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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen 30th Anniversary Edition)
Having proven itself as a favorite film of children around the world, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is every bit as entertaining now as it was when originally released in 1971. There's a timeless appeal to Roald Dahl's classic children's novel, which was playfully preserved in this charming musical, from the colorful carnival-like splendor of its production design to the infectious melody of the "Oompah-Loompah" songs that punctuate the story. Who can forget those diminutive Oompah-Loompah workers who recite rhyming parental warnings ("Oompah-Loompah, doopity do...") whenever some mischievous child has disobeyed Willy Wonka's orders to remain orderly? Oh, but we're getting ahead of ourselves ... it's really the story of the impoverished Charlie Bucket, who, along with four other kids and their parental guests, wins a coveted golden ticket to enter the fantastic realm of Wonka's mysterious confectionery. After the other kids have proven themselves to be irresponsible brats, it's Charlie who impresses Wonka and wins a reward beyond his wildest dreams. But before that, the tour of Wonka's factory provides a dazzling parade of delights, and with Gene Wilder giving a brilliant performance as the eccentric candyman, Wonka gains an edge of menace and madness that nicely counterbalances the movie's sentimental sweetness. It's that willingness to risk a darker tone--to show that even a wonderland like Wonka's can be a weird and dangerous place if you're a bad kid--that makes this an enduring family classic.

The Wizard of Oz
When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the yellow brick road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and decor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Description

When a nasty neighbor tries to have her dog put to sleep, Dorothy takes her dog Toto, to run away. A tornado appears and carries her to the magical land of oz. Wishing to return, she begins to travel to the city of Oz where a great wizard lives. ... Read more

Reviews (339)

A true masterpiece! A 5 star winner and a true classic!
The Wizard of Oz has got to be one of the greatest movies in classical and musical cinema history. For sixty years this movie has been the perfect choice for childeren and adults to watch and enjoy. The story is about Dorthy Gale who lives in Kansas with her aunt and uncle. When Dorthy decides to run away from home because of her feelings being empty a tornado hits and she and her house are taken to another world, the Land of Oz. A place where she finds friends like she never imagined like Glinda the good witch of the north, the beautiful witch who gives her the rubey slippers which posses power like any unknown. The scarecrow, a friendly man of clothing and straw who wants a brian, the tin woodsman, a sweet man made of tin who wants a heart, the lion, a kind and cowardly forest animal who wants courage and the wicked witch of the west, a evil witch who wants the rubey slippers and revenge on Dorthy for accidently killing her sister, the wicked witch of the east. As Dorthy and her friends follow the yellow brick to the emerald city, the place where the great and powerful and mysterious Wizard of Oz lives the magic of this film can tell the rest.

A true masterpiece! Excellent polt, characters, music and more. It holds an emotional presents that will touch everyone's heart and wish they were in the Land of Oz! See it and live through the magic of this timeless classical film of wonders.

An OZ-some DVD Experience
Like most baby boomers, I've watched this film dozens of times in the past on broadcast TV, then VHS tape, then LaserDisc ... but I had never actually SEEN "The Wizard of Oz" until this newly restored DVD came out. It's an amazing transfer. The sepia-tone Kansas sequences are startlingly sharp and clear, and the Technicolored world "Over the Rainbow" is truly dazzling. I found myself fascinated by details I had never noticed before: the glittering corn stalks in the Scarecrow's field; the mirror-like floors of the Emerald City; the polished buttons on the guardsmen's uniforms. Incredibly, even the individual grains of red sand in the Witch's hourglass stood out and glistened! All these minor-but-sumptuous visual details served to heighten the magical spell that the film has always woven, enhancing the performances, the story, and the music.

The DVD extras are a mind-boggling embarrassment of riches. The "Making Of" documentary hosted by the incomparable Angela Lansbury is worth the price of the DVD alone, but there's so much more: an international poster gallery, interviews with cast members, deleted scenes, production stills, radio clips, etc, etc. There's enough material to keep even the most casual viewer fascinated for hours, and a true Oz buff will be occupied for days!

If you only bought a DVD player to watch this one disc, it would well be worth the expense. Treat yourself, and fall in love with this classic film again ... for the first time.

The Wonderful Movie of Oz
I have been enchanted as I now watch the movie as an adult. It is not just a story about a girl from Kansas trying to get back home - actually, that was added into the movie: "There's no place like home" wasn't in the book even. I think it was a story of things that we want, and that we imagine these things may be granted by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The scarecrow wants a brain, the tinman a heart, and the lion courage. On their journey off to see the wizard, they encounter the wicked witch of the west - who is determined to get the ruby slippers off of Dorothy's feet. Now, the thing I am puzzled by is at the beginning, Glinda is the one who reminds the wicked witch about the shoes. Then she is the one who places them on Dorothy's feet: "There they are and there they'll stay." Had she not had the shoes, her journey to the wizard would not have been so troublesome. Not to mention that the "good witch" sent Dorothy on a journey to a phony wizard. I wonder now if there was some kind of irony in that - since she was also the one who in the end tells Dorothy that all she has to do is click her heels together and say "there 's no place like home." While the movie is totally a classic I love and will watch over and over again, I am wondering about the book: Were the "ruby slippers" (which were silver in the novel) as magical - and - if there was no "no place like home" in the novel then I am wondering how Dorothy got back to Kansas. I think that because each time I watch this film I realize something new, it will always remain one of my favorite movies ever.

The Wizard of Oz is wonderful
The classic film! The Wizard of Oz is wonderful. Judy Garland's breakthrough performance. Beautiful.

Growing Up, Growing On
I knew every line of this as a kid. I loved the books. I even loved the sequel that everyone else hated because I love OZ. I tried to be "over" this movie for a long time as an adult. But every time I see it I re-remember why I couldn't get enough before. The quintessential fairy tale. All kids and all adults should watch it again to remind them that a movie can work without sex, violence or graphic anything really. It's scary -- touching -- and completely engrossing -- more so each year I grow older. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Despite its reputation as an oversimplified epic, King Vidor's War and Peace remains a stellar showcase of Hollywood prestige. While Cecil B. De Mille was reviving ancient Egypt for The Ten Commandments, Vidor was transforming Italian countryside into war-torn Russia, bringing massive resources to bear on this sumptuous, if ultimately misguided adaptation of Tolstoy's classic. Given the marquee casting of Audrey Hepburn as Natasha and then-husband Mel Ferrer as decorated battle hero Prince Andrei, this is a movie you watch for star value, not literary fidelity (for the latter, look to Sergei Bondarchuk's Russian version). Henry Fonda serves Tolstoy more effectively as Pierre, whose passive observation of Napoleon's invasion turns this grand moral tale into an intimate study of individual passions. The battle scenes (directed by Mario Soldati) remain impressive, as does the film's grand parade of pomp and circumstance. Slow, regal, and peppered with brilliance, this epic falls short of classic but it's still a visual feast. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Lovely , simply charming and heartwarming
This movie touched my mind in so many ways. One thing it brought to mind was that the most important things in life are still free. The cast was excellent and the cinematoghraphy was beautiful. I truely enjoyed this movie. An excellent choice for those who love history with a lot of romance.

Good Entrainment with a Few Flaws
Great Cast with a great story is not always the best combo, but this DVD is a keeper. Audrey Hepburn as Natasha does the best with her multi expressions & cute dialogue during the many courtships throughout the film. Henry Fonda as Pierre comes in a close 2nd, but at 1st he seems out of place, too passive. Later this lack of emotion or evolvement shines forth as he goes though many hardships as a prisoner of Napoleon. Mel Ferrer as Prince Andrei, then Audrey Hepburn's real husband, has the same problem as Henry Fonda, he drifts in & out of character. I believe the problem with the main male actors is that they played it too straight. The woman who played Prince Andrei's 1st wife did the worst, she over acted like a silent movie star. The supporting cast does a great job, specially the actor playing Nepoleon. This is exactly what I think Nepoleon looked & acted like in the early 19th century. The phyical height & size for the French emperor are perfect, & the letting of free opinion to be express, yet at the same time having the over powering will to bring Europe to his knees. Desite the flaws, this version of "War & Peace" will give you a short stroll, with a "to the point" idea of a western classic with great photography & sound. I try not to watch it too many times because I don't want to wear it out.

the Hollywood version
This film is a bit of a mess, but nevertheless very entertaining, mostly because of Audrey Hepburn...her charisma and enthusiasm make up for a lot of the muddled and mixed performances that surround her in this star-studded production of Tolstoy's masterpiece.

