Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) Review

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(More customer reviews)With the release of this feature and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," all 14 classic films by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will have finally been released in a quality DVD format. The UCLA Theatre Archives has done an outstanding job in restoring and thus preserving these great films from 35mm master copies into the digital format, sometimes literally being forced to piece together the celluloid remnants they found. It took the archivists years to complete the entire project, but is well worth the wait. The result is that the black and white images seem as fresh today as when the films were released to theatres more than 40 years ago. The archivists deserve a hearty thanks from all movie fans concerned with preserving America's classic cinema heritage for future generations to enjoy.
Atmospherically, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is arguably the best of the 14 Holmes films, and the only one based specifically on a Conan Doyle story. It, and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," are the only two "period" films in the series and run longer, the remainder taking place in then modern-day England and America of the late 30s and early 40s and run about 90 minutes each. In both "Hound" and "Adventures," Holmes dons his deerstalker cap, popularized by original Strand Magazine illustrator Sidney Paget who made the image synonymous with the great detective. It is interesting to note that in the first of the non-period films in the series, Holmes reaches for his handy deerstalker, but is stopped by Watson. "Holmes," Watson said, "you promised." Leaving the deerstalker on the peg, Holmes grabs a "modern" hat instead.
Rathbone is especially sharp in "Hound of the Baskervilles," and is partnered by Bruce, who plays a bumbling Watson throughout the 14 films that was not Conan Doyle's vision of the great
sleuth's biographical "Boswell." Nonetheless, the pairing is hugely entertaining and satisfying.
The creation of the moor, the sinister grimpen mire and truly terrifying hound remains fantastic and does much to engender this story as one of Conan Doyle's most popular with modern-day
readers and viewers alike.
The final scene represents the only reference any of the 14 films made to Holmes' "seven-percent" cocaine habit as Rathbone asks Bruce to retrieve "the needle." The scene, criticized as too risque by 1939 audiences, caused the film's producers to make a conscious decision to omit any additional mention of Holmes' recreational drug use in future outings.
I only wish that Rathbone and Bruce had lived to see their great work released to new audiences in this pristine DVD condition.

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The Hound Of The BaskervillesThe most celebrated tale of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's canon, ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles' is set in the Victorian Age and was originally released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1939.It is the first of fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.When Sir Charles Baskerville is killed outside of Baskerville Hall, his good friend Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill) fears that the curse of the Baskervilles has struck once again.Mortimer enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone), before yet another Baskerville can succumb to the evil legend.Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene) arrives in London to claim his inheritance.Mortimer takes Sir Henry to 221b Baker Street and expresses his fear for Sir Henry's life.Baskerville soon learns that along with the grand mansion on the moor, comes a devilish curse, a curious butler (John Carradine) and a cast of bizarre neighbors.Holmes, pressed with "other business," sends Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to accompany Sir Henry to the dreary moor to protect the young Baskerville from the legend of the wicked hound.Of course, with danger afoot, Sherlock Holmes may not be so far from the scene as is assumed.Special Features -Audio Commentary with David Stuart Davies -Selected Theatrical Trailers -Production Notes By Richard Valley -Photo Gallery Run Time- 80 minutes

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OT:OUR TOWN. A Famous American Play in an Infamous American Town Review

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(More customer reviews)THis documentary (and I hate to use that word, as it sounds so dreary) is set in a high school in a particularly awful Southern California community -- Compton. The only good thing about the school is the basketball team (one of the players goes directly to the Chicago Bulls after graduation) and the students tend to get pregnant (the girls) or get shot (the boys). A couple of idealistic teachers decide that it's time to try putting on a play -- something that hasn't happened in ages (if at all) at this high school. They pick Our Town, which is perhaps an odd choice given how middle America Our Town is, and how -- diverse -- the students at Dominguez H.S. in Compton are (Hispanic and African American). The students think a play sounds like fun but then they think they don't like the play and what if no-one comes to see them, etc. The teachers have trouble with students coming to rehearsal and memorizing their lines. The high school has no stage (great gym, however).
I won't tell you how the play turns out -- I was concerned myself the closer they got to opening day and couldn't imagine what it was like for the teachers.
I wish movies like this were more widely distributed. For one thing, getting to know the student actors in this movie helped you see the real diversity in Compton -- how different but real each student was, how in some ways the stereotype was true (violence is a big problem in Compton and the students aren't self-disciplined and bring quite a lot of baggage to class) and yet they have potential, talent, and their own stories to tell.
I highly recommend this movie.

