MAKE THESE CLASSIC DVDS PART OF YOUR HOME LIBRARY!
(ORDER BELOW)

Now for the first time, two of my most popular documentaries are being offered on DVD at popular prices. (Not as popular as free, but more popular than the $29.95 they fetched until now.)

The Marx Brothers in A Nutshell (narrated by Gene Kelly) and W.C. Fields Straight Up (narrated by Dudley Moore) were both originally produced for PBS. These feature-length films remain the definitive documentaries on their respective subjects, both fully authorized, with access to clips from all of their major works, as well as rarely seen footage. Both documentaries contain interviews with friends, family, and co-workers. (The Marx Brothers film even contains an interview with Woody Allen not seen in the original PBS broadcast). The W.C. Fields film won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special. Both DVD’s were digitally re-mastered in 2002. These are new DVD’s, not previously viewed, and still in the original shrinkwrap.

A limited number of these DVD’s are now available for $16.95 + $3.00 shipping & handling within U.S. (first class USPS). If you order more than one DVD at a time, add only $1.50 s&h for each additional copy. (Additional shipping charges apply to Canada and U.K.) Order through PayPal, and your order should ship within three business days. Payments by check must clear before your order is shipped.

Checks and money orders can be made out to: Robert B. Weide, and mailed to:

Whyaduck Productions
4804 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
#502
N. Hollywood, CA 91607

If you have any questions before purchasing, or wish to order outside N. America, please e-mail me at: rbw(at)duckprods.com. Please write “DVD order” in the subject line.

For reviews, photos, and more information about the production of these films, click the links for:

The Marx Brothers in A Nutshell
W.C. Fields Straight Up

The Marx Brothers in A Nutshell presents a fascinating look at the most beloved comedy team in motion picture history. Exclusive interviews with those closest to the brothers supplement this collection of highlights from their film, theater, and television appearances and offer a compelling look at their lives both on and off-screen. The generous use of rare and unreleased film and TV clips provides new insights for even the well-versed Marx Brothers fan.

This definitive documentary begins its study with the Marx family vaudeville act and follows through to their final television work, including clips from Groucho’s popular TV show You Bet your Life. Fellow comedians and collaborators including Woody Allen, Dick Cavett, George Fenneman, Robert Klein, and David Steinberg examine the hard work and perfectionism that put these comic masters at the top of their game. Using rarely-seen footage derived from their original Broadway hit, I’ll Say She Is, and highlights from their best films, home movies and newsreels, this film enlightens as it entertains.

A tribute to Hollywood’s funniest brothers, The Marx Brothers in A Nutshell is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in these remarkable forerunners of modern screen comedy.

W.C. Fields Straight Up is the definitive feature-length celebration of the movies’ best-loved curmudgeon. This Emmy Award-winning documentary traces Fields’ life from his childhood in Philadelphia, through his years of Hollywood stardom, to his final days.

Interviews with Fields’ closest friends, family and collaborators are interwoven with beautifully remastered clips from his best-loved films and rarely-seen appearances. The resulting film presents Fields as both a brilliant comedian and a troubled, stubborn loner.

Billing himself early in his career as “the world’s greatest juggler,” Fields quipped his way to star status, and by 1938, became the sixth highest-salaried person in the United States. Though abandoning his pregnant wife to pursue his career and only first meeting his son thirty years later, Fields’ onscreen charm made him a hero for the masses.

Did he really hate dogs and children? Did he really drink a quart of gin a day? W.C. Fields Straight Up dispels some of the famous myths, and sheds light on the lesser-known facts. It highlights Fields’ most colorful antics and quotes, both on and off screen. For 93 minutes, W.C. Fields comes back to life in this probing and hilarious “warts-and-all” account of a man and an entertainer so distinctly himself.