Reviews (230)

Hitchcock's Masterful Tale of Neurosis and Obsession
Vertigo brilliantly and hypnotically displays many of Hitchcock's famous themes: the ordinary man caught up in a world of intrigue beyond his control (Scotty), the icy, mysterious blonde (Madeline), the smothering maternal figure (Midge), the obsession with the past, and the blurring of the line between illusion and reality. All of the aforementioned elements are enhanced by Bernard Hermann's passionate, romantic music, and combine to make this film one of Hitchcock's most complex, most richly rewarding films.

In "Vertigo," the characters and the viewing audience rarely know what is real and what is illusion. Many of the scenes in the film have a hazy, dreamlike quality: Madeline disappears behind and re-emerges from the Sequoia trees; Madeline steps out of the hazy, hotel light after her transformation as if she is a ghost reappearing from the past. Hitchcock brilliantly uses light, shadow and music to create a dizzingly uncertain atmosphere, forcing the audience to question what is really happening in the scene.

Scotty's obsession with the past and his desire to transform the charater "Judy" into his former love "Madeline" brings up an intriguing question. To what lengths will people go to change themselves to please the one they love? How much of their identities are they willing to give up for love? Madeline poignantly says to Scotty after he has asked her to change one thing after another about herself, "If I let you change me, then will you love me?"

"Vertigo" is a brilliant director working out his neurosis and obsessions through cinema. Luckily for the audience, the director is Hitchcock, and the film he has created is a fascinating, haunting masterpiece.

Absolutely the best film Hitchcock ever made
Everybody's got a favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie. Mine is VERTIGO. Everything about this movie is more than perfect. The performances from Kim Novak, James Stewart and Barbara Bel Geddes- beyond Oscar quality. The film is a masterpiece. There are multiple themes that are repeated throughout the movie, which make it subject to many repeated viewings. I've seen it many times, and I could see it all the time. Every time I see it, I find out something new. When you see John "Scottie" Fergeson going over the top, you'll have a hard time believing that it's Jimmy Stewart up on screen. Kim Novak is a beautiful, shimmering brilliance in her two- actually THREE roles (Madeline, Carlotta Valdes, Judy). And I found it hard not to sympathize with Barbara Bel Gedde's Midge. Alfred Hitchcock's meticulous direction pays off more than ever. The ending delievered such an emotional, psychological shock that I couldn't stop thinking about it. My advice to you: stop reading, go out and see VERTIGO. You won't regret it.

The very first shot is the best.
I watched Vertigo for the first time when I was about 12 years old - I remember I couldn't sleep well afterwards. I guess I was a little too young at the time to fully appreciate its scope. Watched it now again in its restored form on DVD.

In my opinion the best moment in the movie is the very first shot of the woman's mouth and face and her eyes - the look in her eyes - all in black and white - and then the introduction of colour - the spirals etc., and the ingeneous score. The score is incredible. Very efficient. It really gives the whole thing a dreamlike quality.

Generally, I don't like dark haunting movies too much. And Vertigo is haunting.
Most of the other Hitchcock movies have a kind of upbeat humour - an optimistic atmosphere. Take Psycho, for example. Yes, people get killed - but in a strange, almost perverse way the movie is almost funny. And, of course, there is a satisfying conclusion, a happy end. Not so in Vertigo.

Note that Hitchcock returned in subsequent movies - North by Northwest, Frenzy, Family Plot ...to his characteristic dark humour. That's why I think that Vertigo - while it deals with themes also present in his other movies - is something of an exception : there is no happy end and there is no relief for the audience.

Most of Hitchcock's movies deal with horrible things - like murder, the innocent being wrongfully accused and hunted by society, malice and intrigue,.. - but he always balances this with this typical British dark humour which in a way protects the audience and helps it to digest the on-screen violence. So this dark humour, this distancing of the audience, fulfills a very important function. For instance, after the shower scene in Psycho, we witness Norman Bates clean up the bathroom.
The same kind of dark humour - not quite as dark - can be found in some of the James Bond movies. Its always about helping the audience to accept what has just happened.

In Vertigo, this dark humour is missing and this accounts for its dark haunting quality.

Again, I am not much of a fan of obssesive love and all that - and probably neither
are most other people - and certainly Vertigo is not as much fun to watch as, say North by Northwest, but the score and the use of colours in it alone are worthy of our attention.

Darkest Hitchcock
"Vertigo" is a disturbing tour de force. You would probably have to roll forward to David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" is find comparable weirdness. Is it Hitchcock's best? That's a tough question. Personally, I think "Notorious" is a better film, because the story fits easier into expectations of what a story should be, while at the same time being very edgey in matters of men and women, sex and love, and intrigue that blurs the lines. Everything about "Notorious" is balanced. But "Vertigo" takes chances few directors are willing to attempt, and that has to be recognized - especially when it involves a director with the abilities and genius of a Hitchcock. With that in mind, "Vertigo" is the important film, necessary if you want to fully understand Hitchcock.

"Vertigo" is about obsession. Ex-detective John Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) is following the wife of an old friend, who fears his wife is losing her mind. It's a deadly scam, but you know that. The real story is Ferguson's descent. Stewart is excellent and increasingly strange as the movie progresses. Novak also works, but in a way she strikes the viewer as a deliberately coarser version of the Hitchcock "blondes." I don't pretend to be a Hitchcock specialist, but I've been spending this summer going through the major Hitchcock films, and I've noticed a few things that have me wondering over Hitchcock's creative arc in general. Blondes, yep. But look at the role of mothers. "Strangers on a Train" has psycho killer Walker's mother as a babying influence, and "Vertigo" has former Stewart girlfriend, played by Barbara Bel Geddes, visiting Stewart/Ferguson, and telling him "mother" is there for him. And check out the Nazi mother to mama's boy Claude Rains in "Notorious." The capper is of course the "mother" of Norman Bates in that movie explosion called "Psycho." What was it with Hitchcock and mothers? Also note that the swirl imagery of "Vertigo" reappears in the swirling drain of "Psycho."

"Vertigo" is a much more free-floating effort, and deserves all the praise. Narrative structure is allowed to slacken, and interior pathologies allowed to take priority, all amazing terrain for a director to explore - and to be allowed to explore by the dollar driven studios. The logic of the "story" is in fact is so suspended, that the fact that there is a murder and a murderer become secondary - they are merely triggers. Oh, Stewart/Ferguson eventually remembers he's a cop, but the difference in "Vertigo," which sets it apart from even "Psycho," is that it doesn't matter and darkness falls. And with it a final madness?

NOT his best! Why is everyone raving about this movie??
It's good, not great. The storyline is just too basic. Nothing really grabbed my attention. As far as the directing aspect of it, it may be one of his best. But also this may be his most boring film. It was a flop at the box-office. I'd like to know why it's considered his masterpiece. Am I missing something? This movie has little intrigue in comparison to his other films.

"North By Northwest" was by far his best.
"Rear Window" was great.
"The Birds" was very exciting to watch and was a great feat in film-making for its time with all those birds.
"Lifeboat" was good too.
"Psycho" would have been much better if I saw it for the first time without knowing what was going to happen.
"Dial M For Murder" has a great storyline with intrigue.

