Henry Fonda

Average customer rating:

Justice in a Small Room
Minus 1 star for script/believability - the other four for acting alone
A Classic !!
A good film
Excellent

12 Angry Men
Starring: Martin Balsam , John Fiedler , Lee J. Cobb , E.G. Marshall , and Jack Klugman
Director: Sidney Lumet
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Inherit the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series)
The Grapes of Wrath
Judgment at Nuremberg
Witness For the Prosecution

ASIN: B000056HEC
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Amazon.com essential video

Sidney Lumet's directorial debut remains a tense, atmospheric (though slightly manipulative and stagy) courtroom thriller, in which the viewer never sees a trial and the only action is verbal. As he does in his later corruption commentaries such as Serpico or Q & A, Lumet focuses on the lonely one-man battles of a protagonist whose ethics alienate him from the rest of jaded society. As the film opens, the seemingly open-and-shut trial of a young Puerto Rican accused of murdering his father with a knife has just concluded and the 12-man jury retires to their microscopic, sweltering quarters to decide the verdict. When the votes are counted, 11 men rule guilty, while one--played by Henry Fonda, again typecast as another liberal, truth-seeking hero--doubts the obvious. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt," Fonda slowly chips away at the jury, who represent a microcosm of white, male society--exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. The tight script by Reginald Rose (based on his own teleplay) presents each juror vividly using detailed soliloquies, all which are expertly performed by the film's flawless cast. Still, it's Lumet's claustrophobic direction--all sweaty close-ups and cramped compositions within a one-room setting--that really transforms this contrived story into an explosive and compelling nail-biter. --Dave McCoy

Description

Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made" (The Hollywood Reporter).

Customer Reviews:

Justice in a Small Room.......2007-06-22

1957's "Twelve Angry Men" is the story of a jury confined to a small room on a hot, humid summer night to decide the fate of a young man accused of knifing his father to death. The jury's initial poll has eleven jurors for guilty, one for innocent. The ensuing drama revolves around the struggle by the dissenting juror, an architect played with characteristic understated determination by Henry Fonda, to convince the other jurors of the presence of reasonable doubt.

The outstanding cast, a collection of experienced 1950's movie and tv actors who may not be familiar to today's audiences, each bring their particular insights and prejudices to the debate. An elderly man, played by Joseph Sweeney, sides with the Henry Fonda character because he admires the younger man's grit. Lee J. Cobb has an outstanding role as an angry father who sees his estranged son in the actions attributed to the young man on trial. E.G. Marshall plays a confident businessman who gets a lesson in the limits of memory from the Henry Fonda character.

The confining atmosphere of the jury room adds to the tension. Sidney Lumet's brisk but deliberate direction allows each man a turn in the spotlight to examine his conscience as well as the case in front of the other jurors. The end result is a tense, insightful drama about the nature of man and justice.

This movie is highly recommended to viewers looking for an outstanding example of the movie art and a different slant on today's crime dramas.

Minus 1 star for script/believability - the other four for acting alone.......2007-06-13

All the stars I gave was for the acting alone- superb all around though that old man was pretty annoying at times esp with the close ups on him. But the story itself wouldnt last 10 minutes in real life. It begins with Fonda pleading the boy is only 18 (dont we send 18 years olds off to war? 18 years olds can kill?) But the surreal part is when Fonda pulls out that concealed switchblade in the jury room (gov property), sticks it in the table, and tells everyone how he went into the boys neighborhood and found a store and bought it there (AKA doing your own research); all of this HIGHLY illegal; in real life, someone would have told all of this to the bailif, got Fonda arrested and hauled off, and an alternate or a mistrail would have taken place. End of movie right there. One other thing, Fonda kept mentioning "Is it possible"; Possible is not probable, and a million possibles does not equate to one possible, much less a "Reasonable" doubt.

A Classic !!.......2007-05-27

What a great movie!! I haven't watched it in years, but for some reason i watched it tonite. Wow, as good now as ever!!

A good film.......2007-05-18

Though I did think it to be ever so slightly predictable, I found this movie to be a great murder mystery without all the blood, guts, gore, and horror.
The movie begins with a the jury trying to decide whether or not a fourteen year old boy is guilty of brutaly killing his father. they put it to a vote, and find that all but one of them feels that the boy is guilty without giving it so much as a second thought. The one that refused to say the boy is guilty doesn't necessarily think that he is innocent, he just thinks there aught to be more thought put into it. As the story progresess, you see how everyone's personal intersts, background and prejudices get intangled as they try to decipher between right and wrong.
This movie is well worth watching, and deserves to be in anyone's collection.
And I really have to add that I think Henry Fonda's preformance in this movie is great!

Excellent.......2007-05-09

12 Angry Men is an awesome example of how groups work. It is very useful in demonstrating all the points of group interaction that I teach in my Sociology class. The students liked the movie and were able to quickly tie the movie to concepts taught in class. Excellent plot and follow through in developing the story line.

Lucille Ball Film Collection (Dance Girl Dance / The Big Street / Du Barry Was a Lady / Critic's Choice / Mame)

Average customer rating:

Four Great Films & One Misfire
Pre-Order for 6-19-2007 // GREAT new film collection!!!

Lucille Ball Film Collection (Dance Girl Dance / The Big Street / Du Barry Was a Lady / Critic's Choice / Mame)
Starring: Lucille Ball , Red Skelton , Gene Kelly , Henry Fonda , and Bob Hope
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Esther Williams Collection (Bathing Beauty / Easy to Wed / On an Island with You / Neptune's Daughter / Dangerous When Wet)
Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 2 (The Pirate / Words and Music / That's Dancing / The Belle of New York & Royal Wedding / That Midnight Kiss & The Toast of New Orleans)
Katharine Hepburn Collection (Morning Glory / Undercurrent / Sylvia Scarlett / Without Love / Dragon Seed / The Corn Is Green [1979])
Can-Can
On the Riviera

ASIN: B000OCY7V2
Release Date: 2007-06-19

Description

Big Street: Haughty nightclub singer Gloria Lyons (Lucille Ball) doesn't have time for the little people, including Little Pinks (Henry Fonda), the busboy who adores her. Then Gloria is paralyzed when a mobster knocks her down the stairs, and those little people are the only ones who help her. Critic's Choice: Tossing inspired throwaway lines right and left, Hope is a New York critic who loves writing pointed reviews that close insufferably lousy plays. But there's a new play in town â€" by his redheaded wife (Ball). Dance Girl Dance: Bubbles (Lucille Ball) loves to dance. But she also likes to eat. Her friend Judy (Maureen O'Hara) may choose to suffer for her art, but not Bubbles. She swap hers ballet shoes for a G-string...and turns patrons' fantasies into dollars as burlesque sensation Tiger Lily White. Dubarry Was a Lady: Hapless nightclub hat check boy Red Skelton loves glamorous chanteuse Lucille Ball. Handsome hoofer Gene Kelly loves her too. But Lucy only loves money. Then Red mistakenly gulps down a Mickey Finn, dreams he's in 18th-century France and before you can powder your wig, a throng of suitors fall in love with Lucy! Mame: Lucille Ball brings star sparkle to the title role, a high-living grande dame who's outlandishly eccentric and, when suddenly faced with raising an orphaned nephew, fiercely loving. Veterans of the New York stage original join her: Beatrice Arthur as best friend Vera, Jane Connell as prim governess Agnes, choreographer Onna White and director Gene Saks.

