A pair of Mel Brooks parodies lead off this collection of comedies, all new to DVD.
"Blazing Saddles: 30th Anniversary Special Edition" (Warner, 1974; R for language, sex, vulgarity, violence; $19.97). "Blazing Saddles" is a genuine guilty pleasure, with a high ratio of hilarious gags and memorable one-liners, despite almost as many unfunny, vulgar missteps. This was the film that put Brooks on the map; later the same year he released his personal best, "Young Frankenstein."
"Blazing Saddles" is also as close to being socially significant as Brooks ever came, a scathing satire of racism while also lampooning the conventions of Western movies.
Brooks has two supporting roles, as a lascivious idiot governor and a Yiddish-speaking Sioux chief, but the show belongs to black actor Cleavon Little as Bart, who is named sheriff of a small town for political reasons; Madeline Kahn doing a riotous Marlene Dietrich takeoff (she was nominated for an Oscar); Gene Wilder as a drunken gunfighter; Harvey Korman as the evil Hedley Lamarr; Slim Pickens as Korman's henchman; and Alex Karras as Mongo, who knocks out a horse and says that he's "just pawn in game of life."
Of course much of this is in extremely poor taste and has the dubious distinction of paving the way for later exercises in gross-out comedy, everything from "National Lampoon's Animal House" to "American Pie."
The bonus features include the weak half-hour TV pilot (complete with awful laugh track) for a sitcom version titled "Black Bart," with Lou Gossett (before he became Louis Gossett Jr.).
Extras: Widescreen, scene-specific audio commentary (Brooks), making-of featurettes, tribute to Madeline Kahn, deleted scenes, 1975 TV pilot spinoff: "Black Bart," trailer, language options (English, Spanish), subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters. (Also available in "Limited Edition Collector's Set," with lobby cards, senitype, poster and optional widescreen or full-frame formats; $79.98).
"Dracula Dead and Loving It" (Warner, 1995, PG-13, $19.97). Some 21 years after his seminal film, "Young Frankenstein," Mel Brooks tried to do the same thing to "Dracula," with disappointing results. Leslie Nielsen plays the count, with Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Lysette Anthony, Harvey Korman and Brooks himself (as a Jewish Van Helsing) in support. The scene-stealer, however, is Peter MacNicol as Renfield. And Brooks' wife, Anne Bancroft, has a funny cameo at the beginning.
The film is specific to various movie "Draculas," mostly the Bela Lugosi 1931 version, but also with references to the 1979 Frank Langella film and Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 effort. Brooks stoops to repeating gags, but there are also arid passages without any jokes. And the big moment, with a bloody gusher as a stake is driven through a vampire's heart, owes much to Monty Python.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary (by Brooks, Weber, Yasbeck and co-writers Rudy De Luca and Steve Haberman), trailer, subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.
"Just for You"/"Here Comes the Groom" (Paramount, 1952 (color)/1951 (b/w), not rated, $14.99). This Bing Crosby double-bill is a delight for fans of Der Bingle, and Jane Wyman is vivacious and energetic as she co-stars in both of these comedy-drama musicals.
— "Just for You" is a colorful tale of Crosby (with some gray in his hair) as a Broadway producer who is falling for his younger star (Jane Wyman). But he's also been neglectful of his children, an 18-year-old son (Robert Arthur) and a 16-year-old daughter (Natalie Wood). So Wyman and Ethel Barrymore try to help him get back on track as a parent.
— "Here Comes the Groom" is a hokey yarn about a compassionate foreign correspondent (Crosby) who adopts two young French war orphans. But he's been ignoring his fiance back home (Wyman), so when he finally returns, he finds Wyman preparing to marry another suitor (Francot Tone). Frank Capra ("It's a Wonderful Life") directed this one.
Extras: Full frame, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Fancy Pants" (Paramount, 1950, not rated, $14.99). Bob Hope plays a lousy stage actor who pretends to be an English butler who pretends to be an English lord in this musical remake of "Ruggles of Red Gap," as Lucille Ball and her family hire him for their Wild West ranch.
Hope and Ball had previously demonstrated chemistry with "Sorrowful Jones," and a decade later would co-star in "The Facts of Life." And they are the reasons to see this film, which has some laughs but also a lot of forgettable songs.
Trivia: John Alexander, who plays Teddy Roosevelt here, six years later played the character who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt in "Arsenic and Old Lace."
Extras: Full frame, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"My Dear Secretary" (Image, 1948, not rated, b/w, $19.99). Kirk Douglas is a high-rolling novelist whose secretaries are more like maids/girlfriends. But when he hires Laraine Day, he meets his match.
The first half of this door-slamming farce is quite funny, with Keenan Wynn as Douglas' best friend and hanger-on stealing the show with all the best lines. During the second half, however, when Douglas and Day get married and a silly jealousy plot takes over, Douglas goes over the top, logic goes out the window and the laughs become more sparse.
Still, the stars are having fun, and Wynn is a riot.
Trivia: Douglas' maid is played by Irene Ryan, who, some 15 years later, would play Granny on TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Extras: Full frame, chapters.
"The Perfect Score" (Paramount, 2004, PG-13, $29.99). This comic yarn has a disparate, ethnically diverse group of high school seniors coming together to pull off a heist — they plot to steal the answers to the upcoming SATs, which they feel are unfair to those who have excelled throughout school.
There are a few amusing moments here and there, and the cast is mostly appealing (led by Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen and Chris Evans), though it's very much a scattershot affair.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, making-of featurette, trailer, language options (English, French), optional English subtitles, chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com