The week’s DVDs begin with shocking behavior, shocking.
DVDs for August 7 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin with some shocking behavior. Shocking.
Forbidden Hollywood—volume four
Jewel Robbery (***), Lawyer Man (***), Man Wanted (***1/2),
They Call It Sin (***)
On Demand Warner Archives returns with a package of four
deliciously entertaining films from 1932, when the notorious on-screen
restrictions of the Production Code had been established but had yet to be
fully enforced. These entries show how movie studios pushed limits with various
activities that would soon be forbidden. In Jewel Robbery (68
minutes), a pre-Thin Man William Powell stars as a jewel thief in Vienna (looking a lot like a back-lot set at Warners). On a robbery, he encounters the bored wife (Kay Francis) of an aristocrat. He takes her jewels but then proceeds to profess love to her, even venturing into her bedroom that night. The film held such shibboleths as adultery (a popular theme in the quartet of films), scant clothing, and a
frolicsome attitude towards marijuana. Powell returns as the Lawyer
Man (68 minutes), a Manhattan attorney who goes from handling low-rent
cases to the big time, only to be knocked down by a political scandal, which
leads inevitably to his eventual redemption. Warners staple Joan Blondell plays
the often overlooked loyal secretary. An even saucier Kay Francis returns in Man
Wanted (62 minutes), a moral tale about a professional woman (Francis)
who neglects her husband for her work. While he finds female solace elsewhere,
she hires a new male secretary (David Manners) who eventually advances in the
business and with her. A young Loretta Young stars in They Call It Sin (69
minutes) as a small town girl who follows a traveling salesman (David Manners)
to New
York. Once there, she finds he is engaged. Alone and nearly desperate, she
survives the best she can, eventually finding refuge with his best friend
(George Brent). The film’s broad hints at pre-marital sex would soon be
prohibited.
Surviving High School
Odd Girl Out (**1/2), Augusta, Gone (***1/2), The Perfect Teacher
(***), For One Night (**1/2)
In a timely arrival for the start of school, the Lifetime
Channel has packaged four films, on two discs, sharing the common theme of teen
angst. None are rated, and all run around 88 minutes. Odd Girl Out is based on Rachel Simmons’ novel focusing on teen bullying. A bright student, Vanessa (Alexa
Vega), accidentally commits a minor but unpardonable sin that sets the school’s
mean girls against her but without telling her why. Rumors and Internet
harassment steer Vanessa toward suicide. Mika Boorem plays the title character
in Augusta, Gone, a resonant, fact-based story about a 14 year-old girl who
becomes so rebellious her single mother cannot handle her. After growing up
well adjusted, August falls under bad influences and starts drinking, taking
drugs, and beginning to experiment with sex. Her mother, Martha, (Sharon
Lawrence) and Martha’s ex-husband (Tim Matheson, who also directed) ship Augusta off to a boot camp of sorts in a
desperate effort to save her. From there, Augusta’s ride still hits several bumps. David Charvet is The Perfect Teacher in this nightmarish account of a student, Devon (Megan Park), developing an obsession ov.er her teacher. When the new math teacher (Charvet) arrives, Devon immediately falls for him, claiming
that she will do anything to entice him–which she does in the forms of lying,
scheming, and eventually kidnapping and murder. The chilling account slowly builds towards its imminent disaster. In For One Night, a formulaic rendering
of a now familiar topic, an African-American high school senior, Brianna
(Raven-Symone), in Mercier, Louisiana, begins a drive to have one prom for both
the black and the white students, something never done before in the town. A
local reporter (Aisha Tyler) covers the town’s growing rift, bringing in
national attention to go along with the already prevalent racism.
Let It Shine—Extended Edition
This original movie from the Disney channel updates the
classic story of Cyrano de Bergerac and sets it in Atlanta, Georgia. Cyrus (Tyrus James Williams) helps his friend Kris (Trevor Jackson) by artfully declaring his love, as Kris, for their childhood friend, the now famous entertainer Roxxane “Roxxie” Andrews (Coco Jones). Through a mix-up, the words in Cyrus’ songs pave the way for Kris, even though Cyrus also loves her. Courtney B. Vance plays Roxxie’s preacher father. The soundtrack holds 12 new songs by various artists.
Rated TV-G, 104 minutes. This new extended version includes
an extended musical scene and is available in all formats and in various combo
packs.
The Cat in the Hat—Blu-ray Deluxe Edition
The animated TV version of the Dr. Seuss classic returns on
Blu-ray along with two bonus Seuss favorites. 1950s cultural icon Allan Sherman
voiced the cat, a six foot, hat –wearing feline who turns up in the home of
Dick and Sally looking for his “moss-covered, three-handled, family gredunza.”
He enlists Dick and Sally to help him and, before long, the family goldfish,
Mr. Krinkelbein (Daws Butler), protests about all the commotion.
Rated TV-G, 30 minutes. The disc also includes the additional
Seuss classics Daisy-Head Mayzie and Hoober-Bloob Highway.
Also on DVD: The Boogens, Killing Bono, Marley.