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Latest Title in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts March 30, 2021

Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille’s grand spectacle THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH arrives for the first time on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line on March 30, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

A two-time Academy Award-winner^*–including Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story–THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH captures the thrills, chills and exhilaration of the circus.  Featuring three intertwining plotlines filled with romance and rivalry, DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH also boasts a sensational cast, including Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, and James Stewart. 

Newly restored from a 4K scan of the original negative, this essential movie of the Golden Age of Hollywood packs action, romance, laughs and treachery into an epic only DeMille could create, resulting in one of 1952’s biggest hits.

The limited-edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray Discâ„¢ includes the newly restored film in collectible packaging with a foldout image of the film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments.  THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH Blu-ray also includes a new Filmmaker Focus with film historian Leonard Maltin, exploring the making of the film and its reception, as well as access to a Digital copy of the film.

About Paramount Presents

This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library.  Every Paramount Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive collectible packaging.  There are 14 additional titles available in the Paramount Presents collection: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court Jester and Elizabethtown.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

The comedic genius of Peter Sellers is amply displayed in his 1963 hit British comedy "The Wrong Arm of the Law". Sellers was already an established star in the UK and in 1964 his reputation (and salary) would rise considerably with the release of his two major tour-de-force performances in "The Pink Panther" and "Dr. Strangelove". "The Wrong Arm of the Law" and "Heaven's Above!" (released the same year) would be the last of Sellers' modestly budgeted B&W British comedy productions. While Sellers would go on to bigger things, the charm of the British farces remains irresistible. In "The Wrong Arm of the Law", admirably directed by Cliff Owen, Sellers has a larger-than-life role as "Pearly" Gates, the leader of a London crime ring who masquerades by day as a fey French fashion designer. In amusing scenes, we see Pearly addressing his clients in an upper crust manner complete with heavy French accent. Seconds later, he berates his gang members in a back room and reverts back to normal voice as an unsophisticated gangster. Pearly orchestrates a number of audacious robberies that his men carry off successfully- until they are confronted by a rival mob who pose as police officers. They have official uniforms and use of an official squad car and intimidate the gang into giving them the stolen loot. By the time Pearly's men realize they've been snookered, the other gang has taken off with their ill-gotten gains. Unable to tell real cops from the I.P.O. Mob (Impersonating a Police Officer), as they are now known, Pearly's men have to hand over the fruits of their labors in every robbery they carry out. While Pearly considers himself a criminal mastermind, he cannot figure out how the gang's robbery plans are are known to the I.P.O. gang in advance. In reality, the plans are being leaked by his seductive girlfriend Valerie (Nanette Newman), who uses sex to disarm Pearly and have him blab about his next robbery. When Pearly learns that a rival gang headed by Nervous O'Toole (Bernard Cribbins) is also being victimized, they decide to form an alliance to thwart the I.P.O. gang. They ally with a third party, Police Inspector "Nosey" Parker (Lionel Jeffries), a buffoon who convinces the top brass to allow him to work with the two gangs in order to thwart the police impersonators, who are causing embarrassment to the department.

The briskly-paced crime spoof offers considerable pleasures. It's never outright hilarious but it is highly entertaining, with Sellers in top form and aided considerably by some of England's best comedy actors. (Lionel Jeffries is especially amusing.) The climax is a comedy of errors in which Pearly persuades the police brass to use a fortune in actual currency as the bait for a trap for the I.P.O. gang. What results is master disaster for all concerned with gangsters and police running amok trying to retrieve the loot in a scene reminiscent of the finale of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (coincidentally released the same year.) The film represents another example of how efficiently made British films of this era were- and how impressive the talent pool was that producers could utilize. 

"The Wrong Arm of the Law" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. The transfer, provided by FilmRise is excellent. Viewing is free for Prime members and it can be rented for $1.99 or purchased for streaming for $7.99.

BY DOUG OSWALD

A Japanese Naval officer and an American Marine Corps aviator are marooned on a Pacific island during WWII in “Hell in the Pacific,” available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. The film is a virtual silent movie with the exception of the Pacific island sounds of surf, wind, birds and the occasional words spoken by the co-protagonists portrayed by Toshiro Mifune and Lee Marvin. However, neither understands the other’s language. The film opens with Mifune scanning the horizon for any signs of rescue when he spots a deflated life raft. The rubber raft belongs to Marvin who is hiding in the thick jungle growth nearby. Marvin is able to elude discovery by Mifune, but eventually thirst forces him to reveal himself on the beach.

Mifune captures Marvin after several attempts are made by Marvin to take water from Mifune’s water supply as well as other general mayhem like stealing fish from Mifune’s fish trap. Mifune ties him to a stock and Marvin is forced to drag a piece of driftwood up and down the beach. Mifune also blindfolds Marvin because he doesn’t want Marvin looking at him. Later, Marvin tricks Mifune and the tables are turned. Mifune is now forced to drag the log while tied to a stock and blindfolded. The island is not so much Hell, but a sort of Purgatory where each man takes turns harassing the other. Eventually, Marvin tires of this and releases Mifune, much to Mifune’s befuddlement. The men form a grudging alliance and focus their efforts on building a raft to escape the island. They do escape, only to arrive at a larger bombed out island once occupied by both sides. Perhaps this is their fate, to repeat the cycle.

