The Gold Rush (1925) * * *

Preface with historical background:

"During the Great Gold Rush to Alaska, men in thousands came from all parts of the world. Many of them were ignorant of the hardships before them: the intense cold, the lack of food and a journey through regions of ice and snow were the problems that awaited them."

In the spectacular opening scene, there is a view of an endless trail of hundreds of prospectors in the Klondike of Alaska in 1898, in the days of the Klondike Gold Rush. They are winding their way along to seek their fortunes, climbing up a mountain through the snow-covered Chilkoot Pass in search of the gold fields: "The Chilkoot Pass. A test of man's endurance. At this point, many turned back discouraged, while others went naively on." This brief documentary-style introduction is very convincing, since Charlie Chaplin and his crew brought in thousands of extras to the location in northern California near Truckee.

Then "Three days from anywhere--a Lone Prospector", a Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) appears. With his cane, he is making his own trail on a snow-covered path along a cliff, unaware that he is being followed by a bear. He escapes the bear and staggers into the cabin of violent Black Larson (Tom Murray), who is wanted for murder. In our first introduction to him, Black Larson has taken a wanted poster with his own picture on it and thrown it into the fire.

Another fortune-hunter is Big Jim McKay (Mack Swain), who has just made a lucky strike fortune of gold. He exclaims with outstretched arms: "I've found it! I've found it! A Mountain of Gold." Lost and in a blizzard, Big Jim's tent is blown away in the storm. Meanwhile in the cabin, Black Larsen notices the Tramp warming himself and orders him out. In a well-designed sight gag, the strong wind makes it appear that he is on a treadmill. The fierce wind blows him in and out of the doors of the cabin and also blows in Big Jim. Both men need refuge in Black Larsen's cabin.

Black Larsen orders both of them out. He and Jim wrestle with a shot gun, always aiming the muzzle of the gun at the Tramp during their struggle. Thanks to Big Jim's strength, Black Larsen is overpowered with a blow to the head and congratulated by the Tramp, and they are allowed to stay. When their food gives out, Jim experiences hunger hallucinations. The three draw cards in a lottery and Larsen is sent out into the wilderness to brave the storm and search for help, food and provisions. Out in the wilds, he encounters two lawmen who are looking for him. Following a struggle, he shoots both law officers and kills them.

Inside the cabin, hungry and desperate, the Tramp and Big Jim celebrate "Thanksgiving Dinner" in a famous classic feast scene. The Tramp and Big Jim are reduced to starvation, so the Tramp resorts to boiling and cooking a tasty dinner for them. He chooses one of his boots (made of black licorice) as the object of their Thanksgiving dinner, behaving as a gourmet at a feast. He watches it cooking on the stove until perfectly simmered. Then he carves the boot, cutting it like a fillet, and offers the upper part to Big Jim. He pours water over it like gravy and chews on the lower sole part, treating it like a delicacy, then twirls the laces like spaghetti. Daintily he sucks the nails, as if eating the succulent meat from a chicken bone.

Big Jim and the Lone Prospector go weeks more without food. Because they have eaten his boot, the Lone Prospector's foot is wrapped in rags. Big Jim begins to hallucinate that the Lone Prospector is a five-foot-tall chicken. Chaplin masterfully morphs between a man making chicken-like gestures and impersonating an actual chicken by wearing a suit. Eventually the two men part. Big Jim returns to his claim, only to find that Black Larson has stolen it. In a struggle, Black Larson hits Big Jim over the head, then falls off a cliff in an avalanche to his death.

The Lone Prospector goes to a gold rush town where he decides to give up prospecting. At the Monte Carlo dance hall, he sees a beautiful dance hall girl (Georgia Hale). The title card that introduces her says only one word: "Georgia". He immediately adores her. She dances with the Lone Prospector in order to spite her boyfriend Jack Cameron (Malcolm Waite). The Tramp has hitched up his pants with a dog's leash and so the dog follows them along the dance floor, with the Lone Prospector oblivious to the reason why. Even with a dog tied to his pants, Chaplin moves with astonishing grace, which caused W.C. Fields to call him, whether disparagingly or affectionately, "that goddamn ballet dancer."

Hank Curtis (Henry Bergman), takes pity on the Lone Prospector and allows him to tend to his cabin while he goes to mine for gold. The Tramp soon finds himself waylaid by the prospector he met earlier, who has developed amnesia and needs the Tramp to help him find his claim by leading him to the cabin. After being conked on the head by a snowball, the Lone Prospector invites Georgia and her girlfriends to dinner at his cabin on New Year's Eve. Next comes one of the most famous comedic sequences in all of silent cinema, the dance of the rolls. The Lone Prospector places forks in two dinner rolls and holds them below his neck so that they look like a miniature person dancing with delicate grace. Seeing the sequence out of context, it is easy to forget the sadness of this scene, which occurs within a dream sequence in which the Lone Prospector imagines a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner with the girls, who have stood him up.

Soon Big Jim finds the Lone Prospector and agrees to give him half of his fortune if the Lone Prospector will help him find his claim. They return to the cabin, but a storm blows it away, leaving it perched on on the edge of a cliff. In another wonderful comedic sequence, the two men scramble toward safety, as the cabin lurches closer to the cliff with each step. Fortunately, the Tramp and Big Jim manage to scramble out. This scene is a nod to the "thrill comedies" of the era, which got laughs from putting their stars in danger.

The ending of the film is filled with symbolism. Big Jim and the Lone Prospector are now millionaires, occupying a suite on an ocean liner returning home. Both wear fine evening clothes and smoke cigars. Georgia is also on the boat, returning home disappointed. A press photographer asks the Lone Prospector to pose for photos in his old mining clothes. Georgia discovers him when he falls from the top deck onto the steerage area below. She tries to hide him from the staff, who are looking for a stowaway. They tell her that the Lone Prospector is now a millionaire. He orders: "James. Make arrangements for another guest." He takes Georgia in his arms, inviting the photographers to take an engagement picture of them. The couple move their lips together to kiss and the photographer shouts at them: "Oh! You've spoilt the picture."

In THE GOLD RUSH Charlie Chaplin succeeded brilliantly in making a very funny comedy whose subject matter includes cannibalism, greed, and murder, as well as the mercenary nature of love. It is Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece--the one film in which his desire to make the audience laugh and the desire to make the audience love him are held in perfect balance. It was a near-superhuman feat, and Chaplin only achieved it once. It is the quintessential Little Tramp film, with a balance of slapstick comedy and pantomime, social satire, and emotional and dramatic moments of tenderness. This was Chaplin's own personal favorite film. It showcases the classic Tramp character, referred to as "The Little Fellow" in the re-release version, as a romantic idealist and lone gold prospector at the turn of the century, with his cane, derby, distinctive walk, tight shabby suit, and mustache. Chaplin blends comedy and pathos with a dream-like simplicity.

By the time Charles Chaplin made THE GOLD RUSH, he had already been the most famous man in the world for more than 10 years and the Little Tramp he created was the world's most famous fictional character. He had grown bored with the formula nature of two-reel comedies and consciously set out to make a masterpiece that would intertwine comedy and pathos, so that the comedic scenes were also sad and the dramatic scenes also funny and neither could exist without the other.

Chaplin was obsesses with perfectionism. He never used a script, he worked out the plot and the comedic bits of his films through repeating the same scenes over and over until inspiration came. He owned his own studio, so he could shut down production while he spent days working at a fever pitch, trying to come up with a solution. Plots are stripped down to the utmost simplicity, and like a poem or a dream they seem to have been taken directly from the subconscious. The characters often don't have names: they're usually referred to as the Lone Prospector, the Tramp, the Millionaire, the Dance Hall Girl, or the Blind Girl. No one knows where they came from or where they belong.

The cast also includes: Jack Adams, Frank Aderias, Leona Aderias, Lillian Adrian, Sam Allen, Claude Anderson, Harry Arras, Albert Austin, Marta Belfort, William Bell, Francis Bernhardt, F.J. Beuaregard, E. Blumenthal, William Bradford, George Brock, Pete Brogan, William Butler, Cecile Cameron, R. Campbell, Leland Carr, H.C. Chisholm, Harry Coleman, Heinie Conklin, Rebecca Conroy, Dorothy Crane, James Darby, Kay De Lay, Harry De Mors, Kay Deslys, James Dime, W.S. Dobson, John Eagown, Aaron Edward, E. Espinosa, Leon Farey, M. Farrell, Richard Foley, Charles Force, J.C. Fowler, Al Ernest Garcia, Inez Gomez, Sid Grauman, Lita Grey, Ray Grey, William Hackett, Mildred Hall, James Hammer, Ben Hart, Gypsy Hart, R. Hausner, Tom Hawley, Helen Hayward, Jack Herrick, Jack Hoefer, Tom Hawley, Helen Hayward, Jack Herrick, Jack Hoefer, George Holt, Josie Howard, Jean Huntley, Tom Hutchinson, Carl Jensen, Gladys Johnston, Harry Jones, Fred Karno Jr., Helen Kassler, Bob Kelly, John King, Freddie Lansit, Elias Lazaroff, Bob Leonard, George Lesley, Geraldine Leslie, Francis Lowell, Joan Lowell, Chris-Pin Martin, and many others. The music score for the 1942 version was composed by Charles Chaplin and Carli Elinor. Written, produced, and directed by Charles Chaplin.

THE GOLD RUSH is pure gold. It was Charlie Chaplin's third feature-length film, and marked his comeback of sorts following A WOMAN OF PARIS (1923). THE GOLD RUSH was a huge success in the US and worldwide. It is the fifth highest grossing silent film in cinema history, taking in more than $4,250,001 at the box office in 1926. It is in fact the highest grossing silent comedy film. Chaplin proclaimed at the time of its release that this was the film for which he wanted to be remembered.

