SHADOWS ‘N SHEMP:  LET’S CALL THE WHOLE THING VIOLENCE

Sony Pictures once more loads the holiday bags with DVD goodies in the form of two brand-new sets of fantastic and fun classic movie fare from the well-stocked studio vaults of Columbia Pictures

First up is the 5-disc/5 thriller set of FILM NOIR CLASSICS, VOLUME 1.  Containing a treasure chest of 4 rarely-seen (and new to the format) gems, plus a re-issue of Fritz Lang’s ode to Chock Full O’ Nuts, THE BIG HEAT, this collection will have you slinging slang, going trenchcoat and fedora retro whilst curling up with your best B-girl for some serious cinematic couch time.

Lang’s 1953 masterpiece, already out in platter form, never looked better than it does here.  Indeed, it may be the same transfer, but improvements in technology since the initial release give it that “just a bit crisper” cutting edge.  With Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin at the top of their game – it simply doesn’t get any better than this.  It’s rough, tough, sleazy and brilliant!  THE BIG HEAT is a textbook for the genre.  So sell your old copy – or give it to that rival film buff before he or she kills you to get it.  Or own two copies!

Chronologically, on the debut front is 1952’s THE SNIPER – a psycho drama, shot on location in San Francisco, with a relatively unknown cast – save star Adolphe Menjou.  Curtly directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer, this little firecracker of a picture plays like a documentary – making the unfolding narrative all the more chilling.  Dmytryk, who chronicled his career in a number of books, On Directing, On Producing, On Film Editing, was about to begin his nefarious chapter on the volume that never made it to the publishers – On Informing (he dropped more names than Michael Musto on acid).  One wonders what he and well-dressed right wing bastard Menjou “discussed” between takes.

1955’s 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE is a Phil Karlson-directed lollapalooza!  A quartet of Korean War vets, taking advantage of the GI Bill to return to college, hash out a make-believe fantasy heist of a Vegas casino.  At least it’s a goof to Guy Madison, Kerwin Mathews and Alvy Moore.  Seriously disturbed (aka friggin’ psycho) Brian Keith gets it into his metal-plated injured head to really do it – and forces his pals to cave.  The “fifth” against the abode is a smoking Kim Novak as Madison’s hot nightclub singer squeeze.  It’s suspenseful, action-packed crime stuff of the highest order, and in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio too (as are all the remaining titles in this box)

1958’s MURDER BY CONTRACT is a low-budget sleeper about a disillusioned hitman, tightly directed by Irving Lerner and beautifully lensed by master d.p. Lucien Ballard.  Martin Scorsese, who often cites CONTRACT as a prime influence, helped bring this entry to DVD via his Film Foundation preservation company; he also appears in a specially-prepared featurette on the above, as well as in the supplements appended to THE SNIPER and THE BIG HEAT.  A bizarre footnote is the lean music score by composer Perry Botkin.  The jazzy rock riff that “specialist” Vince Edwards listens to on his car radio, became the standard establishing Clampett mansion theme for The Beverly Hillbillies four years later (Botkin’s sound became nearly synonymous with Filmways because of this hit show until Vic Mizzy blew him out of the water).

The final slice of tarnished life is perhaps, after THE BIG HEAT, the major coup of this group, Don Siegel’s 1958 riveting THE LINEUP.  Based on a successful TV series, this big screen adaptation puts stars Warner Anderson and Emile Meyer in the backseat to tell its eerie tale of psychopath teammates Eli Wallach and Robert Keith, out to silence mule victims of a heroin smuggling ring.  Wallach is tremendous as the cold murderous maniac, as is Keith, who delights in recording their hits’ last words in an assignment notebook.  The climax, comprising a fast and furious car chase through Frisco – encompassing the then-unfinished Embarcadero Freeway - is genuinely harrowing, albeit not as disturbing as Keith’s unhealthy interest in little girls (“Aw, he’s alright” Wallach unconvincingly tells a concerned single mom).

All of these movies are worthy additions to any DVD shelf, and look and sound aces.  In addition to Scorsese’s participation, the featurettes and audio commentaries employ the talents of such noted noiristas as Eddie Muller, director Michael Mann (who, hopefully, will re-learn all he’s forgotten), and Christopher Nolan.  Of specific note is THE LINEUP’s commentary by writer James Ellroy.  It’s of small surprise when Ellroy announces the movie as a personal favorite.  With few alternations, 1950s California, drugs and murder pretty much describe his childhood.

