Anyone with a nominal understanding of film history knows that, while the ubiquity of sequels are a startling trend, they are not a modern phenomenon. Hollywood has indulged in sequels and series films since the Nickelodeon, finding success in everything from Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns to "Andy Hardy" and "The Thin Man" to a dozen Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone. The difference is that, back in the day, producers usually spent less on sequels and series films than on adult fare, not more. Here are a few of the franchises of the era recently released to DVD-R via the manufacture on demand lines at Warner and MGM.

 

"I'm no angel so they call me Saint." "The George Sanders Saint Movies Collection" (Warner Archive) collects all five "Saint" features starring George Sanders as Simon Templar (Louis Hayward played him in the first film, "The Saint in New York"), Leslie Charter's modern Robin Hood with the reputation of a rogue, the manners of a society gentleman and the cool of a con artist. Sanders rarely got the opportunity to play the hero -- he's better known for the silky corruption and sinister calculation of Addison Dewitt in "All About Eve" -- and he enjoys himself greatly as the international rascal and charming man about town, navigating a thin line between cop and crook as a freelance detective with a streak of chivalry and a penchant for making a little money on the side.

 

"The Saint Strikes Back" (1939), running a brisk 64 minutes, has the running time of a B-movie but the budget and supporting cast (Wendy Barrie, Barry Fitzgerald, Neil Hamilton) of an A film, and director John Farrow (in his feature debut) gives it a snappy pace and style. Jonathan Hale reprises his role as Simon's foil and respectful nemesis, Inspector Henry Fernack of the NYPD (he first played the part opposite Hawyard), forever getting the slip and worse from Simon but usually rewarded in the end with a headline-grabbing arrest. Sanders, meanwhile, gets to have all the fun as the rogue of a modern knight who particularly enjoys the joust of a mystery when the client is an attractive woman. And, of course, his signature whistle (the defining motif of the subsequent radio show) is prominently featured.

 

"The Saint Strikes Back" has an expectedly complicated premise and twisty plot, at least for a film running barely over hour, and the well-plotted script is layered in misdirection and suspicion, all of which elevates beyond the usual studio programmer. Unlike a lot of the series detective films, it was adapted from an original Charter story, as were most of the films in the Sanders run of the series, including "The Saint in London" (1939), with Sally Gray, and "The Saint's Double Trouble" (1940), where Sanders takes on his identical double, a gangster trying to frame him for murder. Co-starring Bela Lugosi as a criminal henchman, it's perhaps the most colorful story in the B&W run of the series, with Sanders sending an Egyptian mummy to his old archeology professor, sparring with the man's suspicious daughter (Helene Whitney) and slipping between identities from scene to scene. "The Saint Takes Over" (1940) and "The Saint in Palm Springs" (1941) fills out the collection of five films on two discs.

"The George Sanders Saint Movies Collection" is available directly from the Warner Archive

"Four Daughters: Movie Series Collection" (Warner Archive) – It's unlikely that "Four Daughters" (1938), adapted from the Fanny Hurst story, was begun with series potential in mind. It was directed by Michael Curtiz, who had pretty much become the top house director for Warner Bros. by 1938, and featured a solid (if not quite) all-star cast: Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane (that's right: three sisters) and Gale Page as the daughters and Claude Rains as their widowed father. It's classic Warner family filmmaking, with a quartet of pretty girls looking for romance while their father tries to keep them focused on their music training, with plenty of cute flirtations and romantic interludes. It's also the feature debut of John Garfield, who owns every scene he's in as the street-smart, angry young man of a musician softened by the affections of one of the sisters.

 

The film spawned three sequels. "Daughters Courageous" (1939) is an unofficial sequel at best, with practically the entire cast reshuffled in similar roles with all new names (in this one, Rains is the father of John Garfield, not the four girls), but they returned to old family tree (without Garfield) for "Four Wives" (1939) and "Four Mothers" (1941). The first two of these were directed by Michael Curtiz, which suggests that Warner thought pretty highly of the films. William Keighley (who co-directed "The Adventures of Robin Hood" with Curtiz) took the reigns of the final film.

