Reviews (46)

Digging Bear's Review
A masterpiece of American cinema, pure and simple. There is no person before or since that has portrayed General George Armstrong Custer better than Richard Mulligan in this film. Dustin Hoffman gives a truly wonderful performance as Jack Crabb all the way from boyhood to an aged man of one hundred and twenty one years old. The makeup done on Mr. Hoffman for the old man scenes is incredible. You can hardly tell that it's Dustin Hoffman under it. All the Indian actors are real American Indians and the movie is so much the better for it. The man playing Little Big Man's father, who is a fine actor seen in many a western movie, should have been nominated for an Oscar for this as I do believe Richard Mulligan was. The movie can seem long at some points but as soon as you would begin to notice you yanked quickly back into another engaging predicament Mr. Crabb has gotten himself in. One of my favorites is when he becomes a gun slinger with the outragous outfit to go along with the attitude. But when he meets up with Wild Bill Hickock and sees his first dead man, he quickly changes profession. The climax of Little Big Man is probably one of greatest moments in cinema. Jack Crabb is an Indian scout for General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It does not get any better and is a must see.

Oh, and Faye Dunaway gives an erotic seduction performance that gives me goose pimples every time I see it.

Terrific film adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel
Just a few years after success in The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman continued his identification as the Everyman of modern youth in this delightfully rambling, mordant, and affecting picaresque set in the American frontier. Hits all the right notes perfectly in its representation of the contrary and conflicting moods of a person awkwardly attempting to makes sense of the world and find a place in it. Enjoyable in its own right as a marvelous piece of movie story-telling, the film yields greater meaning when viewed with appreciation for the conflicts of the late 60's: the war in Vietnam, the generation gap, Native American and other groups' struggle for freedom and respect. Chief Dan George turns in a magnificent performance as Cheyenne tribal leader Old Lodge Skins, Hoffman's adoptive "grandfather" and the film's spiritual centerpoint. I've watched this movie several times and always come away moved by the beautifully poignant ending with Grandfather and Little Big Man on the mountaintop. You'll want to view this film again and again.

ehhh
I've read the book, so I'm definitly biased, but I'd like to think that even if I hadn't read the book I wouldn't like this movie. It gets two stars for Dustin Hoffman and his Indian wife, who was really hot.

"I wasn't just playin' Indian - I was livin' Indian!"
Little Big Man is framed as a retrospective narration by Jack Crabb, who at age 120-plus, is the oldest living survivor of Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn, and in the 1960's (?) is being interviewed by a newspaper writer.

As kids, Jack and sister Caroline are the only survivors of an Indian attack, and they are taken to an Indian village and meet "Old Lodge Skins", the chief. Caroline expects to be raped later (and is somewhat disappointed when she is not) and rides away at night. The Cheyenne ("human beings") adopt Jack. Due to his small stature, Jack is named "Little Big Man" after he saves Younger Bear from a Pawnee attack.

In a battle againt the cavalry, just before he is about to be killed, Jack ID's himself as a white man, and is put in the care of Reverend Pendrake, whose wife (Faye Dunaway) takes an interest in Jack. He is taught to to read and write, and takes up religion with Mrs. Pendrake. After he finds Mrs. Pendrake and a soda-shop man in bed, that ends his religion phase.

Jack takes up with Mr. Meriwether, a con-man, and ends up getting tarred and feathered by a group lead by his own sister. Jack moves in with Caroline and she teaches him to shoot ("Go snake-eyed"). Jack becomes a flashy gun-fighter known as the Soda Pop Kid after his drink of choice. He meets Wild Bill Hickok ("Might I ask who I are addressin'?") but gives up gunfighting after Hickok kills a man in a bar. Caroline disowns him, so Jack gets a partner, becomes a store owner, and marries Olga, a large Swedish woman. Jack's partner is a crook, and he goes bankrupt.

General Custer is passing by, takes pity on Jack and advises him to "go west" with his personal guarantee of safety - cut to Indians raiding a stage coach and riding off with Olga. Jack looks for her unsuccessfully, and heads deeper into Cheyenne country, where he is ambushed. He convinces the Indians of his identity, and returns to their camp. He tells Old Lodge Skins about Custer.

Jack rides off, and joins up with Custer to be a scout to find his wife. Custer is snobby and gives him a job as "mule-skinner". He rides in a massacre against an Indian village which he tries to stop, then escapes himself. He meets "Sunshine" as she is about to give birth in the bushes, and returns to the Indians with her. Old Lodge Skins is now blind from a wound. Jack stays with Sunshine and she hooks him up with her 3 sisters, so he now has 4 wives as Old Lodge Skins once predicted. It turns out his competitive Indian arch-enemy has married Olga.

After birth of a son, the Indians are attacked and Sunshine and the baby are killed. Custer orders Jack hanged, but Jack identifies himself and talks his way out of it. Later at camp, Jack has the opportunity to kill Custer but chickens out. Custer insults him and Jack goes back to the white man as a common drunk. He meets Hickok again and learns Hickok was seeing Mrs. Pendrake, now a widow and prostitute. Hickok gives some money to Jack to give to the widow for a train ticket, then is shot and killed. Mrs. Pendrake flirts with Jack, but Jack just puts Hickok's money on her stomach and leaves.

Jack becomes a drunk again, and sees Meriwether (now with a hook and peg-leg) and does not join him in buffalo hunting. He has reached his low-point, and goes into the wilderness to become a hermit. He sees an animal's gnawed off foot in a trap and "snaps". He goes to a cliff to commit suicide, but hears the passing cavalry.

He decides to "meet the devil head on", and joins Custer again. Custer wants to use him as a "perfect reverse barometer" to out-fox the Indians. He asks Jack's advice on a proposed attack, which results in Custer's famous last stand at Little Big Horn.

Jack rejoins the Indians. Old Lodge Skins gives a moving speech, and goes to the hilltop to die. The narration leads us back to the present as old Jack Crabb winds up his story.

Originally R-Rated, the movie was re-rated PG-13, for violence and some sexual situations. The movie runs 138:35 minutes not counting end credits (listed as 139 on DVD, 147 at IMDB). I know they've cut the part of sleeping with the three extra wives when shown on TV.

Spectacular cinematography including the snow-covered great plains. Nice harmonica/guitar-based score. Excellent acting by all, and direction by Arthur Penn. Richard Mulligan as Custer is one of the best characters on film. Some of the movie dealing with the massacre of the Indians is truly sad, but the movie also contains a lot of ironic humor. Movies don't get better than this. DVD has widescreen movie, setup/subtitle options, and chapters.

In a year of Oscar insanity, Little Big Man had one nomination - Supporting actor for Chief Dan George - and "Airport" gets 10 nominations and wins a couple. Obvious a reflection of the political problems of the times.

