As part of their excellent Cinema Classics Collection line of DVDs, 20th Century-Fox has released the single flipper disc The Jeeves Collection: Thank You, Jeeves! and Step Lively, Jeeves!, both starring the inimitable Arthur Treacher as P. G. Wodehouse's delightful "gentleman's gentleman" Jeeves. When I was growing up in the 1970s, Treacher seemed to be everywhere. Television viewers loved his slightly disdainful British demeanor when he was Merv Griffin's announcer (I loved his not-so-subtly dismissive intro, "And now, here's the dear boy himself, Meeeer-vin."), and if you lived on the East Coast or in the Midwest, his countenance graced hundreds of signs for his self-named fish 'n' chips shops. As well, the Shirley Temple television revival was in full swing back then, and his famous co-starring stints with the tiny superstar (Curly Top, Stowaway, Heidi, and The Little Princess) were in constant rotation. The character actor who made a career out of playing butlers became the very epitome of a popular comedic British stereotype: that of the imperious, contemptuous, snobby "domestic," who was in every pore and fiber of his pompous being, more "British" than the British uppercrusts he served.

So naturally, when 20th Century-Fox decided to adapt P. G. Wodehouse's famous fictional butler Jeeves to the screen, Treacher was deemed ideal for the role. Casting the role of Jeeves' charming but clinically dim employer, Bertie Wooster, was a little trickier, with Darryl Zanuck borrowing supporting player David Niven from Samuel Goldwyn on a loan out. Watching their first and only outing together in 1936's Thank You, Jeeves! (Goldwyn refused Niven's services for the sequel, 1937's Step Lively, Jeeves!), it's apparent that the germ of a classic comedy team was there, but unfortunately, the filmmakers were unable to successfully capture the effervescent, almost strangely insulated world of Wodehouse's Bertie and Jeeves. Brief moments pop up that remind one of Wodehouse's brilliance, but unfortunately, Hollywood "improvements" interfere too often, with a racist element added to Thank You, Jeeves! that may make modern viewers uncomfortable, and a total perversion of the Jeeves character in Step Lively, Jeeves! that leaves the Wodehouse influence completely out of the picture. These sprightly little B-movies certainly move quickly, and they may offer some amusement unrelated to Wodehouse, but they're "Bertie and Jeeves" largely in name only.

THANK YOU, JEEVES!

At his swank London digs, Bertie Wooster (David Niven) is surprised by the arrival of mysterious, beautiful Marjorie Lowman (Virginia Fields). Pursued by two threatening strangers (Colin Tapley as Tom, and John Graham Spacey as Jack), who stake out Bertie's house, Marjorie strings Bertie along, while taking the opportunity to phone her partner, Edward McDermott, when Bertie becomes locked in his own room (courtesy of the ever vigilant Jeeves). Arranging to meet Edward at the Mooring Manor Hotel, Marjorie slips away in the night, but not before Bertie takes note of where she's going (as he eavesdrops through his bedroom door). Convincing a skeptical Jeeves that a vacation is in order (Jeeves was prepared to quit the night before because of Bertie's desire to "seek adventure"), Bertie and Jeeves drive off for Mooring Manor, with Bertie hoping that Marjorie is already there.

On the road to Mooring Manor, the pair pick up a hitchhiking sax player (Willie Best), who quickly turns the flighty Bertie onto swing music. However, their leisurely ride turns wild when Jack and Tom pursue them in a high-speed automobile chase. Eventually, they stop Bertie and Jeeves, convincing them that they're members of Scotland Yard, and that they're trying to track down Marjorie. Evidently, Marjorie is in possession of half of the plans for a secret military aircraft that the British government wants back. Meanwhile, arriving at Mooring Manor, Marjorie is surprised to find out that the hotel clerk has never heard of Edward McDermott. Smooth, silky Elliot Manville (Lester Matthews) offers to help her find him, but it quickly becomes apparent that Manville has other plans for Marjorie. Soon, Bertie reunites with Marjorie, and it's up to Jeeves - as usual - to pull Bertie's fat out of the fire.

At a speedy 57 minutes, Thank You, Jeeves! offers some genuine laughs, particularly when it takes the time to let Treacher and Niven interact. The opening sequence, with Niven wildly (and badly) flailing away on his drum set, throwing off sticks left and right, only to have them replaced instantly by the nearby Jeeves, is an excellent introduction to the pair. And when they actually talk to each other, with Niven's delightfully baffled delivery and Treacher's barely concealed contempt for his master, you begin to feel that maybe, just maybe, the filmmakers are on to something in catching that elusive Wodehouse patter.

Unfortunately, the realities of making a 1930s Hollywood "B" soon kick in, with the patter quickly falling away, and plot inanities and slapstick for slapstick's sake taking over. Certainly the most egregious example of this is the totally unnecessary inclusion of Willie Best's character, doing his patented shtick of either being sleepily slow, or wild-eyed terrified. Modern audiences will no doubt question his performance, although it should be noted that contemporary comedians, including top pros like Bob Hope and Milton Berle, considered Best one of the single best supporting actors in Hollywood at the time. That knowledge, however, does little to justify his act here. Added perhaps to "Americanize" the decidedly British humor, his inclusion clashes most absurdly with the Jeeves character, and throws the Wodehouse mood totally off kilter. And during the funny slapstick finale (which is nicely paced by director Arthur Greville Collins), Jeeves suddenly becomes a pugilist, knocking out villains left and right. As fun as Thank You, Jeeves! may be, the opportunity to really showcase Wodehouse's famous characters ultimately is lost.

The DVD:

The Video:
Looking remarkably clear, Thank You, Jeeves! has a creamy black and white glossiness that looks phenomenal in this full frame transfer. According to the restoration comparison that's included on the The Jeeves Collection: Thank You, Jeeves! and Step Lively, Jeeves!, over 20 hours were spent cleaning up Thank You, Jeeves!, but seeing this print, I can't believe they only spent so few hours in the lab.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack accurately recreates the original theatrical presentation. You can, if you wish, also listen to the soundtrack in a English stereo option. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish, along with close-captioning.

The Extras:
Along with the restoration comparison, there's another marvelous featurette by John Cork titled Thank You, P. G.: The Life of P. G. Wodehouse, that gives a fantastic overview of the author's life and works. Cork's docs for these DVDs really are outstanding.

Final Thoughts:
Breezy and fast, Thank You, Jeeves! ultimately turns out to be more Hollywood slapstick "B" than Wodehouse. Pleasure can be found in scenes with Treacher and Niven, but the superfluous inclusion of Willie Best jolts the film off kilter, and ultimately, the Wodehouse milieu is thrown out in favor of competent, yet slight, screwball comedy.

STEP LIVELY, JEEVES!

In this sequel to Thank You, Jeeves!, Bertie is nowhere to be found (Niven wasn't allowed by Sam Goldwyn to recreate his role for Fox). So it's up to Jeeves to be both dim-witted Bertie and his own snotty self. Conned by Russian confidence man Prince Boris Caminov (George Givot) and English swindler Cedric B. Cromwell (Alan Dinehart) into thinking he's the heir to Sir Francis Drake's forgotten legacy of land grants and royalties, Jeeves travels to America with the crooks in hopes of collecting enough money to leave "the service" of being a valet. Caminov and Cromwell hope that publicizing Jeeves' arrival as "Rupert, the Earl of Braddock," they will rope in a big whale of an investor, and then abscond with the funds.

Meanwhile, Babe Ross (Helen Flint), former moll to gangster Barney Ross (John Harrington) and now respectable lady of leisure, sees the Earl's arrival as her ticket into real society - owing to the fact that she's been snubbed ever since the rich and famous learned her husband was a gangster. Barney's cohort Max (Arthur Housman) essentially kidnaps Jeeves, getting him blind drunk, and convincing him that he must stay at the Rosses' for a society dinner and casino night. Complications ensue when reporter Patricia Westley (Patricia Ellis) smells a dodge, and tries to trail Jeeves. Her pursuing paramour, rich Gerry Townsend (Robert Kent) infiltrates Caminov and Cromwell's operation, posing as a prospective social secretary. Naturally, everything comes to a head at the Rosses' casino night, with Jeeves becoming wise to the swindle.

Owing much more perhaps to Damon Runyon that P. G. Wodehouse, Step Lively, Jeeves! only succeeds in fits and starts, with its funniest moments coming from the expert comedic performances by Flint, Harrington and Houseman - and that's what's really wrong with Step Lively, Jeeves!. Since Niven was unavailable for the sequel, the writers decidedly to invent a new story from wholecloth (although similar scams actually did occur in the 1920s and 1930s), leaving behind any Wodehouse influence. And that omission is quite evident when one contemplates how Jeeves behaves here. The whole point of the original Wodehouse stories is that Jeeves is always the smart one, the savior of the numbskull Bertie. Here, Jeeves is as naive as a child, believing a con that the real Jeeves would have seen through in an instant (even the cinematic Jeeves, in Thank You, Jeeves! immediately saw through the Marjorie character the instant she entered the scene). Perhaps thinking they could combine the Bertie and Jeeves character, it just doesn't ring true to have Jeeves such a gullible dolt who fails to see the thieves and con men who surround him. And then once he does see through them, we're just supposed to believe that the old Jeeves is back? It's a plot backflip that simply doesn't work. And let's face it: you have to have Bertie's Ying to Jeeves' Yang. With Bertie gone, the funny double act becomes a most distressing single. The girl investigator and rich boyfriend subplot totally fails to be integrated into the plot, generating zero interest for the viewer. Indeed, the gangster subplot is the only successful element of Step Lively, Jeeves!, and that's a major problem if you're supposed to be making a "Jeeves" film. Wodehouse's influence, unfortunately, is nowhere to be seen in Step Lively, Jeeves!.

The DVD:

The Video:
The restoration comparison states that more than 200 hours were spent on restoring Step Lively, Jeeves!, which seems remarkable when comparing this print to the Thank You, Jeeves! print. There are quite a bit more anomalies, dirt specks, and scratches here, with variable contrast values, than Thank You, Jeeves!, but overall, it still looks quite good.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack accurately recreates the original theatrical presentation. You can, if you wish, also listen to the soundtrack in a English stereo option. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish, along with close-captioning.

The Extras:
In addition to the restoration comparison, there's another fine John Cork doc, The World of Wodehouse, that further elaborates themes discussed in the first documentary.

Final Thoughts:
Funny in spots -- but in the wrong spots -- Step Lively, Jeeves! throws out Wodehouse completely (as well, fatally, as Bertie), crafting a Damon Runyonesque gangster story. The big problem? The gangsters are funnier than Jeeves.

Final Thoughts:
The Jeeves Collection: Thank You, Jeeves! and Step Lively, Jeeves! may be okay for die-hard Arthur Treacher fans, who have pined for these two movies' releases for quite some time. I know I laughed at them as a kid, and I certainly wanted them to be as enjoyable today. They're essentially harmless, but if you're a fan of Wodehouse, you'll be disappointed in these adaptations. On their own, Thank You, Jeeves! and Step Lively, Jeeves! are competent, but unremarkable "B" flicks, and demand a rental first for the average viewer.