THE SHOW:

Gregory Peck: His Own Man could have just as easily been called In His Own Words, as the producers have smartly structured the entirety of this 53-minute program around two extensive interviews with the classic actor.

Fans of Peck know that he was man of conscience, and his choice of politically minded films like A Gentlemen's Agreement and To Kill A Mockingbird reflected his personal belief in the power of the individual to make a difference by standing against injustice. He was tireless in his passion, both for the people in his life and for film acting. These two aspects are amply illustrated in His Own Man, the former from the testimony of the many collaborators that have sat down with the producers to talk about their friend and the fact that the cameras are also capturing Peck on set for one of his final films, Old Gringo. Shot in 1988, Peck was 72 at the time. That's a lot of living and a lot of acting to cover in one short documentary.

Yet, cover a lot of it they do. Peck discusses his early life, how he stumbled into acting, and the arc of his life and career. Commentators that were there for the ride include Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Jack Lemmon, Anthony Quinn, Jane Fonda, Lee Remick, Liza Minnelli, directors Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird) and J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone), and Peck's son, Stephen Peck, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a documentary filmmaker in his own right--a profession where he can put lessons his father taught him to use.

There are clips from a lot of Gregory Peck's films, including extensive study of Roman Holiday, Mockingbird, and many of his westerns. Some of my favorite segments in the documentary include Peck's rumination on the figure of the heroic cowboy, whom he affords as much empathy as he does any modern man. He also speaks a lot in regards to the acting craft, discussing the goals of an actor vs. the expectations of a movie star. In addition to clips, these tales are illustrated by old photographs and even some archival on-set footage from A Duel in the Sun and presumably exclusive footage from Old Gringo.

Despite all the acting talk, what really comes through in Gregory Peck: His Own Man is the spirit of an individual perfectly attuned to his own moral compass, whom time and again did what he felt was right and was never afraid to reach out to his fellow man. Testimony after testimony, be it Bacall or Hepburn or Remick, details the actor's seemingly boundless ability to touch the people around him. This makes Gregory Peck not just a singular actor, but a singular human being, as well.

THE DVD

Video:
The Hollywood Collection - Gregory Peck: His Own Man is twenty years old and it is definitely showing some wear. The full frame image is full of scratches and surface noise, and it also suffers from soft digital resolution. Those interested in this program should not turn away from it, however, its vintage and the fact that it features Gregory Peck on record is enough to look past the picture flaws. Likely it looks about as good as it did after many years of cable syndication and is of equal quality to similar programs you might see in a broadcast venue.

It doesn't appear that the film is de-interlaced, which should add to some of the problems with the image. Since a good portion of the movie is talking heads punctuated by still photographs, however, evidence of this shouldn't crop up too much.

Sound:
There is only one mix available, the original broadcast monaural track. It's not too bad, though you will hear some hiss coming through your speakers. There is also some incredibly bad, totally dated music, but that is not a fault of the folks authoring the DVD, one would assume.

Extras:
The Hollywood Collection - Gregory Peck: His Own Man is packaged in a sturdy but economical book-like package, with cardboard outer covers and an inner plastic tray. Inside the book are photos from the Collection and information on the series.

As with the rest of the DVDs in this series, most of the extras on the actual disc are to advertise the The Hollywood Collection and are the same from disc to disc, with the one feature exclusive to His Own Man being a photo gallery of Gregory Peck. This is put together as a video presentation showing a variety of pictures set to music. There is a similar video gallery called "Meet the Producers," a kind of personal scrapbook of Feldman and Winter, showing them working together and with the stars they profiled (including Peck).

Elsewhere, there is a 5-and-a-half minute promo piece, "The Hollywood Collection Preview," advertising the series, and four individual trailers for other entries. These are for the documentaries on Robert Mitchum, Ingrid Bergman, and Michael Caine.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Hollywood Collection - Gregory Peck: His Own Man may be short, but this 1988 television documentary devoted to the beloved actor packs a lot into its short running time. Following Peck's life as a man and as a performer, it largely draws from two exclusive interviews with the actor, letting him tell his own story. Generously filled out with testimonies from collaborators and clips from his films, this DVD is a little low on the technical ladder, but is still Recommended.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for his collaborations with Joelle Jones, including the hardboiled crime comic book You Have Killed Me, the challenging romance 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, and the 2007 prose novel Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, for which Jones did the cover. All three were published by Oni Press. His most recent projects include the futuristic romance A Boy and a Girl with Natalie Nourigat; Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks, a loopy crime tale drawn by Dan Christensen; and the horror miniseries Madame Frankenstein, a collaboration with Megan Levens. Follow Rich's blog at Confessions123.com.