Reviews (11)

growing up with hal holbrook and mark twain
if you have not heard the recordings or saw the television special 'mark twain tonight' starring hal holbrook, you are in for a real treat. my aunt took me to see the one man show many years ago in toronto. when he came a second time, years later, i took her.

i have listened to the two recordings of mark twain and mark twain tonight at least once a week for over twenty years. hal holbrook is not talente, he is gifted. listening to 'jim and huck on a raft' is so touching to me it defies description. if hou have ever trusted anyone on anything trust me. this is not to be missed. i have never heard or seen anything quite like it.

Holbrook's Mark Twain
If there has ever been a polished performance, this is it! I've been fortunate to see Holbrook do this show live on three occasions. He really catches the essence of Twain's marvellous story- telling, which sets the tone for later artists such as Gene Shepard and Garrison Keillor. Hal Holbrook changed his show at every performance, and this video features him at the peak of his craft. From ghost stories to humorous anecdotes to shaggy dog yarns and tall tales, this video has them all. You'll want to watch it many times.

wry genius returned to life
my only regret about MARK TWAIN TONIGHT is that it's only 90 minutes. holbrook apparently has about 12 hours worth of material that his life shows alternate among. these 90 minutes include his views on man (the only animal that blushes), his mississippi adventures as seen through tom's eyes, and jim blaine's story of the ram and old man wheeler. the ram story alone is enough to be twice worth the cost of the dvd. buy the disk. holbrook is now at just the age where his twain would be even more sublime. let's hope the sales of this dvd inspire him to do another all these years after this 1967 performance. the sound and video are good (for broadcast tv) -- mainly though, holbrook is outstanding and twain is -- twain IS twain. buy it. watch it.

Mark Twain Tonight!
I was introduced to Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain Tonight in a high school English class in 1962 and have been fascinated with Holbrook and his Twain presentation ever since. As the story goes, Holbrook took up cigar smoking to get the timber in his voice, spends three hours in make-up preparing, and has even listened to Edison recording tubes of Twain to get the voice and inflection just right. Sit back and enjoy tales from a hundred years ago that are just as germaine today. You'll soon be convinced that the man in front of you is actually Mark Twain!

Hal Holbrook-Mark Twain Tonight
Having seen Hal Holbrook live, in Mark Twain Tonight on two occasions, most recently this past January, I must say I was delighted to aquire the DVD of his 1967 television broadcast performance. My aquaintence with Mr. Holbrooks' Twain goes back to two LPs, recorded in performance in the early 60's, lost, but not forgotten. I have long believed, and this DVD confirms that Mark Twain Tonight is easily one of the greatest treasures of the stage in the last half of the 20th Century. That Mr. Holbrook has performed Mark Twain every year since 1954, in close to 2000 shows, is nothing short of miraculous. But there are twelve hours of material that he draws from. Hopefully, all twelve hours will one day, be available in this format. This 90 minute show brings the wisdom, humor and humanity of one of the most morally brave men of the 19th century to life; and his words are as funny, poignant and relevent going into the 21st century as they were then. I am simply in awe! ... Read more

Description

An on-screen adaptation of the Tony- award-winning play about a Jewish homosexual who, except for a different sexual preference, goes through the same struggles of love, jealousy and self-doubt that affect us all. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

"A pretty person who goes after a ugly person gets cab fare"
In 1988, the film version of the Tony Award-winning, landmark play "Torch Song Trilogy", which was written by the outspoken and very witty Harvey Fierstein, was released to theaters. Written originally as three separate one-act plays between 1978 and 1979 ("The International Stud", "Fugue in a Nursery" and "Widows and Children First"), Harvey Fierstein combined them into the more familiar three-act play "Torch Song Trilogy" in 1981 since each one-act play focused on the life of a gay man named Arnold (played by Harvey Fierstein), who is a gay drag-show entertainer. In the first act, Arnold meets a stranger at a bar named Ed (Brian Kerwin). A precarious relationship develops quickly between Ed and Arnold, but Ed also wants to marry a woman named Laurel (Karen Young). In the second act, Arnold meets a young man named Alan (Matthew Broderick) at the club where Arnold performs. A long-term relationship develops between Arnold and Alan until an unexpected tragedy occurs. The third act focuses on Arnold taking care of a teenaged son, David (Eddie Castrodad) that he & Alan had adopted, as well as Arnold's ongoing difficulties with his mother (Anne Bancroft).

