Helen Mack

Average customer rating:

His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy
His Girl Friday dvd

His Girl Friday [Region 99]
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
To Catch a Thief (Special Collector's Edition)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Charade

ASIN: 6305416192
Release Date: 2000-11-21

Amazon.com essential video

The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's classic 1928 newspaper play, has had three official film versions and contributed structural DNA to half the movies ever made about professional camaraderie and fierce love-hate friendships. Lewis Milestone's 1931 movie is well respected (Billy Wilder's 1974 version isn't), but this is one case where the remake towers brilliantined head and blocked shoulders above the original.

Howard Hawks had the inspired notion of making Hildy Johnson--the ace newsman whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--a she instead of a he. What's more, she's not only Walter's star reporter but also his ex-wife. When Hildy (Rosalind Russell) comes to tell Walter (Cary Grant) she's leaving the newspaper business, he bamboozles her into carrying out one last assignment--a death-row interview with a little nebbish (John Qualen) convicted of killing a policeman. It sounds like a snap, but before you can say screwball comedy, the press room of the Criminal Courts Building has become ground zero for all the lunacy a jailbreak, a shooting, an impromptu suicide, a corrupt city administration, and the most Machiavellian "hero" in the American cinema can supply.

His Girl Friday is one of the, oh, five greatest dialogue comedies ever made; Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Russell, not Hawks's first choice to play Hildy, is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Grant is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

The legendary Howard Hawks directs what may be the fastest film comedy ever. A re-make of "The Front Page", this version's inspired plot twist is that Hildy is a female reporter, formerly wed to loveable scoundrel Burns. The conceit works, as underneath Walter and Hildy's scathing, rapid-fire repartee we sense a strong (though somewhat twisted) animal attraction. Both Grant and Russell are in top form, and all we have to do is keep up with them. A rip-roaring good time, start to finish

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

Right in the middle of one of the most successful three years anybody has ever had, Howard Hawks gave us his new and improved reworking of Ben Hecht's comedic play, The Front Page. He changed the title to His Girl Friday. It was sandwiched in between Only Angels Have Wings in 1939 and Sergeant York in 1941. This amazing string of five classics began with Bringing Up Baby in 1938 and wound up with my personal favorite, Ball of Fire in 1941. WOW, what a run!

Bringing Up Baby and Only Angels Have Wings both starred the irresistible Cary Grant. He was probably the inspiration for Hawks' reworking. Grant owned the role of Walter Burns. It was a role that allowed him to ham to his heart's content. Burns is the freewheeling owner/editor of a big city newspaper that's at odds with its local government.

Originally, the plot revolved around Burns trying to keep his star reporter, Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson, from quitting his job in order get married. Hawks made a brilliant revision turning Hildebrand into Hildegaard and made her Burns' ex. When she shows up at the paper Walter conceitedly thinks she's there to get her job back but she's actually there to tell him that she's going to live in Albany with her soon to be husband, the nebbish insurance agent Bruce Baldwin beautifully self-parodied by Ralph Bellamy. Walter, unwilling to see his ex and star reporter walk out on him, works the kind of magic only he can work. This results in one of the top ten American comedies of all time and can truly be called madcap.

Hildy is realized in a frenetic performance by not the first nor second or even third choice, Rosalind Russell. Russell was borrowed from MGM after Jean Arthur turned the role down and for whatever reason Irene Dunne and Claudette Colbert also didn't work out. One could only guess their ultimate choice would have been Kate Hepburn but RKO would probably never lend her out to play the part. The stars must have been aligned. Because she was their last choice, Russell played the part with a huge chip on her shoulder, which was just what the role needed. She was so miffed she even felt the script gave Grant the lion's share of good lines and injected her own prewritten adlibs to offset. This did not endear her to Grant and the two never worked together again but once again it worked toward the betterment of the film as this two giant talents rivaled to "one up each other" in scene after scene.

Here is where Hawks developed his trademark style of layering dialog, making actors start their line before the other had finished. This wasn't the first time it was done but in His Girl Friday it was brought to the level of fine art. It was not only practiced by the stars but also perfectly played by the innumerable character actors. The core of pressroom actors did this so well they will always be thought of not as actors but reporters. The pacing is blindingly fast and rarely ever achieved again. The celebrated scene in Broadcast News pales by comparison.

If you've haven't seen this American treasure, I envy you. I wish I could see for the first time again but I can attest to its ability to make you laugh even after twenty viewings.

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

This movie reminds us what movies used to be: fun.

