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Joan Crawford portrays the most demure, well-spoken refugee from a busted-down carnival you've ever seen--but that doesn't mean she can't get tough when events warrant, and eventually, events do indeed warrant in this crisply shot 1949 black-and-white, post-Casablanca melodrama from director Michael Curtiz.

Crawford plays Lane Bellamy, who falls hard for Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott), who reciprocates but is being groomed for big things by wheezing political boss Titus (Sydney Greenstreet), who has no use for carny trash. Both Bellamy and Carlisle venture into loveless marriages, and Carlisle turns to drink, while Lane's subsequent husband (David Brian) is even higher on a greasy if not well-oiled political ladder ("I've got a soul that needs a lot of purging," he tells Lane). Interestingly, the film simply accepts politics as soulless and corrupt, as if there's any other kind.

Besides its still-fresh political cynicism, what keeps the film interesting is the showdowns between Crawford and Greenstreet, who both give performances representative of their distinguished careers. Crawford fairly hisses at the corpulent Greenstreet, "You just wouldn't believe how much trouble it is to get rid of a dead elephant." Greenstreet, clearly, forgets that this is Joan Crawford he's dealing with. --David Kronke ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Very good movie
"Flamingo Road" is a film that delves deep into the world of politics, on the other side of the politics is Lane Bellamy, played by Joan Crawford. She was working in a dancing act in a carnival that blows through town. When the carnival takes off, Lane stays in town hoping to lead a normal life.... Not if Sheriff Titus Semple, played brilliantly by Sydney Greenstreet, can help it. The sheriff doesn't take to kindly to Lane, and tries to run her out of town. To bad, Field, played by Zachary Scott, is in love with Lane and wants her around. Semple has other plans for Field, like marrying his daughter. Of course, he gets his way, but he also gets something else much later in the film.... This is a great film from the 1940's. I used to watch old movies all the time, and this movie has brought me back into the classic movie watching mode. The acting, the screenplay, the directing....they are all so wonderful. Greenstreet and Crawford are fun to watch on screen together. They had great chemistry together. This movie has a great ending.....WATCH IT!!!!

Sydney Steals It!
Most reviews of "Flamingo Road" center on the leading lady, Joan Crawford. Joan is cast as the good girl we should all root for. She does indeed play that role, but there is more to "Flamingo Road" than that: FR opens as a fly by night circus leaves town-one step ahead of the law. Joan is left behind and decides to stay in town. She quickly makes some wrong choices in men. They (Zachary Scott and David Brian) are both decent enough guys but her love interests place her on the wrong side of the local sheriff- an evil, smarmy. corpulent overbearing, elephantine Sydney Greenstreet. The pair are like oil and water as Greenstreet tries to run Joan out of town and she fights to stay. The opinion here is that Greenstreet steals the movie. It is true that his character is overdrawn and his acting overbearing. He virtually tears up certain scenes, but at times he makes the movie sizzle. Director Michael Curtiz had worked with SG before in films as "Casablanca" and "Passage to Marseille". Did Curtiz give SG free rein here or was he unable to control him? FR is highly recommended. Viewers will enjoy watching the central conflict play out. (This reviewer tries not to divulge endings). FR is yet another example of why old classics should not be colorized. The b&w filming is perfect background as the plot unfolds.

"The moody kind always cause trouble."
Carnival dancer, Lane Bellamy (Joan Crawford) finds herself stranded in a small town when she meets local deputy sheriff, Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott). He helps her find a job and a place to live, and they strike up a relationship. Carlisle, however, is the protege of the infinitely unpleasant Sheriff Titus Semple (Sydney Greenstreet). Semple has plans--big plans--for Carlisle's future, and Lane isn't in the picture. Semple wants Carlisle to run for state senator, and in order to do that, he thinks Carlisle needs the proper society wife. He even has local spoilt girl, Annabelle (Virginia Huston) in mind for the job. Semple senses that Lane could spoil all his plans, so he has Lane framed on a trumped-up charge.

Of course, Joan Crawford fans know that she isn't going to take a jail sentence meekly. She's made of stronger stuff than that. Joan comes back and shows the whole town a thing or two, and Crawford fans should love every minute. "Flamingo Road" is the road in town where all the rich people live in their mansions, but the road's name also takes on a figurative meaning symbolizing acceptance, security and success. Lane wants to live on Flamingo Road, but in reality, she wants the things that address symbolizes to her. She's tired of being a nobody--an unemployed carnival dancer who gets kicked around and thrown in jail.

The first half of the film concentrates on developing the characters and the plot, but all of the main characters have hidden depths, which are revealed as the drama unfolds. It's difficult to imagine a more sinister bulk of flesh than Sydney Greenstreet in his role as Sheriff Semple. He doesn't actually have to lift a hand to strike his enemies (in fact, he spends most of his time sitting in front of a local hotel ordering around the employees). He sits like some sort of evil toad regarding everyone else coming and going while he pulls the strings of city corruption. It's not that easy to find a copy of this tape, but if you are a Crawford fan, I think you'll find it worth the trouble--displacedhuman

Joan's Best
Joan Crawford is famous for over-the-top, scenery-chewing performances in acclaimed melodramas like 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?', and 'Queen Bee'. However bad her supporting cast (in particular, Queen Bee) one can always count on Ms. Crawford to turn in a convincing, if formulaic, performance. She was a character actor of the first magnitude, and while her on-screen personae rarely varied in tone, the performances in and of themselves are always good, if not excellent.

Far less well-known are Joan's performances in movies that required serious acting capability - the most famous of these is her portrayal of Mildred Pierce, in the movie of the same name. In 'Flamingo Road', Joan turns out another one of her understated and more subdued performances as Lane Bellamy, the down-on-her-luck sideshow girl who attracts the wrong sort of attention from the town's scheming sheriff Titus Semple.

The plot is straightforward - Lane is involved with the unambitious deputy Fielding Carlisle, whom Sherriff Semple has in mind as some sort of Puppet-Governor. She's clearly the wrong sort of girl for an aspiring political figure, and Semple frames her for prostitution, fuelling Lane's desire for revenge. She marries Dan Reynolds, another of Semple's big-business partners, thereby unleashing the fury of Sherrif Semple, with devastating results.

The simplistic plot allows Joan and her magnificent supporting cast to showcase their versatility as actors. Giving particularly strong performances are Zachary Scott as the weak-willed and tormented Fielding Carlisle, and Gladys George as the indomitable Luta-Mae Sanders, a friendly local brothel-keeper who gives Lane a job and a second chance. In his role as the thoroughly despicable Sheriff Semple, Sidney Greenstreet shines, giving a performance to match Joan's own, and creating a villain truly worthy of his comeuppance.

Filmed three years after Mildred Pierce, 'Flamingo Road' re-teams Crawford, Scott and director Michael Curtiz, who, as in Mildred Pierce, relies on understated drama and beautiful camera work to illustrate the innocence and pain that Joan's character endures. Curtiz does an excellent job in this regard, and there are some highly memorable set-pieces in this movie - namely, Lane and Fielding's first encounter, Sheriff Greenstreet's politely violent exchanges with Lane, and the finale - which, thanks to Curtiz's superior talents, hang together beautifully.

This is possibly the most underrated of all Joan's movies, and one with thoroughly deserves a conversion to DVD. In it, Crawford proves she is more than capable of being a flexible actress, and her performance is just one of several excellent performances waiting to be enjoyed in 'Flamingo Road'. Very highly recommended.

great film which has all the elements that make it a classic
The film is great for so many reasons: the political message it gives is still as relavent today as it was in the 1930s and has the suspence rises in all the right places to make it a gripping film. Joan Crawford performs magnificantly in her role pulling off hardness of character with elements of tenderness and concern. Supporting actors are good but Crawford gets the crown for not only her acting, but her wonderfully sexy smoking technique.
A great film, really enjoyable to watch ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A fluffy costumer from Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne star in PITTSBURGH, a very entertaining yarn set against the backdrop of coalmines and WW2.