With excellent dialog, engaging personalities and superb acting, "Torch Song Trilogy" is a fantastic film, demonstrating not only the love that exists within gay couples, but also the very real difficulties that many gay men face in their daily lives, including the all-too-often difficulties with family members who cannot accept them for who they are. Harvey Fierstein's unique voice adds a special flare to his drag show performances, as well as to his arguments with his mother. Anne Bancroft's performance is superb and emotional. Matthew Broderick did a wonderful portraying Alan. Interestingly, he had played the teenaged son David when "Torch Song Trilogy" was being performed on stage as a play. Brian Kerwin and Karen Young also portray their roles well. Other significant characters in the film include Bertha Venation (Charles Pierce), Marina Del Rey (Alex Vera), the young Arnold (Benji Schulman) and Murray (Kevin Page). Overall, I rate "Torch Song Trilogy" with 5 out of 5 stars. It's especially great to be able to watch the film on widescreen DVD.

The great Harvey
I adore this movie for its lead performances and sheer sense of life. It's a one-of-a-kind film with the most unconventional leading man ever to appear in a Hollywood feature: the unforgettable Harvey Fierstein. Not only does Fierstein dominate every scene in which he appears, but he also wrote the screenplay adaptation from his original Broadway play.

The stage version of Torch Song Trilogy, as its title suggests, consists of three self-contained one-act plays. Performed together, the three plays tell the continuing story of Arnold, a Brooklyn drag queen extraordinaire. The movie follows the stage version fairly closely, but adds several new characters along the way, together with some fresh (and sparkling) dialogue in this most quotable of movies. All of the additions, in fact, improve on the original, and Ken Page and Charles Pierce in the roles of Arnold's fellow performers endow the movie with some marvellously campy moments.

The movie is alternately hilarious and heartbreaking. It also manages to be thought-provoking without being preachy. Anne Bancroft is superb as Harvey Fierstein's larger than life mother, and the many confrontational moments between the two are as powerful as they are truthful. Some have complained that Bancroft's performance is too over the top in a scenery-chewing kind of way, but I loved it. Besides, as gay friends in the same situation as Fierstein's character have told me, this is exactly how their mothers reacted to THEIR homosexuality.

Among the other cast members, Brian Kerwin does a fine job as Ed, the confused bisexual lover of Arnold, and Matthew Broderick is a winsome Alan, the young man who walks into Arnold's life at an unexpected moment in the movie. Broderick was no stranger to Torch Song Trilogy, having played the part of David, Arnold's adopted son, in the 1981 stage version. Here the part of David is played by newcomer Eddie Castrodad, who plays an almost-convincing 15-year-old despite the fact that he was in his early 30s at the time.

But it is Harvey Fierstein whose extraordinary presence, wit, and acting range hold this movie together. For those who have only seen his cameo roles in Hollywood fodder such as Independence Day and Mrs Doubtfire, his performance here will come as a huge surprise. He is unique; there is no other word for it.

The only blight on this otherwise splendid movie is Paul Bogart's flat, uninspired direction. His treatment simply lacks the magic touch this story so richly deserves, and it's a great shame that such an outstanding cast and script were let down by his TV movie approach.

But don't let that put you off buying this priceless gem of a movie.

The best gay film of all time
Every person that I turn on to this movie absolutely loves it and eventually adds it to their dvd collections as a result. Even after watching TST many, many times (and believe it or not, it is playing now!) I still believe it is the very best gay themed movie of all time..and I have seen them all...Superb acting, laugh-out-loud funny and very touching...Bancroft and Fierstein shine!

If you are straight (or gay in some cases) and can't stand gay people, don't even bother renting or buying this film. But, regardless of your sexual orientation, if you are a mature, openminded person, and respect all people for who and what they are, you will enjoy it.

Get it. You'll love it!

Warm and Funny and Heartfelt
I gave this 5 stars based on its original release date. Yes, it is a bit dated now, but it really does not hurt the film if you look at it as a snapshot of the time. Fierstein is just wonderful. I dare you to not love Arnold by the end of this movie. He is warm, funny, sentimental, loyal, and kind - and still not sappy; an oddball hero that you can't stop hoping for. (ugh- preoposition). Broderick is charming and romantic as the knight in shining armor. Kerwin is heartbreaking and has some beautiful scenes to work with here. Bancroft is a force-of-nature and while she is sometimes over-the-top, she still remains very human. A comedy, semi-period piece, love story about family,blood or otherwise, and the things that bring us together and ultimately hold us together. Quite wonderful actually.

The No.1 Classic Gay Drama I have Ever Watched.
Finally, I have seen a gay movie which is not merely about the misery of being dumped by a gay lover or trying to come out in a family.

