All of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's pairings are finally together in one DVD set, "Fiddler on the Roof" has arrived on Blu-ray and several previously unavailable vintage titles are now on Warner Home Archive's burn-on-demand website.
"Tracy and Hepburn: The Definitive Collection" (Warner, 1942-67, 10 discs, b/w and color, $59.92). It's no small feat to have all of Tracy and Hepburn's movies in a single set. Most are from MGM and owned by Warner Home Video, but there's also one from Fox and another from Sony, rival studios that usually keep a tight leash on their own product. So having all nine in one box is a real treat for vintage-movie buffs.
In addition to the films from a previously issued Tracy-Hepburn set — "Woman of the Year," "Adam's Rib," "Pat and Mike" and the documentary "Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn" — this set includes the separately released "State of the Union," "Desk Set" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," as well as "Without Love," which was previously available only in a Hepburn set, and two DVD debuts, "Keeper of the Flame" and "The Sea of Grass." (For collectors who have the other titles, the latter two are now available individually, $19.97 each, but "Without Love" is still available only in the Hepburn set and this one.)
Some of these pictures are better than others, of course, but six of the nine are genuine classics — "Woman of the Year," "State of the Union," "Adam's Rib," "Pat and Mike," "Desk Set" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." And the others are also very enjoyable.
Each film boasts a sterling supporting cast (among their co-stars are Angela Lansbury, Sidney Poitier, Lucille Ball, Judy Holliday, Gloria Graham, Van Johnson, Charles Bronson and Chuck Connors) and a top director (Frank Capra, Stanley Kramer, George Stevens, George Cukor).
Extras: full frame/widescreen, audio commentary/newsreels/photo gallery (on "Desk Set"), text featurettes (on "Pat and Mike"), vintage short films, cartoons; 1986 documentary on Tracy, hosted by Hepburn; trailers; 12-page booklet
"Fiddler on the Roof" (MGM/Blu-ray, 1971, G, two discs, $29.99). The classic musical comes to Blu-ray, which certainly enriches both the familiar soundtrack (with those lovely songs and Isaac Stern's violin) and the widescreen outdoor locations. Topol is great as Tevye and the entire film retains its charm and power as a faith-promoting tribute, as the song says, "To Life."
Extras: widescreen, Blu-ray and DVD versions, deleted song, audio commentary, featurettes, trailers
The next six titles are available as burn-on-demand DVDs from the Warner Archive website, www.wbshop.com (click on "Warner Archive").
"The Day Lincoln Was Shot" (Warner Archive, 1998, $19.95). Released in time to coincide with Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" this week, this excellent TNT TV movie stars Rob Morrow as John Wilkes Booth and Lance Henriksen as Abraham Lincoln. Whereas Redford's film covers events following Lincoln's assassination, this film concentrates on events leading up to the killing. Fascinating character study from the book by Jim Bishop.
Extras: full frame
"Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" (Warner Archive, 1956, b/w, $19.95). The plot is implausible but this curiosity by director Fritz Lang is nonetheless rather chilling as writer Dana Andrews tests the justice system's reliance on circumstantial evidence by framing himself for murder. He does so in league with his future father-in-law, who intends to exonerate him as he approaches a death sentence. But things don't go quite as planned. Joan Fontaine co-stars. (Remade in 2009 with Michael Douglas.)
Extras: widescreen, trailer
"While the City Sleeps" (Warner Archive, 1995, b/, $19.95). Lang also directed this engrossing yarn about hard-nosed newspapermen competing to uncover the identity of a serial killer while jockeying for a new executive position at the paper. Thrifty little B-noir with Dana Andrews in the lead, supported well by seasoned cast that includes Ida Lupino, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price, George Sanders and Thomas Mitchell.
Extras: widescreen
"The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer" (Warner Archive, 1970; R for sex, nudity; $19.95). Peter Cook is brilliant in this broad, politically incorrect farce as a stoic, empty, perpetually grinning manipulator who finagles his way into a polling company and eventually becomes a political mover and shaker. But the film itself is only sporadically funny, too often falling back on cheesy sex gags and an episodic skit format (belying the creators' TV roots). Cook co-wrote with John Cleese (who is very funny as a nervous pollster) and Graham Chapman (in a nearly silent cameo) just before the "Monty Python" explosion. Playwright Harold Pinter plays a pompous TV host and David Frost co-produced.
Extras: widescreen
"The Last Dinosaur" (Warner Archive, 1977, $19.95). The world's richest big-game hunter (a bloated Richard Boone) heads for a newly discovered island filled with prehistoric beasts (and cavemen) so he can stalk a Tyrannosaurus rex. Interesting fantasy ideas become muddled with cheesy effects and stuntmen in rubber dinosaur suits in this Japanese co-production, which played theatrically there but was a TV movie here. Pre-"Knots Landing" Joan Van Ark co-stars.
Extras: full frame
"The Squeeze" (Warner Archive, 1977, $19.95). Rough, bleak British gangster thriller stars Stacy Keach as a boozy ex-cop/private eye who goes after the thugs who kidnapped his wife (Carol White) and daughter. Well made but it tends to wallow in excess; the film is unrated but would easily receive an R for violence, nudity and language and sex. Co-stars include Stephen Boyd, David Hemmings and Edward Fox.
Extras: widescreen
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