Engle, William F

It Happened One Night

Director Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) took home every Oscar in the book (well, okay, all the major ones) for this seminal 1934 comedy starring Clark Gable as a hard-bitten reporter who stays close to a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) rather than lose a good story. Funny and sexy, the film is full of memorable scenes often referred to in other films, such as the "walls of Jericho" (a mere bedcover hung on a line down the middle of a room so opposite-sex roommates can get undressed), and Colbert's famous flash of thigh to stop a speeding car in its tracks. Capra's brisk, urbane brand of wit was a perfect complement to his populist faith in the common man (in this case, Gable's character), and that inspired combination makes this film both a spirited entertainment and an uplifting experience. --Tom Keogh

Cheaper By the Dozen

Though it's impossible to gauge just how much of it is true, this endearing family comedy (based on the book by their children Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) is inspired by the true story of the husband-and-wife efficiency experts Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their adventures raising 12 kids at the turn of the century. Director Walter Lang takes a loping pace through the episodes of family life: the kids descend upon the new school in force while Dad (fussy Clifton Webb) offers his unsolicited views on education; Dad takes his oldest daughter (wholesome Jeanne Crain) to the school dance and becomes the hit of the ball; a mass tonsillectomy becomes an opportunity to document the ordeal as an experiment in efficiency. Myrna Loy almost steals the film in her one standout scene, holding back a smirk while a birth-control advocate (played by Mildred Natwick) solicits this mother of 12 to speak at a rally, but her martini-dry comic deadpan is criminally underused in this picture, which is dominated by Webb's stern, military-like parenting and Crain's adolescent crises. Though this sometimes overly sentimental classic never builds to any real dramatic plateau or comic highlights, it maintains an even tone of good humor and warmth throughout, capturing a bygone era through the travails of a loving family. A charming sequel, Belles on Their Toes, followed two years later. --Sean Axmaker

This colorful depiction of life in a family of 12 children stars Clifton Webb as Frank Bunker Gilbreth, an eccentric father who prides himself on some truly unorthodox child-rearing methods. Based on the bestseller by two children of the real Mr. Gilbreth, this charming film co-starring Myrna Loy is "alive with big laughs" (Los Angeles Times).

Narrated by the oldest daughter (Jeanne Crain), the story follows a series of family crises over the years: from how the children over-whelmed their new school's administration office, to the time they threw a hospital into chaos when they arrived for a mass tonsillectomy. There's even a memorable encounter with a birth control advocate. Simultaneously hilarious and sentimental, "Cheaper by the Dozen is a family comedy in the truest sense.

Along Came Jones

Along Came Jones is one of the most oddball artifacts from Hollywood's golden age. Gary Cooper (who doubled as producer) plays Melody Jones, a "common ordinary useless bronc-stomper" who moseys into the town of Payneville--or is it Painful?--just after legendary bad ass Monte Jarrad has held up the stagecoach. The townsfolk eyeball the "MJ" on Melody's stirrup, leap to hysterically wrong conclusions, and start giving him a wide berth--in some cases, the better to lie in ambush for "Jarrad" while planning how to spend the bounty money. Now, as it happens--and as his crusty sidekick George (the insuperably irreverent William Demarest) keeps reminding him--Melody can barely get his gun out of the holster without blowing his own kneecap off. All that stands between him and extinction is the quick-thinking intervention of a local maiden, one Cherry de Longpre (Loretta Young). Melody, of course, promptly becomes hogtied with love, not suspecting Cherry's the childhood sweetheart of the real Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea)....

Stylistically the film is a wild mix, with director Stuart Heisler paying close attention to down-the-gun-barrel point of view in several scenes, yet also sitting still for floaty back-projection photography so egregious that it may bring on motion sickness. Still, Nunnally Johnson's script is droll; Cooper clearly relished the chance to poke fun at his strong-silent stereotype; and he and Preston Sturges stalwart Demarest establish a sardonic comic rapport. --Richard T. Jameson