But as for "Vertigo", ehh.... not as good in comparison. It will be very good if it is your first Hitchcock movie to watch. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

The King of Elvis flicks
Even the stuffy New York Times praised Elvis Presley's performance in "King Creole," and why not? Everything clicks in this adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher." For once, Elvis has a good script, a terrific supporting cast, a first class director, and a role worthy of an actor which he shows himself to be while also singing an album's worth of outstanding songs. He's not the surly creep of "Jailhouse Rock," nor is he the bloated beach boy of most of his 60's movies. He's a good kid whose boredom with school and disappointment with his homelife leads him to explore life on the wrong side of the tracks where he encounters a switchblade flinging Vic Morrow, a sleazy Walter Matthau, and a beautiful but been around Carolyn Jones. Along the way, he also performs brilliant, knockout musical numbers like "New Orleans," "Trouble," "Dixieland Rock," and the amusing "Lover Doll" (no "Old MacDonald's Farm" in this movie). It all adds up to the King's best film, one of the few in which he wore his crown with honor.

Elvis Presley's personal favorite film role
"King Creole" from 1958,(the same year Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S.Army),is a good drama with a few good musical numbers thrown in. Shot in glorious black&white and produced by Hal Wallis,who produced some of Mr. Presley's biggest hits("Loving You" from 1957,"Blue Hawaii" from 1961,"Girls!Girls! Girls!" from 1962) and directed by Michael Curtiz(the classic "Casablanca"),the story takes place in New Orleans and Elvis stars as Danny Fisher,a disillusioned high school drop out with designs on being a singer.Danny gets a job at the night club "King Creole". The picture features a fine supporting cast including the late,great Walter Matthau,very effective as a sleazy gangster,Carolyn Jones as the gangster's kept woman,Dean Jagger as Danny's father,Vic Morrow as a hoodlum and one of the gangster's henchman and Dolores Hart as Danny's girlfriend,(Ms. Hart after making several movies left acting and decided to become a nun in the mid '60's).Elvis's top ten hit single from this movie was "Hard Headed Woman".Also, "Trouble" was a well known number.Elvis Presley had said in interviews that of all the 30 odd pictures he had made Danny Fisher in "King Creole" was his personal favorite film role.And,Mr. Presley added that he hated most of the rest of the pictures he had made.

Actually 4 and 1/2 Stars, But...
I can't give that rating on Amazon. Anyway, as a lover of EP's music, and at the time only his music, I was so so so very hesitant to ever give a film of his the smallest chance, because of all the negative things I had heard. I didn't want a bad film to ruin the image that the music had created in my mind. So it was 35 years of just music, nothing else.
Then this past April 2004 I was able to make a "pilgrimage" to Memphis, specifically Graceland. While talking with an employee in one of the giftshops, she convinced me to give certain films a try, and King Creole was the one she recommended I start with. She was kind enough to also recommend a few that I must avoid at all costs, namely Girls, Girls, Girls.
If I could meet this Graceland employee again, I would thank her several times over. King Creole is a quality film that has an actual, and quasi-believable, plot. It has Elvis at his most handsome, and in black and white, that comes through even more. He gives a commendable performance, and his costars carry their weight in the film well also, esp the beautiful Carolyn Jones.
I would classify King Creole as a good overall film, and in the Elvis realm, I would consider it a great film. I think it is his best.

Reel Elvis
This is more like it. A great movie, well directed and acted by all concerned.

Elvis is fantasic. He looks great, looks enthused and is enjoying working with a great cast and crew. This is just the type of movie he should have been doing but, as is known, went on to make the likes of Girls, Girls, Girls and, God help us, Speedway.

The songs are good, the story is good, it looks like money was spent on it. What a pity his stint in the Army more or less ruined his movie career. This is highly recommended along with Flaming Star and Wild in the Country.

good elvis flick
I would rank this as one of the better elvis films along with "love me tender" and "jailhouse rock" also recommend "loving you" ... Read more

Amazon.com

William Holden is the hunky drifter who rides the rails into a small Midwest town with dreams of landing a "respectable" job with his rich college buddy (Cliff Robertson). Kim Novak is the small-town beauty queen engaged to Robertson who falls for the cocky dreamer, as do repressed schoolmarm spinster Rosalind Russell and Novak's tomboyish kid sister Susan Strasberg. Their unleashed passions reach a crescendo at the Labor Day picnic.

Joshua Logan directed William Inge's play on Broadway and carried it to Hollywood, earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in his screen-directing debut. Holden is years too old for the role but oozes sex appeal and makes a swoony stud when he takes his shirt off (or when, better yet, it's ripped from his back by a boozing Russell), and Novak is a lovely lost girl yearning for something she can't quite grasp. Arthur O'Connell earned an Oscar nomination as Russell's tippling boyfriend. The film was a huge popular and critical hit, but Logan's stiff and strident direction hasn't dated well. He makes his points in big capital letters--subtlety was never his strong point--and loses the natural beauty of the Kansas locations when he takes the climactic picnic scenes into an obviously artificial soundstage. Picnic remains a loved American classic, largely for Holden's tough-guy vulnerability and James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen color photography. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (74)

A subtle movie! A Dynamite Cast! A Gorgeous Score!
This is a subtle and rewarding film. The cast is magnificent--the performances great! One of my favorite film scores too!

A hint for watching the movie. With each viewing, I find I have been concentrating on a different actor. Kim Novak is definitely at her peak; William Holden is remarkable; Rosalind Russell is at her very best, with a fantastically varied and difficult part; Susan Strasberg is wonderful indeed. All of the supporting actors are super too! And this IS primarily a story of individuals' lives, and how they are changed.

The film gives a remarkably accurate picture of life in 1950's rural Kansas. But onto this background is thrust a love story of great interest and appeal. The film has super color and fine sound (for its era anyway).

The film is, quite simply, astounding. Don't rent it....buy it, bucause it just gets better and better with repeated watchings!

Dripping with lust!
Picnic is one of those films that just transports the viewer into another time and era and that's the sign of a truly great film. Holden has the daunting task of playing a loveable hustler with big dreams that he just can't make happen. So he decides to go back to familiar grounds and falls for kim Novak. Novak is a treasure in this movie her exotic beauty and shaky voice highlights her characters uneveness to conform into the town's perfect beautiful young woman. This film at it's time was billed as too sexy due to the dance that Novak and Holden share at the picnic and till this day the scene holds up great. The lust in both their eyes and Novaks raw sex appeal against Holden's rugged good looks is a sight to be hold. But the back story which I won't give a hint of is the true tale of this flick and shows how human nature is always determined by the role society wants you to play based on your looks! This film still holds up today as a work of pure sexual energy and raw human emotions.

