The Lady in White

Amazon.com

An impressive labor of love from independent writer-director Frank LaLoggia, this low-budget supernatural thriller was a sleeper hit in 1988, deservedly praised by critics and horror fans for its effective combination of ghostly terror and small-town charm. The influence of Steven Spielberg can be felt in the movie's imaginative scenario, but it's also got the affectionate appeal of autobiographical nostalgia, mixing details of LaLoggia's own youth in upstate New York with a frightening tale of Halloween horror. It begins when young Frankie (Lukas Haas) is locked in a grade-school cloakroom on Halloween night of 1962; he witnesses the ghostly image of a little girl and is nearly strangled to death by an unknown assailant. From that point forward, Frankie is convinced that the ghost is somehow connected to the Lady in White, a haunting vision of local legend. A black janitor is tried as Frankie's attacker and suspected in a series of unsolved murders, but recurring apparitions lead Frankie to the truth of the case--a revelation of real-life violence and supernatural wonders. This plot may be a bit too cluttered for a conventional ghost story, but the movie's ambition works in its favor by providing an emotional subtext for its youthful sense of wonder. There's an abundance of charm and humor, but this also a moving story of grief and loss, tracing young Frankie's adjustment to the death of his mother. This gives Lady in White more depth than is typical for horror thrillers, and the movie further benefits from the obvious care and compassion that LaLoggia brought to its creation. --Jeff Shannon

Description

The ghosts of the dead can't rest witout the help of the living in this terrifying horror film that's "one of the most intelligent and riveting ghost stories since Poltergeist" (LA Weekly) Starring Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco and Katherine Helmond, and presented here in a full-length director's cut, Lady in White delivers nonstop thrills and "will keep you in mountingsuspense right through the chilling climax" (Entertainment Report)!Frankie Scarlatti (Haas) lives in a small town with a deadly secret. For a decade, a serial child killer has eluded police, and the death toll continues to rise. Then one night Frankie gets locked in his school and witnesses the ghost of the first victim being murdered. Now, aided by the girl's restless spirit, Frankie takes it upon himself to bring her assailant to justice. But in a town with no strangers, the killer may be close than he knows.

Customer Reviews:

scary but awesome.......2007-08-14

This is one of my favorite movies and now that I own it, it is also my two daughters favorite scary movie.

Lady in white is a must see,must own movie!.......2007-08-03

This movie is one of my very favorites from my childhood. I was afraid it might not be as good almost twenty years later, but had to take the risk and buy it and cross my fingers hoping it wouldn't seem outdated and not as thrilling as I remembered it. It was just exactly as I remembered and not in anyway a letdown after all these years. This is an absoulute classic movie that will never get old, cheesy and outdated like so many do. A must for any dvd collector.

lady in whit.......2007-07-20

This movie has lots of little things to overlook but it is my favorite ghost story movie. My kids and I watched it all clustered up on the sofa. The actores are very good in their parts. the special effects aren't great but I really like this one. not too scary not too violent. Just really suspenseful and errie.

Freaky.......2007-04-14

This is one of the creepiest shows ever made and yet noone has heard of it. BUY IT--you will not be disappointed.

great pick.......2007-03-04

This was one of my all time favorite movie as a kid. I happen to run across it and bought so my kids could enjoy it with me. Sure enough they did, it was made in the '80s mind you but they did a good job for the resources they had.
The acting was good and the story line was great. If you're looking for a little halloween scare then this is what you are looking for.

Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection (Sullivan's Travels/The Lady Eve/The Palm Beach Story/Hail the Conquering Hero/The Great McGinty/Christmas in July/The Great Moment)

Average customer rating:

Classic 1940s comedies
No bonuses, but no less than 6 masterpieces
Why aren't the titles available separately?
The Truly Great McGinty
Must Have Collection

Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection (Sullivan's Travels/The Lady Eve/The Palm Beach Story/Hail the Conquering Hero/The Great McGinty/Christmas in July/The Great Moment)
Starring: Preston Sturges , and June Preston
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

ASIN: B000HT3Q2S
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Amazon.com

Preston Sturges was a 20th-century Renaissance man who, at Paramount Pictures between 1940 and 1943, wrote and directed eight original movies unlike anything before or since. All but one were high-energy, brilliantly detailed, and very, very funny comedies that became instant classics. No one ever dreamed up a more colorful assortment of characters, wrote more lovingly textured dialogue for them, or sent them hurtling and skittering through more outrageous situations, with undertones often darker than most dramatic films. Seven of these pictures comprise this boxed set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is missing because it remained with Paramount when most of the studio's pre-1949 inventory was acquired decades ago by Universal/MCA. (It's on DVD via Paramount.) The omission of a single film from the cycle--and one of the very best--is regrettable, but there's plenty here to relish.

Sturges was already an established playwright and screenwriter when he cajoled Paramount into letting him direct one of his own scripts. The Great McGinty won him the 1940 Oscar for best original screenplay, the raffish tale of a bum (Brian Donlevy) who ingratiates himself with the political machine of a heartland city by successfully voting 37 times in one election, then rises to become "reform" candidate for governor. The film is a glowing example of Sturges's penchant for filling the foregrounds as well as backgrounds of his movies with flavorful, mostly nameless character actors and according each of them star status, if only for one world-class line of dialogue. They and Sturges stood by one another throughout the cycle, and the result was a richness variously--and aptly--likened to Dickens or Bruegel.

Christmas in July (1940) followed, a sardonic but big-hearted comedy about a young working-class couple (Dick Powell and Ellen Drew) duped into believing one topsy-turvy afternoon that they've struck it rich by winning a slogan contest. Then came the film widely regarded as Sturges's most side-splitting, The Lady Eve (1941). Barbara Stanwyck is merciless--and breathtakingly sexy--as a second-generation con artist who targets brewing heir Henry Fonda, a clueless amateur herpetologist who has spent entirely too much time up the Amazon.

Then again, there are people who name Sullivan's Travels (1942) among the best films ever made. Joel McCrea plays a successful director of Hollywood comedies who decides he must make a social-consciousness allegory, O Brother Where Art Thou? His exploratory road trip disguised as a hobo, with starlet Veronica Lake for companionship, combines Hollywood satire with starkest drama verging on horror. The film is utterly unique and shatteringly powerful.

The Palm Beach Story (1942), a return to screwball comedy, dances a goofy tarantella on the American obsession with wealth. There are a couple of dozen millionaires at large in this movie, every one of them insane: Robert Dudley as a comic deus-ex-machina ("the Wienie King"), a railroad club car filled with Sturges stalwarts ("the Ale and Quail Club"), and '20s crooner Rudy Vallee ascending to character-actor immortality as the devoted suitor of Joel McCrea's runaway wife, Claudette Colbert. At that point (still in 1942) Sturges embarked on his most tortuous project, Triumph over Pain, the fact-based chronicle of the Boston dentist (Joel McCrea) who discovered the use of ether for anaesthesia. Instead of being canonized, he was destroyed. Sturges, whose 1933 screenplay The Power and the Glory had anticipated the fractured time scheme of Citizen Kane by eight years, tried for even more complicated narrative-in-reverse here--and also studded the tragic story with startling bursts of slapstick humor. Paramount recut the film drastically and changed the title to The Great Moment; the fitful results would not be released till two years later.

