Katharine Hepburn Collection DVD Credits:

Region: 1

Katharine Hepburn Collection DVD Release Date: 28th May 2007

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Katharine Hepburn Collection DVD Review:

Watching these six classic films with Katherine Hepburn it is undeniable that she was ahead of her time. From the very beginning of her career Hepburn had the strong will hardly seen in a leading lady with even a few controversial roles to make her even more of a phenomenon to marvel at each stage of her career. Winner of four Academy Awards for Best Actress as well as many other awards and recognitions, this set was inevitable, and with a wide variety of films included as well. The films come in matching discs for the set and are all placed in a foldout cardboard case that plastic cover. It makes for a nice set with a number of great publicity photos on the sleeves inside the package, but because each film does not have individual cases it is somewhat difficult to establish what each film is about aside from the brief descriptions on the back of the set.

Morning Glory (1933)
In her first Best Actress-winning role Katherine Hepburn plays a struggling small-town girl trying desperately to become a stage actress. The role parallels Hepburn’s own beginnings on stage, and she brings an incredible energy to the film. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays a possible suitor in the film, but Hepburn’s actress is far more pleased with fame rather than love. There is far more melodrama than there are musical numbers in this backstage theater movie, but Hepburn’s performance is remarkably strong and it makes the film far more worthwhile.

Without Love (1945
This wartime romance film is the most endearing in the set and also a much cherished pairing with Spencer Tracy. Tracy plays a scientist searching for a space to use as a laboratory to create tools for the war. Hepburn owns a home and has been so hurt by love before that she eventually proposes a loveless marriage to the scientist. They work together and live together entirely platonically, until the inevitable happens. However predictable this film may be, it is no less enjoyable. Lucille Ball even has a small role bringing some comedic relief in a far subtler manner than she is usually seen giving. The film was adapted from a play of the same name by Philip Barry.

Dragon Seed (1944)
Based on the novel by Pearl S. Buck, Dragon Seed is a lengthy an often difficultly slow film about a small Chinese village that is invaded by Japanese soldiers during World War II. It is an admirable attempt to make a film about Asian culture without having Asians in the cast, but no matter how much I tried I could not get used to Hepburn’s make-up. Rather than looking Chinese she ends up looking blind. Even still it is a well made film that pays off on viewing the entire film. The lifestyle is well shown, including the changes in gender, specifically allowing Hepburn to play the one strong willed woman in the film.

Undercurrent (1946)
In this suspense film Hepburn plays a woman married to a man (Robert Taylor) who is rich and seemingly perfect except that he never talks about his brother (Robert Mitchum), who some say is dead while nobody knows for certain. She is coerced into marriage by her family who think her too old to be rejecting offers. Fortunately she is swept off of her feet by a rich and rumored brilliant scientist and they are married. Despite her husband’s requests she starts to pry in order to find out and ends up putting herself in danger with her own husband. This is another great role that Hepburn plays easily, but the film is remarkably entertaining.

Sylvia Scarlett (1936)
Certainly one of the most obviously entertaining film in the set, but also one of the most unpredictable thanks to the unlikely casting and an extremely controversial film as well. Hepburn plays the daughter of a con man, who convinces her that the only way she can travel with him undetected is by dressing as a man. She complies and on their journey they meet a fellow con man, played by a very different Cary Grant. The three attempt to con their way into wealth and eventually start a traveling show to go legitimate, but romance gets in the way of their plans. Each of the three find love on the road, leading to some confusing gender issues as well, which were a large part of the controversy. Directed by George Cukor, this was also Hepburn’s first film with Grant.

The Corn is Green (1979)
Re-teaming with director George Cukor for this television film about a Welsh schoolteacher dedicating all of her time to one remarkably intelligent child laborer in a mining town, Hepburn fits the role of the schoolteacher fabulously in her later years. The performances alone make this a marvelous film to own as well as being the only film in color in the set. It is a fitting conclusion to the package showing Hepburn able to act just as convincingly from start to finish in her career.

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Katharine Hepburn Collection DVD review written by: Ryan Izay