Ladyhawke

Amazon.com

This lushly produced fantasy has gained a loyal following since its release in 1985, and it gave a welcomed boost to the careers of Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Rutger Hauer. You have to ignore the overly aggressive music score (critic Pauline Kael aptly dubbed it "disco-medieval") and director Richard Donner's reckless allowance of anachronistic dialogue and uninspired storytelling, but there's a certain charm to the movie's combination of romance and heroism. Broderick plays a young thief who comes to the aid of tragic lovers Isabeau (Pfeiffer), who is cursed to become a hawk every day at sunrise and Navarre (Hauer) who turns into a wolf at sunset. The curse was cast by an evil sorcerer-bishop (John Wood), and as Broderick eludes the bishop's henchmen, Navarre struggles to conquer the villain, lift the curse, and be reunited with his love in human form. The tragedy of this lovers' dilemma keeps the movie going, and Broderick is well cast as a young, medieval variation of Woody Allen. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

From The Director Of "Superman" Comes A Tale Of True Love And Rousing Adventure. .......2007-08-26

From the director of "The Omen" and "Superman: The Movie," Richard Donner crafts a tale of lavish fantasy and true romance in medieval France (never named as such, but the name of "The Mouse" and several other characters make it clear that the story is set in France). Teen idol Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer (in a rare appearance as a good guy) and the always lovely Michelle Pfeiffer star in this expertly written fantasy from a story by Edward Khmara (who also co-wrote the script with Michael Thomas and Tom Mankewicz, who also served as consultant on this film and
"Superman: The Movie"). The music in the opening credits is amazing. I've always been a huge fan of period/fantasy films, plus the all-star cast (which includes Tony winner John Wood) and director (Donner) intrigued me to see it. Made in the same decade as the so-so "Labyrinth" (the story needed more work) and the even better fantasy-adventure-romance-comedy
"The Princess Bride," the film uses synthesized musical pieces which clash with the period setting, but it is no matter. In fact, the music makes the film even more enjoyable. Great job from everyone involved. My only minor complaint is that the climactic sword fight could have been better choreographed. Minor, but worth noting. Rated PG for some violence.

ENTERTAINING.......2007-08-23

This is a movie after my heart in the romance department, with the trials and tribulations between good and evil.

Ladyhawke.......2007-08-23

Ladyhawke is a fun movie. It has an interesting story line, advenuture, and is enjoyable. Lucille Maimone

Favorite for Years!.......2007-08-21

The plot is explained well in other reviews, but I would like to make a personal comment on this movie.

Ladyhawke has been a favorite movie of mine for many, many years. A friend and I caught it by chance in 1985 at a theatre where we had seen everything else before and I was hooked immediately!! Through the years since then, I found myself continually trying to get other people to see it, but it was only in 2004 that I was able to make a copy of it on VHS to show to friends that also came to enjoy the film.

When I first saw the rave comments listed in this review column, I finally felt vindicated for calling it one of my favorite movies all these years. I'm so excited that there are other people who not only feel the way I do, but are putting the word out for others to check out Ladyhawke. I don't think anyone who does will be disappointed!!!!

LadyHawke.......2007-07-30

I've been looking for this for years!
The photography and story are wonderful, It didn't fail to please.
If anything needs changed or re-edited it's the soundtrack, but I can put up with it. Ruter Hauer at his best, Michele Phieffer is beautiful and Matthew Broderick at the beginning of a successful career.

Average customer rating:

The original "Father of the Bride"
Spencer Tracy
Like the film itself, Liz is as light as air...
Quaint Look At a Revered Institution
Dearly Beloved.....

Father of the Bride (Snap case)
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Joan Bennett , Elizabeth Taylor , Don Taylor , and Billie Burke
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Domestic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B00008MTY0
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com essential video

This 1950 Vincente Minnelli classic may show its age here and there, but it's still a far sturdier movie than the 1991 Steve Martin vehicle. Spencer Tracy earned yet another Oscar nomination for his wonderfully well observed portrayal of Stanley Banks, a decent (if occasionally long-winded) fellow who gets caught up and cut up in the rudderless spectacle that is the wedding of his only daughter (Elizabeth Taylor, of course). It's a sage commentary on the class mores of the day--how much does one spend? (Or, more accurately, when does one quit spending?) Does one invite one's work colleagues, even if they don't know the bride? Tracy is simply magnificent, gruffly warm and funny, whether he's getting sloppy drunk and discoursing at length or simply sitting by, silently amazed, as his daughter and her beau make up after a spat. The film inspired a sequel (1951's Father's Little Dividend--try getting that title made nowadays), a remake, and a remake of its sequel, as well as a TV series--all in all, almost as many incarnations as Taylor had weddings. --David Kronke

Description

Stanley Banks is a good father who adores his beautiful daughter Kay and his well-ordered life, a life that is thrown into chaos when Kay announces her engagement. A classic MGM comedy, the story is told via flashback and chronicles the many travails, financial and emotional, suffered by Stanley (Spencer Tracy) as he tries to give Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) a wedding to remember. Year: 1950 Director: Vincente Minnelli Starring: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor

Customer Reviews:

The original "Father of the Bride".......2007-06-25

A buoyant, big-hearted MGM comedy featuring the wry comedic talent of Spencer Tracy, Minnelli's romp provided the original template for an idea that's been imitated countless times (as in 2000's "Meet the Parents"), but never done quite so charmingly. Tracy is side-splitting as the aggrieved, helpless Dad, even when he's just making a face. Taylor makes a radiant, effervescent bride-to-be (wasn't she always?), and Bennett is marvelous too, as are supporting players Moroni Olsen and Billie Burke, as Buckley's prominent, well-to-do parents. Minnelli keeps the whole affair--hilariously solemn heart-to-heart talks, a disastrous engagement party, lovers' spats--from derailing into broad farce. If you have to choose a "Bride," make it the original.

Spencer Tracy.......2007-02-12

The original version of this movie. Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor make a good pair for this one. Great for old movie fans!

Like the film itself, Liz is as light as air..........2006-12-31

A minor classic in a minor tradition, blending the late Forties with the early Fifties, "Father of the Bride" is a fragmentary but mainly delightful suburban comedy which finds Hollywood in its best light vein and benefits from a strong central performance...