Carey Grant is handsome and debonair (and all that stuff that drove women crazy) and downright evil sometimes in this movie. He is not above twisting arms (men or women's) to get what he wants and needs, but he does it with such charm that most people just follow him. This is a lesson in alpha-male behavior 101. I won't reveal the storyline or any spoilers (I am sure someone has already done that), but instead I ill say that the movie reeks of another era, which wasn't that long ago chronologically. The witty banter and seemingly endless conflict between the main characters drives the movie forward like a roller coaster that threatens to come off of the tracks at any moment.

This is Howard Hawks' brilliance. The director, the actors, even the lighting all work together seamlessly to create this film. The truest beauty of this film I believe was not the way that Hawks was able to entertain men and women equally in this truly romantic comedy (as compared to the trash that passes for "romantic crap (oops! I mean 'comedy')" today. It was the way this and other films laid down archetypes to aspire to. Cary Grant wasn't just a good looking guy with money - he was a good looking guy with money and a demonic bent and a razor-sharp tongue that he coated with just enough charm to make the poison work all the better. He had an iron will and was Hell bent on getting his way, and not looking like the bad guy in the process. His counterpart, "Hildy Johnson" was his intellectual equal and very sexy, and independent as well. Not the type of woman you would ever get tired of - or bored with.

With characters like this on screen, it became all to easy to imagine that people like that existed somewhere, and that you might get lucky enough to snag one. The characters in this film were not as flat and 2-dimensional as many of the films today, and that is why it stands up so well even though it is shot in black and white, and the actors are long deceased. This is truly a night's worth of great entertainment and a movie *worth* owning, not just viewing.

Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy.......2007-02-16

This is the 95th review to appear here at Amazon on this movie. As always, it has proved enlightening to read the preceding writers had to say. Most of them loved the film, as was wholly predictable. A goodly number issued dire warnings about the appalling quality of one issue or another, so there is very much a buyer beware factor involved here. A handful didn't care for the film at all, almost always because thedialogueissofasttheycan'tkeepupwithit. That ... is ... a ... real ... shame, especially in this era of the fidgety edit, the sound bite and the five-second commercial.

Many, altogether too many, praised director Howard Hawks to the skies for his brilliant story, his brilliant dialogue, his brilliant re-visioning, his brilliant this, his brilliant that. Now that requires a comment or two.

In the Roaring Twenties, Chicago was the most raffish newspaper town in the world. Reporters who had seen it all--many, many times--covered Prohibition-era beer wars, gangsters several times bigger than life, crooked politicians, lurid scandals of every conceivable stripe, Red scares, repeated labor strife, mesmerizing mouthpieces who reduced juries to tears in order to save thrill killers from their justly deserved dates with public executioners, and any other mad things that turned up by land, sea or air. The pop culture of the day was fascinated by it all and two contemporary plays survive into our time to remind us of those hard-charging times: "Chicago" and "The Front Page." "Chicago," of course, was a hit play, that became a hit movie (and advanced the career of Ginger Rogers), that became a hit Broadway musical, that became a hit retro-movie musical.

"The Front Page" was an even bigger hit on stage in its first go-around. It was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur who had served time in the news bullpen at the Chicago City Hall and had finally escaped to write for other venues that were no more respectable but paid a whole lot more money. Their subject was Hildy Johnson, a reporter on his last day in the bullpen before escaping into the real world and his boss Walter Burns, an amalgamation of every editor who'd ever run a beady eye over Hecht and MacArthur's deathless prose. I should point out that Hildy Johnson in the play is a man. The reason for that is ... well, because there actually was a Hildy (short for Hilding) Johnson who happened to be a bullpen reporter at the Chicago City Hall. Whatever inclination (if such a thing ever entered their minds at all) that Hecht and MacArthur had to make Hildy Johnson a woman would have promptly fallen by the wayside because the two authors were aware that the real Hildy Johnson would be in the theater on opening night to observe the antics of the fictional Hildy on stage. By all accounts, the real Hildy was a large and formidable Swede, not at all someone H&Mac wished to annoy.

In very short order, the play was faithfully transferred to the movie screen with Pat O'Brien as Hildy and dapper Adolph Menjou as Walter Burns. That film is largely forgotten today, but is well worth watching. It was the first major film of the talkie era in which the old fluid movement of the silent film camera was re-attained. Menjou and O'Brien are both terrific.