Although the setting is World War II in the Pacific, the movie could just as well be set in a post apocalyptic or alien world. The 1985 science fiction film “Enemy Mine” offers an alternate version of “Hell in the Pacific” and was clearly partially inspired by that film. Although based on a 1977 novella, “Enemy Mine” is a unique, but maintains the basic plot of two enemies forced to work together in order to survive. This story concept served as a template used in countless television series from “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek” to “The Rat Patrol” and “Battlestar Galactica.”

Directed by John Boorman, “Hell in the Pacific” was released four years before his 1972 box office hit, “Deliverance.” He previously worked with Marvin on the 1971 thriller “Point Blank.” While not a prolific director, Boorman directed several high profile movies such as “Zardoz” (1974), “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977), the ultimate Arthurian epic “Excalibur” (1981), “The Emerald Forrest (1985), the autobiographical “Hope and Glory” (1987), “Beyond Rangoon” (1995) and “The Tailor of Panama” (2001). I have no doubt Boorman put his heart and soul into every production.

Released by Cinerama Releasing Corporation in December 1968, the movie under- performed at the box office. This was probably due to the unusual nature of the film with sparse dialogue, no subtitles, bleak setting and downbeat ending. The original ending as directed by Boorman was scrapped in favor of the ending fans are familiar with as seen in the theater, on television and on the initial home video releases. The DVD release by MGM was the first release to include the original ending as does this Blu-ray release. Making great use of the wide screen lens, the movie was filmed on location in the Palau Islands which are located north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines where the WWII Battle of Peleliu took place from September to November 1944.

Both Marvin and Mifune served in the Pacific during WWII. Marvin was a Marine wounded during the Battle of Saipan in 1944. Mifune was in the Japanese Army Air Service. Mifune was the most famous actor from Japan at the time and Marvin had recently received an Oscar for “Cat Ballou” (1965) and was in one of the biggest box office hits of 1967, “The Dirty Dozen.” Both men featured in many now classic movies in a variety of genres from detective thrillers, dramas and comedies to samurai films (Mifune) and westerns (Marvin). “Hell in the Pacific” is a must-see movie if, for no other reason,n than to experience the result of the creative triumphant of John Boorman directing Toshiro Mifune and Lee Marvin. Both Marvin and Mifune deserve praise for their performances.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific and is a worthy upgrade from the early DVD releases by Anchor Bay and MGM. Extras on the disc include an insightful audio commentary by Travis Crawford and Bill Ackerman, in-depth discussions by director John Boorman and another by Art Director Anthony Pratt. The disc also includes subtitles which reveal the dialog spoken in Japanese by Mifune and the dialog spoken by Marvin. The real treat comes in the form of an option to view the movie as originally seen upon release in theaters or with the alternate ending. The alternate ending is more accurately Boorman’s original filmed ending. As for me, I prefer Boorman’s version, but I’m pleased both are offered. The previous MGM DVD release only offered the Boorman ending as an extra on the disc and did not edit it back into the movie as this release does. The disc also includes reverseable sleeve artwork and the trailers for five other Kino releases. Unfortunately, a trailer for this movie is not included. This is a movie which needs to be watched multiple times; with the original ending, with the theatrical release ending, with the subtitles and also with the audio commentary. Well worth it for fans of this outstanding movie. It’s a terrific Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber.

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Sit back and watch "Lady Godiva of Coventry" starring Maureen O'Hara, courtesy of Universal. (We hope you don't blush too easily...) 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

One of the most troubled film productions of its era, the 1983 sci-fi thriller "Brainstorm" is mostly remembered for being the final film of Natalie Wood, who famously died under mysterious circumstances during production. The movie was directed by legendary special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull. It was his second directorial effort following the 1972 release of his cult favorite, "Silent Running". Based on a story by Bruce Joel Rubin, who would go on to loftier achievements, "Brainstorm" combines science fiction elements with the traditional conspiracy sub-plot that has permeated so many thrillers over the last half-century. The premise is intriguing, however. Scientists Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) and his colleague Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) head a small team that's working for a major corporation headed by Alex Terson (Cliff Robertson). They have succeeded in creating the most fantastic scientific achievement of all time: the ability to video record people's thoughts and preserve them on tape. Even more impressive, the tape can be accessed by others, who must don a rather cumbersome helmet that looks like a combination of comic book Ant-Man and Ed Norton's Captain Video chapeau from that famed episode of "The Honeymooners". At first, the experience is a joyous one, as each member of team is able to view what their colleagues have imagined for the sake of the experiment. Thus, the images consist of visual delights such as soaring over the Grand Canyon and immersing oneself in a thrilling rollercoaster ride. However, when privately utilizing the device, each member of the team is unable to control their innermost thoughts. All humans have at least fleeting fantasies that are either arousing, shocking, distasteful or all of the aforementioned. When members of the team begin to secretly access their colleague's visuals, unintended consequences occur. One person becomes obsessed with someone else's graphic sexual fantasy with disastrous psychological and physical results. It becomes apparent that the device is less a dream machine than a potential instrument of destruction. Adding to the tension is the fact that a new member of the team, Karen (Natalie Wood), is Michael's wife and the two are currently going through the process of a messy divorce even while they still live under the same roof with their young son.

