Mike Clark
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Cleopatra’ (1934) and ‘A Lady Takes a Chance’
Cleopatra (1934) Universal, Drama, $19.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, C. Aubrey Smith. 1934. Universal’s new Blu-ray of the Cecil B. DeMille’s take on the legend, with Claudette Colbert in the title role, is one of the most immaculate presentations of a vintage black-and-white movie that I’ve ever seen. … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Cleopatra’ (1934) and ‘A Lady Takes a Chance’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘No Down Payment’ and ‘Moonrise’
No Down Payment Available via ScreenArchives.com Twilight Time, Drama, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Sheree North, Barbara Rush, Cameron Mitchell, Pat Hingle, Patricia Owens. 1957. A time-capsule movie that also captures the members of its large cast at interesting career junctures, No Down Payment, based on a John McPartland novel, … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘No Down Payment’ and ‘Moonrise’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Cleopatra’ (1934) and ‘A Lady Takes a Chance’
Cleopatra (1934) Universal, Drama, $19.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, C. Aubrey Smith. 1934. Universal’s new Blu-ray of the Cecil B. DeMille’s take on the legend, with Claudette Colbert in the title role, is one of the most immaculate presentations of a vintage black-and-white movie that I’ve ever seen. … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Cleopatra’ (1934) and ‘A Lady Takes a Chance’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘No Down Payment’ and ‘Moonrise’
No Down Payment Available via ScreenArchives.com Twilight Time, Drama, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Sheree North, Barbara Rush, Cameron Mitchell, Pat Hingle, Patricia Owens. 1957. A time-capsule movie that also captures the members of its large cast at interesting career junctures, No Down Payment, based on a John McPartland novel, … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘No Down Payment’ and ‘Moonrise’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘The Awful Truth’ and ‘Singing Guns’
The Awful Truth Criterion, Comedy, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy. 1937. If anything, it’s Irene Dunne who owns the greatest of all screwball comedies — playing off a perfect supporting cast and displaying a no-holds-barred wacky streak, but the likely selling point these days for director Leo McCarey’s … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Awful Truth’ and ‘Singing Guns’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Ruby Gentry’ and ‘Madigan’
Ruby Gentry Street 4/24/18 Kino Lorber, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston, Karl Malden, Tom Tully. 1952. It’s been suggested that King Vidor was a greater director of individual scenes than sustained movies, and there are redeeming bits here and there that transcend what is at heart an amusingly trashy … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Ruby Gentry’ and ‘Madigan’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘King of Jazz’ and ‘Underworld U.S.A.’
King of Jazz Criterion, Musical, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Paul Whiteman, John Boles, Laura La Plante, The Rhythm Boys (with Bing Crosby). 1930. King of Jazz isn’t anywhere near perfect, but it is perfectly amazing, and so, again, is one of those discs that justify the invention of Blu-rays. Extras: Authors James Layton … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘King of Jazz’ and ‘Underworld U.S.A.’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘While the City Sleeps’ and ‘Don’t Bother to Knock’
While the City Sleeps Available via Warner Archive Warner, Drama, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Vincent Price, John Barrymore Jr. 1956. Even at a reasonable 99 minutes, Fritz Lang’s newspaper crime drama While the City Sleeps gets ground down by a clunky boilerplate romance between Pulitzer-winning print newshound/TV … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘While the City Sleeps’ and ‘Don’t Bother to Knock’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Running Wild’ and ‘Great Balls of Fire!’
Running Wild Kino Lorber, Comedy, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars W.C. Fields, Marie Shotwell, Mary Brian, Barnett Raskin. 1927. Director Gregory La Cava’s silent-era crowd-pleaser is funnier than expected given that W.C. Fields is without his vocal deliveries, but he was such a physical performer, and La Cava such a deft viual director, that … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Running Wild’ and ‘Great Balls of Fire!’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘The L-Shaped Room’
Night of the Living Dead: Criterion Collection Criterion, Horror, $39.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman. 1968. In any form, the opening shot seems exactly right: a moving car finessing all the twists and turns of a pastoral setting that turns out to be a graveyard entrance that … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘The L-Shaped Room’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘The Hanging Tree’ and ‘Steve McQueen: American Icon’
The Hanging Tree Available via Warner Archive Warner, Western, $21.99 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Ben Piazza, Karl Malden, George C. Scott. 1959. Gary Cooper made three more movies after The Hanging Tree before his death in the spring of 1961, but due to varied limitations in terms of conception and/or execution, none … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘The Hanging Tree’ and ‘Steve McQueen: American Icon’”
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Mike’s Picks: ‘Raw Deal’ and ‘Belle Epoque’
Raw Deal: Special Edition ClassicFlix, Film Noir, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, NR. Stars Dennis O’Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, Raymond Burr. 1948. Dennis O’Keefe, who’s something of a comfortable presence throughout Raw Deal despite its occasional pronounced brutality, found himself an ideal actor of noir, thanks to looks on the high-side of “Average Joe” and … Continue reading “Mike’s Picks: ‘Raw Deal’ and ‘Belle Epoque’”