The Samuel Fuller Film Collection (It Happened in Hollywood / Adventure in Sahara / Power of the Press / The Crimson Kimono / Shockproof / Scandal Sheet / Underworld U.S.A.)

We now finally have the details on the seven films that will be in this collection:

It Happened in Hollywood (1937) - Fuller's second film. Richard Dix stars as a silent Western star who is put out of work by the coming of talking pictures, since in the early days the technology can't be taken outdoors. He loses his career, his ranch, everything. After his fall he encounters a small boy who still adores him.

Adventure in Sahara (1938)-Much like Mutiny on the Bounty except it is set in the desert.

Power of the Press (1943) - From 1925-1935 Hollywood had made many anti-war films. This is one of those films that tried to reverse that trend with a tale about the dangers of isolationism.

Shockproof (1949, directed by Douglas Sirk) - About a parole officer in love with a parolee. This is against the rules of his profession, so the parole officer fixes it so the parolee can work in his home tending to his mother. However,the parolee just may be using him and may still be in love with her gangster ex-boyfriend. Don't blame Sam for the ending. The studio rewrote it.

Scandal Sheet (1952)- Newspaper reporters investigate the death of a woman and determine not only that it was murder but who the murderer is, which turns out to be quite interesting.

The Crimson Kimono (1959) - A stripper is shot in the streets of L.A. and it's up to Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta as two cops to determine the killer. The whole investigation enables a tale that only Fuller could tell about interracial love along with the cast of strange people that often fill Fuller's stories.

Underworld U.S.A. (1961) - A teenager sees her father killed by four gangsters. Twenty years later the crime remains unsolved by the police and the gangsters have risen to the top of the underworld. The daughter, now a grown woman, sets out for revenge. Both written and directed by Fuller.

There is yet no word on extra features.

This is an interesting collection that really shows Fuller on a journey during his career. The early films really don't resemble the work of Fuller as we know it from about 1950 forward, but the first two films were made when Fuller had less creative control over his work, so you have to appreciate what he does with material he is handed in his early years. There is an outstanding documentary - "The Men Who Made the Movies - Sam Fuller" - that really shows what made the director tick in his own words , but I don't believe that Sony has the rights to that one so I doubt it will be available here. If you get a chance, though, watch that first before you get into these films.

I'm not here to discuss film content, which is probably excellent. I am here to discuss the difficult packaging which plagues this set. Not only are the DVDs stacked on top of each other in twos, but the lower discs have edges that are positioned BELOW the spindles!

I had major difficulty sliding the four lower DVDs out without breaking them (I did crack the outer packaging twice). I should have pushed down on the lower release button BEFORE attempting to slide the discs from underneath the spindles. I'm neither adroit nor mechanically minded, so the packaging was a challenge to me. Others will probably have less trouble than I experienced, as long as they are careful.

I still hate this packaging, and would rather have slim cases in a wraparound. That would avoid the potential for breakage that I described above.

The film transfers look quite good for the most part.

What idiot at Columbia came up with this packaging? DVD's are stacked on top of each other. That combined with the discs practically being imbedded in plastic makes it inevitable that nicks and scratches will result. Samuel Fuller fans are a very dedicated lot, yet also demand high quality. It appears the studio was banking on the dedication aspect, while agnoring the quality part. How many years have we waited for the "The Crimson Kimono" on DVD? ...and when it is released, it's accompanied by crappy packaging - not in a public domain issue, but by the originating studio that bills itself as top of the line.

To the executives at Columbia Pictures, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

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