New DVDs: 'Bigger, Stronger, Faster,' 'Moontide,' 'Busby Berkeley'

"BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*." (2008. PG-13. MAGNOLIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT. $26.98.)

Chris Bell's informative and often-funny documentary about steroids has a slightly different spin than the typical Morgan Spurlock and Roger Moore expose. Unlike other documentarians who put themselves front and center in a movie, Bell clearly likes some of his subjects and is willing to at least listen to bodybuilders and other people who want to defend performance-enhancing drugs.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" has a surprisingly light but also personal touch, especially when the director brings his own family's steroids pressures into the discussion. And Bell's everyman persona gets him in places where a more seasoned documentarian would never be allowed. ("Steroids," one fan says in the parking lot of a football game. "I love it if they're on my team!")

But even with his casual approach to fact-gathering, Bell manages to deal with a lot of complicated issues in a relatively short period of time. The movie is similar to Barry W. Blaustein's excellent documentary "Beyond the Mat," a 1999 film that gave a similar fan's perspective of professional wrestling.

The "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" DVD includes 40 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, but not much else.

-- Peter Hartlaub

"MOONTIDE." (1942. NOT RATED. 20TH CENTURY FOX. $14.98.)

Released as part of the Fox Film Noir Series, this is one strange movie, given the talents involved and the twisted way the John O'Hara-Nunnally Johnson screenplay (based on a Willard Robertson novel) unfolds.

French actor Jean Gabin, after a career distinguished by "Grand Illusion" and "Pepe le Moko," finally came to Hollywood and was so demanding that director Fritz Lang quit and was replaced by Archie Mayo. It's the relationship between besotted dockworker Bobo (Gabin) and his chum, Tiny (Thomas Mitchell), that drives this film to the edge of madness. It might be a homosexual relationship -- but in a 1942 movie?

Watch carefully as Bobo is suspected of a murder, saves the life of a suicidal young woman named Anna (Ida Lupino) and takes a job in a crummy bait shack that looks as if it reeks of rotten fish, with Tiny always nearby, ready to explode with jealousy. Things get a little goofy when Salvador Dali images are superimposed over a night of drunken revelry.

Bobo is not a handsome guy, yet Anna falls in love with him and marries him, against the advice of philosophical wharf rat Nutsy (Claude Raines).

Any self-respecting noir fan has got to see this outre hors d'oeuvre. Extras include the excellent documentary "Turning of the Tide," a complex behind-the-scenes history of the movie.

-- John Stanley

"THE BUSBY BERKELEY COLLECTION VOL. 2." (1937-38. NOT RATED. WARNER HOME VIDEO. $39.98. FOUR DISCS.)

Although there's probably too much talk and not enough music overall, each film in the collection has something worth watching. In most cases, the music can't compete with Busby Berkeley's greatest work ("42nd Street," Footlight Parade," "Gold Diggers of 1933"), and Berkeley's role in some of these movies was just as choreographer, but the small moments of joy can't be denied.

Dick Powell stars in three of the films, and he shows a lot of depth. His co-star in "Gold Diggers of 1937" is Joan Blondell, then his real-life wife, who plays a wide-eyed innocent. Anything Blondell does is a showstopper, no matter what the quality of the music.

In "Hollywood Hotel," the standouts are the classic "Hooray for Hollywood" number and the Benny Goodman Orchestra's "Swing, Swing, Swing" with stalwarts Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa and Harry James performing. Keep an eye out for an uncredited appearance by Ronald Reagan.

Berkeley's finale in "Varsity Show" pays homage to college fight songs. A charming Rudy Vallee takes over the Powell role in "Gold Diggers in Paris," with the beautiful Rosemary Lane (who stars in "Hollywood" and "Varsity" as well) as the love interest. In this one, the Schnickelfritz Band (think Spike Jones) steals the show.

-- Leba Hertz

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)