JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (ClassicFlix)
While I’d by no means tout this as an incredible Abbott and Costello comedy, the huge array of bonus options on this launch supersedes my curiosity within the movie itself. Kudos to Bob Furmanek and the workforce on the 3D Film Archive for all of the work they put into this manufacturing. An informative commentary observe options recollections of the film’s younger costar David Stollery (higher remembered for Walt Disney’s Spin and Marty serial) and Lou Costello’s daughter Chris. Jack Theakston explains the historical past and know-how of CineColor, which reached its zenith with SuperCinecolor, as seen on this characteristic. The musical facet of Jack is ably dealt with by Ray Faiola. A&C knowledgeable Ron Palumbo guides us by scenes that have been lower from the ultimate launch print. For completists there’s a terrific 1940 model of “Who’s on First?” that hasn’t been seen earlier than and an excerpt from the Colgate Comedy Hour that includes Lou with the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange) and the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Ben Chapman). You definitely get your cash’s value with this launch, which is clearly a labor of affection. www.classicflix.com
DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS: DOUBLE TROUBLE AND MR. FIX-IT (Film Preservation Society)
Two exceedingly uncommon Douglas Fairbanks options make up this Blu-ray launch. Double Trouble (1915) was lacking in motion for a lot of the previous century. This Film Preservation Society copy has been painstakingly cobbled collectively from numerous sources and nonetheless exhibits indicators of nitrate decomposition in a number of scenes. Fairbanks aficionados will nonetheless be completely happy to see this early instance of the stage actor in transition to a person of the display. That metamorphosis is accomplished by the point of Mr. Fix-It (1917), a pleasant star automobile written and directed by Doug’s longtime collaborator Allan Dwan. I noticed this restoration a number of years in the past on the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, the place it met an enthusiastic response. Two examples of early Biograph one-reelers wondrously introduced again to life by the FPS full this system. It’s laborious to imagine that one is watching movies made in 1909 when confronted with the unimaginable high quality of those prints; they seem like they have been photographed this morning. www.filmpreservationsociety.org
TOO MANY KISSES (Film Preservation Society)
This nice 1925 silent-film automobile for good-looking main man Richard Dix can be forgettable if it weren’t for the temporary look of 1 “Harpo” Marx in his display debut. The romantic comedy takes place in a Basque neighborhood the place Dix is meant to be doing mining enterprise for his father. Harpo is billed as “The Village Peter Pan” and performs an impish character with mischief in his eyes. The movie was shot at Paramount’s Astoria, New York studio and the Marx brother’s position—what little there’s of it—was one thing of a lark for him and the filmmakers as properly. The FPS is presenting it trying splendid with its unique shade tints and a newly commissioned rating by Harpo’s son Bill Marx which is sort of good. Bonus options embrace The House That Shadows Built, a 1931 promotional characteristic wherein the Four Marx Brothers do one in every of their well-oiled vaudeville routines which was later shoehorned into Monkey Business. As an instance of the work the Film Preservation Society is doing restoring D.W. Griffith’s Biograph shorts, an early Mary Pickford one-reeler A Child’s Impulse can also be included. You’ve by no means seen a movie from 1910 trying this vivid; actually, it’s flawless. www.filmpreservationsociety.org
THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT (Criterion)
Much as I love filmmaker Frank Tashlin, I’ve by no means been terribly keen on this movie, however I have to admit the components are higher than the entire. Those components embrace a memorable pre-credit sequence that includes Tom Ewell, who visually introduces CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color… full performances by a top-tier roster of rock ‘n’ roll acts together with Little Richard, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, The Platters, and Eddie Cochran (to not point out Julie London, Abbey Lincoln, The Treniers, Barry Gordon, and Ray Anthony and a few uniquely Tashlinesque sight gags revolving across the cartoonish anatomy of the film’s star, Jayne Mansfield. The Criterion bonus options are particularly good, together with an interview with the image’s number-one fan, John Waters; a perceptive video essay by David Cairns; an irreverent dialog in regards to the musical acts on show by two savvy djs from radio station WFMU; a classic native tv interview with Jayne Mansfield; a helpful rundown of her profession by biographer Eve Golden; and a partial reprint of Frank Tashlin’s impossible-to-find booklet How to Create Cartoons. As with Jack and the Beanstalk (see evaluate above) this materials outweighs the worth of the film itself and is properly value the price of the Blu-ray. www.criterion.com