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Studio Classics - Best Picture Collection (Sunrise / How Green Was My Valley / Gentleman's Agreement / All About Eve)

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If you're thinking of buying this collection, chances are that you're most interested in F.W. Murnau's 1927 silent masterpiece Sunrise. (For whatever reasons Fox may have, this is currently the only official way to get hold of the Sunrise DVD.) My review is mainly aimed at those folks, so I'll try to answer the question: Is it worth buying the other three to get Sunrise?

Short answer: Definitely! Fox's DVD transfer of Sunrise, which is an upgrade from an earlier Laserdisc release, is superb. No kidding, it's actually comparable to the best current transfers of silent films, like Kino's Metropolis, WB's Chaplins, and Criterion's Passion of Joan of Arc. Considering that any of those titles would cost you about what you'll pay for this whole collection, you've got to figure that you're getting a pretty good deal.

Long answer: I actually believe that two of the other three films here are masterpieces in their own right. How Green Was My Valley, which has unjustly been labelled as the film that "stole" Best Picture from Citizen Kane, ranks among John Ford's best efforts; it's a genuinely beautiful, though an admittedly sentimental, film. And it's one of those movies that received a solid restoration a few years ago -- back when AMC actually showed good movies and took a hand in these sorts of projects. All About Eve, of course, needs no introduction. I find it a tad too long, but I agree that it has one of the best scripts ever written and some fantastic performances. It has finally received a full restoration from Fox -- all the speckles are gone (though some of the image's sharpness has gone, too). Gentleman's Agreement, on the other hand, is one of those movies that's easier to admire for its aims than for its entertainment value or aesthetics. It has dated badly, and Fox's lack of restoration work isn't likely to get it rediscovered any time soon.

So my opinion is that you get three great films (and one of historical interest) for a very reasonable price. Each title comes with quite a few extras, if that matters to you -- though here again I think Sunrise benefits from the most informative and interesting extras, including a semi-reconstruction of one of Murnau's "lost" films. Highly recommened!

This DVD set contains 4 Academy Award winning films from 20th Century Fox. While descriptions of All About Eve, How Green Was My Valley and Gentlemen's Aggreement can be found elsewhere, there is no description of the DVD version of Sunrise.

At this time the only way to obtain Sunrise is by buying this box set.

The DVD version of Sunrise includes a restored version of the film, an article explaining the restoration, original theatrical trailer, a few still photos on the making of the film, some very rare outtakes, and audio commentary tracks.

The DVD also includes some real treasures from the 20th Century Fox archive. The film "Four Devils" was the very next film made by F.W. Murnau, the director of "Sunrise." The film, is considered to be lost. Using the original script (which is included on the DVD) as well as still photos and storyboard sketches the film is recreated.

Fox is partially redeemed by this set for not making Sunrise available by itself. Being the only way that Sunrise is available on DVD, this package is an amazing deal. For the price that one could very well pay for Sunrise alone, you can get All About Eve, Gentleman's Agreement, and How Green Was My Valley included. Actually, this would even be a fair price for any 2 of those movies, so to get all 4 of these is incredible.

Since this isn't a very common box set to see, i was especially curious about what it would look like, since Amazon didn't show an image at the time. I was really impressed by the packaging, which is the standard slip case, only it has an interesting see-through slide-on case to hold the DVD's in. So in the above picture, the gold trim and logo are on the transparent outer case, and the faded images are on the actual case. It really looks great in my collection (Although i'll admit i initially had difficulty figuring out how to get the DVD's out of the case).

No further comment on the individual movies is necessary. This set is comparable to the Warner Best Picture collection with Ben Hur, Casablanca, and Gone with the Wind, only it costs nearly half as much, and has an additional movie. But there's no reason any set of Best Pictures shouldn't be in your collection--these are the ones you absolutely cannot go wrong with!

I have to take issue with "Moviefanatic", who objected to having no lower-cost, 'Sunrise'-only alternative to this set.

I could see his point if they were charging a premium price for the set, but they're not. The cost of this 4-film set is less, for example, than for the 1-disk Criterion edition of 'The Passion of Joan of Arc', or the Kino or Image Entertainment versions of 'Intolerance'. (To say nothing of other silent masterpieces, like 'The Crowd', which have never received DVD release.)

If it helps, you can think of the other three films as bonus filler items. They are all worthy pictures. 'How Green Was My Valley' is often called sentimental, and in some ways it is, but it is a dark, sad movie, and one of Ford's best. 'Gentleman's Agreement' is the weakest film here, a sincere and well-intentioned attack on American anti-Semitism, but rather talky and slow. If it doesn't represent Kazan's best work, it still stands up as historically important. 'All About Eve' was for years the film with the most Oscar nominations (14); it too is talky, but with dialogue this memorable, talky is in this case a good thing.

