Claire Bloom

Average customer rating:

Good film. Titans?
I smell a man........a young well made man
Good movie from the 80's!
Harryhausen the Master of Stop Animation
Finally got i!

Clash of the Titans
Starring: Ursula Andress , Claire Bloom , Judi Bowker , Susan Fleetwood , and Harry Hamlin
Director: Desmond Davis
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Jason and the Argonauts
The Odyssey
Jason and the Argonauts
The Sinbad Collection (7th Voyage / Golden Voyage / Eye of the Tiger)
The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen - Legendary Monster Series (Jason and the Argonauts / The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad / The Golden Voyage of Sinbad / Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger / The 3 Worlds of Gulliver) [Region 99]

ASIN: B00005JKO7
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

You have a classic tale full of drama, passion, and adventure. A tale of universal archetypes that speak to everyone. A tale that has remained unfailingly popular for thousands of years. Why not spice it up with a wacky mechanical owl? Such was the thinking behind Clash of the Titans. Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier, and Harry Hamlin (one of these things is not like the others...) star in a toga-ripper about a valiant hero, capricious immortals, and lots and lots of giant stop-action monsters. Perseus (Hamlin) is the favored son of the god Zeus (Olivier), but he has unwittingly ticked off the sea goddess Thetis (Smith). Just to make things worse, Perseus falls in love with the lovely Princess Andromeda, who used to be engaged to Thetis's son. Soon Perseus is off on one quest after another, with Zeus helping, Thetis hindering, and lots of innocent bystanders getting stabbed, drowned, and squished. Of course, the whole thing is just an excuse to show as much of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation as possible, and good thing too. It's an old technique, but it still looks pretty darn cool, and it means the cast can just relax and do a bunch of reaction shots. Don't use this one to study for that big classical mythology exam, but if you just turn your brain off and enjoy the Kraken, it's pretty good fun. --Ali Davis

Description

The classic Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda re-told with an all-star cast. To win the right to marry his love (Andromeda) and fufill his destiny, Perseus must complete various tasks including taming Pegasus, capturing Medusa, and answering riddles. The result is a timeless adventure that's a treat for kids and adults.

Customer Reviews:

Good film. Titans?.......2007-06-12

Since this film is from the year 1981, naturally, the first thing one would notice would be the special effects. They are humorous at best. But if you can look past the special effects, you would realize this film is actually quite decent. For it's time it's got good acting and writing. I definately recommend this one to anybody interested in Greek mythology. I actually was interested in it because of God of War II, in which there is a battle against the main character of this movie. The only real complaint i have is, i guess with the title. Clash of the Titans. It is referring to Medusa and the Kraken. Both of which are in fact NOT TITANS. So the title makes no sense at all. They refer to the two of them as titans, when they are not. But other than that one relatively minor statement, it's a good film. It's worth a download, a rental, or a purchase. However you want to [legally] obtain it, it's not a bad film at all.

I smell a man........a young well made man.......2007-06-08

So says one of the blind Stygian witches when unbelievably handsome Perseus played by a young Harry Hamlin shows up to inquire in to the secret of how to kill the Kraken. THE CLASH OF THE TITANS is taken from several Greek myths involving Perseus the son of the great god Zeus and the mortal Danae. In CLASH OF THE TITANS Perseus battles some real monsters of Greek mythology like the Medusa as well as monsters borrowed from other cultures such as the Scandinavian Kraken and some invented for the movie like Calibos. The movie is well made and entertaining though of course the special effects are dated in the eyes of many modern viewers. The oversized vulture and Pegasus the flying horse appear clunky in flight and the two headed dog is not very convincing. Perseus's magical owl sidekick is apparently there partly for comic relief and that creature looks like a cross between a Furby and Gizmo from GREMLINS with a clicking speech reminiscent of Star Wars' R2D2. The movie is rated PG though there is a bit of nudity and gore and would undoubtedly have been rated PG-13 if that rating had existed in 1981.

Good movie from the 80's!.......2007-05-18

It would have been cool to have lived during the time of the greek gods!! This is a good movie, and not bad for the era of time. It was a great deal at $6.99

Watching it shows how far we have came with technology! Fun movie!

Harryhausen the Master of Stop Animation.......2007-05-16

I originally saw this movie when I was a little kid and all I could remember was the little owl and Medusa. I've seen it a number of times since then and it is still a blast to watch! Harryhausen's animation is priceless.

Finally got i!.......2007-05-15

I have been meaning to buy this for some time. This is a great childhood memory for me. We are so spoiled today with the movie magic. This movie takes you back to when film makers had to try so hard to make it look real. Although many scenes do not look very real, it is a fun movie to watch. I am very happy I got it.

Average customer rating:

A rare film....an American film treating sex with intelligence and seriousness...
Henry & June Review
Drags On and On
Sensual, Gritty, Erotic--Women AND Men...A MUST SEE!!!
Henry Joseph Rychlicki New Henry Miller

Henry & June
Starring: Fred Ward , Uma Thurman , Maria de Medeiros , Richard E. Grant , and Kevin Spacey
Director: Philip Kaufman
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

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

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Delta of Venus
The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)
Two Moon Junction
The Lover
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: 0783230559
Release Date: 1999-02-23

Amazon.com

Anaïs Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is a young woman in 1930s Paris whose husband is slowly defecting from art to working in a bank, leaving her very bored. When the then-unpublished Brooklyn writer Henry Miller (Fred Ward) enters her life, she embarks on a journey of seduction and sexual exploration that eventually leads from the writer to his wife, June (Uma Thurman), who finances her husband's life in Paris so he may praise her beauty in his writing. Unhappy with her husband's writing and her lovers' affair, June enters a jealous rage, forcing Henry into suffering-artist mode and Nin back to her husband. Despite having one of the more erotic scenes of the 1990s, between Nin and June, the film does not live up to its subject, largely due to a mediocre screenplay and flawed direction. The strength of the original material and Medeiros's decidedly unflawed performance, however, make it worth viewing. --James McGrath

Customer Reviews:

A rare film....an American film treating sex with intelligence and seriousness..........2007-03-24

I really liked this film. I am a major admirer of Henry Miller and Anais Nin, and this film is very accurate in the depictions of them. It's also one of the rare examples of an American director (in this case Philip Kaufman) making an erotic picture that's mature, intelligent, and serious about sex. Most sex in American pictures is played for laughs. It's almost as if Americans (and American filmmakers) are deathly afraid of it. Sure, there's a lot of smutty talk in films and TV, but it's not erotic, not intelligent, and it's more on the level of a 6th grader. Kaufman is the only one who has made some great erotic films (this one and The Unbearable Lightness of Being) that can stand up to the best Europe has given us. This film is a great film, showing Miller's struggle in finding his voice in Paris, and Anais Nin's support of his writing and her affair with him. The period flavour is wonderful, and the performances are first rate. Fred Ward (whatever happened to him?) gives a great performance as Henry Miller, and Maria de Mederos gives a lovely performance as Anais Nin. Uma Thurman is quite engaging as June Miller, Henry's estranged and very temptuous wife. Kevin Spacey has a small but effective role as one of Henry's writing friends. This was the first film to officially receive the "evil" NC-17 rating, and I wish that rating didn't have such a stigma over it. Adults have a right to see films aimed at adults. We should stop allowing Hollywood to make us feel ashamed over wanting something mature, erotic, and intelligent.