Torch Song Trilogy is a biographical work about the life of the protagonist drag queen, Arnold. The movie starts humourously with the mother's discovery of the son hiding in a closet and trying to beautifying himself with her make-up. The mother yelled, "What are you doing in the ---". Then the mother knew what was going on.

The movie can be basically divided into three parts (that's why it's titled trilogy) - his career as a professional drag queen (or politically correct - a female impersonator), during which he knew a bisexual man; his falling in love with a middle class boy who is still uncontaminated by the world. He, however, was sadly, killed by hateful discrimination. Finally, the movie has a touch of adopting a (gay) son and brings out the issue of gay parenting. The movie ends with a fight, not a reconciliation, between the mother and the gay son. Each part of the movie tells you the life and the bumpy road Arnold was living through at the moment. The movie does not depict it in a pitiful way, or else, it lets the plot bring out the emotio spontaneously to the audience. The dialogues are clever, symbolic and witty. The acting is professional and does not go over the top. The director deals with the fantastic scripts carefully and the final scene of Arnold holding the three most valuable things in his life in a chair is simply self-effacing.

Torch Song Trilogy is a gay classic drama. There is nothing pretentious. The movie does not ask for your pity for Arnold's tragic life, but your understanding of what he has been through. ... Read more

Description

Adapted by master playwright Arthur Miller from Henrik Ibsen's groundbreaking 1882 play, An Enemy of the People is a scathing indictment of a corrupt society. An idealistic doctor, played by 1966 Emmy-winner James Daly, discovers that the medicinal springs- source of a small Norwegian town's wealth and fame--are in fact poisoned. "Few dramas... clamor with as much present-day social relevance," declared Variety. Veteran Broadway, screen, and television actress Kate Reid plays the doctor's indomitable wife who stands by him in the face of the town's hostility to his findings, as he becomes "an enemy of the people." "Few dramas...clamor with as much present-day social relevance." --Variety ... Read more

Reviews (1)

George Burns Rulz !!!!!!!!
George is so cool in this flick some people may get the wrong idea about the title but in the end you realize that God can take the devil down a peg or two anytime he gets ready !!!!!!! ... Read more

Description

Kiss, Kiss, Dahlings is Wendy Wasserstein's humorous love letter to the theater, starring Tony Award-winner Blythe Danner and 4-time Emmy-winner Nancy Marchand (Lou Grant, The Sopranos) together with Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) as three generations of actresses in three different eras. Also featuring talk-show host Charlie Rose. Terrence McNally's The Last Mile captures both the comic and the poignant minutes in an opera diva's life just before the curtain rises on her Metropolitan Opera debut in "Tosca". Starring two-time Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters (Annie) and Nathan Lane (The Birdcage). Also starring Paul Sorvino and Bill Irwin. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Save your money
This poor quality flick barely kept my attention. I would list it next to the Ed Wood films. I didn't expect a blockbuster, but a good movie would have been nice. Save your money.

UNDER RATED MICHELLE PFEIFFER MOVIE
Michael Pfeiffer stars in this Hollywood tale of glitz and glamor set in the thirties she plays a rising starlet who is in love with a married man and together display uncontrolable passion. With her career on the line, despite hollywood's gossip and scandall, she chooses to continue her affair. When tragedy strikes she must forever live with overwhelming guilt, feelings of betrayl and heartbreaking lonliness. Pfeiffer delivers a stunning performance in this classic tael of love, passion & scandal.

The Most Divine movie I've ever seen!
I loved Power Passion and murder! I could watch it over and over again. Michelle was absolutely divine. I actually thik it diserves more than 5 stars. Way more.

Tiffany Collinsville IL ... Read more

Description

Dramatizing a compacted group of memories passing over several years, Arthur Miller's vivid comedy-drama portrays the nature of life during America's Great Depression. The emphasis is on mood and characterization as Miller draws on his own personal experience to evoke what the 1930s were like for workers to whom a job--any job--was everything. "...a beautiful play superbly performed." --The New York Daily News. With Jack Warden, Harvey Keitel, Dick Van Patten, Estelle Parsons, and Jerry Stiller. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Save your money
This poor quality flick barely kept my attention. I would list it next to the Ed Wood films. I didn't expect a blockbuster, but a good movie would have been nice. Save your money.

UNDER RATED MICHELLE PFEIFFER MOVIE
Michael Pfeiffer stars in this Hollywood tale of glitz and glamor set in the thirties she plays a rising starlet who is in love with a married man and together display uncontrolable passion. With her career on the line, despite hollywood's gossip and scandall, she chooses to continue her affair. When tragedy strikes she must forever live with overwhelming guilt, feelings of betrayl and heartbreaking lonliness. Pfeiffer delivers a stunning performance in this classic tael of love, passion & scandal.