"Sometimes grass don't grow, wind don't blow, and the sky ain't blue"

Timeless Film
Little Big Man is one of my all time favorite movies fro many reasons. Dustin Hoffman gives what I believe to be his greatest performance as Jack Crabb. His range here is incredible as he portrays a man torn between two cultures and his life weaves back and forth between the white world and the indian world in which he was raised. His performance is funny when appropriate and yet filled with pathos and emotion when the necessary. An absolute masterful job of acting.
The Cheyenne scenes are moving and Ghief Dan george who plays Crabb's adoptive grandfather provides the film with gravity as he consistently demnonstrates wisdom and dignity despite the increasingly difficult circumstances that his tribe finds themselves in.
I don't know the actor's name who plays Custer but he provides just the right amount of comic bravado to make Custer seem to be a pathetic character who's hubris led to his troops demise. While this may or may not be an historically acurate portrayal it certainly fits the mood of the film.
Other famous western personalities such as Wild Bill Hickock are included in the story as Jack Crabb's life zig-zags it's way through the west. A fabulous ride and a very memorable film to be enjoyed again and again. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

A Truly Wonderful Film
The story of Helen Keller is well known. But how she conquers deafness and blindness bears a powerful message for overcoming other prejudices (racism, sexism) as well.

Her teacher, Annie Sullivan (played by the gorgeous Anne Bancroft) is motivated by her own experiences growing up in the dank cruelty of asylums where blind and handicapped children were institutionalized with no chance for education and self fulfillment. She is driven with a messianic zeal to help her charge who, much like herself, has been similarly deprived.

Helen, thought to be dumb, has been relegated by her family's ignorance to the status of a child-like pet; indulged because her infirmities are assumed to be unfixable.

By today's standards, the movie's dialog and pacing are a little intense. And the physical violence (slapping mainly) between teacher and pupil might make some, especially young children, somewhat uncomfortable. But the performances by both Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke (as Helen) are mesmerizing.

Helen, sharp as a tack (which is how she became so manipulative) is starved for knowledge and connection, and Miss Sullivan uses this hunger to bring her out. The story is well paced. And few movies I've seen recently have been so thoroughly filled with love!

The only difficulty I had in watching this work - was my need to constantly wipe the haze from my eyes. This is a truly wonderful film.

Uplifting and inspirational
The classic story of deaf and blind Helen Keller (Patty Duke) and her teacher, Anne Sullivan (Anne Bancroft). Pitied for her handicaps and thought to be retarded, Helen has been indulged and left in ignorance, resulting in a spoiled child without any concept of language. Anne, herself raised in a home for blind and deaf children, must be a ruthless taskmaster in order to use the child's physical needs as a primer from which to teach her what language is so that communication might follow.

Bancroft and Duke carry this film on their shoulders and they do a magnificent job. They share many intense, physically exhausting scenes together. The sequence in which Anne grapples with Helen over dinner in order to teach her to follow basic rules of etiquette is a good example-it is unsentimental and the actresses are totally committed to their performances. Director Arthur Penn and screenwriter William Gibson (who adapted his own stage play) have done remarkable jobs as well to produce an uplifting, inspirational film that eschews saccharine and phoniness.

Brilliant on ALL levels!
The title speaks for itself. This magnificent film is truly a MIRACLE! Anne Bancroft is spectacular in her Oscar winning role and Patty Duke gives one of the most shattering performances ever recorded on film.Anyone interested in truly great film making and exquisite acting MUST add this DVD to their collection!

A true gem
Artur Penn directed this film and probably his best work. This film is one landmark in American cinema.
The approach of Penn is supported by a haunting story about a deaf mude girl and the hard process of learning with a teacher who has strong visual limitations,Helen Keller.
Undoubtly, Truffaut with The wild child 1969 , makes a very close approach than Penn, but in this case, The miracle worker has a cast very difficult to find today even impossible. The couple Anne Bancroft one of my twenty favorite american actress in any age, and Patty Duke as the child made a superb performing.
Previously they had performed this play in the theatre. Watch by example the high raising dramatic sequences are filmed as is the viewer was in a theatre hall, the camera is just in the floor. And this is another tribute to Citizen Kane.
The mude sequence ten minutes where they turn around the table where Patty must to eat in the right way is unforgettable. The camera's handle and the angles of shooting are a milestone in the legend cinema.
The film doesn't get old and it's a special gift for every one to have this DVD. The transfer was very well made.
One of the supreme movies ever.
Don't miss this one.
A truly classic film.

Deaf viewers need not watch this DVD!
Astonishing, isn't it, that this greatest of all films about the most famous deaf-blind person in history cannot be viewed by a deaf person! There are NO English subtitles. There is NO English closed-captioning for the "hearing impaired." I cannot put into words my anger/disappointment in MGM for releasing this DVD without English subtitles. What were they thinking?! Still...I can't watch this film without weeping during the final minutes--from Helen's "water" epiphany to the overwhelmingly poignant ending. Shame on MGM for technically spoiling this DVD. Perhaps they can be shamed into a re-release with English subtitles? ... Read more

Reviews (73)

The original Natural Born Killers!
Rarely has a film been as widely influential as director Arthur Penn's crime spree masterpiece. Single-handedly spawning the psychotic-lovers-on-the-run sub-genre (Badlands; Natural Born Killers; True Romance; SFW etc.) and simultaneously breaking the envelope in its frank, realistic depiction of violence - see this movie for a pre-Wild Bunch usage of exploding blood satchets in an equally elegiac gunshot death sequence - Bonnie and Clyde decisively consigned all vestiges of 50's Hollywood to the scrapheap of the 60s and signaled the start of the most creative, daring and satisfying decade in Hollywood history, the Seventies. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are at the peak of their powers as actors and pop culture icons and blister across the screen with their volatile, unpredictable and ill-fated relationship. One of the first movies to be decidedly anti-Establishment, its jaundiced view of family, town, country and violent confrontation with authority and tradition is obviously not for the Norman Rockwell crowd, although the authenticity of time and place is impeccable. With gorgeous golden rural landscapes, gorgeous golden Faye Dunaway and some of the best costume design ever put to screen, this is one film you need to have on DVD. Even the best VHS version is too grainy to do this movie aesthetic justice. An essential for collectors of crime movies and those interested in historically significant movies. But it also works on the simplest level as well: a well-paced exciting story, skillfully and violently told.

"We rob banks!"
Criminals became a whole lot more glamorous with the release of Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde." They were now slim and fit and not hunchbacked or overweight. They had beautiful faces that were not marred by scars or eye-patches. This was Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway looking their best and being as bad as they could.

Clyde Barrow (Beatty) rescues Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) from her uneventful life back home and promptly plunges her into a life of crime. In a country where despair has become a way of life thanks to the Depression, the bank robbers become heroes to the common folk who have been victimized by the instruments of capitalism. Relying on their wits and a touch of good fortune, the young lovers evade the law while basking in their newfound fame but their luck eventually runs out and they meet their end in a hail of bullets.

"Bonnie and Clyde" is infamous for introducing a new level of graphic violence to cinema by way of its final shoot-out. However, that one aspect of the film tends to overshadow its other accomplishments. The moral ambiguity running throughout the film distinctly separated it from the "white-hats-and-black-hats" characterizations of past Hollywood heroes and villains. This problematic approach to morality was a byproduct of the upheaval society itself was undergoing in the late-Sixties as it was discovering how difficult it was to distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys in the real world. The film also went to great pains to appear as realistic as possible. Difficult themes in film were often satirized or exaggerated to soften its impact on the audience, but Penn created such an authentic feel to "Bonnie and Clyde" that the line between fantasy and reality became uncomfortably blurred. Throw in solid supporting work by Estelle Parsons, Gene Hackman, Michael J. Pollard, and Gene Wilder to complement the film's other aforementioned accomplishments and what you have is milestone work whose impact on the medium has been far-reaching.

More Hollywood garbage
Hollywood has a track record of turning vile, murdering cowards and criminals into folk heroes. This piece of trash is among the winners. What a load of pure hogwash. When it first came out, the critics went into ecstasy about the sexual message all through the movie, using handguns as a phallic symbol. More Freudian dribble!!! The police are the villians here while the gang are the heroes. (The scene with Denver Pyle playing Texas Ranger Frank Hamer sneaking up on the bloodthirty duo is pure bilge. If the real Capt. Hamer had had his way, B&C's crimewave wouldn't have lasted any length of time.) The real Bonnie Parker was absolute trash. She blew a policeman's head off point blank with a sawed off shotgun! And she's a HEROINE ? More like she was on HEROIN. If you think this is a "Robin Hood" tale of robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, you live in a fantasy world. The small businesses that Barrow and Parker robbed were "mom and pop" stores. And the poor certainly didn't benefit. The only redeeming part of this film is seeing these two thugs riddled by gunfire by the law. A fitting end.

We Rob Banks!
To me, the best film of 1967 (above the other landmark film of that year, The Graduate), and one of the most startling films ever made. I think that the "modern era" of moviemaking begins with Bonnie and Clyde." It's really about a "family" of bankrobbers who owe much of their success to the press; the newspapers make it seem as if they intend to terrorize every small town that has a bank to begin with. And so the Barrow gang becomes legendary during the depression, and heroes to some because they are against the government that is taking so much away from the "little people." Although much praised, "Bonnie and Clyde" was controversial in its day, partly because of the considerable bloodshed and partly because audiences felt bad for the two criminals. As one character says, "they're just a bunch of kids!" This is one of the rare films in which the violence punctuates the story--it makes the viewing experience more powerful. Because of it, one watches much of the film in a state of apprehension.

Natural born killers
Trust Hollywood to turn two common criminals into two American folk heroes. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were two small-town young people drifting aimlessly during the Great Depression of the 1930's; she's bored out of her gourd, and he's a felon who had killed fourteen men by the time he met his end at the ripe old age of twenty-four. They meet, fall sort of in love, and embark on a petty crime spree. At first it's all good-humored fun; they steal a couple of cars, hold up a couple of stores, and in a moment of hilarious insanity, Clyde attempts to rob a bank that went bust a week before, much to the amusement of the banker and Bonnie, who's collapsing with laughter over the steering wheel. But then a storekeeper takes offense at Clyde attempting to hold him up, and is pistol-whipped by Clyde in his frantic efforts to escape. Once the batterer storekeeper ID's Clyde's photo to the cops, things turn serious.

As Clyde's posse expands to include a lowlife neer-do-well named C.W. Moss and Clyde's brother Buck and his sister-in-law Blanche, their crimes get bolder and the violence spirals out of control. A bank robbery in broad daylight (while C.W. manages to get their getaway far stuck in a too-tight parking space) goes off almost without a hitch; but when Clyde shoots a pursuing cop in the face and his head explodes all over their back windshield, the fun stuff is over. They're wanted criminals being chased from Arkansas to Oklahoma and back to Louisiana. As their notoriety spreads, so does their audacity. In one of the funniest scenes in the film, they capture a sheriff who was about to sneak up on them and handcuff him while Clyde snaps pictures of Bonnie holding a gun on him. But their fame comes at a terrible price; they're wanted outcasts, alienated even from their own. When Clyde meets Bonnie's mother and tells her they'd like to live within three miles of her, Mrs. Parker tells her daughter, "You try to live three miles from me, and you won't live long, honey."

From the scene where Buck expires in a hail of police bullets to the slow dance on the killing ground in Louisiana, the film takes on a somber tone in stark comparison to the lighthearted opening sequences. Once the cascading violence has turned brutal, the movie becomes darker and more foreboding as well. But as bad as they are, we can't help but like them. Maybe that's the difference between Hollywood and real life. One wonders how many people who came across Bonnie and Clyde actually liked this pair?

The tension between Bonnie and Clyde helps keep the movie on edge. Arthur Penn's superb direction, assisted by knockout performances from the cast, helps keep the movie on a razor edge balanced between laughter and revulsion. Warren Beatty was never better than in his title role as Clyde Barrow, and Faye Dunaway makes a perfect Bonnie to his Clyde. Michael J. Pollard is winning as the doofus C.W. Moss and Gene Hackman is wonderful as Buck, torn between his loyalty to his brother and his love for his ditzy wife. But Estelle Parsons, as that ditzy wife, almost runs off with the film; her hysterics during the shootout between Clyde's gang and the cops has the viewers in equal hysterics rolling in the aisles. The cinematography is great; we feel all the heat, dust, and emptiness of Depression-era America, and the foot-stompin' banjo music by Flatts and Scruggs helps anchor the movie to its time and place. "Bonnie and Clyde" has become an American classic, one of the best films to come out of the 1960's. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This is one of John Frankenheimer's breathless gems--all marvelousaction that never lets up. Burt Lancaster plays a French train engineer during the waning days of the German occupation who tries to prevent Nazi colonel Paul Scofield from transporting a precious art collection back to Germany. Utilizing sabotage and cunning deception, Lancaster and his Resistance colleagues stall for time with the Allies on their way. It's a brilliantly made film, showing off Lancaster's acrobatic skills (he performed all of his own stunts) and Frankenheimer's sense of pacing and brilliant use of space. It's choreographed with the utmost precision (those are real explosions during the pivotal strafing sequence) and extremely authentic in its details. Lancaster is in rare minimalist form, and Scofield manages to extract intelligence and sympathy. A firecracker action film shot in crisp black and white, with yet another telling audio commentary by the always instructive director. --Bill Desowitz ... Read more

Reviews (41)

One of the Best
An engrossing WELL-WRITTEN story (Hollywood, PLEASE take note), excellent cast, superb acting on the part of all the actors (not just the leads), painstaking staging and Frankenheimer's direction blending all these essential elements into a thoroughly enjoyable movie. What can you say about a rousing action movie that also makes you think? You can say it's rarely found in today's films. The primary quandry here is just what is the value of art in terms of the human lives that must be expended to preserve it? Is it truly a country's heritage or just oils on canvas for which the people who will have to die for it have little or no real appreciation? Is it worth saving because of its beauty or its value? And when does the cost of saving it become too high? The movie works on all levels, but the characters (and the actors portraying them) are exceptional. The stand-outs: Burt Lancaster, the yardmaster/resistance leader who really doesn't want to do this one last (and seemingly unimportant) job so close to the end of the war; Paul Scofield, the intense German colonel who loves (obsesses over) the art and is taking Lancaster's attempts to thwart his plans for it very personally; Wolfgang Preiss, the "good German officer" who does not agree with his superior but does his duty until he can do it no more; Jean Moreau, the pragmatic French hotel proprietress who has had to comfort one too many fellow widows and Michel Simon, the old engineer who fondly remembers dating a girl who posed for Renoir and decides to make this fight his own. No one who loves a good movie should miss this film. It's not just for action/war movie fans.

