Author's note: This review is based on viewing an advanced screener disc - not the final shelf product. Subsequently, ratings on the video and audio are not final, nor is there any mention of off-disc extras (such as an episode guide or an informational brochure), nor of the disc's packaging. When and if I receive the final shelf product, I will amend the review.

"...and keep thinking the good thoughts."

Well, at least she never asked anyone what kind of tree they'd like to be. Infinity Entertainment has released Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth, a newly gathered compilation of ten vintage celebrity interview clips, hosted by none other than Miss Rona herself (who looks terrific, by the way). Where Miss Rona has been these last twenty or thirty-some odd years is never touched on, but we do get, in addition to snippets from her interviews with the likes of such 70s luminaries as John Wayne, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds, and Cher, a brief bio featurette on the original TV gossip/entertainment reporter - a bio that maddeningly stops dead, right when the story starts to get good. Not unlike the interview snippets themselves.

Way before that Frankenstein's monster Barbara Waa-Waa essentially stole her act, and light-years before TV gossip crap like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood flooded the airways with useless celebu-tard drivel, Rona Barrett was "it." Taking over the mantle left years before by print gossip icons Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, Rona Barrett, by her own words an unattractive kid from Queens, slogged away for years as a columnist and reporter for glossy gossip rag Photoplay, before transforming her face and body into "Miss Rona," becoming TV's best known reporter/presenter of all things Hollywood. Originally working on-air for ABC's company-owned stations, as well as having a widely-syndicated column and publishing several celebrity magazines under her name brand, Rona eventually landed her most high-profile gig on Good Morning, America, in 1975. In addition to her daily reporting on Tinsletown happenings, Rona also produced prime-time specials, where she strove to "humanize" celebrities by interviewing them in cozy settings, letting the performers relax and share details about their lives that one wouldn't normally find in standard celebrity print interviews (in other words, she provided the template for gorgon Barbara Walters' entire career). A move to NBC, though, in 1980, eventually proved to be a career misstep (her hilariously cringing teaming with self-important drone Tom Synder on the Tomorrow had to be seen to be believed), as Barrett slowly dropped off the entertainment reporting radar. What exactly happened to her career, I don't know. I've heard theories, and I've read gossip about it, but for whatever reasons, Miss Rona, once the top entertainment reporter in the world (and one that became in many ways as famous as the celebrities she interviewed), seemed to just vanish into obscurity.

Well, she's back - at least to host this DVD of memorable clips of her 1970s celebrity interviews. You can make a credible argument that Rona Barrett is at least partially responsible for the way celebrity and entertainment and gossip have now thoroughly saturated the very mainstream of our various media. Before Barrett, celebrities obviously talked to print columnists, but when performers found they could safely generalize, in a pseudo-"edgy" manner about their life and their beliefs on TV (all the while being afforded the chance to "perform" for their audiences), with a willing, welcoming, "safe" interviewer like Barrett, the trend for celebrities spilling their guts on TV took off. And when networks found that ratings went through the roof for this kind of feel-good celebrity pap, the cycle was complete. Where we are today in terms of the concept of "celebrity" dominating a portion of our culture, for good or bad, was facilitated in no small part by Barrett's successful formula.

Which brings us to the Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth DVD. If you've read a few of my reviews (thank you, all three of you), you'll know then that nobody likes this kind of junk better than I do. I live for this kind of nostalgic 70s crap. And on a very simple, very basic level of retro-appreciation, Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth succeeds. You can pop the disc in, and see some of the people deigned "important" in the mid-to-late 70s. If you grew up with these celebrities, it might be fun for you to revisit them, and satisfy some prurient interest in how they looked then, how they sounded, even how they dressed. You may find yourself once or twice hearing something interesting or even profound, if you pay attention (see John Wayne below). Ultimately, it's not unlike a morbid curiosity to go back and measure up your own memories of these celebrities, versus what you know about them now, and how their careers have fared.

