This DVD is a must for Ray Charles fans
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD Two great documentaries, a neat thriller and more are featured in this week's DVD column.
Nature of the Beast
This 1995 unpretentious thriller delivers what it should a creepy 90 minutes with a great ending.
Staring Lance Henriksen and Eric Roberts, Beast tells the story of a chance encounter between two men who are clearly harboring secrets. Henriksen is a paper product salesman trying to get home when he meets up with Roberts, a hitchhiker with an attitude. We also know police are on the look-out for the thief who made off with over a million dollars from a Las Vegas casino, and for a serial killer who calls himself "Hatchet Man."
Writer and director Victor Salva produced a tight little two-actor tour de force for these talented performers. Despite having a serial killer in the plot, Salva avoids violence and gore, quite admirable in this day and age.
Although it's not a classic Beast should please gooseflesh fans.
For more information, log onto www.newline.com.
American Experience: Mary Pickford
American Experience: The Carter Family Will the Circle be Unbroken
Two great installments of the PBS series American Experience are now on DVD.
Mary Pickford is a revealing and heart-breaking look at the performer who was the first American movie superstar.
Lillian Gish may have been a better actress with a longer career, but in the early days of the silent film to the late 1920s, few actors approached the iconic popularity of Mary Pickford.
Dubbed "America's Sweetheart," Pickford was a talented and ambitious actress who was the first star to have her own production company. She was one of the co-founders of United Artists and carefully managed her career.
Married to Douglas Fairbanks, the great action and comedic star, Pickford was part of the most scrutinized and adored couple in Hollywood.
With the coming of sound, her popularity faltered and she retired from the screen while still in her late thirties.
Anyone interested in film history needs to see this expertly assembled 90-minute documentary. Director and writer Sue Williams has done a superlative effort in showing the significance of Pickford's accomplishments.
The Carter Family is equally entertaining and illuminating. Essentially a man who had been a failure at almost every job he tried, A.P. Carter became obsessed with the music of his rural Appalachia in the 1920s. When the opportunity arose to record a trial disc for the Victor Talking Machine Company, he convinced his wife and her cousin to try their luck with him.
The result was a string of hugely popular recordings that gave birth to the country music genre. If you've heard a rendition of "Will the Circle be Unbroken," "Keep on the Sunnyside," or "Wildwood Flower," then you've experience a little of the legacy of the Carter family.
Their personal story was bittersweet at best as A.P. and his wife split up and she eventually would not perform or record with him. Maybelle Carter continued in show business for years after that.
Even if you're not a country music fan, their story is compelling.
For more information on both of these productions, log onto www.pbs.org.
The Dick Cavett Show: The Ray Charles Collection
If Johnny Carson was the late night talk show host who understood mainstream entertainment the best, Dick Cavett was the host who understood current popular culture best. Cavett's shows on ABC in the 1970s mixed and matched political leaders with rock performers with doctors and scientists. The result was shows that were not like any other on television.
This new two DVD set from Shout Factory features three complete Cavett shows that have the late Ray Charles as a guest. In fact, on one show Charles is the only guest.
Fourteen Charles musical performances are included, as well as plenty of insight into the man whose nickname in show business was "The Genius."
The special feature is a contemporary interview with Cavett remembering Charles.
This is a must for Ray Charles fans.
For more info, log onto www.shoutfactory.com.
SCTV Volume Four
This six-disc set features the last season of SCTV on NBC and is the season in which Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and Catherine O'Hara left the troupe.
While one would think the absence of these three talented performers would have killed the show, instead it meant that newcomer Martin Short would have prominence.
Not only are we treated to Short's signature character of idiot but optimist Ed Grimley the parody of Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor with Grimley is great but the collection includes Short's all-around entertainer Jackie Rogers, Jr., and the inept interviewer Brock Linehan.
This is great comedy that I can watch over and over. Having these SCTV collections in the house means you never have to settle for re-run slop on cable ever again.
In the extras, there is a lengthy interview with Short about the show as well as a great home movie of the SCTV cast and crew playing baseball
For more info, log onto www.shoutfactory.com.
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