The Most Divine movie I've ever seen!
I loved Power Passion and murder! I could watch it over and over again. Michelle was absolutely divine. I actually thik it diserves more than 5 stars. Way more.

Tiffany Collinsville IL ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Save your money
This poor quality flick barely kept my attention. I would list it next to the Ed Wood films. I didn't expect a blockbuster, but a good movie would have been nice. Save your money.

UNDER RATED MICHELLE PFEIFFER MOVIE
Michael Pfeiffer stars in this Hollywood tale of glitz and glamor set in the thirties she plays a rising starlet who is in love with a married man and together display uncontrolable passion. With her career on the line, despite hollywood's gossip and scandall, she chooses to continue her affair. When tragedy strikes she must forever live with overwhelming guilt, feelings of betrayl and heartbreaking lonliness. Pfeiffer delivers a stunning performance in this classic tael of love, passion & scandal.

The Most Divine movie I've ever seen!
I loved Power Passion and murder! I could watch it over and over again. Michelle was absolutely divine. I actually thik it diserves more than 5 stars. Way more.

Tiffany Collinsville IL ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Save your money
This poor quality flick barely kept my attention. I would list it next to the Ed Wood films. I didn't expect a blockbuster, but a good movie would have been nice. Save your money.

UNDER RATED MICHELLE PFEIFFER MOVIE
Michael Pfeiffer stars in this Hollywood tale of glitz and glamor set in the thirties she plays a rising starlet who is in love with a married man and together display uncontrolable passion. With her career on the line, despite hollywood's gossip and scandall, she chooses to continue her affair. When tragedy strikes she must forever live with overwhelming guilt, feelings of betrayl and heartbreaking lonliness. Pfeiffer delivers a stunning performance in this classic tael of love, passion & scandal.

The Most Divine movie I've ever seen!
I loved Power Passion and murder! I could watch it over and over again. Michelle was absolutely divine. I actually thik it diserves more than 5 stars. Way more.

Tiffany Collinsville IL ... Read more

Description

Under pressure to reaffirm their marriage vows, two middle aged people explore their dreams and the present direction of their lives. "Infinitely perceptive and deeply touching," (Newsday), this play by Robert Anderson features a stellar cast including Emmy-winners Richard Crenna and Susan Clark, Emmy-nominees Irene Tedrow and Harold Gould, and Norma Crane. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This is Wonderful!
What else i am going to say, i don't want to write a cranky review so please, admit this one, i am just going to say it's wonderful,great acting, story, funny and sad, it's WONDERFUL. Okay?

Awesome
This movie has real and believable characters in Heidi (Curtis) and Peter (Hulce). It chronicles aspects of her life in such a way to really give the viewer a flavor of those 30 years and one woman's experiences that so many movies lack. It is a definate must have.

Wonderfully acted drama. Well worth watching for all.
Jamie Lee Curtis proves her ability to truly carry a major work in "The Heidi Chronicles." Spanning three decades in the life of Curtis' Heidi, this film deals with the kind of real situations that people face with none of the unreal extraordinary circumstances that other films feel a need to drag in. Occasionally overly sappy or maudlin (can't we have at least ONE movie with a gay character who DOESN'T deal with a "close friend" dying of AIDS?

Hulce is terrific in the supporting role, and Nicki Vannice (of television's "Getting By" contributes a scene-stealing cameo as a teenager at a female support group. An overall winner of a film.

Get the kleenex ready....
A heartfelt movie....chronicling the life a woman who has had her ups and downs, and manages to carry on with life and live it to its fullest. Jaime Lee Curtis ("True Lies") is terrific, as well as Tom Hulce ("Amadeus"). ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Save your money
This poor quality flick barely kept my attention. I would list it next to the Ed Wood films. I didn't expect a blockbuster, but a good movie would have been nice. Save your money.

UNDER RATED MICHELLE PFEIFFER MOVIE
Michael Pfeiffer stars in this Hollywood tale of glitz and glamor set in the thirties she plays a rising starlet who is in love with a married man and together display uncontrolable passion. With her career on the line, despite hollywood's gossip and scandall, she chooses to continue her affair. When tragedy strikes she must forever live with overwhelming guilt, feelings of betrayl and heartbreaking lonliness. Pfeiffer delivers a stunning performance in this classic tael of love, passion & scandal.