Customer Reviews:

Four Great Films & One Misfire.......2007-06-20

This set is worth owning just for Mame, in which Lucille Ball BECOMES Auntie Mame. DuBarry Was A Lady, Dance Girl Dance (with a young Maureen O'Hara) and The Big Street are all fan favorites. While Lucy looks stunning in Critic's Choice, it is the least enjoyable film in the set (and the only "stinker" out of four films she made with her preferred screen-partner, Bob Hope).

Pre-Order for 6-19-2007 // GREAT new film collection!!!.......2007-05-14

This is a GREAT collection to own and a must have for any Lucy fan! With this collection you will receive 5 movies starring Lucille Ball's most popular film adaption. You will be amazed to see the true acting ability of Lucy here.

Some of the films here are somewhat of a opposite to Lucille Ball's role on "I Love Lucy" but some are very similar to "I Love Lucy" in my opinion. Take "The Big Street" for instance, High class Gloria (Lucille Ball) was a bit cruel and mean to a poor man named pinks who falls head over heels in love with her and will do anything to please her at the end she begins to fall for him too. A must see dramatic film!!

You will see Lucille Ball like you have never seen her before and these movies are not boring at all but they are really good interesting movies that you will not lose interest in. I am somewhat shy of old films and find them boring but I can watch anything with Lucille Ball and you will love these films!

"Lucille Ball Film Collection" includes:

"The Big Street" - Ex-chanteuse Gloria is vain, cruel, crippled - and busboy Pinks can't help but love her. Ball and Henry Fonda power Damon Runyon's tale of Broadway denizens living on life's margins.

"Critic's Choice" - That's no playwright, that's my wife. Poison-penned Broadway critic Bob Hope loves wife Lucille Ball...but hates the play she writes. Based on the play by "Deathtrap's" Ira Levin.

Dance, Girl, Dance" - Art doesn't pay the bills. So aspiring ballerina Ball makes her way as a burlesque star in this powerful study of being a woman in a man's world. With Maureen O'Hara.

"Dubarry Was A Lady" - Their friendship is a perfect musical-comedy blendship! Ball goes from NYC torch singer to the dream girl of Red Skelton's wacky, 18th-century-France reverie. Gene Kelly joins the fun!

"Mame" - She'll coax the blues right out of your heart. Madcap Auntie Mame (Ball) is suddenly her nephew's guardian. Robert Preston and Beatrice Arthur co-star in a sparkling adaptation of the Broadway hit.

Highly recommended!!!

Average customer rating:

Miracle at Midway
Weak Technically, Still Great in its Genre
Midway was the foundation for victory in the Pacific
Not what I remembered
war movie at its best

Midway (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Charlton Heston , Edward Albert , Henry Fonda , James Coburn , and Glenn Ford
Director: Jack Smight
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Combat | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

War Epics | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Tora! Tora! Tora!
In Harm's Way
Battle of the Bulge [HD DVD]
Patton
The Longest Day

ASIN: B00005N5S3
Release Date: 2001-10-30

Amazon.com

Six months after the Japanese destroyed the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Americans discovered the Japanese were planning to seize the Naval base at Midway Island--a perfect staging point for invading Hawaii or the mainland. Outnumbered four to one, the Americans won a surprise victory and shattered the backbone of the Japanese Imperial Navy. This 1976 film feels more like a history lesson than a drama, but World War II buffs will appreciate the attention to historical fact (especially the way in which fate and a few bad decisions turned the tide), as well as the generous use of actual battle footage. The all-star cast includes Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, and Cliff Robertson in cameos and a whole slew of familiar TV faces in supporting roles. Hal Holbrook is fun as an oddball intelligence officer. --Geof Miller

Customer Reviews:

Miracle at Midway.......2007-06-22

1976's "Midway" is very much in the tradition of other World War II movie epics such as "The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far" in packing a star-studded cast around a key battle. "Midway" depicts the surprising June 1942 victory by a U.S. Naval Carrier Task Force over a far larger Japanese Fleet attempting to seize Midway Island, located north west of the Hawaiian Islands.

Henry Fonda stars as Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Nimitz. On the basis of intercepted Japanese communications, and against the advice of his staff, the soft-spoken but tough-minded Nimitz gambles his three surviving aircraft carriers on the opportunity to ambush the Japanese Fleet near Midway. Hal Holbrooke has a nice cameo as the eccentric Naval cryptographer who made the key intelligence assessment. Robert Mitchum also has a nice cameo as the famous fighting Admiral Bill Halsey, bed-ridden with a tropical skin disease, who must defer command of his carrier task force to Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance (played by veteran character actor Ed Nelson). Overall command of the U.S. force would be exercised by Admiral Jack Fletcher (a pitch-perfect performance by Glenn Ford).

The connecting thread in the long (two-plus hours) movie is fictional Navy Captain Matt Garth (played with jut-jawed determination by Charlton Heston). Garth, a fighter pilot recovering from a wound, starts the movie as Nimitz's aide, is transferred to Spruance's staff for the Midway mission, and ends up back in the cockpit of a dive bomber for the decisive air strike against the Japanese fleet. His life is complicated by a sub-plot involving the arrival in Hawaii of his estranged son (played by Edward Albert), a rookie naval aviator who is engaged to an interned Japanese-American woman. Garth's attempts to help his son make contact with his fiance draw the ire of security forces, while his request to an old friend (Cliff Robertson in a cameo) to look after his son results in the son's precipitious transfer to one of the Midway-bound carriers.

The engagement at sea interweaves movie scenes with real combat footage from the battle. The action shifts rapidly between the Commander and staff of the Japanese carrier force and the pilots of a variety of U.S. aircraft seeking and then attacking the Japanese ships. The resulting sequences may replicate some of the chaos of combat but are apt to be confusing to the average viewer. The respective fates of Garth and his son provide a poignant ending to the battle.

