Reviews (22)

Funniest Movie Ever Made
This cult classic has finally made it to video. Every western movie cliche is lampooned in this made for TV movie starring (among others) John Astin, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Shawn-- with cameos by then unknown actors such as Ed Begley, Jr, Penny Marshall, Pat Morita, John Ritter, and Dom Deluise.

Evil Roy Slade falls for Miss Betsy Palmer who tries to reform Slade, unsuccessfully. Slade even tries to change his name. "Evil John Ferguson? Nah. Evil Lee Rich, yeah, that's good, that's good."

Dick Shawn plays the "Paladin" type character, Ding Bell, hired to put an end to Slade. Rumor has it his outfits were created by Liberace's personal wardrobe designer.

Bing Bell likes to sing and play his guitar as he rides along to "keep my mind off the smell of the horse".

The puns and one liners come so quick and often, that you will probably miss half of them the first time through. But that's OK because you will want to watch this film several times.

This film is great fun for the whole family.

The Search Has Ended!
I had been looking for a copy of this video for years. I had first viewed this movie while I was in high school and it was a movie made for TV. It is probably the funniest movie I have ever watched. When I watched it again, I was laughing so hard, I fell off the couch! My daughter enjoyed watching it, and so have all of the people who have watched it. I am now waiting for this to come out on DVD, so that I can buy another copy, in case my VHS doesn't get returned or simply wears out.

This movie was made in a time when family-viewing films were more common. I would place it into the same category of many of the Disney films of the era.

A gunfighter is attempting to reform himself for the love of his life. The Evil Roy Slade trys real, real hard to become a member of society. My favorite scenes are when he becomes a shoe salesman. People working with the buying public will understand his frustration with the customers.

Again, a wonderful, funny look at life for the entire family.

Decent Western Parody
Evil Roy Slade is a decent parody of Westerns. Evil Roy is literally a truly evil villain so much so that as a baby he was spurned by both Indians and wolves alike and wound up being raised by vultures.

Evil Roy Slade ranks 4 out of 5 stars because while the movie is funny, it is also overly goofy and quite implausible overall. It is also predictable.

Jeez I have finally got a copy
This film cannot be bought for love nor money over here in the U.K. So finally after something like 25 - 30 years of searching I have finally got a copy coming from the States(thankfully my VCR is NTSC compatable).
I only have ever seen this film once when I was about 10 or 11 back in 72/73....to say it has stayed in my memory ever since says a lot about it!!! I thought it was the funniest film I had EVER seen (and still do), and though I never ever saw it again I was always scouring the TV listings .... the closest I got to seeing it for a second time was whilst holidaying in Canada..I saw it listed but we could'nt get the T.V. station!!!
I have to agree with the other reviews at Amazon (I have read every one!!) and say this has to be the best comedy film ever made, and although I was only small when first watching it the film has stuck with me throughout my life. At last my friends who thought I was nuts will get to see it!!!
Can't wait!!!!

stubby finger, tapping out your code......
John Astin at his best. Mickey Rooney and Henry Gibson are a riot as well. even Milton Berle is memorable. Get it, grab a root beer, grab the kids and laugh together. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Stanley Kramer's sprawling 1963 comedy about a search for buried treasure by at least a dozen people--all played by well-known entertainers of their day--is the kind of mass comedy that Hollywood hasn't made in many years. (Another example from around the same time is Blake Edwards's The Great Race.) After a number of strangers (including Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, and others) witness a dying stranger (Jimmy Durante) identify the location of hidden money, a conflict-ridden hunt begins, watched over carefully by a suspicious cop (Spencer Tracy). The ensuing two and a half hours of mayhem has its ups and downs--some bits and performers are certainly funnier than others. But Kramer, who is better known for socially conscious, serious cinema (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), is in a mood for broad comic characterization, and some of his jokes are so intentionally obvious (Durante literally kicks a bucket when he dies), they'd have a place in Airplane! Watch for lots of cameo appearances, including Jerry Lewis (who had called Kramer and asked him why he hadn't been invited to participate). --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (212)

Comedy For All Eternity
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a comedy for all eternity. This is one of those big box, big budget, long-running-time, cameo-loaded, expensive, broad-canvas farces of the 60's that I love so much. Released in 1962, this was one of Stanley Kramer's greatest and last movies. This award-winning movie is a timeless masterpiece for the whole family.

After a bouncy, splashy Saul Bass animated title sequence, the story begins with a brief car chase in the California desert. Bank robber Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) wrecks his car, and with his dying words reveals a secret about buried treasure to the seven strangers who stopped on the roadside. 'Look for the big W' in Santa Rosita, he says, and then he kicks the bucket.

After a brief attempt at cooperation, the treasure hunt is on and it's every man for himself, in four teams. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett decide to take to the air but their pilot, Jim Backus, gets hammered on Old Fashioneds. Husband-and-wife Sid Caesar and Edie Adams can only find a biplane cropduster. The lone truck driver, Jonathan Winters, can't get gas. And his mother-in-law Ethel Merman fatally hampers Milton Berle, with his wife Dorothy Provine.

So all four teams scamper across the landscape, across the broad canvas of this movie, wound tight by desperate greed and calmly monitored by a Sergeant Culpepper, Spencer Tracy. This is the framing story for an amazing string of billed appearances and unbilled cameos so many that at last your senses are sort of dulled. Oh, it's Carl Reiner in the control tower. Oh, look, it's Stan Freberg, yeah. The best cameo, hands down, is Jerry Lewis, who comes barreling down Long Beach Boulevard in a moment of exuberant stupidity and runs over Spencer Tracy's hat.

Probably my favorite, I have so many, co-star was Terry Thomas who plays a vacationing Englishman in a rattling station wagon, who picks up Milton Berle. He's talkative. He prattles away (accurately) about why it is that the American male is positively preoccupied with booo-sums, and says things like, "I'll wager you anything you like, if American women stopped wearing brassieres, your whole national economy would collapse overnight!" This sequence, within the context of the movie so far, has a single funny moment when this whole vast farce might come alive, find its voice, and this circus might make sense - Terry-Thomas finds the tone for the rest of the movie. I find it compelling that the aesthetic success of all this footage, all these appearances, all this thoroughly American spectacle, suddenly pivots around a few fussy syllables about breasts. But once the moment passes, Terry-Thomas is efficiently neutralized and dismissed by Ethel Merman, and on we go.

The array of challengers eventually reach Santa Rosita, and several unexplainably humorous events occur. These I will not reveal to you and allow you to view the movie on your own time. I must add though, that if you do see this movie, reserve several hours. Like most from its decade its LONG... VERY LONG... But allow me to assure you, you wont be disappointed.

Madness is Genius
Eight traveling vacationers witness the sudden car-crash and slow final death of con-man Smiler Grogan in the hills above Palm Desert, Cal.. Grogan's dying words reveal the secret location of $350,000 hidden in Santa Rosita Park, near San Diego. This sparks a wild, hectic race for the dough. Pure greed,buried treasure, and car crashes. It's all here. "It's a Mad,Mad,Mad, Mad World" was the most successful movie directed by ace Stanley Kramer. All of the famous television and film comics from 1963 appear in this wild comedy. Only Bob Hope is missing. The cast includes Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Jerry Lewis, Joe E. Brown, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, and Spencer Tracy. Ernest Gold composed an original booming, wonderful soundtrack you'll be humming for days. At two hours and 41 minutes, "Mad World" is too long, but an incredible cast and mad-cap action propel the story along. This new MGM DVD is presented in widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect. The colors are crisp and vibrant. The "Mad World" DVD includes an excellent 1991 documentary with all the major surviving cast members. There's also 1 hour of "out-takes", faded and damaged, from the original Cinerama 70mm release. And there's two trailers. The year 2001 produced an obvious remake of "Mad World" called "Rat Race", a modest hit. Stanley Kramer and Spencer Tracy made 4 classic films together. The last was the inspiring "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in 1967. In ill health, sadly, Tracy died just days after shooting ended. Stanley Kramer himself died in Feb. 2001. His genius is now gone. His legacy lies before you.