Meanwhile, Sturges scored a pair of best-screenplay Oscar nominations in 1944 for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero, two small-town comedies starring Eddie Bracken as a nebbish ill-made for heroism yet obliged by wartime circumstance to rise to the occasion. Each of these films is a comic masterpiece, each asking discomfiting questions about cherished, arguably destructive American values, yet finding its own cockeyed way to affirmation. Miracle isn't available here, but Hail the Conquering Hero casts a lingering spell, beyond satire. To quote its last line: "You got no idea." --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

Classic 1940s comedies.......2007-08-26

Preston Sturges may not be a big name nowadays compared to his directing contemporaries such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford or Frank Capra, but he was an important director in his time and even nowadays, for those who know him, he was a great director. Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection - collects seven of his biggest movies.

First in the set is The Great McGinty, which stars Brian Donleavy as a man who goes from being a bum to a governor, only to have it all crash down on him. This is a decent enough comedy about the world of politics. It's advertising that's parodied in Christmas in July, with Dick Powell as a man who thinks he's won a contest to come up with an advertising slogan. It's all the result of a practical joke that gets way out of control before its exposed.

Things really pick up with the next three movies. The Lady Eve has Henry Fonda as a wealthy yet clumsy young man targeted by con artist Barbara Stanwyck. Unfortunately for her, she actually falls for him, but when he finds out her true profession, she must engage in an even bigger con to win him back.

Sullivan's Travels, considered by many to be Sturges's best picture, as Joel McCrea (in the first of three roles in Sturges movies) as the title character, a big-time movie director who makes great comedies but wants to make a message picture. He decides to live the life of a hobo to see how the poor live; at first, this is rather comic but at a certain point things turn much more serious, teaching Sullivan a lesson he wasn't expecting.

Things lighten up in The Palm Beach Story, with the antics even occurring in the opening credits, As McCrea and Claudette Colbert get married. Five years later, things are on the rocks as they are broke. Colbert decides to leave McCrea, figuring that if they divorce, he'll finally be able to be a success. She runs off to Florida, with her husband in pursuit, where they both wind up entangled with an eccentric billionaire and his man-hungry sister.

Next in the set - and the weakest in the septet - is The Great Moment, a drama loosely based on the true story of a dentist (played by McCrea) who discovered the use of ether as an anesthetic. With little in the way of comedy and recutting done by the studio after Sturges had finished it, this muddled film has its moments, but no great ones.

The last movie, Hail the Conquering Hero, gets things back on stride with Sturges sly tribute to the Marines. Eddie Bracken plays a shipyard worker who was medically discharged from the Marines for chronic hay fever. He befriends some Marines, who set up a ruse to make him seem like a hero to his unaware mother. Unfortunately, the ploy gets out of control as his hometown honors him and puts him up for mayor.

This movie set comes in a nice package but offers nothing in the way of extras outside of movie trailers. With four great movies (Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Lady Eve and Hail the Conquering Hero), two good ones (The Great McGinty and Christmas in July) and one so-so one (The Great Moment), I am giving this set five stars. For a chance to see some classic comedies, this is worth picking up.

No bonuses, but no less than 6 masterpieces.......2007-08-06

In the 1940's at Paramount, no one topped writer/director Preston Sturges for turning out masterpiece after masterpiece at machine gun pace. Betweem 1940 and 1944, Sturges created THE GREAT McGINTY, CHRISTMAS IN JULY, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, THE LADY EVE, THE PALM BEACH STORY, MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, and HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO.

The DVD boxed set, PRESTON STURGES: THE FILMMAKER COLLECTION from Universal Home Video, is an enthralling and hugely engrossing Sturges feast that presents gorgeous studio prints of every film above except MORGAN'S CREEK, which is available on a solo Paramount Home Video DVD.

Not even Capra or Wilder topped Sturges for blending comedy and drama to perfection--and often being nominated for a writing Oscar. (He won in 1940.) THE GREAT McGINTY is a political satire and shaggy dog story about a nobody (Brian Donlevy) who votes several times in an election and is made Mayor of a town by boss Akim Tamiroff. Then McGinty becomes Governor of the state--with the proviso that he does favors for "The Boss".

CHRISTMAS IN JULY has a coffee slogan contest between rival coffee companies in New York City. Ordinary clerk Dick Powell believes, falsely, that he has won grand prize. He and girl friend Ellen Drew go on a super spending spree. What happens when they realize that they have not really won? The ending is an ironic wow. This little 67 minute gem is where the Sturges stock company of supporting actors is really noticeable: William Demarest (especially), Raymond Walburn, Robert Warwick, Al Bridge, Jimmy Conlin, Porter Hall, and Franklin Pangborn. All of them seem to appear in each Sturges film. And the character names are clever and funny.

THE LADY EVE has professional card sharks and gamblers Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Coburn trying to cheat schnook snake lover Henry Fonda on a ship voyage. But they have a change of heart when Barbara falls for the guy.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS is a towering masterpiece with Joel McCrea's greatest performance. He plays film director John L. Sullivan who wants to make a serious social protest film. "But with a little sex in it," his producers add hopefully. Masquerading as a hobo, Sullivan meets up with Veronica Lake, who bravely deglamorizes herself because she has a great role. As the film gets darker and darker, a false murder and mistaken identity leads to a chain gang climax and a happy ending.

I don't like THE PALM BEACH STORY as much as I do other films in this Universal collection. But the train from New York to Florida with William Demarest and the Quail and Ale Club is screamingly funny. I don't find the reel one Weinie King funny at all, and the Florida scenes with Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor as millionaires after fun and romance only get to second base for me. It is a good movie with great scattered moments.

THE GREAT MOMENT is an interesting failure that was finished in 1942, but taken out of Sturges' hands, recut by Paramount bosses, and finally released in 1944. It stars Joel McCrea (again) in the dramatic biography of the father of anaesthesia in the 1840's. It is intelligent and well written, but the recutting leaves it all very confusing.

Leaving aside the incomparable MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (which you can, again, buy or rent from Paramount Home Video for about $10 in a studio print edition), Sturges' last film at Paramount was HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO. In the performance of his career, Eddie Bracken plays Woodrow Truesmith, born at the very moment that his father was dying in Belleau Wood in World War One. Cursed with hay fever that makes him 4-F in World War Two (the film was made in 1944), Woodrow is befriended by William Demarest and his Marine buddies in a bar. One of the Marines, with a hilarious mother fixation, calls up Woodrow's mother and says Woodrow is coming home. So his whole town gathers to give Woodrow a hero's welcome when he steps off the train. They even run him for Mayor as the film turns into a Capra satire on small town America. What will they all do to Woodrow when they learn he never got overseas because of the nasty hay fever? HAIL is an incomparable achievement.

