The Birds (Collector's Edition)

Amazon.com essential video

Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Eh.. it is okay, I have praise and criticism.......2007-09-09

Seems everyone thinks this is such a classic and hardly no criticism at all. I agree the photography was terrific. Especially when Melanie was on the water approaching the house.
What I found a bit off was Jessica Tandy's over-acting to the extreme. This is the same Driving Miss Daisy actress? The male lead was typical Hollywood Leading Man. And those pants, he could have hid inside his pants from the birds.
I just chuckled at the fact these people couldn't fight off a few sea gulls pecking at their backs. Also, I was left in the dark as to why the birds acted this way? Is it because mankind is over-crowding their territory?
Don't get me wrong, it was completely engaging and filmed wonderfully. 4 stars.

INGENIOUS NATURE STRIKES BACK WITH NO EXPLAINATION!.......2007-09-08

I had not seen this movie in many years and I must say it was better than I remembered. As a kid it seemed very slow moving without enough shock to make up for it. Viewing it now I see many reasons for the slow ordinary first half of the film. To me it was to show that every day life is rather ordinary until something extraordinary happens! This is an amazing and ingenious film because it doesn't attempt to explain why the birds are attacking.....they just are! I always remembered the special effects looking unrealistic, but I thought they looked very good this time around. The transfer looks good and that may have helped it. I am watching the master piece collection and I started with Psycho and the Birds......so far so good! Both are classic horror films and should be in every movie lovers collection.

Still remarkable.......2007-08-04

"The Birds" is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous thrillers, though it's not always regarded as one of his best. The humans are often thought to be less interesting than the feathered beasts who wreak havoc on the town of Bodega Bay. But the special-effects are remarkable even in these more modern times when computer technology has rendered some of Hitchcock's techniques obsolete.

The humans may be overshadowed by the birds, but they provide some of the best moments. The scene at the diner following the attack on the school is one of the highlights. As 'Tippi' Hedren discusses the attack on the phone with her father, the others gathered for lunch are skeptical, especially Mrs. Bundy (wonderfully played by Ethel Griffies) whose avocation is the study of birds.

"Their brainpans aren't big enough," she says in explaining why birds lack the intelligence to launch the organized attack that Hedren describes.

"I don't know anything about their brainpans," Hedren says.

"Well, I do," Mrs. Bundy declares, "I do know." Mrs. Bundy is a minor character, but she steals the show during her brief scenes.

Hitchcock also knew that the anticipation of horror can be more frightening than the actual thing. The attacks themselves are less effective than the moments preceding them. Even a simple scene like the one in which Rod Taylor looks with curiosity upon the birds lined up on a telephone wire as he says goodbye to Hedren conveys anxiety, as does the moment when a bird crashes into Suzanne Pleshette's door. The best moment is the scene outside the school where Hedren waits, unaware that another attack is imminent.

"The Birds" was a box-office hit when it opened in spring 1963, and it would shatter previous viewing records when it made its television debut on NBC five years later. It was also the great director's final cinematic triumph. The films he had left to make ("Marnie," "Torn Curtain," "Topaz," "Frenzy," and "Family Plot") all have points of interest, but their quality is sporadic, and none are as satisfying as the film that Hitchcock once described as an allegory on judgment day.

Brian W. Fairbanks

"Nature vs. nurture Lodge, nature always wins" 4.5 Stars.......2007-07-19

Melanie Daniels is the Paris Hilton of her day, she has a wealthy father and often finds herself, or did find herself a regular in the tabloids. After some games Melanie is in hot pursuit in her convertible screeching her tires along, accompanied by two love birds who sway back and forth as she races to Bodega Bay to surprise lawyer Mitch Brenner with said birds.
Mitch's mom is afraid she'll be abandoned and sees sexy Melanie as a threat to steal her boy. Ever since her husband died she isn't much of a mom to Mitch or his 20 year younger sister Cathy, Melanie herself was abandoned by her mom yet the only mother we need to concern ourselves with in this film is mother nature.
Alfred Hitchcock actually makes sweet little birds scary, I've seen his greats Vertigo, Psycho, Rear Window, Nororious, and Strangers on a train and I did not expect The Birds to be as freaky as it was. Nearing the end we begin to really like Melanie, she isn't the Paris type at all she's just misunderstood. She is warm, kind and beautiful and Cathy really likes her and Mitch's mom is starting to come around, Oh no!, so do The Birds!! As she ascends the eerie staircase to investigate the noise, and finds herself trapped in a room paralyzed with panic and fear unable to scream as the birds peck at her entire body is this it for Melanie? Watch and see mu ha ha ha.
Hitchcock's concept is interesting as our bird expert points out earlier in the film. In our world there are 100 billion birds, another reminder of how nature can dwarf us. We find our friends Melanie and the Brenner Family ultimately locked up in their house by birds in a role reversal where the humans are in the cage and are scarred and confused and are never given a reason why.

The Masterpiece Collection
**DVD** The technicolor was great and the picture quality good even strechted on a 106" screen. The sound was dolby digital 2 channel would've been nice to get a 5.1 track hearing the birds swooping in from all angles.
This is a definite add to any collection and I would recommend.

** The Birds is also # 96 on Bravo Channels Scariest movie moments list of 100 ** Also received 1 oscar nomination for best effects in 1964 **

The Birds.......2007-06-28

Undoubtedly one of Hitchcock's scariest films, the special effects are surprisingly effective for the time; you may never look at our winged friends quite the same again. Rod Taylor is stolid in a role Cary Grant might have done ten years prior, and Tippi Hedren is suitably intriguing as the icy blonde who's a magnet for men--and birds. The scene where Melanie sees the birds gradually build up on the playground jungle gym remains one of Hitch's most inspired and creepy set-pieces.

Average customer rating:

A true classic
Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered...
Belief in a Dream
Film making and story telling at its best!!!
They just don't make 'em like this any more....

National Velvet
Starring: Mickey Rooney , Donald Crisp , Elizabeth Taylor , Anne Revere , and Angela Lansbury
Director: Clarence Brown
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B00004RFHN
Release Date: 2000-07-11

Amazon.com essential video

This classic family film made a star of 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor in the title role as spunky Velvet Brown, a girl who's determined to enter her horse, Pie, in the Grand National Steeplechase. Critic Pauline Kael called it "One of the most likeable movies of all time." Mickey Rooney costars as a young man who helps Velvet train Pie for the big race. At the last minute, Velvet herself has to ride Pie in the tournament and cuts her hair to pass for a jockey. Anne Revere won an Oscar as Velvet's mother, as did editor Robert J. Kern, who cut together a terrifically exciting horse race. Donald Crisp and Angela Lansbury are also featured as members of the Brown family. --Jim Emerson

Description

Enchantingly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor became a movie star at age twelve after starring in this classic about a girl and her jockey pal (Mickey Rooney) who transform an unruly horse into a champion.

Customer Reviews:

A true classic.......2007-09-12

What can I say. I have had a video copy of National Velvet since the age of 10 and have finally upgraded to a DVD copy. The story is timeless, quoting an old advert "a story about a girl, a boy and a horse". Totally true, but also so much more, a host of memorable characters and a story that has you cheering every single time. The perfect feel good, genuinely nice family story. Ideal for bringing out when you need a little lift, or a bit of nostalgia. Everyone should own it.

Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered..........2007-07-01

Love this story about a girl who won a national horse race in England, but why did Warner release a movie like this to DVD without cleaning it up? It has white dots, squiggles, and even green rings in the picture. A couple of times I even saw a black line in the film, which was distracting. This is the movie that made Elizabeth Taylor a star; it deserved a respectable cleanup before its release.

Belief in a Dream.......2007-06-24

To illustrate the power of the film and especially of Elizabeth Taylor's special quality of illuminosity she brought to it, I read somewhere that a returning WWII GI had come home emotionally depressed and empty from his war experience. He wandered into a movie theater to see this film and came out with at least some sense of his faith in the world and in himself restored based on watching this child's still intact ability to dream and hope.

Film making and story telling at its best!!!.......2007-06-05

It's been years since I've seen this film, and I'd have to say that I was a kid when I first saw this on an old black and white TV. When it was released on a DVD, my wife and I sat down and really enjoyed this fabulous film. We didn't find that it was made poorly. Just the opposite. It had all the earmarks of a fine film - joy, suspense, love, action, drama, comedy, and the like. We didn't find we liked Mickey Rooney's character at first, but he grew on us, and Elizabeth Taylor was simply marvelous, as were her parents. Thoe whole ensemble cast was terrific. And then we get to the horse race and that whole business. I can't say enough about it!! There's a scene in the film where Mickey Rooney tells a tale to the young boy, and it's done without any fanfare of the what the future might hold, but had there ever been plans of making a movie called "The Black Stallion," then this little scene in this film was the precursor.

A fine family film!! We need more like these today!! Highly recommended.

They just don't make 'em like this any more...........2007-05-25

I have probably seen this movie a dozen times from start to finish and each time I come away with a renewed appreciation for hope, hard work, dreams and - yes - folly. This movie, while without question dated and at times a little bit silly, stands the passage of time by virtue of its pure heart and strong moral messages. Velvet Brown - the 12 year old daughter of a butcher in the small town of Sewels in England - wins her gelding, The Pie, in a one-shilling-per-ticket raffle. Mi Taylor, a young American lad walking the roads and lanes of England, comes to visit the Browns and ends up staying and training Velvet and The Pie for the Grand National - the Greatest Horse Race In The World, according to ex-jockey Mi Taylor. My favorite character in the film is hands down Mrs. Brown, the mother, played by the inscrutable Anne Revere. She is wise, gentle, strong - at 20 she swam the English channel - her trainer was Mi Taylor's fater, Dan Taylor - as she says, "there was greatness in him". There is greatness in her. Watch out for the speech she gives her daughter up in the attic when she tells Velvet that she will back her crazy dream to enter the Pie in the Grand National - she believes that "everyone is intitled once in their life to a breathtaking piece of folly". She explains to her daughter that this dream must last her for her whole life- that she must know when it is over and to move on. There is a time for everything in life, she explains - a time for riding a horse in the Grand national, a time for marriage, children, yes even for dying. IN these crazy times when we all want everything fast, now, right away - Mrs. Brown's calm and sensible pacing make the world make sense. Enjoy the film's many mealtimes and small moments. One oddity though - in a family that appears to be English, living in England, the casting directors saw fit to put a very American actor in the part of the youngest Brown child, Donald. Go figure!

Average customer rating:

Great heartbreaking movie
A very sweet movie
a great movie for fam!!!!!!
tradícionális gyerek és családi film
Lassie Come Home

Lassie Come Home
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Donald Crisp , Dame May Whitty , Edmund Gwenn , and Nigel Bruce
Director: Fred M. Wilcox , and Gunther von Fritsch
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000294U5A
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Amazon.com

Lassie Come Home is a classic for all the usual reasons: its timeless, universal appeal, its first-of-its-kind status, and its exceptional cinematography, direction, and performances. What makes this 1943 charmer especially fun for grownups who haven't screened it since their own preteen, pet-obsessed days, though, is a couple of cute-as-a-button cast members. An adorably over-earnest Roddy McDowall stars as Joe, the mostly hapless lad whom Lassie refuses to part with despite his down-and-out family's decision to sell her, for a paltry 15 guineas, to a wealthy duke; and Elizabeth Taylor, already stunning at around age 10, surrenders a sweet if mawkish performance as Priscilla, the Duke's tenderhearted granddaughter, who lends a hand in Lassie's escape from her family's unkind kennel master and winks her way into winning the fearless pup a permanent place at her true master's side. Beyond that, it's no mystery why generations of dog-loving audiences have marveled at the precocious collie's career--Lassie is a great actor. She so convincingly digs impossible trenches, leaps towering fences, swims raging rivers, knocks out bad guys, and betrays the essence of brokenheartedness with her bedraggled coat and woebegone expressions that it's sometimes hard to shake the suspicion that she's really an incredibly limber person in a cute dog suit. All told, Lassie Come Home delivers a lot to love, not the least of which is the deeply dramatic score--quirky sounding to the modern ear--which returns audiences to simpler, irony-free times, as does the movie's message of loyalty at all costs. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews:

Great heartbreaking movie.......2007-04-13

The story of a dog who goes through many obstacles to be once again with the boy she loves is moving and superbly well done film making. A great cast. Gorgeous photography. And a very good doggie. You don't like this then you should be put to sleep!!!

A very sweet movie.......2006-12-01

I can't believe Amazon didn't consider this an "essential video"! They certainly include a lot of junk in that group, so I guess I shouldn't care. To me, it is essential viewing. Roddy MacDowell is as cute as he can be, and Dame Mae Whitty is such a caring sweetheart! The other cast members are also fine, notably Lanchester & Crisp as Joe's parents. It really is a touching picture, mostly due to the dog "herself" :) In fact, compared to MANY human actors, I'd say Lassie should have received an Academy Award!

a great movie for fam!!!!!!.......2006-10-17

This is probly one of the best "old" movies!! i love the little boy "Roddy McDowall" or as in the movie "Joe".He`s so adorable!!!!!^-^
i hope "YOU" like this movie as much as i did!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!

tradícionális gyerek és családi film.......2006-02-22

A filmet mindenkinek ajánlom aki nem a mai show elemekkel tarkított, hanme a tiszta gyerekfilmekre vágyik. A film mind témájában, mind kidolgozásában messze a mai filmek fölött található.
A gyerekek bár, nem mindent értenek belõle, mégis többször megnézték és ott van a napi dvd-k között.

Thank You

Peter Varga

Lassie Come Home.......2005-09-09

You know you want it!!!!! So just get it!!! What a classic loved every minute of it

The Sandpiper [DVD] (1965) Authentic Region 1 Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton & Eva Marie Saint

Average customer rating:

Not perfect, but I liked it...

The Sandpiper [DVD] (1965) Authentic Region 1 Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton & Eva Marie Saint

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Features:

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Genre: Classics

ASIN: B000OE33MO

Product Description

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's real-life passion drives this tale of illicit love between a free-spirited single mother and a married minister in a small coastal town. When her son is sent to a private school, Laura Edwards (Taylor) shocks the school administrator, Episcopalian priest Dr. Edward Hewitt (Burton), with her bohemian attitudes and lifestyle. But the two soon find themselves drawn to each other. The film won a Best Song Oscar.

Customer Reviews:

Not perfect, but I liked it..........2007-06-24

This is not as bad as some would tell you. I actually liked it. Taylor and Burton's chemistry is obvious in this film. It was a bit slow in parts, but still good, and I would definitely watch it again.

It's about a single mother and artist (Taylor) who is upset that the authorities are sending her troubled son to school, where an Episcopalian minister (Burton) is in charge. He's a married man, yet attracted to her, and they end up falling in love. He tells his wife (Saint), and before a big scandal can break out, he resigns from his position at the school and takes off for the coast without his wife or lover.

The scenery of Big Sur, California is breathtaking and the hippie lifestyle of the 60s is in full showcase here, as this movie came out in 1965. The movie could've been better, but it wasn't bad. It's right down the middle for me. I recommend it.

Average customer rating:

A family with an eccentric father
William Powell: Life with Father
DVD of Life With Father
Lost Art
sound was warbled

Life with Father
Starring: William Powell , Irene Dunne , Elizabeth Taylor , Edmund Gwenn , and Zasu Pitts
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
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ASIN: 6305052107
Release Date: 1998-07-07

Amazon.com

Ah, remember those good old days when father ruled the roost, keeping a tight rein on the money, the kids, and the docile wife? Well, neither does Clarence Day (William Powell), the title character in Life with Father. Taking place in New York in 1883, this charming comedy purports to show the life of a strict father managing his house and his family, only to be constantly--and unknowingly--out-manipulated by his somewhat ditzy wife, Vinnie (Irene Dunne). Day is terrifying enough that maids keep quitting, but Vinnie manages to keep Day under control--that is, until she discovers that he was never baptized. A battle ensues as she desperately tries to ensure that they will one day meet in heaven, and all the while he severely maintains that the church has no business messing with a man's soul. Meanwhile, young Clarence Day Jr. (Jimmy Lydon) is busy falling for visiting Mary Skinner (played gigglingly by Elizabeth Taylor), and his brother John concocts a money-making scheme that involves the selling of a rather dubious potion. The costumes, the characters, and the wonderful story line--based on a play that was based on the memoir written by Clarence Day Jr.--make this a delightful movie that's perfect for a family-film night. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews:

A family with an eccentric father.......2007-08-28

This movie is about a middle class family set in 1880s New York. The controlling figure is Clarence (Claire) Day, Sr. (William Powell), a Wall Street broker, who expects his family members to live according to his impossible standards. Author Clarence Day wrote this story in 1936 about his family life in New York in New Yorker magazine, and it was first used for a non-musical Broadway show which ran for seven successful years. In 1947, this story was written for the movie starring William Powell and Irene Dunn. This is essentially a character study of a man who runs his family like an investment firm of Wall Street. He is a penny pincher, cautious about money; evaluate religious and spiritual matters with the mind of a financial analyst with no room for mistakes. His advice to his son about romantic matters is shrewd. His beautiful wife Vinnie (Irene Dunn) is understanding, patient, and firm in her beliefs, which includes that her husband is essentially good man who has to be baptized. She persists in her beliefs, and prevails in her style of mothering three sons in spite of her husband's constant annoying behavior. Irene Dunn offers a great performance as a spiritual wife who does her best, and succeeds in convincing her husband's attitude towards faith. Elizabeth Taylor shines as a young girl visiting Days as a house guest with whom the eldest son develops a romantic interest. William Powell was honored with a nod from Academy in the category of best actor in 1947. The movie offers a contrasting view of a family life in 1880s; a conservative time when political correctness was not in the horizon.

William Powell: Life with Father.......2007-07-29

It is a great story but the DVD was terrible. The sound got worse and worse until we couldn't understand it. There were no subtitles so we couldn't even put those on to know what was going on. It was just a very bad copy.

DVD of Life With Father.......2007-03-13

This is one of my favorite movies, however this version on DVD is a very poor one. The sound was somewhat garbled and the picture is very grainy. I enjoy the movie so I watched the entire contents, but it wasn't very enjoyable because of the quality.

Lost Art.......2007-03-09

Why don't they make movies like this anymore? A great film, very charming. Great for the family.

sound was warbled.......2007-01-19

This film is one of my favorites, for this reason I've been wanting to own it. I first purchased this dvd last year, through another source. I returned it due to bad quality in the sound, especially when Irene Dunn spoke, it made it very difficult to enjoy the film. I thought it may have been a bad batch of copy, so I decided to wait awhile before trying to buy it again. I saw this current dvd, showing different graphics on the jacket, and ordered the dvd again in hopes this copy would be good. It was not. I have seen this film shown on TCM on cabel TV, and the picture is good and the sound clear. If you have a dvd recorder and are able to copy from cable, that is your best bet with this one. I have ordered several dvd's through Amazon and have had no problems in any way, and would order through them again in future, just not this particular film. I wish a review like this had been written when I first had the thought to own "Life With Father", it would have saved me time and money in the effort.

Average customer rating:

Badly in need of restoration
5 stars for the movie not the transfer
DVD
The movie betrayed the dry-eyed spirit of the original material...
The Last Time I Saw Paris

Last Time I Saw Paris
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Van Johnson , Walter Pidgeon , Donna Reed , and Eva Gabor
Director: Richard Brooks
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
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ASIN: B0000639EB
Release Date: 2002-03-19

Customer Reviews:

Badly in need of restoration.......2007-07-30

The cinematographer for this film was the legendary four-time Oscar winner Joseph Ruttenberg. But sadly the film has suffered greatly over time, and was not restored before being digitized for DVD. Throughout the film, the color and brightness constantly change and flicker, to the point of being very distracting, not to mention disappointing. The storyline is a bit of a soap opera, made enjoyable by terrific actors and the wonderful Parisian scenery. But sadly, the deterioration of the film saps it of its vitality. I hope that one day it will be restored.

5 stars for the movie not the transfer.......2007-05-20

I can't believe how many versions of "The Last Time I Saw Paris" there are and yet NONE are in widescreen and none seem to be a good digital transfer! I can't image what's up with this movie! The movie itself has a great storyline and Elzabeth Taylor looks hotter than ever! Worth watching but can't understand why this movie keeps being shortchanged over and over again!

DVD.......2007-01-12

Got this movie as a Christmas gift for my mom. She loved it!

