Tweet Jean Arthur drama collection from TCM in May

Looks like a very nice quartet of rare-ish Columbia titles--

Whirlpool (1934)
The Most Precious Thing in Life (1934)
The Defense Rests (1934)
Party Wire (1935)

TCM's pre-order page is here:
http://shop.tcm.com/jean-arthur-drama-collection-dvd/detail.php?p=368343

I saw Whirlpool on TCM a couple of months ago and it was a solid picture--Arthur had very good chemistry with Jack Holt as her father (she spends so much time with him that her jealous beau assumes that the two are lovers!). The plot was perhaps rather contrived and the resolution not all that satisfactory, but it's a perfectly welcome addition to the home video arena.

-HA

WHIRLPOOL is scheduled again on TCM on May 6.

I got excited when I saw the title of this post...I was hoping TCM had licensed some of her early Paramount films (The Greene Murder Case, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu etc.) Oh well, maybe those will show up some day in collections of their own. Fingers crossed.

NO WONDER they showing that

Sweet I want score that

Just a reminder to Jeaniacs that this collection is being released this month.

N.

ETA

The Jean Arthur Film Festival started last night at the Bijou with the showing of Whirlpool.

Whirlpool is a Jack Holt film with Jean appearing about half way. I'm not really a Jack Holt fan (I prefer actors who occassionally move their jaw when they speak, but that's my bug-a-boo) but this was an enjoyable. And there was Lila Lee as well. JA played JH's daughter and planted many a smooch on papa's face. Most likely due to the fact that her fiance was dull and drab.

Fun. Great picture quality. Sound okay. Lot's of stills as extras.

2nd Night of the Jean Arthur Film Festival

Most Precious Thing in Life

This may be the "weirdest" movie Jean ever made. It starts with the titles with Richard Cromwell the putative star and Jean below the title but it's Jean's picture. It's the flip of Whirlpool with Jean playing the secret parent instead of the secret child. It even has a 1910-1930 time elapses montage. The ever phlegmatic Donald Cook is again her fiance/husband. [The Bijou really should have scheduled Whirlpool and Precious as a double feature.]

The film starts with our typical Jean, but after she gives up her child she reappears after the montage as a version of Unity Blake. The vast majority of the film has 30ish Jean playing an old drudge! Her son reappears in her life as a spoiled rich kid. Jean uses her wiles to stay in his life and point him in the right direction. She saves the day in the end to stop him from making the same mistake with his girl that his father made with Jean.

Completely atypical Jean Arthur role. Great fun. Lots of familiar names such as Ben Alexander as a college buddy. I really recommend this strange film.

Picture quality okay. It was a bit dark in some scenes. Sound fair. Extras include the film's trailer which is also very interesting in how they play up Jean playing a non-glamorous older role.

Finished the set.

The Defense Rests
Another Jack Holt film costarring Jean this time as a love interest rather than a daughter. Jean is the good egg who leads attorney Holt back to the right side of the law. The memorable moment for me was when JH quoted Edna St. Vincent Millay's First Fig. (My candle burns at both ends...). I'm a big fan of Ms. Millay and despite her huge popularity in the 20s and 30s, I've never seen her quoted before. Other than that a rather routine, gangster/lawyer film except that JH doesn't have to pay for his misdeeds. The production must have been rushed because many times, actors cross into Jean's light.

Picture Quality and Sound okay. Extras: Stills and lobby cards.

Party Wire
The high light of the set (both sets, actually). Jean plays a typical JA spirited regular gal role. She falls on the wrong side of small town business when gossip casts aspersions on her good name. It takes Jean and her pappy most of the film to realize what the town thinks she's done. All's well in the end with truth revealed about the rumor and her marriage to the richest man in town. Despite an attempted suicide, this film was as much or more of a comedy as the four films in the comedy set. So the distinction of comedy/drama in a Jean Arthur film is a bit fluid.

Picture Quality and Sound okay. Extras: Stills and lobby cards.

Overall a very good set. These pictures aren't easy to find or see. A questionable purchase for the average movie goer, but it would be a great addition for a citizen of Nitrateville. I recommed both sets but this is the better of the two. And the Frank Capra Box is still the best Jean Arthur set.

Now someone release the really early stuff. Please.

Thanks for posting these. They're beauts.

I've asked for some Jean Arthur silent western at Cinecon. (And I hate Westerns.)

Even in her 30s and 40s films she's on horseback more than Dale Evans.