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Peter Gabriel - Growing Up Live (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)After much ado, it's finally here.
A few things up front, there is some overdubbing. No big deal, as the original concert had Peter talking to the audience using almost no English. There are reportedly a few scenes where Melanie Gabriel was given the opportunity to re-sing a few lines, but other than that this concert is basically untouched audibly.
Some other people, (Fabio Vampel from NYC USA who thinks we won't notice that he posted twice) will lead you to believe that the video quality is poor and the camera angles are limited. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are sometimes ten cameras visible in a single frame at a time let alone the other 15 they used in shooting the concert. The transfer has more than enough bit rate cursing through it, it's anamorphic, and any DVD player with a good deinterlacer and a DVI output to a High Def TV will show you just how fantastic this picture transfer really is. For those who think that's unfair and it should look great on all TV's and DVD players... sorry, it ain't gonna happen. ^_^;
The recording style/mix is a lot more raw than the Secret World concert. Sounds a lot more like the sound of a 'real' concert. And the 5.1 DTS mix on this disc is truly spectacular. Peter's vocals on quieter songs will be a revelation for those who have the proper sound set up to take advantage of it.
The picture quality ranks among the best I've seen for concerts. Not quite as sharp as Bruce Springsteen's latest live DVD that was shot for HBO, but Peter's comes off as smother and more 'film like'. Green hues just pop off the screen and the darks are very prominent and moody. The disc being anamorphic was seen as a given but it's VERY much appreciated just the same.
Now that I've watched it, there's much to criticize in way it's shot. Actually, more like in the way they chose to edit it. It leaves very little to the imagination. There's too many under the stage shots and they don't make ANY effort to hide the camera guys and technicians running around in BRIGHT orange?! You get the feeling they wanted you to think you were 'in on their secrets' but it comes off as distracting from the songs instead. Also there's some head scratching sceen cutting and editing. Let's face it, stilling the frame and having it fade to B&W looks so... dumb. Frankly it's all the more irritating because most of it looks so cool.
Take note, though, that the positive stomps the negative. We have a solid list of classics and new tunes (though having Rythm of the Heat instead of Animal Nation would have been nice). We have an incredible audio mix of it all. And we have superior packaging along with a well crafted tour to pick from. Songs like Mercy Street and Signal to Noise will remind you why Peter is a master at show atmosphere with visuals never overtaking the reason we're all here.
Which is to enjoy the music.

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GROWING UP LIVE - DVD Movie

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The Journey of the Fifth Horse (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1966) Review

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(More customer reviews)Winner of an Obie Award in 1966 for his role as Zoditch in this play by Ronald Ribman, Dustin Hoffman reprises his role here in his first television appearance, an adaptation for NET Playhouse, directed by Larry Arrick. Hoffman is the neurasthenic "first reader" of a small publishing house in Petersburg, Russia, at the turn of the century. Speaking with a high-pitched, nasal whine and with posture resembling a crane--shoulders stooped, head forward, stomach protruding--Zoditch/Hoffman is "an interruption in everyone's conversation," a man who has no friends, no ability to relax, no lady-love, and no promise for the future.
When a housekeeper (fussily played by Charlotte Rae) brings him the diary of Nicolai Chulkaturin, which was left to her when he died, Zoditch at first rejects it but is ordered to read it at home. Chulkaturin (wonderfully played by Michael Tolan), a young man who has just died of tuberculosis, emerges from the pages of the diary and soon reveals that he, too, believes himself to be the equivalent of a "fifth horse," a superfluous addition to the coach of life. When, unexpectedly, Chulkaturin meets a young woman with whom he falls in love (Susan Anspach), his life changes, until a captain in the army sweeps her off her feet.
As the action moves back and forth between the lives of Zoditch and Chulkaturin, the reader observes innumerable parallels between them. In many ways Chulkaturin is what Zoditch wishes he could be--tall, handsome, and in love. Since Anspach and several minor characters plays dual roles both in Chulkaturin's story and in Zoditch's life, the idea of Chulkaturin as Zoditch's alterego expands.
Adapted from a story by Ivan Turgenev, the play offers a bleak reality and, in its conclusion, dark humor, which puts Zoditch's yearnings and false hopes into perspective. Though Hoffman won the Obie, Michael Tolan's acting is equally good--more subtle and less one-dimensional. Susan Anspach is both ingenuous and sexy in her two roles, and Catherine Goffigan as Zoditch's landlady is a scene stealer and wonderful foil for Zoditch. Beautifully produced and movingly acted, the play brings to life turn of the century Russian values and an ineffective little man who feels like the "fifth horse." Mary Whipple