But the big attraction of this set is 'Sunrise'. Technically, you could argue 'Sunrise' is out of place here, as is not exactly a "Best Picture" Oscar-winner. In the first year of the Academy Awards, 1927-28, the award for "Best Production" was split between 'Wings' and 'The Last Command', while 'Sunrise' got the award -- issued that year only -- for "Best Artistic Quality of Production", beating out 'The Crowd' and 'Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness'. (Incidentally, none of those three films were nominated for "Best Production", and 'The Crowd' would have taken the Artistic Quality award if not for an all-night fillibuster by L.B. Mayer.) But this is trivia; both 'Sunrise' and 'The Crowd' are legitimate masterpieces.

I had never heard of 'Chang', but it is available on DVD, from Image Entertainment -- for about the same price as this 4-disk set.

Bottom line: This set features three great movies, one of which is otherwise unavailable, and one good one. The set is a terrific bargain. Case closed; buy it.

These are four of the eight Best Picture winners produced by Fox Film Corporation, the others being "Cavalcade", "Sound of Music", "Patton", and "The French Connection". I'll give a brief run down on my opinion of each film:

Sunrise (1927) - Winner of "Best Artistic Picture" of 1927-8, this is actually NOT a best picture winner in the strict sense. That film would be "Wings". However, this is a much better movie. The whole picture is a work of art. Director F.W. Murnau actually makes you somewhat sorry that silent pictures are obsolete, and the cinematography has to be seen to be believed. The story is simple - A farmer falls for a woman from the city, almost resorts to killing his wife to be rid of her, comes to his senses, and the man and wife remember why they got married in the first place while having a day of fun in the City. If you don't like artistic pictures, you may not like this one, but it is one of my favorites.

How Green Was My Valley (1941) - The most amazing factoid about this film is that it beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture, and yet today it is relatively forgotten compared to that film. The film is pretty good though. It is about a Welsh family and the impact of how their green lush Welsh valley is ruined by mining at the turn of the twentieth century. John Ford directs.

Gentleman's Agreement (1947) - One of the first "socially relevant" films to win Best Picture. Gregory Peck pretends to be Jewish to collect material for a story on being Jewish in America. The message is powerful, but there are some distracting subplots going on - most notably Peck and his relationship with his sick mother, and Peck's romance with Dorothy McGuire that rings hollow.

All About Eve (1950) - This is a great one. Powerful acting by everyone. Just when you think there is nobody more evil than Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington, along comes George Sander's Addison DeWitt and kicks her to the curb in that category. Then there's the wonderful Bette Davis as aging star Margo Channing. This role reinvigorated Davis' career, which had been on a downward slide for a few years.

In summary you get two great Best Pictures - Sunrise and All About Eve, and two good Best Pictures - How Green was My Valley and Gentleman's Agreement, all for a reasonable price that does not overlap with other Best Picture boxed sets and DVD bundles. I recommend it.

Put simply there is no better deal in all of DVD-dom than this 4-disc box set from 20th Century Fox. What you get is 3 masterpieces and one good film all restored to pristine visual and audio quality as well as a ton of extras in a nice keepsake box.

SUNRISE - 1927; Directed by F.W. Murnau

EXTRAS:
-Audio Commentary by John Bailey (ASC Cinematographer)
-Outtakes with Optional John Bailey Commentary
-Original scenario by Carl Mayer with annotations by Murnau
-Murnau's Lost film: Four Devils
-Original Four Devils Screenplay
-Original Sunrise Screenplay
-Theatrical Trailer
-Aspect Ration 1.20:1
-Original movietone score (Mono)
-Alternate Olympic Chamber Orchestra score (Stereo)

REVIEW:

One of the most influential films of all time, Sunrise is perhaps master director Murnau's most enduring masterpiece. Filmed in the last year of silent film it remains one of the pinnacles of that lost art. It is undoubtedly one of the most poetically beautiful films ever shot. The stunning visuals reveal the lack of modern films' visual substance. Cold CGI can hold nothing to the organic purity of Sunrise and many other unforgettable silent films. The story is simple enough; a man from the country is tempted by a woman from the city to drown his wife and come away with her (there are no names given to characters in the film). The man struggles with the thought and the action of doing so while Murnau expresses his inner conflict with visuals that would come to be termed German Expressionism and would later serve as the visual basis for film noir.

This is a case where what is said isn't nearly as important as how it's said. The acting is melodramatic, indicative of the classical silent era. The story is so simple that it requires almost no discussion. But Murnau's visuals express everything that is unsaid louder than 1000 pages of dialogue ever could. Yes, watching this film is like watching a moving painting. It is indeed closer to classical visual arts than narrative driven films. It's because of this that it lingers in the memory long after viewing it. It's simply as beautiful, poignant, poetic, and haunting a film as you'll ever see and it deserves a high place on any list of the greatest films ever made.