One night at dinner, daughter Kay casually announces her engagement... Like the situation comedy parents they are, father and mother react on cue... Mr. and Mrs. Banks fret and fume their way right up to the wedding itself... Following practically to the letter the events of Edward Streeter's charming novel, the movie is a series of comic set pieces: father meets future son-in-law; boy's parents meet girl's parents; prospective bride feuds with prospective groom... The vignettes are brushed with the light Minnelli touch at its most charming, and they are acted with captivating nonchalance by Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and the Taylors, Don and Elizabeth...

As the complaining teddy bear papa, attentive to his daughter's welfare and alert as to the disposal of his pennies, Tracy is unbeatably amusing... Playing the American domestic dictator, Tracy is all good-natured father exhausted by the sheer weight of the problems leading up to the happy event...

But it's an ensemble show, and as the typical spoiled daughter of a typical mid-American bourgeois, Elizabeth has one of her happiest screen moments, twisting and persuading her father and her fiancé with a sweet instinctive to the natural-born female... Except for her cheerful announcement of her engagement, when she chatters carelessly about her fiancé's prospects and 'The Life Ahead,' she has no scene all for herself... She's there to express doubt or irresolution, and this is one of her most responsive and natural performances... Like the film itself, she's as light as air...

Quaint Look At a Revered Institution.......2006-07-23

There are almost certainly dated elements in "The Father of the Bride". I also thought Liz Taylor was a little too Hollywood glamorous to be playing a typical suburban American girl. The focus here, however, is Spencer Tracy in the title role and he is nothing short of brilliant. Gently balancing bemusement and bewilderment at the staggering cost emotionally and financially of losing his little girl Tracy doesn't strike a single false note. The film is also augmented by a witty voice-over narration by Tracy. I think it unfair to compare this film to the Steve Martin remake. I think both film's succeed and the remake, though adding some nineties touches, retains enough of the original's charming elements to stand up by itself.

Dearly Beloved............2006-05-27

Another "classic" that I had not seen in years and I could only remember the inspired and hilarious dream sequence where Spencer Tracy tries desperately to get down a fun house of an aisle to get to the alter while his daughter the bride and attendees look on in horror. This one sequence brings the audience out of a rather normal and traditional looking world and right into the noir for a moment before bringing us gently back to suburbia again. I also love the "slice of life" (as filtered through Hollywood's eye) approach to the film. By this I mean that it's rather fun to see what a modern middle class suburban family and home was like in the late 1940s to the early 1950s (servants and all). I loved seeing lovely Elizabeth Taylor dressed in rolled up blue jeans and a flannel shirt and kerchief, (That woman could wear a potato sack and look elegant) and calling Tracy "Pop" in her genuinely affection tone. The entire cast of characters is great with seasoned professionals like Billie Burke and Leo G. Carroll to name just a couple. But Tracy alone is the anchor to this piece, bringing a rye wit and quiet sense of dignity and patience to the whole mess, even when surrounded by the aftermath of the wedding in what looks like a bombed out city complete with with crepe paper. The whole film has such a sweet, satisfying quality that I think, in the hands of a lesser man than director, might have fallen flat. But Minnelli pulls it off brilliantly, balancing charm, sentimentality, humor and even fantasy with just the right touch. And, as others have mentioned in other opinions posted here, it is difficult to compare the original here with later remakes. I do like Steve Martin very much, but there is really nothing to compare next to Spencer Tracy and the subtle expertise of the folks at MGM, circa 1950

Average customer rating:

So campy, its fun to watch
robot jox
Giant Robot Mahem!
Good Movie.
Greatest bad movie ever!

Robot Jox
Starring: Lisa Aliff , Michael Alldredge , David Cameron , Jeffrey Combs , and Larry Dolgin
Director: Stuart Gordon
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Sci-Fi Action | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

Robots & Androids | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B000AM6ONU
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Description

Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), ROBOT JOX reveals a world where nations settle their territorial disputes by a single combat between two giant machines. Piloted by national heroes Achilles (Gary Graham, TV's Alien Nation) and Alexander (Paul Koslo, Shadowchaser), the robots meet in Death Valley to fight for the greatest prize of all: Alaska. But when Achilles' machine crushes 300 spectators, the match ends in a draw. Refusing to face Alexander in a rematch, Achilles is replaced by Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson, TV's Melrose Place), a genetically-engineered combat fighter. So when the GenJox is nearly killed and the game is forfeited, Achilles avenges their honor by challenging Alexander to a winner-take-all death match, in this heavy-metal, sci-fi adventure.

Customer Reviews:

So campy, its fun to watch.......2007-03-09

I remember seeing this at a video rental store, and remembering it being advertised on television and in different magazines. From the box art (different from the box art shown here in Amazon - there were two robots facing off), I just had that feeling that it was going to be good.

Was I ever wrong!

This film is so campy, so over the top, it reminds me of other movies in the same vein (Wing Commander for instance). These are great to watch just for the sheer cheap entertainment value, but don't blame me if you feel a tinge of regret in enjoying Robot Jox.

robot jox.......2007-01-20

this movie is excellent, i love gary graham as achellies piloying the battle robot

Giant Robot Mahem!.......2007-01-10

I remember this movie from when I was younger, and more tolerant in my opinion on the quality of special effects. The stop-action quality of the robot sequences, while not up to Harryhausen standards, are still credible, until the weapons and combat are introduced. The laser, cannon and offensive technology used in the battle scenes, make the battle look like a scene from the old marrionation "Thunderbirds" TV show. The sets used to simulate the piloting of a giant robot are well done, a credit to years of giant robot anime from Japan. The major plot revolves around using robots to settle disputes in a war-ravaged world. Unfortunately, the only way we know how bad things are, is when a large family celebrates with a meal of beanie-weenie. The script and acting are kept at a basic level, obviously geared to a target audience between the ages of 8 and 13. All things considered, unless you enjoy watching hokey movies, like I do, I'd reserve this movie for young children who don't care about FX quality.

Good Movie........2007-01-09

I was playing Quake 4 the other day when a feeling of nostalgia came over me. Looking back at this movie, I am amazed at how it kept my attention at the time. Just thinking about it gave me that sorta warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Though I haven't seen it in years, I doubt it would have the same effect on me today. This aside, I found the movie highly entertaining.