Josie Winters (Marlene Dietrich) inspires Cash Evans (Randolph Scott) and Pittsburgh Markham (John Wayne) to leave their dull and exhausting lives of working the coalmines, and to make their mark on society and big business.

Josie at first finds love with Pitt, but as he grows more big-headed and more snobbish, she finds solace in the arms of Cash.

An accident involving Josie taking a faulty elevator down the mine to break up a fight between Pitt and Cash almost ends in her death, and forces Pitt to finally see the folly of his ways.

A great story, one that everyone will enjoy.

Available seperately or in a box set with SEVEN SINNERS and GOLDEN EARRINGS.

I love you, Cash, so help me Hannah , I love you.
One of my all-time favorites, great cast, great story, and really great music. Good to see John Wayne as the heel for a change and lose a fist fight to my favorite hero, good-guy Randolph Scott. A must for all fans of John Wayne or Randolph Scott. ... Read more

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"The legend of Union Pacific is the drama of a nation, young, tough, prodigal and invincible, conquering with an iron highroad the endless reaches of the West."This stemwinder of a foreword strikes the pseudo-biblical/American Empire keynote for Cecil B. DeMille's "history" of building the transcontinent railroad.Only the bombast--and Arthur Rosson's second-unit direction--rises to the film's epic mission.The mustache-twirling villainy is right out of 19th-century melodrama, and the romantic triangle of Joel McCrea's railroad troubleshooter, Barbara Stanwyck's aggressively "Oirish" postmistress-on-wheels, and their black-sheep chum played by newcomer Robert Preston is a feeble distraction.Worse, the stars do their stuff on studio sets, in sterile isolation from the locomotives, Indians, and buffalo hovering slightly out of scale on process screens behind them.There's not one but two train wrecks (always a DeMille favorite); in every other department, John Ford had C.B. beat 15 years earlier with The Iron Horse.--Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Better Than Average De Mille Film
If it's directed by Cecil B. de Mille, you know there's going to be plenty of spectacle, and this film is no exception. Joel McCrea stars as a man hired by the Union Pacific railroad to be a troubleshooter as the build the railroad across the country. Not everyone wants to see it built, so sabotage causes lots of delays. Things get even more complicated for McCrea because his old pal Robert Preston is partnered with Brian Donlevy, one of the men trying to delay the construction. To add to it, Preston and McCrea are both in love with the same woman, an Irish lass named Molly played by Barbara Stanwyck. Train wrecks, Indian attacks, brawls, and other De Mille touches enliven the story. The actors aren't given much to work with, as in most De Mille spectacles, but they do well enough, although Stanwyck's accent is a little hard to swallow. Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman, as men hired to protect McCrea, add a lot of humour to the film with their knowing performances. The story moves along at a good pace, and although I like to make fun of Cecil B. De Mille movies, I must admit that I enjoyed this one more than some of the others I have seen. I like the time period and the trains, and in De Mille's hands, it's certainly not boring.

MOLLIE MONAHAN
Cecil B. DeMille's contribution for that sterling movie year of 1939 was, of all things, a Western; but it's a brawling, two-fisted, action-packed Western. It is the story of the Union Pacific Railway, which was destined to link two oceans and open up the West. It's like a rough-and-tumble heavyweight slugfest-exciting, thrilling, gory and cumbersome. Stanwyck is excellent as the Irish Molly Monahan and as Jeff, Joel McCrea is first-rate - as Dick Allen, Robert Preston is terrific. DeMille's first choice for Molly was Jean Arthur; when she was unavailable, her turned his favourite, Barbara Stanwyck - they had worked together many times on the LUX RADIO THEATRE. The exterior shots were filmed in Iron Springs, Utah and Canoga Park, California (to double for Promontory Point). Interestingly enough, the golden spike used in the movie was the actual one used at Promontory Point. DeMille had it exhumed from the vault of Wells Fargo in San Francisco! Joel McCrea commented that Stanwyck was "Absolutely fearless and has more guts than most men". Also: "I have never worked with an actress who was more cooperative, less temperamental and a better workman, to use my term of highest compliment, than Barbara Stanwyck". - Cecil B. DeMille.

An epic huge-scale western
I hate the way people look at a black and white classic film and automatically think that the movie has to be bad. People only see the poor special effects and the absense of color but never judge a book by it's cover. " Union Pacific " is has a great western backed by a terrific director, great actors, and a large scale plot. Definently a great movie and a true classic.

Carry Your Brains in Your Holster?...
This is artful entertainment; this is Cecil B. De Mille presenting an odd blend of celebration and deconstruction in his portrayal of the burgeoning American empire. Far-sighted statesmen and greedy corporate barons; vigilante "justice," racism, ridicule and praise for the durable Irish immigrants, a bolloxed love triangle, a spunky and noble Irish lass, a dissipated lover, a grim strong and silent type, a comic Mexican thug: De Mille's scriptwriters seem inspired to throw in as many elements to the plot as their imaginations allow; and the result isn't the mess you'd suspect but fascinating fun, some gripping action sequences, and a lovely story of confused love.

Barbara Stanwyck plays a guileful innocent, a warm-hearted dame better than both her suitors in her generous and wise understanding of human nature. Joel McCrea plays a super-stolid hero whose better part is realized by his attraction for Stanwyck's character; and Robert Preston is a flim-flam man, a gambler and crook whose love for Stanwyck's "Molly Monahan" redeems his otherwise unrepentent self.

De Mille plays this beguiling troika against the "canvas of history" and so personalizes the abstraction of history. John Ford's "Stagecoach," also released the same year, 1939, is more accomplished and its story more subtle, but not so much more. De Mille obviously enjoys his broad canvases, and his "history" tends to pompous pronouncement at times, but all history is biography for him, which means that -- just as with Ford -- the individual stories are what is important.

You'll like this movie: you'll love "Missy" Stanwyck, McCrea and Preston -- you'll even forgive its somewhat more than occasional moments of silliness.

One More Reason why 1939 was "The #1 Hollywood Movie Year"
Amidst the glamour of "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz", this b&w Cecil B. DeMille Historical Fiction Classic received its share of eager 1939 movie theatre audiences.

Starring a wholesome Irish immigrant Barbara Stanwyck, a noble law man Joel McCrae and a dashing dare devil Robert Preston, "Union Pacific" delivers a love-triangle centered around the historic 1869 joining of rail road tracks to connect the Western and Eastern borders of the United States. The love story is "formula", but delivers several "moments" where many viewers will fumble for their Kleenex. The climactic final scene showing the pay-off for all of the material and human sacrifices is priceless!

The very last of DeMille's b&w ventures, Union Pacific is one of those gems that endured the test of time, endearing the "glorious black and white" to generations of viewers. I first saw this classic as a child; I loved it then, as I still do today. Of all of the Hollywood movies ever produced, no single year of film-making has ever stood out from the rest like 1939. "Union Pacific" helped solidify this status. A true Hollywood Classic!***** ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Here Come the Laughs
"Here Come the Nelsons" stars Ozzie, Harriet, Ricky and David as well as Rock Hudson, legendary screen heavy and TV producer Sheldon Leonard, Jim Backus ("Mister Magoo") and Gale Gordon ("Here's Lucy").

This movie is co-scripted by the great and tragic comedy writer William Davenport. Here Come the Nelsons gets off slowly but soon has enough plot twists to maintain interest until the hilarious finale.

On the way there's a rodeo with Ozzie riding a wild bronc, a visit to a carnival astrologer, an impromptu dance contest in Ozzie's living room and a holdup.

This is classic 50s family fare but not insipid. There's a fair amount of romantic tension and many clever plot twists, including the kidnapping of Ricky. The film is well-lit, directed and acted and highlights the unique savoir faire of Ozzie Nelson who would soon begin his television sitcom reign.

There are a couple of hokey sequences that don't work well (especially Ozzie's ad-man office angst) but these are amply countered by the many scenes that provoke laugh-out-loud hilarity.

A great film for the kids and Nelson fans and a reasonably enjoyable outing for everyone else.

Mike Hoffman ... Read more

Reviews (9)

VILLON A'LA COLMAN.
Vagabond - roustabout Francois Villon lived in Paris of the 15th century, during the reign of Louis XI. Villon was arrested in a tavern brawl in which the Grand Constable of France was wounded. The perversely sly king was taken with Villon's speech and manner and made him into the Grand Constable for a week............John Barrymore starred in the 1927 silent version entitled THE BELOVED ROGUE; in 1930, Rudolph Friml scored the Broadway musical THE VAGABOND KING which starred Dennis King. In this Paramount film from 1938, Colman is on view in one of his more charming and carefree incarnations as the reckless poet given to romantic flights of fancy & the daring adventurer who's resourceful in a crisis. With elegant grace, he woos his lady fair, played by Frances Dee, and with a slyness spritually saturnine as Rathbone's own, he fences with the crafty king, knowing full well his very existence is on the line. Only Colman, with his eloquent speaking voice, could recite poetry as beautifully: "If I were king - the stars should be pearls upon a string"...... Although the sets, crowd scenes and Preston Sturge's script failed to completely disguise the creaky stage orgins of the piece, it's a beautiful production nevertheless.

A TOUR DE FORCE...
The velvet voiced Ronald Colman triumphs in the role of Francois Villon, a roguish poet who verbally duels with the canny and crafty King Louis XI of France, played with artistic abandon by Basil Rathbone in an Oscar nominated performance for Best Supporting Actor.

A series of circumstances finds Villon made Chief Constable of France by the King's decree. He is given a week to save the City of Paris from the Burgundians, who remain encamped on the outskirts of the city, waiting to move in and depose the King. The people of Paris are on the verge of revolt due to some serious food shortages and draconian punishments meeted out in the name of the King's justice. It looks like the beginning of the end for the King.

Villon, however, manages to change the people's sentiment. He uses his power to open the King's food storerooms to the people. He tempers justice with mercy, and he proves his loyalty to the king. He also wins the love of a beautiful princess, charmingly played by the lovely Frances Dee. In the end, he rallies the people of France in the name of the King and the Burgundians are defeated. This film, however, is not an action film. What is notable is the incisive and delightful repartee exchanged between Villon and the King. The dialogue flows fast and furious and is earmarked by a rapier like wit. Clever and sophisticated, it is an unusual costume drama fueled by an outstanding screenplay by the legendary Preston Sturgess.

Romald Colman fans will ejoy this film, as will those who enjoy historical dramas and period pieces.

One of Ronald Coleman's very best costume dramas
Ronald Coleman plays the 15th-century French poet and vagabond Francois Villon, who is arrested after a tavern brawl in which the Grand Constable of France is wounded. King Louis XI, a barely recognizable Basil Rathbone, makes Villon replace the Constable for a week, after which he will be hanged. But Villon is the perfect advisor on how to govern and when the citizens of Paris are on the verge of revolt against the King, it is Villon who rallies them to defeat the invading Burgundians. The King, as smart as he is crafty, pardons Villon, who gets to live happily ever after with Katherine de Vaucelles (Frances Dee), the lovely young lady of the court who has caught his eye. Coleman, of course, is perfectly suited to the role of Villon, able to make the lines seem like poetry: "If I were king, the stars should be your pearls upon a string" (Wait, that rhymes; it IS poetry!). But equally impressive is Rathbone, who makes the most of a rare opportunity to act, showing that his monarch is more than a bad guy with a crown. It is just marvelous to listen to the verbal duels between Villon and the King as this argue about how to govern France. However this film, directed by Frank Lloyd, is also nice to look at, with grand crowd scenes and action pieces. This 1938 film features a script by Preston Sturges, based on the play by Justin Huntly. I know it is heresy, but I like "If I Were King" better than "The Prisoner of Zenda."

If I Were King, one of Ronald Coleman's best
"If I Were King" is set in fragmented France without a Charlamagne to meld the country together. Remeniscent of ancient Greece' citystates, Paris has its own king. The movie is based upon true events. Ronald Coleman is a rascal of sharp wit and tongue who is confronted by a seemingly impossible challenge issued by the King of Paris, Basil Rathbone, with his life as wager. In short, Ronald Coleman is a renegade who is forced to summon his wherewithall where his mouth and pen had previously been.

In my opinion, "If I Were King" is a *must have* for the library of fellow classic buffs. Ronald Coleman was a rare actor who's transition from silent films so enriched the industry. His starring role in "The Light That Failed," from the novel by Rudyard Kipling, was perhaps his finest and a personal favorite.

Comedy Masterpiece!
This film is very near the top of my best comedies of the 20th century. Why? It's a great story of a rogue who accidentally catches and kills a high ranking traitor to the King of France. Because he boasted that he would be a better king then the one who was standing incognito in the room with him, The King makes him governor of all France as a combined punishment and reward. Preston Sturges' colorful commentary is delivered by one of the finest and funniest casts ever assembled. Basil Rathbone was nominated for an Oscar for his ingenious portrayal of the wily and eccentric King Louis XI. As the King enters the torture chamber to force a confession from a traitor's messenger he comments: "What an odd smell in here...as if someone had burnt the Roast!" The line is funny on paper but when Rathbone delivers it in a high nasal and rolls the 'r' in 'roast' almost beyond reason, it's hilarious. Ronald Colman has the lion's share of funny lines, poems and quips. His sensitive reading of the romantic moments make his unexpected jokes all the more delightful. Convinced that he is being removed from the dungeon to be hanged, he makes up a little poem for the bar wench who loves him so she won't cry: "Here goes Francois, child of France, to swing into his final dance, his neck at last will have the chance....to weigh the tonnage of his pants!" A dark statement to be sure but delivered with such wide-eyed innocence as to be intoxicatingly funny. Every supporting actor is funny and engaging and the script is endlessly entertaining. This movie has just been made available to the public (I had to tape it from late night cable TV). I watch it at least once a year. Now it's available to us all. If you love classic comedy, you will treasure "If I Were King." ... Read more

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John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) directed this smart thriller about a gangster (Edward G. Robinson) who holds a number of people hostage in a hotel in the Florida Keys during a tropical storm. Humphrey Bogart is the returning war veteran who takes on the villains, and Lauren Bacall is on hand as one of the people on the wrong end of Robinson's gun. Somewhat similar in tone to Howard Hawks's To Have and Have Not (which also featured Bogart and Bacall), this moody movie captures a certain despair offset by the bond between individuals united by common purpose. Claire Trevor won an Academy Award for her part as Robinson's alcoholic girlfriend. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Gangsters. A hurricane. Danger. Fine acting. Wonderful!
I've heard a lot about this 1948 film and had never seen it. I sure was in for a treat. Filmed in black and white, the tension starts right at the beginning and doesn't let up till it runs its full 101 minutes. It's the story of an ex-GI who visits a Florida Keys hotel run by the father and widow of a former buddy who was killed in action. The hotel, however, has been taken over by gangsters. And there's a hurricane brewing. Add some great directing by John Huston from a play written by Maxwell Anderson. Then throw in the stars of the day. What a mix! What a film!

