Eve Arden

Average customer rating:

Great Movies
Grease
A classic, must have for every collection
Tell me more, tell me more....
Grease

Grease (Rockin' Rydell Edition)
Starring: John Travolta , Olivia Newton-John , Stockard Channing , Jeff Conaway , and Barry Pearl
Director: Randal Kleiser
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Grease 2
Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)
Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

ASIN: B000GBEWHA
Release Date: 2006-09-19

Amazon.com essential video

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy

Description

John Travolta solidified his position as the most versatile and magnetic screen presence of the decade in this film version of the smash hit play Grease. Recording star Olivia Newton-John made her American film debut as Sandy, Travolta's naive love interest. The impressive supporting cast reads like a "who's who" in this quintessential musical about the fabulous '50s. Grease is not just a nostalgic look at a simpler decade--it's an energetic and exciting musical homage to the age of rock 'n' roll!

Customer Reviews:

Great Movies.......2007-06-08

This moie came out when I was out of HighSchool....I LOVED it then and it's been one of my favorites...The music is terrific and John Travolta and Olivia Newton John did an incredible job as the two main characters in the movie.......

Grease.......2007-06-01

My DVD arrived very quickly, as usual. A welcomed addition to our collection of classics.

A classic, must have for every collection.......2007-05-23

This movie is just a classic and always a good time to watch. It's pretty harmless and just puts you in a good mood. I saw this movie about 25 times when I was growing up and it came out, so I was pleased to see it on a DVD so I can watch it and not wear out the tape!

Tell me more, tell me more...........2007-05-14

A should have DVD in your collection! The special features are awesome! John and Olivia reunited again on stage...wow..lots of emotions there! Buy it, you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Grease.......2007-05-14

Grease is one of the top 5 movies that I love....everything about it..the characters, the music. It all works together so well. I have seen this movie probably 10+ times and never get tired of it.

Average customer rating:

25 years later...grease 2, not bad...
Grease 2 slides into 4 stars.....barely
Absolutely Horrible
It's not Grease, it's lard!
Grease 2

Grease 2
Starring: Maxwell Caulfield , Michelle Pfeiffer , Lorna Luft , Maureen Teefy , and Alison Price
Director: Patricia Birch
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Grease (Rockin' Rydell Edition)
Grease II (1982 Film)
Xanadu
Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)

ASIN: B00008Z45B
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Amazon.com

Too often, sequels to popular films simply rehash the original film; call it the carbon-copy syndrome. Grease 2 suffers from no such malady, having almost nothing to do with the original film. Sure, it focuses on teens at Rydell High, the imaginary school from the first film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But other than a few of the teachers, all of the characters are new and so are the songs--and more's the pity. By the time Grease hit the big screen, it already had had almost a decade as a theatrical musical, more than enough time to hone its mock-rock & roll score. But this sequel, which stars among others a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), has music that's neither fish nor fowl, neither rock nor Broadway. Meanwhile, the plot is a reversal of the first film, in which a cool guy fell for a square girl. In this one, the square is newcomer Caulfield, who catches the eye of tough girl Pfeiffer and her Pink Lady gang. The appearance of such pseudo-stars of the '50s, like Tab Hunter, is supposed to lend a nostalgic kick, but let's just say that Grease 2 slides almost instantly into obscurity. --Marshall Fine

Description

The sequel to the 1978 hit movie, GREASE 2 is set in the early 1960's when a new British student, Michael Carrington (Caulfield), rides into town and joins the ranks at Rydell High. A book nerd who immediately falls for the blonde bombshell leader of the Pink Ladies, Stephanie Zinone (Pfeiffer), Michael finds himself smitten, but out of his element. Knowing that the Pink Ladies are the hippest clique of chicks at Rydell, who only date their equals in coolness - the T-Birds, Michael sets out to turn from a geek to a greaser to see if he can win the gorgeous Stephanie's heart.

Customer Reviews:

25 years later...grease 2, not bad..........2007-06-04

the original grease will always be one of my all-time favorites. watching grease 2 after 25 years, i enjoyed the singing, dancing and storyline.
michelle p. & maxwell c. made a good couple. naturally, in seeing a few familiar rydell faces, i wished some others were still around.
anyway, the only main issue that bothered me was how the T-Birds were portrayed, they were weak.
I remember the original T-Birds being a little tougher than that.
So, I was a bit disappointed in how they were portrayed this time around...
Other than that, I enjoyed the movie...

Grease 2 slides into 4 stars.....barely.......2007-04-15

I just saw this move for the first time in wide screen and it is a much different experience I must say. I think I have figured it out. In some other reviews I think Batricia Birch should have just stayed with the songs and the numbers. I think they should have got another director to get the rest of the movie off the ground. It is somewhat of a good story. I can see why it would be reversed (a guy trying to get the girl, instead of the other way around). You see Eugine in the beginning of the movie stumbling out of the bus. Well if he were a senior in the first one then why is he in the second one???? Also Frenchie is not with the Pink Ladies at all. You see her by herself or just briefly with the other pink ladies in school. I think the chemistry between Stephanie and Michael were worked well together. The songs were written by the same people that wrote the songs for the first movie. So really the bottom line is that they should have gotten a different director altogether. I know I know it is not the first one. But sequels are usually not, but they usually have connections to the first. Grease 2 tried to accomplish with Frenchie and the Tbirds, Pink ladies and all. I am glad they were able to have Eve Arden, Sid Ceaser, plus other great actors of the 50s and 60s like Tab Hunter. Is this movie cheesy???? Yes
Is it done in less than expected direction???? Yes. Does it have good songs?? Yes (Cool Rider, Reproduction, We'll Always be Together, Girl for all Seasons/Turn Back, and Back to School). The song skits themselves are good and with the same flavor of the first one. After all Kiddies, Patricia Birch did do the choreography for both.
So, in closing, this movie made it to my DVD collection if for that reason alone. If Grease 2 is going to stink then let it reek. If it has its moments of good cute fun then let it have that. I think if you loved the first Grease then I think you should at least give this one a try.

Absolutely Horrible.......2007-04-11

As a sequel to a mega-hit movie this was a stinker. The thing I loved about the original was how it captured the late 50's with music, custumes, and attitudes and yet this sequel seemed to fall flat on it's face in all those categories. The songs are so out of place with lots of 80's ish themes being played during certain scenes. The producer couldn't even focus on one time period with the music which ranged from 50's, 60's, 70's and even 80's metal at one point. The mood and feel of the movie was wrecked by this alone, without including the fact that the songs themselves were utterly boring. One or two songs were ok, like "Reproduction" and the biker song by Michelle Pfeiffer.
If you buy this thinking it's a real sequel to Grease you are sadly mistaken. There's not alot in common at all with the first movie other then a few characters and the "T-birds" and "Pink Ladies". The plot is totally cheesy also. I'm not sure what I hated worst, the fact that some of the hairstyles and music reminded me more of the 80's or the predictable plot of the movie. "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" , "The Breakfast Club" & "Sixteen Candles" are so much better movies at representing the 80's if you are looking for a movie like that. The last thing I wish to see is a movie suposedly set in 1961 is for it to coming off in all respects to be 1982.
When I watch movies like this, I like to be transported back to a place in time and feel the period completely. Unfortunately Grease 2 leaves me wondering exactly what time period it was supposed to represent.
The only saving grace of this movie is watching a young Michelle Pfeiffer with brown eyes instead of her usual and what I thought was her natural blue eyes.

It's not Grease, it's lard!.......2007-04-07

Terrible follow up to the first movie. This movie does not hold a candle to the first classic movie staring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.
The acting is bad, and it is not worth the money.
It belongs where most grease belongs ... in a bucket under the sink.

Grease 2.......2007-04-03

I really liked this movie. Came in good condition, and was fast. Have had no problems with the disk. I am very happy with the product.

Average customer rating:

Great Movies
Grease
A classic, must have for every collection
Tell me more, tell me more....
Grease

Grease (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Eve Arden , Frankie Avalon , Michael Biehn , Joan Blondell , and Susan Buckner
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Grease 2
Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)
Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

ASIN: B00003CXAE
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Great Movies.......2007-06-08

Grease.......2007-06-01

My DVD arrived very quickly, as usual. A welcomed addition to our collection of classics.

A classic, must have for every collection.......2007-05-23

Tell me more, tell me more...........2007-05-14

A should have DVD in your collection! The special features are awesome! John and Olivia reunited again on stage...wow..lots of emotions there! Buy it, you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Grease.......2007-05-14

Grease is one of the top 5 movies that I love....everything about it..the characters, the music. It all works together so well. I have seen this movie probably 10+ times and never get tired of it.

Average customer rating:

Great Movies
Grease
A classic, must have for every collection
Tell me more, tell me more....
Grease

Grease
Starring: John Travolta , Olivia Newton-John , Stockard Channing , Jeff Conaway , and Barry Pearl
Director: Randal Kleiser
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Grease 2
Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)
Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

ASIN: B00006B1HH
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com essential video

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

Customer Reviews:

Great Movies.......2007-06-08

Grease.......2007-06-01

My DVD arrived very quickly, as usual. A welcomed addition to our collection of classics.

