DVD Zone: October 2007
The Graduate:
40th Anniversary Edition
MGM
With all of the hoopla surrounding the 40th anniversary of all things 1967, it’s about time someone got around to the best film of the year, The Graduate. Tons of ink has been spilled about the summer of love, and now MGM has released a two-disc Special Edition of director Mike Nichols’ masterpiece that had the same effect on the film world that The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper had on music.
Not only had no one taken the kind of look at the post-college malaise that sets in like Nichols, but the script by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry and Robert Surtees’ innovative cinematography created a film like no one had seen before. Toss in the music of Simon And Garfunkel, and the film looks as good today as it did 40 years ago. Oh, by the way, they also managed to create one of the big-screen’s most memorable characters, Mrs. Robinson.
You know the story well by now: Recent grad Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), only to fall for her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). All the while he tries to figure out just what exactly he’s going to do with his life. If you’ve never seen The Graduate, you simply have to stop saying that you’re a film fan.
What truly makes this a film that doesn’t seem dated or fixed to a certain era is the complete lack of references to Vietnam. Because it wasn’t in the book the film is based on, it simply isn’t a factor.
The set includes two commentary tracks — one with Hoffman and Ross, the other by Nichols and director Steven Soderbergh. There’s a section with Henry and current directors and producers explaining the effect the film had on their careers, plus interviews with Hoffman and the other writers and actors that was created for the 25th anniversary of the film.
Disc Two has the four Simon And Garfunkel songs that were used on the soundtrack, including the final version of “Mrs. Robinson.” That version was not actually used in The Graduate, as Paul Simon completed it after the film’s release.
For years, writers, directors, and producers have tried to recreate the feel, tone, and magic of the original. Yet the results can be summed up in one word. Are you listening?
“Plastic.”
Film: ****
Features **1/2
The Best Of The Johnny Cash
TV Show
Legacy/Columbia
From 1969 to 1971, Johnny Cash had his own variety show on ABC. While the main focus of the show was the country music side of the aisle, Cash incorporated many non-country performers of the day as well.
Legacy’s two-disc set contains 66 clips from the show, with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Louis Armstrong, and Bob Dylan just to name a few. Some of the performances wouldn’t rank as must-see, but several gems such as Neil Young’s “The Needle And The Damage Done” and Ray Charles’ version of “Ring Of Fire” are not to be missed.
The set doesn’t include many special features, but it does have interviews with John Carter Cash, the show’s musical arranger Bill Walker, and Hank Williams Jr.
Of all the Cash-related reissues and knock-offs that have appeared since the Man In Black shuffled off this mortal coil, The Best Of The Johnny Cash TV Show should vault to the top of the list.
Series: ***1/2
Features: **1/2
Also available . . . The Dresden Dolls: Live At The Roundhouse, London (Eagle Vision). Part performance art, part cabaret, The Dolls take the concert experience to new levels. On this disc, you also get documentary footage of the two, and appearances by Margaret Cho, Jason Webley, and Lene Lovich among others. The sound quality could be a bit better, but it’s still a worthwhile pick up to see a duo trying to give their audience a little more than the average show.
— Tim Hiatt
