
Charlie
Chase At Hal Roach: The Late Silents 1927
(Kit Parker/MVD/Sprocket Vault Blu-ray Set)/Mr.
Lucky
(1943/RKO/Blu-ray**)/Talk
Of The Town 4K
(1942/Columbia/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Wait
Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series
(1972 - 74/Hanna Barbera/Blu-ray Set/**both Warner Archive)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B-/B/X/B Sound: B/B-/B-/B-
Extras: B/C+/B-/C Main Programs: B-
PLEASE
NOTE: The Mr. Lucky and Wait Till Your Father
Gets Home Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros.
through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link
below.
Now
for a group of restored classic comedies...
Charlie
Chase At Hal Roach: The Late Silents 1927
is the latest set of the comedians' comedy short films that are being
slowly-but-extensively saved, preserved and restored as thoroughly as
possible. For your reference, here are the previous sets issued of
his work if you need to look back or get more of an idea of just how
extensive his work is:
Becoming
Charlie Chase 1915 - 1925
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8819/Becoming+Charley+Chase+(Comedy+Compilation/1
Cut
To The Chase: The Charlie Chase Collection 1924 - 1926
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11995/Cut+To+The+Chase:+The+Charley+Chase+Collect
Charlie
Chase At Hal Roach: The Talkies 1930 - 1931
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15132/The+Apartment+(1960/United+Artists/MGM/MVD
Charlie
Chase At Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two 1932 - 1933
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15496/Breakthrough+4K+(2019/Fox+4K+Ultra+HD+Blu-r
So
now we have our first Blu-ray high definition set of his works and I
can see nuances in his performances that even the best DVD copies did
not reveal, subtle, but there. For me, some sets are better than
others, but this one is a little more off and I think as the silent
era was winding down by coincidence, some of the shorts have him
repeating himself a bit. It is hard to keep a high watermark of
quality when doing a series of shorts, comedy or otherwise. Like the
weekly TV grind from season to season of a series is a hit, it is
hard to keep up the quality.
That
is not to say some of the shorts are not funny or have funny moments
is not the intent, but just a few less and still, the actors are
going out of their way to be funny, especially when we see them
getting physical to get a laugh. It is something most comedy actors
are too lazy to do today. Eugene Pallette holds his own in both Many
Scrappy Returns
and Assistant
Wives,
Jean Arthur is solid in Bigger
And Better Blondes,
Fluttering
Hearts
has Oliver Hardy in early fine form, the legendary Lupe Velez makes
her big screen debut in What
Women Did For Me,
only a single reel survives of Now
I'll Tell You
and both Laurel & Hardy show up and when Charlie and his regulars
hit it they really hit it!
If
you have never seen a Chase short or are interested in starting to
watch his work, now you have five releases to choose from and
counting. More are on the way and we'll see what they can save next!
Extras
include (per the press release) a wonderful score by composer Dr.
Andrew Earle Simpson and a fun & highly informative commentary
track by noted film historian, author, and Hal Roach raconteur
Richard M. Roberts. Richard recounts the years of painstaking
research to track down prints of these films, plus three bonus shorts
in The
Merry Widower,
excerpts from Call
Of The Cookoo
and Smile,
Buttercup, Smile.
One is a remake of another in the main set and further shows the
love and hard work it takes to save these orphan films.
H.C.
Potter's
Mr.
Lucky
(1943) is the first of the two Cary Grant gems here, two of his
better films, if not his all-time classics, yet still on the upper
half of his best works. Grant was on a roll for a long time as a
lead actor and could get away with being bad because he was so
beloved. Here, he is a conman, gambling ship owner ready to rob
money from a charity and dodge the draft until he falls for Lorraine
Day as a rich, upper class gal who does fundraising for it.
A
simple drama/comedy, they have some nice chemistry, Day is underrated
and it flows nicely like the The
Talk Of The Town
(next, below) where he starts as a bad person until the story starts
to slowly unfold. Not an imitator of the other film, it has some
more romance and a very slightly Noir style in a few small parts.