The extras are plentiful and all very welcomed. Four Devils, however, is not an actual film, but rather a kind of recreation using the art designs and screenplay. The commentary has wonderful insights to Murnau's visual techniques. The screenplays are excellent to those wondering how a masterpiece begins its life.

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY - 1941; Directed by John Ford

EXTRAS:
-Audio Commentary by Anna Lee Nathan and film Historian Joseph McBride
-AMC Backstory Episode; "How Green Was My Valley"
-Still Gallery
-Theatrical Trailor
-Full Frame Format (Aspect Ratio 1.33:1)
-Audio: English Stereo, English Mono, French Mono, Spanish Mono
-Subtitles: English, Spanish

REVIEW:

This infamous film is perhaps best known as the movie that beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture in 1941. But seeing as how Welles was a huge fan of Ford and revered him as THE film master, it's appropriate that this film more than any other should've bested the film widely considered best ever. Ford also took home best director and Donald Crisp best supporting actor. Valley was often cited as Ford's favorite film, and it's not difficult to see why. It's a beautiful and sentimental film about a Welsh family of coal miner's struggling in their small town. The cast is uniformly superb, including a young Roddy McDowall in one of the finest child acting performances ever. But more than anything, it's Ford's traditionally and consistently wondrous visuals that perfectly create a sense of environment and the vivid people in it. The characters are all superbly conceived and each brings the story of their various struggles to life. Whether it's Mr. Morgan (Crisp) trying to hold his family together in the face of socialist union uprising, Huw (McDowall) growing up and dealing with sickness as well as other childhood problems, the unrequited romance of Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) and Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), or Mrs. Morgan's (Sara Algood's) ability to be the vocal and strong cornerstone.

It's difficult to lend much insight into the poetic and, at times, spiritual tone that Ford exhibits and maintains in the film. It's really something that simply must be seen to be appreciated, and it's often the details (such as his carefully timed moving camera, or his ability to know when and when not to cut to close up) that give the film that extra something. The music is among the best ever used in a Ford film and together with the visuals, story, and characters creates a marriage that's entirely poignant. The ending (without giving too much away) is quite sad. But Ford elevates the film above maudlin sentimentalism with both the lyrical images and the heartfelt final speech. It's heartbreaking but also spiritually refreshing.

Since its release people have disagreed just where Valley ranks among the other masterpieces in Ford's oeuvre. Some think it's one of his weakest "great" films, while others think it's among his best. For me, it's a notch below the absolute classics (Searchers, Clementine, Grapes) and falls somewhere in the second tier of masterpieces along with Stagecoach and Liberty Valance. Valley is a film that can put you off for a number of reasons such as the stilted romance or the obvious sentimentality. It's also not as complex as Ford's later films. But it's one that is full of possible poignancy, and if it happens to hit you then it might just become a favorite.

The extras are nice, but not as robust as with Sunrise. The commentary is very good as is the AMC backstory episode.

GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT - 1947; Directed by Elia Kazan

EXTRAS:
-Audio Commentary by Celeste Holm, June Havoc, and film Critic Richard Schickel
-AMC Backstory Episode: "Gentleman's Agreement"
-2 Fox Movietone Newsreels
-Stills Gallery
-Theatrical Trailer
-Full Frame Format (Aspect Ratio 1.33:1)
-Audio: English Stereo, English Mono, French Mono, Spanish Mono
-Subtitles: English, Spanish

REVIEW:

This is easily the least substantial film of the 4 in this set. This 1947 film was full of zeitgeist, dealing with anti-Semitism and bigotry directly. It's the story of a journalist, played by Gregory Peck in an Oscar nominated role, assigned to write an article on the subject. Needing an angle, he poses as a Jew and begins to experience intolerance first hand. Dorothy McGuire plays his romantic interest, and Dean Stockwell his son. Even though this film handles an important subject with the seriousness it deserves, the problem is mostly not with the message but the delivery. The audience is essentially allowed passage into the subject through the son, and treated with as much respect. This film really seems shallow and naïve today. Its lack of a visual voice doesn't give it the aesthetic pleasures of the two above films, and its often awkward dialogue makes it pale in comparison to Eve. That said, the film is still good if taken on its own. It's perhaps one of the best films about bigotry. Its unadorned style allows for nothing to get in the way of the ideas. Gregory Peck also does as well as could be in the role, and makes even the most cringe worthy parts watchable.

The extras are plentiful, though due to my lack of interest I haven't viewed either the documentary or the commentary.

ALL ABOUT EVE - 1950; Written and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

EXTRAS:
-Audio Commentary by Celeste Holm, Christopher Mankiewicz, and Kenneth Geist (Author of "Pictures Will Talk: The Life and Films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
-Audio Commentary by Sam Staggs (Author of "All About `All About Eve'")
-AMC Backstory Episode: "All About Eve"
-Original Interviews with Bette Davis and Ann Baxter
-4 Movietone Newsreels (Movie Premiere and Award Shows)
-Restoration Comparison
-Theatrical Trailer
-Full Frame Format (Aspect Ratio 1.33:1)
-Audio: English Stereo, English Mono, French Mono, Spanish Mono
-Subtitles: English, Spanish

REVIEW:

Widely considered the best screenplay ever written, Joseph L. Mankeiwicz incomparable masterpiece is one of the few `talky' films ever to win over cinephiles as much as audiences. It's not difficult to see why; the dialogue is endlessly witty and sharp, but the delivery by the cast - truly one of the best ensembles ever - makes everything work with a razor sharp precision. This may be Bette Davis's best performance, the role that resurrected her career and seemed to have her written all over it. She is riveting as the aging Broadway actress/diva Margo Channing. The titular Eve, played by Ann Baxter is her seemingly charming and naïve but actually devious successor that seeks to usurp Margo's place. In a way, Baxter had a much tougher role to play in the film, needing the audience to fall in love with her early - echoing Margo and her group's acceptance - and slowly realize her conniving ways. The supporting cast including Celeste Holm as Karen Richards (in perhaps her best performance), Gary Merill as Bill Simpson, Hugh Marlowe as Lloyd Richards, and George Sanders as Addison DeWitt are all outstanding as well.

For many this film will be the centerpiece of this collection, and not unjustifiably so. Its story is as timeless as theater itself, and its themes speak on everything that deals with the nature of fictional theater in all its inner workings and parts, and its relationship with reality. It is simply the most intelligently written film about an age-old subject. It's equally cynical as it is funny, as biting as it is charming, as enjoyable as it is artful, and it is undoubtedly one of the finest films cinema has ever produced.

The extras are, again, plentiful and all welcomed. The two commentaries are a bit overkill, as most everything of note is given in one of them (ether, really). The backstory episode is very nice and the rest of the extras provide nice looks at the film for its fans.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, this set may be the best ever produced of its kind. I'll just repeat the title and say that every film-lover should own this. At this price, I may buy two just to protect my invaluable copy of Sunrise.

This is one of the first box sets released and it has three of the greatest films ever plus one really good film. But the main thing is that this is the only way you can get Sunrise.

Sunrise has the distinction of being only film to win the Oscar for Most Creative Film (The original classification of Best Picture). This is a very interesting silent film. But what makes this DVD a great deal are the extras. It has outtakes with commentary, scenarios and screenplays but the best is a recreation of Murnau's final film Four Devils. This appears to be a lost masterpiece. I say appears because it is only a recreation but what is recreated is fantastic.

Add to this 20th Century Fox's greatest film All About Eve. This is Bette Davis' greatest film. She creates the indelible Margo Channing, a fading Broadway star who takes a fan under her wings, Eve. But Eve has plans of her own. It features Cleste Holm, George Sanders and the incredible Thelma Ritter. This film has the classic line "fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night".

Then you have John Ford's classic How Green is Your Valley. This is probably his most complete film. It is the story of one family who live in a Welsh mining town. It stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowell.

Finally, there is Gentlemen's Agreement. This is problably the one film that has not held up like the others but you can understand why it was a success. This is one of the first films about the unspoken Anti-Semitism in America. This stars Gregory Peck as a reporter who poses as a Jew to explore the segregated society with in America but gets a surprise closer to home. Dorothy McGuire costars as his girlfriend and Celeste Holmes won her Oscar for this film.

Even if you have all the other films buy this just to get Sunrise!

I have been trying for over a year to obtain a copy of Sunrise. I had seen the film about two years ago on the Turner Classical Movies channel and it had a profound impact on me. The characters were so human and modern in their behavior. And, although certain directors of the 20's seemed to like advancing the plot or time element through superimposing one frame over another and it could be annoying and confusing, in this film it was a fascinating technique to watch. This is a film in which you can get totally engrossed. The story is timeless and poignant. I am so glad this film was included with the "talkie" best picture films (which, it goes without saying are among the superior films of the 30's and 40's).

I have to admit that all of these movies are great. Unfortunately, all of them (except 'Sunrise') have been available in other editions. So what do the lovers of Murnau's masterpiece have to do? In order to get their hands on the cherished bonus, they have to buy three other movies that they have probably watched countless number of times. I have to give credit to this DVD set creators/promoters. This is business sense (shameless and greedy) at its best! And people flock to buy it and give praises. Everybody is happy (or furious)... You decide.

I was looking for All About Eve, but I ended up three othet great movies. What a wonderful bonus