"Midway" does a reasonable job of narrating the story of an almost miraculous U.S. victory. The production values, in terms of authentic-looking ships, aircraft, vehicles, and uniforms, are solid. However, the insertion of "name" actors in a variety of small roles becomes almost distracting, as none of these parts get enough screen time for real character development. The edited VHS and DVD versions of the movie seem to be shorter than the original theatrical release, and to lose some story exposition in the process.

This movie is recommended to fans of the World War II movie genre, who will be able to appreciate the authenticity of the sets and who will find this an entertaining production.

Weak Technically, Still Great in its Genre.......2007-06-01

In the Genre of early post-WW2 films, this is a good Navy flick. The reason the U.S. won the Battle of Midway was because of the first deployment of the Proximity (or Variable Time) fuze in 5 inch AA shells, which is probably lesser known and less film-worth, although the History Channel has picked up on its importance. If you want to learn about it, get The Deadly Fuze, a documentary produced by WGVU in Michigan!!!

Midway was the foundation for victory in the Pacific.......2007-05-31

i was 12 when this movie came out. it was a huge blockbuster with an all-star cast led by Charlton Heston as the fictional character Captain Matt Garth. the Garth character was in the movie to add some much needed human interest. Garth was the hero we could identify with and root for. and it also allowed the movie to have Edward Albert portray his son (a fighter pilot) and show how the Japanese were rounded up and sent to internment camps.

if those elements were not in the movie, it simply would have been a documentary of probably the most compelling naval battle for the US during WW II. it was the battle that turned the tide in the US's favor and allowed us to keep the Japanese at bay till we were ready to go on the offensive.

the DVD itself is very good quality with many excellent bonus feautures. i particulary enjoyed the interviews with producer Walter Mirish and director Jack Smight and also Charlton Heston. and there is also a nice interview session with composer John Williams who did a very nice job with the score for Midway.

now let me say something about the confusion regarding the length and scope of the movie. the movie on this DVD is the original theatrical release. there was another version of this movie which was longer and showed the Battle of the Coral Sea (Mitch Ryan starred as Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch) and also gave Heston a romantic interest with Susan Sullivan playing his girlfriend. this version was made after the fact to accommodate NBC (i believe) so it could have a long two-part movie for its popular Movie of the Week. personally, i liked this longer version better as it gave the movie a lot more meat and made it more interesting. without these additional scenes, the movie seems a bit hurried and uninspired in my opinion.

now on this DVD set they do have the 10 minutes worth of footage with Susan Sullivan in the Bonus section. but for some inexplicable reason there are no shots of the Battle of Coral Sea and that is very dissapointing.

it would have been nice if they could have released this as a 2-DVD set with the second disc containing the longer TV version.

the bottom line is that this is a good movie with a good cast and it is nice to see it with all of the extra bonus feautures as well.

Not what I remembered.......2007-05-20

I watched Midway at least five times in the theater as a kid and I have fond memories of this movie. The DVD is a much shorter version of the original, why they cut out the Coral Sea portion of the movie is beyond me and very dissapointing. I was also dissapointed when I realized that Charleton Heston's son takes off from his aircraft carrier in an F4F Wildcat but returns after the battle and crashes in a F6F Hellcat. This movie will remain for me a classic war movie but I can see why this DVD is hard to find.

war movie at its best.......2007-05-17

as good as war movies get. by far one of the best ever made.

Average customer rating:

My all-time favorite western!
The Best Spagetti Western To Date
BEST of the spaghetti Westerns
Formidable, operatic western
Poetic and Truly Original

Once Upon a Time in the West
Starring: Henry Fonda , Claudia Cardinale , Jason Robards , Charles Bronson , and Gabriele Ferzetti
Director: Sergio Leone
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Epic | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Spaghetti Western | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Art House & International | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition)
My Name Is Nobody
High Noon (Collector's Edition)
Shane
The Searchers (Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)

ASIN: B0000AUHPG
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com essential video

The so-called spaghetti Western achieved its apotheosis in Sergio Leone's magnificently mythic (and utterly outlandish) Once upon a Time in the West. After a series of international hits starring Clint Eastwood (from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Leone outdid himself with this spectacular, larger-than-life, horse-operatic epic about how the West was won. (And make no mistake: this is the wide, wide West, folks--so the widescreen/letterboxed version is strongly recommended.) The unholy trinity of Italian cinema--Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento--concocted the story about a woman (Claudia Cardinale) hanging onto her land in hopes that the transcontinental railroad would reach her before a steely-eyed, black-hearted killer (Fonda) does. (The film's advertising slogan was: "There were three men in her life. One to take her ... one to love her ... and one to kill her.") Meanwhile, Leone shoots his stars' faces as if they were expansive Western landscapes, and their towering bodies as if they were looming rock formations in John Ford's Monument Valley. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

My all-time favorite western!.......2007-06-20

I never really cared for westerns until I saw this movie. I became hooked on spaghetti westerns, and in my opinion, this is the best of them all! The storyline is certainly different, and the ending is somewhat of a surprise. The main characters really stand out: Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, and Henry Fonda. The music is haunting, and that was what really hooked me.

The Best Spagetti Western To Date.......2007-06-12

Once Upon a Time in the West From start to finish,is by far the best spagetti western ever made to date. It Stars Henry Fonda as a ruthless outlaw. Along with a pose' he murders and destroys his way through every town he and his gang enters.He shows his victims no mercy, not a drop of sympathy is in his bones. He'll make your blood run cold. Henry Fonda is at his acting best! You have never seen him like this! He encounters a mysterious traveler who plays a mysterious melody on a Harmonica. The traveler seems to be looking for him. Why? Here's where the real edge of your seat action really happens. Finally time to reveal what everything means. Right down to the mysterious song played on the harmonica by the traveler througout most of the movie.
Since this film was made other westerns that followed, used Itlalian director Sergi Leone's touch, i.e. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly etc.)

BEST of the spaghetti Westerns.......2007-06-08

Sergio Leone made his indelible mark with the three Clint Eastwood films, but this is his best work, even though Clint is absent. Not to worry. "Once Upon A Time" features a wonderful all-star cast. Avoiding the overdone goodguys vs bad guys cliche, Leone casts perpetual goodguy Henry Fonda as one of the sleaziest amoral villains you'll ever see. And Fonda doesn't disappoint in the role. The so-called goodguys are actually not so good, but they're played brilliantly by Jason Robards and Charles Bronson. Claudia Cardinale is striking as the libertine. Even the opening scene focuses on Jack Elam and Woody Strode - two of the best character actors to appear in any Western.

The plot meanders through a number of twists and subplots, requiring the viewer to follow all of the action between gunfights. Leone challenges the conventional concepts of loyalty, friendship, and alliances. Highly recommended.

