Edward G Robinson Movie Marathon

Rating:
Summary: Passable quality...good movies
Review: The bonus features on this set are NON EXISTENT. Even chapter selection consists merely of cutting the movie into two parts. No audion options, nothing. Then again, you're getting 3 movies for about $2 each. They are watchable, but it does feel a little like watching a 16mm print on your TV. Again, you get what you pay for quality-wise.

But let that take nothing away from the movies. These are all better-than-average films, particularly for stuff in the public domain. THE STRANGER would certainly be the biggest attention getter, what with Orson Welles' being the star and director. But the other two films are also enjoyable and well made. THE RED HOUSE shows us a young Robinson all the way back in 1932, and SCARLETT STREET is a treat from famed director Fritz Lang...a later work of his. So, although the disc "celebrates" Edward G. Robinson, it also has nice work from other major Hollywood players. I recommend it for the buff of older films.

Rating:
Summary: Passable quality...good movies
Review: The bonus features on this set are NON EXISTENT. Even chapter selection consists merely of cutting the movie into two parts. No audion options, nothing. Then again, you're getting 3 movies for about $2 each. They are watchable, but it does feel a little like watching a 16mm print on your TV. Again, you get what you pay for quality-wise.

But let that take nothing away from the movies. These are all better-than-average films, particularly for stuff in the public domain. THE STRANGER would certainly be the biggest attention getter, what with Orson Welles' being the star and director. But the other two films are also enjoyable and well made. THE RED HOUSE shows us a young Robinson all the way back in 1932, and SCARLETT STREET is a treat from famed director Fritz Lang...a later work of his. So, although the disc "celebrates" Edward G. Robinson, it also has nice work from other major Hollywood players. I recommend it for the buff of older films.

Rating:
Summary: Three different features
Review: This DVD contains the following three features: Scarlet Street, The Stranger, The Red House. Pictures and sound of the three movies are not of the best quality (apparently they were never restored), there are the usual problems with calibration (heads of the actors often have their tops cut off). The choice of the films give a good impression of the variety of roles which Robinson played in the forties. In Scarlet Street he is a mousy cashier and secret artist who falls for an immoral woman (Joan Bennett). In The Stranger, Robinson is an investigator at the heels of a Nazi war criminal (Orson Welles). The Red House presents Robinson as a dirt farmer from the backwoods who hides a terrible secret. The three movies will appeal to those who like arthouse movies. Robinson does not show the gangster/tough guy routine he is most famous for.