Underrated war actioner--art for whose sake?
_The Train_ has held up well since its release in 1965. Dismissed as an improbable shoot-em-up then, it tells a much richer story than the special-effects vehicles in the genre nowadays. Burt Lancaster isn't especially gallic as the Frenchman Labiche, but his acting talent and intensity soon steamroller any resistance the viewer may have. Paul Scofield is perfectly cast as a cultured monster, the Nazi colonel who is bent on spiriting the paintings away into Germany. One can easily picture him murdering hostages between sips of cognac.

Shot in black and white, the film is dark and greasy-looking. The screen is filled with churning railroad machinery much of the time, which dwarfs the people around it. The wheezing, snorting engines are also stars in this movie. Even the sky looks dirty in the daylight scenes. Oh yes, there's a sensational train wreck, too. Definitely less mindless than your average Rambo flick, but no less exciting.

The Train
Is a work of art worth a human life?
We are near the end of World War II. It's August 2, 1944, the "1511th day of German occupation" of Paris. German Colonel von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) enters a dark museum and turns a spotlight on a painting. He stares at it with the eyes of a lover beholding his best beloved. He turns another spotlight on another painting. The Hun is humanized, and we sympathize with his quiet passion.
It comes as a bit of a shock when he announces that he is taking the paintings, hundreds of Miros and Picassos and Matisses and others, with him when the Germans evacuate Paris. A resistance group, led by railroad worker Paul Labiche (Burt Lancaster), is enlisted to stop them. Labiche initially refuses. It's one thing to blow up a train, dangerous enough - it's another to stop a train without damaging what's inside it. National heritage or not, men will die. There are more important targets than a train filled with art. Things change, though, and eventually Labiche and the remnants of his resistance group find themselves trying the impossible.
I've always been a little leery of Burt Lancaster. Maybe I was traumatized by viewing THE RAINMAKER or ELMER GANTRY at a young and impressionable age. He sometimes seems all horse teeth and braying charm and dis-tinct e-nunc-ee-a-shun. Not so here. In THE TRAIN he's restrained and natural and completely convincing. Scofield is equally strong as his brutal nemesis.
Sometimes the extras on a dvd aren't worth the bother, but I loved the director's commentary by the late John Frankenheimer. It was like taking a course in the art of film making.
Frankenheimer tells us he was trying to give the movie a realistic feel, which I understood before listening to the commentary track but didn't really understand how he went about it. One trick he used was to open the f-stop on the camera and keep everything in focus, something that would have been impossible if THE TRAIN wasn't shot in black and white. Everything is kept in focus and he keeps the background action busy and interesting.
Frankenheimer is an unabashed fan of Burt Lancaster, with whom he made five movies. Not only does Lancaster do all his own stunts in this one, including a dangerous backwards fall off of a moving train, he even fills in as a stunt double for another actor. The original stuntman made a fall off a roof look like an "olympic jump," and 'realism' was the keyword in this one. Lancaster did take a nice tumble off the tiles, but you've got to wonder about the wisdom of it all. Lancaster was injured during the filming of THE TRAIN; on his first day off in weeks he played a round of golf and twisted his knee when he stepped into a hole. His right knee swelled up 'like a basketball.' Frankenheimer shot Labiche in the leg halfway through the movie to explain the limp.
The only phony movie aspect to this movie is the dubbed voices of some of the French actors. You can't hide dubbing very well, and Frankenheimer doesn't have much to say about it. I wouldn't knock a star or even a half-star off because of it. This is a tremendously entertaining film.

Great movie.
There are an amazing amount of action films these days. Each one of them attempts to beat the last one's visual effects. And in this competition, hollywood has lost track of what makes a truly great action film... Skill. Most of the action films these days are entirely uncreative, and many of them are very, very boring. Who really want's to see a dozen tiles fall to the ground and break in slow motion, as films such as "the Matrix" use this technique constantly. But this film is different. It carries raw emotional power, and it's star, at age 50, did all of his own stunts, and even drove the locamotives that his character drives. This movie is awesome, and I highly recommend you buy this DvD. And by the way, this music track is a lot of fun to listen to when you're sick.

Perfect film on less- than- great DVD
The audio on the MGM DVD was lacking the full spectrum of audio, in my opinion. If you don't care so much about audio, it would be a 5 star DVD, but for those feeling that audio is an important factor, a star must be deducted. Bass and treble just weren't tweaked in DVD production which made the audio seem really flat, and I know that MGM could have produced a better job. It seems that a good number of the MGM DVDs lack the care and attention of producing consistently superior products.

The DVD gives the viewer options to listen to music only and has an option for director's comments during the film. I was at first dismayed because at the beginning of the movie, director John Frankenheimer just wouldn't open up. But he started sharing some interesting things as the movie progressed. There is also an 8- page booklet that gives some interesting production notes and history.

The video quality from, I think, an original film print is pristine. Frankenheimer's locations and times of filming were very effective in evoking a very dismal feeling as the European conflict was drawing to a conclusion. I love Frankenheimer's use of deep focus -- which is using wide angle lenses to have both near and far- away characters and scenes in focus -- to give a vision that many other filmmakers fail to incorporate effectively.

I'm glad that there was explanation in the film about why people were more concerned with paintings than people in a story that was loosely based on an actual event. Many westerners like Paul Labiche (Burt Lancaster) would not care about the value of crates of artwork in a time of war, but schooling by caretaker Miss Villard (Suzanne Flon) expressed the passion and pride that the French feel for such paintings. This helped explain why some would scarifice their lives to save the crates. (Ms. Flon, born in 1918 is apparently still alive and acting, too.)

It's quite a story of saving "priceless" paintings at the expense of one's life. It seems like a WWII action film (which has its share of blowing stuff up), but its story actually weighs the value of art against the value of life. Labiche from the very beginning of his introduction battles Col. von Waldheim (Paul Scolfield), who wants him to deliver the art to Germany AND The Resistance, who want the art protected from the Nazis. Labiche is actually alone in his own beliefs as an American, being tugged by both sides while ultimately struggling with making sense of the conflict over the art.