William Holden & Kim Novak are OUTSTANDING in Picnic
I saw PICNIC during its release in 1956 in India when I was in
school. I was crazy about English films and never missed a good
film.one of my class mates saw the film before me and remarked
about the energetic dancing of Holden as spellbinding.I was not
that keen in the beginning to see the film due to its title which meant lightweight and fun. But when I saw the film the experience was tremendous, I had just seen a masterpiece. William Holden and Kim Novak were just outstanding. Holden

brought a breath of fresh air as soon as he appeared, and Kim
Novak was not just a small town beauty queen, she oozed raw sex
and hidden desires exposed to the full by carefree but passionate William Holden. Although, without doubt the highlight of the film was the picnic and the dancing where all the principal players of the film are envolved emotionally and the finale to the story builds up, there other memorable scenes notably the swing scene where Holden gets hold of the swing where Novak is sitting, he begins playing with it unintentionally and realises for the first time that he has fallen for the fiancee of his best friend. Then there is that passionate scene beside the waterfall where both Holden and Novak admit their love for each other and kiss intensly, Holden with torn shirt. After this Holden runs and catches the running train and finally Novak follows him, her true love in the Greyhound. The execution of all these scenes and the whole story is nothing less than perfect. James Wong Hoe's technicolor photography is outstanding. Needless to say I have seen this film many times since and found it always charming.

Holden Sparks, Novak Smolders, Kansas Burns
In a decade of conformity and great prosperity William Inge and Tennessee Williams tackled subjects ahead of their time. Of course they in some cases had to veil the subject matter but that lead to some wonderful revelations in writing and reading between the lines. In this DVD from Colombia of Inge's Pulitzer Prize winning 'Picnic' we have one of the best films of this genre of sexual repression, animal heat, and desperation in small town America.
Most reviewers of this film might begin with the leads but I must start of with the wonderful Verna Felton as Helen Potts the sweet old lady who is caretaker of her aged mother and lives next door to the Owens family. This gifted and now forgotten character actress sets the tone of the picture as she welcomes drifter Hal Carter (William Holden) into her house. At the end of the film she glows in tender counterpoint to the dramatic ending. She is the only person who understands Hal, even more than Madge (Kim Novak). Her speech about having a man in the house is pure joy to watch. It is a small but important performance that frames the entire story with warmth and understanding.
Betty Field turns in a sterling performance as Flo Owens, Mother of Madge and Millie. She is disapproving of Millie's rebellious teen and smothering of her Kansas hothouse rose Madge. A single Mom trying in desperation to keep Madge from making the same mistakes she did. She becomes so wrapped up in Madge's potential for marriage to the richest boy in town she completely ignores the budding greatness that is bursting to get out in her real treasure. Millie.
Susan Strasberg creates in her Millie a sweet comic oddball. She is the youngest daughter who awkwardly moves through the landscape nearly un-noticed, reading the scandalous "Ballad of the Sad Café" being the only one who is different and can't hide it. Her yearning to get out of the smallness of small town life is colored with the skill of a young actress with greatness her.
Rosalind Russell nearly steals the show as the fourth woman in the Owens household boarder, Rosemary, a frantic, hopeless and clutching spinster. In the capable hands of Miss Russell we have a real powerhouse of a performance. She imbues Rosemary with all the uptight disapproval of a woman who knows that her time has past and there are very few options left. She is electric in her need for love. Every nuance of her emotions is sublime in her presentation. Just watch her hands alone.
Floating above all of this is Madge Owens, the kind of girl who is too pretty to be real. The kind of girl who in a small town like this is not understood to have any real feelings or thoughts other than those that revolve around being beautiful and empty. Enter Kim Novak, who is just such a girl. Who could ever expect such a beauty to be anything more than just pretty? But Miss Novak, a vastly underrated actress in her day paints a knowing and glowing portrait of Madge. Her explosion of sexual heat upon meeting Hal for the first time is internal and barely perceptible until she looks at him from behind the safety of the screen door the end of their first scene. That screen door is a firewall protecting her from the flames. She fights in the early part of the film to keep her sexual desire for Hal in check. That night she loses her fight at the picnic and we watch as she opens to reveal a woman of feelings and dreams so much deeper than the prettiness of her eyes or the luminosity of her skin. This is one of Kim Novak's early great roles and one she fills out with lush and deep emotion.
The lives of all of these women of Nickerson Kansas are changed one Labor Day when Hal comes steaming into town. William Holden gives a raw and wounded portrayal to Hal, a man at the edge of his youth and on the verge of becoming a lost man. He lives as he always has, on the fading glow of his golden boy charm and his muscular magnetism. Holden was 35 when he made Picnic, a real golden boy at the edge of his youth. He was perfect for the part. Some reviewers say he was too old to play Hal, but I disagree. Without being thirty-five in real life as well as in the story Rosemary's "Crummy Apollo" speech would not be so effective or devastating. Hal is a man who never bothered to grow up, a man who never let anyone get too close for fear they might see through is bravado and discover his fears of feeling something, anything before it's too late.
Holden also brings a sexual heat to the film that is eons beyond the time it was filmed. He is presented almost like a slab of meat. He struts around in a pre-Stonewall dream of sexy hotness. Not only the girls in town notice him but a few boys too. (There are several layers to Nick Adams paperboy if one bothers to look.) When finally Holden sparks with Novak they blow the lid off of the uptight code bound studio-strangled world of Hollywood in the Fifties.
The film is photographed magnificently in lush color and cinemascope by famed cinematographer James Wong Howe. The famous score by George Durning is classic not only for the famous reworking of the old standard "Moonglow" but for his virtuosity in dramatic power. This is a giant of a score from the silver age of film music. The direction by Josh Logan is perfect in every way and stands among the best of his work.

Moonglow moments
You know it's good:

1. It's the look on William Holden's face when he first catches a glimpse of Kim Novak coming down the stairs in that pink dress. ("Madge is the pretty one"--she sure is)
2. It's the way she shimmies up to him. Revealing her intentions, she never loses eye contact or says a word.
3. It's the moment he takes her into his arms to dance close--he gives a little sigh of pleasure.
4. It's the look on his face when he's dancing--that criptic smile of pleasure and sensuality--all the while knowing that she's totally off limits.

and of course the song itself. This scene in itself makes the movie and with DVD you can play it over and over and over... Not many dance scenes have stood the test of time. I loved it. What can I say--I'm a chick. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Susan Hayward won an Academy Award® for her performance in the compelling 1958 classic I Want to Live! Hayward plays Barbara Graham, a "good-time girl" with a heart of gold and absolutely no instincts about when to drop a bad association. After bouncing in and out of the prison system for a series of petty crimes, Graham suddenly finds herself framed for murder and facing the death penalty. Hayward is simply marvelous, giving a wrenching, complex performance without ever becoming maudlin. Director Robert Wise ratchets the tension up to a nearly unbearable level, making Barbara's moments of hope as agonizing as those of her despair. The film is based on the story of the real-life Barbara Graham, taken from her letters and interviews with reporter Ed Montgomery. Montgomery himself appears as a character, and the film is surprisingly evenhanded about condemning his own role in Graham's conviction. This is definitely a must-see for Hayward fans. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (27)

fantastic drama, a tour-de-force by Hayward
I WANT TO LIVE is a stunning film starring the amazing Susan Hayward in her Oscar-winning triumph. Director Robert Wise (THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE SAND PEBBLES, STAR!) gives us an unforgettable film noir classic.

The film tells the true story of convicted murderess Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward - TAP ROOTS, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) who was sentenced to the gas chamber for her part in the robbery and murder of an elderly lady. Professing her innocence right up to the end, Barbara is a sly, sardonic but always-likable woman who wins the heart of the audience. Hayward's tour-de-force performance as Graham is vastly rewarding. Her multi-faceted portrayal of Graham is truly amazing.

Highly recommended.

The DVD includes the trailer.

Excellent fare written to showcase the lovely Miss Hayward
Susan Hayward was one of the best actresses ever. I just love to watch her. The only real talent to come after her was Faye Dunaway. Anyway, "I Want to Live!" was Hollywood's scathing indictment of the death penalty and is the film for which Susan Hayward is best remembered. It is her Oscar-winning performance. Frankly, I liked her a lot better in "I'll Cry Tomorrow" "Smash Up: The Story of a Woman" and "With a Song in My Heart." I thought she was much better in those, but the Oscar had eluded her, so they wrote this screenplay full of plenty of dramatic scenes to get her the Oscar she rightfully deserved. It worked.

The dialog and plot are excellent and her scenes as the condemned woman hours from execution are still extremely powerful today. In some ways, Susan Hayward was at her very best, and with the perfect script, a rare combination. You still sit there rooting for her to get that stay of execution in the movie, the movie grabs you that much. I've watched this film about 10 times, she never gets the stay, but the situations are so real, you root for one every time.

The only thing that to me does not make this Miss Hayward's best role (apart from maybe a handful of scenes) is that Barbara Graham, the real-life death-row inmate portrayed here, was a low-budget, crude, herion addict who got along by using men, doing petty thefts and sometimes being a prostitute, and I don't mean the $100 an hour ones that come to your hotel room. We're talking low-class street woman. Miss Hayward is nothing of the kind, she doesn't have that look or manner. Though the prison and death penalty scenes and themes are excellently and realistically portrayed here, you feel like you're watching a wrongfully-convicted society woman, nun, or school teacher getting the gas chamber, not a two-bit street prostitute/heroine junkie/thief. I don't think this necessarily takes away from the movie much or how it grips you, but for this reason, I'm not sure I would rate this the best of Susan Hayward. The Oscar was righting previous wrongs, in my opinion.

I highly recommend this film, and if you like it, try some of Susan Hayward's other films. She was really outstanding!

The film that changed my attitude!
I feel that many cold-blooded criminals that're in jail probably deserve the death penalty, but when we can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they actually did the crime, then it's time to admit a mistake & let the falsely accused go free! This is a prime example of criminal justice gone wrong. The heartbreaking true story of Barbara Graham, who was wrongfully executed for a grisly murder she didn't commit. I knew the story before watching this, yet up to the very end I kept on hoping that Barbara, brilliantly played by Susan Hayward, would be granted another trial to prove her innocence. The tension is almost as unbearable for the viewer as it is for poor Barbara as she counts the hours & finally minutes before her execution. I'll admit, early in the movie it's difficult to sympathize with someone so amoral, but by the time she's pleading for her life we all feel terrible about her situation. I haven't seen many of Susan Hayward's movies, but her performance in this (which won her an oscar) is equal to anything Bette Davis or Joan Crawford ever did (& that's saying a lot!). If you're looking for a great Susan Hayward film, you've found it! This powerful film convinced me that the death penalty is not the best way to deal out justice. Consider Charles Manson: Now of course he deserves to die, but don't you also think he deserves to rot in jail the rest of his life? Whatever your current opinion about the death penalty, I gurantee this movie will make you think twice!

Hayward Masterpiece!
Maybe I'm a bit partial, being an avid Susan Hayward fan, but "I Want to Live!" must rank as the perfect example of how to meld great story and super talent. Susan rightfully deserved her Oscar for her portrayal of Barbara Graham, a woman convicted and executed for a murder she denied to the end. All the key element of sophisticated film making come together to make this a treasure. They don't make them like this any more.

I WANT AN OSCAR!...
A memorable film from the 50's based allegedly on the true story of a woman named Barbara Graham who went to the gas chamber for a murder she swore she didn't commit. As played by Susan Hayward (who won an Oscar), Graham is a party girl and sometime thief/prostitute involved with some very shady small time crooks. An old woman is robbed and killed in the process and the crooks let Graham take the rap. Graham is also the mother of a small child---an angle played up in the press as she waves her son's toy tiger at the cameras. What sticks in your mind, though, are the scenes where she's back and forth from her death row cell to the gas chamber as she waits anxiously for a stay from the governor. These scenes are nerve-racking and make me cry when I watch this movie. Hayward is vivid and believable in these scenes as she is throughout the movie. I recommend this film for people who like watching stellar performances in off-beat films. A fine b&w case study of crime, psychodrama and powerful acting. Don't pass this one up. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Herbie Rides Again is no good.............
This sequel to The Love Bug, lacks a good plot, and an interesting cast. Set five years after the original, this film finds Herbie now sold to an annoying old lady living in a fire house. The fire house is the only building left in the way of Alonzo Hawk's new sky scraper being built. Robert Stevenson enters the plot as Hawk's nephew and goes against his uncle to help save the fire house. This film has nothing to do with the original and loses the formula. I would pass on this movie. However, Dean Jones and Don Knots returned in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo to give the series back it's good name.........

Just a poor re-hash of "The Love Bug"
Like many sequels, the writers of this one were unable to come up with a new plot idea, so they basically re-hashed the original. Ken Berry takes the Dean Jones role, Stephanie Powers takes the Michelle Lee role, the demise of the firehouse replaces the demise of Herbie, etc, etc. Also like many sequels, the result was poor at best. While it had its moments [the parade of Beetles], for the most part, "Herbie Rides Again" seemed to try to hard to be clever...and as a result, fails.

As for the transfer...I couldn't help but notice how "tight" all the scenes with the actors seemed to be...especially the ones inside Herbie. The reason? It appears this movie was filmed in 1.66:1 ratio...and Disney, in its usual infinite wisdom, has trimmed information from the picture to make it fit a 16x9 screen. Geez...even Disney's widescreen movies cut out part of the picture. These guy are just clueless, aren't they?

The sound seemed a little off to me as well, with the music sometimes overwhelming the dialogue.

All that being said, my recommendation is to buy "The Love Bug" [which has an overall excellent transfer, with the exception of one out-of-focus scene in Chinatown], and forget all the sequels.

Not good for little kids
My two year old loves Herbie, so we rented this to give us all a break. Now we are paying for it! The villian in this movie rants, raves, screams, and bosses everyone around conitinuously. Perhaps it is coincidence, but our mild-mannered son has become a mini-version of this tryant. After two weeks, he is finally returning to normal. I would not recommend showing this movie to suggestible children. It is difficult to find live-action, non-violent movies with good role-model characters. Stick with "The Love Bug."

A Disney favorite is back -- this time in widescreen!
Predictable, but fun Disney comedy from the 1970's and the best of the Love Bug sequels. Thanks to Disney Home Video for releasing this film in widescreen. Please release all Disney films in their original theatrical ratios and re-release The Moonspinners, Blackbeard's Ghost, and Babes in Toyland in widescreen.

The Little Car That Could is Back
Alonzo Hawk has made his fortune by destroying old buildings and putting new office buildings and shopping centers in their place. His latest project is to build the world's tallest skyscraper in San Francisco. Unfortunately for him, one widow refuses to sell the little firehouse she's lived in since the day she got married. Even more unfortunately, she's keeping Herbie for her nephew, and Herbie has decided to protect her at all costs. But what can a VW Bug do against a man who will stop at nothing to destroy the firehouse?

This was the first sequel to the huge hit, THE LOVE BUG. Released 6 years after the original, none of the human cast returned. Only the car is around to reprise his roll. Stirring clear of racecar driving completely for this go around, the plot focuses solely on the tug of war over the firehouse. The plot itself is silly, with Herbie doing such things as driving the cable of the Golden Gate Bridge and swimming. Still, if you're in the mood for improbably fun, these movies are your ticket. The cast, lead by Helen Hayes, does a fine job keeping the storyline believable fantasy. And, of course, there's the romantic sub-plot just to add a little more tension.

I was really impressed by the Special Edition treatment that THE LOVE BUG received last year and was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately, this is a movie only edition. This movie is presented in widescreen and full surround, however. The picture looks sharp with some dust and grain debris showing it's age. It sounds nice as well, although the movie won't give your surround sound a chance to truly shine. Then again, considering when the movie came out, that's not too different from the original source.

Despite the lack of special features, it's nice to have this fun film on DVD. I've been a fan of Herbie for as long as I can remember, and these films will always hold a special place in my heart. ... Read more

Amazon.com

From the Terrace is one of Paul Newman's lesser-known films, but it's a worthy showcase for the actor's developing screen persona. Like Butterfield 8, this is a slick, prestigious adaptation of a John O'Hara novel, about loose morals and forbidden love among the wealthy elite. Director Mark Robson lacks the mastery of melodrama that Douglas Sirk would've brought to this material, but he's still on target with O'Hara's tale of a prodigal son (Newman) who rejects his late father's steel mill in favor of big-business conquest, only to find his trophy wife (superbly played by Newman's off-screen wife, Joanne Woodward) straying into the arms of her former fiancé, while he falls in love with a socialite (Ina Balin) with whom he's much more compatible. A well-tuned drama of marital discord and unchecked ambition, From the Terrace was sharply adapted by Ernest Lehman between the triumphs of North by Northwest and West Side Story, and Newman's brooding performance gave him a solid boost to his iconic role in the 1961 classic The Hustler. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Excellent oldie.....
A view FROM THE TERRACE is what Paul Newman's character David Alfred Eaton has of his future wife Mary (JoAnne Woodward). The screen play was based on a best-selling novel of the same name by John O'Hara. Given it was released in the 1950s when sex on the screen was verboten and not much more explicit in novels (ban a book in Boston), one must appreciate the work it took for Newman and Woodward to give these performances.

Like many other teenagers of my generation, I was "in love" with Paul Newman. Newman could make female hearts flutter by simply looking at the camera with his big blue eyes. Many other teens preferred Marlon Brando, his peer and rival for female affection. I believe these two actors were the Leonardo de Caprio and Brad Pitt of their day, although in the long run, Newman (like de Caprio) has had more staying power and gracefully made the transition to mature roles.

In the 1950s, to see a film one had to attend a theater, where the screen was usually covered with a huge velvet curtain. FTT played at the Center theater in my small town, and I saw the film six times after it was released. I was able to get into the theater for a quarter, and as my allowance was $3, this was no small sacrifice. So, you might say this film was one of my all time favorites.

Watching it again almost 50 years later, I wondered how I would react, and of course the passage of time and arrival of many other actors and vast changes in filmmaking have affected the way I view the film and Newman, but I still like him enormously, and this film holds it's own, though the storyline may seem archaic.

This film is about infidelity and divorce and the price of success, a story line that may be lost on generations raised in an age of no-fault divorces and dual earner households. Once upon a time, divorce and infidelity were considered absolutely scandalous, and financially disastrous. In fact, if you divorced, your life was ruined. Many couples stayed together and suffered the ignominy of a cheating spouse. FTT was a ground-breaking film because it tackled these issues head-on.

The DVD version of the film is well done, and the price reasonable (technicolor and cinemascope production). Do your self a favorite, buy this DVD and add it to the shelf where you keep CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and other 50's favorites.

I absolutely adore this movie
I saw this movie for at least the third time today and I told myself: go ahead and get this on DVD because you watch it every time it comes on TV. Well, I just simply must have it near me. I love the "how do you like them apples" part in the movie. What a move! I love every minute of this movie. It is like a short story! I love the dialogue! Watch it people!

My View From The Sofa
Paul Newman has many more famous roles...but for some reason, this is one of my all time favorite movies of his. It comes on the Love Stories, AMC, or TCM cable channels every here and now...or you could just buy it like I did.

He's nice, determined, well-meaning Alfred Eaton, who starts off with lofty, wealthy ideas about what is important in life...the right woman, the right career, the right friends...and showing them all how important he can be when he has them. Ultimately, he learns that what is important is only what feels right to him alone.

I love his story of personal discovery as much as his love affair story with Natalie. Alfred and Natalie have this beautiful scene where they are saying goodbye, they're barely touching, but it's the most painfully romantic thing to see.

Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward have some excellent scenes in this movie also with real good comeback dialogue. He's the hardworking, decent man and she's the desperate-to-impress and just plain desperate society wife. She self-righteously and hurtfully accuses him of adultery with a girl with no guts when she's been sleeping with her ex-fiancee all along. She actually calls her lover and arranges a tryst while her husband is in the room!!!! She has guts!!!! (if little else) Unbeknownst to her, Alfred has exhaustingly if unaffectedly (if you can look unaffected and disgusted at the same time, that is) done his best to makes her invisible in the room, but she probably just becomes invisible without any real effort on his part to make her so by that point. Their voices just have the most impactful tones...especially when they get to play off of each other. I can play their final scene over and over again where she says she won't give him a divorce and he says,"Any further communication between you and me will be through legal channels." He has the most genuine smile on that handsome face in that moment than through the entire movie!!!!!

This movie is actually pretty long, but not a moment is wasted. It all comes together in the end when Alfred finally chooses what he actually wants instead of what he's supposed to want.

Maybe it's because it's so subtle and not at all like a "movie" that it seems to be largely overlooked by everyone except me and 20 other people. Paul Newman is one fine, naturally classy actor, I say.

Unfaithfully Yours
Every few years, I sit back and enjoy "From the Terrace" for what it is. As good old fashioned "potboiler", John O Hara's screen adaptation is not quite as sprawling as say....Edna Ferber's works, but nonetheless is a decent potboiler in its own right. Alfred (Paul Newman), discharged from the Navy after WW II is the ambitious, disaffected son of nouveau riche steel mill owner Samuel Eaton, (Leon Ames). Seeking to make his own unique mark in the world he spurns his father's hopes of joining the business and decides his fortune is to be made elsewhere. Along the way, he meets his future blue-blooded trophy wife Mary St. John (Joanne Woodward) and soon discovers her appetites are far in excess even to his own ambitions. Landing a job at a prestigious Wall Street firm in an oblique way that is a potboiler's trademark, Alfred comes under the watchful eye of old money and traditional expectations by J.D. MacHardie (masterfully portrayed by Felix Aylmer). I very much enjoyed all the scenes in which Aylmer's MacHardie was highlighted and I can almost smell the stodginess of old money, ritual table manners, wood paneled walls, cigars, and brandy that were part of his ultra-conservative environment. Soon enough, while on a trip to scout business opportunities, Alfred meets Natalie (Ina Balin), the unattached daughter of a wealthy coal mine owner. Knowing full well of his marital status, she consents, even encourages his attention and unfaithfulness. Balin manages to pull this off with a naive sweetness without ever seeming cheap or trashy. Infidelity is a major theme in this work and I'm sure its frank discussion must have sparked many a controversy when this film was released very early in 1960. Veteran actress Myrna Loy was given near top billing as Alfred's alcoholic and unfaithful mother, yet her on-screen performance was limited to the first reel of this nearly 2 1/2 hour film. I enjoyed the brief on screen appearance of young Barbara Eden as a flirtatious socialite. Patrick O'Neal was perfectly cast as the smarmy Dr. Jim Roper, the illicit lover of Mary St. John. Over his long acting career, Paul Newman has delivered solid performances again and again. This is one of his lesser known works but serves as a fine example of why he was so popular with the audience as a silver screen heartthrob. Watching this film today and being mindful of his lasting marriage to Joanne Woodward just serves to make this movie all the more compelling to me. I hope you will agree.

A view of the male in society.
Based on John O'Hara's novel, Alfred Eaton wants success in his own right but also seeks happiness for himself. He ventures out to New York leaving behind his cold, unloving father and alcoholic mother. As he is settled, he meets Mary St. John at a party in Southhampton. She is engaged to a psychiatrist Jim Roper. She rebuffs him at first but laters falls in love with him, calling off her engagement to her fiance. The two marry. However, their marriage is on the rocks. As Alfred gains success and social status, Mary feels isolated from his affection and has sexual affairs outside of the marriage. A business venture in rural Pennsylvania force him to confront his past and his future. Having dinner at the Benzinger home, he falls in love with the daughter Natalie. Strikingly beautiful and raven-haired, she is the one who understands him and is affectionate towards him.
Alfred Eaton, is relatively like most men. They want to gain recognition and respect from the social and economical community and at the same time, be happy with themselves. However, success doesn't always bring happiness. Happiness comes from within. Eaton's lack of affection from his father caused him to seek happiness elsewhere but he was forced to make hard decisions that would not only affect his career, but himself. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

List of Episodes
Side A:
Jethro goes to school
Pygmalion & elly
Elly races jethrine
the great fued
home for christmas

Side B:
No place like home
Jed rescues pearl
Back to californny
Jed's dilemma
Jed saves the drysdal's marriage

I didn't remember the show being so funny !
Hilarious is all I can say; every episode is good. I remember watching this show on TV in color and I certainly don't think it was as funny as the episodes on this DVD.
Sure the collection is old and scratchy-looking with no theme song, but was there one when it was origionally shown in black & white? Who knows. I could care less, the DVD is worth every penny I paid for it. I also got Vol 2, which is darn funny as well.
I highly recommend both Vol 1 and Vol 2; you won't be able to help laughing out loud!!!

Do they actually own the rights?
They don't have the original theme song or credits...It makes me wonder if these are pirates or are these the episodes that no one wanted when they were sold one time or what gives?

Its some of the old balck and whites...the transfer is not good...unless you are trying to own all the Hillbillies I would give this a pass...

Same as Madacy.....
As With Madacy's release of THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, these two Brentwood DVDs feature re-edited opening and closing credits without the original theme songs. The prints used are watchable, but unremarkable with plenty of dropouts and splices/scratches. For the price, though I give 2 stars for the amount of episodes featured - all early b/w episodes from 1962-1963. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

List of Episodes
Side A:
Elly's Animals
Jed plays Solomon
Duke steals a wife
Jed buys the freeway
Jed becomes a Banker

Side B:
The Family tree
Jed pays his income tax
The clampetts are overdrawn
The giant jackrabbit
The clampetts & dodgers

So why don't you list the episodes?
OK, previous reviewer, or somebody who owns it, why don't you list the episodes, so the rest of us know whether to buy it or not?

Good shows/Title Confussion
My 5 yr old loves watching these funny old shows. She has a copy of the Beverly Hillbillies Vol. 1 distributed by Intercoastal Studios. After watching it constantly, we really needed a change so I thought I would order her a new series of episodes. (We know all of the lines on our old one.) I, thinking logically, ordered the Beverly Hillbillies Vol. 2. Unfortunately, Amazon does not list the episodes in the discriptions, so when the new DVD arrived it had the very same episodes as our Vol. 1. It seems they are distributed by different companies. Now I have to go through the hassle of returning this DVD, and wait to get another one shipped, not to mention the fact we'll be seeing the same 10 episodes until it arrives. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

funey
this movie is one of the funnest tv movie adaptions ever

California is the place this movie should be
What should have been a delightful romp into nostalgia turned into a joke. Leah Thompson, who made a name for herself in "Back To The Future" should have borrowed Doc's time machine. Just too campy for words, the directors were unable to find the innocence that made the show such a hit. What a shame. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

AWFUL
My title sums it up. This movie struck us as sad and drawn out. The ending though satisfying is preceeded by a series of rather shocking scenes. It caught us totally unawares. I shall never watch this movie again.

Good early Stewart and Lombard
This is an early film is the careers of stars James Stewart and Carole Lombard. They star as a young impulsively-married couple who go through all the tribulation that entails. The performances are all top-rate and the cast includes Charles Coburn as Stewart's hearing-impaired boss and a cameo by Ward Bond as a reluctant pilot.

It is a light comedy-drama with a good script and great acting. My one complaint is that the last half-hour is mostly taken up with a soap-ish baby sickness scare that does little to expand the story, but gives Lombard an opportunity for an "Oscar clip" level crying scene and to look beatific praying to a statue of Jesus. This is in retrospect, however, as I was riveted to the screen throughout the ordeal.

All in all, a good (not excellent) film and a realistic portrayal of married life (sans housekeepers, of course) buoyed by terrific acting all around.

LOMBARD ROCKS!!!!
Although not her best, this film still stands the test of time. The film is simple, but that is what makes it a classic. Lombard will make you fall in love with her character. Not many actresses can do that today. Jimmy Stewart is as dependable as ever as the husband. If you like Lombard, check out "Nothing Sacred" as well. It is a great comedy with a wonderful screenplay by Ben Hect.

MEDIOCRE SOAP
The trials and tribulations of a young married couple. Carole Lombard was that rarest type of actresses - a beautiful woman who was also funny. Seen today, it is very much a film of the Hollywood past, and without the pleasing performances of the leads, would have little to recommend it. By 1939, she had established herself as a top-flight comedienne, and it had begun to bother her; she felt that she needed to prove her dramatic abilities. David O. Selznick agreed with her and commissioned Jo Swerling to write an original screenplay about the problems of a young married couple. Lombard's humour shines through, even though the part doesn't call for comedy, and Stewart is in his element as the shy but sunny, diffident yet optimistic all-American. Both Selznick and Lombard felt that the perfect actor to play the husband would be James Stewart, which required a loan-out from MGM in order to play in this United Artists production. The film was a modest success but not the winner Selznick had hoped for; the scene in which the serum is brought to the baby (he has pneumonia) via a plane in snowstorm barely passed muster in 1939, today it borders on the ludicrous.

Soap Poisoning
My wife and I expected SOME comedy - after all, Carol Lombard and Jimmie Stewart have BOTH done excellent work in that field, and the reviews we'd seen CALLED it a "comedy-drama". But alas, the only funny part of this movie was unintentional humor, particularly the "dramatic" sequence at the end, with a biplane pilot flying precious "serum" (on New Year's Eve, apparently) over the Rockies in a blinding blizzard (some wing spars on that plane!) and eventually bailing out somewhere over the Susquehannah (some fuel tanks that biplane had!) while newspaper headlines track his progress - all in one night? As a (former USAF) pilot, I laughed myself out of my seat throughout THIS sequence - it is totally ludicrous.

This "weepie", made in 1939, is infinitely dated. It looks much like a prototype for "It's A Wonderful Life", and maybe film buffs can check it out bearing *that* in mind, but if you are expecting ANY sort of humor, forget it. Stewart lurches from one setback to another, while his wife stays home with the baby and the mother-in-law (and the maid - don't forget the maid....). Trying to think of a single "funny" scene, I suppose the two seconds Stewart spends poking a bottle at the baby could bring a smile, but the scene where he comes home completely drunk is like watching a train wreck.

As another reviewer wrote, the DVD transfer is awful. The sound seems to come from the bottom of a 55-gallon drum stuffed with cotton - turning the volume up only gets you an earful of hiss and crackle. And extras....well, what do you expect at this price? The "art work" is a single lobby card (and that's shown so small that I can't imagine why it was even included), and "biographies" is a single page for Stewart, nothing for Lombard or anyone else.

The film this reminded me of most was "Cavalcade", but without the high spots. Even if you like "weepies" like "Penny Serenade", there is precious little in this archaic creaker to interest you. I highly recommed passing. Or better yet - go for "It Happened One Night". ... Read more

Amazon.com

Before his handlers convinced him to settle for the safety of a screen franchise, the young Elvis Presley harbored riskier dreams as an actor, not just a star. This 1958 drama, his fourth feature outing, hints at the underlying seriousness of that goal. Presley plays Danny Fisher, a New Orleans teenager struggling to graduate from high school while working in a sleazy French Quarter club to support his family. He's also characterized as a troubled youth with a dangerous temper and feelings of shame and resentment toward his meek, unemployed father (Dean Jagger). When Danny's gift for singing provides him with a potential career break (and the requisite excuse for Elvis's production numbers), his involvement with a ruthless gangster (Walter Matthau) and his sultry, alcoholic moll (Carolyn Jones) soon threatens both his future and his family.

That story line, with Danny torn between a budding romance with a good waitress (Dolores Hart) and the bad moll, Ronnie (Jones), proves as effective as it is predictable, hardly surprising given its source in an early Harold Robbins bestseller. But King Creole also boasts an impressive production pedigree (including the team behind no less a classic than Casablanca, producer Hal Wallis and director Michael Curtiz), and the supporting cast helps elicit one of Presley's most emotional performances. Jones in particular rises above her role's inherent clichés, her self-loathing and sexuality both palpable. Presley, still a few years away from the more sanitized image that would be integral to those franchise features, is young enough to be a credible teen, but more crucially he makes his rage and yearning largely convincing.

Ironically, the dramatic sparks prove all the more welcome in light of the largely forgettable music, which variously plunders Chicago blues ("Trouble," a knock-off of "Hoochie Coochie Man") and unconvincingly crosses Presley's Memphis rock with Crescent City jazz ("Dixieland Rock"), all to far less effect than Presley's two preceding movies, Jailhouse Rock and Loving You. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (26)

The King of Elvis flicks
Even the stuffy New York Times praised Elvis Presley's performance in "King Creole," and why not? Everything clicks in this adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher." For once, Elvis has a good script, a terrific supporting cast, a first class director, and a role worthy of an actor which he shows himself to be while also singing an album's worth of outstanding songs. He's not the surly creep of "Jailhouse Rock," nor is he the bloated beach boy of most of his 60's movies. He's a good kid whose boredom with school and disappointment with his homelife leads him to explore life on the wrong side of the tracks where he encounters a switchblade flinging Vic Morrow, a sleazy Walter Matthau, and a beautiful but been around Carolyn Jones. Along the way, he also performs brilliant, knockout musical numbers like "New Orleans," "Trouble," "Dixieland Rock," and the amusing "Lover Doll" (no "Old MacDonald's Farm" in this movie). It all adds up to the King's best film, one of the few in which he wore his crown with honor.

Elvis Presley's personal favorite film role
"King Creole" from 1958,(the same year Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S.Army),is a good drama with a few good musical numbers thrown in. Shot in glorious black&white and produced by Hal Wallis,who produced some of Mr. Presley's biggest hits("Loving You" from 1957,"Blue Hawaii" from 1961,"Girls!Girls! Girls!" from 1962) and directed by Michael Curtiz(the classic "Casablanca"),the story takes place in New Orleans and Elvis stars as Danny Fisher,a disillusioned high school drop out with designs on being a singer.Danny gets a job at the night club "King Creole". The picture features a fine supporting cast including the late,great Walter Matthau,very effective as a sleazy gangster,Carolyn Jones as the gangster's kept woman,Dean Jagger as Danny's father,Vic Morrow as a hoodlum and one of the gangster's henchman and Dolores Hart as Danny's girlfriend,(Ms. Hart after making several movies left acting and decided to become a nun in the mid '60's).Elvis's top ten hit single from this movie was "Hard Headed Woman".Also, "Trouble" was a well known number.Elvis Presley had said in interviews that of all the 30 odd pictures he had made Danny Fisher in "King Creole" was his personal favorite film role.And,Mr. Presley added that he hated most of the rest of the pictures he had made.

Actually 4 and 1/2 Stars, But...
I can't give that rating on Amazon. Anyway, as a lover of EP's music, and at the time only his music, I was so so so very hesitant to ever give a film of his the smallest chance, because of all the negative things I had heard. I didn't want a bad film to ruin the image that the music had created in my mind. So it was 35 years of just music, nothing else.
Then this past April 2004 I was able to make a "pilgrimage" to Memphis, specifically Graceland. While talking with an employee in one of the giftshops, she convinced me to give certain films a try, and King Creole was the one she recommended I start with. She was kind enough to also recommend a few that I must avoid at all costs, namely Girls, Girls, Girls.
If I could meet this Graceland employee again, I would thank her several times over. King Creole is a quality film that has an actual, and quasi-believable, plot. It has Elvis at his most handsome, and in black and white, that comes through even more. He gives a commendable performance, and his costars carry their weight in the film well also, esp the beautiful Carolyn Jones.
I would classify King Creole as a good overall film, and in the Elvis realm, I would consider it a great film. I think it is his best.

Reel Elvis
This is more like it. A great movie, well directed and acted by all concerned.

Elvis is fantasic. He looks great, looks enthused and is enjoying working with a great cast and crew. This is just the type of movie he should have been doing but, as is known, went on to make the likes of Girls, Girls, Girls and, God help us, Speedway.