Formidable, operatic western.......2007-05-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is director Sergio Leone's formidable and unique vision of the old west as grand opera. In Leone's work, as in opera, subtlety is replaced by exaggeration, i.e., the villians in his creation are all over-the-top, almost cartoonishly evil while the ingenue/heroine is both pretty and boring to the extreme. The movie's musical score, as in opera, is as important or even more important than dialogue in conveying the story. In fact, words are rarely uttered in this western tale.

I'm not always comfortable with Leone's antagonists and protagonists because the audience never really gets to know or understand them. They are presented more as abstractions of good and evil than they are as fully developed, three-dimensional human beings.

And Ennio Morricone's idiosyncratic score, while elaborate and memorable, sometimes seemed too languid or pretty to suit the violent action in a western. But perhaps Morricone was aiming for irony.

Overall, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is an unusual and gorgeous- looking western very much worth a glance or two.

Poetic and Truly Original.......2007-03-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is one of the best films in the Western genre and also the most fun to watch due to its look and style. The movie is directed by Sergio Leone. I'm familiar with Leone's work, but have never seen any of his films. "Once Upon a Time in the West" bares the unmistakable signature of a genius though and I look forward to watching many more Leone films in the future. The film has one of the greatest opening scenes I've ever seen; lasting 13 minutes, the film opens at a train station where three men anxiously await the arrival of the train. They're waiting for someone. After Leone slowly builds the tension (and I don't know about a director that could do it better), the train arrives and a man (Charles Bronson) gets off of it, playing a harmonica. He's supposed to be meeting with a man named Frank, but we learn that Frank is attending to some other business. Soon, the three men there to meet the man are dead; And because of Frank (Henry Fonda, in one of his strongest performances), a family of 4 is dead. Then the young lady set to marry the father of the family, who is actually already married to him, arrives and is shocked to find everyone dead. The police think they know who did it already and are quick to point the finger at Cheyenne (Jason Robards), after all...He left his "signature" there. I don't want to say much more about the plot (and there is much more; The film is 2 hours and 45 minutes)...When you look at all the westerns in the history of cinema (mind you, I haven't seen another Leone film) and say which one you think is "the most well-made," this film has to pop up.
It's not the most entertaining western film (there are long stretches with no dialogue), but it is certainly one of the most suspenseful, colorful (not just in the literal sense), and most compelling of the genre. The performances, especially those of Fonda, Robards, and Bronson are superb. It's also clear while watching the movie how influential it has been on other filmmakers. You can even see more than echoes of this film in "Kill Bill Vo.2." Explaining just how unique a film like this is in writing is difficult, but I recommend that any true fan of cinema see this movie. Any true fan of western movies has probably already seen this movie, but I mean a true LOVER of cinema needs to see this. It's one of the few western movies I can think of off the top of my head that can deservedly be labeled a masterpiece.

GRADE: B+

Average customer rating:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory..."
Enriching film for all ages
IF YOU AINT GOT THE DO RE MI
A Classic Adaptation of Steinbeck's Novel
Unionism, The Triumph Of The Individual In The Face Of Adversity @ The American Birth Of The Counterculture

The Grapes of Wrath
Starring: Henry Fonda , Jane Darwell , John Carradine , Charley Grapewin , and Dorris Bowdon
Director: John Ford
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series)
All About Eve
Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
12 Angry Men
Citizen Kane

ASIN: B0000DJZ8R
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Amazon.com essential video

Ranking No. 21 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, this 1940 classic is a bit dated in its noble sentimentality, but it remains a luminous example of Hollywood classicism from the peerless director of mythic Americana, John Ford. Adapted by Nunnally Johnson from John Steinbeck's classic novel, the film tells a simple story about Oklahoma farmers leaving the depression-era dustbowl for the promised land of California, but it's the story's emotional resonance and theme of human perseverance that makes the movie so richly and timelessly rewarding. It's all about the humble Joad family's cross-country trek to escape the economic devastation of their ruined farmland, beginning when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns from a four-year prison term to discover that his family home is empty. He's reunited with his family just as they're setting out for the westbound journey, and thus begins an odyssey of saddening losses and strengthening hopes. As Ma Joad, Oscar-winner Jane Darwell is the embodiment of one of America's greatest social tragedies and the "Okie" spirit of pressing forward against all odds (as she says, "because we're the people"). A documentary-styled production for which Ford and cinematographer Gregg Toland demanded painstaking authenticity, The Grapes of Wrath is much more than a classy, old-fashioned history lesson. With dialogue and scenes that rank among the most moving and memorable ever filmed, it's a classic among classics--simply put, one of the finest films ever made. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This remarkable film version of Steinbeck?s novel was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including for Best Picture, Actor (Henry Fonda), Film Editing, Sound and Writing. John Ford won the Best Director Oscar® and actress Jane Darwell won Best Actress for her portrayal of Ma Joad, the matriarch of the struggling migrant farmer family. Following a prison term he served for manslaughter, Tom Joad returns to find his family homestead overwhelmed by weather and the greed of the banking industry. With little work potential on the horizon of the Oklahoma dust bowls, the entire family packs up and heads for the promised land ? California. But the arduous trip and harsh living conditions they encounter offer little hope, and family unity proves as daunting a challenge as any other they face.

Customer Reviews:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory...".......2007-06-23

Once in a while there comes a film that completely moves you. THE GRAPES OF WRATH is one of those films. The movie has three major components that make it an excellent film, a story based on the classic novel by John Steinbeck, the magnificent cinematography, and the historical significance in terms of American history. The film undoubtedly defines the unending relevance of the American dream and manifest destiny, and John Ford depicts those themes with the Joad family's cross-country trek from Oklahoma to California seeking better opportunities further west after losing their land.

John Ford shows how far the American Dream has come. The film is a reflection of the workingman and American society during the Great Depression as well of the results of the New Deal - the revitalization of the American landscape. However, the film is about one family and their perseverance to survive in an ever-changing society, but always keeping the past in mind. Ford shows the Joad's unfortunate circumstance from a family who owned their own land to a nomadic family who became migrant workers; their story represents more than a thousand families' experiences.

The film has its defining moments. In one of the scenes mother Joad (Jane Darwell) is preparing to leave her homestead in Oklahoma and discards a few mementos she has collected over the years from a newspaper article and a postcard depicting the Statue of Liberty, but she happens to keep what looks like a porcelain dog that commemorates the St. Louis Expo of 1904. Another defining moment is the last few minutes of the film. It is one of the most legendary and empowering scenes in American film history, which shows Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) making his most moving soliloquy.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH will tug at the heartstrings. Although some may refer the film as out-dated, the story is a part of American history, and it brings an understanding and realization of the hardships that those who owned and lived on farms from the Midwest and dust bowl states experienced during the late 1920s and 1930s in order to continue to live the American dream. It is not a film that should be missed in one's lifetime.

