Reviews (35)

I will NEVER forget this movie!
In 1966, after reading the New Yorker review by the inimitable Brendan Gill, I saw this movie, which he recommended, calling James Coburn: "...a very funny fellow."

I wasn't prepared for how much I would be impressed by the clever, modest Derek Flint. One of the highlights of the movie is when, seeing a fly in the office of his friend, Chief Cramden, takes out a cigarette holder and goes into "hunt and seek" mode....eyeing the little beast as it flies around the room. He then uses the cig holder as a blow dart and NAILS the fly to the wall! That scene alone was impressive enough to make me a fan forever!

Coburn's sense of cool defines this movie...the way he handles Flint's knowledge of just about everything, his unflappability in the face of iminent death and his ability to estricate himself from the closest of calls will have him endearing himself to YOU as well! Edward Mulhare makes an excellent, comic-book style villain against Coburn, and Gila Golan plays the femme fatale that Flint eventually wins over to the side of the angels.

From the Bob Peak poster art to the Jerry Goldsmith score, not to mentiion Coburn's great take on what should have been a MUCH larger franchise, I guarantee you'll become a fan of the very personable Mr. Flint.

Very well done spoof of spy movies
This is the ultimate 60's spy movie spoof, capturing the total madcap, surreal, death-defying, and chauvinist ways of a spy in a 60's movie. Of course, having been made in 1965, what else could you expect?

James Coburn is Derek Flint, a spy so secret that even the group of scientists that wish to take over the world don't know of him. He is able to fake death, has a lighter with 82 functions (83 if you wish to light a cigar), knows ballet, kung fu, and fencing, and is apparantly an expert in French cuisine. In otherwords, he could only exist in a (everybody say it now!) spy movie from the 60's.

The style of this widescreen epic is amazing. The special effects are very well done for the time, and are even now hard to detect. Flint is every inch a chauvinist pig, so if you want to see women kicking [rear], this is not the film for you, as Flint has FOUR women who serve his every need and are basically helpless without him.

What was truly fascinating was watching this movie after having been a big Austin Powers fan. I was surprised at how much the first Powers film owes to this movie, from the bathroom fight to the giant earth drill. My appreciation of the later films is not diminished one bit, however.

This film has a ton of tongue in cheek humor, and is a very enjoyable watch.

The DVD also features several trailers, and is very well done for a...no-frills package. The transfer is gorgeous, and the compression of the video signal is top-notch. The sound is in it's original glorious mono, and we get to hear that super-catchy Flint theme over and over again in it's various incarnations.

I heartily recommend this for lovers of Bond and Powers.

dead on target
Yup, it's great to see OUR MAN FLINT and IN LIKE FLINT on DVD. So when will they put out the third Flint film on DVD (or VHS!). Yes, there really was a Flint #3. It was called OUR MAN FLINT: DEAD ON TARGET. It was a 1976 TV movie. ABC ran it twice, both times during late-night. Ray Danton played Derek Flint. It was an interesting film, as I recall, but I haven't seen it in 27 years, so it's hard to remember. What happened to it? It never plays on TV anywhere. Did it vanish into thin air? I hope somebody digs it out and releases it on DVD/VHS. I also hope to see the 4 Martin-Matt Helm flicks out on DVD! Flint and Helm are better than Bond.

Our Man Flint Is ZOWIE
James Coburn met the legendary Bruce Lee after he made Our Man Flint, and we can thank Flint for influencing the screen fighting style of the Dragon. We can also thank Derek Flint for being the only person in the world that would make James Bond sweat. Our Man Flint is classic fun, and deserves five stars, just as "It Happened One Night." Much more than a parody, Flint does 007 better in practically every area: dancing, women (he has his own harem), gadgets (his cigarette lighter has 63 different functions, and he makes his own stuff, being a scientific genuis). Even his boss, played by the wonderful Lee J. Cobb, is a grander fellow than M. He also speaks 60 languages,is a fencing and close combat master, and a master yogi who can stop his heart. Although tongue in cheek, Flint as a self-evolving man is almost believable, and that's part of his enduring entertainment value. (Mr. Spock was also heavily influenced by Flint, if you'll compare their mannerisms. The Vulcan death grip is first featured in In Like Flint. Spock wouldn't be half as fun if he didn't have an air of believability.)

The villans' (there are three, including a Caucausian named Dr. Lee and a Chinese named Dr. Schneider) nefarious plan also poses a challenge to the Bond films: controlling the world's weather. Plus, Flint fights much, much better than 007.

He's also a rebel, unlike the office bug 007, and balks at being hired by the major super powers. Whoever created the Flint character should take a big bow; James Coburn as Derek Flint is endearing, hysterical (while doing everything with a straight face)and a Super guy, not just a mere super spy. He's an inspiration for kids of all ages to hit the books, to explore and discover.

I've heard that James Coburn would have done more 'Flints' but they couldn't come up with good scripts. A real shame, for with five or six 'Flints,' Coburn would have become a megastar.

Thank you, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Flint.

I love it!
This movie was a great spoof on spy films. I'd heard of it often then recently caught it on AMC. I picked up a copy so I could see it without commercials and it was even better that way. Now if they would just release Dean Martin's "Matt Helm" movies on DVD! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

"I was the slut of all time!" declares Elizabeth Taylor in the role forwhich she won her first Academy Award®. Taylor plays Gloria, a model of loosemorals who discovers a last chance at love and redemption when she spends a weekwith Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), a man who married into money and hateshimself for it. They fall in love, but beforethey can find happiness they have to overcome their own worst natures.BUtterfield 8 (named after Gloria's answering service) is a big boozymelodrama, full of gorgeous clothes, catty comments, and emotionalshowdowns--but along the way it plumbs some genuine sadness. No one can be simultaneouslyoverblown and utterly sincere like Elizabeth Taylor; the movie is mired in themorality of the time, but her performance makes Gloria's mixture of grief andanger seem immediate and genuine. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (27)

DIAL AT YOUR OWN RISK...
Based upon the John O'Hara novel of the same name, this film won Elizabeth Taylor an Oscar in 1960 for Best Actress. Not bad, considering that this, her last film for MGM, was a film in which she had not wanted to act.

Ms. Taylor plays a beautiful young woman, Gloria Wandrous, with serious self-esteem problems that lead her to live of life of cheap thrills. By day a dress model, by night a bon vivant, Gloria is a professional escort gotten by dialing Butterfield 8, loving and leaving so many men that she is regarded as being nothing more than a tramp. She is outwardly a bad girl with a good girl buried inside. Her childood friend, Steve (Eddie Fisher), is supportive of her and believes that she has more to offer the world than pure, unadulterated sex, while her mother (Mildred Dunnock) is in serious denial about her daughter's escapades.

When Gloria meets Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey), an unhappily married attorney who has his own issues, she undergoes a change of heart as she falls in love with him. He, too, falls in love with her. Alas, the path of true love never seems to run smoothly. Their romance is no exception.

Laurence Harvey does a good job as Liggett, a man who struggle with his pride for having married his wealthy wife, Emily (Dina Merrill), whose family has him on a golden leash . Dina Merrill is good as Emily, but her role is terribly dated. She plays it as if she were a Stepford wife, a good little wife who will patiently wait until her husband stops boozing it up and whoring around. Her scene with her mother on this very issue, in which her mother congratulates her on her wisdom, is enough to make the viewer laugh.

Eddie Fisher, who was cast as Steve by means of being married to Liz Taylor, displays zero talent as an actor. In fact, so uncharismatic is he on screen that he leaves the viewer wondering what it was that Elizabeth Taylor ever saw in him in real life. Susan Oliver, who credibly plays the role of Steve's girfriend, is made up to resemble Debbie Reynolds in order to capitalize on the Hollywood scandal that saw Eddie Fisher leave his wife and children for Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, I took a double take when I first saw Ms. Oliver come on screen, so obvious was it that she was made to look like Ms. Reynolds. Talk about bottom feeding!

This is a film that is a curiosity piece at best, filled with what passed at the time as sophisticated repartee. While Ms. Taylor does a decent job with the role of Gloria, the film is so dated as to be almost laughable. Still, fans of Ms. Taylor will enjoy seeing her at her most beautiful.

The Best Kind of Trash
In the normal scheme of things, lofty MGM wouldn't have touched John O'Hara's novel with a ten foot pole--but shortly before her contract was to end, MGM star Elizabeth Taylor besmirched her image by running off with Debbie Reynolds' husband Eddie Fisher. With her reputation in shreds and one foot outside the studio gate any way, MGM decided to capitalize on the bad press by casting Taylor as BUTTERFIELD 8's bad-girl-from-hell... and then, to add insult to injury, tucked Eddie Fisher into a supporting role and cast Debbie Reynolds look-alike Susan Oliver in the role of Eddie's girl friend, who feels threatened by Liz's manhungry ways. Liz fought the project tooth and nail, but MGM was adamant: she owed them another film, and she wasn't leaving until she made it.

BUTTERFIELD 8 is the story of Gloria Wandrous (Taylor), a hard-drinking, sexed-up, bed-hopping dress model who gets her kicks by seducing and then dumping men according to whim--until she encounters an unhappily married man just as hard and disillusioned as she in Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey.) Although the production code was still somewhat in force, it had loosened up quite a bit since the days of NATIONAL VELVET, and while scenes stop short at the bedroom door they have plenty of sizzle while they walk up to it; moreover, every one in the film talks about sex so much you'd think it had just been invented. Taylor is on record saying that she considers the film a piece of trash, and she swears she has never actually seen it, that she would rather die than ever see it.

But something weird happened as the camera rolled. Taylor, doubtlessly driven by her fury at having to do the movie, gives a throw-away, over-the-top performance--but perversely, this is precisely what the role requires, and her performance was successful enough to earn her an Oscar. The supporting cast follows her lead, all of them performing in broad colors and bigger-than-life emotions, and again they too are quite successful, with Laurence Harvey and Dina Merrill (as his long suffering wife) particularly effective. Ultimately, of course, Elizabeth Taylor is quite right when she says the film is a piece of trash. But it is the best kind of trash because it is so completely trashy: BUTTERFIELD 8 doesn't just dive into the trash pile, it wallows in it with considerable conviction. Modern films of the same type may show more skin and more sex, but for sheer authority BUTTERFIELD 8 remains a standard against which most of them pale. Not every one will like it, but I recommend it all the same.

Tragic
This is a tale of a good girl gone bad. Men are *toys* to her until she meets Weston Ligette (Laurence Harvey). Falling in love, she is determined to turn her life around. A compulsive decision she makes early in the relationship results in tragic consequences. Never dull and the dialogue is brilliant. Elizabeth Taylor is at her best in this film.

Excelent script
Butterfield 8 was a disturbing film in its age. Elizabeth Taylor won an Academy award for this film.
The picture was supported by a fine dialogue. Once more Hiccock was right when he stated that the three most important fundamentals aspects for making a good film were ; first a good script , second a good script and third a good script .
Laurence Harvey is the lucky guy who commits adultery with that night butterfly , who later will fall in love with him . That perspective , however becomes in a complex device to explore the intimate world of all those people who live around them ; the fantasy world of Gloria, her glamorous desire to become a great lady , with an overshelter mother, a friend who makes the role of the brother she never had (Fisher is a mess as actor in this movie , maybe its only fault).
In the other side of the coin , Harvey is a married man who lives in a boring house with a unbearable wife , with nothing to say and nothing to give . So this marriage is just only a status convenience. He rebeals against this state of things but he is uncapable of break his marriage.
This situation is obviously hazardous for Gloria's growing expectations , who deeply in her mind still believes he'll divorce.
Powerful dramatis personae with an unexpected twist of fate.
Taylor in the peak of her cosmical beauty , but showing us also her powerful skill gifts acting.
Good transfer on DVD.
The picture may be today a bit old fashioned , but the visible analogies in that age with notable personalities of different worlds are obviously reflected.
The Profumo case for instance, was still fresh in the mind of the social pages and some other celebrities .
A good film to watch over and over.

"Vulgarity has its uses."
Gloria Wandrous is one of my all-time favourite roles for Elizabeth Taylor. Somehow the role just fits the actress like a glove. Gloria is a beautiful, troubled model whose private life is composed of nights in bars and a series of men. When "Butterfield 8" begins, Gloria wakes up in her underwear in a strange apartment. Taylor does an incredible job displaying her disorientation, and it takes her until her first cigarette to get her bearings. Gloria, it seems, has just spent the night with Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey) in his New York apartment. The wealthy Mrs. Liggett (Dina Merrill) is off visiting her mother, and in her absence, Liggett picks up Gloria. It's meant to be a one-night-stand. That's what Gloria is used to, but Liggett wants more. Liggett and Gloria are both on their own self-destructive, self-indulgent binges when they meet, and their relationship is passionate and explosive.

The film is based on a John O'Hara novel. Taylor won an Academy award for best actress, and when the film was released it was considered quite risque. Strong supporting roles flesh out the story and illustrate the utter selfishness and self-destructive tendencies of the two main characters. Supporting characters include: the tiresomely saintly Mrs. Liggett, Steve (Eddie Fisher)--Gloria's childhood friend, Steve's long-suffering girlfriend, Norma, Gloria's mother (she's in terminal denial) and Mrs. Thurber, Gloria's mother's friend. All of these characters support and tolerate Liggett and Gloria to one degree or another. Elizabeth Taylor is incredible as Gloria. She's hysterical, needy, impossible and pathetic all at once. While I like Laurence Harvey, I found him to be the weak spot in this film. His acting was wooden and weak--and this is in complete contrast to Taylor--she is magnificent. She exudes a certain looseness. The film seems a little dated now--probably because the risque elements of the film no longer seem so, but Taylor fans should enjoy her performance. The DVD features theatrical trailers, and these really underscore the sensational aspects of the film, as it must have seemed to an audience from the 60s--displacedhuman ... Read more

Description

After a shot gun marriage, Lola loses the couple’s baby and relies for comfort on her dog, Sheba, who has run away, while Doc is a recovering alcoholic who blames Lola for his dropping out of medical school. Though still depressed and bitter about their past, the couple rents out a room to a young woman named Marie and while Marie brings happiness and young love into their home, she also brings old ghosts reminding Doc and Lola of their misfortunes. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

EMOTIONAL POWERHOUSE DRAMA....
Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster are bound together by a mutual tragedy in a sad, childless marriage made worse by Lancaster's alcoholism. When they rent a room to a sexy college student (Terry Moore), everything begins to really unravel. Based on the William Inge play (which also starred Booth and won her a Tony), the film is downbeat but hypnotic thanks to the stars. Booth also won Best Actress for the film with her heartbreaking performance as the dowdy housewife struggling to cope with her husband's problems. The film depicts a somber intervention by AA for Lancaster's character and Booth calling for Sheba (their pet dog that was Booth's child substitute that has run away) as well as some other harrowing scenes that mark this film as serious drama. Booth later became part of TV history in the 60's as "Hazel" but it's her few ventures in films like this that need to be remembered too. She was no beauty but an exceptionally gifted actress who could tear your heart out with performances like the one in "Come Back Little Sheba". Lancaster is excellent as the husband who tries to love his unkempt wife but can't face the real issues. So glad to see this searing drama coming to DVD and will be happy to add it to my library.

It's all about Shirley Booth.
Shirley Booth's Lola Delaney is (possibly rivalled only by Charles Laughton's Quasimodo) the most pathetic character ever put on film. It is palpably hurtful to bear with her the many humiliations she undergoes during the course of the film. Caught in a sort of stand off relationship with her husband, she is lonely and emotionally wasting away, while seeming to deny this fact to herself. And when she cuts loose and tries to have a little fun, dancing or enjoying radio music meant to transport you out of your daily grind, she is merely the subject of laughter and rolling eyes. Her teary ruminations on the titular lost dog are, as I read it, symbolic of a larger aching need to find someone or something with which to exchange affection. I just saw Come Back again for the first time in 30 years, and I think it is as strong now as it must have been in 1952. The cinematography by the great James Wong Howe starts out bright and ordinary, felling like a 50s sitcom, but as layers of the dark heart of the drama are peeled away, the look becomes noirish and menacing --we know something is going to snap. You won't forget it.

Even in a time when films were less gimmicky than today, Come Back is really an anti-gimmick movie. It is just a glimpse into the life of a couple simmering under the surface with regret, old hurt and selfdoubt.

When Movies were Movies
This is a wonderful old movie. In those days, the subject of pregnancy before marriage was so taboo! She plays the part of a slovenly housewife to the hilt, Burt is her stuffy, overbearing husband, ashamed of her, but all they have been through together wins out in the end.

They don't do movies like this any more.....
Shirley Booth is memorable in the role of dowdy wife to alcoholic husband Burt Lancaster (equally as good). The film is an adaptation of the William Inge play and it stands as one of the best transfers from stage to screen. Contrary to other reviewers' opinions, Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel are great in their supporting roles.

For those of us old and fortunate enough to remember Booth from her 60's role as TV's "Hazel," this film shows that the actress was much better than the role of domestic of which she is famous. It also shows the range of her skills.

GET A LIFE MRS. DELANEY................
Great movie! I remember watching this movie when I was little. I always felt more sorry for Doc more that his wife because she was so iritating. Mrs. Delaney needed to get it together. That way her life would not be so boring, and maybe she would not be so iritating. If I was Doc, she would of drove me to drink too. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

I love this movie!
Sidney Poitier is one of my favorite actors and he links up nicely with Abby Lincoln. A very cute love story.

WONDERFUL MOVIE! OKAY DVD
This is one of my favorite movies. Sidney Poitier falls for housekeeper "Ivy". A must see film. The bare-bones dvd doesn't have much to offer. You get the widescreen and standard versions, thats it. As of 08/13/2000, this dvd is still available at Columbia House. Worth a look! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

I love this movie!
Sidney Poitier is one of my favorite actors and he links up nicely with Abby Lincoln. A very cute love story.

WONDERFUL MOVIE! OKAY DVD
This is one of my favorite movies. Sidney Poitier falls for housekeeper "Ivy". A must see film. The bare-bones dvd doesn't have much to offer. You get the widescreen and standard versions, thats it. As of 08/13/2000, this dvd is still available at Columbia House. Worth a look! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Tear 'Em Up!
I remember sitting in a dark theater back in '71, gobbling popcorn, slurping coke, and seeing how many Milk Duds could fit in my mouth, when suddenly, "Willard" began! I was 9 and nothing could have prepared me for the treat I was about to see! "Willard" is the story of a social outcast who has a crazy mother, a total creep of a boss, and no friends. He finds some rats and becomes close to them instead. Ben and Socrates (the white rat) are the standouts. Willard (Bruce Davidson) befriends his furry pals and teaches them lots of tricks. Everything's great until Willard takes Ben and Socrates to work with him. He hides them, but they are discovered. Willard's creepy boss (Ernest Borgnine) kills Socrates. That's when things get ugly! Willard unleashes his rodent horde on his boss, telling them to "Tear him up!". It's all downhill from there, as Willard goes increasingly insane, and Ben rises to turn the rats against him. The end is great and spawned the sequel "Ben". A classic...

A boys best friend are his rats: The original "Willard"
"Willard" is not so much a great horror film as it is a [crude] film. If you are talking about a great horror film where masses of creatures attack humans than go check out Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." With this 1971 film from director Daniel Man we are talking [scaring one with] a whole bunch of rats. The twist here is that these rats have their own Pied Piper in the person of social misfit, Willard Stiles (Bruce Davidson). The only friends poor Willard has in this world are his four-legged little friends, including his two favorites, Ben and Socrates, who he starts training to obey his every whim. Eventually he decides that his boss, Al Martin (Ernest Borgnine), needs to be taught a lesson in what ends up being one of the more memorable scenes by the former Academy Award winning actor. Willard even finds love in the figure of Joan (Sondra Locke). Unfortunately, his rat friends do not like being neglected.

This is an old fashioned film, which means these rats were actually trained by Moe and Nora Di Sesso to do thinks like walk planks and chew on someone's face. No computer generated effects for this film. But then just the idea of a horde of rats descending on a human being should be enough to send you cowering. Final Notes: Willard's mom is played by Elsa Lanchester, the original "Bride of Frankenstein." "Willard" was followed by the sequel "Ben," with its infamous title song sung by Michael Jackson. A remake of "Willard" is coming out soon and it will be interesting to see if a slick production of this story manages to take it to a new level beyond what this dark little film achieved by the strategic placement of cheese...

good horror with simplicity, a must for rat lovers
Willard is a quality horror movie. It was low budget and did not have the best film quality, but the story and plot were great. a must for rat lovers ... Read more