Hepburn's then real life husband, Mel Ferrer, does a pretty good job as Prince Andrei and Henry Fonda is Pierre, who despite sounding like "Young Mr. Lincoln", gives a convincing performance, and has several fine scenes. Nino Rota's score is a curious one, as the beautiful Italian-flavored melodies we're accustomed to hear from him are replaced by Russian folk tunes and battlefield music.

Perhaps too many big names and too many writers (6 of them !) made the heart of the book get lost, but this is Audrey's movie, and she's a delight to watch.

Still The Best
This is an appeal to Hollywood, if anyone's listening.
I first saw this film in 1956, when it first opened in the UK.

I've seen it several times since, but all I can get here across the pond, is a second hand video at an extortionate price of nearly £ 40.

Please can we have it on DVD? SOON!

Hello?
Hasn't anyone ever heard of something called DIGITAL RESTORATION? Why must evryone keep waiting for sudios to release all these movies on proper 3- disc sets with a proper restoration. i mean, look what they did to My Fair LADY, it was so well restored that i couldn' tell the difference. even gone with the Wind hasn't had a proper DvD release yet. ... Read more

Description

When a nasty neighbor tries to have her dog put to sleep, Dorothy takes her dog Toto, to run away. A tornado appears and carries her to the magical land of oz.Wishing to return, she begins to travel to the city of Oz where a great wizard lives. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Why no commentary?
I already expected this DVD Gift Set to be 5 stars in every way, and for the most part it is, but i was just wondering if anyone else out there has the Laserdisc "Ultimate OZ" set that came out a few years ago. It has everything this new package has (minus the great menu scenes) but something that i was sad to see is missing from the DVD version: where is the running commentary from OZ expert John Fricke? That was one of my favorite parts of the Laserdisc OZ special edition and i guess i just assumed it would be included here. I feel sorry for those OZ fans who might never get to hear the interesting and fun facts and anecdotes. For example: the coat that Professor Marvel wears was bought from a second-hand store and when they turned out the pockets the letters LFB were stitched inside-Baum's widow confirmed that the coat had indeed belonged to her husband; the female voice heard during the TinMan's song ("wherefore art thou Romeo") is the voice of Snow White- without the success of that movie OZ might never had been made; when Jack Haley replaced Buddy Ebsen thay shot for three days before anyone noticed that he was wearing Buddy's shiny Emerald City outfit instead of the rusty one for the woods scenes- the footage had to scrapped at an estimated cost of $60,000- another time when Oz production was almost shut down. There are also great stories about all the major players and hpw they felt about OZ and each other. Well, maybe you don't care to know all this but it added another fun dimension to my OZ watching and I'm curious why DVD owners were left out. Otherwise i couldn't be happier with the transfer of this classic and would definitely recommend it OZ- and DVD- fanatics alike.

Attention viewer from San Jose
First, excellent DVD Deluxe Edition. Second, I would like to respond to the "viewer from San Jose" who posted on 10/20/99. Movies made before 1953 were filmed in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Television has an aspect ratio of 1.37:1. When you view a movie such as THE WIZARD OF OZ in a full screen transfer you are losing a mere .04:1 of the original aspect ratio. If you would like to understand widescreen ratios better send me an email and I would be glad to assist you.

Oz is "OZsome!"
This is like the best movie ever filmed! It is so cool, and what makes it even better is the cool things you get when you purchase the gift pack. Everyone should own this gift pack!

The girlfriend loves it!
Bought it as a gift for an Oz lover - forget it - she loves it so I'm a hero!

Cautionary 5 Stars!
I give this DVD version a cautionary 5 star rating only because of the actual film itself, which stands on it's own as a wonderful classic for all ages. However for the extra money you'll shell out for the "Deluxe" DVD version be warned this is only for the true OZ collector. The boxed set includes some very nice suitable for framing lithographs, a large, paperback bound script and of course the DVD itself. Finally that's where my caution comes into play, the usual added tidbits on the DVD are nice but the Angela Lansbury 50th Anniversary section is obviously transferred from video and though watchable it is still slightly fuzzy. Last but not least is the film itself which is still wonderful and magical but be warned there is no "widescreen" version included and this was my biggest disappointment with this Deluxe version. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Sprawling western, silly plot
Duel in the Sun was supposed to be the next Gone with the Wind for David O. Selznick. The hyped film boasts an all star cast: Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotton, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish. The acting is over the top, especially Jennifer Jones' sultry Pearl. Gregory Peck seemed to enjoy his change of pace role as Lewt and enacts the role with gusto. It was a change from his heroic characters that he played in his earlier films. Joseph Cotton is the virtuous brother, Jesse, who does not choose to "forget" that he catches Lewt with Pearl, much to Pearl's hearbreak.

The ending of the book had Jesse and Pearl vanquishing the evil Lewt and riding off into the sunset. Looking at the over the top finale of this movie, I wish the producer had stayed with the ending of the book. The lines are laughable ("You know I had to shoot you," cries Pearl. "Yes, dear, I know you did," answers Lewt.)

There are many cliches: Lewt catching Pearl swimming in the nude and not allowing her to leave the water and get her clothes. Pearl throwing herself at another man to make Lewt jealous. Pearl's transformation, where she decides to become a wanton, her facial expression changing to reflect this.

I understand the "dance of the sump" was left out of the film, where Pearl dances for Lewt. It was supposed to be "indecent" but in retrospect might have been a source of amusement to contemporary audiences.

If you are looking for representative films from the Selznick studio, consider the following instead: Gone with the Wind, A Star is Born, Portrait of Jennie, and The Prisoner of Zenda. For MGM, Selznick produced such standout films as David Copperfield and Anna Karenina. For better films pairing Jones and Cotton, look for the films Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. The two are at their best in those.

