Night on Earth - Criterion Collection

Description

Five cities. Five taxicabs. A multitude of strangers in the night. Jim Jarmusch assembled an extraordinary international cast of actors (including Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Béatrice Dalle, and Roberto Benigni) for this hilarious quintet of tales of urban displacement and existential angst, spanning time zones, continents, and languages. Jarmusch's lovingly askew view of humanity from the passenger seat makes for one his most charming and beloved films.

Customer Reviews:

Take a cab ride with Jim Jarmusch..........2007-09-10

Jim Jarmusch began the 1990s with Night on Earth and would go on to produce some of his strongest work with Dead Man and Ghost Dog. However, these two films don't quite have the warmth and the humanity abundant in Night on Earth. While he does avoid major Hollywood studios, Jarmusch has no problem collaborating with well known actors. His first experiment was with this film, which featured famous movie stars, Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, and Rosie Perez. Jarmusch returned to the structure he used so well in Mystery Train, but expanded its scope. Night on Earth is broken up into five stories that all occur at the same time but in different cities all over the world with the action restricted to taxi cab rides. Jarmusch uses these encounters as springboards for interesting, often hilarious, sometimes tragic discussions ranging from acting in movies to circus clowns to inappropriate acts with farm animals.

After Night on Earth, Jarmusch's methodically paced, dry-witted comedies were no longer en vogue, only to be replaced by a louder, flashier wave of new filmmakers with overt pop culture sensibilities. This film manages to avoid the hackneyed cliché of the world weary cabbie to present touching insights into the human condition with situations that run the entire emotional spectrum.

"Q&A with Jim" features Jarmusch answering questions submitted by fans from all over the world (this was also done on the Down By Law DVD). Among the highlights include him telling an anecdote about a scary moment during the filming in Helsinki. Jarmusch talks about his movie-watching habits and about how he works with actors.

"Alice: Magazine Europeen" is a brief interview with Jarmusch on Belgian television in 1992. The interview mostly takes place in the back of a moving car as the filmmaker talks about the origins of his film.

Finally, there is an audio commentary by the film's director of photography Frederick Elmes and sound mixer Drew Kunin. The two men talk about the challenge of moving from city to city and how they had to train a new crew in every place. Elmes and Kunin recount many filming anecdotes, like how no actual cabs would stop for Giancarlo Esposito in the NY segment. They provide fascinating insight into making an independent film all over the world.

Jarmusch Masterpiece on DVD for the First Time!!!.......2007-08-07

So it only took 16 years for it's first USA release on DVD, but I think it will be worth the wait. I only recently parted with my VHS copy of this film when Criterion announced it's release. While obviously I've not seen the release, there is no reason Criterion will disappoint. For those who haven't seen the film (and I've met dozens of people who still haven't) I believe it to be Jarmusch's best for many reasons.

With five stories (five cabs, five drivers, five cities in the world), all occurring simultaneously, it examines Jarmusch's fascination with the crossing and meeting of cultures and classes. The film is jammed packed with humor, pathos, sadness, thought provoking stories of people that you actually care about after only 20 minutes and so much more. Tom Waits (a regular contributor to the work of Jarmusch) does not appear in the film, but wrote the soundtrack instead (so in some ways is in the entire film!). I would have loved to have seen a 6th story with Waits as the cabbie!!

Every actor is awesome, some giving a career highlight performance, including Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Roberto Benigni (who was mostly unknown at the time), and several European actors that I've never seen elsewhere, but have never forgotten all these years later.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite story, because like a great short story collection, my favorite keeps changing. The Italian story (with Benigni) is the slightest story with none of the serious subtext the other stories have, but it is also the funniest, so it's hard not to love it. Benigni, for me, has never been better.

The final story is almost "too" sad, with almost no humor, but the silence, the snow, the heartbreaking story that the cab driver tells, seems to transcend the sadness that shrouds the scene (I could definitely see Bergman doing this story).

The first story is great, with our notions of these two great actresses (Rowlands and Ryder) turned upside down. Who is vulnerable? Who is charge of their life? Who is truly happy? I'm not sure Jarumsch has ever been called a "feminist", but these two women are strong, smart, funny and I can't think of a female writer/director that has written two better characters? I might have to pick this as my favorite on most of my dozen viewings, but each story has something unique to offer.

For those who have seen Jarmusch's latest films (Broken Flowers and Coffee & Cigarettes), this one is closer to the latter film, but far surpasses it. While the five stories are diverse (of location, language, style), they are held together with Waits slippery and mysterious music, the passing landscapes outside the taxi cab's windows, and Jarmusch's themes of alienation, existentialism and the basic goodness of people trying to relate to each other even when the odds are against it.

For those who haven't seen this film the wait is, thankfully, almost over. Thank you Criterion!

Outrageous-Irreverent.......2007-08-06

This movie is a strange melange of several stories that take place in a taxi cab over the course of 24 hours
around the world. The first is with Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder... a bit uncomfortable as the previous reviewer said.. but appropriate to the subject. Each story has a bit of pathos as with Paris & Helsinki, or a bit of over the top humor as with the stories in New York and Italy. If you are a Jim Jarmusch, or Roberto Begnini fan.. you will enjoy this. If you go for more "conservative" types of movies steer clear.. this is a cavalcade of black humor mixed in with some very touching moments. Particularly Helsinki.... a quiet but thoughful ending to this Fellini-esque romp across the globe. If you have a soft spot for the rude and ridiculous bordering on the incomprehensible this is the one for you. I've been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD since I first saw it in the 1990s. It's one I will enjoy seeing over and over. Foul language may repel some viewers, but for those who are not squeemish... this is a masterpiece that wacks you across the head then waits for you to laugh.

Five Taxis. Five Cities. One Night. .......2007-07-13

Jarmusch went for a series of shorts like he did in Mystery Train, only this time he decided to stetch his vision out to include LA, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki, with a cavalcade of stars including Winona Ryder and Gena Rowlands. The movie has its appeal, especially the foul-mouthed Roberto Benigni divulging more than the priest he takes for a ride through the streets of Rome would like to hear. The stories all revolve around taxi rides during the course of a single night, more or less trying to capture the spirit of the cities in which they take place. Somehow the taxi ride in Helsinki rang the most true, but then maybe that's because I know nothing about Helsinki. The short stories are choppy and uneven with nothing to hold them together, unlike Mystery Train, which was set entirely in Memphis. The scenarios provide fine comic ground for actors like Benigni, Rosie Perez and Giancarlo Esposito, but other actors seem to struggle with their roles, notably Ryder as the cab driver, Corky. Jarmusch purportedly wrote the script in a week and it shows. After such independent hits as Stranger than Paradise and Down By Law, Night on Earth was a bit of a disappointment, but worth watching just the same.

Average customer rating:

The toxic power of lies
Perfect for July 4th viewing!
WITCH TRIALS, PART I
Excellent Adaptation Of The Pulitzer-Prize Winning Play. Star-Studded Cast & Written For The Screen By Arthur Miller Himself.
Years later, better appreciation for movie's direction

The Crucible
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis , Winona Ryder , Paul Scofield , Joan Allen , and Bruce Davison
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00013F2S6
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

The Salem witch hunts are given a new and nasty perspective when a vengeful teenage girl uses superstition and repression to her advantage, creating a killing machine that becomes a force unto itself. Pulsating with seductive energy, this provocative drama is as visually arresting as it is intellectually engrossing. Arthur Miller based his classic 1953 play on the actual Salem witch trials of 1692, creating what has since become a durable fixture of school drama courses. It may look like a historical drama, but Miller also meant the work as a parable for the misery created by the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s. This searing version of his drama delves into matters of conscience with concise accuracy and emotional honesty. Three passionate cheers for Miller, director Nicholas Hytner, and costars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Description

The Salem witch trials of 1692 are brought vividly to life in this compelling adaptation of Arthur Miller's play, directed by Nicholas Hytner ("The Madness of King George"). A group of teenage girls meet in the woods at midnight for a secret love-conjuring ceremony. While the other girls attempt to cast love spells, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) wishes for the death of her former lover's (Daniel Day-Lewis) wife. When their ceremony is witnessed by the town minister, the girls suddenly find themselves accused of witchcraft. Soon the entire village is consumed by cries of witchcraft, and as the hysteria grows, blameless victims are torn from their homes, leading to a devastating climax.

Customer Reviews:

The toxic power of lies.......2007-08-08

Since playwright Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for the Communist witch hunts of the House Un-American Activities Committee, you might expect this film version of "The Crucible" to be too awash in symbolism to be entertaining, but it's fairly riveting throughout.

Although it's primary concern is the toxic power of lies, it touches on the belief that the Puritans were convinced of the devil's presence.

Winona Ryder is the protagonist, a girl whose love for a married man (Day-Lewis) leads her to implicate his wife (Allen) as a witch. Well-acted by a first-rate cast. Screenplay by Miller.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Perfect for July 4th viewing!.......2007-06-19

I have no in-depth review. I'd just like to say that THE CRUCIBLE would provoke maybe a shudder or two if it were not based on fact! I've made a ritual of viewing this film every July 4th for the past several years as I believe it's a perfect illustration of why we needed our independence from England and the CONTINUED need for RELIGIOUS FREEDOM and the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!

WITCH TRIALS, PART I.......2007-06-07

This film, based on the infamous Salem witch trials of the 1690's that New England still has not lived down, was written by Arthur Miller in an earlier period in American history, the 1950's, when hysteria over the alleged internal "Communist menace" dovetailed with the opening of the coldest part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The dramatic tension of the play cannot be understood except as a parable on that then current atmosphere. Miller draws parallels with the earlier period of hysteria, in this case the irrational hysteria over witches in the isolated, inward-looking Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. The comparisons in reaction to the witches and `reds under the bed' are startling as far as the response of the societies and individuals in those societies community were concerned. Obviously in the play one needs a hero, even if it is the flawed and `fallen' John Proctor who will stand up, in the final analysis, even unto death for his principles. We will always find a few, even if reluctant, fighters. What is more compelling, and frightening, is the reaction of the `honest' town folk. Then, as in the case of the Cold War hysteria, those `good' folk turned the other way, joined actively in on the action or in some way justified the trials. As we are again in a period when the new hysteria is over Islamic fundamentalists and their motives this remains an extremely powerful cautionary tale. Read the play and/or watch a movie version of it.

Excellent Adaptation Of The Pulitzer-Prize Winning Play. Star-Studded Cast & Written For The Screen By Arthur Miller Himself........2007-05-25

Adapting his own Pulitzer-Prize winning play for the silver screen and enlisting a top-notch star-studded cast, Arthur Miller creates a cinematic masterpiece. Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor
for "My Left Foot") and Academy Award nominee Winona Ryder ("Bram Stoker's Dracula"; another excellent adaptation of the vampire novel penned in 1897) star in this classic film version, supported by Academy Award winner Paul Scofield (Best Actor for "A Man For All Seasons") and Academy Award nominee Joan Allen. Well worth viewing. Rated PG for brief nudity.

Years later, better appreciation for movie's direction .......2007-05-12

The film version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible is quite a satisfactory visualization, especially for anyone who is looking for a good supplement to the play.

Being a film, the traditional play can be a little loose in its translation, usually a negative trait in transferring a work from book to film; but in this case it definitely gives the work a little more intensity. What the work loses in its claustrophobic atmosphere of being primarily in a courtroom, it gains in its hysteria-laden tone. Sometimes this works (Abigail's chilling screams in the courtroom have an eerie mood to them), and sometimes this goes to excess (case in point: Mrs. Putnam's screams are overtly hysterical to the point of overkill).

Still, bringing the play to film does have its advantages over all. We get to see the Puritan town of Salem, and the people who move about through place to place. The few scenes between Abigail and Proctor make their past history a little more apparent, and this helps in illustrating Elizabeth's cause for concern and her lack of trust in the initial part of the film. And, other parts of the play just work well outside, one of the best being Mary Warren screaming wildly after the girls turn on her, in which she frantically runs to the water and screams out against Proctor.

I had viewed this movie once before, thinking it quite mediocre at film's end, but, years later, watching it again, have a better appreciation for it. The film's intensity really picks up in the second half of the movie, particularly in Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of John Proctor. One of the film's climactic moments, when Proctor gives his "Because it's my name!..." speech to Danforth, is perhaps the most impressive and dramatic of all the film's scenes.

Written as a reaction to the McCarthy trials, The Crucible's literal witch hunts are somewhat bizarre and somewhat chilling, and this film successfully and succinctly captures this mood. While this film is not a work of art, and certainly has some "Hollywood" in it, it is a satisfactory retelling in the long run.

The DVD version also includes an interview and behind the scenes between Arthur Miller and Daniel Day Lewis. If you aren't familiar with the story, you should check this part out.

3 ½ stars

Average customer rating:

A classic, at last on DVD!!!!
My Number One All-Time Favorite Movie
Something to Smile About
A great and largely unknown classic from the 70's

O Lucky Man! (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Malcolm McDowell
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000UJ48VS
Release Date: 2007-10-23

Customer Reviews:

A classic, at last on DVD!!!!.......2007-08-23

As of October 23rd, 2007, Lindsay Anderson's brilliant O LUCKY MAN! will finally come to DVD. What can I say? This is one of my all-time favorites, and a staple of Seventies cinema. It played many, many times in the Art Houses in Denver, and was always a seat-filler. Malcolm McDowell (who concocted the story with Anderson after their very successful teaming in IF...) turns in one of his top performances, moving from wide-eyed youth to wizened cynic with believability at every turn. And the music! Alan Price, the original keyboardist for The Animals, created a perfect, perfect set of songs to illuminate O LUCKY MAN!

If you haven't seen the film, get ready for a real treat--a movie that will make you laugh, cry, scream, think, dance and applaud. Check out Ken Hanke's review over at Rotten Tomatoes and you'll get the gist of O LUCKY MAN!

Thank you, Warner Bros., for finally clearing the red tape and releasing this classic on DVD!

My Number One All-Time Favorite Movie.......2007-08-21

As a previous reviewer mentioned, this movie repays repeated viewings, which is quite a goal for a three hour film. When you do, watch for all of the multiple roles that most of the actors play (even Malcolm McDowell plays a different character in the black & white film that runs at the beginning). One of my favorite aspects of the film is Alan Price's soundtrack. The songs (which relate very well to the action in the movie) are not only played in a studio by the Alan Price combo throughout the story, the band is actually part of the plot!! The director's cameo at the end of the film is one of the most clever in the history of cinema. And I would be very remiss if I did not mention the extremely lovely Helen Mirren in one of her early film roles. My thirty-plus year-old crush on Ms. Mirren started with this movie.

Something to Smile About .......2007-08-16

I thought Warner would never release this movie on dvd. It's surreal, comedic, dark, beautiful and satirical- all the things that movies made today aren't. Possibly Lindsay Anderson's best film, and definitely one of the best (and funniest) British films ever. If you like black comedies, Monty Python-ish satire, or the other Mick Travis movies, you will probably love 'O Lucky Man'. The Two Disc Special Edition is supposed to have commentary by Malcolm McDowell, writer David Sherwin and Singer Alan Price, a career profile and more. Also, on Oct. 23, A Clockwork Orange (which is also two disc) comes out.

A great and largely unknown classic from the 70's.......2007-08-07

This is simply one of my favorite films. It is unique, and yet to watch it is to see something that was very typical of films in the early 1970's - film trying to reflect in some way upon the world as it exists or is heading. Then came CGI and the cartoonish escapist fantasies that comprise the vast number of films we have today. This film really requires multiple viewings to get it, and that is why I am so glad it is finally coming out on DVD. It basically follows the moral journey of an initially smiling coffee salesman (Malcolm McDowell) as he has his ideals smashed one by one. McDowell was himself a coffee salesman as a young man, and the whole film is from an original idea and script of his very own. I think it does a perfect job of describing the 1970's, which was basically a bridge decade between the idealistic 1960's and the "If it doesn't contribute to the bottom line then it's expendable" mode of thinking that began in the 1980's and just gets more entrenched as time passes. This film isn't for everyone, and although the two movies have completely different storylines, I'd say if you liked "Harold and Maude" you'll like this one too. The following are the extra features on the film as described by a press release from Warner Home Video.

Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English Mono
English and French subtitles
Commentary by Malcolm McDowell, Alan Price and Screenwriter David Sherwin
New Feature-Length Career Profile "O Lucky Malcolm!" Produced/Directed by Jan Harlan, Edited by Katia de Vidas
Vintage Featurette "O Lucky Man! Innovations in Entertainment"
Theatrical Trailer

Average customer rating:

Better than usually given credit for....
Great Movie
AT LAST
Although without extras this is the version of "The Stranger" to get for Welles fans
Skip The Public Domain Versions: Get The MGM Disc!!!

The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)
Starring: Orson Welles
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: B000PMFRVU
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Amazon.com essential video

The legendary story that hovers over Orson Welles's The Stranger is that he wanted Agnes Moorehead to star as the dogged Nazi hunter who trails a war criminal to a sleepy New England town. The part went to E.G. Robinson, who is marvelous, but it points out how many compromises Welles made on the film in an attempt to show Hollywood he could make a film on time, on budget, and on their own terms. He accomplished all three, turning out a stylish if unambitious film noir thriller, his only Hollywood film to turn a profit on its original release. Welles stars as unreformed fascist Franz Kindler, hiding as a schoolteacher in a New England prep school for boys and newly married to the headmaster's lovely if naive daughter (Loretta Young). Welles the director is in fine form for the opening sequences, casting a moody tension as agents shadow a twitchy low-level Nazi official skulking through South American ports and building up to dramatic crescendo as Kindler murders this little man, the lovely woods becoming a maelstrom of swirling leaves that expose the body he furiously tries to bury. The rest of film is a well-designed but conventional cat-and-mouse game featuring an eye-rolling performance by Welles and a thrilling conclusion played out in the dark clock tower that looms over the little village. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Better than usually given credit for...........2007-09-05

While no means comparable to Welles' masterpieces "Citizen Kane" or "The Trial," "The Stranger" shines not because it offers anything spectacular as far as the cinema is concerned. Where it does succeed, despite itc conventional storyline is in characterization in the leads. Robinson is superb as the uncompromising Nazi-hunter bent on finding and bringing ex-Nazi Franz Kindler to justice for war crimes; Loretta Young as Kindler's pretty but naive wife is a bit trite but because of the strong performances by Robinson and Welles can be overlooked.

Welles himself, is convincing as ever as the ex-Nazi masquerading as Mr. Rankin, the favorite teacher at boys' prep school giddy at the irony that he will be married to Supreme Court Justice Longstreet's (Young) daughter. Even Richard Long, before he would become familiar to television audiences as Jarod Barkley of "The Big Valley," delivers a notable performance as Noah Longstreet, brother to Young, who is the first to really suspect the man his sister married is not who he claims to be.

It all works here and manages to entertain throughout. I love how Welles uses the theme of time and linked Kindler and Robinson's character together through their passion for clocks and their methodical attention to detail---Robinson with his notepad trying to establish a timeline for Rankin/Kindler's murder of a fellow Nazi co-patriot in the shadowy woods not far from the town. Welles, uses light and shadow quite liberally here and to great effect establishing an unmistakable atmosphere of menace and evil. We, the audience, quickly identify with Young's and Robinson's character--we want Rankin/Kindler caught--especially after what he does to Red--Noah's dog for attempting to uncover Kindler's murder.

For those who admire Welles' work will enjoy this film; if you are an Eddie G fan--you will love it and recognize some of the gifts this actor has to offer. Other than a storyline that engages the viewer, Welles' conclusion, although somewhat melodramatic and expected, manages to keep the viewer's riveted to the screen throughout the duration of the film.

Great Movie.......2007-08-08

I have waited many years to get a DVD copy of this after many viewings from my worn out vhs copy. This is great teaming between Welles and Robinson. The subject is good too. Viewers may also like Hitchcock's Notorius.

AT LAST.......2007-07-30

This is one of my favourite film noirs, a great movie in which Welles showed the world he could do a classic Hollywood movie without going over the budget an still produce a genuine and personal masterpiece. I own two more previously released transfers of this public domain film, none of which did justice to the movie. They look like worn out VHS tapes. They are that bad. Finally, though without any extras and at a relatively high price, MGM has released what seems to be a transfer from a very good original 35 mm print, if not the original negative. The picture looks very clean and sharp, with deep blacks, and at last I can enjoy the film as Welles intended. Buy it.

Although without extras this is the version of "The Stranger" to get for Welles fans.......2007-07-15

**Please note: This review is for the MGM/Film Noir Series release of "The Stranger" NOT any of the public domain releases**

"The Stranger" proves that Orson Welles could deliver a film on time and within budget. "The Stranger" almost seems like an answer to Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" in that it tackles many of the same themes from a different perspective. While Hitchcock's film "The Stranger" creates a complex villian in Franz Kindler/Charles Rankin. The MGM version is the one to get since it goes back to the RKO Vault (RKO which is a bit of irony considering that Welles made "Citizen Kane" for the studio and had his film "The Magnificent Ambersons" butchered by the studio while he was in South America partying and working on "It's All True"). Welles' original version can 115 minutes while the final version was recut by producers Sam Spiegel (the producer of "Lawrence of Arabia" working under the name S. E. Eagel) and Bill Goetz (who helped finace the project). If any of the footage cut still exists it is probably lost which is a pity as according to comments/notes that Welles made over the years the film had a much longer prologue.

MGM delivers one of the better looking versions on DVD that I've seen. There are public domain DVD that are floating around but most of them I've seen have been from inferior 16mm or faded prints that don't do the moody cinematography justice. We do get alternate language tracks in French and Spanish for the film but no commentary track which is disappointing given that this is a Welles film. I'm sure that Simon Callow (who wrote the two excellent Welles biographies ORSON WELLES: THE ROAD TO XANADU and ORSON WELLES: HELLO AMERICANS) could have provided an excellent commentary based on his observations on the film in his second volume of his Welles' biographies. We don't even get a vintage trailer for the film. A featurette on the film's production (it was one of Welles' most profitable films which is important in and of itself), changes that Spiegel made to the film and Welles' own comments which have been videotaped/recorded over the years would have been valuable. Regardless, this is a fine film which finally looks excellent (with some minor flaws due to age and damage)that should have been treated better by MGM.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Welles plays Charles Rankin a man with a mysterious past . He's a history professor teaching and living in a small town marrying the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice Mary (Loretta Young). Just before the wedding Rankin's past comes calling with a visit by a man named Meinike (Konstantin Shayne). A former Nazi, Meinike has been released by a government agent named Wilson(Edward G. Robinson) in a game of cat and mouse. Wilson hopes that Meinike will lead him to an Franz Kindler a Nazi at large. He does just that but before Wilson can act Rankin murders Meinike to close off his past. Suddenly Rankin's carefully cultivated identity (and Mary's world)becomes unraveled as Wilson doggedly closes in on him.

**END OF SPOILER ALERT**

Welles had a troubled history for all of his films which often meant that the films were compromised. Nevertheless, "The Stranger" plays as a strong suspense thriller although the often shrill and over-the-top music score doesn't quite work for the film. This is another example where Bernard Herrmann would have added signficantly to the film if he had been hired to do the score. Film noir fans will enjoy this flawed Welles classic which has a number of dazzling set pieces particularly the stunning and unique conclusion at the clock tower.

While this edition which is part of MGM's "Film Noir" series lacks any special features(the film could have used a commentary track from any one of Welles' fine biographers particularly Simon Callow), the film looks pretty good overall. It hasn't been restored and has some minor print damage but overall looks quite nice. 4 stars for the presentation 0 stars for the extras. Perhaps MGM will reconsider their decision to release this without extras when Warner releases "The Magnificient Ambersons" on DVD late this year (2007) or early next (2008--depends upon how quickly they can assemble the material now that they've found a good source print).

Although a bare bones release, this is definitely the version to get for film fans. It's a pity though that MGM decided to treat the film with so little care given that it is a Welles film with a strong cast. Other Welles films worth getting:

Citizen Kane
Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision)The Lady from Shanghai
Discovering Orson WellesThis is Orson Welles

Skip The Public Domain Versions: Get The MGM Disc!!!.......2007-07-13

Orson Welles' THE STRANGER(1946) has finally seen an official release from original vault elements. Is is perfect? No, there are a few negative blemishes here and there. Is it better than any public domain version on the market? YES! If you're a fan of this film, the MGM version is the one to have. Only carp: The price is a bit steep, especially given that there are NO extras whatsoever.

Average customer rating:

The Man in the Iron Mask
Love it
Rather enjoyable movie
"One For All, and All For One!"
bad acting, bad script, terrible movie

The Man in the Iron Mask
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio , Jeremy Irons , John Malkovich , Gérard Depardieu , and Gabriel Byrne
Director: Randall Wallace
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0792839137
Release Date: 1998-08-12

Amazon.com

Footnotes in movie books are likely to reduce this swashbuckling adventure down to a simple description: it was the first movie to star Leonardo DiCaprio after the phenomenal success of Titanic. As such it automatically attracted a box-office stampede of Leo's young female fans, but critical reaction was deservedly mixed. Having earned his directorial debut after writing the Oscar-winning script for Mel Gibson's Braveheart, Randall Wallace wrote and directed this ambitious version of the often-filmed classic novel by Alexandre Dumas. DiCaprio plays dual roles as the despotic King Louis XIV, who rules France with an iron fist, and the king's twin brother, Philippe, who languishes in prison under an iron mask, his identity concealed to prevent an overthrow of Louis' throne. But Louis' abuse of power ultimately enrages Athos (John Malkovich), one of the original Four Musketeers, who recruits his former partners (Gabriel Byrne, Gérard Depardieu, and Jeremy Irons) in a plot to liberate Philippe and install him as the king's identical replacement. Once this plot is set in motion and the Musketeers are each given moments in the spotlight, the film kicks into gear and offers plenty of entertainment in the grand style of vintage swashbucklers. But it's also sidetracked by excessive length and disposable subplots, and for all his post-Titanic star power, the boyish DiCaprio just isn't yet "man" enough to be fully convincing in his title role. Still, this is an entertaining movie, no less enjoyable for falling short of the greatness to which it aspired. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

The Man in the Iron Mask.......2007-07-20

This was a very good movie with an all star cast. It is well worth watching again and again.

Love it.......2007-06-24

Kinda historical, more for eye candy and a rush. Overall, a really cool movie. If you like Count of Monte Crisco you will love this.

Rather enjoyable movie.......2007-06-15

I've enjoyed this movie several times and know that it is a family hit. It shows the contrast of good and bad decisions and how they can effect an entire kingdom. The honor and loyalty of the royal guard to the people in conflict to their responsibility to their king.

I thought the acting was very good and convincing as well as the scenery and the storyline was good. It had my interest and I was left satisfied with no real unanswered questions at the end.

I would recommend watching this movie, and even adding it to your library.

"One For All, and All For One!".......2007-04-25

This is a magnificent movie and would be a great addition to anyones' collection. The actors do an amazing job portraying the musketeers in this version of the Man in the Iron Mask. The sounds and scenery add to the wonderful ambiance created in this film. I have owned it since it came out and still enjoy watching it every time. It has one of the greatest endings of any movie I have seen, every director should strive to have an ending like this.

I guess all I can say is, if you don't at least see this movie you're missing out.

bad acting, bad script, terrible movie.......2007-04-18

This is an unsophisticated, badly written, terribly acted movie that just doesn't work. I can't imagine what the reviewers who like it were thinking. DiCaprio is ghastly. None of the actors can read any of the lines convincingly. The damsel in distress has the most childish, silly voice.... Awful movie.

Average customer rating:

GREAT FILM ! BUT A BETTER DVD TREAMENT IS NEEDED!
One of the best movies I have ever seen!
Not wonderful
The Client
Good movie, however, we have the positives and the negatives.

The Client
Starring: Susan Sarandon , Tommy Lee Jones , Mary-Louise Parker , Anthony LaPaglia , and J.T. Walsh
Director: Joel Schumacher
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 6304712952
Release Date: 1997-12-17

Amazon.com

The exceptionally fine cast--Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, J.T. Walsh, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Edwards, William H. Macy, Anthony LaPaglia, Ossie Davis, and Brad Renfro--goes a long way toward making The Client one of the more solidly enjoyable screen adaptations of a John Grisham southern gothic legal thriller. Teen-hearthrob Renfro is a natural, playing a kid whose life is in jeopardy after he witnesses the death of a Mob lawyer. Susan Sarandon is the attorney who decides to look after the boy; nobody can match her when it comes to playing strong and protective maternal figures (Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, Dead Man Walking). Sarandon won her fourth Oscar nomination as best actress for this role, before finally winning the following year for Dead Man Walking. Author Grisham was so impressed with former window dresser/fashion designer/screenwriter-turned-director Joel Schumacher's work on this movie that he later asked him to direct A Time to Kill. --Jim Emerson

Description

Settle in. Take a deep breath. Hold tight. The best screen version yet of a novel by John Grisham (The Firm, The Pelican Brief) delivers all-out, moment-by-moment suspense! Headliners Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones join newcomer Brad Renfro in The Client, a whirlwind thriller that "starts like a house afire and keeps on blazing" (Chicago Tribune). Renfro plays Mark Sway, an 11-year-old torn between what he knows and what he can never tell. A hitman will snuff him in half a heartbeat if Mark reveals what he learned about a Mob murder. An ambitious federal prosecutor (Jones) will keep the pressure on until Mark tells all. Suddenly, Mark isn't a boy playing air guitar anymore. He's a pawn in a deadly game. And his only ally is a courageous but unseasoned attorney (Sarandon) who risks her career for him...but never imagines she'll also risk her life.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT FILM ! BUT A BETTER DVD TREAMENT IS NEEDED! .......2007-08-03

This is another great film that has gotten the shaft! The DVD treatment is subpar and that is why I deduct 1 star. At $4.00 it is a worthy purchase for the movie, but if you are looking for extras and a new transfer forget it.

One of the best movies I have ever seen!.......2007-07-05

This DVD arrived in excellent shape and in a timely manner. I can honestly say that it has to rate as one of the best movies I've ever seen. I don't think I got up once during the whole movie - it was like holding you on pins and needles.

Not wonderful.......2007-06-14

The Client was a disappointment.

I thought the book was very good and some of the characters in the book were outstanding. The movie was not coherent and certainly not at the level of the book.

The Client.......2007-01-29

Sarandon is always good but if you like Tommy Lee Jones you will love it.

Good movie, however, we have the positives and the negatives........2006-10-07

Plot: A mafia lawyer commits suicide. But before he does, he forces 11-year old Mark Sway (Who lives with his brother and mother in a trailer park) into the car. And so he tells Mark secrets about where Loisianna Senator Boyd Boyette was buried. Since Mark's little brother has a stress syndrome (he can't see anything scary), Randy Sway had to go to the hospital. Ever since his father was divorced, he tends to believe that lawyers are morons (at times, they can get in the way) and gets his info about courts and judges on T.V. Mark meets Reggie Love, a woman lawyer who used to have a drinking problem; at first, he doesn't trust her. After many pelts by F.B.I, mafia, and annoying reporters (already sick of Elvis sightings), Mark has to trust her.

Positives: Mark is told by Reggie that he can't lie, or he'll be just like them (mafia). As such, the mafia in this movie are seen as a bunch of criminals. Even though Mark was threatened by a very nasty mafia "dude", he tries to tell the truth, he didn't tell about where Boyd was buried. Many scriptures from the bible are written in cells and there is a picture of Jesus in the hospital. Though Mark can be a pest at times, Reggie tries to help him because she cares about him.

Negatives: For those people who don't like cursing, there is a moderate amount of cussing in the film. 1/3 of them comes from Mark Sway's mouth, which disturbed me a bit. Mark also gives a mafia guy the middle finger secretly. Mark disobeys his mother by going in the woods and therefore, getting mixed up with all this. Mark got his info about an affair like this on T.V, and he claims that he saw a guy having his legs blown off because of the witness protection program (on T.V, though this isn't shown). Due to medication, Mark's mother fights the F.B.I at one point, though you have to watch to find out.

Funnies: In the hospital, "Elvis" complains about his guitar. The way Reggie deals with Mark at times can be humorous.

Conclusion: If you can take the negatives, then I highly recommend this movie. Though, I'd like to say that you shouldn't buy "The Client" To anybody younger than thirteen because even though violence is rarely seen.

Average customer rating:

Stick With It!!
A MUST FOR ANY FILM NOIR COLLECTION!!!
A very good, well written movie --a class act
Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell & a Calfornia beach at night..
Drifter stumbles into a small town murder

Fallen Angel (Fox Film Noir)
Starring: Alice Faye , Dana Andrews , Linda Darnell , Charles Bickford , and Anne Revere
Director: Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CNE088
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Description

June Mills (Alice Faye) and her sister Clara live a quiet life in a small coastal town until Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews), a smooth-talking con man, comes into their lives. He seems to fall hard for June but Clara believes he?s only interested in the family fortune. Meanwhile, sultry waitress Stella (Linda Darnell) catches Stanton's fancy and thinks he might be her ticket out of town. The local cop (Charles Bickford) knows more than he's telling about his fellow citizens and their tangled relationships which draw even tighter after a shocking murder.

Customer Reviews:

Stick With It!!.......2007-08-05

It should be stated clearly at the outset that "Fallen Angel" requires careful and patient viewing: Dana Andrews arrives in a small California town in the dead of night. He was actually evicted from a Greyhound bus-he didn't have the fare to ride all the way to Frisco! It becomes immediately obvious that DA is a con man and not a terribly likeable one at that. His first stop is the local diner where he falls for the sultry waitress, Linda Darnell. LD is perfectly cast here. She wants nothing to do with the struggling hustler. DA turns to nice girl Alice Faye, who happens to be loaded! The blonde Faye is in perfect contrast to the dark haired Darnell. DA plans to marry Faye, steal her $$ and marry LD! However, this reviewer felt that the movie had no spark until Darnell is murdered- on Andrews' wedding night no less! Afraid of being framed for the untimely demise, Andrews and his new bride flee to San Francisco. During that intense trip, the movie takes shape. DA realizes he has married a nice, classy girl who loves him. The hotel room scenes are actually quite romantic, given the moral codes of the time. DA returns to the small town and FA is quickly wrapped up. Good reviews should not give away resolutions but the ending to "Fallen Angel" is fast and satisfying. This reviewer can cite only two weaknesses to FA: 1) it takes awhile to gel. The most critical scenes are in the final 10 minutes; the careful and patient viewing stated above will be rewarded. 2) One wonders how interesting a second watching would be, once the improbable perp is identified. Amazoners are encouraged to scroll down and read the preceding reviews! There are several nice fascinating tidbits about FA listed! There are certainly some knowledgeable classic movie fans out there! A final thought: Wouldn't Lizabeth Scott have been perfect for the Darnell role? She could have sung the theme song! And if she wound up dead, it would not have been the first time Liz met her demise while the cameras rolled!

A MUST FOR ANY FILM NOIR COLLECTION!!!.......2007-07-28

This excellent film deserves to be considered among anyone's list of the best film noir movies ever made. The script is not standardized, so the unexpected is always occurring. There is always a twist in the plot. You never know what is coming.

Otto Preminger's direction is taut, focused and he certainly knew how to get the best performances out of all of his actors. As a follow up to the classic film "Laura," also starring Dana Andrews, he etched his name indelibly on the film noir genre.

David Raksin, who wrote the song "Laura" for the movie of the same name, also wrote the theme song for this film.

And the actors are wonderful. Dana Andrews gives his usual fine performance, turning from a hardened con man into a person who can love. The character actors also carry the film: all of them are magnificent. Anne Revere, Charles Bickford, Bruce Cabot and even Percy Kilbride give three dimensional performances that are awesome.

I mention the two female stars last because the situation was interesting. They are as different as night and day from each other. Linda Darnell, dark, beautiful and smouldering, is cast opposite Alice Fay, fair, serious and loyal. Now Ms. Faye was very angry when she saw the final version of the film, feeling her best moments had been edited out and, although she had no hard feelings for Ms. Darnell, she felt the film focused on Ms. Darnell's performance and kind of left her out, or at least placed her at second string. She did not make another film for 16 years.

I believe that, regardless of the cut scenes, Alice Faye made a perfect, not lesser, compliment to Linda Darnell, and each equally gave sterling performances. Neither played second fiddle to each other. Both of their performances were of very high quality and admirable.

You can't miss with this one. It's really enjoyable to watch such quality film making.

A very good, well written movie --a class act.......2007-07-17

I wanted a good classic movie from the 40's--I am in awe of the 30s and 40s era movies. And the 50s had excellent movies too. There is something special about those classic black and white suspense movies that are great. I was born in late 1947 and wanted to rercapture that time period. This won't be my only purchase of a Fox Film Noir. Thank you so much--an excellent purchase.

Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell & a Calfornia beach at night.........2007-05-31

How can you beat that? One of my favorite of the genre' so far. Eric (Andrews) rolls into town penniless. He's been kicked off a bus headed for San Francisco. He finds himself at Pop's, the local diner. The biggest attraction in town is the waitress, Stella (Darnell). Keeping track of her are Pops, the jukebox repairman, the local retired big city dick (Charles Bickford) & Eric who falls for her immediately. Stella is looking to blow this town. Eric wants it to be with him. He needs $$ & after a brief business deal, he meets decides to romance the richest girl in town, June(Alice Faye). She's not exactely chopped liver but is very gullible & falls for Eric immediately. In a matter of days it seems, they are married & headed for San Francisco . She has given Eric full access to her $20,000. At this point, Stella wants nothing to do with Eric. He's a married man. Besides, she also has other men she is stringing along. Eric & June return & that night Stella is murdered. Eric is not found in his bride's bed the next morning. Guess that would make him the prime suspect. The retired cop starts a velvet glove investigation he was famous for back east. The end may surprise you. Otto Preminger knows how to direct noir, & Andrews is very good in this one.

Drifter stumbles into a small town murder.......2006-09-13

Otto Preminger's deft directing and production crafted the hard boiled film noir "Fallen Angel", with the aid of an accomplished cast, into a genre classic. The film's murky, moody plot along with some typically dark cheerless black and white cinematography perfectly set the tenor of the film.

Penniless and scheming drifter Eric Stanton played masterfully by Dana Andrews disembarks from a Greyhound bus in the small seaside California town of Walton. Walking into the local diner, Pops, he is immediately smitten with sultry waitress Stella played by the alluring Linda Darnell. Darnell happens to be the amorous focus of most of the menfolk of the small town. Looking for a way out of town, she almost falls for the glib tongued Andrews' promises to marry and take care of her.

Andrews has also become acquainted with the upstanding Mills sisters June and Clara. Desperate for money to woo Darnell, Andrews with eyes on $25,000 of the Mills sisters inheritance, marries younger sister June played by Alice Faye. The plans immediately change when Darnell is found murdered and Andrews is implicated.

The investigation is headed by a tough, craggy Mr. Judd, a retired ex- New York cop played by Charles Bickford who is aiding the Walton chief of police. Bickford's brutal, kid gloved technique causes Andrews to flee the scene with the faithful Faye in tow.

Average customer rating:

Standard Film Noir
...is where the gutter begins
One of the best detective films of the Fifties!
A solid noir, thanks to Otto Preminger's direction and Joseph LaShelle's cinematography
SUPERB NOIR -- INVOLVING, COMPLEX MORAL DRAMA

Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)
Starring: Dana Andrews , Gene Tierney , Gary Merrill , Bert Freed , and Tom Tully
Director: Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000B8384Q
Release Date: 2005-12-06

Amazon.com

Otto Preminger made four films noirs at Fox, all terrific. If we set aside the peerless Laura as more psychological mystery-romance than noir, there's plenty of evidence for judging Where the Sidewalk Ends the best of the lot (the other two being Fallen Angel, a study in small-town perversity, and Whirlpool, a delicious exercise in creepy psychology, slippery mise-en-scène, and daringly complicated point-of-view). It's a hard-edged tale of a borderline-vicious New York police detective, Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews), with tortuous personal reasons for overzealousness in going after the bad guys. Much of the film unreels in one night, when the murder of a high-roller from out of town precipitates a string of events that lead to Dixon's becoming an accidental killer. Preminger's direction is taut, forceful, and fluid, especially when Dixon sets about creating an alibi for himself. Unfortunately, an innocent man gets implicated, with Dixon looking on, and the guilty cop's moral and psychological torment increases with each turn of the screw.

Tightly scripted by Ben Hecht, Preminger's film lacks the anguished poetry of Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground, another 1950 noir centered on a cop (Robert Ryan) addicted to ultraviolence, but its grip is relentless. Preminger had a shrewd instinct for tapping a certain thuggish strain in Andrews, whose performance here is arguably his best. They're reunited with Gene Tierney, as a woman caught in the sidewash of sordid goings-on, and Laura cameraman Joseph La Shelle, whose work has a luster beyond the accustomed semidocumentary look of Fox noirs. Gary Merrill, usually a bland nice-guy, relishes the chance to play nasty as Dixon's gangland bête noire Tommy Scalise, a homoerotic villain in the Tommy Udo vein with a menthol inhaler as fetish object. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

Standard Film Noir.......2007-06-19

Not the greatest film noir, nor from Preminger, but very professionally made, very enjoyable, except for the last five minutes where the censor steps in. The quality of the film was excellent, as good as when I saw it 56 years ago. Well worth an entry into my film noir collection.

...is where the gutter begins.......2007-03-17

Dana Andrews needed a director like Otto Preminger to bring out his best qualities: here, as a police detective who is haunted by his father's criminal past and enjoys roughing up suspects, he gets one of the best roles of his career. In this unusually well written film noir from Fox, Andrews accidentally kills a murderer he was sent to question and must cover up his crime; he falls in love with the murderer's widow (Gene Tierney), and then must scramble when her adoring father is blamed for the murder. The sense of atmosphere here is very fine, and the direction is stunning: there are some great shots in a car elevator, for example, and also in a steam room. Preminger de-emphasizes Andrews's handsomeness and brings out his more weary tough qualities; unfortunately, he can't seem to do much with poor Gene Tierney, who as always seems far too beautiful for the part she's playing. (Things are not helped by the stunning outfits designed for her by her husband Oleg Cassini, who has a small role in the film. Her fabulous plaid coat, for example, has a scarf made exactly to match it, which are both so eye-catching you are distracted by them in every scene they're in.) Gary Merrill, Bette Davis's husband, has a great unusual role as a very insinuating mobster that Andrews's detective can't stand; Karl Malden has a duller role as Andrews's by-the-book rival.

One of the best detective films of the Fifties!.......2007-01-17

Perhaps the most gripping and intelligent of crooked cop movies is Otto Preminger's 'Where the Sidewalks Ends,' from a really excellent script by Ben Hecht based on the novel 'Night Cry' by Frank Rosenberg...

Dana Andrews is the honest, tough New York policeman, always in trouble with his superiors because he likes his own strong-arm methods as much as he detests crooks... When he hit someone, his knuckles hurt... And the man he wants to hit is a smooth villain (Gary Merrill) who points up the title. 'Why are you always trying to push me in the gutter?' he asks Andrews. 'I have as much right on the sidewalk as you.'

Dana Andrew's obsession and neurosis are implanted in his hidden, painful discovery that he is the son of a thief... His deep hatred of criminals led him to use their own illegal methods to destroy them, and the pursuit of justice became spoiled in private vendetta...

By a twist of irony unique to the film itself, Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney of 'Laura' are united once more, and Andrews now seems to be playing the same detective a few years later, but no longer the romantic, beaten down by his job, by the cheap crooks... This time, he goes too far, and accidentally kills a suspect... The killing is accidental, the victim worthless, yet it is a crime that he knows can break him or send him to jail...

Using his knowledge of police procedure, he covers up his part in the crime, plants false clues, and tries to implicate a gang leader, but cannot avoid investigating the case himself... The double tension of following the larger case through to its conclusion without implicating himself in the murder, is beautifully maintained and the final solution is both logical, satisfying, and in no way a compromise...

The film is one of the best detective films of the 50's, with curious moral values, also one of Preminger's best...

Preminger uses a powerful storytelling technique, projecting pretentious camera angles and peculiar touches of the bizarre in order to externalize his suspense in realism...

A solid noir, thanks to Otto Preminger's direction and Joseph LaShelle's cinematography.......2006-11-09

There's a hole as big as Carlsbad Caverns right in the middle of the plot. What is so surprising is that, thanks to Otto Preminger's skill and that of his cinematographer, Joseph LaShelle, how the story is told more than makes up for it. Here's the set-up. A police detective with a well-earned reputation for beating up low-lifes tracks down a suspect in a murder. The guy is drunk and the cop is impatient. One thing leads to another and the guy stands up and smacks the cop on the chin. While the cop is picking himself up, the guy reaches for a whiskey bottle and starts to bring it down on the cop's head. The cop blocks that swing, then punches the guy hard, and I mean hard, right in the chest, then connects just as hard with the guy's chin. The guy goes down and doesn't get up. He's dead. So now we're off on a plot-line where the cop's hatred of crooks, which is based on some family issues, suddenly has him hiding the corpse. Wouldn't you know it, the corpse is found...and an aggressive young precinct head decides that the man responsible is the father of a girl the detective starts to fall for. And while this is going on, the detective hasn't stopped his obsessive search for the crook he thinks is really behind the original murder, a sneering mobster with a fondness for nasal inhalers.

Wait, now. Any cop who hit and accidently killed a guy in self defense would instantly have a wall of blue thrown protectively around him, no matter how hard a case he might be. Every resource would be used to see that the cop was exonerated. I know, I know, this is a movie, but Detective Mark Dixon's (Dana Andrews) reaction is so excessive that it becomes nothing more than a glaring plot device. And, in my view, that undermines the tension of the movie.

Another thing that doesn't help is that both Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney (as Margaret Taylor, who becomes Dixon's love interest) are, in my opinion, not compelling actors. Andrews had a great voice but, to my way of thinking, a somewhat wooden face and a stolid acting style. Sometimes he was effective, sometimes not. Tierney is, as usual, gorgeous to look at, but she is no actress. She seems to spend all her time in this movie either being noble toward the man Dixon accidently killed, or noble and loving toward her father, or noble and loving toward Dixon. I'm fairly well convinced that her performance in Leave Her to Heaven, a first-rate acting job, was some mysterious and happy accident.

Some critics have made much of the apparent moral ambiguity in Mark Dixon's character. I don't quite see it that way. Yes, he hates crooks for reasons a psychoanalyst could help him deal with. When given a semi-legal chance to rough them up, he does. But there is no moral ambiguity in his character. He may be an angry man, but he has friends. He doesn't need to agonize about spending his savings to help another person; he just does it. Dixon is a man with problems, but moral ambiguity isn't one of them.

Because of all this, what's important in this movie is how Preminger and LaShelle go about telling the story, not the story itself. They do terrific jobs. The feel of the movie captures Dixon's anger, his short fuse, his loneliness. The movie looks gritty, dark and authentic. Small details add a lot to the sense of reality. When we walk into Dixon's small apartment we can see just a quick glimpse of an icebox behind a screen. Even in 1950 there were a lot of iceboxes still around. The bar where Dixon's partner orders a scotch and water looks like any number of old, dark downtown bars. Margaret Taylor's apartment is tiny. There's no bedroom, just a single bed next to the wall as you walk in. And the movie has faces, actors you sort of recognize who look right for their parts...Tom Tully as Margaret's father, Bert Freed as his partner, Ruth Donnelly as Gladys, the owner of a small Italian restaurant, Karl Malden as the new precinct captain, Neville Brand as one of the goons; even Gary Merrill who overacts a little looks the part as Tommy Scalise, the mobster. Brand, in particular, looks like a man you never want to irritate.

I enjoyed the movie because it was so well put together. That hole in the plot, however, kept me from getting very involved with the story-line. The DVD transfer looks just fine. The major extra is a commentary by Eddie Muller, identified as a film noir historian. I didn't listen to the commentary but Muller has gotten good notices for his noir work.

SUPERB NOIR -- INVOLVING, COMPLEX MORAL DRAMA.......2006-09-18

Otto Preminger's WHERE THER SIDEWALK ENDS (1950) is another color noir, this one's about a troubled, brutal cop already on probation who accidentally kills a murder suspect. Desperate to protect himself, he pins the whack on a hated shark who's committed similar kills. When the cop falls in love with the stiff's widow, he remains mum when her father is charged with the murder. Oh what webs we weave when we first deceive...

This complex and involving moral drama about a guy who puts off doing what's right until it's almost too late will keep you involved and guessing until the final fade out.

Average customer rating:

Leave Her To Heaven
Being beautiful never looked so crazy!
1940's Drama
You can't always get what you want...
20th century fox at its worst

Leave Her to Heaven
Starring: Gene Tierney , Cornel Wilde , Jeanne Crain , Vincent Price , and Mary Philips
Director: John M. Stahl
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00074DY0M
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Amazon.com

Leave Her to Heaven is one of the most unblinkingly perverse movies ever offered up as a prestige picture by a major studio in the golden age of Hollywood. Gene Tierney, whose lambent eyes, porcelain features, and sweep of healthy-American-girl hair customarily made her a 20th Century Fox icon of purity, scored an Oscar nomination playing a demonically obsessive daughter of privilege with her own monstrous notion of love. By the time she crosses eyebeams with popular novelist Cornel Wilde on a New Mexico-bound train, her jealous manipulations have driven her parents apart and her father to his grave. Well, no, not grave: Wilde soon gets to watch her gallop a glorious palomino across a red-rock horizon as she metronomically sows Dad's ashes to the winds. Mere screen moments later, she's jettisoned rising-politico fiancé Vincent Price and accepted a marriage proposal the besotted/bewildered Wilde hasn't quite made. Can the wrecking of his and several other lives be far behind? Not to mention a murder or two.

Fox gave Ben Ames Williams's bestselling novel (probably just the sort of book Wilde's character writes) the Class-A treatment. Alfred Newman's tympani-heavy music score signals both grandeur and pervasive psychosis, while spectacular, dust-jacket-worthy locations and Oscar-destined Technicolor cinematography by Leon Shamroy ensure our fixed gaze. Impeccably directed by the veteran John M. Stahl (who'd made the original Back Street, Imitation of Life, and Magnificent Obsession a decade earlier), the result is at once cuckoo and hieratic, and weirdly mesmerizing. Bet Luis Buñuel loved it. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Leave Her To Heaven is a stylish psychological thriller starring Gene Tierney as Ellen, the stunningly beautiful wife of handsome writer Richard Harland, played by Cornel Wilde. Ellen panics as her perfect marriage unravels and Harland's work and invalid brother demand more and more of his attention. Her husband becomes unnerved by her compulsive and jealous behavior. And when the people close to him are murdered, one by one, it is obvious that this dream marriage has become a full-fledged nightmare. Based on the best-selling novel by Ben Ames W