This is a beautifully designed DVD set with gorgeous studio prints by the copyright owner, Universal. The box is sturdy and attractive, with color poster art on the back cover. If only it had some bonuses that Warner Home Video would have put on without thinking twice---film critics chatting about the films one by one, audio commentaries, and that PBS "American Masters" feature-length documentary on Preston Sturges. I would like to know more about the man who made so many truly great, truly funny satires films back to back, then went to Fox in 1948, then apparently died of a heart attack and burn-out in the 1950's. Someone should sell the PBS biography as a solo DVD to go with this otherwise mostly magnificent collection of luscious and wonderful comedy satires from a master filmmaker. PRESTON STURGES: THE FILMMAKER COLLECTION.

Why aren't the titles available separately?.......2007-05-19

Being a major fan of Preston Sturges' comedies, I bought all of the separate releases when they came out: Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Palm Beach Story (and also Miracle of Morgan's Creek which is not in this set). I need only Christmas in July and the Great McGinty to complete my collection. DVD manufacturers: I challenge you to explain why you think I should pay for the whole set just to get those two movies. One star given as an expression of my disgust at this totally transparent and cynical strategy to rob movie fans of their money.

The Truly Great McGinty.......2007-03-20

I think I can blurt out here without any great fear of embarrassment my conviction that Brian Donlevy's five-alarm check suit ought to at least have gotten some kind of screen credit of its own there at the end. Ain't it a dang shame this motion picture isn't in colour for just those times when that arrestingly spiffy ensemble walks on? Send me back to school but I'd pay dearly to see the real cut of that horseblanket's jib. And Dan McGinty's priceless double take on the jasper who orders the orange juice? Are you nuts? I've always thought The Palm Beach Story was the very best of Preston Trousers--Mary Astor, if you're out there, beep me--but this first lap in the writer slash director seat is a riot on wheels.

Must Have Collection.......2007-03-11

This collection of Preston Sturges classic films is a must for any serious film collector. Prior to viewing this entire set I had only seen The Lady Eve and CHristmas in July. I must say Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great McGinty as well as The Great Moment were all must see movies. I think more attention should be paid to Preston Sturges as a director by classic film collectors-he was truly before his time!

Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / The Philadelphia Story Two-Disc Special Edition / Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / Stage Door / To Be or Not to Be)

Average customer rating:

LAUGH OUT LOUD! FUNNY!!!!
SHAME ON WARNER BROTHERS!
A wonderful collection of classic comedies
Big Belly laughs in every single movie
This is nice to have on hand

Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / The Philadelphia Story Two-Disc Special Edition / Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / Stage Door / To Be or Not to Be)
Starring: Katharine Hepburn , Cary Grant , Charles Ruggles , Walter Catlett , and Barry Fitzgerald
Director: Howard Hawks , and George Cukor
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Two-Disc Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0006Z2KXY
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

"The love impulse in man," says a psychiatrist in Bringing Up Baby, "frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict." That's for sure. For a primer on the rules and regulations of the classic screwball comedy, which throws love and conflict into close proximity, look no further. A straight-laced paleontologist (Cary Grant) loses a dinosaur bone to a dog belonging to free-spirited heiress Katharine Hepburn. In trying to retrieve said bone, Grant is drawn into the vortex surrounding the delicious Hepburn, which becomes a flirtatious pas de deux that will transform both of them. Director Howard Hawks plays the complications as a breathless escalation of their "love impulse," yet the movie is nonetheless romantic for all its speed. (Hawks's His Girl Friday, also with Grant, goes even faster.) Grant and Hepburn are a match made in movie heaven, in sync with each other throughout. Not a great box-office success when first released, Bringing Up Baby has since taken its place as a high-water mark of the screwball form, and it was used as a model for Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc?

Re-creating the role she originated in Philip Barry's wickedly witty Broadway play, Katharine Hepburn stars as the spoiled and snobby socialite Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, one of the great romantic comedies from the golden age of MGM studios. Applying her impossibly high ideals to everyone but herself, Tracy is about to marry a stuffy executive when her congenial ex-husband (Cary Grant), arrives to protect his former father-in-law from a potentially scandalous tabloid exposé. In an Oscar-winning role, James Stewart is the scandal reporter who falls for Tracy as her wedding day arrives, throwing her into a dizzying state of premarital jitters. Who will join Tracy at the altar? Snappy dialogue flows like sparkling wine under the sophisticated direction of George Cukor in this film that turned the tide of Hepburn's career from "box-office poison" to glamorous Hollywood star.

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical perfection by Billie Burke. The Great Depression is presented in microcosm as Millicent frets about throwing the ultimate society dinner, oblivious to the world tumbling down around her. She is forced to invite to her precious party such undesirables as crass financier Dan Packard ("He smells Oklahoma!"). Even worse in Millicent's eyes than Packard (Wallace Beery, doing an impressive steamroller imitation) is his social-climbing wife, Kitty (Jean Harlow, never funnier). Be sure to watch for Harlow's brief encounter with Marie Dressler, who brings an extraordinary winking wisdom to the role of aging star Carlotta Vance. As the two enter the dining room in the film's final scene, Harlow makes an offhand remark that elicits from Dressler one of the great screen double takes of all time. Like so much of Dinner at Eight, the moment is priceless.

Newspaper comedy doesn't seem like an MGM genre--ink-stained wretches don't go with Adrian gowns and white deco furniture--but Jack Conway, the designated bull in the Metro china shop (Boom Town, Too Hot to Handle) does what he can to bring some dash and flair to Libeled Lady's wildly complicated script. Spencer Tracy is the tough city editor who goes to some spectacular extremes when socialite Myrna Loy files a $5 million libel suit against his paper for calling her a notorious home-wrecker; he hires celebrated ladies' man William Powell to seduce Loy and asks his long-suffering fiancée, Jean Harlow, to marry Powell temporarily so she can play the wronged wife when Loy and Powell are discovered together. The couples crisscross, with frenetic and not entirely unpredictable results, but much of the pleasure here lies in seeing these iconic stars being so thoroughly themselves. The dialogue strains for champagne wit, but the movie's most memorable moment is pure, rotgut slapstick--Powell's bout with an unruly fly-fishing rod.

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

Customer Reviews:

LAUGH OUT LOUD! FUNNY!!!!.......2007-06-09

Six of the all time great movies. Its a must for classic movie fans. You really get to see how good Jean Harlow was at comedy in "Dinner at Eight". Lets not forget Carole Lombard what a great comedian and actress she was in "To Be or Not To Be" her last film before she was killed in plane crash. Sometimes we forget how good they really were. They just don't make good movies like these anymore. I couldn't name you a good actor today with this much staying power. There will never be another Cary Grant, James Stewart, William Powell and Katherine Hepburn. You can watch these movies over and over. I know I will..

SHAME ON WARNER BROTHERS!.......2007-05-05

Shame on Warner Brothers for calling this collection a COMEDY Collection. And the other reviewers - where's your candor? Yes, Philadelphia Story is a classic comedy. But DINNER AT EIGHT, which has a few (a very few) funny moments, is, in fact a very dark story involving suicide, hateful marriages and people at the end of their means; with no particular redeeming quality. STAGE DOOR, it had funny moments, yes, but always with a very sad, dark suicide looming. TO BE OR NOT, this is like a skit, a joke, being stretched out to an hour and a half. LIBELED LADY was funny, but hardly a CLASSIC. BRINGING UP BABY is screwball comedy, but we all know that this was NEVER considered a CLASSIC. My recommendation (now that I feel bad I spent so much based on the other reviewers) - buy the films you know individually. One at a time. PHILADELPHIA STORY is a MUST HAVE.
Then you can laugh at the rest of us for buying movies we'll never watch.

A wonderful collection of classic comedies.......2007-03-20

I just recently finished watching all of the movies in this boxed set, and I couldn't be happier with it. Warner's has been going boxed set crazy over the past couple of years, boxing up into collections just about every movie in their vaults. Some collections are good, and some not so good, but this one is excellent. Three of the movies are well known, and the other three are less known. Probably the best known film is "The Philadelphia Story" that got Katharine Hepburn out of her "box office poison" era for good and won James Stewart his only Best Actor Oscar - about two or three Oscars shy of what he should have had in my opinion.

"Dinner at Eight" is a 1933 ensemble comedy using the "Grand Hotel Formula" that had won that film the Best Picture Oscar the year before. It is a comedy revolving around a group of people preparing to go to a dinner party and shows how their lives strangely intertwine beyond even their awareness. Remarkably, I don't think it even got nominated for an Oscar, but it has held up well over time and has one of the best last lines of any movie ever. As everyone is planning to go into dinner Jean Harlow is telling Marie Dressler how she has been reading that machinery has been taking over everything and soon they would all be replaced by machines. Marie Dressler looks Jean Harlow up and down as only she could do and says "My dear I don't think you need to ever worry about that."

"Bringing Up Baby" has Katharine Hepburn playing a scatter-brained young lady who gets Cary Grant involved in her inane plot to transport a tame leopard her brother sent her to her country estate. The film moves at such a fast clip with so much going on that it seems exhausting, but it is great entertainment. This film actually didn't catch on that much until years later.

"Libeled Lady" was the pleasant surprise of the bunch. I had never seen it before but it was quite funny. It all revolves around a false rumor about a young lady that gets reported as truth in a New York paper. The paper faces a libel suit and financial ruin if a way is not found to set up the "libeled lady" so that she appears to be in a genuine scandal, thus lessening the paper's chances of losing in court. This film has some great physical comedy from William Powell of all people.

"To Be Or Not To Be" is a comedy set in World War II Poland and involves an attempt by the occupied Poles to stop a spy from getting to German headquarters with the names of members of the resistance. It pairs Carole Lombard with Jack Benny, but strangely enough the combination does work.

"Stage Door" is a very good film about a group of women living in a boarding house all trying to make it on Broadway. I'm not sure what it is doing in a set of comic movies, though. It is actually more of a melodrama than a comedy, though it has some very witty banter between the struggling actresses at their rooming house and a great performance by Adolphe Menjou as a sophisticated cad, which is a part he played so well in several films of the 1930's.

There are bonus discs included with "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story". "The Philadelphia Story" includes a feature on Katharine Hepburn's life and career, and "Bringing Up Baby" has a second disc that has a similar tribute to Cary Grant. There are also features included on the directors of these two films. My advice is to buy this set. It's a tremendous value and will give you many hours of entertainment.

Big Belly laughs in every single movie.......2006-06-17

I defy you to find a modern day movie where the wise cracks are funnier than any thing you'll find in each and every one of these 70 year plus old movies! Most of the dialogue was spoken at Tommy Gun blast speed, with every word clearly enunciated - a feat in itself! All the men are mostly in suits or tuxes, and the women wear the most beautiful outfits, created by the top designers in the world at the time. Visually, these movies are a feast for the eyes. It also helps that most of the actors and actresses were considered the most handsome and beautiful at the time. Hey - I can get ugly at home! The quality is also excellent considering how old these movies are. I'm an old-movie buff and I remember browsing the TV guide when I was a teenager and then setting my clock to get up at 3am to catch one of these movies whenever they were on. They still hold up and now I can watch them whenever I want and I am grateful. This is a must-have if you like a good story line, clever dialogue and honest laughs.

This is nice to have on hand.......2006-03-10

Sometimes my life, like so many others, gets a little overwhelming. These are perfect for when you need a 2 hr. break from reality. Make the popcorn, pull the shades, pop one of these in and totally escape. And it's cheaper than therapy. :-)

Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima)

Average customer rating:

FILMS OF THE FAITH COLLECTION
Great set of DVD's
excellent stories about caring for others
Films of Faith Collection
well done

Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima)
Starring: Audrey Hepburn , Peter Finch , Edith Evans , Peggy Ashcroft , and Dean Jagger
Director: Fred Zinnemann , Michael Anderson , and John Brahm
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B000E1MXSM
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Amazon.com

Fred Zinnemann's epic 1959 drama The Nun's Story is a splendid showcase for Audrey Hepburn, who stars as the young nun Sister Luke, who is deeply spiritual yet conflicted about whether or not she can conform to convent life. Though the film is a mesmerizing--and quite leisurely--two and a half hours, its plot is fairly simple--young Gabrielle (Hepburn) enters the convent pledging her life to God, learns the disciplines associated with the life, receives her dream assignment of going to the Congo as a missionary nurse, and once there, is forced to face whether she is meant for the rigorous life of poverty, chastity, and most difficult of all, obedience. The film does a marvelous job of portraying the challenges of cloistered life without being either off-putting or overly romantic. And Hepburn, sometimes with only her eyes, communicates all the drive, faith, and conflict of a young woman so torn.

If you find during the 160-minute running time of The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) that you don't like the plot, wait 10 minutes. It will surely change and there will be another story thread to entice you. The screenplay is literally all over the map: Siberia, where Archbishop Kiril Lakota, played splendidly by Anthony Quinn, has been exiled to a work camp in the oppressive Soviet regime; Moscow, where a genially scene-chewing Laurence Olivier plays a Soviet ruler with history with Lakota; China, where famine threatens to bring the world of the late '60s to the brink of World War III; and Rome, where Lakota travels after being freed (and where dissolute reporter David Janssen does his best to groove on the Swinging Sixties). Yet despite its flaws, the movie's central drama is riveting: the current Pope dies suddenly, and for a good bit of the film, viewers are treated to the Vatican's inner workings on the election of a new Pope. The events unfold at a leisurely pace, which allows you to drink in the spectacle and wonder of the ancient traditions. The Alex North Oscar-nominated score is lovely, and Quinn's performance is the somber-with-a-humble-twinkle glue that holds the film together. Anyone interested in the traditions and rituals of the Vatican will find plenty to savor.

