Anita Ekberg

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection - Vol. 2 (You're Never Too Young / Artists and Models / Living It up / Pardners / Hollywood or Bust)

Average customer rating:

Two Masterpieces on Here, Unbeatable price
great transfer quality! very good value/package!
Paramount did a great job with this set
Missing Batlady?
Where's "Money From Home" ??

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection - Vol. 2 (You're Never Too Young / Artists and Models / Living It up / Pardners / Hollywood or Bust)
Starring: Dean Martin , Jerry Lewis , Shirley Maclaine , Dorothy Malone , and Eva Gabor
Director: Norman Taurog
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection - Vol. 1 (The Caddy / Jumping Jacks / My Friend Irma / My Friend Irma Goes West / Sailor Beware / Scared Stiff / That's My Boy)
Can-Can
Pirates of the Golden Age Movie Collection (Against All Flags / Buccaneer's Girl / Yankee Buccaneer / Double Crossbones)
Tyrone Power: The Swashbuckler Box Set (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile)
On the Riviera

ASIN: B000NOK0MQ
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Amazon.com

Surely even the French, with their legendary love of all things Jerry Lewis, will be sated by the Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection: Vol. 2, a three-disc package containing five comedy-musicals released on DVD for the first time. It would be a supreme stretch to call any of the five films in question (You're Never Too Young, Artists and Models, Living It Up, Pardners, and Hollywood or Bust) a classic, but then, anyone looking for challenging storylines and deep characterizations probably wouldn't be here in the first place. What the films offer instead are various breezy diversions, in the form of Martin, the suave, smooth talking cad and crooner; a parade of lovely young women (Dorothy Malone, Anita Ekberg, Janet Leigh, and Shirley MacLaine among them); some terrific musical numbers that are the highlights of their respective films; and, of course, the antics of Lewis, whose capacity for slapshtick and mugging is apparently inexhaustible. By this time (the mid-1950s), the two had already fit comfortably into their respective personae, with Lewis as the naïve, ingenuous rube and Martin right there to take advantage of him. In Artists and Models, Martin's aspiring painter cops ideas from the frenzied dreams of his comics-obsessed roommate (Lewis, natch) and creates a hit comic of his own, a simple story that's derailed by an absurd and unnecessary subplot involving the U.S. government and some enemy agents. Living It Up, adapted from an earlier musical called Nothing Sacred, finds Lewis cajoled by Martin, his doctor (talk about a stretch!), into pretending that he's suffering from radiation poisoning so they can both enjoy a lavish trip to New York courtesy of a newspaper trying to boost circulation by playing up the "dying" man's plight. Hollywood or Bust, a combination road picture and gentle spoof of the movie biz, casts Martin as a gambler and con man accompanying film fanatic Lewis on a trip to Tinseltown, while Pardners is a Wild West romp ("Jerry Lewis as a gunslinger" about sums it up) and You're Never Too Young puts Lewis totally in his element as he impersonates a 12-year-old boy in order to escape bad guy Raymond Burr. The plots are thin, at best, and the songs are hardly Oscar caliber. Still, the two stars have an undeniable chemistry, and the musical set pieces are highly entertaining, most notably a sort of pas de duh (sic) between Lewis and MacLaine in Artists and Models and an eye-popping, show-stopping dance number in Living It Up. In the end, it all basically comes down to one's capacity to endure Lewis' manic mannerisms (it's worth noting that by Hollywood or Bust, the pair's last collaboration, he's pretty thoroughly upstaged by a Great Dane). If even this cornucopia isn't sufficient, perhaps a move to France is in order. The set contains no bonus material. --Sam Graham

Product Description

LIVING IT UP: The 1954 Martin-and-Lewis romp Living It Up is an amusing remake of the 1937 comedy classic Nothing Sacred. More specifically, it is the film version of the Broadway musical Hazel Flagg, which was based on Nothing Sacred. The heroine of the original undergoes a sex change to become feckless Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis), who is led to believe that he's dying of radiation poisoning. Manhattan newspaperwoman Wally Cook (Janet Leigh), hoping to improve circulation of her paper, convinces her boss, Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), to fete Homer as a hero with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Homer learns from local doctor Steve (Dean Martin) that he isn't dying at all. But Steve talks Homer into taking advantage of the celebrity treatment bestowed on him by Wally, and a good time is had by all — until medical specialist Dr. Egelhofer (Sig Rumann) insists upon examining Homer. Highlights include a hilarious bit at Yankee Stadium, and an energetic jitterbug number featuring Jerry Lewis and Sheree North. The handful of songs retained from Hazel Flagg include "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York."
YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG: You're Never Too Young is a slapstick-with-songs remake of the 1944 Ray Milland/Ginger Rogers vehicle The Major and the Minor. Dean Martin plays the Milland part, while Ginger's shoes are filled by...Jerry Lewis? Lewis plays an apprentice barber who inadvertently crosses a homicidal jewel thief (Raymond Burr), and equally inadvertently hightails it out of town with the crook's jewels in his possession. Desperate to escape the crook's clutches, and lacking the necessary funds for a train ticket, Lewis disguises himself as a 12-year-old boy so he can travel half fare. He latches onto Dean, a music teacher heading for an all-girls school. After innumerable routines sparked by Lewis's adolescent disguise, the jewel thief catches up with him, leading to a rollicking climactic speedboat chase. Dean Martin has plenty of opportunities to serenade leading lady Diana Lynn (who'd played a supporting role in The Major and the Minor), while Jerry Lewis is in peak form doing his usual "waah-waah-waah" schtick. The original Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett script for The Major and the Minor was reshaped into You're Never Too Young by future bestselling novelist Sidney Sheldon.
ARTISTS AND MODELS: Bearing very little relation to the 1937 Paramount musical of the same name, Artists and Models is a lavish, girl-filled vehicle for the popular team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin plays Rick Todd, a comic-book artist who is under fire from his publisher (Eddie Mayehoff), who complains that Rick's work isn't gory enough. Lewis plays Eugene Fullstack, Rick's roommate, who while asleep dreams up elaborate comic-book plots and garishly costumed superheroes. Eugene's nightmares help Rick become a success; meanwhile, our two heroes romance their luscious neighbors, artist Dorothy Malone and rambunctious model Shirley MacLaine (who during one song wrestles Eugene to the floor and sits on his chest!) Eugene's overworked imagination somehow attracts the attention of a group of Russian spies, who attempt to abduct Eugene during the annual Artists and Models Ball. Director Frank Tashlin uses Artists and Models as an excuse for some of the wildest sight-gags seen in a mid-1950s film. At one point, the director contrives to stuff a gag in Shirley MacLaine's mouth. Tashlin also exhibits his ongoing fascination with female breasts and legs by giving ample screen time to the natural attributes of co-stars Anita Ekberg and Zsa Zsa Gabor. One of the best of the Martin/Lewis efforts, Artists and Models suffers only from being about 20 minutes too long.
PARDNERS: This Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis romp is liberally based on the 1936 Bing Crosby film Rhythm on the Range. Set around 1910, the film stars Lewis as the pampered son of female tycoon Agnes Moorehead. Yearning to return to the Wild West where his father was a famed peacekeeper, Lewis purchases a prize bull, destined for the ranch inherited by rodeo star Dean Martin. It so happens that Martin and Lewis' late fathers were "pardners", so Martin takes it upon himself to protect Lewis from the various and sundry tough hombres in the region. Through a series of bizarre plot convolutions, Lewis gains a reputation as a rootin' tootin' gunslinger, and in his hubris he decides to round up a gang of outlaws headed by Jeff Morrow. As a result, he nearly gets himself blown to smitherines, but Martin shows up in the nick of time to rescue Lewis and help him capture the bad guys. Lori Nelson and Jackie Loughery supply the film's peripheral romantic angle. Pardners ends with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis turning to the camera and promising that they'll keep on making pictures for their faithful fans; ironically, the team was breaking up even while the cameras were turning.
HOLLYWOOD OR BUST: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made their last joint film appearance in the girl-filled musical Hollywood or Bust. The thinnish plot finds inveterate film fan Jerry making a cross-country journey to Tinseltown for the purpose of meeting his favorite screen star, the buxom Anita Ekberg (the film's title, need it be added, has a double meaning). Dean goes along for the ride, hoping to expand his bankroll during a Las Vegas stopover. The boys are joined by a third traveller, an enormous Great Dane named Mr. Bascomb; along the way, the trio becomes a quartet when pretty Pat Crowley hitches a ride. The finale takes place in Hollywood, naturally, as Jerry wreaks havoc at a film studio which looks suspiciously like Paramount. All reports indicate that Hollywood and Bust was an unhappy shoot, with Jerry Lewis behaving so obstreperously that director Frank Tashlin ordered him off the set and told him to go home until he learned to behave himself; to this day, Lewis cannot bring himself to watch the film. Happily, the animosity between the two stars never comes across on screen, and as a result Hollywood or Bust is a most enjoyable diversion.