More than a decade later, a geologic era of Hollywood time, Howard Hawks set himself to the task of making a remake. He hired Charles Lederer, yet another raffish writer, to make a 1940-ish screenplay out of the 1928 play. He, or Lederer, or both simultaneously succumbed to the psycho-magnetic pull of that name, Hildy. They subjected Johnson to a gender transformation ... which changed the relationship between Burns and Johnson from Mephistopheles and Faust to lovers-separated ... which allowed for the importation of a new character as the temporary impediment to the course of true love ... which yielded a magnificent screenplay that maintained all the cynical energy of the original, but in the context of a romantic comedy.

In the apportioning of credit, so far, I would put writer Lederer far ahead of director Hawks. Hawks racks up points for casting Cary Grant in the unaccustomed role of an authority figure, for casting Roz Russell who was perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Grant and always giving as good as she got, and for tossing in the wonderful, but still under-appreciated Ralph Bellamy as hilarious ballast to keep everything on course.

Hawks did one more thing. He rehearsed each scene in long takes, again and again, until the rapid, overlapping rhythm of the words was ingrained in the performers. Then, and only then, did he shoot it.

This film is a masterpiece for its screenplay, for its performers down to the smallest parts (a perfect, Big Studio-era repertory company of players), for Hawks' masterful direction. Sheesh, what more could you want? Of course it's worth five stars!

His Girl Friday dvd.......2007-01-19

Delivery of the item was prompt as promised and the quality of the DVD was as indicated. Completely satisfied with the transaction.

Average customer rating:

Solid Mystery, if not Great Nior
Ferrer as Satanic Svengali
Tierney's best acting. A noir treat!
This is an excuciatingly dull, BAD movie
Love eventually conquers all

Whirlpool (Fox Film Noir)
Starring: Gene Tierney , Richard Conte , José Ferrer , Charles Bickford , and Barbara O'Neil
Director: Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)
Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)
The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
Somewhere in the Night (Fox Film Noir)
Kiss of Death (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B0009X7682
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Amazon.com

Laura will always be director Otto Preminger's most beloved movie, but he gets closer to the essence of film noir in this fascinatingly slippery item about a psychiatrist's wife whose weakness for kleptomania makes her prey to an oily hypnotist, con artist, and manipulator par excellence. The fashion-plate wife (dresses, robes, and peignoirs by Oleg Cassini) is played by Laura herself, Gene Tierney. The mellifluous conniver is Jose Ferrer, coming off like the illegitimate son of Waldo Lydecker ("I'm so glad you're here--you make Tina's party seem an almost human event"). Among other things, Ferrer would probably like to get Tierney into bed, and a good many people--including Richard Conte as the caring husband--come to believe he has. But that's not the extent of his ambitions, and before long Tierney has been framed for a murder of convenience to clear up another bit of messiness in the cad's career. Whirlpool's mise-en-scène has a sinuous fluidity and subtle play of light and shadow (it was among the last films shot by that master of black-and-white, Arthur C. Miller), and the complexly structured screenplay--by Ben Hecht and Andrew Solt--takes us by surprise in reel after reel. There's nothing redeeming about Ferrer's character (except how much pleasure his villainy affords), but Preminger doesn't really side with any of the characters or permit our facile identification with anyone. Different parts of the movie are dominated by each of the key figures, including police detective Charles Bickford, and we keep learning there's more to each of them than we initially assumed. Whirlpool's a good title for it. Dive in. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

The wife of a psycho-analyst falls prey to a devious quack hypnotist when he discovers she is an habitual shoplifter. Then one of his previous patients now being treated by the real doctor is found murdered, with her still at the scene, and suspicion points only one way.

Customer Reviews:

Solid Mystery, if not Great Nior.......2007-02-14

"Whirlpool" is a first rate murder mystery but it's debatable if it qualifies as a noir release. Silver and Ward's encyclopedic "Film Noir" does not list it, though it does mention other releases by the lading cast members. No matter, W can stand on its' own merits. As the story opens, Gene Tierney is pinched for shoplifting by the house dick at a fancy department store in LA. Quickly, perhaps a bit conveniently, GT is sprung by a smooth talking Jose Ferrer. It develops that GT is a very vulnerable young woman. Among her problems is kleptomania and JF is quick to exploit. He hypnotizes GT under the guise of "helping her sleep at night" but he has far darker motives. It seems he has bilked Barbara O'Neill out of $60Gs and O'N wants her $$ back. Soon she is found murdered-with GT at the crime scene! As many of previous reviews have revealed the resolution, this one will try to maintain an air of mystery. Will justice be done? Is GT on her way to the electric chair? Her lawyer is planning an insanity defense! What happens? My amazon friends will have to watch for themselves, but what develops is a very solid murder mystery with many more angles than mentioned here. This reviewer believes that the males carry W. Richard Conte is GT's supportive husband, capably shedding his customary tough guy role. (He is a shrink with a penchant for taping his sessions!) Charles Bickford is perfect as the gruff but patient veteran homicide detective. And Ferrer is over the top as an effete oily, smug villain with an airtight alibi. (Wasn't he flat on his back in a hospital bed the night O'N met her demise?) One wonders why he didn't play the black hat more often. With all the references to hypnosis and kleptomania W is an easy movie to over analyze. Amazoners are urged to resist this temptation and simply enjoy W on its' own terms. Watch attentively. This is a good one, noir or not.

Ferrer as Satanic Svengali.......2007-02-09

Jose Ferrer proved he had a strong acting presence and reached his peak in his virtuoso role in "Cyrano de Bergerac." In "Whirlpool" he is cast in a role that stretches his talents.

Ferrer can display a modicum of style mixed with a strong measure of authority when he is so disposed. Ultimately he emerges as a satanic Svengali hell bent on destroying beautiful Gene Tierney.

Tierney, for her part, is cast as a vulnerable woman who is seen as ripe pickings by the opportunistic Ferrer. After all, she is the wife of a prominent psychiatrist, played by Richard Conte in a shift from more traditionally machismo roles, and has plenty of money.

Otto Preminger, the director who specialized in films dealing with the "moral ambiguity" of America in the mid-century period, was just the person to develop such a conflict on screen in this 1949 release.

It was only natural for veteran scenarist Ben Hecht to write the screenplay, working with Andrew Solt. After all, it was Hecht who gave us such psychological thrillers working with Alfred Hitchcock as "Spellbound" and "Notorious."

The film begins with Ferrer helping Tierney out of a jam. Even though she lives an affluent life with her highly successful husband, Tierney is a kleptomaniac. When she attempts to steal a brooch from a department store the store's detective is there to apprehend her before she has a chance to drive away.

Ferrer comes to the rescue of Tierney. The store manager knows him well and immediately seeks to bring an unfortunate matter to a close. His conduct tips off viewers early that Ferrer is the type of individual who can and will cause trouble if and when he feels so disposed and has a formidable reputation.

It takes Ferrer little time to adopt his Svengali manner and seek to dominate Tierney, who in turn resists. Before long circumstances develop under Ferrer's unscrupulous planning that she is charged with a murder.

To give away more would interfere with the suspense plotting, but it can be said without giving away critical facts that Ferrer is a man who plays by the "take no prisoners" rules. Opportunism and domination are his twin hallmarks.

Just as we have an ongoing conflict in the relationship between Ferrer and Tierney, we have a corresponding cooperative alliance that emerges between Tierney's husband Conte and police-investigating detective Charles Bickford.

When Bickford sees that Conte is a loyal husband convinced that the woman he loves is innocent, Bickford confides that his wife died recently, generating empathy between the two men as he begins to increasingly believe that Tierney is an innocent victim.

Bickford, as a shrewd and veteran police officer, realizes that he can benefit from Conte's professional expertise from his background as a world famous psychiatrist. Conte's knowledge of the effects of hypnosis proves highly beneficial in helping solve the case.

Bickford at a critical juncture treats Conte more like an investigative partner rather than the husband of the official prime suspect of the moment and his strategy ploy brings results when a Conte strategy ploy results with Ferrer figuratively "hanging himself on his own petard."

Tierney's best acting. A noir treat!.......2006-07-25

This is a marvelous film noir story set in every day upper-middle-class America. It presents the popular ambivalence felt at the time about psychoanalysis, with one "good" Doctor and one charlatan.

I am a fan of Gene Tierney, without thinking she a great actress. She was exceptionally pretty, had a very polished manner, and very average in range. This made her a wonderful representative of both the middle class, and their hopes of being refined. To my mind, while this is not her best film (That being either THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR or LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN), this IS her finest acting work. It uses her blankness to advantage, and this script also gives her the pathos and confusion to vent full emotional range which is rare for her films. (To the observant person, it also displays the flaws of her presentational acting style; as when she breaks down in a torrent of bitter tears, and looks up afterwards - dry eyed and serene. But for THIS film - playing a woman completely divorced from her own emotions - even that works to the benefit of the plot.)

An actor is always helped - made better, challenged more - by working with other great actors, and she is working here with one of the very best, Jose Ferrer. This was shortly before his academy award win in CYRANNO, and quite possibly, this incredibly complex performance contributed to that win, he is simply excellent. All screen villains should watch this, every second of his performance is filled with a gamut of emotions, and mundane details. It is clear that not only is his character the smartest person in the room, but Ferrer may be as well. Tierney carries the story and Ferrer moves it along. Charles Bickford also gives a marvelous performance in a smaller, yet layered role as the rumpled, grieving Detective.

Richard Conte, is the real oddball casting. His street-tough demeanor is what carried his career. (He is magnificent as the psycho mob boss in stylish expressionistic noir film, THE BIG COMBO.) So it was an interesting choice to cast him as the intellectual top-notch psychologist, and ideal husband, but it doesn't really work. We just can't really believe that people would turn to him for help, that level of sensitivity isn't there. Ultimately, this is an undercurrent of the movie, however, and Director Otto Preminger may have been making the point that even a good Psychiatrist may not be that good for people.

This film was probably shocking in its day - not very nice - like watching those lovely people next door have a drunken brawl. A larger theme which is being exposed here is that the "perfect post-war life" is an empty façade. Since this was made in 1949, this film presents a very early warning shot across the bow of the "Cleaver Family" façade. It would be almost 10 years before this was a much more common thread, in such movies as the Kim Novak/Kirk Douglas "STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET," and then films with James Dean, who became the poster boy of idyllic family life with a dysfunctional core.

The talented Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay with Andrew Solt, based on a novel by Guy Endore. Much more than mystery, much more than noir, this is a very fine story with good plot twists, emotional life (which is usually absent or ice-cold in noir), developed with subtlety and brains. It is still a joy to watch for itself, but made timeless by the despicable, love-to-hate-him performance of Jose Ferrer.

This is an excuciatingly dull, BAD movie.......2006-05-29

As a lover of film noir and proud owner of most that are on DVD or VHS, I can say without hesitation that this is one of the very worst ever. The only reason I gave it two stars, instead of one, was because of the fine performers who were saddled with this inane script.
Joe Ferrer's hypnosis of Gene Tierney to allow her to sleep is nothing compared to the yawns brought about by the agonizingly slow pace, lack of action, and interminable pauses between lines. At one point, Gene Tierney swears that she hasn't been lying, and you find yourself wanting to respond: "Of course, you haven't. You haven't said anything of import."
The storyline makes absolutely no sense. Jose Ferrer has set
up the perfect crime so what does he do? He returns to the scene for no apparent reason other than to be captured. He hypnotizes Gene Tierney to steal incriminating evidence and then has her place the items where they will inexorably be discovered.
A complete waste of wonderful performers. Cross this one off the list, and donate the $9.99 to your favorite charity.
Or pourchase "The Dark Corner," a truly memorable Fox noir with an outstanding performance by a breathtakingly gorgeous Lucille Ball.

Love eventually conquers all.......2006-05-28

Gene Tierney stars as the young and attractive Ann Sutton, wife of a wealthy and prominent Los Angeles psychoanalyst in the worthy Otto Preminger directed tale of deceit and intrigue, "Whirlpool". Unbeknown to her husband Dr. William Sutton played by Richard Conte, Tierney had been suffering from lifelong bouts of kleptomania. She was apprehended for the theft of a broach at a chic department store. This commenced a chain of events that would drastically alter her life.

Happening to be nearby and coming to Tierney's rescue was a persuasive Jose Ferrer who convinced the store manager to drop the charges. Ferrer the star of the film played David Korvo, a suave and smooth talking charlatan and hypnotist. Ferrer eventually gained Tierney's confidence by using hypnosis to cure her sleeplessness born out of guilt about her secret afflition. When Ferrer failed to use his charm and power to seduce Tierney during their sessions he proceeded to use her as a pawn in another fantastic scheme.

Ferrer had seductively bilked a previous "patient" Theresa Randolph played by Barbara O'Neil out of $60,000. She had threatened to expose him to the police. Ferrer strangled her and then hypnotized Tierney into certain actions and being present at the crime scene to implicate her as the murderer. Ferrer had set up a very clever alibi and convincing evidence that Tierney was his lover.

A devastated Conte and a skeptical and craggy police lieutenant Colton played grumpily by Charles Bickford collaborated together to prove Tierney's innocence.

Preminger did well in setting the tone of suspense in this effective film noir based on the novel by Guy Endore. Tierney was decent as the femme fatale but the villainous Ferrer was excellent in his role aided also by the very solid performance of Bickford.

Average customer rating:

His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy
His Girl Friday dvd

His Girl Friday
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
To Catch a Thief (Special Collector's Edition)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Charade

ASIN: B00006RCLG
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy.......2007-02-16

His Girl Friday dvd.......2007-01-19

Delivery of the item was prompt as promised and the quality of the DVD was as indicated. Completely satisfied with the transaction.

Average customer rating:

Socially Relevant but Entertaining
Good Classic
some history surrounding a timeless classic
powerful & biting and thats even BEFORE the final sequence
Stale acting and B grade direction and script make film tedious

I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
Starring: Paul Muni , Glenda Farrell , Helen Vinson , Noel Francis , and Preston Foster
Director: Mervyn LeRoy , and Roy Mack
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Fury
Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
The Life of Emile Zola (Special Edition)
The Public Enemy
Scarface (Universal Cinema Classics)

ASIN: B0007TKNJ2
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Amazon.com

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is one of the toughest and most uncompromising movies to ever come out of Hollywood. Paul Muni stars as a regular Joe, just back from World War I, who is unjustly convicted of a crime and sentenced to 10 years of bruisingly unfair treatment on a chain gang. Even a successful escape can't shake the spectre of the chains, nor the amazingly fatalistic twists the screenplay has in store. This picture could only have been made at Warner Bros., where social-justice movies flourished in the 1930s and criticism of judicial systems and prisons was sanctioned. Muni's weird acting style (he was recently off Scarface) somehow fits the film's furious tone, and director Mervyn LeRoy--as in his earlier Little Caesar--was dexterous enough to build the action to an unforgettable ending. It's a film that filters the American Dream through Depression realities and noirish pessimism (with a streak of pre-Code sexual frankness--note the one-night "friend" Muni makes the night of his escape). This one holds up, folks; it's a stunner. --Robert Horton

Description

Classic fact-based drama about an innocent man brutally victimized by the Depression-era criminal justice system.

Customer Reviews:

Socially Relevant but Entertaining.......2007-04-04

This film really surprised me by holding my attention despite its age.

Paul Muni gives a tremendous performance as a slight above average kind of guy that ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He fills the character with a lot of emotion and when he is in his "fugitive" stage the tension is visible in him at all times.

The movie is based in the 1920s but yet it very much has Depression era themes that fit more with when it was filmed. The 1920s are normally portrayed as a go-go financial decade rather than the desolate job environment seen here.

The other performances do not match the intensity of Muni although the character of his wife is believably evil if rather one dimensional.

The jail scenes are suitably horrible but any documentary about conditions in today's jails shows a much harsher scene. Also, the social criticism is somewhat muted because the audience is led to feel sorry for a man we know to be innocent. The point about the harshness of the system is still strong but it seems that the only plight that matters is that of Muni's character.

All in all, this is a film worth watching for its quality and its pre-Code script that includes plenty of bad behavior.

Good Classic.......2007-03-17

Almost perfect classic by Mervyn LeRoy. A man returned from fighting WWII decides not to go back to his routine job at the factory. His experience doing some engineering work in the Army inspires him to look into the construction business, study and maybe become an engineer. But society has other plans for him. One little mistake will start him in the opposite direction he had planned.

Social realism, without being preachy or melodramatic, is the best description for this film's style. High quality direction, great photography. The story is well developed and interesting all the way. The flaws are some characterizations: the mother and the older brother in the first scenes are too clichéd and poorly played. Luckily we don't see them much. The film goes increscendo in intensity and quality. One cannot help comparing it to "Cool Hand Luke". Muni was no Paul Newman but he manages it.

It's not just a criticism of the justice system in some States of the Union. It has a lot more meat, which saves it from the mediocrity of so many films on fugitives and prison life. There's a good study on female stereotypes; the disadvantages of individualism & the entrepreneural spirit in a totalitarian state; and, of course, the quiet resignation and resilience of blacks to injustice.

I loved this line said by a woman: "There're no musts in my life. I'm free, white, and twenty-one." Being neither of them could be pretty tough indeed.

A great film that has past the test of time fairly well.

some history surrounding a timeless classic.......2007-01-05

I'd avoided this film for decades, since I was generally unimpressed with Muni's stuffy biopic films--George Arliss he ain't. But Muni absolutely delivers the goods in CHAIN GANG, forcing me to re-view and possibly reassess his other film efforts. This movie is HBO quality, without the gratuitous profanity.

A word about the ending. Late in life, Mervin LeRoy fessed up that the blackout BEFORE delivery of the last line was a fluke. Previous scripts ended the movie with James Allen graphically depicted as a fugitive beast desperately escaping over a state border...as well as implied borders of societal humanity. But, in rehearsal, klieg lights blew a fuse just before the final line was delivered, and the impact of this accident made the intended coda superfluous.

Also note that the real-life subject of this story, Robert E. Burns, was still a fugitive when he served as technical advisor on the film. When the movie proved to be a tremendous success, he made public appearances on its behalf before being captured again by the authorities. He did receive a pardon this time, thanks in no small part to the riveting content of CHAIN GANG.

powerful & biting and thats even BEFORE the final sequence.......2006-07-04

based on a true story, this movie recounts the tale of a man who escapes from the chain gang, goes on to a prosperous life only to see it all collapse around him when his past is revealed. paul muni, who had just become a star in "scarface" turns in one of the great screen performances, leading up to possibly the most shattering fade-out ever filmed (and if you dont know what it is, go rent the movie, because 70+ years later, it still shocks!)

Stale acting and B grade direction and script make film tedious.......2006-06-10

This film is hardly a "classic", nor is it a "social protest movie" that most of these misguided reviewers would have you believe. It falls into the realm of impressionable 'exploitation' films that attempted to substantiate struggling theaters with their wealthy competitors. Warner Bros. looked for "controversial" themes to release them from their box office slump and found it with topics like this, packaging emotional rubbish into the screens in the form of low budget B grade "content films". Anyone who thinks Warner Bros was a "redeeming and caring company interested in the plight of man" is deluded, they were merely out to make a profit, nothing more. Examine their union records, dictatorial management and abuse of rights at the time if you don't believe me. Surely, a film which pulls at your heart is only intended to pull at your wallet.

The film itself has a weak script, stale acting (bordering on dull to over anxious), B grade direction, poor dialogue and is tedious. It meanders through one half hearted empty skit after another, dislodging us from any sincere interest at all. Muni is a boorish actor, neither disguising his brusque acting method nor elaborating on any convincing emotion. Standard film shots are scattered throughout, of locations and events in history, a parade from WW 1, a real street scene in Chicago, and this further aggravates the authenticity of the whole subject, making the film look "cut up" because most of it was filmed on cheap Warner Bros sets in Pasadena. The chain gang scenes are unrealistic, exaggerated, and only attempt to garner instant condemnation from the viewer. I don't need a mediocre film to instigate that "chain gangs are evil", I should know that from my own knowledge, and further more, this film contradicts itself because capitalism itself is slavery and there is so much insane dialog about the "virtues of work" in the beginning. I fail to believe that there is a difference between a worker at a factory occupied for 12 hours a day like a slave and a man stuck on a chain gang! An average film reduced by film historians and buffs to a "classic" merely because they can not understand why films had to make a profit for the capitalistic and authoritarian film companies which produced them. Do not tell me about "social awareness" when only profit to powerful monopolistic companies was involved!

Average customer rating:

SHE is still a delight!
Dated adventure fantasy
Awesome
SHE says get this movie
BEWARE: arbitrary deletions!

She
Starring: Helen Gahagan , Randolph Scott , Helen Mack , Nigel Bruce , and Samuel S. Hinds
Director: Lansing C. Holden , and Irving Pichel
Manufacturer: Legend Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Things to Come
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)
Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge 1931 / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2 (Tarzan Triumphs / Tarzan's Desert Mystery / Tarzan and the Amazons / and the Leopard Woman / and the Huntress / and the Mermaids)

ASIN: B000HLDFN6
Release Date: 2006-11-28

Amazon.com

Randolph Scott is his usual stiff but smiling self as Leo Vincey, the long-lost American heir to a British family legacy, sent by his estranged father to reclaim the legendary "Flame of Life," discovered five centuries ago by his explorer ancestor. Producer Merian C. Cooper, best known for directing King Kong, changes the locale of H. Rider Haggard's classic adventure from Africa to the Arctic (which, apart from a spectacular avalanche, looks positively stagebound), but he pulls out all stops for the magnificent underground kingdom hidden in the icy mountains, complete with a cavernous throne room with vaulted ceilings and a massive staircase that would look right at home in the Ziegfeld Follies. The cruel She Who Must Be Obeyed (Helen Gahagan) is a beautiful but icy queen driven ruthless by her centuries of loneliness. The film takes some time to get started but once She makes her impressive entrance through a mist-enshrouded arch, we're plunged into a dangerous, exotic world of strange ceremonies, human sacrifices, nefarious plots, and the gorgeous whirlwind of light that is the Flame of Life. Though the dialogue is often flat and uninspired and the performances by Scott and Gahagan rather arch (costars Nigel Bruce and Helen Mack fare much better), this grand adventure concludes with a rousing climax full of impressive set pieces and breathtaking effects. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From the creative team that brought you the original "King Kong" comes a thrilling tale of adventure, immortality and lost love. -In color for the first time and includes fully restored black & white versions -Great Ray Harryhausen bonus features, Additional Scenes, Classic Sci-fi Toy Commercials, Original She Trailer

Customer Reviews:

SHE is still a delight!.......2007-05-09

The original in black & white and a seconmd version in color. A double treat for this good old-fashioned melodrama.

