THEATER CRITICCharles McNultyLearn the right way to...

THEATER CRITIC

Charles McNulty

Learn the right way to get a move on

For anyone who’s ever envied the uncanny poise of stage actors, here’s an adventurous gift idea: It involves arranging lessons in the Alexander Technique. Developed by a Tasmanian-born Shakespearean orator, F.M. Alexander, this accessible movement system seeks to relieve unnecessary tension patterns in your body while putting you into a more balanced relationship with your physical (and therefore mental) being. A standard part of the training of actors, singers and dancers, it has become increasingly popular with nonperformers who would like to develop a less klutzy image and perhaps ease a little lower back pain in the process. In truth, I began my exploration to slow down. If you know someone who doesn’t so much walk as hurtle themselves, rushing through life as though a fiendish buzzer was about to go off, you might want to get them a gift certificate.

American Society for the Alexander Technique, about $50 to $90 per 45-minute session, (800) 473-0620, www.amsat.ws.

The corner of Hollywood and Broadway

The movie musical is back, big time. And for those on your guest list who are all aflutter about this season’s two biggies, “Rent” and “The Producers,” you might want to get them “A Fine Romance,” a new coffee-table book that traces the historical love affair between Hollywood and Broadway. Written by Darcie Denkert and chockablock with delectable photographs (Ethel Merman performing “Rose’s Turn,” Angela Lansbury hanging from a moon in “Mame”), the book begins with a toast to the immortal divas of “All About Eve” and “Sunset Boulevard.” It then lavishes loving attention on such landmarks as “Cabaret,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music” and “Chicago.” The author updates her well-trodden story by including a final chapter on “Hairspray” and “The Producers,” two works that demonstrate that the Broadway-to-Hollywood expressway runs in both directions. Best of all, Denkert, an entertainment lawyer at MGM, has donated her royalties to two of Hollywood and Broadway’s favorite charities, the Motion Picture & Television Fund and the Actors’ Fund.

“A Fine Romance,” Watson-Guptill Publications, $45 (hardcover), www.wgpub.com.

Holiday carols for the greater good

Looking for a stocking stuffer that also does a little good in the world? “Broadway’s Greatest Gifts, Volume 7: Carols for a Cure” is a two-CD set of holiday songs from the leading companies of Broadway’s 2005 season. And though it might not replace your yuletide staples, the proceeds go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Beyond the appeal of terrific stage voices (that vary from the moody blues of “Hairspray’s” Darlene Love to the infectious crooning of the cast from “Jersey Boys”), it’s hard to resist the naughty, singing puppets of “Avenue Q,” whose jing-jing-jingaling somehow manages to keep the merriment both raunchy and festive.

“Broadway’s Greatest Gifts, Volume 7: Carols for a Cure,” $20, (212) 840-0770, www.broadwaycares.org.

FILM CRITIC

Kevin Thomas

The rich history of Japanese cinema

The Japanese cinema is one of the richest and oldest in the world, and two new books attest to its importance and diversity: Donald Richie’s revised and updated “A Hundred Years of Japanese Film” and Chris Desjardins’ “Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film.”

In the preface to the first, writer-director Paul Schrader aptly calls Richie “the Commodore Perry of Japanese film history.” Richie and his various -- and varied -- histories have been the primary source in the West for background and insights into the Japanese cinema and its evolution.

In “Outlaw Masters,” Desjardins -- an American Cinematheque programmer who assembles its series of the same name -- focuses on 14 renegade Japanese filmmakers and stars, among them directors Kinji Fukasaku, Sijun Suzuki and Takashi Miike. Both volumes are invaluable handbooks for the aficionado.

“A Hundred Years of Japanese Film,” Kodansha International, $15 (paperback), www.kodansha-intl.com. “Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film,” Ibtauris Publishers, $14 (paperback), www.ibtauris.com.

The spine tingler for movie fans

A good place for books about film is the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, a Hollywood Boulevard landmark since 1938. (Edmunds died in 1941, but its proprietors, the Luboviski family, have fondly preserved his name.) The store has more than 500,000 movie photographs, 6,000 original movie posters and 20,000 books on movies, theater and television. There is a wide selection of coffee-table books, focusing not only on stars and studio portraits but also on movie palaces, drive-ins and even burlesque strippers. The staffers are knowledgeable and patient.

Larry Edmunds Bookshop, 6644 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 463-3273, www.larryedmunds.com.

From the master of special features

Kino on Video has recently released two more Fritz Lang features: “Scarlet Street,” one of his most celebrated American films, and “House by the River,” one of his least known: Both come with Kino’s usual intriguing special features. The first is a film noir classic from 1945, with cashier Edward G. Robinson rescuing a bad girl (Joan Bennett) only to become ensnared by her and her boyfriend-pimp (Dan Duryea).

Made on a modest budget, “House by the River” (1949) is a psychological suspense drama of much economy and conviction. It finds a would-be writer (Louis Hayward) inadvertently strangling his maid when she loudly resists his advances, only to find her death bringing him professional recognition and inspiration while threatening to ruin the lives of his wife (Jane Wyatt) and brother (Lee Bowman).

“House by the River,” “Scarlet Street,” $17.47 each, Kino on Video, (212) 629-6880, www.kino.com.

FILM CRITIC

Kenneth Turan

The French have a word for it

There is a case to be made that the French have made the world’s best gangster movies, and nothing makes that argument more persuasively than a trio of drop-dead classics newly released on DVD with lots of extras by the Criterion Collection.

Jacques Becker’s 1952 “Casque d’Or,” a personal favorite, is an unforgettable fatalistic romance starring Simone Signoret in her signature role as a golden-haired Belle Epoque gangster’s frail. Becker’s 1954 “Touchez Pas au Grisbi” (Don’t Touch the Loot) has an unmistakable passing-the-torch quality, as the veteran Jean Gabin shares the screen with a young, raven-haired Jeanne Moreau.

The only color film of the trio, Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 “Le Samourai,” is an elegant, dazzling and totally individual tale of a Parisian hit man (Alain Delon) who is as emotional as a clock. Action-meister John Woo called it “the closest thing to a perfect film that I have ever seen,” and he ought to know.

“Casque d’Or,” $39.95; “Touche Pas au Grisbi,” $29.95; “Le Samourai,” $29.95. Criterion Collection, www.criterionco.com.

‘King Kong’ and those who aped it

Peter Jackson’s spanking-new version of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s immortal 1933 “King Kong” has been the impetus for a lot of creative reissuing and repackaging of Kong-related material. A two-disc Warner Bros. special edition of the original epic boasts three hours of bonus features, including a Kevin Brownlow documentary on Cooper and a multipart making-of-Kong doc. You can buy the discs by themselves or in a nifty tin box with mini-reproductions of Kong posters and the film’s Grauman’s Chinese opening night program on the inside.

Also being reissued is 1933’s “Son of Kong,” a quickie sequel, and Cooper and Schoedsack’s genial 1949 ape-centric “Mighty Joe Young.” Available from Milestone Film & Video are Cooper and Schoedsack’s rarely seen legendary pioneering adventure documentaries, 1925’s “Grass,” shot in Persia, and 1927’s “Chang,” lensed in Siam.

Not to be outdone, Universal has a fine boxed set of its own, combining nearly four hours of Jackson’s video production diary with a book and four vivid lithographs. And Applause Books has come out with a comprehensive history of all seven Kong films called, of course, “King Kong.”

“King Kong” special edition, $26.99; “King Kong” collector’s edition in tin box, $39.98; “Son of Kong” and “Mighty Joe Young,” $19.97 each. All from Warner Home Video. whv.warnerbros.com.

“Grass” and “Chang,” Milestone, $29.99 each, www.milestonefilms.com.

“King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries,” Universal Studios Home Entertainment, $39.98, homevideo.universalstudios.com.

“King Kong,” Applause Books, $19.95, www.applausepub.com.

Comic strip confidential

Forget all those forgettable superhero movies, the best news in comics this year is books dealing with the world of daily strips. The most spectacular of the bunch, and likely the most spectacular book about comics ever, is “Little Nemo in Slumberland -- Splendid Sundays,” an enormous 21-by-16-inch, impeccably reproduced collection of the best of this groundbreaking early 20th century comic by the great Winsor McCay.

Also a treat is Nicholson Baker and Margaret Brentano’s “The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in Joseph Pulitzer’s Newspaper (1898-1911)” which reproduces 144 of the most eye-popping and unforgettable illustrations, comic strips and cartoons that represent the best of that era’s popular press visuals.

Finally, what comic lover’s life is complete without Bill Watterson’s “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes,” weighing in at 23 pounds and including all 3,160 strips that appeared during its lifespan? It has been 10 years since Watterson signed off, and this collection reminds us why and how much we miss him.

“Little Nemo in Slumberland,” Sunday Press Books, $120, www.sundaypressbooks.com.

“The World on Sunday,” Bulfinch Press, $50, www.bulfinchpress.com.

“The Complete Calvin and Hobbes,” Andrews McMeel Publishing, $150, www.andrewsmcmeel.com.

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Most of the books, DVDs and CDs in this guide are available at major bookstores and video stores.