Product Description

Contains: bringing up baby stage door philadelphia story to be or not to be dinner at eight libeled lady Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/01/2005

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9815 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-03-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 8
• Running time: 613 minutes

Amazon.com
"The love impulse in man," says a psychiatrist in Bringing Up Baby, "frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict." That's for sure. For a primer on the rules and regulations of the classic screwball comedy, which throws love and conflict into close proximity, look no further. A straight-laced paleontologist (Cary Grant) loses a dinosaur bone to a dog belonging to free-spirited heiress Katharine Hepburn. In trying to retrieve said bone, Grant is drawn into the vortex surrounding the delicious Hepburn, which becomes a flirtatious pas de deux that will transform both of them. Director Howard Hawks plays the complications as a breathless escalation of their "love impulse," yet the movie is nonetheless romantic for all its speed. (Hawks's His Girl Friday, also with Grant, goes even faster.) Grant and Hepburn are a match made in movie heaven, in sync with each other throughout. Not a great box-office success when first released, Bringing Up Baby has since taken its place as a high-water mark of the screwball form, and it was used as a model for Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc?

Re-creating the role she originated in Philip Barry's wickedly witty Broadway play, Katharine Hepburn stars as the spoiled and snobby socialite Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, one of the great romantic comedies from the golden age of MGM studios. Applying her impossibly high ideals to everyone but herself, Tracy is about to marry a stuffy executive when her congenial ex-husband (Cary Grant), arrives to protect his former father-in-law from a potentially scandalous tabloid exposé. In an Oscar-winning role, James Stewart is the scandal reporter who falls for Tracy as her wedding day arrives, throwing her into a dizzying state of premarital jitters. Who will join Tracy at the altar? Snappy dialogue flows like sparkling wine under the sophisticated direction of George Cukor in this film that turned the tide of Hepburn's career from "box-office poison" to glamorous Hollywood star.

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical perfection by Billie Burke. The Great Depression is presented in microcosm as Millicent frets about throwing the ultimate society dinner, oblivious to the world tumbling down around her. She is forced to invite to her precious party such undesirables as crass financier Dan Packard ("He smells Oklahoma!"). Even worse in Millicent's eyes than Packard (Wallace Beery, doing an impressive steamroller imitation) is his social-climbing wife, Kitty (Jean Harlow, never funnier). Be sure to watch for Harlow's brief encounter with Marie Dressler, who brings an extraordinary winking wisdom to the role of aging star Carlotta Vance. As the two enter the dining room in the film's final scene, Harlow makes an offhand remark that elicits from Dressler one of the great screen double takes of all time. Like so much of Dinner at Eight, the moment is priceless.

Newspaper comedy doesn't seem like an MGM genre--ink-stained wretches don't go with Adrian gowns and white deco furniture--but Jack Conway, the designated bull in the Metro china shop (Boom Town, Too Hot to Handle) does what he can to bring some dash and flair to Libeled Lady's wildly complicated script. Spencer Tracy is the tough city editor who goes to some spectacular extremes when socialite Myrna Loy files a $5 million libel suit against his paper for calling her a notorious home-wrecker; he hires celebrated ladies' man William Powell to seduce Loy and asks his long-suffering fiancée, Jean Harlow, to marry Powell temporarily so she can play the wronged wife when Loy and Powell are discovered together. The couples crisscross, with frenetic and not entirely unpredictable results, but much of the pleasure here lies in seeing these iconic stars being so thoroughly themselves. The dialogue strains for champagne wit, but the movie's most memorable moment is pure, rotgut slapstick--Powell's bout with an unruly fly-fishing rod.

This one's all about the ladies. In Stage Door, an absolutely terrific 1937 gem, a Manhattan boardinghouse for aspiring actresses houses an amazing roster of golden-era performers--some of whom, like their characters, were just breaking in. It's hard to say who's in best form here: Katharine Hepburn in blueblood mode, Ginger Rogers streetwise, Andrea Leeds suffering, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller impossibly young, and Eve Arden being, well, splendidly Eve Ardenish. The sassy comedy and sober life lessons are wonderfully mixed by the underrated director Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey), who captures the brashness of '30s female chatter in a much pleasanter way than the more famous The Women. Hepburn's sublime attempts to wrestle with the line about calla lilies being in bloom will make you smile long after the movie's over.

Customer Reviews

SHEER EXCELLENT. THE DEFINITIVE DVD COLL. OF CLASIC COMEDIES
This is truly amazing!