It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad DVD
I would give this DVD 5 stars if all the movie was here, but it isn't, hence 3 stars. There's no excuse for this considering that no major restoration has been attempted here, the storage capabilities of DVDs are huge, and MGM has already released the full-length movie on VHS. The deleted scene feature is a mess. Watching the scenes seperately is tedious and not much fun. The least they could do would be to put the deleted scenes in the order that they appeared in the original film. The third and fourth scenes appear to be exactly the same as do others later on. Sometimes the scene appears the same only zoomed in. Others scenes have no sound. Some of the last scenes go on and on up to 10 minutes and contains everything that is included in the feature except for very minor snippets of dialogue. Sometimes you can't detect anything new, like in the money dividing proposal scene.

I can see why MGM would want to keep their pristine 35mm print whole and transfer that to DVD but perhaps they should have included a 2nd disc and a 2nd version that patched together all the missing scenes, no matter what condition, and reconstructed the film as best as they could to the longest originally released version.

MGM, when you finally "Special Edition" this movie offer a rebate with the proof of purchase from this inferior edition!

Best, Most Memorable Comedy Ever Made !!
I originally saw the movie in '63. I was 8. Dad started my Birthday party with it. After the movie, Dad drove the route of the Santa Monica portion of the car chase(yes, there really was a "Big W").
Just finished watching the movie on Turner TV. The narrator came on after the movie and said that THE ORIGINAL WAS 5 HOURS long(Just too much "good stuff"). The movie studio had it edited to the shortened current version of three hours.
Back in '63 it was a terrific movie-In '04 it is still a terrific movie.

An all star cast of comics, great comedy

Director: Stanley Kramer
Format: Color
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: September 26, 1995

Cast:

Spencer Tracy ... Capt. T.G. Culpeper
Milton Berle ... J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar ... Melville Crump, DDS
Buddy Hackett ... Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman ... Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney ... Ding 'Dingy' Bell
Dick Shawn ... Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers ... Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas ... Lt.Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters ... Lennie Pike
Edie Adams ... Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine ... Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Second cab driver
Jim Backus ... Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue ... Biplane pilot
Joe E. Brown ... Union official
Alan Carney ... Police sergeant
Chick Chandler ... Detective outside Chinese laundromat
Barrie Chase ... Sylvester's girlfriend
Lloyd Corrigan ... The Mayor
William Demarest ... Police Chief Aloysius
Andy Devine ... Sheriff of Crockett County
Selma Diamond ... Ginger Culpeper
Peter Falk ... Third cab driver
Norman Fell ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Paul Ford ... Col. Wilberforce
Stan Freberg ... Deputy sheriff
Louise Glenn ... Billie Sue Culpeper
Leo Gorcey ... First cab driver
Sterling Holloway ... Fire Chief
Edward Everett Horton ... Mr. Dinckler
Marvin Kaplan ... Irwin
Buster Keaton ... Jimmy the boatman
Don Knotts ... Nervous man
Charles Lane ... Airport manager
Mike Mazurki ... Miner
Charles McGraw ... Lt. Matthews
Cliff Norton ... Reporter
Zasu Pitts ... Switchboard operator Gertie
Carl Reiner ... Tower controller at Rancho Conejo
Madlyn Rhue ... Secretary Schwartz
Roy Roberts ... Policeman outside Irwin & Ray's Garage
Arnold Stang ... Ray
Nick Stewart ... Migrant truck driver
Joe DeRita ... Fireman
Larry Fine ... Fireman
Moe Howard ... Fireman
Sammee Tong ... Chinese laundryman
Jesse White ... Radio tower operator at Rancho Conejo
Jimmy Durante ... Smiler Grogan
Roy Engel ... Patrolman/Police radio voice unit F-14
Nicholas Georgiade ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Stacy Harris ... Police radio voice unit F-7
Don C. Harvey ... Policeman in helicopter
Allen Jenkins ... Police officer
Tom Kennedy ... Traffic cop
Harry Lauter ... Police dispatcher
Ben Lessy ... George the steward
Jerry Lewis ... Man who runs over hat
Bob Mazurki ... Eddie (miner's son)
Jack Benny ... Man in car in desert
Eddie Ryder ... Air traffic control tower staffer
Paul Birch ... Policeman
Doodles Weaver ... Dinckler's Hardware Store clerk
Stanley Clements ... Detective in squad room
Bobo Lewis ... Pilot's wife
Minta Durfee ... Bit Part

Intended to be the comedy to end all comedies, with a cast including virtually all the name comedians at the time.

Jimmy Durante plays a guy who is in a fatal auto accident, but before he dies, tells 5 bystanders where there is $350,000 hidden under a "W", whuch leads to a chase to find the money.

Meanwhile, Capt. T.G. Culpeper (Spencer Tracy) is aware of the stolen money and he and his policemen observe the chase with interest through the desert, mountains, and along the California coast, with the contestants using aircraft, cars, trucks, a bicycle and every method of transportation in their attempt to be first to reach the money.

Tracy was ill when the film was shot, and so only worked four hours per day. The long shots and physical stuff was performed by stand-ins.

This is a fun movie. If there is a criticism, it is that the comedy is perhaps overdone. With so many top comedians, there is certainly no dearth of funny lines, pratfalls, and laughs--that's for sure.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

... Read more

Reviews (26)

A 60's Cinematic Gem.
To put it quite simply, they just don't make movies like this anymore. This is one of the best films on a touchy issue that still speaks to audiences today. The age-old dilemma of getting into trouble and deciding what's the right thing to do is as universally unending as the different choices people make in regards to it.

Angie Rossini (Natalie Wood) comes from an Italian Catholic family in which she's watched like a hawk by her overly protective brothers. One can hardly blame her for slipping away and having a one-night stand with a cool, swinging musician like Rocky Pampasano (Steve McQueen). What she later deems as a "stupid experiment" goes awry when she finds herself pregnant and asks him to help her get the money together for an abortion which was then illegal.

I think that one of the strongest scenes in this movie is when Rocky stops the operation from happening and gets her out of the dump it was supposed to be performed in by a midwife. It's very nearly tear-jerking, and the follow-up scene where he's first losing his steely cold resolve as he holds her in the cab is a real capper.

Love with the Proper Stranger is, if anything, a study in what makes different people tick, and how they react to each other when fate pulls them together. This includes all the people around them. Rocky and Angie both come from loving, but dysfunctional families, and their dealings with them are also interesting to watch as they play out. A lot of it is moving and funny.

Angie's brother Dominic is a bit stupid and overly aggressive in his protection of her, but he also means well, and you almost feel sorry for the way Angie treats him. Her mother is a comically distressed widow, and it's easy to see where her children get their stubborn streaks from. Tom Bosley's debut as the clumsy, but sweet cook who has a crush on Angie is also a noteworthy performance, and Edie Adams as Rocky's sleazy girlfriend with too many dogs steals every one of the few scenes that she's in.

It's almost too funny when Rocky offers to marry Angie and everyone is in an uproar because she refuses, then moves out on her family and gets a place of her own. Can Rocky change her mind, or will his tendency to say all the wrong things keep getting in the way? After all, Angie wants bells and banjos, but she doesn't hear them when she looks at him any more then when she looks at Columbo. What happens, you will just have to see the movie to find out. I promise you won't be disappointed if you want to see a story with a good moral compass and lots of excellent dialogue. I have it in my personal library and think you will want to own it too.

