Hollywood Successfully Raids the Vaults

Film buffs who love the supplemental features on DVDs will treasure four documentaries just released on disc by Image Entertainment.

“Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From the 20th Century Fox Vaults” and “Hollywood Screen Tests,” each in two volumes, contain the type of archival materials that have become staples of DVD releases: deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes and screen tests.

Originally shown on cable’s American Movie Classics, “Hidden Hollywood” and “Hollywood Screen Tests” are the happy results of archivists’ efforts to find the best existing film and sound elements for use in restoring and preserving classic movies, which have become viable properties again, thanks to cable and home video.

The first installment of “Hidden Hollywood,” hosted by Joan Collins, gathers “priceless gems” that ended up on the cutting-room floor as well as rare and unusual footage, such as a vintage Fox promotional reel previewing the studio’s then-upcoming releases (Joanne Woodward and Lee J. Cobb, for example, are visited on the set of “The Three Faces of Eve”).

This 90-minute program boasts among its excavated treasures Katharine Hepburn’s first appearance on film, a 1932 screen test in which she performs a scene from James Barrie’s “The Animal Kingdom.”

Most of the running time is given to deleted musical numbers, some of which had not been seen in more than 60 years. Shirley Temple imitates Jimmy Durante in “Hop, Skip and Jump,” a song excised from “Little Miss Broadway” because studio head Darryl F. Zanuck thought the sequence made the child star seem “more cheeky than cute.”

Perhaps the unkindest cuts of all are two dance sequences from the extravaganza “Cafe Metropole.” Legendary tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson had been afforded the rare opportunity to portray himself and appear as the sophisticated showman he had been on the stage. Zanuck is said to have bowed to pressure from nervous theater owners and cut Robinson from the film.

Also included are Ethel Merman and Dan Daily’s performance of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” which was deleted from “There’s No Business Like Show Business”; Bert Lahr’s baffling “The Woof Song,” understandably cut from “Love and Hisses”; and Al Jolson’s medley trimmed from “The Rose of Washington Square.”

“Hidden Hollywood II” unearths from the Fox vaults more musical and comedy sequences long thought to have been lost. The real find is W.C. Fields’ contribution to the anthology film, “Tales of Manhattan,” as well as a darkly comic sequence deleted from “We’re Not Married!” in which Walter Brennan portrays a backwoods scoundrel taking advantage of his married lover.

Also included are rare outtakes of a smiling Buster Keaton rehearsing a pie-throwing routine with Alice Faye for the film “Hollywood Cavalcade” and Betty Grable’s rendition of “Daddy,” removed from “I Wake Up Screaming,” originally titled “Hot Spot.” Tex Avery fans will recognize this song as the incendiary number “Red Hot Riding Hood” performs to the infatuated Wolf.

“Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1,” narrated by Robert Culp, offers a nostalgic “before they were stars” look at budding stars trying to make the most of their “first chance of a lifetime.”

Watching “Hollywood Screen Tests” is akin to paging through an old high school yearbook, trying to pick out those most likely to succeed. Would you have recognized the star quality in 19-year-old Mia Farrow, then being considered for Liesel in “The Sound of Music,” 22-year-old Raquel Welch, seen turning the heat on James Coburn for a shot at “Our Man Flint,” or 28-year-old Sean Connery, testing with Ingrid Bergman for “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness”?

Also intriguing are 1961 and 1966 “personality tests” of, respectively, a vivacious Ann-Margret, then being considered for the remake of “State Fair,” and Dustin Hoffman, in which the future “Graduate” recites highlights from his resume.

Intriguing dueling screen tests compare Adam West and Lyle Waggoner, both vying for the coveted role of Batman in a proposed TV series. Also from the “road not traveled” file are screen tests for the remake of “State Fair” with Andy Williams and Barbara Eden and Rich Little’s test for the role that eventually went to Robert Morse in “A Guide for the Married Man.”

“Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2” does not lack for star power (Coburn, Bruce Lee, Martin Landau, Walter Matthau, Leslie Nielsen), but its roster of “the newest sensations” is a poignant reminder of the thousands whose Hollywood dreams were unfulfilled. Donna Michelle, a 1964 Playboy Playmate of the Year, displays disarming (and disrobing) comic timing in a scene with Adam West.

Model Suzy Parker’s test for the film “Kiss Them for Me” is historic as being the only known screen test of her legendary costar, Cary Grant.

Also benefiting from their screen test partners are Carol Ann Seflinger, cast as Rita Hayworth’s daughter in “The Story on Page One,” and Kim Atwood, who improvises with Elliot Gould for Robert Altman’s “MASH.”

Each installment of “Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From the 20th Century Fox Vaults” and “Hollywood Screen Tests” retails for $25. To order, call (800) 624-3078.