Mystery Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection
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DVD details
Actor: Arthur Wontner, Basil Rathbone, Frank SinatraBrand: Digital1stop
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 3728 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Mystery Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection
DVD Review: Great content, fair to OK video/audio quality
Summary: 4 Stars
This is probably the best in regards to content of the public domain 50 Movie Packs I have bought so far. You have some of the better mystery serials of the 30's and 40's including Mr. Moto and Sherlock Holmes, as well as some individual entries that are very good including "He Walked by Night", which is more of a film noir that is incredibly still in the public domain.
Unfortunately, the video and in particular the audio quality is very uneven in this set. The Bulldog Drummond series, for example, has some of the worst video and audio quality I've encountered in these packs. The films become bright and then dark, then bright again, and then there is an awful hum in several of the films that makes it difficult if not impossible to hear quiet dialogue. This is a big handicap in mystery films where you need to see details of what is going on, as well as hear everything that is being said, in order to keep up with the plot. Imagine trying to keep up with The Thin Man if you couldn't clearly hear what the players were saying!
I'd still recommend this pack, but be prepared to be annoyed at the video and audio quality in some of the older films. As for the individual movies, here's my take:
The first two discs contain 6 Bulldog Drummond movies from the late 30's. The very earliest, "Bulldog Drummond Escapes", has just awful audio and video quality. Ray Milland stars in this one, but John Howard stars in the other five. The whole point of this incarnation of the series is that Drummond is always trying to marry his fiance when some crime drama interrupts the proceedings and Drummond has to solve the crime or mystery. The quality of the audio/video is good on all but the earliest two. The quality of the mysteries is excellent.
Next we have three Dick Tracy movies. The best one is "Tracy Meets Gruesome" starring Boris Karloff, but all of the films are very good as is the audio and video quality. There is good continuity between the three films too, with Tracy's girlfriend and adopted son providing a home life for the detective.
Next we have two films from "The Shadow" series. There's not much continuity here. In the first one, "The Shadow Strikes", The Shadow is still acting without the knowledge of the police and outside of the law as he impersonates a fellow attorney in order to solve a crime. In "International Crime" The Shadow is known by the police, but now has his own radio show and seems to delight in making them look bad. In the second film The Shadow has picked up a female sidekick that detracts from the plot. Both are above average. Audio/video quality is good.
Next we have three films trying to trade on the success of Warner Oland's Charlie Chan series at Fox. Peter Lorre stars in "Mr Moto's Last Warning". Lorre is pretty effective as Moto and did a long series of these films. The two Mr. Wong films are night and day. The Mysterious Mr. Wong has Lugosi in the title role acting almost like a mad scientist. The audio/video quality is poor on this one, and the story is not very interesting either - Lugosi's campy performance is just too much. "Mr. Wong: Detective" has Boris Karloff in the title role, this time as good guy. The mystery is interesting and the audio/video quality is quite good.
Next we have eight Sherlock Holmes films. This group is a mixed bag as far as actors in the starring roles and audio/video quality. However, all have interesting stories. Only four have Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and these are the best of the films. The earlier ones have other actors taking a try at the role, and sometimes the result is ineffective. Dr. Watson undergoes the most changes. In "The Sign of Four" Watson is a young man who winds up in love with and engaged to the heroine, and in all the others he is played by a much older man even though Holmes is essentially the same age in all of the films. The non-Rathbone Holmes pictures have pretty spotty audio quality, but once Universal takes control of the series the video and audio quality is quite good.
"The Kennel Murder Case" starring William Powell, "He Walked by Night", "Quicksand" with Mickey Rooney, and "They Made Me a Criminal" with Paul Muni are all well done crime dramas and noirs. Also, the video and audio quality are good on all of these. "The Death Kiss" was made in the early 30's but it is one of the best films in the pack, starring the forgotten David Manners as a scriptwriter turned amateur sleuth. Finally there is "Great Guy" with James Cagney. This is more of Cagney being his typical wise-guy self on the right side of the law for a change. It is always fun to see him at work, and this film is no exception.
This isn't all of the films, but it gives you a good idea of what is good and bad about the package.
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