 

"Four Daughters: Movie Series Collection" is available directly from the Warner Archive

Boris Karloff played Mr. Wong, aka Hugh Wiley's James Lee Wong, in five features for Monogram between 1938 and 1940. It was the poverty row studio's answer to the Charlie Chan series at 20th Century Fox and a continuation of the shabby studio tradition of casting Caucasian actors as Asian character. Which is nothing against Karloff, who plays the role with delicate dignity behind the make-up and Asian clichés, just a reminder of the realities of Hollywood's racial politics. Three of the films have recently been released through the MGM Limited Edition Collection: the first film in the series, "Mr. Wong, Detective" (1938), where Karloff created the screen incarnation of the character, the second film "The Mystery of Mr. Wong" (1939), and his final appearance as Mr. Wong in "Doomed to Die" (1940). Grant Withers co-stars in all three as Captain Street and William Nigh directs all three.

 

The films have been available in various public domain editions, most of them in horrible condition. The MGM Limited Edition Collection editions are far superior, decently mastered from good prints with decent image and sound, but the films themselves are static, slow, awkward, with only Karloff to recommend them. These are for die-hard Karloff fans and B-movie mystery buffs only.  

 

Available by order only from the MGM Limited Collection, from Amazon, Screen Archives Entertainment, Classic Movies Now and other web retailers.

 

MOD stands for "Manufacture on Demand" and represents a recent development in the DVD market, where slipping sales have slowed the release of classic, special interest and catalogue releases. These are DVD-R releases, no-frills discs from studio masters, ordered online and "burned" individually with every order. You can read a general introduction to the format and the model on my profile of the Warner Archive Collection on Parallax View here.

 

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" debuts on home video on Friday, September 30 on DVD and a Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack, but it won't be the definitive home video release. In fact, based on the press release, it won't have anything more than the movie (and in the case of the Combo Pack, the movie times three: Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy).

Says Michael Bay (as quoted in the press release): "As you know, we put a lot of effort into the 3D experience for the theatrical release and I want to make sure we get it right for home viewing—and that process takes time.  So stay tuned for an even more incredible release that will include the film on Blu-ray 3D and loads of bonus features."

In other words, they're saving the bells and whistles and extra dimension for the holiday season. Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like giant robots decimating Chicago.

What remains an open question is if this release will boost the 3D home theater market -- which requires a 3D compatible monitor and Blu-ray player and a special set of technologically advanced glasses (a lot more elaborate -- and expensive -- than the polarized glasses for theatrical 3D) -- the way it boosted theatrical 3D. I'm sure the upcoming "The Lion King 3D Blu-ray" would appreciate any help in that department.

Anyone out there investing in home theater 3D? If so, how do you like it?

 

For the complete home video calendar, click here

 

Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs for September 6

 

New Releases:

The X-Men Begin: "X-Men: First Class"

The New Release Rack: "Hanna" and "Everything Must Go," plus Tyler Perry, Asian action and choice documentaries for the week

 

TV on DVD:

"Fringe: The Complete Third Season" – Through the Looking Glass

"The Office" – The Michael Scott Farewell Season (with an MSN Exclusive clip), plus "Parks and Recreation" and "Community"

"The Good Wife" – Act Two

Classic TV: "Police Story" - Joseph Wambaugh's Life on the Streets

TV on DVD Channel Guide: A Burst of TV Sets Before the New Season Begins, Including "Two and a Half Men," "Criminal Minds," "Diana Rigg at the BBC" and more

 

The Cool and the Collectible:

Classics: "The Complete Jean Vigo" - The Poet Laureate of French Cinema

Cool, Classic and Collectible: "Genvieve" and "Orpheus," plus more from The Rank Organization

 

Blu-ray Debuts:

"Scarface": Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy

Blu-ray Round-up: De Palma's "Dressed to Kill" and Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs," plus "If…," "United 93" and more

MOD Movies:

"Captain America" 1990

Coming up next week:

"Thor" (Paramount)

"Meek's Cutoff" (Oscilloscope)

"Hesher" (Lionsgate)

"The Tempest" (Touchstone)

"Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop" (Paramount)

"Incendies" (Sony)

"Lourdes" (Palisades Tartan)

"Brand New Day" (Fox)

"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos: The Hands Of Fate Special Edition" (Shout! Factory)

"Wishful Drinking" (HBO)

"Blue Bloods: The First Season" (Paramount)

"Camelot: The Complete First Season" (Anchor Bay)

"Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" (Anchor Bay)

"Glee: The Complete Second Season" (Fox)

"Rescue Me: The Sixth Season and The Final Season" (Sony)

"Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Seventh Season" (Disney)

"Private Practice: The Complete Fourth Season" (Disney)

"Supernatural: The Complete Season Sixth Season" (Warner)

"The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Fourth Season" (Warner)

"It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Complete Sixth Season" (Fox)

"Outsourced: The Complete Series" (Universal)

"Masterpiece Mystery!: Inspector Lewis 4" (PBS)

"Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition" (Blu-ray) (Warner)

"3 Women" (Blu-ray) (Criterion)
"My Life as a Dog" (Blu-ray) (Criterion)
"O Brother, Where Art Thou" (Blu-ray) (Disney)

"Trainspotting" (Blu-ray) (Lionsgate)

 

For more upcoming releases, click here

 

"Captain America" (MGM Limited Edition Collection)

The new "Captain America," with Chris Evans as the gee-whiz superhero in the red, white and blue tights, is not the first screen version of Marvel's first Avenger. That was way back in 1944 and the character has been periodically revived ever since, though always in budget-minded productions.

 

The most recent pre-2011 version, starring Matt Salinger (son of the late, legendary J.D. Salinger) as the gee-whiz symbol of American World War II pluck, was actually made for the big screen, but thanks to some bad luck with rights issues, the 1990 film was delayed a couple of years and then (apart from a nominal release in Europe) pretty much dumped to home video. Not that a timely release would have made much difference. Produced by Menaham Golan (the former Cannon mogul) and directed by Albert Pyun, the relentlessly prolific genre hound director whose facility for low-budget action has resulted in a few nuggets of B-movie gold sprinkled through a career of dross, "Captain America" 1990 a real stiff, a corny piece of nostalgic pulp with cheap action, cheesy dialogue and a charismatically challenged leading man.

 

What makes it interesting (which is not the same thing as good) is its points of reference with the new film: the World War II origins, the battle against Nazi menace The Red Skull (played by Scott Paulin) and Cap's fateful rocket ride to the frozen north, to be revived decades in the future, all right out of the comic books. The major difference is that in the 1990 incarnation, the balance of the film takes place in the present, with Paulin's Red Skull carved into an approximation of a human face (thanks to the wonders of plastic surgery) and Captain America back on his case, this time with the daughter of his forties sweetheart as his sidekick and guide through the modern world. It's a real waste of a fun cast -- Ronny Cox as the American President, Ned Beatty as the world's oldest cub reporter, Francesca Neri as the Skull's top henchwoman -- a selection of cut-rate Eastern European locations doubling for Italy and a modest budget. Pyun has done much more with much less (see "Cyborg," "Nemesis," "Mean Guns" and even "The Sword and the Sorcerer"), and had more fun doing it.

 

And to make matters worse, the MGM Limited Edition Collection release, which is branded as the "Re-Released 1992 Edition," is presented in a pre-widescreen full frame (1.33:1) version, as if scaled for TV. It only makes it look more like an old made-for-TV movie, PG-13 rating notwithstanding. No supplements.

 

Available by order only from the MGM Limited Collection, from Amazon, Screen Archives Entertainment, Classic Movies Now and other web retailers.

 

MOD stands for "Manufacture on Demand" and represents a recent development in the DVD market, where slipping sales have slowed the release of classic, special interest and catalogue releases. These are DVD-R releases, no-frills discs from studio masters, ordered online and "burned" individually with every order. You can read a general introduction to the format and the model on my profile of the Warner Archive Collection on Parallax View here.

 

Say hello to my little Blu-ray! "Scarface: Limited Edition" (Universal) delivers the Blu-ray debut of Brian De Palma's urban gangster classic, with Al Pacino as the Cuban thug who shoots his way to the top of the Miami drug trade. Videodrone's review is here.

 

You can make it a De Palma double feature as "Dressed to Kill" (MGM), his signature thriller and one of his best films ever, also debuts on Blu-ray this week. The film has been called De Palma's take on Hitchcock's "Psycho" and the parallels are undeniable: a sexually independent heroine (Angie Dickinson) who murdered in the opening act, the amateur detectives (Keith Gordon and Nancy Allen) who team up to find the mysterious killer, a plays of doubles and doppelgangers and characters in reflection, even a psychiatrist who "explains" it all in end.

 

But to leave it there is a disservice to what De Palma does with these shared fascinations. No one has been as fascinated with the idea of looking in cinema, the play of voyeurism and sexuality and power, and the layers of anxiety and excitement in watching and being watched, since Hitchcock. And few have married the mechanics of suspense with such cinematic grace as De Palma, whose silky images and deliriously choreographed moving camera takes are both beautiful and unnerving, and not just in matters of tension and surprise. The anxiety and anticipation that De Palma reveals in his obsessive observation is as thrilling as the shocks and surprises and dramatic turns in the plot.