Epic, Sprawling Horse Opera (Roadshow Edition Review)
Sweeping! Magnificent! Corny! Romantic! A west that never existed is splashed across the screen as only David O. Selznick, the master of such gargantuan Hollywood classics as "Gone With the Wind", "Since You Went Away" and "Rebecca" could give us.
This is not the revisionists west of the 1990's, nor that West of the gritty operatic glamour of Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West." You will not find the spare clean and lean beauty of John ford's West. What we have here is the epic telling on a screen that screams to be stretched into widescreen and spills out over the audenience the lush and romantic horse Opera of Pearl Chavez, the McCanles clan and the coming of the railroads in the 1880's.
From the moment the overture replete with unneeded narration begins you know you are in for a melodrama of purple emotions and blood red vendettas. The opening scene is set in a saloon on a scale of a modern Vegas casino. There amidst the wild gunfire of overheated cowboys and insanely spinning faro wheels we are introduced to the Scarlett O'Hara of the West, half-breed Pearl Chavez. As played by Jennifer Jones she is just about the hottest tamale to ever hit the pages of a screenplay expressly written to drive men mad, turn brother against brother and defy a "Sinkiller". What Jane Russell was supposed to be in "The Outlaw" we get in Technicolor spades in the form of Miss Jones.
She takes huge hefty bites of the massive sets and chews them to a fare thee well and in the process creates a wanton nymphomaniacal character of such charm, heat and passion that she is truly a motion picture original. This is the best thing Miss Jones ever did because it is so out of control and beyond the pale of her more subdued performances. Of saints, teenage war brides and ghosts of lost love.
As Lewt McCanles we get the hottest, meanest, most excitingly nasty performance Gregory Peck ever was allowed to give. And what an irresistible bad boy he is. He was never sexier or more wonderful than in this departure from the Peck norm.
Even the usually dull Joseph Cotton manages to rise above his typically dry rolls, but not too much, in the thankless roll of the good brother. He seems a little too old for the part and a little too polished. Someone like Charlton Heston might have been more on the spot.
Lillian Gish steals every scene she is in with quite assuredness and only finds completion from the ever-prissy Butterfly McQueen. In her final scene with Lionel Barrymore Miss Gish makes off with the scene so quitly that you are hit with it's impact only after the fact. Barrymore creates one of his most beloved curmudgeons as Senator Jackson McCanles full of sound and furry and ultimately signifying less than nothing. His introduction to Pearl topped by a sneeringly shocking racial slur that encapsulates his character and time and place.
Another highlight is the cameo by Walter Huston as "The Sinkiller". What can be said of him is only this, pure cinematic magic.
The film unfold with such a sense of grandeur and awe that it sweeps you along to its incredible ending on the wings of epic pure camp poetry. The Dimitri Tiomkin score is a masterpiece and much famed over the years for the incredible call of the bells set piece.
The three cinematographers involved, Hal Rosson, Ray Rennahan, and Lee Garmes paint movie memory after memory with the palate of hot dusty hues that have long been forgotten by audiences of today. To see it now is perhaps more exciting and thrilling than it was in 1947.
All of this mad mixture of melodrama, mush and music was orchestrated by the master showman of his time, the ultimate huckster of smoke and mirrors and consummate barometer for just what we wanted in our early epics of the America that never existed, David O. Selznick, who added the "O" to his name just because it looked better on the marquee. When they say that off heard lament "They don't make'um like they used to." Both Mr. Selznick and "Duel In The Sun" are what they are talking about. If they still made them like this then something would be terribly wrong. Thank god they did make films like this once upon a time and we still have them to lose ourselves in a dream of what never was and what will never be again.

Dreadful sound transfer
The dvd image is great, the soundtrack transfer is horrible: drops in volume and the dialogue is often distorted.

POINTLESS REISSUE OF ALREADY AVAILABLE DVD
Producer David O. Selznick never thought small. Dreaming of a magnum opus on the same grand scale as "Gone with the Wind" and, perhaps a little bit self-conscious of the fact that his recent affair with Jennifer Jones had yielded only one stellar performance from the starlet - and not even in a film he had produced - Selznick's driving ambition to make Jones a star on par with the likes of Vivien Leigh, led him to handcraft "Duel in the Sun." This was to be an extravagant Technicolor epic about a doomed mulatto, Pearl Chavez (Jones) and her rabid lust for, Lewton McCanles (Gregory Peck, in the uncharacteristic part as the villain), the ruthless son and roguish playboy of retired senator and bigoted rancher, Jackson McCanles (Lionel Barrymore). After Pearl's father, Scott (Herbert Marshall) murders her mother, Pearl is sent to live with Jackson and his wife, Laura Bell (Lillian Gish) on their sprawling ranch, Spanish Bit. Pearl is determined to live purely and plainly, but her incendiary disposition leads into the arms of Lewton. Jesse McCanles (Joseph Cotten), the good son, is forced to leave Spanish Bit, returning years later to find that his brother has become a ruthless tyrant and outlaw. Buttressed by a fiery backdrop about the colliding sensibilities of old West morality and the true Northern ambitions to tame it, "Duel In The Sun" ultimately became an overblown melodrama that seemed almost a garish lampoon of "Gone With The Wind" rather than its successor. It did respectable box office at the time but very little to advance Jennifer Jones' career into the echelons of super stardom. Prior to its release a sensual dance sequence that Pearl performs around a tree stump for Lewton was deleted because the censorship of the period found its sexual implications...well, shocking. Selznick's usual attention to craftsmanship and story design also seem to be absent from this occasion. He repositions Butterfly McQueen (Prissy from "Gone With The Wind) as the Prissy-esque house maid, Vashti, who is even dumber than Prissy and, Selznick muddles the supporting cast with oddities of all sorts, including Walter Huston as a religious zealot, determined to rid Pearl of her sexual demons, and Charles Bickford, as an over-the-hill farmer who offers Pearl his hand in a loveless marriage. Because of its sexually charged subject matter (there is, after all, a rape, a murder and the prospect of lovers committing suicide in the mountains) "Duel In The Sun" acquired the rather unflattering moniker of 'Lust In The Dust.'
"Duel In The Sun" had previously been made available from Anchor Bay in a stunning road show edition. MGM's reissue is the truncated theatrical version - also made previously available through Anchor Bay. On all three DVD incarnations, colors are well balanced, though on this new version they seem a tad more dated from the rich and vibrant colors on the Anchor Bay version. Black levels are good but fine detail is lost in many darkly lit scenes. There's also more noticeable film grain on this version than the Anchor Bay edition. The audio is remixed to stereo but only marginally appealing, sounding rather forced and re-channeled. There are NO extras.
There's nothing to stand up and cheer about here. If you are a die hard fan of this film, or westerns, then you will definitely want to look up the out of print copy from Anchor Bay, rather than this reissue. Aside from being longer, the Anchor Bay version also tends to be a better visual presentation overall.

Don't know why this movie has such a bad rap.....
It is WONDERFUL!!! What more could one ask for from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Producer David O. Selznick(he did a little something called "Gone With the Wind" - you may not remember that one....), beautiful Jennifer Jones, a young Gregory Peck, stalwart support from Joseph Cotten, a crotchtedy Lionel Barrymore, a luminious Lillian Gish, supendous 3-strip Technicolor, a decent story for a western(my least favorite movie genre), and a history that would equal Selznick's other "little movie" - GWTW. The DVD of this does the film justice, although some commentary or other supporting features would have been fantastic. I have the Anchor Bay releases of this film and just got this MGM release-they seem to be taken from the same source material, which is very, very good. This film's reputation needs to be defended - sure it was shocking in 1947, but in 2004, they could probably touch on these topics in an "Waltons" or "Litte House" episode. Judge for yourself - get this movie - you won't be disappointed!! ... Read more

Description

In the second collection of Troma’s Pre-Code Hollywood, discerning fans of truly unbridled cinema can see two slices of wild and raw movie magic from the days before the puritanical rule of the Hays Office!First up on the menu is Bird of Paradise!â€"In this early risque classic, Joel McCrea stars as a handsome South Seas soldier of fortune who falls in love with Dolores Del Rio, the daughter of a Polynesian native chieftain who has a tendency to go for nude swims at night. Alas, their idyllic romance is destined to come to a sudden and violent end: tribal custom decrees that Del Rio is to be sacrificed to the local volcano. After initial resistance, the heroine nobly resigns herself to her fate, realizing that there is no place for her in her white lover's civilization.Features Del Rio’s famous skinny dipping scene in an early example of the cinema nude scene.Our second slice of pre-code entertainment is the bona fide classic The Lady Refuses--A British aristocrat befriends a woman and hires her to begin distracting his son away from a conniving golddigger. She does, but finds herself falling in love with her titled boss instead.Gilbert Emery, as a patrician English peer, Sir Gerald Courtney, dominates this film as he tries to bring his rakehell son Russell (John Darrow) closer to him through a secret strategem involving June (Betty Compson), an economically distressed young woman. Veteran director George Archainbaud has strong vision for whatever niceties the scenario might bring, and his handling of the cast and storyline are top-notch. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Delores Del Rio shines in a lackluster effort
At the time it was filmed, "Bird of Paradise" cost an astronomical 1 million dollars. Producer David Selznick okayed the project and said that he didn't care anything about the plot as long as Delores Del Rio's character was thrown into a volcano at the end. The disregard for a good story line clearly shows and the result is a boring and tepid film highlighted only by actress Delores Del Rio. Although Del Rio's voice is high pitched and she speaks little English here, her beauty and presence holds your attention. The exotic locales are not that impressive in black and white and some underwater footage was taken from another film, "The Most Dangerous Game".

