Sergeant York (DVD)

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This is one of those movies where the star appears to have been born to play the role. Cooper is every bit the personification of the American Dream, the poor-but-honest fellow who not only makes good but makes the world a better place for it. What's more, the movie is chock-full of Warners' most-familiar character actors--Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, George Tobias, Noah Berry, Jr., Clem Bevans, Joe Sawyer. Not all the names may ring a bell, but I guarantee once you see them, you'll recognize them.

Audiences for decades have found "Sergeant York" filled with drama, excitement, romance, action, and homespun humor. Versatile director Howard Hawks lends his usual slyly casual, seemingly spontaneous style to the proceedings, never trying to create anything out of the ordinary yet doing so by being patient and realistic. And veteran WB cameraman Sol Polito produces a lovely display of light and shadow, especially in the indoor and studio shots. The film may be a tad too long for its own good and a little unfocused in trying to cover so much material, but the overall results are inspiring and entertaining to this day.

Video:
I don't think anyone will complain that Warner Bros. didn't do a frame-by-frame restoration of "Sergeant York" because what we have is already quite good. The video engineers did up the 1.33:1 ratio transfer at a reasonably high bit rate, with good black-and-white contrasts and fine object delineation. The print is clean, free of most age marks, dust, specks, or lines, and there is only a small amount of visible grain.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural sound is also good, particularly for its age: Very clean, very clear. Frequency extremes are limited, of course, and there is no surround, but dynamics are surprisingly strong, backgrounds are quiet, and midrange response is well projected.

Extras:
Disc one of this two-disc set begins with an informative audio commentary by film historian Jeanine Basinger. Among many other things, she tells us that the writers stuck as closely as possible to the facts and made only minor changes to enhance the visual storytelling to broaden the film's appeal. The real Alvin loved the film. Also on the first disc we find a nine-minute short subject from 1941, "Lions for Sale," about lion training a classic Looney Tunes cartoon from 1941, "Porky's Preview," in black-and-white and a Cooper trailer gallery containing trailers for six Gary Cooper movies, including "Sergeant York." There are thirty-three scene selections, but no chapter insert, English and French spoken languages, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Disc two contains a pair of lengthy documentaries. The first is newly made, "Sergeant York: Of God and Country," thirty-nine minutes, a complete account of the filmmaking from inception to Oscar night, with guest appearances by members of the original cast. The second documentary is a Turner Channel profile of the actor, made in 1989: "Gary Cooper: American Life, American Legend," forty-six minutes long, divided into twelve chapters, and narrated by Clint Eastwood.

Parting Thoughts:
The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences nominated "Sergeant York" for eleven Oscars, but it won only two: Cooper for Best Actor and William Holmes for Best Film Editing. It might have won more awards had it not been tinged with the controversy of the times. Today, we can look at it more objectively, a touching film in its own right.

Prospective buyers may purchase "Sergeant York" separately or as a part of the "Gary Cooper Signature Collection," which also includes "The Fountainhead," "Dallas," "Springfield Rifle," and "The Wreck of the Mary Deare." Bought by itself, "Sergeant York" comes housed in a regular double, slim-line keep case purchased as a part of the set, it comes in an ultrathin, double, translucent case, which along with the other four movies in the box, takes up less room.

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