I'm not a big Humphrey Bogart fan. I usually find him stiff and wooden. But he's better in this film, showing real emotion and animation on his face. Maybe it's because his leading lady is Lauren Bacall, cast as the widow. She fresh and young and beautiful and there is real chemistry between them. And then there is Edward G. Robinson. His gangster screen presence sure is real. He's the best of the best in this kind of role. All the performances were great but Lionel Barrymore, cast as the crippled owner of the hotel, is one of the best actors I've ever seen. With all this talent and terrific screenplay, though, the only academy award winner in the lot was Clare Trevor. She's cast as the gangster's girlfriend, aging and alcoholic. There's one scene in which she's forced to sing in order to get a drink. She's lost her voice but she pushes through the song as her small audience exchange knowing looks between them. It was more than an outstanding performance; it was absolutely sensational.

And then there's the hurricane. And a scene on a boat. All this was done so well that I didn't miss any high-tech special effects. The mood was set. The danger was there. There's even a great theme about good and evil and willing to put your life on the line. And it was all combined perfectly with the screenplay, the directing and some of the best acting to come out of that era.

I give this film one of my highest recommendations. It's a real treat. And a classic that has not only stood the test of time, but has aged like fine wine. Don't miss it.

BARE KNUCKLED BOGART & RUTHLESS ROBINSON
"Key Largo" is the exciting suspense/drama directed by the legendary John Huston. It features Bogie at his care worn, worldly best and pits him against the best mug since Cagney - Edward G. Robinson. Plot wise: when a retired war hero comes to tell the father of a slain soldier about his son's final days, he discovers that the hotel they are staying in has been over run by gangsters during one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the Florida coast. This film costars Lauren Bacall and the fantastic Lionel Barrymore.
Warner Home Video's DVD is looking pretty darn good. The gray scale of this black and white movie is well represented and the blacks are definitely black. Shadow delineation and contrast levels are superb with fine detail promenantly evident throughout. Fine details occasionally shimmer and there is some minor edge enhancement but nothing that will terribly distract from your viewing experience. The audio is mono and, although at times strident, is well represented throughout. We get no extras on this disc, a real shame.

Edward G. Robinson at this best
Key Largo is just one of John Huston's many memorable films that somehow always seem to transcend the intention--the Hollywood intention being to make a few bucks--and to this day still plays very well and indeed appears as something close to a work of art. It features what I think is one of Edward G. Robinson's finest performances as Johnny Rocco, a sociopathic gangster holding the off-season personnel of a seaside hotel hostage as he concludes a counterfeit money deal.

The story begins as Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) pays a visit to the family of one of his G.I. buddies who was killed in Italy during WWII. He finds the welcome from the hotel's only "guests" chilly except for Gaye Dawn (a funny and perhaps prescient Hollywood stage name) played by Claire Trevor who is drunk and befriends him. After a bit McCloud discovers that the hotel's owner Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and her invalid father-in-law James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) have been tricked into allowing Rocco's gang to stay and now, as a tropical storm begins to blow, are being held at gunpoint. McCloud's delicate task is to keep the megalomaniac and murderous personality of Rocco under some control so that he doesn't murder everyone.

Note that this is a splendid cast, and they all do a good job. Note too that Huston adapted this from a play by the versatile American playwright Maxwell Anderson. So the ingredients for a good film are clearly in place; and aside from some self-conscious mishmash with the Seminoles of Florida, this is a success. Anderson's desire to explore the psychopathic personality (some years later he adapted William March's novel The Bad Seed into a stage play) finds realization in Huston's direction and especially in Robinson's indelible performance. The utter disregard for the lives of others and the obsessive love of self that characterize the sociopath reek from the snares and callous laughter of the very sick Johnny Rocco. I especially liked the crazed and thrilled grin on his face when he emerges from the hold of the boat in the climactic scene, gun in hand, imagining that he has once again fooled his adversaries and is about to delightfully shoot Humphrey Bogart to death. What I loved about this scene was that Huston did not think it necessary to contrive a fight in which the good guy (Bogart) beats the bad guy by fighting fair. What happens is exactly what should happen, and without regard for the fine points of Marquis of Queensberry-type rules. Also good is Rocco beginning to sweat in fear of his life as the storm moves in while Bogey gives us his famous laugh and grin as he assesses the essential cowardice of the petty gangster.

Lauren Bacall, in one of her more modest roles, does a lot without saying much, and Lionel Barrymore is very good as the cantankerous old guy in a wheelchair. Claire Trevor actually won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work, and she was good as the alcoholic moll with a heart of gold. Robinson won nothing, but he really dominated the picture and demonstrated why he was one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

Bottom line: watch this to see the gangster yarn meld into film noir with overtones of the psychoanalytical drama that characterized many of the black and white Hollywood films of the forties and early fifties.

Not the Best, But Good
I ordered the DVD of this film to replace my old VHS. First, the DVD quality is excellent, though I was never able to access the 'special features'. On my player, the movie just starts. As a fan of the Bogarts, I enjoy this movie like their others. However, I've always felt the parts for both Bacall and Lionel Barrymore were somehow, wrong. Bacall seems almost like she's on Prozac, so restrained is her performance. So many of Barrymore's movements and body language seem more suited to the stage than a movie--just a little too theatrical. However, I've never seen EG Robinson do better, and his toadies all give superlative performances. Claire Trevor deserved her Oscar for this movie, she's that good. Overall, it's still a movie worth having for any fan of the classics. I just don't think it's their best.

The calm before the storm...
Frank (Humphrey Bogart) travels to Key Largo to visits James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), the father of a dead friend who was killed in action during World War II. When Frank steps off the bus he is received by some hostile strangers. It appears that these strangers are from Chicago and are renting the Temple's hotel for the week and they do not expect any visitors. Nonetheless, Frank is warmly greeted by James and his daughter-in-law, Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall), whom he helps prepare for an incoming hurricane. However, it seems that there is something much more sinister lurking in the shadows than the approaching tempest that is over the dark waters of the Atlantic. The beginning obviously displays the calm before the storm, pun intended, as the two threatening elements in the film draw nearer. This sets up a suspenseful atmosphere that begins from the initial scene and lasts until the last scene. Huston was very well aware of what he was doing when he directed this film noir as it offers a good cinematic experience. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Gangsters. A hurricane. Danger. Fine acting. Wonderful!
I've heard a lot about this 1948 film and had never seen it. I sure was in for a treat. Filmed in black and white, the tension starts right at the beginning and doesn't let up till it runs its full 101 minutes. It's the story of an ex-GI who visits a Florida Keys hotel run by the father and widow of a former buddy who was killed in action. The hotel, however, has been taken over by gangsters. And there's a hurricane brewing. Add some great directing by John Huston from a play written by Maxwell Anderson. Then throw in the stars of the day. What a mix! What a film!

I'm not a big Humphrey Bogart fan. I usually find him stiff and wooden. But he's better in this film, showing real emotion and animation on his face. Maybe it's because his leading lady is Lauren Bacall, cast as the widow. She fresh and young and beautiful and there is real chemistry between them. And then there is Edward G. Robinson. His gangster screen presence sure is real. He's the best of the best in this kind of role. All the performances were great but Lionel Barrymore, cast as the crippled owner of the hotel, is one of the best actors I've ever seen. With all this talent and terrific screenplay, though, the only academy award winner in the lot was Clare Trevor. She's cast as the gangster's girlfriend, aging and alcoholic. There's one scene in which she's forced to sing in order to get a drink. She's lost her voice but she pushes through the song as her small audience exchange knowing looks between them. It was more than an outstanding performance; it was absolutely sensational.

