Laurence Olivier Presents (Acorn Media)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+

 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: B

The Collection: A-

Hindle Wakes: B-

Come Back, Little Sheba: B-

Saturday, Sunday, Monday: B-

The Ebony Tower: B-

 

 

Laurence Olivier is easily one of my favorite actors of all time.  It’s nearly impossible to not love an actor of this caliber.  Some of the most memorable performances in my mind are that of his work in major motion pictures like Spartacus, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, The Boys from Brazil, Marathon Man, and of course his infamous Shakespeare work.  I think that Richard III is my favorite though.  So late in his staggering career he began going back to his theatrical roots in the 1970’s and 1980’s by doing some play adaptations.  Acorn Media has assembled these six films and put them into a 3-disc collection that makes for a great escape into the world of literary works. 

 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is probably the most famous work here by Tennessee Williams and of course most people will be comparing and contrasting this version to the classic 1958 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.  However, this version is nowhere near the quality in both production and performance, although Olivier brings a larger-than-life presence to the screen and really helps engage this adaptation.  Despite this being the most familiar story to me, I personally was fonder of The Collection, which I had never heard of prior to this, but was quite taken back by the material.

 

Other stars include Joanne Woodward, Carrie Fisher & Nicholas Campbell on Sheba, Alan Bates, Malcolm McDowell & Helen Mirren on the Michael Apted-helmed Collection and Great Scacchi on Ebony Tower.  Oliver co-stars in all these productions and the level of talent is of the kind on Olivier could have assembled for TV.

 

Quality-wise most of these presentations are all about equal with a 1.33 X 1 picture that shows it’s age and looks like most of the DVD’s we have seen for TV programs of this era.  Color and detail is the biggest problem showing more of the age and also showing the limitations, but the performances luckily speak through the medium enough where it isn’t a problem.  The sound is simple 2.0 Dolby Stereo and is nothing spectacular as can be expected, but works just fine for this programming.  The Ebony Tower is considered an extra in this DVD set and fans of Olivier will be happy to get all of this great material in one central location.  Acorn Media has another winner on its hands here and we hope to continue to see more material from them as well!

 

 

-   Nate Goss