A classic, must have for every collection.......2007-05-23

Tell me more, tell me more...........2007-05-14

A should have DVD in your collection! The special features are awesome! John and Olivia reunited again on stage...wow..lots of emotions there! Buy it, you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Grease.......2007-05-14

Grease is one of the top 5 movies that I love....everything about it..the characters, the music. It all works together so well. I have seen this movie probably 10+ times and never get tired of it.

Average customer rating:

Snoozefest
Superior!
Top courtroom film
Welcome to the Law, appearing nightly in Amiguity, Shaded while Illuminated
Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder
Starring: James Stewart , Lee Remick , Ben Gazzara , Arthur O'Connell , and Eve Arden
Director: Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Witness For the Prosecution
12 Angry Men
Inherit the Wind
The Verdict (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Call Northside 777 (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B00004TJKI
Release Date: 2000-07-11

Amazon.com essential video

Otto Preminger turned this 1959 courtroom drama, based on the popular novel, into terrific adult drama. James Stewart stars as a small-town lawyer who defends an army officer (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering a bartender who assaulted his wife (Lee Remick). The taut script, large performance by Stewart, and then-daring elements of the story (words like "panties" are spoken in the context of discussing a sex crime) give the action a certain immediacy--which you don't find very often in today's movies about jurisprudence. Nice work by Remick and Gazzara, as well as George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, and real-life judge Joseph N. Welch, who plays the judge in this film. A very good experience all around. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Snoozefest.......2007-05-20

This movie is a 2 hour and 40 minute snoozefest. After reading the other reviews here, the only conclusion that I can come to is they must have reduced the price of crack.

I literally kept falling asleep while watching this, and my wife kept waking me up. We wanted to shut it off but we'd invested so much time into it already, we felt that we had to sit through it to the end.

There is one of those rare films that has no redeeming qualities. No, there was one. I got to see Orson Bean, who used to be on To Tell the Truth, in a movie role.

Superior! .......2007-03-28

"Anatomy of a Murder" is a solid courtroom drama set in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Shot in stark black and white, AM has an ominous aura from the opening scene. Ben Gazzara is an Army lieutenant who kills the bar owner who supposedly raped his wife (Lee Remick). There is no question who committed the murder, only if the act was defensible. Also in doubt is who is telling the complete truth, who deserves sympathy-or punishment- or even if an actual rape occurred. How consensual was Remick? That Remick is neither the most sympathetic of victims nor Remick/Gazzara the most upstanding couple add to the mystery. The pair is not to be confused with Ozzie and Harriet! Jimmy Stewart is the small town lawyer who agrees to defend Gazzara. JS bases his case on the slippery premise of temporary insanity. AM soon enough turns into a duel between Jimmy and hot shot mouthpiece George C. Scott-brought up from the "big town" of Lansing to prosecute BG. The in court duel between the lawyers is as good as will be found on any silver screen, as is the out of court scramble to produce witnesses and gather evidence. Listen to the infections in Stewart's voice! This reviewer was initially leery of the 160 minute run time, but length is not an issue here. Viewer interest is certain to be maintained. (According to an old "Variety" review, Director/Producer Otto Preminger insisted on releasing AM quickly, leaving no time to edit or cut). The supporting cast is outstanding, notably Arthur O'Connell and Eve Arden playing Stewart's assistants. AM received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Stewart), Best Supporting Actor (Scott and O'Connell) and Best Adapted Screenplay- all to no avail. 1959 was the year of "Ben Hur". Tom O'Neil's "Movie Awards" states "the Oscar runways were greased for "Ben Hur". Cynics will love AM. Guilt or innocence is highly subjective here. The final scene with Stewart and O'Connell in the trailer camp where Remick and Gazarra lived is a gem. It captures the ambiguity of AM perfectly. On a final note, the black and white format is a huge part of the movie. "Anatomy of a Murder" is one more example of why old b&w movies should never be colorized.

Top courtroom film.......2007-03-11

This film is one of the best of its kind. Excellent courtroom and small town drama. Both the cast and the directing could not be better. The characters are vey well developed and the add to the rising of the drama. I would not want to single out a perfomance from any of the actors as all of them act in manner that compliments each others perfomance.
The topic of this film is controversial, if the woman was raped or not, and the director "plays" with it so to keep the viewer even more interested.
Five star film.

