Naish, J Carrol

Captain Blood

This is the story of Dr. Peter Blood and english surgeon who is sold into slavery in the West Indies after treating the leader of the rebellion against King James II. Bought by the beautiful Arabella Blood leads a revolt with his fellow prisoners and escapes. Seeking retribution he turns his fellow escapees into a private crew with himself as the elader - Captain Blood. Thrilling sea battles and exhilarating scenery highlights this Best Picture Oscar(R) nominee that made stars out of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Year: 1935 Director: Michael Curtiz Starring: Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland Lionel Atwill Basil RathboneRunning Time: 119 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC UPC: 012569591424

The swashbuckler had been around long before Errol Flynn drew a cutlass, but the Tasmanian-born bit player reinvigorated the genre with his mix of dashing good looks, haughty insolence, and alluring confidence. Adapted from the novel by Rafael Sabatini (who also penned The Sea Hawk), this rousing adventure chronicles the travails of Peter Blood (Flynn), a righteous doctor unjustly sold into slavery for treating the wounds of rebels, a kind of British Dr. Mudd. Sent to a Jamaican plantation where he toils under the brutal whip of Lionel Atwill and seethes with passion for his fair niece (the astonishingly beautiful Olivia de Havilland), he escapes from bondage with his fellow prisoners and becomes the gentleman rogue pirate of the Caribbean. Director Michael Curtiz builds from one set piece to another, including a nimble beachside sword fight with pirate nemesis Basil Rathbone and climaxing with a grand sea battle that belies the film's modest budget. Flynn's bravado and charisma are apparent from his entrance, but once he leaps into action he takes command of the picture, overcoming his still-green dramatic skills with sheer personality. Captain Blood made stars of Flynn and de Havilland and catapulted Curtiz to the top ranks of Warner directors. The three reunited for some of the studio's best-loved adventures: The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Dodge City. --Sean Axmaker

Rio Grande

The last and least memorable of John Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (following Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), Rio Grande nonetheless has an interesting continuity about the gentlemanly rules of military conduct. Here the focus is on the family. While creating a heated controversy over his handling of the Apache war, John Wayne must also contend with disgruntled wife Maureen O'Hara and estranged son Claude Jarman Jr., a new recruit trying to earn his father's love and respect. Ford seems to suggest that there are two conflicting codes of honor in every cavalry officer's life, the personal as well as the professional, and that it takes an act of heroism to maintain both. It's fascinating to observe Wayne's progression throughout the trilogy, as his personal stakes intensify. Also, this is the first of five onscreen appearances between the Duke and O'Hara, each filled with a competitive spirit and stormy sexuality. --Bill Desowitz

Sahara

Hollywood made few movies about the desert conflict during World War II--and curiously, two that they did (Five Graves to Cairo is the other) were remakes of films set elsewhere. John Howard Lawson based his script on a prewar Russian film (Lawson would later be blacklisted, incidentally) about a military patrol besieged by Asian bandits. The situation readily lent itself to a wartime parallel and became one of the most engrossing story lines of its era.

A U.S. tank crew and their commander (Humphrey Bogart), separated from the main force, make their way through the desert, accumulating a veritable United Nations of stragglers as they go: a few of Montgomery's tommies (including that old limey Lloyd Bridges) and a towering African (Rex Ingram) and his prisoner--a garrulous Italian (Oscar-nominated J. Carrol Naish) who can't wait to tell his new friends about his relatives in "Peets-a-bourg Pennsylvania." They come upon a ruin, the onetime site of an oasis, and almost immediately find themselves defending it against a small army of Germans who believe there's still water to be had there. Yes and no--there's a biblical wrinkle to this tale--and the standoff between the polyglot democrats and the Nazis who far outnumber them is a fine, sun-baked study in suspense.

