Reviews (4)

A terrible example of DVD technology.
The manufacturer of this DVD did not make any effort to digitally re-master the source material. Imagine an old vacuum-tube TV set with just a piece of aluminum foil for an antenna, then try to imagine viewing this movie via on-air broadcast from a TV station 100 miles away. Can you immagine that? Good! You'd have better picture quality in that scenario than you have from this DVD. Sound on "Call It Murder" is delayed by a second or so, making you wonder just who in the picture is doing the talking. Add to that the loud background hiss coming from your speakers the whole time. This DVD is trash. Even if you were given this DVD for free, you'd want to throw it away. Don't waste your money!

What a shame and a waste. . .
As valuable as many of our "heritage films" have proven themselves to be, it's a real crime to allow a second (or in this case, THIRD) rate video producer to get their hands on them.

Both "Midnight" (later released as "Call it Murder") and "Beat the Devil" as decent films in their own right, but this compilation DVD just needs to be burned, or at least banned. Compilations like this one are just another reason our appreciation of older films is in decay. I wouldn't drive a 58 Corvette if it were in this condition, I'm certainly not going to recommend such poor quality DVD reproductions of great movies.

The video is aweful. The audio lags. Practically no special features.

I STRONGLY URGE YOU NOT TO BUY THIS DVD OR ANY BY THE SAME COMPANY-

More Madacy trash...
Madacy has done it again...taken what could have been decent DVD's and turned them into trash. The video transfer from film is very poor, but the worst is the audio. Madacy has a history of producing low-cost low-quality legacy DVD's, just look at other reviews of Madacy titles (check out Charlie Chaplin DVD's).

Hollywood Tough Guys DVD 3 Pack
This is a big waste of money. With the audio lagging the video by 5+ seconds, it's impossible to watch ... Read more

Description

Cary Grant: His Girl Friday
Audrey Hepburn: Charade
William Holden: Our Town
Elizabeth Taylor: Life with Father
Irene Dunne: Love Affair
Janet Gaynor: A Star is Born
Bette Davis: Of Human Bondage
William Powell: My Man Godfrey ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This is just an FYI.
From time to time in sets and collection, people want to know what is in the set, so here goes...

1. His Girl Friday, 2. Penny Serenade, 3. The Man with the Golden Arm, 4. The Last Time I Saw Paris, 5. A Farewell To Arms, 6. Road To Bali, 7. Our Town, 8. Life with Father, 9. Love Affair, 10. A Star is Born, 11. Of Human Bondage, 12. My Man Godfrey ... Read more

Description

Marilyn Monroe: Hometown Story
Charlie Chaplin Marathon
Humphrey Bogart: Beat the Devil
Orson Welles: The Stranger
James Stewart: Pot O’ Gold
Elizabeth Taylor: Father’s Little Dividend
Gary Cooper: A Farewell to Arms
Kirk Douglas: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers ... Read more

Amazon.com

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Hong Kong wuxia films, or martial arts fantasies, traditionally squeeze poor acting, slapstick humor, and silly story lines between elaborate fight scenes in which characters can literally fly. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has no shortage of breathtaking battles, but it also has the dramatic soul of a Greek tragedy and the sweep of an epic romance. This is the work of director Ang Lee, who fell in love with movies while watching wuxia films as a youngster and made Crouching Tiger as a tribute to the form. To elevate the genre above its B-movie roots and broaden its appeal, Lee did two important things. First, he assembled an all-star lineup of talent, joining the famous Asian actors Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh with the striking, charismatic newcomer Zhang Ziyi. Behind the scenes, Lee called upon cinematographer Peter Pau (The Killer, The Bride with White Hair) and legendary fight choreographer Yuen Wo-ping, best known outside Asia for his work on The Matrix. Second, in adapting the story from a Chinese pulp-fiction novel written by Wang Du Lu, Lee focused not on the pursuit of a legendary sword known as "The Green Destiny," but instead on the struggles of his female leads against social obligation. In his hands, the requisite fight scenes become another means of expressing the individual spirits of his characters and their conflicts with society and each other.The filming required an immense effort from all involved. Chow and Yeoh had to learn to speak Mandarin, which Lee insisted on using instead of Cantonese to achieve a more classic, lyrical feel. The astonishing battles between Jen (Zhang) and Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) on the rooftops and Jen and Li Mu Bai (Chow) atop the branches of bamboo trees required weeks of excruciating wire and harness work (which in turn required meticulous "digital wire removal"). But the result is a seamless blend of action, romance, and social commentary in a populist film that, like its young star Zhang, soars with balletic grace and dignity. --Eugene Wei