Three Movies in One: One Was Good, Two Were So-So.
Get this: Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood as, what else? Ethnic Italians living in New York City. Seriously. After you choke that down, you're looking at a movie with three distinct themes: 1) An honest and uncomfortable look back into the world of illegal abortions; 2) Third or fourth-generation Italian-Americans caught between their suffocating traditional families and their desire to be a part of mainstream New York City and; 3) a simple love story. The trouble with this movie is that the three themes never seem to integrate with each other. It starts off great with the set-up to the story. But then, the characters meander about in a plot that serves the story about the social issues over that of the characters themselves. This was especially tedious in a scene during the "Italian kids yearning to breathe free" part of the story where McQueen hits his parents up for dough in a park on the East Side. It goes on forever and we end up nowhere on the story side with McQueen and Wood, but we learn incrementally more about how it must feel like to be a young Italian-American belonging in two worlds, but completely comfortable in neither. The payoff is in the third movie inside the movie where Wood teaches McQueen and her brothers a lesson in appreciation and respect for women not borne from duty, but from love. That's where the movie shines. There are some great scenes between the two and, by the end, we're convinced that Wood and McQueen belong together. The movie ends up delivering the goods, but it's not from the cumulative effect of indulging all of the side issues that it takes on. It's from the five-minute set-up at the beginning and the ten or twelve-minute long movie inside the movie that's just a straight love story. Adorable performance from Tom Bosley as the hapless but true bachelor.

What a great movie !
I love the movie, "Love with the Proper Stranger".It is a romantic comedy drama ,starring beutiful Natalie Wood and handsome Steve McQueen. Please bring this movie to DVD.

Pro-choice or pro-life?
A young woman buttonholes a musician with whom she's recently had a one-night fling -- "a stupid experiment," as she later calls it. She has to remind the young man who she is, because he can't even remember her name. Then she tells him: "I'm going to have a baby."

As she stares into his eyes, he makes his face go blank and replies, "Congratulations," as if he were merely a friend of the family.

Whether this response diverts her to Plan B or simply confirms her in the course she has already chosen, we don't know. But her next words are: "Don't worry, I'm not going to cause you any trouble. I just want you to find me a doctor -- an address, you know?"

And so he does. This being 1963, it takes some doing: a rendezvous on a deserted street, a walk up a dark corridor in an unheated building, a "finder's fee" to a shady character.

At one point, the unhappy pair look up his parents for help raising the cash the procurer wants. All unawares, his folks dote on her as a prospective daughter-in-law, and they give him some money thinking it's for a night on the town.

At every step of the way, she keeps staring at her single-shot lover, and we can see her heart chilling while he keeps her at arm's length as the "solution" to their "problem" draws near.

Finally, she goes into an empty room with an old woman who lays out a blanket, a flashlight and some medical instruments on the floor while the girl stands stiffly at a window and starts undressing. But he, alarmed that he's found her a midwife instead of a "doctor," breaks in on them, and she, turning and looking upon the blanket, the flashlight and the instruments, screams, "Oh, God, no!" and collapses in his arms. The abortionist and her procurer high-tail it as the young lovers embrace for the first time in the picture.

That's the first half of "Love With the Proper Stranger," an early effort of producer Alan J. Pakula, with Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen in the starring roles.

After its harrowing brush with tragedy, the movie goes on to a happy ending. It's a fine film, totally down to earth, with excellent performances all around. But what's the moral of the story?

Suppose the young woman had been able to look up an abortionist on her own, in the Yellow Pages rather than on a deserted street, with a "Dr." in front of his name and a waiting room with comfortable chairs and nice pastel prints on the wall and a stack of ladies' magazines to read? Would that make her lover's blank face and the chill inside and the instruments and the scream all go away?

I don't think so!

the perfect romantic story
i love this movie. why don't they make movies like this? i remember seeing this movie as a little girl and falling in love with it then. they have to put this movie on dvd. ... Read more

Reviews (212)

Comedy For All Eternity
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a comedy for all eternity. This is one of those big box, big budget, long-running-time, cameo-loaded, expensive, broad-canvas farces of the 60's that I love so much. Released in 1962, this was one of Stanley Kramer's greatest and last movies. This award-winning movie is a timeless masterpiece for the whole family.

After a bouncy, splashy Saul Bass animated title sequence, the story begins with a brief car chase in the California desert. Bank robber Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) wrecks his car, and with his dying words reveals a secret about buried treasure to the seven strangers who stopped on the roadside. 'Look for the big W' in Santa Rosita, he says, and then he kicks the bucket.

After a brief attempt at cooperation, the treasure hunt is on and it's every man for himself, in four teams. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett decide to take to the air but their pilot, Jim Backus, gets hammered on Old Fashioneds. Husband-and-wife Sid Caesar and Edie Adams can only find a biplane cropduster. The lone truck driver, Jonathan Winters, can't get gas. And his mother-in-law Ethel Merman fatally hampers Milton Berle, with his wife Dorothy Provine.

So all four teams scamper across the landscape, across the broad canvas of this movie, wound tight by desperate greed and calmly monitored by a Sergeant Culpepper, Spencer Tracy. This is the framing story for an amazing string of billed appearances and unbilled cameos so many that at last your senses are sort of dulled. Oh, it's Carl Reiner in the control tower. Oh, look, it's Stan Freberg, yeah. The best cameo, hands down, is Jerry Lewis, who comes barreling down Long Beach Boulevard in a moment of exuberant stupidity and runs over Spencer Tracy's hat.

Probably my favorite, I have so many, co-star was Terry Thomas who plays a vacationing Englishman in a rattling station wagon, who picks up Milton Berle. He's talkative. He prattles away (accurately) about why it is that the American male is positively preoccupied with booo-sums, and says things like, "I'll wager you anything you like, if American women stopped wearing brassieres, your whole national economy would collapse overnight!" This sequence, within the context of the movie so far, has a single funny moment when this whole vast farce might come alive, find its voice, and this circus might make sense - Terry-Thomas finds the tone for the rest of the movie. I find it compelling that the aesthetic success of all this footage, all these appearances, all this thoroughly American spectacle, suddenly pivots around a few fussy syllables about breasts. But once the moment passes, Terry-Thomas is efficiently neutralized and dismissed by Ethel Merman, and on we go.

The array of challengers eventually reach Santa Rosita, and several unexplainably humorous events occur. These I will not reveal to you and allow you to view the movie on your own time. I must add though, that if you do see this movie, reserve several hours. Like most from its decade its LONG... VERY LONG... But allow me to assure you, you wont be disappointed.

Madness is Genius
Eight traveling vacationers witness the sudden car-crash and slow final death of con-man Smiler Grogan in the hills above Palm Desert, Cal.. Grogan's dying words reveal the secret location of $350,000 hidden in Santa Rosita Park, near San Diego. This sparks a wild, hectic race for the dough. Pure greed,buried treasure, and car crashes. It's all here. "It's a Mad,Mad,Mad, Mad World" was the most successful movie directed by ace Stanley Kramer. All of the famous television and film comics from 1963 appear in this wild comedy. Only Bob Hope is missing. The cast includes Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Jerry Lewis, Joe E. Brown, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, and Spencer Tracy. Ernest Gold composed an original booming, wonderful soundtrack you'll be humming for days. At two hours and 41 minutes, "Mad World" is too long, but an incredible cast and mad-cap action propel the story along. This new MGM DVD is presented in widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect. The colors are crisp and vibrant. The "Mad World" DVD includes an excellent 1991 documentary with all the major surviving cast members. There's also 1 hour of "out-takes", faded and damaged, from the original Cinerama 70mm release. And there's two trailers. The year 2001 produced an obvious remake of "Mad World" called "Rat Race", a modest hit. Stanley Kramer and Spencer Tracy made 4 classic films together. The last was the inspiring "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in 1967. In ill health, sadly, Tracy died just days after shooting ended. Stanley Kramer himself died in Feb. 2001. His genius is now gone. His legacy lies before you.