Enriching film for all ages.......2007-05-27

In an emotionally stunning and perpetually twisting depression-era tale of survival and perseverance, this classic film adapted from historic author John Steinbeck delves into the lives of the tired and weary Joad family as they make their way from their recently relinquished farm in Oklahoma to the promising orange fields of California. As we watch their journey unfold, we witness just how emotionally and psychically demanding their campaign for a better life becomes while the lives of those around them are simultaneously affected at a similar cost.

The film stars legendary screen actor Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, a recently paroled convict coming home only to find that his once promising dream of re-acquaintance and celebration are marred by an open and desolate field of depression. Banks have been ordered to collect any salvageable assets during this economic hardship, thus using landowners and the companies that employ them to drive sharecroppers from their leased properties. I viewed the film in an edited form in my Modern American History class, starting at Scene 4 and watching up to a scene in which we witness the death of Grandma Joad (played dramatically by Zeffie Tilbury). Award-winning actress Jane Darwell and John Carradine as Casy stand out as the more memorable of this immediate cast of tireless crusaders in a time of drought and migration.
I feel Nunnally Johnson did a great job in adapting this film from Steinbeck's version, which I had read in high school a few years previous. Few moderate changes were made, notably the death of a pregnant Ruthie (Shirley Mills), but I believe the film had the advantage of being given the added impact of a 1939 release (a time when the Great Depression and Dust Bowl Migration was still a fresh memory for many). Also we see various themes portrayed in the film. The social stigma of sharecroppers and their plight, the tense rivalry of workers for jobs, even the ignorance of truck drivers at a diner pop up in the film to build on the story. In the end, this movie serves as a constant reminder of a period in history when so many people lost everything they had worked their whole lives for, only to find they could still hold onto their dreams...for this is the only thing that truly matters.

IF YOU AINT GOT THE DO RE MI.......2007-04-18

This review was written for John Steinbeck's book of the same name. The main points here also apply to the movie. Take advantage of both media to get a real feel for this classic of the 1930's.

Oddly, I first read John Steinbeck's classic tale of the 1930's depression, Grapes of Wrath, as a result of listening to Woody Guthrie's also classic Dustbowl Ballads. In that album Woody sings/narrates the trials and tribulations of the Joad family as they get the hell out of drought-stricken Oklahoma and headed for the land of milk and honey in California. After listening to that rendition I wanted to get the full story and Steinbeck did not fail me. His tightly-woven story stands as a very strong exposition of the plight of rural America as they tried to make sense of a vengeful God, unrelenting Nature and the down-side of the American dream. For those who have seem Walker Evans's and other photographers pictures of the Okies, Arkies, etc. of the period this is the story behind those forlorn, if stoic, faces.

The story line is actually very simple. The land in Oklahoma was played out, the banks nevertheless were pressing for payment or threatening foreclosure and for the Joads, as for others, time had run out. In classic American tradition they pulled up stakes and headed west to get a new start. With great hopes and no few illusions they set out as a family for the sunny and plentiful California of their dreams. Their struggle along the way is a modern day version of the struggles of the old Westward heading wagon trains-including the causalities. But, that is not the least of it. Apparently they had not read Frederick Jackson Turner's thesis that the frontier was gone- the land was taken. The bulk of the story centers of what happened when they get to the golden land-and it is not pretty. Day labor, work camps, strike action, murder, and mayhem-you know, California, the real California of the day. Not the Chamber of Commerce version. In short, as Woody sang, no hope if you aint got the do re mi.

Grapes of Wrath was made into a starkly beautiful film starring a young Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. On a day when you are not depressed it is a film you want to see, if only for the photography. So here is the list. Listen to Woody sing the tale. Watch Henry Fonda to act it out. And by all means read Steinbeck. He had an ear for the 1930's struggle of the Okies and their ilk as they hit California. What happened to those people later and their influence on California culture and those who didn't make it are chronicled by others like Howard Fast and Nelson Algren. But for this period your man is Steinbeck.

A Classic Adaptation of Steinbeck's Novel.......2007-03-02

Director John Ford has done a masterful job of bringing John Steinbeck's timeless novel to life in this movie. Starring Henry Fonda, Ford's film brings the struggle of the 1930s migrant working family to life.

Fonda stars as Tom Joad, a young man who's just been paroled from prision after serving four years for manslaughter. Upon arriving home, he meets Casey (John Carradine), a former preacher turned drifter. The two then head for the Joad homestead. Once there, Tom discovers that his family is gone. However, Muley Graves (John Qualen) has been hiding out in the Joad home. After he is discovered by Tom, Muley tells of the numerous land corporations and banks who have been taking possession of the local farms. Tom's father's farm has been repossessed, and the family has went to Uncle John's (Frank Darien) home.

Tom and Casey head to uncle John's house, where they find the rest of the family, including Pa (Russell Simpson), Ma (Jane Darwell), Rose-of-Sharon (Dorris Bowden), her husband Connie Rivers (Eddie Quillan), and Grandma and Grandpa Joad. The government agent comes to inform John that his land is being taken over, and the family packs their truck and begins the journey to California.

Along the way, the family is faced with many different trials and tribulations, including the deaths of grandma and grandpa Joad as well as Connie deciding to leave. They are forced to live in campgrounds designed specifically for refugee migrant workers, while Pa, Tom, and Uncle John try to find work.

Eventually, the men find jobs as fruit pickers, but they barely make enough money to buy food. There are run-ins with townspeople who don't want "Okies" stealing any more jobs. All through these troubled times, Ma does her best to keep the family together. Will the Joad family survive?

This movie, like the novel, has become a classic. The movie was nominated for numerous academy awards, and Jane Darwell won for best actress, while John Ford won for best director. The portrayal of life on the plains during the dustbowl years is done with great accuracy. Numerous families lost their farms and land during this terrible time and headed west to find new lives, and their struggle is portrayed excellently by the Joad family. The acting is excellent and the story is moving. There are many acts of kindness during the film, such as the scene where the diner waitress agrees to sell the Joads a loaf of bread and then sells the young Joad children candy for a penny. The scene where Ma Joad shares her meager food with the hungry children at the worker camp is moving, too.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. The acting and story are great, and the historical aspect of the time period is handled perfectly. Watch this classic movie and see what the lives of the migrant farmer families of the dustbowl years were like.