Greatest bad movie ever!.......2006-11-13

Released in late 1990 at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, this movie's background plot of a futuristic Russia waring against a future (Western) Alliance was out-dated before it saw its first screening. The film spent what seems like two weeks in mainstream theatres before it was relegated to dollar shows and, a short time later, VHS. A disaster at the box office and with critics, Robot Jox, nevertheless, is one of my top five all-time movies. This is one of those movies that is so bad it's good. It's the type of thing you'd see on Mystery Science Theatre. The special effects (featuring the wonders of stop-motion!) are laughable and fifty years past their prime. The characters and their acting are over-the-top. The writing features classic lines like "I'll squash you - like bugs"! and "I'll kill you dead"! In college, I performed the two bar scenes from this movie for my "Dramatic Interpretation of Literature" class. The reaction was side-splinting laughter and an "A". In short, to enjoy this movie when you watch it, don't take it seriously! Ed wood looks on from his grave in jelousy at this masterpiece. This film is the epitomy of shluck!

Average customer rating:

Finding Love and Attempting Privacy in a Small Town
alright....
Refreshingly simple and ethereal
Some films should just be pitched over a cliff
Sometimes Love Hurts

All the Real Girls
Starring: Paul Schneider (IV) , Zooey Deschanel , Shea Whigham , Danny R. McBride , and Maurice Compte
Director: David Gordon Green
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

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

ASIN: B00009ZPTY
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Amazon.com

You'd think moviemakers would have run out of new ways of capturing the trials and joys of young love--but director David Gordon Green finds a fresh take in All the Real Girls, a bittersweet small-town romance. By leaving out the usual humdrum exposition of a courtship story, Green cuts right to the little moments that form the high and low points of a budding relationship. It's an impressionistic style aided by the wonderfully spontaneous and unpredictable acting of Paul Schneider (who also co-scripted) and Zooey Deschanel--who look like they're improvising, even though they're not. As in Green's excellent debut feature George Washington, a small town serves as an atmospheric backdrop--this place looks a couple of decades shy of the 21st century. The mosaic approach makes the film play like a collection of memories, someone's first love recalled with fondness and just a bit of regret. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Finding Love and Attempting Privacy in a Small Town.......2007-08-11

ALL THE REAL GIRLS is strange little film written and directed by David Gordon Green, an attempt to capture the claustrophobia of a small North Carolina town where finding love in the midst of an atmosphere devoid of secrets. It boasts a strong cast, has some moments of touching repartee, but in the end we are left with a lack of feeling for/caring about any of the characters. Green's fidgety camera work, jumbled scene changes, and lack of character development prevent the good points to out weigh the weak ones.

Hometown lothario Paul (Paul Schneider) is best friends with another womanizer Tip (Shea Whigham) whose sister Noel (Zooey Deschanel) returns home from a boarding school and falls for Paul. Paul and Noel do a courtship dance, the first act of a relationship that includes more talk and self-confession than physical. Tip objects to Paul's interest in his sister and this of course only fans the flame of romance. The cadre of homeboys (Danny R. McBride and Maurice Compte) watch on the sidelines as the Romeo and Juliet affair takes place. Paul's mother (Patricia Clarkson) and uncle (Benjamin Mouton) add what words of twisted wisdom they can. The love affair is the first serious relationship Paul has ever encountered and for the first time it is the girl who throws the wrench into the experience, a factor that allows the story to simply end.

With a cast that includes some truly gifted actors (Deschanel and Clarkson especially) the viewer has to reflect on why there is no true concern for anybody in the film, no screen chemistry and no charisma that would have helped make this belabored effort worthwhile. David Gordon Green is young and has some very sound ideas about film, but he needs to talk to his audiences about communication to enable him to make solid movies. Grady Harp, August 07

alright...........2007-05-13

Intresting movie but it kinda gets slow in parts. Shipping wise it came fast and in perfect condition.

Refreshingly simple and ethereal.......2006-11-30

All the Real Girls is a refreshingly simple story about first love with a fittingly ethereal approach to its subject. The film is about the relationship between Southern small-town Romeo Paul (Paul Schneider) and inexperienced Noel (Zooey Deschanel). An indiscretion mars their romance and some soul searching by Paul follows.

There is much to like about Schneider and Deschanel's performances, which are poignant, sad, and naked. It is especially nice to see Deschanel in a larger, more grounded role than her usual quirky supporting roles. Director David Gordon Green drops you right in the middle of Paul and Noel's courtship but reveals his characters slowly. The seemingly improvised dialogue and long cuts brings to mind Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, but less witty and talky, more emotionally raw. Some will be turned off by the film's meandering narrative structure and visual style, which has been called impressionistic (it feels more crafted than that). Indeed, Green tries hard to be unconventional and poetic, at times coming across as esoteric. But it will be thoroughly absorbing to those who want a more evocative kind of film; plus it feels pretty darn close to first love.

Some films should just be pitched over a cliff.......2006-02-26

This movie is a long, slow, earnest melodrama about small town twenty-somethings struggling to...you know...find themselves...get somewhere...grow up...ah, hell, I have no idea, really. The movie is shot so that we are stuck in that eternal autumn that permeates most small-town melodramas. All oranges, browns, and golds. The characters meander through their lives with little direction and no visible means of support. There's a factory which none of the characters seems to work in. Zooey Deschanel plays a very confused girl who is a virgin when she starts dating Paul Schneider. Schneider is a player (that's right, all of a sudden there are at least two babes in this town that we see Schneider has, erm...pleasured. They wear professional makeup and have their hair done in New York. Or at least that is what it looks like.) He falls for Deschanel and doesn't screw her because he's a changed guy. It's his new self. So what does Deschanel's character do? She does a bad thing at a weekend party at a lake. The whole rest of the film is devoted to the pain and inchoate ramblings of Schneider and the rest of the cast, all of whose lives seem to be hopeless and in need of repeated doses of stiff, tough-sounding and superficial philosophies which, it appears, everyone can spout. Nothing like dead-end stultifying, small-town life to make a person into a wise man. The worst are the virtually tongue-tied ramblings of Deschanel. While there are moments of dimmed insight in this movie, for the most part it is self-indulgent and plodding, filled with little meaningless scenes that give it an art-house feel. Deschanel is fine as the wounded/wounding girl, Schneider is stiff, pasty, and dull as the boyfriend (he also wrote the story). He looks way too old for Deschanel which, apparently, he is.

Sometimes Love Hurts.......2006-02-11

A Beautifully love storie in real real terms with the proper ammount of infatuation, love, pain and love after the pain, really touching "real girls" in this film is more than just an adjective or a tittle for this picture and Zooey Deschannel is the owner of the kind of personality that fits in such description with a natural charisma, some sort of intellectual charm and a beauty just a few girls have, dont miss this one if you like independent films.
HM

Average customer rating:

The Secret Face of Madness
A haunting & haunted film
THE THIRD SECRET

The Third Secret
Starring: Stephen Boyd , Jack Hawkins , Richard Attenborough , Diane Cilento , and Pamela Franklin
Director: Charles Crichton
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B000NO1XJK
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Customer Reviews:

The Secret Face of Madness.......2007-06-09

Here's a tidy little British suspense film from 1964 that will hold your interest throughout. Well-received and highly regarded at the time, it soon fell out of view, overshadowed by THE NANNY and BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING and SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON and several other, more sensational British chillers of the same era. Now it's back on DVD, and worth a look from anyone who enjoys a literate, well-acted mystery.

A London psychiatrist is found dead, an apparent suicide, but his young daughter (Pamela Franklin) is convinced he was murdered by one of his patients. She appeals to the only patient she trusts, a TV commentator played by Stephen Boyd, to investigate the others. One of them is a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic--but who is it? The passive/aggressive art dealer (Richard Attenborough)? The frigid secretary (Diane Cilento)? The eminent judge with an unmentionable vice (Jack Hawkins)? Or is it Boyd himself, whose recent loss of wife and child to tragedy has unbalanced him, causing disturbing dreams and sudden, violent behavior? He investigates, leading to a surprise finale.

The publicity for the film played on the recent success of PSYCHO and DIABOLIQUE, asking audiences to see it from the beginning and please not to reveal the shocking "third secret" to other potential moviegoers. It's not really as shocking as all that--not now, anyway, though it might have been in 1964--but it's a solid, entertaining diversion. Try it.

A haunting & haunted film.......2007-06-04

Here's a powerful film that was completely unknown to me, one that deserves to be much better known. It's suspenseful & unsettling, but it's also far more than that.

When a noted psychiatrist dies suddenly, the official decree is suicide. But his fourteen year old daughter Cathy (a stunning young Pamela Franklin) doesn't believe her father would have killed himself, and she pleads with TV commentator Alex Stedman (an equally good Stephen Boyd) to investigate.

Alex has his own reasons for wanting to discover the truth. A patient of the dead psychiatrist himself, he's been shattered by the suicide. The doctor helped pull Alex out of despair when his wife & daughter died, and Alex fears that suicide means that everything that helped him was a lie. He desperately needs to learn the truth for the sake of his own sanity. So he begins investigating the doctor's other recent patients, sure that one of them must be a murderer.

What makes this film especially striking is the overall look & tone of it. Filmed in black & white, there's a world-weariness to it, a sense of balancing precariously over a dark, chaotic abyss that waits to claim everyone. Stephen Boyd is superb, his handsome but hard face etched with grief & doubt. He erupts in rage & fear at times, and raises the suspicion that he may be the murderer himself, having blotted out that self-knowledge. Could it be possible? Or is he simply struggling to survive in a world bereft of personal meaning?

We follow his investigation, which leads first to a tortured gallery owner & aspiring painter played by an unrecognizable Richard Attenborough; then to an intimate encounter with another patient, portrayed with brittle beauty & growing despair by Diane Cilento; and finally to a craggy, distinguished judge with a secret, played by Jack Hawkins.

But the most fascinating relationship is between Alex & fourteen year old Cathy. She's unnaturally precocious, a woman-child wise beyond her years, who obviously sees an understanding father figure in Alex. He in turn sees his own dead daughter as she might have been, and it's only in her presence that his grim face softens with tenderness & hope. Some modern viewers might tend to see this relationship as Cathy's suspicious uncle does, that of a predator moving in on a vulnerable girl. But it's something quite different, innocent yet somehow erotic all the same -- certainly it's the most intense relationship in the film.

The script is highly literate, the sort of writing that's seldom seen in films today. And the suspense builds as the film moves forward, an almost existential suspense -- the mystery isn't just about the identity of the murderer, but whether life itself has any meaning. It leads to a stunning climax that frankly jolted me. I wondered if it might not be better to end the film at that point, which would have been terribly bleak but effective. Yet the final scenes, while not viscerally shocking, are all the more sad & heartbreakingly tender, reminding the viewer that some wounds never fully heal.

Most highly recommended!

THE THIRD SECRET.......2007-03-30

This 1964 British import was directed by Charles Crichton. Starring Stephen Boyd (Ben Hur, Fantastic Voyage), Jack Hawkins (The Cruel Sea, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia), Diane Cilento (Hombre, The Wicker Man--and married to Sean Connery 1962-72), Richard Attenborough (In Which We Serve, The Great Escape, The Flight Of The Phoenix, The Sand Pebbles), and Pamela Franklin (The Innocents, The Legend Of Hell House).

I might be totally off base here as I have not seen this little gem for 30 plus years but I think we've got the first secret is what we don't tell other people. The second secret is what we don't tell ourselves. The Third Secret is....... I do remember being totally into this mystery and look forward to it's DVD release. The portfolios of the actors involved in this forgotten film show how much talent was involved. It begs to be seen again, and by ME !!!!

The Dick Tracy Show: The Complete Animated Crime Series

Average customer rating:

Dick Tracy cartoon series
Too Long Ago
Another blast of the past!
Wow, we kids were sure easy to please!
I applaud the release....

The Dick Tracy Show: The Complete Animated Crime Series
Starring: Everett Sloane , Jerry Hausner , Paul Frees , Mel Blanc , and Johnny Coons
Director: Brad Case , David Detiege , John Walker (III) , Ray Patterson , and Abe Levitow
Manufacturer: Classic Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B000GG4XTW
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Customer Reviews:

Dick Tracy cartoon series.......2007-01-04

Excellent packaging and condition of prints. (Would have liked to have the episodes listed in a booklet, as there were 130, and the only way to know what was where was put each disk in and go through tedious rounds of menues).
However, I was very pleased to see all the episodes intact, including full begin themes, (unlike the disappointing releases of Batfink without its begin song).
Well worth buying for fans of Dick Tracy. See all the famous villains, and the rotating cast of Tracy's support characters: GoGo Gomez, Hemlock Holmes, Jo Jitsu, Heap O'Callory etc.
Great stuff

Too Long Ago.......2006-11-03

This was a nostalgia buy ~ I remember loving these as a kid, and when I read details about the product I would not have appreciated back then ~ such as Everett Sloan was the voice of Tracy ~ I had to get it. Fortunately I found a "fell off the truck" copy on eBay for less than half price, because upon playing the first disc I realized that these are pretty much for kids only. Aside from a few adult references (such as using a Peter Lorre-like voice for Flattop) these are not very clever, and definitely do not hold up as adult entertainment by any stretch of the imagination. I guess I was fooled by my own enjoyment of many great reprints of the original Tracy strip (which I see is now coming out in new editions ~ look elsewhere on Amazon) but after 3 of these cartoons I knew I was going to be trading this one in at Coconuts. Better stick to Volume 4 of Looney Tunes, which appears to have quite a few ESSENTIAL Bugs Bunny features this time.