For Bogart, this Columbia picture was a rare furlough from Warner Bros., where he always felt embattled. His pleasure must have seeped into his work, because Sgt. Joe Gunn is one of the most sympathetic and heartfelt characterizations the actor ever gave us. This is one good movie. --Richard T. Jameson

Batman - The Complete 1943 Movie Serial Collection

See how BATMAN really began. BATMAN started it all, and it's now available on DVD for the first time ever! Watch as mild-mannered Bruce Wayne (Lewis Wilson) becomes Batman, the classic superhero who, with Robin (Douglas Croft), protects Gotham City from the evil schemes of Dr. Tito Daka (J. Carrol Naish). Packed with adventures involving a radium-powered death ray, a deadly alligator pit, electronic zombies, and even the original Bat Cave, the BATMAN 2-disc set is a must-own DVD for any fan of the Caped Crusader!

That Midnight Kiss / The Toast of New Orleans

THAT MIDNIGHT KISS: Mario Lanza plays a singing truck driver who travels the road to success and romance in THAT MIDNIGHT KISS.TOAST OF NEW ORLEANS: A New Orleans fisherman falls for an opera star and subsequently becomes one himself.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 012569795303 Manufacturer No: 79530

The Charge of the Light Brigade

The reckless lancers sweep on and on - so that a woman's heart might not be broken! You're not fighting a single legion - you're fighting the entire British army Surat Khan! Major Vickers is an officer at the 27th Lancers in India 1856. When the regiment is on maneuver the barracks are attacked by Surat Khan and his soldiers who massacre British women and children. This leaves an inextinguishable memory and Vickers promises to revenge the dead.System Requirements:Run Time: 115 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 012569796263 Manufacturer No: 79626

Why is The Charge of the Light Brigade so rarely even mentioned among Errol Flynn's swashbucklers? It's a terrific movie, something like the peak of spectacular Hollywood action filmmaking and the bravura style of Michael Curtiz. The setting--till the Crimean War climax--is the Indian frontier (impersonated, as so often, by rocky Lone Pine, California), where the 27th Bengal Lancers run afoul of an Oxford-educated slime named Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon). Flynn and Olivia de Havilland bring real tenderness to two-thirds of a romantic triangle (the other corner is the hero's brother, Patric Knowles). There's the fearsome siege of Chukoti, an unspeakable atrocity, and finally the foolhardy, inspired Charge at Balaklava. The camerawork and editing of that grand sequence never cease to astonish. History (and political correctness) is better served by the 1968 Tony Richardson movie, but for unabashed epic sweep and matchless thrills, this is the one you want. --Richard T. Jameson

The Kissing Bandit

Place all the gold under lock and key. All the beautiful senoritas, too. The Kissing Bandit rides again - if he can somehow manage to stay on horseback! Frank Sinatra plays the kissing (and singing!) title role. Kathryn Grayson is lovely, coloratura-voiced Teresa - and who'd guess she would steal his heart before he could steal his first kiss? Sintara brings infectious charm to the role of timid Ricardo, haplessly continuing his father's bandito tradition. Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban sway, swirl and clackety-clack through the vibrant, flamenco- style Dance of Fury number choreographed by Stanley Donen. And scene after scene unfurl with a splashy medley of TechnicolorÃ’ lavenders, reds, yellows and greens. Watch out, this bandit might steal your heart!

Down Argentine Way

Betty Grable and Don Ameche fall in love but their fathers intervene. Includes classic performances by Carmen Miranda.

Blood and Sand

You have to wait over 20 minutes for Tyrone Power's entrance in Blood and Sand, but it's a good one: a close-up of Power grinning like FDR, his hair oiled and a cigar jutting out of his teeth, framed against a blood-red backdrop. This is the young matador Juan Gallardo, now grown after the opening reels have established his childhood as a bullfighting prodigy. What happens upon Juan's return to Seville is high Technicolor drama: success in the ring, romance with a childhood sweetheart (Linda Darnell), and then temptation in the arms of a dangerous temptress (Rita Hayworth).

