Tough Guys: Kirk Douglas/James Cagney/John Wayne [Collector's Edition Metal Box]

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 3
• Screen: Color
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • Deluxe booklet inside with photos and biographies
  • Direct scene access
  • 12 hours of movies on three dual layer DVDs

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Black and White Art Direction - 1945 (Wiard Ihnen, Al Fields)
•     Nominated Best Original Story - 1946 (John Patrick)
•     Nominated Best Score - 1937 (Constantin Bakaleinikoff, Victor Schertzinger)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Barbara Stanwyck - Martha Ivers
       Eleanor Hunt - Betty Mason
       Charles D. Brown - Special Investigator
       Ann Doran - Bobbi St. John
       Earl Dwire - Mason
       Darryl Hickman - Sam Masterson as a Boy
       Alan Mowbray - Deveny
       Charles Meredith - Elder Bixby
       Candy Candido - Candy
       David Aldrich - Boy
       Douglas Wood - The Mayor
       Abe Reynolds - Taxi Driver
       Dwight Frye - Easton
       Helene Stanley - Miss Pidgeon
       Joe Kirk - Process Server
       James Bell - Charley Sprague
       Gertrude Astor - Miss Gee
       Herbert Rawlinson - Studio attorney
       Ernest Wood - Edward Burns
       Hugh Beaumont - Johnny Clarke
       Al Murphy - Waiter

• Director:

  Felix E. Feist, Charles Martin, Lewis Milestone, John G. Blystone, Victor Schertzinger, Frank Lloyd, Robert North Bradbury

• Producer:

  Louis Edelman, Leo C. Popkin, Hal B. Wallis, Douglas MacLean, Zion Myers, William Cagney, Paul Malvern

• Screenwriter:

  Derek N. Twist, James R. Webb

• Screen Story:

  Kenneth Earl

• Screenwriter:

  John Twist, Charles Martin, Robert Riskin, Robert Rossen

• Screen Story:

  John Patrick

• Screenwriter:

  John Patrick

• Screen Story:

  James Edward Grant

• Screenwriter:

  James Edward Grant, Henry Johnson, Henry McCarty, Horace McCoy, Harry Ruskin, Henry McCarthy, Austin Parker, Lester Cole

• Screen Story:

  Garrett Elsden Fort

• Screenwriter:

  Frank Melford, Nathaniel Curtis, Robert North Bradbury, Lindsley Parsons

• Cinematographer:

  Bert Glennon, Joseph Biroc, Victor Milner, Jack MacKenzie, Jack McKensie, John Stumar, Theodor Sparkuhl, Louis Clyde Stoumen, Archie J. Stout

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Ray Heindorf

• Composer (Music Score):

  Heinz Roemheld

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  David Chudnow

• Songwriter:

  Edward Heyman

• Composer (Music Score):

  Miklos Rozsa

• Songwriter:

  Miklos Rozsa

• Composer (Music Score):

  Marlin Skiles

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Marlin Skiles

• Songwriter:

  Martin Skiles

• Composer (Music Score):

  Constantin Bakaleinikoff

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Constantin Bakaleinikoff

• Composer (Music Score):

  Victor Schertzinger

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Lee Zahler, Abe Meyer

• Editor:

  Clarence Kolster, Arthur H. Nadel, Archie Marshek, Russell Schoengarth, Gene Milford, Walter A. Hannemann, Truman K. Wood, Carl Pierson

• Production Designer:

  Rudi Feld

• Art Director:

  Edward Carrere, Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Ben Carre, Paul Murphy, Robert E. Lee, Wiard Ihnen

• Set Designer:

  G.W. Berntsen, Jacque Mapes, Sam Comer, Jerry Welch, Al Fields, Roland A. Fields

• Costume Designer:

  Maria P. Donovan, Edith Head, Dorothy Beal, Robert Martien, Michael Woulfe

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Leslie G. Hewitt, Harold Lewis, Walter Oberst, Richard DeWeese

• Makeup:

  Gordon Bau, Wally Westmore, Ern Westmore, Josef Norin

• Special Effects:

  H.F. Koenekamp, Farciot Edouart

• First Assistant Director:

  John Sherwood

• Consultant/advisor:

  Alice Barlow

• Choreography:

  Harland Dixon

• Production Manager:

  Harold Lewis

• Technical Advisor:

  Alice Barlow

REVIEWS:

• As he often managed to do, director/screenwriter Robert North Bradbury opens Blue Steel in a highly suspenseful manner, this time by having John Wayne holed up in a secluded hotel whose proprietor is expecting trouble. Assorted interesting guests arrive, including a couple of timid honeymooners, and there are mysterious bumps in the night. But Bradbury once again fails to follow through and the remainder of Blue Steel is the usual lackadaisical Grade-Z Western enlivened somewhat by a couple of good stunts from Yakima Canutt. Bradbury was full of good intentions, not to mention a noteworthy idea or two (his flash-pan method of getting a character from one place to another is always enjoyable), but lacked the economy and general wherewithal to make his Westerns much more than routine budget-fillers. But the Big Pine locations are picturesque. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• A so-so adventure film, The Big Trees is hobbled by a screenplay that seems to think that all it is required to do is introduce a situation and some characters and then put them through some paces. Not unnaturally, this approach leads to inconsistent characterization, which in this case means that the leading character -- as well as several supporting characters -- make some 180 degree turns that come from nowhere and are therefore not in the least credible. The dialogue is also of little help; it's virile where appropriate and syrupy when called for and faux-inspirational in places; but whatever form it takes, it's bland at best and wooden at worst. An imaginative director might have been able to overcome these flaws, but Felix E. Feist is competent when what is needed is someone with at least a bit of vision. The scenery, at least, is magnificent, although this comes with a caveat: there's an over-reliance on stock footage. Trees fortunately does have Kirk Douglas on hand to add some needed star power to the proceedings. Although he reportedly hated doing the film, he turns in a very fine performance, much more detailed than it had to be, and he's the best thing in the film. Edgar Buchanan is also of some interest, as is Patrice Wymore, although Eve Miller cannot do anything with a stiff of a part. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
• John Wayne spends most of The Man from Utah with an embarrassed grin on his face as if Lindsley Parsons' simplistic dialogue was simply too much to handle, so what the heck! In contrast, George "Gabby" Hayes, still billed plain George Hayes, is visibly and audibly coming into his own, complete with ruffled appearance and such future trademark sayings as "tarnation" and "young whippersnapper." Only the standard complaint about those "durn persnickety females" is still missing. As he had in several of his early Westerns, John Wayne "performs" a little ditty, his singing voice, according to some sources, provided by future 20th Century-Fox B-Western crooner Smith Ballew. The jury, however, is still out on that. As a Western melodrama, The Man from Utah isn't much but it remains amusing to watch both Wayne and Hayes in their embryonic stages. And the Kernville River locations are picturesque as always. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• My Dear Secretary is an engaging little screwball comedy that, while far from a classic, promises a very decent amount of merriment. Secretary can be seen as a precursor to the Doris Day-Rock Hudson style of sex comedies that would become popular a decade or so later. Indeed, much of Secretarycould be taken and re-filmed with those stars and fit perfectly into their own films. However, Secretary doesn't have Doris and Rock, it has Laraine Day and Kirk Douglas -- and this is one of the reasons why it isn't quite as good a film as it could be. Neither star is bad, mind you, but they don't have the natural flair for this material that is required. Douglas tries too hard, and the effortless charm that is needed is sorely missed. Laraine Day gives off with one note and doesn't vary it sufficiently, becoming annoying in sections. Worse, without providing any greater character depth, she throws the story a bit off balance. Fortunately, the supporting cast is first rate and goes a long way to making up for the deficiencies of the star. Special praise is due Keenan Wynn's expert comic account of the best pal of Douglas, stealing scenes with ease and aplomb. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
• Poverty-stricken Grand National certainly had something to sing about in 1938. The upstart studio had somehow managed to corral both James Cagney and director/songsmith Victor Schertzinger, not to mention the pretty Evelyn Daw, a discovery of Schertzinger. What they didn't have, alas, was an adequate budget -- a reported 450,000 dollars was hardly enough for what was meant to be a top-grade musical -- or a good story. Granted, James Cagney goes along way, but not even he can save Something to Sing About, which lacks both polish and a first-class score. What it does have, however, is Dwight Frye playing a gay hairdresser and that is at least somewhat entertaining. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• Something of a warm-up for the later The File on Thelma Jordan, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers mixes obsession, desire, delusion, ambition, and fear into a fascinating and enthralling tangle. Unusual for a movie of its period, it's fairly sophisticated in dealing with what is, at heart, a "sick" relationship between Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck) and Walter O'Neil (Kirk Douglas), and demonstrating how easily a person (Sam Masterson [Van Heflin]) can get sucked into one. Fortunately for Masterson, he gets out in time, but it's a pretty narrow escape. Ivers is a remarkably tense film, although it's a tension that tends to linger beneath the surface; this is appropriate, as it reflects the turmoil and anxiety that lies under the calm surface of Ivers' and O'Neil's lives. That tension gives the film its life and strange vibrancy, and gives snap to even mundane scenes. There are some problems, notably the fact that the creators don't really seem to have a grasp on Masterson's motivation after the idea of blackmail enters the picture. Is he really interested in the money or is it a plot to get to the bottom of the Martha mystery? But the compelling, multi-layered performances of the stars (including Lizabeth Scott) more than make up for the few flaws in the script. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
• The highlight of this excellent low-budget western filmed at Newhall, California, is a rather spectacular fight scene involving no less than 40 riders, quite an undertaking for low-budget producer (and former stunt-man) Paul Malvern. Yakima Canutt, who also plays John Wayne's Indian sidekick, performs an equally amazing leap into the lagoon at Newhall and doubles Wayne in a great fight with fellow-stunt-man Ed Parker. Much have been written in recent years about The Star Packer's horror elements -- too much, some would say -- but they are not exactly frightening. Not even to leading Verna Hillie who, when confronted with a hideously grimacing Artie Ortego outside her bedroom window, merely fires off a few shots, one of which humorously hits a fleeing henchman in his nether regions. There is also a secret passageway, a hollow tree stump (appearing out of nowhere, incidentally) from inside of which Billy Franey shoots and kills newly elected Sheriff Tom Lingham, and a mystery villain whose identity is not too difficult to spot for anyone who has seen Wayne's previous Randy Rides Alone (1934). In the end, it is not the rather hoary mystery elements but the amazing stunts that make this little western truly stand out. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi