DVD Review: The Dick Cavett Show - Hollywood Greats

The most famous incarnation of The Dick Cavett Show was the ABC late night program that ran from 1969 to 1975. Cavett and his guests engaged in lengthy conversations rather than the usual talk show formula of amusing anecdote/banter followed by the guest’s sales pitch, which was the purpose for the appearance.

Since 2005, Shout! Factory has been releasing DVD collections of The Dick Cavett Show. Some focus on one guest, like the Ray Charles Collection, while others deal with a common theme, Rock Icons. Hollywood Greats is in the mold of the latter and is guaranteed to thrill fans of old Hollywood as this four-DVD set presents some of the greatest actors and directors the silver screen has ever known.

Disc 1 contains two nights of Katherine Hepburn and one of Fred Astaire. Hepburn, who was the only guest for both her episodes, was making her first appearance on television, so it was a major coup. At first, she only agreed to check out the studio. Someone wisely chose to record what was happening as she asked for a sturdier table to put her feet on and tore into the design of the set, especially the carpet. Feeling at ease, she said, “Well let’s just do it.” Not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, Cavett jumped right in sans studio audience.

Cavett prompted her with questions and Hepburn delivered a memoir on her 66 years as she discussed her family and her career. She told stories about working with Humphrey Bogart and John Huston on The African Queen, Peter O’Toole on The Lion in Winter, and of course, Spencer Tracy. They also discussed the blacklisting during the 1950s, her thoughts on George C. Scott, and Marlon Brando refusing their Oscars. The conversation between the two got so comfortable that she responded to Cavett’s question if her teeth were in fact hers.

Fred Astaire, a Nebraskan like Cavett, was very shy, which added to his charm, and is probably why the interview broke for songs of the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter. They talked about how Astaire began dancing, how he created dances for a film, and the people he worked with. In what was probably a staged event, Cavett said it was a disappointment that Astaire couldn’t dance, so Astaire got up and proved him wrong. It’s a real treat to watch Astaire, at 71, cut a rug, and his joy is palpable through the screen these many years later.

Disc 2 features Bette Davis, Groucho Marx, and Kirk Douglas. Davis talked about her career, from missing out on Gone With The Wind, and about her contemporaries, such as Errol Flynn and Claude Rains. She blamed actors for the messes they got into during interviews by answering embarrassing or personal questions and then were taken aback and feigned surprise because the author used the material. Playing off her point, Cavett immediately asked when she lost her virginity, which got a big laugh. Without missing a beat, she answered the question, to everyone’s amazement.

Article Author: El Bicho

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_MMS

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