Lewis's legacy preserved in new DVD set
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
The DVD pile overflows this week, so let's get started.
Jerry Lewis: The "Legendary Jerry" Collection
In the past few years, we've seen collections of the classic comedies of Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin, the Marx Brothers and, most recently, Harold Lloyd. Now Paramount has released a 10-DVD set featuring nine of Lewis' solo films and one of his films with partner Dean Martin.
All of the other filmmakers were long gone when their various boxed sets were assembled, and Lewis is still alive and well enough despite well-publicized health problems to supervise this collection. This set clearly is an effort to establish a filmmaking legacy.
It's easy to put Lewis down. His public persona can certainly color ones feeling about his art. Setting that aside, Lewis occupies a singular spot in film history: he is the last comedian who wrote, produced, directed and starred in a lengthy series of films.
And that is quite an accomplishment.
The set includes The Delicate Delinquent, The Bellboy, Cinderfella, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, The Patsy, The Disorderly Orderly, The Family Jewels and The Stooge. It's interesting to watch Lewis's basic character the earnest but hapless young man change from its full spastic mode in the Martin and Lewis film The Stooge to its more toned down model in movies such as The Bellboy.
The Bellboy was Lewis's first effort as a director and it's basically a series of gags revolving around the largely silent character Stanley played by Lewis. It's actually a fun picture that is an affectionate tribute to Lewis's hero Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame.
The Stooge allows viewers to play psychologist and wonder just why Lewis selected this particular film co-starring his partner Dean Martin. It's notable for its plot in which Martin's character a struggling singer finds success in vaudeville after bring a stooge (Lewis) into his act. Martin abuses Lewis throughout the film until he finally realizes how much he needs Lewis and how much Lewis loves him.
Of the ten movies, perhaps the worst is The Patsy, a masochistic offering about a team of Hollywood insiders who pick a nobody to groom into a star. The Family Jewels is definitely a film aimed at children and is also hard going for adults.
The best film is The Nutty Professor, which is given the "special edition" treatment. There are a fair number of extras including screen treats, bloopers and outtakes as well as a new documentary on the film and a commentary by Lewis and his friend singer Steve Lawrence.
The Nutty Professor is a solid comic horror film, the horror being provided by Lewis's masterful performance as Buddy Love, the oiliest lounge lizard and bully that has ever graced the screen.
If you're a fan of Lewis's work, then this set is essential.
For more information, log onto www.paramount.com/homeentertainment.
The White Hell of Pitz Palu
S.O.S. Iceberg
These two releases from Kino on Video are both fascinating films that feature one of the screen's most controversial figures, German actress and filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
Riefenstahl is well known for her two documentaries, Triumph of the Will and Olympia that have been accused of glorifying Nazi Germany. Riefenstahl spent much of her life after World War II refuting that she had been a Nazi and lived to see new acclaim for her photos of the Nubu people of Africa and a documentary film on coral reefs. She died at age 101 in 2003.
These two films were made well before any controversy when Riefenstahl was just an actress. White Hell is a mountain climbing drama that is notable for not only its amazing photography no CGI stuff here and superb editing, but also for its compelling story about obsession.
The orchestral score by Ashley Irwin is a magnificent accompaniment for this silent film.
The White Hell disc includes the last filmed interview with Riefenstahl and that is also quite revealing.
S.O.S Iceberg affords viewers the opportunity of watching not only the original German version of the film, but also the English-language version as well. In the early days of sound films, it was not uncommon to shoot more than one version of a film to export to overseas markets, rather than re-dub it. Sometimes the foreign films although they were to be made along side the originals had different casts and different scenes.
The two versions of this film, though, are radically different. Both have a plot that revolves around the rescue of a team of explorers from an iceberg floating off of Greenland.
For more information, log onto www.kino.com
The Ren & Stimpy Show: Season Five and Some More of Four
This three disc set features the last 17 cartoons of the original Nickelodeon series and there are 13 audio commentaries featuring people who worked for creator John Kricfalusi and those who worked at the studio that took over the series.
Naturally Krifalusi and his loyalist kick the heck out of those cartoons which their successors made. Their commentaries sometimes have little to do with the shorts themselves, but rather present a re-living of the corporate brouhaha. Some people might find it interesting, while others might view them as dull and tedious.
The only Ren & Stimpy shorts left to be presented on DVD are those hidous ones Kricfalusi made several years ago for Spike TV.
For more information, log onto www.paramount.com/homeentertainment.
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