Another blast of the past!.......2006-10-14

I remember a long time ago when my mom rented these cartoons on video for me back in the early 1990s. These cartoons have been in my mind for a very long time. Now that they are on dvd it,s a great blast of the past. All the cartoons are entertaining and funny too. Even though I don,t see the crimestopper tips the cartoons are still good as can be.

Wow, we kids were sure easy to please!.......2006-10-12

When I saw this DVD set, I just had to pick it up for nostalgia sake. One reviewer was a bit harsh but admitted that they did not see the show when originally aired in the 60's. What's the saying? Sometimes you "just had to be there" in order to find appeal in DVD releases of old TV shows such as this. As is often the case it is far more about simple nostalgia and fond recollections than perceived quality.

As a kid in the 60's, the "Dick Tracy Show" was a favorite and after popping in the first disc and seeing that high overhead street scene with the traffic parting and that music...a flood of memories came back. Of course looking at it now with my adult eye it was pretty cheesy stuff. I had totally forgotten that Dick Tracy doesn't really do anything other than hand off the assignments in the opening scene and check in at the end. I wonder why? Is it that Tracy was drawn too seriously and wasn't meant to be funny and therefore let his cartoon-like "crime-busting pals" take over? Funny, as an adult, and why I would even notice such things, I found myself picking up mistakes, errors or things that don't make sense. Geez, it's a cartoon, but I noticed that there is no nameplate on Tracy's desk when facing him but with the angle from behind it suddenly appears...and the nameplate is facing him! Things like this only add to the appeal. OK, this is sad. What's next? I'm going to notice Deputy Dog and Yogi Bear don't have pants on...or the fact that they talk?

Anyway, though I am not sure I can sit through all 130 episodes, it is a hoot to catch up with ol' Mumbles, Flattop and Pruneface as well as GoGo Gomez, Joe Jitsu and of course, Heap O'Callory! Get it? A rather plump cop named "Heap O'Callory". It went over my head as a kid and I just made the connection watching it as an adult.

Good fun if you grew up watching this show or if you have young kids in the house. For me, since the entire series is on one attractively priced DVD set, it was an easy choice.

I applaud the release...........2006-10-07

It is GREAT to have these and I love the original cartoons un-edited and uncut! It appears that CLASSIC MEDIA made a small goof though. The back cover says it includes Tracy's CRIME STOPPER TIPS (The short inbetween segments from the original show) BUT unless they are a REALLY well hidden EASTER EGG, I haven't been able to find them. Other than that, I am glad this set was released Un-Censored!

Average customer rating:

High Sierra
A Nice Transition from Gangster to Noir
An excellent star vehicle for Bogart
not a great film, but has great moments
"High Sierra" was the film that changed the course of Bogart's career and lifted him up to stardom...

High Sierra (Snap Case)
Starring: Ida Lupino , Humphrey Bogart , Alan Curtis , Arthur Kennedy , and Joan Leslie
Director: Raoul Walsh
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B0000B1OGA
Release Date: 2003-11-04

Amazon.com

This 1941 melodrama is memorable for both its strong central performances and their intimations of how the previous decade's crime dramas would evolve into film noir--no accident, given the solid direction of veteran Raoul Walsh and the hand of screenwriter John Huston, who teamed with the author of its novelistic source, W.R. Burnett (Little Caesar). In the central character of Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, a fictional peer to John Dillinger, Humphrey Bogart finds a defining role that anticipates the underlying fatalism and moral ambiguity visible in the career-making roles soon to follow, including Sam Spade in Huston's directorial debut, The Maltese Falcon.

Earle suggests a prescient variation on the enraged sociopaths that were fixtures of the gangster melodramas that shaped Bogart's early screen image. Pardoned from a long prison stretch, the weary robber is clearly more eager to savor his new freedom than immediately swing back into action. But his early release has been engineered by a mobster who wants Earle to pull off a high-stakes burglary, setting in motion a plot that is a prototype for doomed-heist capers--a small, yet potent subgenre that would later include Huston's The Asphalt Jungle and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.

What gives High Sierra its power, however, isn't the crime itself but Earle's collision with the younger, brasher confederates picked to help him, and the hard-edged but vulnerable taxi dancer they're competing for, played forcefully by Ida Lupino, who actually received top billing. Her attraction to the reluctant Earle is complicated by a convoluted subplot designed to showcase then starlet Joan Leslie, but the movie finally moves into its most gripping moments when the wounded Earle, pursued by police, flees ever higher toward the mountains. His final, suicidal showdown would become a cliché of sorts in lesser films, but here it provides a wrenching climax sealed by Lupino's vivid final scene. --Sam Sutherland

Description

Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino star in this tragic study of an American gangster whose hard-boiled persona finds itself at war with his compassionate side--a side that will ultimately be his downfall.

Customer Reviews:

High Sierra.......2007-06-22

Though the forties saw a waning in gangster pictures, early on Bogart was given a juicy breakout role in Walsh's "High Sierra", as a killer with a compassionate side. Bogart's "Mad Dog" Earle is more Dillinger than Capone, more sympathetic and human, but when threatened, still a scary individual. Young Lupino stands out as Earle's loyal protector who can't win his love. Co-written by a young John Huston, "High Sierra" is a solid, flavorful entry for "Bogie-as-bad-guy" fans, boasting a slam-bang finish.

A Nice Transition from Gangster to Noir.......2007-06-11

Firstly, I think Koehler's review is largely spot on in its criticism of this movie. The blatant racism made me cringe several times (thankfully, though, the filmmakers had enough taste not to use a white man in black paint), the sleep-talking scene does seem like a cop-out, and the dog is too explicitly a vehicle for fate. On top of that, I'll add that some key moves in the end are hard to understand--why did Earl give all the money to Marie? Why did he subsequently rob a store without filling up with gas first (presumably the reason for the robbery in the first place)? This movie is by no means perfect.