The movie betrayed the dry-eyed spirit of the original material..........2007-01-04

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" converted the author's sensibility downward, to compassion and soap opera... The movie therefore betrayed the dry-eyed spirit of the original material... The first mistake, though, was in changing the era from the Lost Generation Twenties to post-World War II... The jazz age ambiance, recollected in the story, the mystique of Paris in the Twenties--these key tokens of Fitzgerald's sensibility were missing...

Even more damaging than the switch in era is the attempt to expand the characters whose motivations are only sketched lightly in the short story... Told in flashback, the story centers on a successful American novelist (Van Johnson) who returns to Paris and a reunion with the child he left in the custody of his sister-in-law (Donna Reed), since the death of his wife...

The movie and the actors do not move the characters from point A to point B: why, for instance, do husband and wife reverse roles, she transformed from party girl to sober wife who wants to go home to America, he collapsing from serious writer to disappointed drunk...

Van Johnson lacks the mythic stature to suggest other than a poor man's version of the great, doomed Fitzgerald... And Liz was too young and inexperienced at the time to embody an arch-neurotic, part a malicious temptress, and part an aiding angel...

The role is a cumulation of the Taylor ingénue: the goodtime flirt, cunningly stealing a man from her older sister; the spoiled daughter of a fast living phony; the irresponsible party girl with a good heart underneath it all; the sober young mother and wife; the defiant adulteress; the frail spirit cut down by the forces of nature...

At each "station," she is on home ground, but the part comes out in bits and pieces rather than a coherent whole: the character, finally, does not add up... It may be partly Taylor vapidity (Beverly Hills didn't prepare her for Paris), but it's also the script and the direction: that saintly woman, forgiving all, has very little connection to the blithe spirit who steals her sister's man and parties with non-stop frenzy...

The Last Time I Saw Paris.......2006-02-28

I enjoy the movie or else I wouldn't have ordered it. However the quality of the film was very poor. It was grainy and the sound was not good quality. I was disappointed.

Average customer rating:

Heartwarming Adventure!
Best use of Technicolor
Liz is again the overwrought, ecstatic child...
Courage of Lassie
Interesting...

Courage of Lassie
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Frank Morgan , Tom Drake , Selena Royle , and Harry Davenport
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000294U4G
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Amazon.com

Peril lurks behind every scene resolution in the 1946 hit Courage of Lassie. After an odd, peaceable-kingdom beginning, Lassie is shot by Carl Switzer, the kid who used to play Alfalfa (really!), and rescued by Elizabeth Taylor. She inexplicably names Lassie "Bill" (maybe in revenge because Lassie got on the movie's title) and trains him to be a sheepdog. Bill gets hit by a truck, then impressed into service in the U.S. war effort in the Philippines. Presaging Rambo, Bill becomes a war hero, yet returns home from the front a broken dog and is considered a menace to society. The war scenes are a bit too grueling for a family film (at least with very young children). Bill gets shot (again) and has to do a reconnaissance mission that Joseph Conrad would admire. Taylor doesn't so much act as sob and gush, and only Frank Morgan, the actor known best as the Wizard of Oz, comes off as well as the collie. That collie, though, is pretty wonderful and fans of the first film won't be too disappointed. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews:

Heartwarming Adventure!.......2007-08-07

In an age where we have graphic brutality, sex and violence on both the small and big screen how refreshing it was to watch this movie released in 1946. It was made a year before I was born and it took me back to a time in America when Hollywood produced clean, wholesome, decent entertainment that appealed to all ages.The wildlife sequences at the beginning of the film are priceless and one wonders how they could be coordinated with such precision and Elizabeth Taylor's performance is emotionally endearing. If you can watch this movie without tearing up at least three or four times you must have ice water flowing through your veins! Well worth the price and the DVD transfer is excellent considering the vintage of the the film! Three thumbs up!

Best use of Technicolor.......2007-01-31

While this film really can't compare with the story line of the original Lassie Come Home, it is cetainly one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Is there really a place so beautiful? Then I read from the cover notes of the two disc,three film version, that it was filmed in Canada during the Second World War. That country is gorgeous! It must have more pristine scenery packed into it than anywhere else on earth.

Liz is again the overwrought, ecstatic child..........2006-12-24

In "Courage of Lassie," the dog gets top billing, but a pretty teenager (Liz Taylor) has plenty of crying and hugging to do as a supremely devoted mistress...