Pollock
The long road to Pollock began when actor Ed Harris received a biography of Jackson Pollock from his father, who noticed that his son bore an uncanny resemblance to the artist. Harris's fascination with Pollock matched his physical similarity; the actor chose to direct and star in this impressive film biography. And his devotion assured a work of singular integrity, honoring the artist's achievement in abstract expressionism while acknowledging that Pollock was a tormented, manic-depressive alcoholic whose death at 44 (in a possibly suicidal car crash) also claimed the life of an innocent woman. The film also suggests that Pollock's success was largely attributable to the devotion of his wife, artist Lee Krasner, played with matching ferocity by Marcia Gay Harden in an Oscar®-winning performance.In many respects a traditional biopic, Pollock begins in 1941 when Pollock meets Krasner, who encourages him and attracts the attention of supportive critic Clement Greenberg (Jeffrey Tambor) and benefactor Peggy Guggenheim (Amy Madigan). As Pollock rises from obscurity to international acclaim, Harris brings careful balance to his portrayal of a driven creator who found peace during those brief, sober periods when art brought release from his tenacious inner demons. The film offers sympathy without sentiment, appreciation without misguided hagiography. As an acting showcase it's utterly captivating. As a compassionate but unflinching exploration of Jackson Pollock's intimate world, there's no doubt that Harris captured the essence of a man whose life was as torturous as his art was redeeming. --Jeff Shannon

Sweet and Lowdown
Woody Allen makes beautiful music but only fitful comedy with his story of "the second greatest guitar player in the world." Sean Penn plays Emmett Ray, an irresponsible, womanizing swing guitar player in Depression-era America who is guided by an ego almost as large as his talent. "I'm an artist, a truly great artist," he proclaims time and time again, and when he plays, soaring into a blissed-out world of pure melodic beauty, he proves it. Samantha Morton almost steals the film as his mute girlfriend Hattie, a sweet Chaplinesque waif who loves him unconditionally, and Uma Thurman brings haughty moxie to her role as a slumming socialite and aspiring writer who's forever analyzing Emmett's peculiarities (like taking his dates to shoot rats at the city dump). The vignettelike tales are interspersed with comments by jazz aficionados and critics, but this is less a Zelig-like mockumentary than an extension of the self-absorbed portraits of Deconstructing Harry and Celebrity. The lazy pace drags at times and the script runs dry between comic centerpieces--the film screams for more of Allen's playful invention--but there's a bittersweet tenderness and an affecting vulnerability that is missing from his other recent work. Shot by Zhao Fei (The Emperor and the Assassin, Raise the Red Lantern), it's one of Allen's most gorgeous and colorful films in years, buoyed by toe-tapping music and Penn's gruffly charming performance. --Sean Axmaker

The Spanish Prisoner
Campbell Scott plays a green young technocrat who invents a secret and highly successful high-tech process that, it appears, most of the free world would like to get their hands on. His own company may not be dealing with him fairly, and competitors are lurking around every street corner and kiddie carousel in New York (not to mention Caribbean hideaways) hoping to steal, cajole, or trick him out of the formula. The plot is as full of switchbacks as a mountain highway, and the delights are in watching it unfold around Scott, who is not so much of a naif that he doesn't catch on that not only his formula, but his life, are in dire danger. Steve Martin is consummately assured--and scary as hell--as a wealthy big shot determined to come out on top. David Mamet's script is refreshingly free from his trademark mannerisms; it's his most satisfying film since 1987's House of Games. --Anne Hurley ... Read more