New to View: Aug. 17

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Aug. 17, unless otherwise noted:
The Fortune Cookie (Blu-ray)
Details: 1966, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: After appearing in various television shows during the early and mid-1950s, Walter Matthau made his film debut as the whip-cracking villain in 1955’s “The Kentuckian,” starring Burt Lancaster.
For the next 10 years, Matthau, while continuing to work on television, was featured in a variety of supporting roles — good guys and villains.
In 1965, he costarred as Oscar Madison opposite Art Carney’s Felix Ungar in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple.”
That led to his return to Hollywood where he was cast as fast-talking shyster lawyer Willie Gingrich in “The Fortune Cookie,” which was co-written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond and directed by Wilder.
It also began Matthau’s long association with Jack Lemmon. The two starred together in eight films together.
Matthau was awarded a best supporting actor Academy Award for his performance as “Whiplash Willie” Gingrich who, after his brother-in-law, cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon), is hit hard on the sidelines by 220-pound Cleveland Browns halfback Luther “Boom Boom” Jackson (Ron Rich), sees a chance to receive a large indemnity from the insurance company. Gingrich convinces Hinkle to pretend that his hand and leg are partially paralyzed.
Gingrich continually convinces the reluctant Hinkle to keep up the charade, but when Hinkle discovers the bad publicity and impact the accident had on Jackson, he confesses the deception.
This release is also highlighted by the stunning black-and-white cinematography of Joseph LaShelle.
The movie received a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a commentary track with film historian-author Joseph McBride and a “Trailers From Hell” episode with Chris Wilkinson.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Magical Movie Mode (DVD)
Details: 2001, Warner Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, scary moments, language
The lowdown: Has it really been 20 years since Harry Potter debuted on the big screen.
Now, a new generation of young filmgoers can get to meet Harry and his friends, Hermione and Ron, as they begin their education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It also is where Harry learns of his legacy, his destiny and his connection to “he who must not be named.”
The “Magical Movie Mode” release allows viewers the opportunity to discover filmmaking secrets, spell incantations, creatures, magical artifacts and trivia.
Basically, you can play along and have fun while watching the movie.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Other “Magical Movie Mode” extras include a commentary track with director Chris Columbus and deleted scenes.

Percy (Blu-ray)
Details: 1971, Code Red-Kino Lorber
Rated: R, sexual content, mature themes
The lowdown: A British farce centering on the world’s first penis transplant.
Edwin Anthony (Hywel Bennett) is a shy young man whose penis is mutilated after a freak accident.
Famed surgeon, Sir Emmanuel Whitebread (Denholm Elliott) performs the delicate surgery giving Edwin a new member, which he names Percy.
When Edwin begins experiencing identity problems, he decides to investigate the life and loves of Percy’s former owner.
Basically, the movie is a broad comedy about an organ with a mind of its own.
The movie costars Britt Ekland and Elke Sommer. It features a rocking soundtrack with original songs written by Ray Davies and performed by The Kinks.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.

The Emperor Waltz (Blu-ray)
Details: 1948, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bing Crosby croons and charms his way through pre-World War I Austria as gramophone salesman Virgil Smith, who realizes that if he sells one of his products to Emperor Franz Joseph (Richard Haydn), others in the nation will follow suit and buy.
This musical comedy was directed by Billy Wilder, who cowrote the script with Charles Brackett.
The film costars Joan Fontaine as Countess Johanna von Stolzenberg-Stolzenberg who, after the usual first act misunderstandings, eventually falls in love with the American. She also falls in love with Smith’s dog.
The main opposition to the lovers marrying is the emperor, who believes royal blood should marry royal blood.
Of course, all obstacles are overcome by the fade-out.
The movie is not one of Wilder’s best efforts, even though it earned a 70 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian-author Joseph McBride is the main extra.

Truman & Tennessee (DVD)
Details: 2020, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that looks at the lives, personal struggles and culture impact of two great American writers — playwright Tennessee Williams and author Truman Capote.
The film features a vast treasure trove of archival material, including television appearances with David Frost and Dick Cavett, as well as clips from their most memorable movie adaptations, including “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “In Cold Blood” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Actors Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto perform the voiceover work for Capote and Williams.
The movie is witty and a tribute to both men’s candor and friendship. It also examines how their identities as gay Southerners informed their artistic achievements and relationships with family, friends, colleagues, confidantes and each other.
The movie earned a 91 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and closed-captioned subtitles.