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The trailblazing genius that is Dustin Hoffman is hugely apparent in this, his first starring role on television. Originally produced Off-Broadway, Dustin Hoffman recreates his Obie Award-winning portrayal of Zoditch, a lonely, minor functionary in a publishing house. "Towering performances by Dustin Hoffman and Michael Tolan." --The New York Times. With Charlotte Rae, Michael Nolan, Susan Anspach, and William H. Bassett.

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Guys & Dolls: Off the Record (1992) Review

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(More customer reviews)I performed in this musical when I was 16, and I adored every aspect. Since then, the music has become some of my favorite, and I love anything to do with it. This movie not only gave me an idea of what it must have been like to do this show professionally, but it also revealed the personalities of some of my favorite Broadway stars! I thought it was a neat idea for a video!

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Leonard Bernstein's Candide (Great Performances) (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a splendid performance of Candide. But before you go any further, you should realise that this is a concert performance, not a full scale operatic staging of the work. That said, the singing is glorious and the acting, despite this being a concert performance is outstanding. It is driven to milk all the comic elements out of the play. It all works delightfully. It is so brimful of joie de vivre, it leaves you smiling and humming all day. I must disagree with a previous reviewer who said, Bernstein wouldn't be amused. This is precisely what he would have wanted to achieve.
Sir Thomas Allen is superb as Dr. Pangloss who doubles as the narrator of the concert. Paul Groves and Patti LuPone are both excellent. But the star of this Candide is surely the lovely Kristin Chenoweth as Cunegonde, who in addition to having a magnificient voice shows that she is a natural comedienne and actress. This recording of Candide immediately goes to the top of the list. Now, if only we could have Bernstein's own production of Candide recorded live at the Barbican Theatre in London. That recording under the Deutsche Grammophon label is yet to appear on DVD.
I should comment on the camerawork which received criticism from a previous reviewer. It is a mark of the electric quality of this bravura performance that most viewers don't even notice the occasionally almost amateurish shakiness of the camera. The cameraman was shaky at times and faces occasionally went in and out of focus but a large part of what I initially attributed to poor camerawork was in fact artificially introduced motion artifacts. This is a problem with the DVD encoding and not the camera. These cause apparent jumps in the picture. But this is present only in DVD players with low end video processors. Switching to a better DVD player or processor solves the problem.
The DVD by Image Entertainment is in 1.78:1 widescreen (anamorphic enhancement). Picture quality is very good, clear, sharp and with rich natural colors. The picture is flawless provided you play it on a good DVD player. It comes with 3 audio tracks, DTS 5.1, Dolby Surround 5.1 and Dolby Stereo. Excellent immersive sound. It would have been good if they had included an uncompressed PCM track as well but I suppose that's asking a bit much. All in all, an outstanding concert and one to be forever treasured.Technical note: As noted above I noticed a strange problem with this particular DVD. It seems to play quite flawlessly on certain systems, yet throw up irritating problems on others. On one set-up I noticed numerous motion artifacts and lots of combing issues. Motion appears jerky and horizontal scan lines appear whenever fast movements occur or rapid scene changes take place. I'm not quite sure why they should be there but I attibute it to faulty encoding or improper flagging. No other DVD exhibits these errors on this particular system. I believe what one of the previous reviewers complained about could be due to this. The problem goes away when switching to an alternate system with a better deinterlacer / video processor. However that does not absolve Image Entertainment from responsibility for producing a sub-standard DVD which requires high end equipment to compensate for its deficiencies.
P.S. Bernstein's Candide can be interpreted in many ways. Some approach it as serious opera, others as light operetta, still others as a Broadway musical or even farce. Liking or disliking a particular production is very subjective. If you adhere to Bernstein's final vision of this work, enshrined in his by now legendary Barbican performance (Final, revised edition, first premiered 1988 by Scottish Opera and later performed with the LSO at the Barbican in 1989 with high powered opera stars singing all the roles), then you will tend to view this more as Opera and consequently your attitude to any performance that detracts from that operatic image (like this one) will be very negative. But you must remember that for many years, and for most Americans, Candide was considered a Broadway musical and at most a comic operetta. The two contrasting visions are equally valid and are a testament to Bernstein's genius and Candide's status as a true masterpiece.

