Oswald, Gerd

Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3

The facts have become legend. Star Trek, the NBC series that premiered on September 8, 1966, has become a touchstone of international popular culture. It struggled through three seasons that included cancellation and last-minute revival, and turned its creator, Gene Roddenberry, into the progenitor of an intergalactic phenomenon. Eventually expanding to encompass five separate TV series, an ongoing slate of feature films, and a fan base larger than the population of many third-world countries, the Star Trek universe began not with a Big Bang but with a cautious experiment in network TV programming. Even before its premiere episode ("The Man Trap") was aired, Star Trek had struggled to attain warp-drive velocity, barely making it into the fall '66 NBC lineup.

The series' original pilot, "The Cage," featured Jeffrey Hunter as U.S.S. Enterprise captain Christopher Pike--a variation of the role that would eventually catapult William Shatner to TV stardom. Filmed in 1964, the pilot was rejected by NBC the following year, but the network made a rare decision to order a second pilot. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was filmed in 1965, and only one character from the previous pilot remained--a pointy-eared alien named Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), whom Roddenberry had retained despite network disapproval. The second pilot was accepted, and production on Star Trek began in earnest with the filming of its first regular episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver."

Never a ratings success despite a growing population of devoted fans, Star Trek was canceled after its second season, prompting a letter-writing campaign that resulted in the series' third-season renewal. It was a mixed blessing, since Roddenberry had departed as producer to protest the network's neglect, and Star Trek's third season contained most of the series' weakest episodes. And yet, the show continued to "to explore strange new worlds…to seek out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no man [a phrase later amended to "no one"] has gone before."

There were milestones along the way. The first interracial kiss on network primetime TV (between Shatner and series co-star Nichelle Nichols) furthered a richly positive and expansive view of a better, nobler future for humankind. The series offered a timelessly appealing balance of humor, imagination, and character depth. And at least one episode (Harlan Ellison's "The City on the Edge of Forever") ranks among the finest science fiction stories in any popular medium. Beloved by long-time fans in spite of its cheesy sets and costumes, and the now-dated trappings of late-1960s American culture, "classic Trek" has aged remarkably well, and its sense of adventure and idealism continues to live long and prosper. --Jeff Shannon

The three 2004 DVD sets collect all 79 episodes of the show, including "The Cage" in both a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Each set is supplemented by over an hour of featurettes incorporating new and old interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and there's also some vintage footage of Gene Roddenberry. Accompanying the 20-minute seasonal recaps ("To Boldly Go...") are a number of interesting featurettes: "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy" examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew; "Sci-Fi Visionaries" discusses the series' great science fiction writers; Nimoy debunks various rumors in "Reflections of Spock"; "Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio" focuses on the interplay among Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, James Doohan (Scotty), slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. As they've done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit. It's the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue. The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series--Dolby 5.1, English subtitles--but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers. The plastic cases are an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series' European DVD releases, but it's a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude. Still, the sets are a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. --David Horiuchi

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. With a determined crew the Enterprise encounters Klingons Romulans time paradoxes tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds to seek new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no man has gone before.System Requirements: Running Time 4117 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: G UPC: 097360553871 Manufacturer No: 055387

Crime of Passion

(Headline): She d do anything for him to get ahead anything!Barbara Stanwyck soars in a rafter-rattling portrayal of a homicidal housewife (The New York Times) in this exciting taut (Motion Picture Daily) thriller about wanting it all and stopping at nothing to get it. A most unusual story for its time Crime of Passion delivers nail-biting suspense shocking plot twists and a 1950s anti-heroine you won t soon forget!Advice columnist Kathy Ferguson (Stanwyck) abandons her successful career when she marries police detective Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden). But her new role as a 1950s suburban homemaker quickly stifles her spirit and she transfers her thwarted ambition to her husband s career scheming to push Bill up the ladder by any means necessary even murder!Barbara Stanwyck soars in a rafter-rattling portrayal of a homicidal housewife (The New York Times) in this gripping film noir classic.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE UPC: 027616899538 Manufacturer No: 1005692

A Kiss Before Dying

Robert Wagner gambled with his clean-cut image to play the ruthless, conniving killer in this unrelenting thriller co-starring Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward and Mary Astor. Based onthe novel by suspense master Ira Levin ( Deathtrap ), A Kiss Before Dying is riveting, sure-fire entertainment you can't miss! Wagner is Bud Corliss, a darkly handsome college boy so obsessedwith wealth that he'll do anything to get it. When his rich girlfriend Dorothy (Woodward) gets pregnant and is threatened with disinheritance, Bud stages her suicide, sending her plummeting from the roof of a high-rise. It's the perfect crime until Dorothy's sister Ellen (Leith) begins to unravel Bud's deadly scheme.

Paris Holiday

After a dramatic turn in Beau James Bob Hope returned to comedy and co-starred with French comedian Fernandel in Paris Holiday. Hope plays Robert Hunter an actor traveling to Paris to purchase a screenplay only to find himself mixed up with counterfeits. While Hunter has his eye on diplomat Ann McCall (Martha Hyer - Houseboat The Chase) a sexy spy named Zara (the luscious Anita Ekberg - Miss Sweden 1950) has her eye on the screenplay. Hope produced the film and penned the original story. The screenwriting duty went to long-time collaborator Edmund Beloin (My Favorite Brunette Road To Rio and The Lemon Drop Kid) and Dean Riesner (Dirty Harry and Play Misty For Me). Behind the camera was Gerd Oswald who directed A Kiss Before Dying (1956) and the cult film Screaming Mimi co-starring Miss Ekberg. The film also features prominent film director Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story) in a small role.System Requirements: Running Time 100 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 090096098593 Manufacturer No: 60985-9

Paris Holiday

It Takes a Thief