The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)
by Robert Wise
from 20th Century Fox
Shot in Salzburg against the majestic Bavarian Alps, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is considered one of the greatest screen musicals ever made. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise), the film, based on a real family and their true events, tells the story of a young postulate, Maria (Julie Andrews), who, after proving too high-spirited for the Mother Abess and other nuns, is sent off to work as a governess to seven unruly children. The Von Trapp family is run, in military style, by the seemingly cold-hearted Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a lonely widowed naval officer. Seeing how badly he and his children need companionship, he proposes to the Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a calculating, mutual friend of beloved family friend Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). It is the baroness who soon realizes that it's Maria--with her warmth and love for the children--the captain really loves. It is nearly bliss for the newly formed family who loves to sing together--except for the cloud looming over their beloved Austrian horizon: Hitler is ascending to power, forcing Von Trapp to decide whether to join the Nazi party--which he loathes--or force his family to leave their home forever. One of the most memorable scores ever written (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) and breathtaking performances by Andrews, Plummer, and the seven children mark this classic as one of the world's most favorite films.
System Requirements:
Format: DVD MOVIE
When Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive with the sound of music" from an Austrian mountaintop in 1965, the most beloved movie musical was born. To be sure, the adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit has never been as universally acclaimed as, say, Singin' in the Rain. Critics argue that the songs are saccharine (even the songwriters regretted the line "To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray") and that the characters and plot lack the complexity that could make them more interesting. It's not hard to know whom to root for when your choice is between cute kids and Nazis.
 Read our interview with Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music. |
The DVDs
As if the direct involvement of Julie Andrews weren't enough, the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Sound of Music is a must-have for fans because of the fond sense of nostalgia that will touch all but the worst cynic's heart. Andrews introduces both discs and contributes a commentary track on the film. It's a joy to hear her speak about the film (for example, she explains how she solved her dislike for the lyrics of "I Have Confidence"), and also heard are remarks by Christopher Plummer (who at one point refers to his being 48, which if true would mean his comments were made in about 1975), Charmian Carr (Liesl), choreographer Dee Dee Wood, and Johannes Von Trapp (the real-life Maria Von Trapp's youngest son, who admits that his father did have a whistle but claims that he was not as stern as portrayed in the film). Even with all those people involved, there are still significant gaps of silence, however. Retained from the previous two-disc editions is the commentary track by director Robert Wise, which during the musical numbers becomes an isolated score with no vocals. Also new are sing-along subtitles in English, Spanish, and French, which allow you to have your own sing-along at home. In addition, the film's remastering shows off a truer and much warmer sense of color.
On the second disc, Andrews participates in a new 63-minute documentary "My Favorite Things: Julie Andrews Remembers." But it's really a general making-of documentary with contributions from a number of principals, including director Robert Wise, who died in mid-2005 (not surprisingly, some stories are repeated from the commentary track and from the 87-minute documentary on the previous DVD). Andrews also shares a warm 19-minute sit-down with Christopher Plummer. Carr, who over the years has become the film's biggest advocate, narrates a new 22-minute documentary, "On Location with The Sound of Music," in which she revisits the places in Salzburg where the movie was filmed, and even joins one of the "Sound of Music tours" that have become a booming industry. And acknowledging another big industry, there's a 12-minute featurette on the sing-along phenomenon, focusing specifically on the audience, costumed and otherwise, that attended a sold-out Hollywood Bowl sing-along in 2005. Making special appearances at the event are four von Trapp great-grandchildren and all seven of the actors who played the children. Thankfully, those actors also appear in a 33-minute documentary "From Liesl to Gretl: A 40th Anniversary Reunion," in which they explain what they do now (many are still in show business) and share stories about the film, who was afraid of Christopher Plummer, and what they feel is their responsibility to the film's passionate fans. What's touching is how the group still considers themselves a family so many years later. Other material includes an A&E documentary on the von Trapps, Mia Farrow's screen test for the Liesl role, and a restoration comparison.
What's Missing?