The flip side of the dvd features "The Lady Refuses" a low budget "adult drama" popular in its' day for presenting provocative story lines. This one involves a wealthy man hiring a prostitute (Betty Compton) to seduce his son away from a gold digger that he is dating. In the process, Compton falls in love with her employer instead. Interesting only for a peek at how films got around the censors with sly word play and innuendos.

The dvd quality of both films is very good.

BEAUTIFUL DEL RIO.
Director King Vidor found Richard Walton Tully's play of the same name on which this film is based hopelessly dated and uninteresting. Producer David O. Selznick countered thusly: "I don't care what story you use as long as the title remains intact and Del Rio jumps into a flaming volcano at the finish". The stunningly exotic beauty of Dolores Del Rio made her the first Mexican actress ever to become an international film star. Del Rio had weathered the transition from silents to talkies, but due to her accent and somewhat rudimentary acting ability, her roles had to be carefully chosen; this is probably her most memorable available to the public on video. Filmed on location in Hawaii, the movie's plusses lie in its appeal to the senses, namely in the striking black-and-white photography by Clyde De Vinna - he won an Oscar in 1928 for his work on WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS - and Max Steiner's richly evocative background score, designed to illustrate everything from Polynesian native dancing to idyllic, romantic interludes. The film was made rather quickly - stars Del Rio and McCrea had other commitments - and the script was was literally slapped together. BIRD OF PARADISE cost RKO more than a million dollars to make, a high expence in 1932; this lush, albeit antique romantic drama has long been overshadowed by the largely inferior 1951 Technicolor remake with Debra Paget and Louis Jourdan.

Strange, engrossing
Strange and amateurish in many regards, yet fascinating and engrossing in its own way, this David O. Selznick production is the original "Bird of Paradise" -- not the 1950s remake starring Debra Paget and Louis Jourdan, which will make for an interesting comparison if it's ever released on DVD.

The stars of this one, Joel McCrea and Delores Del Rio, make quite a strange pair. Joel seems like a hayseed just off farm (his dialogue is peppered with "huhs?" and "whats?" as he seeks to communicate with the mysterious island beauty, Delores). As for Dolores, she seems to belong in a different, and probably more interesting, movie than this one. And even her fabled nude swim scene is pretty tame and unimpressive.

The movie was filmed on location in 1930s Hawaii. Although the focus always seems a bit off, the scenery is still beautiful -- and a good reminder of what Hawaii must have been like before "they paved paradise and put up a pink hotel (the Sheraton Waikiki by the way)." There's also quite a bit of underwater photography, which is pretty impressive given that this movie was filmed approximately 70 years ago.

Cheap and fun, this "Bird" is worth looking into if you're interested in old movies, and if you'd like to see what David Selznick was up to just a few short years before filming his masterpiece, "Gone with the Wind."

Hope I like it
I have only seen the 1951 remake of Bird of Paradise when I was a lot younger and I loved it then! I have been relentlessly searching for the 1951 version, but to no avail. Apparently, it was never made on VHS or DVD...I just ordered the 1932 version and hope it is like I remembered. I'm sure it will be slightly different than the one with Debra Paget, but if the storyline is the same, I will enjoy it just as much. I would still like the 1951 version. Chip Kaufmann in his review seems to be very knowledgeable in the movie industry even though he thought the other version was "lame". If anyone knows how I can get a copy of the '51 version, I would be very interested.

One film's a turkey, the other's kinda fun
This DVD gathers two little-known, lesser films of the early sound era. "BIRD OF PARADISE" is an incredibly offensive exercise in exoticized racism, charmingly set in the Hawaiian Islands, and featuring a callow young Joel McCrea as the studly white guy who hooks up with the local chieftain's "tabu" daughter (played by Dolores Del Rio, who I find kind of icky). It's the same sort of dazzle-them-with-modern-gadgets-before-they-throw-us-in-the-volcano plot that was explored a few years later in "Waikiki Wedding" (which is a much more charming movie...), here handled clumsily by director King Vidor. (And I'm not being touchie-feelie or overly sensitive in a hyper-PC way, the racism of the script is very explicit, particularly in the dialog, but also in the plotline...) There's a modicum of interesting, reasonably authentic Polynesian dancing (some of which was choreographed, unremarkably, by Busby Berkeley), and the indigenous cast speaks in real Hawaiian, but in the main part this is simply an exploitative and unentertaining film. By contrast, "THE LADY REFUSES" is a B-movie with a heart of gold, featuring Betty Compson as a London streetwalker who enters an aristocratic family torn apart by a Jazz Age generation gap. Although the script contorts wildly to avoid offensive language, the underlying content is pretty raunchy, and pretty overt. Compson had an unusual onscreen presence -- compelling, although not as picture-perfect pretty as the starlet that would later flood Hollywood. Gilbert Emery, as the family father, Sir Gerald Courtney, is also quite charming. For folks looking for fun pre-Code material, this is a film worth checking out. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

RUBY - A FLAWED GEM
Jennifer Jones certainly did not get type cast in her screen roles.As a complete contrast to her normal saintly image (Duel in the Sun excepted) she plays Ruby Gentry,a Sth.Carolina girl from the wrong side of the tracks who gets emotionally involved with Boake Tackman (Chalton Heston) her sometime aristocratic boyfriend who is promised (more as a property contract) to Tracy who comes from another good Sth.Carolina family.Ruby has a religous zealot brother who constantly harps on about "doom and gloom" if his sister carry's on her liaison with Boake.When Ruby realises she will not become Mrs Tackman she agrees to marry Jim Gentry -a working class local boy made good, played by Karl Malden, (funny how he always looks the same age in all his films no matter when they were filmed!).After a boating accident Jim dies and Ruby "cops the lot" arousing suspicion in the local town folk who knew Jim Gentry.There is nothing more scary than a woman scorned and when Boke rejects Ruby's last offer of money for marriage, she goes ballistic and purposely ruins his carefully cultivated fields he has reclaimed at great expense from nature but I will not divulge the ending.The poor old doctor does not press his suite enough but Ruby does not fancy him anyway.
An interesting new role for JJ who certainly looks "the biz" in her tight fitting jeans!

Ruby Gentry Depressing
This video is typical of many videos filmed in the 50's. Melodramatic to the core. Jennifer Jones as Ruby was not pretty enough to be so desirable; the doctor's role wasn't developed enough, and there were never any bright spots. Ruby lacked wisdom and depth of character. Charleton Heston was pretty shallow, also. I thought the entire plot totally rediculous. I resented the presentation of God and Christianity in the character of Ruby's brother. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A GREAT DRAMA! STANWYCK GIVES A TOUR-DE-FORCE PERFORMANCE!
"Stella Dallas" is an extraordinary emotional rollercoaster of a movie, and a must-see for fans of the legendary Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck is Stella Martin, a tough cookie mill girl who steps up in class by marrying the wealthy Stephen Dallas (John Boles). They have a daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley), whom Stella lavishes love on. But although Stella has a heart of gold, her coarse manners and unrefined taste are looked down upon by society. Stella won't have her daughter looked down on, too, and in securing her daughter's future happiness, Stella realizes that she must make a sacrifice greater than any she could ever make...

Stanwyck walks off with the picture, absolutely perfect as Stella (Stanwyck, I believe, REALLY should have won the Oscar she was nominated for for this film). Anne Shirley is just a tad overly enthusiastic as Laurel, but she is also sincere and honest in her Oscar-nominated performance. John Boles is- fair in his relatively small role. Barbara O'Neil is excellent as Helen Morrison, a kind-hearted friend of Stephen Dallas. Alan Hale is perfectly vulgar in his meaty role of Ed Munn, a coarse friend of Stella's.

The film has a sensitive but wrenching screenplay which calls for handkerchiefs in many scenes: (One scene has Stella and Laurel waiting for children to come to Laurel's birthday party who never come because of Stella's notoriety, a scene in which Stella overhears Laurel's friends talking about her with snide remarks, and the final, heartbreaking scene...) King Vidor's direction rounds out the exquisite drama and makes "Stella Dallas" one of the most powerful dramatic masterpieces of all time.

