Category Archives: TV

Books, Movies, TV

“Clarence Brown: Hollywood’s Forgotten Master” is a masterpiece of the man and his movies

There are good directors.

There are great directors.

Then there’s Clarence Brown.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Brown owned his own automobile dealership, the Brown Motor Car Company, in Birmingham, Alabama, earning a very comfortable salary of $6,500 a year. Armed with a double degree in engineering and a practical knowledge of machines, he worked for both the Moline Auto Company in Illinois and the Stevens-Duryea Company in Massachusetts before starting his own business.

By 1915, however, he was working with director Maurice Tourneur on Trilby, giving up a promising career in one burgeoning industry for another. For cinephiles, it was a fortuitous decision. Over the course of a five decade–long career, Brown directed numerous films that have stood the test of time—including The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Anna Christie (1930), Anna Karenina (1935), The Human Comedy (1943), National Velvet(1944), The Yearling (1946), and Intruder in the Dust (1949).

Though he crafted films that garnered 38 Academy Award nominations, Brown is not as well remembered as many of his contemporaries. Historian Gwenda Young hopes to change that with the publication of Clarence Brown: Hollywood’s Forgotten Master, the first full-length biography of the seminal director. She recounts his upbringing as the son of hardworking Irish immigrants, as well as his work with stars such as Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Mary Pickford, which created his reputation for introducing new discoveries as well as revitalizing fading careers. Throughout his long tenure behind the camera, Brown defied expectations to create a lasting body of work that spanned Hollywood’s silent and golden eras.

Brown repeatedly proved his worth by coaching and inspiring great performances. He directed Greta Garbo’s first “talkie,” Anna Christie, which earned her a Best Actress nomination. Garbo later described him as her favorite director. He introduced audiences to a more refined, mature side of Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943), which Rooney regarded as “one of the best I ever did.” Brown also excelled at redefining and reviving careers, like Norma Shearer in A Free Soul (1931), which helped her to shed her sweet girl persona and define herself as a modern woman for audiences. Perhaps most significantly, he was known for discovering stars, notably Elizabeth Taylor and Claude Jarman Jr.

Brown continually defied expectations, including W.C. Fields’ famous warning about working with children and animals. The Yearling earned a 12-year-old Jarman a special Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actor, and National Velvet introduced the world to Taylor, also 12 at the time. Both films endure for their representation of the relationships between children and their horses.
Though Brown was known for heartwarming slices of Americana, he created films that were hard-hitting and dealt with sensitive cultural issues as well. He explored sensuality in Flesh and the Devil (1926), where viewers were able to see Garbo and John Gilbert’s charged chemistry on screen for the first time, and he directed one of the most revealing depictions of racial prejudice in Intruder in the Dust.

In this first comprehensive account of the life and work of an innovative and unique filmmaker, Young presents the spectrum of Brown’s work in Hollywood as well as his life before and after his creative successes. Spanning from the silent era to technicolor, Brown’s career shows how the industry evolved, and Young reveals the depths of Brown’s hardworking spirit that led him from operating a car dealership in Birmingham, Alabama to creating films that helped define Hollywood across different eras.

DVDs, Movies, TV

“Master of Dark Shadows” takes viewers deep(er) into Collinwood

Baby Boomers have sunk their teeth into many small-screen shows, but was anything more darkly delicious than Dark Shadows?

Master of Dark Shadows (MPI Home Media), a comprehensive celebration of the legendary Gothic daytime series and its visionary creator, Dan Curtis, is a feature documentary about the undyingly popular story of vampire Barnabas Collins and all the eerie goings-on at the gloomy Maine mansion Collinwood. The documentary was directed by David Gregory.

Narrated by Ian McShane, Master of Dark Shadows offers insights from Curtis, in addition to Oscar-winning writer-producer Alan Ball, screenwriter William F. Nolan, author Herman Wouk, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Steele and Ben Cross. Of course many members of the cast chime in, including Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Jerry Lacy, Roger Davis, Marie Wallace, Chris Pennock and James Storm.

In 1966, a phenomenon was launched when Dark Shadows debuted on ABC as a daily Gothic suspense series. Airing in the late afternoon, the show attracted a massive youth audience as it shifted to the supernatural with the introduction of vulnerable vampire Barnabas Collins. Witches, ghosts and scary story lines turned Dark Shadows into a TV classic that led to motion pictures, remakes, reunions and legions of devoted fans who have kept the legend alive for five decades.
The documentary reveals the fascinating history, far-reaching impact and lasting appeal of Dark Shadows with a compelling blend of rare footage and behind-the-scenes stories while also exploring the dramatic talents of creator-producer-director Dan Curtis.
DVDs, Movies, TV

“Frontline: Documenting Hate”, an in-depth investigation into today’s white supremacy groups in the U.S. is mandatory viewing.

