Carol
Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes
(1967 - 1970/Time Life 6-DVD Version)/The
Rise & Rise Of Michael Rimmer
(1970/Warner Archive DVD)/Mr.
Warmth: Don Rickles - The Ultimate TV Collection
(1970 - 1975/Time Life DVD)/W.
C. Fields: Comedy Essentials Collection
(1932 - 1941/Universal DVD Set)
Picture:
C+/C+/C+/C Sound: C+/C+/C/C Extras: C+/D/C+/C Main
Programs: B+/B-/C+/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Rise & Rise Of Michael Rimmer
DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Here
are some key new comedy releases you should be aware of...
Carol
Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes
(1967 - 1970)
is the smaller 6-disc version of two larger sets of the same name now
being offered, but showing the rise of the greatest variety TV show
of all time. Even in the very beginning, there was something very
special going on with this series. Burnett has so much energy just
at the start and it is now even uncanny how she has Vicki Lawrence,
Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner (who was almost Batman
on the 1960s TV show, did replace him for a post-series PSA, then
lands up on this bigger hit show with more laughs before moving on to
another superhero hit, Wonder
Woman,
so even he was destined for success it seems) presetting the
priceless chemistry the series would have. That Tim Conway kept
showing up is even more phenomenal, confirming the chemistry and
greatness as noted in past coverage.
DVD
1 offers episodes with Lucille Ball, Eddie Albert, Nancy Wilson
(whose appearance in the As The Stomach Turns segment over the
top), Chita Rivera, Bob Newhart, Mel Torme, Nanette Fabray & Don
Rickles. DVD 2 has Jim Nabors, Paul Lynde, Bing Crosby, Eydie Gorme
(whose cover of the Bacharach/David classic A House Is Not A Home
is pretty formidable) and Tim Conway. DVD 3 has Burt Reynolds,
Nanette Fabray back, Don Adams and Leslie Ann Warren. DVD 4 has
Lucille Ball, Gloria Loring and twice, Tim Conway. DVD 5 has Bobbie
Gentry, Gwen Verdon & Phillis Diller in the same show (who join
Carol in a tribute to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's album you
HAVE to see), Andy Griffith, Cass Elliott and Bernadette Peters. DVD
6 gives us Vikki Carr, Flip Wilson (who help do one of the best
Mission: Impossible send-ups ever!), Carol Channing, Steve
Lawrence, Jack Jones, Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson and Tim Conway. The
TV commercial parodies are great and with YouTube, similar sites and
DVD collections, you can usually find the ads they spoof, which is a
great plus. What an amazing set, which is as strong as any of the
amazing releases we've reviewed elsewhere on this site.
Extras
include a backstage tour of CBS Studio 33 where the show was
originally taped, 13 exclusive new interviews with stars of
yesteryear and today, with Alan Alda, Julie Andrews, Vikki Carr,
Carol Channing, Bill Hader, Jack Jones (longer than expected but
worth it), Jim Nabors, Queen Latifah, Gloria Loring, Don Rickles,
Lesley Ann Warren & others, Never-Before-Seen Bloopers &
Outtakes, Bonus sketches including "Morton
at the Movies"
and the all-time classic "The
Dentist"
and the opening number from the historic Julie
and Carol at Lincoln Center
TV special with a new introduction by Carol.
Kevin
Billington's
The
Rise & Rise Of Michael Rimmer
(1970) turns out to be an underrated, key British comedy (now 45
years old) that holds up well, involves some key Monty Python talent
just as that troop was about to form, has some of that kind of humor
here and is a political satire and more that stars Peter Cook (in one
of his best roles and performances) as the title character, a young
man who is trying to make a good showing at an advertising agency
about to get involved in an election. Is this a smart mix, a deadly
one or both?