Pirate Treasure (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 10
Details: 1934, VCI Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Richard Talmadge gained fame as a stunt man and stunt coordinator throughout the 1920s, working on the swashbuckler movies starring Douglas Fairbanks, such as “The Mark of Zorro,” “Robin Hood,” “The Three Musketeers” and “The Black Pirate.”
In the sound era, he continued his stunt work, but also branched out in to acting and directing.
Talmadge was enthusiastic as an actor, even if his delivery of lines was a bit stilted because of his slight German accent, which he tries to cover over as much as possible. That may be because Talmadge, who was born in Germany in 1892 and came to the United States as a boy with his brothers as part of the Metzetti Troupe of acrobats.
He later moved to Hollywood where he began his long career in movies.
“Pirate Treasure” is an exciting serial. Talmadge plays famed aviator Dick Moreland who, using the money he earned for an around-the-world flight, wants to use the money to finance an expedition to the Spanish Main to locate a treasure buried centuries earlier by his pirate ancestor, Sir John Moreland.
Talmadge’s exuberance is contagious. He leaps, bounces, somersaults and throws himself with abandon upon groups of bad guys trying to get Moreland’s chart that shows the location of the buried treasure.
The fight scenes are not as choreographed as in later Republic Pictures serials. In “Pirate Treasure,” the heroes and villains simply flail at each other, missing as many punches as they land.
Walter Miller, Universal Pictures’ go-to actor for villainy in serials and B-Westerns in the 1930s, plays lawyer Staley Brasset, ostensibly an ally of Moreland, but in reality, the leader of the gangsters trying to steal the treasure chart.
The first seven chapters are basically a back-and-forth as Brasset’s henchmen steal the chart and Moreland retrieves it.
It’s not until chapter eight of this 12-chapter serial, that the expedition gets underway to the island where the treasure is supposedly buried.
The last few chapters are not as exciting as the earlier ones, but Talmadge’s derring-do keeps the proceedings lively.
The serial’s visual and audio transfers are impressive. The picture wavers a couple of times, and a few buzzes can be detected in the audio track, but they are blips that do not interfere with the episodes at all.
With this release, and the earlier debut of “The Phantom of the Air,” VCI is offering serial fans wonderful upgrades of early serials that were only available in lesser-quality, grey-market venues.
“Pirate Treasure” is a treat because it displays Talmadge’s athletic prowess as an ace stunt man.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (4×3) full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.

Little Q (Blu-ray)
Details: 2019, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This sentimental Chinese movie centers on Lee Bo Ting, a noted chef who was recently blinded.
He is bitter and irritable and is very reluctant to rely on a guide dog named Little Q.
But slowly the loyal dog eventually teaches Bo Ting to trust him and the world again.
The movie spends a lot of time showing the development, growth and training of Little Q into his role as a guide dog before pairing him with Bo Ting.
The movie may make you shed a tear or two.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English and Chinese subtitles.

Fitzwilly (Blu-ray)
Details: 1967, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Dick Van Dyke stars as Claude R. Fitzwilliam, known to his friends as Fitzwilly. He’s the loyal butler to the elderly Miss Vicki (Edith Evans), a philanthropist whose fortune has dried up.
To keep her charity checks from bouncing, Fitzwilly enlists the aid of the household staff to commit a series of robberies, swindles and cons to maintain the household and keep Miss Vicki’s charitable endeavors viable.
A glitch develops when Miss Vicky’s new personal secretary, Juliet (“Get Smart’s” Barbara Feldon), becomes nosy and senses something is fishy about Fitzwilly.
The movie is comic and touching, featuring a score by John Williams, and co-starring John McGiver, John Fiedler, Anne Seymour, Norman Fell and Cecil Kelaway.
The feature was directed by Delbert Mann, whose credits include “Marty” and “Separate Tables,” both of which earned their lead actors, Ernest Borgnine and David Niven, best actor Academy Awards.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; Engish subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is a commentary track by the dynamic duo of filmmaker-film historian Michael Schlesinger and film archivist Stan Taffel.