One of Hollywood's greatest melodramas
It's funny how, in this day and age, golden-age dramas can fall very definitely into one of two categories: ridiculous, and sublime. Happily, Barbara Stanwyck's finest hour, 'Stella Dalls', falls firmly into the second category, thanks to a wonderful performance by Ms. Stanwyck as the titular heroine.

Stella Martin is the daughter of an impoverished steel-mill family. She is ambitious, however, and when she catches the eye of the recently-broke Stephen Dallas, he pushes his feelings for his wealthy ex-girlfriend aside and makes the best of a bad situation. Unhappily married to the uncouth Stella, he spends more and more time away from her, taking only short holidays with his beloved daughter, Laurel. Stella soon realises that a mother's love cannot provide the best social advantages for Laurel, and makes the ultimate sacrifice for the good of her family.

Stanwyck's supporting cast are of a type, but they're still good - John Boles as Stephen and Barbara O' Neil as Helen Morrisson give strong performances. Alan Hale does an excellent job with the character of Ed Munn, a good-time gambler on the road to self-destruction. He plays the role with a sensitivity and pathos rare to films of this era. Anne Shirley as Laurel is cloying and sentimental, but then again, she's supposed to be.

It's Ms. Stanwyck's performance as Stella that saves this movie from mediocrity, and catapults it into the ranks of other big-league melodramas such as 'Now, Voyager' and 'Imitation of Life'. As Stella, she is perfectly capable of forcing us to empathise, and we respond in kind. Surely, hers is the ultimate sacrifice, and we are with her every step of the way. Her eyes, her expressions of total selflessness and her total devotion to the betterment of her daughter give us a true sense of what motherhood is about.

Beautifully directed by King Vidor, it's a triumph that this picture is finally available on DVD. It's not a happy movie, but it is a testament to the once-extraordinary power of Hollywood to create beautiful and emotional pieces of cinema.

Stanwyck is the gem of this 1930s melodrama
As other reviewers have said, "Stella Dallas" is a highly sentimental, soap-operaish 1930s movie. But it's still a good film, despite that fact that many aspects of the plot and characterization are dated.

Barbara Stanwyck is the gem of this film, and she gives the most convincing performance (except for Alan Hale, her drunken friend, Ed). The movie begins with Stella, a girl from a working-class mill family, who dreams of marriage to Stephen Dallas, a well-to-do mill executive. With all the charm she can muster, Stella walks into Stephen's office at a crucial point in his life: he is in despair. She revives him, and the two are married within two weeks. What follows is rather predictable: the marriage was a mistake. Stephen's upper class society of manners and Stella's burning desire to experience the passion and wealth of life are sorely incompatible. After the birth of their daughter, Laurel, they part ways: he lives in New York, and she stays in Boston with their daughter. However, they do not divorce for nearly 15 years. Stella raises Laurel, and Stephen takes the child on vacations often. As Laurel grows older, it is obvious that her intellect and mannerisms mirror her father, and not her working-class, garish mother. Despite the fact that Laurel is essentially the only person or thing that Stella loves, Stella contrives a plot to deceive Laurel so that the teenage girl will willingly go live with her father, his new, beautiful, wealthy wife, and her three sons in a New York mansion.

Stanwyck's acting is superb, one of the best in her career. She convincingly portrays a woman who is trapped in her lower-class social status, but desperately reaches for money and associations with the "right people." Anne Shirley, who plays Laurel in her teen years, seems to overact at times, but she delivers a top-notch performance as an innocent, wholesome teen torn between her separated parents. John Boles' performance is stiff and restrained, as usual, and his character is very flat (but it's supposed to be). Barbara O'Neil earns the audience's respect as the only person who genuinely understands Stella. And Alan Hale is brilliant as the crass, drunken, party-animal Ed Munn, and Stella simply can't resist his zest for life (at least initially).

Although the film is encumbered with overly sentimental dialogue and a bit of overacting, it's a pretty good 1930s melodrama.

Barbara Stanwyck's Finest Hour - Classic Tear-Jerker
Barbara Stanwyck, although barely 30, convincingly plays the loving mother to a young adult daughter. Coming from a working-class background, the young "Stella" is determined to climb the social ladder. Her meeting with executive "Mr. Dallas" seemed to be mutual love-at-first-sight. Soon after their child, Lollie, is born, Stella's disposition changes. When hubby suggests the family move to New York to be near his business dealings, Stella flat refuses.

The action skips about 16 years, showing a grown-up Lollie, still happily living with her mother. During a visit with the father and his wealthy new wife, Lollie is showered with expensive presents, and asked to stay with them permanently. Lollie refuses, insisting that her place is with Mother.

Here is where the Kleenex moments come in: Having overheard some cruel dialogue about them while traveling with Lollie in a train compartment, Stella, unable to provide the lavish life her daughter was sure to enjoy with the father, puts on a bawdy act of meanness and cruelty, to turn the daughter away. The ultimate heartbreak is the scene of Lollie's Wedding Ceremony (which I will not devulge).

Lollie's character is basically a sweet young woman, devoted to her mother. When at an outing with her friends she denies the mother (who is making somewhat of a spectacle of herself in a drug store), my sympathy for Lollie drops significantly. The scene is reminiscent of "Imitation Of Life", where the entire story is centered around the daughter's shame for her mother. This one spoiling scene seems unnecessary in the otherwise brilliant film. Still I highly recommend "Stella Dallas" to fans of the leading lady. The original radio play is also well worth the time!****

One of Stanwyck's greatest roles and an all time favorite
Tearjerker supreme, with a top-notch performance by Barbara Stanwyck, who impersonates and gives true life to coarse, low class, self-effacing Stella Dallas, "mother above all". This is one of the greatest and strongest dramatic performances ever achieved on the screen by an American actress.

Stanwyck plays an ambitious girl of humble origins, who falls in love and marries recently impoverished aristocratic Boles (Stephen Dallas), whose social differences eventually separate them. She raises their little child, Laurel, suffering, crying and sacrificing herself for her daughter's sake, from then onwards.

John Boles is quite effective, but, as usual, lacks punch as Stephen Dallas. On the other hand, Anne Shirley is believable and very good as grown-up Laurel. Alan Hale is simply incredible and the epitome of vulgarity, as lowbrow and ever-partying Ed Munn; and Barbara O'Neil (future Scarlett O'Hara's mother) is rightly patrician, well-bred and classy, as Boles' old-time fiancée and friend.

In spite of its 30's ultrasentimentality by today's standards, absolutely recommended viewing. The DVD quality is good indeed. ... Read more

Description

As the mid-July sun sets on one of the summer's hottest days, little groups of people gather to discuss the newest neighborhood scandal. Standing in front of a rusty brownstone in Manhattan's West Sixties, they gossip about all the tenants of the building, but especially Mrs. Marrant, who has been seeing the local milkman behind her husband's back. When Mr. Marrant takes a trip out of town, the two lovers have a tragic meeting when her husband doubles back, catching them together. The confrontation will change everyone's lives forever, especially the Marrant's beautiful young daughter Rose (Sylvia Sidney, in one of her first starring roles), who is left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.Presented by Samuel Goldwyn and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by Elmer Rice, who also wrote the screenplay, director King Vidor (Duel In the Sun, Our Daily Bread) has fashioned a raw, harrowing and powerful film with striking camera work by Academy Award-winning cinematographer George Barnes (Rebecca) and musical direction by nine-time Oscar winner Alfred Newman (Camelot, The King and I). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hopefully O. Henry Got Some Royalties Off of This One
Known for being the only film Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda starred in together, I thought I'd check out "On Our Merry Way" for its historical significance. Unfortunately, it's not very good.

The film is split into three seperate stories tied together by a rather odd framing device. Burgess Meredith and Paulette Goddard play a married couple having monetary problems, with Meredith conning his way into a reporting job to earn extra cash. He then proceeds to interview three seperate sets of people, with the angle being the way in which a child has affected each of their lives. Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda are musicians that lose their band to a "babe", Dorothy Lamour is an actress contending with a spoiled child star (echos of Shirley Temple) and finally Fred McMurray fights a battle of wits with a 10 year-old holy terror.

