Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy, The Big Clock, Rhinoceros, The Donna Reed Show: Seasons 1-5.
“George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy”
Arrested at Summerfest (1972) for his edgy routine, George Carlin became America’s king of comedy by the time of this Bill Clinton-era HBO special. As host Jon Stewart indicates, Carlin became part of comedy’s DNA during the ’70s. “40 Years” includes generous snippets of Carlin’s TV appearances over the years, a live HBO performance and a discussion with Stewart. Carlin was always topical, but his scathing comments on hypocrisy are as valid as ever.
The Big Clock
A mid-level manager and family man (Ray Milland) is tossed into a labyrinth of deceit and danger in The Big Clock (1948). One of the greatest film noirs, the tightly wound drama takes place inside a media empire presided over by a maniacal tycoon (Charles Laughton). The Big Clock satirizes the mechanism of modernity, especially the preoccupation with time and money. In The Big Clock, America is no longer a frontier of opportunity but a corporate cage.
Rhinoceros
How to react when a destructive rhinoceros appears in the midst of a city? Absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco asked the question with Rhinoceros. American Film Theatre, a company dedicated to transforming classic plays into movies, adapted it for the screen in 1973. While modestly budgeted, the production attracted top talent, reuniting the comic duo from The Producers, Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel. The characters are as baffled by the rhino as they are about life itself.
“The Donna Reed Show: Seasons 1-5”
“The Donna Reed Show” (1958-1966) had the same setup as “Leave It to Beaver,” yet while the Beave survived as a Boomer touchstone, Donna is usually forgotten. The DVD is a reminder of the era’s pervasive image of upper middle-class family comfort with a professional dad, a housewife and two adorable kids tossing snide softballs at each other. Reed was pleasantly composed, even maturely sexy, as the woman whose good sense kept the family grounded.
