The Ray Harryhausen Double Feature Blu-ray Review
Well, maybe non-Harryhausen triple feature is more like it.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, October 28, 2011
Note: the scores above are averages spread over the three films in this set. See below for more detailed information on each individual
title.
Aside from the fact that this new Legend Films release has only the most tangential connection to Ray Harryhausen,
and the fact that it actually
contains
three films (two on the Blu-ray and one on the "bonus" DVD), the title
Ray Harryhausen Double
Feature is
completely appropriate. Ahem. Harryhausen is of course the special effects wizard who raised stop motion
animation to an art form in
everything from
Mighty Joe Young to the original
Clash of the Titans. Younger audience members who
have been raised only on
the picture perfect, smooth and shiny world of CGI may look at Harryhausen's achievements as the quaint relics of a
bygone age, but those
who are old enough to have either seen a Harryhausen film theatrically or, perhaps more likely, broadcast on Saturday
afternoons on their
local television stations, can attest to the real magic that was felt by young eyes witnessing unbelievable sights like a
coterie of human
skeletons come to life or the thrilling exploits of adventurers battling a mammoth sea crab. Harryhausen's
achievements rank with the very
finest special effects accomplishments of the twentieth (and dare I say, twenty-first) century, and he is a one of a kind
artist who remains
down to earth and accessible despite his enormous (and deserved reputation). So what exactly
is this
Ray
Harryhausen Double
Feature? It's two films on Blu-ray which Harryhausen supervised the colorization of (you Harryhausen fans will
recall that some of
Harryhausen's own black and white films underwent colorizing on Blu-ray, with Harryhausen's full approval and even
input), those two being
She (1935) and
Things to Come (1936). 1932's
The Most Dangerous Game is included on
standard definition on the accompanying DVD. All three films are offered in their original black and white presentations,
as well as colorized versions using Legend Films' proprietary colorization technology. Controversy of course still rages
over whether anyone should consider colorizing old black and white films to begin with, but it needs to be stated clearly
that Harryhausen himself is obviously very much approving of the process, and evidently specifically approached Legend
to colorize
She in particular, and also apparently
Things to Come as well. It should also be stated that
it's quite clear that (for better or worse) Legend takes its colorizing
very seriously, as evidenced by comments
by Legend's President Dr. Barry Sandrew on a couple of included featurettes as well as copious public statements
Sandrew has made over the years. As much as some may dislike colorizing (and truth be told, I'm not especially fond of
it myself), Legend's approach tends to be a bit less hyperbolic than some other colorizing entities, and in fact many of
their colorized properties don't have the slathered-on, overly bright look that a lot of colorized films do. While the
packaging of this set states that all three films were sourced from 35mm elements, Sandrew has stated that for the
DVD release of
Things to Come a 16mm print was utilized, and that certainly seems to be the case here (though I am in contact with
Legend about this issue and will update the review if I find out otherwise).
Aside from the colorizing aspect, two of the three films here have another connection to Harryhausen.
She and
The Most Dangerous Game were both either produced, co-produced or co-directed by Merian C. Cooper, one of
Harryhausen's chief mentors and the man who helped launch Harryhausen's career with such films as
Mighty Joe
Young. The odd film out, as it were, is
Things to Come, a 1936 Alexander Korda production directed by the
legendary William Cameron Menzies. All three films have spotty home video histories, all having lapsed into public
domain at one point or another (revisions of copyright laws meant some actually reentered copyright protection along
the way).
She has probably been the most neglected of the three titles in terms of home video releases, and
the good news is it's by far the best looking of the three transfers offered on this Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.
She tells the story of two intrepid explorers played by Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson in
the Basil Rathbone
Sherlock Holmes films) who set out to discover a mysterious lost land. The film rather
radically reinvents author H. Rider Haggard's original source novel, changing the locale from Africa to the Arctic, and
introducing several characters and/or relationships which weren't in the book. This rather bizarre fantasy combines
elements of
Lost Horizon and (of all things)
The Mummy, positing an enchanted land where people can
live forever but working in a potent subplot dealing with reincarnation. The explorers are ushered into a cavernous
realm which is overseen by an enigmatic goddess figure named Ayesha (Helen Gahagan), a goddess who believes that
the Scott character is her reincarnated lover for whom she's been waiting—well, let's just say for a good, long while.
The film is patently silly, but actually rather enjoyable, and it boasts impressive production design and special effects for
its day. Trivia lovers should note this is the only film appearance of Helen Gahagan, a woman who married actor Melvyn
Douglas, renamed herself Helen Gahagan Douglas and became one of the first women elected to the United States
House of Representatives. Gahagan Douglas became infamous in the 1950s when Richard Nixon, who was running
against her for a California Senate seat, branded her a "fellow traveler" with Communists. Gahagan Douglas' promising
political career was cut short and she largely retired, occasionally working on television. Another fascinating trivia note
about
She is that Gahagan Douglas' character provided the inspiration for the character design of the Evil
Queen in Disney's
Snow White.
