AMERICAN GRAFFITI DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEA
DREYFUSS, RICHARD

Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman J ack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies.


Price: $12.99

ANDERSONVILLE
John Frankenheimer

Plot Outline The story of the most notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp in the American Civil War. · Plot Synopsis: Sort of Civil War version of "Schindler's List" looks at the atrocities that occurred in the 1864 prisoner-of-war camp run by the Confederacy in Georgia . The prison originally planned to house 8000, eventually swelled to 33,000 which left little shelter, food or water for the prisoners and unclean conditions. " Andersonville " is an intense drama about a Civil War prison camp for captured Union soldiers. The camp is a huge stockade, built for 5,000 prisoners of war, but is filled to overcrowding with 8,000 Union POW's, and more arriving daily. The conditions are horrible beyond words, virtually no food, no sanitation, clothing in rags and tatters, no shelter from the rain, gangs rampaging through the camp, rampant disease, a hundred men dying a day - a literal hell on earth. Puported to be historical fact, the story centers on a brigade from Massachusetts and their struggle to survive, and what a horrendous struggle it is. Other reviewers have stated that the story is not entirely truthful. Due to the shortage of critical supplies in the south, I do not doubt that the deporable conditions existed exactly as depicted in the movie. I cannot comment on other issues as I have not read the book that the movie is based on. Truthful or not, the film is absolutely riveting! You will be shocked by the condition of the men, the violence in the camp, the slow agony of starvation, and the inevitable deline in the men, both physically and spiritually. The film has no well-known "star" actors, but even so, the various actors perform marvelously. Their characterizations are as real as if they were really in the camp and suffering unto death. This film was an eye-opener for me, for I never considered the fate of Civil War POW's. I will remember the conditions the men lived and died in for the rest of my life. I recommend it without reservation.


Price: $11.24

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
Douglas Fairbanks

This incredible special edition in addition to a pristine re mastered original also has a newsreel, cartoon and trailer from that year and so may have actually been shown that night. The pinnacle of Errol Flynn's string of swashbuckling adventures...The most expensive film Warners had ever made (until 1938), and in glorious Technicolor, to boot...The film with the most cherished of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's many film scores...The film that literally set the standard for every 'Robin Hood' and 'Knighthood' movie since...One of the greatest films, not only of the 1930s, but of all time...THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is, in EVERY sense of the word, a CLASSIC, and the new DVD edition is LONG overdue! The story of Sherwood Forest's favorite bandit had been a movie staple since silent films (Douglas Fairbanks' acrobatic 1922 version was regarded as one of his finest roles), and the WB, riding high on a string of hits by Fairbanks' younger and sexier successor, Errol Flynn, knew they had all the elements in place to create a grand entertainment that no other studio could match! Originally intended for J ames Cagney, the property had languished for three years, until Errol Flynn exploded onto the scene, and the studio knew they had the actor 'born' to play the role. Not wishing to run into legal problems with United Artists, who'd produced the 1922 film, an original script, incorporating elements of "Ivanhoe", ancient legends, medieval ballads, a popular 19th century stage production, and a bit of Howard Pyle, was written by Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. Miller (with some uncredited assistance by Rowland Leigh). Casting nearly all of their "British Colony" in speaking roles, the studio brought back Alan Hale to reprise his 1922 role of Little J ohn (an excellent choice, as Flynn and Hale had terrific rapport), casted rotund comic actor Eugene Pallette (Guy Kibbee was the first choice) as a gravelly-voiced Friar Tuck, and Flynn's LIGHT BRIGADE costar, Patric Knowles, as Will Scarlett (David Niven was unavailable). As the villains, Claude Rains played the fey Prince J ohn, and Basil Rathbone (whose duel with Flynn in CAPTAIN BLOOD was a film highlight) was perfection as the villainous Sir Guy of Gisbourne, Maid Marion's Norman suitor, and Robin's arch-nemesis. In the role of Marion , could anyone OTHER than Olivia de Havilland have been cast? Flynn and de Havilland had already done two films together (and would do four more, after ROBIN HOOD), and their chemistry was so perfect that 1930s screen magazines were always hinting of a romance between the two (there wasn't, despite overtures by Flynn; they remained simply friends, with Olivia and Errol constantly playing pranks on each other). Not that the production was problem-free; the original director, William Keighley, was axed after the location shooting was completed, as the studio didn't like his approach to the script and actors; Michael Curtiz, who had 'made' a star of Flynn, in CAPTAIN BLOOD, was quickly brought in, adding his sense of drama, lighting (the 'light-and-shadow' climactic duel between Robin and Sir Guy was a Curtiz 'trademark'), and style. Both Curtiz and Keighley would share the 'Director' credit when the film was released. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD was Warners' biggest box office hit of 1938, became a multiple Academy Award winner (with the most statuettes of any film that year), and it's luster has only increased through the years, being named as one of the AFI's 100 Greatest Films of All Time. This is a classic that TRULY lives up to the term, and is an absolute MUST for your DVD collection!


Price: $14.23