The Gregory Peck Film Collection Sophia Loren Angie Dickinson

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

The Gregory Peck Film Collection

The World in His Arms (1952) Cape Fear (1962) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

The DVD of The World in His Arms is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Cape Fear is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of To Kill a Mockingbird is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Captain Newman M.D. is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Mirage is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

This DVD of Arabesque is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) Mirage (1965) Arabesque (1966)

"The World in His Arms" (1952) stars Gregory Peck as a seal hunter enlisted by Russian countess Ann Blyth to take her to Alaska so she can evade marrying a Russian diplomat. When Blyth is kidnapped, Peck and rival Anthony Quinn race to save her. Sig Rumann, John McIntire co-star. Peck portrays WWII military psychiatrist "Captain Newman, M.D." (1963) in this acclaimed comedy-drama, administering help to the battle fatigued. With Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Robert Duvall. Peck is an amnesia victim whose attempts to discover his identity may also turn up a murder plot, in the gripping "Mirage" (1965). With Diane Baker, Walter Matthau. In director Stanley Donen's James-Bondian thriller "Arabesque" (1966), Peck plays a language professor hired to decipher a secret code, scrambling to outwit hired gunmen and save the life of an Arab prime minister. Sophia Loren, George Coulouris co-star. Seven-disc set also includes the Special Edition of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Cape Fear" (1962).

Titles

The World in His Arms (1952) - For the moment those two dark-hulled schooners take over the issue here involved, which is simply a race between two sealers out of 'Frisco for the far-off Pribilofs, the preceding rowdy-dow in 'Frisco fades easily from the watcher's mind and the only reality of the picture becomes those two schooners charging through the seas. Glistening in Technicolor, with their white canvas spread against the shy, they're a vision of energy in action and in conflict to fire the chilliest blood.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

Cape Fear (1962) - An irredeemable criminal exacts his revenge on the family of a lawyer who put him away. This supremely nasty thriller - originally severely cut by the British censor - boasts great credentials: a source in John D MacDonald's novel The Executioners, Mitchum as the sadistic villain (a bare-chested variant on his Night of the Hunter role), Peck as the epitome of threatened righteousness, seedy locations in the Southern bayous, and whooping music by Bernard Herrmann. If director Thompson isn't quite skilful enough to give the film its final touch of class (many of the shocks are just too planned), the relentlessness of the story and Mitchum's tangibly sordid presence guarantee the viewer's quivering attention.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - It is not without reason that the documentary on “To Kill a Mockingbird” is called “Fearful Symmetry”. The phrase comes from the poem “Tyger” by William Blake from his book “Songs of Innocence” and just as Blake, in this collection of his poems, deal with innocence and loss thereof, so is that the central motif of “To Kill a Mockingbird” – and few, if any other film, comes close to this motif thru the eyes of a child than this.

Henrik Sylow

Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) - The doctor took a back seat to his patients when Gregory Peck starred as a conflicted Air Force psychiatrist in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). Now considered ahead of its time, the film focused on the doctor's plight as he struggled to help men driven over the edge by the horrors of war, all the while tormented by the thought that curing his patients would inevitably mean sending them back into harm's way. Leo Rosten's 1961 novel was published the same year as Joseph Heller's Catch-22, which took a similarly cynical view of military combat.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Mirage (1965) - Peck is an amnesiac in New York who traces his past back into the middle of a murder plot. Although the two leading players, Peck and Diane Baker, are shown up by their supporting cast, this remains one of the better thrillers of the '60s (adapted from a novel by Howard Fast). The harsh b/w photography, the various levels of reality, and the use of urban landscape, all contribute to the feeling of unease, building up an atmosphere that is perhaps better than the mechanics of the plot deserve.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Arabesque (1966)

Stanley Donen's follow-up to Charade is not quite the tour de force the earlier film was, but even with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren standing in for Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, it's a slick and satisfying entertainment. Watch for the unforgettable Eisensteinian moment when Donen cuts from Loren's mouth to a steam shovel.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr's capsule at the Chicago Reader located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Releases: 1952 - 1966

