Timed for the release of Burlesque, Fox and MGM have released six films with singer and actress Cher as a package on DVD ($49.98). This example of so-called double-dipping is ideal for the diehard Cher fan, and I know you’re out there, who may appreciate having these films housed in one product. Though it’s missing some of Cher’s best work in pictures, such as her career best performance in Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask (1985), her role as an attorney in Suspect, and other work, the two-box collection, with three discs per case, features her fine work in Tea With Mussolini (pictured), Mermaids, Silkwood, and Moonstruck. there are also a couple of Cher’s early movies, Good Times (1967) her only picture with her then-husband, Sonny Bono, who made her a recording star, and Chastity (1969), which Sonny wrote for Cher as the title character (later the name of their only child, a daughter who is now transgendered). Moonstruck is widely known and beloved, though I prefer Cher’s lesser known pictures: the family movie Mermaids, which holds up well, the delightful gem Tea With Mussolini featuring Cher with Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Joan Plowright in fascist Florence, Italy and her supporting role as Dolly Pelliker the frumpy lesbian in Silkwood.