Customer Reviews:

Two Masterpieces on Here, Unbeatable price.......2007-06-18

HOLLYWOOD OR BUST and (especially) ARTISTS AND MODELS are two of the greatest films of the 1950s. The director of both, Frank Tashlin, was the Hitchcock of lowbrow social satire. Both are at times visually and compositionally amazing.

The other three films are reasonable (at least LIVING IT UP), but Norman Taurog was pretty much a director-for-hire.

The tension between the two stars, for me at least, only makes these films more interesting, as it embodies the dissolution of post-classical Hollywood myth-making.

great transfer quality! very good value/package!.......2007-06-09

Hi Folks
these films look fabulous!! Many of them are VISTAVISION which was the absolute highest grade quality/size negative format from the 50's era.
I'm not going to deduct stars for what Isn't in this set...that's lame...this is 5 very well presented movies with many many laughs..some great songs and loads of fun...for a bit over $20? Geeez , how can you resist?
I can't explain Martin & Lewis to you ...if you don't know their work..start with volume 1 then this one..and don't avoid the Legendary Jerry set as its wonderful as well. Kids out there? Think Adam Sandler invented that character of his? watch Jerry...
and Dean is still the big brother we all wished we had..cool as heck and very protective of his idiot friend.

Paramount did a great job with this set.......2007-06-07

Martin & Lewis shine in this beautifully put together set of these fun and glossy movies. It's a treat, especially considering that 4 out of the 5 movies are produced in the great widescreen format of VistaVision - so the visual clarity is especially acute, plus all 5 movies are in color which is made fine use of, particularly in the whimsical 'Artists and Models'. The design of the DVD box - which opens up like a triptych - is excellent and includes reproductions of the 5 original movie posters plus a fine montage of stills from the movies. So enjoy 5 entertaining movies with the cool and suave Dean Martin and the manic brilliance of Jerry Lewis.

Missing Batlady?.......2007-05-15

I shall definitely ordering this set (despite the missing movies!),
but - can anyone tell me if "Artists and Models" has had Shirley MacLaine's missing "BatLady" number fully restored???????

That would make this an even better set.

Where's "Money From Home" ??.......2007-05-09

I agree with the other postings - when will Money From Home be released on DVD? The best I've been able to do is buy a copy (pirated, probably) on VHS from eBay.

The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 3 (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars / Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion / Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein / Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man / Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer / Comin' Round the Mountain / Lost in Alaska / Mexican Hayride)

Average customer rating:

FUNNY MOVIES
A. & C.::::Vol. 1,2,3
More turkeys than gems
Abbott and Costello on Parade
Favorite Movies!

The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 3 (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars / Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion / Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein / Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man / Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer / Comin' Round the Mountain / Lost in Alaska / Mexican Hayride)
Starring: Bud Abbott , Lou Costello , Mari Blanchard , Robert Paige (IV) , and Horace McMahon
Director: Charles Lamont , and Charles Barton
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 1 (Buck Privates / Hold That Ghost / In the Navy / Keep 'Em Flying / One Night in the Tropics / Pardon My Sarong / Ride 'Em Cowboy / Who Done It?)
The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 2 (Hit the Ice / In Society / Here Come the Co-Eds / The Naughty Nineties / Little Giant / The Time of Their Lives / Buck Privates Come Home / The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap)
The Best of Abbott & Costello, Vol. 4 (Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde / Abbott & Costello Meet the Keystone Cops / Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy / Abbott & Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld / Abbott & Costello Meet the Monsters / The World of Abbott & Costello)
Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)
The Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle - Volume 1

ASIN: B00023P4O2
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Description

Includes the following movies, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Mexican Hayride Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Comin' Round the Mountain Lost in Alaska Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

Customer Reviews:

FUNNY MOVIES .......2007-06-06

WORTH THE MONEY
I LOVE THIS DVD, BRINGS BACK LAUGHTER AND MEMORYS AND YOU NEVER GET BORED WITH IT,

A. & C.::::Vol. 1,2,3.......2007-05-22

All the movies were 'clean', no fuzz, no lines, clear sharp pictures. Unlike some other reviews, these DVD's played perfectly with no problems! Definitely worth the money if you're a true Abbott and Costello fan...well worth it even if it's just old comedy you enjoy!!

More turkeys than gems.......2007-05-22

While there are a couple of really good films on this set, the majority of them are sub-par vehicles. These aren't exactly films that would make a big fan out of someone just getting into A&C. At least this set has been updated to have the eight films on four single-sided discs as opposed to the problem-plagued earlier version which had eight films on two flipper-discs, although the main menus, oddly, haven't been updated as well. They're still designed in a way that gives the impression that two other films are on the flip side.

