To the Shores of Tripoli [DVD]

This Technicolor film received an Academy Award nomination for best color cinematography. So what did Fox Home Video do? They put out the film on DVD in a BLACK & WHITE PRINT!!!!!!

To phrase this as kindly as possible ... the folks at Fox Home Entertainment are dumber than dirt, especially when it comes to their library of classic movies. They've pulled off some spectacular marketing fiascos over the years ... such as releasing the 1939 box-office smash "Jesse James" on laserdisc in a faded, washed-out print back in the early 1990's; and more recently, pushing their (badly) colorized versions of several Shirley Temple classics into the marketplace on DVD instead of the glorious black and white originals.

But the DVD edition of "To the Shores of Tripoli" represents a new low for the company. This movie received an Oscar nomination for Edward Cronjager's and William Skall's gorgeous candybox TECHNICOLOR cinematography. The title frame of the film itself says: "'To the Shores of Tripoli' in TECHNICOLOR." The DVD box itself says, "1942, COLOR, 86 minutes" under the advertising blurb; and then proclaims "Photographed in TECHNICOLOR" in the credits area. But guess what?!!? The DVD was mastered from a BLACK & WHITE re-release print, and not the original Technicolor negative! Hello, 11th-Century Fox! That churning sound you hear is former studio head Darryl F. Zanuck spinning 'round and 'round in his grave. Unfortunately, this movie is just not worth watching unless you get to marvel at Maureen O'Hara's beautiful tresses in all their flame-colored glory!

But that's not the only blunder on this disc or its packaging. In the box describing the DVD's features, the aspect ratio is correctly noted as 1.33:1, Full Frame Format. However, the last line on the bottom of the box's back panel notes: "WIDESCREEN VERSION: Presented in a letterbox format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition." Huh! Who proofreads this stuff? And while I'm on a rant ... the actress featured on the front of the DVD looking soulfully at John Payne - and who is also featured in a scene still on the back of the box - is none other than fourth-billed Nancy ("The Bad Seed") Kelly, who played the distaff second lead in the film. NOT that you would know from reading the DVD box, since Fox didn't bother to give the future Oscar-nominee even a small feature credit.

Fox Home Entertainment, get it together! At this point, you're the laughingstock of the industry, despite having some of the best classic films ever made in your library ("The Grapes of Wrath", "The Ox-Bow Incident", "Laura", "Leave Her to Heaven", "Pinky", "A Letter to Three Wives", etc., etc.). We're waiting patiently for these goodies ... and praying you won't screw them up too badly when you finally get around to releasing them.

Shortly before the United States' entry into World War II carefree wiseacre playboy Chris Winters (John Payne) joins the Marine Corps and journeys to a training camp in San Diego. While there he falls under the spell of nurse 2nd Lieutenant Mary Carter (Maureen O'Hara) and under the thumb of nail-tough drill sergeant Dixie Smith (Randolph Scott.) Before long the feckless young Winters is counting the days until his rich fiancée Helene Hunt (Nancy Kelly) can pull the strings that will get him out of the Corps.

TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI (1942) was released in March of that year, and filming of the movie began before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Even though it incorporates some `At War' features - dedicating the movie especially to the Marines on Wake Island, for instance - this is a relatively blithe look at a nation preparing for war. Beyond marching and then more marching (this is the marchingest movie you'll ever see) boot camp seems a breeze. Even Scott's tough drill sergeant is a pussycat compared to most later examples of the type. Although the leatherneck vows he'll either break down or drive out the `worthless pup' Payne, Payne is the `Skipper's son,' and Payne's decision to tent with and tutor the unit's Gomer Pyle shows us there's something redeemable beneath the glib and polished exterior. O'Hara, as usual strong and beautiful as the navy nurse, pairs up well with Payne (their chemistry together would product the classic `Miracle on 34th Street' five years later.) With a tidy love story wrapped up in an early recruitment movie, TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI is solid entertainment. If it's a little light, it probably served it purpose of demystifying, a bit, the boot camp experience.

Edward Cronjager and William Skall were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Color Cinematography. For some mysterious reason Fox has released this as a black-and-white movie. No decent Technicolor prints available? It's a double shame, because the red-haired O'Hara was known as `The Queen of Technicolor.'