A subplot is introduced mid-way through the film in which government officials (the villains, of course) want to take control over the project for intelligence purposes. The scientists rebel at this, even though Alex has been cooperating with them. They become determined to subvert their own achievements rather than have them militarized. This plot device gives the audience heroes to cheer for and baddies to boo. However, the scenario is implausible. It stands to reason that any responsible government would want to have control of mind-reading technology for the simple reason that adversarial nations would inevitably gain access to the same abilities and could use them for intimidating purposes. Nevertheless, the scenario allows for some action scenes in which director Trumbull gets to show off his special effects abilities, as in a scene in which a wild melee ensues inside the scientists' laboratory. (The effects must be viewed within the context of the era in which they were created and although crude by today's standards, an objective analysis is that they were highly impressive when the film was in production.) The most intriguing aspect of "Brainstorm" is a parallel dilemma that is introduced when a member of the team realizes they are about to die. They manage to record their final thoughts on video. Michael realizes that the video might hold the answer to eternal question: is there life after death? If so, whatever the dead scientist experienced might have been recorded for posterity. Alex warns Michael not to tempt fate and view the images...but you know how that goes. This aspect of the plot is the most fascinating and thought-provoking and allows the film to end on a satisfying note.

"Brainstorm" is by no means a sci-fi classic but it certainly deserved a better fate. With Natalie Wood's death, Trumbull had little time to mourn his leading lady. He had to immediately salvage the film by rewriting portions of the script and editing existing footage of Wood in creative ways to extend her role until the final scenes of the movie. (Natalie's sister Lana stood in for her in certain shots.) Trumbull hit another speed bump when MGM decided to cancel production of the movie, even as Trumbull was trying to salvage it. The studio was going to accept a payout from Lloyds of London when Trumbull exercised a clause in his contract that forbade them from doing so. This prolonged process delayed release of the movie substantially. By the time it had opened, Wood's death had already faded from the headlines despite the scandalous aspects and unanswered questions which remain unresolved today. Not even the morbidly curious could save it from being a boxoffice flop. Trumbull was so disgusted by his battles with the studio that he vowed to never direct another major film. He kept true to his word and has used his filmmaking talents primarily for educational projects.  Despite all these woes, Trumbull's final cut of "Brainstorm"  is reasonably compelling and the performances are all fine, if unremarkable, though it's interesting to note that Walken had not yet overtly demonstrated the kind of eccentricities that would characterize his performances in the years to come. 

The Warner Archive Blu-ray presents a fine transfer but, alas no special features except for a trailer. If ever a film deserved to have a commentary track, this is it.

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BY TIM MCGLYNN

During the 1970s, small distribution companies such as Sunn Classic Pictures, began to carve out a niche in the film industry by concentrating on low budget family-oriented movies. With the MPAA rating system firmly in place, moms and dads needed to search for G-rated titles they knew would be suitable for younger audiences. Aside from Disney features, it was often difficult to find such films.

Documentaries with educationally sound titles such as Cougar Country, In Search of Noah’s Ark and The Outer Space Connection played matinees at theaters across the country. Usually shot in 16mm and sometimes a tad boring, these movies were a safe destination for parents looking to drop the kids off for a couple of hours.

If any of these children happened to be unloaded at a local cinema playing The Legend of Boggy Creek, they were in for quite a surprise. Initially, it may have looked safe with a G rating and a storyline concerning a Bigfoot type of creature. Little did these kids realize they were in for a scary trip through the Arkansas wetlands where there had been stories of a large, two-legged monster over the past two decades. Farmers and ranchers had reported mutilated or missing livestock along with sightings of the creature.

Charles B. Pierce of Louisiana, a local television personality and creator of commercials, made his directorial debut with 1972’s The Legend of Boggy Creek, a quasi-documentary. The film chronicled the search for a seven-foot tall Bigfoot like creature that dwelled in the swamps near the town of Fouke, AR. Pierce allowed local residents to relate their experiences with what became known as the Fouke Monster. Dramatic recreations of sightings and confrontations with the creature were also filmed with local actors playing the roles of real life witnesses.

Adhering to the idea of “less is more,” Pierce never showed a close-up or an otherwise clear shot of the monster and there is no graphic violence or gore. He felt that what you didn’t see was more frightening than a man in a hairy suit. This style of storytelling would serve Steven Spielberg well in 1975 with his epic thriller Jaws.

