Ephron’s family films on DVD
Nora’s directorial debut and others finally see on-demand release
WHENthe beloved humorist and filmmaker Nora Ephron died in June, many of her fans were surprised to learn that her directing debut, 1992’s “This Is My Life,’’ hadn’t been available on video since the VHS era. I suggested that this film, and a couple of other Ephron-related titles, would make excellent additions to the new Fox Cinema Archives program, which offers manufactured-on-demand DVDs of lesser-known titles through online retailers such as Amazon.
“This Is My Life,’’ which did very modest business despite warm reviews, stars Julie Kavner, then best known for her supporting work in Woody Allen movies and three years into her marathon run as the voice of Marge Simpson. She plays Dottie Ingels, a single mother from Queens who aspires to be a stand-up comic.
When Dottie begins to finally taste some show business success, she begins to neglect her increasingly angry teenage daughter (Samantha Mathis) and her younger sister (Gaby Hoffmann). The excellent cast in this funny and touching adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s novel includes Dan Aykroyd as Dottie’s agent, who she becomes romantically involved with, and Carrie Fisher as Aykroyd’s acerbic assistant.
On Tuesday, “This Is My Life” will finally be available through Fox’s archive, along with another Ephron film, 1963’s “Take Her, She’s Mine,” though in this case the Ephrons in question are Nora’s mother and father, Phoebe and Henry.
Nora’s letters home while a stu- dent at Wellesley College inspired her parents, both screenwriters, to craft the 1961 Broadway comedy, “Take Her, She’s Mine,’’ which was soon turned into a popular Hollywood movie. Sandra Dee — fresh from playing “Gidget’’ on-screen — plays Mollie Michaelson, loosely based on Nora.
She’s a brainy college student who gets arrested during a sit-in protest and works as a folk singer at a coffee shop with future “Gilligan’s Island” star Bob Denver, who plays a beatnik. Later, while studying in France, she falls in love. James Stewart gets top billing as Mollie’s exasperated lawyer dad — who keeps being mistaken for James Stewart! — and Audrey Meadows (“The Honeymooners”) is her more laid-back mom.
Also at my suggestion, the Fox Cinema Archives has just released Henry Ephron’s sole effort as a director, the uber-obscure but entertaining musical “Sing Boy Sing’’ (1958), in which forgotten ’50s pop star Tommy Sands stars as an Elvis Presleylike singer, a minister’s son who is exploited by his manager during his rise to national fame.