Welcome to the Law, appearing nightly in Amiguity, Shaded while Illuminated.......2007-02-11

This is a great, great, classic American film, in the truest Hollywood sense, a stand up film that holds up generations later. Combining excellence from all aspects of the production, it's relevence as a story-both in sheer fundamental formalism and subjective psychological, legal realism-emphasizes it's essential artistry.
The appeal of a show like Law & Order lies in it's unification of the formula and the particular circumstances of that week, impelling our complex society as a mirror unto itself, and a film like Anatomy of a Murder succeeds in this and by drawing itself in shades of gray under cloudy skies against the rigors of law.
James Stewart, Lee Remick, George C. Scott and Joseph N. Welch are great here. Great performances that propell the murder trial of an Army Lieutenant who killed a bar owner who the Lieutenant's wife (Remick) says raped and beat her. That's all I feel is necessary to say about the plot. See this for it's technical and envigorating fleshing out of the tale, executed beautifully.
I knew in the first eight minutes that this was a classic, (the legendary Saul Bass' title sequence almost guaranteed it.) Whether the performances, the cinematography, the amazing score by Duke Ellington (who makes a cameo as a band leader, Pie Eye), the crisp courtroom dialogue, in particular between Stewart and Scott, or Remick's ambiguous tramp/femme fatale....
A note of note: Joseph N. Welch, who is terrific as the out-of-town judge, was the lawyer for the Army during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, particularly famous for rebuking Senator McCarthy; "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Five years after that, what with the maniacal onus of Otto Preminger, a film like this illuminated the significance of law, as the site where the infintely complicated lives of individuals are wrung through the system we've established to buffer ourselves as we progress into the abyss.

Anatomy of a Murder.......2007-01-21

Great Black and White movie. A very provacative movie for that time.
Filmed my the town where I grew up. It was a home town visit seeing all of the landmarks and familiar sites.

Average customer rating:

Stage Door
what a classic
A classic masterpiece
GAIL PATRICK IS THE BEST ACTRESS EVER!!!
Wonderful Women!

Stage Door
Starring: Katharine Hepburn , Ginger Rogers , Adolphe Menjou , Gail Patrick , and Constance Collier
Director: Gregory La Cava
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Dinner at Eight
Alice Adams
Libeled Lady
Stage Door Canteen
Twentieth Century [Region 99]

ASIN: B0006Z2KYS
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com essential video

This one's all about the ladies. In this absolutely terrific 1937 gem, a Manhattan boardinghouse for aspiring actresses houses an amazing roster of golden-era performers--some of whom, like their characters, were just breaking in. It's hard to say who's in best form here: Katharine Hepburn in blueblood mode, Ginger Rogers streetwise, Andrea Leeds suffering, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller impossibly young, and Eve Arden being, well, splendidly Eve Ardenish. The sassy comedy and sober life lessons are wonderfully mixed by the underrated director Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey), who captures the brashness of '30s female chatter in a much pleasanter way than the more famous The Women. Hepburn's sublime attempts to wrestle with the line about calla lilies being in bloom will make you smile long after the movie's over. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Stage Door.......2007-06-21

Based on a play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, this glorious ensemble film evokes the near-constant frustration and rejection that wars with hope and sheer love of craft as these young women try to make their own dreams of success a reality. Stars Hepburn and Rogers play off each other expertly, and sterling support comes from a young Lucille Ball, Eve Arden and Ann Miller. Adolphe Menjou is also well-cast as suave, predatory producer Tony Powell. This is one stage door worth knocking on.

what a classic.......2007-05-07

HEPBURN AND GINGER ROGERS WHAT AND LUCILLE BALL EACH OF THEM REALLY STOOD OUT INT HIS MOVIE HEPBURN WEALTHY ROGERS STRUGGLING TO BE AN ACTRESS LUCILLE BALL AS WELL ALL ARE DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES BUT PUT ALL OF THEM TOGETHER WHAT CHEMISTRY THE WRITER'S KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WHEN THIS MOVIE I AM GLAD I HAVE COME ACROSS THIS ONE!! COVER GIRL IS ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE CLASSIC MOVIES
THE DRAMA THE SADNESS AND WELL I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE IT ALL AWAY BUT WHAT A MOVIE

A classic masterpiece.......2007-04-28

A must see for classic film buffs. It's a great theatrical film. Stellar cast with perfect acting from everyone. Fast paced dialogues, very witty and integrated in the evolution of the story. Perfect direction and camera work. It has something of Elia Kazan (without the sexual innuendos) and George Cukor in it. This is theater adapted to the screen. I hardly noticed the time pass, and this is the best sign that it was a great film.

Then we have Katherine Hepburn in a role that must have been a challenge for her at that early stage of her career, and one can't help fixing all the attention on her; Ginger Rogers does a wonderful work, very natural, actually all the cast are great and each one adds a different ingredients to their roles. Everything works out perfect. It's an intelligent and emotional film, and great entertainment. I am glad I can add one more masterpiece to my collection of classic films.

GAIL PATRICK IS THE BEST ACTRESS EVER!!!.......2007-03-13

I've been watching classic American films for well over 10 years and all I have to say is the star that I'm most impressed with is Ms. Gail Patrick. I don't know but there is something about her acting, her style and persona that is so different from other Hollywood film stars. When she gets in front of that camera, she becomes the character completely and she convinces you in a way that makes you believe that she and only she can play that role. I don't know and I'm not good with words but you just have to watch all her films to see what a great actress she truly was and still is. Her movies remain timeless for me and it's the greatest joy to watch her perform. Ms. Gail Patrick, you are the very best.:-)

I apologize for shying away from the topic which should be reviewing STAGE DOOR. My favorite performances from that film comes from Gail Patrick, Ginger Rogers and Andrea Leeds. Andrea Leeds is amazing as Kay Hamilton. Her dramatic role in her was very touching. You won't be disappointed if you rent or purchase this great classic film.:-)

Wonderful Women!.......2007-03-02

Fast snappy dialogue and a window into another world oddly like our own. Imagine a movie with lots of high powered female characters, none of whom have had surgery to their faces to adhere to some imposed idea of beauty as conformity, who, as characters, are competing for success based on personal merit and individuality? Watch this film and show it to young people.
JJP

Average customer rating:

Mildred Pierce
The Closest I will Ever Come to Loosing Myself in a Soap Opera
Truly Timeless
What Would She Do Without Money
Classic Joan

Mildred Pierce (Keepcase)
Starring: Joan Crawford , Jack Carson , Zachary Scott , Eve Arden , and Ann Blyth
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All About Eve
Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
The Little Foxes
Now, Voyager (Keepcase)

ASIN: B0008ENIAC
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Amazon.com essential video

For a full dose of pure, unfiltered Joan Crawford, look no further than this slab of scorching film noir. Crawford is in her element as the heroine of James M. Cain's pulp-fiction classic, a ditched wife and mother who is forced to become a waitress. On the strength of Crawford's steely willpower (and maybe those intimidating wide-wing shoulder pads), she constructs an empire of eateries, only to be disappointed by her rotten daughter (Ann Blyth) and a ferret-faced new husband (Zachary Scott). Director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) whips up a storm of atmosphere, and the script is a series of tartly written exchanges. The best lines go to perennial wisecracker Eve Arden, as Crawford's acid-tongued pal--she earned her only Oscar nomination for the role. Commenting on the ungrateful daughter, Arden says, "Alligators have the right idea. They eat their young." Crawford herself took home the best actress Oscar, and the film was a triumphant personal comeback: her longtime studio MGM had released her from her contract before Mildred Pierce came along. Is this great acting? (Pauline Kael called it "heavy breathing.") Whatever Joan Crawford is doing in this movie, it's movie presence at its most formidable. --Robert Horton

Description

What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder? Just when you think you got this nominee for five other Oscarsincluding Best Picture figured out, along comes a shocking twist ending! Director: Michael Curtiz Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth

Customer Reviews:

Mildred Pierce.......2007-06-13

The movie was an old favorite of mine so I already knew it was great.
Jan

The Closest I will Ever Come to Loosing Myself in a Soap Opera.......2007-06-13

Mildred Pierce is such a soap opera. The characters are over the top. Wally, Mildred's ex-husband's ex-business partner, seems to have the single minded goal of getting into Mildred's now vacant pants. Monte is an aging spendthrift playboy, who is violently alergic to work, and vampirically latches on to Mildred's purse. Veda, Mildred's airhead daughter, is pure spoiled brat - nothing redeeming there, only a mother could love her. To polish off this soap opera quality, there is an awkwardly inserted scene of a child's death for added melodrama.

Mildred ties all these threads together as a good little housewife, who is striking out on her own to provide only the best for her daughter Veda. Her character has the most depth (any depth at all is a change in this movie). She remains motherly and virtuous, as she reallizes that she can be shark at business to keep the funds flowing for Veda's expensive hobbies. Similarly, Joan Crawford, who plays Mildred, holds the film together. It's so corny - I reallized this as I watched - and yet so gripping. I think that reading the script would have made me gag, and yet this movie pulled me in.

Truly Timeless.......2007-06-04

When watching most films that were made prior to the social changes of the '60s and '70s, one is usually struck as much by contrasts to today's world as one is by the quality of the actual writing and acting. Most films of the '40s and '50s, no matter how excellent, are firmly rooted in a particular time and place.