In its original 1925 release, THE GOLD RUSH was generally praised by critics. Mordaunt Hall wrote in The New York Times: "Here is a comedy with streaks of poetry, pathos, tenderness, linked with brusqueness and boisterousness. It is the outstanding gem of all Chaplin's pictures, as it has more thought and originality than even such masterpieces of mirth as The Kid and Shoulder Arms."

His method of directing actors was to play out their parts for them and have the actors imitate his performance. In Chaplin's best features, THE GOLD RUSH and CITY LIGHTS (1931), the actors convey their emotions economically, through the use of subtle gesture. Chaplin avoided the broad histrionics that sometimes occur in other silent films, often telling his actors that the audience is "peeking at you." He also used few title cards for dialogue, using action to convey the interrelationships between the characters and using cards mostly to set the scene or advance the plot.

Georgia Hale fell in love with Chaplin during the making of THE GOLD RUSH. She had had a crush on him since she had first seen him on the screen, ten years earlier. In her memoirs she refers to Chaplin as if he were two people: Charlie, who was kind and generous, and Mr. Chaplin, who was cold and imperious.

Chaplin reissued the film in 1942, adding an original music score and replacing the titles with his own spoken narration. He also recut the film, changing the ending to delete the final lingering kiss. The sound version ends before this scene. Another sequence was altered in the re-release so that instead of the Tramp finding a note from Georgia which he mistakenly believes is for him, he actually receives the note from her. All the changes reduced the film's run time from 96 minutes to 82 minutes. Various versions have different run times: 30, 69, 71, 72, 74, 82, 85, 92, 95, 96, and 120 minutes. Probably many of the time discrepancies are due to the frame rates used by the projector. THE GOLD RUSH was supposedly shot using 22 frames per second. Prior to the 1930s, the standard frame rate for film was 18 fps, with variations from 16 to 23 frames per second. The new music score by Max Terr and the sound recording by James L. Fields were nominated for Academy Awards in 1943.

The original 1925 version of THE GOLD RUSH was registered in the U.S. Copyright Office at the time of its release in 1925. Because the copyright was not renewed when the first term of copyright ended in 1953, the film fell into the public domain in the United States at that time. An article on CopyrightData.com argues that the 1925 version of THE GOLD RUSH remains in the public domain in the United States. However, that is probably incorrect. Since 1996 the 1925 version of the film is probably no longer in the public domain for very complicated reasons. Outside the U.S., copyright protection continues in most countries until 2047, and in Canada until 2027. Chaplin jealously guarded the copyright on his films, but the silent version of THE GOLD RUSH supposedly went into the public domain and has been reissued by a number of companies, with varying print quality and choice of musical score. Some versions are elaborately tinted, as was the practice in the silent era to denote day or night, while others are strictly black and white.

In the 2003 DVD release, it is revealed that the reissue of THE GOLD RUSH also served to preserve most of the footage from the original film, as even the DVD-restored print of the 1925 original shows noticeable degradation of image and missing frames, deficiencies not in in the 1942 version. In 1992, THE GOLD RUSH was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Ghostbusters (1984) * * *

(first lines)
Dr. Venkman: All right, I'm gonna turn over the next card. Concentrate... I want you to tell me what you think it is.

Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are a trio of misfit parapsychologists in New York City. When their government grants run out, they lose their research jobs at Columbia University, despite having obtained concrete evidence of paranormal activity and even seeing a ghost at the New York Public Library. They decide to establish their own paranormal ghost exterminator service, "Ghostbusters". The business gets off to a slow start, but just when they run out of funds, the Ghostbusters are contacted by a hotel to investigate a haunting where they successfully capture their first ghost. Business booms for the Ghostbusters with goblins, poltergeists, and other demons invading apartments and taking possession of people, so they hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).

Dr Ray Stantz: Hey, Dean Yeager! Are you moving us to a better office on campus?
Dean Yeager: No, you're being moved off campus. The Board of Regents has decided to terminate your grant. You are to vacate these premises immediately.
Dr Ray Stantz: What?
Dr. Peter Venkman: This is preposterous. I demand an explanation.
Dean Yeager: This university will no longer continue any funding for any of your group's activities.
Dr. Peter Venkman: But the kids love us!
Dean Yeager: Doctor... Venkman. The purpose of science is to serve mankind. You seem to regard science as some kind of dodge... or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable! You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman!
Dr. Peter Venkman: I see.
Dean Yeager: And you have no place in this department, or this university.

(TV commercial)
Dr Ray Stantz: Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?
Dr Ray Stantz: If the answer is "yes", then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals...
Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Peter Venkman: Ghostbusters.
Dr Ray Stantz: Our courteous and efficient staff is on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs.

Tight-lipped bureaucrat Walter Peck (William Atherton) regards the Ghostbusters as a bunch of charlatans, but is forced to eat his words when NYC is besieged by an army of unfriendly spirits, conjured up by a long-dead Babylonian demon and "channelled" through beautiful cellist Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and her nerdy geek neighbor Louis Tully (Rick Moranis). The Ghostbusters investigate Dana Barrett's case, whose apartment is haunted by a demonic spirit called Zuul, a demigod worshiped in 6000 BC as a servant to Gozer (Slavitza Jovan), a Sumerian shapeshifting destruction god. Peter Venkman really takes the case in an attempt to woo her rather than out of concern for the paranormal. As they look into the matter, Dana is possessed by Zuul, followed by Louis Tully, who is possessed by a similar demon called Vinz Clortho. The Ghostbusters learn that should the "Gatekeeper" Zuul/Barret and the "Keymaster" Vinz/Louis embrace, they will summon Gozer and bring about the end of the world. While they attempt to keep the two apart, their ghost containment grid, where they store all their captured ghosts, is shut down by the EPA, unleashing a flurry of ghosts in NYC, and allowing the possessed Dana and Louis to meet during the chaos.

Winston Zeddemore: Hey, wait a minute. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Hold it! Now, are we actually gonna go before a federal judge, and tell him that some moldy Babylonian god is going to drop in on Central Park West, and start tearing up the city?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Sumerian, not Babylonian.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah. Big difference.
Winston Zeddemore: No offense, guys, but I've gotta get my own lawyer.
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!

Dr Ray Stantz: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here.
Walter Peck: They caused an explosion!
Mayor: Is this true?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it's true. (pause) This man has no dick.
Walter Peck: Jeez! (Charges at Venkman)
Mayor: Break it up! Hey, break this up! Break it up!
Walter Peck: All right, all right, all right!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Well, that's what I heard!

Dr. Egon Spengler: I have a radical idea. The door swings both ways, we could reverse the polarity flow through the gate.
Dr. Peter Venkman: How?
Dr. Egon Spengler: We'll cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: 'Scuse me Egon? You said crossing the streams was bad!
Dr Ray Stantz: Cross the streams...
Dr. Peter Venkman: You're gonna endanger us, you're gonna endanger our client--the nice lady, who paid us in advance, before she became a dog...
Dr. Egon Spengler: Not necessarily. There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive.
Dr. Peter Venkman: (slaps Ray) I love this plan! I'm excited it could work! Let's do it!

Dispatched by the mayor to end the catastrophe, the Ghostbusters track Zuul/Dana and Vinz/Louis at Gozer's shrine atop their high-rise apartment, but are unable to stop them from summoning Gozer. Briefly subdued by the team, Gozer assumes the form of the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, created by Ray Stantz's unintentional thoughts, and begins laying waste to the city. To defeat Gozer, the team decides to merge the energy streams of their proton packs and aim it at the dimensional portal Gozer came through, at the risk of their own lives. They ultimately follow through with their plan and destroy Gozer, who is turned into torrents of melted marshmallow. The climax is a sendup of every Godzilla movie ever made. The Ghostbusters survive, and Dana and Louis return to normal. As they exit the building, the Ghostbusters are met with applause from a cheering crowd, and Peter and Dana kiss while they drive off.

(last lines)
Winston Zeddemore: I love this town!

GHOSTBUSTERS, titled on-screen as GHOST BUSTERS, is an Academy Award-nominated science-fiction comedy film written by co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis about three eccentric New York City parapsychologists-turned-ghost exterminators. The film was released in the United States on June 8, 1984 and like several films of the era, teamed Aykroyd and/or Ramis with headliner Bill Murray, who steals every scene he is in. That means most of the movie--with a performance full of dead-pan, ironic, world-weary, been-there-done-that hilariousness. He has a sarcastic remark for every occasion, and the audience is the only one in on the joke every time. But he's a gentleman of sorts and doesn't take advantage of the situation when the demon tries to seduce him.

Dana Barrett: Do you want this body?
Dr. Venkman: (pauses) Is this a trick question?

When the script for GHOSTBUSTERS was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, John Belushi was slated to play the Bill Murray role. The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal and it was conceived as a vehicle for himself and friend John Belushi. His death in 1982 not only necessitated the hiring of Murray, but also an extensive rewrite. Eddie Murphy and John Candy were also intended to star, but they could not commit. The original story was very different than what was eventually filmed. In the early version, a group of Ghostbusters travelled through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts, of which the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many. Also, the Ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts. GHOSTBUSTERS storyboards show them wearing riotsquad-type helmets with movable transparent visors.