The Most Divine movie I've ever seen!
I loved Power Passion and murder! I could watch it over and over again. Michelle was absolutely divine. I actually thik it diserves more than 5 stars. Way more.

Tiffany Collinsville IL ... Read more

Description

In this finely crafted comedy of errors, the life of upper-middle-class suburbanites is portrayed with humor and poignancy. John Cheever's The Shady Hill Kidnapping revolves around the alleged abduction of young Toby Wooster; an event that jolts the complacent and well-fed suburb of Shady Hill into surprising action. A fake kidnappers’ note, a community fundraising campaign to raise the ransom money, a police stakeout at the railroad station, and George Wooster’s reluctant decision to build the town’s 34th kidney-shaped swimming pool are some of the outlandish events found in this "hilarious and touching satire" (Time Magazine). A superb cast includes Emmy®-winners George Grizzard (Wonder Boys) and Polly Holliday ("Alice") and Oscar®-winner Celeste Holm (All About Eve). ... Read more

Reviews (6)

2.5, maybe...
Raymond Chandler's wisecracking, star-crossed private eye Philip Marlowe is transplanted into the swinging '60s where hopheads, strippers and psychiatrists join the usual compliment of thugs and goons that make his life miserable.James Garner gets a nice dry run for the "Rockford Files" TV show, while Rita Moreno bares all in her climactic stripping scene.Honestly, the script is not that great -- for the life of me I couldn't actually figure out who did what, or why... But it's still a fun film, in a campy kinda way.The film's one truly great moment is a scene is with Caroll O'Connor as a police detective who, having wearied of playing Marlowe's schnook, bursts into a violent tirade about how lousy his job is, and nearly beats the handcuffed private eye to death.It's a scene that could stand tasteful recycling elsewhere and, I suspect, was only in the film because O'Connor improv-ed it and made *something* good happen in this otherwise somewhat addled production...

Garner as Private Eye as Tenatious as a Bobo Doll
Garner wins our sympathy as a battered P.I. who's client doesn't like him and neither do the thugs who cross his path.This movie will make you feel like laughing and crying at the some time.But you know that Marlowe is tough enough to come out on top at the end of the day.Sort of corny in a Seventies kind of way, Marlowe is definitely comforting mind candy so curl up with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy!

"Rockford Files"+ "Shaft" = "Marlowe" A terrible combonation
The title for this review says it all, it's exactly what "Marlowe" is. This is an atrocity.
Who could forget the performances that shaped Marlowe's film persona. Bogart, Mitchum, and even Powers Boothe. They knew how to do it. Garner on the other hand serves up a warmed over rehash of his "Rockford" role. As for the musical score and
overall tone of the film, it recalls movies like "Shaft" and too a lesser and unflattering extent "James Bond." More than anything else "Marlowe" is pathetic, it is pathetic because
it could have been well done, if anyone in the cast or crew had given any sort of consideration to the source material. Why did they have to ruin it? It isn't as if the public wouldn't have enjoyed a genuine effort. Yes, America was entering the seventies and movies of this sort were probably a big box office draw. But, just six years later Hollywood made "Farewell, My Lovely," and they made it well staying true to Chandler.
Now, that film is a modern classic among Chandler fans. "Marlowe" had the potential to do the same, but chose instead to drown itself in a cesspool of seventies sludge. That is truly sad.

play it again Marlowe
This is a very entertaining 60's detective romp. It isn't too dated for the most part.It is interesting to see a few of Rockford's traits in Marlowe, the Oreo cookies, the charm, and the slightly illegal activities.
He is attacked by Bruce Lee's character and finesses his way out.
He ends up further behind than he started like Rockford.

I enjoyed this movie and found it unpredictable, funny and a precursor to Rockford.

Austin Powers meets HumphreyBogart
James Garner followed Humphrey Bogart and Dick Powell's 1940's act (and preceded Elliot Gould and Robert Mitchum) in this late 60's revival of Raymond Chandler's classic shamus character, with mixed results. Marlowe's deadpan private dick persona seems a bit out of place with all the love beads, paisley and acid-spiked cigarettes swirling about him. (I suppose you could argue that it boosts the film's appeal on a purely camp level). Garner makes up for most of the incongruity (and the rather complicated plot) with his usual devil-may-care on-screen appeal. A few supporting perfomances also keep things moving along, including a very sexy Rita Moreno and surprisingly funny Bruce Lee. Lee eats up his two brief scenes with much aplomb and choreographs a memorable rooftop "exit" for his irrepressible Winston Wong. Not classic Chandler, but an entertaining curio nonetheless. ... Read more