Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This review isn't of the great movies contained but the DVD set and their respective presentations.
first..let me say the bonus DVD "Tennesse Williams South"...is exceptional..its a film made about and with him in 1974 and besides his own readings of his work , which are illuminating, it features legends like Burl Ives and Jessica Tandy re-creating his dialog..simply timeless!
now..onto the Discs/Movies
the bonus featurettes are all very well done however, seemingly shorter than they should/could be. By that I mean...they have current interviews with Karl Malden and Eli Wallach for BABYDOLL and Rip Torn for Sweet Bird of Youth and the ever beautiful Jill St John for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, and yet the amount of face time these actual stars of the films in question get is barely a line here or there? Not that the featurettes aren't good...they are..it just seems they could be a could 10minutes longer each...
now...the opposite problem is in the second disc of Streetcar Named Desire....the feature length (90min) Elia Kazan: A directors Journey is wonderful..its a decade or so old but was done while he was still with us and his participation raised it above the level of talking heads documentaries of the day. The strange thing is that the new featurettes on this disc feature way too much culled from the aforementioned feature. I don't understand....WB has wonderful featurettes on all the movies that seem truncated and then BLOATS out the Streetcar featurettes with duplicate material from itself? Only the current footage of Karl Malden saves the Streetcar featurettes from their own plagerism.
Now..the films themselves are all in very good shape considering they go back half a century. I wasn't a particular fan of Tennesse Williams..but after viewing all these films and the bonus film...i most certainly put him in the genius category and am looking for more.
Also, the press is making a big deal about Marlon Brando's screen test which is being included in the Streetcar DVD bonus features...its only a curiosity , not amazing by any stretch. What is far more interesting is Karl Malden's lovely memories of his friendship and admiration for Mr Brando....truly touching and mezmorizing. Malden is a treasure of an actor who starred in more fine films than any but the most ardent fan would know as he was usually second billed...but he IS the star of this set.
Great American films and unlike Universals shameless packaging..WB continues to present these types of films lovingly with extras..oh yeah..and the commentaries aren't bad either...much to enjoy in this set.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Tennessee Williams Film Collection (A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone) (1958)
Streetcar Named Desire 2 Disc SE Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Deluxe Edition Sweet Bird of Youth Night of the Iguana Baby Doll Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
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