IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Salutations, disc devotees,

Since new release titles are scant over the next two Tuesdays (Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve respectively), my “Garv’s Pick of the Week” column is on hold until January.  In the meantime, it’s a good time to look back over the past year and choose my favorite Blu-ray and DVD releases of 2019.

There was no shortage of great titles in the past year.  However, I have begun to see the telltale signs of a reduction in physical media.  I don’t know if video on little plastic discs will ever go away entirely, but it is definitely becoming more of a niche, collector’s medium.  Video sections in retail outlets have shrunk or disappeared entirely, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find anything beyond the most recent blockbusters in brick and mortar stores.  Classic, independent, and cult titles are still being released on disc, but most of those titles can only be ordered online, in some cases exclusive to the studio or label that produced it.

While it is undeniable that the Blu-ray and DVD market is shrinking, studios and video labels are catering more to the most devoted collectors.  Consequently, there were some remarkable home video releases over the last 12 months.  My top 20 favorites follow.  Keep in mind, these are the picks of one person, and consequently, they are extremely subjective.  I can’t watch everything, and my taste won’t necessarily match yours.  For example, while the Criterion Collection’s 13-disc Blu-ray box set, Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975, was undoubtedly one of the best video releases of the year, I’ve always found the non-monster scenes in Kaiju films to be fairly tedious.  Consequently, you won’t find that highly popular collection on my list.  Hopefully you’ll find some overlap with my interests and will find a few intriguing titles below.

Just FYI — The photos of the Blu-ray and DVD covers below are not merely illustrative.  They are also links to the titles on Amazon.com for ease of ordering or to read additional customer reviews.

