Stratton Story (DVD)

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It's pretty hard not to like a film with some of the lines Stewart gets: "You know," says Monty, referring to the hitting prowess of the Yankee sluggers he has to face, "there's a tailor in Chicago that gives a suit away to every baseball player that hits the scoreboard in center field. As of yesterday, the New York Yankees are the best-dressed team in baseball." Later, when Barney points out that a teammate is dancing with Monty's girl, saying "That Ted's a pretty good dancer, isn't he?" Monty responds, "I dunno. I never danced with him."

"The Stratton Story" is a warmhearted picture, never a depressing one, despite its tragic central conflict.

Video:
You won't find an age mark on this print--not a scratch, fleck, line, flicker, or fade anywhere--which helps to make it a pleasure to watch if you're an old-movie buff. The film comes in a standard 1.33:1 screen size of the day (1.37:1 actually but rendered here for television), transferred from good, cleaned-up stock. The movie's black-and-white contrasts do not look quite as pronounced as in some of the best fully restored prints I've seen, and definition is only so-so, but these are small matters.

Audio:
As usual, there is not much to say about the older monaural soundtrack. It's fairly ordinary, actually. As Warner Bros. audio engineers have done with all of their remasterings for DVD, they cleaned up the background noise well, providing clear, if in this case somewhat soft, midrange reproduction. Although the sound is limited in things like frequency response and dynamic impact so it sounds rather compressed compared to today's blockbuster sound, it's perfectly adequate for the dialogue it has to communicate.

Extras:
As with many of WB's titles from the 1930s and 40s, the studio has coupled it with vintage short subjects one might have also seen in a theater of the times. In this case they include a Pete Smith comedy short, "Pest Control," eight minutes long; a classic Tex Avery MGM cartoon, "Batty Baseball," seven minutes; and a theatrical trailer. Additionally, they provide an audio-only bonus, the February 13, 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast of "The Stratton Story," with Stewart and Allyson reprising their roles.

The extras conclude with twenty-six scene selections (but no chapter index); English and French spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
"The Stratton Story" is sweet and uplifting, not a little corny, but helped immensely by Stewart's easygoing, soft-spoken appeal. Because the film never goes over the top into total mawkishness as a hardship tale like this one might have done, it is able to maintain our interest most of the way. Yeah, it's maybe too laid back and more than a little slow at times, but it's nothing that a person might hold against it to any great extent. The movie is an old-fashioned, lightweight, inspirational yarn, with enough humor to make it palatable.

Warner Bros. have made "The Stratton Story" available individually or in the box set "James Stewart: The Signature Collection," where you will also find "The Spirit of St. Louis," "The FBI Story," "The Naked Spur," and a double-feature disc containing "The Cheyenne Social Club" and "Fire Creek."

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