Product Description

Includes the titles: Palm Springs Weekend; Parrish; Rome Adventure; and Susan Slade.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4764 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2009-01-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 472 minutes

Features

• Includes the titles: Palm Springs Weekend; Parrish; Rome Adventure; and Susan Slade. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 883929039456 UPC: 883929039456 Manufacturer No: 1000042987

Amazon.com
Looking back on the films of the late '50s and early '60s, it’s clear that America had more than one Cold War going on. Besides its pervasive fear of the Soviet bloc, America was also nervously afraid of its own teenage offspring, who could apparently invade and take over a helpless resort community in 12 hours flat; cause spontaneous outbreaks of "roughhousing" and "rhythm dancing"; give local police chiefs fits of indigestion and high blood pressure; and very possibly cause mutually assured destruction between the generations. Of course, these rompy films, starring teen idols like Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Robert Conrad, and more, are about as chaste as The Trouble with Angels (also excellent). And that’s part of the fun in this four-film set. Teenagers are set to run wild in locals like Palm Springs (pre-resort), Rome, even the Dogpatch-like "Tobacco Valley," with mostly wholesome results, though a few cautionary tales are thrown in for good measure. Palm Springs Weekend (1963) features a gang of young people descending on desert-y, and deserted Palm Springs for Easter break--and the flirting is out of control. Donahue, Stevens, Conrad, Jerry Van Dyke, and a very young Stefanie Powers run around, tease each other, eat hot dogs, do cannonballs into the pool, and pine for each other. The one rule of the motel: "No cross-pollination!" Rome Adventure (1962) stars a dewy Suzanne Pleshette off to the Eternal City for adventure and amore. Her possibilities include Donahue and Rossano Brazzi--but what really wins her, and viewers’ heart is the city of Rome itself. The film was shot on location and is a riveting reminder of the days when studios shot cities and monuments in real time, and didn’t rely on sets or CGI.

Parrish (1961) stars Donahue and Stevens, as well as veterans Claudette Colbert and Karl Malden. Stevens is sultry in her best Daisy Mae outfit, and the story about generations in conflict adds some depth to the "young people on the prowl" premise. Susan Slade (1961) is the teen-film equivalent of using the nuclear option. It recounts the story of a "sweet and innocent" girl (Stevens) and the boy-men, including Donahue. who love her. But Susan strays too far down the flirtatious path, and risks a bad reputation--and worse. And because someone didn’t listen to his or her parents, there is one punishment by death. But the film’s strong acting, sweeping scenery, and good soapy fun are completely compelling. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

Horray for Warner Brothers!
FINALLY! I thought I was going to pass out when I rec'd an e-mail notification that almost all my favorite films from the 60's were finally coming to DVD, especially since Susan Slade never saw the 'light of day' on VHS. I own the other 3 titles on VHS and have watched them hundreds of times, with great pleasure for an uncomplicated time in our lives. These movies were always shown on Saturday nights when I was a pre-teen. I was shocked each and every time I watched "Susan Slade", that this unmarried girl had a baby!!! Boy, oh boy have times changed....my own twenty something children would laugh at me now for my innocent views- But my enjoyment over bounds with each viewing, so this 4 movie set is like getting a birthday and Christmas gift all rolled into one! Now....if only we could get `A Rage to Live', `Youngblood Hawke', `Summer Love', 'Claudelle Inglish','The Chapman Report' and `My Blood Runs Cold' on DVD my life would be complete! (no, not really but it sounds good) - I am so proud of Warner Brothers for taking a leap of faith that there is still an audience for these fun and classic 60's films! Bravo, Warner Brothers....you did good!

Romance Classics video quality review
I received the Romance Classics set today and here are my impressions of the video quality. First of all, fear not. All the films are 16x9 widescreen and anamorphic video(enhanced for widescreen TVs). Parrish, Susan Slade, and Rome Adventure are all dual-layer DVDs, with the shorter Palm Springs Weekend being a single layer disc. I would rate them in order of video quality as:
1. Susan Slade
2. Palm Springs Weekend
3. Rome Adventure
4. Parrish
Susan Slade was never on VHS or laserdisc and appears to be a new, modern transfer. It is very sharp and clean with great colors. Palm Springs Weekend was on VHS and laserdisc and is clean with nice color, but somewhat softer than Susan Slade. Rome Adventure and Parrish (my favorite film of the four) appear to me to be from the old mid-1990s masters for VHS and laserdisc. While they look good, they have a slight layer of video grain and some softness. The skintones on Rome Adventure are a bit reddish for my tastes but not too bad. The sound on all the films is mono and okay.
I wish all the films had been remastered up to the quality of Susan Slade, but it is great to have them on DVD and for a great price.

It's About Time
Before Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, there was Troy Donahue.

At long last, Mr. Donahue's career and legacy are being honored in what I consider some of his most famous films--Parrish, Susan Slade, Rome Adventure, and Palm Springs Weekend. (Somehwere in between, he also appeared in My Blood Runs Cold and A Distant Trumpet).

A bit of Trivia---Carroll O'Connor has a bit part (and I mean 'bit' part) in Parrish; Palm Springs Weekend was written by Earl Hamner, Jr., who, as you all know, went on to development a little gem called 'The Waltons'.