Garv’s Picks of the Year: 2019

1. Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection [Blu-ray / Shout Select]: Admittedly, this is a very personal pick.  I discovered the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello very early in my childhood, and the duo are more responsible for fostering my love of classic film than just about any other actors.  Consequently, I was overjoyed when I heard that Shout Factory would release a 15-disc Blu-ray box set of all 28 movies that A&C produced for Universal Studios as a “Shout Select” title.  While the set doesn’t include the eight films that Abbott and Costello made for other studios, it does represent the bulk of their filmography, and 24 of the 28 films are receiving an HD upgrade for the first time.  A standard definition DVD box set of these titles has been available for many years, and I assumed that Shout Factory would simply “lift and shift” the content from that collection for this Blu-ray release.  Happily, in addition to the upgrade in picture and sound quality, this new set features 10 new audio commentaries (in addition to the six commentaries from the earlier DVD version), plus several new featurettes and extras.  Even if you own the DVD set, this collection is well worth the upgrade.
2. The Alice Howell Collection [DVD / Undercrank Productions]: Over the past few years, silent film accompanist, composer, and historian Ben Model has created multiple successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns to scan and digitally restore rare films in order to bring them to new audiences on home video through his DVD label, Undercrank Productions.  This year, Model put out his best release to date.  The Alice Howell Collection, is a 2-disc DVD set that serves to introduce modern audiences to Alice Howell, a forgotten, frizzy-haired, female slapstick comedian from the silent era.  The set includes twelve short comedies (which sadly are most of what remains of the 100+ films that Alice Howell produced).  The films were digitally remastered in 2K from original film materials preserved by the Library of Congress, the BFI National Archive for the British Film Institute, the EYE Filmmuseum (Netherlands), the Danish Film Institute, Lobster Films (Paris) and the Blackhawk Films Collection; and they feature new musical scores on piano and theatre organ by Model.  If you love silent knockabout comics, you should give Alice a look.
3. All the Colors of Giallo [Blu-ray + DVD + CD / Severin Films]: Here’s a set that is is truly unique.  This three disc set (one Blu-ray, one DVD, and one CD) is a dream package for lovers of Italian giallo thrillers of the 60s and 70s.  The Blu-ray contains a new, feature-length documentary on the genre, over four hours of giallo trailers (with extremely entertaining audio commentary from film writer Kat Ellinger, which is one of the best overviews of the genre I’ve run across), and interviews.  The DVD focuses on the similar German Krimi genre, with 90 minutes of trailers.  Finally, the CD is a compilation of music from various giallo soundtracks.  That’s a lot of black-gloved, bloody fun in one package.
4. Beat the Devil [Blu-ray / Twilight Time]: There are two versions of John Huston’s wonderfully odd 1953 cult film Beat the Devil, so even if you’ve watched the film multiple times and can spout lines of dialogue from memory, you probably haven’t seen this version.  After the movie initially previewed in 1953 to a handful of perplexed audiences, producers re-cut the film, removing four to five minutes of footage, reordering some of the scenes to tell the story in flashback, and adding a little opening narration by star Humphrey Bogart.  This shorter version of the film is all that had been available for years, often in blurry, poor quality, public domain copies (because the rights holder didn’t bother renewing the copyright).  However, in 2016, Sony Pictures and the Film Foundation, performed a 4K restoration on the original pre-release version, which was discovered in a London vault.  This stunningly sharp and complete version, containing all of the previously excised footage and telling the story in order, without the Bogart voice-over, was released this year on Blu-ray by Twilight Time.  Audiences can finally view the original vision of director John Huston and writer Truman Capote.  I absolutely adore this disc.  You can find my full review HERE.
5. Universal Horror Collection: Vol.1 [Blu-ray / Scream Factory]: Scream Factory introduced a new series of Blu-ray box sets this year, collecting lesser-known Universal horror films from the 1930s and 40s.  These aren’t the familiar “monster titles” featuring Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, etc., but that doesn’t mean that these sets consist of warmed-over leftovers.  Some of the included titles are true classics.  The first volume in this series contains four film pairings of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi — The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), and Black Friday (1940). It is worth the purchase just for The Black Cat, which is one of the most beautiful, twisted, sadistic, and subversive horror films of the 1930s.
6. Detour [Blu-ray / Criterion]: This low budget B-Noir has developed a deserved cult following, due to its brutal fatalism and creative use of its restricted resources. Now it looks and sounds better than ever due to an extensive 4K restoration. I saw it projected at The Film Forum, and the new Criterion Blu-ray looks just is good.  Forget the tattered public domain prints that you’ve seen in the past.  Now, the image is as razor sharp and the dialogue.  Your film noir collection is incomplete without this disc.
7. The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 1 (The General / Steamboat Bill, Jr.) [Blu-ray / Cohen Film Collection]: France’s Lobster Films has been performing immaculate restoration work on Buster Keaton’s silent features, and with the exception of Our Hospitality (available via Kino Lorber), the new restorations are being released as double-features on Blu-ray from the Cohen Film Collection.   Volume 1 presents two masterpieces of silent comedy, The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr.  The prior releases of these films looked excellent for their age, but the new restorations are a large improvement, removing speckles, scratches, and signs of decomposition.  The General looks especially sharp for a silent film.  Keaton is a wonder to behold, and the included Carl Davis scores support the films tremendously.  Even if you own previous Blu-rays of these titles, I recommend an upgrade.
8. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh [Blu-ray / Disney Movie Club Exclusive]: While you won’t find the classic Disney “live action” films of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s on Blu-ray in retail stores, Disney has been quietly releasing several of the titles in HD as exclusive discs through their Disney Movie Club.  Over the past year, the Club has released much-coveted titles including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and The Black Hole (1979).  However, my favorite of this year’s exclusives was a three-episode television mini-series that originally ran on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in 1963.  This Robin Hood-like tale, starring Patrick “Number 6” McGoohan as a masked vigilante, was edited into a 98-minute movie, Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow for British audiences.  However, this Blu-ray contains the original 151-minute television version, complete with the original Wonderful World of Color opening credits and episode introductions by Walt Disney himself.  While an Amazon link is provided, you will only find secondhand copies at inflated prices.  To obtain it new, you can join the Disney Movie Club through THIS LINK.
