By Steven Suskin
05 Dec 2010

Speaking of Charles Laughton, the British actor established himself as the master of film grotesques in 1933 with "The Private Live of Henry VIII"; this Alexander Korda production was handsomely remastered for DVD as part of Criterion's low-priced Eclipse series, and reviewed in this column last fall. Laughton's animalistic performance in the banquet scene is so striking that we can readily understand why the folks in Hollywood decided for the first time to give a Best Actor Oscar to a foreign actor in a foreign film. M-G-M quickly snatched up Laughton for a parade of similar grotesques, including fellows like Javert in "Les Miserables," Quasimodo in "Hunchback of Notre Dame," and good old Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty [Warner]. This 1935 film was one of those massive M-G-M spectacles, produced by Irving Thalberg with great attention to detail, costs be damned. Charles Laughton as Bligh; Clark Gable — with mustache removed — as Fletcher Christian; Franchot Tone as midshipman Roger Byam, who tries to stop the mutiny. All three received Best Actor nominations; Gable and Laughton presumably canceled each other out, allowing Victor McLaglen to win for "The Informer." But "Mutiny on the Bounty" took the Best Picture Oscar and remains a rousingly entertaining two-hours' worth of high entertainment. We have had superspectacular, big-budget remake pics over the years — including an overblown 1962 M-G-M remake of this same "Mutiny," with Marlon Brando at the helm — but few of them look better than this one. And the Blu-ray process does the film full justice. Hi-Def picture, Hi-Def sound, in a Blu-ray digibook.

*

With Elf The Musical happily entertaining the crowds at the Hirschfeld, New Line has seen fit to release what they call the Elf "Blu-ray Ultimate Collector's Edition," one that is "stuffed with ginormous fun." I myself rather enjoyed the Broadway version, despite a lackluster showing from the songwriters, and am pleased to recommend it to general audiences. (Those who feel that a sweetly sentimental holiday story will leave them feeling grumpy are probably right, and are hereby excused.) That said, "Elf" the motion picture is superior to the musical and recommendable without qualification. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the Elf, is a master comedian; he would make "Elf" watchable even if the rest of the movie wasn't. Watchable, that is. But there are fine performances all around, starting with Bob Newhart as Papa Elf and Ed Asner as Santa. (These two roles are combined in the musical and played by George Wendt; Newhart is especially missed.) James Caan as the father, Zooey Deschanel as the girl, Mary Steenburgen as the step-mother; all give lovely performances, making "Elf" a fine and funny film with enough sophisticated humor to please even those who are irremediably grumpy at the approach of Black Friday and White Christmas. New Line puts this "Elf" release in a collectible can, as they say. Included are the Blu-ray disc (first released in 2008); a CD with five selections from the soundtrack (including Louis Prima's "Pennies from Heaven" and Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby"); two pages of adhesive holiday gift-tags with Ferrell's photo; and an oversized refrigerator magnet. Oh, and there is a 14-inch-plus holiday stocking, in yellow, that you can hang from your mantel. If you have a mantel.