It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad DVD
I would give this DVD 5 stars if all the movie was here, but it isn't, hence 3 stars. There's no excuse for this considering that no major restoration has been attempted here, the storage capabilities of DVDs are huge, and MGM has already released the full-length movie on VHS. The deleted scene feature is a mess. Watching the scenes seperately is tedious and not much fun. The least they could do would be to put the deleted scenes in the order that they appeared in the original film. The third and fourth scenes appear to be exactly the same as do others later on. Sometimes the scene appears the same only zoomed in. Others scenes have no sound. Some of the last scenes go on and on up to 10 minutes and contains everything that is included in the feature except for very minor snippets of dialogue. Sometimes you can't detect anything new, like in the money dividing proposal scene.

I can see why MGM would want to keep their pristine 35mm print whole and transfer that to DVD but perhaps they should have included a 2nd disc and a 2nd version that patched together all the missing scenes, no matter what condition, and reconstructed the film as best as they could to the longest originally released version.

MGM, when you finally "Special Edition" this movie offer a rebate with the proof of purchase from this inferior edition!

Best, Most Memorable Comedy Ever Made !!
I originally saw the movie in '63. I was 8. Dad started my Birthday party with it. After the movie, Dad drove the route of the Santa Monica portion of the car chase(yes, there really was a "Big W").
Just finished watching the movie on Turner TV. The narrator came on after the movie and said that THE ORIGINAL WAS 5 HOURS long(Just too much "good stuff"). The movie studio had it edited to the shortened current version of three hours.
Back in '63 it was a terrific movie-In '04 it is still a terrific movie.

An all star cast of comics, great comedy

Director: Stanley Kramer
Format: Color
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: September 26, 1995

Cast:

Spencer Tracy ... Capt. T.G. Culpeper
Milton Berle ... J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar ... Melville Crump, DDS
Buddy Hackett ... Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman ... Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney ... Ding 'Dingy' Bell
Dick Shawn ... Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers ... Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas ... Lt.Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters ... Lennie Pike
Edie Adams ... Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine ... Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Second cab driver
Jim Backus ... Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue ... Biplane pilot
Joe E. Brown ... Union official
Alan Carney ... Police sergeant
Chick Chandler ... Detective outside Chinese laundromat
Barrie Chase ... Sylvester's girlfriend
Lloyd Corrigan ... The Mayor
William Demarest ... Police Chief Aloysius
Andy Devine ... Sheriff of Crockett County
Selma Diamond ... Ginger Culpeper
Peter Falk ... Third cab driver
Norman Fell ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Paul Ford ... Col. Wilberforce
Stan Freberg ... Deputy sheriff
Louise Glenn ... Billie Sue Culpeper
Leo Gorcey ... First cab driver
Sterling Holloway ... Fire Chief
Edward Everett Horton ... Mr. Dinckler
Marvin Kaplan ... Irwin
Buster Keaton ... Jimmy the boatman
Don Knotts ... Nervous man
Charles Lane ... Airport manager
Mike Mazurki ... Miner
Charles McGraw ... Lt. Matthews
Cliff Norton ... Reporter
Zasu Pitts ... Switchboard operator Gertie
Carl Reiner ... Tower controller at Rancho Conejo
Madlyn Rhue ... Secretary Schwartz
Roy Roberts ... Policeman outside Irwin & Ray's Garage
Arnold Stang ... Ray
Nick Stewart ... Migrant truck driver
Joe DeRita ... Fireman
Larry Fine ... Fireman
Moe Howard ... Fireman
Sammee Tong ... Chinese laundryman
Jesse White ... Radio tower operator at Rancho Conejo
Jimmy Durante ... Smiler Grogan
Roy Engel ... Patrolman/Police radio voice unit F-14
Nicholas Georgiade ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Stacy Harris ... Police radio voice unit F-7
Don C. Harvey ... Policeman in helicopter
Allen Jenkins ... Police officer
Tom Kennedy ... Traffic cop
Harry Lauter ... Police dispatcher
Ben Lessy ... George the steward
Jerry Lewis ... Man who runs over hat
Bob Mazurki ... Eddie (miner's son)
Jack Benny ... Man in car in desert
Eddie Ryder ... Air traffic control tower staffer
Paul Birch ... Policeman
Doodles Weaver ... Dinckler's Hardware Store clerk
Stanley Clements ... Detective in squad room
Bobo Lewis ... Pilot's wife
Minta Durfee ... Bit Part

Intended to be the comedy to end all comedies, with a cast including virtually all the name comedians at the time.

Jimmy Durante plays a guy who is in a fatal auto accident, but before he dies, tells 5 bystanders where there is $350,000 hidden under a "W", whuch leads to a chase to find the money.

Meanwhile, Capt. T.G. Culpeper (Spencer Tracy) is aware of the stolen money and he and his policemen observe the chase with interest through the desert, mountains, and along the California coast, with the contestants using aircraft, cars, trucks, a bicycle and every method of transportation in their attempt to be first to reach the money.

Tracy was ill when the film was shot, and so only worked four hours per day. The long shots and physical stuff was performed by stand-ins.

This is a fun movie. If there is a criticism, it is that the comedy is perhaps overdone. With so many top comedians, there is certainly no dearth of funny lines, pratfalls, and laughs--that's for sure.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

... Read more

Reviews (10)

Political Nail Biter
The setting is a National Nominating Convention of one of the major parties for President. The top two contestants are intellecutal Secretary of State Henry Fonda and scare-tactic headline grabbing Senator Cliff Robertson. The scramble for delegates, the dangling of endorsements, blackmail, extortion, and double-dealing are all part of a days work when the Presidency is on the line and no one has enough delegates to seal the deal. This is an honest and exciting look at the world of politics. Not a trite clear cut good vs. evil morality play, the Fonda character is not without his faults, but a race to the finish line that the viewer is given no clue as to who will win and there are some curious detours along the way, but the plot never gets too complicated and the convention actually LOOKS like a convention unlike in many political films. A great supporting cast including Shelley Berman as a nervous ex-army buddy of Robertson's who just might have the "goods" on him and formerly black-listed hillbilly entertainer John Henry Faulk as "everybody's favorite son" southern Governor T. T. Claypool, a great character. Wonderful photography, the crisp direction you would expect from Schaffner and a marvelous closing shot. Don't miss it.

When conventions still mattered.
Pretty good political drama that takes itself seriously & gives you the feel of the way the national conventions used to be. After all, they selected our presidents.
Henry Fonda & Cliff Robertson are the main contenders, different as night & day. Fonda's character is the intellectual Secretary of State, slow to act or make major decisions. Robertson's character is an outspoken McCarthy-like Senator who shoots from the hip. Fonda's character is kind & everybody likes him except his estranged wife. He likes to fool around.
Robertson is a totally disagreeable tyrant whose beautiful wife adores him & he doesn't have time for sex. The other minor canidates are buffoons.
When neither man can get the nomination the threatened mud slinging begins. It seems that Fonda might be a nut job & Cliff has written proof. Robertson might be a closet queen & Henry has witnesses. To me the resolution wasn't particularly satisfying, but it still gets 3 1/2 stars. Movie done in a documentary style which was effective.