Henry & June Review.......2007-03-08

Beautiful, erotic feast for the eyes. The story drags a bit late in the middle. A great couples movie. Save for one, the characters are difficult to like. Anais must have been a treat to know!

Drags On and On.......2007-02-06

This account of the life and love affair of Henry Miller and Anais Nin seems endless. The director attempts to show character traits and development via an endless parade of sexual liaisons, which becomes more than tedious after the first hour and a half of the movie. Henry, June, and Anais deserve better.

Sensual, Gritty, Erotic--Women AND Men...A MUST SEE!!!.......2007-02-01

This "period" movie has got intrigue, eroticism, a sensual pace, a great (true) story, and hypnotic visuals--it is an aphrodisiac on film. The actors are superbly engaging, whether the feminine and subtle is your cup of tea, or the masculine and gritty is your double-shot of scotch. It's really an exquisite film, and if it's of any interest, it gets women so heated-up and turned-on that discussion of the film's point will invariably have to take place AFTER the wild lovemaking session that WILL follow! It's also may be of interest to lovers of "Pulp Fiction" that this is almost CERTAINLY where Quentin Tarantino discovered that he wanted to use both Uma Thurman and Maria de Madeiros in Pulp Fiction, because they were both in "Henry and June"--Uma's performance was a true transformation--I respect her as an actress more because of her performance here.

Henry Joseph Rychlicki New Henry Miller.......2007-01-14

Hello I happened upon this fine gem of a movie, I couldn't look away as I became enchanted with Anais Nin.
...Being the author of Fragments Of My Life A Sex Fiction, By Henry Joseph Rychlicki, a modern day Henry Miller, I was compelled to study every nuance from this portrait movie, if I was to die after seeing this very movie, I would have no regrets...
Yours Truly Henry Joseph Rychlicki The Author

Average customer rating:

Daylight [HD DVD]
Starring: Jo Anderson , Claire Bloom , Vanessa Bell Calloway , Rosemary Forsyth , and Colin Fox
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

General | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Drama | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Frighteners: Peter Jackson's Director's Cut [HD DVD]
Dragonheart [HD DVD]
Born on the Fourth of July [HD DVD]
Breach (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Liar Liar [HD DVD]

ASIN: B000OHZL0S
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

Brace yourself for nonstop action and suspense! Sylvester Stallone races against time to lead a group of stranded commuters out of a collapsed tunnel 100 feet below the Hudson River, in director Rob Cohen's (The Fast and the Furious, XXX) Daylight. When an explosion seals off a commuter tunnel, the survivors are faced with toxic fumes, fires and the impending collapse of the tunnel. Their only hope lies in the hands of Kit Latura (Stallone), a former Emergency Medical Services chief who is haunted by a tragic past. As the walls cave in and the tunnel fills up with water, Latura risks his own life to save others and prevent the disaster from escalating into an even greater catastrophe. Amy Brenneman co-stars in this thrilling adventure. Filled with spectacular special effects and heart-pounding intensity, Daylight will have you holding your breath from start to finish.

Average customer rating:

HORROR MOVIES
The "Gold Standard" for haunted house movies!
"Whatever walks in Hill House walks alone"
The Haunting (Original 1963 version)
GET UNDER THE COVERS , TURN THE LIGHTS OUT...AND WATCH THIS MOVIE!

The Haunting
Starring: Julie Harris , Claire Bloom , Richard Johnson , Russ Tamblyn , and Fay Compton
Director: Robert Wise
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Innocents
The Legend of Hell House
House on Haunted Hill
House of Wax
Burnt Offerings

ASIN: B00009NHB6
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Amazon.com essential video

Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation.

Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own.

The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A group is introduced to the supernatural through a 90-year old New England haunted house. Be prepared for hair-raising results in this classic horror film!

Customer Reviews:

HORROR MOVIES.......2007-05-13

Vary will made at that time it was made.over all vary good old time horror movie.thay don't make these any more

The "Gold Standard" for haunted house movies!.......2007-05-12

If you are collecting haunted house movies this film must be purchased to make your collection complete. There is no question that this film is the gold standard against which every other haunted house movie is rated, at least among the older movie crowd. It is, after all, a black and white movie which does not rely on special effects to put on a good show. The film definitely had a great cast to act out a good plot which was faithful to the wonderful book by Ms. Jackson. As your other writers have said, it had great camera work and a musical score which worked. The most important thing for me was that I cared what happened to the characters, and that generally means the film worked for me.

With that said I just thought I should mention that there were a few lines of dialogue in the movie that must have been the work of a studio writer looking to jazz up the movie. I think that person failed. Some of the lines I could have lived without include (usually Dr. Markway is speaking):

"This is the operating room; I mean the center of operations."
Luke said ... "I am here because I am a wolf in ghosts clothing".
I'm not running a psychic beauty contest.
Markway ... "Psychic phenomenon are subject to certain laws".
Luke ..."What are they?"
Markway ..."You won't know until you break them".

If that sort of whimsical dialogue does not bother you I am certain you will enjoy this film. This DVD was a very good transfer. By the way, I personally enjoyed the remake and thought the rewrite of the story presented some interesting twists from the original.

"Whatever walks in Hill House walks alone".......2007-05-08

This is THE BEST HAUNTED HOUSE MOVIE EVER MADE!!!! Director Robert Wise has given us the Perfect Haunted House movie with this understated "Thriller" that takes for granted that we are all over the age of 3 and can use our brains as more that just a processor of gore and fright masks. Nothing is seen but it is sure felt as this movie works it's magic on you.
A doctor who studies the paranormal(Richard Johnson in a very nice turn) brings two psychics( Julie Harris And Claire Bloom, both of whom are in top form here) and the sole heir to the house known as Hill House( Russ Tamblyn also very strong in his role) to study the house which has a very dark past. As the study goes on the house comes alive around them and as the more susceptible Harris begins to fall under its spell the tension becomes more and more palatable. All the sounds and sights become bigger than the sum as little by little the house forces its will on the group.
This is a haunted house movie for everyone who likes to feel the cold chill creep down your spine, and doesn't have to have a shock every 30 seconds to get scared. This doesn't have one false note or scene in it. Be sure to unplug the phone and turn down the lights for this one, if you DARE!

The Haunting (Original 1963 version).......2007-05-07

Released in 1963, and in black and white, The Haunting is still considered to be the scariest ghost movie ever made and I agree. The Haunting is a suspenseful thriller that does its thing without fancy effects or blood and gore. The DVD version is the only genuine way to view this grand movie, directed by Robert Wise. Wise's use of infrared film enhances the visual effects of certain scenes. The house used for the exterior shots is the Ettington Manor hotel in England. The interior scenes were filmed in the studio. The cast is superb and Julie Harris plays the part Eleanor so well the she becomes the character. The DVD makes possible the viewing of the wide format and the viewer can see the entire scenes, as they were filmed. This film is truly a milestone in ghost-horror and is best viewed in darkness with premium sound. If you're a ghost-movie fan, you must have this DVD. Prepare to be frightened and..............enjoy.

