Sherman, Vincent

Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)

Doctor X/The Return of Dr. X Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu Mad Love/The Devil DollFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 012569792876 Manufacturer No: 79287

Universal ruled the monster movie in the 1930s, but this hugely enjoyable DVD set offers a counter-argument from MGM and Warners. Its half-dozen horror titles run the gamut from classic vampirism to baroque romanticism, and gather horror luminaries such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre.

The greatest film of the bunch is Mad Love (1935), a rich and oft-imitated bit of perversity with a deeply romantic streak. Concert pianist Colin Clive (from Frankenstein) has his hands wrecked, and his actress wife (Frances Drake) turns to the obsessive Dr. Gogol (Lorre), who has long worshipped her. But the doctor replaces the pianist's hands with those of a murderous circus knife-thrower! Superbly directed by Karl Freund (The Mummy), this eerie film is shaped by Lorre's subtle, uncannily sympathetic performance.

Karloff reigns in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), which offers more minute-for-minute lurid action than any other movie in this set. Connoisseurs of horror will be well pleased by the roster: a crocodile pit, deadly snakes and spiders, poisons, various forms of torture including a man strapped beneath a giant reverberating bell, and Fu Manchu's sexy daughter (Myrna Loy). MGM designer Cedric Gibbons runs wild with a wonderfully daffy Deco-meets-Orientalism scheme. There are some undeniably racist epithets thrown in the direction of the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, but he gives as good as he gets, and the character is ultimately as irresistible as any evil mastermind. Karloff gives one of his juiciest performances ever.

Doctor X (1932) is presented in a recently-restored 2-strip Technicolor process (a lot of throbbing greens and oranges), which gives the movie an antique appeal. Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill) brings his colleagues together to figure out which of them might be the Full Moon Killer; daughter Fay Wray and reporter Lee Tracy (a typical fast-talking role for this fun actor) tag along. Michael Curtiz directed; he also did the similar Mystery of the Wax Museum, again with Atwill (available on the House of Wax disc). The Return of Doctor X (1939) is more of a curio than a full-fledged horror movie, as it has Humphrey Bogart, resplendent in a Bride of Frankenstein hair streak, in a rare supernatural outing.

The other two films are directed by Tod Browning. Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a clear example of MGM trying to ride the Dracula gravy train, with plenty of smoky graveyards, scuttling possums, and Lugosi in a tuxedo striding through giant spider webs. Lugosi is peripheral here, as Lionel Barrymore hunts down the blood-suckers. It's slow going, but the touches are wonderful and there's a spooky vampiress. Browning makes The Devil-Doll (1936) a memorably oddball thriller, with Barrymore a wronged man seeking revenge--and exploiting a device that allows people to be miniaturized. All the films have lively commentary tracks, except Devil-Doll. Overall this is a very neat package; even the inclusion of Return of Doctor X makes sense as a pairing with its original. MGM and Warners seemed embarrassed by the horror genre in the thirties, but these examples prove they could rise to Universal's game. --Robert Horton

Baretta - Season One

It is a sordid fact of life that were it not for Robert Blake's newfound infamy as an accused wife murderer, Baretta, which lasted from 1975 to 1978, might have been relegated to late nights in TV land. But as they say in Hollywood, there's no such thing as bad publicity. So here is this three-disc set containing all 12 episodes of the offbeat cop series' first season. Created by Stephen A. Cannell (whose eclectic credits range from The A-Team and The Great American Hero to The Rockford Files and Wiseguy), Baretta was a tailor-made star vehicle for the pugnacious Blake. In light of his later situation, lines such as "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime," "You just pull the trigger and somebody dies," and "Husbands have been known to sometimes kill their wives for money" take on a grimly prophetic resonance. But as these episodes testify, Baretta is more than a newly minted sick joke.

Baretta is an undercover cop in the Serpico mode. Like your standard TV-issue rule-bending loner cop, he butts heads with his excitable superior (veteran character actor Dana Elcar of MacGuyver and Baa Baa Black Sheep fame). He lives in the run-down King Edwards Motel with his scene-stealing pet cockatoo. He adopts a variety of guises (including in one episode, an elderly woman who looks like Tweety's keeper, Granny, and whose voiced was dubbed by Granny herself, June Foray!). But he is much randier than your average Joe Friday. In one episode, he tries to convince his date to go back to his apartment so she can give him his "birthday present." She tells him "that will take until 4 in the morning." With its ersatz funky score, Baretta is time-capsule '70s television. And, as Baretta was fond of saying, you can take that to the bank. --Donald Liebenson