The first segment is pretty dull, and Jimmy and Henry are not given much to do. The second story is a little better, with Lamour doing a nice musical number sending up her exotic image called "Queen of the Hollywood Isles". The last section is a blatant [take] of O. Henry's classic short story, "The Ransom of Red Chief", only stressful instead of funny. The framing device with Goddard and Meredith is the best part of the movie, due to the strong chemistry between them.

I recommend "On Our Merry Way" as a rental for hard-core Stewart or Goddard fans, otherwise it's not really worth your time. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

One of Hollywood's greatest melodramas
It's funny how, in this day and age, golden-age dramas can fall very definitely into one of two categories: ridiculous, and sublime. Happily, Barbara Stanwyck's finest hour, 'Stella Dalls', falls firmly into the second category, thanks to a wonderful performance by Ms. Stanwyck as the titular heroine.

Stella Martin is the daughter of an impoverished steel-mill family. She is ambitious, however, and when she catches the eye of the recently-broke Stephen Dallas, he pushes his feelings for his wealthy ex-girlfriend aside and makes the best of a bad situation. Unhappily married to the uncouth Stella, he spends more and more time away from her, taking only short holidays with his beloved daughter, Laurel. Stella soon realises that a mother's love cannot provide the best social advantages for Laurel, and makes the ultimate sacrifice for the good of her family.

Stanwyck's supporting cast are of a type, but they're still good - John Boles as Stephen and Barbara O' Neil as Helen Morrisson give strong performances. Alan Hale does an excellent job with the character of Ed Munn, a good-time gambler on the road to self-destruction. He plays the role with a sensitivity and pathos rare to films of this era. Anne Shirley as Laurel is cloying and sentimental, but then again, she's supposed to be.

It's Ms. Stanwyck's performance as Stella that saves this movie from mediocrity, and catapults it into the ranks of other big-league melodramas such as 'Now, Voyager' and 'Imitation of Life'. As Stella, she is perfectly capable of forcing us to empathise, and we respond in kind. Surely, hers is the ultimate sacrifice, and we are with her every step of the way. Her eyes, her expressions of total selflessness and her total devotion to the betterment of her daughter give us a true sense of what motherhood is about.

Beautifully directed by King Vidor, it's a triumph that this picture is finally available on DVD. It's not a happy movie, but it is a testament to the once-extraordinary power of Hollywood to create beautiful and emotional pieces of cinema.

One of Stanwyck's greatest roles and an all time favorite
Tearjerker supreme, with a top-notch performance by Barbara Stanwyck, who impersonates and gives true life to coarse, low class, self-effacing Stella Dallas, "mother above all". This is one of the greatest and strongest dramatic performances ever achieved on the screen by an American actress.

Stanwyck plays an ambitious girl of humble origins, who falls in love and marries recently impoverished aristocratic Boles (Stephen Dallas), whose social differences eventually separate them. She raises their little child, Laurel, suffering, crying and sacrificing herself for her daughter's sake, from then onwards.

John Boles is quite effective, but, as usual, lacks punch as Stephen Dallas. On the other hand, Anne Shirley is believable and very good as grown-up Laurel. Alan Hale is simply incredible and the epitome of vulgarity, as lowbrow and ever-partying Ed Munn; and Barbara O'Neil (future Scarlett O'Hara's mother) is rightly patrician, well-bred and classy, as Boles' old-time fiancée and friend.

In spite of its 30's ultrasentimentality by today's standards, absolutely recommended viewing. The DVD quality is good indeed.

Stanwyck is the gem of this 1930s melodrama
As other reviewers have said, "Stella Dallas" is a highly sentimental, soap-operaish 1930s movie. But it's still a good film, despite that fact that many aspects of the plot and characterization are dated.

Barbara Stanwyck is the gem of this film, and she gives the most convincing performance (except for Alan Hale, her drunken friend, Ed). The movie begins with Stella, a girl from a working-class mill family, who dreams of marriage to Stephen Dallas, a well-to-do mill executive. With all the charm she can muster, Stella walks into Stephen's office at a crucial point in his life: he is in despair. She revives him, and the two are married within two weeks. What follows is rather predictable: the marriage was a mistake. Stephen's upper class society of manners and Stella's burning desire to experience the passion and wealth of life are sorely incompatible. After the birth of their daughter, Laurel, they part ways: he lives in New York, and she stays in Boston with their daughter. However, they do not divorce for nearly 15 years. Stella raises Laurel, and Stephen takes the child on vacations often. As Laurel grows older, it is obvious that her intellect and mannerisms mirror her father, and not her working-class, garish mother. Despite the fact that Laurel is essentially the only person or thing that Stella loves, Stella contrives a plot to deceive Laurel so that the teenage girl will willingly go live with her father, his new, beautiful, wealthy wife, and her three sons in a New York mansion.

Stanwyck's acting is superb, one of the best in her career. She convincingly portrays a woman who is trapped in her lower-class social status, but desperately reaches for money and associations with the "right people." Anne Shirley, who plays Laurel in her teen years, seems to overact at times, but she delivers a top-notch performance as an innocent, wholesome teen torn between her separated parents. John Boles' performance is stiff and restrained, as usual, and his character is very flat (but it's supposed to be). Barbara O'Neil earns the audience's respect as the only person who genuinely understands Stella. And Alan Hale is brilliant as the crass, drunken, party-animal Ed Munn, and Stella simply can't resist his zest for life (at least initially).

Although the film is encumbered with overly sentimental dialogue and a bit of overacting, it's a pretty good 1930s melodrama.

Barbara Stanwyck's Finest Hour - Classic Tear-Jerker
Barbara Stanwyck, although barely 30, convincingly plays the loving mother to a young adult daughter. Coming from a working-class background, the young "Stella" is determined to climb the social ladder. Her meeting with executive "Mr. Dallas" seemed to be mutual love-at-first-sight. Soon after their child, Lollie, is born, Stella's disposition changes. When hubby suggests the family move to New York to be near his business dealings, Stella flat refuses.

The action skips about 16 years, showing a grown-up Lollie, still happily living with her mother. During a visit with the father and his wealthy new wife, Lollie is showered with expensive presents, and asked to stay with them permanently. Lollie refuses, insisting that her place is with Mother.

Here is where the Kleenex moments come in: Having overheard some cruel dialogue about them while traveling with Lollie in a train compartment, Stella, unable to provide the lavish life her daughter was sure to enjoy with the father, puts on a bawdy act of meanness and cruelty, to turn the daughter away. The ultimate heartbreak is the scene of Lollie's Wedding Ceremony (which I will not devulge).

Lollie's character is basically a sweet young woman, devoted to her mother. When at an outing with her friends she denies the mother (who is making somewhat of a spectacle of herself in a drug store), my sympathy for Lollie drops significantly. The scene is reminiscent of "Imitation Of Life", where the entire story is centered around the daughter's shame for her mother. This one spoiling scene seems unnecessary in the otherwise brilliant film. Still I highly recommend "Stella Dallas" to fans of the leading lady. The original radio play is also well worth the time!****

A GREAT DRAMA! STANWYCK GIVES A TOUR-DE-FORCE PERFORMANCE!
"Stella Dallas" is an extraordinary emotional rollercoaster of a movie, and a must-see for fans of the legendary Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck is Stella Martin, a tough cookie mill girl who steps up in class by marrying the wealthy Stephen Dallas (John Boles). They have a daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley), whom Stella lavishes love on. But although Stella has a heart of gold, her coarse manners and unrefined taste are looked down upon by society. Stella won't have her daughter looked down on, too, and in securing her daughter's future happiness, Stella realizes that she must make a sacrifice greater than any she could ever make...

