by Bill Hawk

NOTORIOUS
RKO, 1946, B&W, 102 mins.- Criterion DVD

Ingrid Bergman: “Why don’t you give that copper’s brain of yours a rest? Every time you look at me I can see it running over its slogans- once a crook, always a crook- once a tramp, always a tramp.”

It’s hard to get respect from stony government agent Cary Grant when you’re a “Notorious” party girl, even if you are atoning for the fact that your father was a Nazi spy by doing some intelligence work for the good guys. Recruited by Grant for an unspecified mission in Rio, Bergman tries to clean up her act, looking for approval- and love- from the suave G-Man, a cynical, bottled-up type who’s afraid to get involved. Just when he starts to thaw out, it’s revealed that the Feds want Bergman to make nice with old acquaintance Claude Rains, one of a group of Germans who are miffed over the outcome of World War II and who may be up to no good. She does whatever it takes to get close to Rains- and that doesn’t sit well with Grant at all. But when Rains falls hard for Bergman, the ante is upped and she eventually finds herself in mortal danger. Only one man can save her- but will he?

One of both director Alfred Hitchcock and writer Ben Hecht’s finest, this romantic thriller isn’t afraid to illuminate the dark sides of its characters, or conversely to show its villain in a sympathetic light. The protagonists are a troubled bunch, to put it mildly, but their personal struggles pull you into the story just as much as the conventional suspense elements do. The resolution of the plot is as dramatic- and expertly-done- as you could want or expect, given the outstanding talent involved. Extras on this nicely cleaned-up Criterion disc include audio commentaries, photos, and deleted scene script excerpts.

CLOCKWISE
Thorn EMI, 1985, Color, 96 mins.- Anchor Bay DVD

John Cleese: “It’s not the despair, Laura- I can stand the despair. It’s the hope.”

School headmaster Cleese, a paragon of regimentation, is about to be rewarded with a prestigious position in a British scholarly society. When we first see him, watching over his school from an elevated command center of sorts, it is obvious that this is a man who has the screws of his existence firmly tightened-down. But fate is about to apply a very large screwdriver to those screws, beginning with a missed train, and continuing with a series of misadventures as Cleese attempts to get to his big event on time. Before the day is over, he will have clashed with a variety of individuals, caused both inadvertent and deliberate property damage, and earned the attention of more than one officer of the law. And even if he does make it to his meeting on time, there’s still the matter of his speech- the text of which he has lost along the way.....

Monty Python alumnus Cleese had his first lead role with this film, and with his skill at playing authority figures under stress he’s a perfect choice. His headmaster isn’t a bad sort really- he means well, he’s just a little too rigid and self-absorbed, and when he tries to be flexible in response to his deteriorating situation he is not altogether successful. Of course, it doesn’t help that something- call it luck, fate, or whatever- seems to be against him......but if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t get to see him losing his cool so entertainingly. The film isn’t wall-to-wall laughs, but it is full of nicely-observed character moments that fold seamlessly into the gags. The only extra of note is a recent interview with Cleese.

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
Warner Bros., 1938, Color, 102 mins.- Warners Spec. Ed. DVD

Norman Soldier: “Why, our men can’t even lay a hot iron in the eyes of a tax dodge without getting a black arrow in the throat! It’s an outrage!”

And it’s all the fault of that uppity peasant-lover, Robin Hood, a man who has the gall to question the right of certain high-born ruffians to rule over Twelth Century England in the absence of her King, who is off smiting foreign heathens somewhere. Loyalist Hood and his band of guerrilla fighters make life difficult for the bad guys until the rightful wearer of the crown can turn his attention back to domestic matters. The basics of the story are familiar to everybody, but this version is definitely the gold standard for the Hood legend, with Hood personified by that master of dashing cheekiness, Errol Flynn. A fresh star at the time, Flynn seems to be having a blast in this picture, and the feeling is infectious. For that matter, everybody in this cast is a delight to watch, from merry men Alan Hale and Eugene Pallette to villains Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone- not to mention romantic interest Olivia de Havilland, who bravely does her part in the struggle.

With its sumptuous settings and lavish costumes, captured by the “Enhanced reality” look of the old three-strip Technicolor process, this picture is strictly from the theme park school of Medieval history- which is one reason why it works so well. It’s a fairy tale, where clearly-defined Good and Evil clash theatrically to the notes of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s classic score, and justice is served in the end. An all-around good time, one of the best adventure movies ever made. Extras on this generous two-disc set include documentaries, audio commentaries, and short subjects.

© Melt Magazine 2003