And then there's the hurricane. And a scene on a boat. All this was done so well that I didn't miss any high-tech special effects. The mood was set. The danger was there. There's even a great theme about good and evil and willing to put your life on the line. And it was all combined perfectly with the screenplay, the directing and some of the best acting to come out of that era.

I give this film one of my highest recommendations. It's a real treat. And a classic that has not only stood the test of time, but has aged like fine wine. Don't miss it.

BARE KNUCKLED BOGART & RUTHLESS ROBINSON
"Key Largo" is the exciting suspense/drama directed by the legendary John Huston. It features Bogie at his care worn, worldly best and pits him against the best mug since Cagney - Edward G. Robinson. Plot wise: when a retired war hero comes to tell the father of a slain soldier about his son's final days, he discovers that the hotel they are staying in has been over run by gangsters during one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the Florida coast. This film costars Lauren Bacall and the fantastic Lionel Barrymore.
Warner Home Video's DVD is looking pretty darn good. The gray scale of this black and white movie is well represented and the blacks are definitely black. Shadow delineation and contrast levels are superb with fine detail promenantly evident throughout. Fine details occasionally shimmer and there is some minor edge enhancement but nothing that will terribly distract from your viewing experience. The audio is mono and, although at times strident, is well represented throughout. We get no extras on this disc, a real shame.

Edward G. Robinson at this best
Key Largo is just one of John Huston's many memorable films that somehow always seem to transcend the intention--the Hollywood intention being to make a few bucks--and to this day still plays very well and indeed appears as something close to a work of art. It features what I think is one of Edward G. Robinson's finest performances as Johnny Rocco, a sociopathic gangster holding the off-season personnel of a seaside hotel hostage as he concludes a counterfeit money deal.

The story begins as Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) pays a visit to the family of one of his G.I. buddies who was killed in Italy during WWII. He finds the welcome from the hotel's only "guests" chilly except for Gaye Dawn (a funny and perhaps prescient Hollywood stage name) played by Claire Trevor who is drunk and befriends him. After a bit McCloud discovers that the hotel's owner Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and her invalid father-in-law James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) have been tricked into allowing Rocco's gang to stay and now, as a tropical storm begins to blow, are being held at gunpoint. McCloud's delicate task is to keep the megalomaniac and murderous personality of Rocco under some control so that he doesn't murder everyone.

Note that this is a splendid cast, and they all do a good job. Note too that Huston adapted this from a play by the versatile American playwright Maxwell Anderson. So the ingredients for a good film are clearly in place; and aside from some self-conscious mishmash with the Seminoles of Florida, this is a success. Anderson's desire to explore the psychopathic personality (some years later he adapted William March's novel The Bad Seed into a stage play) finds realization in Huston's direction and especially in Robinson's indelible performance. The utter disregard for the lives of others and the obsessive love of self that characterize the sociopath reek from the snares and callous laughter of the very sick Johnny Rocco. I especially liked the crazed and thrilled grin on his face when he emerges from the hold of the boat in the climactic scene, gun in hand, imagining that he has once again fooled his adversaries and is about to delightfully shoot Humphrey Bogart to death. What I loved about this scene was that Huston did not think it necessary to contrive a fight in which the good guy (Bogart) beats the bad guy by fighting fair. What happens is exactly what should happen, and without regard for the fine points of Marquis of Queensberry-type rules. Also good is Rocco beginning to sweat in fear of his life as the storm moves in while Bogey gives us his famous laugh and grin as he assesses the essential cowardice of the petty gangster.

Lauren Bacall, in one of her more modest roles, does a lot without saying much, and Lionel Barrymore is very good as the cantankerous old guy in a wheelchair. Claire Trevor actually won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work, and she was good as the alcoholic moll with a heart of gold. Robinson won nothing, but he really dominated the picture and demonstrated why he was one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

Bottom line: watch this to see the gangster yarn meld into film noir with overtones of the psychoanalytical drama that characterized many of the black and white Hollywood films of the forties and early fifties.

Not the Best, But Good
I ordered the DVD of this film to replace my old VHS. First, the DVD quality is excellent, though I was never able to access the 'special features'. On my player, the movie just starts. As a fan of the Bogarts, I enjoy this movie like their others. However, I've always felt the parts for both Bacall and Lionel Barrymore were somehow, wrong. Bacall seems almost like she's on Prozac, so restrained is her performance. So many of Barrymore's movements and body language seem more suited to the stage than a movie--just a little too theatrical. However, I've never seen EG Robinson do better, and his toadies all give superlative performances. Claire Trevor deserved her Oscar for this movie, she's that good. Overall, it's still a movie worth having for any fan of the classics. I just don't think it's their best.

The calm before the storm...
Frank (Humphrey Bogart) travels to Key Largo to visits James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), the father of a dead friend who was killed in action during World War II. When Frank steps off the bus he is received by some hostile strangers. It appears that these strangers are from Chicago and are renting the Temple's hotel for the week and they do not expect any visitors. Nonetheless, Frank is warmly greeted by James and his daughter-in-law, Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall), whom he helps prepare for an incoming hurricane. However, it seems that there is something much more sinister lurking in the shadows than the approaching tempest that is over the dark waters of the Atlantic. The beginning obviously displays the calm before the storm, pun intended, as the two threatening elements in the film draw nearer. This sets up a suspenseful atmosphere that begins from the initial scene and lasts until the last scene. Huston was very well aware of what he was doing when he directed this film noir as it offers a good cinematic experience. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

One Of The Great 1930's Boxing Stories
The depression era spawned alot of the really memorable boxing pictures, such as Golden Boy and this effort "Kid Galahad", and Warner Brothers Pictures with their tough, no nonsense style of film making were ideally qualified to bring such stories to the screen. Here we have the perfect scenerio that Warner Brothers adapted from a Saturday Evening Post story by Francis Wallace about a simple Bell Hop who becomes a heavy weight champion and along with success finds romance in the most unexected places. "Kid Galahad", was Bette Davis' second film following her return to filming after her unsuccessful battle with Warner Brother's over the quality of the scripts she was being given. "Kid Galahad",is really a "man's picture", as they were called at the time and although Davis shines in the role of Louise "Fluff" Phillips, girlfriend of Edward G. Robinson's Nick Donati, her great days as the dramatic queen of Hollywood was still twelve months off with her breakthrough work in "Jezebel".

"Kid Galahad", opens during a rowdy party thrown by Boxing Promoter Nicky Donati (Edward G. Robinson), finding himself short staffed the hotel sends up one of their bellhops Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris), to help out. Naive and good looking he becomes the target of one of Donati's boxers Chuck McGraw (William Haade), and in the fight that follows Ward knocks him out cold with little effort. Sized up by Donati's rival Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) he is sent in for a sham round of boxing where he unknowingly is put against McGraw who is one of the reigning champions. Donati is jealous of anyone who "eyes" his girl "Fluff" Phillips (Bette Davis), and fearing an attraction between Ward and Fluff he hopes that Ward will get a sound beating in the process. However Ward calls their bluff by knocking McGraw out during the fight which sends Turkey even more out for revenge against Donati. Fluff sees the potential in Ward as a prize fighter and gives him a new professional name "Kid Galahad", and a new sensation is born. Taken into Donati's camp Ward becomes the idol of the nation as he only only successively wins all his bouts but also unknowingly wins the heart of Fluff who of course sees the futile situation with her being Donati's girl. On a visit to Donati's mother's farm Ward comes to know Nicky's younger sister Marie where a spirited love blossoms. Nick however has a personal rule that his world of fight promoting never crosses over into his family life and when Ward proposes marriage to Marie, he has Nick's rage to deal with. Back in town Nick decides to just deal with the fight side of Ward's life after Marie also tells him of her love for Ward. In a crucial final fight for the heavy weight championship however Nick becomes a victim finally of a set up by Turkey and in a shoot out in the dressing room both Turkey and Nick are killed. Nick however gives his blessing to Marie to marry the "kid". Fluff in comparison after unselfishly standing aside from her true feelings about the Kid walks away to an uncertain future on her own again.

