Product Details

• Actors: Carole Lombard
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Pop Flix
• DVD Release Date: August 8, 2006
• Run Time: 160 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GIXEH2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,749 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

THE SCREWBALL QUEEN OF THE SILVER SCREEN IN TWO CLASSIC FILMS!

Made for Each Other (1939) 85 min B&W
Starring: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson
Director: John Cromwell
Newlyweds John and Jane Mason are an idealistic young couple whose marital commitment is challenged at every turn. At the law firm, John’s boss Judge Doolittle makes him forego his honeymoon, a revenge tactic since John didn’t marry his daughter. And there’s more: mounting debt, a difficult mother-in-law, and a baby on the way. The birth of their son brings joy and tragedy, forcing the couple to take drastic measures to save his life. While there is humor and tenderness interspersed, this story pulls at the heartstrings as we watch the couple deal with life’s all-too-familiar pressures.

Nothing Sacred (1937) 75 min COLOR Starring: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly Director: William Wellman A drunkard doctor has told young, innocent Helen Flagg that she is dying from radium poisoning. Her plight draws the attention of New York reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March), who is in search of a sentimental story to bolster his career. Meanwhile, the doctor informs Helen that she isn’t sick at all, but Helen conceals the truth. Wally and Helen fall in love, she confesses her secret, and now the two must figure out how to handle the out-of-control media beast they’ve created. Filmed in Technicolor with great shots of New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lombard Shines...Even in Poor Print Transfers, December 19, 2006

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Witnessing the luminescence of screen legend Carole Lombard is always a treat, and this bargain-priced two-fer showcases her in two of her most memorable films, 1939's "Made for Each Other" and 1937's "Nothing Sacred". It's unfortunate the print transfers on both films is quite lacking with an excessive amount of graininess and sound pops. However, mere technicalities do not prevent Lombard's charisma and beauty from shining through.

Watching an impossibly young James Stewart teamed with Lombard, then the screen's reigning screwball comedienne, is treat enough in itself, but the 1939 dramedy, "Made for Each Other", directed by John Cromwell has them working overtime on a cliché-bound plot about young, struggling marrieds, John and Jane Mason, who face an unexpected crisis. Penned by Jo Swerling, the script throws in every movie-invented barrier to their happiness - John's dominating mother who lives with them, his unreasonably demanding boss, a series of impossible domestics, and a surprise pregnancy which eventually leads to a melodramatic turn that involves a plane flying through an unrelenting thunderstorm.

None of it should work, but somehow it does because Stewart is so callow and sincere, Lombard so earthy and knockout gorgeous, and their relationship quite convincing. Playing their standard character roles during this period, Charles Coburn plays John's hearing-impaired blowhard of a boss, Judge Doolittle, while Lucile Watson is her imperious self as the mother-in-law from hell criticizing Jane's every move. My favorite player is Louise Beavers, who briefly plays the one maid the Masons adore. The Masons' financial straits force her to leave but not before a lovely scene between her and Lombard in the park. The movie was produced by David O. Selznick, who was preoccupied with post-production work on "Gone With the Wind" but you can definitely see his influence in the film's technical polish.

The one conceit of 1937's "Nothing Sacred" is how Lombard's stunning glamour, especially in the newspaper photos, seems at odds with the innocent small-town girl she portrays in this screwball comedy classic directed in lickety-split fashion by the two-fisted William "Wild Bill" Wellman. She never lets her beauty get in the way of being funny, and her effervescent manner makes her seem dotty enough to make the crazy situations she gets into believable. Moreover, the film's constant tweaking at the public obsession over a young woman's impending death predates the concept of reality programming by nearly 70 years.

For a movie that clocks in at just 75 minutes, the far-fetched story is fairly dense but clips by without a wasted moment. In brief, Wally Cook is a New York tabloid reporter relegated to the obituaries after his most recent story is exposed as fake. Seeking to rehabilitate his career, he uncovers a story on Hazel Flagg, a woman in rural Vermont dying of radium poisoning. When he arrives in her town, she suddenly learns that her diagnosis was a mistake and that she is not dying at all. However, feeling constrained by her small town existence, Hazel pretends to be terminally ill in order to accept Wally's offer to take her to New York City. In true 1930's fashion, New York pours its heart out to her making her an instant media celebrity. Hazel starts to feel guilty over the misdirected attention, and of course, Wally and Hazel find themselves falling in love amid all the deception and inevitable chaos.

Just coming off his classic dramatic turn in the most cohesive version of "A Star Is Born", stalwart leading actor Fredric March gamely plays the initially cynical Wally with the right everyman demeanor, while Lombard makes Hazel a sublime comic creation even though the character is basically a selfish charlatan. Familiar character actors complete the cast with Walter Connolly in constipated frustration as Wally's constantly boiling editor-in-chief (aptly named Oliver Stone), Charles Winninger properly pixilated as Hazel's fraud of a doctor, and familiar faces like Sig Ruman, Margaret Hamilton, Hattie McDaniel and Hedda Hopper in little more than walk-on parts.

5.0 out of 5 stars Carole Lombard, Hollywood luminary, December 27, 2008

By	Bozsi - See all my reviews

Worth every penny, this DVD shows Lombard's range: her acting ability comprehends the nuances within fairly serious storylines, as well as the goofiness in the fast-paced farce. Amazon delivery, by the way, as good as expected.