If you already own the previous two-disc editions, you'll want this 40th Anniversary Edition as well, but you might not want to toss those versions. Probably the most significant omission from this edition is the original 14-minute documentary Charmian Carr made in 1967, "Salzburg Sight and Sound." Carr's new documentary includes only a couple clips from the vintage piece. It's not a great work of art, but it's a notable loss and would have made a good contrast with the new documentary. In addition, the new making-of documentary is about 24 minutes shorter than the old one. Also missing are the audio-only features--the interviews, the radio programs, the Ernest Lehman spotlight--and the historical still gallery examining the history of Salzburg and the film. Granted, this material probably got the least play of any of the old features, but completists might want to hold onto their old discs for it. It would have also been nice to have screen tests other than Farrow's. Tests for all the children and for Christopher Plummer (including singing in his own voice before he was dubbed for the film) were included on Hollywood Screen Tests and Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies. Again, they're not critical but it would have been nice to have them all in one place. So maybe the 40th Anniversary Edition isn't the complete package on The Sound of Music, but it's the most satisfying edition yet, with enough new material to please even the veteran SoM DVD watcher. --David Horiuchi
The Paul Newman Collection (Harper / The Drowning Pool / The Left-Handed Gun / The Mackintosh Man / Pocket Money / Somebody Up There Likes Me / The Young Philadelphians)
by Robert Wise
from Warner Home Video
With a career approaching nearly six decades Paul Newman has shown himself to be one of Hollywood's most enduring superstars. Now available on DVD are 7 of this Hollywood living legend's films in The Paul Newman Collection. Bonuses include new and vintage featurettes.Set Includes:HARPER (1966)SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (1956)THE LEFT HANDED GUN (1958)THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (1959)POCKET MONEY (1972)THE MACKINTOSH MAN (1973)THE DROWNING POOL (1975)Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569816763 Manufacturer No: 81676
Paul Newman's career slipped onto an unstoppable track with Somebody Up There Likes Me, his 1956 biopic about boxer Rocky Graziano. Of course that was his second picture, the first being the oft-joked-about bungle The Silver Chalice. Newman's Method-y intensity and dazzling good looks brought him stardom, and his intelligence and uncommon seriousness as an actor kept his movies interesting, especially as he tackled some of the best roles of the "antihero" era--an era he helped create.
Somebody Up There Likes Me is included in The Paul Newman Collection, a bulging seven-DVD package that shakes out thusly: three late-1950s titles from the beginning of his career, one mid-sixties hit, and three lesser films of the early 1970s. It's by no means a "best of" compilation, being limited to Warners and MGM titles, but it gives a flavor of Newman in his prime time. He got the Graziano role after James Dean died, and his performance is a very busy, post-Brando jumble of tics and mumbles. The movie holds up nicely as a boxing picture, and the location NYC shooting won an Oscar for cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg (you can see why director Robert Wise got hired to do West Side Story after this). Sal Mineo and Steve McQueen are in the cast as Newman's fellow j.d.s.
The Left-Handed Gun (1958), based on a teleplay by Gore Vidal, is a truly weird, compulsively watchable artifact from the psychological-Western genre. Newman plays Billy the Kid, glowering and grimacing like a rebel without a cause. It's one of those films that has much more to do with the time it was made than the time it is set; also notable as the big-screen debut for stage and TV director Arthur Penn. The Young Philadelphians (1959) is more conventional, an entertaining soap opera about a young lawyer (Newman) with an old-money Philly name but no money, who gets burned by love and decides to connive his way to the top. Young Robert Vaughn snagged an Oscar nomination for a showy turn as an alcoholic society lad.
Harper (1966) is chockfull of kooky mid-Sixties design and Rat Pack patter (courtesy screenwriter William Goldman). But it must be said that Newman is miscast as the melancholic private eye of Ross Macdonald's literary world, here re-imagined as a wisecracking hepcat who mugs his way through a missing-persons investigation. The supporting cast is a weird over-the-hill gang including Lauren Bacall, Janet Leigh, and Shelley Winters. That film's hero, Lew Harper (renamed from Macdonald's "Archer"), returned in 1976's The Drowning Pool, a more bearable if somewhat humdrum whodunit set in New Orleans. Newman's wife, Joanne Woodward, has a supporting part, but the picture is most notable for an early Melanie Griffith nymphet role.
Pocket Money (1972) is one of those only-in-the-seventies movies that pairs Newman with Lee Marvin in a drowsy, nearly plotless comedy. Both actors give elaborate performances: Newman plays a numbskull two-bit cattle broker who takes absolutely everything literally, and Marvin is his buddy in Mexico who signs on for an ill-considered cattle-buying job. One of the credited screenwriters is Terrence Malick, and the movie has a highly eccentric feel for language. Finally, The Mackintosh Man (1973) is one of the periodic duds that director John Huston would crank out in his otherwise starry career, with Newman as a spy on an incomprehensible case in England. The first half is a red herring, and Dominique Sanda (more recently of The Conformist) is out of depth with the English language. It's a bleak film with a kind of grinding fascination, and the Maurice Jarre score is catchy but fatally overused. --Robert Horton
The Day the Earth Stood Still
by Robert Wise
from 20th Century Fox
Rennie stars as Klaatu, an advanced alien who comes to earth to put a stop to nuclear proliferation. With him comes his robot Gort. They are forced to use superpowers to get the attention of the scientists.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: G
Release Date: 2-MAR-2004
Media Type: DVD
A hallmark of the science fiction genre as well as a wry commentary on the political climate of the 1950s, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi movie less concerned with special effects than with a social parable. A spacecraft lands in Washington, D.C., carrying a humanoid messenger from another world (Michael Rennie) imparting a warning to the people of Earth to cease their violent behavior. But panic ensues as the messenger lands and is shot by a nervous soldier. His large robot companion destroys the Capitol as the messenger escapes the confines of the hospital. He moves in with a family as a boarder and blends into society to observe the full range of the human experience. Director Robert Wise (West Side Story) not only provides one of the most recognizable icons of the science fiction world in his depiction of the massive robot loyal to his master, but he avoids the obvious camp elements of the story to create a quiet and observant story highlighting both the good and the bad in human nature. --Robert Lane
West Side Story (Full Screen Edition)
by Jerome Robbins
from MGM (Video & DVD)
Based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria fall in love despite being from different backgrounds.
