The Gregory Peck Collection (Trailers)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Trailers: B
When the
tribute for Gregory Peck came up in the recent Academy Awards (76th
Annual/2004), the president of the entire organization could not keep his
composure when doing the tribute. It was
one of the few moments of the night worthy of the greatness honoring cinema
offers. Anyone who knew and loved Peck’s
work could relate.
Peck was
an actor who had a career that went on for over half a century and never missed
a beat. He never sold out and few actors
ever had or will have the series of memorable performances and unforgettable
classics he appeared in. The 36 clips
include:
Valley Of Decision
Spellbound (1944)
The Yearling
Duel In The Sun
Gentleman’s Agreement
Paradine Case
Twelve O’clock High
The Gunfighter
Captain Horatio Hornblower
Only The Valiant
David & Bathsheba
Snows Of Kilimanjaro
Roman Holiday
Night People
Man In The Grey Flannel Suit
Moby Dick (1956, John Huston)
Designing Woman
The Bravados
Pork Chop Hill
On The Beach
The Guns Of Navarone
Cape Fear (1962 only)
How The West Was Won
To Kill A Mockingbird
Captain Newman, M.D.
Behold A Pale Horse
Mirage
Arabesque
Mackenna’s Gold
The Chairman
Marooned
I Walk The Line
Billy Two Hats
The Omen (1976)
MacArthur
The Boys From Brazil
As was
the case before, it is a very well-rounded set of clips, with the few absentee
film trailers being the likes of Days Of
Glory, World In His Arms, Great Sinner, Yellow Sky, The Purple Plain,
and The Sea Wolves. Also as before in the James Coburn and
Charles Bronson sets, we ask why are so many of these films NOT on DVD? Even with a DVD boom that has been going on
for years, 1,000s of great and interesting films STILL are not available,
especially with major stars. It is
unbelievable and we can only hope Passport will continue to issue these sets
until al of the films themselves are finally fixed up and freed from the vaults
for new generations to enjoy.
The image
quality is again above average at best, with many of the latter clips being
letterboxed or semi-letterboxed. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono throughout fares the same way again, but this is good
for such a collection. Too many of
Peck’s works have been forgotten, including influential films like Arabesque, still not on DVD to this
day. Collections like this could even up
the requests for some great films, so check all of them out.
- Nicholas Sheffo