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Universal (7-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Universal - Region 1 - NTSC
Time (bitrate):	Respectively - 1:44:00 (8.65 mb/s), 1:45:44 (8.0 mb/s), 2:09:00 (6.95 mb/s), 2:06:08 (7.86 mb/s), 1:48:32 (8.71 mb/s) and 1:45:12 (8.74 mb/s)
Bitrate: The World in Hid Arms
Bitrate: Cape Fear
Bitrate: To Kill a Mockingbird
Bitrate: Captain Newman MD
Bitrate: Mirage
Bitrate: Arabesuqe
Audio	English, some DUBs on some: French, Spanish
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Aspect Ratio: All Original Aspect Ratios - 1.33, 2.35 and 1.85 Edition Details: The World in His Arms • Theatrical Trailer(1:49) Cape Fear • Making of Cape Fear (28:10) • Production Stills with Score by Bernard Hermann • Full frame Theatrical Trailer (2:05) To Kill a Mockingbird • Feature Commentary with Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula • Academy Award Best Actor Acceptance Speech • American Film Institute Life Achievement Award • Excerpt from Academy Tribute to Gregory Peck • Scout Remembers • Theatrical Trailer Disc 2 • Fearful Symmetry: The Making of To Kill a Mockingbird (1:30:00 feature) • A Conversation with Gregory Peck Captain Newman MD • None Mirage • None Arabesque • None DVD Release Date: November 4th, 2008 6 Slim Keep Cases inside a cardboard box Chapters: various

Comments:

The DVD of The World in His Arms is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Cape Fear is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of To Kill a Mockingbird is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Captain Newman M.D. is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

The DVD of Mirage is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

This DVD of Arabesque is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

NOTE: The 6 main features of this boxset are housed in individual slim keep cases (see package image above) and two are sold separately in NTSC (Cape Fear and To Kill a Mockingbird). Arabesque has been available in PAL (reviewed HERE) and we have compared a capture below. All six feature film DVDs are dual-layered (there is a 2nd bonus disc with To Kill a Mockingbird.) Each are coded for Region 1 in the NTSC standard. The transfers are progressive and in their original aspect ratios. There are supplements but none are new - appearing in the previous 2 editions.

Video quality seems fairly consistent with visibility of some weaknesses. We have commented on them individually below:

The World in His Arms (1952) - Aside from being a great film this dual-layered 1.33:1 transfer looks quite good as well. Colors are strong and bright without evidence of manipulation. It is relatively clean and gives a positive viewing presentation. There is some noise artifacts but it looks better than you may expect from a 50+ year old film.

Cape Fear (1962) - Although this looks almost exactly the same as the 2001 Universal release, the VOB files have a new date - 09/2008. It may be the same transfer or marginally cleaner but it has minor cropping in some spots (perhaps slightly zoomed-in). Unfortunate - but it remains exceedingly watchable. Thumbs up!

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - This is the exact same Legacy package with these 2 new dual-layered discs sporting the old VOB files date - 07/08/2005. It is fully compared HERE with other editions. Being equal to the latest release it is the best this classic film has looked on digital.

Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) - another great film and is strong in all SD-transfer areas - detail, colors and the print utilized is again quite clean. Great supporting performances and the DVD image does the film apt justice.

Mirage (1965) - a solid thriller that is listed on our Film Noir page. My favorite of the 'new' films-to-DVD but the transfer looks very thin. Extensive signs of edge enhancement exist, most likely due to boosting of black levels that has given the image a frail appearance. Contrast is not particularly consistent showing tinges of sepia in certain scenes. Bad job on this one Universal!

Arabesque (1966) - also dual-layered and decidedly brighter than its PAL counterpart (compared below and reviewed fully HERE). It is slightly cropped. I suspect some digital manipulation but it's not as flagrant as Mirage. The colors are an integral part of the presentation and they certainly have more life in this edition. Overall, it is again very clean with above-average detail.

We've tried to make the screen captures below a good representation of the image quality.

The unremarkable audio is original (with some foreign language DUBs offered for Arabesque - French and Spanish) and there are optional English subtitles - most with French and Spanish too. Dialogue is clear and we noted no prevalent dropouts of background hiss.

Bitrates are very strong - especially for the new transfers (in the mid-to-high 8.0 mb/s).

Supplements are duplicated from the previous editions of Cape Fear and To Kill a Mockingbird (including it's commentary and 2nd disc of extras.) The World in His Arms gives us a trailer but nothing on the other three discs.

Fans have longed for these 'new' films on DVD - and although nothing seems to have gone into the package beyond that - I think it's a tremendous deal. At about $7 per film, in this package, it's tempting even for those who already own Cape Fear and To Kill a Mockingbird. Mirage fills a niche and both The World in His Arms and Captain Newman, M.D. are very worthy additions to the Gregory Peck Collection. Many seem 'bent-out-of-shape' that these discs aren't available separately but I still give this a strong thumbs up!

Gary W. Tooze

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