Overwhelm the Sky (DVD)
Details: 2019, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A film noir-like feature about an Eddie Huntly (Alexander Hero), an East Coast radio personality, who moves to San Francisco to marry Thea, the sister of his best friend, Neil.
Shortly before Huntly’s arrival, Neil is found dead in Golden Gate Park. Police consider the death a simple mugging gone bad.
The sullen Huntly steps in as the interim host of his old friend, Dean’s late-night talk-radio show. Huntly becomes obsessed with Neil’s death and makes regular visits to the forested spot where Neil’s body was found.
One visit, however, unleashes a chain of unpredictable events that convinces Eddie to investigate the life of a sleepwalking drifter with a mysterious past.
Everything comes to a head in the Arizona desert where Huntly has a series of surreal and frightening encounters that alter his perception of reality.
The film is loosely based on a 1799 gothic novel called “Edgar Huntly or Memoirs of a Sleepwalker.”
The movie received a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a deleted scene, an outtake reel, a commentary track, a discussion about the musical score and a roadshow premiere question-and-answer session.

Midnight Diner (Blu-ray)
Details: 2019, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This nice, little Chinese movie is set at a small, counter-only restaurant that is open only from midnight to 7 a.m.
It is run by its enigmatic owner and chef, a quiet man who does not offer any menus, yet can make any dish a customer wants.
Year after year, people congregate from all over to the Midnight Diner to share their stories and enjoy delicious home cooking. When they are finished, they leave refreshed and feel prepared for their next adventure.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 16:9 (enhanced) widescreen picture; Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio; English and Chinese subtitles.

Nakom (DVD)
Details: 2016, Corinth Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In contemporary Ghana, a talented medical student is summoned home by his sister after the sudden death of their father.
Iddrisu, the student reluctantly returns home to his village of Nakom, where he buries his father and temporarily assumes the role of head of the impoverished household and farm. He inherits the task of planting a successful crop, but also handling a debt left by his father that, if not fulfilled, will destroy his family.
Under all this pressure, Iddrisu tries to keep up with his studies from his small hut.
But the physical and emotional demands and needs of those around him become more and more frustrating, especially because a lack of rain has left the land nearly parched.
A contentious relationship with his uncle, to whom the debt is owed, becomes even more complicated by the unplanned pregnancy of the uncle’s granddaughter who was sent to live with Iddrisu’s family.

The movie is a story about the conflicts between tradition, expectations and the yearning for a better life and future.
The film earned an impressive 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; Kusaal audio; English subtitles.

The Indian Doctor: Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Details: 2010-13, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring all three seasons — 15 episodes — of this fish-out-of-water British television series about highly educated Indian doctor Prem Sharma who, with his wife, Kamini, attracted by the promise of opportunities in Great Britain’s new National Health Service leave India in 1963.
The couple have expectations of a glamorous lifestyle in London. Instead, they find themselves sent to a small practice in a Welsh coal mining village, which comes as a great shock, not only to Sharma and his wife, but to the villagers as well.
Gradually, they must come to learn to live with each other and, as the series progresses, they ultimately reach an understanding.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
A Discovery of Witches (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films)
Fast Vengeance (Blu-ray & DVD & digital) (Shout! Studios)
Overrun (Blu-ray & DVD & digital & VOD) (Strike Back Studios)
The Real Thing (DVD) (Film Movement)
Shook (DVD) (RLJE Films-Shudder)
Stay Out of the Attic (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films-Shudder)
Stone Time Touch (DVD) (IndiePix Films)
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (Blu-ray + digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Don’t Go Gentle: A Film About IDLES (Blu-ray) (MVD Visual Entertainment, Aug. 20)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
After the End (Shout! Studios)
Big House (Gravitas Ventures)
The Land of Owls (First Run Features)
Spirit Untamed — The Movie (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
Untold: Deal With the Devil (Netflix)
Nine Perfect Strangers: Episodes 1, 2 & 3 (Hulu, Aug. 18)
Annette (Amazon Prime, Aug. 20)
Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power (Amazon Prime, Aug. 20)
Blood Conscious (Dark Sky Films, Aug. 20)
The Chair (Netflix, Aug. 20)
Demonic (IFC Films, Aug. 20)
Habit (Lionsgate-Apple TV, Aug. 20)
Hostage (Terror Films, Aug. 20)
Last Man Standing (Gravitas Ventures, Aug. 20)
Rare Beasts (Brainstorm Media, Aug. 20)
Sweet Girl (www.netflix.com/SweetGirl) (Netflix, Aug. 20)
Truth Be Told: Season 2 (Apple TV+, Aug. 20)
Broken Diamonds (FilmRise, Aug. 23)
Charming the Hearts of Men (Gravitas Ventures, Aug. 13)

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.