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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 7, No. 16 |
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RON'S MYSTERY NEWS
There they are, fans, the real boxed sets--not just a rumor any longer. At left, the first volume of the "Charlie Chan Collection" from Fox; at right, the first volume of Fox's "Mr. Moto Collection." |
CHAN, MOTO, SPILLANE
all coming to home video
of TheColumnists.com
Here's some stirring news for fans of those two great Asian mystery heroes--Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto: Fox Video is taking orders for the first boxed sets of the restored DVD versions of their much-sought-after films of the 1930s.
The Chan set is called "Charlie Chan Collection #1" and it includes four of the extravagantly produced, slick Fox studio films that are the fans' all-time favorites: "Charlie Chan in London" (1934), "Charlie Chan in Paris" (1935), "Charlie Chan in Egypt" (1935) and "Charlie Chan in Shanghai" (1935). All four films star Warner Oland, the Swedish-American actor who played Chan in the first extended series.
The set also includes an extremely rare film called "Eran Trece," a 1931 foreign language version of Earl Derr Biggers' novel "Charlie Chan Carries On." The American film version, starring Oland, no longer exists.
This set is available in June, 2006, but you can order it in advance through several online outlets, including Amazon.com and Movies Unlimited.
The Moto set comes out Aug. 1. It contains the films "Think Fast, Mr. Moto" (1937), "Thank You, Mr. Moto" (1937); "Mr. Moto Takes A Chance" (1938) and "Mysterious Mr. Moto" (1938). All star Hungarian actor Peter Lorre as the Japanese secret agent created by American author John P. Marquand.
The Chan films are the restored versions that Fox spent a small fortune on, hoping to show them as a special event on cable's Fox Movie Channel. But protests from Asian groups persuaded Fox to hold them for this video release and skip the big cable promotional event.
Expect similar protests for the Chan films' release on home video, not to mention protests from many of the same people over the Moto collection. Reason: Asian-Americans find it demeaning that these two colorful mystery heroes were played by non-Asian actors in "oriental" makeup--and that they were presented as racial stereotypes.
Though I can sympathize with the ethnic protests--it would have been ideal for Fox to have cast Asian actors in these roles--I think it's silly to protest their showing now that things have changed and we do have real Asian heroes on screen, played by Asians. Those who loved these mysteries--myself included--didn't think of these two characters as buffoons in makeup. They were genuine heroes to most Americans. The negative images they carried with them aren't likely to take root today. Most of us know and respect Asians today--and don't expect them to behave like Chan or Moto.
Anyway, these films represent the way Hollywood saw Asians in the 1930s. Negative or not, such images are worth preserving, just so we as a society can measure how far we've come since the 1930s.
MICKEY
SPILLANE'S MOVIE DEBUT
Another movie treasure is popping up on DVD for the first time
in June: The 1954 circus mystery "Ring of Fear" starring
mystery author Mickey Spillane as himself, cast in the role of
a detective, trying to solve a series of murders disguised as
accidental deaths in and around the famous Clyde Beatty Circus.
Famed animal trainer Beatty also played himself in this early
CinemaScope picture.
I don't remember "Ring of Fear" as being a very good movie, but it's now definitely worth a look because it feature two iconic characters of their era--Beatty and Spillane--playing themselves in a movie. Spillane, creator of the definitive 1950s private eye, Mike Hammer, ultimately played his own detective hero in the film "The Girl Hunters." Spillane, who's still around, wasn't that bad an actor either.
The film is one of the last remaining treasure in the vaults of Batjac Films, the company formed around actor John Wayne and still run by his family. "Ring of Fear" is one part of a boxed set that also includes a much more respected film, William Wellman's 1954 "Track of the Cat," based on the novel by Walter Van Tillburg Clark ("The Ox-Bow Incident"). Robert Mitchum plays a hunter trying to stop a murderous cougar. The film is well remembered for its stark blue/gray color scheme and its early use of the widescreen process CinemaScope. It also features a weird adult performance by former "Little Rascals" kid actor Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer--as an Indian!
Also in the Batjac boxed set are "Plunder of the Sun" (1953) with Glenn Ford and "Man in the Vault" (1956) with William Campbell, two lesser crime dramas.
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THE FLOOD OF NOIR CONTINUES
One trend I certainly hope continues is the boom in major studio releases of their film noir classics in new DVD editions, both in sets and as single disks.