This type of "rough and tumble", story is most capably handled by legendary director Michael Curtiz who in his heyday turned his hand to such diverse efforts as "Casablanca", and "White Christmas", with equal ease. Here he packs much full blooded action into a 90 minute running time. Bette Davis had fought long and hard for better roles but at first glance her role here would appear to be not much better than many of her pre court case efforts. However despite this Davis still manages with that special talent of hers to inject a lot of life into the loyal girlfriend of Edward G. Robinson's who privately loves Ward "Kid Galahad" Guisenberry only to see him fall in love with another woman. Inspite of the prickly relationship she always had with Edward G. Robinson professionally the two actually combine well on screen here and Robinson shines in a tailor made role of the tough talking Boxing Promoter who is ruthlessly determined to stay at the top of the Boxing heap. The supporting cast here has a well cast collection of up and coming talent plus some seasoned "Warners", veterans who were all still headed for great things after this film. Humphrey Bogart leads the supporting cast as the ruthless "Turkey" Morgan and his portrayal here is one on a long list of similiar roles that he played through the 1930's before finding full stardom with "The Maltese Falcon". His determined and often bloody rivalry with Robinson throughout this story gives this film its required hard edge. Newcomers Wayne Morris as the "kid" and especially Jane Bryan as Marie provide the necessarily youthful element to the story. Bryan found an unlikely mentor in the more experienced Davis and would feature in a number of later Bette Davis starring vehicles such as "The Old Maid".

"Kid Galahad", was remade in the 1960's as a starring vehicle for Elvis Presley and the huge success of that film has somewhat eclipsed the memory of this earlier Warner Brothers effort. Despite that it is a fine film in the boxing genre and while typical of alot of similiar efforts from this period at Warner Brothers, has its own style thanks to Robinson, Davis and Bogart which lifts it out of the run of the mill "programmer", category. It's always a thrill to see Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart square off against each other in these type of films and they repeated their success here in a number of other efforts over the next few years, most notably in "Key Largo". Bette Davis even in this largely "pre stardom" effort always makes her characters interesting to watch and it certainly helped pave the way for her real stardom just on the horizon. For an exciting fight picture with plenty of romance and action thrown in for good measure "Kid Galahad", comes highly recommended.

Credit Michael Curtiz With Another Good Movie
KID GALLAHAD is a film about the rise of a heavyweight fighter who starts out as a bellhop. Wayne Morris plays the part of the fighter. Edward G. Robinson has the role of his manager Nick Donati whose chief rival is a gangster named Turkey Morgan played by Humphrey Bogart. Betty Davis has the role of Nick's girl friend who is known as Fluff Phillips.

It may be a tired old story but the acting is generally superb. The supporting cast includes Jane Bryan and Harry Carey.I notice that Don Defore appears in a bit part as a ringsider.

Director Michael Curtiz also directed CASABLANCA as well as many other good movies. KID GALLAHAD received no Oscar nominations and definitely was not quite in the same league with CHAMPION which was made just twelve years later. The Academy Awards competition in 1937 was dominated by THE GOOD EARTH, THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS and THE AWFUL TRUTH.

THE BATTLING BELLHOP
Bellhop Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris) is mixing drinks at a party being thrown by boxing manager Nick Donati and his mistress, Louise Phillips, known as Fluff. When Sam McGraw, the fighter owned by gangster Turkey Morgan, insults Fluff, Ward punches him, knocking him out. After a few interesting episodes, Guisenberry later becomes known as Kid Galahad, a renowned boxer. KID GALAHAD was first published in the SATURDAY EVENING POST as a serial from 11 April to 16 May, 1936. The film's working title was the heading and I remember watching it on television in California by that name. In 1962, United Artists tailored the story for none other than Elvis Presley; it was a big hit. Edward G. Robinson once commented about Bette Davis: "I know it's goatish of me to say this, but Davis was somewhat amatuerish and not a terribly talented actress back in 1937" Davis used to refer to Robinson as "Liverlips". Tall, blond and handsome Wayne Morris, had in this probably his best role. I vaguely remember watching him in an outdoor Technicolor movie from 1938 entitled VALLEY OF THE GIANTS - which wasn't a Sci-Fi: the title referred to Sequoia trees!

Kid Galahad: Why Women Like This Movie
At first glance, Kid Galahad seems typical of the fight films of the 30's. There is the up and coming fighter, Wayne Morris, who has a tough talking manager, Edward G. Robinson. There is the girlfriend who falls for him (both Bette Davis and Jane Bryan), and finally there is the rackets guy, Bogie, who sets up a fixed championship bout.
When I first saw Kid Galahad, I enjoyed it on a surface level, vicariously enjoying Wayne Morris' rise to glory. But as I watched it again, I paid more attention to the subtle interplay between the two female leads, the then superstar Bette Davis, and the newcomer Jane Bryan. It became clear to me that though the ostensible focus was on the rise to the championship of Morris, there was a subplot that gradually loomed as at least as interesting. Early in the film, Bette Davis makes it clear to the audience (but not to the green as grass Morris), that she has fallen in love with him, but because of her role as Edgar G. Robinson's girlfriend, she must keep her feelings to herself. Enter Jane Bryan, who falls in love too, but Morris returns her love. As Bryan gets to know Morris, he keeps telling her how 'swell' Bette Davis is. Naturally, Bryan grows increasingly jealous. Ditto for Bette Davis when she learns that Morris prefers Bryan to her.
For most of the movie, the two women never meet. Near the end they do meet, and for me, the emotional climax is their meeting. Morris and Bryan visit the nightclub where Davis is singing. Davis sees them and approaches their table. As they meet, you can see the two women sizing each other up. Jane Bryan says, "You know,when I first heard about you, I thought that I wouldn't like you, but I do, very much." Davis thanks her, and then responds with an emotional wallop that seems even more powerful when she adds softly, "And you know,don't you?" Naturally, the obtuse Morris is confused. "Know what?" he asks.
The women look at each other and their faces indicate the subtle undertow of the conversation.
Kid Galahad stands out from its competition for all the often quoted reasons,but for me what made the movie click was the understated battle between the ladies that was as least as significant as the punches thrown by the men in the ring.

"Kid" is an above average fight movie with a stellar cast
Promoter Nick Donati (Edward G. Robinson) is hosting a party for prizefight champion Chuck McGraw (William Haade), when the boxer harasses a bellhop, Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris), who decks the champ with one punch. That is when Donati's mistress, Fluff Phillips (Bette Davis) suggests that maybe the battling bellhop could be the next champ. She even gives Ward his new nickname, "Kid Galahad" (saw that one coming, right?). So Nick signs the kid and sends him out on the road with his trainer, Silver Jackson (Harry Carey) and Fluff, who falls in love with the Kid, who in turn has no clue as to what is going on. When Fluff rejects Donati's marriage proposal, he assumes the Kid and Fluff have been an item and he intends to get his revenge. Donati arranges a championship fight with McGraw, guaranteeing the champ's crooked manager, Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) that the Kid will lose and receive a savage beating in the process. Just to make things really complicated, the Kid trains at Donati's farm, where he falls for the promoter's kid sister, Marie (Jane Bryan). During the fight Donati gives the Kid bad instructions, but when Fluff and Marie convince him the Kid never did him any wrong. However, even telling the Kid to go on and win the fight cannot prevent "Kid Galahad" from having a tragic ending.