Another heart-warming story, filmed in the wilderness of Washington State, the movie (which begins with a long, curious, wild-life sequence) mixes farm-family folksiness with an unusual dog story: Lassie goes to a training school for war dogs, is shipped to the front and performs heroically... Returned to America, the dog suffers a nervous collapse, becoming a menace to society...

As the willful farm girl who finds a dog, loses a dog, and regains a dog, Liz Taylor is again the overwrought, ecstatic child, lavishing her attention on Lassie...

Because her greatest fame came later, as a young woman, most people forget what a skillful child actress she was... Less burdened than at any later time by her beauty and fame, she is at her least self-conscious in these early performances... Untouched, she reveals in these animal stories her natural flair for tears and hugs--the paraphernalia of an emotional female...

Courage of Lassie.......2006-02-23

This a great movie for the whole family. Who could not love this dog?

Interesting..........2005-06-11

I still don't understand how Lassie showed up in the title to this movie because she plays a male dog named Bill. Elizabeth Taylor is OK, but the best actors in my opinion are Frank Morgan and Tom Drake. The end is heart-warming, but the trailers sure didn't sound like the film would give anybody warm fuzzies. Watch the movie before the trailers. It's better that way. All in all, this is worth watching for the scenery, with its breathtaking shots of mountains and lakes.

Average customer rating:

Badly in need of restoration
5 stars for the movie not the transfer
DVD
The movie betrayed the dry-eyed spirit of the original material...
The Last Time I Saw Paris

The Last Time I Saw Paris
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Van Johnson , Walter Pidgeon , Donna Reed , and Eva Gabor
Director: Richard Brooks
Manufacturer: Westlake Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

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

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0000Z6N9W
Release Date: 2003-11-01

Customer Reviews:

Badly in need of restoration.......2007-07-30

5 stars for the movie not the transfer.......2007-05-20

DVD.......2007-01-12

Got this movie as a Christmas gift for my mom. She loved it!

The movie betrayed the dry-eyed spirit of the original material..........2007-01-04

The Last Time I Saw Paris.......2006-02-28

I enjoy the movie or else I wouldn't have ordered it. However the quality of the film was very poor. It was grainy and the sound was not good quality. I was disappointed.

Average customer rating:

A true classic
Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered...
Belief in a Dream
Film making and story telling at its best!!!
They just don't make 'em like this any more....

National Velvet
Starring: Mickey Rooney , Donald Crisp , Elizabeth Taylor , Anne Revere , and Angela Lansbury
Director: Clarence Brown
Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Animals | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 0792836960
Release Date: 1997-09-30

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

A true classic.......2007-09-12

Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered..........2007-07-01

Belief in a Dream.......2007-06-24

Film making and story telling at its best!!!.......2007-06-05

They just don't make 'em like this any more...........2007-05-25

William Powell Double Feature: My Man Godfrey & Life with Father

Average customer rating:

Two Classics on one DVD!

William Powell Double Feature: My Man Godfrey & Life with Father

Manufacturer: Family Value Collection
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000ANCYUQ

Product Description

Double Feature: Two Sided DVD starring William Powell in My Man Godfrey (96min) and Life with Father (130min).

Customer Reviews:

Two Classics on one DVD!.......2006-02-04

Here's another double feature $1 DVD...this one we found at Walmart...

I've always liked William Powell films...there always highly entertaining and contain nothing objectionable. Even his mermaid film was okay for children. This film is very clean. It's about upper-middle class family life in New York, 1883. Everything is top-notch. With suberb acting and a delightful musical score.
See what a lady a young Elizabeth Taylor was!
**** 4 Stars! Highly recommended family viewing.

Here's what's on the other side...

Not really a family film, but this is very entertaining, funny, and with a good moral to the story. And it's held up well over all these years. Godfrey is a homeless man living in a city dump. He ends up a butler to a disfunctional upper-class Manhattan family (the mother is a 'hoot'!). The acting is flawless. There is nothing objectional in this film, but i would not recommended it for children. Older teens might get something out of it...as there are some good lessons about character. But overall it's more of an adult family film.
***** 5 Stars! Very entertaining.

DVD:

DVD

DVD