October 30, 2003
Ocotober 30, 2003

Happy Thursday from DVD Savant ... I'm back in harness with three new reviews. It's cool and moist outside this morning, which I hope will translate into conditions better suited to firefighting in the calamitous fires that ring Los Angeles.

Kino's The Man Who Laughs is the best silent film Savant's seen in ages. It's a hybrid costume picture/horror film with Conrad Veidt in one of the most bizarre makeups ever attempted, and is supremely directed by Paul Leni. A much better film than The Phantom of the Opera, this is one neglected silent that will communicate well to modern audiences.

Columbia TriStar has come out with a great disc of Frank Capra's Platinum Blonde, starring knockout stars Loretta Young and sexy Jean Harlow. The pre-code dialogue is racy and provocative, and Harlow and Young take turns with their contrasting sex appeal.

Paramount gives us a bare-bones but solid presentation of John Frankenheimer's odd thriller Black Sunday; Savant tries to fathom why all its excellent qualities don't result in a completely satisfying show. The basic plot is more chilling now than ever, as it in some ways is a blueprint for the events of 9/11. With Robert Shaw, Marthe Keller and Bruce Dern as a Vietnam Vet who's (guess what) emotionally disturbed.

Savant's expecting a bit of a break which should allow him to get back to the reviews with renewed vigor ... there's a backlog right now, but I expect it to break up. For the record, and to let you know which titles I've got in the hopper (some have been out for weeks), here they are: WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?, OLEANNA, LIANNA, THE NIGHT EVELYN RETURNED FROM THE GRAVE, THE STEPHEN SONDHEIM COLLECTION, SU EXCELLENCIA, STORYVILLE, DRAGONSLAYER, DICK VAN DYKE SEASON ONE AND TWO, THE MARRYING KIND, THE GENERAL/STEAMBOAT BILL, JR., HELL'S HIGHWAY, BROADWAY'S LOST TREASURES, THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC, A CHRISTMAS WISH (THE GREAT RUPERT), THE WORLD OF APU, KANAL, ASHES AND DIAMONDS, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT, TOKYO STORY, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, SCHIZOPOLIS, LE CERCLE ROUGE, MARY CASSATT, I.M. PEI. I don't know what the order will be but it'll be a mix of old and new. A few might only show up in the DVD Talk index, if I don't have much to say about them, or they're awful transfers.

As Savant approaches 1,000 reviews, I'm also entertaining format changes for the site, especially on the front page with its repetitive information. I know the back archives of reviews are good to peruse, but my old articles need pruning or reorganizing: the practical value of a 1999 piece discussing why a bunch of titles haven't come out has lapsed, when almost all of them have by now. Also my links are way out of date and the site has a search engine can't handle the volume. You know, typical reader-unfriendly glitches that I should be apologizing for. Thanks for reading, for all the corrections and all the help - Glenn Erickson

Posted by DVD Savant at October 30, 2003 10:38 AM