With a cast like Robinson, Davis and Bogart and director Michael Curtiz, it is easy to see why "Kid Galahad" was considered one of the best fight pictures of its day. The fight sequences are certainly above average and Harry Carey has always been one of my favorite character actors ever since I first saw "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" where he plays the Vice President. Morris has a promising debut in a leading role, but never really gets another film this good in his relatively long career. The screenplay by Seton I. Miller is based on the novel by Francis Wallace. Final Note: "Kid Galahad" was remade as an Elvis Presley musical in 1962 with the King playing the Kid. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Superb little McCrea Western
Four Faces West is a superb little Western, and it is satisfying to see it released on DVD. McCrea, Frances Dee [his real life wife], Charles Bickford [Dee's father], and Joseph Calleia head a fine cast. McCrea is eminently believable; his trademark taciturn, self-effacing character is captivating--not a single shot is fired in the entire movie! Bickford's Pat Garrett is also a stand out. Now, let us hope that some of McCrea's other oaters get released---maybe RAMROD (with Veronica Lake), or the playful SADDLE TRAMP (with John McIntyre) and CATTLE DRIVE (with Dean Stockwell). And there is STRANGER ON HORSEBACK, another superb little Western....and RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, already on VHS, desperately needs DVD release.

great movies
I liked the movie and have been trying to find it for a long time . black and white but still a good movie. Joel McCrea is good as always in this western made in 1948.I have already bought it as soon as I saw it was listed in your western section.I was surprised to find it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Rawhide (no relation to the TV series) is a trim, satisfying Henry Hathaway picture that blends the leathery trappings of the Western with the claustrophobic atmosphere and intensity of a suspense film.Everything unfolds at a remote swing station for the transcontinental stagecoach.Routine life and work is disrupted by the arrival of several no-goods who aim to help themselves to a gold shipment.But the gold shipment isn't on the next coach, so the stationmasters and some stranded passengers are obliged to try to act normal under the guns of the intruders. Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward handle the heroics without larger-than-life posturing; Dean Jagger and Hugh Marlowe relish the rare opportunity to play villainous or ambiguous types; and Jack Elam is, well, Jack Elam, reliably vicious in every pore.The script is by Dudley Nichols--who should know the territory, having scripted John Ford's Stagecoach 13 years earlier. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Locked up with Susan Hayward...that's an ordeal???
A little-known western, and even under-rated by those who DO know it, "Rawhide" is a nail-biter from start to finish, an ultra-taut suspense film that really only happens to take place in the wild west but could take place anywhere, anytime. Literally in the middle of nowhere, an outpost for east- or westbound stagecoaches to stop and let passengers stretch and have a bite to eat becomes the scene of a life-or-death struggle between four desperate prison escapees and two strangers, one of them with a baby to look after.
Tyrone Power is an employee of the outpost, learning the ropes from old-timer Edgar Buchanan. A stagecoach comes through and two of the passengers, a young woman (Susan Hayward) and a toddler, are forced to stay because four men have escaped from a nearby prison and the stagecoach line isn't allowed to risk the lives of females or children on the road. Unfortunately their lives are at much greater risk here, as the convicts promptly ride up and seize the outpost, intending to hijack a shipment of gold coming through the next day. Buchanan is murdered outright by the gang's resident psychotic (played with fantastic gusto by perennial bad guy Jack Elam), leaving Power and Hayward to try and figure out a way to escape before the hammer falls on them, too. Hugh Marlowe, fresh from his brilliant turn as a playwright in "All About Eve", plays the leader of the outlaws with an intelligent menace, trying to hold his gang together while plotting the next move. During all this, the hostages naturally find time to fall in love. Susan Hayward has never been more beautiful than she is here, so it's not hard to see why.
A great little western, hard to find but well worth the search, with excellent performances all around, from one of the masters of trim-the-fat suspense yarns, Henry Hathaway.

Great Movie !
Great cast, great story, great movie. 'Nuf said.

Callie Holt RULES!!!!!!!!
THE BABY IN THIS MOVIE, IS WORTH BUYING IT, A HUNDRED TIMES OVER. JUDY ANN DUNN PLAYING THE ROLE OF Callie Holt.. RULES
SHE SAVES THE WHOLE MOVIE, USING ONLY HER WITTS AND BRANDISHING A KNIFE. OUR WHOLE FAMILY LOVES THIS MOVIE. JUDY ANN DUNN,
IF YOUR STILL OUT THERE, WE LOVE YOU.

Rawhide station.
Fine suspence western in B/W from the early 50's. Characters and script very credible and it keeps the grib on you all the way. Recommendable. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Sonja`s best skating
In the wake of the brilliant Sun Valley Serenade, Fox again cast Sonja with John Payne under the helm of H. Bruce Humberstone. Iceland is not as good as Sun Valley, but her skating is her best. The music is first rate, though the words hilarious(promoting the girls to let soldiers have fun with them, they might not come back hehehe). Sonja proves once again that she was a comic talent, but the stagefarce-plot is much too much at times... However; the musicalnumbers are a treat and u should always watch it for that reason alone.

Lavish ice spectacle with Sonja Henie and John Payne
Sonja Henie was one of those rare occurences in Hollywood history where a performer became well known for one type of performance, in this case movies that always had a skating theme. Much the same thing occured to Esther Williams in the 1950's where she was always associated and starred in swimming spectacles with underwater sequences. "Iceland" was made when Sonja Henie was still one of the biggest stars at Twentieth Century Fox Studios where her films made a huge profit and always included lavish skating sequences for Sonja to display her Olympic standard skating skills often with a handsome leading man like Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, Richard Greene or in this case John Payne to admire her from the sidelines.

"Iceland" was a major production for 1942 but like all Sonja Henie films was light on in the dramatics department to compensate for its leading ladies limited acting ability while still being very entertaining and pleasing to the eye. Indeed the skating sequences in "Iceland", are incredibly lavish both in composition and in appearance and a real joy to watch. And despite Sonja's skating now appearing subdued compared to the standards achieved in present day Olympic standards she is captivating on the ice. The storyline of "Iceland", is a thin one but fits in well with the lengthy skating scenes and icy northern setting. It tells the story of Katina Jonsdottir (Henie), a sweet Icelandic girl who encounters American Marine Capt. James Murfin (John Payne) while he is stationed in Iceland in the opening period of World War 2. Being naive with the ways of the world she promptly falls in love with the handsome sweet talking American unaware that he is a free sole who has girls in most ports and is not one to settle down. Unfortunately his sweet talking of Katina is mistaken for a proposal for marriage and it's definately a clash of customs as one misunderstanding after another complicates the situation and Capt Murfin not only finds himself being pushed towards the altar but for the first time in his life really falling deeply in love with Katina. All ends happily after they first pretend, in a very funny scene set in a wedding chamber, that they are married to aid true lovers Helga Katina's sister and her sweetheart who must wait for her older sister to marry before being allowed to tie the knot themselves to wed. Out of such vintage froth comes a pleasing story offset well by good performances allround. Sonja Henie has a pleasing screen presence despite her limited acting skills and John Payne, always considered a sort of second string Tyrone Power at the studio, delivers a great performance as the love 'em and leave 'em American marine who gets finally caught by Icelandic matrimonial customs and finds himself married and actually liking it! Veteran commedianne Jackie Oakie as Payne's comical sidekick in the highjinks, Slip Riggs has some great one liners and reactions to the often implausible goings on. Felix Bressart, a veteran of so many fine performances most notably as Garbo's communist offsider in the classic "Ninotchka" scores well as Katina's befuddled father who is seeking an advantageous marriage for his daughter to improve the family finances. His constant encouraging and then rejection of poor Sterling Holloway in the role of Katina's hapless suitor Sverrup Svenssen is one of the comic highlights in the screenplay.

