Classics on DVD Spectacular
by Brian Tallerico

Warner Brothers released Anniversary editions of three classic films this week and a collection of Western movies last month that should get all collector's off their couch and to the DVD store. The two gems are both multi-disc Special Editions of Best Picture-winning musicals, but Tom Cruise fans and Western nuts have something to be excited about too. Thirtysomethings and older may say that including a Tom Cruise movie in a "Classics on DVD Spectacular" is a little premature but - and here's the information to make you feel old - Risky Business is TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD. It's as ancient to teenagers nowadays as Gigi and An American in Paris were to us when Risky Business was first released. To a lot of DVD buyers out there weaned on High School Musical or The Hills, it is just as much as classic as the works of Leslie Caron or Glenn Ford. Sad (for us old-feeling thirtysomethings) but true. With that out of the way, here's the skinny on what the classics lover in your my friends and family circle will want to check out this month.

An American in Paris: Two-Disc Special Edition
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, and Nina Foch
Written by: Alan Jay Lerner
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Features: Concerto of a Commentary Hosted by Patricia Ward Kelly and Featuring Rare, Often Previously Unheard Interviews with Gene Kelly, Vincente Minnelli, Arthur Freed, Alan Jay Lerner, Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin, Michael Feinstein, Preston Ames, and Irene Sharaff and New Observations by Leslie Caron and Nina Foch, New Ultra-Resolution Digital Transger, Vintage "FitzPatrick Traveltalks" Short "Paris on Parade", Classic Cartoon "Symphony in Slang", Theatrical Trailer, "'S Wonderful: The Making of An American in Paris", American Masters Career Profile: Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer, "Love Walked In" Outtake Song Sequence, Audio-Only Bonuses: Outtake Songs Gallery and Gene Kelly/Leslie Caron/Johnny Green Radio Promos

Here's a confession - I grew up on Gene Kelly musicals. My mom was a huge fan of the genre and I saw movies like Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, and Kiss Me Kate repeatedly. While other kids watched G.I. Joe, I watched Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly. (And, yes, just because I'm sure you're curious, I came out 100% heterosexual.) So, when musical special editions hit the market, I get more excited than the average male, straight thirtysomething. 1951's An American in Paris is an undeniable classic, a film that features Kelly at arguably his athletic peak and also includes the screen debut of the magical Leslie Caron. The team behind An American in Paris was a stunner with legends like Arthur Freed, Alan Jay Lerner, Vincente Minnelli, and George & Ira Gershwin behind the scenes. Kelly stars as an ex-GI who loves Paris and an alluring but engaged perfume-shop clerk played by Caron. Based on a 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin, An American in Paris features several classics of the genre, including "I Got Rhythm," "'S Wonderful," and "Our Love is Here to Stay". The climax of the flick features an 18-minute dance between Kelly and Caron that true fans of the genre really must include in their collection. Paris won an amazing SIX Oscars including screenplay and Best Picture. The two-disc set is exhaustive with a newly produced commentary made up of archival interviews and a second disc with a great documentary about the making of the film. We'll have to wait until next year to get a Blu-Ray version of An American in Paris but this is as good as we could have hoped for on standard-definition. It's a beauty and a better film than you even remember.

Gigi: Two-Disc Special Edition
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jordan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, and Isabel Jeans
Written by: Alan Jay Lerner
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Features: Commentary by Historian Jeanine Basinger with Leslie Caron, New Digital Transfer, Soundtrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Vintage Short - "The Million Dollar Nickel", Classic CinemaScope Cartoon "The Vanishing Duck", Theatrical Trailer, "Thank Heaven! The Making of Gigi", 1949 Nonmusical First Screen Version of Gigi

When people ask what the worst Best Picture winner of all time is, Gigi often makes the list. Sure, the film doesn't stand up to the best big Oscar winners of all time, but the reputation that its garnered - as an undeserving mega-winner - is kind of unfounded and harsh. Yes, Gigi is not on my personal list of great musicals, but it is an impressive film on a number of levels. First, Gigi was the end of an era - the last great MGM musical and the last great achievement of Arthur Freed's reign as musical producer extraordinaire, Gigi closed the door on a golden age fifty years ago. It's one of those films that's important historically. Second, it was the winner of an amazing NINE Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Love it, hate it, or in between, musical fans need to include Gigi in their collection. And the new two-disc edition is gorgeous. The picture and audio are better than a lot of films hitting standard definition that were made in the '00s. Warner Brothers has really polished the film up beautifully. Gigi won all nine Oscars that it was nominated for (and, technically, won ten as an honorary Oscar went to Maurice Chevalier). You can learn more about the making of the film with an extensive collection of special features including the nonmusical version of Gigi that inspired this remake.

Risky Business: 25th Anniversary
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay
Written by: Paul Brickman
Directed by: Paul Brickman
Features: Commentary by Tom Cruise, Paul Brickman, and Jon Avnet, New 25th Anniversary Retrospective, Original Screen Tests, Director's Cut of the Final Scene, Soundtrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Theatrical Trailer

Risky Business may not be a musical but the first thing that most people think of when they hear the name of the movie that made Tom Cruise a star happens to be a music-driven scene. They think of Tom Cruise in his underwear, sliding across the living room floor and singing along to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll". When someone says "star-making moment", it's one of the first that comes to mind. Tom Cruise was an instant household name just by lip-syncing in his boxers. At the age of 21, Cruise played Joel Goodson, a high school student who lived with his parents on the north side of Chicago. Joel was kind of a buttoned-up kid who finds his life turned around when his 'rents go out of town and leave him with the keys to the mansion. He starts by doing what all kids do - raid the liquor cabinet, play music loud, drive dad's car - but he goes a step further when he decided to call an escort for the night. Enter the screen debut of the lovely Rebecca De Mornay and one of the better comedies of the early '80s. Hot cars, hot women - it's what every '80s kid dreamed would happen when their parents went out of town. And now you can own it in a gorgeous set from Warner Brothers that includes a new 25th anniversary documentary and a commentary track with Cruise. Keep denying your age all you want. Risky Business is a "classic".

Western Classics Collection
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: William Holden, Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Glenn Ford, Richard Widmark, Gregory Peck, and Eva Marie Saint
Features: Theatrical Trailers

Now, these are what would traditionally be called "classics". Sort of. None of the six films in the Western Classics Collection are anything that gets too much attention in the genre but there is something remarkable about this sextet - none of these films were previously available on DVD. The six in the set are Escape From Fort Bravo, Many Rivers to Cross, the 1960 version of Cimarron, The Law and Jake Wade, Saddle the Wind, and The Stalking Moon. Not exactly household titles, but isn't the DVD market old enough that movies with stars as big as William Holden, Glenn Ford, and Gregory Peck should all be available by now? Shouldn't EVERY Gregory Peck movie be on DVD by now? Imagine if a Leonardo DiCaprio or Russell Crowe movie never appeared on DVD. It's weird that some of these take this long. But better late than never.