Dated adventure fantasy.......2007-03-17

Square jawed Randolph Scott woefully miscast playing American Leo Vinsey is beckoned to the bedside of his dying English uncle John in the 1935 film "She". He is told of the legacy of their ancestor John Vinsey who 500 years ago discovered a mystical land called Kor in the frozen northern regions of the Arctic beyond the Russian tundra. It had been reported that within Kor there is an eternal flame which is capable of bestowing immortality.

Scott who along with his uncle's sidekick Horace Holly played by a pre- Dr. Watson Nigel Bruce embark on a perilous journey to the land of Kor. Along the way they pick up a guide's daughter Tanya played by Helen Mack who joins them on their trek. They make their way to this fabled locale to find it ruled by a cruel despotic Queen Hash-A-Mo Tep known as She played by Helen Gahagan who tries to lure Scott to share her immortality with her.

The movie "She" was a fanciful tale replete with both garish sets and costumes and a sickening overdone sense of melodrama. The acting for the most part was horrendous lead by the wooden Scott who was far more effective in his milieu, the western.

Awesome.......2007-03-10

I remember having seen the black & white version of this film some twenty years ago - - but I was completely "blown away" by the Ray Harryhausen and Legend Films colorized version. The chorography and music of the dance sequence is alone worth the price of admission. Raldoph Scott - although sometimes critized as being "wooden" - was perfect in this film - as was Helen Gahagan. Sadly - although Helen Gahagan was an exceptional actress - this was her only film. (She was a stage actress.) As an added bonus - the optional audio commentary provides a wealth of background and historical information that is a must for all film buffs.

SHE says get this movie.......2007-02-24

This is a lot of fun to watch. Most people will connect Merian C. Cooper with the original King Kong, but this is also a great film. Randolph Scott is the star here as the leader of an expedition to find the "flame of life. Look for Nigel Bruce in a supporting role. He was better known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes. Special effect are very good for their day, but do not over take the storytelling. This DVD has both the original version and a colorized one. I recommend this, its fun!

BEWARE: arbitrary deletions!.......2007-01-15

Being a huge fan of the spectacular results this outfit gets, I was shocked and alarmed to discover that several scenes in this classic film were arbitrarily DELETED from the original director's print! They are included in the "extras", but still, this practice (they've done it before) is deplorable and disturbing. What can they be thinking?

His Girl Friday/Cary Grant on Film: A Biography

Average customer rating:

His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy
His Girl Friday dvd

His Girl Friday/Cary Grant on Film: A Biography
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Satire | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Screwball Comedy | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Comedy | 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

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
To Catch a Thief (Special Collector's Edition)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Charade

ASIN: B00003ES2M
Release Date: 1999-11-16

Amazon.com essential video

Description

This hilarious re-working of The Front Page teams Grant and Rosalind Russell. This version adds the twin lures of sex and romance. Undoubtedly Grant's greatest comedic role. Includes "Cary Grant On Film" - a documentary, an intro by Tony Curtis, and the trailer for Gunga Din. Menus: English • Spanish • Chinese • Japanese Subtitles: Spanish • Chinese • Japanese B&W/Color Running Time: 121 min.

Customer Reviews:

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy.......2007-02-16

His Girl Friday dvd.......2007-01-19

Delivery of the item was prompt as promised and the quality of the DVD was as indicated. Completely satisfied with the transaction.

Average customer rating:

His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy
His Girl Friday dvd

His Girl Friday
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

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

4-for-3 Television | 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

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
To Catch a Thief (Special Collector's Edition)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Charade

ASIN: B00008G8B7
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Amazon.com essential video

Description

This hilarious re-working of The Front Page teams Grant and Rosalind Russell. This version adds the twin lures of sex and romance. Undoubtedly Grant's greatest comedic role. Includes "Cary Grant On Film" - a documentary, an intro by Tony Curtis and the trailer for Gunga Din. Menus: English • Spanish • Chinese • Japanese Subtitles: Spanish • Chinese • Japanese B&W/Color Running Time: 133 min.

Customer Reviews:

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

This movie reminds us what movies used to be: fun.

Carey Grant is handsome and debonair (and all that stuff that drove women crazy) an