The movie is well- developed from Lancaster asking Frankenheimer to direct "The Train" after original director Arthur Penn abandoned the project a week after production. I only say that because everything that was directed by Frankenheimer was terrific. The choice of the players, scenery, editing, camera placement and post production yielded a perfect war film that wasn't simply about war. It was about the value of life and what people value in their lives.

Watch for the one scene of a runaway train's derailment -- one of a dozen cameras mounted to film the scene -- came within inches of being wiped out by the locomotive's wheels and the scene has become a classic in filmmaking history. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

From someone who knows Arlo
I am a folksinger and have known the Guthries for a very long time. I knew Marjorie Guthrie, but not woody because I was just little when he died.
I can tell you that Marjorie Guthrie loved this movie and would be very happy that people are still watching it. Marjorie died of cancer back in the 1980's.
I myself love this movie and have seen it many times. As I'm writing this, the movie is on TV right now. I ran to the computer to see if it's on DVD. I really thought it wasn't out on DVD yet but to my surprise it is and I ordered it right away. This is a movie I will love all my life time and my son too,
who I named ARLO. Please do watch this movie. It's one of the best in movie history.

Forget the song! The movie is not about the song.
....

Alice's Restaurant is about life and loss, and the traps we allow ourselves to get caught up in. It's about addiction, youth, anarchy, death, freedom, and aimlessness. It's a celebration and a lament for all those things. If the movie was given its proper due, it might be regarded as Arthur Penn's masterwork. It is a record of a facet of the human condition in the late 1960s, and it uses songs and humour as a counterpoint to the underlying seriousness of the subject matter.

See the movie. Don't expect to 'see' the song. Movies don't work that way. People who want to see a celluloid retelling of Arlo Guthrie's famous song are not giving a great director his due, and they're denying themselves a deeply moving cinematic experience. They just don't make movies like this anymore, except that another director named Penn - Sean Penn - once came close to such a true depiction of human drama with his own Vietnam era movie 'The Indian Runner', but what the younger Penn achieves with a less subtle (although no less effective) approach, the older Penn achieves in a truly realistic and understated way.

With the sixties coming back...
I did like this movie, although it isn't as much of a masterpiece as they want you to think. With the talk of the draft coming back, this movie gives this new generation of hippies (my generation, a.k.a. the young "kids" into politics and against the current war) a reason to feel there are backed by the older hippie generation. I know the music of Arlo, and enjoy it a lot. Like others have said, the song is a bit better, for it isn't as dramatic. I like to compare this movie to the Graduate, for that is a much more light hearted, 60s drama, though not about the war. All in all, I'd say I may come to own the movie, if I watch it a few more times and enjoy more and more, but I may just keep it in my head to rent again sometime in the future.

lovely
As a child I pestered my mother for information about 60's culture. One day I think she had just had enough and rented this film and the documentary Woodstock for me and said, "here maybe this can answer your questions." I fell in total love with Arlo that day as well as the rest of Alice's Restaurant. It isn't the greatest acting in the world, but Arlo's added commentary and reflections on the DVD version make it fantastic. I always smile when I think of this film and Arlo Guthrie's impact on my world. I'm smiling right now! Do yourself a favor and get this DVD, you'll love it.

You Can Get Anything You Want, At Alice's Restaurant...
I was one year old when this movie came out. Growing up I had all the influences of the 60's and none of the benefits. So I can understand how someone in their early 20s during the late 60's could identify with this movie, but I really can't relate to the lifestyle. Some of the "free spirit" attitudes just made no sense to me. The hippies seemed to have no sense of responsibility or accountability - maybe that was the point, but certain scenes didn't really stress the negative aspects of this attitude. The young mother dragging on a joint holding a newborn, or Alice hooking-up with the junkie behind Ray's back. These scenes were at the parts meant to accentuating the positive side of free spirits, not the negative; but I can't see anyone in any decade thinking a woman getting stoned holding a baby is cool. Also, the hippies seemed a little over the top in begin jerks to poor Officer Obie. Chill out, the guy's only doing his job. After all, for being hippies, Arlo WAS littering up nature. And I couldn't really get over the fact that a bunch of kids who have no jobs (Alice seemed to fail miserably at the Restaurant) could afford a huge Thanksgiving dinner or that megaparty-wedding. Where'd they get the money? Since this movie in part idealizes hippie life, I can only wonder about the reality of hippie life.

I guess I really didn't know what to expect when I rented the movie. Since the song is satirical and a little caustic, I expected the movie to be the same; but it bounced back and forth all over the place. The song "Alice's Restaurant" is fantastic as a biting commentary on the draft and the establishment, but the movie jumps from enacting the song, to showcasing the free hippie life, to a drug overdose death (which is distinctly NOT funny), to slapping women and becoming an ugly drunk. Nor was there any character development, not even with Arlo, who at the end makes the comment "I've got a lot of hard traveling to do" (like, what have you been doing so far?). The director's many messages were ultimately muddied and lost. Other period movies with much the same themes ("MASH", "Catch 22", "Harold and Maude", "Easy Rider") were more successful in getting their underlying messages across.

Ok, maybe I'm overanalyzing. It would have been pretty cool to be at that Thanksgiving dinner (although I wouldn't have wanted to deal with the War). And there are some absolutely great aspects to this movie. Probably the best is Arlo's commentary. I saw the movie a second time with the commentary on and it is an absolute riot. 35 years later that guy is STILL a crackup. The music is really very good too, especially the folk music with Pete Seeger. Arlo is a great musician. And Tina Chen is gorgeous - she's worth renting the DVD alone (kudos to the director for hiring an Asian-American to play the girlfriend at the height of the Vietnam War). So I give the DVD a solid 3 stars. It's worth a view if you have any interest in the 60's scene, and I'm sure many people will love it and want to own it. ... Read more

Description

Some of the world's leading directors (David Lynch, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou, John Boorman) use the original Lumiere picture camera to create short films all over the world.Interactive Menus, Production Notes, Scene access, Trailer, Languages: French, Subtitles: English ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A Filmmakers Dream Project
In 1885, the Lumiere Brothers perfected a hand-cranked movie camera that moved the world. This 100th year anniversary takes forty filmmakers to task with the same camera to produce a film less than a minute. It's not as interesting in its results as one might have hoped. It was a huge challenge and few really completed something of interest. Of those, David Lynch, Patrice Leconte and Alaine Corneau are the most intriguing, while well known directors like Spike Lee and Liv Ullmann are less so. However, this is subjective. Many of the directors are asked simple questions with the hopes of profound answers. "Why do you film" and "Is cinema immortal" get answers as mundane as 'climbing a mountain because it is there'. Film students will, however, be fascinated with this project and historians will marvel that an invention so old can still be of artistic use. For the average viewer, this 88 minute documentary might seem boring, but at the very least, it is historic.

Cinemaphiles will love this film
As a tribute to the spirit of motion pictures, Lumiere & Company is a tremendous achievement and a sublime experience for true cineastes who are fortunate to find a copy on DVD. Produced in celebration of the centennial of what is considered to be the first motion picture camera, invented by the Lumiere Brothers of France, the approach is similar to asking the most accomplished electric guitar player to go acoustic.