Again, the Hollywood Studio System pulls through at RKO, an even
then-larger studio that Columbia and the supporting cast is great
including Gladys Cooper, Charles Bickford, Alan Carney, Henry
Stephenson, Paul Stewart, Florence Bates, Kay Johnson, Walter
Kingsford and more than a few uncredited character actors you
would've seen before if you watch classic films. Mr.
Lucky
gets top rate treatment and I hope it means another step towards a
Cary Grant revival.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer
and two radio drama versions of the film with Grant: Lux
Radio Theater
(10/18/1943) with Lorraine Day and Screen
Director's Playhouse
(1/20/1950) with H.C.
Potter.
George
Stevens' The
Talk Of The Town 4K
(1942) is not a screwball comedy, comedy of manners or a comedy that
fits the prototype of what we now think of as a TV situation comedy,
but a pure outright comedy that is leisurely in its approach, more
clever than it would first seem and allows the comedy and the actors
doing it to really deliver. Grant plays a criminal named Leopold
Dilg who escapes prison, with the film first looking like a crime,
gangster or melodrama film, but after the first reel, it becomes
apparent it is going to be a comedy when he goes to a house that he
thinks is abandoned. It will turn out to be anything but.
Unfortunately,
a law professor (the underrated Ronald Coleman) is heading up there
and the owner and friend of Dilg's (Jean Arthur) happens to go up
there for a visit. Needless to say, especially with the professor a
U.S. Supreme Court nominee and a lynch mob out for Dilg, you know
some madness will ensue. I would add we also get character
development and has some smart side things to say, though never
preachy or going into polemics.
Its
been a long time since I have seen it and forgot how good it really
was, even with some minor parts that stop it from being more
memorable, but the smooth maturity and wit of this is something you
hardly see anywhere in any form anymore. The chemistry is good and
comic timing consistent. Cheers to to the supporting cast including
Edgar Buchanan, Glenda Farrell, Charles Dingle, Rex Ingram, Tom
Tyler, Emma Dunn, Don Beddoe and yet more than a few uncredited
character actors you would've seen before if you watch classic films.
The result is just a really good film that is long overdue for mass
rediscovery and this new 4K release can only help that out.
Extras
include Digital Movie, while the disc adds a feature length audio
commentary track by author Marilyn Ann Moss and Making Of featurette
entitled Talking Of Talk Of The Town.
Wait
Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series
(1972 - 1974) brings the one-of-a-kind animated comedy from Hanna
Barbera to high definition Blu-ray after the first of the three
seasons was issued years ago on DVD from Warner. You can read more
about it and the show at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5510/Wait+Till+Your+Father+Gets+Home+%E2%80%93
The
show was produced between 1972 to 1973, switching studios and even
film formats, but the 48 half-hours made up three season in all.
Unlike the other animated shows of the time, it was not being shown
in the child-friendly hours of children's syndication or on Saturday
Morning TV, but more so on various channels in the afternoon or near
dinner time. Hanna Barbera was trying to break more ground on TV,
what could work and sell in various time slots. Though The
Flintstones
was the first prime time U.S. network TV animated cartoon, it was for
the whole family. For the Second
Season,
they tried to imitate the 'guest star' success of The
New Scooby Doo Movies,
also the first hour-long hit animated TV show and second-ever for
that franchise.
Those
shows have their moments and included Johnathan Winters as his Maude
Fickert character, Monty Hall as himself, Rich Little as himself, Don
Adams, Phyllis Diller and Don Knotts as variants of their famous
personas and Joe E. Ross playing an amusing variant as his Car
54, Where Are You?
character and already imitated by other characters in the Hanna
Barbera universe, like the police boss of and on Hong
Kong Phooey.
That took the show away from some of its social commentary, but not
in bad ways, since this is still a comedy. However, cutting the
animation budget and switching from 35mm film to smaller, cheaper
16mm ultimately ended the show. I think it could have lasted a bit
longer and most Hanna Barbera shows never made it past a single
season because they would move on and try new shows with their
limited budgets.