While the production budget was about $160,000, which Pierce borrowed from a local trucking company, the director achieved an incredibly effective film by shooting in 35mm Techniscope. The photography in the creeks and marshes near Fouke is gorgeous and there are many shots of indigenous creatures and birds. The soundtrack of forest sounds lends a creepy atmosphere to the movie especially in the night scenes outside of local cabins.

The script by Earl E. Smith opens with several eyewitness accounts and some very distant shots of the monster that only define it as a large shape. Then there are depictions of actual contact with the beast where the residents in cabins attempt to kill it with shotguns and rifles. It is in these scenes that we hear the ferocious roar of the animal as it slips back into the darkness. Special mention needs to be made of the excellent narration by Vern Stierman. His news-anchor like professionalism adds an air of authenticity to the docu-drama style of the film.

A serviceable music score is provided by Jamie Mendoza-Nava, which includes a folksong type ballad sung by the filmmaker Charles Pierce. The director also served as his own photographer, using an older camera to which he made several modifications for this film. Pierce is very adept at setting up several jump scares where the creature is suddenly in the frame, often shown from the back. The 2.35 widescreen ratio is vital to these shots and they are quite effective. Another startling scene involves the creature being spotted as it suddenly crosses the road. This is filmed through a car windshield as the occupants are fleeing the scene.

I found the most impressive parts of the film are the two extended scenes where residents in a cabin and a mobile home are threatened by the monster. The whole “something is out there” scenario is well-played as the actors react to the danger in a realistic fashion. No randy teenagers doing drugs in the woods, just parents protecting their families by any means necessary.

Without giving away too much information about the conclusion, I’ll just say that the story has a possible open ending. Multiple sightings of the Fouke Monster were reported by more than 250 individuals over a period of 20 years until the making of this film. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that people in the area continue to see the monster. There were two sequels, one authorized and one not. Charles Pierce made Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues in 1984, but by his own admission it was not a very successful effort.

In 1976 director Pierce worked with Samuel Z. Arkoff and American International Pictures in creating his best-known work, The Town That Dreaded Sundown. This film pre-dated the slasher film craze of the 1980s with the true story of a masked killer terrorizing the town of Texarkana, TX. The cast included Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells and, once again, narrator Vern Stierman.

I recently communicated by e-mail with Pamula Pierce Barecelou, daughter of Charles Pierce, and asked about the re-mastering of the film. She replied that one of the challenges was locating a quality print. “After gaining permission from Mr. Ledwell (the film’s financier) to pursue the restoration in 2014, I had to find a good print to work from and that hunt took four years. One was finally found at the British Film Institute of all places!”

Ms. Pierce went on to describe the actual process. “I was able to connect with the venerable George Eastman Museum and Audio Mechanics to have to the work performed. I trusted their expertise.”

BY GIACOMO SELLONI

The Act of Reading is Mark Blumberg's first documentary feature. One can categorize it as what's considered a "personal, or me documentary”, as it tells the story of his Ahab-like obsession of finally writing the book report on "Moby Dick" that, without doing so in eleventh grade, caused him to fail his English class. Damn that wickedly, wordy, white whale!

Show of hands from those of you reading this: how many of you can honestly say you made it through the entire novel? Anyone? Buhler? Yeah, neither have I. But we know the story, don't we? From the first line "Call me Ishmael" to the drowning death of Ahab, we all know a bit about the story. T'was obsession that did him in. A lesson, to be sure. Herman Melville's fanatical Ahab predates J.M. Barrie's Captain Hook and his crocodile obsession by fifty-three years. Yes, Barrie based his captain on Melville's.

The film opens, in of all places, Austin, Texas with high school English teacher Vicki Hebert introducing the novel "Moby Dick" to her class. Had we had an instructor with such passion for the material, we too may have been "given membership in a kind of cohort, or club [in which] one finds a, little disturbing, as well as exhilarating sense for many readers that the book was written for them." says Samuel Otter - Professor of English UC Berkeley. I had instructors in both high school and college whose passion was palpable. Paul Noonan and Father Robert Roth, S.J. would "act" what we were studying\, Noonan with Shakespeare's Macbeth and Roth with Plato's Socrates dialogues. That may be why I have a passion for those works as opposed to Melville's novel with its rough sledding through mogul-filled vocabulary along with its "theological meditations" (as voiced by Otter). Many of the characters' names and attributes have biblical roots. Ishmael, Elijah, Rachel. And the name Ahab (according to Wikipedia), "derives from the Hebrew ahavah and aheb meaning "to love" or "beloved".

Blumberg's journey kicks off in New Jersey and takes us many places. He meets with his former English teacher, Janet Werner. He informs her that this film is going serve as his overdue book report. He travels to Bedford, Massachusetts to take part in the annual "Moby Dick Marathon" where he meets Peter Whittemore, the great-great-grandson of Melville and we intrude on some of the aloud readings. Back in Austin, Blumberg's wife, Alissa, meets Elizabeth Doss, yoga instructor, playwright and great-great-great-granddaughter of Melville. She's written a play, "Poor Herman" and we see scenes from it.