HEY!!
It was a pretty good movie, but it seems Gore Vidal is always writing "gay" themes into his stuff. I can never figure that out.

the best man
this a great political drama.excellent acting and a great
screenplay.it shows the way our political elections system
really works.I highly recommend this movie for those who
like to see a good political drama.

I See Why It's A Favorite With Real Politicians - Fine Film
Engrossing, absorbing film of Gore Vidal's hit 1960 Broadway play, this film is always remarked upon by veteran politicians of both parties around election time as a good film that shows you something of how politics work. *The Best Man* deals with a party political convention which must decide which candidate is "the best man" to run for President. Henry Fonda plays a candidate with elements of Adlai Stevenson (intellectual) and John F Kennedy (womanizer) while Cliff Robertson mixes bits of Barry Goldwater (ultra conservative) and aspects of Robert Kennedy (ruthless manipulator - obviously there's a bit of Nixon here, too, but Vidal is at pains to point out the ambiguity of loyalty to one party or theme when it comes to getting nominated - candidates of both parties must, and do, grab and hustle to get elected). When Robertson's character plans to release embarressing medical information about Fonda's, the latter must decide whether he will use an equally ruthless tactic (and reveal an even more sordid secret about Robertson) when he has already pledged (and sincerely wishes) to stay away from smear tactics (folks, this was the early sixties when politicians like Adlai Stevenson still gave some real thought to such notions!) If he refuses, he may lose the support of the aging, outgoing President which he desperately needs - and perhaps prove *himself* NOT to be "the best man" that we presume he is (if can't act ruthlessly and decisively to win, what will he do in the White House, if he needs to decide in a moment how to act to defend the country from invasion, say, the outgoing president scornfully tells him?)

The ending is quite exciting. This film holds up surprisingly well given its age. I understand now why politicians of both parties recommend this film. I'm not surprised it was successfully revived as a stage play on Broadway before the last elections. One thing: although this film is listed as being directed by Frank Schaffner, it was actually the author Gore Vidal who directed it behind the scenes, after first firing an aging, senile Frank Capra who had plans for a sentimental film complete with a scene showing Henry Fonda dressed up as Abraham Lincoln walking around the convention floor shaking hands!. Keep an eye for Vidal's cameo appearence about halfway through - he walks up and shakes the hand of Mrs Cantwell and Mrs Gammage as they walk through the hotel lobby (and who greet Vidal as "Mr Senator"!). ... Read more

Reviews (8)

1970s Historical Mini-Series don't get better than this one!
Okay, I bought this mini-series on VHS to add to my very extensive collection of all-things Randolph Mantooth. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the story. (But Randy still looks great and acts great through the entire thing!).

It's too bad they just don't make 'em like this anymore. I miss the 1970's.

Oh, and "Bravo!" to Hannah Shearer, too. Well done!

The Seekers&The Rebels
I have seen The Rebels and The Seekers.
I highly recomend both.Kevin Tighe was
great as Thomas Jefferson in The Rebels
and Randolph Mantooth was great as
Abraham Kent in The Seekers.They are
great actors.It's a must see.

The Seekers
I'm a huge Randolph Mantooth fan.
I loved him in The Seekers.
Delta Burke was fabulous as Abraham's
wife Elizabeth.I don't like how Abraham's
brother took Abraham's son Jared away
from him at the end.I cry everytime I
watch the scene where Elizabeth tragically
dies.It's a must see for Randy fans.

One fantastic movie!
This is one fantastic movie! Randolph Mantooth is one of the best actors I have ever seen. Plus this movie stars alot of other well known actors and actresses. If you haven't seen this movie....you just have to! It is awesome! Thanks for such a great movie!

John Jakes epic saga comes alive in "The Seekers"!!!!!
For many years I have been a great fan of the historical fiction written by writer John Jakes. The epic series of novels "The Kent Family Chronicles" comes alive with great historical relevancy, making the events of history march through the screen. Personally, I love all kinds of miniseries (espically North & South the miniseries), and I very much enjoyed this third part of the televison adaption of his books. They acting, background and costuming is excellent, with a wonderful supporting cast. I highly recommend this video who enjoys, action, adventure or just good old romance. This is one film I have viewed that accurately depicts historical events to audiences of all ages. Except for a few scenes with brief scenes of nudity. I truly love, and enjoyed this sweeping plot and they way it made history come alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Colorful Cotton Candy Sex Romp
Perfectly capturing the fact that the more times change, the more they stay the same, this successful sex farce hasn't enjoyed the same staying power as the Doris Day/Rock Hudson flicks. Yet, all the same elements are there: brightly colored cinematography, swinging sixties music, gorgeous cast (Dean Jones & Carol Lynley look exquisite), hilarious character players (Imogene Coca & Paul Lynde), big names (Jack Lemmon & Edie Adams) and slapstick sexual situations. It's also an interesting time capsule of early 60's sexual hypocrisy.

Very entertaining good laugh
Jack Lemmon at his best comedic pick, it was a real fun to watch this nicely paced good ole' comedy movie (one of those comedy movies that always makes you wonder why they don't make these type of movie anymore and if you had enough cash at hand you would go for a remake of its own, its that good..)..

An unfunny and grotesque, sexist relic
Continuing along the path of weird early '60s films that skirt the collision between the pre- and post-sexual revolution cultures, comes this truly nauseating sex comedy. Jack Lemmon plays Hogan, a nightmarish, leering peeping tom of a landlord who stalks and sexually harasses a young couple that have moved into his apartment complex. His "comedic" personification of Hefneresque wolf-whistle culture is grotesque in the extreme. It's hard to imagine that people really found this funny as opposed to offensive. Leonard Maltin describes Lemmon's character as "love-hungry," I'd call him in need of a permanent restraining order. A weird social time capsule, yes, but also a deeply disturbing, yucky film.

Sex + Fun = Box-Office number one.
***SPOILERS***

Have you enjoyed the double-meanings in "Some like it hot"? Then, perhaps, this is a film for you:

A fantastic decorated tree suddenly shoots up. A beautiful girl kisses the fruits, weighs them in her hands and dances to the sound of the catchy title-song. With lyrics like: "All the natural perfume should make the firework start" and "The happy juices will sure start flowing / Under the Yum Yum Tree".

The scene: Centaur-Apartments. The Landlord: Hogan (Jack Lemmon). He rents his apartments only to beautiful young ladies. The price: $75 in cash. The rest in naturals.

His latest flame, Irene (Edie Adams)is about to leave. She's had enough of the pleasure of his company. (" Am I a vitamin-pill? a sanitary casanova?" he complains).

The aunt moves out, her niece (Carol Lynley) in. She's a clever girl with a progressive plan (for 1963). She's afraid that her marriage will end in divorce, leaving her shattered and with children. (And some critics accuse this film of being outdated!).

She wants to have a try at marriage - without really having it. She and her boy-friend David (Dean Jones) will live like a couple, but: no sex, please! He will sleep in a folding-bed, just six meters apart from her. But these good intentions are not so easy to carry out when the curtain separating them is transparent...

Meanwhile, Hogan, after having done his share of peeping and eavesdropping, starts his attacks on Robin's innocence.

First, he persuades David to invest his unused energy in athletics: swimming, jogging, weight-lifting - all day long. (Poor David will have to do many push-ups, especially at nights!).

With David asleep of exhaustion, it's easy for Hogan to invite the offended Robin for a little rendez-vous.

After a vase, intended for Hogan, is smashed on Irene's head instead, David plans his revenge: Armed with mescal (booze) and a book by Boccaccio he tries to seduce his fiancee.

