Humphrey Bogart Era

Rating:
Summary: Scrapping the barrel for PUBLIC DOMAIN material.
Review: Not much of Bogart's material is public domain so cheapie companies like this end up putting out the same stuff.

BEAT THE DEVIL has been released previously, the Laserdisc is the only good copy out there.

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM is an unusual release. This kinoscope is one of the few television appearances made by Bogart, and on a comedy show! Bogie plays it straight as he delivers his lines and sings a commercial (they worked these into the story in the old days of television). This show is a rarity worth getting the DVD for. Be aware that it is mastered from a 16mm kinoscope (filmed off of a television screen), so picture quality will not be very good.

Rating:
Summary: Scrapping the barrel foir PUBLIC DOMAIN material.
Review: Not much of Bogart's material is public domain so cheapie companies like this end up putting out the same stuff.

BEAT THE DEVIL has been released previously, the Laserdisc is the only good copy out there.

THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM is an unusual release. This kinoscope is one of the few television appearances made by Bogart, and on a comedy show! Bogie plays it straight as he delivers his lines and sings a commercial (they worked these into the story in the old days of television). This show is a rarity worth getting the DVD for. Be aware that it is mastered from a 16mm kinoscope (filmed off of a television screen), so picture quality will not be very good.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Bogey, Where Art Thou?
Review: This is one strange set. The artwork and music CD are nice, but the rest is a mess. First, the music is on disc one and not disc two as stated on the package. The DVD is awful. The Jack Benny Show is so washed out, it's almost impossible to watch, which is a shame since it's a great show. It appears to have been taken from a tenth generation video bootleg. The movie Beat the Devil is better quality, but still not that great.

The only thing that got this set a one rating is the music CD. It's fun with Bogey sound bites between each slice of interesting jazz, although not much of the music really fits into any of Bogart's films. It's still worth a listen.

I wouldn't remommend paying the full Amazon price for this set, but if you buy it discounted from Amazon Marketplace, you might not be too disappointed. In other words, don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.