As
he makes his way around, he focuses on using sex effectively and
before he knows it, advising a challenger to the Prime Minister and
taking on a competing ad firm also dipping into politics. Things
take an even more hilarious turn (in maybe the most unexpected howler
of the whole film) when Cook's firm finds out the competition has a
hapless employee taking a survey in a very staunch, conservative
section of England that represents a serious voting block. The
agency sends a busload of employees to get 'casually' interviewed and
they feed him nonsense answers (like that they are or were Buddhists
and much wilder) that he takes down as gospel serious and tabulates.
The fallout leads to the biggest laugh for me.
There
are a few down points that hold this back, but they are brief. I'm
so glad Warner Archive has issued this gem on DVD, which must have
been more shocking in its day to those who believe in Democracy and
voting versus what we are getting today in the ways of manipulation,
mass media manipulation and other big (and now secret) bog money
moves that have made a mess of so much.
Making
this film all the funnier than its fine directing, locations, script,
shots and energy is that cast I was referring to that most true
filmmakers would kill to have today: John Cleese, Graham Chapman,
Kevin Billington (all three who co-wrote the screenplay), Ronald
Fraser, Denholm Elliott, Vanessa Howard, Ronald Corbett, Arthur Lowe,
Julian Glover, Valerie Leon, Dudley Foster, Richard Pearson, Michael
Barrington, Dennis Price, Michael Bates, Jonathan Cecil, Frank
Thorton, Diana Coupland, Graham Crowden, Norman Rossington, Roger
Maxwell, Guy Middleton and uncredited turns by Sinead Cusack and the
'I'm still hurting from laughing' moment by Anthony Morton.
This
just has to be some at least minor comedy classic that has yet to
even be a cult classic, but it might just be too dangerous and
subversive for that. Good!
There
are sadly no extras.
Mr.
Warmth: Don Rickles - The Ultimate TV Collection
(1970 - 1975)
brings together key TV works of the politically incorrect comedy icon
that have never been issued on DVD before. All shot on analog video
of the time, the first two entries are the two seasons of his
military comedy CPO
Sharkey
(reviewed elsewhere on this site), joined by a series of TV specials
he made that pulled back his edge somewhat. Volume
1
offers The
Many Sides Of Don Rickles
(1970) directed and co-produced by no less that TV legend Bud Yorkin
(All
In The Family)
that has Rickles joined om stage talking with Harvey Korman, Robert
Goulet and Don Adams as if they were between skits, then we get a few
fairly good skits (Hippie
Love-in
has the underrated character actress Reva Rose as his wife) and
Goulet singing at one point, but the times they just talk and joke
around are more interesting. Don
Rickles: Alive & Kicking
(1972) brings Korman back as they are both joined by Juliet Prowse
and Anne Meara, with more skits, less talk and Prowse's unique take
on the Elton John hit Honky
Cat.
It is a bit better overall, but neither special has any huge laughs,
except for first special's send-up of the debut of the failed Joey
Bishop Show
with Adams as Bishop (sort of) and Korman as an insane Regis Philbin
that can more than challenge the great impersonation by the mighty
Dana Carvey.
Volume
2 offers Mr. Warmth (1975), with Rickles solution to make
a better special, get Frank Sinatra and John Wayne to show up. Both
have amusing turns (Sinatra's appearance is cut in two for different
parts of the show) and the star power is additionally upped with
appearances by Jack Klugman, Bob Newhart, Helen Reddy, Loretta Swit,
Carroll O' Connor, Jaye P. Morgan, Charlie Callas, Steve Landesberg
and Rip Taylor. This is more like it, but the skits are not much
better. Thus, Rickles (also 1975) is simply the man doing his
stand-up routine on stage to a big crowd in Las Vegas, but he is
joined by Michael Caine, James Caan, Elliott Gould, Jack Klugman, Don
Rickles, Michele Lee, Jose Ferrer, Arthur Godfrey, Larry Linville,
Loretta Swit, Bobby Riggs (!), Otto Preminger and Jack Palance. It
is a refreshing change of pace, but a time capsule like the rest of
the shows. That makes this whole box set at least worth a look, even
if it is on the uneven side. It deserves to be in print and now fans
and the curious can judge for themselves.