But it does have, I think, a good bit of substance to outweigh all these relatively minor detriments. The innovation of a complex gangster, for instance, is very enjoyable and already sets the tone for the "decent fellow forced into corrupt ways" nature of film noirs that was right around the corner. There is quite a bit of similarity in this respect between High Sierra and, say, Criss Cross, The Urban Jungle, or Out of the Past, where the main characters also are fundamentally decent and are trying to get back on the straight path by pulling off one final dirty deed.

To my pleasant surprise, the female lead here is even better than in most classic noirs. Not only is she in my opinion much prettier and a better actress than most, but her character is actually more realistic. In a genre that typically features one-dimensional femme fatales whose job is only to lure the male protagonist into further corruption (think Out of the Past or Criss Cross), Marie shows more than a single impulse, and what's more important, even genuine affection for Earle. She's not in it just for the money like so many of the female characters.

Lastly, there is a somewhat campy allegory involved here with the use of the mountains and the theme of busting out of jail to freedom. It's as subtle as a hammer in the way the director brings it up, since the characters talk about it a number of times (and Marie even brings up quite bluntly at the very end), but it adds a very pleasant element to the ending and makes it feel much more fulfilling. The tragic ending is still here, and the protagonist couldn't escape his fate/past, yet there is still a feeling of restored balance that most noirs lack (those who have seen the ending of The Asphalt Jungle will know what I mean).

The disc itself has little beyond the movie--just the theatrical trailer and a 10-minute documentary on how High Sierra figures into the cinematographic scene. The latter, however, is aptly done and is very informative.

This movie is on the brink of getting five stars from me, but some things simply fall short. An excellent way to spend the night nonetheless.

An excellent star vehicle for Bogart.......2007-04-26

This movie is a very complex film for its time that combines elements of the old tried and true gangster film, film noir, and melodrama. It makes for good viewing today and is a very good showcase of Bogart's versatility as an actor. The main character is Roy 'Mad Dog' Earle (Bogart), a man released from prison by a wealthy old associate so that he can pull off a big jewelry heist at a resort near the California/Nevada state line. On his cross-country trek to reach the destination of the robbery, Roy meets the Goodhue family. The Goodhues have lost their farm and are on the way to stay with relatives that just happen to live near Roy's destination. When Roy arrives where the rest of the mob is staying, he finds two tough-guy wanna-bes, Babe and Red, that are constantly fighting over a girl - Marie Garson (Ida Lupino). At first the younger hired guns don't respect Roy. They think he is old and washed up. However, he soon shows them who is in charge and they don't challenge him again.

Only a few of the minor characters are painted totally good or bad - such as the elder Goodhues on one extreme and Babe and Red on the other. The major characters have subtle shades of both good and evil in their personalities. This is particularly true of Roy. He longs for the simple life among good people that the Goodhues remind him of, yet during the course of the robbery he must pull off and its aftermath he thinks nothing of killing in order to accomplish his aim. Roy is actually capable of great kindness, helping out the Goodhues when they get in an auto accident and don't have any insurance, and even paying for Velma's operation to remove a birth defect so that she can walk normally. Roy falls in love with Velma, one of the Goodhues' relatives, believing her to be a simple and decent girl. However, he finds she changes into the most hard-boiled of people once her handicap is removed. Her final rebuff to Roy is filled with almost unwatchable cruelty. The woman who actually cares for Roy is Marie. It takes time for Roy to accept this, since it seems hard for him to believe that people can have both good and bad in them, even though this is very much a trait of Roy's own character. Marie has a background completely opposite that of Velma's, mentioning how she was beaten by her father as a child and then went on to work for a "dime a dance" place before winding up with Red and Babe. She has great heart, but she lacks judgement, which she herself admits. The odd piece of symbolism built into this movie is Pard, the "hard-luck dog", who has seen each of his owners die untimely deaths. In spite of this, Roy makes a pet of the dog, seeming to confirm the fact that he is indeed "running towards death". In the end, it is this friendly little dog that is in fact Roy's undoing.

not a great film, but has great moments.......2007-01-18

t's hard to imagine Humphrey DeForest Bogart as something other than a movie star. Yet for ten years, he treaded water in supporting roles, spending much of that time doing imitations (albeit good ones) of his memorable Duke Mantee performance from The Petrified Forest.

And then came High Sierra and everything changed.

Before America had other things to worry about (ie: Adolf Hitler), it was still working out its love/hate relationship with pseudo-Robin Hood, depression-era hoodlums (John Dillinger and the like). By 1941, Warner Brothers had practically cornered the market deifying and demonizing these "angels with dirty faces." Raoul Walsh had humbly served the cause in his previous The Roaring Twenties; here, he directs Bogie in the role of existential anti-hero Roy "Mad Dog" Earle. It would be a defining film in the transition from the James Cagney-style gagster pictures to the dawning era of film noir (which Bogart would come to define).

Newly-released from prison, Roy has a debt to settle with the crime boss to whom he now owes his freedom - payment, as it so often does, comes in the form of one last score. There's apparently thousands of dollars of jewelry in need of stealing and no one but Roy qualified to make sure it gets done right. Per custom, things do not go according to plan as Bogie falls in love (twice), people get shot, and our Mad Dog faces destiny on the doomed high sierra from which the film takes its title.

It's not a great film. Bogart talks in his sleep during a crucial scene, which is probably the most overused narrative cheat in the history of celluloid. Man's best friend figures much too prominently and awkwardly in the plot as a literal harbinger of doom (both the film's "dogs" are cursed); additionally, there some "I'se be catchin' ma feets nah, Boss" style racial stereotyping that is just plain embarrassing.

There are some great moments, though. Earle's emotional castration at the hands of the formerly club-footed Velma (Joan Leslie) is painful to watch (an aside: Bogie would later revisit this device - the transformative power of miracle surgeries - in Dark Passage; it's worth rememberinh that Bogie's father was a successful surgeon and rumor has it Bogart himself had botched surgery on his lip after an incident in the navy). Bogart, consistently sympathetic notwithstanding some unsavory violent acts (no easy feat) is always a pleasure to watch - it's easy to forget how ground-breaking his naturalistic performances were at the time...until you watch some of his co-stars ham it up with the overly-theatrical line delivery popular at the time.