However, the actual selection and assembly of the clips leaves something to be desired. It's difficult to tell if these interviews are complete, or just a selection from the entire interview (I certainly don't have a photographic memory of these interviews, so I can't be sure). However, they do seem on the short side, with the subjects often reduced to speaking about one narrow aspect of their careers or lives (the Carol Burnett clip, particularly). And that's a problem for this kind of disc. To be blunt, the only people who could possibly be interested in Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth are those people like me who grew up on this stuff...and who were really into TV and Hollywood and celebrities. Your average young disc buyer is probably going to pass on a disc featuring interviews with Richard Dreyfuss and Priscilla Presley. So for those actually interested in watching Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth, the entire experience is required. We want to see the whole interview. If these interviews were part of a prime-time special, show the entire special (and even better, tack on the vintage commercials and studio promos, as well). The purpose of these kinds of shows is nostalgia, pure and simple; these interviews weren't meant to provide scholarly data for thesis papers. Snippets of interviews, then, won't do the trick, particularly when you're left hanging, feeling like you've been shortchanged in experiencing the entire gestalt moment of Raquel Welch baring her soul about being a sex symbol.

Those looking for so-called "campy" or "kitschy" moments (terms and aesthetic goals I find problematic, at best) in Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth will be equally disappointed, because the interviews are so...ordinary, in the long run. These celebrities are on their best behavior, knowing these interviews would go out to tens of millions of their fans - and back during a time when celebrities still weren't exactly rewarded for their bad behavior. They were still expected to at least put up a front of toeing the party line of acceptable behavior on television. Viewers hoping to get a glimpse of goofy clothes or tacky furnishings, or a celebrity wrapped up in his own dated image (maybe Dreyfuss is an exception here), won't find it on Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth. It's all rather bland and disappointingly "straight," for lack of a better word - a piece of puffery that rarely rises above the level of passive time-waster.

Here are the 10 celebrities interviewed on Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth, with a few lines about my take on the clips. In her introductions to the clips, Rona sometimes gives a year dating the interview, but she doesn't mention the actual program source for them (perhaps that's a rights and clearance issue):

CHER
This interview was conducted right after Cher broke up with Sonny, and during the first months of her relationship with Gregg Allman. Besides weighty pronouncements such as, "being poor was such a drag," Cher of course discusses Sonny (whom she says was the strangest man she ever did - or will - meet). It's strange to see Cher talk in the opposite direction of Rona (shy or self-absorbed? Your call). Rona's brand of "intimate interviewing" is on full display here, as she sits with Cher on Cher's bed, and the two girls dish.

JOHN WAYNE
Certainly the most "valuable" interview here, Rona's visit to a clearly ailing Duke at his Newport Beach home offers yet another surprisingly candid look at the "real" John Wayne. There's such a pervasive stereotype about Wayne (largely concocted by fans transferring his screen roles onto the actual person), that it's always a pleasure to actually hear the man himself just talk. He's such a genial, soft-spoken - and well-spoken - individual, quite in contrast to his screen persona (and some people's negative take on his personal politics). Watch Wayne's facial expressions, particularly when he's mentioning his perennial marital problems or his abandoned college career - a look of indefinable sadness comes over his eyes, soon to be replaced by a resigned world-weariness, followed in turn by a hearty laugh at it all. Most striking here is Wayne acknowledging the outpouring of emotional support he received from thousands of fans writing to him after his recent hospitalization. Wayne states, "I'm just so fortunate that I've been able to stay with an image that evidently, gives a little feeling of security to people," - a remarkably self-aware assessment of his own image and place within the culture, from this complex, intelligent actor. A very moving interview.

RICHARD DREYFUSS
From the sublime to the ridiculous. Aggressively egomaniacal Richard Dreyfuss, here interviewed in 1981, pontificates about sex and bachelorhood as only former cocaine-addict Dreyfuss could. Dreyfuss' pseudo-intellectual rap, fully aided by a rapt Barrett, is nauseatingly intense. Dreyfuss loves to hear himself talk, and here he insists that no other man but himself knows what truly meaningful sex is like, and that he's better than every other guy, because everyone he grew up with was conditioned to mindlessly score with as many girls as possible, while he alone wants a "real" encounter with a woman (this from a guy married three times). The best (and worst) moment has to be when Dreyfuss lets his elitist side show when he proclaims that although his parents' income was middle-class, they fortunately didn't possess "middle-class intellects." Jesus, what a tool.

DONNA SUMMER
This interview was conducted in 1978, with a very subdued Summer discussing the price she paid with her image, when her hit, the then-infamous sex song, Love to Love Ya, Baby, first dropped. Not much of interest here, although Summer is well-spoken and thoughtful about her career.

PRISCILLA PRESLEY
Interviewed a little over a year after Elvis died, Barrett talks with pretty Priscilla about her life with the King - and it sounds fairly strange (as Priscilla herself describes it). Evidently, nobody said anything to Elvis that might potentially upset him. And if Priscilla had a problem...she kept her mouth shut about it. That's about it for this short snippet.

JOHN TRAVOLTA
Interviewed in 1978, Travolta shows the sweet, slightly dim side to his personality, dreamily discussing his newfound fame and money ("I eat better; I clothe myself better."), as well as his desire to "inspire" people. How he intends to do this, or what that "inspiration" may entail, is not addressed (thank god).

ROBIN WILLIAMS
Interviewed on the set of Mork and Mindy in 1978, Barrett makes the mistake of starting the interview as if she's talking with Mork - which goes over like a lead balloon. Williams is incapable of speaking in his own voice for longer than five seconds, but he does attempt to be serious when discussing his father, as well as his new-found fame (he says it's "an incredible high, like a drug." Insert your own joke here).

CAROL BURNETT
Filmed in 1976, this criminally short interview focuses exclusively on Burnett's story about her alcoholic parents, and her raising her younger sister. It's compelling, and Burnett, as usual, shows how she's far more talented than "just" being a comedian. But I would have particularly liked to see the whole interview for this celebrity. A shame.

RAQUEL WELCH
Filmed sometime in the mid-70s, Raquel, well-spoken and intelligent, discusses her fame and her role as a sex symbol. It's too bad she didn't have more interviews like this; they might have helped dampen down the negative image she acquired of being a brainless sex object. Again, it's too short, though, to go very deep into the subject.

BURT REYNOLDS
Shot while Burt was down in Florida filming Gator, this interview shows a supremely confident Burt discussing his absolute rejection of marriage at this point in his career, while tactfully sidestepping any potential mudslinging concerning his newly-ended relationship with Dinah Shore (Burt at this point was always scrupulously the gentleman about his relationships). Burt's unapologetic defense of being a bachelor is in sharp contrast to Dreyfuss' similar plea - while this intelligent, poised Burt from over thirty years ago is in even sharper contrast to the media clown Reynolds has morphed into these last 15 years or so.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full-screen, 1.33:1 video transfers for Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth look about on par with VHS copies made from the original broadcast signals. The picture can be a bit soft and hazy, while color bleeds on some of the video hotspots. Video noise is present but not too obtrusive, but anyone looking for Star Wars digital clarity here doesn't remember what video looked like back in the '70s.

The Audio:
The English mono audio track is entirely adequate for this disc; all dialogue is heard cleanly (although there is a bit of hiss present). Again, no one expects this to be in 5.1.

The Extras:
There's an eight minute bonus featurette, From Queens to Hollywood: Rona's Story, narrated by Miss Rona herself and illustrated with stills, where she tells of her upbringing and her start in Hollywood. And then...it just stops, with a lame, "...to be continued," plastered underneath a particularly fetching glamour shot of the columnist. "To be continue?" Right when the story was getting good? I'm assuming the DVD producers intend this to be some kind of joke that will be finished up with the next Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth disc? Just tell the story - all of it. The featurette is as maddeningly incomplete as the interview snippets are, come to think of it.

Final Thoughts:
Hey, I grew up on Miss Rona, and I loved her. She had a distinctive style (her head turned slightly sideways, with her hand underneath her chin, was always a good bit), and more importantly, regardless of the puffery of much her interviewing, she actually shut up and listened to the celebrities talk - unlike that grotesquely showboating Waa Waa who's forever inserting herself into the conversation. Barrett actually seems to want to understand the celebrity. And I love seeing Miss Rona back in action after being out of the Hollywood loop for so many years. But ultimately, the Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth disc misses the essential point of these nostalgic endeavors: we don't get the entire programs, or even the whole interviews. Everything here is too straight, too crudely chopped up to be of much interest other than for passing curiosity at what our favorite '70s celebs looked like back then. For the next disc, Miss Rona, try and score the entire programs and give vintage TV fans what they want. Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth is a rental only for fanatics of the individual stars who need to have absolutely everything they ever said on tape; everyone else can give it a skip until a better Miss Rona disc is produced. And I hope that happens soon.