'Martini Movies' DVD highlights hip films

Five older flicks are on DVD for the first time in a series labeled "Martini Movies," described in the press release as "hip and iconic films for the cool film lover."

However, the only bonus features on each disc are a trailer, a pair of teasers about other films in the series — and a martini recipe!

"The New Centurions" (Columbia, 1972; R for violence, language, partial nudity; $19.94). This early '70s look at L.A. cops on the beat is a very good adaptation of former police officer Joseph Wambaugh's first book. And its gritty, realistic style foreshadows Wambaugh's influence on the portrayal of law enforcement in TV and movies for decades afterward.

This episodic film follows a rookie (Stacy Keach) from the police academy to his earliest assignments, teamed with a veteran (George C. Scott) who has devoted his life to the streets. Then the film continues through several years of Keach's triumphs and tragedies with the LAPD. There is some sporadic humor, but this is ultimately a downbeat look at one of the world's toughest jobs. (On the downside, it establishes the cliche of the strip-bar scene that seems to show up in every cop flick these days.)

Jane Alexander plays Keach's wife, and among the familiar faces in support are Isabel Sanford as a hooker (long before she became "Weezy" on "The Jeffersons") and Erik Estrada as a young cop (well before "CHiPs").

As a footnote, I wish someone would recognize that Wambaugh's seminal "Police Story" TV series and his miniseries "The Blue Knight" are long overdue for DVD release.

Extras: widescreen, minifeaturettes, trailer

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"Affair in Trinidad" (Columbia, 1952, b/w, $19.94). Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford have crackling chemistry, which explains why they were cast together in five films, most famously "Gilda." This one isn't quite up to that level, but it's good. Hayworth's husband is killed and she's recruited by Trinidad police to find out who did it and why. Then Ford, as her clueless brother-in-law, shows up to do some investigating of his own.

Extras: full frame, minifeaturettes, trailer

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"The Garment Jungle" (Columbia, 1957, b/w, $19.94). This marks the home-video debut of this routine but enjoyable look at union leaders standing up to mobsters in New York's garment district. Kerwin Mathews ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad") stars, with a first-rate supporting cast led by Lee J. Cobb, Richard Boone and Robert Loggia.

Extras: widescreen, minifeaturettes, trailer

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