We're taken to the Arrowhead Farm in Berkshire county, Massachusetts. It was Melville's home. We, along with Blumberg and Whittemore, learn more about Melville's history, family and 'affair' with Nathaniel Hawthorne. To Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and the Mixed Magic Theatre company where we meet Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, an actor/theatre director who staged "Moby Dick- Then and Now" (we see excerpts) for M.I.T.'s New Media Literacy Project. On to San Francisco where we meet Mark Blumberg's older brother Kris, a nurse who tells Mark, who is attempting to turn him on to "Moby Dick", "I don't read. So I don't think."

Maryanne Wolf - Reading Expert, Stanford University: "Most people believe that reading is something that the brain has that unfolds just like language or vision. It is anything but true. Reading is an unnatural act." Philosophy Professor John Cleary: "How we find meaning is often constructed, not received. The meaning that's found by the student is theirs, they have to possess it and make it theirs...Being wise means that you're engaged with the interpretation of wisdom." And there's an excerpt from Plato's Phaedrus and "the illusion of knowledge." Wolf informs us of how it was Socrates who helped "transition an oral-based culture to a literacy culture and how it relates to us as we are transitioning from a literacy based culture to a digital one with similar issues about memory and delusions of knowledge."

Back to the marathon. Back to the experts. To the museum. To the Whalecave, Queequeg! It all sounds much harder to follow than it actually is.

"The Act of Reading" seems, at times, almost too ambitious. There is so much information here... Clinical experts expound on the nature of learning, on Dyslexia, and how it's been with humanity for over 50,000 years, hoow our capacity for learning comes from reading. Somehow, Blumberg manages to pull them together in this film.

As Vicki Hebert says: "Reading is more intimate than any other media." And, as to why she teaches her students "Moby Dick": "I want them to be happy with who they are. But I want them to be smart about the world so they don't get eaten alive or horribly disappointed.” Why is "Moby Dick" so important to that? This film attempts to answer that question.

"The Act of Reading" is much more intimate than a viewer will expect, especially the final scene at the Blumberg Family home when Mark's former teacher Janet Werner and her husband join the Blumbergs for dinner and film critique.

The film is available to stream as on iTunes or for rent on Amazon Prime.

BY TIM MCGLYNN

“If you were a man, I’d divorce you!”

Myra Gardener (Sylvia Miles) insults her stage producer husband, Odell (James Mason), with this line in the 1982 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun during a spat while vacationing on a fictional Italian island in the Adriatic Sea. They are attempting to entice Broadway legend Arlena Stuart Marshall (Diana Rigg) to appear in their next musical, despite her reputation as a spoiled diva. Evil Under the Sun has recently been released on Blu-ray by the good people at Kino Lorber, who have also seen fit to issue new editions of The Mirror Crack’d and Death on the Nile.

The screenplay, by Anthony Shaffer, is loaded with witty and sometimes randy putdowns that help breathe a bit of life into this rather formulaic whodunit from director Guy Hamilton. When Arlena is found dead on a deserted beach it seems that all of the guests at the island’s resort have a possible motive. Innkeeper Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith), a former stage actress who envied Arlena’s success, is fortunate that the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is on hand to investigate and identify the murderer. We soon learn that Arlena’s death may be related to another killing in Scotland and, as with most crimes of passion, money appears to be the motive.

Poirot was originally visiting the island to meet industrialist Sir Horace Blatt (Colin Blakely) to appraise a valuable diamond that was gifted to Arlene and was returned to Blatt after his affair with the actress ended. Poirot identifies the jewel in question as a fake and Blatt quickly becomes a suspect.

Also residing at the resort are lovers, former lovers, cheating lovers, stepchildren and professional associates of Arlena who, it turns out, all have reasons to wish her harm. The pedigree cast includes British stalwarts Roddy McDowell, Jane Birkin (who also appeared in Death on the Nile), Denis Quilly and Nicholas Clay. There’s even a Hitchcock-style cameo by director Hamilton near the start of the film.

The script by Shaffer slims down the list of suspects by combining several characters from Ms. Christie’s novel. The humor that is added with the barbs traded among the cast is a bright spot, as it helps the story move along at a faster clip. As with many of his previous films, particularly the Bond epics, director Hamilton lets us laugh at the pretentious nature of the resort guests without going overboard with the camp. One especially funny sequence involves Poirot’s efforts to exercise by taking a swim in the ocean. He has previously been identified as somewhat obese and decides to take the advice of his doctor and add strenuous activity to his daily routine.

The cinematography by Christopher Challis is gorgeous, with location shots highlighting the Formentor, Mallorca and Belearic Islands near Spain. Mallorca also happened to be where director Guy Hamilton was making his home at the time. The titles for the film feature beautiful watercolor paintings by Hugh Casson with each picture containing an object or article of clothing related to the story.

