Gabriel
Over The White House
(1933/MGM*)/Documentary
Now!: The Complete Collection
(2015 - 2022/Mill Creek Blu-ray Set)/Money
Talks
(1997/New Line/*both Warner Archive Blu-rays)
Picture:
B/B-/B Sound: C+/B/B Extras: C/B-/D Main Programs:
B-/B-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Gabriel
Over The White House
and Money
Talks
Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their
Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for comedy with sometimes serious sides or undertones....
Gregory
La Cava's Gabriel
Over The White House
(1933) stars Walter Huston as a corrupt President of the United
States who is on a roll cutting backroom deals when he has a serious
car accident. Instead of dying, he is visited by an angel, who gets
him to change his toon and suddenly, he is still alive and fighting
for justice, refusing to break the law and fighting for the country!
A
comedy with some dark overtones made during The Great Depression, it
has its moments and definitely should be discussed when Frank Capra's
films are, but the tone is still different. La Cava was coming into
his own as a major journeyman filmmaker, coming out of both a
successful run in animation and silent filmmaking. It was a smooth
move into features and would have gone on longer had he not died at
an early age of a heart attack that shocked the industry.
This
was also a film produced by Cosmopolitan Pictures (run by William
Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, who was no dummy and had a
distribution deal with MGM at this point, after their Paramount
Pictures deal ended) and the money is also on the screen. Also a
plus are the supporting cast that includes Karen Morley, Franchot
Tone, Dickie Moore, Arthur Bryon, David Landau, Samuel Hinds, Jean
Parker, Claire DuBrey and uncredited turns by Oscar Apfel and Mischa
Auer.
It
is also an early sound success that celebrates the institution of the
country (despite some people disturbed by the idea that it implies
the U.S. is endorsed by a higher religious power) and does serve as
propaganda to some extent, but it is not purely that. It is well
done enough and worth a look for all serious film fans.
Also,
this version has the possibly 'safer' U.S. ending.
Extras
include three animated classic theatrical cartoon shorts: Bosko
In Person,
Buddy's
Beer Garden
and The
Dish Ran Away With The Spoon.
Documentary
Now!: The Complete Collection
(2015 - 2022)
is not just making fun of documentaries, but is the first TV series
that features a bunch of mockumentaries, usually of other famous
documentaries like The
Kid Stays In The Picture,
Nanook
Of The North,
Salesman
and Co-Op,
a satire of the making of the musical Company
already issued on the Criterion Collection release of that Company
release, which included this spoof in its extras and is reviewed
elsewhere on this site.
The
duo behind the series are Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, comedy
veterans who play it straight when doing these satires, they get
Helen Mirren to introduce them (as if the show has been around for 50
years!) like they are legit and the show lands some major talent in
its guest cast, including Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Alexander
Skarsgard, John Mulaney, Michael C. Hall, Jack Black, Maya Rudolph,
Peter Fonda, Michael Keaton, Natasha Lyonne, Anne Hathaway, Faye
Dunaway, Peter Bogdanovich, John Rhys-Davies, Kenny Loggins, Tim
Robinson and others.
In
some ways, this reminded me of The
Ruttles,
which sent up The Beatles entire career, while one cannot escape the
films of Christopher Guest, but shows like The
Comic Strip Presents,
A Bit
Of Fry & Laurie,
plus a few other TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic at times
shows how rare this kind of comedy is done. No, not everything here
works, but this humor also depends on if you know what is being sent
up and if you are in the mood for it. This is better than it could
or should be, considering what can go wrong with such humor, so those
interested should check it out.
Extras
in this solid slipcase packaging include a 28-page, high quality,
nicely illustrated booklet on the show that
explains each entry, while the discs add Deleted Scenes, Behind The
Scenes featurettes, Trailers/Promos and an IFC Panel Discussion.
Now
we have Money
Talks
(1997)
starring Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen, as it lands on Blu-ray
courtesy of Warner Archive. The story centers on a ticket hustler
(Tucker) and a news reporter (Sheen) who both get entangled in an
elaborate scheme involving money and diamonds. While a bit dated to
today's standards in more ways than one, the film also stars Heather
Locklear and Paul Sorvino. The film is directed by the
blacklisted/'cancelled' filmmaker Brett Ratner who would go on to
make Terminator
Salvation,
X-Men
3,
Red
Dragon,
and the Rush
Hour
franchise to name a few before his big fall. Obviously this film
solidified his strong friendship with Chris Tucker that led to Rush
Hour,
outside of the films being inspired by Cimino's Year
Of The Dragon,
et al.
The
only extra is a trailer. There are no scene selections on the disc
either.
Money
Talks
is a product of its time and a bit funny to watch in perspective. I
would say it's a middle of the road comedy and nothing too special
especially considering how dastardly in real life how some of the key
players behind the scenes are.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white
digital High Definition image transfer on Gabriel
can show the age of the materials used at times, but this is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and has been
very restored by Warner Archive down to the original optical
monophonic sound presented here in a DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix that is as good as the film
will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Documentary
Now!
can look good, but are sometimes rough and sometimes intentionally so
to spoof the real thing. I cannot imagine a 4K version of these, so
this is as good as they will likely ever look. The
PCM 2.0 Stereo has plenty of monophonic moments, but the tracks on
each episode are as good as they will ever sound.
Money
Talks
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a lossless English
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit). The transfer looks fine for
Blu-ray with nothing really sticking out as unusual. I think its
pretty safe to say that this is the best looking this film has looked
on home video as of this writing. Note that earlier pressings only
had DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo, but they were quickly pulled and replaced by
the current version.
To
order
either the Gabriel
Over The White House
and/or Money
Talks
Warner Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Money)
https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/
