Classic Quad Set 7: (Anastasia / Gentleman's Agreement / The Ox-Bow Incident / The Snake Pit)

This is an excellent compilation of cinema classic gems! I bought it for my mother and realized that I enjoyed it so much with her that I wanted my own copy. I think each movie was a credit to the theatrical talents of the actors in them and each story is solid and interesting to view again and again!

This interesting four DVD set includes 20th Century-Fox films that either won Academy Awards, were nominated for Academy Awards, or starred Oscar-winning actors. Each film is pressed on a separate disc and includes many special features. Great set for anyone looking to build a classic film library.Anastasia (1956/Color/105 minutes/Widescreen)Ingrid Bergman won an Academy Award for her performance in this film, based in part on the life of Anna Anderson, a woman who was believed to be the long lost Grand Duchess Anastasia for much of her life. Special features include a commentary track, an A&E Network "Biography" episode on the mysterious life and death of Anastasia, several "Movietone News" newsclips about the film and the real-life Anastasia, the original trailer, a restoration comparison and trailers for several more classic Fox films.Gentleman's Agreement (1947/B&W/118 minutes/Fullscreen)Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Gentleman's Agreement stars Gregory Peck as a reporter who pretends to be Jewish in order to write an in-depth article on antisemitism. Special features include the original trailer, a trailer for "All About Eve" and a cast photo gallery.The Ox-Bow Incident (1943/B&W/75 minutes/Fullscreen)Academy Award winner Henry Fonda stars in this Oscar-nominated western about frontier justice and mob rule. Special features include a commentary track, an A&E Network "Biography" episode on Henry Fonda, the original trailer, a restoration comparison and a still gallery.The Snake Pit (1948/B&W/107 minutes/Fullscreen)Nominated for six Academy Awards, The Snake Pit stars two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland as a woman struggling with mental illness and the inadequacies of the health care system. Special features include a commentary track, several "Movietone News" newsclips, a still gallery, the original trailer and trailers for other classic Fox films.

I am in the legal field; however, I had not seen The Ox-Bow Incident in more than 30 years. Attended a seminar where the failure of judges in soon to become NAZI Germany to protect the rule of law was a topic of discussion. A participant mentioned The Ox-Bow Incident and I decided I would add it to my DVD collection. The Quad set allows me to add some additional classics for that rainy afternoon.

The Oxbow Incident, for all its stagey exaggeration, is a timeless piece and one of Fonda's best. He embodies the guy with the conscience here, the holdout juror of 12 Angry Men cowboy style. It holds up as a classic example of a rush-to- judgement, a morality play without being cloying.Gentleman's Agreement, on the other hand, is a painfully heavy handed treatment of the serious subject of ant-semitism. Well meaning for its day, its overstated earnestness doesn't hold up with time. The stalwart Gregory Peck is plodding and tortured and morose. This persona might have worked well worked for Captain Ahab in John Huston's Moby Dick from the same era of Peck's work but not here. Too self righteous by half, a preachy portrayal that misses the mark from over zealousness.Anastasia is ridiculous and slow and cumbersome, with no real likeable characters. A fictionaized account of the supposed lost daughter of the Russian Royal Family, it generates little warmth and interest in her fate. Yul Brynner is a stoic Henry Higgins to Ingrid Bergman's dour Eliza Doolittle. No sizzle. Pass.

20th Century Fox no longer seem to be issuing their film library on CD and for some, that is a shame, particularly as many of their Fox Blonde Musicals (Alice Faye and Betty Grable) are still unavailable. In the meantime, they have grouped into quartets their existing issues, maybe in an effort to "mop up" current stock. Whatever the reason, the result is that their greatest films are now available in packages which represent outstanding value.Quad Set 7 is a good example. For less than $20, we get 4 strong dramas. "The Ox-Bow Incident", "The Snake Pit" and "Gentleman's Agreement" are contributions to Fox's reputation as the most innovative and mature of the studios moving into the post war period. "Ox-Bow", maybe the least dated and best of the films, is a relentless William A. Wellman production about mob rule and lynching. "Snake Pit" looks into mental illness with a great performance by Olivia de Havilland even if the psychology is somewhat trite. "Agreement" investigates anti-semitism but has some weak acting and a verbose script. "Anastasia", released 10 years later, is possibly the least interesting of the quartet although Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar in the title role.These films were sign posts towards the future as Hollywood began to move away from escapism and the constraints of censorship but by today's standards, they are somewhat naive and pat, especially "Agreement". All were originally issued in the Fox Studio Classic Series so among the extras, there are some worthwhile commentaries which help explain why they were ground breaking. The prints are generally good enough but not perfect.