Review: John Ford at Columbia, 1935 – 1958

Blu-ray: John Ford at Columbia, 1935 – 1958

It has been my pleasure to review many of the Indicator series of releases from Powerhouse Films, including their wonderful box sets. So once again it was with great anticipation that I sat back to watch the upcoming release of John Ford at Columbia, 1935 – 1958, which contains the following movies:

The Whole Town’s Talking (1935)

Shy and retiring office clerk Arthur Ferguson Jones (Edward G. Robinson) has his life turned upside (and also threatened) when his uncanny likeness to underworld criminal Manion (also played by Robinson) is brought to the attention of his fellow office workers.

The resemblance to Manion gets hm into trouble with the law who mistakenly arrest him thinking that he is the wanted man they are after.

Upon giving him a slip of paper signed by the police chief that states he is an innocent man, Arthur gets deeper into trouble when Manion finds out about it and demands to use it to cover his own nocturnal activities.

Arthur’s work colleague Miss Wilhelmina Clark (who he secretly admires from afar) helps him to not only prove his innocence because of the mistaken identity, but also gets embroiled in a dastardly scheme Manion has concocted to frame Arthur for everything.

The Whole Town’s Talking is an entertaining comedy with Edward G. Robinson in fine form, playing against type as the mild mannered office clerk Arthur, as well as hamming it up as rogue gangster Manion. While Jean Arthur is quite magnificent as the feisty Wilhelmina.

A fantastic start to this set of movies.

The Long Gray Line (1955)

The longest movie in this box set at 2 hours 18 minutes, and also my favourite.

The Long Gray Line follows the life of Irish immigrant Martin ‘Marty’ Maher (Tyrone Power), beginning in 1898 when he is hired as a civilian worker at West Point Military Academy, with no idea that the place would become far more than just a place where he worked.

Full of Irish blarney, Marty meets the love of his life Mary O’Donnell (Maureen O’Hara) and they plan to raise a family together. However, every family takes different forms, and through a series of events, some heartwarming, others heartbreaking, their lives take on a different path from what they both first envisioned.

Based on the true story of Marty Maher, The Long Gray Line begins as a slapstick comedy, but then takes you through every emotion during Marty’s long and eventful career.

Showing the futility of war, along with the bravery of those who have to fight it, and the love of those they leave behind, this is a movie where tissues will be used to dry tears of happiness as well as sorrow.

Gideon’s Day (1958)

Scotland Yard Chief Inspector George Gideon (Jack Hawkins) is a busy man, so busy in fact that he gets a parking violation ticket from a young policeman while dropping his daughter off at a music recital.

This young policeman (Andrew Ray) then comes back into Gideon’s life once again in a professional manner, and also returns in a personal one too.

Gideon is kept busy hunting an escaped murderer, tracking a robbery, and discovering that not all of his staff are playing by the rules.

Gideon’s Day is fragmented in its narrative, and never really gives time to settle into one particular line of investigation before jumping into another one, which doesn’t give any moments to create any particular empathy for the characters, unlike the aforementioned The Long Gray Line.

However, it is still an enjoyable enough comedy/crime/drama.

The Last Hurrah (1958)

Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy) is an old Irish-American, running for re-election as mayor of a U.S. town for the last time and asks his budding journalist nephew to chronicle his final attempt at staying in power.

Political machinations have not changed in the years since this was made, and familiar power struggles and corruption charges abound as Skeffington fights to stay in power, despite media boss Amos Force (John Carradine) doing everything that he can to stop him.

Interesting to see a political battle in a time before the internet and social media. 

Well acted and of course very well directed, The Last Hurrah is a great way to end this particular box set, which of course contains all the usual fascinating special features that we’ve come to expect from an Indicator release.

INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:

THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING

• 4K restoration
• Original mono audio
• Cymbaline (2020): a new video essay by Tag Gallagher, author of John Ford: The Man and His Films
• Leonard Maltin on ‘The Whole Town’s Talking’ (2014): archival appreciation by the film critic and historian
• Sheldon Hall on ‘The Whole Town’s Talking’ (2020): new appreciation by the film historian
• Pamela Hutchinson on Jean Arthur(2020): a look at the life and career of the acclaimed actor
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Farran Smith Nehme, an extract from the W R Burnett’s Jail Breaker, Edward G Robinson on The Whole Town’s Talking, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
   

THE LONG GRAY LINE

• 4K restoration
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with film historians Diana Drumm, Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme
• Living and Dead (2020): a new video essay by Tag Gallagher, author of John Ford: The Man and His Films
• Leonard Maltin on ‘The Long Gray Line’(2014): archival appreciation by the film critic and historian
• The Red, White and Blue Line (1955): rare promotional film, featuring the principal cast of The Long Gray Line
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Nick Pinkerton, archival interviews with John Ford, Maureen O’Hara on The Long Gray Line, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Anthony Nield on The Red, White and Blue Line, and film credits
• World premiere on Blu-ray
  
  

GIDEON’S DAY

• 4K restoration
• Original mono audio
• Alternative feature presentation with the US Gideon of Scotland Yard titles
• Audio commentary with film historian Charles Barr (2020)
• Milk and Sugar (2020): a new video essay by Tag Gallagher, author of John Ford: The Man and His Films
• Leonard Maltin on ‘Gideon’s Day’ (2014): archival appreciation by the film critic and historian
• John Ford’s London (2020): new appreciation by Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London
• Interview with Elaine Schreyeck (2020): the continuity supervisor recollects her work on the set
• John Ford and Lindsay Anderson at the NFT (1957): rare silent footage of Ford visiting London’s National Film Theatre during the production of Gideon’s Day
• Original UK theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, an interview with producer Michael Killanin, Jack Hawkins on Gideon’s Day, Lindsay Anderson on John Ford, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
  
  

THE LAST HURRAH

• 2K restoration
• Original mono audio
• True Blue (2020): a new video essay by Tag Gallagher, author of John Ford: The Man and His Films
• Leonard Maltin on ‘The Last Hurrah’(2014): archival appreciation by the film critic and historian
• Super 8 version: original cut-down home cinema presentation
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Imogen Sarah Smith, John Ford on Spencer Tracy and The Last Hurrah, screenwriter Frank S Nugent on John Ford, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray

Extras subject to change

Limited edition box set of 6,000 numbered units.

John Ford at Columbia, 1935 – 1958 is released on 27th April 2020.

Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.

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