The costume design is the work of veteran Anthony Powell and some of the outfits worn by Diana Rigg and Sylvia Miles are gloriously overdone. The music is almost a character unto itself, as composer John Lanchbery has created a score made up entirely of popular songs by Cole Porter. Lanchbery’s arrangements are lush and fit in nicely with the sunny location shots and the open Mediterranean style of Alan Cassie’s art direction. Tunes that stand out are Night and Day, You’re the Top, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Anything Goes.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

It's never good when a film becomes the object of derision and controversy while it is still in production. There's a good chance it will be a dead duck by the time it opens to the public. MGM's ill-fated 1982 screen adaptation of "Cannery Row" may not have been a dead a duck when it arrived in theaters but it was definitely a mortally wounded one. The intent was to tell a sweet story about lovable eccentrics so it's not without irony that the film would be drenched in bad will and a legal case that extended for six years before it was resolved. Things started out swimmingly enough with David S. Ward, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "The Sting", set to not only write the script (an adaption of two John Steinbeck stories: "Cannery Row" and "Sweet Thursday") but to also make his directing debut. Nick Nolte and Raquel Welch were the two leads and production was underway when Welch received a letter from the studio advising her that she was fired forthwith, ostensibly for making unreasonable demands on the set. Welch was shocked, since the only "demands" she had made had been contractually agreed to and were hardly excessive. She suspected that her name had been used to drum up interest in the project with the intent of ultimately replacing her with a younger actress, in this case up-and-comer Debra Winger. Welch was 40 years-old at the time; Winger was 25. Welch had been hoping that the role would finally allow her to be cast in more mature, intelligent parts than the sex kitten characters that had brought her to stardom. The case resulted in Welch receiving a good deal of sympathy from women who had been battling sexism and ageism in all aspects of life. The case dragged on for six years and Welch prevailed, winning a judgment of $10 million. However, it was a pyrrhic victory, as she found she had been essentially blacklisted from starring in feature films. 

It was against this dramatic backdrop that "Cannery Row"'s first time director had to ensure completion of the film. To his credit, he did just that, although the result was largely negative reviews and measly international gross of $5 million. The film is set in Monterey, California and though no specific date is mentioned, we assume it is in the 1940s. The inhabitants of Cannery Row (so named because it once was home to a thriving canning industry that has now gone defunct) are a motley lot of friendly but not-too-ambitious people from the outer fringes of society. The most prominent residence of this skid row community is Doc (Nick Nolte), an educated man who works as a marine biologist, though it is never made clear how he earns a salary by sitting around his modest home studying the  habits of various octopusses that he keeps throughout the house. He's a confirmed bachelor who lets off steam with the occasional hook-up with a local woman. One day a new person arrives on Cannery Row, a young woman named Suzy DeSoto (Debra Winger). Like everyone else, she's endured a hardscrabble life and is looking for stability. Failing to find a "real" job, she reluctantly visits the local madame, Fauna (Audra Lindley) and agrees to become one of her "girls", only to fail in her single encounter with a client. Doc is immediately attracted to Suzy and they play a cat-and-mouse game of flirting with each other before starting to date. Suzy fits into the community well and is embraced by a group of eccentric homeless men who contentedly reside in makeshift houses on the street constructed from disused massive pipe cylinders from the old canning plant. Most prominent among the homeless men are Mack (M. Emmett Walsh), the de facto leader of the bunch and Hazel (Frank McRae), a mentally-challenged African-American who is near and dear to all.  The street guys are supposed to be a lovable bunch but director Ward makes them cartoonish. At one point I came to the conclusion that they would be better suited in a Disney animated film..then- presto!- they appear at a costume surprise party for Doc in which they are dressed like characters from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". One of the other prominent residences of Cannery Row is a character who is so adorable that you suspect he was written into the script simply to bring out the handkerchiefs when he inevitably dies.

Director/screenwriter Ward has his heart in the right place, but not his instincts. The problem with the film is that there is no dramatic "hook", thus no suspense. It's a bit like spending a few days in Mayberry without Andy, Barney and the other funny characters to liven things up. All you get is politeness and boredom. The core of the story is the on-again, off-again romance between Doc and Suzy, but neither one of them is very interesting as a character. Ward tries to inject some intrigue into the story by revealing why Doc abruptly resigned from being a promising pitcher in major league baseball. I don't need to issue a spoiler alert here before telling you what you've probably already suspected: seems he threw a pitch that conked a batter in the head, thus causing him brain damage. This old plot device about the guilt-ridden former athlete who blames himself for a disastrous mishap had moss on it when it was used in "The Quiet Man", "From Here to Eternity" and a couple of Elvis Presley movies. Not helping matters is the fact that Nick Nolte and Debra Winger don't display any fireworks when they are together on screen. Their best scene shows them dancing and allowing Winger to show off some impressive acrobatics.

"Cannery Row" isn't a bad movie, but it isn't a very good one, either. The most impressive aspect is the production design by Richard MacDonald, who constructed a rather imposing street set where most of the action takes place. However, the way the film is lit and photographed makes it always apparent that we are watching actors on well-designed set, complete with large matte paintings. Consequently, the movie begins to resemble a filmed stage production.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray looks very good indeed but the company generally doesn't provide commentary tracks unless they can be ported over from a previous DVD edition. It's a pity because "Cannery Row" has a compelling behind-the-scenes story that is more interesting than what takes place on screen. The only bonus extra is the trailer.