9. The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers [Blu-ray / Flicker Alley]: Seventeen short comedies, ranging from 1918 to 1941, from forgotten film pioneer Charley Bowers, have been digitally restored by Lobster Films for this Flicker Alley Blu-ray set. Bowers has been forgotten by all but the most devoted fans of silent film, but he was one of the first filmmakers to use stop-motion animation in his movies.  His films combine live action and animation in a wonderful brew of cinematic weirdness. If you are a fan of silent comedy, animation, or the bizarre, this set is highly recommended.
10. Fantomas Three Film Collection (Fantomas / Fantomas Unleashed / Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard) [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: Louis de Funès was arguably the most popular comedian in the history of French cinema, but he is virtually unknown in the United States. Kino Lorber Studio Classics finally brings de Funès to U.S. Blu-ray with their 2-Disc release of this three-film series of 1960s action-comedies about a bizarre, masked super-villain. Louis de Funès is the comic relief as Police Commissioner Juve who is on the trail of the murderous thief.  The films are exciting, campy fun, which should appeal to fans of TV’s Batman, the Patrick Macnee-led Avengers series, or the Derek Flint films. You can read my full review HERE.
11. The Man Who Laughs [Blu-ray / Flicker Alley]: Paul Leni’s adaptation of the novel by Victor Hugo is one of the great movies of the silent era.  If you’ve never watched a silent drama, this would be a great place to start.  It is both an artistic triumph and a wonderful entertainment.  Of course, the film also had an amazing cultural impact, since the look of the Batman villain, The Joker, was modeled on the main character Gwynplaine (played by Conrad Veidt).  This release is a new 4K restoration from a 35mm composite fine grain from the Universal Pictures vault, and the film is accompanied by a newly recorded score by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra.
12. Charley Chase: At Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two 1932-33 [DVD / Kit Parker Films]: From the dawn of film until the 1950s, short comedies were a movie theater staple.  However, apart from the films of The Three Stooges, most of the short comedies of this period have been unseen by audiences for decades.  Last year, Kit Parker Films (a.k.a. Sprocket Vault) released chronological DVD collections of the sound shorts of comedians Charley Chase and Thelma Todd, which each made my 2018 “Picks of the Year” list.  A second volume of Chase talkies was released this year, with lots more fun from Hal Roach’s “Lot of Fun.”  (By the way, a collection of Harry Langdon talkies is planned for early next year.)
13. The Thin Man [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: The Thirties saw hardboiled detectives and screwball socialites put away liquor with equal aplomb, so when the two genres were combined with 1934’s The Thin Man, it was a cocktail of explosive magnitude.  The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release of The Thin Man is absolutely beautiful.  It is easily the best the movie has looked, in any format, since its original release.  The exceptional picture quality is especially laudable considering that the original negative no longer exists.  Warner Brothers spent a year determining the best surviving film elements for each scene, and then scanned them in 4K.   While Blu-ray collectors would have preferred a six-film box set, including all of the sequels, the release of the first (and most celebrated) of the series is a reason for celebration.  You can find my full review HERE.
14. Bedazzled [Blu-ray / Twilight Time]: One of the smartest and funniest comedies of the 1960s finally gets a Blu-ray release. The hilarious British comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore wrote the script and star in this Faustian farce, in which a fry cook (Moore) sells his soul to the Devil (Cook) for seven wishes, which he intends to use to win the girl of his dreams (Eleanor Bron). The premise is perfect for the sketch comedy team, as it allows them to play a variety of characters and use numerous accents. Cook is my favorite cinematic devil, and Raquel Welch is aptly cast in the role of “Lust.”
15. The Kid Brother [Blu-ray / Criterion]: It has been too long since Criterion released a silent comedy on Blu-ray, but they came back with a couple in 2019. This one is lesser-known to most audiences, but many silent comedy connoisseurs consider it Harold Lloyd’s best film.  It is also exceptionally beautiful, and the film is accompanied by Carl Davis’ orchestral score.  The Criterion disc also includes two early short comedies from Harold Lloyd.
16. The Fearless Vampire Killers [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: I’ve always considered Roman Polanski’s horror spoof to be a Christmas movie, because it has the most beautiful snow scenes ever committed to film. They have a fairytale, Rankin-Bass feel to them, and they look better than ever on Blu-ray. The Warner Archive have given the film a new 2K scan from the film’s interpositive, and the result is a big advance over prior video releases.  The picture is sharp, retaining film grain, with a brighter, more colorful, and more accurate appearance than ever before.  In addition, the lossless soundtrack beautifully supports the score and makes the (sometimes muttered) dialogue easier to follow.  You can find my full review HERE.
17. The Circus [Blu-ray / Criterion]: This silent comedy has been one of the most ignored or dismissed of Chaplin’s features, likely due to the fact that it was sandwiched between The Gold Rush and City Lights, which are generally considered to be his masterpieces. Hopefully, this Criterion Blu-ray release will help to restore the reputation of The Circus, because it is an incredibly inventive film and one of Chaplin’s funniest.
18. The Silent Partner [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: A bank robber (Christopher Plummer) plays “cat and mouse” with a bank teller (Elliott Gould) in this Canadian cult classic.  This is absolutely one of the finest thrillers of the 1970s.  I was a little worried viewing the opening credits on the Blu-ray, which looked a tad faded and greenish, with some very obvious scratches.  However, once we are passed the opening, the image looks sharp, with appropriate film grain and natural colors.  Keeping in mind that The Silent Partner was a low budget affair that did not look slick upon its original release, the image on the Kino Lorber disc is probably as good as the film will ever look.  You can read my full review HERE.
19. Christmas in July [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: Between 1940 and 1944, Preston Sturges wrote and directed a string of seven classic comedies that are unmatched in wit, ingenuity of plot, and briskness of pace.  Of those classics, the sophomore effort, Christmas in July, is generally considered the slightest.  However, after a recent re-watch of Sturges’ second effort, I believe that many critics (myself included) may have been confusing brevity with slightness.  Christmas in July may be Sturges shortest film, running a scant 67 minutes, but every second is packed with hilarious dialogue, subversive satire, riotous slapstick, and a whole lot of heart.  In other words, it may be short, but it’s a Preston Sturges movie.  The fresh 4K scan on this Blu-ray also looks fantastic.  You can read my full review HERE.
20. The Devil Rides Out [Blu-ray / Scream Factory]: Scream Factory released a number of classic films from Britain’s Hammer Studios on Blu-ray over the past year, including their very best sci-fi film, Quatermass and the Pit.  They also released The Devil Rides Out (also known as The Devil’s Bride), the Terence Fisher-directed, Richard Matheson-scripted adaptation of Dennis Wheatley’s novel of devil worship and black magic.  It is arguably the best of the classic Hammer horror films, and it gave Christopher Lee a rare hero role.  This release includes two versions of the film — the original and one with updated digital effect.  I’ll go with the original every time.