"The Legend of Johnny Lingo" is new-to-DVD this week — in two versions, with one aimed directly at the LDS market. (As always, dollar figures listed here are retail prices, but most stores sell them for less.)
— "The Legend of Johnny Lingo" (MGM, 2003, G, $25.98). This feature-length film is a remake of the 1969 Brigham Young University short that has become an icon in LDS circles.
The feature fleshes out the story of the title character, a Polynesian trader who takes a troubled young orphan under his wing and helps him grow into a man of integrity. Meanwhile, the boy remembers his promise to return to the girl he loves, who has been shunned by her people as "ugly." Eventually, he will give her father an unheard-of dowry of eight cows, which will in turn give her a sense of self-worth that allows her to blossom as a beautiful woman.
On the downside, the point of the original short film gets a bit lost in the muddle of plot devices here, the acting is uneven, there are a too many music-video moments that feel like padding, way too many product-placement moments (for Noni Tahitian juice, one of the film's financiers), and, as with nearly every film aimed at youths these days, there's a noisy flatulence gag.
But those complaints aside, it is, on the whole, a fairly satisfying family film, of which there are far too few these days. Also, the New Zealand location cinematography is stunning.
Extras: Full frame, trailers, chapters, etc.
— "The Legend of Johnny Lingo: LDS Classic Collector's Edition" (Deseret Book, 2003/1969, G, $25.95, two discs). This double-disc set includes the above described film on the first disc, and the second disc has the original 23-minute short — simply titled "Johnny Lingo" — that was produced by BYU for the LDS Church's Sunday school in 1969.
The second disc also has a new making-of featurette for each film, and the one for the original is particularly interesting for LDS audiences, with anecdotes offered by some of its creators, reflections by church members who have been affected by it, etc. What really gives this featurette a boost, however, is that it allows people to exhibit a sense of humor about the film, acknowledging that some aspects of "Johnny Lingo" have long provided chuckles in LDS circles — and even showing a clip from "The Singles Ward" that has a couple of characters making jokes about it.
Trivia note: On the box, it says "An Eight Cow Movie — Deseret Morning News." Actually, that was simply a headline over an interview story that ran when the film opened last year; it was not a critical-review opinion.
Extras: Widescreen, making-of featurettes, music video, trailer.
— "LDS Film Classics: Johnny Lingo"(Covenant, 1969, not rated, $19.95). For those who are not interested in the full-length feature but who would like to have the short film, an option is this disc, which came out last year. Along with the 1969 "Johnny Lingo," three other LDS Sunday school short films are included: "The Mailbox," "Uncle Ben" and "Christmas Snows, Christmas Winds."
Extras: Full frame, chapters, etc.
— "Down to Earth" (Columbia, 1947, not rated, $14.95). This musical-comedy starring Rita Hayworth and Larry Parks (with others providing their singing) is a sequel to "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," though it has none of that film's wit, and the songs are all quite forgettable.
It does, however, have two energetic cast members from the first film who try hard — James Gleason and Edward Everett Horton. And, of course, it also has the gorgeous Hayworth, who lights up the screen in vivid color.
The story has the Greek muse Terpsichore, the goddess of song and dance, coming to Earth to straighten out Parks' comedy stage play on Greek mythology. Someone should have straightened out this film.
Extras: Full frame, trailers, etc.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com