'A&C Meet Frankenstein' (1948) is widely held as a classic, though I personally find it rather overrated. I liked it more the second time I saw it, but I still honestly don't get why so many people feel it's their best and funniest movie. Who knows, perhaps I'd find it a lot funnier if I'd seen it in the original theatrical run or on television as a child. Although I do think that the plot is pretty strong, and of the three monsters, Bela Lugosi's reprisal of Dracula had the most depth.

'Mexican Hayride' (1948) has some fun scenes, such as when Joe (Lou) is getting his entire wardrobe torn off of his body in an attempt to get rid of everything with his real initials and the later scene in the bullring, but overall it's a pretty mediocre vehicle. Its biggest fault is probably that it was originally a book and Broadway show, not a movie script originally written for them, and so didn't really fit even after being reworked to make it an A&C vehicle.

'A&C Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff' (1949) was one of my favorites on here. It's a great murder mystery, complete with some touches of film noir, and leaves the viewer guessing till the very end. Although in spite of the title, there aren't really any elements of horror in here, and Boris Karloff's character is relegated to a secondary character too quickly. There might not be a lot of funny scenes in it, but the great plot makes up for it.

'A&C in the Foreign Legion' (1950) isn't their most memorable, nor is the premise that novel (just how many comedies have had a similar setting?), though there are a lot of good scenes, such as the opening scene in the boxing ring, the auction for the harem girls, and when Bud and Lou are wandering through the desert and having mirages. It might not be as sophisticated as some of their other films, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

'A&C Meet the Invisible Man' (1951), one of their better entries in the 'Meet' series, is possibly my favorite film on this set. There's a great plot, and the special effects are rather impressive for the era before computer-generated special effects. Though a lot of the gags center around the fact that Tommy (the boxer who is trying to clear his name of a false murder charge) is invisible, I didn't feel that these jokes got predictable or formulaic, since there were so many different jokes to be mined from this premise instead of the same ones over and over again. And how could any movie not be funny when there's an invisible character?

'Comin' 'Round the Mountain' (1951) is pretty weak, not least because, like many of their earliest films, it's cluttered up by superfluous musical numbers (which seem to drag on forever). The movie even starts with one of them, which isn't a good sign. Among the few genuine highlights are Lou's scene with the witch and the effects her love potion has on everyone who drinks it. The spoof of the Hatfield and McCoy feud could have been funnier, but the hillbilly characters just weren't utilised well enough, particularly the pistol-wielding granny, who should have been given more to do. Bud's character also doesn't get a whole lot to do. It's enjoyable enough, just nothing really memorable.

'Lost in Alaska' (1952) is near the bottom of the barrel. I was massively unimpressed by it. What few humorous moments it contains are all in the first half, and even then they're not that hysterically funny. They were really wasted in this one, and it's not even redeemed by a good ending scene. Bud's character also seems like more of a jerk than usual here.

'A&C Go to Mars' (1953) is generally regarded as one of their worst also, but I found it a bit better than its reputation. The Mardi Gras scenes are pretty funny, as are the two guys playing the escaped convicts who end up joining them on the rocket, and the opening scene of Lou with the children at the orphanage is really heartwarming, particularly knowing how much he cared for disadvantaged children in real life. Most of the rest, however, falls pretty flat. The sci-fi bits are badly dated and such obvious products of the Fifties, the scenes on Venus are pretty ridiculous (although the Queen's truth-detectors are kind of funny), and the last third or so of the movie seems really rushed. Those Venusian women must have been really desperate for men if they were attracted to these four guys! (Even Bud, whom I think looked rather handsome in their earliest films, was looking pretty old and tired by this point.) Overall, it's the type of thing that only a young child or someone who first saw this as a child decades ago is apt to find that funny.

All in all, while there are some genuinely good movies on here, and while the other ones all have their moments, this is something likely to be enjoyed more by completists and hardcore fans than new or casual fans. It's a shame A&C weren't given high-quality scripts worthy of their talents more often and had to go through the motions in turkeys like 'Lost in Alaska' and 'Comin' 'Round the Mountain' so often in the later part of their career.

Abbott and Costello on Parade.......2007-05-07

I remember the great antics of Abbott and Costello from the earliest days of my childhood. That's why I purchased the DVDs covering their film career.
I was not at all disappointed with the quality of the transfer from film to DVD; watching the DVDs was very much like watching the films in a theatre. And of course, Abbott and Costello are as entertaining for me now as much as they were back "in the good ol' days."
I would not, however, recommend these great DVDs for young people; this duo was at its best back in the forties and fifties, but they would be considered corny in this day and age. So, if your fifty--or more--by all means, shell out the cash and enjoy the laughable, crazy, and slapstick antics of one of the most famous comic pairs ever in the business. If you happen to be young, unless you have an unusual interest in the the film industry, skip these DVDs for something a little more modern and sophisticated.

Favorite Movies!.......2007-04-19

These are some of my favorite movies by Abbott and Costello and if you have not been privileged to view this hilarious duo I would advise that you begin with these movies. The movies are old but for the era that they were filmed in I consider these to be of decent quality and as funny as ever.

La Dolce Vita (2-Disc Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Excellent film and edition
Existentialism and Its Limits
Nico is Adorable in La Dolce Vita !
A Parable of Futility
Feels Incredibly Modern

La Dolce Vita (2-Disc Collector's Edition)
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni , Anita Ekberg , Anouk Aimée , Yvonne Furneaux , and Magali Noël
Director: Federico Fellini
Manufacturer: Koch Lorber Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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8 1/2 - Criterion Collection
Bicycle Thieves (Criterion Collection)
La Strada - Criterion Collection
Amarcord (Criterion Collection)
Nights of Cabiria - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B00005JKGO
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Amazon.com essential video

At three brief hours, La Dolce Vita, a piece of cynical, engrossing social commentary, stands as Federico Fellini's timeless masterpiece. A rich, detailed panorama of Rome's modern decadence and sophisticated immorality, the film is episodic in structure but held tightly in focus by the wandering protagonist through whom we witness the sordid action. Marcello Rubini (extraordinarily played by Marcello Mastroianni) is a tabloid reporter trapped in a shallow high-society existence. A man of paradoxical emotional juxtapositions (cool but tortured, sexy but impotent), he dreams about writing something important but remains seduced by the money and prestige that accompany his shallow position. He romanticizes finding true love but acts unfazed upon finding that his girlfriend has taken an overdose of sleeping pills. Instead, he engages in an ménage à trois, then frolics in a fountain with a giggling American starlet (bombshell Anita Ekberg), and in the film's unforgettably inspired finale, attends a wild orgy that ends, symbolically, with its participants finding a rotting sea animal while wandering the beach at dawn. Fellini saw his film as life affirming (thus its title, The Sweet Life), but it's impossible to take him seriously. While Mastroianni drifts from one worldly pleasure to another, be it sex, drink, glamorous parties, or rich foods, they are presented, through his detached eyes, are merely momentary distractions. His existence, an endless series of wild evenings and lonely mornings, is ultimately soulless and facile. Because he lacks the courage to change, Mastroianni is left with no alternative but to wearily accept and enjoy this "sweet" life. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews:

Excellent film and edition.......2007-06-13

There's not much to add to the laudits for this film. Groundbreaking director in what some consider his most groundbreaking film. The era produced many innovative films that influenced cinema thereafter, and La Dolce Vita is primary in that regard.