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima tells the story--through an admittedly Hollywood prism--of one of the most beloved Catholic legends of the 20th century. Three young shepherd children in the remote Portuguese mountain town Fatima reported seeing a vision in 1917 of "a beautiful lady" who spoke to them of strife, war and peace and the love of Jesus. Soon the word spread, and throngs, teetering on mobs, gathered near the site for a glimpse of what they believed to be Mary, mother of Jesus. The children remained steadfast in their account, despite threats from the church and the government, and the final appearance of the lady, on Oct. 13, 1917, was accompanied by strange apparitions in the sky that have yet to be explained by science. The movie is well-made and -acted, especially by a radiant Susan Whitney, who plays the oldest child, Lúcia Abóbora dos Santos. The screenplay takes some liberties with the facts: the lovable jokester-sidekick character of Hugo is fictitious, and one wonders if perhaps a few of Our Lady's cautions about the multitude of evil things happening in 1917 Russia might have been heard through a Cold War filter. But the 1952 film is moving and is a reminder that big studios once routinely, and profitably, released religious-themed movies, to audiences who surely would appreciate some of the same today. --A.T. Hurley

Description

The Films of Faith Collection features three tales of spiritual discovery which celebrate lives of purpose and inspiration, The Nun's Story, The Shoes of the Fisherman and The Miracle of Our Lady Fatima. Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Anthony Quinn, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud are among the top stars of the films; bonus features include the vintage featurette The Shoes of the Fisherman and theatrical trailers. The Nun's Story (1959) is an unforgettable revelation of the seldom-seen world behind convent walls. Audrey Hepburn portrays Sister Luke, a nun whose life journey leads her to a much desired position as a surgical nurse in a Belgian Congo missionary hospital. After she returns to her native Belgium, World War II breaks out and she finds her commitment seriously tested -- torn between the pull of the Resistance and the church's neutrality. Directed by four-time Academy Award winner Fred Zinnemann, The Nun's Story earned eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture.

From Morris L. West's bestseller, The Shoes of the Fisherman is both an urgent tale of geopolitical intrigue and a fascinating look at Vatican procedure. Anthony Quinn plays a newly-freed Russian political prisoner thrust into the spotlight as Pope Kiril Lakota. Laurence Olivier, Oskar Werner, John Gielgud, David Janssen and Leo McKern enrich a production which was nominated for two Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe for Alex North's score.

The Miracle of Our Lady Fatima (1952) thoughtfully recreates the 1917 actual events that brought hope and new religious fervor to a war-ravaged world. Three peasant youths in Fatima, Portugal see a vision: a woman in a cloud of light offering words of devotion and prophecy. The children face torture by the anticlerical government but are soon embraced by the faithful masses drawn by the promise of a miracle. Director John Brahm skillfully balances simplicity and spectacle, all powerfully supported by Max Steiner's Oscar-nominated score.

Customer Reviews:

FILMS OF THE FAITH COLLECTION.......2007-05-15

IT WAS GREAST TO HAVE THE THREE MOVIES AT THE SAME TIME BECOUSE WE WATCHED ALL THE FAMILY FOR A LONG WEEK-END IT WAS GREAT BECOUSE WE CAN UNDESTAND MUCH BETTER THE RELIGION WE HAVE.

Great set of DVD's.......2007-05-07

I enjoyed all 3 dvd's. I would get it for a gift for other people who like this kinda of movie. My grandson enjoyed watching it with me. The price was awesome too.

excellent stories about caring for others .......2007-03-16

Wonderful movies about those people whose lives were dedicated to caring for others. That is our purpose on the this earth. These movies give wonderful testomony to how much happier and satisifed your life will be be caring for others. Your blessings and true happiness only comes by serving. Give and you will be rewarded

Films of Faith Collection.......2007-01-10

This is a warm remembrance of Christian witness that will speak to a universal audience. The Nun's Story is a fairly accurate and touching tale of one woman's quest to follow her heart just as the world falls into war. This is a great example of the Catholic Church in the early 20th century. With Shoes of the Fisherman, you have a great story of a Pope from the Slavic World, more than a decade before Pope John Paul II. The turmoil of an ancient church trying to deal with a modern world is very well told and is still quite relevant.

well done.......2007-01-05

Films of faith this is a terrific set and I have really made a great investment here.Each of the movies are very clear and sharp.The shoes of the fisherman is extremely good in the widescreen format and the sound is terrific in 5.1 Dolby surround.It was the first time that I had seen the shoes of the fisherman as it was intended in widescreen,and apreciated it so much, having seen it before on video in the pan and scan format.WB.has done it again,well done.Well done amazon for having stocked such great classic as this set is

Average customer rating:

Perfect and Definitive!
A Medieval Fantasy Boldly Brought to Life
What is used from your lust..Shall be mine...And you'll have it!
Excaliber
Dated, but still greaat to watch.

Excalibur [HD DVD]
Starring: Nigel Terry , Helen Mirren , Nicholas Clay , Cherie Lunghi , and Paul Geoffrey
Director: John Boorman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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

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

General | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Horror | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Science Fiction & Fantasy | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000JLSLZG
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Amazon.com essential video

This lush retelling of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is a dark and engrossing tale. Director John Boorman (Deliverance) masterfully handles the tale of the mythical sword Excalibur, and its passing from the wizard Merlin to the future king of England. Arthur pulls the famed sword from a stone and is destined to be crowned king. As the king embarks on a passionate love affair with Guenevere, an illegitimate son, and Merlin's designs on power, threaten Arthur's reign. The film is visually stunning and unflinching in its scenes of combat and black magic. Featuring an impressive supporting cast, including early work from the likes of Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne, Excalibur is an adaptation of the legend both faithful and bold. --Robert Lane

Description

Raised by merlin, young Arthur draws the mystical sword of Excalibur from the stone and becomes King. He grows to manhood and with his wife Guenevere and first knight Lancelot unites the country and founds the Knights of the Round Table. But the love between Lancelot and Guenevere, and the treachery of his sister Morgana and son Mordred cause King Arthur's pride to jeopardize the kingdom. An epic battle between the knights of good and evil decides the fate of Camelot,

Customer Reviews:

Perfect and Definitive!.......2007-08-27

I just saw this film again last night. I first saw it years ago as a teenager and it had a great impact on me then but I can say that with repeated viewings I have extracted more.

