Tuesday Weld

Pretty Poison
$14.98
Fete of Death
Dennis Pitt, an emotionally disturbed arsonist prone to fantasizing, is released from a mental institution and ventures out into the real world where he tries to impress Sue Ann, a high-school blonde with the face of a baby doll, by pretending to be a spy for the CIA. At the time of Pitt's release from the asylum, his doctor admonished him to stop fantasizing because there is no place for it in the real world. It turns out, though, that the real world contains even crazier and more dangerous psychopaths than do the insane asylums. "Pretty Poison" has a fascinating premise and it should have been a far better movie. The trouble is the direction is flat and uninspired. The movie is slow-paced and fails to build any significant suspense or thrills, which is out of joint with its subject matter. On the other hand, Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld turn in well-honed performances as psychopaths, and, oddly enough, of the two, Weld comes off as the scarier.

I'll Take Sweden
$14.98
Tapping into the youth culture of the mid-1960's, I'LL TAKE SWEDEN (1967) showcased Bob Hope as the harrassed father of a beautiful blonde teen, whose decision to take a business re-posting in Sweden opens an even bigger can of worms...

Bob Holcomb (Bob Hope) is severely worried about the future wellbeing of his teenage daughter JoJo (Tuesday Weld), when she announces her plans to marry unemployed "trailer-rat" Kenny Klinger (Frankie Avalon). On the spur of the moment, Bob arranges to relocate his business base to Sweden, and drags JoJo along for her own protection from randy American lads. In Sweden, the land of IKEA, teeny-tiny cars and...*gasp* even looser morals concerning sex...Bob once again faces the unthinkable when JoJo is keenly pursued by one of his young business associates, Erik (Jeremy Slate). In desperation, Bob calls Kenny over from the States...

It takes a while to gather steam, but I'LL TAKE SWEDEN is a charming romantic comedy. Dina Merrill co-stars as Karin Granstedt, Bob's new Swedish love interest, and adds a great deal of elegance and dignity to the proceedings. It would have been marvellous had the producers managed to snag someone like Ingrid Bergman for the role, but I think Ms Merrill does just fine. She also shares a delightful chemistry with Hope.

Frankie Avalon and Tuesday Weld, two of the hottest "teen idol" talents of the day, are fresh and appealing; Avalon sings the title song along with several other musical numbers that give the movie something of a "Beach Party" flavour. A fun way to spend 90 minutes.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:
Widescreen 1:66:1 (non-anamorphic)
soundtracks: English mono
subtitles: English, French, Spanish
closed-captioned
extra features: trailer
Disc format: DVD-5 (single-sided single-layer)

Serial
$14.95
Of course a comedy mocking Marin County in the 1970s is bound to aggravate the progressives, but that's EXACTLY what it set out to do. It was, after all, based on McFadden's sarcastic and mocking book of (about) the same name. But beyond the loony charicatures (and they abound), the writing snaps and the dialogue is pitch-perfect. I'll just give one short example: When Harvy Oldroyd (Martin Mull) goes bonkers at the goofball Indian drum ceremony wake of his best friend (William Macy) and has to be sedated by the neighborhood shrink, he groggily awakens a day or so later in bed. A friend's kid, "Stokely," comes by to visit Mull in his bedroom and they have a short chat, to wit:

Harvey: "So . . . what are people saying?"
Stokely makes a circling motion by his head, indicating insanity.
Harvey (nodding): "Oh well."
Stokely (quoting): "In an insane world, the sane man must appear insane."
Harvey (surprised at the kid's erudition): "Where'd you hear that?"
Stokely: "Star Trek."
Harvey (after a beat): "God, I miss that show."

Look for prime performances from Christopher Lee as a gay weekend Hell's Angel, Tommy Smothers as the doofus "Reverend Spike," and the enchanting Tuesday Weld as Harvey's flummoxed wife. Not for all tastes, just those of us who remember the 70s and longed for someone to mock them as they deserved. "Serial" is just the ticket.

The London Book of the Dead
$16.98
I became familiar with the music of The Real Tuesday Weld aka Stephen Coates a few years ago. I can honestly say that I have never been diappointed with his quirky,funny, sometimes painfully honest lyrics and the wonderful music in which they are set. This is a great CD as are all of his releases.