Yet, with just one step behind his goal (Robin drunk & willing), David proves himself a man of principle. He leaves the scene. But, you may remember: He is not the only man around...

It's not hard to see why this film was such a big hit. A non-stop-firework of gags plus sparkling performances from everyone involved make this a guilty pleasure to watch.

Lynley is witty and bright, Jones successfully repeats his Broadway-performance, Adams (a brunette Marilyn) was never better. Paul Lynde and Imogene Coca are extremely funny as Hogan's gardener and housekeeper, and I nearly forgot the talented cat (a real teaser).

Variety wrote about Lemmon's performance:" For Lemmon, the role as amorous landlord is a tour-de-farce and he plays it to the hilt" - and we know what this means...

Many found this film tasteless, sleazy and what not. But usually the public has its own way to "punish" those who make their money with sex-comedies - They made Lemmon the nr.1 male star at the box-office.

Under the yum yum tree
Jack Lemmon is Mr. Hogan, a swinging bachelor who has got the perfect set up. He is landlord to an apartment complex that occupies women and only women. It seems Mr. Hogan has had a lot of luck dating his tenants; after all, it's hard to resist his charm and womanizing ways. That is, until the faithful Robin moves in. Robin, played by Carol Linley, is engaged to be married. Now this doesn't appear to be a problem until she tells Mr. Hogan that her boyfriend, David, will be moving in with her(Did they do this sort of thing in 1963?). Now this poses a problem! How is Mr. Hogan going to romance Robin when her boyfriend is constantly getting in the way? And so the love triangle begins... Mr. Hogan, trying to get in good with Robin, while trying to keep fiancé David out. Sounds predictable, right? Well it may be but there are a few surprises that will make you laugh so hard you might even shed a few tears. Anyone who has ever seen a Jack Lemmon movie knows that he can be a riot on the screen. I've seen this one a couple of times and laughed out loud each time. As a matter of fact, last time I watched it with Quon I had to convince him that the all-woman apartment complex wouldn't fly these days. Poor guy. . . almost spent a large sum of his inheritance on an old run-down apartment building. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Rock Hudson and Doris Day had one of the sweetest chemistries in the movies--as demonstrated in several light comedies, including this film's predecessor, 1959's Pillow Talk. The two similar films feature a handsome, duplicitous Hudson duping--then falling for--an earnest Day. In Lover Come Back, the two play Jerry Webster and Carol Templeton, rival advertising agents, vying for the same clients--until Jerry makes up a product, Vip, to get out of a scrape. As Madison Avenue catches Vip fever, Jerry falls deeper into the façade-and into love with Carol, who schemes to steal the nonexistent account away from him. Tony Randall plays Peter Ramsay, Webster's hapless boss. While Day and Hudson are as adorable as ever (and would continue to be in 1964's Send Me No Flowers), a standout is fellow Pillow Talk and Send Me No Flowers costar Randall. He's an effective foil--both comically and physically (as he stands next to the much taller Hudson). Their brands of humor blend charmingly: Hudson's sardonic coyness, Day's innocent sweetness, and Randall's nervous edginess. Look for a pre-Brady Bunch Ann B. Davis as Mille, Carol's loyal assistant, and a pre-Beverly Hillbillies Donna Douglas as Ramsay's secretary. --N.F. Mendoza ... Read more

Reviews (24)

They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Funny, charming, romantic, is what I have to say about this film. "Doris Day" was a smash. "Rock Hudson" was suave and debonair, he played his roll very well. And what a handsome gent he was. "Tony Randall" was a hoot. He was the funniest of them all. Mr. Webster played by: "Rock Hudson" makes up a phoney Idea called, VIP; to throw "Doris Day" off his track in a business deal. He creates a commercial with a show girl, and calls her the VIP girl. "Doris Day" finds out that the product VIP wasn't a real business deal, and demands that Mr. Webster prove his product exists or face the court for false advertisement. A very funny romantic comedy. I recommand it for the whole family to watch.

The Best of Day and Hudson
I think that Lover Come Back is the best of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson romantic comedies. The humour is sharper and more adult, and all the actors nail their characters down perfectly. Day and Hudson are rival advertising executives, with Day using the by-the-book approach, and Hudson wining, dining, and providing female companionship to lure and sign clients. Through the kind of mixups you expect from one of their movies, Day comes to believe that Hudson is a client, and then things become complicated. Tony Randall plays Hudson's boss, an insecure man that wants to protect himself above anything else, but who ends up paying the price over and over for Hudson's antics and schemes. The dialogue has a lot of funny lines and innuendos, and the three leads play it with relish. The supporting cast of Edie Adams, Ann B. Davis, and others, all add to the fun. Director Delbert Mann has a sure touch and keeps the film moving along briskly, and even though you can pretty much guess the conclusion, it's a lot of fun getting there.

Boy, have things changed!
I found this video in the stores recently. Now, mind you, I have already seen this movie when it was in the theaters. Then it seemed like a light hearted romp. By today's standards, it is virtually archaic in the acting and the script. Still, it is DEFINITELY a PG film.

An incredibly sexist film...Disappointing for Doris Day fans
Oh. My. Gawd. I mean, for years and years and years, we've all heard the feminist critiques of how Doris Day was an example of the retrograde sexism of her times -- the Eisenhower era and the early, pre-feminist Sixties, blah blah blah -- but in movie after movie, I've seen her portray a capable, cheerfully assertive participant in the battle of the sexes -- no doormat here! The Doris Day-as-antifeminist icon thing seemed like a bum rap to me. This film, however, is the first one of the classic Doris Day-Rock Hudson bouts I've seen in which Day is, pure and simple, a victim and a sap. Hudson co-stars as a rival advertising executive, who uses tacky boy's club tactics to steal Doris's clients out from under her. Rock takes a guy out drinking, provides a few call girls and --zingo!!-- he lands the MagnaSoap contract. Doris stammers and clenches her fists, struggles to give him a piece of her mind, while he in turn jeers at her, calls her frigid, and flaunts his sexual mastery at all possible junctures... Of course, their first battle is fought, as in "Party Line," over the phone, so she hasn't had a chance yet to see what a hunk he is. In Round Two, Doris assertively hauls him in front of the review board of the chamber of commerce, a decisive act that boomerangs when, with a nudge and a wink, Rock makes a fool out of her in front of the all-male panel and walks away unscathed. From that moment on, he's got Doris under his thumb, besting her at every turn, and, finally, gets her so drunk that she beds him, winds up pregnant and is forced to marry him and live, um, happily ever after.

The script is peppered with the most aggressively sexist dialogue of any of their films -- it's as though, after having set the formula and worked through it in several previous films, the Hudson-Day producers felt they had to one-up themselves and make it more extreme, punchier, harder. The humor has an underlying mean-spiritedness and misogyny, a lack of balance that's exemplified by the Hudson character's near-complete lack of growth. You assume, early on, that during his seduction of this hapless female, that he will unwittingly fall in love with her and become a better person, but througout the course of the film, the only moderation in his behavior comes at the very end, when he realizes he would rather stay married to her than not. Nonetheless, he's never actually contrite or abashed, Hudson's still pretty much a jerk when the curtain closes and it's up to Day to recognize that her physical attraction to him trumps their past history. Plus, she's all knocked up: what's a good girl to do? As a result, the film isn't as enjoyable or as pleasant and frothy as other Doris Day films, in fact, I found it a bit jarring, although the glimpse back at old-school male chauvinism can be pretty instructive.