Yet,
it remained fun and ambitious, the voice work is fine and jokes and
humor smart. Willie Aames took over from Jackie Earle Haley as
youngest son Jamie, Lennie Weinrib eventually took over from David
Hayward as older son Chet, Hazel Shermet was back as Lucille Grundy,
Pat Harrington, Jr. continued doing various voices, while other
familiar actors and voice actors who filled in the rest of the
episodes include Allan Melvin back as a new character, Alan
Oppenheimer, Ronnie Schell, Ross Martin, Arnold Stang, Richard
Dawson, Ed Begley, Jr., Dick Van Patten, Alan Rafkin, Herb Vigran and
Casey Kasem.
Also
helping out were the behind the scenes writers and producers,
including R.S Allen and Harvey Bullock, whose teamwork together
included this show, Alice
with Linda Lavin, Love,
American Style
where the characters on this show apparently debuted, The
Love Boat
and three smaller TV shows aimed at children and Saturday Morning
Television: Bullock doing Red
Hand Gang
on his own with others, McDuff
The Talking Dog,
Big
John, Little John
and The
Monster Squad
(1976,) not to be confused with the 1987 feature film and reviewed
elsewhere on this site. There work here reaches their best.
But
then there is the legacy of this series. Despite being a hit, Wait
Till Your Father Gets Home
remained a one-of-a-kind series until the likes of The
Simpsons,
South
Park
and Family
Guy
arrived, though (of all things) Beavis
& Butt-head
spin-off Daria
was the show that came the closest to this show. It is a landmark,
underrated and highly recommended.
Extras
includes the featurette Animation
For The Nation - Illustrating The Times
from the DVD set, but early copies have an error excluding it despite
it being listed. This is supposed to be corrected as this review
posts.
Now
for
playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.33 X 1, black &
white, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on Talk
Of The Town
looks really good and even a little better than expected, which I
keep running onto with older Columbia Pictures, so it is always a
pleasure and surprise because it is amazing when films from the last
thirty to forty years look good, let alone over 80 and is the
best-looking entry here!
Director
of Photography Ted Tatzlaff, A.S.C., lensed other well known hits and
classics like My
Man Godfrey,
Hands
Across The Table,
Murder
With Pictures,
Road
To Zanzibar,
Those
Endearing Young Charms
and Hitchcock's Notorious.
He did great work throughout his career and this is one of his best
films too.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is also in solid shape
and the best this film will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfers on the Chase
shorts can show the age of the materials used, but once again a ton
of love and hard work went into saving each surviving short and
seeing Chase more clearly here has more impact than the fine DVD
sets. The supporting cast, visual gags and locales (or sets) also
benefit. The
PCM 2.0 Stereo for music on each short is all pretty newly recorded,
so it is by default, going to have the best sound on this list, plus
the best sound on any Charlie Chase release to date. Not that I need
music for most of them, but its there.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Mr.
Lucky
only slightly shows the age of the film, looking better than I have
ever seen it and it has been a while. Director of Photography George
S. Barnes, A.S.C., lensed the likes of Son
Of The Sheik,
the Ronald Coleman Raffles,
Footlight
Parade,
Gold
Diggers Of 1935,
Stars
Over Broadway,
Meet
John Doe,
Force
Of Evil,
File
On Thelma Jordan,
Greatest
Show On Earth,
Road
To Bali,
the 1953 War
Of The Worlds
and two of Hitchcock's biggest classics: Rebecca
and Spellbound.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix here as well has been
well restored and the best this film will ever sound. The
combination is a pleasure.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Father
can show the age of the materials used, which range form 35mm
negatives to 16mm episodes later in the series, but I love color for
the most part and it really impresses along with its semi-minimalist
art style. Looking better than the already decent DVD transfers for
Season
One,
which this far succeeds those older discs, there are still a few
shows that look a little off (Bringing
Up Jamie)
but its a real treat otherwise. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes are mostly fine, but
a few episodes can sound a little boxy depending on the show, usually
in later seasons. It is still all an improvement for the Season
One
DVD's lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono sound that was restrictive and
sometimes problematic. All in all, only a really good, mint print of
any of these shows could compete. Of any animated TV shows that have
been too forgotten, it deserved Blu-ray treatment.
To
order either
the Mr.
Lucky
and/or Wait
Till Your Father Gets Home
Warner
Archive Blu-rays,
go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
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Nicholas Sheffo