:: An Audience With Dudley Moore
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Network DVD are adding Dudley Moore to the catalogue of Audience with titles at the end of the month. This was among the earliest outings for the series of specials, and is presents complete and uncut on DVD for the first time. For me this isn't one of the strongest of shows and from the opening where the camara pans across the celebrity audience you can tell some of them were less than enamoured at being at the LWT studios for the recordings. Like most of the series it is an excuse for popular set pieces to be welded together with staged questions from the audience, and with this edition the staging is less than polished, but it is worth it to see Dudley's musical talents shine through. At 46 minutes, it wouldn't be enough to tempt me, but Network have included an edition of the South Bank Show (with certain contractual edits) focusiing on Dudley, and this alone will make me part with my cash. I am not quite sure what edits have been made as I only vaguely remember watching the edition when it was first broadcast, but I supect that by the time the opening and closing titles were removed along with the break bumpers I suspect there is actually very little of the original show snipped out. |
:: Doctor At Sea
Dick Stuart-Clark and Duncan Waring are all that remain of the happy band at St. Swithin's, that is until Stuart-Clark is fired and finds himself a job at sea. In a fit of solidarity Waring resigns and is a little surprised when it is accepted, but signs up for the same ship as Stuart-Clark. The life of a medical officer should be a breeze, or so they think, but they hadn't bargained on there being two from the same mould, so whilst it is farewell to Professor Geoffrey Loftus, it is hello to Captain Norman Luftus, his brother.
Emergency operations, cranky passengers, a crew uprising and the ill temperament of Cpt. Loftus all threaten to turn a much-anticiapted voyage into a nightmare-at-sea. Adapted from the popular book sbut Richard Gordon, this show follows in the tradition of the previous series (Doctor In The House, Doctor In Charge, and Doctor At Large) with some notable guest appearances from the like sof David Jason and Bond girl Eva Reuber-Staier.
This two discs set contains all 13 episode of the series and is available from the 23rd June.
:: Universal Cinema Classics
Universal have gone back to their film catalogue and selected a number of titles to re-issue under the Universal Cinema Classics banner. Most, if not all, of the titles have been issued separately and as boxed sets before, and with all of them classics, there is little room for extras as most of the cast are long gone. These single releases have a retail price of under a tenner though, so with some prudent shopping about (see the Amazon links above) you will be able to pick up your favourites at about half that price - a real bargain!
Out of the range the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope and Big Crosby, and WC Fields fit in best with the site, so I will concentrate on those releases, but will list the others at the end:
Four of the Marx Brothers films are in the collection and all still delight and amuse decades after their release. A clever mixture of physical comedy, musical numbers and a bucket of slapstick, the Marx Brothers are classic comedy at its zaniest. First up is Monkey Business (1931). This was the first Marx Brother's film to be written directly for the screen, Harpo, Groucho, Chico and Zeppo are perfectly cast in this loveable romp as four stowaways on an ocean liner bound for New York. With each Marx Brother embroiled in his own unique troublesome adventure Monkey Business is a classic Marx Brothers madcap escapade.
Animal Crackers (1930). This was adapted from a Marx Brothers smash hit Broadway musical, Animal Crackers is the story of aristocratic Mrs Rittenhouses's (Margaret Dumont - Duck Soup, A Day At The Races) weekend party and the antics of her eccentric guests including Groucho Marx's famous, but most likely phoney, African explorer Geoffery T. Spaulding, Chico's rebellious musician Signor Emmanuel Ravelli, Harpo's mute but girl crazy 'Professor'. Animal Crackers is one of the Marx Brothers most well known and best-loved films. Duck Soup (1933) and Horse Feathers (1932) are the other two films available in this series.
It wasn't long ago that a boxed edition of W.C. Fields films were released, and it was covered in depth here, but two have made it out again as part of this range, they are: My Little Chickadee (1940). Edward F. Cline, Mae West, W.C. Fields - each with their own agenda, a fake marriage is formed between Flower Belle Lee and Cuthbert J. Twillie. Trouble starts as they move to the new town to embark on their new lives. Never Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941). W.C. Fields attempts to sell a surreal story of journey involving jumping from a plane for a bottle of booze to Esoteric Studios.
The Road To movie series was an enduring one, and three of them are presented as part of the Cinema Classics range: Road to Utopia (1946). With Hal Walker, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, this film was nominated, 1947 Best Original Screenplay Oscar®. Duke and Chester, a couple of vaudeville performers, stumble across a stolen map to a secret gold mine. It's not long before they find themselves involved in a big hunt involving lots of people chasing the map.
Road To Morocco (1942). With David Butler, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour this was nominated - 1943 Best Writing Original Screenplay and Best Sound, Recording Oscar. Adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean, Jeff and Turkey soon find themselves washed up on a desert shore. As they make their way to a nearby City, Turkey is captured and sold as a slave to the beautiful Princess Shalmar of Karameesh. And finally, the first of the Road To.. films, Road to Singapore (1942). With Victor Schertzinger, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Crosby and Hope star as men trying to forget previous romances in Singapore, until they meet Dorothy Lamour!
This is only a handful of the titles in the range though, with the others including:
- Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) with Preston Sturges, Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines
- Harvey (1950) with Henry Koster, James Stewart, Josephine Hull
- Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) with Douglas Sirk, Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn
- Operation Petticoat (1959) with Blake Edwards, Cary Grant, Tony Curtis
- The Paleface (1948) with Norman Z. McLeod, Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Robert Armstrong
- The Great McGinty (1940) with Preston Sturges, Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus
- The Trouble With Harry (1955) with Alfred Hitchcock, Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe
- Sullivan's Travels (1941) with Preston Sturges, Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
- The Devil Is A Woman (1935) with Josef von Sternberg, Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Atwill
- Follow The Boys (1944) with A. Edward Sutherland, George Raft, Vera Zorina, Grace McDonald, Charley Grapewin
- Family Plot (1976) with Alfred Hitchcock, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
- The Ballad Of Josie (1967) with Andrew V. McLaglen, Doris Day, Peter Graves, George Kennedy
- Belle Of The Nineties (1934) with Leo McCarey, Mae West, Roger Pryor, Johnny Mack Brown