This film is an amazing exception. The hair styles and cars are about the only things that are dated here. The women are strong and independent, the dialogue is fresh, intelligent, and unsentimental, and the pace is quick. If someone were to remake this film today, they'd be hard pressed to find elements that needed updating or improvement.

This is a real gem of a movie that has stood the test of time. 5 stars!

What Would She Do Without Money.......2007-05-13

Joan morphs into Mildred and the magic of success overcomes both as this film was the one that established Ms. Crawford as "the real thing" when she portrays a woman driven by the effects of a difficult childhood into a greedy manipulative woman who due to instinctive insecutity finds achieving happiness a constant challenge. It may have been the first of a long series of films that portrays the dysfunctional family(s) as concieved by Hollywood in a way that kept the cash flow creating wealth for the studios and their assorted benefactors.

Classic Joan.......2007-05-07

She is downtrodden and hammy in this overly dramatic movie. What can I say...I loved every minute of it.

We Go Together 2-Pack (Grease / Grease 2)

Average customer rating:

We Go Together 2 DVD-Pack (Grease/Grease 2 )
Service above all else
Double-Edged Review...

We Go Together 2-Pack (Grease / Grease 2)
Starring: John Travolta , Olivia Newton-John , Stockard Channing , Jeff Conaway , and Barry Pearl
Director: Randal Kleiser , and Patricia Birch
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Dirty Dancing (Ultimate Edition)
Grease II (1982 Film)
Because I Said So (Widescreen Edition)
Grease (Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Grease 2

ASIN: B000MX7V6Q
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Amazon.com

Grease
Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy

Grease 2
Too often, sequels to popular films simply rehash the original film; call it the carbon-copy syndrome. Grease 2 suffers from no such malady, having almost nothing to do with the original film. Sure, it focuses on teens at Rydell High, the imaginary school from the first film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But other than a few of the teachers, all of the characters are new and so are the songs--and more's the pity. By the time Grease hit the big screen, it already had had almost a decade as a theatrical musical, more than enough time to hone its mock-rock & roll score. But this sequel, which stars among others a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), has music that's neither fish nor fowl, neither rock nor Broadway. Meanwhile, the plot is a reversal of the first film, in which a cool guy fell for a square girl. In this one, the square is newcomer Caulfield, who catches the eye of tough girl Pfeiffer and her Pink Lady gang. The appearance of such pseudo-stars of the '50s, like Tab Hunter, is supposed to lend a nostalgic kick, but let's just say that Grease 2 slides almost instantly into obscurity. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

We Go Together 2 DVD-Pack (Grease/Grease 2 ).......2007-05-26

I already have the United Kingdom DVD's of Grease and Grease 2 but when I saw them as a two-pack I thought I must get them as Grease is a different version than the UK one.

Grease is one of my favourite musical films ever which was released in 1978. I love Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta and the love story storyline and of course the fantastic soundtrack including Summer Nights, You're The One That I Want, Sandy and Greased Lightnin'. It brings back so many fantastic memories of my childhood as I was only [...]at the time.

Grease 2 was released in 1982 and all though it is not up to the standard of the Grease storyline it is a great movie in it's own right and didn't get the recognition it deserved. Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer and Adrian Zmed star in this very funny love story. It has a great soundtrack with songs such as Reproduction and We'll Be Together.

If you like musical films then Grease and Grease 2 are the ones you should have in your DVD collection. Also the soundtracks to Grease and Grease 2 are a must have for your CD collection to.

Service above all else.......2007-05-14

Good price. Prompt delivery. Excellent condition. As always!

Double-Edged Review..........2007-04-10

"Grease" is a classic and great movie. It will get a 5-star rating. "Grease 2" should never have been made! It deserves no stars at all! What were they thinking??? Certain movies will never merit a sequel - "Grease" is one of those movies.
You'd be better off just buying the original.

Average customer rating:

Silly But FUN!
Over-the-top cornball, good-clean-fun!
Joe Flynn is funny!.
Disney Go Home
Something happened to Dexter

The Strongest Man in the World
Starring: Kurt Russell , Joe Flynn , Eve Arden , Cesar Romero , and Phil Silvers
Director: Vincent McEveety
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Now You See Him, Now You Don't
The Barefoot Executive
The World's Greatest Athlete
Million Dollar Duck

