DVD reviews

Last update: May 5, 2008 - 5:19 PM

CLASSIC FILM

"Daisy Kenyon" (Fox, $15)

This DVD of Otto Preminger's 1947 melodrama is part of the Fox Film Noir series, but you have to stretch the definition of "noir" pretty thin to include it. The movie, based on a popular novel by Elizabeth Janeway about a love triangle, is a notch above most cinematic soap operas because of its terrific cast and because of Preminger's professionalism and sharp eye for character. Joan Crawford's Daisy is a New York commercial illustrator having an affair with a married lawyer, Dan (Dana Andrews), a charming fellow who can't quite bring himself to leave his wife (Ruth Warrick) and kids. Daisy meets Peter (Henry Fonda), a nice-guy Army veteran who is pining for his deceased spouse. Peter falls for Daisy instantly, and Dan decides to proceed with a divorce. Now the sparks fly. This is Preminger in his strongest period -- "Daisy Kenyon" was made just three years after his breakthrough film, "Laura." Extras include commentary by film historian Foster Hirsch, a documentary about Preminger's work for Fox and a "making of" featurette.

WALTER ADDIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

TV

"Friday Night Lights: The Second Season" (Universal, $30)

The spinoff of the big-screen sports flick continues with the second year of the drama about a small Texas town whose championship high school football team is at the center of life. The four-disc set has the season's 15 episodes, accompanied by deleted scenes and commentary on three episodes.

DAVID GERMAIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

"The Adams Chronicles" (Acorn, $60)

Before there was the HBO series "John Adams," there was PBS' 1976 "The Adams Chronicles," which went beyond John and looked at four generations of one of the United States' leading political and historical families. While not as lavishly mounted as the HBO series (this was PBS, remember; it's stagy), "Chronicles" is an interesting and well-acted look at some fascinating characters in U.S. history.

ROB LOWMAN, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS