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| 1. Call Me Madam Director: Walter Lang | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (11)
Don't get me wrong. The film holds up very well. It's one of the better Fox musicals, buoyed by terrific performances, a sprightly script, and great Irving Berlin songs. However, the treatment the film has been given for DVD leaves a great deal to be desired. The image is OK, but not great. Compare this to Warner's stellar ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (which was also not available for years) and you'll see the difference. Even worse is the sound. It sounds scratchy, tinny and distorted. Both the supposed "stereo" track and mono track are very poor in quality. These technical aspects really detract from the viewing experience. Last, but not least is the dull and pompous commentary by musical theater "expert" Miles Krueger. It's like listening to a boring college professor, and would be an ideal substitute for Ambien as a sleeping aid. Maybe Fox will decide to revisit this title someday and give it a full-blown restoration. Until then, hard-core fans will have to be content with this sorry excuse for a DVD release.
Okay, okay... I'll be the first to admit: the show is DATED. (In fact, had it not been for Miles Kreuger's commentary, I would NEVER have understood the phonecalls from Harry Truman.) I am also not a huge fan of the stage score or of Irving Berlin's score (with the exception of a handful of songs). BUT--I bought this DVD for basically one reason: the presence of the incomparable La Merman. She is wonderful, and one can only wish after watching this that she had done the film version of GYPSY. Any way, the film is very faithful to the original, which is admirable for a film musical, ESPECIALLY in that time period. (CHICAGO was particularly good about this, as well.) Pratically all of the songs from the stage score are kept intact -- even the inane "Dance to the Music of the Ocarina," whish is, however, staged as a lovely dance routine. Insanely, the film cuts "They Like Ike," which was one of the biggest show-stoppers (after "You're Just in Love") in the original stage incarnation. Merman gives a spectacular performance: those big eyes and that BIG voice. Amazing. Donald O'Connor is utterly charming, as usual, and finds the perfect foil in Vera-Ellen. (Kreuger makes a fine point when he discusses why they dance so well together: her ballet-trained movements nicely compliment his vaudevillian-hoofer training. Just watch and see.) O'Connor and Merman are great in "You're Just in Love." George Sanders plays a very striking Cosmo, and it is easy to see Merman's attraction to him. Incidentally, Merman's figure looks GREAT in this film (when you can stand next to super-petite Vera-Ellen and not look huge, that's always a testament to something) and she is always costumed exquisitely by Irene Sharaff. Kreuger's commentary will not be for everyone, but I myself enjoyed it. Be forewarned, a good deal of it is focused on the bit players, and is generally a variation on the following: "The actor in grey on the right is Bilbo Baggins, who appeared in over 500 films with the studio, usually playing a Nazi sergeant or drunken cowboy. He's most remembered for his cameo in CASABLANCA where he steps on Humphrey Bogart's foot without saying 'excuse me,' etc." While this got tedious at times, I appreciated that he was recognizing these vetran actors, who did indeed have a large body of work: however, most just won't care. He also gives some helpful set up into the story of Perle Mesta and her trip to Luxembourg for President Truman. Anyway, not a great musical, but watch it for Ethel perfoming the hell out of great songs with a wonderful supporting cast, in a film that should be mimiced closely by those attempting to mave film musicals today.
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| 2. War and Peace Director: King Vidor | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (25)
Hepburn's then real life husband, Mel Ferrer, does a pretty good job as Prince Andrei and Henry Fonda is Pierre, who despite sounding like "Young Mr. Lincoln", gives a convincing performance, and has several fine scenes. Nino Rota's score is a curious one, as the beautiful Italian-flavored melodies we're accustomed to hear from him are replaced by Russian folk tunes and battlefield music. Perhaps too many big names and too many writers (6 of them !) made the heart of the book get lost, but this is Audrey's movie, and she's a delight to watch.
I've seen it several times since, but all I can get here across the pond, is a second hand video at an extortionate price of nearly £ 40. Please can we have it on DVD? SOON!
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| 3. Mrs. Miniver Director: William Wyler | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (7)
Previously issued versions of this film were near perfect so it's really no surprise to discover that this DVD carries on in the same tradition. Quite simply: the picture is outstanding. Blacks are deep and solid. The gray scale is beautiful and well balanced. There is hardly a scratch or a bit of grit or grain to distract. The soundtrack is equally impressive in MONO but very, very nicely balanced. A bit of a disappointment comes from the fact that no one at Warner Brothers had the foresight to do a "making of" featurette. All we get is a couple of short subjects and a stills gallery.
If you enjoy movies that take a more personal look at the impact of war on families you will like this movie. Far from being boring as some family movies drag when they get into far to many personal details. This movie has plenty of action with the Battle of Dunkirk, German bombings and strafings, and a enemy parachutist on the loose. Mrs. Miniver reminds me a little of a tough woman like Maureen O'Hara in the John Wayne movies. Her strength is a little more sophisticated but nonetheless you know it is there. She is the kind of woman you know can weather the storm and you are happy to have her with you. The DVD includes Greer Garson academy award footage, photos, and a couple wartime shorts. The movie itself makes it a great buy, but with these bonuses it's a steal.
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| 4. Alexander the Great Director: Robert Rossen | |
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Reviews (10)
Because Alexander The Great accomplished so much within only 13 years of his 33 years of life, it is virtually impossible to make a good movie on that part alone in less than 3 hours. Richard Burton delivers a strong performance as Alexander but also seems too constrained; Butrton fails to deliver the youthful vigor of which Alexander had so much of. Not only was Alexander a king and conqueror, he was a military genius; a philosopher; a bold explorer; and, in his own mind anyway, a god among mortal men. Burton's performance often seems too grave and reserved and fails to reflect Alexander's dynamic personality. I did like the movie for its focus on Alexander's childhood but that also came short. It seems that, other than for biblical movies, the 1950s and early 1960s was a really bad period for making films dealing with the classical pagan world. All such movies were inevitably constrained by prudish christian values that restricted what subjects such a movie could touch upon and limited the characters depicted. Although a military genius in his own right, Phillip was a debauche and drunkard whose bizzare sexual preferences shocked even his Greek neighbors. For example, after the battle of Charonea, Phillip II swaggered drunk around the corpses of the enemy and, lifting their heads as if seeking an audience, would yell for Demonsthenes (Athenian orator and staunch enemy of Phillip.) Olympias was a conspiring queen and pagan priestess whose incessant scheming were directed at both Alexander and/or Phillip at one point or another. Such characters were poorly presented due to a squeemish 50s audience: unfortunate. The movie doesn't really cover the campaign or its battles very well either. Looking at the movie, one barely gets any view as to how Alexander refined his father's tactics of the Macedonian phalanx to its peak; a military tactic unmatched until it came against the more fluid ones of the Roman legions almost 200 years later. The same is true as to Alexander's great siege of Tyre in which he built a mile-long jetti into the sea to connect with the City's gates; his hard fought geurilla campaign against Darius' renegade satraps; or his victories against Porus' elephants in India. There are also gross inaccuracies in the film in that Roxanne wasn't Darius III's daughter. I have heard that Oliver Stone with perhaps the help of Copola is completing a new film on Alexander the Great with Leonardo Di Caprio as Alexander: I look forward to seeing that. In the meantime, we can only look at where others have failed. Roughly paraphrasing Phillip II, I would tell viewers, "Seek a greater movie, for that which Rossen leaves you is too small for thee."
"Alexander the Great" was written, produced and directed by Rossen, who had won the Academy Award for "All the King's Men" (1949) and would be nominated gain for "The Hustler" (1961). All three films have in common the realistic portrait of a complex psychological figure. Burton plays Alexander as being both energetic and a visionary, with quicksilver changes in mood. Alexander is both idealistic and practical, intelligent but hot-tempered, courageous but shrewd. Although he conquers the Persian Empire while still basically a boy, this is a conqueror who suffers defeats and almost falls prey to becoming an Oriental potentate just like Darius (Harry Andrews), the Persian king he just conquered. This is a man who can kill a friend in a moment of anger while drunk and weep over the body. The more you know about the historical Alexander the more impressed you are by the film's fidelity to what appears in Plutarch. Here is the Alexander who worshiped Achilles and loved Homer's "Iliad," who was taught by Aristotle, cut the Gordian knot, destroyed Persepolis, and died a young man at Babylon. The battles sequences, such as the battle at the river Granicus, run rather short, but are not all that bad. The problem is that for all the complexity of Alexander's character and the intensity of Burton's performance, there is no real sense of mission or accomplishment to his conquering the known world. We see what happened, but are curiously unaffected by the film's implicitly explanation for why he did it. The rationale suggested by the film is found in Alexander's father, King Philip of Macedonia. Played by Fredric March, Philip has a memorable scene after the battle of Chaeronea against the united city-states of Greece when he gets drunk and mocks the Athenian orator Demosthenes for having called him a barbarian. When Philip is assassinated Alexander chases after the assassin and kills him, and even the most basic understanding of Freudian psychology tells us that the son will spend the rest of his life trying to impress his dead father. In the end the explanation for conquering the world becomes the same as Sir Edmund Hillary's famous quote for why he climbed Mt. Everest. To wit, "Because it was there." When you are on top of the world, there is a certain logic to such a quip. But when the subject is conquering the known world starting with a relatively small kingdom north of Greece, the same idea seems rather hollow. Hopefully Stone and/or Luhrmann can come up with not only better explanations, but much better films.
But Rossen obviously wanted to make an "intelligent" epic. Some of the script and casting reflect that. The supporting cast has a number of respected British thesps -Claire Bloom, Harry Andrews, Peter Cushing, Michael Hordern, Stanley Baker. But there are also a lot of Italians whose dialogue is dubbed by those same two guys who did all the film dubbing in the 1950's. One can only wonder who chose Fredric March (hammy as ever) as Philip of Macedon or Danielle Darrieux (who apparently had only one facial expression) as his mischievous queen. But the critical casting was Richard Burton as Alexander. He certainly looks the part, despite the blonde hair. But he frequently suffers from his career-long inability to adapt his stage-acting technique to the more intimate demands of cinema. Or maybe that's how he thought a wannabe god should behave. You sit there praying for him to lighten up - just a little. For the rest, the many battle scenes tend to be confusing rather than spectacular, the uncertain pace suggests a lot of pre-release cuts were made, and the music not only sounds primitive but seems to have been recorded in somebody's basement. Still, the film is an interesting failure. But you end up admiring its ambitions more than its results.
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| 5. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Director: Sam Peckinpah | |
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Amazon.com Thing is, the movie is a masterpiece--raw, shocking, beautiful, and brave--in which Peckinpah confronts his enemies and his own demons. Warren Oates plays a gringo piano-player stuck in Mexico who hears that some powerful men are willing to pay a bounty on a guy he knows. They don't know the guy is already dead, killed in a car accident. It'll be easy to exhume the trophy and collect the money--except that it will cost our seedy hero everything he has and ever wanted. John Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre had always been a key legend for Peckinpah; this film is a subterranean re-imagining of it, with Oates as both the son of Fred C. Dobbs and the carnival-mirror reflection of Peckinpah himself. And Isela Vega's performance as the sainted whore Elita--bruised and worldly one minute, radiant and clear-skinned as a child the next--is an act of grace. --Richard T. Jameson Reviews (31)
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| 6. To Be Or Not to Be Director: Ernst Lubitsch | |
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Reviews (22)
Lubitsch and Melchior Lengyel came up with the story, which was turned into a screenplay by Edwin Justus Mayer. The story of "To Be or Not to Be" is of a Polish theatrical company that is in Warsaw preparing to perform an anti-Nazi melodrama on the eve of World War II. In the leading roles are the husband and wife team of Maria (Lombard) and Joseph Tura (Benny), who are trained in Shakespeare. However, the production is canceled by the Polish government because they are afraid Germany will attack the country is a play critical of the Nazis goes on (you know how touchy Hitler can be). So the Turas put on "Hamlet" instead and while Joseph does Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Maria is visited backstage by Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack), a young pilot in the Polish Air Force. Then the war breaks out, Sobinski makes it to London to fight with the RAF, and the Turas remain in occupied Warsaw. While in London Sobinski meets with Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), a Nazi agent posing as a Polish patriot, who gets the names of friends and relatives from the pilots. Sobinski becomes suspicious and is sent to Warsaw to recover the list from Siletsky before he gives it to the Nazis. In Warsaw Maria helps Sobinski, but then she is arrested by the Gestapo as Siletsky tries to get her to join the Third Reich. To rescue his wife Joseph and the other actors masquerade as Nazi soldiers and end up with one of them (Tom Duggan) dressing up as Hitler to help in the great escape. This is a comedy, but it is not a broad comedy in which the whole thing descends into slapstick, otherwise the overt attempts at anti-Nazi propaganda would not work. There is a similarity between "To Be or Not to Be" and the television situation comedy "Hogan's Heroes," in terms of presenting the Nazis as incompetent buffoons, personified by Sig Ruman as Colonel Ehrhardt. The difference is that Lubitsch still manages to work in the idea that the Nazis are also killer clowns. However, the biggest joke is that these actors, less than inspiring on the stage in Shakespeare, are so convincing playing Nazis. Meanwhile, Joseph cannot quite bring himself to belief that Maria is actually cheating on him. Keep in mind that when this film was made "concentration camps" did not mean what they mean today; the terms was used by the United States to describe the camps in which Japanese-Americans were interred during the war. But then when you see Jack Benny walk in as a Nazi you know this is a different time and place. The humor is pretty coarse for a film from the early Forties (e.g., Ehrhardt recalls Joseph's performance of "Hamlet" and declares, "What he did to Shakespeare we are doing to Poland"), but then keep in mind who is being made fun of here and you have to admire the bite that they put into some of these bits. Benny is pretty much perfect for this part and Lombard sparkles throughout. As is usually the case, the original is much better than the 1983 remake with the husband and wife team of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.
Time to produce a DVD version with commentary track.
The film has so many wonderful moments and features that it is hard to know where to begin. Carole Lombard, one of my favourite actresses of the 1930's has never been better than in this role and it is a melancoly experience watching her so radiant, so beautiful and full of life in this her last film prior to her death. The role of Maria Tura is at once street smart, sexy and totally up to taking on the Nazi's in the script. This performance stands up there with all her classic performances in "Twentieth Century" "My Man Godfrey" "Hands Across The Tabe" "In Name Only" and "Vigil In The Night". Jack Benny, famous for his radio performances and later television work shines in the role of her husband Joseph Tura your typical egocentric actor who is known for putting the "ham" in Hamlet once and for all !!! The supporting cast is first rate with Robert Stack shining in one of his earliest roles as Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski, Maria's lover who always exits the front row of the theatre as Joseph Tura the hammest actor in all of Warsaw launches into his "To be or not to be........ speech and has his big moment ruined night after night!! The fact that Stack and the rest of the cast neither look or sound Polish in no way detracts from the magic of this film as we are sent on a rollicking satire about the Nazi takeover of Warsaw which of course was very topical at this time. Indeed the subject matter was considered very daring at this time and "To Be Or Not To Be" was one of the first films along with "The Mortal Storm" to attack Nazism at a time when the outcome of the war was still very uncertain. The film has the rare distinction of successfully combining humour with a strong depiction of the terror inflicted on countless people by the Nazis. It maintains its own personal dignity throughout and the credit for that must be laid at the feet of Ernst Lubitsch who here combines his own rich European experience with the crack - crack volleys of a fast moving Americam satire. The superb end result (which was not a big success upon release, but has been redeemed with the passing of time) has much to do with his confident and sure handling of potentially very risky material for that time. The wonderful humour of this piece comes from the great characterisations by all the cast and the storyline which has them as a Polish theatrical troupe which is pulled into working as resistance workers to aid a Polish Lieutenant find safety from the Nazis. What ensures is a hilarious series of events that is both clever and witty while succeeding in jogging our thoughts about man's inhumanity to man. If you are an admirer of the sure Lubitsch touch in film or are just a fan of sharp, fast moving satires with plenty of dark humour thrown in for good measure "To Be Or Not To Be" is not to be missed. For me I enjoy it as a fitting farewell performance for the beautiful Carole Lombard. It makes you wonder about all the great roles she would have undoubtedly played in the 1940's had she lived. Alas that's something we are doomed never to find out about. Enjoy this classic over a number of screenings as you will need that many to fully appreciate all the charm and wit of this great classic. ... Read more | |
| 7. The Wilby Conspiracy Director: Ralph Nelson | |
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Reviews (4)
One always has to wonder about films where the viewpoint is so one-sided with few shades of grey. This film treads a fine line indeed between politically correct propaganda and a wheels-within-wheels conspiracy thriller. This reviewer's initial fears that the propaganda element would overwhelm other considerations diminished when the plot took some unexpected twists and ended with a flourish. Sidney Poitier is moderately successful in his characterization of a black who has been subdued and imprisoned by the contemptuous and repressive apartheid regime. Years of forced subservience (and his survival of them) have made his external persona almost stoic. Yet behind this apparent stoicism, he seethes with hatred and works for the total destruction of the apartheid system. Opening the film, the authorities mysteriously release him from prison. The mystery compounds when the authorities fail to re-arrest him despite any number of infractions (trumped-up or otherwise), choosing rather to follow him. A young Michael Caine plays - Michael Caine, dragged in by accident for the ride and implicated by events. The other performances are routine excepting Major Horn (Nicol Williamson) and his side-kick Van Heerden (Ryl De Gooyer), as the arrogant, menacing and sadistic pursuing agents from the Bureau of State Security. These two never miss an opportunity to threaten and denigrate those who either cross their path or try to frustrate their curious agenda. Despite their limited screen time, Wiliamson and De Gooyer nevertheless bring something extra to their portrayals. The original 1974 cinematography was apparently quite good, as the (Kenya) scenery is beautiful. The DVD picture is sufficient for enjoying the film; but purists will notice that it is fuzzy and the colors are washed out, so no re-mastering or other significant picture restoration was attempted. Sound is in the same category. The DVD keep case is fine. Be advised the film is mostly for Caine or Poitier collectors. For others it is little more than a couple hours' entertainment.
Via overt racist laws and covert actions, they were given a free hand to maintain the racist status quo and kill whoever tried to stop them, which several have admitted to having done.
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| 8. The 5th Musketeer Director: Ken Annakin | |
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Amazon.com Reviews (3)
Trivia: The role of Athos, here played by Jose Ferrer, is played in the recent "Man in the Iron Mask" by John Malkavich. There is another pair of historical sword-fighting movies set in France where these two actors play the same character. In "Joan of Arc" with Ingrid Bergman, Ferrer plays the Dauphin. The same role was played by Malkavich in "The Messenger: the story of Joan of Ark" with Milla Jovovich. ... Read more | |
| 9. Stranger from Venus Director: Burt Balaban | |
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Amazon.com Helmut Dantine plays the title role--a dapper gent from Venus who arrives in a rural English town, possessing awesome powers (and a brain packed with the entirety of human knowledge), and intending only to inform the military powers-that-be of the dangers of atomic weaponry. With her trademark empathy, Neal plays a local American who understands, accepts, and quietly falls in love with the nameless alien. There must be tragedy, of course, and when the military hawks prevent the Venusian's rendezvous with his mother ship, the cost is regrettably high. (As we've learned earlier, centuries-old Venusians merely vanish when they expire.) By this time, however, the requisite wisdom has been expressed, human foolishness has been exposed and humbled by alien superpowers, and Stranger from Venus ends on a quiet note of melancholy optimism. Unfolding with thoughtfulness and filmmaking economy, this is an obscure genre entry that devoted fans areencouraged to discover. --Jeff Shannon Reviews (5)
Starring Patricia Neal as Susan North and Helmut Dantine as 'The Stranger', the story begins with the landing of a craft, which we never actually see, and the crashing of a car driven by Ms. North. I guess the crash was a fatal one, cause she ain't moving, but what's this? A figure comes to her aid... Soon we cut to a small hotel in a small English village, and news of Susan's wrecked car and her body missing arrives, along with an odd sort of fellow, who raises a few eyebrows. Oh, he's not all alien looking and such, with hideous tentacles and great, bug eyes, but his mannerisms seem a bit off. He soon reveals himself to be from another planet, but this isn't really taken too seriously, until Susan walks in the door. Apparently the stranger revived her from her slight condition of death, and now she's all better. Proof of the strangers alien status is now here, and yet no one seems to bat an eye at the fact that this is a honest to goodness alien in their midst, one from the planet Venus, as the title of the film tells us. Anyway, the government soon gets involved, and the motive of the stranger's arrival on Earth is soon learned, but they are still suspicious and even envious at his people's achievements. His presence seems a peaceful one, but, as they always do, the government manages to screw things up, and loose out on a potentially wonderful opportunity to advance the human race. Does the alien truly 'come in peace', or does he have ulterior motives? Is he a friendly messenger, or a scout ship leading the way of a horde of brain sucking alien fiends from another planet? Even with its' low budget, The Stranger from Planet Venus does have small charms, playing more like a soap opera episode than a science fiction movie, as Patricia Neal's character struggles with her feelings for her fiancé vs. those for her new space buddy. The story is very slow moving, but at least the run time, 74 minutes, doesn't outstay its' welcome. What makes this film different from The Day the Earth Stood Still is the makes of this film managed to suck all the life energy out of the story, and present a very dry, boring, and un-climatic tale of first contact with aliens on Earth. Image Entertainment provides a decent looking picture here with some noticeable flaws, and the audio is a bit soft at times, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend this to the casual viewer. There are no special features, other than chapter stops and a snazzy looking box. I did notice that Image has re-released this film as a double feature with The Cosmic Man (1959), for the same price as this release, so if you are really interested, you should look that up version and save yourself a little money. Cookieman108
The plot concerns an alien landing in a remote British village... and how this alien relates to earthly preferences and habits... This alien has compassion and vision and is willing to share it with humanity..but of course the establishment types are not ready for this and soon botch thinks up horribly! It has a strong anti military flavor to it as well as antinuclear testing... The alien warns that continued testing could cause a destabilized earth orbit which could endanger other worlds... among other things... The special effects are not unusual or even spectacular... but they managed to create an aura of mystery none the less!
STRANGER FROM VENUS has surprisingly strong performances from its lead actors: Patricia Neal and Helmut Dantine. In one well-done sequence, for instance, Dantine demonstrates to a reporter his superior intellect by reading a newspaper article, one paragraph at a time in a different language. STRANGER FROM VENUS certainly is for genre fans alone. It's very "talky" and, outside of cheap flying saucers at the very end, provides little cheesy special effects to make fun of. The DVD also doesn't have any bonus features, not even a trailer. So you've got to make sure that the price is worth it to you (the transfer is very good however). ... Read more | |
| 10. Edge of Darkness Director: Lewis Milestone | |
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This powerful film has aged extremely well, has lost none of its appeal and is still deeply moving. The cast is superb: Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn (who, for a change, managed to cast off his swashbuckling image so as to be just one fine performer among many others) are the gallant leaders of the resistance, Ruth Gordon and Walter Huston are the gentle town dignitaries who are drawn into the fighting only reluctantly, and Helmut Dantine plays the nasty German town commander, Hauptmann Koenig. Moreover, it becomes obvious that the director made a great effort to find the right actor for even the smallest supporting role. Ironically, Austrian born actor Helmut Dantine became rather well known in the 40s for his performances of a typical nasty Nazi. In real life he was a victim of the Austrian Anschluss and had to leave his native country as a teenager after his release from a concentration camp where he had been put due to the important role he had played in the Viennese Anti-Nazi Youth Movement. What I also found positive is that the ending is not overly pathetic (like, for example, "Mrs. Miniver"),but simply gave people hope for a brighter future.
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Fun movie, shoddy transfer. Very disappointed in Fox!
A less than stellar 1956 epic film about Alexander the Great
Pure British Dull