ASIN: B0000DZTN4
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com

Once again Dexter Riley (a young Kurt Russell) and his science lab pals astound and confound Medfield College's head dean when their latest concoction might either save the struggling institution from bankruptcy or get the top-level staff fired. In this third of the four Medfield films, Riley accidentally ingests a vitamin compound that gives him superhuman strength, leading to sponsorship by a cereal company and possible defeat of a rival university in a weightlifting contest. Although today Medfield's team would be disqualified for drug use, in this pre-steroid scandal picture it's the scheming adults who are the bad guys. Thanks to a Medfield Board of Directors traitor (an amusingly villainous Dick Van Patten), the competing sponsor sends a couple of bungling burglars (one played by Cesar Romero) to steal the formula. Kidnapping, hypnosis, and a down-to-the-wire weightlifting finale mark this 92-minute, G-rated film, which is short on subtlety but long on wholesomeness. Kids as young as 4 will enjoy the weightlifting and burglary antics, but the school politics and corporate warfare subplots will lose them temporarily. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Description

Medfield College science major Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) and his classmates have been working on a new vitamin compound when a lab accident creates a supercharged mix that ends up in Dexter's cereal box! After breakfast the next morning, Dexter is transformed, possessing a superhuman strength that levels lampposts and destroys doorknobs. The powerful formula comes to the attention of the college dean and two rival cereal companies, touching off a hilarious chain of events. Ultimate control of the moneymaking formula rides on a weight lifting match between the pitifully small Medfield team and the superior State challengers. It's a mixture of fun, comedy, and adventure that will have everyone exploding with laughter!

Customer Reviews:

Silly But FUN!.......2007-01-03

This movie is typical of the live-action Disney fare from the 60s and 70s. Harmless fun based on a silly premise. Kurt Russell was always so fun to watch in his Disney movies. This is the type of movie that was on Sunday nights when I was a kid and afterwards on various local stations and finally on the Disney Channel before they started original programming and adding other shows of a dubious (but more "hip") nature. If you like silly fun for the whole family, check out this title or any other family movie that features Kurt Russell, Tommy Kirk, Fred MacMurray, Joe Flynn, Ken Berry, Keenan Wynn & Ed Wynn, Hayley Mills, Jim Dale, Dean Jones, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Robert Morse, Phil Silvers, or Mickey Rooney. You won't be disappointed!!!

Over-the-top cornball, good-clean-fun!.......2005-07-24

Forgetting the Disney corporate and technical criticism, the movie itself is thoroughly entertaining, good clean fun. It's full of great character actors from the 60's and 70's including a hilarious Joe Flynn. The movie is full of over-the-top cornball fun and thankfully it's devoid of profanity, flatulence jokes and violence found in so many movies geared at kids today. Great for kids and parents who enjoy innocent, G-rated entertainment.

Joe Flynn is funny!........2005-04-18

`The Strongest Man In The World` Is about the Funniest man in the world, the late Joe Flynn.

Disney Go Home.......2004-08-21

I keep reading that Disney might get swallowed up by a bigger corporation in one of the token buyout/takeovers that are so common these days. While I am not crazy about that particular phase of big business, I hope *somebody* with dignity would do us all a favor and do this to Disney. There are so many films like this one that I grew up with and would love to own, but I refuse to waste my hard-earned cash on inconsiderate shovelware with no care given to the restoration and presentation of the original film.

Walt Disney was nothing at all like the money-grubbing buffoons who run the show at Disney now. The soul of Disney's empire is long gone and the only folks occupying their offices are mindless, greedy, insensitive, corporate cannibals.

They may one day get some of my money, but not until they change their ways. Over 200 titles in my ever growing DVD collection and not one bears the Disney logo.

Something happened to Dexter.......2004-06-24

This is an enjoyable Disney romp with stars like Phil Silvers Eve Arden along for the ride and the return of Joe Flynn as Dean Higgins Cesar Romero as A.J Arno and Kurt Russell as Dexter Riley. The only disappointment is Russell's appearance is really pretty short with about 15 minutes at the beginning and another 15 at the end. But if you enjoyed The Computer that wore Tennis Shoe's and Now you see Him now you Don't this DVD is a must.

Average customer rating:

Cover Girl
A MUSICAL THAT TELLS A LOVE STORY
If You Like Cheesy Technicolor Musicals, You'll Like This
Typical plot with a true star!
Choreographic genius (recommended)

Cover Girl [Region 99]
Starring: Rita Hayworth , Gene Kelly , Lee Bowman , Phil Silvers , and Jinx Falkenburg
Director: Charles Vidor
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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You Were Never Lovelier [Region 99]
You'll Never Get Rich [Region 99]
Gilda [Region 99]
The Loves of Carmen
For Me And My Gal (Snap case)

ASIN: B00009ZPU1
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Amazon.com essential