The cast also includes: Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), David Margulies (Mayor), Steven Tash (Male Student), Jennifer Runyon (Female Student), Michael Ensign (Hotel Manager), Alice Drummond (Librarian), Jordan Charney (Dean Yager), Timothy Carhart (Violinist), John Rothman (Library Administrator), Tom McDermott (Archbishop), Roger Grimsby (Himself), Larry King (Himself), Joe Franklin (Himself), Casey Kasem (Himself), John Ring (Fire Commissioner), Norman Matlock (Police Commissioner), Joe Cirillo (Police Captain), Joe Schmieg (Police Seargeant), Reginald Vel Johnson (Jail Guard), Rhoda Gemignani (Real Estate Woman), Murray Rubin (Man at Elevator), Larry Dilg (Con Edison Man), Danny Stone (Coachman), Patty Dworkin (Woman at Party), Jean Kasem (Tall Woman at Party), Lenny Del Genio (Doorman), Frances E. Nealy (Chambermaid), Sam Moses (Hot Dog Vendor), Christopher Wynkoop (TV Reporter), Winston May (Businessman in Cab), Tommy Hollis (Mayor's Aide), Eda Reiss Merin (Louis's Neighbor), Ric Mancini, Kathryn Janssen, Stanley Grover, Carol Ann Henry, James Hardie, Frantz Turner, Nancy Kelly, Paul Trafas, Cheryl Birchenfield, Ruth Oliver, Kymberly Herrin, Murray Bandel, Larry Bilzarian, Matteo Cafiso, John De Bello, Paddi Edwards, Eldo Ray Estes, Deborah Gibson, Wendy Goldman, Willow Hale, Ron Jeremy, Charles Levin, Joseph Marzano, Joe Medjuck, Frank Patton, Harrison Ray, Ivan Reitman, Frank Rivers, Mario Todisco, and Bill Walton. Elmer Bernstein composed the original music. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis wrote the screenplay. Ivan Reitman directed.

GHOSTBUSTERS was well-received and film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "This movie is an exception to the general rule that big special effects can wreck a comedy ... Rarely has a movie this expensive provided so many quotable lines." In the New York Times Janet Maslin wrote, "Its jokes, characters and story line are as wispy as the ghosts themselves, and a good deal less substantial." David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "Everyone seems to be working toward the same goal of relaxed insanity. Ghostbusters is wonderful summer nonsense." In Time magazine Richard Schickel praised the three lead actors: "Of the ghost wranglers, the pair played by Writers Aykroyd and Ramis are sweetly earnest about their calling, and gracious about giving the picture to their co-star Bill Murray. He obviously (and wisely) regards Dr. Peter Venkman as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop fully his patented comic character." Pauline Kael had problems with the chemistry between the three lead actors: "Murray is the film's comic mechanism ... But nobody else has much in the way of material, and since there's almost no give-and-take among the three men, Murray's lines fall on dead air."

It was most expensive comedy movie made up to 1984, and made money hand over fist, spawning not only a 1989 sequel but also two animated TV series, one of them partially based on an earlier live-action TV weekly, titled "The Ghost Busters". With inflation adjustments, the film's original release grossed over $500 million US dollars counting sales in just the U.S., making it domestically one of the highest-grossing films of 1984 and also domestically the 31st highest-grossing film.

The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida that lasted until 1997. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Ghostbusters the 44th greatest comedy film of all time. The American Film Institute ranked it 28th in its list of the top 100 comedies of all time in their "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs" list. In 2005, IGN voted Ghostbusters the greatest comedy ever. In 2006, Bravo ranked Ghostbusters 76 on their "100 Funniest Movies" list. Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the Funniest Movie of the Past 25 Years. In 2009, National Review magazine ranked "Ghostbusters" number 10 on its 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years list.

Elmer Bernstein composed the film score, notable for its use of ondes martenot. Orchestrators contributing to the film were Peter Bernstein, David Spear and Patrick Russ. The hit theme song, "Ghostbusters", written and performed by Ray Parker, Jr. sparked the catchphrases "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" and "I ain't afraid of no ghost". The song was a huge hit, staying #1 for three weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and #1 for two weeks on the Black Singles chart. The song earned Parker an Academy Award nomination for "Best Original Song".

There were two novelizations of the film published. The first, which came out around the same time the movie did, was written by Larry Milne and was 191 pages long. A second novelization, written by Richard Mueller, was released in 1985. It was 65 pages longer at 256 pages, and had the subtitle "The Supernatural Spectacular". Both differ from the finished version of the film in many respects, containing scenes that ultimately did not make the cut, most notably the sequence set at Fort Detmerring. Mueller's book in particular also contained a subplot involving the two homeless men played by Murray and Aykroyd in the deleted scene, who are identified as Harlan Bojay and Robert Learned Coombs. A larger A4 sized book was also released by Hippo Books, containing a large number of stills--some from the movie, some publicity shots--tying in with the story on the relevant page. This publication is more child friendly than the previous two, and the story, while still quite extensive, is somewhat scaled down in detail.

The DVD is more than just a movie, it's virtually a library. Packed, stacked, and fully featured, GHOSTBUSTERS has countless extras. Beside a clean transfer, excellent sound and a timeless movie, you get a commentary, and concept to screen both in art work and special effects. You also can use your angle button to watch the finished scene, then flip to the rough cut and special effect cut of the same scene. There are excellent interactive menus, and a facts and trivia track which scrolls inside information in subtitles under the film. Three extra trailers for GROUNDHOG DAY(1993), STRIPES (1981) and GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (1989) are also included.

The GHOSTBUSTERS Blu-ray Disc Special Features includes:

* Digitally Mastered Audio and Video
* Slimer Mode: Picture-in-Picture Graphical Viewing Experience with an examination of the spook-hunters’ firehouse headquarters, an in-depth exploration of the creatures in the Ghostbusters mythology, behind-the-scenes discussions of making the movie, new cast, crew and special effects artists interviews and much more!
* Featurette: Ecto-1: Resurrecting the Classic Car
* Ghostbusters Garage: Ecto-1 Gallery
* Collectible 32 Page Scrapbook
* Filmmakers’ Commentary with Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuck
* Featurette: 1984 – The Making of Ghostbusters – Interviews with the cast and crew
* Featurette: Interviews with Cast and Crew
* Featurette: SFX Team - Includes Before and After Multi-Angle Explorations
* Scene Cemetery – 10 Deleted Scenes
* Audio: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
* Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic
* Storyboard Comparisons
* Closed Captioned

GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989) is a sci-fi comedy film and sequel to Ghostbusters. It follows the further adventures of a group of parapsychologists and their organization which combats paranormal activities. Five years after the events of the first film, the Ghostbusters are undeservedly out of business after being sued by the city for property damage incurred during the battle against Gozer, and have a restraining order preventing them from investigating the supernatural. Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) have become entertainers at children's parties, Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) works in a laboratory conducting various experiments, Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) hosts a pseudo-psychic television show, and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) is working at a New York art museum restoring paintings and raising her infant son Oscar (William T. Deutschendorf) at a new apartment, having broken up with Peter under acrimonious circumstances, but strongly hinted to be from Peter's fear of commitment. After a supernatural incident in which Oscar’s baby carriage is controlled by an unseen supernatural force, Dana turns to the Ghostbusters for help, prompting an awkward reunion between herself and Peter. Meanwhile, Dr. Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol)--Dana’s boss at the art gallery--is possessed by the spirit of Vigo the Carpathian (Wilhelm von Homburg), a seventeenth century tyrant trapped within a painting in the gallery. Vigo orders Janosz to locate a child that Vigo can transfer his consciousness into, thus gaining physical form upon the approaching New Year.

The Ghostbusters' investigation leads them to conclude that the supernatural presence originates from under the city streets, prompting them to illegally excavate the street. Lowered down on a wire, Ray discovers a river of pink slime filling an abandoned subway line. Attacked by the slime after obtaining a sample, Ray accidentally knocks out the city’s electrical grid, and the Ghostbusters are arrested. At their trial, they are found guilty but the judge’s extremely volatile emotional outbursts prompt a reaction from the slime sample presented as evidence. After a final tirade, the slime explodes, releasing the ghosts of two murderers the judge had previously sentenced to death. The Ghostbusters agree to trap the ghosts in exchange for the dismissal of all charges and the rescinding of the restraining order. After doing so, they re-open their business and commence investigating the supernatural once more.

After the slime invades Dana's apartment, seemingly attempting to abduct Oscar, she seeks refuge with Peter and the two renew their relationship. Investigating the slime and the history of the painting of Vigo, the Ghostbusters discover that the slime reacts both to positive and negative emotions, but suspect that it has been generated by the immense amount of negativity reflected in the attitudes of New Yorkers. Exploring the river of slime, Egon, Ray and Winston discover that the river leads back directly to the museum. The Ghostbusters go to the mayor with their suspicions, but are dismissed by the skeptical politician. His scheming assistant attempts to defuse them as a potential problem by having them committed to a psychiatric institution. As they do so, a spirit resembling Janosz kidnaps Oscar, prompting Dana to break into the museum by herself. After she does, the museum is caked in a wall of impenetrable slime.

New Year's Eve sees a sudden outburst of increased supernatural activity as the slime rises through the ground and onto the surface of the city, including a demon invading Washington Square Park and the arrival of a spectral version of the Titanic and its long-deceased passengers and crew into the harbor. The NYPD's emergency lines are flooded with calls from panic-stricken New Yorkers, and an ominous mass of psychokinetic energy blocks out the sun and shrouds the city in darkness. Realizing the truth of the situation, the mayor fires his assistant and has the Ghostbusters released, whereupon they make their way to the museum. Their initial attempt to break through the museum's slime barrier are unsuccessful, the wave of negativity that has generated it proving too powerful to break through. Determining that they need a symbol of equally-powerful positivity to break through the slime, the Ghostbusters use positively-charged mood slime and Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher" to animate the Statue of Liberty and pilot it through the streets of New York, using her torch to break through the museum's ceiling to do battle with Vigo and Janosz.