Love survives hate. It overcomes it.

PBS Distribution’s Frontline: Documenting Hate, an in-depth, two-part investigation into today’s white supremacy groups in the U.S. and the violent attacks that have taken place as a result, is mandatory viewing. Divided into two parts, Charlottesville and New American Nazis, the documentary focuses on how each has played a major role in reinforcing hate in America.

In Charlottesville, correspondent A.C. Thompson methodically tracks down some of those at the center of the infamous and deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia—revealing that one participant in the violence was an active-duty Marine, and the other worked for a major defense contractor and held a U.S. government security clearance. This part also shows just how ill-prepared law enforcement was to handle an influx of white supremacists from across the country, some of whom had been part of a series of earlier violent confrontations in California and descended on Charlottesville specifically to fight.

The second part of the program, New American Nazis, presents a new investigation into white supremacist groups in America—in particular, a neo-Nazi group, Atomwaffen Division, that has actively recruited inside the U.S. Military. This joint investigation documents the group’s terrorist objectives, examines how civilian and military authorities have responded, and shows how the group gained strength after the 2017 Charlottesville rally. In the wake of the 2018 deadly anti-Semitic attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, this program documents the rise and force behind these white supremacy groups.

DVDs, Movies, TV

MHz Choice releases three new international DVD box sets. Don’t know foreign languages? There are subtitles.

Bet you didn’t know we speak a few languages, other than English?
Really.
We’ve learned snatches of Spanish (¿Dónde está la biblioteca?).
Some bits of Swedish (Hur är det?).
And our fave, French. (Oui!)
Yet you won’t need to dust off the passport, international driver’s license and some old francs since, on May 28, MHz Choice releases three new international DVD box sets . . . even if you don’t know foreign languages, there are subtitles.
You do know how to read, don’t you?
FYI: Each season is also available as a separate DVD set. Order @ shopmhz.com.

From Spain
Velvet: The Complete Series Box Set (Seasons 1-4) 
Spain’s sexy, blockbuster television series takes you to the golden age of haute couture–late ’50s Madrid–where silk, sensuality and seduction flourish in a clothing emporium where everyone would like to go shopping at least once. Velvet Galleries is an Art Deco palace, a magical place of dazzling luxury and glamour. What shoppers don’t see, however, is the tender love story unfolding in the Galleries between humble dressmaker, Ana, and Alberto, the owner’s son and heir apparent.

Among elegant fabrics and haute-couture dresses, Ana and Alberto yield to their love, knowing full well that Alberto’s family opposes his relationship with a poor young employee. While Alberto rebels against family expectations, Ana, who longs to become a designer, struggles to assert herself as a creative personality. As family conflicts simmer, the star-crossed lovers Alberto and Ana fight for their destiny and pursue their forbidden love.

From France
Captain Marleau, Volumes 1 and 2
Captain Marleau (played by Corinne Masiero) has a hunter’s instinct, disguised under a deliberately offbeat veneer.  As she says herself, she doesn’t skim over cases, she plunges into them. Always on the prowl, she lies in wait for clues and her prey and takes them by surprise. In each episode, her hunt centers around a character
played by a famous actor…men and women who are a match for the outstanding cop.

Captain Marleau is the brainchild of French writer Elsa Marpeau, who describes her as a cross between Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson, Raymond Chandler’s literary creation, Philip Marlowe and Peter Falk’s, Columbo. The series is directed by another female French treasure, Josée Dayan. This team of women have created a policewoman who wears a parka and a Holden Caulfield hunting cap, dances and sings spontaneously, doesn’t care what others think of her and sees through lies with laser clarity. Her breezy manner and little red braids suggest Pippi Longstocking and believe the fact that she’s the smartest person in the room.  French audiences swooned over Captain Marleau, just like coroner Léopold Salaun (Jean-Claude Drouot) – because she’s a refreshing blast of crime-solving brilliance.

From Sweden
Miss Friman’s War
Meet the courageous group of women brave enough to take on both the male ruling classes of the day and a corrupt food industry. Savvy is their strategy and cans of healthy food are their weapons! It’s 1905 in Stockholm and Swedish lives are changing rapidly because of the introduction of new food safety technologies. Despite the advances, food poisoning epidemics are common among low income families and the line between different social groups remains clearly defined. The role of women also remains clearly defined, limited to hearth and home.

