ONCE
UPON A TIME ($30) is one of those rare Cary Grant films, which I never
had the opportunity to see in all the years that I spent watching old
movies on television. However, when I heard that the film was to make both
its home video and DVD debut in one fell swoop, I decided to take
advantage of the opportunity to review ONCE UPON A TIME. While I
liked the film, I can honestly report that ONCE UPON A TIME isn’t
Cary Grant’s finest cinematic achievement. Nevertheless, I think that
Grant's fans will find ONCE UPON A TIME to be a rather charming
movie fable, with a whole lot of old style motion picture appeal.
In
ONCE UPON A TIME, Cary Grant portrays theatrical producer Jerry
Flynn, who has had three consecutive Broadway flops and faces foreclosure
on his Broadway Theater. While exiting his theater on the night that his
latest show closes, Flynn happens on a young boy named Pinky Thompson (Ted
Donaldson), who claims to have a caterpillar named Curly, which he trained
to dance to the tune Yes Sir, That’s My Baby. Of course,
Flynn is incredulous of Pinky’s claims, that is, until he witnesses
Curly’s talent with his own two eyes. Being something of a self centered
heel, Flynn sees dollar signs instead of Curly, and quickly begins
scheming a way to use Curly to save his theater, even if it means breaking
the young boy's heart. The cast of ONCE UPON A TIME also features
Janet Blair, James Gleason, William Demarest, Howard Freeman, Art Baker,
John Abbott and Ian Wolfe.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made ONCE UPON A TIME available on
DVD in a really nice looking full screen transfer that frames the movie in
its proper 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The black and white film element used for
the transfer is in pretty good shape, with a few blemishes and relatively
minor scratches serving as a reminder that ONCE UPON A TIME is
nearly sixty years old. There is a discernable grain structure throughout
much of the film, although it isn’t particularly heavy or bothersome. As
for the picture itself, it appears relatively sharp and nicely defined.
Blacks are deep, the whites look clean and the image produces a nice
grayscale. Digital compression artifacts are well concealed throughout.
ONCE
UPON A TIME features a Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack that doesn’t
sound particularly aged. Most of the background hiss and surface noise
have been cleaned up, which leaves the dialogue crisp and fully
understandable. Fidelity is fairly limited, leaving the film’s music
sounding a bit reedy. Although no other language tracks are included on
the DVD, subtitles have been provided in English, French, Spanish,
Japanese and Korean. The basic interactive menus allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as bonus trailers
for HIS GIRL FRIDAY, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and MR. SMITH
GOES TO WASHINGTON.
As
I stated above, ONCE UPON A TIME may not be Cary Grant’s finest
cinematic achievement, but it is a very likable movie fable nonetheless.
If you are a Cary Grant fan and never had the opportunity to view ONCE
UPON A TIME prior to its DVD debut, you will definitely want to check
out the disc.
ONCE
UPON A TIME ($30) is one of those rare Cary Grant films, which I never
had the opportunity to see in all the years that I spent watching old
movies on television. However, when I heard that the film was to make both
its home video and DVD debut in one fell swoop, I decided to take
advantage of the opportunity to review ONCE UPON A TIME. While I
liked the film, I can honestly report that ONCE UPON A TIME isn’t
Cary Grant’s finest cinematic achievement. Nevertheless, I think that
Grant's fans will find ONCE UPON A TIME to be a rather charming
movie fable, with a whole lot of old style motion picture appeal.
In
ONCE UPON A TIME, Cary Grant portrays theatrical producer Jerry
Flynn, who has had three consecutive Broadway flops and faces foreclosure
on his Broadway Theater. While exiting his theater on the night that his
latest show closes, Flynn happens on a young boy named Pinky Thompson (Ted
Donaldson), who claims to have a caterpillar named Curly, which he trained
to dance to the tune Yes Sir, That’s My Baby. Of course,
Flynn is incredulous of Pinky’s claims, that is, until he witnesses
Curly’s talent with his own two eyes. Being something of a self centered
heel, Flynn sees dollar signs instead of Curly, and quickly begins
scheming a way to use Curly to save his theater, even if it means breaking
the young boy's heart. The cast of ONCE UPON A TIME also features
Janet Blair, James Gleason, William Demarest, Howard Freeman, Art Baker,
John Abbott and Ian Wolfe.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made ONCE UPON A TIME available on
DVD in a really nice looking full screen transfer that frames the movie in
its proper 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The black and white film element used for
the transfer is in pretty good shape, with a few blemishes and relatively
minor scratches serving as a reminder that ONCE UPON A TIME is
nearly sixty years old. There is a discernable grain structure throughout
much of the film, although it isn’t particularly heavy or bothersome. As
for the picture itself, it appears relatively sharp and nicely defined.
Blacks are deep, the whites look clean and the image produces a nice
grayscale. Digital compression artifacts are well concealed throughout.
ONCE
UPON A TIME features a Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack that doesn’t
sound particularly aged. Most of the background hiss and surface noise
have been cleaned up, which leaves the dialogue crisp and fully
understandable. Fidelity is fairly limited, leaving the film’s music
sounding a bit reedy. Although no other language tracks are included on
the DVD, subtitles have been provided in English, French, Spanish,
Japanese and Korean. The basic interactive menus allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as bonus trailers
for HIS GIRL FRIDAY, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and MR. SMITH
GOES TO WASHINGTON.
As
I stated above, ONCE UPON A TIME may not be Cary Grant’s finest
cinematic achievement, but it is a very likable movie fable nonetheless.
If you are a Cary Grant fan and never had the opportunity to view ONCE
UPON A TIME prior to its DVD debut, you will definitely want to check
out the disc.