The Dick Cavett Show: Hollywood Greats

11/13

The good people at Shout! Factory have again made me happy by releasing more semi-obscure vintage television on DVD. In this case I am referring to The Dick Cavett Show: Hollywood Greats, one in a series of DVD sets containing episodes of the personable hosts early 70's late night talk show. The focus of the Hollywood set is on big name tinseltown stars, weighted heavily towards golden age veterans. I very much enjoyed this set, I found Cavett extremely likeable, and if through some odd chance I ever get to have my own talk show, I think I'd like to model it off of his. Anyway I just want to share my impressions of the various guests who appear on the set:

Kate Hepburn- Endlessly fascinating.
Bette Davis- Almost as fascinating as Ms. Hepburn.
Fred Astaire- A very cooperative guest.
Debbie Reynolds- I think underrated in many ways.
Grocho Marx- He's just great.
Kirk Douglas- A very likeable man.
Frank Capra- Very levelheaded in what he says, not the egotist he is sometimes made out to be.
Robert Altman- Came off as humble and unpretentious, the opposite of how most of his films are taken.
Mel Brooks- Very manic when he was younger.
Peter Bogdonovich- A walking encyclopedia of movie knowledge.
John Huston- Great voice, charming manner.
Robert Mitchum- The biggest surprise of the set, very dry sense of humor.
Orson Wells- A great story teller.
Alfred Hitchcock- What a persona, delightful to watch.