Dick Cavett’s interview style is something of a divisive subject among those who discuss, or are mildly interested, in these sorts of things. Basically, it comes down to two camps: The first believes that he is a genius because, by letting his subjects talk, he ultimately gets them to reveal more of themselves in a more natural and interesting way than most interviewers. The second believes he’s horrible because he doesn’t rein in his interview subjects and lets them ramble on and on with mixed results.

Ultimately, both camps are right. Cavett couldn’t rein in a guest if his life depended on it, but that’s only a problem when his guest is uninteresting. When the guest is someone compelling, not reining them in does indeed allow you to get insight where usually you would get some canned marketing drivel.

The Dick Cavett Show:  Hollywood Greats is a four disc collection of interviews from Cavett’s show that feature people who, by name alone, you can tell are compelling. I was immediately excited just from reading the list of included interviews:  Katherine Hepburn, Groucho Marx, Marlon Brando, Robert Mitchum, Mel Brooks, etc. These are names that any film buff can immediately take interest in. The fact that these arealmost hour-long interviews where the subjects can really unwind makes it even more of a must see for fans.

Honestly, all of them are great with one exception: Fred Astaire has never been a favorite actor of mine, and his interview is mostly boring. He sings some, but other than that, there’s nothing that really distinguishes his episode at all. Also, Debbie Reynolds’ bit is mostly uninteresting. She’s obviously very comfortable with Cavett, but the real reason she’s included in this set is because she is one of three guests on that episode (one being Groucho Marx). Still, here’s a list of the things you shouldn’t miss:

Katherine Hepburn: This interview takes place over two episodes and is noteworthy because Hepburn generally refused to do television. She did this show at the spur of the moment and there is actually no audience in the theater. Historically, this is a great thing to have available to any Hepburn fan. Bonus points for getting to see Hepburn order everyone around prior to the interview starting. She takes no shit and it is a great look at what she was really like as a person.

Bette Davis: This one is fun, although the fact that she steps all over Cavett when he's trying to ask questions gets annoying. It's generally a love-fest, but Davis and Cavett seem to genuinely enjoy themselves; I walked away from this one liking Bette Davis more than I had previously. Cavett actually asks her how she lost her virginity as a joke, and Davis decides to answer!

Groucho Marx: Here’s a little known fact… Groucho Marx is very funny. In fact, arguably the best interview on this entire set is with Groucho. He is amazingly sharp and just hilarious. He's the grandfather you wish you had, spinning funny stories and cutting up. Dan Rowan is also funny on this episode. His story about Laugh In featuring the first comedy sketch addressing pregnancy is funny and gives great insight into the censors’ tastes at the time.

Kirk Douglas: I’ve always liked Kirk Douglas. This interview only solidified that opinion. The man is funny; opinionated, but still gracious. At one point, Douglas is asked about John Wayne, and he manages to answer eloquently without resorting to “he is an asshole”.

Marlon Brando: This one is intriguing because of the timing. Brando agreed to come on the show if they talked about Native American Rights only. Cavett does his best to draw Brando out, but the subject does generally stay around Brando’s cause and his snubbing of the Academy in order to draw attention to that. In fact, many of the interviews included in this set make at least passing mention of that incident, including Bette Davis and Katherine Hepburn.

The Directors (Mel Brooks, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Altman and Frank Capra): This one is both insightful and funny as hell. Altman and Brooks are fantastic and it made me wish there was an hour-long interview with each of them separately.

Robert Mitchum: This is my absolute favorite interview on the set. Mitchum is hilarious. He tells stories about Hollywood, his youth, and his time as a prisoner in Georgia, and he does the whole thing with a ‘70s Hollywood flair that we will never see again in a celebrity.The thing about Mitchum is that he is completely comfortable in his own skin and he seems to have no problem talking about things he’s done that others might find embarrassing. It’s a quality that makes him both human and bigger than life.

John Huston: Speaking of bigger than life, just the intro to this interview is enough to make you take stock and realize that you are a complete loser. Huston did more prior to becoming a director than most people do in an entire lifetime. His interview is equally fun, inspiring and fascinating.

Orson Welles/Alfred Hitchcock: These are separate interviews, but both are similar in tone and style. Here are two amazing directors just shooting the breeze for an hour each. Great insight into both. Hitchcock in particular demonstrates his renowned dry humor and had me laughing quite a bit.

Presentation
See, here is where the weak spot is. This looks like a ‘70s TV show for sure, but more so, the colors are all over the place and I’m not talking about plaids. I’m talking about the differences in color between one shot and the next. The lighting and cameras apparently didn’t always agree with each other, and while it’s never really distracting, it’s enough for me to make a mention of it. The sound quality is generally good, although I found myself cranking up the Brando interview, mostly because he gives his usual mush-mouth responses at such a low volume.

Extras
There are some good extras on this set. First up, on disc one there is Katherine Hepburn Uncut. This is the entire interview presented unedited for the first time and is worth the price of this set for Hepburn fans.

Discs two and three have show promos that are interesting from a time capsule perspective, but overall aren’t worth repeated viewings. Finally, disc four has Seeing Stars With Dick Cavett and Robert Osborne. This has Osborne turning the tables and interviewing Cavett. While it’s self-serving, it’s also incredibly interesting and entertaining. Cavett discusses both the show and the relationships he developed off camera with many of his guests. Again, this is something worth having (as if you needed any more incentive to buy this).

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the packaging on these. We get a very nice 16 page booklet detailing each episode and a nice fold out case. This is much better than the standard packaging I’ve been seeing for TV to DVD sets (Dangermouse, I’m looking at you). Great job, Shout Factory!

The Bottom Line
If you’re a fan of movies, and particularly a fan of classics, you will want to see these interviews. They give us a glimpse at a time in Hollywood that we will likely never see again, and kudos to Shout Factory for releasing them. I highly recommend you at least seek out the discs that have a favorite subject on them. Chances are, you’ll end up picking up the set after seeing just one.