Spring Has Sprung 2- Sabrina (1954) & a Melancholy Coming Of Age

 

With Spring popping it's head through the atmosphere more days than not now, I am in the mood for a different kind of film than what I have been hunkered down with all winter. Several days I made my first post of this series about Bells Are Ringing, you can find that post here. 

Today, I wanted to talk about Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart. Beautifully directed by Billy Wilder, with absolutely luscious gowns by Hubert Givenchy. Audrey Hepburn plays the titular role of Sabrina, a young woman coming of age as the daughter of the chauffer of a wealthy and old monied family. She and her father live above the garage and Sabrina is dreaming of a different life that seems far out of her reach. It doesn't help that she thinks herself in live with the feckless but dashing playboy son at the main house a good deal older than her who has no time for school girls (a good thing I would say!) and likely not time for chauffer's children either based on the models and socialites he seems to date. After a close call with meeting her maker, fortuitously interrupted and which Sabrina tries to unconvincingly explain away, she is off to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu to follow her parents into service and be an excellent chef like her late mother was. Like you would expect several years away in Paris and at that age means she comes home a good deal changed. And no longer a school girl by any measure. The feckless playboy of William Holden is still much the same as he was and their paths soon cross. What follows is not wholly unexpected but their are enough turns in the story for it not to be dull and the whole movie has a beautiful touch that really does give it a lighter feel even when it gets slightly heavier in places. Their are moonlit parties, champagne,  and gowns I could only dream of twirling in, let alone playing tennis or dashing across a stone drive in! 

The casual clothes are none to shabby either though and both the schoolgirl dress and her 50s modern boating outfit are ones I wish I had in my closet! This is another film that feels poppy and fresh but has a ripple of melancholy that arises in moments throughout, that for me make it easier to not only feel deeply for the characters but also find parts of myself in those moments as well making it very easy to connect with the story despite the differences in time and circumstances that are all the characters lives. 

If this is a film you haven't yet seen, or one you might be interested in watching again it is a perfect watch as the days get longer, spring rolls into summer and as that hope and nostalgia of June days and nights of years past starts to creep up on you!
Have you watched Sabrina before or do you plan to watch it soon? I think I will be watching again before the spring is gone this year it very much hits the spot! 

Part 3 coming soon!

Perry Mason Mysteries Boxset Packaging Review

Perry Mason Mysteries is a series of 30 tv movies that aired on CBS between 1985 and 1995. A continuation of the original series (1957-66), Raymond Burr and Barabara Hale returned in leading roles of Perry Mason and Della Street, with the first of the tv movies setting things up for Perry to leave his job as a judge and get back into practising as a criminal defence lawyer.  William Hopper had passed on and the detective role was filled by William Katt (Barbara Hale's real life son), playing the son of Perry's trusted detective Paul Drake.  Raymond Burr starred in 26 of the 30 tv movies, passing in 1993.  In the final 4 mysteries Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook take on the iconic role of Perry Mason.

 

 

Packaged in a plastic case with a cardboard slip this set contains 15 discs each with 2 ninety five minute movies on it.  Released by Paramount and CBS the discs themselves are a plain mat grey and silver.  Episode titles are listed on the interior cover as well as the discs.  Films are all in their original 4:3 aspect ratio and English subtitles are available on the episodes. This set is very similarly packaged to the other sets released by CBS/Paramount so far this year.  (Matlock, Cheers, The Untouchables)

 

More pictures of this set below and if you are looking for more specific information please feel free to ask.  I also have a video up on my youtube channel that you can see by clicking here or scrolling to the end of this post to watch. I hope this was helpful and that you have a great day!

 

 

Back of the case

Specs on the back of the case.

If you like this kind of tv show please check out my youtube channel where I talk about lots of things including classic tv and movies :)
Annie x

McMillan and Wife Complete Series Packaging Review & Demonstration

McMillan and Wife is an American tv movie mystery series that ran for forty episodes between 1971 and 1977 Starring Rock Hudson, Susan Saint James, Nancy Walker, and John Schuck. It was part of the NBC Movie Mystery wheel series which also included Columbo and McCloud.  The episodes are movie length and often split into 2 parts when the show is aired in syndication.

Rock Hudson stars as the likeable Stuart 'Mac' McMillan, police commissionaire  of San Francisco.  (Somewhat) newly married to Sally, whom has a great role up until the final series where she was written out (the show just went by McMillan that year).  Much like Columbo (or many other tv mysteries from the time) it is set up as a procedural and Mac tends to solve the case by the end of the episode.  Although their are tense moments (some episodes more than others) overall the show is pretty lighthearted especially by today's standards.  Which isn't in any way said to take away from the show which is well written and thoroughly enjoyable.  Susan Saint James' character of Sally is better fleshed out than many of the wives/girlfriends on tv. Her 'personality' and behaviour was consistent episode to episode and didn't seem to change based solely on what the writers needed that week. The show was the better for her being in it and it's a shame they decided to do the last season without her. Their were some great episodes in that final season, and even if they had done it without her it seemed unnecessary and odd to have written her and the baby out the way that they did as it failed to drive the story forward in any significant way and felt more like a hindrance to the stories at hand.

  John Schuck plays Mac's right hand man and is the perfect costar and character for Rock to play off both in drama and the comedic moments. The contrast in the energy they bring to the screen makes for always enjoyable scenes that have a lovely frisson to them.

Nancy Walker plays the McMillan's housekeeper.  You will recognize her as a wonderful character actress and she had starred with Rock Hudson in numerous movies before this  project.  They also appeared on several variety shows together over the years.  They were real life friends and that chemistry carried over nicely to the screen.  The absurdity of the height difference (she was less than 5 foot and he was well over 6) as well as the contrast between the characters they tended to play and it always elevated the comedy, and the drama. As the wayward maid, Mildred is just an absolute delight.  Her relationship and conversations with Mrs.McMillan are a delight and she really is the something that elevates the show to something special.

The packaging for the series is nothing too special but is by no means inferior.  Housed in a decently thick cardboard box that holds the three cases inside (each holding 2 seasons of the show).  One small thing I noticed as soon as I opened the box was that of these three cases the 2 thicker ones were black and the slimmer one is clear plastic- it's a small thing, but if that type of thing will bother you be aware that it might be the case.

The reverse side of the cover has the episode information on it.  On the clear case this is easy to read by simply moving a disc, for the black cases you can flip the cover if  you want to be able to see the episode info.

The discs are easy to access and take out and as an added bonus they are multi-coloured and easy to read which means it's never to much of a phaff to find the one you want to play.  Closed captioning is available on them as well.

To see this packaging in action check out my video for it here.

If you have this set let me know what you think of it!  And if you are a Nancy Walker fan please tell me so I know you are an awesome person with excellent taste! :)

I hope you're having a great week,
All the best,
Annie

Here's Lucy: The Complete Series Packaging Information

This information is referring to the Here's Lucy complete dvd box set released in 2014 by MPI home video.

Here's Lucy was an American sitcom which ran for 6 seasons between 1968 and 1974 starring Lucille Ball, her real life children: Lucie & Desi Jr, and Gale Gordon.  This was Lucy's second sitcom since I Love Lucy ended and followed The Lucy Show (also excellent).

I was a bit disappointed when I opened my box to find 3 of the dvd cases were cracked and/or broken. Although I suspect this was down to shipping issues it is still quite disappointing.  Lately I have had numerous items (dvds and books) arrive damaged. It appears that online companies have greatly reduced the protective packaging in recent years at the same time as the post office seems to be treating packages far rougher than previously.Annoying at best.

But anyways, each season of Here's Lucy is packaged in a standard size dvd case with the discs inside on flip holders rather than stacked and are easy to access.  On the back of each cover is basic episode information for that season.

The 6 seasons are housed in a cardboard box of very simple and lightweight design that is not going to take much (any) abuse.  The packaging could use a bit more work on this one and I think is only worth purchasing as a box set if you plan on buying all the seasons and is cheaper than buying the individuals when totaled together as this set offers nothing special beyond that.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Annie x

For more of me find me on twitter @ThymeAnnie
Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/c/anniethyme

Leave it to Beaver Complete Box Set Packaging Information

Leave it to Beaver was an American family sitcom which aired for 6 seasons between 1957 and 1963. It starred Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsly, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.  Leave it to Beaver has been consistently popular in syndication since going off the air, and it could be argued that it was more popular in the years after it went off the air as it was never a top 30 show during it's original run but was popular and beloved enough in the 80's to see a revival with the original cast and picking up to see where their lives had taken them over 20 years later,

Here I am providing information for the complete box set released by Shout factory in 2010.

Each season is packaged in a standard width dvd case.  Discs are on the front and back cover and on flipper holders inside.  There is a separate booklet with the episode list and description inside each case.

 A slimline case holds the bonus features disc and a board game (on poster style paper).  These cases are all contained in a nice box of sturdy and good weight cardboard to hold the cases required for the series.

Overall the packaging and production are excellent (as you can depend on from Shout!) and it is a well loved set set that has seen much use since it's purchase in 2010 but does not show it.

I hope this was helpful and that you are having a great day!
Annie  x

Make sure to check out my youtube channel if you aren't already following me there!
and if you are looking for me on twitter you can find me @ThymeAnnie

Cheers Complete Box Set Packaging Information

Cheers is an American sitcom which ran for 11 seasons in the 80's and 90's. It starred Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Kirstie Alley, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, Rhea Perlman, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer and Nicolas Colasanto.

  In this set they have split the series 1-6 and 7-11 which are respectively housed in large plastic containers (kind of like those pencil boxes from the 90's). Inside each one is a plastic insert that is similar to a book with one disc being held on each page.  You can easily flip through the discs to find what you are looking for and no discs are stacked on top of one another.

On the inner cover of each plastic box is a list of episodes and the disc they are on. Their are no episode descriptions but I am glad they at least included the episode  titles. As it is such a successful show it will not be difficult to find more information online if that is what you prefer.

These two plastic cases come housed in an exceptionally sturdy box that even has artwork on the inside!  This is something I haven't seen on a new set in quite some time and was a small touch that I really appreciated especially as the quality of everything else was also good.

The one thing I wish were different is the writing on the  disc itself. The discs are gray and silver and it can make them very difficult to read, a small irksome matter in an otherwise exemplary set! 

From what I can see several other recent releases are also packaged like this.  It looks like Fraiser, Matlock, and McGyver (mcG definitely is as I have seen it) and I'm guessing others might be as well. But for now these are the ones I'm aware of.

Here is a video of me displaying the set 'in action' if you are interested!  

I hope you are having an enjoyable day!

See you soon,

Annie.  x