The Exception is an unexceptional title for an exceptionally fine film.

Filmed as The Kaiser’s Last Kiss, the far more interesting title of Alex Judd’s 2003 novel, the debut film of Tony-nominated stage director David Leveaux focuses on the love story between a good German soldier, “the exception” to the rule, and the Kaiser’s new Jewish maid, a young Dutch widow who is also a British spy.

The Kaiser is, of course, Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia from the age of 19 in 1888 to the abolition of the monarchy at the end of World War I in 1918. A grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria and cousin of George V, he was banished to Holland after the war and pretty much forgotten until the Nazis took control of Holland in 1940. Vowing never to return to Germany until the monarchy is restored, a Nazi plot to force him to return on the false promise of restoring his position gives him hope that he will die on the throne, but that hope is short-lived. Instead, he aids in the escape of the British spy who gives him his last kiss a year before his death in exile at the age of 82.

What makes the film memorable are the performances of Jai Courtney and Lily James as the lovers, Janet McTeer as the Kaiser’s conniving second wife, Ben Daniels as his trusted aide, and above all, Christopher Plummer in another late career triumph as the Kaiser. If he didn’t already have an Oscar, he would surely be on the short list for his brilliant performance here despite the film’s dismal box-office which can be blamed on the asinine last-minute title change and lack of promotion from Lionsgate.

The Exception is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD.

Ranald MacDougall, who received an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce, the 1945 film directed by Michael Curtiz, later wrote the 1950 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, also directed by Curtiz.

To avoid confusion with Howards Hawks’ previous 1944 version of To Have and Have Not, the Curtiz version, which is more faithful to Hemingway’s original work, was retitled The Breaking Point. Considered by Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner to be Curtiz’s best film since Casablanca, the film was scheduled for major promotion when anti-Communist tract Red Channels named star John Garfield a Communist. Warner dropped the promotion and quietly released the film to less than stellar business.

Time, however, has been kind to the film and the new Criterion Edition Blu-ray does it full justice with a brand new 2K digital restoration.

Garfield’s portrayal of the hardworking boat owner who becomes involved first with human traffickers and then with racetrack thieves, is one of his very best. He receives excellent support from Phyllis Thaxter as his supportive wife and Juano Hernandez as his loyal friend and helper. Patricia Neal’s femme fatale, on the other hand, is a matter of taste. Garfield, weighed down by the witch-hunting and a long-standing heart condition sadly died two years later at the age of 39.

Dario Argento’s first Italian horror mystery thriller, 1970’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, has been released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video following a sparkling 4K digital restoration.

Tony Musante stars as an American writer who witnesses an attempted murder in an Italian city which is linked to a serial killer. He puts both his life and that of his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall) in jeopardy as he helps the police locate the killer. With twists and turns that will keep you guessing, this remains one of the best thrillers of all time.

Elvis Presley made thirty-one films as an actor from 1956’s Love Me Tender to 1969’s Change of Habit. Most of them were more popular at the box-office than they were with critics who generally consider 1960’s Flaming Star to have contained his best performance. Five years later he made Frankie and Johnny, newly released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. A light comedy with more music than usual for an Elvis film, it’s an innocuous way to spend an hour and a half. The star gets to sing eleven songs as a riverboat singer with a gambling problem. Donna Douglas, Harry Morgan, Sue Ane Langdon, Nancy Kovack, Audrey Christie, Robert Strauss, and Anthony Eisley co-star.

Among Twilight Time’s latest Blu-ray releases are State Fair, Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn, and The Crimson Kimono.

The 1962 version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair moves the action from Iowa to Texas and features five new songs written by Richard Rodgers without Oscar Hammerstein II who died in 1960. Pat Boone, Ann-Margret, Bobby Darin, Pamela Tiffin, and Tom Ewell star along with Alice Faye in her first film since 1945’s Fallen Angel under the direction of José Ferrer. A good companion piece to the legendary 1945 version, its release leaves the 1961 film version of Flower Drum Song the only Rodgers & Hammerstein film not to be released on Blu-ray.

The Sherman Brothers had a nice run with the scores for such films as Mary Poppins, The Happiest Millionaire, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. They were still at their peak with their glorious score for 1973’s Tom Sawyer toplining Johnny Whittaker as Tom, Jeff East as Huck Finn, Jodie Foster as Becky Thatcher, Warren Oates as Muff Potter, and Celeste Holm as Aunt Polly. The film, directed by Don Taylor, is sheer joy from start to finish. Unfortunately, 1974’s Huckleberry Finn, on the same disc, with Jeff East reprising his role as Huck, Paul Winfield as Jim, Harvey Korman as the King, David Wayne as the Duke, and Natalie Trundy as Mrs. Loftus suffers from a ho-hum score and lackluster direction from J. Lee Thompson.

One of Samuel Fuller’s best films, 1959’s The Crimson Kimono, like most of the underappreciated director’s films, was not successful in its initial release. In New York, for example, it opened at neighborhood theatres as the second feature to Oscar-winner Gigi after it ended its long first run.

James Shigeta and Glenn Corbett starred as Korean War vets, now San Francisco detectives, who share an apartment. Victoria Shaw was the witness to a murder who comes between them. What was unusual is that Shaw falls in love with Japanese-American Shigeta rather than the equally nice Caucasian Corbett. Anna Lee co-starred as a sassy friend of all three.

At least the film was provided a built-in audience as the second feature to the phenomenally successful Gigi when it hit neighborhood theatres in time for New Year’s Eve, 1960. Fuller’s previous film, the excellent Verboten! was dumped in neighborhood theatres earlier in the year as part of a double-bill for a two-day run on a Monday and Tuesday only.

This week’s new releases include Murdoch Mysteries: Season 10 and the the Blu-ray upgrade of Duel in the Sun.