While Janosz is easily dispensed with, Vigo proves to be a difficult adversary. Immensely powerful with both the negative vibes of the city and with midnight and the New Year rapidly approaching, he manages to paralyze the Ghostbusters and attempt a transfer into Oscar’s body, but a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne" from outside the building manages to weaken him sufficiently to allow the Ghostbusters to break free and return him to the painting. Although Vigo momentarily possesses Ray, the other three Ghostbusters manage to trap Vigo within the painting, destroying him and transforming the painting to a likeness of the four Ghostbusters surrounding baby Oscar protectively. The movie ends with the Ghostbusters receiving a standing ovation from the crowd and, at a later ceremony to restore the Statue, receiving the key to the city from the mayor.

After the success of the first film and the animated series, "The Real Ghostbusters", Columbia Pictures pressured the producers to make a sequel. However, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman were uncomfortable with this as the original film was intended to be conclusive and they wished to work on other projects. Eventually, they agreed and created a script. Some of the cast and crew were ultimately dissatisfied with the film as well as its box office reception. The sequel had what was, at the time, the biggest three-day opening weekend gross in history ($29,472,894--which is equal to $52,709,710 today), a record that was broken one week later by BATMAN (1989) ($40,505,884). Despite the record-breaking opening, the film received mixed reviews from both critics and viewers. A video game, "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" released in 2009 is actually a sequel to GHOSTBUSTERS II, taking place two years after. Aykroyd considers it as the "third movie".

GHOSTBUSTERS II is a disappointing sequel. There is not enough comedy, not enough ghost busting, not enough special effects, and far too much boring and pointless drama. An episode in the TV series ALF explains it perfectly. Willie Tanner (Max Wright) tells Alf that some people have no morals or scruples, and will do anything for money. Alf responds, "Well, that explains GHOSTBUSTERS II." It's a funny line because it's very true. And it's probably the real reason there is no second sequel.

The original Laserdisc and VHS versions of the film were made incorrectly: instead of being produced either in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or panned and scanned at the aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the movie was panned and scanned in a 1.66:1 frame. Compared to the "proper" pan and scan version at 1.33:1, width is definitely gained on the edges, though very slightly. However, the DVD version was transferred and encoded at the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. At the end of the version shown in theaters, Slimer comes out from behind the Statue of Liberty and goes right into the camera as he did at the end of GHOSTBUSTERS. The video version ends with a pan up to the statue's head, then a fade to black. Also, in an unusual move, Slimer has his own cast billing in the credits: "and Slimer". Slimer was puppeted and controlled by Robyn Shelby but much of her performance ended up on the cutting room floor. The Blu-ray version of the film is available through Sony Picture's campaign site Ghostbustersishiring.com

A great deal of merchandise, such as coloring books, came out with the release of this film. As was the case with "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon, the makers of this material may have wanted to avoid likeness fees and as a result, the main characters in these bear little resemblance to any other version of the characters. "The Real Ghostbusters" comic book produced by NOW Comics ran a three-part adaptation of the film, using the cartoon character designs instead of the likenesses of the actors. The overall story received minor alterations to run as a three-part series, and includes several scenes that were in the shooting script but were not included in the released movie. In a novelization of the movie by Ed Naha, Hardemeyer rushes at the museum's slime shell, which engulfs him, and the book does not mention him again. In the ending credits of the film, he is shown in the crowd outside the museum, singing with them.

The third installment to the franchise is in production and is set for a 2012 release, with the script being written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. At first it was to be completely computer animated. Dan Aykroyd confirmed that the animated Ghostbusters 3 is in development while doing an interview for CISN fm: "Ghostbusters 3 lives today. A year ago it didn’t." However, in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dan Aykroyd revealed that the third Ghostbusters movie could start filming soon. He said that all the original cast have now signed on, including Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson and of course Aykroyd himself. Having Bill Murray onboard was crucial, said Aykroyd. Apparently Murray holds a one-fifth controlling interest in the Ghostbusters franchise. He played down Murray’s reluctance to commit to a third movie.

"I've been very busy. Harold's been busy, Ivan's been busy. And a third script really didn't coalesce properly," said Aykroyd. "And Billy, you can't blame an artist for not wanting to do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God's sake. Although I'm the biggest cheerleader as the originator of the concept but I've never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie. I never said he held it up or that he refused. Hey, listen, he's an artist. You can't force somebody into it. I'm sorry he never read my third draft because I thought it was pretty good but, look, now we're at a point that there's a story that he can accept and that's going to work, and I think we're going to be in production fairly soon. We could be in production by winter."

Dan Aykroyd would like to see Ivan Reitman or Harold Ramis direct and is hoping to introduce a new generation Ghostbusters team with female members. "I'd like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let's revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let's pass it on to a new generation," he said.

Grand Hotel (1932) * * *

(opening lines)
Dr. Otternschlag: Grand Hotel. People come and go. Nothing ever happens.

Lewis Stone's totally unaware opening statement turns out to be ironic during the few days in which the story unfolds, because everything seems to be happening at the hotel, from romance to robbery to an accidental death.

The flimsy plot concerns a group of characters staying at the posh Grand Hotel in Berlin. Initially we hear their stories by phone calls. There is the lonely Russian ballerina Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo), who is at the end of her rope emotionally, on the verge of a nervous breakdown and seeing the end of her career approaching. The suave Baron Feliz von Geigern (John Barrymore) is not quite what he seems. He intends to steal an expensive set of pearls belonging to Grusinskaya and enters her suite while she is gone. Although he is not a thief at heart, the people he owes money have threatened his life, making it imperative that he steal the jewels.

After he finds the pearls, he is unable to get out of the ballerina's suite before she returns and so hides behind a curtain. When she enters, her depression overcomes her and she decides to end her life. He reveals himself, and explains his presence to stop her suicide attempt by telling her how he worships and loves her. He remains in her room all night and they fall in love, which starts a love triangle with stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford) which comes to an abrupt end in an interesting plot twist. This part of the plot was very controversial in 1932 since the sexual act was implied, and the scene was almost edited out by censors.

Grusinskaya: I want to be alone. I think I have never been so tired in my life. Who are you?
Baron von Geigern: Someone who could love you, that's all. Someone who's forgotten everything else but you.
Grusinskaya: You could love me?
Baron von Geigern: I've never seen anything in my life as beautiful as you are.
Grusinskaya: Can you imagine a hundred girls in the ballet school, each thinking she would become the most famous dancer in all the world? I was ambitious then. We were drilled like little soldiers. No rest, no stopping. I was little, slim, but hard as a diamond. Then I became famous and--But why am I telling you all this? Last night, I didn't know you at all. Who are you, really?
Baron von Geigern: What?
Grusinskaya: I don't even know your name.
Baron von Geigern: (laughs) I am Felix Benvenuto Freihern von Geigern. My mother called me "Flix".
Grusinskaya: No! Flix! Oh, that's sweet. And how do you live? And what kind of a person are you?
Baron Felix von Geigern: I'm a prodigal son, the black sheep of a white flock. I shall die on the gallows.

Baron von Geigern: (looking down from the sixth-floor balcony over the front desk) You know, I've often wondered what'd happen to that old porter if somebody jumped on him from here.
Flaemmchen: I'm sure I don't know. Why don't you try it and find out?

Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) is a terminally ill bookkeeper dying from an unspecified disease, though he does not appear to be ill. He decides to spend his savings on a few days of luxury in the hotel. Barrymore takes Kringelein from a sad, tentative man to a more adventurous character who shows unexpected courage. Even though he knows that death awaits him, another twist of fate gives Kringelein a new zest for life. By coincidence, the boorish owner of the factory he works in, General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery) is also in the hotel, to try to clinch a deal to save his business.

The interaction between Preysing and Klingelein is an interesting one as Preysing finds that money cannot buy everything. Preysing is the only lead actor with a German accent, and the bullying and ruthless industrialist employs sluttish stenographer Flaemmchen on whom he has designs. She will do almost anything to get ahead and is torn by Preysing's offer of advancement in exchange for her being "nice to him" and her love for Baron Geigern. Her fate, as the others, changes dramatically while a guest at the Grand Hotel. It is interesting to see a youthful Joan Crawford play such a subdued and rather passive character. Senf the porter (Jean Hersholt) worries about his pregnant wife, and world-weary Dr. Otternschlag (Lewis Stone), with one side of his face disfigured in the Great War, waits in the lobby for messages. Other minor characters come and go.

Preysing: I don't know much about women. I've been married for 28 years, you know.
Flaemmchen: (to Preysing after he asks her to call him by his first name) You know I always say that nothing should be left hanging over. And names are like that. Suppose I met you next year and said, "How do you do Mr. Preysing?" And you said, "That's the young lady who was my secretary in Manchester." That's all quite propper. But supposing I saw you and yelled "Hi baby. Remember Manchester." (he laughs) Yeah, and you were with your wife. How would you like that?