The producers asked a collection of international film directors to create a 52-second piece each using the same technology as the Lumieres did more than one hundred years ago, 52 seconds being the amount of time it takes for one spool of film to run through their camera. Therefore, each of the segments is done in one take. All the directors are well respected, but among the more well-known participants are David Lynch, Wim Wenders, John Boorman, Spike Lee, James Ivory, Zhang Yimou and Liv Ullman.

Each segment is intriguing. While the results are understandably uneven, the pleasure of watching this film is in discovering the remarkable diversity in the working minds of motion picture's prominent practitioners. The DVD allows for free roaming and alternative selection of each short film. Given the nearly limitless possibilities available in the modern film industry, it's worth noting how the directors make use of their limited time and yet still reveal their own styles.

The subject matter ranges from miniature narratives to political statements and social documents. The locations are as varied as the directors themselves, from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Hiroshima. Although this film may seem a bit obscure and tedious to the non-enthusiast, historians and die-hard cinema fans will marvel not only at how limitations forcibly create ingenious ideas to spring forth, but also at how well the Lumiere camera still functions.

The DVD release also offers production notes, a trailer, French language, and English subtitles.

GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD
THIS IS GREAT WORK,GOOD GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD,YOU MUST TO SEE

A gem.
Lumiere and Company (Sarah Moon, 1995)

No, Lumiere and Company is not some sort of obscure sequel to Disney's Beauty and the Beast. (And where I got that idea, which I had for years, is completely beyond me.) Instead, it's Sarah Moon's third film, and a kind of global version of her second, Contriere l'oubli. Moon took the original camera manufactured by the Lumiere brothers, set some ground rules, and asked forty world-famous directors to shoot a fifty-two second scene with it. She then made a documentary incorporating behind-the-scenes footage with the short pieces themselves.

The result is a wonderful look into the mind of the filmmaker as he goes about the filmmaker's art. Each of the filmmakers does something completely different, and each answers the five questions put to him by Moon so disparately that the overall effect is one of a sort of comprehensive feeling about how films get made; one that no one director would subscribe to, but all embrace.

The short films themselves are directed by such luminaries as Costa-Gavras, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Liv Ullmann, Lasse Hallstrom, and many others who are easily recognizable; the trick was to get Moon, the relative neophyte, to create a wrapper that is the equal of the movies therein. And she did so, admirably. The is a fine little gem of a film, and well worth seeing. **** ½

Less Is More
What an intriguing idea. Take several well known directors used to working with today's state of the art equipment and see what they can do with the first practical motion picture camera. And to make it more of a challenge, give them less than a minute to work with. The results are naturally uneven. How could they not be? I won't name names but even the weakest entries have something to offer while the best lend credence to the old adage "less is more". The viewer will ultimately have to decide for him or herself which is which. As a longtime admirer of silent films I found the voiceovers during the segments rather distracting in the manner of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. One of the rules should have called for no comments made during filming to be allowed on the soundtrack. Let us supply our own voices to what we see. All in all an interesting concept that is well executed and worth seeing for any serious student of film. The DVD format is ideal for this type of omnibus film as you can easily select the segments that you want to see again and again. You should also check out the LUMIERE BROTHERS FIRST FILMS on DVD to see what was originally done with this remarkable piece of equipment. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This vastly underrated Arthur Penn film from the mid-1970s ranks as one of the era's nastiest and most fascinating pieces of business, a detective story that shuttles back and forth between Hollywood and the Florida Keys, with a plot nearly as complex as Chinatown. Gene Hackman stars as a tired, aging private eye who, as a favor to a friend, agrees to track down a runaway teen. But the case turns out to be something much larger: a smuggling ring of Mayan antiquities. The human impulses get darker and darker and Hackman's character gets pulled in deeper and deeper, even as his own life is falling apart. Ultimately, in one of his best and most unsung performances, Hackman winds up hurting the people he is trying to help. A great cast includes Susan Clark, Jennifer Warren, a young James Woods, and very young Melanie Griffith. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (16)

smile because this a great flick
and michael ritchie's smile is melanie griffith's first flick.not as big a role as this one, but she has a few lines and a couple great scenes in the movie, including the final shot.so check out that flick and check out this flick, cuz the 70s and actors like gene hackman and bruce dern and directors like micheal ritchie and arthur penn RULE.

To the poster below
Ummm...to the poster below: Cherry 2000 came out in the 80's.This is from the 70's.Don't correct when the correcting is wrong.Enough about that though, just watch this movie.A bonafide classic in a world of diminishing expectations when it comes to flicks.

Just a correction!!!!!!!
Just a comment THIS IS NOT MELINES FIRST MOVIE , HER FIRST MOVIE
WAS " CHERRY 2000 "

Tangled up in the Watergate-era Blues
Film-noir, cynical thriller, jaded mystery,...Night Moves is all those things. There were many conspiracy saturated films after Watergate but Penns film is perhaps even darker because it finds the seed of corruption in every aspect of American life .Everyone is in some way morally compromised and if not yet corrupt getting very near to being so. And they start young. A very young Melanie Griffith plays the runaway teen who seems perfectly capable of finding her way as well as getting her way and doesn't really need any finding. Gene Hackman plays the detective doing the family a favor. And James Woods plays what at first seems like a villainous role but there are no easy gradations in this film. Everything and everyone operates in their own grey area. There is no high ground.
The locations are perfectly chosen. L.A. and the Florida Keys each have a wonderfully seedy resonance in any film goers mind. The locations are wonderful surfaces which barely conceal thedirty secrets seething just below the water line.Hackman tracks Griffith from L.A. to the Keys and there encounters the very sexy drop out Jennifer Warren living in tropic squalor mixed up in the trafficking of all kinds of strange cargo. The plot is complex to describe but all is very competently put together into a flawlessly structured whole by the great Arthur Penn. The ending allows for no easy resolution and may have effected the way the film was intitially received but it is a gutsy exit. One of the great films of a great period in American cinema, the early 70's. Smuggle this film into your library.

JUST OK
Although much praised, I found this film to be just an average noir private eye film.The tape I had showed the photography to be lacking; some scenes were so dimly lit that you could barely discern the action.I believe Arthur Penn's direction is lacking too.