On a more entertaining note, this has some of the most delectable and blatant homoerotic/demi-gay undertones of any of Hudson's films. The scene in which Hudson cradles Tony Randall's head in his hand (to help swab some dye off his face) is charged with erotic power; in the next scene, we find that Randall has spent the night at Rock's apartment, and not long after that, Hudson announces that he's giving up New York and is going to move to San Francisco(!) It's all semi-coincidental, of course, but pretty rife with campy thrills, given the later disclosures about Hudson's private life. In sum, this film is super-retro and Neanderthal, not as much fun as early versions of the same material, but it does have considerable camp value, if that sort of irony-laden anti-notalgia is your kinda thing.

I Enjoyed Watching This DVD!
Okay, I know I reviewed this movie before but that was before I got the DVD and I thought I should review it again. I bought the new boxset that contains all three of Doris and Rock's movies in amamorphic widescreen and Lover Come Back is a very good movie and my second favorite with my #1 favorite being Pillow Talk and while the new anamorphic widescreen DVD for Pillow Talk was botched with misframing flaws the Lover Come Back DVD seems to be fine. Yes the picture quality could be a little better but it's a vast improvement over my video tape which was defective from the moment I opened the plastic wrap and found that the tape was damaged and wrinkled which made it difficult to watch so I really enjoyed watching the DVD and I just wish I had bought the Lover Come Back DVD seperately instead of the boxset with the botched Pillow Talk DVD! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

THE OSCAR
if you like mellodrama, and you like campy, you will love this movie. it should be listed as a cult movie ... Read more

Amazon.com

Cheech & Chong's first cannabis comedy is also their best, a souvenir from the more carefree days before "Just Say No," when people did not feel so defensive about inhaling. In 1978, the prevailing spirit was more like "Just Say Blow." Even New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael liked it (the movie, that is), adding that it was "an exploitation slapstick comedy, rather than a family picture, such as Blazing Saddles or High Anxiety--which means that it's dirtier, wilder, and sillier." The story has to do with bumbling potheads Cheech & Chong searching for primo bud, while being tailed by a team of inept law-enforcement officers, led by Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach). Sample dialogue: When a cop pulls them over to ask if they are any illegal substances in his vehicle, Cheech replies: "Not any more, man." Up in Smoke is an irresistibly silly and charming movie that--despite, or perhaps because of, the national furor over drug use--plays today like a relic from a bygone era, a sweeter, more open, more innocent period in our history. --Jim Emerson ... Read more

Reviews (76)

A tokin' cult classic
For those of you who grew up in the 70's, Cheech & Chong where the Laurel & Hardy or Abbott & Costello of those times. Seeing this film in DVD is a joy, since I must have seen it on tape more than a 100 times, till it was unwatchable. Now, for the first time we can see the film in it's original panoramic (widescreen) format, and for those who saw it before on tape, you'll see all you've missed before. The copy is pristine clear, and it includes a load of deleted scenes, some actually funnier than what we saw on the original run of the film. Included on those missing scenes, is the infamous one featuring Harry Dean Stanton, who doesn't remember ever appearing in a Cheech & Chong film. Plus there is an audio commentary by Cheech himself and Lou Adler, the director, who prior to this, had never directed a film before. You'll be astonished to learn how much this film influenced other people, guys like Quentin Tarantino, for example, not to mention the numerous rock groups who grew up watching this guys and re-recorded their music. All in all, a real pleasure to discover this seminal gem from the 70's, given it's full use or advantage on DVD. If you saw this guys' films way back then, do yourself a favor, and get hold of this DVD. For those too young to remember them, but who heard of them from an older brother or "stoner" uncle, get hold of it and discover what kept us laughing during those daze, er, uh, days. Filmakers of today, take notice that films can be made without a million cuts per second and only with long continous shots.

Plot-Free Pot-Fest -- Big Whoop about Very Little!
Definitely DATED, this film has 70s "High Times" written all over it. These guys have not much more than "pot" on their brain. All jokes lead to the same subject...dope, man!

Cheech and Chong, already celebrated novelty song artists with several best-selling albums to their credit just had to take their "message" to the next level. "Up In Smoke" gave them plenty of exposure and secured a solid fandom. 25 years later, though, the laughs drop drastically on the dime-bag-scale.

When I was still in high school (and I didn't give in to the smoking of anything, then or now), I may have enjoyed this sort of nonsense more. As a middle aged intellectual, I can offer only a few tired smirks. Give me Laurel & Hardy instead!**

best stoner movie ever!
hello cheech and chong fans i may only be a teenager but i have been a fan for like 4 years now and this is the funniest movie i have ever seen might be the best comedy ever!.and if ypur going to order a cheech and chong movie get this one but if i were you and you had some money to spend buy all of them and all of there cd's.and im so glad chong is finaly out of prison and to all of you die hard c and c fans the new cheech and chong movie is going to start production in september chong and cheech were both on jay leno on july 9th so there back together for awhile. anyways dont get to high later.

THIS IS A PARODY, DON'T YOU PEOPLE GET IT?
This film does not advocate drug use, this film, and Cheech and Chong's act are parodies of people who do drugs. If anything it takes every stereo type of all kinds of drug users and makes fun of them. If you watch this movie again and think about what I have said you will actually think this film is even funnier than you did before. I have known most of these types of people and think this movie is halarious, one of the funniest films ever made and I do not do drugs.

ALL Pot and NO Plot makes this ONE DULL MOVIE!
Campy trip back to the smoky 70s. Definitely DATED, this film has "High Times" written all over it. These guys have not much more than "pot" on their brain. All jokes lead to the same subject...dope, man!

Cheech and Chong had already enjoyed celebrity as novelty song artists with several best-selling albums to their credit. This effort of "Smokin' Dope - The Movie" takes their "message" to the next level. "Up In Smoke" gave them plenty of exposure and secured a solid fandom. 25 years later, though, the laughs drop drastically on the dime-bag-scale.

When I was still in high school (and I didn't give in to the smoking of anything, then or now), I may have enjoyed this sort of nonsense more. As a middle aged intellectual, I can offer only a few tired smirks. Give me Laurel & Hardy instead!** ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Yes, it's exspensive, but it's worth every penny
Yes, the videos are expensive...but they're worth every penny!! First of all, note the length: it's over 5 hours of entertainment...this isn't a 90 minute cheap flick. Second of all, the quality is out of this world. And by quality, I don't mean high quality multimillion dollar action scenes; I mean PLOT...the PLOT is of very high quality. This is a movie based on a book. I've not yet read the book (but after seeing this movie, I'm going to read every book by this author), but I suspect that this is one of the rare occasions when the movie is better than the book. The reason for this is that the story has advanced levels of character and plot depth and development, with multiple plots being advanced at once through an ensemble of meaty characters played by extremely skilled actors, it might be difficult to follow if you didn't have faces and scenery bringing the story to life for you...enabling you to sit back and watch one of the most remarkable creative stories ever told unfold right before your eyes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

well worth watching and owning
I have watched these movies more times than I can count. I never grow tired of the stories. Olympia Dukakis (as well as the entire cast) is/are amazing. If you have never seen this RUN to your video store and rent them....better yet....just buy them cause you'll watch them more than once. ... Read more