Otto Kringelein: Mr. Preysing, I am not taking orders from you here.
Preysing: What is this insolence? Please go away.
Otto Kringelein: You think you have free license to be insulting? Believe me, you have not. You think you're superior, but you're quite an ordinary man. Even if you did marry money, and people like me have got to slave for you for 320 marks a month!
Preysing: Will you go away, please! You are annoying!
Flaemmchen: Mr. Preysing, please!
Otto Kringelein: You don't like to see me enjoying myself. When a man's working himself to death, that's what he's paid for. You don't care if a man can live on his wages or not.
Preysing: You have a very regular scale of wages, and there's the sick fund for you.
Otto Kringelein: (sarcastically) Oh, what a scale, and what a fund. When I was sick for four weeks, you wrote me a letter, telling me I'd be discharged if I was sick any longer. Did you write me that letter, or did you not?
Preysing: I have no idea of the letters that I write, Mr. Kringelein. I know that you're here in the Grand Hotel, living like a lord. You are probably an embezzler.
Otto Kringelein: An embezzler?
Preysing: Yes, an embezzler!
Otto Kringelein: You will take that back, right here in the presence of this young lady! Who do you think you're talking to? You think I'm dirt? Well, if I'm dirt, you're a lot dirtier, Mr. Industrial Magnate Preysing!
Preysing: You're discharged! Get out!
Flaemmchen: You can't do that to him...
Preysing: Oh, I don't know the man. I don't know what he wants. I never saw him before.
Otto Kringelein: I know you! I've kept your books for you and I know all about you! If one of your employees was half as stupid in a small way as you are in a big way...
Preysing: (lunges for Kringelein) What do you mean? (He tries to strangle him. When several people break them up, he finally lets go.) You're discharged! You're discharged, you hear?
Otto Kringelein: Wait! You can't discharge me. I am my own master for the first time in my life. You can't discharge me. I'm sick. I'm going to die, you understand? I'm going to die, and nobody can do anything to me anymore. Nothing can happen to me anymore. Before I can be discharged, I'll be dead! (laughs)

(last lines)
Dr. Otternschlag: Grand Hotel. People come and go. Nothing ever happens.

GRAND HOTEL is a 1932 MGM Pre-Code art deco movie produced soon after the end of the silent film era. It is the prototype for the all-star ensemble film and an excellent example of the rich and glamorous escapist entertainment produced during the Depression. It was one of the first Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies to feature an all-star cast, and is essentially a star vehicle. It's plot exists merely as a device to get star faces on the screen, particularly that of Greta Garbo. The studio put the finest and most popular talent at its disposal into this movie with spectacular results. They flaunt MGM’s famous motto "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven." This Academy Award winner for Best Picture is a sweeping soap opera about the guests at the Grand Hotel. Several plots intertwine, but mostly it's about movie stars. Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, and both Barrymore brothers head up the cast. Garbo is luminous as Grusinskaya, the neurotic and famous-but-slipping dancer who "vonts to be alone." John Barrymore is a cat burglar with blue blood and a heart of gold, and Lionel Barrymore happily caroms off him as Mr. Kringelein, a dying man who wants to live out the time he has left with the rich. This multi-faceted film has suspense, murder, a love triangle, tragedy and comedy.

Joan Crawford is perhaps the biggest surprise of the movie. As Flaemmchen, a young career girl trying to decide between secretary and tart, she is uncharacteristically funny, vivacious, and downright bubbly. Along the way we discover that money, fame, and titles don't guarantee happiness, and being a jewel thief doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. The nicest touch is the hint that other, minor plots swirl around the edges of the film, suggesting that we've only seen a small chapter of the hotel's story. GRAND HOTEL is a great deal of fun and an excellent chance to see some famous faces in their prime. Interaction of the characters forms the meat of the story. The plot device of the film bringing together several unrelated characters into one setting was popular and effective enough that it was re-used in other films and became known as "the Grand Hotel formula". This "all-star" scenario was perhaps most successfully replicated the following year in MGM's own DINNER AT EIGHT (1933).

The cast also includes: Robert McWade (Meierheim), Purnell Pratt (Zinnowitz), Ferdinand Gottschalk (Pimenov), Rafaela Ottiano (Suzette), Morgan Wallace (Chauffeur), Tully Marshall (Gerstenkorn), Frank Conroy (Rohna), Murray Kinnell (Schweimann), Edwin Maxwell (Dr. Waitz), Joan Barclay (Young Girl in Lobby), Max Barwyn (Hotel Guest / Gambler), Mary Carlisle (Mrs. Hoffman - Young Honeymooner), John Davidson (Hotel Manager), Herbert Evans (Clerk), Edmund Goulding (Cameo Appearance), Sherry Hall (Hotel Guest), Allen Jenkins (Hotel meat packer), Robert Lees (Bellboy), Eric Mayne (Gambler), Philo McCullough (Hotel Guest / Gambler), Sam McDaniel (Bartender), Greta Meyer (Housekeeper in Room 174), Sarah Padden (Chambermaid in Room 174), Lee Phelps (Hotel Guest), Bodil Rosing (Nurse helping old lady into elevator), Dick Rush (Gendarme), Rolfe Sedan (Hotel Guest in Bar), Leo White (Hotel Porter), and Florence Wix (Hotel Guest). William Axt and Charles Maxwell are the uncredited composers of the absent incidental music. Béla Balázs and William A. Drake wrote the screenplay based on Drake's stage play derived from Vicki Baum's novel and play "Menschen im Hotel". Edmund Goulding directed.

The art deco sets by Cedric Gibbons are quite impressive, and give the feel of a 1932 modern hotel with opulence and luxury. GRAND HOTEL was very well shot by William Daniels, with some luminous photography. The film was a smash hit with a budget of $700,000, and it grossed $1,235,000 (USA) with a further $1,359,000 elsewhere in the world. Later on the rentals of the VHS release totaled $2,594,000, giving a total gross of $5,118,000. With inflation considered, by 2008 the movie had grossed $79,948,689.

The film came from the original Austrian novel "Menschen im Hotel" (People in a Hotel), by Vicki Baum. First published in 1929, a play followed. MGM purchased the US rights to the play and had it adapted by William A. Drake and Béla Balázs. The setting of the Grand Hotel is in Berlin however. It was produced by Irving Thalberg and Paul Bern at MGM (both uncredited in the film), and directed by Edmund Goulding. It is the only film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture without obtaining nominations in any other categories. The award was presented to Irving Thalberg, with no mention of Paul Bern. In addition, Garbo's line "I want to be alone" was voted # 30 in the list of the American Film Iinstitute's "100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes".

"Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens." So says Dr. Otternschlag at the beginning and end of the film. In the original novel, this translates as, "There is a strange thing with guests in this hotel. No-one goes out the door in the same way that they came in." The film was remade as WEEK-END AT THE WALDORF (1945) starring Ginger Rogers, and HOTEL BERLIN (1945) starring Faye Emerson.

Time has taken its toll on the concept and lavish treatment of this rather stiff relic. It's a little faded and dated now, but the magic is still there in this first of the portmanteau movies, although it drags slightly in the middle. Similar to DRACULA (1931), there is almost an absence of incidental music, except for the opening and ending of the film. Let's hope Philip Glass isn't commissioned to write a mediocre music score to "fix" this "deficiency". However, The uncredited music score has a little bit of music. There are several Strauss waltzes and one of the themes from Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, the latter used as a theme for the ballerina. The existence of an American bar and jazz lounge in the hotel is an excuse to include some jazz music in the background.

On DVD the film is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. Opening titles are window boxed so that the full aspect ratio of 1.37:1 is displayed. The transfer is reasonably sharp and shadow detail is pretty good. Contrast appears natural and you can see the luminousness of the original nitrate film to an extent. Blacks are not especially dark. The major problem with this transfer is the level of grain apparent. At times it is very distracting, much like the Universal DVD release of FRANKENSTEIN (1931), filmed the previous year. The print used for the transfer was in reasonable condition, but has not been fully restored for this release. There are flecks and some slight scratches, dirt and dust apparent throughout.

There are two consecutive frames with half the image missing at 55:27. The first frame has the bottom half of the frame totally black, the next frame has the top half blacked out. From 73:00 for about a minute, every other frame seems to be vertically stretched slightly, resulting in a shaky effect. There are also a couple of frames missing at 89:41. There are no noticeable film to video artefacts. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. There is some occasional distortion of the sound, which is undoubtedly in the source material. Being a single channel mono track, there is no surround encoding present. Hiss is present but is not intrusive. The film is presented on an RSDL-formatted disc with the layer change occurring during a fade to black between scenes at 43:36. Subtitles are available in 10 languages. The English subtitles are quite easy to see, being white with black borders, and appear to translate the dialogue accurately.

Themes from the film are played for this static menu. The menu is in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced, which is an odd choice for a 1.33:1 transfer. A short documentary on the background of the film is one of the extras. It was made for this DVD by the Turner group, who own the MGM film library as well the Warners back catalogue, and features brief interviews with Sydney Guilaroff and Maureen O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan talks about Garbo and refers to their one scene together, so she is obviously not talking about GRAND HOTEL. The documentary is interesting enough to watch once, though the pronunciation of narrator Tom Kane is a little annoying. This documentary also asserts that Vicki Baum based the work on her experience as a maid in two Berlin hotels. In fact, she took a job for six weeks in a single hotel in order to research the background for the novel.

"The Hollywood Premiere" (9:22) is a priceless if not very entertaining publicity short of the guests arriving at the premiere of the film at Sid Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1932. This was obviously an early simulcast with radio, and takes the format of celebrities arriving at a hotel desk outside the theatre and signing in. It's merely an excuse for a parade of stars. Apart from some of the actors from the film, there are appearances from numerous stars of the time: Edward G. Robinson, Lew Ayres, Lola Lane, Clark Gable, Norma Shearer, Edmund Lowe, Ben Lyon, Bebe Daniels, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (then Mr. Joan Crawford) and Robert Montgomery, among many others. Louis B. Mayer gives a short speech. Strangely, this short is window-boxed and presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The window boxing is quite significant, and you can use the zoom function on your TV without losing any picture information.

"Nothing Ever Happens" (18:42) is a short musical comedy parody of GRAND HOTEL, complete with songs and a chorus of dancing girls. This was made by the Vitaphone company, a subsidiary of Warners, in 1932. It's quite dull but appropriate as an extra for this DVD, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with optional subtitles. "Just A Word Of Warning" (1:11) is a short advertising trailer specifically for Grauman's Chinese Theatre, warning customers that the run is about to end: "Get your premium evening tickets for $1.50." The trailer is in good condition and is window-boxed just like the Hollywood Premiere short. The Theatrical Trailer (2:19) is a trailer for a later reissue of GRAND HOTEL, and is in reasonable condition, presented in 1.33:1.

In 2007 GRAND HOTEL was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

A Hard Day's Night (1964) * * *

The film has no real plot, but follows the adventures of The Beatles on a fictional day in the life of the band, as John, Paul, George and Ringo take a trip from Liverpool by train to London to appear on a TV show. After escaping a horde of hysterical fans, they board the train, try to relax, then various interruptions test their patience, causing George to go to the goods van for some peace and quiet. They are burdened by Paul's trouble-making grandfather John McCartney (Wilfred Brambell), reporters, police, studio moguls, and screaming teenage girls. The movie pits their youthful exuberance against authority figures who constantly look down on them as the Beatles remain laid back. They respond with dry British one-liners and shift easily into melodic musical interludes, such as "All My Lovin'", and "I Wanna Be Your Man." When they finally get away from all the pressures, they find an empty field and romp to the tune of "Can’t Buy Me Love" in a sequence that has influenced thousands of music videos. Nearly every modern music video, perhaps the very concept of the music video, owes some credit to this movie.

George: That's not your grandfather.
Paul: It is, you know.
George: But I've seen your grandfather. He lives in your house.
Paul: Oh, that's my other grandfather, but he's my grandfather, as well.
John: How do you reckon that one out?
Paul: Well, everyone's entitled to two, aren't they?
Grandfather: Hullo.
John: He can talk then, can he?
Paul: 'Course he can talk. He's a human being, isn't he?
Ringo: Well if he's your grandfather, who knows! Ha ha ha!

(the Beatles are listening to the radio)
Man on Train: And we'll have that thing off as well, thank you.
Ringo: But...
Man on Train: An elementary knowledge of the Railway Acts would tell you that I'm perfectly within my rights.
Paul: Yeah, but we want to hear it, and there's more of us than you. We're a community, like, a majority vote. Up the workers and all that stuff!
Man on Train: Then I suggest you take that damned thing to the corridor or some other part of the train where you obviously belong.
John: Give us a kiss.
Man on train: Don't take that tone with me, young man. I fought the war for your sort.
Ringo: I bet you're sorry you won.
Man On Train: I shall call the guard!
Paul: Ah, but what? They don't take kindly to insults, you know.

On arrival in London, they are driven to a hotel where they feel trapped. After a night out during which McCartney's grandfather causes minor trouble at a casino, the group is taken to the theater where their performance is to be filmed. The preparations are lengthy so Starr decides to spend some time alone reading a book. McCartney's grandfather, a "villain, a real mixer", convinces him that he should be outside experiencing life instead of reading books, so Starr goes off by himself. He tries to have a quiet drink in a pub, walks alongside a canal, rides a bicycle along a railway station platform, and befriends young boy Charlie (David Janson). Meanwhile, the rest of the band frantically and unsuccessfully attempt to find Starr. Finally, he returns and the concert goes ahead as planned.

Norm: Now look, I've had a marvelous idea. Just for once, let's all try to behave like ordinary, respectable citizens. Let's not cause any trouble, pull any strokes, or do anything I'm gonna be sorry for. Especially tomorrow at that television theater, because... (looks at John, who is holding up a bottle to his nose) Are you listening to me, Lennon?
John: You're a swine. Isn't he, George?
George: Yeah, a swine.
Norm: Thanks.
Norm: Now you've got about an hour, but don't leave the theater. Where are you going, John?
John: (with a dancing girl) She's gonna show me her stamp collection.
Paul: (also with a girl) So's mine.
Norm: John, I'm talking to you. This final run-through is important, understand? Important!

The Fab Four comment cheekily on their own fame. In one of the funniest scenes of the film, a fan runs into John backstage. "I know who you are!" she proclaims excitedly. "I'm not. No," he answers, saying his face isn't quite right. The fan eventually agrees, saying, "You look nothing like him." When Starr is asked if he's a Mod or a Rocker, he replies "I'm a mocker." "Has success changed your life?" another asks George. "Yes," he answers truthfully, with nothing more to add. When a reporter asks George, “What do you call your haircut?”, he replies, “Arthur." The frequent reference to McCartney's grandfather as a "clean old man" contrasts with the British TV sitcom "Steptoe and Son" description of Wilfrid Brambell's character, Albert Steptoe, as a "dirty old man".

Reporter: How did you find America?
John: Turned left at Greenland.
Reporter: Has success changed your life?
George: Yes.
Reporter: Are you a mod or a rocker?
Ringo: Um, no. I'm a mocker.
Reporter: Do you think these haircuts have come to stay?
Ringo: Well, this one has. You know, it's stuck on good and proper now.
Reporter: What would you call that hairstyle you're wearing?
George: Arthur.
Reporter: What do you call that collar?
Ringo: A collar.
Reporter: Do you often see your father?
Paul: No, actually, we're just good friends.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT captures the beginning of Beatlemania in a way that is subtle and intelligent. A smooth amalgamation of Richard Lester's intricate direction, Alun Owen's hysterical screenplay, and the natural charms of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is a film of its time and perfectly timeless. Lester also makes it into a commentary on the interactions of spectacle and perspective in an age when television and movie cameras were becoming the primary windows to the world.

Using abrupt changes in camera angles, shots of the Beatles on television monitors and in mirrors, and as much footage of the fans screaming as of the band performing, Lester not only captures the early Beatles in a profoundly pleasurable way, but also turns the very process of viewing around on itself. The girls appear repeatedly with tears streaming and vocal chords straining. The group's longevity is entirely based on creative musicians, songwriters, and performers. Unfortunately, after only a very short time in the limelight, the band decided in 1966 to never again play a live performance. So, aside from being an innovative and funny film, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT contains some of the best concert footage of the young Beatles in action.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is a comedy, not a documentary, but it was made in the style of a mock documentary. The characters the Beatles play are themselves, and the success that they both enjoy and flee from is quite real. Their cheeky, clever personalities shine through the stage lighting and camera flashes. The comedy is equally cutting edge, with Owen's magnificently droll and cunning script, somewhere between Shakespeare and Monty Python. Paul's grandfather, whom the boys always leave behind because he's "too old," is the catalyst for many jokes. After many decades, the movie has not dated and has a sense of immediacy and exhilaration that makes it hard to not get caught up in the excitement of the moment.

The cast also includes: Norman Rossington (Norm), John Junkin (Shake), Victor Spinetti (Richard - TV Director), Anna Quayle (Millie), Deryck Guyler (Police Inspector), Richard Vernon (Man on Train), Edward Malin (Hotel Waiter), Robin Ray (TV Floor Manager), Lionel Blair (TV Choreographer), Alison Seebohm (Dolly - Simon's Secretary), Isla Blair (Shakespearean Actress), Bridget Armstrong (Lead Makeup Woman), Roger Avon, John Bluthal (Car Thief), Pattie Boyd (Jean - Schoolgirl on Train), Andrea Brett, Terry Brooks (Urchin), Anne Clune, Phil Collins (seated fan with necktie), Brian Epstein, Rosemarie Frankland (Brunette Showgirl), Kenneth Haigh (Simon Marshall), Julian Holloway (Adrian, Simon's Assistant), Terry Hooper (Casino Croupier), Ric Hutton, Clare Kelly (Barmaid), Lavinia Lang, David Langton (Actor), Linda Lewis (Audience Member), Jeremy Lloyd (Tall Dancer at the Disco), Jane Lumb, Dougie Millings (Tailor), Peter Newton, Derek Nimmo (Leslie Jackson - Magician), Margaret Nolan (Grandfather's Girl at Casino), Gordon Rollings (Man with Sandwich in Pub), Edina Ronay (girl at Disco), Sally Sheridan, Geraldine Sherman (Girl Outside Secondhand Shop), Marianne Stone (Society Reporter), Michael Trubshawe Casino Manager), Hedger Wallace, Carol White, Susan Whitman (Susan), and Tina Williams (Tina). Alun Owen wrote the screenplay and Richard Lester directed.

During the worldwide phenomenon of Beatlemania in 1964, United Artists wanted to market a movie with The Beatles before their vogue was over. Working with a tight $500,000 budget, director Richard Lester turned out A HARD DAY'S NIGHT in a mere 6 1/2 weeks. The movie was in the theaters three months after shooting commenced. Using a variety of techniques cribbed from Hollywood slapstick comedies, the French "new wave" movement, and his own experiences as a TV-commercial director, Lester fashioned an exhilarating study of a "typical" 36 hours in the lives of the Fab Four. Onto a plot about getting to an important TV appearance on time are hung a series of instant-reaction gags, character vignettes, and musical setpieces. Much of the humor arises from Paul McCartney's efforts to keep his grandfather John, a "clean old man," from getting into mischief. Also good for several laughs is Ringo Starr, whose mistimed declaration of independence lands him in jail. We are also treated to a war of nerves between the unflappable John Lennon and uptight TV director Richard (Victor Spinelli), who worries that if the Beatles do not show up at broadcast time, he'll be demoted to "News In Welsh." George Harrison shines in a sequence in which he is mistaken for an auditionee by producer Simon Marshall (Kenneth Haigh) of a superficially trendy, teen-oriented TV weekly.