More to the point of this review, this Criterion edition meets the highest of the quality standards they have almost solely set for the film DVD. Any DVD today that doesn't have commentary and features are a rip-off for buyers, but the quality varies significantly (I dare you to sit through Rob Reiner's commentary on "When Harry Met Sally").

Criterion truly understands the film lover, the person who wants to know as much as possible about the film, including the how and why of its elements and the who and what behind its making. They realize that not only film students are interested in the process and people of moviemaking. Not cheap, their editions however offer far more value than the usual DVD release.

The commentary by Richard Schickel, a true expert on film, is extremely literate and informative. His command of his knowledge keeps the insights coming non-stop. His purpose is to inform and to interest, and he stays right on the mark throughout.

Enough features are included to require a second disk, and I believe this edition contains more than any other Fellini film edition. Interviews with Fellini himself as well as others involved in the production give excellent background and context to the film and to Fellini and his career.

Film buffs will appreciate the care with which this extensive set of extras has been compiled. Criterion certainly has set the standards for film editions, and this is one of their best.

Existentialism and Its Limits.......2007-06-10

It is difficult to imagine a deeper film than this. Fellini presents several existential choices for his main character, Marcello, played by the marvelous Marcello Mastroianni -- jet-set life (the visiting starlet and its possibilities), intellectual respectability (Steiner and company), religious ecstasy (the children's sighting of Mary), passionate love (the curious fling with Maddalena), bourgeois love (his needy girlfriend, Emma).

As the film exposes each choice as a fraud, a farce, or a disaster, what does it mean to say Marcello is free to choose? He is trapped by too much rather than too little choice -- an elegant encapsulation of existentialism!

So much for my attempt to unpack the film's meaning; the many memorable scenes, and the many subsequent films that allude to them, are the better reason to cherish it.

Nico is Adorable in La Dolce Vita !.......2007-06-08

I watched this classic, but weird film from Federico Fellini, who is noteworthy for his twisted, distorted films I felt it was dull and in line with the rest of his films.

Until happy little Nico (of the Velvet Underground)sparked up onto the screen with the happiness and youth of a sparrow. She is grand in her role. She's in the prime of her beauty and she just fits in with the whole nonsense of the film.

Fellini cast her immediately although most of the footage was already shot, not about to bypass getting this young and giggling beauty into a piece of his puzzle. Talented eye of his !

Unfortunately, her role is quite short in this lengthy movie.

A Parable of Futility .......2007-05-06

The theme of this story is the narcissism that causes a group of dissatisfied "celebrities" and the reporters and journalists who exploit them to create dehumanized lives in the context of hedonistic materialism.
This story is culturally valuable because it shows us the lifestyles of "celebrities" and aristocracy and how standards are formed around those lifestyles. The story reveals a side of "the sweet life" that is often untold and unnoticed. It serves to remind us what is truly important, and to break up common illusions and misconceptions about the life of glamour. The final scene, in which the healthy young girl and Marcello, with his entourage of misguided celebrities, cannot communicate illustrates the distinction between the two and their value systems.
The glamorous life is not the only thing about which Fellini reveals misconceptions: common understandings of love and religion are also shown to be ineffective and harmful. The scene of the planned "miracle" is one such instance that shows religious superficial and superstitious practices. In one instance, we are shown a group of the faithful ripping apart a sapling tree just because the Madonna was alleged to have appeared in its proximity. This story exemplifies many facets of humanity that are universal and timeless.
The way the elements of style are used serves to increase the worth of the film and intensify the force with which its cultural value is presented. Many of the elements are used with such subtlety that we scarcely understand why we are feeling the way we do until the film is over and we have analyzed it. The dialogue is well-written and telling; however, the other elements of film style contribute as much to our sense of what the film means, if not more. The lighting, editing and sound present to us the aura of the film; alienation, loneliness, boredom, self-centeredness and misery.

Feels Incredibly Modern.......2007-04-11

Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's masterpiece, "La Dolce Vita" is a nearly 3-hour long film that's low on plot; But is, without a doubt, a masterpiece. The film marks the first collaboration between Fellini and actor Marcello Mastroianni (who also appeared in "8 1/2").
"La Dolce Vita" claimed the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival and feels surprisingly modern, especially since it's 46 years old.

Mastroianni plays Marcello, a gossip columnist who lives the nightlife, scoping out various clubs and hangouts while getting dirt on various celebrities. This movie is what gave the world the term "paparazzi." In truth, the word "paparazzi" is never used, but "paparazzo" is uttered many times. Anyway, the plot doesn't follow a linear line of events. Instead, we follow Marcello on what amounts to a series of episodes almost like on a TV show. He meets a woman (Anouk Aimee), with whom he spends the night at a prostitute's house. We see his relationship with his suicidal girlfriend. We watch him meet the Swedish actress Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), lust for her but never actually get her. We watch as he goes to see a supposed sighting of the Madonna. Then as he visits an old friend...Despite being 174 minutes, I'm finding myself at a loss of words over the actual plot. That's one of the great things about a Fellini film though, the spontaneity.

The script is written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Tullio Pinelli...To me, the biggest influences on the film are Fellini and Pasolini. It's got Fellini's mood and atmosphere; anyone could recognize it as a Fellini film. However, unlike "La Strada" or "Nights of Cabiria" it has that same pacing, slowness that looms over Pasolini's "Salo" and "Teorema." The title la dolce vita translates to "the sweet life." The title fits the film so well. Throughout the film, we watch the hopeless protagonist Marcello search for the sweet life. By the end of the film, he has realized that there's no such thing. If you put this film in-between "La Strada" and "8 1/2" you realize something strange. "La Strada" has a childish innocence to it, "La Dolce Vita" has a young man transitioning into a world-weary state, and then "8 1/2" has that world-weary man in the form of a director. It's interesting to notice; these three films play almost as a trilogy. This is a 5 star film all the way, a fact that owes thanks to the score by Nino Rota. I don't know anyone who could compose a Fellini film the way Rota could. "La Dolce Vita" is a masterpiece. It's long, but it's worth it.
GRADE: A-

Average customer rating:

Only Hollywood could screw up this story!
FIRST CLASS
Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rambova
War and Peace (Abridged by Hollywood)
Ambitious, thoughtful, and massive in scale...