Amazon.com

For the first time ever, Julie Andrews's performance in the title role of the original 1957 television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is available to the public on home video.Cinderella was created as a Broadway-style television production with an original score from the creators of Oklahoma! and Carousel, featuring such songs as "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful," and "Stepsisters' Lament."Cast in the title role was the 21-year-old Andrews, at the time starring on Broadway in My Fair Lady (another Cinderella story of sorts), and the cast was filled out by a talented bunch of stage veterans (including Kaye Ballard, Edie Adams, Dorothy Stickney, and Stickney's husband, writer Howard Lindsay).On March 31, 1957, a then-record 120 million homes saw the program as it was broadcast, live and in color, but it was preserved only in black-and-white kinescope, i.e., by aiming a camera at a monitor during the broadcast.While this version probably looks better than we have any right to expect, the picture is still fuzzy black-and-white, which makes it a tougher sell for kids than the later color versions, 1965 with Lesley Anne Warren and the 1997 Disneyized version.But give older kids (say, 8 or so) credit for being able to look past the black-and-white picture and primitive effects and enjoy the charming songs, the excellent performances, and the prospect of seeing one of their favorite actresses play one of their favorite princesses. It's also available on DVD with numerous bonus features. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Games People Play
This is a fun movie directed and written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Rex Harrison is excellent as Cecil Fox a reputed millionaire who lives in Venice. After attending a performance of Volpone Harrison decides to have some mischievous fun with three of his ex-mistresses. Pretending that he is dying he gets the three of them (Edie Adams, Capucine, and Susan Hayward) to come to Venice to see how they each react. Do they want to be near him or his money? The plot gets complicated as Harrison plays each one against the other two and an elaborate murder plot develops. It's a very interesting and amusing film. It also features Maggie Smith, Cliff Robertson, Adolfo Celi, and Herschel Bernardi.

Poor (rich) Cecil Fox is not log for this world.
It is soon known that Cecil Fox rich eccentric is about to pass away. Finding out about Cecil's (Rex Harrison) condition three of his old lovers' return to comfort and be near his money, oops I mean near him at the end. Little do they know what they are in for? This forms a competition to see who can be the most comfort to him. It appears that Cecil has no choice but to take advantage of the situation that he set up based on a play Valpone. His personal secretary and stage manager William Mcfly (Cliff Robertson) is the catalyst. He is also a wild card in the play.
Oh yes, did I mention the possibility of murder? ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavory world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humored Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched, and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (cowritten with longtime collaborator I.A.L. Diamond). --Robert Abele ... Read more

Reviews (83)

"Shut up and deal..."
This movie, directed by the legendary Billy Wilder, is one of my all-time favorites. It features a funny script, great acting, and an interesting and original plot. The Apartment is a perfect example of what is missing in Hollywood today: it is a witty, entertaining movie that relies on the script and on the acting to keep the viewer's attention and consequently does not need to use obscene language or inappropriate scenes to be amusing!

Essentially, The Apartment is about a young insurance company worker (played by Jack Lemmon in an excellent performance) who is forced to allow his philandering bosses to use his apartment on dates. In exchange for allowing his bosses to use the apartment, Lemmon is recommended to recieve promotions. Things get more complicated, however, when the bigger boss, Sheldrake (played by Fred McMurray) gets involved in the apartment renting. This would seem like a good thing for Lemmon - but there is one problem: McMurray (who is married and has no plans of divorcing) is dating Lemmon's dream girl, the beautiful elevator operator at the company (played by Shirley MacLaine). To say any more would be to give too much away...

In addition to having an intertaining plot and a funny, sarcastic script (like most Billy Wilder movies), The Apartment features amazing performances by all of its actors, especially Lemmon and MacLaine.

So I don't know how else to recommend this movie - get it soon and enjoy!

ATTENTION: a Home Theatre/HDTV/16:9/480p DVD Review!!
Now that the Home Theatre environment is becoming more common it is time to sort the GOOD from the BAD DVD's. This is only from a videophile who enjoys the total viewing and listening Home Theatre experience. The movies themselves are the main ingredient but unfortunately Film Studios don't always give us what we think we are getting. (Quality vs quantity) Another words they are already re-releasing DVD movies with enhancements and extras for wide screen TV's etc. So we need to buy right the first time and not repeat buying on the same movie.
My first (#1) Home Theatre DVD Review "The Apartment" is an AFI (American Film Institute) top 100 movie of the last 100 years. It won "5" Oscars including "Best Picture of 1960", and Best Director, Billy Wilder (in 1959 he directed, "Some Like It Hot" - voted by AFI as the #1 Comedy in the last 100 years) So you can see this was and is a GREAT Comedy (filmed in Black and White). Jack Lemmon, Shirely MacClaine and Fred MacMurray lead the emsemble cast.
Simply put its a boy meets girl, falls in love she is distracted by another man and "The Apartment" brings them together. A great story, great characters and the greatest comedic director.
Now this DVD is Digitally ReMasterd (Picture and Sound). It is enhanced for widescreen 16:9 (Aspect Ratio) TV's & HDTV's. The movie's 235:1 means you still get a LETTERBOX presentation but it is enhanced for maximum viewing enjoyment. The Picture clarity is perfect (480p - 480 horz lines with Progressive Scan (a line doubler feature. NOTE: regular DVD players are 480i). The only extra is a Trailer. "The Apartment" is a must both for its entertainment value and viewing quality. It is the best!!!!

They Should All be Like This
Wouldn't it be great if all movies were this good? This funny? This wise? This clever? This heartfelt? This true? My favorite Jack Lemmon movie. He plays a perfect schmuck who discovers himself. My favorite Shirley MacLaine movie. She plays a sweet but wounded modern girl who wises up. My favorite Billy Wilder movie. A perfect ear for dialogue and eye for mannerisms in his adopted country. Fred McMurray turns in a perfect performance as a shameless cad. No reason not to own this on dvd.

The boss borrows his apartmwnt for a love tryst

Director: Billy Wilder
Format: Black & White
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: August 3, 1999

Cast:

Jack Lemmon ... Calvin Clifford 'C.C.' 'Bud' Baxter
Shirley MacLaine ... Fran Kubelik
Fred MacMurray ... Jeff D. Sheldrake
Ray Walston ... Joe Dobisch
Jack Kruschen ... Dr. Dreyfuss
David Lewis ... Al Kirkeby
Hope Holiday ... Mrs. Margie MacDougall
Joan Shawlee ... Sylvia
Naomi Stevens ... Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss
Johnny Seven ... Karl Matuschka
Joyce Jameson ... The blonde
Willard Waterman ... Mr. Vanderhoff
David White ... Mr. Eichelberger
Edie Adams ... Miss Olsen
Mason Curry
David Macklin ... Messenger
Hal Smith ... Santa Claus
Benny Burt ... Charlie (the bartender)
Frances Weintraub Lax ... Mrs. Lieberman
Dorothy Abbott ... Office worker

C.C. 'Buddy Boy' Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has a downwtown apartment near his work where he is an insurance analyst in a large firm. He is ambitious to work is way up the ladder, and so loans his apartment out to various of his supperiors for their trysts in an effort to win their favors, which means that he is forced ro work overtime and stay out late while his apartment os occupied.

Fran Kubelik (Shirley McLaine), elevator girl, is in love with big boss and branch manager Jeff D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), who is a married, cheating philanderer with a long history of conquests among the female staff. C.C. Baxter is also in love with Fran, who is having an affair with Sheldrake in his apartment.

This is not really a comedy, although it has its funny moments. It is a good story which comes out all right in the end.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

An absolute Gem from Lemmon and Wilder
Mr. Lemmon figured prominently in a good dozen of the best films ever made, and he is at the absolute top of his game in "The Apartment" as C.C. Baxter - an up and coming business man who makes his way through the corporate ranks faster than usual by making his apartment available to higher executives to carry on affairs without paying for hotel rooms. This is probably a borderline premise for a romantic comedy today, and it must have seemed absolutely scandalous 44 years ago, but the truth is that it is very contemporary in tone today while also being funny, thoughtful and poignant. It's too bad there's noone as clever as Billy Wilder making Romantic Comedies today. Shirley Maclaine has never been better, and anyone who grew up watching Fred MacMurray in "My Three Sons" or any of those Disney