GET UNDER THE COVERS , TURN THE LIGHTS OUT...AND WATCH THIS MOVIE!.......2007-04-17

They just don't make'em like this anymore! A movie that relies on a good story, great camera work, strong direction and an excellent cast! What is not seen is much scarier that what is. Genuinely chilling and dripping with atmosphere the king of haunted house films! This DVD has a great transfer and should be in every horror buffs collection. This is one of my favorite Halloween movies!

Average customer rating:

BEING A SPY IS COLD OUT THERE
A tour-de-force for Richard Burton....truly Oscar material
Devastating
The Best Spy Film Ever
It's Already Outlived the Berlin Wall

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Starring: Richard Burton , Claire Bloom , Oskar Werner , Sam Wanamaker , and George Voskovec
Director: Martin Ritt
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Espionage | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Day of the Jackal
Smiley's People (3pc) (Coll)
The Counterfeit Traitor
Three Days of the Condor

ASIN: B000228EK4
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Amazon.com

John le Carre's classic spy yarn gets a suitably brisk, unromanticized telling in this quintessential Cold War movie. A British agent (Richard Burton) sets up an elaborate cover story for being lured into defecting to the Communists, but he hardly needs to manufacture his disgust and cynicism over spying. The grim business of point-counterpoint espionage has rarely been depicted with less glamour; Burton's great climactic speech on the subject is the definitive take on sinking to the level of the enemy. Claire Bloom is an offbeat love interest, and a bearded Oskar Werner is an East German investigator on Burton's case (the pecking order in the Communist spy hierarchy is a source of black humor). Director Martin Ritt extends his unvarnished approach to the movie's stripped-down look, which means that Richard Burton is constantly in a harsh, unflattering light. He looks terrible, but it's in the service of a fine performance. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

BEING A SPY IS COLD OUT THERE.......2007-06-19

John LeCarre debunks the James Bond glamour myth with it's bevy of beauties and clever gadgetry to give us the real portrait of espionage during the cold war years. Spies were nothing but underpaid civil servants and pawns in a chess match to see who wins the round--even if it is at the expense of the innocent. Much has already been written about this great movie adapted from an even greater novel, but little has been said about the machinations behind this movie.

Despite Burton's salary disputes, his jealous wife's presence on the set to keep her philandering hubby in tow (he had a brief affair some 20 years earlier with co-star Claire Bloom), wife Liz Taylor need not have worried. Burton was drunk so much of the time on the set, he had to rely on cue cards. Thanks to clever editing and careful shots by director Martin Ritt, Burton managed (under the circumstances) to pull of the almost incredible feat of being nominated for an Oscar in this gritty film, despite his condition. He plays a burnt out spy and looks it! Bloom (superb as always), plays Burton's lover who unwittingly becomes involved in this game and becomes an expendable pawn. Her performance is subtle and understated and highlights the film. Oskar Werner is also superior as the East German interrogator assigned to Burton who is pretending to defect to East Germany all for the sake of love and country that betrays him in the end.

The London scenes were shot in a dreary section of Dublin and adds to the bleak realism of the film.

This isn't always easy to watch, especially for those who love the clever 007 movies. Here is the reality. Get use to it.

A tour-de-force for Richard Burton....truly Oscar material.......2007-06-06

So much has already been said about this movie, so let me shed some light on this film which, for now 40 plus years on, so expertly defines the climate of the Cold War during the mid-60's. Interestingly, this is a film that improves upon multiple viewings. And it is not hard to see why Burton was nominated for an Academy Award for this picture.

Depicting cold war espionage at its dirtiest and realistic best---first, note how Ritt uses black and white instead of color to personify the drab, "grey" existence of the protagonist, Alec Lemas, at time when color was the norm--and it is all the more better for it. Ritt captures the depressing environs of East and West Berlin, and the wet, dismal streets of downtown London.

It is of curious note that this was NOT a film where the director (Ritt) and star (Burton) got along famously--in fact, far from it. Ritt wanted to play Lemas as the anonymous and expendable cog caught up in the bureaucratic machine, but to do so would be a film without the strong presence, elequence and crisp delivery of Richard Burton--the actor's finest gifts. But alas, sometimes the tension between director and star can produce some of the finest examples of filmmaking, as we see here. Ritt had repeatedly tired of Burton's drinking on the set and his tempest-tossed, on again-off again relationship with Ms. Taylor.

Moreover, in the physical sense Burton carries the role expertly as well. Bloated and looking physically and emotionally spent, LeCarre himself commented that Burton looked "....as if he lived too well rather than having lived a lot..." but it all seems to work effortlessly and Ritt directs a picture that engrosses the viewer until the very end. It is noted that Lemas is supposedly 39 years old in the film, but Burton makes his protagonist look and feel as if 10-15 years older. That is, for lack of a better word, expert casting on the part of Ritt who went to bat for Burton with Paramount, put up with his issues, and met his salary demands.

Supporting cast is excellent with Oscar Werner as Fiedler, Cyril Cusack as Control, and Claire Bloom as Nan Perry all deserving top honors here. Even Bernard Lee, better known as "M" from the Bond films, is distinguished as a grocer who unfortunately demands "cash" rather than "credit" for Lemas' mock caviar, peaches, and scampi--a pivotal scene in the film--take my word for it.

Paired with this materpiece, I don't think I have seen the dim world of espionage depicted as so brutally realistic than Yorkshire Television's "The Sandbaggers" (1978-80) featuring Roy Marsden and Ray Lonnen.

Devastating.......2007-04-15

"The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" gets inside your veins like cold, bullying ice and by the end of the movie you feel numb. Based on the famous novel by John Le Carre, director Martin Ritt seems determined to reveal the ugly reality of espionage (on both sides of the Iron Curtain) as it really was.

Alec Leamas, the haunted British spy for the U.S. has nothing to do with James Bond. Richard Burton gives such a phenomenal performance as this rancid, cranky, solitary alcoholic (he wasn't entirely acting) that one can't help but wonder why he didnt get the Oscar for Best Performance that year. Leamas is, in his own words, "just a bloody man", tired of all the ideologies on both sides of the fence which lead to all the horrors and betrayals he has witnessed and been a full participant in. His paradox is a painful one; rejecting "Karl Marx, God, and all the rest of it", he is also a man beginning to realize that his career in espionage is one of sheer immorality.

Claire Bloom's Nan Perry is the catalyst for the tragic and unforgettable ending of the film. A young woman Leamas meets while he works in a London library awaiting his next assignment from the charming and bone-chilling head of operations in Britan, George Smiley, she is also an avowed Communist. When things come to a head and she is dragged into the brutal world Leamas inhabits, he tries desperately to communicate that she is only "a frustrated little girl from a crackpot library".