Best news in that category is the June release of Fox's "I Wake Up Screaming" (1942) with Betty Grable and Victor Mature trying to find the killer of Grable's sister while hulking Laird Cregar ("The Lodger," "Hangover Square") plays the detective in the case. Following in August is the release of the 1953 remake, called "Vicki," starring Jeanne Crain in the Grable role and Richard Boone in the Cregar part. I love the remake almost more than the original--and it has a VERY special performance by, of all people, Aaron Spelling when he was still an actor and not yet the producer of such dazzling TV series as "Charlie's Angels" and "Dynasty."
Also coming to DVD in June is Elia Kazan's 1947 "Boomerang," a high quality thriller with Dana Andrews, Arthur Kennedy, Jane Wyatt and Lee J. Cobb. This has a snappy surprise ending and is still a taut suspense film. This was made early in Kazan's directing career when he was at 20th Century-Fox and won his first directing Oscar for "Gentleman's Agreement," the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1947.
'EZ Streets,' the latest Poirots, 'Compulsion'
As long as we're still on the DVD topic, let me express my disaapointment that one of my all-time favorite failed TV shows--Paul Haggis' "EZ Streets"--finally comes to home video this month, but NOT as a "complete series" boxed set.
Instead, just three episodes of the series are coming out on a budget-priced new series of DVDs called "Brilliant But Cancelled." That's not enough. There were several episodes that never were telecast by CBS in the disastrous 1996-97 run of "EZ Streets." Why not give us everything left behind after ultra-low ratings killed the show?
"EZ Streets" was done in dark, brooding noir style with brilliant musical tracks and fine performances by Jason Gedrick ("Murder One," "The Last Don") as the young urban thug trying to go straight, Ken Olin as the "dirty cop" trying to clear his name and Joe Pantoliano as the vicious hood trying to become a mob kingpin. It also featured gorgeous Debrah Farentino as an ambitious, unsavory lawyer.
Producer Haggis has left TV for movies--and little wonder after seeing how quickly CBS gave up on this daring show. He's done pretty well, too, having written "Million Dollar Baby," the Oscar-winning film of 2004, and directing "Crash," the Oscar-winning film of 2005. His 2006 film is Clint Eastwood's "Flag For Our Fathers," based on the best-seller about Iwo Jima. I'd say he's recovered his creative impulse.
A companion disk in the "Brilliant But Cancelled" series offers episodes of failed crime shows, among them "Delvecchio" (CBS, 1976-77), an early Steven Bochco series starring Judd Hirsch as an urban police detective and Charles Haid as his partner. Haid and other cast members George Wyner and Michael Conrad all turned up in the show that made Bochco's reputation, "Hill Street Blues."
Also in the collection is one of my all-time favorites, the stylish "Johnny Staccato" (NBC, 1959-60; ABC, 1960) starring the late John Cassavetes as a jazz pianist who worked as a private eye. This was a wonderful show with great music by Elmer Bernstein and regular jazz musicians featured each week, among them Shelley Manne, Red Norvo and Pete Candoli.
Also coming late this month: "Poirot: Classic Crimes Collection," a boxed set containing the latest Hercule Poirot mysteries done for the A&E cable network withi David Suchet as Poirot. The set contains "Mystery of the Blue Train," "Taken in the Flood," "After the Funeral" and "Cards on the Table." Suchet is the quintessential Hercule Poirot, so order this set ASAP.
Finally, comes this week's DVD release of the excellent "Compulsion," a courtroom drama inspired by the infamous Loeb-Leopold murder case, starring Dean Stockwell (in one of his first adult roles) and Bradford Dillman, but featuring the great Orson Welles as the Clarence Darrow-style defense attorney, delivering a memorable--and awesomely long--courtroom argument, all done in one amazing take! I was present for one of the sequences, which was filmed on the UCLA campus while I was an undergraduate there. It gave me a chance to see the unique and elusive Diane Varsi, who had the key female role. I saw her again and engaged her for one of her very few interviews--more than 30 years later. But more about that some other time.
Finally, I'm delighted to report that Raymond
Burr's first season of "Perry Mason" is coming in a
boxed set that contains the first 19 episodes of the first season
(1957)--TV series ran a lot longer per season in the old days--with
the rest of the first season soon to follow. The set is called:
"Perry Mason: Season One, Volume One." Look for it
in July at about $55.
©2006 by Ron Miller.
This column first posted May 22, 2006.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He currently
writes about television mysteries for MYSTERY SCENE magazine.
You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Ron Miller. To send an email, click here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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