War & Peace (1956) (Ws Sub)
Starring: Audrey Hepburn , Henry Fonda , Mel Ferrer , Vittorio Gassman , and Herbert Lom
Director: King Vidor
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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Paris When It Sizzles
How to Steal a Million
Love in the Afternoon
Funny Face
The Children's Hour

ASIN: B00006JU7S
Release Date: 2002-12-03

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

Customer Reviews:

Only Hollywood could screw up this story!.......2007-06-12

I will say this up front: The casting in this film was spot-on. Audrey Hepburn fit her role beautifully and, while I've NEVER been a fan of Henry Fonda, I was pleasantly surprised as to how he shone as "Pierre". As for everything else, this version of War and Peace drifted far from Tolstoy's masterpiece -- this thing was just a bunch of Hollywood fluff. I held out some hope for the battle scenes but, again, disappointment. If you want to see a brilliantly-done War And Peace DVD, watch the Russian one (subtitled) and forget this cumbersome Hollywood Juggernault of a film.

FIRST CLASS.......2007-05-15

Wonderful film, clearly carefully cleaned-up from the original (referring only to the viewing quality! The only thing a young child's parents would balk at him/her seeing is the violence: mild by today's standards however). Delivery fast, as usual, and well packaged. I shan't sell this copy back to Amazon, I want to keep it to re-play whenever I feel like it. Great stuff.

Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rambova.......2007-03-21

It's odd that this movie runs three hours and twenty eight minutes and it's considered the short, condensed version of Tolstoy's literary masterpiece. The novel is actually much better known and deserves to be. As much I acknowledge King Vidor as the one of the pioneer directors and a maverick who went his own way throughout his career, this movie is a bit of a disappointment. After all, this is the same director who directed "The Big Parade", the anti war movie that launched MGM.

King Vidor was not your typical Texan. Movies he made just before this was "Duel in the Sun" for Selznick and "The Fountainhead" written by Ann Rand. This "War and Peace" was made in Italy and was produced by Dino deLaurentis. Vidor and six other writers had the tast of condensing Tolstoy's classic, eliminating major subplots and streamling the storylines of the three protangonists.

The main protangonist in the book is Pierre Bezahov, here played by Henry Fonda. In 1968, Sergie Bondachuk played Pierre and wrote and directed a nine hour and much better movie than this one. Sergie even looked more like the book Pierre. Fonda could have played him more accurately, after all, he made "The Wrong Man" around the time and he was no longer a spring chicken. But here, he's dashing even when he wins a duel literally by accident. However, he does his best work when forced to walk as a prisoner to the French. He shows dignity in such adject conditions.

Audrey Hepburn should have been perfect as Natasha and at times, is. However, it's not very convincing that she's just a naive little girl in the beginning and a woman who's been though a lot at the end. Not that's not her fault. Vidor with makeup artists, etc. should have created that illusion. In fact, the story is supposed to take seven years and this movie doesn't convince us of that at all.

Mel Ferrer was Audrey's leading man offscream but he's missing the meloncholy about Andrei is supposed to project. He does have passible good looks and be standoffish but not really much else.

However, he and Andrey do look well together and she also has excellent rapport with Fonda. Herbet Lom plays an interesting Napolean. Anita Ekberg looks beautiful and is not asked to do much else.

The battle scenes are very well done and there is good levity when Fonda appears as a spectator. Ferrer's death scene is way too long and a bit unforgivable as some interesting bits of Tolstoy could have gone in.

Tolstoy's musing about life are basically unfilmable but something could have gone in. Instead, the movie ends with Henry and Natasha reunited. However, the main parts of the basic story were covered.

I just wish it had more the transcendance that the ending of "The Crowd" did. For that, I guess read the book.

War and Peace (Abridged by Hollywood).......2007-02-14

This is your reader's digest version of Tolstoy's novel on screen. At almost 4 hours the film conveys the main aspects of the novel, but cuts out many supporting characters, concentrating instead on the main themes of the book. What makes it work is Audrey Hepburn, and to some extent Henry Fonda. Hepburn is a charming Natasha, perhaps the best on screen version. Fonda plods along as Pierre, Mel Farrier makes an effort to be the Byronic Hero that was Prince Andrei. The production quailty is pretty good. This is deffinitely more you romantic version of the story. Battle scenes are pretty much limited to a fairly impressive, albeit short Borodino sequence. The one gripe I have is that all French infantry are shown as Imperial Guard!! The Retreat scenes are not bad, and convey well how the Grande Army fell apart. This is the version I would recommend to introduce someone to the basics of the story. I would then move on to the Russian and BBC versions to see the plot and characters more fully developed. Let's face it, this is War & Peace lite! The DVD has beautiful picture quality, and a few interesting behind the scenes production notes. I think of all screen versions of Tolstoy's immortal novel this is the best known. This is the more romantic version, while the Russian one is more your military history epic.

Ambitious, thoughtful, and massive in scale..........2007-01-17

Although often naive, even crude, the films of King Vidor were frequently distinguished by their sheer energy and forceful visual style... As his career progressed, his films became increasingly grand in terms of narrative scope and visual bravura...

Tolstoy and Vidor tell the epic story through a handful of major characters...

As Napoleon Bonaparte prepares to invade Russia, Pierre Bezukhov (Henry Fonda), an aristocrat so liberal in his views, visits his friend Count Rostov (Barry Jones) and his radiant, young daughter Natasha (Audrey Hepburn). They all witness 'those handsome Russian men marching away to fight, to be killed.'

When his father dies, Pierre falls under the spell of the attractive Helene (Anita Ekberg) and finds himself unable to resist her passionate response... He marries her even though everybody knows that she's fooling around on him with Dolokhov (Helmut Dantine).

His closest friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (Mel Ferrer), achieves success as a soldier under General Kutuzov (Oscar Homolka) but returns wounded, a condition made the worse by the death of his wife in childbirth...

With his own marriage ended by the adultery of his woman, Pierre introduces the grieving Andrei to Natasha, and the pair fall in love... But before they can marry, Andrei goes to fight the invading French and the pacifistic Pierre goes along as an observer...

The motion picture deals with war and its effect on people... It contains many marvelous pictorial moments as the colorfully uniformed regiments marching through the excellent streets of Moscow; snowy landscapes; a magnificent Ballroom sequence; and most of all, Napoleon's forces at the epic battle of Borodino; the march on Moscow and the tragic retreat of Napoleon's army through the Russian winter...

Most of the military side of the story takes place in the second half, and it seems slow to arrive, but the battle of Borodino is fairly well handled... It is focused (through Pierre's eyes) with long shots of the invading and retreating French troops...

Audrey Hepburn whose boyish figure provided a refreshing antidote to the film, is lovely as Natasha... Her flaming innocence and blossoming sensuality set her sweet heart ablaze... This charming spirit, with so much enthusiasm and romanticism, is full of life and true love... Hepburn matures from an impulsive, kind-hearted teen-ager, to an understanding woman who uses her courage and impetuousness to love, to care, and to serve...

Henry Fonda is pure, brave, and noble... He projects with sincerity the confusion of an honest man caught up in an angry twist of history... He witnesses the horrific events of war, experiencing days of misery as a prisoner of war... His remarkable adventures lead him to understand at least part of the mysteries of life, humanity, love and loyalty... Pierre is strikingly different from others, with a deep love and esteem for his country and his sweetheart...