As befitting an "A" grade Sonja Henie vehicle of this period no expense was spared on the production. It benefits greatly from the appearance of Sammy Kaye and his orchestra in a number of scenes and the skating sequences are lavish to the extreme. The magnificent main number of the film where the settings change from China to Panama to Hawaii is a real show stopper with top class choreography, incredibly lavish costumes and great tunes.

Twentieth Century Fox was very skilled at producing crowd pleasing films like this with frothy storylines and pleasing musical interludes. I enjoy all the Sonja Henie films and "Iceland", is one of the best from the later part of her incredible run of successes at Fox in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Sit back and enjoy handsome John Payne romancing sweet Sonja Henie in the snowy landscape of "Iceland".

If you like birding....
This is a good introduction to Iceland, but it is not really intended for the adventure traveller. It is heavy with info and pictures for the traveller interested in birding. Still in a world light in videos on Iceland, this is better than nothing. Trailside is rereleasing their Trekking Iceland for the more adventurous.

I love this movie!
This movie is awesome! The special effects are the best I have ever seen. I would recommend this movie for any Star Trek fan out there. Live long and Prosper. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The dreamy voice doesn't seem to fit the scrawny young fellow singing-- but this was precisely the early appeal of the young Frank Sinatra. He, and TheVoice, are on agreeable display in this low-key MGM musical, with Frankie castas an ex-GI ecstatic at returning to the greatest place on earth. Where else butBrooklyn? The 1947 movie is on nobody's short list of great MGM efforts, and itfeels cobbled together from different projects. Sometimes it's a Jimmy Durantecomedy, sometimes it's a showcase for snub-nosed Kathryn Grayson's coloratura(she does bits of Lakmé and Don Giovanni), and toward the end itbecomes a fundraiser for a local boy who wants to be a pianist--a bizarredistraction from the romantic triangle of Sinatra, Grayson, and Peter Lawford(whose talent resides in Durante's comment, "He has a very fine command of theEnglish language"). Best tune: Ol' Blue Eyes crooning the lovely "Time AfterTime." --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great film!
This film is great and a must see. Great for all Katheryn Grayson fans It's romantic funny and enjoyable to see each time. I highly recommend it.

Sinatra Sings Mozart?
Indeed he does (La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni) with Kathryn Grayson, and quite gracefully too. This unique duet is worth the price of admission, but in addition you get loveable Jimmy Durante, an icon of vaudeville and early television (where ARE those shows?), and charming Peter Lawford, Kennedy in-law and Rat Packer-to-be! The plot is indeed forgettable, but the highlights make it worthwhile.

Bronx cheer for "Brooklyn"
This is a movie whose time has past. Unlike its contemporary "This Time for Keeps" (also starring Jimmy Durante) this one is stale. It's a relic from the post-WW II years with a script as pedestrian as they get. If you want to see the best this movie has to offer, see "That's Entertainment." The clip there of Durante and Sinatra is all this tired black and white musical has to offer.

greeeeaaaatt
a must for any new yorker or sinatra fan. ps. great musical # by peter lawford ... Read more

Description

After a shot gun marriage, Lola loses the couple’s baby and relies for comfort on her dog, Sheba, who has run away, while Doc is a recovering alcoholic who blames Lola for his dropping out of medical school. Though still depressed and bitter about their past, the couple rents out a room to a young woman named Marie and while Marie brings happiness and young love into their home, she also brings old ghosts reminding Doc and Lola of their misfortunes. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

EMOTIONAL POWERHOUSE DRAMA....
Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster are bound together by a mutual tragedy in a sad, childless marriage made worse by Lancaster's alcoholism. When they rent a room to a sexy college student (Terry Moore), everything begins to really unravel. Based on the William Inge play (which also starred Booth and won her a Tony), the film is downbeat but hypnotic thanks to the stars. Booth also won Best Actress for the film with her heartbreaking performance as the dowdy housewife struggling to cope with her husband's problems. The film depicts a somber intervention by AA for Lancaster's character and Booth calling for Sheba (their pet dog that was Booth's child substitute that has run away) as well as some other harrowing scenes that mark this film as serious drama. Booth later became part of TV history in the 60's as "Hazel" but it's her few ventures in films like this that need to be remembered too. She was no beauty but an exceptionally gifted actress who could tear your heart out with performances like the one in "Come Back Little Sheba". Lancaster is excellent as the husband who tries to love his unkempt wife but can't face the real issues. So glad to see this searing drama coming to DVD and will be happy to add it to my library.

It's all about Shirley Booth.
Shirley Booth's Lola Delaney is (possibly rivalled only by Charles Laughton's Quasimodo) the most pathetic character ever put on film. It is palpably hurtful to bear with her the many humiliations she undergoes during the course of the film. Caught in a sort of stand off relationship with her husband, she is lonely and emotionally wasting away, while seeming to deny this fact to herself. And when she cuts loose and tries to have a little fun, dancing or enjoying radio music meant to transport you out of your daily grind, she is merely the subject of laughter and rolling eyes. Her teary ruminations on the titular lost dog are, as I read it, symbolic of a larger aching need to find someone or something with which to exchange affection. I just saw Come Back again for the first time in 30 years, and I think it is as strong now as it must have been in 1952. The cinematography by the great James Wong Howe starts out bright and ordinary, felling like a 50s sitcom, but as layers of the dark heart of the drama are peeled away, the look becomes noirish and menacing --we know something is going to snap. You won't forget it.

Even in a time when films were less gimmicky than today, Come Back is really an anti-gimmick movie. It is just a glimpse into the life of a couple simmering under the surface with regret, old hurt and selfdoubt.

When Movies were Movies
This is a wonderful old movie. In those days, the subject of pregnancy before marriage was so taboo! She plays the part of a slovenly housewife to the hilt, Burt is her stuffy, overbearing husband, ashamed of her, but all they have been through together wins out in the end.

They don't do movies like this any more.....
Shirley Booth is memorable in the role of dowdy wife to alcoholic husband Burt Lancaster (equally as good). The film is an adaptation of the William Inge play and it stands as one of the best transfers from stage to screen. Contrary to other reviewers' opinions, Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel are great in their supporting roles.

For those of us old and fortunate enough to remember Booth from her 60's role as TV's "Hazel," this film shows that the actress was much better than the role of domestic of which she is famous. It also shows the range of her skills.

GET A LIFE MRS. DELANEY................
Great movie! I remember watching this movie when I was little. I always felt more sorry for Doc more that his wife because she was so iritating. Mrs. Delaney needed to get it together. That way her life would not be so boring, and maybe she would not be so iritating. If I was Doc, she would of drove me to drink too. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Sonja`s best skating
In the wake of the brilliant Sun Valley Serenade, Fox again cast Sonja with John Payne under the helm of H. Bruce Humberstone. Iceland is not as good as Sun Valley, but her skating is her best. The music is first rate, though the words hilarious(promoting the girls to let soldiers have fun with them, they might not come back hehehe). Sonja proves once again that she was a comic talent, but the stagefarce-plot is much too much at times... However; the musicalnumbers are a treat and u should always watch it for that reason alone.

Lavish ice spectacle with Sonja Henie and John Payne
Sonja Henie was one of those rare occurences in Hollywood history where a performer became well known for one type of performance, in this case movies that always had a skating theme. Much the same thing occured to Esther Williams in the 1950's where she was always associated and starred in swimming spectacles with underwater sequences. "Iceland" was made when Sonja Henie was still one of the biggest stars at Twentieth Century Fox Studios where her films made a huge profit and always included lavish skating sequences for Sonja to display her Olympic standard skating skills often with a handsome leading man like Tyrone Power