But the most heinous betrayal here is Leamas' skillful befriending and cold use of real Communist Oskar Werner. Leamas pretends to defect from the British Agency and stages a brawl with a grocer to increase his appearance of discontent. Werner is the to whom he discloses fictitious "secrets" about American espionage, all the while having cynical and hilarious dialogues with him about the whole situation.

At the end, with two victims of the dirty business he's involved himself in for some vague principle (protecting the "moronic masses"), Leamas cannot go on. He is very much on the fence so to speak and ends up on the wrong one quite intentionally. A haunting, beautiful movie.

The Best Spy Film Ever.......2007-04-03

When it comes to the world of spy thrillers, both in the literary world and in the cinematic world, there is one effort that stands out as the definitive work of the genre: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. The film version of the novel was released in 1965, at the height of the spy craze, and in many respects served as a counterpoint to that craze. Today, more then forty years later, the film stands out as the definitive work of the genre and features the best performance of one of the greatest actors of all time: Richard Burton.

Burton's performance as Alec Leamas is nothing short of stunning. Burton captures the essence of what a real-world spy must be like and is nothing like the character of 007 or his clones. Leamas is instead a quiet, non-trusting, cynical man who knows the ways of the world...perhaps too well. Leamas is a character that seems to have "stayed out in the cold" to the point that when he enters the normal world he feels out of place. Burton captures this very well during the film's first quarter in which he goes from Leamas the spy master to Leamas the ordinary man. But everything is not what it seems as the film progresses and the truth is gradually revealed (see the movie if you want to know the truth) and despite the fact that Leamas is back in his own world, he is still lost in it. Burton's performance perfectly suits this transformation that Leamas goes trough. Without a doubt, Burton's best moments are in the final ten minutes or so of this film as it draws towards and then reaches its tragic end. Burton's final moments in the film prove the point that sometimes a face can say more then words. Burton's nomination for an Oscar was well deserved and it is a shame that he didn't win for this film.

But Burton is just the tip of this films' remarkable cast. Claire Bloom is impressive as Nan Perry and holds her own against Burton in every scene. While too old to be the character from the novel she is still believable as the voice of reason in the film especially at the end. Peter van Eyck is silently menacing as Mundt and he cans end shivers up your spine at just the right moment. Cyril Cusack is quite and silently menacing as Control and one can't help but believe him at times even though we learn the truth in the end. Bernard Lee, famous as the boss of James Bond, makes a brief appearance as the grocer Patmore as if to prove how anti-Bond this film really is.

What makes this film stands out is the fact it is severely anti-Bond. Never does the script or director/ producer Martin Ritt ever venture outside the bleak, sunless, realistic world of the novel. If anything, the film enhances the novel's coldness. And it is the lack of action sequences that proves the realism. Is there death? Yes. Are people beaten? Yes. But never does it happen for thrills. Every death or act of violence seems an horrific act as it should. The film's end at the Berlin Wall is a classic moment to be sure for it encompasses the bleakness of the film by ending it on one of the saddest notes you could possibly end a movie on.

This film is a flawless classic. Burton was never better in a film and this is the one film of his everyone should see. The cast never fails in their abilities to add perfection. And the script, direction, music, and cinematography bring the dark world of the John le Carré classic to life. In short, this film is Engrossing, tense, emotional, and realistic. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is the definitive spy film and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

It's Already Outlived the Berlin Wall.......2007-03-05

Quite a few movies have been made about spies in cold war Berlin, the epicenter of the spy trade, some of them excellent. Most of them based on the quite a few books written on the subject. But the British movie "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," starring Richard Burton, stands at the top of the heap, as does the book of the same title, by the British John LeCarre, on which it is based. They just don't get any better than this.

"Spy," directed by the American Martin Ritt, who elsewhere had a tendency to sentimentality, is diamond-hard -- not a scene is wasted, filmed in gritty black and white, an encyclopedic look at the wintry U.K.,and the freezing, divided Germany. The divided Berlin, and its infamous wall, that's virtually the third star of the film. It concerns Alec Leamas (Burton), returned to London and MI5, the Secret Service, after failing in his last German mission. Control (Cyril Cusack) offers him a desk job, but he prefers to go back into the field. He must first seem to sink into alcoholism, violence and debauchery-- the genius of Burton's performance is such that it seems all too real-- and get himself in trouble with the law, the better to attract the attention of the opposite side. That he does. He's then back in Germany; his mission, to protect an --unknown to him --British counterspy. Along the way, he meets and hooks up with the beautiful Clair Bloom -- too old for her part, but it hardly mattered-- playing Nan Perry, a naive Communist party camp follower, assistant librarian. She offered him, Burton says, in the movie's most famous line, "free love," and "that's all he could afford at the time." It'll end up costing both of them, but Bloom undoubtedly the most.

Burton, as we used to say in Brooklyn, "wuz robbed:" that year the Oscar went to Lee Marvin for the lightweight "Cat Ballou." Burton and Bloom are backed by the usual assortment of excellent supporting players: Cusack, Oskar Werner as Fiedler, Sam Wanamaker as Peters, also George Voskovec, Rupert Davies, Peter von Eyck, Michael Hordern, Robert Hardy, and Bernard Lee, nowhere near "M" country.

The movie's an accurate snapshot of a particularly significant place at a particularly portentious time, and, though it's surely a downer, is likely to stand quite a while yet. It's already outlived that hated, menacing Berlin Wall.

Average customer rating:

How good it is can be purely subjective.
Good despite a few flaws
Charly shows its age
Pulls at the heart strings....
Charly review

Charly
Starring: Claire Bloom , William Dwyer , Leon Janney , Barney Martin , and Skipper McNally
Director: Ralph Nelson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Flowers for Algernon
The Diary of Anne Frank
Awakenings
Anne Frank - The Whole Story
The Outsiders

ASIN: B0002KPHWY
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Amazon.com

Adapted from Daniel Keyes's novel Flowers for Algernon, Charly must be viewed as a soap opera of and for its zeitgeist--the halcyon '60s, when "natural" was nirvana, the air hummed with the mantra "Everybody's beautiful," and all ills stemmed from institutional monoliths such as Science, Government, Education, Religion. Accordingly, Charly (Cliff Robertson) is a 30-year-old retardate whose doofus sweetness makes him superior to most able-minded folk, whether they're the bigoted dolts he sweeps floors for or the ambitious scientists who see him as the human equivalent of Algernon, a mouse they've surgically (but impermanently) smartened up. Naturally, post-op Charly, sporting a genius IQ, "sees things as they are." Trotted out as the neurosurgeons' poster boy, he stands up to the "learned" audience--shot as faceless, inhuman interrogators. He's every '60s flower child, berating his "elders" for blighting their brave new world.

The one gift Charly gets out of becoming Brainiac is sex. In a lengthy montage resembling a retro TV commercial, he and his special-ed teacher (Claire Bloom, madonna with eternal Mona Lisa smile) romp through an Edenic outdoors, their embraces hallowed by sunlight glinting through leaves, moonlight glinting on water, and sappy Ravi Shankar music. (Stylistic clichés also include embarrassing outbreaks of split screens and multiple small screens within the frame, notably when rebellious Charly turns biker.) Robertson's performance is well-meaning but hokey. Still, in the penultimate moments when Charly begins to slide back into retardation, the actor achieves a genuine tragic gravity, and he became a surprise Oscar winner for his pains. --Kathleen Murphy

Description

From the classic Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon comes this "moving" (Boxoffice) and unforgettable adaptation. Featuring an Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* performance by Cliff Robertson and a "shrewd, talented" score (Variety) by Ravi Shankar, this timeless tearjerker is "definitely one to see" (Cue). When a mentally retarded man named Charly (Robertson) undergoes experimental brain surgery, he is miraculously freed from the prison of his own mind. As his IQ soars to genius proportions, Charly's eyes are opened to a world he's never truly seen. But when the effects of his operation inexplicably begin to fade, Charly must find a way to halt his regression before his own mind destroys his life, his newfound romance and the man he's become. *1968: Actor

Customer Reviews:

How good it is can be purely subjective. .......2007-06-02

Unliike many reviewers, I saw this movie when first released before I read the book. Like many movies of its period this one has a distinct 60s flavor to it in many respects. Like movies from the 70s, many of the production qualities of this movie's time seem incredibly dated. But hindsight can put that kind of stamp on any time period (anyone ever watched an episode of "Miami Vice" in hindsight with a straight face?). So just when one saw "Charly" for the first time makes all the difference, as does which they did first- read the book or saw the movie. The impact it had on me when I first saw it was tremendous. I wanted to see it again but before that occurred I read the book. I probably enjoyed the book much more as a result. I agree that the two have dramatic differences, but that has always been the risk when adapting a movie from the book. Robertson gives a solid, award winnng performance that evokes pathos, though today it seems a bit over the top. The direction and camera work are reflective of the late 60s, which unwittingly seems to make this movie that much more of a time capsule, almost worth watching for that reason alone- almost! But that detracts from the film at hand. One could argue that if this movie was produced in a different decade it might still bear trademarks indigenousness to that time and place. When younger I demanded films that suited my taste buds of the age I was at that time. Since then, over the years I've watched lots of movies from different time periods that I either hadn't seen before, or now viewed differently. But generally that didn't take away from the appreciation originally instilled in me for a movie. I still find many scenes in this movie heartbreaking, particularly the sequence in which intelligent Charlie can't escape the vision of what inevitably awaits him once the experiment wears off. Just how that was accomplished by the film is irrelevant. Some movies demand remakes. Others are remade merely to add contemporary flavor in some shape or form and should never have been remade. In between those two there is a wide gap of grey, which is where I feel this movie falls. There are numerous films that don't find a contemporary audience due to the time it was released. I still know many who either haven't seen "Rosemary's Baby" or couldn't make it through it because they could taste the 60s while watching it. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great film. Not to compare the two films directly, but it can be argued that "Charlie" suffers in the same manner. Though great movies withstand the test of time, to me, how much you enjoy "Charly" is purely subjective. How will good films from today look 20-30 years from now?

Good despite a few flaws.......2007-02-25

Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon was voted one of the greatest stories of the past 25 years when I read the story in junior high in the mid-60s. Eventually made into this movie, I enjoyed it despite several points where the movie departs from the book and gets pretty hokey, when the director should have had the sense to stick with the original book. As has been mentioned before, the photo montage sequence of Charlie with Miss Kinian and Charlie's riding off on the motorcycle was almost embarrasingly bad (maybe they were recalling the movie, "Then Came Bronson," from the same period). But overall Robertson's portrayal of Charlie was engaging and believable and the scene where he addresses the assembled scientists is certainly very memorable as a demonstration of his newly attained genius. "Brave new loves, brave new hates," was how he summarized the coming age, a quote which turned out to be more prescient than anyone could have imagined. The movie in many ways epitomizes the 60s fascination with personal transformation through chemical means, and if only genius were so easily attainable as taking a drug. We may never achieve such advanced brain science but for its time the movie was a poignant and credible portrayal of fleetingly attained but ultimately lost genius.

Charly shows its age.......2007-02-18

Cliff Robertson plays the mentally challenged Charly Gordon in this so-so adaptation of Daniel Keyes's short story "Flowers for Algernon." Robertson volunteers to be a human guinea pig after an operation on the brains of mice have shown them to appear "smarter." Indeed Charly becomes a genius, after which he falls in love with his clinician (played by Claire Bloom). Director Ralph Nelson plays up this romantic element using all the cinematic clichés of the late 60s - falling leaves, pastel colors, soft music - perhaps new and different at the time, but pretty hard to take today. Worse is that Nelson's attention is drawn away from the real point of the story - the results of the experiment and what it says about the way we view each other, though the best scene in the movie is where Robertson lectures a roomful of doctors about their arrogance as he holds the dead mouse Algernon in his hand, a victim of the experiment - as Robertson will shortly become as well. Keyes's short story is dramatic and probing where this movie goes flat and flakey. Robertson won the Academy Award for his efforts.

Pulls at the heart strings...........2007-01-10

I purchased this movie to watch with my 8th grade language arts class. We had recently read "Flowers for Algernon" and I thought that the movie would be a good suplement. I was correct. The children, all 13 and 14 year olds related with this movie much easier than the text and when we went back and reviewed what we read they brought a bigger perspective and the conversations really picked up. I would recomend this movie to anyone that teaches and would be reading "Flowers for Algernon" or to anyone who is interested in Mental Retardation. This is a science fiction film but can really pull at your heart strings. Have a tissue close-by.

Charly review.......2007-01-04

I find the story hopeful and sad together. It is a great story.

Average customer rating:

a long long time ago, woody allen made good movies
My favorite Woody Allen film
One of Woody's best
the power of transgression
"Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation...

Crimes and Misdemeanors
Starring: Caroline Aaron , Alan Alda , Martin S. Bergmann , Bill Bernstein , and Claire Bloom
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Hannah and Her Sisters
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Husbands and Wives [Region 99]
Deconstructing Harry

ASIN: B00005AUJK
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Amazon.com

Along with Deconstructing Harry which would follow seven years later, this is Woody Allen's most somber comedy-drama, as well as his most ambitious film of the 1980s. Allen weaves together two central stories about very different groups of Manhattanites, linking them through a mutual friend, a rabbi (Sam Waterston) who's going blind. This image is key to the sometimes ponderous, often clever musings on faith, morals, and vision (or lack thereof) that obsess his deeply troubled and unhappy characters. At its center, the film explores people who, through lack of religious conviction or arrogance, rationalize their awful, selfish acts by presuming that God couldn't possibly be watching.