That is the situation Miss Dagmar Friman finds herself in when she returns to Stockholm after several years living in London. Miss Friman is more than a little headstrong and believes firmly in equal rights for women. She and her friends set out to open Swedish Homes, a grocery cooperative that sells unspoiled food at prices even workers can afford.  It’s a store for women, run by women and a revolutionary idea for its time. When the all-male board of the Stockholm Wholesale Association learn about the women’s business plan they start fighting back in any way they can, including illegal blockades. Unfazed, the women are determined to overcome all obstacles and open their Swedish Homes store on time.

DVDs, Movies, Music, TV

“Sammy Davis , Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me” chronicles the career of the one-eyed wonder

Finally. PBS Distribution has released the new American Masters program, Sammy Davis , Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me,  the first major film documentary to examine the performer’s vast career and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America. Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, vast in scope and scale.

And yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory. He was a veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions and worked tirelessly to stay relevant, even as he frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America. Davis was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to that of another persecuted minority. In Duke Ellington’s words, he was “beyond category.”

Featuring interviews with such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection and footage of his electric performances, this film explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory highlighted the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the ’80s.

DVDs, Movies, TV

A quartet of important PBS programs, now on DVD

We are always writing about PBS’ specials and programs because they are, well, special programs.

A few choices:

NOVA: Pluto and Beyond
When the New Horizons spacecraft whizzed by Pluto in 2015, we Earthlings were dazzled by the breathtaking images it beamed home. They revealed a never-before-seen alien landscape – a world of mountains made of ice mixed with plains of frozen-solid methane and nitrogen. After more than two years of poring over the data, NASA has made remarkable new discoveries about everyone’s favorite dwarf planet.

But New Horizons didn’t stop there. On New Year’s Day 2019, the probe flew by an object known now as Ultima Thule, believed to be a primordial building block of the solar system. This is the most distant flyby in NASA’s history – 4 billion miles from Earth. If successful, it will shed light on one of the least understood regions of our solar system: the Kuiper Belt. NOVA was embedded with the New Horizons mission team as the team uncovered in real time the secrets of what lies beyond Pluto.

NATURE: Equus: The Story of the Horse
Ever since the beginning of time, humans and horses have had an extraordinary and unusual partnership. As a result, horses have helped shape the human world. In this program, viewers join anthropologist Dr. Niobe Thompson and equine experts on a two-part adventure around the world and throughout time to discover the origins of the horse and what makes us so perfect for each other. In part one, Origins, viewers experience a stunning 3D reconstruction as a realistic animation of the 45 million-year-old ancestor of the horse, the Dawn horse, rises from a fossil bed and begins a transformation into the magnificent animal we know today. Viewers discover why horses have almost 360-degree vision and gallop on a single toe.

In part two of the program, Chasing the Wind, viewers encounter extraordinary horse breeds old of the Siberian Arctic to the scorching heat of the Arabian Desert. Filmed over 18 months across three continents, the program not only explores the horse and its biology but how humans have partnered with the horse throughout the centuries, creating more than 400 breeds found all around the world.

USS INDIANAPOLIS: The Final Chapter
In the waning days of World War II, less than three weeks before the Japanese surrendered, the U.S. Navy experienced a catastrophic disaster. The USS Indianapolis, the pride and joy of the U.S. Navy, had just delivered the components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima when she is sunk by a Japanese sub. 300 sailors go down with her, and the 900 survivors drift for four and a half days, battling the sun, thirst, sharks, and their own fear. Ultimately, only 316 of them are pulled from the sea alive.

https://youtu.be/lyIboZvBa2I

The sinking of Indianapolis remains the U.S. Navy’s worst single loss of life at sea. The program flashes back and forth in time between the Indianapolis’ history and her ultimate fate, and 2017, when explorers finally found the ship’s remains 18,000 feet below the surface of the Philippine Sea. Viewers will hear first-hand accounts from survivors about those horrific days trying to survive and how they feel today, now that the USS Indianapolishas been found.

Victoria & Albert: The Wedding
This two-part British drama produced by BBC Studios for PBS and BBC gives an insider’s look into the elaborate planning that went into one of the most famous weddings of all time: the romantic 1840 union of Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert. Host and Royal historian Lucy Worsley, along with a team of experts, oversees the meticulous recreation of the most important and fascinating elements of the wedding celebration, from the food and the music to the tiered cake, exquisite white wedding dress, and more.