Extras
include newly-shot intros from Don himself, never-before-seen
outtakes and unedited scenes from the specials, a rarely-seen Tonight
Show
clip with Johnny Carson surprising Don on the CPO
Sharkey
set because of Rickles breaking something when hosting Carson's show,
some side interviews by his friends and a clip of Don receiving the
TV
Land Legend Award
from Jimmy Kimmel.
W.
C. Fields: Comedy Essentials Collection
(1932 - 1941) is
a compact new release of 18 films the legendary comedian made in his
rocky career, starting at the #2 studio in the Classical Hollywood
period, Paramount. However, personal problems eventually ended that
relationship, but he was able to get his career back on track and
signed with the then-smaller Universal Pictures (the studio that also
owns the older Paramount films, thus this set from them) and made a
huge comeback that included some of his most important work. You can
see from the early films here that he was not yet the lead star he
became, but was well on his way.
With
a few films per DVD each (some are only so long), we get...
Million
Dollar Legs
(1932) as a president.
If
I Had A Million
(1932) as a dying tycoon.
International
House
(1933) as an inventor trying out something called TV.
Tillie
& Gus
(1933) in a con artists situation.
Alice
In Wonderland
(1933) as Humpty Dumpty.
Six
Of A Kind
(1934) a Hollywood road trip movie with a great backing cast starting
with George Burns & Gracie Allen.
Mrs.
Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch
(1934) a Thanksgiving-set comedy.
You're
Telling Me!
(1934) as another inventor.
The
Old Fashioned Way
(1934) as a con artist in the theater business.
It's
A Gift (1934) as a pharmacist when they were still called
druggists.
Mississippi
(1935) is a riverboat romp.
Man
On The Flying Trapeze (1935) as a suppressed husband who can't
take it anymore.
Poppy
(1936) carnival con artist tries to steal inheritance by using his
daughter to get it.
Big
Broadcast Of 1938 musical
variety feature.
You
Can't Cheat An Honest Man (1939) as circus head who hates his
daughter dating the troupe ventriloquist.
My
Little Chickadee (1940) in a classic pairing with Mae West.
The
Bank Dick (1940) as a town drunk who gets a security job after
'stopping' some bank robberies.
Never
Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941) as a filmmaker trying to sell
a crazy script that pits Russians against con artists.
These
are all entertaining, some very funny and some scenes are a riot,
reminding us how brilliant Fields really was and how he has
disturbingly been too forgotten since the 1980s. If anything his
work was ahead of its time and is in need of serious rediscovery.
This is a solid, pretty basic set to start with, but these films need
special editions and it would be great if a Fields revival yielded
this. This is also often smarter than you might expect.
A
tribute featurette to Fields is the only extra.
The
1.33 X 1 color images on the Burnett and Rickles sets
come from professional NTSC analog videotape (usually reel-to-reel
2-inch tape) and looks about as good as it is going to across both
sets, but these have been nicely cleaned up and damage is limited.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Rise
is just narrowly the best, only held back by the format, originally
issued in 35mm, dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints (this
copy has really good color too) and shot by the great Director of
Photography Alex Thompson, B.S.C. (Alien
3,
Year
Of the Dragon)
creating a subtle density that makes the humor and commentary vivid
and funnier than it might have been in the hands of most cameramen.
However, Thompson was a master and he only adds to everything that
works about the film.
The
1.33 X 1 black and white image on all the Fields
films look like the come from good 35mm prints, but these transfers
are older, show their age and are further hampered by having so many
films on each disc.
The
audio in every case here is lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, all
sounding as good as it would in this older format (versus better,
lossless Mono), but the Rickles
and Fields
sets show more wear, compression and flaws throughout and could use
some additional work.
To
order the The
Rise & Rise Of Michael Rimmer
DVD, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo