Customer Reviews

Warner Bros. Romance Classics Collection (Palm Springs Weekend / Parrish / Rome Adventure / Susan Slade)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

FINALLY! I thought I was going to pass out when I rec'd an e-mail notification that almost all my favorite films from the 60's were finally coming to DVD, especially since Susan Slade never saw the 'light of day' on VHS. I own the other 3 titles on VHS and have watched them hundreds of times, with great pleasure for an uncomplicated time in our lives. These movies were always shown on Saturday nights when I was a pre-teen. I was shocked each and every time I watched "Susan Slade", that this unmarried girl had a baby!!! Boy, oh boy have times changed....my own twenty something children would laugh at me now for my innocent views- But my enjoyment over bounds with each viewing, so this 4 movie set is like getting a birthday and Christmas gift all rolled into one! Now....if only we could get `A Rage to Live', `Youngblood Hawke', `Summer Love', 'Claudelle Inglish','The Chapman Report' and `My Blood Runs Cold' on DVD my life would be complete! (no, not really but it sounds good) - I am so proud of Warner Brothers for taking a leap of faith that there is still an audience for these fun and classic 60's films! Bravo, Warner Brothers....you did good!

I received the Romance Classics set today and here are my impressions of the video quality. First of all, fear not. All the films are 16x9 widescreen and anamorphic video(enhanced for widescreen TVs). Parrish, Susan Slade, and Rome Adventure are all dual-layer DVDs, with the shorter Palm Springs Weekend being a single layer disc. I would rate them in order of video quality as:
1. Susan Slade
2. Palm Springs Weekend
3. Rome Adventure
4. Parrish
Susan Slade was never on VHS or laserdisc and appears to be a new, modern transfer. It is very sharp and clean with great colors. Palm Springs Weekend was on VHS and laserdisc and is clean with nice color, but somewhat softer than Susan Slade. Rome Adventure and Parrish (my favorite film of the four) appear to me to be from the old mid-1990s masters for VHS and laserdisc. While they look good, they have a slight layer of video grain and some softness. The skintones on Rome Adventure are a bit reddish for my tastes but not too bad. The sound on all the films is mono and okay.
I wish all the films had been remastered up to the quality of Susan Slade, but it is great to have them on DVD and for a great price.

Before Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, there was Troy Donahue.

At long last, Mr. Donahue's career and legacy are being honored in what I consider some of his most famous films--Parrish, Susan Slade, Rome Adventure, and Palm Springs Weekend. (Somehwere in between, he also appeared in My Blood Runs Cold and A Distant Trumpet).

A bit of Trivia---Carroll O'Connor has a bit part (and I mean 'bit' part) in Parrish; Palm Springs Weekend was written by Earl Hamner, Jr., who, as you all know, went on to development a little gem called 'The Waltons'.

Any time I see the name Troy Donohue, my mind automatically goes back to the time I was growing up in the late 1950s and early '60s, a great time with wonderful memories.
I saw "Palm Springs Weekend" at the RKO Albee a beautiful golden-age theater in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The film holds many pleasant memories and is an all-around enjoyable experience. I even own the soundtrack album with Troy singing "Live Young." About ten years ago, I sent Troy some lobby cards, from some of his films, to his home in California. I got them back signed in less than a week.
I can't wait to get this set. Now if only we could get Warner Bros. to release some of their classic series from the late '50s/early '60s, including the ones Donohue starred in: "Hawaiian Eye" and, especially, "SurfSide 6," one of my all-time favorites. I also wouldn't mind seeing them release Troy's large-scale western "A Distant Trumpet," as well.

First saw these romance 'classics' on TV when channel 7 in NYC showed them after school at 4:30 amidst tons of commercials. After 30 years, it'll be like seeimg them for the first time (and in wide screen!) I do remember Parrish's wonderful music. Wish these were released in blu ray.

My review goes for ROME ADVENTURE alone, I love this movie, and was able to treat myself with a copy, in Brazil, ROME ADVENTURE is presently being sold separately (not a boxed set).

The movie is fantastic, having enduring more than 4 decades, what proves its qualities, the picture quality is ok, however, the sound is not good, as a matter of fact, it's awful, since it only has the original mono track. We've waited for so long for this to come out on DVD that I think we, fans, deserved better treatment. It could contain the original mono audio track, for purists, but why not include some remastered DD 5.1 or even DTS to enhance the magnificent score by Max Steiner's? Wonder how great it would be to hear AL DI LA, sung by Emilio Pericolli, in glorious DTS 5.1? Maybe in a near-future Special Edition, with 2 discs, containing all the extras that this edition lacks, with remastered audio and video quality. Perhaps even better, why not release this title in glorious Blu Ray, with uncompressed audio? This is the kind of picture that will look simply stunning in HD, with a compatible excellent audio score, I just look forward to adding this title on BD to my collection. Anyway, meanwhile, let's give some money to the studios, they may be needing it after all, because tey will surely release a better edition some time in the future, making us double dip once more. But I strongly reccomend this title while we are deprived to see a film like this in all its glory, this copy should do well enough, after all, as I said, the video quality is not that bad, of course it's no HD, but as fas as the sound concerns, they surely could have made an extensively better job than this. Enjoy Rome Adventure, the most cheap quick trip to Italy for sure! Great film, indeed.

The stand out film in this Romance Classics Collection from Warner Brothers is "Rome Adventure" the only film that one might consider a classic among the bunch. With a star making performance in her first film Suzanne Pleshette commands the screen and makes the film all hers. She is both engaging as an actress and a timeless beauty as well and proves she was a star who should have been bigger. Perhaps her resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor hindered her value at the studio, who knows? Her equally beautiful co-star not Troy Donohue but the city of Rome. Rarely has the city been more gorgeously photographed and here it is indeed presented as lovingly by the cinematographer Charles Lawton Jr. as he presents us with Miss Pleshette.
In a stand out performance Angie Dickenson nearly steels the picture as a wicked temptress. She is a joy to watch and a real guilty pleasure to boot as she vamps her way across most of Italy and half of Europe.

Delmar Davies directed the film (as he did "Parish" and "Susan Slade") with flair and his trademark penchant for the melodramatic. "Rome Adventure" is the best of the lot in this collection. The rest of the films vary from overcooked melodrama to silly camp teen comedy.

"Susan Slade" comes in second place with a first rate cast of veterans and young stars of the time. The wonderful surprise here as in "Perrish" is that Connie Stevens is such a fine actress. She shines as an innocent sheltered girl forced to grow up fast in a world of very narrow and strict mores. It is also a visual treat to see San Francisco, Carmel, and Monterey in the early 1960's shot so memorably in all their glory..

In "Perrish" Connie is a Real Bad Girl and she brings a touch of class, defiant pride and honor to the role that one would not expect from her. The other plus in this long tale of tobacco plantations in Connecticut is the last screen appearance of Claudette Colbert. It is just a treat to watch her in action with all her signature gestures and "Shoot my face from the left side only" moves that made her a star and so good at playing wise strong mothers.

"Palm Springs Weekend" weighs in as a campy lightweight "Where The Boys Are" where all the "teens" are played by actors nearing thirty. This film is a silly throwaway that is the perfect vehicle for the decidedly doughy and charmless Troy Donahue. This collection should really be called The Troy Donahue Collection since he stars in all for epics. In sad fact the films suffer for his presence. "Parrish", "Susan Slade", and "Rome Adventure" would have been much better with a lead that could act. I found myself pining for the films to rise from under his dead weight. Tab Hunter was truly missed.

The prints are good and the sound quality fine on all four films. So this collection is for die-hard Donahue fans and worth buying for "Rome Adventure" above all the rest.

Today I received the box set of Romance Classic Collection(Parrish/Susan Slade/Rome Adventure /Palm Springs Weekend). When the movies were first released in the theaters I was between 13 and 16 years old and madly in love with Troy Donahue. I had his pictures plastered all over my bedroom walls. At the time I didn't know there other actors in the movies! I was too busy looking at Troy. The movies are beautifully done. Old fashioned love stories with beautiful music and scenery. Except for Palm Springs Weekend which is a light weight comedy. (Jerry Van Dyke stole the movie)Troy even sings the title song!Not a great singer, but who cares, he's Troy Donahue.
I highly recommend these movies as well as A Summer Place to anyone who loves loves stories the way they are meant to be. After seeing these movies I'm a teenager again madly in love with Troy Donahue.

I have been waiting for years for these movies to be issued on DVD. I saw them all first run and loved them. I only hope that unlike the Gidget collection that these will all be issued in in their original widescreen format.

I was 16 when I saw 'Parrish' in Hong Kong. 2 yrs later I saw 'Rome Adventure' named 'Lovers Must Learn' at the time. In between I saw 'Susan Slade". I had revisited 'Rome Adventure' a couple of times since and remained enthralled. Now Warner Bros. Romance Classics Collection that includes those 3 films is available. The 1st film I watched was 'Parrish". Still good although a bit long towards the end. I was surprised that Leonard Malton gave it 1.5 stars in his Movie Guide. To me, it is 3.5 stars.

B. Ying
Shanghi, China
Sept 29, 2009