Forbidden Hollywood Collection – Volume Three (William Wellman/Frisco Jenny/Heroes For Sale/Midnight Mary/Other Men’s Women/The
Purchase Price/Wild Boys On The Road;
Warner Bros. DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: B- Film: B-
Warner
Bros. has issued a new volume of their fine Forbidden Hollywood DVD collection, which shows restored films from
Hollywood’s Pre-Code era was, where the Hays Censorship Codes had not kicked in
yet. We covered the second volume at
this link, which will explain more about that aspect of these sets:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6671/Forbidden+Hollywood+Collection
This
time, the focus is on the great, underrated and prolific director William A.
Wellman. The set has six of his films
before the Code and just after he left a successful stint at Paramount. This period gave him a chance to explore issues
and topics he (or anyone else) would not be as free to take on when the Code
kicked in. These films include:
Other Men’s Women (1931) has Mary Astor, Joan
Blondell and James Cagney in a supporting role as the women become involved in
a crossfire of the lives of their men, played here by Grant Withers and Regis
Toomey. It starts at a railroad and
stays interesting throughout.
The Purchase Price (1932) has a young Barbara
Stanwyck and classy George Brent as a torch singer and her passive
husband. Sher is involved with a
gangster type and has to make a life choice.
Well done and features the famous city/country split so many of these
early talkies were obsessed with.
Frisco Jenny (1932) has Ruth Chatterton as the
title character, a Madame with influence that is not the kind of film that
could have ever been made during the code.
Louis Calhern, Donald Cook and Pat O’Malley are also a plus supporting.
Heroes For Sale (1933) has then star Richard
Barthelmess and up and coming Loretta Young in this tale of corruption,
conflict and power that dares to take on capitalism vs. communism among other
things you’d more likely find at Warner than any other studio. Holds up as well as anything in this set.
Midnight Mary (1933) has Loretta Young as the
title character, a gangster’s moll trying to make a better life for herself and
finding that getting away from the past is tough. Nice to see Young in more cutting edge fare
and co-stars Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone and Andy Devine are a plus with the
rest of the cast.
Wild Boys Of The Road (1933) is a Depression-era drama
about teens having nowhere to go and it holds up well as well, including
Sterling Holloway as the most familiar name here. Much better than the many recent Peter
Pan/Lord Of the Flies type indie films we’ve been getting with little
point. This is grittier and smarter
easily.
The 1.33
X 1 image on all six films have fine Video Black, detail for the respective age
of the films and look better than similar releases from indie DVD labels. The Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono on all six can be
trying and some cleaning up could be applied for the eventual Blu-ray releases,
but playback on all is impressive. Extras
include trailers for each film, live action and/or animated shorts across the
six films, audio commentary tracks that are not bad on three of the films and a
two bonus programs on Wellman. Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick and The Men Who Made The Movies:
William A. Wellman that hold up very well. I was hoping for a third new program, even a
brief featurette, but all make a fine showcase for Wellman, who deserves
rediscovery. He even directed some of
the films on the last volume.
All
serious film fans should catch this set.
- Nicholas Sheffo
