New to View: March 2
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, March 2, unless otherwise noted:
Caught in the Draft (Blu-ray)
Details: 1941, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bob Hope was busy in 1941, making four pictures for Paramount Pictures. “Caught in the Draft” was the second of that quartet.
Throughout 1941, a series of service comedies were released starring such comedians as Abbott and Costello (“Buck Privates”) and Laurel & Hardy (“Great Guns”).
In “Caught in the Draft,” Hope plays Don Bolton, a gun-shy movie star who faints at the sound of loud noises.
More than anything, Bolton wants to avoid the draft. He falls for “Tony” Fairbanks (frequent costar Dorothy Lamour) and wants to marry her.
A ruse to avoid the Army goes wrong, and Bolton — as well as his press agent, played by Lynn Overman and personal assistant, played by Eddie Bracken — enlist.
In basic training, Bolton tries to make a good impression of Tony as well as her Army colonel father. In the end, Bolton becomes a hero, and everything works for the best.
Bolton, like many of Hope’s characters is filled with braggadocio, but is really a coward at heart.
If the movie has one minor drawback, it’s some of the topical humor that younger, modern viewers may not comprehend. Otherwise, “Caught in the Draft” is one of Hope’s best movies of this period.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: An insightful and informative commentary track from filmmaker/historian Michael Schlesinger and film archivist Stan Taffel; along with excerpts from two “Command Performance” shows; a featurette, “Entertaining the Troops,” about Hope’s work with the USO; and a “Hollywood Victory Caravan” short comprise the bonus materials.
My Favorite Blonde (Blu-ray)
Details: 1942, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In this spy thriller-comedy, Bob Hope portrays vaudeville performer Larry Haines, who plays second-fiddle to his talented, roller-skating penguin, Percy.
Haines and Percy board are on their way to Hollywood via train where Haines has signed a contract for Percy.
Haines becomes involved with the beautiful Karen Bentley (Madeleine Carroll), a British agent carrying a coded message. Bentley is being pursued by Nazi agents, led by Gale Sondergaard and George Zucco.
Haines winds up helping Bentley elude the agents and deliver the message to its final destination.
The cast also includes some wonderful character actors, including Walter Kingsford, Lionel Royce, Victor Varconi, Edward Gargan and James Burke.
The movie was the first in Hope’s “My Favorite …” trio of films, the others being “My Favorite Brunette” (1947) and “My Favorite Spy” (1951).
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan.
The Last Vermeer (DVD)
Release date: Feb. 23
Details: 2019, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, nudity, language
The lowdown: This historical drama is set in the aftermath of World War II. It centers on Han van Meegeran (Guy Pearce), a Dutch art connoisseur who, during the war, hosted hedonistic parties and sold Dutch art treasures to Hermann Goring and other top Nazis.
While van Meegeran was enjoying the high life, Joseph Piller (Claes Bang), a Dutch Jew, was fighting in the Resistance.
After the war, Piller becomes an investigator assigned to identifying and redistributing stolen art. This leads to van Meegeran being accused of collaboration — which was punishable by death.
But the deeper Piller and his assistant dig, they become more and more convinced that van Meegeran is innocent.
Pearce’s flamboyant and ripe performance is one of the movie’s highlights.
For the most part, critics enjoyed the movie, giving it a 70 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Silk Road (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Feb. 23
Details: 2021, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, drug content
The lowdown: This drama was inspired by actual events centered on the dark net site Silk Road, which eventually became a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs.
Young and idealistic Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) created Silk Road as the Internet’s first unregulated marketplace. Of course, it soon devolved into drug dealing, which put Ulbricht into the sites of disreputable and unpredictable DEA agent Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), who will use whatever means he can to bring Ulbricht down.
Critics were split on the movie, awarding it a 55 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental components include a look at the making of the movie, including a discussion with the filmmaker, and a commentary track.
Nothing But the Truth (Blu-ray)
Details: 1941, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bob Hope reteams with Paulette Goddard for the third time in this comedy about an idealistic stockbroker who is being pressured to lie to his clients.
Hope’s Steve Bennett accepts a bet from his boss and partner, T.T. Ralston (Edward Arnold), that he can’t go 24 hours without telling a falsehood. Steve accepts the bet.
Ralston’s niece, Gwen (Goddard), has given Bennett $10,000 to invest so she can get $20,000 for charity. It is her $10,000 that he uses to cover the bet.
Now, Bennett must tell the truth for an entire day or lose the money — and the girl.
Hope and Goddard, who costarred in “The Cat and the Canary” and “The Ghost Breakers,” have a relaxing chemistry.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by film critic-author Simon Abrams.
Inside Amy Schumer: The Complete Series (DVD)
Release date: Feb. 23
Details: 2013-16, Paramount Home Entertainment-Comedy Central
Rated: Not rated, language, adult situations
The lowdown: A seven-disc set that contains all four seasons of Amy Schumer’s highly popular Comedy Central series.
The sketch-comedy show gives viewers a very personal look inside the mind of Schumer who, through stand-up routines, vignettes and man-on-the-street interviews touches upon such topics as sex, relationships and the overall chaos and uncertainties of life.
Among the guests appearing during the series’ run is Tina Fey, Zach Braff, Steve Buscemi, Lena Durham, Paul Giamatti, Selena Gomez, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Hader, Nick Kroll, Justin Long and Liam Neeson.
Fans of Schumer will find it difficult to watch only an episode or two; this definitely is a set made for binge watching.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English Dolby digital stereo; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include unaired sketches, interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes and outtakes.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
400 Bullets (Blu-ray & DVD & digital & VOD) (Shout! Studios)
Cheer! Rally! Kill! 5-Film Collection (DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Curse of the Blind Dead (DVD & VOD) (Uncork’d Entertainment)
Faceless (DVD) (Indican Pictures)
Nitro Rush (DVD & digital) (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Scare Me (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films)
WWII: The Long Road Home (DVD & digital & VOD) (Relash Productions)
Zappa (Blu-ray & DVD & VOD) (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Dementer (Dark Star Pictures)
Promising Young Woman (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Shoah (IFC Films)
Sophie Jones (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Vanguard (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
The World to Come (Bleecker Street)
Moxie (Netflix, March 3)
Murder Among the Mormons (www.netflix.com/MurderAmongtheMormons) (Netflix, March 3)
Good Girls Revolt (Sundance Now, March 4)
Playing for Keeps: Season 2, Episode 3 (Sundance Now, March 4)
The SpongeBob Movie (Paramount+, March 4)
Keep an Eye Out (Dekanalog, March 5)
A Discovery of Witches: Season 2, Episode 9 (Sundance Now, March 6)
Behind the White Glasses (Sundance Now, March 8)
Love & Anarchy (Sundance Now, March 8)
Love My Way: Series 3 (Acorn TV, March 8)
Rain Beau’s End (LesFlicks, March 8)
Seven Beauties (Sundance Now, March 8)
The Stranger Calls (Acorn TV, March 8)
Underplayed (Amazon Prime, March 8)
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, 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 at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.