The disc: "Chandu the Magician."
The details: There are two reasons to watch "Chandu the Magician" (Fox). The first is Bela Lugosi, who is in fine florid form at the picture's beginning, and rises to truly unhinged heights at the climax.
 K.C. Bailey/Universal Pictures Tina Fey stars as single businesswoman Kate Holbrook in the comic story of two women, one apartment and the nine months that will change their lives in 'Baby Mama'. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
The second is the direction by William Cameron Menzies. Best known as the production designer of "Gone With the Wind," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and a passel of other beautiful-looking movies of the classic era of Hollywood, Menzies directed on occasion.
All of the movies he directed are visual exercises that are oddly strangled dramatically.
Although "Chandu the Magician" is hampered by Edmund Lowe, its more or less uninteresting leading man, it's less strangled than it ordinarily would be because it's based on a radio serial of the early '30s, and is full of a lot of adventurous derring-do, including some sets and situations that seem to have been cribbed for the third "Indiana Jones" movie.
The protagonists are Chandu (Lowe), a seer and mystic, and Roxor (Lugosi), who has a giant ray gun with which he intends to destroy the world, although an objective observer might point out that the use of said ray gun rather devalues Roxor's intended acquisition.
At any rate, Menzies fills the film with a couple of gorgeous full-size sets, and when he can't afford to spend much money he creates miracles out of lighting and some cannily crafted miniatures.
The extras: The commentary track by Greg Mank and a very nice featurette that lays out the background of the character constitute good added value.
COMING OUT
Film noir: "Road House" (the 1948 Ida Lupino one, not Patrick Swayze!).
Helen Hunt: "Then She Found Me."
Pierce Brosnan: "Married Life," with Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams.
Classic '60s TV: "Honey West: The Complete Series," the long-awaited release of the old Anne Francis show about a female private eye.
More TV on DVD: "The Office: Season Four"; "The Big Bang Theory: The Complete First Season"; "Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season"; "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries."
ON THE HORIZON
Tina Fey: "Baby Mama."
Jet Li: "The Forbidden Kingdom."
Classic reissue: "How the West Was Won."
It's El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing: The 10th anniversary edition of "The Big Lebowski." It even comes in a bowling ball case, which ties the whole package together.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: seyman AT pbpost.com