The film is, of course, a remake of the silent 1922 Rudolph Valentino hit, but there's no mistaking it for that one: not least because of the torrid tones of the Oscar-winning cinematography by Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennehan, and the equally lush score by Alfred Newman. The director here is Rouben Mamoulian, whose operatic style meshes with the subject--bullfighting--and the old-school approach to heavy-breathing melodrama. The movie's a little too operatic for pacing purposes, and that opening definitely goes on too long. But the attractions include Rita Hayworth reveling in the bad-girl role; you can hardly blame Juan Gallardo for wandering, even if Linda Darnell is fully in her early-career lusciousness. And then there's Anthony Quinn, who swims around Gallardo like a shark sniffing blood. Tyrone Power is physically right for the role, and his steadfast earnestness suits the character. If it all seems faintly ludicrous today, it was good enough for box-office success in 1941, keeping Power's late-1930s winning streak going. --Robert Horton

TYRONE POWER, LINDA DARNELL, and RITA HAYWORTH star in Rouben Mamoulian's stunning remake of the 1922 silent classic. A "potent drama of love and danger, pride and death," this "magnificent presentation" (Variety) tells the story of a handsome matador torn between his loving wife and a beautiful, unscrupulous aristocrat. Juan (POWER), the naïve son of a once-famous bullfighter, tries to recapture the glory of his family's name. Though he is branded fifth rate, he soon becomes Spain's greatest matador and returns home top marry his childhood sweetheart (DARNELL). But when a beautiful, passionate aristocrat (HAYWORTH) seduces him, Juan succumbs to her temptations, only to see his own happiness and success crumble.

Joan of Arc

The lavish 1948 production of Joan of Arc may not qualify as a great movie, but it scores a triumphant victory as a great DVD. Thanks to a stunning restoration by the renowned UCLA Film and Television Archive, this relic from Hollywood's golden age can now be appreciated in all its magnificent Technicolor glory, restored to its original theatrical length of 145 minutes after decades of truncated TV broadcasts. Under the direction of Victor Fleming (whose credits include Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz), this is a stodgily respectable mini-epic, adapted from Maxwell Anderson's acclaimed play Joan of Lorraine and giving 33-year-old Ingrid Bergman one of her quirkiest star turns as the 19-year-old "Maid of Lorraine," destined by divinely inspired fate to rescue imperiled France from British occupation, and face trial on charges of witchcraft. Winner of three Oscars (for cinematography and costumes, and an honorary award to Producer Walter Wanger for boosting Hollywood's "moral stature") and five nominations (including acting nods for Bergman and José Ferrer, making his screen debut as the French Dauphin), the film suffers from an abundance of talky exposition and stage-bound incident, but the battle scenes are still rousing, Bergman glowing beatifically in polished armor and surrounded by a seasoned cast of studio-era character players in a rampant case of Hollywood anachronism (somehow, Ward Bond just doesn't belong in medieval France!). If you get bored during the slow parts, you can always marvel at the pristine restoration, full of heavenly sunbeams, masterful matte paintings, and enough colorful detail to make most 1948-vintage films pale by comparison. Frame by gorgeous frame, martyrdom never had a classier showcase. --Jeff Shannon

Academy Award-winner Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca) is spellbinding as the 15th century French peasant girl who rouses a nation and inspires the world with her faith and bravery. Fiercely believing that she is directed by God, Joan triumphantly leads an army into battle against the British, who are driven from France. When a new king (Jose Ferrer in a extraordinary film debut) is crowned, Joan's influence grows and makes him wary of her power, ultimately betraying her to martyrdom. This powerful, visually stunning epic of one of history's most fascinating heroines features spectacular action and unforgettable drama! Completely restored, original full-length version with footage not seen in the U.S.,from Victor Fleming, Director of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. Winner of three Academy Awards®: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Honorary Award to producer Walter Wanger with Five additional Academy Award®: nominations: Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman), Best Supporting Actor (Jose Ferrer), Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Score.