Salute to a Real Trouper

Bob Hope will be celebrating his 99th birthday in May. And after watching Universal Home Video’s new “Bob Hope: The DVD Tribute Collection” ($20 each) all one can say is thanks for the funny memories.

Because the majority of Hope’s films in the ‘60s and early ‘70s were pretty dreadful, one forgets just how gifted he was as a film star. He was not a master farceur, but he could sing and dance. In fact, on Broadway he introduced such songs as “It’s De-Lovely” and “I Can’t Get Started”; in films, he unveiled the Oscar winners “Thanks for the Memory” and “Buttons and Bows” and the Oscar-nominated “Silver Bells.” The DVD collection includes the first four “Road” pictures he made with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour: 1940’s “The Road to Singapore,” 1941’s “The Road to Zanzibar,” 1942’s “The Road to Morocco” and 1946’s “The Road to Utopia.”

Included on the “Singapore” DVD are a photo gallery, production notes, the original theatrical trailer, a sing-along for the fun tune “Sweet Potato Piper” and the short but interesting documentary “Bob Hope and the Road to Success,” which examines Hope’s early film career and how he and Crosby were teamed up for “Singapore.” Interestingly enough, Hope had third billing in the film. In the subsequent films, Lamour had third billing.

The “Zanzibar” DVD includes the documentary, production notes, trailer and excerpts from the radio show “Command Performance 1944” that was filmed for the troops during World War II.

The DVD of “Morocco”--which is the best of the “Road” pictures--includes the documentary, the “Command Performance 1945” trailer, photo gallery, production notes and “The Road to Morocco” sing-along.

“Utopia” features the documentary, photo gallery, production notes and trailer and the entertaining 1945 World War II shot, “Hollywood Victory Caravan,” which features Hope, Crosby, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd stumping for victory war bonds.

An interesting note about “Utopia”: It was filmed in 1944, but by the time it was released in 1946, co-star Robert Benchley had died.

Also included in the collection is the dandy 1948 western comedy “The Paleface,” in which Hope plays a cowardly dentist who teams up with Jane Russell’s Calamity Jane. The Technicolor delight includes a photo gallery, production notes, trailer, a “Buttons & Bows” sing-along and “Entertaining the Troops,” a documentary chronicling the comic’s USO shows during World War II.

Equally funny is 1940’s “The Ghost Breakers,” which finds Hope playing a nervous radio broadcaster on the lam from the mob and Paulette Goddard as a young woman who has inherited a haunted house in Cuba.

The film is a deft mixture of thrills and laughs served up by director George Marshall. The DVD includes the “Entertaining the Troops,” a photo gallery, production notes, trailer and “Command Performance 1944.”

There are also two DVD double features in the collection: “The Big Broadcast of 1938,” which marked Hope’s feature debut and the film in which he introduced “Thanks for the Memory,” and “College Swing,” a bouncy 1938 musical that also stars George Burns, Gracie Allen and Betty Grable; “My Favorite Blonde,” an amusing comedy from 1942 with Madeleine Carroll, is paired with the 1943 all-star World War II revue “Star Spangled Rhythm.”

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Steven Spielberg enters Stanley Kubrick territory with his dark, disturbing fairy tale “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.” The late Kubrick initiated the project first for himself and then asked his good friend Spielberg to direct it.

Haley Joel Osment gives another emotionally naked performance as a robot boy who was designed for love; Jude Law nearly steals the film as “Gigolo Joe,” a robot designed to make love to human women.

True to form, Spielberg forgoes supplying audio commentary for the two-disc DVD (DreamWorks, $23). But there are enough goodies included on the digital edition to make up for the absence of the audio track.

The first disc includes a nice wide-screen transfer of the film and a comprehensive documentary on how “A.I.” was brought to the screen.

The second disc is filled with extras--a veritable “Everything You Wanted to Know About A.I,” including terrific interviews with Spielberg, Osment and Law, behind-the-scenes featurettes on the design, lighting and costumes for the film; a look at the production design from original concept drawings to the building of the sets; an examination of the development and creation of the robots used in the film, including a visit to the Stan Winston Studios; an interview with the special effects supervisor; interviews with two effects supervisors at Industrial Light & Magic and how they blended live action with animation; an examination of the sound design; an interview with composer John Williams, as well as storyboard sequences, production drawings, a photo gallery and trailer.

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Though Spielberg has avoided audio commentaries, Rod Lurie, the director of “The Last Castle” (DreamWorks, $20) relishes talking about his work--even if the film isn’t very good. And despite a stellar cast--including Robert Redford, James Gandolfini and Mark Ruffalo--the drama about a heroic general (Redford) serving time in a military prison bombed with most critics and languished at the box office.

The digital edition includes a passable HBO-produced featurette and several deleted scenes with commentary by Lurie. The former film critic offers some interesting tidbits in his commentary, including the fact that Gandolfini played chess between scenes whereas Redford read the dictionary and then quizzed Lurie on the definitions of certain words. Lurie also doesn’t shy away from pointing out mistakes he made in the staging of several scenes.

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The enchanting, Oscar-nominated adventure-drama “Himalaya” makes its video ($50) and DVD ($30) debut this week on Kino. Directed by French filmmaker Eric Valli, “Himalaya” was shot over seven months in the Dolpo region of Nepal and chronicles a power struggle for the leadership of a tiny mountain village between an old chief and a young man as they make their annual trek carrying salt across the Himalayas. The majority of the cast--all of whom give marvelous performances--is made up of actual villagers.

The DVD includes a wide-screen version of the film, the trailer, a making of documentary and commentary from Valli, whose imperfect English is sometimes difficult to understand.

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Hong Kong martial arts superstar Jet Li goes the sci-fi route in “The One” (Columbia TriStar, $27), a somewhat muddled action-adventure that finds Li in a dual role of an honest police officer and a universe-traveling assassin.

The passable DVD includes both the wide- and full-screen versions of the film, several featurettes including “Jet Li Is the One,” talent files, trailers and OK commentary from director James Wong and writer Glen Morgan. One interesting note: “The One” was originally set to star The Rock. But when the wrestler was cast in “The Scorpion King,” Li stepped into the role.