Fletcher Christian, who led the crew in deposing their commander and starting a new life on their own south Pacific island. Franchot Tone is also fine as a conflicted young officer-in-training. All three received Oscar nominations for Best Actor, the only time that the same film has ever had three nominations in the same category.

Besides a strong story, the film has magnificent production values, including location shooting in Tahiti and a huge $2 million budget during the depths of the Depression. It has all the polish of the Hollywood studio system in its heyday, something that is both a virtue and a drawback in its slick but often predictable use of characters and bits of business. Nevertheless, it’s a must-see, although due to its sparse bonus features, purchasers may want to wait until its price drops to about half of its current $25-$30 price.

The Blu-ray, as expected from Warner, has a uniformly excellent HD picture that admirably reproduces the look of the original. Audio is also quite good, especially considering the state of optical sound recording in 1935. Bonus features, unfortunately are disappointing, with four alternate language tracks (French, German, and two Spanish) but no audio commentary and nothing in high-definition. There’s a fairly interesting 1935 nine-minute documentary about Pitcairn Island; a one-minute newsreel of the film’s Oscar presentation; a trailer to the film; and a trailer to the 1962 remake. The attractive “digibook” packaging contains nice photos and a limited bit of production trivia.

“MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY” on Blu-ray - Movie: A- / Video: A+ /Audio: A- / Extras:  D+

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