Unionism, The Triumph Of The Individual In The Face Of Adversity @ The American Birth Of The Counterculture.......2007-02-04

Indeed as most reviewers note this film and story and cinematography is one of those unparalleled for overall brilliance in the portrayal of what is considered the plight of the common man in the throes of the dust bowl and depression popularized in modern music by Pete Seeger,Bruce Springsteen, Jack Kerouac in literature and the artistic expression of most anything labelled left-leaning from fashion to art.
This movie has a sublime power because it easily juxtaposes and makes one take sides between the family and the individual,love and hate, exploitation and fairness, Capitalism or benevolent Federalism all renderd in classic black and white nuanced beauty.
The film remains a tearjerker depicting Tom Joad and his family portrait of the the working poor and the disenfranchised farmer kicked off his land by carpetbaggers and bankers.Despite themes of exploitation and abuse it is possible to see the makings of an American epic and country in formation and development in which the movie pays it's homage.
A needed movie to be viewed by all on this DVD with wonderful transfers and stills, extras include newsflashes,commentary on the film, making this a worthy purchase of a history making movie that depicts a side of American history of a forgotten people living faithfully in the pursuit of security and family values amidst rapid change and industrialization changing the face of the USA and the world forever.

Average customer rating:

The Longest Day
Cameos galore
D-Day
The Longest Day
got what I wanted

The Longest Day
Starring: Eddie Albert , Paul Anka , Arletty , Jean-Louis Barrault , and Richard Beymer
Director: Ken Annakin , Bernhard Wicki , and Darryl F. Zanuck
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Patton
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Midway (Collector's Edition)
A Bridge Too Far
Battle of the Bulge [HD DVD]

ASIN: B000EHSVRS
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Description

This special collector's commemorative edition has been issued in honor of the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of France, which marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination over Europe. The attack involved 3,000,000 men, 11,000 planes and 4,000 ships, comprising the largest armada the world has ever seen. The Longest Day is a vivid, hour-by-hour recreation of this historic event. Featuring a stellar international cast, and told from the perspectives of both sides, it is a fascinating look at the massive preparations, mistakes, and random events that determined the outcome of one of the biggest battles in history. Winner of two 1962 Oscars® (Special Effects and Cinematography), The Longest Day ranks as one of Hollywood's truly great war films.

Customer Reviews:

The Longest Day.......2007-05-12

Of all the classic World War II films this is the best. Telling multiple stories at the same time it gives the best idea of the events that happened that day from the view of the people who experienced it.

Cameos galore.......2007-03-14

This three-hour epic retelling of the D-Day invasion of Europe in WW II is told with a careful eye on details, but not so much on human drama. In fact, the movie is mainly a series of star cameos (the list is impressive: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton to name just a few), a movie very much representative of the Important Man take on history. The war scenes, for sheer grandeur and scale, are the best in film history prior to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (for WW II movies anyway), but I've often thought the movie might be better watched with the sound off: the words, the dialogue, the actors are required to speak to each other are cliche-ridden and empty. Knowing the story and its outcome ahead of time, it's hard not to be moved, even inspired, by the action, but as it stands it's an action-filled stunner with a mediocre script.

D-Day.......2007-03-10

Great cast. Great story. Great war film. No computer graphics this.

The Longest Day.......2007-02-07

My favorite World War II movie. Wonderful cast of characters. Shows all the nuances of the Battle of Normandy, God must have been with us.

got what I wanted.......2007-02-06

got what I wanted. It was processed fast, and delivered very quick.

Average customer rating:

Fort Apache
Ford Defies Stereotypes of the Classic Western
A Must-See in the History of Western Movies
An unsatisfactory epic Western!
THE AUTHOR BEHIND ALL THE CAVALRY EPICS

Fort Apache
Starring: John Wayne , Henry Fonda , Shirley Temple , Pedro Armendáriz , and Ward Bond
Director: John Ford
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Rio Grande (Collector's Edition)
3 Godfathers
The Horse Soldiers
Red River

ASIN: B000O599NA
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com essential video

John Ford's 1948 classic stars John Wayne as a Cavalry officer used to doing things a certain way out West at Fort Apache. Along comes a rigid, new commanding officer (Henry Fonda) who insists that everything on his watch be done by the book, including dealings with local Indians. The results are mixed: greater discipline at the fort, but increased hostilities with the natives. Ford deliberately leaves judgments about the wisdom of these changes ambiguous, but he also allows plenty of room in this wonderful film for the fullness of life among the soldiers and their families--community rituals, new romances--to blossom. Fonda, in an unusual role for him, is stern and formal as the new man in charge; Wayne is heroic as the rebellious second; Victor McLaglen provides comic relief; and Ward Bond is a paragon of sturdy and sentimental masculinity. All of this is set against the magnificent, poetic topography of Monument Valley. This is easily one of the greatest of American films. --Tom Keogh

Description

The soldiers at Fort Apache may disagree with the tactics of their glory-seeking new commander. But to a man, they're duty-bound to obey - even when it means almost certain disaster. John Wayne, Henry Fonda and many familiar supporting players from master director John Ford's "stock company" saddle up for the first film in the director's famed cavalry trilogy (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande are the others). Roughhouse camaraderie, sentimental vignettes of frontier life, massive action sequences staged in Monument Valley - all are part of Fort Apache. So is Ford's exploration of the West's darker side. Themes of justice, heroism and honor that Ford would revisit in later Westerns are given rein in this moving, thought-provoking film that, even as it salutes a legend, gives reasons to question it.

Customer Reviews:

Fort Apache.......2007-06-22

The first installment in Ford's illustrious Cavalry Trilogy, "Apache" soars to great heights thanks to Fonda, effectively playing an arrogant, rigid Easterner, and the brawny Wayne, superb as a savvy frontiersman who knows it's foolish to go up against Apache leader Cochise. Apart from critiquing the sensationalization of military heroics and the myth of the "savage," Ford works in sequences of everyday frontier rituals, like dances, chores, and even a romance involving Thursday's daughter, played by an all grown-up Shirley Temple. With its exquisite black-and-white shots of Monument Valley, assured acting, and Custer-esque storyline, "Apache" is an enduring Western winner.

Ford Defies Stereotypes of the Classic Western.......2007-05-09

'Fort Apache' is worth watching for John Ford's cinematography alone. Much of the movie was filmed in Monument Valley, Ford's favorite setting. But the movie offers much more. Ford crafts an entertaining movie-watching experience that includes some deft comedic scenes early on. Ward Bond turns in a strong performance as the burly Irish-American Sgt. Major.

Ford also defies some of our stereotypes of the classic Western. Owen Thursday, the embittered new leader of Fort Apache brilliantly played by Henry Fonda, is, despite his protestation to the contrary, a martinet and in the end a recklessly proud fool. Perhaps most interesting, Ford starkly calls into question the creation of military heroes. Thursday rides to his death in an unprovoked and fool-hardy frontal attack on Apache warriors. Cut to the closing scene, months later back at the fort, Thursday's memory is lauded by a group of uninformed reporters as a glorious hero to which John Wayne, the new leader of Fort Apache ironically accedes.

Highly recommended.