Cover Girl was one of the big hits of Rita Hayworth's run as movie queen (and World War II pinup girl), a splashy musical geared to the talents of its redheaded star. Be warned: this is the kind of movie in which a single magazine cover turns an unknown dancer into the toast of her own Broadway show, virtually overnight. The corn runs high, but so do the spirits; plus, Eve Arden is around to toss in her trademark one-liners. Gene Kelly, as Hayworth's sulky choreographer and part-time boyfriend, stops the movie cold with his brilliant dance alongside his own reflection. The Jerome Kern-Ira Gershwin songs are middling, except for the lovely "Long Ago and Far Away." One number presents a parade of magazine cover girls come to life (great snapshot of an era). And check out the movie's hats: a parade of insane creations, perched uncertainly on many beautiful women's heads. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Cover Girl.......2007-05-28

single magazine cover turns unknown dancer Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth) into a Broadway star overnight and acts as a catalyst for the love conflict between Rusty and her choreographer/part-time boyfriend Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly). With splashy music, dynamic dance numbers, and the usual cheesy love declarations, Cover Girl is worth the watch for classic Hollywood fans. This film also sets the stage for Gene Kelly's famous `Alter Ego' dance which served as the inspiration for his later and even more famous solo dance and song performance of `Singing In The Rain'.

A MUSICAL THAT TELLS A LOVE STORY.......2007-05-07

THERE IS NOT MUSIC ALL THE WAY THROUGH IT IS NOT AS IF ALL LINES WERE SONGS
RITA AND GENE ARE IN LOVE SILVERMAN IS BEST FRIENDS WITH THEM BOTH AS THEY SEARCH FOR THE PEARL THE MAGIC PEARL IN SMALL BAR EACH NIGHT AFTER THE SHOW THEY ORDER CLAMS EVENTUALLY IT IS FOUND
RITA LOOKS LIKE HER GRANDMOTHER WHO A PRODUCER WAS IN LOVE WITH AND WHEN HE SEEN RITA HE JUST HAD TO HAVE HER AT ANY COST A SMALL TIME GIRL WENT FROM THAT TO THE COVER GIRL AND CHANGED HER LIFE AND HER ATTITUDE
SHE REALIZES IT WAS A MISTAKE . GENE AND SILVERMAN GO THERE OWN WAY TOGETHER THEY PREFORM FOR THE TROOPS SINCE HIS LOVE BECAME THE COVER GIRL
THIS MOVIE HAS COMEDY DANCE AND SONG AND WOW RITA BEAUTIFUL AS EVER
BUY THIS MOVIE HAS A WONDERFUL ENDING

If You Like Cheesy Technicolor Musicals, You'll Like This.......2007-05-05

I've been an avid watcher of old movies for about a year now, and I'm coming to the conclusion Technicolor musicals just aren't my cup of tea. I prefer film noir- give me dramatic, semi depressing, black and white movies anyday over movies like this. This is not to say this movie is bad, it's not, but there's nothing special about it. Entirely too long with outbursts of dance and song typical to a true musical. In musicals, people always feel the need to suddenly get up and sing about every emotion they're feeling, and I find this somewhat lackluster. The plot interested me, as I have a weakness for movies that explore the underbelly of show stardom thrust upon newcomers, but not in the cheery Technicolor fashion this film portrays. But what can I say, maybe 'Gilda' would be more my cup of tea. As for me, I'll leave the cheesy song and dance routines to someone else.

Typical plot with a true star!.......2007-04-28

You know that most movie musicals all have that same plot: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl face some huge ordeal, then they live happily ever after. However, this one stars the magnificent, beautiful, and truly talented Rita Hayworth, our 'girl', Rusty in this one. I hadn't seen any of her films, but have always been a big fan of movie musicals and actresses from that generation.
"Cover Girl" makes me want to seek out more of Rita Hayworth.

Choreographic genius (recommended).......2007-01-28

To further her career, Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth) enters a COVER GIRL contest. Keys to unlocking certain Broadway stardom are her grace, face, and talent. Rusty's ontogenesis challenges the budding romance with nightclub owner Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly). Rusty must decide between her familiar fellowship and the aristocrats who disdain them but wield control over her ambitions.

A dance number called "Alter Ego" finds a parallel in the careers of Rusty Parker and her grandmother Maribelle Hicks. In Alter Ego, Gene Kelly dances with a reflection of himself in a manner that transcends 1944 technology and, according to Kelly, is the most difficult film sequence he's ever done. I had to back it up and watch again in amazement. With the exception of this scene, most song-and-dance routines are in the appropriate on-stage setting -- no hokey dancers jumping out of unexpected places. The romantic comedy musical COVER GIRL established Kelly as a choreographer extraordinaire!

Movie quote: "I'm John Coudair, Maribelle, the only thing in your life from now on. So you might as well make the best of it."

Actress:

Actress

Actress