Screen legends Gary Cooper (High Noon) and Loretta Young (Lady From Cheyenne) saddle up for an action-packed comedy-western that's "loaded with laughs" (Variety). With inspired performances and lively direction, Along Came Jones hits the bull's-eye for classic western entertainment. Melody Jones (Cooper) is a mild-mannered cowpoke who barely knows the difference between a six-shooter and a carbine rifle, but when he rides into Paynesville, he immediately commands the respect - and fear - of the entire town. The locals believe he's the notorious Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea), a ruthless outlaw who's been terrorizing the frontier with his daring robberies and lightning-fast draw. At first, Jones enjoys his newfound fame, but that quickly ends when he finds himself the target of a bloodthirsty posse, a determined private investigator, Jarrad's double-crossed partners and the most dangerous enemy of all: Jarrad himself!

The Flying Deuces (Restored Edition)

The Cat and the Canary (Special Edition)

German horror stylist Paul Leni (Variety) brings his expressionist flourishes to this compendium of haunted clichés, creating one of the most stylish horror movie spoofs ever, a delightful mix of the gothic and the goofy. A greedy bunch of gargoyle-looking relatives (and a pair of young innocents) gather for the reading of a rich uncle's will, which demands that they spend the night in the creepy old mansion. Leni puts them through a fun house of frights: As if secret panels, clutching hands, and a stopped clock that mysteriously comes to life weren't enough, an escaped lunatic from a nearby asylum who rends his victims with catlike claws may have infiltrated the house. Silent movie sweetheart Laura La Plante is the canary of the title, a lovely would-be heiress who becomes the target of plotting relatives, but it's the rogues gallery of suspects that adds the color and comic relief. Leni kicks the film off with a delirious scene of an infirm old man surrounded by gigantic bottles of medicine and menaced by a snarling, spitting. gargantuan cat. The rest of the film is played in lower key, for laughs as much as chills, but it never loses its moody ambiance, highlighted by elegant camerawork and looming shadows. This classic has been remade three times, most famously by Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard in 1939, but never as well. The hilarious Harold Lloyd short Haunted Spooks has been included as a DVD bonus. --Sean Axmaker

In this frightening all-time cinematic classic and blueprint for all haunted house thrillers, the reading of a will at the estate of old Cyrus West coincides with the arrival of a clawed killer in black ready to pick off the greedy relatives. Utilizing great technical craftsmanship, this witty, suspenseful and stylish treat weaves a stark vision of terror that's just as thrilling today! Digitally Remastered Special Edition with spectacular image quality.

The Flying Deuces

The Silent Comedy Mafia #1

The Silent Comedy Mafia series returns to the early years of slapstick, with some of the leading figures of silent comedy. This edition includes:

1. Idle Eyes (Weiss Brothers Artclass, 1928). Directed by Leslie Goodwins. Starring Ben Turpin, Billy Barty, Helen Gilmore and Georgia O'Dell.

2. Just Rambling Along (Rolin Film Company, November 3, 1918). Directed by Hal Roach. Starring Stan Laurel, Noah Young, Clarine Seymour and Bud Jamison.

3. The Janitor (Morris R. Schlank, 1919). Director unknown. Starring Hank Mann, Madge Kirby and Merta Sterling.

4. All Jazzed Up (Christie Film Company, January 10, 1920). Directed by Al Christie (?). Starring Bobby Vernon and Helen Darling.

5. The Bath Dub (Reelcraft, January 1921). Directed by Thomas La Rose (?). Starring Billy Franey.

6. The Big Idea (Hal Roach Studios, January 13, 1924). Directed by George Jeske. Starring Snub Pollard, Blanche Mehaffey, George Rowe, Billy Engle.

7. The Prodigal Bridegroom (Mack Sennett Productions, September 26, 1926). Starring Ben Turpin, Madeline Hurlock, Thelma Hill, Andy Clyde and Marvin Loback.

All films are complete and feature piano scores by Frederick Hodges.

Bonus: A selection of very rare Ben Turpin clips (1915-1932), and a photo gallery of silent-era comedians.

Flying Deuces, The

The comedic duo join the French Foreign Legion and embark upon a hysterical rollercoaster ride of chaotic circumstances chock full of slapstick comedy.

Laurel & Hardy - Flying Deuces/Utopia

King Vidor's Our Daily Bread