The lost Clooney movie

The Life After: On paper, “The Good German,” which arrives Tuesday on DVD, seemed like one of the potential standouts of the Christmas movie season last year. Star George Clooney was coming off a supporting actor Oscar win for “Syriana” and had received nominations for co-writing and directing “Good Night, and Good Luck,” his black-and-white film about Edward R. Murrow and Commie hunter Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He’d even been named for the second time as People magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year.

The “Good German” costars were equally impressive -- Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and, in a rare villain role, “Spider-Man” Tobey Maguire. The post-World War II black-and-white mystery thriller boasted a screenplay by Paul Attanasio, and frequent Clooney collaborator and Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh directed and did double duty as the cinematographer (under the name Peter Andrews).

But the movie got lost in the Christmas shuffle. Reviews generally weren’t enthusiastic, and the box office was even worse. Released on only 66 screens, “The Good German” made just $1.3 million domestically. To put that in perspective, Clooney’s 1987 cheesy horror flick, “Return to Horror High,” actually made $600,000 more at the box office.

Maybe “The Good German” will find an audience on DVD. Despite its flaws, there is a lot to admire, including Thomas Newman’s evocative music, which was Oscar-nominated for best original score, Maguire’s terrifying walk on the wild side, and Blanchett’s near-perfect channeling of Marlene Dietrich.

Super Cooper

Just Say Yep: MGM Home Entertainment is inaugurating its “MGM Movie Legends” DVD line with Gary Cooper, the tall, laconic actor who was one of Tinseltown’s most reliable stars until his death at age 60 of cancer.

During his three decade-plus career, Cooper won Oscars for 1941’s “Sergeant York” and 1952’s “High Noon” and worked with directors including Frank Capra (“Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”), Howard Hawks (“Ball of Fire”) and William Wellman (“Wings”).

“The Gary Cooper Collection” features three new-to-DVD titles -- the 1938 comedy “The Cowboy and the Lady,” in which he plays an aw-shucks cowpoke who falls in love with sophisticated Merle Oberon; the soaring 1939 war drama “The Real Glory,” which also stars David Niven; and the 1926 silent western “The Winning of Barbara Worth,” his first starring role. “Winning” also stars Ronald Colman, who, Hollywood lore has it, taught Cooper the tricks of performing a successful death scene.

MGM is also releasing four single Cooper titles, including 1941’s “Ball of Fire,” co-written by Billy Wilder, a funny and romantic send-up of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Barbara Stanwyck stars as a stripper who wins the heart of Cooper’s shy scholar.

Her Hanoi era

Fonda Jane: “Steelyard Blues,” a counterculture comedy from 1973, was released when star Jane Fonda was at the height of her anti-Vietnam War activities. She had already visited Hanoi and was being labeled a traitor by many Americans, which meant that “Steelyard Blues” fell into something of a box-office abyss.

As the film reemerges on DVD -- it’s set for release Tuesday -- Fonda is still antiwar, this time opposing the Iraq conflict, and she’s seven months shy of her 70th birthday. The comedy, written by David S. Ward of “The Sting” fame and directed by Alan Myerson (“The Larry Sanders Show”), revolves on a group of dropouts who decide to restore an old U.S. amphibious plane. Donald Sutherland, a scene-stealing Peter Boyle, John Savage and Howard Hesseman also star with two-time Oscar winner Fonda.

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susan.king@latimes.com