Scouring all available materials, including Victoria’s own diaries for details, the program reveals how the pomp and pageantry secured the nation’s unwavering attention as Victoria gained favor with her subjects and invented the modern ideal of marriage.

DVDs, Movies, TV

Put down the Kindle. Switch off Netflix. Here are four must-see PBS programs

We hear about important programs being released on DVD by PBS Distribution, and we must share the news.
Rise of the Rockets (NOVA)
An explosion of private companies is sparking the development of new technologies and lowering costs to bring space closer than ever. And at the same time, NASA is returning to crewed spaceflight with gusto, building a rocket more powerful even than the storied Saturn V to take us far beyond Earth.

Will today’s optimism prove prescient, or nothing more than hype and wishful thinking? As costs come down and rockets with new capabilities come online, a new generation is reaching for the cosmos, daring to dream big and yearning to go farther, in greater numbers than ever before.
Watch for it May 7.

In The Next Pompeii, NOVA joins investigators as they hunt for clues hidden beneath the surface of Italy’s lesser-known volcano Campi Flegrei, and assesses the risk of a new and potentially devastating eruption. The program also follows historians and geologists as they discover the latest evidence of Pompeii’s fiery destruction, unpacking the chain of events that led to the ancient world’s most notorious disaster.

https://youtu.be/tzjUV0RiOJ8

What lessons does the tragedy of Pompeii hold for Naples’ citizens, who may face a mounting threat from the unseen forces beneath their feet?
Watch for it May 14.

The Roman emperor Nero is considered one of history’s greatest criminals, a cruel, insane and brutal ruler. His name has become synonymous with evil, and he stands accused of killing his step-brother, his wife, and his mother, as well as burning Rome to the ground for his own artistic inspiration. But are these stories true? Can they be proven?

Recent research, modern interpretations of historical sources, and new discoveries cast a different light on the accusations levelled at the Roman emperor. The Nero Files investigates Nero’s reign with the help of criminal psychologist Thomas Müller, using “cold case” methodology. Did history get it wrong? Was Nero a far better ruler than he’s ever been given credit for?
Watch for it May 14.

In the aftermath of the brutal wars that decimated Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s, former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic was accused of genocide and other war crimes—including the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica in July 1995—considered the worst crime perpetrated on European soil since World War II.
The Trial of Ratko Mladic (Frontline) chronicles the horror.
After 16 years on the run, Mladic was apprehended and brought to The Hague to stand trial before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal, the biggest and only truly international war crimes tribunal since Nuremburg.

In the two-hour special Frontline goes inside the historic five-year trial, with unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the prosecution and defense teams, as well as to witnesses from both sides who came to present evidence.
The Trial of Ratko Mladic provides haunting insights into a war criminal’s motives, and the genocide he commanded his troops to carry out—as well as an intimate look at the victims left behind, who remain haunted by what their families endured. It tells an epic story of justice, accountability and a country trying to escape its bloody past.
Watch for it May 28.

DVDs, Movies, TV

PBS’ two blockbuster releases: “Unforgotten, Season 3” and a new take on “Les Misérables”

PBS Distribution welcomes May with two knock-out DVDs. May we introduce them?

When human remains are found by a motorway near London, the crime-solving duo, Cassie and Sunny are called to the scene. Dogged work leads the team to Hayley Reid, a 16-year-old girl who went missing on the eve of the millennium. The police’s failure to find out what happened to Hayley wrecked her family’s life. Cassie’s compassion makes her determined to correct the mistakes made by the original investigating team—whatever the cost is to herself.
Welcome Unforgotten, Season 3.
A close-knit group of old school friends hold the key to what happened: Doctor Tim Finch, television host James Hollis, failing salesman Pete Carr and artist Chris Lowe.

As the four suspects find themselves under the spotlight, their tight bond is put to the test. They all have secrets in their past, events that have pulled their lives apart. None of them are quite who they seem to be, but is one of them capable of murder?
Watch for it May 7.

A blockbuster novel for over 150 years comes vividly to life in award-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies’ multi-layered retelling of Victor Hugos’ Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. This enthralling six-episode adaptation stars Dominic West as Jean Valjean, the most famous fugitive in literature; David Oyelowo stars as his relentless pursuer, Javert; and Lily Collins as the tragic seamstress, Fantine; Ellie Bamber plays her adolescent daughter, Cosette; Olivia Colman and Adeel Akhtar are Cosette’s cruel overseers, the Thénardiers; and Josh O’Connor  is the student and reluctant revolutionary Marius, who falls in love with Cosette at first sight.