The songs are good, the story is good, it looks like money was spent on it. What a pity his stint in the Army more or less ruined his movie career. This is highly recommended along with Flaming Star and Wild in the Country.

good elvis flick
I would rank this as one of the better elvis films along with "love me tender" and "jailhouse rock" also recommend "loving you" ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Complete Season DVD Boxsets Would Be Very Nice!
I didn't grow up watching The Beverly Hillbillies, it aired on TV a few years before I was born and I didn't watch the reruns when I was a little kid but I watched this show for the first time when TV Land started rerunning the episodes and I liked it and I think it is a cute show with some very funny humor. It's great that some episodes are on DVD but even better would be complete season DVD boxsets with the original music included, so please lets get the Beverly Hillbillies on DVD! Irene Ryan was terrific as Granny and so were Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Donna Douglas as his daughter Ellie May, Max Baer as lunkhead cousin Jethro Bodine, etc.

Educational Entertainment
I remembered the Beverly Hillbillies fondly-but-vaguely. Watching this DVD collection, I came to realize just how fundamentally good and smart that show was. It was brilliant in its conception and execution. Jed Clampett is the show's moral compass; he is a New Testament figure in his fundamental good-will toward all, trusting, forgiving, and absolutely lacking in any sort of irony or sarcasm. Granny is the ultimate Old Testament fiesty matriarch, whose superstitious beliefs are based on mistrust, fear, and retribution. Ellie May is the Wood Nymph, who most closely resembles Jed in attitude (by way of her heart, more than the moral thinking of Jed). Lastly, Jethro is the the Modern Man, who is driven by ambition, with few thoughts of consequence, who sides with Granny in schemes, tempered by his naive/shallow beliefs in Good Results. As a foursome, they confound the world that confounds them.

Mr. Drysdale and Miss Hatheway provide bookends to the Clampett clan, in the roles of Id and Super Ego, each attempting to direct and/or prevent the family's actions at cross-purposes to the other.

Everything about the show is brilliant, sweet, and silly, with a massive moral lesson hidden in the guise of a goofball comedy.

Buy this DVD and learn what you missed in Sunday School.

An Excellent DVD, with some flaws
20 episodes of the greatest show of all time, what more could you ask for? Well, the theme song would be nice, but it's not a huge deal. Who evere chose these episodes clearly knew what they were doing, "The Gient Jackrabbit" Could very well be the funniest thing I've ever seen. I have never gotten the "Buddy Ebsen Bio" to work, but that could very well be my DVD player.

Garbage
This is a waste of money. A poor collection of odd, forgotten episodes with no original music. The producers of this "classic collection" should be tarred, feathered, and pilloried.

Where`s Flatt and Scruggs
It`s like meeting old friends again.When this show first ran here in the U.K it was the highlight of my weeks viewing. To show how much Jed and his family are remembered when I mentioned to a friend I had ordered this set his first words were "Weeeellll Doggy". Now the down side. The quality is`nt what you would normally expect from D V D but I suppose to re-master all these episodes would be quite expensive. The biggest mistake is where`s the theme gone. When they all appear at the end of each episode in the doorway you expect to hear. "Come and listen to my story `bout a man named Jed". This was one of the most famous themes on T.V. Its like watching Rawhide without Frankie Laine. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

AWFUL
My title sums it up. This movie struck us as sad and drawn out. The ending though satisfying is preceeded by a series of rather shocking scenes. It caught us totally unawares. I shall never watch this movie again.

Good early Stewart and Lombard
This is an early film is the careers of stars James Stewart and Carole Lombard. They star as a young impulsively-married couple who go through all the tribulation that entails. The performances are all top-rate and the cast includes Charles Coburn as Stewart's hearing-impaired boss and a cameo by Ward Bond as a reluctant pilot.

It is a light comedy-drama with a good script and great acting. My one complaint is that the last half-hour is mostly taken up with a soap-ish baby sickness scare that does little to expand the story, but gives Lombard an opportunity for an "Oscar clip" level crying scene and to look beatific praying to a statue of Jesus. This is in retrospect, however, as I was riveted to the screen throughout the ordeal.

All in all, a good (not excellent) film and a realistic portrayal of married life (sans housekeepers, of course) buoyed by terrific acting all around.

LOMBARD ROCKS!!!!
Although not her best, this film still stands the test of time. The film is simple, but that is what makes it a classic. Lombard will make you fall in love with her character. Not many actresses can do that today. Jimmy Stewart is as dependable as ever as the husband. If you like Lombard, check out "Nothing Sacred" as well. It is a great comedy with a wonderful screenplay by Ben Hect.

MEDIOCRE SOAP
The trials and tribulations of a young married couple. Carole Lombard was that rarest type of actresses - a beautiful woman who was also funny. Seen today, it is very much a film of the Hollywood past, and without the pleasing performances of the leads, would have little to recommend it. By 1939, she had established herself as a top-flight comedienne, and it had begun to bother her; she felt that she needed to prove her dramatic abilities. David O. Selznick agreed with her and commissioned Jo Swerling to write an original screenplay about the problems of a young married couple. Lombard's humour shines through, even though the part doesn't call for comedy, and Stewart is in his element as the shy but sunny, diffident yet optimistic all-American. Both Selznick and Lombard felt that the perfect actor to play the husband would be James Stewart, which required a loan-out from MGM in order to play in this United Artists production. The film was a modest success but not the winner Selznick had hoped for; the scene in which the serum is brought to the baby (he has pneumonia) via a plane in snowstorm barely passed muster in 1939, today it borders on the ludicrous.

Soap Poisoning
My wife and I expected SOME comedy - after all, Carol Lombard and Jimmie Stewart have BOTH done excellent work in that field, and the reviews we'd seen CALLED it a "comedy-drama". But alas, the only funny part of this movie was unintentional humor, particularly the "dramatic" sequence at the end, with a biplane pilot flying precious "serum" (on New Year's Eve, apparently) over the Rockies in a blinding blizzard (some wing spars on that plane!) and eventually bailing out somewhere over the Susquehannah (some fuel tanks that biplane had!) while newspaper headlines track his progress - all in one night? As a (former USAF) pilot, I laughed myself out of my seat throughout THIS sequence - it is totally ludicrous.

This "weepie", made in 1939, is infinitely dated. It looks much like a prototype for "It's A Wonderful Life", and maybe film buffs can check it out bearing *that* in mind, but if you are expecting ANY sort of humor, forget it. Stewart lurches from one setback to another, while his wife stays home with the baby and the mother-in-law (and the maid - don't forget the maid....). Trying to think of a single "funny" scene, I suppose the two seconds Stewart spends poking a bottle at the baby could bring a smile, but the scene where he comes home completely drunk is like watching a train wreck.

As another reviewer wrote, the DVD transfer is awful. The sound seems to come from the bottom of a 55-gallon drum stuffed with cotton - turning the volume up only gets you an earful of hiss and crackle. And extras....well, what do you expect at this price? The "art work" is a single lobby card (and that's shown so small that I can't imagine why it was even included), and "biographies" is a single page for Stewart, nothing for Lombard or anyone else.

The film this reminded me of most was "Cavalcade", but without the high spots. Even if you like "weepies" like "Penny Serenade", there is precious little in this archaic creaker to interest you. I highly recommed passing. Or better yet - go for "It Happened One Night". ... Read more