The central story--a neo-noir of sorts--follows a fortuitous ophthalmologist (Martin Landau, all sweat and grimaces) who faces the prospect of his obsessed mistress (Anjelica Huston) ruining his life by telling his family of their affair. Desperate, the doctor hires his slimy criminal brother (Jerry Orbach) to eliminate the situation, and then suffers overwhelming regret afterwards. The flip tale is more typical Allen. Funnier and lighter, it focuses on an impossible romance between Allen's character and Halley Reed, a film producer played by Mia Farrow. Between Allen and his Hollywood fantasy stands his brother-in-law (Alan Alda, perfectly cast as an obnoxious, successful sitcom producer), who also desires Halley. Allen is Landau's opposite: an honest, struggling documentarian who cares nothing about fortune, suffers in a loveless marriage, and is surrounded by triumphant phonies. The nice-guys-finish-last moral may be as contrived as it is devastating. Yet, when Landau and Allen finally share a final scene during a wedding, their faces, subtle body movements, and contrasting fortunes somehow suggest that indeed God may be blind, and if not, the deity has a very sick sense of humor. --Dave McCoy

Description

"Poignant, penetrating [and] scathingly hilarious" (Long Beach Press Telegram), Crimes and Misdemeanors is a deftly rendered tale about the complexity of human choices and the moral microcosms they represent. Showcasing Allen's brilliant grasp of the link between the funny and the fatal, his 19th movie is "one of the watershed films of his career" (Los Angeles Times). Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is an idealistic filmmaker until he's offered a lucrative job shooting aflattering profile of a pompous TV producer (Alan Alda). Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) is the pillar of his community until he learns that his ex-mistress (Anjelica Huston) plans to expose his financial and extramarital misdeeds. As Cliff chooses between integrity and selling out, and Judah decides between the counsel of his rabbi (Sam Waterston) and the murderous advice of his mobster brother (Jerry Orbach), each man must examine his own morality, and make an irrevocable decisionthat willchange everyone's lives forever.

Customer Reviews:

a long long time ago, woody allen made good movies.......2007-05-12

woody allens best film since the 70s (and hey this one was 18 years ago!) features great acting turns by martin landau, sam waterston, alan alda, angelica huston, jerry orbach, joanna gleason, claire bloom, and even the usually awful mia farrow (who it might be noted hasnt been cast by a real director she want sleepoing with in 30+ years). his nod to dostoevski (however you want to spell that guys name) is clear in both the title and theme, and for once (maybe its because he only plays a minor role) one of his his post-"manhattan" manhattan movies comes off as real instead of stilted.

My favorite Woody Allen film.......2007-03-15

Simply put, a terrific movie and Allen's masterpiece. At once funny, troubling, romantic, hopeful, sad... Allen manages to both sypathize with and damn the characters in both stories. Interesting plot, truly great acting, and a screenplay that makes you think about the common themes of Allen's work (death, humor, love, identity, etc.) in new ways.

I'm writing this after years of watching and re-watching because I just saw Match Point, which horribly cribs this movie's characters and plot and marries them with bad acting and a terrible screenplay. Sadly, Match Point was heralded as Allen's best film in years. Wha?

One of Woody's best.......2007-03-15

This is a superb film. In essence there are 2 main overlapping parts and few smaller subplots.
One part revolves around the guilt of Martin Landau, who has never been better. This section is Woody Allen in Bergman mode and doing it very well.
The second section is Alan Alda and Woody Allen fighting over Mia Farrow. This contains some classic Woody Allen lines which once heard you won't forget. Alan Alda's "If it bends its funny..." and "Comedy is tragedy plus time". Woody Allen finding out that Prof Levy (his hero and who he is making a TV docu about) has killed himself leaving a note that justs says "I've gone out the window".
The film comments on a number of very serious moral issues but still manages to be funny and entertaining at the same time. This is the DVD equivilent of the unputdownable book.

the power of transgression.......2007-01-25

Judah Rosenthal boasts all the accomplishments of a successful ophthalmologist, but is wracked by the guilt and angst of having entangled himself in adultery, lies and murder. He realizes, as the film says toward the very end, that we "define ourselves by our moral choices." Meanwhile, Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) loses the love of his life, Halley (Mia Farrow), who falls for his wife's boorish brother, Lester (Alan Alda). Along the way, Allen's characters discourse on nearly all the important themes of life--love and sex, God and religion, marriage and family, work and calling. Some have hailed this as Woody Allen's best film.

"Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation..........2006-12-29

...If you want a happy ending, you should go see a Hollywood movie"

"Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989)- is Woody Allen's masterpiece and my favorite film. It is urban and sophisticated, subtle and cruel. It is darker than dark and self-ironic. It is profound and touchingly poignant. It is deadly serious and in the same time it is incredibly funny. Its humor is razor sharp and sparkling and the best and funniest Woody's one-liners and comic performances belong here. As always in his best films, Allen had created a clever and elegant film out of his own weaknesses and insecurities and it shines. How much was Allen able to meditate on life, death, God, religion, morality, crimes and the responsibility, love and lust, happiness and the price one pays for it, and among those eternal subjects - how much fun it is to skip work or school and to sneak to the movies.

It is universal. It has the references to many Artists and cultures - Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, and Bergman among the others but it is so undeniably and uniquely Allen. It could not have been made by any other director.

It is the movie Allen will be remembered for.

Average customer rating:

A True Classic
Princess and the Goblin
Amazing
Fun Movie
One perfect movie

The Princess and the Goblin
Starring: Joss Ackland , Claire Bloom , Frank Rozelaar Green , William Hootkins , and Glenda Jackson
Director: Joszef Gemes
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

Feature Films | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

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

4-for-3 Kids & Family | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Happily Ever After
A Troll in Central Park
Once Upon a Forest
The Swan Princess (Special Edition) [Region 99]
The Pebble and the Penguin - Family Fun Edition

ASIN: B000796ND2
Release Date: 2003-05-07

Customer Reviews:

A True Classic .......2007-05-03

This movie was one of my favorites growing up, and everyone around me that I have shared it with has fallen in love with it. The story is about the adventurous Princess Irene. The princess is off playing in the woods when she is attacked by goblins pets. She is saved by a mining boy named Curty. They quickly become friends and get into a lot of trouble. The goblins attack and Irene must rely on her own magic to save Curty, and in turn the entire kingdom. (Yes the story has a happy ending ^^ )

The story teaches the importance of believing in yourself, friendship, not keeping things inside, and the power of a song. I would recommend this story to any child boy or girl. However, there are a few scary parts in this movie, nothing bad compared to what kids are exposed to these days but I would advise that the parents sit and watch the movie with that child the first time through just in case it doesn't met that parent's pretence. (There is a spot where the ground starting moving at the beginning and a hand comes out and grabs her. Of course she gets away! If your child can handle the movie The Black Cauldron, then this movie is fine!)

One warning to parents, this movie becomes a quick favorite, so I would advise ear plugs because the movie has been known to be played so a lot.

I would recommend this to any child; I hope this review has been helpful!

Princess and the Goblin .......2007-02-08

I got the movie fast and I love it. I didn't have to wait long because I foregot that I ordered it and it was here in a week.

Amazing.......2006-08-18

Words can not begin to describe how amazing this movie truly is. The song, "A Spark Inside Us," has become one of my all time favorite songs! Its a great movie, and I completly urge you to buy it and see for yourselves the magic within.
~Nicolle Layman

Fun Movie.......2005-07-07

This is a good movie and the Goblin's are not scary to kids...just funny. It is a little lengthy, but you certainly get your money's worth of drama, excellent cartoonage and music.