Mel Ferrer is the sensitive prince who doesn't come around until he meets the sweet Natasha... Andrei is intelligent but arrogant... He ignores the feelings of his wife and fails to carry out his responsibility as a husband...

Vittorio Gassman is the legendary seducer, darkly handsome, sensuous, magnetic, who lives in a world of debauchery... Anatole is a man dangerous to love, impossible to resist...

Herbert Lom is the 'greatest man of Europe' who sees his men walking hardly under fatiguing conditions through the snowy fields of Russia... Napoleon had a tough decision to make...

Oskar Homolka is General Kutuzov who forms a reasoned judgment against an enemy who has a larger, more efficient force... It is unclear whether he did this out of weakness or whether it was part of a brilliant strategy with the purpose of drawing Napoleon's army way beyond their means of supply for the winter, which Bonaparte had not prepared for...

Anita Ekberg is Helene, the charming and reckless libertine who goes to a world of cheats and insults her husband's ego making his life depressed and miserable...

Helmut Dantine is Dolokhov, the officer, challenged for a duel, who puts on view the better side of his character much later...

Tulio Carminati is Prince Vasili Kuragine, a man of the world who familiarizes himself with people who are influential and tries to obtain favor from them...

Barry Jones is Count Rostov, a loving family man and an excellent friend... He is indulgent towards his family and provides them comforts and luxuries of life...

Wilfrid Lawson is Prince Bolkonsky, a despot aristocrat who imposes his authority on his son without caring for his feelings..

May Britt is Sonya, the tender young girl who is devoted to the Rostov family and loves Nicholas...

John Mills is Platon, the cheerful Russian peasant whose philosophies comfort Pierre...

Vidor's 'War and Peace' is massive in scale, faithful to the larger historical events... Its heart is really with the romantic side and so it's most successful as a period melodrama...

Average customer rating:

John Wayne vs. Chinese Communists
:)
Blood Alley
John Wayne does The African Queen--in China
Blood Alley

Blood Alley
Starring: Lauren Bacall , George Chan , W.T. Chang , Anita Ekberg , and Paul Fix
Director: John Wayne , and William Wellman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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The Sea Chase
Island In The Sky (Special Collector's Edition)
The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Hondo (Special Collector's Edition)
The Train Robbers

ASIN: B000O599XU
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Description

An American merchant marine captain ferries a group of Chinese refugess down the Yangtze River to escape the Communists.

Customer Reviews:

John Wayne vs. Chinese Communists.......2007-06-14

In the 1950s, patriotic, conservative actor John Wayne joined the bandwagon of those who believed that Communism was a serious threat to the U.S. These were the days of the cold war and McCarthyism. While some, such as Senator McCarthy, used the "Red Scare" for political purposes, there were those, such as Wayne, who were sincerely concerned about Communist threats. Historians are still debating whether the threats were real or not. It didn't matter to John Wayne or studio head Jack Warner, who agreed to make a series of films dealing with the perceived dangers of Communism.

Some of the anti-communist films Wayne made for Warner Brothers, such as "Big Jim McLain," seem very dated and even silly at times, but "Blood Alley" remains a good action adventure film with some real twists. Wayne again worked with veteran director "Wild Bill" Wellman, who had directed one of Wayne's most popular films, "The High and The Mighty," the previous year (1954). Wellman, who had directed the first film to win a Best Picture Oscar way back in 1927, "Wings," was nearing the end of his career. Although Wellman's energies were clearly diminishing, he still managed to put some exciting touches into the film, along with charm and humor, as he depicted how Wayne led a group of Chinese villagers to freedom on a battered, aging ferryboat, from the People's Republic of China to Hong Kong (then still a British crown colony).

Wayne was paired for the first time with Lauren Bacall, who was then married to the legendary Humphrey Bogart. (Years later, they again worked together in John Wayne's final film, "The Shootist.") While the romantic elements are shaky in the film, they clearly worked well together. Bacall often played strong, determined women and this is one of her better performances. Wayne and Bacall were joined by a mostly Chinese cast, along with an emerging young actress named Anita Ekberg, who would later achieve some notoriety in her famous wading scene in "La Dolce Vita." Try and spot Ekberg in the film; she is heavily made-up as a Chinese villager. Another non-Chinese actor in the film is beefy Mike Mazurki, who often played heavies or sidekicks in films; this is one of Mike's more likeable characters, as he assists Wayne on the ferryboat.

Of all of Wayne's anticommunist films, "Blood Alley" is probably the best because it is entertaining and exciting. Underscoring the action is a very enchanting musical score by Roy Webb, who benefited from the excellent Warner Brothers studio orchestra.

:).......2007-04-10

This is so cheesy and hammy, that I love it. Also, it helps that is was shot quite beautifully. "The bleeding heart of China--you can pin one on me, baby." Or something to that effect. Delightful cheese.

Blood Alley.......2007-02-12

I enjoyed the movie, even though I have seen it many times, it is still an excellent movie to watch. Lauren Bacall and John Wayne are some of my favorite actors.

John Wayne does The African Queen--in China.......2006-06-20

This is probably one of Wayne's lesser-known films, but it's still a good thrilling adventure. He plays Tom Wilder, an "old China hand" who has been knocking around the seacoast of China in just about anything that will float for most of his adult life--until the Chinese Communists took over, confiscated his old freighter, and imprisoned him for two years. All that has kept him sane and unbrainwashed is his imaginary companion, "Baby," to whom he talks throughout the film. Without warning he gets a mysterious note advising him on escape. Provided with a Russian uniform and a handgun, he slips out of the prison and is ferried by sampan to the village of Chiku Shan, whose people, led by elder Mr. Tso (Paul Fix) and their American friend Cathy Grainger (Lauren Bacall), daughter of a doctor who has recently been shanghaied off to treat an important commissar, have made up their collective mind to defect en masse to Hong Kong. What's more, they have a plan: hijack an ancient sternwheel ferryboat (on which Tso's nephew, the American-trained Tack (Henry Nakamura), is Chief Engineer) that plies the straits to Amoy. But, with no charts, they need a captain/navigator, and that's where Wilder comes in.