A Must-See in the History of Western Movies.......2007-02-03

It's fascinating to compare this 1948 pairing of director John Ford and John Wayne with Stagecoach, which they did together in 1939. In 1939 Wayne was a 'kid' and the Indians were a faceless menace which could not be reasoned with. Not even ten years later, Wayne is a weathered, wise Captain on a remote outpost, very sympathetic with the local natives. The Indians are now a complex, mistreated group who are deserving of respect.

The landscape and lifestyle is simply gorgeous in this film even though it's black and white. The love of music, the heartachingly gorgeous vistas and carved rocks, the soaring skies all make you want to immediately take a trip to the west. There are a variety of characters here - the defeated Rebels from the civil war, the stereotypical group of drinking Irish, the shopkeeps who take advantage of the natives and the men of honor who try to do the right thing.

The local cavalry group is happy hanging out in their remote outpost when Henry Fonda - Col. Thursday - shows up with his slightly ditsy but good natured daughter, Philadelphia (Shirley Temple!). Philly playfully explains that Pomfret CT and not Pennsylvania lay in her past. Soon the local west point grad is in love with her - but despite his officer rank and the fact that his dad won the medal of honor, Thursday feels the romance is entirely inappropriate - a breach of class etiquette.

In fact, Thursday calls the lad an "uncilized Indian" for taking his daughter out without permission. He feels he's educated and worthy of great glory - he researched the tactics of Khan, Alexander the Great and others. When it comes to real life, however, he is lacking in wisdom.

While the group is sitting around enjoying 1846 port, the natives are restless. Thusrday disdanfully complains that while others get to joust with "the 'great indian nations' of Sioux and Cheyenne, we get the gnat-stains and flea- bites of a few digger indians." Wayne, annoyed, responds, "You'd hardly call the Apaches digger indians." Says Thursday, "You'd scarely compare them with the Sioux ..." When Wayne tries to talk about the Apaches destroying the Sioux, Thursday ignores him.

Soon, because local trader Meacham has been only giving them rotgut whiskey, giving them "whiskey but no beef", Chochise, Diablo, Geronimo and others take off with numerous Mescaleros and Chiricahuas for the south border. Meacham is dismissive - "You know how children are". Wayne goes in to talk peace with them, and no sooner has he negotiated one but Thursday decides to kill them all for glory. When Wayne complains about the damage to his honor, Thursday sneers about the value of "Your word to a breech-clothed savage".

Unfortunately for Thursday's wild plan, the cavalry are soon surrounded and outnumbered four to one. Thurday reluctantly agrees to talk - and again his lack of wisdom shines through as he abandons all diplomacy and openly insults them. It's pretty inevitable what follows.

On one hand you could complain that even though there are supposed to be multiple branches of the Apache clan represented, you tend to only see generic indians on ridges with regular shirts and bandanas. But compared to the stories done just ten years ago, the changes are pretty stunning. Now it's the whites who are the senseless marauders, and the natives who are merely trying to find a peaceful way to live. Unfortunately, it's the cavalrymen who get stuck in the center.

A very important movie to watch, to see how the shifting sands adjust in perceptions over time - and to admire the gorgeous landscapes of the old west.

An unsatisfactory epic Western!.......2006-11-08

In portraying the history of the United States from the Revolutionary War to World War II, John Ford continually resorted to a deeply personal, nostalgic form of legend... If there is no doubt of his importance to the development of the Western, his uniquely sentimental, poetic glorification of the white American's conquest of the wilderness is both picturesque and reactionary...

The cavalrymen get a more honorable deal from three films made in succession by him: 'Ford Apache,' 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,' and 'Rio Grande.' These are quite properly referred to as his 'cavalry trilogy' as they deserve to be considered as a body of work dedicated to a particular theme, that of the life of the cavalry and their role as frontier protectors in times of Indian uprising...

'Fort Apache' is about the tensions in an isolated fort-social and military - hierarchy tensions, and, ultimately, the purely military tensions that arise when the commanding officer is transparently ill-fitted for his command...

Henry Fonda is a vain, domineering, and embittered colonel who can't get over losing his Civil War rank as general... He arrives at the Arizona desert outpost to take over from the experienced Indian fighter, John Wayne... He is arrogant, accepting no advice, and further alienates the hard-bitten veterans by refusing to support the romance of his lovely daughter (Shirley Temple) with a young lieutenant from West Point (John Agar) who happens to be the son of sergeant major (Ward Bond).

There are nice touches in the film here about army traditions, and undisciplined troops: Civil War veterans living in noisy harmony; amusing and touching moments with variety of vignettes that deal with the everyday lives of Fort Apache cavalrymen; and pretty Irish drunk humor from Victor McLaglen... The inevitable climax concerns, of course, the colonel's arrogance and ignorance leading his men into an Apache massacre...

'Fort Apache' is an unsatisfactory epic Western which yet contains sequences in its director's best manner... Ford consistently finds the most beautiful way to frame a scene, and the black and white photography is stunning... But the best of the trilogy is undoubtedly 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,' which remains for many their favorite Western movie...

THE AUTHOR BEHIND ALL THE CAVALRY EPICS.......2006-10-30

Reading reviews of the cavalry trilogy movies (Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, & Rio Grande) you will possibly hear appreciation for the director, the actors, the locations, etc., but one thing you may not hear is appreciation for the author who put pen and ink to paper to write all these stories that found their way to the movie screen.

His name was James Warner Bellah and from his short story, MASSACRE, published by Curtis Publishing Company in 1947 came the framework for the movie Fort Apache. Other of his stories form the background for the other 2 cavalry pictures, as well as the later movie, SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.

All these stories, 10 in total, later appeared in a Fawcett Gold Medal paperback (s1218) entitiled REVEILLE which sold for 35 cents in June, 1962. The fort was called Fort Starke in the stories and this is how Fawcett summarized the book: "A choice collection of great stories that thunder the glory of the old horse soldiers in their final triumphant days at Fort Starke ... This is what it was like".

I have two copies of that 1962 Fawcett Gold Medal paperback, as well as two copies of the June, 1960, .35 cent Bantam paperback western A2085: SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.

As Paul Harvey would say: now you know the rest of the story.

Semper Fi.