Things to Come is a fascinating relic, but unfortunately the film has been so badly treated by the
ravages of time that it's sometimes hard to appreciate what a significant experience it is, at least from a production
design standpoint. Written by the iconic H.G. Wells, the film is a look into the then-future, positing events from 1940 to
2036, and not painting a very rosy picture for Mankind's prospects. Wells rather presciently begins the film at
Christmastime 1940 with war erupting on his fictional "Everytown" in England (an obvious stand-in for London). In
Wells' vision, World War II (as it would become known in "real life") goes on for decades, wreaking havoc and
destruction, ushering in a new black plague, and spelling doom for both the well meaning and the more nefariously
motivated. The film features Raymond Massey as two generations of the heroic Cabal family, one member circa 1940
and another, his descendant, in the future. Wells doesn't really evoke an Orwellian or Huxleyian future controlled by an
omnipresent government, and instead racks up most of Mankind's troubles to its penchant for fighting, though there is
an overlord of sorts in the future, delightfully named Boss (Ralph Richardson).
Things to Come is a rather potent
anti-war screed which has several powerful elements, and it has some of the most commanding production design of its
era (no surprise, considering Menzies' involvement). Unfortunately, the film was repeatedly edited after its original
screenings, and this version preserves one of the shorter running times of around 92 minutes or so, making some of
the film a bit hard to follow.
The Most Dangerous Game was shot simultaneously with
King Kong and features two of the ape movie's stars, Fay
Wray and Robert Armstrong, in a tale that has become legendary and oft-parodied since, with a group of hapless castaways washing up on
an island ruled over by a madman who likes to big game hunt—washed up castaways. (The island-ruling madman became something of a
1930s trope after the huge success of
The Most Dangerous Game. For another take on this idea, try to catch the early Technicolor
feature
Ebb Tide, Paramount's second color film, starring a luminous Frances Farmer, stalwart Ray Milland, just plain weird Oscar
Homolka and a rather oddly cast Lloyd Nolan as that film's island bound madman).
The Most Dangerous Game is brisk and to the
point, and as such doesn't tend to fall into the camptastic heights of
She or the more melodramatic aspects of
Things to
Come. Joel McCrea makes an appealing, if somewhat unlikely, action hero and you can have a rather productive drinking game by taking
a swig every time Fay Wray emits a quick, sharp scream in the film. It's silly fun, to be sure, but it remains surprisingly exciting to this day,
with a couple of really creepy turns by Leslie Banks and Noble Johnson (who also turns up in
She).
The Ray Harryhausen Double Feature Blu-ray, Video Quality
The Ray Harryhausen Double Feature is presented on Blu-ray by Legend Films with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1. Results on
this package are a mixed bag, to say the least. The good news is that
She really looks quite good, at least most of the time, with a
largely damage free print, decent contrast and an acceptably sharp and well detailed image. Some noise filtering has been applied but it hasn't
given the film a smeary, waxy look. There is an interpolated reel at around 43 minutes which was obviously sourced from 16mm and that is
decidedly softer and grainier than the bulk of this film, which was sourced from 35mm. (Why this reel was cut at one point is a little strange,
since it has some salient plot points. You'll notice Harryhausen and Vaz's commentary track also stops abruptly at this point, indicating that this
"lost" reel must have been found and reinserted after the commentary had been recorded).
Things to Come has never looked very good
on any home video release I've seen in the United States, most if not all of which have been sourced from 16mm. (There's evidently a quite nice
looking DVD available in the UK which has been sourced from a rare 35mm print of the slightly longer version). Some cleanup has obviously been
done to this title by Legend, so I don't want to sound too churlish, but it is still a pretty ragged looking affair, with overblown contrast leading to
a considerable loss of detail in many shots. The first reel looks the worst here, and things actually have some decent pop and black levels as we
get further into the film. Perhaps a bit surprisingly,
The Most Dangerous Game, presented in standard definition on the accompanying
DVD, looks pretty darned spry. I did a side by side comparison with my Criterion DVD of this title, and the Legend Films version actually holds up
remarkably well in comparison. In fact the first reel or so of the Legend is cleaner and less scratched with fewer missing frames, but it does not
sport the lustrous contrast of the Criterion version.
Note: I've included screencaps of both the black and white and color versions of the films for comparison sake. Odd numbered
screencaps are from
She and even numbered from
Things to Come.