 

The Blu-ray features the unrated version of the film only and offers a short comparison of scenes from the unrated, R-rated and network TV cuts of the film among the supplements (all ported over from the previous DVD special edition). Laurent Bouzreau’s 42-minute "The Making of Dressed to Kill" cleverly uses DePalma’s own split screen style for effect, the nine-minute "Slashing Dressed to Kill" investigates the ratings battle over the film, and "Dressed to Kill: An Appreciation by Keith Gordon" is just that from co-star and now veteran director Gordon: “Brian has a chess player kind of mind.”

 

Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" (MGM), one of Sam Peckinpah's most uncompromising portraits of the human animal under pressure, arrives in advance of the new remake. It's hard to imagine that Rod Lurie, as hamfisted a director as he is glib, could make anything nearly as provocative or powerful as Peckinpah's film, which was even more controversial upon release than "The Wild Bunch" for its troubling ambivalence towards and fascination with violence as a primal force within the human animal. Dustin Hoffman, as the meek American mathematician who explodes in a mixture of territorialism, principle, and pent-up rage when a drunken gang storms his house, is hardly a simple hero defending his home from invaders. His perverse, bloodthirsty glee as he racks up a body count verges on savagery and Peckinpah’s double edged attitude manages to find the hero and horror tied up in one troubling package. No supplements.

 

Lindsay Anderson captured the fancy of a generation of British youth and the revolutionary spirit of the late sixties with "If…" (Criterion), his savage satire of the regimented British education system and its bullying social order. Malcolm McDowell is alternately cocky and brooding as the nonconformist student Mick, rebel in increasingly provocative acts, culminating in an armed revolt that plays like Jean Vigo's "Zero For Conduct" reinterpreted by Jean-Luc Godard. Anderson's mix of realistic detail and absurdist elements creates a surreal quality to the film, which is only heightened by the arbitrary jumps between B&W and color (reportedly due to a budget crisis but a surprisingly effective technique regardless). Criterion includes the supplements from its earlier DVD release: commentary by Malcolm McDowell with film critic and historian David Robinson, Anderson's Academy Award-winning 1954 documentary short "Thursday's Children" narrated by Richard Burton, the 2003 episode from BBC Scotland's TV series "Cast and Crew" about "If..." and a video interview with actor Graham Crowden (the History Master). The accompanying booklet features essays by critic David Ehrenstein and screenwriter David Sherwin, and an interview with director Lindsay Anderson conducted by… Lindsay Anderson.

 

"United 93" (Universal), the first theatrical feature to deal with the events of September 11, imagines the drama aboard United 93, the lone flight that never reached its objective. Paul Greengrass casts unknowns in the passenger roles (some of the real life tower crew even play themselves) and shoots the drama like a real-time documentary. The timing of the Blu-ray debut is all but obligatory with the anniversary coming upon us. With director commentary, featurettes and memorials.

 

The Coen Bros. made their feature debut with the 1984 "Blood Simple" (Fox), a modern film noir about an adulterous affair that leads to a complicated web of murder and betrayal in a small Texas town. If this trend setting neo-noir never transcends the genre it so beautifully defines, that’s fine. There’s a lot to be said for a smart, stylish, well turned genre picture. Features a self-mocking commentary track.

 

"40 Days and 40 Nights" (Lionsgate) stars Josh Hartnett as a young man who takes a vow of chastity after a series of unfulfilling sexual exploits, only to be tempted by a beautiful new girl in his life. Features commentary.

Also debuting to Blu-ray (and reviewed elsewhere on Videodrone) are the : "The Complete Jean Vigo"and "Orpheus" (from Criterion) and the British comedy "Genvieve."

 

John Gregson and Kenneth More are classic car owners and competitive buddies who make a bet on a race to London in the beloved 1953 British comedy "Genevieve" (VCI), but the real stars of the film are the vintage cars themselves: artifacts from the turn of the century that constantly quit and break down on the road. Dinah Sheridan and Kay Kendall are the women who barely tolerate their adolescent behavior when the bet escalates and they resort of dirty tricks and practical jokes to win the race. Director Henry Cornelius gives a light comic touch, the color photography is lovely and Larry Adler's bright harmonica score adds to the whimsical tone. The film won the BAFTA for Best British Film of 1953 and was nominated for two Oscars. The DVD and Blu-ray debut features 24-minute documentary (featuring interviews with actress Dinah Sheridan and members of the creative staff) and a gallery of posters and stills.

 

Also from The Rank Collection, via VCI, are the 1949 "Christopher Columbus" (VCI), a Technicolor production starring Fredric March, and the 1956 World War II adventure "The Black Tent" (VCI), set and partially shot in the deserts of Libya.

