The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover / How to Commit Marriage / The Lemon Drop Kid / My Favorite Brunette / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / The Seven Little Foys / Son of Paleface)
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DVD details
Actor: Bob HopeBrand: Ultimate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Bci / Eclipse
DVD Reviews of The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover / How to Commit Marriage / The Lemon Drop Kid / My Favorite Brunette / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / The Seven Little Foys / Son of Paleface)
DVD Review: No mistake about it...
Summary: 3 Stars
These *are* the old Brentwood DVDs in a new package. While this is not indicated anywhere on the packaging, it's obvious when viewing the films because the disks all open with the Brentwood logo before the obligatory FBI warning and appearance of the menu! I've also compared these to the Brentwood copies in my collection and they are identical right down to the menus and "special features" (Consisting solely of a Bob Hope biopic in text form). In no way would I consider *any* of these titles to be "remastered". Don't expect new transfers, just a good per-movie price depending on which of these you don't already own.
Picture quality is acceptable for the price of this set but as one reviewer has said, it's "muddy" on some films. On the B/W films you'll find generally poor contrast with fine distinction in black levels almost gone. The worst B/W print is "The Great Lover" which appears as if you are looking through gauze. The other B/W prints range from Fair to Good. The color prints are in better shape but still a bit inconsistent. Colors tend to be good to excellent. On all films don't be suprised to see streaks, scratches, bad edits from "repair work", missing bits ("The Great Lover" has a bad edit in the middle of one of the songs causing a portion to be missing) and other anomolies. However, nothing is bad enough to make the films unwatchable and they *are* generally much better quality than VHS copies I've seen. These are ALL Full-Screen even though several were originally filmed in Wide-Screen ratios. "Paris Holiday" teases you by starting in OAR and switches to FS about 5 minutes in!
Considering that "The Lemon Drop Kid" is currently OOP with the Brentwood copies going for upwards of $30(!) this set is a good value for that title alone. Add to that the 9 other films in the package and it's not too bad for some Hope "classics" and a few minor titles from his catalog.
The absolute worst part about this set is the packaging! What you get are "flippies" (which I dislike) in a double-sized case consisting of a overlapping DVD arrangement with a overlapping type "page" in the middle. If care is not taken while turning this "page" you'll catch the edge of one of the DVDs on the back causing it to bend upwards slightly and do a "snap" as the page edge clears the edge of the DVD. While this doesn't appear to damage the playing surface, as the "catch point" is very close to the disk edge, it is still disconcerting.
While it would be nice to see one of the studios truly remaster these films, for under $20 you won't go wrong with this set.
4 stars for the movies
2 stars for the quality/package
Update:
Since my original review this package has been re-released, also by Navarre Corporation (aka BCI/Brentwood), for less $$ under the name Legends of Hollywood - Bob Hope Series which includes all the films in this set. 4 of the films have been remastered and reports are they look better than ever. They are:
Road to Rio
Road To Bali
Son Of Paleface (with Roy Rogers and Trigger)
My Favorite Brunette
Even though I've not seen the revised version opened to determine if the packaging has been improved, the lower price coupled with 4 remastered films makes the revised release the one to purchase.
More The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover / How to Commit Marriage / The Lemon Drop Kid / My Favorite Brunette / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / The Seven Little Foys / Son of Paleface) reviews:
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1 2 3 4
Description of The Ultimate Bob Hope Collection (The Great Lover / How to Commit Marriage / The Lemon Drop Kid / My Favorite Brunette / Paris Holiday / The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell / Road to Bali / Road to Rio / The Seven Little Foys / Son of Paleface)
Includes:The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)Road To Rio (1947)The Great Lover (1949)Son Of Paleface (1952)Road To Bali (1952)The Seven Little Foys (1955)Paris Holiday (1958)Private Navy Of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)How To Commit To Marriage (1969)My Favorite Burnette (1947)Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 787364749898Bestsellers in DVD
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