Joining the extensive cast are David Bradley as Marius’s formidable grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand; and Derek Jacobi as the kindly Bishop of Digne, who rescues Valjean at his lowest ebb. London’s The Guardian calls this Les Misérables “a rich feast…c’est magnifique!”
Watch for it May 21.

DVDs, TV

Save the date! MPI Media offers the first 5 seasons of “The Donna Reed Show”, complete versions and digitally remastered.

There’s no need to worry about having to read small print. We announce the news, as transparent as this clean, fresh font.

MPI Media Group  will be releasing a favorite TV classic on DVD  on May 14. Save the date! Originally airing on ABC-TV from 1958 to 1966, The Donna Reed Show  is one of the most popular and enduring family sitcoms in television history. Starring Oscar-winning Donna Reed as homemaker Donna Stone, Carl Betz as her pediatrician husband Alex, Shelley Fabares as daughter Mary, Paul Petersen as son Jeff and, later, Patty Petersen as adoptee Trisha, the series is a humorous and heartwarming slice of Americana that has earned a legion of new fans through showings on Nick at Nite, TV Land and MeTV.

Guest stars include Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Buster Keaton, Bob Crane, Marion Ross, Gale Gordon, John Astin, Ted Knight, Richard Deacon, Don Drysdale, Esther Williams, Tony Martin and Jimmy Hawkins. This special collection presents all 186 episodes from Seasons 1 through 5 in complete versions and digitally remastered.

The set also includes new featurettes and interviews with Shelley Fabares and Paul and Patty Petersen, vintage promotional spots, original cast and sponsor commercials, Donna Reed’s tribute on This Is Your Life, rare footage and much more.

Books, TV

Isaac Mizrahi: His designs on being Jewish, gay, a designer and oh! So much more. “I.M.” is a great fun book!

You’ll need to flip the book back and forth to get the full impact of Isaac Mizrahi’s autobiography. Flip! Huge “I”. Flip! Huge “M”.

Isaac Mizrachi. Perhaps “I, Marvelous”? Or “Isaac, Minnelli”?

The diva designer/actor/QVC flak has unzipped all the details (good, bad, sexy and, yes, even phone sex!) of his life and career (starry-eyed man meets and works for stars . . . think Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker).

And what an absolute joy (do we dare add “and right on Target”?) I.M.: A Memoir (Flatiron Books, $28.99) is.

So, what was your first introduction to I.M.? Are you one of the people who was lucky enough to get your hands on the designer’s early line in the early ’90’s? Was it the first time you saw his behind-the-scenes documentary, Unzipped? Or when you stepped into a Target and saw that there was a new line by the designer being sold there? (My pooch still loves her official I.M. dog toy!)

Maybe you’ve seen Isaac during one of his cabaret shows in New York City or, flipping through the channels at home only to realize that the charming host you’ve been watching on QVC is none other than the designer himself?

In I.M., Mizrahi offers a poignant, candid, and touching look back on his life so far. And what a life it’s been. He tells the story of growing up gay in a sheltered Syrian Jewish Orthodox family, portraying a strained relationship with his father and a complicated one with his beloved mother. At the famed LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts, Isaac found his people (and appeared in his first movie, Fame). As a budding fashion designer, Isaac worked with luminaries such as Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein.

I.M. with QVC favorite saleslady Shawn Killinger

After branching out on his own, his label’s instant success anointed him the wunderkind of the international fashion world. Isaac’s unique talents drew him into fashion and celebrity circles that read like a who’s who of the 20th and 21st centuries: Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Wintour, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey. He looks back on his groundbreaking documentary, Unzipped, and after his first fall from grace, his partnership with Target that brought his high-end collection to the masses and revolutionized fashion retail.

Isaac describes his numerous self-reinventions that landed him back to his first true calling of show business. He delves into his lifelong battles with his weight, insomnia, and depression. He tells what it was like to be an out gay man in a homophobic age and to witness the ravaging effects of the AIDS epidemic. In his elegant memoir, brimming with intimate details and inimitable wit, Isaac reveals not just the glamour of his years, but the grit beneath the glitz. Rich with memorable stories from in and out of the spotlight, I.M. illuminates deep emotional truths.