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN

At the opening of “Taza, Son of Cochise,” (1954), it’s 1875 and the great Apache Chief Cochise (Jeff Chandler) is dying. At his side are his two sons, Taza (Rock Hudson) and Naiche (Rex Reason, billed here as Bart Roberts). He asks them to continue the peace he made with the White Eyes after his death. Naturally, if the two sons were in agreement the movie would have ended right there. But in fact, they don’t agree. Taza wants to do as his father said. But Naiche hates the white man and intends to side up with Grey Eagle (Morris Ankrum) and Geronimo (Ian MacDonald) and start the war up again. If that isn’t enough complication to make a movie out of, writers George Drayson Adams and George Zuckerman add in a rivalry between the two brothers over the affections of Oona (Barbara Rush), Grey Eagle’s beautiful daughter.

It’s a good set-up for a story and Universal International intended the film as another of the westerns being produced at that time with the purpose of showing Native Americans in a favorable light. “Taza” is in fact a follow-up to “Broken Arrow,” which featured Chandler as Cochise, another movie about “good” Apaches who’d rather get along with the white man than lift his scalp . Yet, despite the studio’s noble intentions, as you probably already noticed, there is a total lack of any Native Americans in any of the lead roles. That’s how it was in 1954. In that era, Hollywood did not hire many Native Americans for big movie parts. Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto in The Lone Ranger TV series, was a rare exception. As a result, you had some really hard-to-swallow casting of Native American characters back then. Rock Hudson’s Taza is one example, although not as bad as blonde and blue-eyed Chuck Connors in “Geronimo” or Burt Lancaster in “Apache.” Victor Mature played the title character in “Chief Crazy Horse,” and his high cheek bones and Italian good looks almost let him get away with it, except, well, you know, it was big hammy old Victor Mature.

Watching these films today it’s pretty hard to maintain your “suspension of disbelief” at the sight of these Hollywood hunks running around on the warpath with tomahawks and bows and arrows. Hudson himself was more than aware of the problem and said later, according to commentary provided on a separate audio track, he considered this to be his worst film. I wouldn’t go that far. At over six feet tall, with his dark hair and brown eyes, he maintained a certain amount of gravitas in the role and at least had the physical presence to convincingly vault onto his Indian pony’s back with ease and he handled himself pretty well in action scenes involving knives and rifles.

“Taza, Son of Cochise,” was director Douglas Sirk’s second time working with Hudson, and his first and only shot at making a western. He never made another, perhaps realizing it just wasn’t his métier. There is dramatic potential in a story about a man who sides with his enemies, wears an Army blue coat and forms a police force to arrest those of his own people who break the peace. But if Taza ever felt any inner conflict, it’s never dealt with. Instead Sirk focuses on Taza’s desire to prevent needless suffering by his people when they are forced by General Crook (Robert Burton) to move to the dreaded San Carlos Reservation. He convinces Captain Burnett (Greg Palmer) to talk Crook into at least letting him form a reservation police force made up of Apaches in order to police themselves, rather than suffer brutality and humiliation at the hands of white soldiers. Taza must have been a believer in the old saying: “When you’re stuck with lemons, make lemonade.”

“Taza” was one of the last of the movies made during the “golden age of 3-D.” Between 1952 and 1954, 48 films were shot that way. The 3-D process, which was used to lure movie goers away from their television sets, faded quickly because of the many technical problems encountered both in shooting the films and in projecting them in theaters. In “Taza,” however, cinematographer Russell Metty put it to good use, capturing the mountain and desert scenery around Arches National Park in Utah, where the movie was filmed. It also, of course, features the obligatory 3-D scenes with actors and stunt doubles hurling rocks, firing arrows, hurling spears, and men falling directly into the audience’s lap.

I hate to admit it, but I’m old enough to have seen “Taza” in a theater as a kid, and frankly back then I didn’t care about who played what. I didn’t know Rock Hudson from Chief Red Cloud or how historically accurate any of it was. Did Taza actually lead his band to attack Geronimo and kill other Apache warriors in order to save Cavalry Captain Burnett (Gregg Palmer) from certain death? Sounds far-fetched, but maybe they did. I don’t know. And who cares? I had a good time watching “Taza, Son of Cochise” back then and, if you’re willing to make allowances for the time in which it was made, you probably will too. it’s worth catching if only as an authentic artifact of the film making of its time.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray presents “Taza, Son of Cochise” in both 2-D and 3-D in its correct theatrical aspect ratio of 2.00:1 from a 2K Master. The picture is very good, with a soft Technicolor pallet accurately capturing the reddish hues of the mountainous desert country. Frank Skinner’s score sounds good, a typical Universal soundtrack of the fifties with tom-toms added. Bonus features include commentaries on separate audio tracks by film historians David Del Valle author C. Courtney Joiner, and 3-D expert Mike Ballew. Also included is the original theatrical trailer, and English subtitles.

