Who's Harry Crumb? Blu-Ray Review (Retro VHS Look Series)
By Paul Rudoff on Jan. 20, 2019 at 10:47 PM in Home Video

Who's Harry Crumb? arrives on Blu-ray as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's Retro VHS Look Series, part of a growing trend of physical media releases with packaging designed to look like the VHS videocassettes of the 1980s and 1990s. I have reviewed several other titles in the series here on The Corner Penthouse.

John Candy plays the titular Harry Crumb, a big-hearted, soft-headed private eye and master of disguise. When Harry, the last of the great sleuthing Crumbs - and the last person in the firm to ever get an assignment - finally gets a shot at a front-page kidnapping, it's only because his beady-eyed boss Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones) doesn't want the case solved. At stake is the gorgeous daughter of multi-millionaire P.J. Downing (Barry Corbin), a $10 million ransom, and Eliot's hot-to-trot mistress (Annie Potts), who just so happens to be Downing's wife. Attired in a bizarre array of goofball disguises, from a Hungarian hairdresser to a hefty housewife, and assisted by Downing's other daughter, Nikki (Shawnee Smith), Harry is determined to crack the case no matter what it takes.

Who's Harry Crumb? is John Candy's Fletch, with a little bit of Inspector Clouseau thrown in for good measure. It's always been a favorite of mine. Although it can be kinda low-brow, the dialog is witty, the sight gags are funny, and Candy never fails to delight. There's a naughty sight gag involving fake chest hair and a woman covered in mud at a spa that I've never forgotten in the nearly 30 years since I first watched the film on VHS back in the early 1990s. I won't say any more about it, or even provide an image, as I don't want to spoil it for you.

Backing up John Candy is a stellar cast of character actors, some of whom were Candy's comrades on SCTV, such as Valri Bromfield and Joe Flaherty - the brother of director Paul Flaherty. Ghostbusters fans will be interested in seeing Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz in both original films) sexing it up as Downing's philandering wife. If Egon ever saw Janine in that see-through bra, I guarantee that he never would have let Louis get anywhere near her! This is the film that introduced me to the beautiful Shawnee Smith; seen a year earlier in The Blob (1988), and later getting her due respect as ditzy receptionist Linda in the TV series Becker and reverse bear-trapped Amanda in the SAW film series. Tim Thomerson, best known as Jack Deth in the Trancers film series, appears as Mrs. Downing's tennis instructor and cohort-in-crime; while Wesley Mann steals every scene he's in as Tim, the cross-eyed butler. Animation fans will want to keep a lookout for Deanna Oliver, Sherri Stoner's writing partner, as the woman that ex-football player Lyle Alzado is fighting with in the apartment that Crumb crashes into near the beginning of the film. Deanne and Sherri wrote several episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and the 1995 live-action Casper movie that Dan Aykroyd appeared in as his Ghostbusters character, Ray Stantz. Finally, Jim Belushi pops up in an uncredited cameo as a bus passenger.

At a runtime of 1:29:49, Who's Harry Crumb? is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. On the audio side, there is only an English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. There are no subtitles. As is the case with most Mill Creek Entertainment releases, there are no special features - just like the original videocassette!

The real "bonus feature" here is the vintage-looking VHS-inspired slipsleeve, with faux wear and tear, and fake "rental stickers" on it, while giving the appearance of a videocassette being pulled out from the right side (though the original VHS may have been in a bottom-loading box), complete with tape label side on the right spine. Here's a complete look at this special slipsleeve. Click on it to get a better look.
The front artwork is based on the original U.K. VHS box art, as seen immediately below. The back of the slipsleeve seems to be a new creation done in vintage style, and not meant to resemble the original back VHS artwork, though the use of those two specific photos may have been inspired by the back of the U.S. VHS box (seen under the U.K. art below). (Credit for the original VHS artwork goes to various eBay listings.)


The case artwork underneath is of a modern style, which means that the VHS-style slipsleeve may only be available for a limited time. In the photo below, the slipsleeve cover is on the left and the case artwork underneath is on the right.

If you're not already aware of Mill Creek Entertainment, they are a budget company, which results in their products having a lower cost than the big studios. Right now, Who's Harry Crumb? is listed on Amazon for a mere $7.50.

As of the time of this writing, the Retro VHS Look Series includes the following Blu-ray releases.
• Happy Birthday To Me (1981) (January 15, 2019)
• Hardbodies (1984) (January 15, 2019)
• Krull (1983) (January 15, 2019)
• Last Action Hero (1993) (January 15, 2019)
• Silent Rage (1982) (January 15, 2019)
• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) (January 15, 2019)
• The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) (February 19, 2019)
• Neighbors (1981) (February 19, 2019)
• Sheena (1984) (February 19, 2019)
• Songwriter (1984) (February 19, 2019)
• Hardbodies (1984) (January 15, 2019)
• Krull (1983) (January 15, 2019)
• Last Action Hero (1993) (January 15, 2019)
• Silent Rage (1982) (January 15, 2019)
• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) (January 15, 2019)
• The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) (February 19, 2019)
• Neighbors (1981) (February 19, 2019)
• Sheena (1984) (February 19, 2019)
• Songwriter (1984) (February 19, 2019)
Images used come from the Internet Movie Database gallery of the film, as well as my gallery of framegrabs. The Blu-ray has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.
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