The Lost & Found RKO Collection

It would be nice to say that the half-dozen 1930s films included in this boxed set marketed by Turner Classic Movies actually were classics, but their appeal to vintage-movie buffs lies primarily in the fact that all of them were collecting dust in studio vaults for decades due to irreconcilable disputes over the underlying story rights, before finally being aired on TCM in 2008 to mixed reviews. The best of the bunch are 1933's One Man's Journey and its 1938 remake A Man to Remember. In the former, Lionel Barrymore plays the small-town doctor who dies believing—mistakenly—that he achieved nothing in his life, while the equally solid Edward Ellis is the physician in the later version, an unusually fine “B” movie directed by theatrical legend Garson Kanin. Rafter Romance (1933) and the remake Living on Love (1937) revolve around a Depression-era man and woman who share an attic apartment to save money and eventually fall in love (the earlier version, starring a young and saucy Ginger Rogers, is the marginally better of the pair). Finally, Double Harness (also 1933) casts William Powell as the suave suitor of Ann Harding (an inexplicably popular ‘30s actress) in a turgid domestic drama, while Stingaree (1934) is a so-so costume drama reuniting leading man Richard Dix with his Cimarron costar Irene Dunne. None of these are outright stinkers, but none are must-see films either. Extensive DVD extras include video commentaries with film historian Rudy Behlmer, archival interviews, and numerous galleries (stills, posters, lobby cards, etc.). Optional. (E. Hulse)