Thankfully, they're not the show - Bogart is, despite getting second billing under co-star Ida Lupino. In the same year, Bogie would re-team with the writer of this film - John Huston - for the iconic director's first feature, the noir classic The Maltese Falcon. A year later, Bogart and Michael Curtiz got together in Casablanca, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Interesting footnote: Walsh, Bogart, and Lupino previously collaborated on the schizophrenic They Drive By Night, probably best known for Lupino's bizarre courtroom outburst "the doors made me do it." Incidentally, Ida Lupino was somewhat of a trailblazer for female directors. Only the second woman to be admitted into the DGA, her 1953 film The Hitch-Hiker is considered a minor classic of film noir. It has been chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry.

"High Sierra" was the film that changed the course of Bogart's career and lifted him up to stardom..........2007-01-02

"High Sierra" was the film that changed the course of Bogart's career and lifted him up to stardom...

As Earle, Bogart was expanding on the criminal characterization he had already mastered in a dozen earlier films, giving it greater depth by adding contrasting elements of warmth and compassion to compensate the dominant violence...

Bogart helps a clubfooted girl, Velma (Joan Leslie), who repays him only with disregard and indifference...

Bogart's interpretation already showed signs of the special qualities that were to become an important part of his mystique in a few more films...

Here, for the first time, was the human being outside society's laws who had his own private sense of loyalty, integrity, and honor... Bogart's performance turns "High Sierra" into an elegiac film...

As a film, "High Sierra" has other notable qualities, particularly Ida Lupino's strong and moving performance as Marie, the girl who brings out Roy Earle's more human emotions...

The movie was remade as a Western, "Colorado Territory," with Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo, and as a crime film in "I Died a Thousand Times," with Jack Palance and Shelley Winters in the Bogart and Lupino roles... Neither came up to the stylish treatment given "High Sierra" by director Raoul Walsh from an exceptionally good script by John Huston and W. R. Burnett...

Average customer rating:

A Slight Case of Murder
This comedy was way before its time.
Gold Velvet Beer is Awful!
Inspiration for "Arsenic and Old Lace"?
Hilarious send up of gangster genre

A Slight Case of Murder
Starring: Edward G. Robinson , Jane Bryan , Allen Jenkins , Ruth Donnelly , and Willard Parker
Director: Lloyd Bacon , Crane Wilbur , and Chuck Jones
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

ASIN: B000FI9OCC
Release Date: 2006-07-18

Amazon.com

Anyone with a fondness for the classic Warner Bros. gangster pictures--and those classic character actors who seemed to show up in every movie the studio made--should relish this cheerful late-'30s takeoff on the genre. Edward G. Robinson exuberantly sends up his own "Little Caesar" image, playing a beer baron named Remy Marco who made a dishonest fortune during Prohibition and craves respectability as a legitimate businessman once beer becomes legal again. Problem is, he's no longer the sole source of suds, and as nobody has ever had the heart to tell him, his product tastes like varnish. What's more, just as the bank is about to foreclose on his brewery, he finds that his summer vacation home upstate is inconveniently full of fresh gangland corpses....

Based on a play by Howard Lindsay and "guys and dolls" chronicler Damon Runyon, and helmed by one of Warners' zippiest directors, Lloyd Bacon, A Slight Case of Murder features a trio of delicious lugs--Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy, and Harold Huber--as Marco's house staff and the hilarious Ruth Donnelly as his blowsy wife, with an affected upper-crust accent that keeps slipping. Add a supporting cast of characters with monikers like Innocence, No-Nose Cohen, Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom, and Sad Sam the Bookie, and you should be one happy citizen. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Prohibition's ban on booze is over, and that means bootlegger Remy Marco must make some changes. Don't go calling his beer-peddling enterprise a racket. It's now a business. Employees are no longer lugs or palookas, they're associates. And don't refer to Marco as da boss. Use sir. He's gone legit, see? Edward G. Robinson plays Marco, spoofing his Little Caesar persona in a comedy spree based on Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay's Broadway play. Lloyd Bacon, director of Robinson's gangster sendups Brother Orchid and Larceny, Inc., guides with screwball flair as corpses, creditors, the swellest of swells and more mayhem descend on Marco. Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber ? with 340+ career credits between them ? are among the lugs-cum-associates. You're about to open a major case of laughter.

Customer Reviews:

A Slight Case of Murder.......2007-06-20

Cheekily spoofing his "Little Caesar" image, Robinson owns and relishes the role of Remy Marco in this Warners send-up of its own successful, '30s-era gangster dramas. Adding to the fun is a large cast of bit players and interlaced plotlines involving a bank heist, a cigar-smoking orphan brat (Bobby Jordan), a stuffy, disapproving future father-in-law (Paul Harvey), and the bumbling trio of cop-hating mugs who take orders (most of the time) from Mr. Marco. "Murder" is a witty, uproarious parody that will put a permanent smile on most any mug.

This comedy was way before its time........2007-01-31

Even if you are not an Edward G. Robinson fan, you will appreciate his character and the outstanding troop around him. The comedy is wise-guy and quick. Too quick, I believe for audiences when it first came out. It takes two or 3 viewings to catch the bountiful one-liners and dark humor. I first saw the movie on WGN 15 years ago, and have been looking for it ever since. I could not wait to share it with my family when it came out on DVD. The comedy is drawn from the prohibition period and murder, so I would recommend a pre-movie talk with young viewers to give them some context of the 20s and 30s. Other than that, it is pretty tame compared to "G" and "PG" rated stuff out there today. Have fun with this great old movie.

Gold Velvet Beer is Awful!.......2007-01-22

I enjoyed this comedic twist on the old-school gangster flick.

Inspiration for "Arsenic and Old Lace"?.......2006-12-18

"A Slight Case of Murder" led me to comparisons with "Arsenic and Old Lace". Maybe it's the bothersome corpses, the underworld characters, the clueless relatives, or the bumbling law enforcement characters but there is definitely a similarity. Most of all, the similarity is that the movies are quite humorous and very enjoyable. "Arsenic and Old Lace" scores higher in my book due to the quality of the acting, directing and writing but both are well worth the time. Most people are aquainted with "Old Lace" and, if not, it's fairly available . This was the first oppotunity I had to see "A Slight Case of Murder".

