By Steven Suskin
25 Feb 2008

A box of a different sort comes from Eclipse, the budget arm of Criterion. (While the film quality is very good, there are no extras, no booklets, no nothing except brief-yet-informative five-paragraph notes on the inner sleeves of each slipcase.) Lubitsch Musicals [Criterion] includes four specimens from the years 1929-32. While understandably old-fashioned in style — these were among the first wave of talking pictures — they are each pretty good. Lubitsch, even then, was Lubitsch; sparkling, sophisticated and inventive every step of the way. Three of the films — "The Love Parade," "The Smiling Lieutenant" and "One Hour with You" — star Maurice Chevalier; three feature Jeanette McDonald as leading lady. Filling in for Maurice opposite Jeanette on one, "Monte Carlo," is Jack Buchanan, the West End equivalent of Fred Astaire (who is best known hereabouts for his performance opposite Fred in M-G-M's "The Band Wagon"). Filling in for Jeanette opposite Maurice on the other is Claudette Colbert. Clifford Grey and Leo Robin were co-lyricists on the 1927 Broadway hit Hit the Deck. Each, coincidentally or not, did two of the films. The scores generated two song hits, both from Robin (best remembered for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend") and composer Richard Whiting: "One Hour with You" and, especially, "Beyond the Blue Horizon."

On a personal level, let me take you back to the days before cable channels and VCRs. The only way to see these films, other than visiting revival houses, was to stay up late at night and sit through them (usually on public TV). For years I've recalled a remarkable and somewhat astounding performance from some old music hall pro who did what can best be called jack-knife steps, with his knees extending or folding in a manner indescribable. But who? from where? Thank you Mr. Lubitsch, for your box set. Lupino Lane (1892-1959) is the name, a British song and dance man who went on to stardom in 1937, introducing "The Lambeth Walk" in Me and My Gal. (He not only starred in this massive West End hit but directed and produced it as well, pocketing a sizable fortune over its four-year run. The best known member of the Lupino family, which brought forth generations of performers, was Lane's niece Ida Lupino.) The song, in "The Love Parade," is a boy-girl duet called "Let's Be Common" (lyric by Clifford Grey, music by Victor Schertzinger). Lane is dancing around with a plump-kneed Lillian Roth, of all people. The terping is just as remarkable, and just as indescribable, as remembered. How did he do that?

*

With The 39 Steps popularly ensconced at the American Airlines Theatre, it is natural enough to turn one's attention to its sibling in the Hitchcock catalogue, The Lady Vanishes [Criterion]. These two films — international espionage thrillers from the period just before World War II — are often paired for reasons of theme, style, ingenuity, comedic flair and overall excellence. They represent Hitchcock near his best; were I to compile a top six Hitchcock list, both would earn slots. Criterion has now added "The Lady Vanishes" to its collection, and this clean and crisp release is sure to delight fans of the film (who have presumably watched the thing ten or more times by now). This is the one in which a lady — Dame May Whitty — vanishes from a train, with Michael Redgrave (father to Lynn and Vanessa) and Margaret Lockwood hot on the trail. A bonus disc is filled with intelligent and interesting extras, not the least of which is something called "Crook's Tour," a 1941 non-Hitchcock followup to the film that takes those two cricket-mad Britons Charters (Basil Radford) and Caldicott (Naunton Wayne) on a second European adventure. "The Lady Vanishes" is always good for another viewing, and now it looks as good as it plays.