 | Top Hollywood comedic talent of the mid-20th Century
rating: 4
BRENTWOOD 10 Movie Packs offer a variety of cinematic genres at bargain prices. Video transfers of their "B" movies are pretty decent, as is sound. The manufacturer's hinged boxes house DVDs adequately, but be careful the hinged sections don't pull away from the main spine! They're not that easy to reassemble.
SYNOPSES for FUNNY GUYS 10 MOVIE PACK:
"The Best Of W.C. Fields" - These three shorts are W.C. Fields' earliest sound films. "The Dentist" features Bill's famous "trick" golf club vaudeville routine, while "The Dentist" recreates another stage act. The highlight of the latter is a limber young lady who manages to get tangled up with Doc Fields during a tooth extraction. "The Fatal Glass of Beer" features Yukon footage, a night "not fit for man nor beast," and a narrative song by Fields that's rendered while he strums a dulcimer.
"Check And Double Check" - Radio's Amos 'n' Andy in their one and only film appearance. After driving Duke Ellington's band to a society gig, the boys must retrieve an important paper from a creepy old deserted mansion. (Scripted by famous songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.)
"The Inspector General" - A medicine show shill is mistaken for an official who's come to investigate a corrupt town administration. It's another fine opportunity for a Danny Kaye patter song.
"Jack and the Beanstalk" - While reading a fairy tale to his charge, babysitter Lou falls asleep and dreams he's the Jack who climbs the beanstalk. His partner Bud appears in the dream as the man who cons Jack out of the family cow for a handful of beans. Highlight is Costello's rendition of the song "I Fear Nothing When I Am in the Right."
"Judge Priest" - Director John Ford claimed this was his favorite movie. Will Rogers portrays a judge in a small Southern town. The different scenarios provide the perfect setting for Rogers' homey aphorisms and mellow humor.
"Love Laughs At Andy Hardy" - After his military discharge, Andy goes home and tries to pick up where he left off with girlfriend Kay.
"Palooka" - Based on the 1930s comic strip, JOE PALOOKA. Farmboy Joe trains to box the champ and wins when his opponent shows up for the match drunk. New-champ Joe has several "arranged" matches and a hard-drinking girlfriend to contend with, plus the ex-champ is demanding a rematch.
"The Road to Hollywood" - A cobbled-together "documentary" that relies heavily on four early-30s Bing Crosby shorts for material.
"The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock" - Former silent screen superstar Harold Lloyd and a fine supporting cast are wasted here. Part of the problem was Lloyd's and director Preston Struges's differing visions for the story. Primarily though, this movie's failure is due to the incompatability of a gloomy character who's thrown into one lightning fast slapstick gag after another. This box office bomb was also Harold Lloyd's cinematic swan song.
"Speak Easily" - A somewhat shy college professor inherits a windfall and decides to live it up. He buys outright a mediocre stage show that he wants to bring to Broadway. Buster Keaton's first "talkie" doesn't allow much room for his superb physical humor.
The FAMILY 100 MOVIE PACK is the ultimate collection of 'G' (for 'G'reat) rated humor.
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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
(7.0) The Best Of W.C. Fields (3 shorts): The Dentist (1932) The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933) The Golf Specialist (1930)
(5.5) Check And Double Check (1930) - Freeman Gosden/Charles Correll/Duke Ellington orch.
(6.9) The Inspector General (1949) - Danny Kaye/Walter Slezak/Elsa Lanchester/Alan Hale (in support)
(5.5) Jack And The Beanstalk (1952) - Bud Abbott/Lou Costello/Buddy Baer
(6.9) Judge Priest (1934) - Will Rogers/Tom Brown/Anita Louise/Hattie McDaniel/Stepin Fetchit
(5.7) Love Laughs At Andy Hardy (1946) - Mickey Rooney/Lewis Stone/Bonita Granville
(5.9) Palooka (1934) - Jimmy Durante/Lupe Velez/Stuart Erwin/William Cagney/Thelma Todd
(5.2) The Road To Hollywood (1947) - Bing Crosby/Marion Sayers (both in archive footage)/Bud Pollard
(6.3) The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock (1947) - Harold Lloyd/Rudy Vallee/Edgar Kennedy/Franklin Pangborn/Margaret Hamilton
(6.0) Speak Easily (1932) - Buster Keaton/Jimmy Durante/Thelma Todd/Hedda Hopper
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