One perfect movie.......2005-02-16

This is one of the best movies in the world when i was a kid i wachted this over and ove again.Words cannot express my love for this movie and if you've never seen this movie you should right no

Average customer rating:

Long Lost Mini-Series
Great Historical Miniseries
Backstairs at the Whitehouse
Good Entertainment
Great cast.

Backstairs at the White House
Starring: Olivia Cole , Leslie Uggams , Louis Gossett Jr. , Robert Hooks , and Leslie Nielsen
Director: Michael O'Herlihy
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

Miniseries | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

General | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Television | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Eleanor and Franklin Double Feature (The Early Years / The White House Years)
Eleanor & Franklin - The Early Years
Warm Springs
The Duchess of Duke Street - Series 1
Truman

ASIN: B000AYELAQ
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Amazon.com

From the golden age of television miniseries comes this prestigious 1979 production based on Lillian Rogers Parks's memoir, My Thirty Years at the White House, a real-life American Upstairs/Downstairs that chronicles her family's tenure on the White House servant staff through eight presidential administrations. Emmy nominee Oliva Cole stars as Maggie, a proud matriarch with "indomitable spirit and unfailing spunk," and who is determined that her children "are not going to have street ways." She becomes the first colored maid on the presidential family floor, beginning with the William Howard Taft administration. Her polio-stricken daughter, Lillian (portrayed as an adult by Leslie Uggams) eventually joins her during Herbert Hoover's administration and likewise rises through the ranks to to become a trusted confidante of the First Families.

Backstairs at the White House works on several levels. It is the inspiring personal story of two extraordinary women who had a unique and privileged perspective of the people and events that shaped the first half of the 20th century. It also presents vivid snapshots of the presidents and their families in all their quirks (Mrs. Taft felt that bearded servants brought bad luck), failings, and greatness, as well as such now-obscure personages as New York critic Alexander Woolcott. The stellar cast is comprised of stage and screen veterans and TV favorites. Robert Vaughn (as Woodrow Wilson), Celeste Holm (as Florence Harding), and Ed Flanders (as Calvin Coolidge) were nominated for Emmys, as was Roots costar Louis Gossett Jr. as houseman Levi Mercer. Also notable are a pre-Airplane Leslie Nielsen as chief White House usher Ike Hoover, Cloris Leachman as the chilly supervising housekeeper Mrs. Jaffray, Victor Buono and Julie Harris as reluctant president William Howard Taft and his more formidable wife "Nellie," Eileen Heckart as energetic Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harry Morgan, giving 'em hell as Harry Truman. Backstairs at the White can be melodramatic ("You're not married to me, you're married to the White House," Lillian's estranged husband tells her at one point), but it never descends to soap opera. The Emmy-winning makeup is convincing, and the Emmy-nominated screenplay does an admirable job of compressing more than 50 years of history. "What is heard within the walls of the White House is to be forgotten," Maggie is instructed early in her employ. Luckily, daughter Lillian ignored this directive to create a compelling document that puts a human face on the occupants of the real West Wing. --Donald Liebenson

Description

The classic miniseries about two remarkable women and the eight First Families they served
Their unrivaled behind-the-scenes access gives White House staff a uniquely personal view of history in the making. Two remarkable women in one family served as White House maids over a period spanning five decades and eight administrations—from Taft to Eisenhower. Their story and a half-century of American history unfold in this star-studded drama, nominated for 11 Emmy® Awards.

Customer Reviews:

Long Lost Mini-Series.......2007-06-09

I remember this series back when it was premiered in the 70's. I loved it then and wanted to see it again but never found it scheduled. I was thrilled to see it reissued in DVD. Watching it brought back so many memories and I found it still had the charm and splendid acting I remembered from so many years ago. Seeing behind the closed doors of the White House gave a glimpse of a part of history we never see. I highly recommend it.

Great Historical Miniseries.......2007-05-15

I watched this mini-series when it orignally aired in 1979 when I was 10 years old. It aired over serveral weeks and my family would gather around the TV to watch it. I have been talking about this series since I was ten and have been dying to see again. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see that it had been released on DVD. The minute that I discovered it, I placed my order. It is a great piece of history, with a great cast and I urge everyone to see it.

Backstairs at the Whitehouse.......2007-04-04

This is an excellent series for people of all ages. It is an interesting look at all of the personalities who lived in the White House throughout the years. I have read the book and the series covers much of the same information. You feel sad when the series comes to the end as you wish it could continue!

Good Entertainment.......2007-03-26

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this mini-series. As a matter of fact I had been looking for this for years, ever since it originally aired and was thrilled when I found it on Amazon. If you like American History, you'll love this!

Great cast........2007-03-23

Where is Olivia Cole? The leading actress is this mega star TV miniseries
was truly a gifted actress. The historical ascpects of this story really make it interesting to watch. I recall seeing parts of it during the NBC broadcast of it back in the days of big network TV. Like "Roots", the production value was superlative.

Average customer rating:

I was robbed!
MELODRAMA
fascinating and excellent
Reminiscent randy relationships of relatives and friends
the dehumanization of art

The Camomile Lawn
Starring: Felicity Kendal , Paul Eddington , Oliver Cotton , Jennifer Ehle , and Tara Fitzgerald
Director: Peter Hall
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

All Passion Spent
Love in a Cold Climate
Fall of Eagles
The Buccaneers
Under the Greenwood Tree

ASIN: B000EDWLTQ
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Amazon.com

Immensely popular when originally broadcast on Britain's Channel Four in 1992, The Camomile Lawn offers ample proof that British TV drama rises well above American TV in terms of sophistication, maturity, and literary influence. Faithfully adapted by Ken Taylor (The Jewel in the Crown) from the novel by Mary Wesley, this five-part wartime drama bears some thematic and structural resemblance to The Big Chill (in both films, a burial serves as a reunion for long-time friends) and chronicles a variety of secrets, lies, and passions among a close-knit group of relatives in Cornwall, just as World War II begins in 1939. The funeral that frames this fond reminiscence takes place in 1984, and it sparks fond memories of "the Camomile Lawn" at the cliff-side home of Aunt Helena and Uncle Richard (Felicity Kendal and Paul Eddington, reunited from the hit Brit-com Good Neighbors), so named because its fresh scent is a reminder of happier times before the war. Among the five cousins whose lives are deeply affected by the war, the dramatic focus remains on young Sophy (superbly played by Rebecca Hall, and in later scenes by Claire Bloom) and the deliberately mercenary Calypso (Jennifer Ehle), who marries for money and finds love--or at least sex--with whomever she pleases while her husband's away in battle.

