Fievel’s Big Adventure in Manhattan

Fievel Mousekewitz, the cute little immigrant mouse made famous in the Steven Spielberg-produced animated films “An American Tail” (1987) and “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West” (1991), is back in a new adventure, “An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island” (Universal, $20).

Young children will probably enjoy this straight-to-video tale, which finds Fievel’s family struggling as his dad, Mr. Mousekewitz, works his tail off in the cheese factory. Life begins to look a little brighter when Fievel, his friend Tony and their best buddy, a big, vegetarian pussycat named Tiger, discover a mysterious treasure map in an abandoned subway that leads to a secret underground world inhabited by Native American mice (who sound uncomfortably like relatives of Tonto).

The three new songs, including “Anywhere in Your Dreams,” aren’t half bad, but the animation is a real disappointment--it’s strictly TV quality. The script is pretty cheesy, so to speak, and probably will bore anyone over the age of 10. Dom LeLuise, Lacy Chabert and David Carradine supply the voices.

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Brigitte Bardot was one of the most popular sex kittens of the silver screen in the 1950s and ‘60s. On Tuesday, Home Vision is releasing three of her films ($20 each), all digitally remastered and letterboxed.

The crown jewel is “And God Created Woman,” Roger Vadim’s controversial 1956 erotic romance starring Bardot as a young woman who proves to be catnip to three vastly different men (Curt Jurgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Christian Marquand). It’s all silly but ooh-la-la fun. Vadim, who died last week of cancer at age 72, elicited good performances from the cast, and it’s enjoyable to see what was considered an “adult” film 44 years ago. The print is beautiful and this edition also includes the very funny trailer.

Also featured in the Bardot collection is 1969’s “Spirits of the Dead.” Bardot stars with Alain Delon in Louis Malle’s version of the Edgar Allan Poe story about a man who confronts his evil twin. Vadim’s 1973 drama, “Don Juan (or If Don Juan Were a Woman)” marks Bardot’s last film appearance and finds her playing Miss Don Juan.

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Acorn Media, which specializes in vintage British TV series, has dug into the archives for its latest three releases: “A Fine Romance” ($40), “No, Honestly” ($40) and “Cold Comfort Farm” ($40).

The best of the lot is “A Fine Romance,” starring Dame Judi Dench and her real-life husband, Michael Williams. Acorn is presenting a three-volume set featuring nine episodes of this comedy series from the early 1980s. It’s an enjoyable romp about two middle-aged misfits--a bright translator (Dench) and a shy landscape gardener (Williams).

Another British acting couple, Pauline Collins (“Shirley Valentine,” “Upstairs, Downstairs”) and John Alderton (“Upstairs, Downstairs”) headline the 1975 comedy series “No, Honestly.” Acorn is presenting the first seven episodes, in which a married couple looks back at their early days together.

“Cold Comfort Farm” is the BBC’s rather lowbrow adaptation of Stella Gibbons’ 1932 satire about a London sophisticate trying to domesticate her rustic cousins. The three-part comedy originally aired on the first season of PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” nearly 30 years ago. This unedited version features scenes--probably all the nude bits--never before seen in America. Despite a wonderful cast, including Alastair Sim and Fay Compton, it’s far from a masterpiece. If you enjoy Benny Hill, you’ll probably love this, but everyone else should check out the recent John Schlesinger-directed version.

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The eclectic Milestone Film & Video begins the millennium with three restored British films.

“People of the Wind” ($40), an Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated 1976 documentary, tells the fascinating story of the Bakhtiari migration. Every year, 500,000 men, women and children, along with a million animals, spend eight weeks scaling the massive Zagros Mountains in Iran to reach their summer pastures. James Mason supplies the voice of the head of the tribe. The video was digitally restored from the original inter negative and is presented in its original wide-screen format.

Film historian Kevin Brownlow’s and Andrew Mollo’s 1966 film, “It Happened Here: The Story of Hitler’s England” ($30), is a riveting “what if” story. In this chiller, Germany has won World War II and the Nazis now occupy England. “It Happened Here” is presented for the first time in the United States in its complete version and has been restored and digitally mastered from original 35-millimeter material by Brownlow himself.

Brownlow and Mollo are also responsible for 1975’s “Winstanley: The Revolution Starts Here . . . ($30), which dramatizes the first “communist” revolution when, in 1649, a religious sect in England attempted to form a commune. Digitally mastered from the original 35-millimeter material, this edition also features a documentary on the making of the film.

To order any of the Milestone films, call (800) 603-1104.