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A date with the Baron

Errol Flynn set gathers wartime  adventure films

12:06 AM CDT on Sunday, August 8, 2010

By Boo Allen / Film Critic

This week, we start in Tasmania: Errol Flynn Adventures Not rated, 542 minutes. Available now on DVD.

Before World War II, Errol Flynn established an international reputation — both on and off screen — as a handsome, carefree scamp. When war came, the Tasmanian-born Flynn aided the Allied cause with a succession of adventure-thrillers in which the right side always prevailed. This Turner Classic Movies set ($49.92) of five restored and remastered selections from 1942 to 1945 conveys a wartime fighting message.

Legendary action director Raoul Walsh teamed with Flynn for four of these fast-paced thrillers. Extras include Warner Home Video’s standard excellent fare, such as several “Warner Night at the Movies” featurettes, vintage newsreels, classic cartoons, shorts, trailers and more. Objective, Burma! offers commentary by three film historians.

Uncertain Glory (102 minutes, 1944) In this somewhat lighter war saga, Flynn plays a frivolous Frenchman who learns of the dangers his country faces.

Desperate Journey (107 minutes, 1942) Walsh guided Flynn and co-star Ronald Reagan as pilots pursuing and fighting off the enemy.

Northern Pursuit (93 minutes, 1943) Flynn plays a Canadian who uses a disguise to infiltrate a group of Nazis plotting to invade the tundra.

Edge of Darkness (119 minutes, 1943) Flynn turns up in Norway, again fighting the Nazis. Directed by Lewis Milestone.

Objective, Burma! (142 minutes, 1945) Flynn ends up as an American paratrooper in the Far East fighting the Japanese.

*

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
In the midst of the New York outing from hell, Claire (Tina Fey) and Phil (Steve Carell) make a frantic call for help in Date Night.

Date Night (***1/2) Tina Fey and Steve Carell play a married New Jersey couple who travel from the suburbs into Manhattan for their weekly “date.” But one night everything goes catastrophically wrong, resulting in several often-hilarious situations that these two comedy pros milk with the help of director Shawn Levy. Mistaken identities drive them across Manhattan as they frantically try to escape their pursuers and the police.

Rated PG-13, 88 minutes.

The DVD includes commentary from Levy, a gag reel, an extended car chase and the featurettes “Directing Off Camera” and “Directing 301 with Shawn Levy.” The Blu-ray offers all of the above and more.

*

Warner Archive (warnerarchive.com) again releases lost nuggets from its huge film vault. These films are available on DVD, with the discs being made on demand:

Background to Danger (***) In 1943, Raoul Walsh found time away from Errol Flynn to helm this espionage thriller based on Eric Ambler’s novel. George Raft stars as an American businessman traveling through the Mideast who becomes embroiled in a plot to draw Turkey into the war. But he turns out to have some secrets of his own, as Walsh rapidly moves from one perilous situation to another. The mountainous Sydney Greenstreet (The Maltese Falcon) plays a German agent who tells his Russian nemesis (Peter Lorre) that Germany will create a “New World Order.”

Two Sisters From Boston (***) This enjoyable musical-comedy features numbers by Kathryn Grayson (who died Feb. 17), Jimmy Durante and internationally renowned baritone Lauritz Melchior. Grayson plays a Boston blueblood at the turn of the 20th century who lands a job in New York singing in Durante’s Bowery saloon. When her scandalized family hears of it, they arrive indignantly, while the younger sister (June Allyson) proves sympathetic.

Not rated, 112 minutes.

Brewster McCloud (**1/2) In 1970, after MASH and before Nashville, Robert Altman turned out this loopy shaggy dog story about a young man (Bud Cort) who lives in the recesses of Houston’s Astrodome. There, he works to achieve his goal of flying, while researching bird structure and training for his aerial attempt. Meanwhile, a series of murders have been taking place, and a slick California detective (Michael Murphy) has been called in to help. Many Altman stock players (Sally Kellerman, Rene Auberjonois, Bert Remsen, Shelley Duvall and others) wander in and out, adding to the weirdness. Altman’s sense of whimsy and absurdity has never soared higher.

Rated R, 105 minutes.

*

Tapped (**1/2) Documentary filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig examines the claim that drinking bottled water instead of tap water is not only silly, but dangerous. Soechtig backs up her theme with statistics — poorly represented by arty, hard-to-read titles — and interviews, including two shameless spokesmen for the bottled water industry. Soechtig also investigates the harm done by oil refineries, which turn out the chemicals necessary for the plastic bottles.

Not rated, 76 minutes.

The DVD contains eight featurettes totaling about half an hour.

*

For kids this week, some notable animation appears:

Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire and Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl Two of animation’s most popular creations return in these two “Looney Tunes Super Stars” collections that each hold 15 cartoons newly remastered from the original film elements. Both sets hold more than two hours of content. The Bugs Bunny set includes “Lumber Jack-Rabbit,” the only Warner cartoon in 3-D, which was directed by animation icon Chuck Jones.

*

James and the Giant Peach — Special Edition (****) Producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick, from Roald Dahl’s book, render a lively mix of live-action, CGI effects and stop-motion animation to tell the story of James, who enters an Alice-like world when he saves a spider. Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss help supply the voices.

Rated PG, 79 minutes.

This newest release is a Special Edition DVD-Blu-ray combo pack. Supplements include an interactive game, a “making of” featurette, a music video, a stills gallery and trailer.

*

Trauma — Season 1 The lone season of this rousing action series celebrated paramedics — the unsung, first-to-respond heroes who spring into action to save lives after traffic accidents, explosions, terrorist attacks, earthquakes and the many other disasters that befall San Francisco. Cliff Curtis and Derek Luke star as professionals who battle their own demons outside work. Four discs contain the series’ 18 episodes.

Not rated, 767 minutes.

The collection offers the pilot and deleted scenes.

*

Also on DVD: Max Headroom — The Complete Series, Helen, Just Say Love, Manuela and Manuel

DR. BOO ALLEN is an award-winning film critic for the Denton Record-Chronicle.

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