It is a chance to see a young Melanie Griffith and James Woods though.Who would have thought at the time how well they would be paired up in the future in "Another Day in Paradise." ... Read more

Amazon.com

An almost absurdly star-studded cast brings to life Horton Foote's storyof prejudice, violence, and frustrated love in The Chase. WhenBubber Reeves (Robert Redford) escapes from prison, a drunken party in hishometown turns into a vigilante mob. The news disrupts the birthdaycelebration of a local oil tycoon (E.G. Marshall), whose son (James Fox)is having an affair with Reeves's wife Anna (Jane Fonda). Meanwhile, a bankvice-president (Robert Duvall) knows his wife (Janice Rule) is cheating onhim but can't do anything about it except spread a little misery. Thesheriff (Marlon Brando) struggles to hold things together until he canpersuade Reeves to give himself up. The accents are thick and the emotionsseem overwrought at first, but director Arthur Penn (Bonnie &Clyde, Little Big Man) weaves the multiple storylines togetherinto an unsettling finale. Also featuring Angie Dickinson and MiriamHopkins. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Ballad of Sheriff Calder--and/or Redneck Town USA
I realize I gave this flick 4 stars--but I also have to say that Brando gets the highest rating of 5 stars. This film could have been greater than it was...and it just may bother you for that reason. One of my problems is that it was shot on some studio backlot (probably Universal, as the set looks a lot like the set used for Back to the Future) the other weakness is Robert Redford. You want to see how great Brando was in everything he did? Just try to compare what he does with what others do? Your eyes are always drawn to him, no matter who else is in the scene with the guy--and this film had an all-star cast, too......
The other thing that bugged me about this picture is just this: could a punk breaking out of prison (as does the Redford character in the film) by the name of "Bubber" Reeves (who ends up being falsely accused of murder) cause so much turmoil and havoc in a redneck town like this? (Blame it on the screenwriters... Never read the novel the movie was based on, so can't comment on that aspect of it.)

My other complaint is also with the director, Arthur Penn. Someone else should have directed this thing--don't ask who, maybe someone like Kazan (who reportedly turned it down).

First saw this thing in the sixties in Chicago as a teen, and the damn picture, or rather the Brando character stayed with me all these years. He plays a decent man trying to do the right thing in a rinky-dink redneck Texas town, does his best to protect the Reeves character from the moronic townsfolk who are eager to "lynch" him without a trial even.

Checked the DVD out the night BEFORE Brando passed away, not sure why, just to see if the flick had withstood the test of time. Well, as you know, Brando passed on the very next day...and it left me, as it did so many others, plenty bummed out. I doubt we'll ever see another like him. So many actors try to duplicate what he did (and so often it is in your face obvious and pathetic) and all it does is makes you ache for the original (in order to take a second look at what the real thing was like.) This is why I had rented the DVD, as well as others over the years with Brando, because most actors don't even come close.

Anyway, I gave The Chase four stars, felt about it as I did back in the 60's: Brando great, but the telling of the tale troubling ( maybe over the top/over-produced; too much plot for what should have remained a far simpler story).

I'll say it again: should have never been made on fake studio sets. The writers tried to do too much with too many characters, etc. Probably would have worked better had it been shot in black and white, the way they did with The Last Picture Show (and they would have had a better movie than the vastly overrated Last Picture Show.)

See it for Brando as Sheriff Calder. The gifted Marlon Brando lives on.

Worth a look--- a near non-classic with a stellar cast....
This is an interesting film-- a mid-60s, moody film attempting to portray the underbelly of a small, corrupt Texas town with the honest sheriff (Marlon Brando, fine in one of his beat-me-to-a-pulp performances) trying to bring in escaped, framed convict and local boy (Robert Redford) and elicit girlfriend Jane fonda's help in doing so before the jackals can get him first.

This film almost works: there's strong support from EG Marshall as the oil tycoon, Angie Dickinson as Brando's desperate wife, Robert Duvall as wimpish bank-officer who helped send up "buddy" Redford in the first place, a wacky Mirian Hopkins playing the scary middle-aged hag she did so well. And there's John Barry's always atmospheric music score which adds dignity to it all.

But this film is also well-known for behind-the-camera squabbles between the director Arthur Penn, screenwriter Lillian Hellman and the money-guys regarding the script (among other things, Hellman allegedly wanted to make some social statement by making allusions to Texas oil corruption and JFK's still-recent assassination). What's left is a semi-soap about cultural mores in a rural Southern town [or Hollywood's mid-60s version of such] more notable ultimately for the cast, the mood and sense of "hovering" about the film, and a distinct feeling it wants to say something or go somewhere it never quite does.

Still worth a peak.

The best reason to join The Chase!
The best reason to watch this movie can be summed up in two words... RICHARD BRADFORD! This incredible and hugely underrated actor steals the film! The scene where he beats Marlon Brando to a bloody pulp is so realistic it is almost too painful to watch. A credit worth noting - this was Bradford's debut movie and it was through his eye catching performance in this production he was given his very own British TV series, 'MAN IN A SUITCASE', now considered one of the finest cult programmes of all time!

Not That Great
Considering the superb aggregation of writing and acting talent here, one would expect a much better film than this; however, the finished product proved to be far less than memorable. The script is weak, the story is muddled, and no one gives a particularly noteworthy performance. The worst culprit is the horribly miscast Marlon Brando, who mumbles even more than usual, rendering much of his dialogue nearly unintelligible. Not recommended.

Great Movie With A Great Cast!!
Marlon Brando is a sheriff in a small southern town who has to deal with a local who has just escaped prison creating tension and terror.This great movie has a great cast including Robert Redford,Jane Fonda and Robert Duvall.It's a must see!! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A must see if you love thrillers!
I can't say enough about this movie. From the very first scene all the way to the very end. It pulls you right in from the start and doesn't seem to let go. I think the snow storm really adds to the mood. The house is just the perfect setting. I love Roddy McDowall - he is perfect for his part. Actually everyone in it is. Jan Rubes who plays Dr. Lewis is spectacular! It is a movie that could really happen. The first time I saw it was during a snow storm in 1991 (which really added to the mood) and I taped it from tv, I have watched it at least a dozen times and now own it on V.H.S. and D.V.D. Just when you "think" you know what might happen the unexpected does. I wish they would come out with a sequel to this although I don't know how they could top it. If you have not seen this movie - I am not even going to say rent it, BUY IT! You won't be disappointed!

Dead of Winter
I shouldn't like "Dead of Winter" as much as I do. It has some faults, a few of them glaring. But, however many faults the movie has, it still grips me, and evokes the fear and suspense necessary for it to qualify as a taut thriller. You have a claustrophobic setting, disturbing older men, a woman in distress, and murder. These ingredients come together to make for a very interesting hour and a half. At the very least, I found myself entertained.

The film starts out with the murder of a woman in an abandoned parking lot on a snowy winter's night. Next we are in New York City, where we are exposed to the struggling actor's life of Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen). She is just looking for that one good role (with good pay, of course). After she does well at an audition, the man hosting it, Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall), invites her upstate to an isolated country house, in order to do some test screening. Katie agrees. She tells her boyfriend she will call him once there, and is off. Once Katie arrives at the house, she is introduced to the man in charge, Dr. Joseph Lewis (sinisterly portrayed by Jan Rubes). Uneasy things begin to occur (the phones lines go dead, and the car won't start), and soon Katie's world turns upside down as the two older men begin to unveil their frightening plan upon the unsuspecting actress.