Genre: Musicals
Rating: NR
Release Date: 7-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVD
The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, the film stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighborhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colorful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh
The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection [Remastered] (The Sound of Music / The King and I / Oklahoma! / South Pacific / State Fair / Carousel)
![The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection [Remastered] (The Sound of Music / The King and I / Oklahoma! / South Pacific / State Fair / Carousel)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511PNV6EA1L._SL160_.jpg)
by Joshua Logan
from 20th Century Fox
The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection contains film versions of the five major works by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped define the American musical landscape and rewrite the direction of musical theater. After enjoying extremely successful careers working with others, Rodgers and Hammerstein first teamed up in 1943 for the prairie tale Oklahoma!, with songs including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love." The subsequent 1955 film starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who teamed up again for 1956's Carousel. While that film's dark nature made it less popular than its predecessor, the score ("If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone") was Rodgers's favorite. The King and I (also 1956) featured stage star Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as schoolteacher Anna Leonowens, who must learn Asian customs even as she tries to instill some of her Western ones. The somewhat bloated version of South Pacific (1958) follows two couples during World War II and features standards such as "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from stars Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi. The last film, The Sound of Music (1965), proved to be the most popular, with Julie Andrews winning the hearts of seven children and their father with her blissful songs. And if the perhaps saccharine music and plot may test the patience of some, there's no doubt that songs such as "My Favorite Things" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" have charmed audiences around the world for decades. Accompanying the Big 5 in this set is the relatively minor State Fair from 1945 (though it does have "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing"). Some may expect and prefer other entries in the R&H canon such as Flower Drum Song or the television production Cinderella, but those were produced by different studios.
This 12-disc set from 2006 includes the two-disc special editions of each film, remastered and anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs (except State Fair, which was shot in traditional 1.33:1 aspect ratio). Bonus features include the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma! (which should look better than the CinemaScope version but doesn't); 40th-anniversary bonus material for The Sound of Music, including a commentary track by Julie Andrews; Lilliom, the 1934 film based on the same story as Carousel; and the 1962 version of State Fair starring Pat Boone and Ann-Margaret. --David Horiuchi
Among the most successful musical teams of the 20th century composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein Jr. created some of America's most beloved stage and screen musicals. Several of their best-known works are part of this new six-title anthology from 20th Century Fox. Updating an earlier box this wonderful 12-disc collection includes the 2005-06 remastered DVDs of the Fox R&H canon most of which are Anniversary Editions and each of which includes a bonus disc. Multiple Academy Award-winner The Sound of Music (1965) is the most recent of the productions included here and it bookends the set's two-decade span with State Fair ('45). The remaining four films represent the mother lode of Broadway-to-screen adaptations including: Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae in the Technicolor landmark Oklahoma! ('55) and its follow-up Carousel ('56); the lavish costume drama The King and I ('56) featuring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr (singing with Marni Nixon's voice of course); and the ambitious wartime extravaganza South Pacific ('58).Episodes-Bonus Features: Disc 1: Carousel Special EditionDisc 2: Carousel Special Edition-Bonus DiscDisc 3: King and I Special EditionDisc 4: King and I Special Edition-Bonus DiscDisc 5: South Pacific Special EditionDisc 6: South Pacific Special Edition-Bonus DiscDisc 7: Sound of Music Special EditionDisc 8: Sound of Music Special Edition-Bonus DiscDisc 9: State Fair Special EditionDisc 10: State Fair Special Edition-Bonus DiscDisc 11: Oklahoma Special EditionDisc 12: Oklahoma Special Edition-Bonus DiscFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 024543382294 Manufacturer No: 2238229
The Haunting
by Robert Wise
from Warner Home Video
Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation.
Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own.
The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon
A group is introduced to the supernatural through a 90-year old New England haunted house. Be prepared for hair-raising results in this classic horror film!
The Andromeda Strain
by Robert Wise
from Universal Studios
The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses. Projecting total contamination, the scientists isolate the deadly strain in a massive, high-tech underground lab facility, which is rigged for nuclear destruction if the virus is not successfully controlled. The movie spends a great deal of time covering the scientific procedures of the high-pressure investigation, and the rising tensions between scientists who have been forced to work in claustrophobic conditions. It's all very fascinating if you're interested in scientific method and technological advances, although the film is obviously dated in many of its details. It's more effective as a thriller in which tension is derived not only from the deadly threat of the virus, but from the escalating fear and anxiety among the small group of people who've been assigned to save the human race. The basic premise is still captivating; it's easy to see how this became the foundation of Crichton's science-thriller empire. --Jeff Shannon
House on Telegraph Hill (Fox Film Noir)
by Robert Wise
from 20th Century Fox
Victoria has survived Nazi concentration by assuming the identity of one who died there. She arrives in San Francisco to see her "son" just as the boy's great-aunt dies leaving a lot of money to be inherited. Victoria falls in love with the boy's trustee Alan Spender and they move into the mansion on Telegraph Hill. She then learns that Alan and his lover the boy's governess Margaret murdered an aunt and are planning the same for her.DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English Spanish Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.1 Stereo) English (Dolby Digital 2.1 Mono) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.1 Mono) Audio Commentary with Film Noir Historian Eddie Muller Poster Gallery Production Stills Gallery Unit Photogrpahy Gallery Special Shoot Gallery Theatrical Trailer Fox Noir: Fallen Angel No Way Out if you liked these movies you may want to try....System Requirements:Running Time 93 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE UPC: 024543227816 Manufacturer No: 2232781
Run Silent, Run Deep
by Robert Wise
from MGM (Video & DVD)
A movie's lasting value can often be measured by its influence in the years and decades following its original release, and on that basis Run Silent, Run Deep is certainly a classic of sorts. It remains one of the seminal World War II submarine pictures, and its intelligent script and tautly executed action are clearly echoed in such later submarine dramas as Das Boot and especially Crimson Tide, which borrows liberally from this 1958 film.
In one of his best and final roles (he appeared in only four films after this), Clark Gable plays a submarine captain without a command, having been saddled with a desk job after his previous ship was destroyed due to his overzealous pursuit of the enemy in dangerous Japanese waters. He finally gets another boat--this time with a vigilant first officer (Burt Lancaster), who stands poised to assume command if Gable puts his crew in unnecessary danger. The tension and mutual respect between these two principled men is superbly written and directed (Robert Wise was just two years away from his triumph with West Side Story), and the crucial inclusion of a strong supporting cast (including Jack Warden and Don Rickles) enhances the movie's compelling authenticity. Based on a novel by former submarine commander Edward L. Beach, Run Silent, Run Deep is rousing entertainment with the added benefit of paying honorable tribute to the men who navigated through the most frightening and claustrophobic channels of the Pacific theater. --Jeff Shannon
"Rich" Richardson (Clark Gable) is a hard-driving, dedicated submarine officer with a single-mindedpurposeto seek out and smash the Japanese destroyer he believes sank his former ship. Given a new command, Richardson drills his men to the point of mutiny as he relentlessly trains them for the battle ahead. At last, word comes of the destroyer's position, and, disobeying orders, Richardson finally confronts his foe, unaware that an even greater enemy lurks nearby...one who's been targeting him for a watery grave. Co-starring Burt Lancaster as Gable's executive officer, this gripping WWII adventure-thriller set a new standard for submarine pictures. "Severely, nail-bitingly tense" (The New York Times), Run Silent, Run Deep is the most exciting film about the "silent service" ever made.
West Side Story (Special Edition DVD Collector's Set)
by Jerome Robbins
from MGM (Video & DVD)
The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, the film stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighborhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colorful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh
A triumph on every level this magnificent achievement set a standard for modern movie musicals that remains unsurpassed to this day. Featuring an unforgettable score ("Maria" "America" "Somewhere" "Tonight") and groundbreaking choreography the film sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Starring Natalie Wood Richard Beymer Russ Tamblyn Rita Moreno and George Chakiris West Side Story is "a stunning piece of visual entertainment" (Boxoffice) and "the best film musical ever made" (The New Republic)!System Requirements:Starring: Natalie Wood Richard Beymer Russ Tamblyn Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. Directed By: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Running Time: 152 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 027616884343 Manufacturer No: 1004353
+++