Jean Cocteau's 1949 "Orpheus" (Criterion) is a classic myth in motorcycle leather and blue jeans, a lovely and assured reinterpretation of the Orpheus story where angels of death are motorcycle riding boys in black leather, Death rides in a chauffeured car and the passage to the other world is through the looking glass. It gets a new DVD release and makes its Blu-ray debut with this new special edition, which includes commentary by French film scholar James Williams, the 1984 documentary "Jean Cocteau: Autobiography of an Unknown," Cocteau's 16mm film "La villa Santo-Sospir" (a tour of his home), a video piece from 2008 featuring assistant director Claude Pinoteau on the special effects in the film, archival interviews with Cocteau, newsreel footage, stills and a booklet.

 

"The Complete Jean Vigo" (Criterion) presents newly remastered edition of all four films made by the great French director, including his sole feature (the sublime "L’Atalante") and revered extended short (the playfully surreal "Zéro de conduite"), made before he died at the age of 29. Videodrone's review is here.

 

And the rest:

Stephen Fung and Cherrie Ying star in "Virtual Recall" (Tai Seng), a romantic drama by way of a psycho-drama revolving around the ideas of past lives, time travel and worm holes.

 

"Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur" (Warner) is the latest direct-to-DVD animated feature with America's favorite canine sleuth. "Disco Worms" (Phase 4) is the English language version of the Dutch animated comedy "Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms," with Jane Lynch as part of the English voice cast.

 

"The Complete Jean Vigo" (Criterion) celebrates the legacy of France’s cinematic poet laureate of lyrical fantasy in everyday life with newly remastered editions of all four films made by the great French director who died in 1934 at the age of 29.

 

"Á Propos de Nice" (1930), the director's poetic contribution to the "city symphony" genre, and "Taris," an impressionistic portrait of the Olympic diver Jean Taris, are both shorts, lovely and inventive miniatures charged with his inventive approach to imagery and representation. And you could argue that technically his playfully surreal "Zéro de conduite" (aka "Zero for Conduct") (1933), at a swift 44 minutes, is also a short, but its density and richness gives it the scope of a feature film.

 

From the opening scene, as two boys compare their toys and treasures and newly-acquired tricks from the summer breaks while on the train to boarding school, Vigo captures the rebellious and creative spirit of adolescent boys. Set in a strict boy’s school run by creaky, cranky petty tyrants, it’s a strange and wonderful film full of unbridled imagination, flights of fantasy, and lovely images, such as a pillow fight that turns into a kind of snow globe scene. But it also has disturbing suggestions that one of the boys, an isolated lad thought to be a snitch, is in fact physically abused by someone on the staff. It give the final rebellion a punch of righteous revolution in addition to its surreal celebration as the boys pelt stiff authority figures (some of them literally mannequins) with schoolbooks and shoes before taking over the school like adolescent pirates.

 

 

"The Good Wife: The Second Season" (Paramount) is probably the best show I'm not watching, at least not until the DVDs come my way. Once I drop in the first, I'm hooked all over again.

 

Season Two opens with Alicia (Julianna Margulies) taking the side of her husband Peter (Chris Noth), fresh out of prison and back in the race for State's Attorney despite a history of cheating on his wife and the season proceeds with the election (run by Alan Cumming) always in the background as Alicia regains her footing as a second-year associate at a Chicago law firm.

 

As a legal show, with a new case and a courtroom drama with Alicia and the senior partners (Josh Charles and Christine Baranski) in a weekly battle of legalities and stratagems, it's a very entertaining series. The individual cases are solid, the roll call of judges cycling through the cases is reminiscent of "The Practice" and the realities of a partnership and the politics of deciding which cases to try (and why) adds a layer to the courtroom drama. But the private life of Alicia and Peter, working through a public affair that was churned through the tabloid media while the spotlight is on them during his run for office, gives the show its backbone. In the second season it earned nine Emmy nominations, including "Outstanding Drama Series" and six acting nods, among them Michael J. Fox for Outstanding Guest Actor in his recurring role as a rival attorney with a degenerative condition. Other memorable guest stars this season include America Ferrara, Mamie Gummer and Tim Guinee as an investigator for the State's Attorney office.

 

23 episodes on six discs plus featurettes (including “A Conversation With The Kings,” an interview with series creators -- and husband and wife team -- Robert and Michelle King, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the episode "Real Deal"), deleted scenes and music videos from the campaign (and boy, are they a classy bunch!).