The creativity with which Wilder and the villagers carry out their program is perhaps the best part of the film. (Watch for the way they trap and cripple the local patrol gunboat to give themselves time to get away.) But even before they set out, there's peril from the Reds (a detachment of their soldiers searches the village for Wilder, who bayonets a straggler when he attempts to assault Cathy) and the necessity of working out from memory a crude chart of the course the boat will have to follow (which Wilder does on the back of one of Dr. Grainger's anatomical charts, furnished by Cathy's maid SuSu (Joy Kim)). There's also the issue of the Fengs, the local collaborationist family, who have to be taken along because the Reds would blame them for the escape of the village and probably kill them all--"even the little ones." The ferry herself--a 19th-Century vintage craft manufactured in Sacramento and named after their abandoned home by the villagers--is almost as much a character as any of the people, and they too make the movie worth a look: SuSu, who tries to get Wilder interested in "Missy Cathy" and, when he jokingly turns the tables on her and claims it's she who sets him afire, indignantly tells Cathy that "Captain Sailor-Man" is "clazy...full of ginger;" Tack, a slangy, cigar-smoking expert who can make his ship do things she wasn't designed for and has trained a "black gang" (engine-room crew) consisting entirely of his own cousins right under the nose of his Communist captain; Old Feng, who persuades his family to poison the refugees' food supply; scholarly Mr. Tso; and tough, loyal Big Han (Mike Mazurki), whose cheerful presence brightens several scenes. There's an "African Queen"-ish sequence in which the villagers, male and female together, literally cordelle the ferry through the reed marshes like a keelboat in order not to betray her presence by burning fuel, and a thrilling battle in the wheelhouse in the midst of a raging thunderstorm when two of the Fengs try to overpower Wilder at the wheel, only to be foiled when Tack, in the engine room, hears the ruckus through the speaking tube and sends up a couple of his cousins as reinforcements. And the sequence in which the villagers come aboard--bringing with them all their goods and chattels, from pigs and goats and poultry to carved furniture and golden household Buddhas to several small machine guns acquired Heaven-knows-how--is reminsicent of a similar scene in Heston's "Ten Commandments." Though no longer Politically Correct in these days of official recognition of "the Mainland," it's a good adventure film and one families can enjoy together.

Blood Alley.......2006-03-23

One of John Wayne's best. If you like "The Quite Man," this should be part of your collection too!

Average customer rating:

It's the Fellini segment, stupid!
A must for fans of the directors
Drink your meelk!

Boccaccio '70 (Remastered Edition)
Starring: Marisa Solinas , Germano Gilioli , Anita Ekberg , Peppino De Filippo , and Romy Schneider
Director: Mario Monicelli , Luchino Visconti , and Vittorio De Sica
Manufacturer: NoShame Films
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Similar Items:

Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow (Remastered Edition)
Divorce Italian Style - Criterion Collection
Le Notti Bianche (White Nights) - Criterion Collection
Story of a Love Affair
Teorema

ASIN: B00080OB9I
Release Date: 2005-04-26

Amazon.com

A summit meeting of great Italian directors of the era, Boccaccio '70 is an antipasto platter of vintage sex symbols and naughty material. Cooked up and bankrolled by Carlo Ponti and American producer Joseph E. Levine, the four-part film was meant to tap the international smash of Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, which gave audiences some refreshingly, you know, "mature" subject matter. Four directors were hired to create segments ostensibly based on the tales of Boccaccio: Fellini himself (in the lull between La Dolce Vita and 8-1/2), Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, and Mario Monicelli.

Monicelli's story, Renzo and Luciana, is an agreeable tale, full of everyday Roman life: an office worker (Marisa Solinas) must marry her boyfriend when she gets pregnant--although marriage is against company rules. Fellini's segment, The Temptation of Dr. Antonio, is fantastical and big-scaled. It tells of a censorious bluenose (Peppino de Filippo) who becomes incensed at the presence of a billboard featuring a sexy portrait of Anita Ekberg (selling milk)--a portrait that comes to life. For this bizarre escapade, Nino Rota composed an advertising jingle that will stick in your mind whether you want it to or not.

Visconti's The Job is the best segment, tracking the emotional chess game between a playboy (Thomas Milian) and his wife (Romy Schneider at her most gorgeous) after he is publicly exposed in a sex scandal. Finally, the De Sica piece (The Raffle) is a fairly broad romp that uses Sophia Loren as the reward in a raffle. Sophia's delicious, needless to say.

The finished product weighed in at a whopping 208 minutes, and Monicelli's segment was lopped off before the film showed at the Cannes Film Festival. It has never been restored, until this DVD release. All the segments are frankly too long, and none qualifies as an essential gem, but they do give the flavor of Italy's best at an especially exciting cinematic moment. --Robert Horton

Description

Four complete segments, each directed by a master filmmaker and starring an extraordinary cast of international stars: "Renzo & Luciana", directed by Mario Monicelli (BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET) was cut to shorten the film for its international release and it's shown here for the first time ever in America. "The Temptation of Doctor Antonio" directed by Federico Fellini (LA DOLCE VITA, 8 1/2) and starring Anita Ekberg (LA DOLCE VITA), enlighten by a dreamy humoristic touch, it's considered by many to be the best Fellini's work ever! "The Job", directed by Luchino Visconti (THE LOEPARD, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS) stars Romy Schneider (WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT) and future genre icon Tomas Milian (TRAFFIC, ALMOST HUMAN). A witty contemplation of marriage with an attention to details was the trademark of the Visconti's incomparable style. Finally, "The Raffle", an earthy comic romp directed by Vittorio De Sica (THE BICYCLE THIEF, TWO WOMEN) and starring Sophia Loren (YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW, TWO WOMEN) as a woman who causes all sorts of problems for herself when she offers her favors as the prize in a lottery. BOCCACCIO '70 is presented in a widescreen anamorphic digital transfer, loaded with never seen before extras, including a rare behind-the-scene archival footage

Customer Reviews:

It's the Fellini segment, stupid! .......2005-07-21

5 stars because of the fantastic Fellini at his best-incomparable-Anita Ekberg-extravaganza! 3 stars to de Sica for lovely yet minor Sofia romp. 2 stars to theatrical budoir boredom of Visconti who can't find proper filter for his camera. 2 stars for Monicelli: was this a futuristic tale? 1 star to rather drab DVD package with hardly any meat on it (stills + thirty seconds of some black and white Sofia newsreel footage from 196?...nothing else!)
Overall: 5 stars because Il Maestro overwhelms every single complaint...in fact I suggest that you first watch disc 2 (Visconti/de Sica combo) and then go to disc 1 (Monicelli/Fellini)...

A must for fans of the directors.......2005-05-28

BOCCACCIO 70 is made up of four short films, each around 45 minutes long. The DVD set is broken up into two DVDS, with two of the shorts on each, and the second DVD containing a few extras.

The transfer for all the shorts is absolutely stunning. I don't think it could have looked this good when it played in theatres.

Disc 1

The first segment, directed by Mario Monicelli, had long been unseen, at least in the US. It was removed from the US release of the film. It is the least of the four, but still quite watchable, about a newly married couple, dealing with their family and work. Not much to it, but an interesting view of everyday life.

The second is probably the strongest, by Fellini. I would argue that this is one of Fellini's most focused works (although I would admit that I find him to be overrated to some extent). It is a very funny film about a moral crusader who objects to a large billboard for milk, with Anita Ekberg on it.