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(John M. Whalen is the author of "Vampire Siege at Rio Muerto". Click here to order from Amazon.)

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

    Oscar^®-Winning Classics Spanning Nine Decades Arrive in New Collection March 23, 2021

Revisit 10 of the most celebrated films in cinema history, together for the first time, in the
BEST PICTURE ESSENTIALS 10-MOVIE COLLECTION, arriving on Blu-ray March 23, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

A must-own set for film fans and ideal entertainment in preparation for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, the BEST PICTURE ESSENTIALS 10-MOVIE COLLECTION includes an array of landmark films, each of which earned the prestigious Best Picture Oscar.

Along with access to a digital copy of each film, the Blu-ray collection includes the following in high definition:

• · Wings (1927)
• 
  
• · My Fair Lady (1964)
• 
  
• · The Godfather (1972)
• 
  
• · Terms of Endearment (1983)
• 
  
• · Forrest Gump (1994)
• 
  
• · The English Patient (1996)
• 
  
• · Titanic (1997)
• 
  
• · American Beauty (1999)
• 
  
• · Gladiator (2000)
• 
  
• · No Country For Old Men (2007)

These 10 unforgettable films feature star-making and award-winning performances from actors including Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger,
Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Kate Winslet, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, and more.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

There were so many great British war movies produced in the 1940s and 1950s that it becomes almost an inevitability to pronounce each one you newly discover as a classic. "Malta Story", released in 1953 is, alas, not a classic. However, it is a good, solidly made and generally engrossing tale that is unique in that it covers the incredible story of the island of Malta, then a British colony, and its unlikely strategic importance to the Allies during the campaign to prevent Rommel and his forces from dominating the African continent. Malta is a tiny nation that found itself sandwiched between Sicily to the North and North Africa to the south. Both the Allies and the Axis powers deemed it to be essential to the conquest of Africa, as it could provide a valuable port and landing strips for bombers. For over two years, the undermanned British defense units on the island, bolstered by the courageous local population, endured daily bombing raids that devastated the nation. Malta was dependent on receiving essential supplies from Allied convoys, most of which proved to be sitting ducks for German U-Boats. Countless tons of precious food, medicine and ammunition went to the bottom of the ocean along with a large loss of crew members. Still, with plucky stiff-upper-lip resolve, the British and Maltese fought on, even with the RAF fighter planes having been reduced to only 15 aircraft. Ultimately, the British managed to reinforce the air defenses and some American convoy ships managed to survive the U-Boats. Malta managed to prevail and thwarted an inevitable full-scale invasion by German and Italian forces. King George VI was so impressed that he collectively awarded the nation as a whole the prestigious George Cross to commemorate the courage of the military and civilian forces.

"Malta Story" opens with its protagonist, a military photographer, Flight Lt. Peter Ross (Alec Guinness) on a flight to Africa to photograph German military installations. Flight troubles force the plane to unexpectedly land in Malta, where Ross meets the beleaguered commander of military forces, Air Commodore Frank (Jack Hawkins), who instantly arranges for Ross to join his command. Ross has his hands full with a starving local population and a shortage of planes and anti-aircraft ammunition. He sends Ross on an assignment to photograph German military movements, but Ross diverts his course and manages to photograph suspicious German train movements that he suspects are transporting supplies to build gliders- a sure indication of an impending commando invasion. Frank chews him out for disobeying orders, but it turns out Ross's instincts seem to be correct. When "Malta Story" sticks to the military plot it soars along very well indeed. However, the somewhat muddled screenplay bogs down the action by introducing a romantic subplot that finds Ross smitten by a courageous Maltese woman, Maria (Muriel Pavlow) and much screen time is devoted to one of the screen's most boring love stories. Guinness was a genius as an actor but he excelled in playing characters that were either very eccentric or larger than life. Ross is neither. He's an every day schlub with no particularly interesting traits. Guinness seems out of his element and perhaps for this reason he was rarely cast as a romantic leading man.  In fact, the love scenes between Ross and Maria are about as erotic as giving your sister a peck on the cheek. Indeed, things bog down to the point where Ross disappears from the middle section of the film only to pop up again at the end, when he volunteers to take on a one-man mission to locate and photograph a German convoy- a seemingly suicidal task that curiously would be replicated by Kirk Douglas in Otto Preminger's far superior "In Harm's Way" twelve years later.

With Guinness a bore, it falls to Jack Hawkins to carry the acting chores and he saves the film with his steadfast performance. Much of the combat footage was recycled from actual newsreels but because the film is in B&W the gimmick works rather well. "Malta Story", competently directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, is primarily valuable as a history lesson. The trials and courage of the Maltese people have largely been overlooked in studies of WWII history and for this reason, the movie can be recommended viewing.

"Malta Story" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. It can also be ordered from Amazon on DVD by clicking here.