New DVDs are classically good, bad

Some great DVDs were released last week, ranging from a collection of classic old movies to a wide variety of documentaries to some of the worst movies ever made — and even those are highly entertaining.

• "It's All True" (Paramount, 1993, G, b/w and color, $14.99). In 1942, after both success and controversy with "Citizen Kane," Orson Welles finished shooting "The Magnificent Ambersons" and headed to Brazil to make a three-part documentary. But he never finished the documentary, and "Ambersons" was taken away from him and re-edited, and, as has been well-documented, Welles' career suffered.

"It's All True" is both an assemblage of the footage Welles finished for the documentary and the story of his problems with RKO in and around this period. And every bit of it is intriguing.

From the three-part documentary, there is only limited footage of an animal-blessing ceremony and a Mardi Gras carnival (shot in color), but the third story, about a small band of fishermen who make an amazing civil-rights journey, is nearly all here, sadly hinting at what might have been.

A wonderful testament to misunderstood genius, and there are several vintage interviews with Welles himself. (The film ends with an under-the-credits radio exchange between Welles and Carmen Miranda!)

Extras: Full frame, optional English subtitles, chapters.

• "Gunga Din" (Warner, 1939, not rated, b/w, $19.97). This classic film from, arguably, Hollywood's best year, 1939, leads off a collection of four pictures by director George Stevens (who also did "Shane," "Giant," "A Place in the Sun" and more).

Based loosely on Rudyard Kipling's poem, the focus is on three rowdy British soldiers (Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) in India who have a run-in with a Thuggee cult. The title character (played by Sam Jaffe), a waterboy who dreams of being a soldier, rises out of a subplot to save the day. (Joan Fontaine has a thankless role as Fairbanks' fianc�e.) This is a rousing adventure of the old school, and it remains both funny and exciting fare.

Extras: Full frame, audio commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer, making-of featurette, black-and-white Porky Pig cartoon: "The Film Fan," trailers, subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.

• "I Remember Mama" (Warner, 1948, not rated, b/w, $19.97). Irene Dunne shines as the title character in Stevens' episodic drama (laced with gentle humor) about life in a Norwegian community in early 20th Century San Francisco. Barbara Bel Geddes is the oldest daughter, whose memoirs make up the story, and standout performances include Ellen Corby as a maiden aunt who wants to marry, and Oscar Homolka as the blustery head of the family.