Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 14-NOV-2006
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4948 in DVD
• Brand: BLONDELL,JOAN
• Released on: 2006-11-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .50 pounds
• Running time: 385 minutes

Amazon.com
Cary Grant was on the cusp of stardom when he made the five Paramount films included in this nicely priced Screen Legend Collection. You won't find any classics here, but this entertaining collection makes it clear that Grant's beloved screen persona was developing quickly. Paramount executive B.P. Schulberg had signed 28-year-old Grant to a five-year contract in 1932, and the British-born actor had already appeared in 15 films by the time he appeared in 1934's Thirty Day Princess, the first and arguably best feature in this three-disc set. Cowritten by Preston Sturges and bearing familiar trademarks of Sturges's later screwball classics, the plot finds newspaper publisher Grant falling for a visiting princess (Sylvia Sidney), only to discover that his affections are wrapped up in a breezy case of mistaken identity. Sidney plays two roles with seamless elegance (including impressive split-screen scenes in which she appears with herself), and Grant's suave demeanor is employed to good effect. The little-known gem Kiss and Make-Up was released barely two months later in 1934, with Grant in Paris as a Max Factor-like cosmetics mogul who marries a glamorous former client (Genevieve Tobin) but finds true love with his faithful secretary (Helen Mack) when he comes to his senses. The great character actor Edward Everett Horton costars as Mack's would-be suitor, giving this overlooked comedy an additional boost of amusement.

1935's Wings in the Dark will interest film historians because it was cowritten by pioneering female writer-director Nell Shipman, whose Howard Hawks-ian sense of adventure is on full display in an otherwise creaky melodrama in which inventor and aviator Grant is blinded by a gas explosion, and emerges from self-pity to stage a daring air rescue of his aviatrix wife (Myrna Loy). After being loaned out to RKO for his breakthrough role in 1935's Sylvia Scarlett opposite Katharine Hepburn, Grant returned to Paramount for Big Brown Eyes (released in April 1936), playing a crime-beat reporter paired with Joan Bennett in a lightweight mystery that benefits greatly from director Raoul Walsh's facility with streetwise plots and gritty handling of a baby-killer subplot involving jewel thieves Walter Pigeon and Lloyd Nolan. Wedding Present followed six months later (October '36), reuniting Grant and Bennett as competitive reporters whose relationship is strained when Grant is promoted to editor. Like all five films in this Screen Legend Collection, it's a light and thoroughly enjoyable vehicle for Paramount players including William Demarest, who went on to character-role stardom in the comedies of Preston Sturges. Cary Grant is in fine form here, and his music-hall experience is put to good use in several lightweight musical numbers. All in all, you can't go wrong with a five-film set for this price, especially since Grant was already showing a canny awareness of his own soon-to-be-iconic image. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

!!!! Five Cary Grant movies never before released on DVD or video? Thanks, Universal!!!
Cary Grant stars in these early films made before he becomes famous. Big Brown Eyes / Kiss and Make Up / Thirty Day Princess / Wedding Present / Wings in the Dark

Thirty Day Princess (1934) stars Grant as a newspaperman and Sylvia Sidney as the princess and the girl who impersonates her in this comedy.

Kiss and Make Up (1934) has Grant in an unusual role for him, as a egotistical plastic surgeon who falls for his patient (Genevieve Tobin). Co-stars Edward Everett Horton.

Wings in the Dark (1935) pairs Grant with Myrna Loy as two troubled lovers.

Big Brown Eyes (1936) features Cary Grant and Joan Bennett. Grant is on the trail of jewel thieves with the help of Bennett. Walter Pidgeon also co- stars.

Last, but not least, Wedding Present (1936) stars Cary Grant and Joan Bennett again as reporters in this screwball comedy.

All in all, great to have these lesser known films on video. There is also a Rock Hudson Screen Legend Collection, Bing Crosby Screen Legend Collection and of course the Glamour collections of Carole Lombard, Mae West and Marlene Dietrich are already out. Thanks Universal! Now how about some more Deanna Durbin?

Please, Not so hard on Universal, They do a great job for the price
In answer to Cesare Petrillo's comments when he says shame on universal for releasing these films, I look at it this way, I bless Universal for releasing any of the old movies on DVD, they may not always be great films, but these are personel to each person who watches them as we all have differant tates, many times have I loved a film that many so called critics hate. but I know one thing, I am glad to have the oportunity to at least see these films in good quality at a resonable price, instead of the alternative which is for these films to gather dust in vast vaults never to see the light of day, so please be kinder to Universal as I think they do a good job. and we all know have the chance to see if we like them or not, remember also, good or bad, these films are all part of our film history and give us the opportunity to see a great star like Cary Grant develope his screen pasona.

not great movies but excellent dvd quality
As a huge Cary Grant fan I bought this collection as soon as it came out and I am very happy about it. The 5 movies are not the best films Grant ever made but the dvd quality is very surprising. The movies are in great condition and you could never tell that you're watching films from the early 30's!
There is a very good one in the collection though: Wedding Present is a funny and clever comedy, which reminds me of the great masterpieces of the period. If you are a Cary Grant fan or if you love the period my advice is to buy this dvd collection, considering also the low price and the great quality of the dvd transfer.