A friend of mine is a major reviewer for an L.A. periodical and received an early copy of this 6-movie, 8 Disc, boxed set.

It is nothing short of a miracle....

At last BRINGING UP BABY on DVD. Looking gorgeous, for the first time ever. Well worth the wait. Grant and Hepburn's genius never shown more brightly. The bonus features are as exciting as the feature.

You get THE MEN WHO MADE THE MOVIES: Howard Hawks, Richard Schickel's great docu from the '70s as updated a few years ago.

Even better is filmmaker Robert Trachtenberg's magnificent Cary Grant profile called CARY GRANT: A CLASS APART. It's so brilliantly done, that it shows how dumbed-down we've been by the endless barrage of rotten, paint-by-numbers A&E shows.

Last, but not least, is a feature commentary by the genius Peter Bogdanovich, who knew Hawks and Grant, and loves the movie, and has great things to say.

So that's just movie #1....

Onward to special movie # 2...a Two-Disc remastering (significantly better than the old DVD) of the Cukor masterpiece that re-teamed Grant and Hepburn and joined them with Jimmy Stewart, the classic PHILADELPHIA STORY. It's a treasure, with a wonderful commentary by Jeanine Basinger, another Schickel MEN WHO MADE THE MOVIES about Cukor, and the unforgettable Hepburn cinematic self-portrait KATHARINE HEPBURN: ALL ABOUT ME.


But that's not all...

There's Kate and Ginger and EVe Arden and Ann Miller and Lucy and Adolph Menjou in Gregory La Cava's STAGE DOOR looking truly magnificent.

Moving on is master Ernst Lubitsch with Carole Lombard's final performance with the legendary Jack Benny in TO BE OR NOT TO BE, again looking better than one could hope for.

Then the MGM all star crew steps in. Both John and Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Billie Burke, Marie Dressler, and a cast of dozens of brilliant artists bringing Kaufman & Hart's wonderful play DINNER AT EIGHT to the screen.
It looks luscious. A Documenary about Harlow narrated by Sharon Stone adds to the fun.

Harlow appears again along with such luminaries as William Powell & Myrna Lot and the wonderful Spencer Tracy in LINELED LADY.
It's amazing! These 6 great movies, beautfully presented, for an
unreal price! It's a perfect gift for yourself, or your mom or dad, or anyone who loves great, timeless filmmaking. Without surprise WB keeps raising the bar for how classic filns should be presented on DVD!

OUTRAGEOUS COMEDY GEMS FINALLY AVAILABLE ON DVD!
Warner Brother's unleashes a galaxy of stars in its new Comedy Collection box set. Six films of impeccible pedigree - two in deluxe special editions, flesh out this collection; "The Philadelphia Story" and "Bringing Up Baby". In addition there's much to admire from "Stage Door", "Dinner At Eight" and "Libeled Lady." Only Lubtisch's "To Be Or Not To Be" falls somewhat short of expectations - though it too is a welcomed sight on DVD.

Plots in totem:
"Dinner At Eight" (1933) is the tale of a society matron, Millicent Jordon (Billie Burke)who is so enraptured at the prospect of throwing the society party of the decade that she eschews all other concerns in favor of the frivolities associated with such a swank soiree. Her roster of guests include the boorish social climber, Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) and his much younger wife of hot body but low class, Kitty (Jean Harlow), aging grand dame of the theater, Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler), family physician, Dr. Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe) and desperate has-been movie actor, Larry Renault (John Barrymore). Millicent's husband, the kind-hearted, good natured Oliver (Lionel Barrymore) has just discovered that he is fatally ill. However, acknowledging his wife's lack of feeling for anyone but herself, Oliver decides to forego divulging his diagnosis, presumably until after the party.

"Bringing Up Baby"(1938) is the adventageous screwball comedy about a madcap New England heiress, Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) who, after accidentally running into stuffy zoologist, David Huxley (Cary Grant) is determined to land him as her husband. Not that David would notice. He's too concerned with acquiring a bone for his museum collection - go figure. But a gregarious little terrier named George (actually Asta from "The Thin Man" series) intervenes in David's plans, burying the irreplaceable fossilized bone somewhere on Sue's country estate. Meanwhile Baby, Susan's leopard, threatens the whole show by tearing up the scenery, as leopard's will do, after escaping from her cage. Naturally the whole mess winds up in front of a local magestrate, who lacks the ability to put two ideas together and come up with one coherant thought.