The best part of ASCOM is the preformance of Edward G. Robinson; one of the great actors of the 30's and 40's. He plays a good "heavy" yet fits right in with the humor. The only other name in the cast that I recognized was the wisenheimer sidekick character actor Allen Jenkins. The plot, written in part by Damon Runyon, has a Prohibition bootlegger go legitimate after booze was legalized again. When the bootlegger (Robinson) had a monopoly, it didn't matter what his beer tasted like. Once the professionals got back into the market, no one wanted his brand. So the money problems mount up, he's in debt, his daughter is going to get married and he has to pay off his loan or lose everything. The stage is set for a lot of interesting twists and turns.

If ASCOM has a short coming (and this wouldn't have mattered much back in 1937) it's that some of what we are asked to accept is a bit too much. I'm sure fans of "CSI" would have a fit with the outcome. However, the movie puts us in a mood to relax and enjoy so why bother with such details. "A Slight Case of Murder" is one of those films I like to call a retro-sleeper.

Hilarious send up of gangster genre.......2006-08-12

"A Slight Case of Murder" represented a welcome change of pace in 1938 for Edward G Robinson whereby he was able to send up his gangster image. Robinson plays Remy Marcos, a bootlegger during prohibition who goes straight with its repeal and into the legitimate brewery business. The only problem is that his beer tastes lousy and business is bad now that the suckers are not forced to buy his product through strong arm tactics.

The film was written by Damon Runyon, among others, and it reflects this with the slang and wealth of "small" characters which fill the film. The premise of the crook trying to go straight is a brilliant base for the hilarious comedy which follows, including Remy's wife Ruth Donnelly, flicking between highbrow talk and slang as she goes up market and superb support from Allen Jenkins, Ed Brophy and others as thugs who have to toe the line. Even one of the Dead End Kids appears as the child from the Orphanage Remy grew up in and chosen to spend a month in Remy's house. The scene at the orphanage with Margaret Hamilton, "Ain't changed a bit, as slick as a horse hair couch" says Remy to her, is as funny as anything in any film of the thirties. Also, the scene when the boys discuss the disposal of 4 dead bodies is side splitting. As the plot progresses, The jokes pile up, one after another, never letting up right to the superb finish.

The DVD print is excellent and there is the usual generous list of extras which Warner Brothers offer on their DVDs. The documentary commentary is more interesting than the hesitant and repetitive drone of the verbal commentary which can be played with the film. A pity too, because the commentator has some worthwhile observations to make and places the film squarely in its context of the 1938 Warner Brother's production line.

If the DVD is purchased as part of the Warner's Tough Guys Collection of which it is the forgotten gem, it is great value.

Average customer rating:

Dead Bodies Sprout from Everywhere
75 Years Young and Wearing Beautifully
Great movie, but...
The Kennel Murder Case
SO MUCH FUN!

Kennel Murder Case (1933) (B&W)
Starring: William Powell , Mary Astor , Eugene Pallette , Ralph Morgan , and Robert McWade
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

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

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

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

ASIN: B00006G8EZ
Release Date: 2002-07-30

Customer Reviews:

Dead Bodies Sprout from Everywhere.......2007-06-17

The Kennel Murder Case is a great murder mystery concerning a series of murders beginning with a champion show dog. It is up to Philo Vance {William Powell), a curious spectator to solve the mystery of the apparant suicide that turns out to be much more.

There is something about Powell that reminds me of modern day George Clooney. He has class with a simultaneous every-man quality that makes him great in these kinds of films. The rest of the cast is less exciting, but equally famous like Mary Astor and Eugene Pallette.

This is definitely a quality film, but the picture quality is truly a fault and a distraction. It is hard to get into the movie in the beginning because the film looks so bad. It is hard not to want to turn it off and pick up another film. I've seen neglected b-movies with much better quality prints than this one.

I'm sure this film would benefit from a cleaning and restoration. It is impressive visually, especially for such an early talkie. It employs some special camera tricks like mobility, wipe transitions, and oblique angles which Orson Welles made famous later on.

75 Years Young and Wearing Beautifully.......2007-06-05

In the 1920s and 1930s Philo Vance became a household name with publication of the wildly popular S.S. Van Dine (alias for Willard Huntington Wright) novels featuring the patrician amateur detective.

Though Kennel is one of the better Philo Vance novels, this adaptation of the eponymous book represents the rare case where a film is better than the original story (which would not film well if precisely represented on screen because of (1) the psychological issues which would be hard to depict, and (2) the novel's culminating violent scene, which the film modifies).

The genius in taking one of the lesser of the canonical Philo Vance novels and making it into a classic is, of course, Michael Curtiz's direction; Curtiz being an exceptionally talented director who has, perhaps, the misfortune of being eclipsed by the fame of his films (e.g., Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, and The Adventures of Robin Hood) because of lack of a distinctive style.

This film is also a successful example of an early talkie: the sound is fairly good except in some scenes where the boom is obviously too far away, and in one shot (between Robert Barrat and Helen Vinson) we actually see the microphone! Some of the actors are clearly still making the silent-to-sound transition, but the performances are uniformly good. The key scene stealer is Etienne Giradot, who plays the Coroner, Dr. Doremus. Indeed, his performance is so endearing he reprised the role in other Philo Vance films.

While it becomes fairly easy to guess the culprit, the film doesn't suffer for this because of the excellent direction, good sets and wardrobe (check out Mary Astor's chic outfits!), and fine performances. (Though primarily loved for his work as Nick Charles in the Thin Man films, William Powell gives one of the best (and most subtle) performances of his career in Kennel.) Besides its status as a Hollywood classic, Kennel is an outstanding example of successful story adaptation and early sound film-making. (One can also see some noir hints later fulfilled in Curtiz's Mildred Pierce.) Highly recommended.

Great movie, but..........2007-04-10

I love this movie, sort of an early Nick Charles adventure, before he got married, without Nora. I wish there were more Philo Vance movies available, but alas, I have not found any. But the condition of the print is quite poor. I recorded a better print off of PBS!!
Still, I would recomend this to all the diehards.

The Kennel Murder Case.......2007-03-01

A good transfer to disc. Typical of the 'detective genre' in the 30s which kept grandma and grandpa fascinated. Often very low budget but nice to watch even today. William Powell is always good. In this as in the Thin Man series he is a consumate actor.

As a bonus this good old movie is on a budget label which is easy on the wallet.

SO MUCH FUN!.......2007-01-04

These old movies are so much fun to watch! They are just genuine good fun!!

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Average customer rating:

The definitive adaptation
Jack as Jec "Doctor Jeckyll and Mr Hyde"
A must see!
Wisdom Through Violence
a Faithful representation of the book