Gone with the Wind (Four-Disc Collector's Edition) (1941) Review

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(More customer reviews)It seems like a 'new, improved' edition of "Gone With the Wind" has appeared every couple of years, offering the 'ultimate' in picture and sound reproduction, and extras. It can become expensive keeping up, and frustrating (much like buying a classic Disney DVD, when you know a more complete "Special Edition" will soon render your "First Time on Video" copy obsolete), but the new GWTW Four-Disc Collector's Edition most assuredly deserves a place in your collection.
First off, the picture and sound quality is astonishing. Warner's Ultra-Resolution process, which 'locks' the three Technicolor strips into exact alignment, provides a clarity and 'crispness' to the images that even the 1939 original print couldn't achieve. You'll honestly believe your TV is picking up HD, whether you're HD-ready, or not! This carries over to the Dolby Digital-remastered sound, as well. All of the tell-tale hiss and scratchiness of the opening credit title music, still discernable in the last upgrade, is gone, replaced by a richness of tone that will give your home theater a good workout. (Listen to the brass in this sequence, and you'll notice what I'm talking about...)
The biggest selling point of this edition is, of course, the two discs of additional features offered, and these are, in general, superb. Beginning with the excellent "Making of a Legend" (narrated by Christopher Plummer), Disc Three offers fascinating overviews about the film, the amazing restoration, footage from the 1939 Premiere (and the bittersweet 1961 Civil War Centennial reunion of Selznick, Leigh, and de Havilland), glimpses of Gable and Leigh with dubbed voices for the foreign-language versions, the international Prologue (tacked on to explain the Civil War to foreign audiences), and a 1940 MGM documentary on the "Old South" (directed by Fred Zinneman) memorable today for it's simplistic view of the time, and stereotypical portrayal of blacks.
Disc Four is a mixed bag; the long-awaited reminiscences of Olivia de Havilland are more chatty than informative (with the 90-year-old actress more interested in discussing her wardrobe than on-set tension...although a prank she pulled on Gable is amusing), and the Clark Gable Profile is superficial (A&E's biography of 'The King' is far superior). Things improve, however, with the insightful, sympathetic TCM biography of Vivien Leigh (hosted by Jessica Lange), and a WONDERFUL section devoted to brief bios of many of the GWTW supporting cast, narrated, again, by Christopher Plummer (although I wish the filmmakers would have included bios for Ward Bond, Victor Jory, Fred Crane, and George 'Superman' Reeves).
All in all, the GWTW Four-Disc Collector's Edition isn't perfect, but offers so much terrific material that it is CERTAINLY the one to own!



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DVD Features: Disc 1 & 2 (The Film) * Commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer * 5.1 Dolby Digital Soundtrack * Original Mono Soundtrack
DVD Features: Disc 3 * The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind the acclaimed 1989 documentary made by Selznick's sons and narrated by Christopher Plummer (125 Minutes, Never-before-available on DVD) * Restoring a Legend- An in-depth look at the restoration and Ultra-Resolution process utilized by Warner Bros. For this new DVD presentation * Footage from 1939 Atlanta and 1961 Civil War Centennial Atlanta premieres * The Old South - Fred Zinnerman directed this historical 1940 theatrical short, which was shown by MGM intheatres prior to the release of Gone With The Wind
DVD Features: Disc 4 * Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone With The Wind - All new documentary produced especially for this new DVD set, features Ms. de Havilland's personal recollections of the film * Clark Gable: A King Remembered - A Portrait of the legendary actor's long and distinguished career as M-G-M's most famous leading man * Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond hosted by Jessica Lange, this is an insightful look at Leigh's short and troubled life * Mini documentaries covering lives and careers of the most prominent cast members

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Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) Review

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(More customer reviews)One can set up a debate between a Jesuit priest supporting the sanctity of life and the secularist dedicated to worldwide birth control, but perhaps the message of the beauty and mystery and wonder of family would be better delivered by this comedy than by a recitation of the catechism. Henry Fonda's character is right: nothing new has been written since "Fanny Hill".
A reviewer wrote that she was disappointed at the children's disrespect toward the adults. But I thought the children's less than perfect behavior was essential to the film and the film's message. Yeah, having children, be it three or eighteen, is a burden. There's no guarantee they'll be grateful for the sacrifices you make for them or that they'll allow you to have any sort of life of your own. The children in the film are not angels. Few are. Indeed, I would argue they're rather normal, with the scales leaning heavily toward good. They're bratty, tender, difficult, warm, self-centered and giving. That's the beauty of life and humanity and it's more or less what Fonda tried to explain to Lucy's oldest daughter when she questioned him about sex. "You tell him that this is what it's all about."
Notice how the film places a certain amount of focus on Tim Matheson's character. Early on, he spikes Lucy's drink and then giggles as she humiliates herself. (Shades of the "Otter" character he would play ten years later.) But eventually he decides that she's not so bad - at about the time, not coincidentally, that he's becoming a man - then he accepts her and, being a natural leader like his father, persuades his siblings to elect her "our mother, for life".
That scene, indeed the whole film, would not have worked had the children been so unrealistically and quickly accepting of the stepmother. As it's played and as it's written, it comes off without the sense of being false or manipulative. Not an easy thing to do in film.
Without meaning any disrespect, I feel a certain amount of pity for the reviewer that grew up in Germany and wrote that they considered families of four or more "trash". (For the sake of Germany, I hope that's not true.) To each his own, I suppose. But if you can't appreciate this film and it's celebration of life and humanity, I'm not sure what you can enjoy. I will say that people that come from large families almost always laugh more than people that do not.
Still, I would not label "Yours, Mine and Hours" family values propaganda. Had that been the intention, there would not have been the classic drunk scene nor the part where a somewhat randy Fonda tells the parking valet, "Keep the motor running." I don't believe they were trying to do anything but tell a warm, funny story. They succeeded tremendously.

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Based on a true story and co-starring Van Johnson and Tom Bosley, Yours, Mine And Ours keeps the laughs coming in a "clean, wholesome family comedy" (Life).This population explosion occurs when widowed Navy nurse Helen North (Ball) meets handsome Naval officer and widower Frank Beardsley (Fonda). They have much in commontoo much in factshehas eight kids and he has ten, and when they tie the knot, anarchy reigns in the Beardsley-North merger. The opposing camps of step-siblings do all they can to sabotage each other and their parents' union. But, through it all, mother lovingly cares for her "troops," while father patiently coaches his coming-of-age kids in more delicate matters, and resentment soon gives way to respect and something bigger than anyone could have imagined!

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