Simon Marshall: We'd like you to give us your opinion on some clothes for teenagers.
George: Oh, by all means. I'd be quite prepared for that eventuality.
Simon Marshall: Well, not your real opinion, obviously. It'll be written out for you. Can you read?
George: Of course.
Simon Marshall: I mean lines, ducky, can you handle lines?
George: Well, I'll have a bash.
Simon Marshall: Good. Get him whatever it is they drink, uh, coke-a-rama? (gives George some shirts) Now you'll like these. You'll really "dig" them. They're "fab," and all the other pimply hyperboles...
George: I wouldn't be seen dead in them. They're dead grotty.
Simon Marshall: Grotty?
George: Yeah, grotesque.
Simon Marshall: Make a note of that word and give it to Susan. It's quite touching, really. Here's this kid, giving me his utterly valueless opinion, when I know for a fact that within a month, he'll be suffering from a violent inferiority complex and loss of status because he isn't wearing one of these nasty things. Of course they're grotty, you wretched nit, that's why they were designed! But that's what you'll want.
George: No, I won't.
Simon Marshall: You can be replaced, chickie baby.
George: I don't care.

The Songs Performed:

* "A Hard Day's Night"
* "I Should Have Known Better"
* "I Wanna Be Your Man"
* "Don't Bother Me" (George Harrison)
* "All My Loving"
* "If I Fell"
* "Can't Buy Me Love"
* "And I Love Her"
* "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
* "Tell Me Why"
* "She Loves You"

The screenplay was written by Alun Owen, who was chosen because the Beatles were familiar with his 1959 TV play "No Trams to Lime Street", and he had shown an aptitude for Liverpudlian dialogue. McCartney commented, "Alun hung around with us and was careful to try and put words in our mouths that he might've heard us speak, so I thought he did a very good script." Owen spent several days with the group, who told him their lives were like "a room and a car and a room and a car and a room and car." The character of Paul's grandfather refers to this in the dialogue. Owen wrote the script from the viewpoint that the Beatles had become prisoners of their own fame, and their schedule of performances and studio work had become punishing.

The movie's strange title originated from something said by Ringo Starr, who described it this way in an interview with disc jockey Dave Hull in 1964: "We went to do a job, and we'd worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day...' and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, '...night!' So we came to 'A Hard Day's Night.'" According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and Dick Lester suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in "In His Own Write", but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title.'" In a 1994 interview for "The Beatles Anthology", however, McCartney disagreed with Lennon's recollections, recalling that it was the Beatles, and not Lester, who had come up with the idea of using Starr's verbal misstep: "The title was Ringo's. We'd almost finished making the film, and this fun bit arrived that we'd not known about before, which was naming the film. So we were sitting around at Twickenham studios having a little brain-storming session... and we said, 'Well, there was something Ringo said the other day.' Ringo would do these little malapropisms, he would say things slightly wrong, like people do, but his were always wonderful, very lyrical... they were sort of magic even though he was just getting it wrong. And he said after a concert, 'Phew, it's been a hard day's night.'" Yet another version of events appeared in 1996. Producer Walter Shenson said that Lennon had described to him some of Starr's funnier gaffes, including "a hard day's night", whereupon Shenson immediately decided that that was going to be the title of the film.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was originally released by United Artists and in 1979 rights to the film were transferred to its producer, Walter Shenson, who in 1982 granted rights to Universal Pictures for a cinematic reissue. Universal added a prologue consisting of a montage of photographic stills from the film shoot edited to a soundtrack of the song "I'll Cry Instead", a recording once considered for the film and included on the US soundtrack album but eventually not used. In 1984, MPI Home Video, under license from Shenson, first released A HARD DAY'S NIGHT on home video in the VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc formats, which all included the prologue.

In 2000, Miramax Films reissued the film in theaters in the United States and then as a collector's edition DVD two years later, as well as its final issue in the VHS format. The film had been transferred from the restored 35 mm negative and presented in 1.66:1 Widescreen. The prologue that Universal added in 1982 is absent on Miramax releases. In addition to the original film, the DVD edition contained a bonus disc with over 7 hours of additional material including interviews with cast and crew members and Beatles associates. The DVD was produced by Beatles historian and producer Martin Lewis, a longtime friend of Shenson. More than just a fully enhanced digital version of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, it features extensive interviews with practically anyone still living who worked on the movie, from child actor David Janson to United Artists studio executive David Picker. More than two hours of material provide a fascinating perspective on the making of the movie.

The new Miramax DVD has a digitally remastered disc which provides a flawless picture--it is crisp and has a full range of black and white tones. The film’s original mono soundtrack has been digitally restored for this disc and is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The dialogue, which comes through on the center channel of a surround sound system, is crisp and clear. The songs have been remixed for surround and the result isn’t an improvement. Many of the songs have too much echo from the rear speakers. In the band’s concert at the end of the film, it sounds as if the disc is trying to duplicate the acoustics of a concert hall, but the effect is distracting.

A documentary about the making of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, "Things They Said Today", is one of the best extras in this set. It has interviews with director Richard Lester, George Martin, and many others connected with the movie. It gives some interesting background about the development of the film as well as many inside stories. The DVD-ROM features on Disc One include a "screenplay viewer", which plays the movie on the left side of the screen while showing the screenplay on the right side. The DVD-ROM has a website archive which can be viewed without going online. The archive also has the complete screenplay along with hundreds of behind-the-scene photos, news articles, posters and other promotional materials. Another feature of the DVD-ROM is a link to a DVD destination website, which has more photos and publicity materials. It includes audio roundtable discussions by the cast and crew, who share memories of working on the film. There are also links to a few of the thousands of Beatles websites.

Disc Two has more interviews with people who worked on the film, from Lester and Martin to the hair stylist, even the actress whose scene ended up on the cutting room floor. One segment, "Memories of Wilfrid Brambell", explains why everyone in the movie keeps remarking on his character’s cleanliness, a joke lost on American audiences. Unfortunately, most of these segments don’t really shed any new light on the movie or the band. Although not all outtakes are worth viewing, some of them might have merited inclusion on the disc. For instance, the documentary on Disc One mentions a song that was filmed for the final concert and cut from the movie. Also missing are theatrical trailers, which have become a standard feature on many DVDs. The film itself makes this DVD worth watching. Although it was a mistake to remix the sound, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. The DVD has an impressive number of extra features, but what was left out will leave hardcore fans wanting more.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was successful both financially and critically. It was rated by Time magazine as one of the all-time great 100 films. Film critic Leslie Halliwell described it as a "comic fantasia with music; an enormous commercial success with the director trying every cinematic gag in the book" and awarded it a full four stars (he rarely gave films even one star). The movie is credited with having influenced 1960s spy films, THE MONKEES' television show and pop music videos.

A Boy and His Dog (1975) * * ¾

Set in the year 2024 in post-apocalyptic Phoenix, Arizona, 18 year old Vic (Don Johnson) and his telepathic "rover" dog Blood (voiced by Tim McIntyre) are happy scavengers in the desolate wilderness ravaged by World War Four, where survivors must battle for food, shelter, and sexual companionship in the desert-like wasteland. Canned goods are used as currency and entertainment usually consists of old porn reels. Vic fights and steals for food, and in return Blood uses his special sense of smell to help the gun-toting Vic locate females to rape. The disdainful and mocking Blood is more intelligent than Vic, often impatient with his immature behavior and lack of interest in his attempts to educate the boy, but he nonetheless loves Vic and sticks with him to help him survive.

Blood refers to Vic as "Albert" as a "term of endearment", but constantly makes criticisms about his stupidity, lack of perspective, and the search for "female companionship" by his oversexed master. The dog knows history, and reminds Vic that there were two nuclear wars, and there was once a "normal" world. Blood wants to go "over the hill" to see if there's a less hostile place to live, but Vic says their situation is as good as it gets, and there is no "over the hill." Then Vic is distracted by the beautiful Quilla June Holmes (Suzanne Benton). She wants him to join her in an underground utopia of survivors, a new Topeka. The main problem is no dogs are allowed.

Vic: We coulda used her three more times!
Blood: Ah, war is hell.

Blood: A cautious young fellow named Lodge
Had seatbelts installed in his Dodge.
When his date was strapped in
He committed a sin
Without even leaving the garage. That's clever, isn't it?

Civilization has gone into the "downunder", a bizarre subsurface setting with artificial sunlight, hydroponic bays, biospheres, living forests, country fairs, ice cream, and prizes for the best canned goods. One such underground city, referred to as Topeka after the ruins of the city it lies beneath, is a mixture of 1950s rural innocence and Brave New World dystopia. Doctor Moore (Alvy Moore), Mez Smith (Helene Winston), and Lou Craddock (Jason Robards) maintain a strictly-enforced Topeka where everyone must dress and behave as if living in a pre-industrial middle America. Girls wear schoolmarm clothing and curtsey. Underground living has resulted in a pallor necessitating heavy makeup. Many wear whiteface clown-like paint.

Topeka solves its need for reproduction by forcibly extracting fluids from sperm donors with machines and artificial insemination, yet the subterranean city with its limited population is still running low on viable donors. Anybody who refuses to comply, or shows any disregard to the ruling "committee" whatsoever, is sent off to "the farm", and is never seen again. Even when someone becomes no longer useful to the society, they are sent there. "Heart attacks" and "farming accidents" are given as reasons for the unexplained disappearances. However, the inhabitants of the underground city are so brainwashed that they do not realize or protest.

Quilla June Holmes, the scheming and seductive daughter of one of Topeka's committee leaders, Lou Craddock, is sent by her father to the surface to bait Vic into much needed "service", but Vic thinks he will be impregnating the women of Topeka the conventional way. Blood takes an immediate disliking to Quilla, sensing something is wrong and warns Vic, who will not listen. After saving Quilla's life from a band of raiders and then some mutants referred to as "screamers", Vic then spends an amorous night with her. In the morning she knocks Vic unconscious and flees. However, she had told Vic about where she lives, and also deliberately left an access card to the vault door so that he could follow her down there.

Vic is completely taken by the idea of women and sex and leaves his dog, despite Blood's pleading, and pursues the young lady into the downunder. He soon learns the harsh reality of the authoritarian committee and of its need for his semen, and he is strapped to a table and a machine used for this purpose. Vic is immobilized and his genitals attached to the equivalent of an electronic milking machine. In short succession the lucky brides are wed to him, presented with a bottle of special sauce, and sent on their way. Vic is told that, when his sperm has impregnated 35 women, he will be sent to "the farm", as they will no longer have any use for him. He is policed by a robotic keeper named Michael (Hal Baylor) seemingly borrowed from WESTWORLD (1973).

Lou Craddock: Lack of respect, wrong attitude, failure to obey authority.

Quilla June, along with a few other rebellious teenagers, have other plans for Vic. They free him from captivity and beg him to kill the committee members and their android enforcer Michael, leaving Quilla June in power. Vic, however, has interest in neither politics nor in remaining underground. Nevertheless, before Vic can shoot Lou Craddock, the other rebellious teenagers are captured by Micheal and have their skulls crushed by his bare hands. Vic manages to disable Michael with a barrage of bullets. Still, knowing that her plan is foiled, and her co-conspirators dead, and also after overhearing her own father ordering her execution, Quilla decides Vic is her only chance and decides to escape to the surface with him. She tells Vic that she loves him, although this is clearly a lie to save her own skin.

Vic: (to sentry) If my gun picks up one rust spot you're gonna wake up with a crowd around 'ya.

Vic and Quilla discover when emerging to the surface that Blood is starving as he was not able to find food without Vic. Blood is elderly and near death, with a broken leg from an earlier fight with a raider's dog. Vic faces a difficult situation, and in a twist ending, it is implied he kills his new love and cooks her to save Blood, as a bonfire is shown barbecuing food. This is not explicitly stated, though. Quilla simply disappears from the short remainder of the story. If you listen carefully it's obvious, and this dialogue suggests her fate: Blood says, "Well, I'd certainly say she had marvelous judgment, Albert, if not particularly good taste." They both laugh at this remark and the film ends with credits and the song "A Boy and his Dog" sung by Tim McIntire. Vic has learned that nothing is more important to a boy than his dog.

In 1982 a one minute prologue was added to this 87 minute offbeat science fiction satire.

Faithfully adapted from the 1969 novella by Harlan Ellison, this post-apocalyptic black comedy and cult favorite has a great reputation as a low-budget classic. It's a boy-dog relationship unlike any other. In one scene Vic makes love while Blood waits, passing the time by ruminating about the Latin derivation of the word "copulate". The first half of the picture is a series of savage skirmishes between Vic and various competitors in the wasteland. They avoid the "screamers", unseen ominous blue-glowing monsters that are presumably some kind of post-nuclear mutation. The main conflict comes into play when a girl enters the picture and causes Vic to risk his partnership with Blood to chase her into a legendary underground world of luxury. The underworld turns out to be a trap, with an authoritarian troika called "the committee" ruling a waning paradise with draconian laws.

The picture appeals to audiences and critics who are excited to find an imaginative film with actual ideas at its center. Production is slight but effective. The Mojave Desert locations are dressed mostly with random junk and a few props. The underground society is achieved with night exteriors in ordinary, sterile-looking modern buildings. After Vic's initial entrance through some industrial settings, it's interesting how quickly we accept, without mattes or other effects, a perpetually dark underworld with green grass and trees. The costuming underground gets a little severe, but the dozen farm girls all dressed in wedding gowns, make for a strangely disturbing image. The no-nonsense casting includes Charles McGraw as the preacher in the underground world. A BOY AND HIS DOG is a good example of a quality picture from actors with ambition, and is regarded as a science-fiction classic. Its popularity is due to its likable characters who, despite their constant bickering and individual quirks, are redeemed by their friendship and sarcastically humorous approach to survival. The film was also distributed after the initial run under the names PSYCHO BOY AND HIS KILLER DOG, MAD DON, and APOCALYPSE: 2004, among other titles.

The performances in A BOY AND HIS DOG are top-notch. Don Johnson convincingly portrays Vic as a filthy scavenger who, in spite of his dire situation, still manages to remain a decent human being at the core. Tim McIntire's vocal characterization of Blood embodies Ellison's original concept of a mutant pooch with a caustic ego that is balanced with just the right amount of humanity, and this portrayal is enhanced further by the outstanding on-screen performance of Tiger, the dog that played the family pet on TV's THE BRADY BUNCH. In his supporting role as the governor of a subterranean dystopia, Jason Robards is delightfully smarmy. And when beautiful Susanne Benton bares her ample "talents" on the screen, it's a lot of fun to watch.

The cast also includes: Tiger the dog (Blood), Charles McGraw (Preacher), Ron Feinberg (Fellini), Michael Rupert (Gery), Don Carter (Ken), Michael Hershman (Richard), and L.Q. Jones (actor in porno film). Tim McIntire composed the original music. L.Q. Jones and Wayne Cruseturner wrote the screenplay from Harlan Ellison's novella. L.Q. Jones directed.

Several DVD editions of A BOY AND HIS DOG have been available over the years, and all have delivered good letterbox widescreen digital transfers. The current offering from First Run Features is an anamorphic widescreen version, and it also contains an interesting feature commentary and the old extras, which include a pair of trailers. It's the same unspectacular presentation, a clean print letterboxed to 2:35 but given an encoding that today could easily be improved upon. The menus have been changed, but it's basically the same package. The original Techniscope images are easy to read in dark scenes, but show a lot of grain and digital texturing overall. Color could be greatly improved as well. With technology, 35 mm prints can look better than the originals. L.Q. Jones, cameraman John Morrill, and critic Charles Champlin provide a lively commentary that has to be listened to carefully. The talkative Jones fills in the kind of details that will make the movie interesting for those who have seen it too many times. He tends to exaggerate. The menu graphics are the same from the older disc, but First Run has remade nice covers, using the original poster art on the back and the more familiar "happy face" nuclear mushroom cloud on the cover.

"A Boy and His Dog" won the Nebula Award for Best Novella when released in 1969. Both the novella and the film adaptation have the same alternate timeline setting. President John F. Kennedy survived the assassination attempt on his life in 1963, and under his continued terms of office and that of the other Kennedys, the advancement of technology was concentrated on, and billions of dollars were poured into it instead of the space race. Technology flourished in the 1960s far faster than it did in our timeline, and within a few years even surpassed the point at which we are at now. But there are some differences between the book and the film:

* In the novella, nuclear fallout had created horrific genetic mutations. One such group is referred to as "burnpit screamers" because of the noise they make. The screamers are widely feared by the survivors of the nuclear holocaust, and references are occasionally made to them in the novella. Screamers feature in the film, although only in one scene, and are not actually seen, but only their screams are heard, and their green bio-luminescence seen through a wall.

* In the novella, Blood is a mixed-breed dog, half German Shepherd and half Puli, genetically altered with enhanced dolphin spinal fluid injected in him. In the film, this was not mentioned, except for a brief bit of dialogue explaining that Blood was the "result of an experiment". In the film, Blood was portrayed by Tiger from TV's THE BRADY BUNCH, also a mongrel who was a cross between a Bearded Collie and West Highland White Terrier.

* In the novella, the survivors of the nuclear holocaust are predominantly male, and women are rare. The women who do remain are treated like chattel and often abused and raped. However, Ellison did not go into detail regarding this, as he has stated he hates sexism and misogyny. The film expanded on these themes and actually showed it, and allegedly Ellison wasn't happy with this.

Rumors have circulated over the years regarding a movie sequel, but it has never materialized. On the film's DVD audio commentary, L.Q. Jones states that he had started to write a script sequel to the film that would have picked up right where the first film ended and featured a female warrior named Spike, and we would have seen this world through the eyes of a female instead of a male. According to "Cult Movies 2", Jones had a sequel planned called "A Girl And Her Dog", but the plan was scrapped when Tiger died. In a December 2003 interview, Jones claimed that he is approached by a different group wanting to make a sequel approximately every 30 days, but funding is always an issue.

A BOY AND HIS DOG regularly shows up on most lists of the Top 10 Science Fiction Films Of All Time. This film won the 1975 Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation, and is often cited as an inspiration for George Miller's MAD MAX (1979), which influenced a whole genre of movies. The two movies have a very similar style, although Miller said he had not seen Jones' film until after he had completed his own. That is very unlikely, especially considering that his sequel THE ROAD RUNNER (1981) has a prominent dog in it named "Dog". The British comic "Tank Girl" and the 1995 film adaptation may have taken inspiration from the film. It is virtually the same post-apocalyptic plot with a female punk protagonist instead of a male.