James Stewart: The Signature Collection
The FBI Story / The Naked Spur / The Spirit Of St. Louis / The Stratton Story / The Cheyenne Social Club / Firecreek
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: Various
Rated: Cheyenne Social Club PG - all other films are Not Rated.
Film Length: Various
Aspect Ratio: Various – see Video portion
Audio: DD – see Audio portion
Color/B&W: B&W / Color
Languages: English & French
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
MSRP: $49.92 or $19.97 individually
Package: 5 disc set in regular Keepcases in cardboard box.
The Feature:
August 15th is a date to remember particularly if you are a fan of classic film. Warner Home Video is about to honor two of America’s most beloved actors and classic Hollywood leading men with the James Stewart: The Signature Collection (the other is Ronald Reagan -- look for the upcoming HTF Review soon). The six Stewart films (all new to DVD) being released in the five-disc Signature Collection include, The FBI Story (1959), The Naked Spur (1953), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), The Stratton Story (1949) and an oddball release of sorts, a double feature (on a dual sided DVD) that includes two films, The Cheyenne Social Club from (1970) and Firecreek from (1968) – both films include Stewart’s longtime friend Henry Fonda.
As is usually the case with Warner Home Video, they have cleverly gathered a diverse assortment of Stewart films where he appears in a variety of different roles, all of which highlight his versatility as an actor. Jimmy Stewart was nominated for five Best Actor Academy Awards – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Harvey (1950) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and garnered two wins; Philadelphia Story and another in 1985 winning an Honorary Academy Award. Stewart’s film career spanned five decades, in which he appeared in more than 80 feature films.
The FBI Story (1959 – Mervyn LeRoy)
In this WB celluloid advertisement for J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the colorful career of Agent Chip Hardesty (played by Jimmy Stewart) is highlighted. In a career that spanned four decades, Hardesty was involved with a number of memorable cases including real life scrapes with Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, Ma Barker and John Dillinger. Mass murderers and Klan members were also dealt with by the legendary lawman. His wife Lucy Ann, is played by Vera Miles. The film was based on the writing of Pulitzer Prize winner Don Whitehead and his bestselling novel and was directed by veteran helmsman, Mervyn LeRoy who was responsible for Random Harvest (1942), Quo Vadis (1951) and Mister Roberts (1955) among many others.
The Naked Spur (1953 – Anthony Mann)
After a chance encounter, three bounty hunters come together and find themselves charged with the task of transporting the smooth-talking murdering-outlaw, Ben Vandergroat (played by Robert Ryan) to face justice in Abilene, Texas. The payoff is a lucrative one; $5000. With an alternate plan in place, the prisoner plays on the psyche of the lawmen and pits them against each other as greed eventually sets in. An MGM film, The Naked Spur is the third of five Anthony Mann directed films which Stewart starred in. Here, he appears as Howard Kemp, the unyielding leader of greedy bounty hunters caught up in a potential trap of the hunted.
The Spirit Of St. Louis (1957 – Billy Wilder)
On May 21, 1927, “Lucky Lindy” landed outside Paris and the world was forever changed. Suddenly the limitations of travel ceased to exist. The Spirit of St. Louis chronicles the trials and tribulations of Charles A. Lindbergh, the aviation pioneer who changed everything. Real-life Lindbergh fan and fellow pilot, James Stewart sought the role but was initially turned down. The Warner Brothers film was directed by the legendary Billy Wilder whose credits include Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951) and The Apartment (1960) among many others.
The Stratton Story (1949 – Sam Wood)
Stewart plays Monty Stratton, a Chicago White Sox pitcher whose whip-like delivery earned him consecutive 15-win seasons. However, Stratton’s greatest “win” doesn’t happen on the mound. Stratton loses a leg suddenly in an accident just as his career starts to blossom. The pitcher’s will and resilience lead him to pitch again. The all-American Stewart signed on for the role knowing the film would be an inspiration to injured War G.I.’s returning from service. The film snagged an Oscar nod for Best Motion Picture, and was directed by Sam Wood – responsible for another period baseball classic, The Pride of the Yankees. This MGM film is supported by a cast that includes June Allyson, Agnes Moorehead and Frank Morgan. The pairing of Allyson and Stewart lead to future projects including The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and Strategic Air Command (1955).
The Cheyenne Social Club (1970 – Gene Kelly)/Firecreek (1968 – Vincent McEveety)
Tough as nails, Stewart and Fonda team up as saddle weary cowboys, who find themselves proud new owners of The Cheyenne Social Club, which they’ve inherited in Wyoming. After traveling half way across the country, they learn the club is a high class brothel. The pair eventually find themselves the protectors of their new establishment and defend it against a gun-wielding gang. The National General Pictures film was produced and directed by legendary dance-man, Gene Kelly.
Firecreek is located on Side B of the disc. In this Warner Brothers film, Fonda plays a ruthless outlaw preying on small towns and it’s inhabitants. Stewart is the panicked part-time lawman whose job it is to bring him in. The film was directed by Vincent McEveety whose career spanned 5 decades of directing television.
The Cheyenne Social Club and Firecreek are packaged in a “Double Feature” Keepcase much like other WB titles that have been doubled up, this one falling under the “Western” banner.
The Features:
The FBI Story 3.5/5
The Naked Spur 4/5
The Spirit Of St. Louis 4/5
The Stratton Story 4/5
The Cheyenne Social Club/Fire Creek 3/5
and 3/5 Video:
The FBI Story is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and is enhanced for widescreen. The color looks slightly rich in terms of saturation, but accurate, while the print looks mostly clean. The Naked Spur is presented in a standard aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and while the Technicolor image is satisfactory, the image looks slightly blurred or dupey at times and is the weakest of the lot. Color is not quite vivid and skin tones looked rather pasty. The Spirit of St. Louis is presented in it’s Scope aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is enhanced for widescreen. One of the better – if not the best looking one of the bunch. The image is sharp and the colors are vivid with perfect saturation levels. The print looks excellent.
The Stratton Story, the fourth title in this collection is the only B&W entry in the collection. Presented in it’s OAR of standard 1.33:1, the transfer is a fine velvety-like image, with minimal but fine film grain. The image is nicely detailed and the print is clean with only minimal marks or blemishes. Grayscale is impressive as are contrast levels. [b]The Cheyenne Social Club[b] and Firecreek are both presented in 2.35:1 enhanced widescreen transfers and both are similarly pleasing. Firecreek is slightly sharper and it’s colors are slightly more vivid, but these are both fine efforts. I noticed a slight amount of edge enhancement with Cheyenne, however, it never became distracting.
Video:
The FBI Story 3.5/5
The Naked Spur 2/5
The Spirit Of St. Louis 4/5
The Stratton Story 4/5
The Cheyenne Social Club/Fire Creek 3.5/5
and 3.5/5 Audio:
Like the video presentation, this is mostly a solid effort where this reviewer found very little to complain about. All of these films are presented in DD Monaural and for the most part are more than capable at doing what needs to be done without much flair or panache. All of the tracks are free of any pops or crackle and hiss is virtually non-existent and the tracks sound uncompressed. Fidelity, overall, is very nice and it would appear everything sounds natural as it should.
Dialogue was always bold and extremely intelligible with no exceptions. While there are jet engines, gunshots and explosions, there’s not much here in terms of heft or punch and the dynamics are limited due to the period, however, no problems exist with anything here. The Spirit of St. Louis is the exception here and has been afforded a new 5.1 DD encoded track which does an excellent job. Other than filler don’t expect much in the rears however, the track is opened and sounds better and wider from an expansive standpoint.
Audio - Overall Total: 4/5
Special Features:
While the set is not loaded up with special features, each disc has at least one or two supplements. The Signature Collection looks like this:
The FBI Story
- The only special feature assigned to this title is the Theatrical Trailer which shows up in pretty nice shape. Duration: 3:16 minutes.
The Naked Spur - The first feature on this disc is, Things We Can Do Without which is an MGM Pete Smith B&W short and deals with ones pessimistic look to the future. The short looks to be in pretty fair condition. Duration: 8:49 minutes.
- Little Johnny Jet is an MGM – Tex Avery animated short and looks pretty good as the print shows very clean. Duration: 7:05 minutes.
- The Theatrical Trailer which looks slightly blurred, closes off this disc. Duration: 2:44 minutes.
The Spirit Of St. Louis - The Spirit Of St. Louis Premiere includes B&W fullframe footage of the gala Hollywood event. Duration: 3:26 minutes.
- Next up is, So Your Wife Wants To Work which is a funny Joe McDoakes B&W short and deals with the ‘50’s era male and his “professional” wife. The short looks very good. Duration: 8:59 minutes.
- Tobasco Road is the 1957 Speedy Gonzales animated short which was directed by Robert McKimson and is introduced in text with the “product of our time” warning. The short looks excellent. Duration: 6:31 minutes.
- The Theatrical Trailer finishes off the disc and looks reasonably good albeit, slightly faded. Duration: 3:27 minutes.
The Stratton Story - Pest Control is an MGM B&W short in which a gentlemen undergoes a series of annoyance tests. Duration: 8:24 minutes.
- Batty Baseball is another MGM animated short which a chaotic game plays out on the diamond. The short looks pretty good. Duration: 6:27 minutes.
- Next up is a 2/13/50 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast which sounds clear enough. Duration: 44:09 minutes.
- And lastly, the Theatrical Trailer concludes things here and looks very nice. Duration: 2:00 minutes.
The Cheyenne Social Club/Fire Creek - The two special features to accompany these two titles are, Good Time Girls, which appears on the Cheyenne side, is a promo piece that was shot at the time of the production and features Kelly and Stewart who discuss the film and the “need for good time gals” of the day. Behind the scenes footage is included (which was shot on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico). An interesting little piece. Duration: 6:23 minutes.
- And finally, the Theatrical Trailers appear (on each side of the disc) which run 3:07 and 2:50 minutes respectively.
Special Features – Overall Total:
3.5/5
**Special Features rated for the quality of supplements, not the quantity**
Final Thoughts:
Warner has done well to recognize one of their biggest stars – one of Hollywood’s biggest stars ever. The likeable all-American actor, often referred to as the “quintessential everyman”, holds the #3 position on AFI’s list of the 25 Greatest Male Screen Legends. Jimmy Stewart represents decency and wholesomeness that is long past – qualities that the legendary actor displayed and left with us throughout his lengthy film career. The gawky screen legend is well represented here with a collection of highly sought after films and shares screen space with the likes of Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, June Allyson and Agnes Moorehead among many others.
Aside from six first-rate Stewart films, Warner has once again treated these titles with the respect they deserve and they’ve trimmed these discs with a decent selection of special features – all of which add up to a very easy recommendation.
Overall Rating: 4/5 (not an average)
Recommended…!!
Release Date: August 15th, 2006
I know how beloved WB is around here - often feel like I'm being snubbed for daring to say anything against them. But, as much as I love some of the work they've done....I do believe their quality control is slipping lately. Maybe they're getting too cocky from all the consumer adulation. 
Maybe they're rushing too many releases when they should slow down and take more care.
