MGM Limited Edition Collection
by Nathan Cone

As the home video market continues to mature, movie studios are looking for new ways to deliver movies.  From on-demand streaming to high definition Blu-ray discs, there’s something for every type of movie enthusiast.

A little over two years ago, Warner Bros. began an online promotion, selling manufactured-on-demand discs of less popular titles. With shelf space at a premium in big box stores, there’s just not room for that 1923 silent version of “Scaramouche” to sit on the shelf at Best Buy collecting dust until that special fan discovers it.  Perhaps taking into account the statistical property known as the Long Tail, Warner Bros. discovered there’s a niche of movie fans that still want to own and hold on the movies they love.  The Warner Archive was born in 2009, and since that time, other studios have jumped into the manufactured-on-demand game, including MGM/Fox and Sony (Columbia).

These discs often contain no special features whatsoever. Though they are manufactured from the best available elements, studios are increasingly remastering older films, even for these on-demand releases.  I recently watched three films from MGM’s on-demand library, the Limited Edition Collection.  To get a feel for how the discs look, I chose to sample one color film from the 1980s, and two black and white releases from the 1960s.

THE HAPPY THIEVES

Long after her career-defining role in “Gilda,” Rita Hayworth starred in “The Happy Thieves” opposite Rex Harrison as part of a team of art thieves pilfering the museums and homes of Europe for private collectors.  Harrison is the mastermind of the gang, and Hayworth is his accomplice and lover.

The plot involves a wealthy Spaniard blackmailing the team into the theft of a famous Goya painting.  The story whiles away as breezily as the whistling tune that serves as the film’s soundtrack.  It’s not a great film, but Rex Harrison is his typical dapper self, and it’s odd to see Joseph Wiseman as the painter hired by Harrison to forge copies of Goya and Velasquez masterworks. This was one year before Wiseman was to play the villainous Dr. No in the first James Bond film.  Unfortunately, Rita Hayworth is mostly relegated to worrying and drinking in the movie.

The film was shot partly on location in Spain. At times I wished this black-and-white film was in color (a first).  But the transfer of the 1961 film to DVD is clean and mostly free of blemishes.

A THOUSAND CLOWNS

“A Thousand Clowns” is a gently subversive comedy from 1965 that was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture.  Martin Balsam won the Oscar for his supporting role in this film, which stars Jason Robards as Murray Burns, a dropout from society caring for his young nephew, Nick (Barry Gordon).  Two social workers (William Daniels and Barbara Harris) come knocking on Murray’s door to investigate why he’s been without a job, and how well he’s providing for Nick.  Murray is plainspoken and quick-witted, but one sometimes wonders if Nick isn’t looking after his uncle instead of the other way around.  The film, adapted from Herb Gardner’s play, was ahead of its time, too.  Its nonconformist message presaged the coming counterculture.

This is a terrific movie, and I’m surprised that it isn’t available on a special edition DVD, or even a Blu-ray, packed with interviews (Barry Gordon, William Daniels, and Barbara Harris are still with us).  For now, I’m just happy the film is even available at all.  The transfer to disc looks and sounds great – I watched the film on my widescreen television, and like “The Happy Thieves,” “A Thousand Clowns” benefits from including on-location footage, this time in New York City.  How wonderful to see the city in the mid 1960s!  “A Thousand Clowns” is a forgotten classic, now waiting to be rediscovered.  The DVD includes only the film’s trailer.

PATTY HEARST

In our scandal-saturated media culture, it’s hard to imagine how big the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapping and subsequent brainwashing of heiress Patty Hearst was in 1974. The security camera photographs of Hearst wielding an M1 rifle during a bank robbery are iconic images; for many, that’s our only image of Hearst.  Paul Schrader’s 1988 film “Patty Hearst” recounts the whole affair, from Hearst’s kidnapping in February, 1974, to her psychological and physical battering from the SLA, through her eventual conversion to the group’s radicalism, and finally her trial and imprisonment.

The early scenes are harrowing. Schrader places the viewer with Hearst inside a locked closet that is only opened for the purposes of food and propaganda delivery.  Natasha Richardson plays Hearst with a dazed blankness befitting a 19-year-old college student, which Hearst was at the time.  She joins the SLA at first to save her skin, but after a while, it’s clear she knows nothing else other than their twisted politics.  Ving Rhames is a commanding presence on screen as SLA leader Cinque, who talks big but has no real plan.  The SLA is exposed as a ragtag group of self-proclaimed freedom fighters whose misguided and violent means in no way justify their ends.  But the real strength of “Patty Hearst” comes in the final 20 minutes of the movie.  Hearst’s legal team was unable to convince a jury that she was not herself when she took part in the bank robbery. Hearst blames no one for her actions, but makes it plain that no one could possibly understand what she went through. "No one wants to accept that their mental state is so fragile," she says, "to be turned into a totally different person."  Today, Patricia Hearst is a wife and occasional actress.

“Patty Hearst” looks good on this DVD, albeit a little soft-hued and with some noticeable specks and jitter.  It’s certainly several notches above VHS quality, but you may feel it lacks the visual punch of more polished DVDs. The soundtrack is clear, and showcases the creepy, effective music of Scott Johnson well. Recommended viewing.  The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

The MGM Limited Edition Collection titles are available online through Amazon.  You may have to wait a little while to receive one because each disc is a special order and takes a little more time to prepare and ship.

It remains to be seen just how long the movie-on-demand manufacturing programs will last.  As streaming video becomes faster and cheaper, the need for packaged media will inevitably decline.  But for those of us that love to keep and share movies with friends, programs like the MGM Limited Edition Collection are a blessing.

6/10/11

Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page

More about the Cinema Tuesdays series