With the subtlety of a T-Rex loose at a Biggest Loser audition comes volume seven of the praiseworthy THREE STOOGES COLLECTION, covering the relevant years 1952-1954.  Now firmly entrenched in Shemp territory, this mélange represents the core of the brilliant comedian’s tenure with the team.  From here on, there would be an increasingly amount of re-hashed footage utilized for remakes of earlier triumphs, and the oh-no-they-didn’t obvious use of pitiful stand-in “fake Shemps” – a term coined by director/fan Sam Raimi.  That said, with scant exceptions, this double-disc DVD encompasses the real McShemps – and, as related in previous Stooge writings, his 2-reelers with Moe and Larry comprise some of the most horrifically sanguine cinema pre-Peckinpah.  Frame for frame, there are more blow torches in the butt, wires up the nose and fingers in the eyes than in the entire Saw series. In fact, this set plays out like a primer for the Bush Administration’s guide to interrogation.

These 22 shorts, too often neglected by Stooge-O-Philes, hold a surprising amount of laugh out loud delights.  The titles alone make a purchase mandatory; how can any true comedy buff deny themselves a mini-library featuring such tasteful tantalizing entries as BOOTY AND THE BEAST, TRICKY DICKS and PARDON MY BACKFIRE?  They’re all in the 1953 catalogue.

Tackling politics (THREE DARK HORSES), the IRS, (INCOME TAX SAPPY) and the emergence of the adult western (SHOT IN THE FRONTIER), the boys don’t miss a beat.  The aforementioned TRICKY DICKS is a noir spoof with the trio as precinct detectives, whose investigative ineptness is the stuff Al Sharpton dreams about.  Key to the proceedings is an attack by a thrill killer whose efforts are thwarted by a gun wielding squirrel monkey – magnanimously saving the day by indiscriminately shooting everyone in the ass.  Why can’t life be that simple?  Simians figure prominently in Stooge lore, and the pre-requisite guy in the ape suit shows up in SPOOKS! concurrently squeezing the be-jeezes out of his mad scientists tormentors whilst tossing pies with finesse of a Olympian pro for the wacky finale. Even the flawed works are not without interest.   In HE COOKED HIS GOOSE, un-teamed and unleashed, the Stooges play off each other solo in what is Larry’s hour of glory – as a lecherous pet shop owner simultaneously wooing Shemp’s girlfriend and tapping Moe’s ho wife.  Highlights include Moe swallowing a complete string of lit Christmas tree lights (illuminating his rib cage), gagging and choking in agony while his unamused spouse, shakes her head muttering the likes of “Honestly!”  The sight gag near-revulsion pip, however, is Shemp accidentally dousing his babe’s pet pooch with water, and wringing it out like a washcloth – excruciating on-screen animal abuse even for canine haters.

The fascinating thing about this set is the Stooges’ honing state of the art technology.  Kicking off the 1953 batch are two ultra-grotesques, the previously discussed SPOOKS! and PARDON MY BACKFIRE.  Both were shot in the then-trendy 3-D process, and distributed in the new widescreen aspect ratio.  Sony has pulled out all the stops and offers the pair in three dimensions or standard flat issue (two pairs of glasses enclosed).  It should be mentioned that these two titles, like all 1950s 3-D movies, were shot in polarized double-projector format, and NOT the red/green anaglyph presentation offered in this set.  Polarized gleaned virtual 100% stereo-optic results whereas anaglyph is hit and miss.  There is bleeding and depth is not always successful (ironically, an honest assessment of their career).  As might be expected, the Stooges throw everything at the camera – except the cinematographer; unfortunately in red and green incarnation, the desired effect is not always achieved (although it is amusing to see Moe perform his patented eye-gouging finger jab into the lens).  The master and two shot foreground/subject/background framed compositions are what make this cool, as they DO indeed work.  Again, if this bothers viewers, the standard non-3-D version is accessible.  While the subsequently released RIP, SEW AND STITCH and BUBBLE TROUBLE revert to full frame (probably prepared earlier, but relegated to low imbeciles on the totem pole pecking order to cash in on the 3-D and widescreen craze), all the remaining titles are in 1.85:1 – and, boy, do they look great in these fresh anamorphic transfers!

I can hardly wait for the next (and final) bunch, featuring the surreal Bedlam in Paradise and the team’s introduction of their last 2-reel stooge, Joe Besser.  While these can’t compare in bulk to their previous comedic landmarks, they do flirt with such Fifties obsessions as reincarnation and flying saucer/alien invasions.  It’s what DVD is all about!

- Mel Neuhaus

 

COLUMBIA PICTURES FILM NOIR CLASSICS 1 (all B&W; digial mono; all letterbox [16 x 9 anamorphic; 1.85:1], except THE BIG HEAT and THE SNIPER; dual layer.  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION VOLUME 7: 1952-1954 (all B&W; digital mono; all full frame, except the 1954 releases, and the following 1953 shorts:  SPOOKS!, PARDON MY BACKFIRE, GOOF ON THE ROOF, which are 16 x 9 anamorphic/1.85:1; dual layer.  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.