Old controversy gives birth to a new boxed set

D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation,” unquestionably among the most controversial -- and successful -- films of the 20th century, leads the list of vintage oldies making their DVD debuts.

Kino on Video’s “Griffith Masterworks DVD Box Set” ($100) features Griffith’s landmark but brutally racist 1915 Civil War picture, “The Birth of a Nation,” his 1916 epic “Intolerance,” the 1919 drama “Broken Blossoms,” the 1921 French Revolutionary war drama, “Orphans of the Storm,” and numerous one-reel shorts he made for Biograph from 1908 to 1913. Extras on the discs include footage taken at Griffith’s funeral, an amazing 25-minute radio eulogy for Griffith by Erich Von Stroheim, a 1908 film, “Rescued From the Eagle’s Nest,” which actually features Griffith as an actor, and vintage introductions to several of the films by Orson Welles.

Brett Wood, who produced the DVD set for Kino, says that the firm wasn’t worried about bringing “Birth of a Nation” out on DVD even though the film depicts African Americans as monsters and rapists and portrays the Klu Klux Klan as heroes of the Reconstruction era in the South. The film caused race riots when it was first released.

“We had it out on VHS and laser disc before,” says Wood. “We didn’t want to gloss over the fact that it is very racially offensive, but at the same time we didn’t want our release to be just talking about it. We wanted people to try to see it as a film but also be mindful of the subtext in the film.”

The two-disc “Birth of a Nation” features a 24-minute documentary on the making of the film and the controversy surrounding it, a prologue to the film from 1930 featuring a conversation between Griffith and Walter Huston in which Griffith, a Southerner, talks about the need for the Klan in the 1860s, several Civil War shorts directed by Griffith, excerpts from the film’s souvenir book and archival information documenting New York versus “The Birth of a Nation,” chronicling the legal battles over the film’s 1922 re-release, including protests by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Also new from Kino is Fritz Lang’s full five-hour, two-part German saga “Die Nibelungen” on VHS ($25) and DVD ($40). Directed by Lang in 1922 and 1924, “Die Nibelungen,” which consists of the two features “Siegfried” and “Kriemhild’s Revenge,” has been beautifully restored by the Munich Film Archive and includes never-before-seen footage and re-translated titles and the 1924 orchestral score from Gottfried Huppertz. The end result is staggering, magnificent film experience.

Based on the 12th century German and Norse epic poem, “Die Nibelungen” was also adapted by Richard Wagner into the opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelungen.”

The DVD includes footage of Lang on the film set, production design and special effects sketches, and a photo gallery.

Lang plays himself, an old German director named Fritz Lang, in Jean-Luc Godard’s riveting 1963 drama, “Contempt,” which Criterion has just brought out on a classy two-disc DVD ($40). This lusciously filmed Cinemascope production stars Michel Piccoli as a French screenwriter who has been hired by a crude, obnoxious American producer (Jack Palance) to doctor a troubled script for a new film version of “The Odyssey.” Lang plays the director of the film within the film, and Brigitte Bardot plays Piccoli’s wife.

The first disc features a new high-definition digital transfer supervised by renowned cinematographer Raoul Coutard and inspired commentary from film scholar Robert Stam. The second disc features two short documentaries that were shot on the set of “Contempt”: “Contempt: Godard et Bardot” and “Paparazzi.”

Godard and Lang talk about filmmaking and the art of film criticism in the 1967 documentary “The Dinosaur and the Lady.” Lang is also the subject of another documentary shot on the set of “Contempt” by Peter Fleischman titled “Encounter With Fritz Lang.” Rounding out the disc is an excerpt from a 1963 interview with the enigmatic Godard, a new interview with Coutard and a comparison between the wide-screen and full-screen versions of the film.

New from Image Entertainment is a recently discovered and restored 1929 French swashbuckler, “Captain Fracasse” ($25). Lavish and exciting, “Captain Fracasse” stars Pierre Blanchar as a nobleman traveling incognito with a troupe of actors who must battle an evil duke (a very young Charles Boyer) over the woman they both love. The DVD includes cast and crew biographies, a score featuring period French piano music by Neal Kurtz and an annoying contemporary jazz score by clarinetist Michel Portal.

Also new from Image on DVD is the 1938 drama “Blockade” ($20), starring Henry Fonda, Madeleine Carroll and Reginald Denny. The film whipped up a lot of controversy when it was released because it was the only major studio feature of the time brave enough to focus on the Spanish Civil War. In fact, there was pressure not to release it. In hindsight, the film seems rather toothless. Though set during the war, there is no discussion of the political motivations of either side of the conflict -- just who is fighting whom and why. John Howard Lawson, who later was blacklisted, did receive an Oscar nomination for his screenplay.

Flicker Alley, a boutique DVD company that specializes in vintage films, has just released its first presentation, the entertaining, light 1928 silent “The Garden of Eden” ($23), a rediscovered and restored romantic comedy starring Corrine Griffith and Lowell Sherman that was directed by Lewis Milestone. Extras include photo galleries and a short, circa 1927, that looks at the architectural style of Hollywood. To order, call (800) 331-6197 or (800) 936-1115.

Alexander Korda’s sumptuous 1940 Technicolor fantasy, “The Thief of Bagdad,” has just entered the Digital Age (MGM, $20) in a gorgeous new transfer. Winner of three Oscars, “Thief of Bagdad” stars Conrad Veidt, John Justin, Rex Ingram and Sabu. One of the film’s three directors was Michael Powell of “The Red Shoes” fame.

Also new from MGM is the 1962 comedy “The Road to Hong Kong” ($20), which was the seventh and final “Road” picture starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. In this rather limp vehicle, the boys play vaudevillians who end up being sent to the moon by a group of spies.

A year before he became as superstar as James Bond in “Dr. No,” Sean Connery starred in the scrappy 1961 British thriller “The Frightened City” (Anchor Bay). Connery plays a mob enforcer who strong-arms and extorts money from pubs and merchants. Herbert Lom and John Gregson also star in this rarity.

“Fat City,” one of John Huston’s best films from his later period, has emerged on DVD (Columbia TriStar, $20). Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges and Susan Tyrrell are all superb in this downbeat boxing drama adapted by Leonard Gardner from his novel. Conrad Hall supplied the gorgeously stark cinematography. A must-see for any discerning film fan.