Mr. Skeffington

Whose face ravaged grotesque is in the mirror? Surely it's not that of Fanny Skeffington the prettiest woman in New York. Fanny always used her beauty to manipulate her way through life. She's encouraged dozens of suitors even after her marriage. But now diphtheria has robbed her of her only attribute. And without her looks she's lost. Bette Davis earned her eighth Best Actress Oscar nomination portraying Fanny.Running Time: 146 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569673052

Fanny Skeffington, an incorrigible society flirt of the WWI era, was one of the meatiest roles and most exasperating women Bette Davis ever played. Flighty Fanny loves the attention of her male suitors, but marries the steadfast Jewish financier Job Skeffington (Claude Rains) for security; long after their wedding day, she still enjoys receiving gentlemen callers. Time catches up with Fanny, of course, and the bills are due by the time World War II rolls around.

Mr. Skeffington is a vintage Warner Bros. workout for Davis, who never shied away from playing unsympathetic or physically unappealing roles. (Her main worry here was looking pretty enough in the early reels to justify Fanny's reputation.) Her theatrical performance and Rains's impeccable work carry the handsomely dressed story through its many melodramatic shifts. The dialogue by Julius and Philip Epstein (who were doing Casablanca around this time) has the sprung rhythm of screwball comedy, although director Vincent Sherman and the cast don't always seem to have noticed this. There's also the growing issue of anti-Semitism--a subject rare in Hollywood prior to this--especially as it concerns Fanny and Job's daughter. But mostly the film has Bette Davis, who strides headfirst into the gray areas (her indifferent treatment of her daughter is especially unappetizing), a fearless attitude that looks like the polar opposite of Fanny Skeffington's vanity. --Robert Horton

Old Acquaintance

Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins--a pair of actresses who hated each other--re-mix their chemistry from The Old Maid in Old Acquaintance, an entertaining adaptation of John Van Druten's play. The action begins with Davis, a semi-famous author, returning to her small town and the home of old friend Hopkins. The later has opted for the settled life of husband and pregnancy, and she doesn't much hide her envy of Davis's success. Then the tables turn, as Hopkins pens a series of potboilers that sell much better than her friend-rival's. The movie keeps checking up on these two as the years pass, each wanting what the other has. It kicks around such staples as career vs. family, but what comes across most memorably in Old Acquaintance is the friendship between the two characters despite their rivalry; in that sense, the best scene in the film is the last scene. Hopkins has the flashy role, a silly ninny who seemingly never stops screeching, and Davis takes the more centered, self-effacing part. (By the way, Davis said that a scene in which she wears men's pajama tops caused a bit of a vogue at the time.) The men are in the background, although John Loder does a nice job of layering a gentle humor to Hopkins' long-suffering husband. Gig Young, in one of his earliest roles, is almost unrecognizable as a Davis paramour. Vincent Sherman (Mr. Skeffington) directed this example of the "women's picture," the kind of movie that kept Bette Davis the queen of the Warner Bros. lot. It was nicely remade by director George Cukor in 1981 as Rich and Famous, with Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen. --Robert Horton

The Best of Baretta

It is a sordid fact of life that were it not for Robert Blake's newfound infamy as an accused wife murderer, Baretta, which lasted three seasons beginning in 1975, might have been relegated to late nights in TV land. But as they say in Hollywood, there's no such thing as bad publicity. So for those who do not want to invest in the Season One boxed set, here are three episodes from this offbeat cop series' first season, including the atypically gritty and brutal pilot, in which funky undercover cop Anthony Baretta goes after his girlfriend's killer, and speaks those grimly prophetic words: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." As these episodes testify, Baretta is more than a newly minted sick joke. The randy, rule-bending Baretta was a cop like no other on TV. And, as Tony was fond of saying, you can take that to the bank. --Donald Liebenson

The Damned Don't Cry

It's a man's world. And Ethel Whitehead learns there's only one way for a woman to survive in it: be as tempting as a cupcake and as tough as a 75-cent steak. In the first of three collaborations with director Vincent Sherman Joan Crawford brings hard-boiled glamour and simmering passion to the role of Ethel who moves from the wrong side of the tracks to a mobster's mansion to high society one man at a time. Some of those men love her. Some use her. And one a high-rolling racketeer abuses her. When the racketeer murders his rival in Ethel's swanky living room she flees a sure murder rap right back to the poverty she thought she had escaped. And this time there may not be a man to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.Running Time: 103 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569683648

Joan Crawford bashes her way through this melodrama inspired by the Bugsy Siegel-Virginia Hill story. Our girl walks out of tacky poverty at the beginning and re-shapes herself into a fur-lined mobster's moll, her will of steel out-pointing the men at every stop. David Brian (recently her Flamingo Road co-star) is the looming blond monster who runs the organization, Steve Cochran is the Bugsy guy building his own network in Nevada, and Kent Smith is the meek accountant Joan bullies into becoming a syndicate player. It's all from that mid-career post-Mildred Pierce period that served Crawford so well, with the full-on film noir look (Ted McCord photographed) and the strong whiff of American sleaze.