"The Philadelphia Story"(1940) concerns itself with the pending nuptuals of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) to George Kittredge (John Howard). Tracy's previous marriage to C.K Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) ended badly, but shows signs of coming back from the dead when Dex turns up to pitch a little rice this time around. But the plot thickens in an unexpected way when Tracy decides to go after tabloid journalist Mike Connor (James Stewart) on a drunken binge and midnight swim - leaving both groom and ex feeling left out.

"Libeled Lady" (1936) is a sparkling romantic comedy of errors. When committment shy newspaper editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) finds that his newspaper is being sued for alleging that a socialite, Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is a home-wrecker he delays plans to marry his fiancee Gladys (Jean Harlow) yet again, by placing her in the midst of elegant playboy, Bill Chandler (William Powell). The idea is to have Gladys and Bill marry so that Connie will then be fooling around with a married man - hence Warren's paper will be off the hook for printing the initial story. But the plot goes hopelessly and predictably awry when Gladys starts to have genuine feelings for Bill and he for her. So what's a struggling foursome to do?

Ernst Lubitch's "To Be Or Not To Be"(1943) has to be the most genuinely bizarre political satire to emerge from Hollywood's golden age. It stars Jack Benny and Carol Lombard as Joseph and Maria Tura - a married couple and stage performers living in occupied Poland during WWII. Determined to alter the course of the war, the two helm a troupe of ham actors in a dead pan comic assault on the Nazis.

And last, but not least is "Stage Door" (1937), treading familiar backstage heartache and dismissal with unfamiliar panache and a killer cast. Wealthy socialite, Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) wants desperately to break into Broadway theater only she wants to do it on her own. So Terry decides to go slumming, secretly checking into a theatrical boarding house populated by sharp shooter, Judy Canfield (Lucille Ball), wise girl, Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers), and Eve (Eve Arden) and Annie (Ann Miller), a couple of stage struck kids...almost. What Terry discovers is that life upon the wicked stage might be the nearest thing to heaven, if only she could manage to get closer to the stage itself.

All of the discs in this box set have had some restoration work performed on them. The two outstanding transfers are "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story." Both are 2-disc special editions mastered from very clean film elements and jam packed with lots of extra features. Contrast levels are superb. There's a hint of edge enhancement and some fine detail shimmering, but nothing that will distract. Fine details are fully realized throughout. Film grain is kept to a bare minimum. The good people at Warner Brothers deserve a pat on the back for their formidable efforts. As for the rest; they are a mixed bag at best. with inconsistently rendered black and white images, sometimes weak contrast levels and hints of edge enhancement and some fine detail shimmering. Extras on these latter disc are bare bones to say the least. Even so, this box set comes highly recommended. It contains films we are not likely to see again on DVD and presented in transfers, that while lacking among the very best that DVD is capable of, are nevertheless head and shoulders above what previous VHS incarnations have offered to the home video market. A big and sincere "yes" then for these.

Six for six on films, two for six with extras
Each movie in this set is equal to the title -- a comedy classic. There's not a single filler here. Three Katherine Hepburn films, two with Jean Harlow, two with Cary Grant, appearances by Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Adolphe Menjou, Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball. Directors include George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Ernest Lubistch, Jack Conway and Gregory LaCava.
"Dinner at Eight" features the famous and hilarious encounter between Harlow and Marie Dressler. Both stars are delights throughout the film. "Stage Door" is a true ensemble and a great one at that, set in a young female performer's boarding house. Both of these films offer social commentary from the Depression ear to go along with the laughs.
"Libeled Lady" is an underrated movie with a scheming reporter Tracy, his long suffering fiancé, Harlow and the great comedy film duo of Powell and Loy. "To Be Or Not Be" was a controversial comedic war time look at Nazis, with a troupe of actors impersonating Nazis in order to help the underground movement. "Bringing Up Baby" is considered by some the quintessential screwball comedy. It features Grant and Hepburn, a wonderful supporting cast and a leopard. Hepbun and Tracy return and are joined by Stewart (in a performance that garnered his only Oscar) in one of America's best films of any kind, "Philadelphia Story."
Sadly, only the latter two movies are given the DVD extras treatment they all deserve. Perhaps I was spoiled by the magnificent Warners Gangster Collection which offered a night at the movies and an original featurette for each film, but I believe that these priceless comedies deserved the same. That aside this is an essential addition to any film lover's DVD collection.