Disc 2

The third segment is directed by Visconti starring Romy Schneider. A wealthy man is caught in a scandal, having to do damage control with his business associates and his wife. It is one of Visconti's lightest works, and also quite fun.

The final segment is De Sica's THE RAFFLE. A group of men enter a raffle, the prize being Sophia Loren.

The extras on the disc include the original US credits, trailers, and some brief interviews made at the time of the films release, as well as a photo gallery.

The film is a must watch for all fans of the directors.

Drink your meelk!.......2005-05-04

This film I picked up more out of curiousity and because Fellini directs one of the viginettes. I had never seen any of the 4 mini films before, nor did I know of the controversy surrounding its universal release. Each film deals with sexuality in different ways. All of the films have impressive looking anamorphic transfers for being almost 45yrs old. There is English dubbed audio tracks though my copy kept switching back to Italian on its own.. English subtitles looked fine.
All of the films looked great and are restored anamorphic transfers. The Fellini film was my favorite by far. This is his first feature using color as well as featuring dreams/fantasy in his films. I couldn't help think of Attack of the 50ft Woman seeing the charming Anita come to life off a billboard. This is as close to comedy as Fellini got , too bad he didn't explore this more often. Fellini's segment is almost an hour.

The Visconti piece was lavishly produced and feautured a troubled wife trying to rekindle that spark. This takes place in a high class French styled mansion. Romy is nice to look at even if she is rather pathetic. This mini drama was the most serious of the 4 and rather depressing as it unfolded.

The last two were rather light and forgetful even if Sophia Loren looked fabulous, and was omni present in her role as a carnival spinster with a change of heart.

The extras are fun. Lots of on set pics and lobby cards , plus a large fold out booklet with press clippings and news reviews.The U.S. and Italian trailers are intresting to compare.

If your a Fellini fan, you would do well to see this for his giantess fantasy alone!

Average customer rating:

four for texas
Loved It!
Good but not great.
RAT PACK GOES WEST. . .
4 For Texas 1963

4 for Texas
Starring: Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , Anita Ekberg , Ursula Andress , and Charles Bronson
Director: Robert Aldrich
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Robin and the Seven Hoods
Five Card Stud (Ws Sub)
Matt Helm Lounge (The Silencers/ Murderers Row/The Ambushers/The Wrecking Crew) [Region 99]
Ocean's 11
Kiss Me, Stupid

ASIN: B00005NTNS
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Amazon.com

Rat Pack buddies Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were prized for their ability to appear relaxed on camera, but in 4 for Texas they're nearly asleep. It must have looked good on paper: reuniting the crooners and teaming them with two international sex symbols in a jokey Western under the guidance of topnotch director Robert Aldrich (Kiss Me Deadly). Ursula Andress, as a riverboat owner who hooks up with Dino, unleashes her bedroom purr to great effect, but formidable Anita Ekberg had a bad year in 1963 (she also got stuck in Bob Hope's immortal Call Me Bwana). A tasty roster of character actors is wasted, although Charles Bronson and Victor Buono are amusing as unsavory citizens of 1870s Galveston. Even the Three Stooges, in their Curly Joe configuration, wander through. After a terrific opening sequence in the desert, establishing Frank and Dean's rivalry, this one quickly goes south. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

four for texas.......2006-11-04

great movie very funny, all top naned actors and actresses made this
comedy most enjoyable.

Loved It!.......2006-09-24

I just watched this movie earlier today and I really loved it. I think this was a thousand times better than the last Sinatra film I saw-that crapola flick "The Manchurian Candidate." The scenes between him and Dean Martin are a riot. Speaking of that, there's a moment in the film's climax where The King of Cool and The Prince of Cool are fighting each other and I couldn't stop giggling. Boy I tell you, that fight scene was more enjoyable than Ol' Blue Eyes fighting Henry Silva in "The Manchurian Candidate" (talk about a mismatch in that one). Also, what can you say about Ursula Andress? How about one of the most sexy foreign actresses in cinema history? Also, Anita Ekberg co-stars (hard to believe this was the same woman who was in the fountain in "La Dolce Vita") as Sinatra's love interest and in a brillant move, Charles Bronson as the gunfighter who tries to nab Frank and Dean (this came in-between the westerns he was in like THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST). As that weren't enough The Three Stooges and Arthur Godfrey have walk-on roles. The film was directed by Robert Aldrich; and it was the follow-up to what I think is his signature film-"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" As what the description to this DVD says at the end to best sum up this movie: 'You will have a blast.'

Good but not great........2006-08-07

I guess I expected more out of this movie but I confess I was mildly disappointed in it. At first, the movie seems to be having a hard time making up its mind whether to be a comedy or a drama and the resulting mish mash is a bit unsettling. Still, it was a great cast; Dean Martin was particularly adept at westerns, much more so than Frank Sinatra, who pretty much plays Frank Sinatra in this one. It is fun to see the two of them compete for the ladies, in this case, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress. The bad guys are well represented by Victor Buono and Charles Bronson. A fun movie but not particularly memorable.

RAT PACK GOES WEST. . . .......2006-04-21

This one has always been a guilty pleasure: the two head Rat Packers, Frank and Dino, bust it and themselves up in the Old West. Director Robert Aldrich (who also co-wrote the screenplay) keeps the tone light, although he and Sinatra reportedly did not get along. It wouldn't be surprising, because this movie is packed with Frank's friends, so what originally was to be more of an Aldrich film veered into more of an OCEAN'S ELEVEN. That said, however, it ain't a bad movie! The whole cast is great, from Victor Buono and Charles Bronson as the baddies to Ursula Andress and Anita Ekberg who, of course, are madly and subserviently in love with our leads, to the entire cast of character actors. Many familiar faces appear, such as Ellen Corby, Fritz Feld, Jack Elam, Richard Jaeckel, Wesley Addy, Arthur Godfrey, Grady Sutton and, yes, the Three Stooges! Special mention has to be made of the always welcome Mount Rushmore of Mike Mazurki as Sinatra's number one henchman and, on the opposite side, the delightful and energetic Nick Dennis and the erudite and elegant Edric Connor as Dean's sidekicks. Another special mention: Nelson Riddle's score. Appropriate, light, bouncy, with great little leitmotifs for the characters (you'll definitely notice some future Batman touches in here). One thing to be aware of: this ain't no PC movie. The women, although fairly well realized as characters, fawn a LOT over Frank and Dean, mainly Frank. It's kind of an adolescent fantasy in that regard. 4 FOR TEXAS is a whole lotta fun from start to finish, and no one takes their roles seriously except for Charles Bronson, who realized that the movie needed one really, really bad guy to act as an anchor for the rest. Maybe the production had its problems, but it came out just fine. Everyone has a rollicking good time, and so will you. Not much in the way of extras on the DVD: an eight-minute "Behind the Scenes" featurette and a trailer, but the Technicolor still looks great. If you're looking for drama, look elsewhere. But, if you're looking for a pleasant evening's entertainment, try 4 FOR TEXAS.