Essentially this film is really well crafted. I have to confess that I have not read Sir Thomas Mallory's "La Morte d'Arthur" upon which this film is supposedly largely based but it seems to me that Boorman has threaded together a number of themes of medieval and dark age literature with seamless ease.
King Arthur is, in fact, Siegfried, King Marke and Amfortas (from the Parzifal legend) wrapped into one. This is beautifully expounded by the adoption of effective musical motifs taken from Richard Wagner's mature operas: Gotterdammerung (Siegfried's funeral march), Tristan und Isolde (prelude), Parsifal (prelude). Boorman, in particular, uses the music from Siegfried's funeral march to symbolize the triumph that is Arthur's life as courageous, then noble, then forgiving King - in the manner of the three characters for which he is an effective amalgam. He uses the death motif at the beginning of Siegfried's funeral march during dramatic moments and Wotan's doom prophecy motif for certain isolated moments with Merlin - yes, Merlin here is Wotan according to the use of Wagner's motif but it is particularly fitting.

Of course, the nature of the nordic myths is such that there is a great deal of overlap among the various heroes and Gods and the likes so that one character from one myth is often based on a character from another. It is also the case that many of the myths do get interwoven into some great saga thereafter - think Tolkein's Ring and think Wagner's Ring based essentially on the same sources. What is great about Excalibur is that the integration of the myths is pretty fluid throughout and the central thread is the progression through Arthur's life from naive squire to wise and weary King.

Many other themes are covered here - the wound that will not heal (Lancelot as Tristan - note Wagner linked Tristan to Amfortas so this is fitting here), Perceval (read Parsifal) is the innocent fool who procures the grail to redeem Arthur (Amfortas).
Guinevere is both Isolde and Elsa who is championed by Lohengrin (again read Lancelot here). It's all in there and it's very smooth.

Okay, apart from the excellent integration of manifold myth accompanied to the lush musical Wagnerian tapestries, you have great cinematography throughout - this is how to do myth!
The acting is also top notch - you have young English/Irish stars such as Byrne, Stewart, Neeson, Redgrave, Williamson, Mirren - for the most part before they were particularly famous. There are a couple of really dodgy performers in there as well but the relatively minor roles do not detract from the overall effect.

This film is played as myth, the dialogue is relatively simple but often witty (in the hands of Williamson, for example), but this is exactly what myth is about. The synthesis of music, cinematography and rich drama that incorporates, as I have said, so many nordic myths render this just about the ultimate cinematic portrayal of such myth that you will ever get. It is ideal for people interested in nordic myth e.g. Nibelungenlied, Eddas, Saga of the Walsung, but it is also ideal for teenagers just interested in all the glamour of the chivalrous age - as I was at the time. Probably not for kids though since there is a lot of limb hacking in evidence. This is a symbolic myth telling that has real-world, adult symbolism and is not a children's tale of the type you will get from Tolkien, so in this respect it depends what you want but basically any normal human being should buy this - full of great emotional moments!

A Medieval Fantasy Boldly Brought to Life.......2007-08-26

The screen darkens and words appear referring to a time long gone by...ominous music from Richard Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" begins to swell... suddenly there are towering flames in the night and amongst the trees armored knights spill over a ridge in mortal combat... Welcome to the story of Excalibur and the king who will wield it. From those opening moments I was completely hooked, so it came as a surprise to me that some film critics complained that it wasn't realistic (actual armor was so heavy that knights could not walk around in it) and the dialog too melodramatic (not faithful to the serious tone of Thomas Mallory's "Le Morte D'Arthur" upon which this film is mostly based). But they missed the point here-this is a film constructed solely of myth and legend, of wizards and sorcery, peopled with larger than life characters and so grandly filmed that it won an Academy Award for best cinematography. The sound track is credited to Trevor Jones, but he also makes use of stirring passages from the world of classical music at key points in the film (portions of Wagner's operatic "Ring" cycle and choral music from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana"). Add into this heady mix a few images from Norse sagas (such as the body of a dead hero transported out to sea on a Viking ship) and you end up with what I've always enjoyed about this film-a magical and bold interpretation of the day's of King Arthur aimed at an adult audience. (There are violent battle sequences and nudity-I don't mean to mislead anyone here.)

If at this point you're still hesitating as to whether to buy this DVD or not, I'll leave you with one of my favorite moments: Merlin stands by the water's edge, and as Wagnerian music begins to soar around you Excalibur dramatically bursts through the liquid surface and rises forth in the hand of The Lady of the Lake. (An indelible image that still gives me a thrill each time I see it.)

Motion Picture Sidenote: Appearing here are several stars before they became famous-Patrick Stewart (Star Trek's Capt. Picard), Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List"), and Helen Mirren (recent Academy Award winner for Best Actress in "The Queen").

What is used from your lust..Shall be mine...And you'll have it!.......2007-07-10

By Excalibur I SWEEAARRR IT! John Boorman's masterpiece
of Arthur should be seen from everyone.It is a classic
tale that seems to be filmed every 7-10 yrs. I still
believe this is the best version.For the performances
from Nicole Williamson(uuummm! Hello OSCARS???)Gabriel
(I just plain kick a$$)Byrne and many more! The fact
this is Rated R just enhances the movie that much more.
Sorry Kiddies but if you are looking for a nice/soft
version of King Arthur and Merlin with the long grey
beard you will be very dissapointed,for the EX does
NOT F#$K AROUND! The directing is flawless and the
music is ONE of the best in film history!Totally
recommend in any AMAZONERS DVD shelf!!! BUY IT
WATCH IT....LIVE IT!.........All I can give you
is my love....."THAT'S THE ONE THING OF YOURS I DON'T
WANT!I WILL COME AND TAKE CAMELOT BY FOOOOORRRCCEE!"
BRILLIANT BOORMAN....JUST BRILLIANT!LONG LIVE THE EX!

Excaliber.......2007-05-28

One of my all time favorites!! Its great to have it in dvd collection now too. A must have for the medival-King Arthur etc fans!!

Dated, but still greaat to watch........2007-05-14

I had forgotten how interesting this movie was -- a little frustrating with its mixing of the legends, but a good watch and a fun reminder of how film styles have evolved in recent years.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly... and More Stories That Sing (Scholastic Video Collection)

Average customer rating:

Why is this song such a hit?
Buy the book instead
One of the many wonderful DVDs in the Scholastic series
No age info. on the front cover
One of the best in the series!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly... and More Stories That Sing (Scholastic Video Collection)
Starring: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B00023TG6E
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Customer Reviews:

Why is this song such a hit?.......2007-09-03

I borrowed this DVD from our library. I don't know why this was a popular song when I was growing up, but I guess you can say there is some educational value- my children can identify the animals. The story is read first, and then sung. Being from NYC, I wasn't at all bothered by the accent, and the humor is very NYC. My 2 year old loves the Antartic songs, and the animation is cute but the vocabulary is for a 12 year old and the songs are long and more like broadway story songs. There is another version of "I Know an Old Lady" on the Scholastic Video collection with Wheels on the Bus, sung by Burl Ives, and the pictures aren't as dark but the song's tempo is slow and the intonation monotonous. I highly recommend that video with a beautiful version of Over in the Meadow, and Dem Bones. Another very strange choice for a Scholastic song, but another one of my children's favorites. The songs on this collection are more "singable". We highly recommend the Goodnight Gorilla scholastic tape, and also buy the book with the cd of The Napping House - it's worth it!

