For Classic Film DVD Fans

The names Drew Casper and Richard Jewell may not be well known to the general public, but any fan of classic movies on DVD probably knows these gentlemen due to their steady participation in documentaries and commentaries. Just last night I saw Casper in the featurette on my newly arrived copy of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.

Casper and Jewell are both cinema professors at USC, where my daughter is fortunate to be taking Casper's highly regarded "Introduction to Cinema" class this semester.

USC has posted on its website a very interesting article on Casper, Jewell, and another professor, Todd Boyd, whose commentary work I haven't yet heard. If you love watching DVD extras, you will enjoy reading this piece.

These gentlemen, along with other favorites like Rudy Behlmer and Jeanine Basinger, add so much to the DVD experience, providing viewers with "film school in a box." As Jewell says, their DVD work has historic value. I certainly hope that their concerns about the commentary format and extras not surviving in a future age of downloading come to naught.