There are things to knock about "Dead of Winter". Many of them involve aspects of what film critic Roger Ebert has termed "The Idiot Plot". This is where characters are in certain situations that go on for far too long because, instead of doing the sensible thing, they act with fairly bad judgement, thus enabling the movie to exist and continue on. A few examples: Why go hours upstate to an isolated house for a screen test? Why believe that an old *doctor* is in charge of casting a movie? Why, when you see that the two men whose house you are in have thrown your driver's license in the fireplace, do you act casually, as though nothing is wrong? I won't go on, as I don't want to give away too much of the film. Suffice it to say, you will need to suspend some disbelief, and just go with the flow.

There are many good elements about "Dead of Winter". The direction by Arthur Penn is steady, and moves along at a good pace. The casting is great. Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowall, and Jan Rubes are all perfect in their roles. The setting is superb - an old, wood interior, victorian style house in the middle of the countryside. A fierce blizzard snowing-in the hapless actress. All of the elements come together very well.

Some night, when the wind is howling outside, the snow drifts are accumulating around your house, and you're feeling just a wee bit isolated, decide on a good night of suspense, and watch this movie. Watch it, in the "Dead of Winter".

A Real Thriller
I fell in love with Steenburgen when I first saw her in TIME AFTER TIME during its initial theatrical release, owned it in VHS and Laser form, and was so glad when it arrived on DVD beautifully done, both picture and sound. DEAD OF WINTER is an eerie, suspenseful film earning its R rating from the opening scene to the truly horrifying ending. Our leading lady plays three roles, and does so with great skill. Regardless of the editorial reviews, Roddy McDowell actually plays the loyal, psychopathic servant (terrifyingly) to the millionaire who masterminds the plot(s). The climactic scenes (and some others) are not for the faint-hearted, and the tension mounts when Steenburgen tries to pass herself off as one of the characters she is playing. If that sounds complicated, it is! Just received my DVD copy of this film. Not bad. A little adjustment takes the heavy grain out, and the 2-channel stereo is adequate, since the movie derives its impact from the script, the actors, and the good direction. A real treat for lovers of thriller films!

A Gripping Thriller!
"Dead Of Winter" is a great movie to view on a dark, lonely night. Steenburgen is marvelous as a would-be actress trying out for the part of her life in an old house in upstate New York. She soon finds herself a pawn in a blackmail plot, and later, she realizes that her captives have no desire to let her live to tell of her experience. During the entire movie, a blizzard swirls and the wind moans outside the old house where she is being held, and this erie atmosphere together with the plot will definitely make your skin crawl.

A brilliant Thriller!
A great thriller with extraordinary actors. A very interesting plot...can't stop watching it until the end! Wonderful performance by Mary Steenburgen (who plays the main character called Katie McGovern) and an outstanding one by Roddy McDowall (who plays Mr Murry - helper of a guy called Dr Lewis). YOU HAVE GOT TO WATCH IT! ... Read more

Description

Extraordinary performances by Oscar-nominated Nigel Hawthorne, Louis Gossett Jr. and Eric Stoltz make this stunning film hard to forget.When Marty Strydom (Eric Stoltz), an idealistic university university professor is arrested for conspiring to overthrow the racist government in South Africa, he comes under the control of Police Colonel Kruger (Nigel Hawthorne).Kruger ruthlessly interrogates Marty during brutal solitary confinement.Kruger is determined to destroy Marty and all those like him.And he will stop at nothing.Ten years later, another political prisoner (Louis Gossett Jr.) who witnessed the whole event has become an investigator of crimes of physical and mental abuse by the previous regime.This time, when he confronts Kruger, will justice finally prevail? ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Strange and wonderful world of McGuane brought to the screen
What makes this film brilliant, besides Jack Nicholson in a terrific role, and Marlon Brando really showing his incredible acting range, is a wonderful, funny, bizarre, and engaging script by Thomas McGuane. McGuane is arguably the best living novelist America has (The Bushwhacked Piano, Ninety-two in the Shade, Panama, Keep the Change, et al) and his ear for dialogue is sharp, satirical and in full force in the Missouri Breaks. He lives in Montana and has an incredible love for the land mixed with a disdain for those who exploit it, which is exemplified in this western to end all westerns. As far as what Leonard Maltin says . . .well, let's consider the source, shall we?

shakespeare on the breaks
This title belongs on DVD. That has to get said first. I'm not sure that Missouri Breaks really falls into the category of anti-western; it isn't undermining any of the accepted notions of manifest destiny or cultural superiority that make an anti-western like Little Big Man. It's more like a great western novel adeptly turned to film. Harry Dean Stanton and Randy Quaid give rock solid supporting performances and help lend realism to the characterizations which Nicholson caps with his performance. All this solid character/period piece acting allows Marlon Brando to launch an outer space crazy minded performance that somehow really works in this flik, better than his outer space performance in Apocalypse Now. The feeling of placement into a historical time period is intense, and unlike many such fashion shows of recent western period filming, this one is dirty and true, we're not gawking at the authenticity of the clothes folks are wearing, but at how we've been transported to the Breaks of the late 1800's. Amazing work all around. See this film.

One of the best "anti-westerns" of the '60s and '70s.
'The Missouri Breaks' caps a short list of "anti-western" films that marked the death of the classic western as an American Icon. Writer Thomas McGuane skillfully weaves the counter-cultural mores of his own generation into the fabric of this non-conformist screenplay in which the "good guys" are the cattle rustlers and the "bad guys" are the law (or what passes for law in the west). Jack Nicholson (as a rustler) and a very scary Marlon Brando as a looney bounty hunter head up this cast, which reads like a rogue's gallery of great character actors such as Frederick Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton and Warren Oates. Many mainstream American critics panned this film, largely because of its refusal to fit within well-defined story arcs, yet foreign critics praised it for its rawness and superb acting. If you're a fan of films that stretch the limits of their genre, then 'The Missouri Breaks' is a must-see Western.

Not another one like this EVER
This movie has the best character actors doing the most bizarre tour-de-force performances in cinema history. Just like Boagart could only have played Rick in "Casablanca," no other actor could have played the gunslinger that Marlon Brando protrays in this movie, and it is his talent to control the screen that makes this movie unforgettable.

In the same context, Jack Nicholson with his wry humor and controlling demeanor on screen, is the only adversarial character strong enough to hold his own on the screen with Brando.

What is the matter with the studios that they do not release this movie to DVD ... it is more than a classic, and when seen once, never forgotten and rarely compared with any other cinema celuloid done to date.

I give it 6-stars, in that nothing can touch this movie in any category.

Highly underrated film
I can't believe this movie has been so trashed & overlooked over the years. Like Mickey One & Left-Handed Gun, it's one of Arthur Penn's more offbeat & original films. Marlon Brando gives a highly inventive performance & demonstrates once more that he is one of the great comic performers of the screen (as he did more conventionally in Teahouse of the August Moon). To see Jack Nicholson (who is also excellent) with Brando is a terrific treat. Glad I found this on Laserdisc. Definitely should be given top treatment on DVD. ... Read more