Stanwyck walks off with the picture, absolutely perfect as Stella (Stanwyck, I believe, REALLY should have won the Oscar she was nominated for for this film). Anne Shirley is just a tad overly enthusiastic as Laurel, but she is also sincere and honest in her Oscar-nominated performance. John Boles is- fair in his relatively small role. Barbara O'Neil is excellent as Helen Morrison, a kind-hearted friend of Stephen Dallas. Alan Hale is perfectly vulgar in his meaty role of Ed Munn, a coarse friend of Stella's.

The film has a sensitive but wrenching screenplay which calls for handkerchiefs in many scenes: (One scene has Stella and Laurel waiting for children to come to Laurel's birthday party who never come because of Stella's notoriety, a scene in which Stella overhears Laurel's friends talking about her with snide remarks, and the final, heartbreaking scene...) King Vidor's direction rounds out the exquisite drama and makes "Stella Dallas" one of the most powerful dramatic masterpieces of all time. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and décor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (339)

A true masterpiece! A 5 star winner and a true classic!
The Wizard of Oz has got to be one of the greatest movies in classical and musical cinema history. For sixty years this movie has been the perfect choice for childeren and adults to watch and enjoy. The story is about Dorthy Gale who lives in Kansas with her aunt and uncle. When Dorthy decides to run away from home because of her feelings being empty a tornado hits and she and her house are taken to another world, the Land of Oz. A place where she finds friends like she never imagined like Glinda the good witch of the north, the beautiful witch who gives her the rubey slippers which posses power like any unknown. The scarecrow, a friendly man of clothing and straw who wants a brian, the tin woodsman, a sweet man made of tin who wants a heart, the lion, a kind and cowardly forest animal who wants courage and the wicked witch of the west, a evil witch who wants the rubey slippers and revenge on Dorthy for accidently killing her sister, the wicked witch of the east. As Dorthy and her friends follow the yellow brick to the emerald city, the place where the great and powerful and mysterious Wizard of Oz lives the magic of this film can tell the rest.

A true masterpiece! Excellent polt, characters, music and more. It holds an emotional presents that will touch everyone's heart and wish they were in the Land of Oz! See it and live through the magic of this timeless classical film of wonders.

An OZ-some DVD Experience
Like most baby boomers, I've watched this film dozens of times in the past on broadcast TV, then VHS tape, then LaserDisc ... but I had never actually SEEN "The Wizard of Oz" until this newly restored DVD came out. It's an amazing transfer. The sepia-tone Kansas sequences are startlingly sharp and clear, and the Technicolored world "Over the Rainbow" is truly dazzling. I found myself fascinated by details I had never noticed before: the glittering corn stalks in the Scarecrow's field; the mirror-like floors of the Emerald City; the polished buttons on the guardsmen's uniforms. Incredibly, even the individual grains of red sand in the Witch's hourglass stood out and glistened! All these minor-but-sumptuous visual details served to heighten the magical spell that the film has always woven, enhancing the performances, the story, and the music.

The DVD extras are a mind-boggling embarrassment of riches. The "Making Of" documentary hosted by the incomparable Angela Lansbury is worth the price of the DVD alone, but there's so much more: an international poster gallery, interviews with cast members, deleted scenes, production stills, radio clips, etc, etc. There's enough material to keep even the most casual viewer fascinated for hours, and a true Oz buff will be occupied for days!

If you only bought a DVD player to watch this one disc, it would well be worth the expense. Treat yourself, and fall in love with this classic film again ... for the first time.

The Wonderful Movie of Oz
I have been enchanted as I now watch the movie as an adult. It is not just a story about a girl from Kansas trying to get back home - actually, that was added into the movie: "There's no place like home" wasn't in the book even. I think it was a story of things that we want, and that we imagine these things may be granted by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The scarecrow wants a brain, the tinman a heart, and the lion courage. On their journey off to see the wizard, they encounter the wicked witch of the west - who is determined to get the ruby slippers off of Dorothy's feet. Now, the thing I am puzzled by is at the beginning, Glinda is the one who reminds the wicked witch about the shoes. Then she is the one who places them on Dorothy's feet: "There they are and there they'll stay." Had she not had the shoes, her journey to the wizard would not have been so troublesome. Not to mention that the "good witch" sent Dorothy on a journey to a phony wizard. I wonder now if there was some kind of irony in that - since she was also the one who in the end tells Dorothy that all she has to do is click her heels together and say "there 's no place like home." While the movie is totally a classic I love and will watch over and over again, I am wondering about the book: Were the "ruby slippers" (which were silver in the novel) as magical - and - if there was no "no place like home" in the novel then I am wondering how Dorothy got back to Kansas. I think that because each time I watch this film I realize something new, it will always remain one of my favorite movies ever.

The Wizard of Oz is wonderful
The classic film! The Wizard of Oz is wonderful. Judy Garland's breakthrough performance. Beautiful.

Growing Up, Growing On
I knew every line of this as a kid. I loved the books. I even loved the sequel that everyone else hated because I love OZ. I tried to be "over" this movie for a long time as an adult. But every time I see it I re-remember why I couldn't get enough before. The quintessential fairy tale. All kids and all adults should watch it again to remind them that a movie can work without sex, violence or graphic anything really. It's scary -- touching -- and completely engrossing -- more so each year I grow older. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Legendary producer David O. Selznick dreamed of another magnum opus like his 1939 production ofGone with the Wind; he also purposed to make Jennifer Jones, hisladylove and eventually second Mrs. Selznick, a megastar. Accordingly, he micromanaged the making of Duel in the Sun (Lust in the Dustto some), an extravagant Technicolor epic about the collision of the old Westwith the new, wide-open spaces with railroads and barbed wire, and hot-bloodedoutlaws with civilized folk, often wimpy or unwell. Beginning among giantrocks drenched in a blood-red sunset, with velvet-voiced Orson Welles intoningthe leibestod legend of doomed Pearl Chavez and her demon lover, Duel neverstrays far from lush romanticism, spiced with a dash of S/M. Orphaned Pearl (Jones) comes to live at Spanish Bit Ranch, where frail Laura Belle McCanles (Lillian Gish) tries to make a lady of her, despite her questionable originsand insistent voluptuousness. Sexual license versus law--Pearl's choices--aresymbolized by the McCanles brothers: dark, undisciplined Lewt (a lubriciouslywicked Gregory Peck) and reasonable, forward-looking,repressed Jesse (Joseph Cotten). The cast is huge(Lionel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Harry Carey, Herbert Marshall, CharlesBickford, Butterfly McQueen) and there are unforgettable set pieces: summonedby a cacophony of bells, the gathering of McCanles cowboys from the fourcorners of the earth; Pearl in heat, clutching Lewt's leg and being dragged across thefloor as he makes his getaway to Mexico; and the lovers' final shootoutamong those red rocks, as orgiastic a finale as you could ask for. --Kathleen Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Sprawling western, silly plot
Duel in the Sun was supposed to be the next Gone with the Wind for David O. Selznick. The hyped film boasts an all star cast: Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotton, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish. The acting is over the top, especially Jennifer Jones' sultry Pearl. Gregory Peck seemed to enjoy his change of pace role as Lewt and enacts the role with gusto. It was a change from his heroic characters that he played in his earlier films. Joseph Cotton is the virtuous brother, Jesse, who does not choose to "forget" that he catches Lewt with Pearl, much to Pearl's hearbreak.

The ending of the book had Jesse and Pearl vanquishing the evil Lewt and riding off into the sunset. Looking at the over the top finale of this movie, I wish the producer had stayed with the ending of the book. The lines are laughable ("You know I had to shoot you," cries Pearl. "Yes, dear, I know you did," answers Lewt.)

There are many cliches: Lewt catching Pearl swimming in the nude and not allowing her to leave the water and get her clothes. Pearl throwing herself at another man to make Lewt jealous. Pearl's transformation, where she decides to become a wanton, her facial expression changing to reflect this.

I understand the "dance of the sump" was left out of the film, where Pearl dances for Lewt. It was supposed to be "indecent" but in retrospect might have been a source of amusement to contemporary audiences.

