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2007
Gift Guide
 Great
DVDs for Every Taste and Budget
Gift
ideas to bring smiles to cinephiles
The
DVD set of the season—just out this week—is the monster box
Ford at Fox (20th Century Fox). It’s the kind
of comprehensive collection Hollywood studios rarely do, offering
24 feature films by legendary director John Ford, plus a new
career-retrospective documentary, on 21 DVDs. The set comes
with a deluxe hardcover book, previously unseen photos and
lobby card reproductions. It lists for $299.99, but it is
retailing at most outlets for around $200.
Ford began his career at Fox and worked there, on and off,
through the early 1950s. Alongside well-known (and previously
available) classics including My Darling Clementine
and The Grapes of Wrath are a wealth of superb rarities:
epic western The Iron Horse, in both the American and
European release versions; the World War I dramas Four
Sons and Pilgrimage; three surprisingly charming
rural comedies starring Will Rogers; Drums Along the Mohawk,
newly restored to its Technicolor glory; and the taut naval
drama The Seas Beneath. If you’re a fan of the Duke,
however, he’s absent—except for a bit part in the IRA drama
Hangman’s House, the famous John Wayne/John Ford collaborations
were all made at other studios.
There are other less pricey, but still terrific, gift sets
for the cineastes on your list. Killer of Sheep: The
Charles Burnett Collection (Milestone) pairs, on two
discs, the recently restored theatrical release Killer
of Sheep with two versions of Burnett’s 1984 feature My
Brother’s Wedding, and four shorts. The Coen Brothers
Gift Set (MGM/20th Century Fox) is the happy result
of MGM distributing their video product through Fox, as the
Coens made some of their best films for companies now controlled
by these studios: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona,
Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink and Fargo.
Last year’s release of four of Ernst Lubitsch’s German silent
films sold so well that Kino on Video has just added a fifth,
the hilarious 1920 comedy The Doll; it’s available
separately or as part of the newly repackaged (and attractively
priced) box Lubitsch in Berlin. And, in honor
of his recent death, there is Ingmar Bergman: Four Masterworks
(Criterion), which features brand-new transfers of Smiles
of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries
and The Virgin Spring.
The masters of the box set, Warner Home Video, have released
some uneven efforts of late. The new Leading Ladies
Collection Vol. 2 is a real mixed bag; why, for example,
represent Joanne Woodward with an oddball comedy (A Big
Hand for the Little Lady) when the fascinating, Paul Newman-directed
Rachel, Rachel sits in the Burbank vault? And, in the
matter/anti-matter department, why pair Susan Hayward’s finely
honed hysteria (I’ll Cry Tomorrow) with the method-acting
quirkiness of Sandy Dennis (Up the Down Staircase)
and Diane Keaton (Shoot the Moon)? Even less appealing
is the Stanley Kubrick: Director’s Series set,
which excludes the Warner-owned Barry Lyndon and Lolita
in favor of The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut;
you can at least buy 2001: A Space Odyssey separately.
On the other hand, the traditional Warner excellence is in
evidence on The Jazz Singer 3-Disc Deluxe Edition,
which offers the groundbreaking early sound film—with a magnificently
restored soundtrack—and four hours of entertaining comedy
and/or musical short films. And the Loony Tunes Golden
Collection Vol. 5 is, like the four previous sets,
essential.
Of all the major studios, Paramount has, over the years, shown
the least interest in releasing—and the least expertise in
marketing—its older films. That changed a tiny bit this year
with the Martin & Lewis Collection Vol. 2,
and DVD reissues of Stanley Donen’s Funny Face,
with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, and Hitchcock’s To
Catch a Thief. The studio actually went back to the
original VistaVision camera negatives to generate sharp widescreen
transfers that glow with vibrant colors.
Two other classics that look better than ever are G.W. Pabst’s
adaptation of Brecht-Weill’s The 3 Penny Opera
(Criterion) and Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin:
The Ultimate Edition (Kino). Both were restored by
German experts in German archives, and anyone who only knows
these films from the previously available crappy prints (with
poorly translated subtitles and indifferent soundtracks) should
check out these DVDs.
Finally, some 2007 releases already have received the deluxe
treatment. Hot Fuzz: 3-Disc Collector’s Edition
(Universal) makes this wonderfully violent action comedy available
with a dizzying array of extras previously issued only in
limited DVD editions. Hairspray: 2-Disc Shake &
Shimmy Edition (New Line) is the perfect gift for
the showtunes-loving teenager on your list. And Live
Free or Die Hard: Unrated Edition (20th Century Fox)
corrects the absurdity of the film being theatrically released
in a PG-13 version; if Bruce Willis can’t yell “Yippie-ki-yea,
motherfucker,” he’s not really John McClane.
—Shawn
Stone
sstone@metroland.net
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