Out On Video

June 27, 1996

CARMEN MIRANDA: BANANAS IS MY BUSINESS - Singer, dancer, and comedian Carmen Miranda was born in Portugal but came to Broadway and then Hollywood as an icon of Brazil, symbolized by the tutti-frutti hats and samba-tinged songs that were synonymous with her stardom in the 1940s. She also wrestled with personal problems, including an unhappy marriage and sadness at her rejection by Brazilians who considered her an Americanized sellout. This lively movie tells her story through film clips, interviews with people who knew her, and a few gimmicky scenes reenacting moments from her life. Helena Solberg and David Meyer made the picture. (Not rated; Fox Lorber Home Video/Orion Home Video)

A GENTLE WOMAN -

"Une Femme Douce" is the original French title of this 1969 masterpiece about an independent young woman whose marriage to a businessman ends in misunderstanding and tragedy. Written and directed by Robert Bresson, known for his abiding concern with moral and religious issues, the drama uses a plot borrowed from Feodor Dostoevski to frame its attack on selfishness and materialism in contemporary life. Filmed with a sense of economy, precision, and understated beauty that the most meticulous painter or composer could envy. Contains a few seconds of nudity. (Not rated; New Yorker Video)

THE TARNISHED ANGELS - Idealistic reporter Rock Hudson meets up with troubled air-show pilot Robert Stack and his wife, a parachute-jumper played by Dorothy Malone with haunted eyes that deepen the emotions of every scene she's in. Based on William Faulkner's novel "Pylon," this 1958 melodrama gains much of its dark power from Douglas Sirk's visually rich directing, which transforms basically sordid material into a moral tale of love, loss, and redemption. Jack Carson and Robert Middleton head the supporting cast as a mechanic and a hardened businessman, respectively. (Not rated; MCA/Universal Home Video)