If you are looking for representative films from the Selznick studio, consider the following instead: Gone with the Wind, A Star is Born, Portrait of Jennie, and The Prisoner of Zenda. For MGM, Selznick produced such standout films as David Copperfield and Anna Karenina. For better films pairing Jones and Cotton, look for the films Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. The two are at their best in those.

Epic, Sprawling Horse Opera (Roadshow Edition Review)
Sweeping! Magnificent! Corny! Romantic! A west that never existed is splashed across the screen as only David O. Selznick, the master of such gargantuan Hollywood classics as "Gone With the Wind", "Since You Went Away" and "Rebecca" could give us.
This is not the revisionists west of the 1990's, nor that West of the gritty operatic glamour of Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West." You will not find the spare clean and lean beauty of John ford's West. What we have here is the epic telling on a screen that screams to be stretched into widescreen and spills out over the audenience the lush and romantic horse Opera of Pearl Chavez, the McCanles clan and the coming of the railroads in the 1880's.
From the moment the overture replete with unneeded narration begins you know you are in for a melodrama of purple emotions and blood red vendettas. The opening scene is set in a saloon on a scale of a modern Vegas casino. There amidst the wild gunfire of overheated cowboys and insanely spinning faro wheels we are introduced to the Scarlett O'Hara of the West, half-breed Pearl Chavez. As played by Jennifer Jones she is just about the hottest tamale to ever hit the pages of a screenplay expressly written to drive men mad, turn brother against brother and defy a "Sinkiller". What Jane Russell was supposed to be in "The Outlaw" we get in Technicolor spades in the form of Miss Jones.
She takes huge hefty bites of the massive sets and chews them to a fare thee well and in the process creates a wanton nymphomaniacal character of such charm, heat and passion that she is truly a motion picture original. This is the best thing Miss Jones ever did because it is so out of control and beyond the pale of her more subdued performances. Of saints, teenage war brides and ghosts of lost love.
As Lewt McCanles we get the hottest, meanest, most excitingly nasty performance Gregory Peck ever was allowed to give. And what an irresistible bad boy he is. He was never sexier or more wonderful than in this departure from the Peck norm.
Even the usually dull Joseph Cotton manages to rise above his typically dry rolls, but not too much, in the thankless roll of the good brother. He seems a little too old for the part and a little too polished. Someone like Charlton Heston might have been more on the spot.
Lillian Gish steals every scene she is in with quite assuredness and only finds completion from the ever-prissy Butterfly McQueen. In her final scene with Lionel Barrymore Miss Gish makes off with the scene so quitly that you are hit with it's impact only after the fact. Barrymore creates one of his most beloved curmudgeons as Senator Jackson McCanles full of sound and furry and ultimately signifying less than nothing. His introduction to Pearl topped by a sneeringly shocking racial slur that encapsulates his character and time and place.
Another highlight is the cameo by Walter Huston as "The Sinkiller". What can be said of him is only this, pure cinematic magic.
The film unfold with such a sense of grandeur and awe that it sweeps you along to its incredible ending on the wings of epic pure camp poetry. The Dimitri Tiomkin score is a masterpiece and much famed over the years for the incredible call of the bells set piece.
The three cinematographers involved, Hal Rosson, Ray Rennahan, and Lee Garmes paint movie memory after memory with the palate of hot dusty hues that have long been forgotten by audiences of today. To see it now is perhaps more exciting and thrilling than it was in 1947.
All of this mad mixture of melodrama, mush and music was orchestrated by the master showman of his time, the ultimate huckster of smoke and mirrors and consummate barometer for just what we wanted in our early epics of the America that never existed, David O. Selznick, who added the "O" to his name just because it looked better on the marquee. When they say that off heard lament "They don't make'um like they used to." Both Mr. Selznick and "Duel In The Sun" are what they are talking about. If they still made them like this then something would be terribly wrong. Thank god they did make films like this once upon a time and we still have them to lose ourselves in a dream of what never was and what will never be again.

Dreadful sound transfer
The dvd image is great, the soundtrack transfer is horrible: drops in volume and the dialogue is often distorted.

POINTLESS REISSUE OF ALREADY AVAILABLE DVD
Producer David O. Selznick never thought small. Dreaming of a magnum opus on the same grand scale as "Gone with the Wind" and, perhaps a little bit self-conscious of the fact that his recent affair with Jennifer Jones had yielded only one stellar performance from the starlet - and not even in a film he had produced - Selznick's driving ambition to make Jones a star on par with the likes of Vivien Leigh, led him to handcraft "Duel in the Sun." This was to be an extravagant Technicolor epic about a doomed mulatto, Pearl Chavez (Jones) and her rabid lust for, Lewton McCanles (Gregory Peck, in the uncharacteristic part as the villain), the ruthless son and roguish playboy of retired senator and bigoted rancher, Jackson McCanles (Lionel Barrymore). After Pearl's father, Scott (Herbert Marshall) murders her mother, Pearl is sent to live with Jackson and his wife, Laura Bell (Lillian Gish) on their sprawling ranch, Spanish Bit. Pearl is determined to live purely and plainly, but her incendiary disposition leads into the arms of Lewton. Jesse McCanles (Joseph Cotten), the good son, is forced to leave Spanish Bit, returning years later to find that his brother has become a ruthless tyrant and outlaw. Buttressed by a fiery backdrop about the colliding sensibilities of old West morality and the true Northern ambitions to tame it, "Duel In The Sun" ultimately became an overblown melodrama that seemed almost a garish lampoon of "Gone With The Wind" rather than its successor. It did respectable box office at the time but very little to advance Jennifer Jones' career into the echelons of super stardom. Prior to its release a sensual dance sequence that Pearl performs around a tree stump for Lewton was deleted because the censorship of the period found its sexual implications...well, shocking. Selznick's usual attention to craftsmanship and story design also seem to be absent from this occasion. He repositions Butterfly McQueen (Prissy from "Gone With The Wind) as the Prissy-esque house maid, Vashti, who is even dumber than Prissy and, Selznick muddles the supporting cast with oddities of all sorts, including Walter Huston as a religious zealot, determined to rid Pearl of her sexual demons, and Charles Bickford, as an over-the-hill farmer who offers Pearl his hand in a loveless marriage. Because of its sexually charged subject matter (there is, after all, a rape, a murder and the prospect of lovers committing suicide in the mountains) "Duel In The Sun" acquired the rather unflattering moniker of 'Lust In The Dust.'
"Duel In The Sun" had previously been made available from Anchor Bay in a stunning road show edition. MGM's reissue is the truncated theatrical version - also made previously available through Anchor Bay. On all three DVD incarnations, colors are well balanced, though on this new version they seem a tad more dated from the rich and vibrant colors on the Anchor Bay version. Black levels are good but fine detail is lost in many darkly lit scenes. There's also more noticeable film grain on this version than the Anchor Bay edition. The audio is remixed to stereo but only marginally appealing, sounding rather forced and re-channeled. There are NO extras.
There's nothing to stand up and cheer about here. If you are a die hard fan of this film, or westerns, then you will definitely want to look up the out of print copy from Anchor Bay, rather than this reissue. Aside from being longer, the Anchor Bay version also tends to be a better visual presentation overall.

Don't know why this movie has such a bad rap.....
It is WONDERFUL!!! What more could one ask for from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Producer David O. Selznick(he did a little something called "Gone With the Wind" - you may not remember that one....), beautiful Jennifer Jones, a young Gregory Peck, stalwart support from Joseph Cotten, a crotchtedy Lionel Barrymore, a luminious Lillian Gish, supendous 3-strip Technicolor, a decent story for a western(my least favorite movie genre), and a history that would equal Selznick's other "little movie" - GWTW. The DVD of this does the film justice, although some commentary or other supporting features would have been fantastic. I have the Anchor Bay releases of this film and just got this MGM release-they seem to be taken from the same source material, which is very, very good. This film's reputation needs to be defended - sure it was shocking in 1947, but in 2004, they could probably touch on these topics in an "Waltons" or "Litte House" episode. Judge for yourself - get this movie - you won't be disappointed!! ... Read more