For a series that features ample nudity, sexual indiscretions, and surprisingly frank treatments of alcoholism, adultery, and rape, The Camomile Lawn remains entirely respectable in the way it weaves passion and pain into a cohesive, engrossing drama, rich in humor and humanity while discreetly handling less savory aspects of its characters' behavior. Also featuring Claire Bloom and Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed Off) in one of her earliest starring roles, the series develops its characters so effectively that the emotional impact of the war becomes a powerful bond between them, and we experience their joys and sorrows as intensely as they do. Best of all, Taylor's teleplay is blessed by abundant wit and humor--the best defense against the melancholy of war--and director Peter Hall guides his stellar cast with impeccable attention to details of character and context. The result is a very satisfying and richly authentic portrait of privileged England on the brink of war and personal tragedy, imbued with a resilient richness of spirit. A screen-text biography of author Mary Wesley is included (she was already in her seventies when her first novel was published), along with cast and crew filmographies. --Jeff Shannon

Description

It's August 1939 and five cousins gather at their uncle's big house on the Cornish coast. The imminence of war charges the air as they frolic on the fragrant lawn and tempt fate on the terrifying cliffs that one last sultry summer. Returning to the house nearly half a century later for a funeral, they recall how the war rearranged their lives and brought them suffering, sex, and love. This lusty, darkly humorous drama reunites Good Neighbors co-stars Felicity Kendal and Paul Eddington. Also starring Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Prejudice), Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed Off!), Rosemary Harris, Claire Bloom, and Nicholas le Prevost. Faithfully adapted from Mary Wesley's beloved novel by Ken Taylor, who also adapted The Jewel in the Crown for television.

Customer Reviews:

I was robbed!.......2007-04-20

I wanted to see this movie because I like actor Toby Stephens and wanted to see something of his early work. I thought the first three episodes were great in their portrayal of the the lives of young people and their struggles with love and growing up in prewar and wartime England. I felt a real fondness for the characters after all they'd been through together by the end of the first disc (first three episodes). However, the last two episodes (disc two) were a disappointment. After becoming attached to these endearing young people and their characters, we are robbed of them as they age and turn into different people (actors) all together. Why not use the same actors and age them? Surely makeup and clothing can do that! Additionally, the whole ending was too quick and short and very anticlimactic. But perhaps that is what war does to all of us, it changes us into different people and we are all robbed of certain ones we have loved, so maybe it is appropriate that we loose those young people in the end. Still though, I was sorry not to get to see more of Toby Stephens. He has only one scene in the fourth episode and none at all in the fifth (disc two). So I only gave it three stars, one star per episode that I liked.

MELODRAMA.......2007-04-11

I wanted to really enjoy this miniseries because of the good reviews and because of the subject matter--generally favorable reviews from pros and the general public about an extended family reminiscing about their lives before, during and after World War II. However, I just found the whole effort along with its characters rather tedious. I have not read the novel by Mary Wesley that this miniseries is based on. Perhaps that is my problem. Nevertheless, I just found the entire presentation along with its characters and its tremendous amount of sex to be very melodramatic I don't consider myself to be a prude; however, with everyone either "getting it on" or trying desperately to "get it on" I grew a little weary of the story and its subject matter.
This presentation has many good actors that I have admired in other performances but NOT in this one. I adored Jennifer Ehle in "Pride Prejudice" but found her as blond Calypso in this outing to be very shallow and unconvincing as this rather ditzy character. . I also adored Toby Stephens as Philby in `Cambridge Spies" but not as extremely randy Oliver which I just found the character to be annoying, In fact I did not care for Felicity Kendal or her most irritating husband played by Paul Eddington (both of "Good neighbors fame). I did not find them to be interesting at all. I just found it impossible to "connect" with any of the characters or characterizations. (The one thing I can say about the characters in this presentation is they remained dreary from youth to old age and they remained so no matter who portrayed them even if it were the likes of Claire Bloom (Sophie in old age) or Rosemary Harris (Calypso in old age)

fascinating and excellent.......2007-01-07

just finished watching this, and absolutely loved it. the only flaw for me was the quicky ending which seemed a little disjointed, but the rest of the series was just wonderful, filled with complex and real characters.

yes, some puritans may balk at the frank and realistic protrayal of relationships (including sex), but this, finally, is really how people talk, rather than how we THINK folks talked 50 years ago.

great series. highly recommended.

Reminiscent randy relationships of relatives and friends.......2006-12-03

The story starts out with people going to Max's (Oliver Cotton) funeral 40 years after WWII. On the way to the funeral each person, several generations of family and friends reminisce on their earlier war years where five cousins gathered at their uncles' house with a chamomile lawn.

The costumes and sets were impeccable and carried you to a different world and time. You feel that you lived through the war. We see the destruction and disruption caused by the war.

We see the casualties of war and the trials for those left behind. In the midst of this people are growing up and making decisions, strange or unconventional decisions. Some of the film has the feel of the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird".

At first I was distracted because the actors are so well known such as Felicity Kendal (Helena Cuthbertson) and Paul Eddington (Richard Cuthbertson.) Hoverer by the end I came to look on them as the characters that they are playing.

Being a mini-series there is more time to add the finer points of the book. However there are a lot of subjects and actions that are just implied or not complete thoughts. I can only assume that the film relies heavily on one reading the book first. With the exception on one story line being wrapped up in the end many lose ends lead one to realize this is not a story with a beginning middle and end; it is just a snippet of life that is taken at face value as we move on.

the dehumanization of art.......2006-09-01

This movie is composed of quick glimpses, not scenes, and consists mostly of talk. There is virtually no action of any kind in this four-and-a-half hour movie.

The funeral at the end is as perfunctory as everything else. Contrary to the product description, there is no story of a reunion of characters at the funeral. Mostly, they appear driving their various cars to the funeral and, like a chorus, commenting on and explaining the actions that we have just been shown.

The nasty-surprise ending gives a clue as to why the author may have written this book--to gloat over the sexual prowess of one of the characters. Most viewers will find this revelation repulsive. If you make a guess as to why the author wrote such a story and then read the Mary Wesley biographical summary included with this DVD, you'll probably find your guess vindicated. Viewers who do not share her prejudices will not enjoy this movie.

Some of the "characters" like the twins and Walter are merely ciphers, not characters at all, not even caricatures. All the characters with the exception of Sophie are sociopaths. It's true that there are sociopaths in the world, but they are relatively rare (at least they were rare in the past). There is not a shred of humanity in any of these people. Some, I suppose, are intended to be "quirky", but quirky does not have to be infuriating or obnoxious. The entire movie is an exhibition of contempt for human beings or at least contempt for the British upper-middle class. No doubt there are people who will agree with this assessment. They should enjoy this movie.

Unlike other period movies, WWII is merely a device in this movie. It plays almost no role and hardly appears, except as drawn curtains, taped windows and some sound effects. The war seems to mean little to most of the characters. A couple of times, someone mourns for a dead cousin; but since there was no evidence of positive regard between them before, the mourning hardly has any effect on the audience.

Even the sex scenes are too cold-blooded to be erotic scenes, let alone love scenes. People casually hop into bed with no evidence of desire or other positive feelings. Consequently, they are ineffective as cinema.

The music is appropriate: all spikes, quirks, jerks and plucked strings.

I can't believe that the amazon reviewer actually watched this movie. His statements sound more like promotional material for the movie than like a review.

Actress:

Actress

Actress