Streisand’s Comedic Side

For some of the 1970s, Barbra Streisand played hard at being a funny lady. Judging from three relatively recent Warner Home Video releases, she succeeded in varying degrees.

The newest release, the 1972 “Up the Sandbox,” explores early feminism, combining fantasy and reality as it tries to paint a realistic portrait of a neglected young mother. The film works because of Streisand’s first-rate performance. Directed by Irvin Kershner (“The Empire Strikes Back”), the laser edition is presented in its original 1.85-1 aspect ratio but it’s not indicated on the album because of a jacket-printing snafu. The widescreen presentation and digitally processed sound definitely enhance the picture. The 98-minute disc comes with 17 chapter stops ($35).

Streisand’s other 1972 film, Peter Bogdanovich’s “What’s Up, Doc?,” is not a widescreen edition, but everything you have to see seems to be there on the small screen. The sound, digitally processed, is good and the album also offers the original theatrical trailer and 20 chapter stops. Streisand stars with Ryan O’Neal in Bogdanovich’s homage to 1930s screwball comedies. The film is a cultivated taste--hilarious to some, silly to others. The 94-minute romp holds up well with Madeline Kahn in her first film role and Streisand showing off her likable comic abilities.

The least of the recent Warner comedy releases, “The Main Event,” which again teams Streisand and O’Neal, comes with the crispest transfer and brightest picture. Like “What’s Up, Doc?,” it is not widescreen. There are 20 chapter stops. In addition to digital processing it also comes with closed captioning.

Other, more noted Streisand appearances are available on laser, including a recent letterboxed “Hello, Dolly!” in a crisp, clear transfer from Fox. Her Oscar-winning film debut, “Funny Girl,” and its sequel, “Funny Lady,” are both available in widescreen editions, as are “The Prince of Tides,” “A Star Is Born” and “Yentl.”

Notably missing from the Streisand laser-disc collection is the Criterion Collection edition of “Prince of Tides,” which was shelved after she and Criterion could not agree on her second audio-track commentary. It’s a key loss, for it would have marked one of the rare times that the reticent Streisand has talked about her work as an artist.

New Movies Just Out: “Single White Female” (Columbia TriStar, $35); “Diggstown” (MGM/UA, $30); “Mo’ Money” (Columbia TriStar, $35); “Raising Cain,” widescreen (MCA/Universal, $35), “Where the Day Takes You” (Columbia TriStar, $35).

Coming Soon: Columbia TriStar’s “A League of Their Own,” the Penny Marshall film about the early 1940s women’s baseball league, comes out Wednesday at $40. For an extra $10, you can get a documentary about the league; “That Touch of Mink” (Republic, $35), a 1959 romantic comedy with Cary Grant and Doris Day, is due March 24; a widescreen version of ‘The Last of the Mohicans” (FoxVideo, $40) is coming in early April.

Scheduled from Criterion in May, “A River Runs Through It,” with an audio track promised from Robert Redford. Films planned with audio tracks from the filmmakers and released to coincide with studio releases on video include “Damage,” “A Few Good Men, “Howards End” and “Dracula.”

Older Titles Just Released: “A Child Is Waiting” (MGM/UA, 1963, $35), the Burt Lancaster-Judy Garland drama about retarded children; “The Thomas Crown Affair” (MGM/UA, 1968, $35), with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in a sophisticated romance; “Pollyanna” (Disney, $1960, $40), a restored version of the family comedy featuring Hayley Mills.