New DVDs: 'Pretty in Pink,' 'Duchess of Duke Street' and more

"PRETTY IN PINK." (1986. PG-13. PARAMOUNT. $14.98.)

Twenty-two years later, this 1986 teen comedy, scripted by John Hughes, stands up in most ways and falls down in others. James Spader is quite good as a sleaze. Molly Ringwald is radiant and makes one wonder why a big film career as an adult never followed. Andrew McCarthy seems to be imitating Steve in "Sex and the City," except there was no "Sex and the City" in 1986. The movie is about a poor girl and a rich boy who get together, but the social environment at their high school makes their romance difficult. The temptation might be to call the film unrealistic, but more than two decades later, precisely the same kind of romance could be found in the documentary "American Teen," with identical character types and issues. The main problem with "Pretty in Pink" today is simply that the entire section involving Jon Cryer, as Ringwald's pompadour-wearing best friend, is excruciating to watch. It must have been equally excruciating to perform. Basically, anytime Cryer is onscreen, the story ceases to advance. He is there as comic relief only -- or comic filler -- but there's nothing funny about either the role or the performance. Still, there's a really good, perceptive 50-minute teen-age story buried in this 96-minute movie. And a pretty good time capsule, besides.

-- Mick LaSalle

"THE DUCHESS OF DUKE STREET: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION." (1976. NOT RATED. ACORN MEDIA. $99.99. THREE DISCS.)

John Hawkesworth is better remembered for having created "Upstairs, Downstairs," but his later miniseries, "The Duchess of Duke Street," belongs right up there with one of "Masterpiece Theatre's" greatest offerings. Like "Upstairs," class and station play thematic roles in the story of a young woman from a poor family who wants more than anything to be a great cook. Louisa Leyton (Gemma Jones) starts as a scullery maid in a noble house, but soon demonstrates her talent as a cook. She so impresses Queen Victoria's son, the Prince of Wales (Roger Hammond), that his minions ensure that Louisa marries because, in Victorian times, it wouldn't do for an unmarried woman to visit the prince's bedroom. Louisa is a thoroughly modern woman. When the prince becomes King Edward VI, he arranges for Louisa to become the owner of a small private hotel in London. The series is based on the story of Rosa Lewis, who owned the Cavendish Hotel. Louisa works hard to become a tough but fair businesswoman. When love rears its head, though, in the form of dashing young Charles Haslemere (Christopher Cazenove), she finds herself only human after all, and soon enough, the mother of a daughter who is quickly spirited off to be raised by others. What an addictive wonder this series was. Once you start watching, you'll find yourself not wanting to stop.

-- David Wiegand

"WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR, DADDY?" (1966. NOT RATED. UNITED ARTISTS. $19.98.)

Because it was a box-office bomb, presumably because critics hated the film's stereotypes, Blake Edwards' farce about World War II is one of those pieces that have been all but forgotten in the shadow of his "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and Pink Panther series. And yet the comedy styling that made the writer-producer-director a popular filmmaker of his time uninhibitedly envelops this crazy parody of patriotic Hollywood war movies. Even Henry Mancini's "Swing March," which punctuates the main credits, suggests that just beneath the brimming heroism something deliciously insane, with a jazz beat, is about to happen. It does, for almost two hours. Operation Husky, part of the 1943 Sicilian invasion, finds an American unit led by James Coburn and Aldo Ray engaging Italian forces in a soccer game, which quickly turns into an all-night drunken festival in a village. Strait-laced Capt. Lionel Cash (Dick Shawn) quickly turns into an utter baboon (taking nosedives and wearing drag to seduce a German officer played by Kurt Krueger), so it's up to the enlisted men to save the day when the Nazis take over the town. Joining with Coburn and Ray are the "dolce vita" Italians, led by Capt. Oppo (Sergio Fantoni) and the beautiful Gina (Giovanna Ralli), daughter of the mayor (Jay Novello). Especially memorable is Harry Morgan, foreshadowing Col. Potter on "MASH," as a general who deserves five stars for going bonkers when trapped in the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the town. This pristine wide-screen copy has no bonuses.

-- John Stanley

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)