Buy the book instead.......2007-07-22

I purchased the video: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly because my daughter loves the book. I wanted my daughter to see the book come to life. Previously, we had read Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman and watched that video; it was a huge success and very well done. However, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is read in Cyndi Lauper's loud and affected Brooklyn accent. It leaves the watcher feeling flat (and annoyed!). My suggestion is to buy the Child's Play book and read it over and over. It has holes that get progressively bigger as the old lady eats each animal. As the adage goes, the book is better.

One of the many wonderful DVDs in the Scholastic series.......2007-05-07

All the Scholastic DVDs I have ordered for my "grand twin girls" have been well received but this was a special treat for them and they viewed it over and over. The music is also quite appealing to them .

No age info. on the front cover.......2006-12-19

I bought this DVD (and others from the same collection) as alternatives to the ubiquitous Disney ... So far I have only seen this one. My only complaint is that there was no info regarding age on the front cover. I bought it for my six-year-old... and I think she would have enjoyed it a lot more at 3 or 4. At 6, I am not sure if she will want to watch it more than a couple of times.

One of the best in the series!.......2004-12-05

We own about 15 of the Scholastic Video DVDs, and have owned 11 of those for almost a year. This was one of the new releases and is our absolute favorite of the new ones so far. My son is 4.5 and my class of 3 year olds also adored it. My former kindergarten class would still love it as first graders.

"There was an old woman..." is hysterical, the illustrations, the narration and song by Cyndi Lauper of all people. "Antarctic Antics" is I think my favorite selection of all times even topping "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". It is based on a book of poetry about Antarctica (I haven't seem the book - yet) and it's a mini rock musical of these poems. It has some great science and geography teaching too, but I really love the music. My son walks around singing these songs.

"Musical Max" is good. "Keeping House" is odd but cute. "Waiting for Wings" is another all-time favorite.

Average customer rating:

"A CERTAIN SMILE"
Raw Look at the 1950s

Last Exit to Brooklyn

Manufacturer: Dawoori
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

Product Features:

Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
All-Region NTSC Code 0
In ENGLISH with optional (removable) subtitles in English and Korean
SPECIAL FEATURES: Scene Selections; Cast & Crew; About The Film; Theatrical Trailer; Other Trailers
Officially licensed release from South Korea; some printing on the artwork is in Korean.

ASIN: B000CRKW9A

Product Description

SUMMARY: Set in Brooklyn during the 1950s against a backdrop of union corruption and violence. A prostitute falls in love with one of her customers. Also a disturbed man discovers that he is homosexual. [IMDB - Mark Logan] REVIEW: In 1952, a panoramic view of the other side of North America is presented through the life of different characters and their dramatic stories, having Brooklyn in common. Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a prostitute, connected with a violent street gang composed of small time crooks. They swindle most of Tralala clients, stealing their money. She meets a young lieutenant from Idaho, who falls in love with her. The labor union is on strike against the employers, placing picket against the trucks and protesting in front of the factory. American soldiers are again fighting in another war, this time against Korea. Maybe the only missing point in this film is the declared racism of those times. This sad, depressive and violent movie is another great work of Uli Edel, mainly known by 'Christiane F'. The cast has amazingly performances, and the scene when Tralala is raped by dozens of men in an abandoned car is one of the most strong I have ever seen in a movie. I agree with the words of IMDB User Comments: 'Great film, but not a piece of entertainment'. My vote is eight. [IMDB Claudio Carvalho]

Customer Reviews:

"A CERTAIN SMILE".......2007-08-19

STEVEN LANG and JENNIFER JASON LEIGH dominate this virtually picture-perfect view of Brooklyn circa 1950. A sad and moving mix of Union Dispute [Teamster strike}, confused sexual identity [identeties], anger and misplaced love.

Lang is excellent [more than that] as the love-torn Strike Captain - totally oblivious of 'the nature of things' - Jaosn-Leigh - more than award worthy for her "Tral" - perhaps the whore with the platinum heart? Totally oblivious of long-term goals - living from sailer to sailer ...

Art/Set direction and design, wardrobe, etc - spot on.

Highly worth the visit - if you can - "Father Knows Best" it ain't!
Could be fun to pair Jason-Leigh and Lang as "George & Martha" and watch the conflagration ........

{DVD is great]

Raw Look at the 1950s.......2007-06-08

This is a frank filming of the Hubert Selby novel about the brutality of street life in Brooklyn 1952. If you like "happy" films, this isn't for you. But if you appreciate a good dose of realism, the film is remarkable.

Diana - Story of A Princess (Episodes 1 - 4)

Average customer rating:

Best Diana documentary

Diana - Story of A Princess (Episodes 1 - 4)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000TFADH6

Product Description

The Story of the Quen of Hearts will be forever woven into the tapestry of world history. this four-episode collection sheds light on hoew Diana, Princess of Wales, though grace aand charm, and despite personal tribulations, became a princesss of the people. Poignant footage and personal commentary from those who knew Diana bes reveals the saga, both sad and joyous, of her path to immortality.

Customer Reviews:

Best Diana documentary.......2007-09-10

This is the best Diana documentary I've ever seen it covers all areas of the Princess life.

Lady Day - The Many Faces of Billie Holiday

Average customer rating:

Lady Day
Lady Day...a must for Billie lovers
Best of the Available Video Biographies of Billie
Kultur, this time you missed it!
SO INFLUENTIAL!!!!

Lady Day - The Many Faces of Billie Holiday
Starring: Billie Holiday , and Carmen McRae
Manufacturer: White Star
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Classic Female Vocal Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

African American Heritage | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Documentary | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B000056B03
Release Date: 2000-11-28

Amazon.com

Given the often inextricable relationship between art and suffering, it's no coincidence that Billie Holiday, popularly acclaimed as jazz's greatest (if not technically best) female singer, was also one of its most tragic figures. While both triumph and tragedy are covered in this hourlong documentary, we are mercifully spared excessive details about the more sordid aspects of Holiday's life (her drug and alcohol addictions, her disastrous relationships with abusive men) in favor of careful consideration of her music. Testimonials are offered by those who played with her (pianist Mal Waldron and trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison), were influenced or inspired by her (singers Carmen McRae and Annie Ross), or worked with her (producer Milt Gabler). Together, they paint a portrait of a woman who was both tough and vulnerable, sad and defiant, an unschooled musician who became a supreme innovator.

Fairly or not, documentaries like this one will inevitably be compared to Ken Burns's Jazz, especially when they contain some of the same material, as is the case here. But while Lady Day doesn't always benefit from the comparison (actress Ruby Dee, reading from Holiday's autobiography, and narrator David Smyrl race through their lines as if they've got a train to catch), it surpasses Jazz in one vital respect: instead of constantly interrupting the music with voiceovers, Lady Day offers some of Holiday's few performances on film or TV in their entirety, including "Strange Fruit," her graphic and disturbing song about Southern lynchings, and "Fine and Mellow," in which a visibly and audibly deteriorating Holiday is backed by Lester Young, Ben Webster, and other jazz immortals. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews:

Lady Day.......2007-07-03

This is the first music of Billie Holiday's that I have ever bought. It was beautiful, and I will treasure this CD always. She is such a singer that pulls at your heartstrings as you listen.

Lady Day...a must for Billie lovers.......2007-01-04

It is great to have a digital standard bio of such a great Lady...

Best of the Available Video Biographies of Billie.......2006-12-03

This documentary, released concurrently with a hard-cover book of the same name in 1991, is a brief but highly accurate overview of the life and art of Billie Holiday. The book, with text by Robert O'Meally, contains literally hundreds of rare photographs, and a good deal of these are liberally sprinkled throughout the film. But ultimately, it is the sparsely produced but flawlessly executed narrative of her life and craft that make this DVD stand out among the few biographical pieces that have been released about the great Lady Day.

The film contains interviews with several of Billie's closest friends and the musicians who worked with her. The insight provided by fellow jazz-singers and friends Carmen McRae and Annie Ross is indeed enlightening, but it is the observances of her fellow musicians, Mal Waldron, Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, as well as particularly eloquent comments by writer and jazz historian Albert Murray, that make this documentary particularly illuminating. There are snatches of Billie's greatest recordings, which consist of excerpts that illustrate exactly what was so unique about Lady's genius, often accompanied by explanations of what made her music so important, or perfectly timed clips of jazz audiences and dancers of the day, reveling in the music. At one point, trumpet player Harry Edison remarks that Billie was a jazz musician, in the way that she used her voice and, "attacked the words and could swing just like a trumpet player". His comment is immediately followed by a brief clip of her 1936 recording of "I Can't Give you Anything But Love" (with Teddy Wilson and his band) in which she exactly emulates the sound of that instrument with her voice. Albert Murray and Sweets Edison carefully explain, once and for all, that Billie was not a blues singer, but a jazz singer - the very best jazz singer, while Buck Clayton, Carmen McRae and Mal Waldron clarify that Billie was the first vocalist to use her voice dramatically, change the melody and phrasing of songs to fit her mood, and improvise on written music to create a form of art that was as original as it was unique. They make you understand that Billie Holiday literally influenced every singer that came after her; this film makes it possible for someone with little prior knowledge of her, or her craft, to understand exactly why she was such an important and influential figure in both popular music and jazz singing. Simply put, Billie Holiday changed the way singers sang songs, and this film articulates this fact with vivid clarity.

The film goes out of its way (as does the book) to correct some of the more glaring inaccuracies in her biography, and does not flinch from the somewhat sordid and sensational details of her tragically short and pain-filled life. At the same time, the portrait is one of someone who certainly did enjoy their life to the fullest despite tragedy, and Billie is revealed as the basically happy and cheerful (if often abused) person that she really was. Throughout we hear actress Ruby Dee read some of the more accurate portions of Billie's "autobiography" - Lady Sings the Blues, a book she didn't write, and probably never even read.

Also worthy of note are the contributions of producer Milt Gabler, who relates the story behind Billie's biggest hit, "Lover Man", which he produced for Decca Records in 1944. There is also a well-orchestrated and effective buildup to the song "Strange Fruit", the social and political aspects of which are carefully explained by Milt Gabler (who labels it, "the first important protest song"). He relates that Columbia Records refused to record it, for fear of "bad press and boycotts" by their Southern dealers. Annie Ross says, "I knew it was banned, and I knew WHY it was banned", while Carmen McRae simply states, "that was just straight up facts, you know, the way it was in those days" while they all express their admiration for Billie and her brave stance as an African American, who dared to sing a song about lynching in the pre-civil rights era of 1939. The discussion is followed by a late clip of Billie, looking absolutely radiant, singing the song before a television audience, while accompanied by Mal Waldron on piano. The expressions and drama etched on her face while she runs through the powerful lyrics, ("Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves, and blood at the root; black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees") right through the dramatic climax, ("...for the sun to rot, for the tree to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop") make this video a potent testament to her amazing valor and artistic perfection.

There are other rare and wonderful (if much too brief) video clips of Billie Holiday at her best, and sometimes, at the stark and shocking end of her life. One clip begins with a particularly sickly, ghostly looking Billie, her appearance nothing less than alarming, but as the clip progresses we realize that poor video quality, combined with an unflattering camera angle and bad lighting, make her look far worse than she really did. A moment later the camera switches angles, and with relief we see that she is far more elegant and healthy-looking than she appears at the onset of the clip.

We also get brief scenes of her only film, New Orleans, with Louis Armstrong, made in 1947. While Billie sings the song "The Blues Are Brewin'", the close-ups give us a rare glimpse into what it must have been like to experience the real Billie Holiday; she sings the words, "...suppose you want somebody, but you ain't got nobody, you only got a gleam in your eye...", and her expressions are absolutely brilliant. There is not only a gleam in her eye, there is a wrinkle in her brow, a lilt in her gestures and contractions in her facial muscles that, all combined, communicate a range of feeling and a show of expression that lesser singers could never hope to convey. Priceless.

The climax of the film is the celebrated clip of her singing her composition, "Fine and Mellow" from the famous 1956 television special, The Voice of Jazz. Accompanied by several of her peers in the jazz world, including Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge and Gerry Mulligan, the cameraman wisely chose to concentrate on Billie's face, even as the soloists took their individual turns, and we get a delightful look of Billie playfully nodding her head in time with the beat, appreciation for the talents of her fellow musicians clearly showing in her eyes and motions.

Some viewers have expressed disappointment by the fact that more video clips of Billie are not presented here, forgetting that (unfortunately) there are very few video records remaining of her performances. I believe I have now seen, through this and the other available videos, most of her surviving video performances, and this film does contain some of the very best of them. But the inclusion of those few precious video clips notwithstanding, it is the explanation of Billie's art and the clear articulation of her genius that make this documentary so gratifying.

As the film closes on the story of her life, Albert Murray comments that, in the end, it is, "the eloquence, the universality of her statement that matters" most, while Carmen McRae reflects that, although much of Billie's voice was gone by the time she recorded "Lady in Satin", there was something about her voice, even then, that could evoke intense feeling, and Miss McRae says she still plays that album, and cries. Over the credits, we hear a few bars of "I'm A Fool To Want You" from Lady in Satin, and we instantly know exactly why Carmen McRae found it so moving.

Highly recommended.

Kultur, this time you missed it!.......2003-09-13

If you are interested in the (ever fashionable) appro