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Leonard Bernstein's brilliant comic operetta comes to dazzling new life under theguidance of director Lonny Price (A Class Act). Based on the classic Voltaire tale of an innocent young man's journey through a life filled with colorful characters and unexpected life lessons, this tune-filled frolic features Tony Award©-winners Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth heading a dazzling cast with Paul Groves, Stanford Olsen, Sir Thomas Allen and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The impeccable score (with lyrics by luminaries including Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Wilbur and John La Touche) includes a host of delightful songs such as "Life Is Happiness Indeed," "It Must Be So," "You Were Dead, You Know" and "Make Our Garden Grow." Now enjoy this all-new production of a musical comedy favorite with Broadway's top stars!

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Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera (1977) Review

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(More customer reviews)La Boheme is certainly one of the top three performed Operas worldwide, along with Carmen and Aida. It is not my favorite Puccini Opera; that distinction goes to Manon Lescaut which, as opera critic Irving Kolodin so perfectly phrased it, is "the most of the promise, with the least cost of the fulfillment." I don't begrudge Puccini his popularity: his music is often beautiful, the emotions direct and heartfelt. His librettos seem designed to tug the heartstrings in a plebian grab for popularity, like a television show tested by a focus group. But that's OK. So when I see a production of any of Puccini's most popular operas, I tend to concentrate on sound: the beauty of the instrumental music, the vocal qualities of the singers. I usually ignore the plot. A misguided fear of being manipulated by a master? Probably. I'm weird that way!
So when I say I loved this DVD of La Boheme, that I was engrossed by the drama as well as the music, then it must be something special. The Met usually mounts traditional productions. When they stray from that conservative path, the audience tends to get ornery. This Boheme is a classic production: no "artistic license" shifting the action to the surface of Mars with a cast of farm animals and an orchestra of kazoos! I like a traditional Boheme, the way Puccini envisioned it. The emotions are less over-the-top, the drama more organic. The libretto is direct, even simple. That simplicity is the source of this production's excellence.
Produced live on 15 March 1977 and the inaugural telecast of the PBS "Live at the Met" series, the DVD transfer effectively reduces many of the artifacts inherent to a 30 year old taped program. The image is still a little fuzzier than we're now used to, but not enough to drive you screaming up the wall. The DTS 5.1 sound is clear and full. As for the singing, both Pavarotti as Rodolfo and Renata Scotto as Mimi are at their absolute peak!
This Boheme features a sublimely sung Rodolfo. All of the things Pavarotti was famous for are in evidence here: crystalline tone, perfect diction, fluidity of vocal quality. And this younger, svelter Pavarotti actually acts! I was moved by his performance in a part he obviously identifies with. As for Scotto, a leading soprano at the Met for two decades, her singing is lovely, with a limpid quality that heightens the emotionalism of her superb acting. The excellent cast includes Maralin Niska as Musetta and Ingvar Wixell as Marcello.
James Levine had come into his own as a Conductor around this time. He offers a nearly perfect rendition of this verdant score. The Met Orchestra, obviously on the rise as one of the world's great ensembles, sounds wonderful. Watching them hang on Levine's every gesture, turning on a dime as they negotiate every twist and turn of this score, is one of the pleasures unique to the DVD format. As for the production design by Fabrizio Melano, it is simple and direct. It just looks right!
I don't know if my atitude towards Puccini as a dramatist will ever change. But productions like this one, saved for posterity, are a clue as to why audiences adored Puccini in the first place. Before time and popularity seemed to cheapen the drama until it resembled a High School production of Cats. I love Puccini just like everyone does, of course. It's just that every now and again I need to be reminded why I love him. I strongly recommend this superb DVD. It's the jolt you need to get you in touch with your inner Rodolfo and Mimi.
Mike Birman

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Item Name: Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera; Studio:Deutsche Grammophon

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