Notes From the Movie Room August 18, 2024

 

🎬 BOX SET BLUES 

We collectors of physical media do have our occasional mishaps. Problems generally occur when we send for items through the mail; packages may be damaged, DVDs/Blu-rays/4Ks may be scratched, or worse yet, missing from the package! I've had some DVDs that were totally blank, a nice, shiny disc with absolutely nothing on it. And definitely a few torn boxes or cracked plastic cases. All part of the glorious game, my friends. If you're dealing with a reputable, honest dealer or company, it's usually possible to get replacements or refunds as needed. But for me, buying items from a store has always been a positive experience. Until recently. I was browsing through my local Barnes & Noble, or, as I like to call it, my home away from home, and decided to pick up a box set called JOHN WAYNE: THE FOX WESTERNS, which contains four films the legendary actor made for 20th Century-Fox: THE BIG TRAIL (1930), NORTH TO ALASKA (1960), THE COMANCHEROS (1961) and THE UNDEFEATED (1969). My main reason for buying the set was for THE BIG TRAIL, which I had never seen. I had seen the other three films, and even owned a copy of NORTH TO ALASKA.

As fate, and the trickster gods of physical media would have it, THE BIG TRAIL 2-disc set contained two copies of the same disc. And it just happened to be the disc that did NOT feature the widescreen 70 MM movie with audio commentary and several other extras. My disc(s) had the small screen remastered movie only. No complaints about the movie, which I did watch. It had excellent imagery and sound, and I loved the film. But I did intend to get a refund, if possible, and buy another copy. I checked the B&N website, and they had other copies available, so I went back to the store intending to order one, as they didn't have any more box sets in stock. The folks at B&N were very understanding and there was no problem with the transaction. 

A few days later, the store informed me that my package was available for pickup. When I opened the package at home, I found that I had exactly the same problem as before. This was really hard to believe. I mean, what are the odds? Long story short: I took it back, they were very nice, and I got a refund. They also told me they would contact the powers that be and inform them that something had gone wrong with the robots at the factory. This was a minor hassle, and certainly disappointing. But, hey, this is truly a first-world issue, and I can't say I was all that upset. Besides, I found out that THE BIG TRAIL is out on Blu-ray, so I will search out a copy.

I had a much happier experience with another box set I ordered recently from Oldies.com: M SQUAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES-SPECIAL EDITION. From Timeless Media Group. This was an NBC series that ran from 1957 to 1960, and starred Lee Marvin as Chicago plainclothes cop Frank Ballinger. It's hard to believe, but this is one TV show from the Golden Age that I never even heard of until fairly recently. I came across a few episodes on Youtube and really got into it. The best way I can describe it is: PETER GUNN (1958-1961) on steroids. M SQUAD is a little grittier than the dark, moody, noirish PETER GUNN. And Marvin is much more edgy than the gentile Craig Stevens. However, both shows feature terrific jazz scores. I've only started digging into the first season, but I've already seen guest stars like Mike Conners, Bobby Driscoll, Deforest Kelley and even the enigmatic Benito Carruthers from John Cassavetes' SHADOWS. Not to mention a couple of familiar faces from B-horror flicks: Paul Birch from NOT OF THIS EARTH (1957) and Peggy Webber from THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958). That's one of the best things about exploring old TV shows, seeing who turns up in the casts. 

If you don't hear from me in a while, it's because I'm in serious binge mode.