By Jeremy Kinser

Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials

In 1964, Barbra Streisand, at the ripe old age of 22, had the world on a string. She was starring in the Broadway production of Funny Girl that made her the toast of New York and touted her as the world's "greatest star," she'd appeared on the cover of both Life and Time magazines, won two Grammy Awards, and all five of her albums were on Billboard's Top 100 chart. To cap this, La Babs signed a 10-year exclusive contract with CBS to produce a series of TV specials for the network. The five hour-long TV classics packaged as Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials are now available in a DVD box set.

The first special, 1965's My Name is Barbra is the only one shot in glorious black-and-white and it's a triumph in every sense of the word -- it would eventually win five Emmy Awards. Streisand, true to form, bucked the normal variety special format by eschewing celebrity guest stars and filming outside of the studio soundstage. Famed for wearing thrift store-purchased attire, witty Streisand is filmed singing a medley of Depression-era poverty songs inside posh Fifth Avenue department store Bergdorf Goodman.

1966's Color Me Barbra serves as a color bookend to the previous special. It features a fantasy sequence shot in the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Barbra singing against a backdrop of masterpieces by Modigliani and Renoir, another with a circus backdrop, and finally Streisand descends a staircase from heaven to perform a stunning concert.

In 1967's high-concept The Belle of 14th Street, which makes its debut on home video, Streisand is the top-billed act in a vaudeville show featuring that, ahem, noted song-and-dance man Jason Robards Jr. Although Streisand sings some wonderful period songs like Sophie Tucker's "Some of These Days" and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," Belle is the weakest entry. Still, it's worth a look for fans as Barbra offers a decades-early preview of Yentl while singing "Mother Machree" dressed as a young Jewish boy.

1968's concert Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park ... features the songbird on a break from shooting the film version of Funny Girl in Hollywood and despite a rumored death threat against her, Streisand is relaxed and confident singing her repertoire of hits outdoors in front of 150,000 people.

The fifth special, 1973's Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments, also making its home video debut, is a multicultural musical potpourri that showcases the stars vocals against more than 150 musicians playing everything from violins to an orange juice squeezer. Though there's a lot of fun to be had here, the highlight is undoubtedly the star's duet with Ray Charles on "Crying Time" and "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma."

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

When the big-budget, big star action flick Mr. And Mrs. Smith, the tale of a bored married couple who learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other, was released earlier this year, a thousand tabloid headlines were launched by the are-they-or-aren't-they-a-couple pairing of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The film surprised many by avoiding the box office pitfalls of other films that launched off-set romances like Gigli and Proof of Life and becoming a bonafide worldwide blockbuster. Much of the success must go to the palpable chemistry exhibited by the delectable duo known as Brangelina (still officially unconfirmed as a couple despite so much photographic evidence) and to talented director Doug Liman (Go, Swingers) who created a spiffy, stylish action flick. The film also boasts stellar supporting turns by The O.C. cutie Adam Brody and, especially, Vince Vaughn as a mouthy Mama's boy. Bonus features include two randomized menu sets highlighting both the Mr. and Mrs. sides of the film's sexy spy game, separate audio commentaries by Liman, who curiously spends much of it bemoaning the restrictions placed on him by the film's budget (estimated at $110 million!), and by producers Lucas Foster and Akiva Goldman, deleted scenes, including extended action sequences and more of Vaughn's hilarious kitchen diatribes.