New to View: May 29
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, May 29, unless otherwise noted:
The Two of Us: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1967, Cohen Film Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This acclaimed French movie is a story of identity and heritage, starring the wonderful Michel Simon.
The story is sent in World War II France and centers on 8-year-old Jewish boy sent to the country to live with the Catholic parents of family friends.
There, the youngster must deal with religious and generational clashes. However, he does make a connection with the grandfatherly Pépe (Simon), who gruffness hides a tender streak.
The movie highlights how a loving relationship can grow even in a broken world gone mad.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 picture; French LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the major bonus component.
I’m Dying Up Here: Season One
Details: 2017, Showtime-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring the first season of this Showtime series about making it big in the 1970s Los Angeles comedy scene.
The series, which features Jim Carrey as an executive producer, follows a group of young performers who test their comic chops nightly at Goldie’s, the hottest club in Hollywood.
To get on stage, though, they must convince club owner Goldie that they have what it takes.
The series stars Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo as well as Ari Graynor, Clark Duke and Michael Anagarano.
Technical aspects: 16:9 picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Smash Palace (Blu-ray)
Details: 1981, Arrow Academy
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: This New Zealand feature, the second by director Ronald Davidson, was one of the early features in that nation’s New Wave cinematic movement.
The film centers on the marriage of racing driver Al (Bruno Lawrence) and French-born Jacqui (Anna Jemison). They had met when Jacqui nursed Al back to health following a career-ending injury.
After their marriage, the pair returned to New Zealand to take over the wrecking yard business, named Smash Palace, of Al’s father, and they had a child.
Over time, though, cracks are forming in the marriage as Jacqui resentment of Al continues to grow.
The movie has been compared to such American releases as “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Shoot the Moon” as it examines perceptions of masculinity in crisis.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track, a making of featurette and a booklet about the film comprise the major extras.
The Great Meadow (DVD-R)
Release date: May 22
Details: 1931, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Before he became a big star in B-Westerns, Johnny Mack Brown was a leading man at MGM in the early 1930s, costarring alongside such performers as Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford and Joan Crawford.
Back then, the former Alabama All-American was billed as John Mack Brown.
“The Great Meadow” is a historical drama about Virginians who make the dangerous trek to the new lands of Kentucky about 1777.
These pioneers face hardship and tragedy as they battle to begin new lives on the frontier.
Brown plays Berk Jarvis, who convinces his mother, Elvira (the wonderful Lucille La Verne) and brother, Jack (Gavin Gordon) to join a wagon train for Kentucky’s Great Meadow. Berk also asks the woman he loves, Diony Hall (Eleanor Boardman) to marry him and join them.
The dangerous journey takes its toll, but Berk and his family reach Fort Harrod safely. And Diony will soon have a baby, as well.
Tragedy strikes when Elvira and Diony are attacked outside the fort by the renegade Black Fox. Elvira is killed. Berk, driven nearly mad by the taunts of Black Fox, seeks revenge. He abandons his wife and child for vengeance.
By the time Berk returns, he discovers that the wilderness is unforgiving and waits for no man.
The release is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1.37 (4×3) full-screen picture; English Dolby digital monaural.
Kansas City Princess (DVD-R)
Release date: May 22
Details: 1934, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Two of Warner Bros. brassiest contract dames, Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, star in this comedy as a pair of gold digging manicurists on the run from gangsters.
It seems that Blondell’s Rosie has lost the diamond engagement ring given her by mobster Dynamite Carson (“King Kong’s” Robert Armstrong), when she was two-timing him with a slick operator.
Rosie takes it on the lam, as they used to say in 1930s flicks, accompanied by her pal, Marie (Farrell).
Rosie goes undercover as a Girl Scout and the gals head to New York, where they ingratiate themselves with millionaire Junior Ashcroft (the very funny Hugh Herbert).
They convince Junior to take them along on a trans-Atlantic voyage, where things are going fine until they meet Junior’s new bodyguard — Dynamite Carson.
Everything comes to a head — and is sorted out — in various bedrooms in Paris.
This rollicking feature is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other Internet dealers.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1 (4×3) full-screen picture; English Dolby digital monaural.
All American Chump (DVD-R)
Release date: May 22
Details: 1936, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Stuart Erwin stars as country bumpkin Elmer Lamb in this comedy about a down-on-its-luck carnival that has what little assets it has left repossessed.
Ace pitchman “Honest” Bill Hogan (Robert Armstrong), owner Jeffrey Crane (Edmund Gwenn) and Crane’s daughter, Betty (Betty Furness), are in desperate need of cash.
They go to the local bank where they encounter Elmer, an extraordinary math wizard who can perform amazing feats of calculations.
Bill drafts Elmer into the service of the carnival, dubbing him “Chain Lightning.” Things still look bleak until Elmer bests bridge champion Montgomery Brantley (E.E. Clive) in a card game aboard a train.
A not-too-bright gangster, played by Edward Brophy) gets ideas about how cars sharks and hustlers can take advantage of Elmer’s gifts.
Everything works out by the fade out, with Elmer getting the farm he always wanted.
The release is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online dealers.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1 (4×3) full-screen picture; English Dolby digital monaural.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
They Remain (Blu-ray + DVD + VOD) (Giant Interactive)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Wrinkle in Time (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
The Hurricane Heist (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
The Last Witness (Momentum Pictures)
Love, Simon (Fox Home Entertainment)
Peter Pan: Signature Collection (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Tomb Raider (Warner Home Entertainment)
800 Words: Series 3, Part 1 (Acorn TV, June 1)
Tales of the City (Acorn TV, June 4)
Vintage Roads Great & Small (Acorn TV, June 4)
Coming next week: A Wrinkle in Time
Every Day
I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.