DVD this week

Out today on DVD are two completely different releases, but both with a wealth of character actors on view. CBS/Paramount has released the first season of tv's Mission: Impossible on a seven disc set; all of the episodes from the 1966-67 season are included. On view are such veteran character people as Harry Davis, William Keene, Albert Paulsen, Leonard Stone, Oscar Beregi, Cyril Delevanti (above right), Charles Maxwell, Nehemiah Persoff, Joseph Ruskin, David Fresco, Mark Lenard, Percy Rodrigues and Larry Gelman. And that's just the first 6 episodes !!

And for a taste of the classic character people of the 1930s, just released today is a fantastic box set of director Frank Capra's films. American Madness, You Can't Take it With You, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It Happened One Night make for a real lesson in film making. Capra tended to use actors over and over again, and so we are able, in this one box set, to see multiple performances by the likes of Stanley Andrews, Arthur Hoyt, Irving Bacon (above left), Pierre Watkin, H.B. Warner, James Burke, and the one and only Charles Lane. The 'character stars' are in fine form as well, with Beulah Bondi, Eugene Pallette, William Demarest, Ward Bond, Douglass Dumbrille and others populating the screen. Lots of extras are included.