Average customer rating:

Yours, Mine and Ours
Classic Lucille Ball Movie!
Lucy & Henry Fonda in a Comedy
I Love Lucy
Lucy at Best

Yours, Mine and Ours
Starring: Lucille Ball , Henry Fonda , Van Johnson , Louise Troy , and Sidney Miller
Director: Melville Shavelson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( Y ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Cheaper By the Dozen
With Six You Get Eggroll
The Long, Long Trailer
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) / Belles on Their Toes
Spencer's Mountain

ASIN: B000056MMM
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Amazon.com

Predating The Brady Bunch by almost a decade, Yours, Mine, and Ours is a screwball comedy about the ultimate blended family. When the widow Helen North (Lucille Ball) marries the widower Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda), the two must find a place to house their 18--count 'em, 18!--kids (she had 8, he had 10). Based on a real-life couple, the film details the nuances of everyday life in a house overrun with children. From getting all the kids ready for school to sending off an older son to war, this well-written film is wholesome entertainment that doesn't condescend. Look for the very young Tracy Nelson as Germaine. --Jenny Brown

Description

Based on a true story and co-starring Van Johnson and Tom Bosley, Yours, Mine And Ours keeps the laughs coming in a "clean, wholesome family comedy" (Life). This population explosion occurs when widowed Navy nurse Helen North (Ball) meets handsome Naval officer and widower Frank Beardsley (Fonda). They have much in commontoo much in factshehas eight kids and he has ten, and when they tie the knot, anarchy reigns in the Beardsley-North merger. The opposing camps of step-siblings do all they can to sabotage each other and their parents' union. But, through it all, mother lovingly cares for her "troops," while father patiently coaches his coming-of-age kids in more delicate matters, and resentment soon gives way to respect and something bigger than anyone could have imagined!

Customer Reviews:

Yours, Mine and Ours.......2007-06-19

This is my favorite movie of all time. Chaotic and oh so funny.

Classic Lucille Ball Movie!.......2007-06-13

Classic Lucille Ball Movie! She is so funny in this movie! Henry Fonda is great also. Tim Matheson is so young in this movie. Would recommend for people of ALL Ages!!

Lucy & Henry Fonda in a Comedy.......2007-05-29

Widow Helen North (Lucille Ball) and widower Frank Beardsley (Hendry Fonda) meet in a grocery store, each lugging a cart with huge mounds of food in them. They each need to lug huge amounts of food because Helen has eight children and Frank has ten, though two of Frank's are temporarily on loan.

With a little luck and a bit of manipulation on the part of Frank's friend Darrel Harrison (Van Johnson), Helen and Frank end up married, making a family of twenty! The opportunity for humor is boundless, both before and after the marriage. Before the marriage there are several opportunities for sexual references, lending a bit of credibility to the interplay between Helen and Frank. After the marriage the focus tends to be more on the children and the family orientation of Helen and Frank.

This film is at its best when it focuses on the real life problems of families in general. The size related issues just add opportunities to the comedy and the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you see people who could be real deal with problems that look as though they could happen.

This movie is one of those rare movies that looks fairly at the advantages and disadvantages of large families. The other movies that I have seen that fall into this category are the original version of "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Belles on Their Toes." None of these movies makes any sort of judgment on large families, positive or negative, but there is an incredible amount of love and understanding shared by all the members of the North-Beardsleys. Note that the real-life story of Helen Eileen Beardsley and her husband inspired this movie.

I originally watched this movie in the 1960's. I was pleased that the movie is even more charming than I remembered. It may be that having children of my own (though no where near eighteen!) has affected my view of this movie. I strongly recommend this movie for families everywhere, particularly where the children are getting older and more selfish. A family this size helps everyone realize the importance of love and sharing.

Enjoy!

I Love Lucy.......2007-05-18

I have always like this movie, from the time I first saw it on TV to now owning a copy. It's a movie for the whole family and it has a message on what a family can be like after a world seems to be totally rocked for 2 families. I get a big kick out of the grocery bill, would like to get that many groceries for that price today.

Lucy at Best.......2007-03-12

Lucy shows that age does nothing when it comes to talent. Can't wait for special features and widescreen edition.

Average customer rating:

Mister Roberts is great!
1 OF THE BEST FILMS EVER
I HAVE A BETTER ENDING!
War Time
Screen Acting at its Best

Mister Roberts
Starring: Henry Fonda , James Cagney , William Powell , Jack Lemmon , and Betsy Palmer
Director: Mervyn LeRoy , Joshua Logan , and John Ford
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Operation Petticoat
The Caine Mutiny
Father Goose
Stalag 17 (Special Collector's Edition)
The Wackiest Ship in the Army [Region 99]

ASIN: 6305225761
Release Date: 1998-12-22

Amazon.com essential video

Henry Fonda re-created his Broadway hit for this 1955 film that was mostly directed by Fonda's frequent collaborator, John Ford (Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine)--an ailing Ford was replaced at some point by Mervyn LeRoy--and the results are exceptionally fine. A perfect cast, including James Cagney's irascible captain, William Powell's thoughtful physician, and Jack Lemmon's Oscar-winning Ensign Pulver, give Fonda the right boost to portray his ennui-burdened officer with dignity, self-effacing humor, and not a trace of self-pity. A wonderful film. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Mister Roberts is great!.......2007-05-23

I use a scene from the play version in my high school Theatre Arts 1 classes. The boys enjoy watching their scene because they have nothing to relate to in their lives. It is such a kick to hear them laugh at the innocent humor that they don't get in this day and time. This movie has a great cast of characters and actors in their early years. It's wonderful!

1 OF THE BEST FILMS EVER.......2007-05-07

I PERSONALY HAVE LOVED THIS FILM FOR YEARS THE CAST JUST SEEM TO CLICK ITS FUNNY WELL SCRIPTED & ACTED IF YOURE LOOKING FOR A COMEDY WAR FILM THEY DONT COME ANY BETTER THAN THIS ITS WELL WORTH A LOOK.

I HAVE A BETTER ENDING!.......2007-04-05

Of course this is an outstanding film. This may be the movie that displays Jack Lemon's talents at his best, for the first time. However, I have a much better ending. When Lemon goes into the caption's quarters hopping mad, he should have showed the letter to him. The caption would just stare at Lemon, then go out and throw the plant POT overboard. It would show that, even though he is a mean person, he still has feelings. But they didn't; too bad!

War Time.......2007-03-19

I consider this a must in my collection with many named stars. Good story set in WW2 behind the main fighting lines. James Cagney is the quirky captain and Jack Lemmon's comedy is great.

Screen Acting at its Best.......2007-02-03

If you haven't seen "Mr. Roberts" lately, or if you have never seen it, you
should catch it. Fonda, Cagney, Powell and especially Lemmon are all great!
Its also about the U.S. in a different war in a different time and place.

Average customer rating:

A tremendous movie
Best Leone Western That He Didn't Direct
The best of all Terrence Hill Movies
"what's your name anyway?" "Who me? ....No-body."
Unusual but instantly classic Western

My Name Is Nobody
Starring: Terence Hill , Henry Fonda , Jean Martin , Piero Lulli , and Mario Brega
Director: Tonino Valerii , and Sergio Leone
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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Outlaws | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Spaghetti Western | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Allerson, Alexander | ( A ) | Actors &