Joan Crawford's face had assumed its masklike quality at this point, and at times she seems more of a business manager than an actress: organizing each scene, pushing the story along to its next stop. In its own over-the-top way, it works: there isn't a moment when she doesn't seem capable of devouring anybody that stands in her way. Everything is writ large in this movie, which makes it a fitting target for a Carol Burnett send-up... and which also makes it a great deal of fun. --Robert Horton

Underground

- Set during the early days of World War II, Underground is an intriguing tale of danger and suspense set in Nazi Germany starring Jeffrey Lynn (Butterfield 8) and Philip Dorn (Spy Hunt).- Celebrated director Vincent Sherman (Backfire, The Adventures of Don Juan, All Through the Night, Mr. Skeffington) lives up to his reputation for directing some of the most memorable films made in the 40's, 50's and even 60's with this story of the anti-Nazi underground and its attempts to usurp the Nazi regime and put an end to its war machine through the broadcast of an outlawed radio program. - Released almost six months before the United States entered WWII, Underground provides an interesting historical perspective of the American take on Germany's Nazi Occupation before the fighting hit home. - Vincent Sherman at 98 years old, is the oldest living Hollywood director.

DVD Features
Available for the first time ever on DVD!

Features two fascinating interviews by Lloyd Kaufman with legendary Hollywood director Vincent Sherman at 98 years young!

Includes insightful production notes on the Underground production and star bios.

DVD Bonus: Theatrical trailer for Samuel Fuller's classic Shark starring Burt Reynolds!

Film introduced with classic PSA: "Radiation March"

Adventures of Don Juan

Errol Flynn's farewell to big-budget swashbuckling has him playing the legendary Don Juan the Spanish lover who fights to save the Queen Margaret and her King from the treacherous machinations of her minister Duke de Lorca.Running Time: 111 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 012569796225 Manufacturer No: 79622

The Adventures of Don Juan is more fun than its reputation suggests, but it inescapably plays as a footnote to Errol Flynn's swashbuckling career. The heroic, athletic figure that lunged, leapt, and sashayed through Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Sea Hawk had thickened a bit thanks to middle age and, not to mince words, booze. Accordingly, and with an eye toward the star's real-life aptness to the role of Don Juan, the picture is at least as interested in eliciting chuckles as serving up thrills.

Flynn's creative partnerships with top action directors Michael Curtiz and Raoul Walsh were history. Vincent Sherman lacked their finesse and gusto, but he ably steers the actor past self-parody to a reasonably graceful performance. On the commentary track, Sherman (who died in 2006 at age 99) recollects that only once did Flynn arrive on set the worse for alcoholic wear; Flynn couldn't stand, so the director reblocked the scene with Don Juan seated while his bête noire, the Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas in the Basil Rathbone part), strode around him deploying insults and rapier flicks. It's the best scene in the film.

For latterday viewers, the real excitement is the vivid Technicolor. Part of the reason is that cinematographer Woody Bredell, who shot such pungent noirs as The Killers and Phantom Lady, lit the movie as though he were still working that black-and-white territory. The effulgent hues of the Oscar-winning costumes reinforce the effect. In a footnote to a footnote, the film was edited by Alan Crosland Jr., whose father directed the landmark 1926 silent Don Juan--and that film's action climax on an outsized palace staircase is echoed here. --Richard T. Jameson

Trapper John, M.D.

The Damned Don't Cry

Joan Crawford bashes her way through this melodrama inspired by the Bugsy Siegel-Virginia Hill story. Our girl walks out of tacky poverty at the beginning and re-shapes herself into a fur-lined mobster's moll, her will of steel out-pointing the men at every stop. David Brian (recently her Flamingo Road co-star) is the looming blond monster who runs the organization, Steve Cochran is the Bugsy guy building his own network in Nevada, and Kent Smith is the meek accountant Joan bullies into becoming a syndicate player. It's all from that mid-career post-Mildred Pierce period that served Crawford so well, with the full-on film noir look (Ted McCord photographed) and the strong whiff of American sleaze.

Joan Crawford's face had assumed its masklike quality at this point, and at times she seems more of a business manager than an actress: organizing each scene, pushing the story along to its next stop. In its own over-the-top way, it works: there isn't a moment when she doesn't seem capable of devouring anybody that stands in her way. Everything is writ large in this movie, which makes it a fitting target for a Carol Burnett send-up... and which also makes it a great deal of fun. --Robert Horton