Columbia Classics Volume 4
In the mood for love? Then check out Sony’s new Columbia Classics Volume 4, which explores the many methods of romance through the classic films His Girl Friday, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Kramer vs. Kramer, Starman, Sleepless in Seattle, and Punch-Drunk Love. All of the films have been remastered in 4K, and there are plenty of bonus features included, along with codes for digital copies.
I started writing this review on Valentine’s Day, which had to be on the minds of Sony’s marketing folks when they decided to schedule Volume 4 in the Columbia Classics series for release on February 13. Like its predecessors, it features six classic movies, and this time the theme is love in its many forms.
The choice of movies was, shall we say, interesting: His Girl Friday, a 1940s era screwball comedy; Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which tackled race relations in the late 1960s; a portrait of a divorce in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979); the lovely 1980s era sci-fi romance Starman; a traditional rom-com (of course) in Sleepless in Seattle (1993); and an anti-rom-com, Punch Drunk Love (2002).
As befits such a collection, the packaging is impeccable, with a fold-out containing three movies on each side. The center has a pocket for an 81-page hardcover book that lavishes praise on the selected films with essays and a copious amount of pictures.
Yes, my comments in the preceding paragraph veered into the realm of marketing copy, but, honestly, if you love the films included here, you’ll likely appreciate this collection the way I do. It’s really well-done.
And, of course, all six films have been remastered for this 4K Ultra HD set. They all look great, but as with this kind of thing, your mileage may vary. I’ve read some gripes about Sleepless in Seattle’s transfer, but it looked good on my TV, so all I can do is shrug, I guess.
Each film is also on an included Blu-ray, with the bonus features mostly found on those platters, although some of the 4K discs have a fair amount of those too. (More info below.) And, as a nice bonus, all 22 episodes of the 1986-87 TV show Starman, which lasted just one season, is included on a pair of Blu-ray discs. And, of course, there are codes for digital copies of all six films.
And those films are:
His Girl Friday, 1940.
Directed by Howard Hawks.
Starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy.
We begin with a classic screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks. Cary Grant plays newspaper editor Walter Burns, who learns that Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), his ex-wife and former star reporter, is about to get married and move away.
Walter convinces Hildy to write about one last story for him, hoping he can somehow sabotage her plans and win her back. He assigns her the upcoming execution of a bookkeeper accused of murdering a policeman.
While Hildy uses her guile to get the scoop on the story, which turns out to have even more sinister overtones, Walter engages in a series of schemes to make her fiancee look bad. To be fair, all of his machinations are a bit over-the-top, but it’s the strength of the cast, along with the social justice subtext, that make His Girl Friday a classic.
You’ll find a big batch of bonus features on the Blu-ray platter for this one, starting with an excellent, in-depth commentary track by film critic Tom McCarthy. In addition to porting over a bunch of vintage featurettes, Sony also commissioned two new ones that examine the film’s costumes and its rapid-fire dialogue, which was a common trademark of comedies of that era.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1967.
Directed by Stanley Kramer.
Starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, and Katharine Houghton.
The collection takes a serious turn with its next movie, which touches the then-thorny topic of interracial marriage. Spencer Tracy, in his final film role, and Katharine Hepburn play the parents of Joanna (Katharine Houghton), who is bringing home her Black fiancee, John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), to meet them and have dinner.
Sadly, there are people today who would have an issue with that relationship, but back then, it was even more of a problem, especially since interracial marriage had just become legal across the United States the year this film was released. In the hands of director Stanley Kramer, William Rose’s script pushes the discomfort of the scenario to its limits, with Joanna’s father and both of John’s parents feeling uneasy with the union but needing to come to an understanding about it.
Out of the film’s ten Oscar nominations, only Rose and Hepburn won, but Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner remains a landmark movie in the ever-evolving discussion of race relations in the United States. I don’t know if it’s a conversation that will ever reach a conclusion in favor of justice for all, unfortunately.
The 4K features a commentary track with a trio of film historians, Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo, thus ensuring nearly no dead air during the discussion. It’s a nice change of pace from the tracks that usually just feature one of those folks.
The rest of the extras are found on the Blu-ray, including introductions to the film by Karen Kramer, Steven Spielberg, Tom Brokaw, and Quincy Jones, a nice 30-minute making-of, a couple featurettes, and two bits of footage from Stanley Kramer winning the Irving Thalberg Award and a Producers Guild award.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★★
Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979
Directed by Robert Benton.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry.
The serious theme continues with the story of a divorced couple, which was all too common during the 1970s and 80s. I experienced that firsthand: my parents divorced in 1983, a volatile event whose shockwaves continued to ripple through our family for decades to come.
This tale involves Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), an advertising executive in New York City who is completely devoted to his job. When his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) abruptly announces that she is leaving him and their son, Billy (Justin Henry), Ted must contend with being a single parent while keeping up with his career.
Just over a year later, however, Joanna re-enters their lives and sues for custody of their son, setting off a nasty legal battle in which both side’s lawyers resort to every dirty trick they can think of. That sets the stage for a climax that’s actually a bit hopeful. This is one of those movies that simply opens a window into a group of people’s lives for a while and then shuts it again, leaving the viewer to contemplate what they have seen.
The extras here are a bit scant compared to the other films, but there is a 49-minute making-of that covers all the bases, along with an audio commentary by film professor Jennine Lanouette, who fills in the gaps. Some deleted scenes, a few archival featurettes, and the theatrical trailer round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★★
Starman, 1984.
Directed by John Carpenter.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, and Richard Jaeckel.
John Carpenter’s Starman steers this collection more toward the middle of the road as he tells the tale of the eponymous Starman (Jeff Bridges), whose spaceship is shot down in the middle of nowhere over Wisconsin. He comes across a cabin owned by Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), a young widow.
Much to Jenny’s shock, Starman adopts the form of her dead husband. Taking advantage of her fragile emotional state, he’s able to convince her to drive him to Arizona within three days to board his mothership, or he will die. With federal agents in hot pursuit, Jenny is able to come to terms with her loss during the tumultuous trip, and the Starman experiences love for the first time.
The extras start with a commentary track with Carpenter and Bridges, which is a fun one. Carpenter is always a joy to listen to as he talks about his movies, and Bridges is pretty engaging too. New to Starman on home video are some deleted scenes and a few time-lapse videos of behind-the-scenes action during filming.
The rest of the bonus features consist of a pair of featurettes and a music video. (Remember not only when music videos were a thing, but music videos with songs from movies were part of that thing too?) A stills gallery and the theatrical trailer round out the platter.
And then we have the entire 22-episode run of the Starman TV series, which aired from September 1986 through May 1987 on ABC. Lasting just a season, it picks up fifteen years after the events of the film and features Robert Hayes in the title role, as the clone of a dead photojournalist who guides his teenage stepson, Scott Hayden, Jr., on a journey to find the now-missing Jenny while trying to avoid a government agent.
While the show’s single-season run is mostly forgotten, its inclusion here is a treat for Starman fans, and it shows Sony’s willingness to go the extra mile when they can.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★
Sleepless in Seattle, 1993
Directed by Nora Ephron.
Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, and Rob Reiner.
You didn’t think they’d leave out a modern day rom-com, did you? Of course not. Sure, Sleepless in Seattle is a bit schmaltzy, but if you’re going to serve me some of that with a heaping helping of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the main roles, along with Nora Ephron behind the camera, hey, sign me up.
Hanks is Sam Baldwin, a lonely widower whose son, Jonah, figures out a way to get him on a radio call-in show. His story hits a nerve with listeners, and thousands of women send him letters to try to help comfort him.
Meanwhile, writer Annie Reed (Ryan) learns of Sam’s story and becomes convinced that he’s the guy for her. She’s engaged, but her letter to Sam sparks Jonah’s interest, and he helps her maneuver into position to meet his father. Yeah, I know, it’s cheesy and floofy, but Sleepless in Seattle is still a great movie because it embraces all its cheesy floofiness.
This one features two commentary tracks, a new one with critics Karen Han and David Sims, and an archival one with the sadly now-deceased Ephron and her sister, Delia. You can’t go wrong with either track.
Moving on, we have a new conversation with Meg Ryan, although it only lasts four minutes. The rest of the extras are of the archival variety: a 13-minute featurette, some deleted scenes, another of those music videos I mentioned earlier, and the theatrical trailer.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★
Punch Drunk Love, 2002
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Luis Guzmán.
Columbia Classics Volume 4 wraps up with what I’d call an anti-rom-com. It’s an interesting choice for this set, but it shows that the curation team didn’t want to play it safe and go with, say, When Harry Met Sally. (Yes, that would have been redundant given the inclusion of Sleepless in Seattle, but how often have we seen head-scratching decisions by film studios?)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love features Adam Sandler as Barry Egan, an awkward small business owner and aspiring pudding promotion loophole exploiter who struggles to deal with his seven domineering sisters. One day, he meets Lena Howard (Emily Watson) after witnessing a bizarre car accident, and that oddball meet-cute sets up the possibility of a romantic relationship.
However, complications ensue when Barry calls a phone sex line and refuses to be extorted by the woman on the other end, who sends four tough guys to collect money from him. When Lena leaves for a trip to Hawaii, Barry follows her to get out of harm’s way. Their romance blossoms, although the tough guys are still waiting for him when they return home.
Like I said, it’s an anti-rom-com. Running a brisk 95 minutes, the story upends just about every trope you expect from such movies, creating its own film genre in the process. The cast is great, especially Adam Sandler, who doesn’t get enough credit for being able to play roles that go against type. (Check out Reign Over Me for another example of that.)
There aren’t a lot of extras found here. You get some deleted scenes, a featurette about the soundtrack with composer Jon Brion, footage from the soundtrack recording sessions, a short film by Paul Thomas Anderson that also stars Sandler and Watson, some artwork, and a pair of trailers.
Some of that content was ported over from a previous Criterion Collection release, although not everything in that edition is found here. One interesting omission is an NBC News interview with a guy who pulled off the frequent flier miles pudding cup scheme in real life.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★★
Brad Cook
