STACK #208 Feb 2022

MOVIE FEATURE

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Get ready for a bundle of laughs this month with Imprint bringing comedy classics featuring Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis, Jack Lemmon andWalter Matthau to Blu-ray. Words Scott Hocking NEWFROM IMPRINT FILMS The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)

remade in 1999 with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn, but the original, of course, remains the best. Extras include a new audio commentary by film historian Lee Gambin and the theatrical trailer. Legendary funnyman Jerry Lewis began his career at Paramount Pictures alongside Dean Martin before defecting to rival studio Columbia Pictures in 1966, where he hoped to land more serious roles. That didn't really happen, as the two comedies that comprise the Jerry Lewis at Columbia Limited Edition Hardbox Blu-ray set reveal. Lewis co-wrote, directed and starred in The Big Mouth (1967), playing an avid fisherman who reels in a diver who has hidden a stash of diamonds sought by the mob. Look out for cameos by Rob Reiner and Colonel Harland Sanders amongst the sight gags and slapstick shenanigans. The fishing

F ollowing an 11-year hiatus, Peter Sellers returned to his iconic role of bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), the fourth – and one of the best – films in the comedy series from director Blake Edwards. This installment finds Clouseau on the trail of the famous Pink Panther diamond, which appears to have been stolen by his arch nemesis, The Phantom (Christopher Plummer, replacing David Niven in the role), after incriminating

The Odd Couple (1968)

theme continues in Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), with Lewis as an insurance guy who's diagnosed with a terminal

evidence is found at the scene. Cue a series of globetrotting escapades and, of course, the animated opening title sequence to the tune of Henry Mancini's beloved theme. Extras include

illness and sets out on a world fishing trip while

HD, including Password and The Fat Farm , which featured in TV Guide 's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. Lemmon and Matthau would return to the roles 30 years later for sequel The Odd Couple II (1998), also scripted by Simon, which sent them on a road trip to attend the wedding of their kids. Extras across

clocking up insurmountable debt. Extras include audio commentaries (TBC), theatrical trailers, photo galleries, isolated music and effects tracks, a Super 8 edit of The Big Mouth , and more. Last, but by no means least, is The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), the sequel to the much-loved 1976 baseball comedy that featured Walter Matthau as a boozy little league coach. This time it's William Devane who's tasked with coaching the Bears to a win at an exhibition game at the Houston Astrodome. Look out, too, for Jackie Earl Haley in an early role as Devane's estranged son. This forgotten comedy boasts a considerable cult following and returns in HD along with a new audio commentary by film historian Scott Harrison and the theatrical trailer. "Let them play!"

an audio commentary by Jason Simes of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society, vintage featurette and theatrical trailer. The Odd Couple Collection compiles the film and TV adaptations of Neil Simon's acclaimed 1965 stage play in a 3-disc set housed in Limited Edition Hardbox packaging. The Odd Couple (1968) features one of the screen's great comedy double acts in Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, playing a pair of divorced friends who decide to share a Manhattan apartment and inevitably drive each other crazy. This comedy gem and perennial fan favourite was Oscar-nominated for Best Screenplay (by Neil Simon) and inspired a 1970s TV series – starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman – that ran for five seasons. The Odd Couple on Television: Classic Episodes presents ten of the show's best for the very first time in

the three discs include audio commentaries; featurettes; a new interview with Odd Couple II director Howard Deutch; TV series' gag reel and promos; plus two documentaries – Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman (1996) and Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough (1997) – and more. Jack Lemmon and Neil Simon teamed up again in 1970 for The Out-of-Towners , a lively farce that centres on the misadventures of a Midwestern married couple (Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) who are en route to New York for a job interview when a redirected flight throws their trip into chaos. This '70s comedy classic was

• The new Imprint range is out on Feb 23 for a limited time only (while stocks last).

18 FEBRUARY 2022

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