Paramount Golden Classics - The Memorable TV DVD Review

TO CATCH A THIEF (1954 | 102 minutes | G)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly

Grant and Kelly had both starred in Hitchcock films twice before appearing together in this lush romantic thriller, Grant plays cat burglar John Robie who is now going straight and living in the South of France, when a new rash of crimes point towards him being involved he sets out to prove his innocence becoming involved with heiress Frances (Grace Kelly) along the way.
To Catch A Thief was one of Hitchcock's most expensive films (budget was $3 million) and certainly one of his most glossy looking, Grant and Kelly push all the right buttons, their sexual chemistry sizzling up the screen. Quite gorgeous!
Extras include featurettes on the writing of the movie as well as the making of it, an appreciation of Alfred Hitchcock, the costumes of Edith Head, the theatrical trailer and a photo gallery.

SABRINA (1954 | 109 minutes | PG)
Director: Billy Wilder and starring Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn

Wonderfully romantic comedy that sees the very beautiful Audrey Hepburn playing Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur falling head over heels for the playboy son, David Larrabee (William Holden) of the family her father works for, when this creates problems Sabrina is shipped off to finishing school, on her return she is a sophisticated young lady still determined to woo David, David though has become engaged to Elisabeth Tyson (mainly to help a business merger) and his elder brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) who decides to make Sabrina his own.
As always with the incomparable Billy Wilder the script is delightful, very witty and clever, the cast are first rate, in fact there is not a bad thing you can say about Sabrina, the whole movie is just heavenly.
Extras include a featurette on the movie and a photo gallery.

A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951 | 122 minutes | PG)
Director: George Stevens and starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters

This powerful romantic melodrama from George Stevens was based on the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman a young man from a poor background determined to make something of his life, falls in love with the never more beautiful 18 year old Elizabeth Taylor (playing socialite Angela Vickers) despite the fact that he is engaged to local factory worker Alice Tripp (a very good Shelley Winters). Events begin to spiral out of control for George and a tragic ending (which we won't reveal here) awaits.
Extras include retrospective cast and crew interviews, a look at the work of director George Stevens and a commentary from his son George Stevens Jr and Ivan Moffat, the theatrical trailer is also included.

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961 | 110 minutes | PG)
Director: Blake Edwards and starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard and Mickey Rooney

Truman Capote's short novella is brought to the screen by Pink Panther director Blake Edwards with much of the harshness taken out and a wonderfully light comedic touch added, Audrey Hepburn was seldom better as the out about town socialite Holly Golighty who lives next door to struggling writer George Peppard who despite being a "kept" man (patronised by his older lover Patricia Neal) falls hard for Holly. Adding enormously to the overall feel and enjoyment of the movie is Henry Mancini's score (he won an Oscar for the movie's theme song Moon River). A movie to dive into and lose yourself completely.
Only extra is the original theatrical trailer.

CATCH 22 (1970 | 122 minutes | M15+)
Director: Mike Nichols and starring Alan Arkin, Martin Balsom, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Jon Voight, Martin Sheen, Orson Welles

Joseph Heller's novel of wartime absurdities had been a huge success (creating a catch 22 of his own, so big he could never better it) and director Mike Nichols was a hot property thanks to the Graduate. Alan Arkin who starred was something of an unknown though outside the stage however you really can't imagine anyone else as Captain Yossarian, the plot sees Yossarian deciding that he is no longer able to fly any more combat missions during the dog days of world war II, however to get out of flying he must be proven crazy and must put in a request to be grounded but if he does put in a request then he can't be crazy and so must keep flying (the title of the book quickly entered the world vocabulary for a no-win situation). A very very funny deeply black comedy that brings to the fore a beaurocratic world gone mad and with it's stellar cast (there's a great cameo from the legendary Orson Welles) is not to be missed.
Extras are a very illuminating commentary from Mike Nichols and Steven Soderbergh, a photo gallery and the theatrical trailer.

CHINATOWN (1974 | 131 minutes | m15+)
Director: Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway. John Huston, Roman Polanski, Diane Ladd and John Hillerman

With it's seedy recreation of Raymond Chandleresque 1930's Los Angeles Chinatown (with it's Oscar winning script by Robert Towne) quickly established itself as one the classic movies of the 1970's. It's 1937 and the awesome Jack Nicholson stars as J.J. Gittes a very Philip Marlowe style private eye whose endless investigations into his latest case leads to murder and scandal. Chinatown invokes its period effortlessly and without question one of Polanski's best movies. Incidentally the movie's intriguing title alludes to the day when Gittes was a cop working in a Chinatown beat.
Extras include a new interview with Polanski, writer Robert Towne and legendary producer Robert Evans.