Reviews (1)

It's good enough, Astrid
So okay, we've all heard of the "forgotten cinematic treasures" that turn out to be a load of cockywocky, but this is the real thing.

The choice of title was unfortunate, but they didn't know that in 1950. "White Tower" is a Hollywood version of the "mountain film", a strange interwar German genre that served as a nursery for people like Leni Riefenstahl. In mountain films, a doomed climbing team composed of varied and conflicting types takes on an "unconquerable" peak, dying one by one on the way up until the only survivor reaches the top to undergo an ineffable mystical experience before freezing to death. (No wonder they lost the war.)

"White Tower" replaces the metaphysics with melodrama, and that's all to the good. The setting is the immediate postwar era, where a burnt-out GI is goaded by an ex-Nazi to join a badly-assorted climbing team. It's all uphill from there.

Glenn Ford (he looks about fourteen) plays the veteran with his usual solidity. Alida Valli, needless to say, is worth seeing in anything. Claude Rains gives a nice turn as a tormented author, with a truly wild-eyed breakdown-on-the-glacier scene ("Is it good enough, Astrid?") But the casting gets interesting with the unique appearance of Oskar Homulka, beloved for decades of portrayals of either Gestapo or KGB thugs (he's lucky the Cold War lasted so long -- he couldn't have passed as an Arab) as a good guy, a rugged, stalwart guide. Balancing this oddity, the ex-SS villain is played by none other than Lloyd Bridges. And he's good, easily overcoming all memories of "Sea Hunt" and "Airplane!".

I have no idea who Tetzlaff was or if he ever made another flick, but he did a solid job with this one. "White Tower" is a perfect example of the kind of film that used to be dismissed as "product" which in retrospect stand head and shoulders above nine-tenths of what's made today. They were good back then, and it's pictures like this one that reveal exactly how good. While it'll never knock "Kane" off the ten-best lists, "White Tower" is worth your time. Track it down before Spielberg or somebody decides to throw together a remake. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

a star is born
This was John Garfield's first part in a film, and it made him an overnight star; the audience loved him, and he broke the mold of the leading man image, with his surly arrogance, and brooding look. The film also changes tone from a sweet family film, to a melodrama, when he makes his entrance 1/3 of the way into the plot. He plays a talented but down-and-out pianist, a man whose attitude makes him a perennial loser.

Based on a Cosmopolitan Magazine story, "Sister Act", by Fannie Hurst, and directed by Michael Curtiz, it features the lovely Lane sisters, Gale Page, and Claude Rains, as a musical family that also includes May Robson as the very amusing "Aunt Etta".
Priscilla Lane is the sister with the central part, as she is the one in the love triangle between Garfield, and Jeffery Lynn. Lynn is excellent, and had the looks that the movie studio thought would assure him stardom, but though he was in several fine films, seldom had top billing in them.

Nominated for the 1938 Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Garfield), Best Screenplay and Sound, it has a fine Max Steiner score, a few musical numbers, and wonderful performances. It is an entertaining classic which is sometimes touching, always charming, and a must for Garfield fans.

pre-Brando, pre-Dean, the 1st "rebel" = John Garfield
This was the first "Rebel Without a Cause" and it was released before World War II. "Four Daughters" came out in 1938. This was John Garfield's first movie role. When he first appears on screen, about one-third of the way into the film, the mood of this movie changes, big time. What was a light and simple movie becomes actually somewhat dark and even complex. Garfield creates a character on screen that captures your attention and keeps you guessing. The other key characters all seem to be living in a kind of fantasy world, the world of "Father Knows Best", while Garfield appears alone, dark and disconnected from everyone and living in the world we know today as film noir.

Clearly Brando, Dean, and those "rebels" that followed in the 1950's movies were copying the style, the mood, the look of John Garfield from this film. He was the first young movie "rebel" who is alone and searching for meaning in his life and having a tough time. What a surprise to find a dark character like this in a movie that starts off so happy and go-lucky.

Enjoy the film.

a great movie.
I very higholy recommend this one. Claude Raines plays the father of four daughters. It's romantic as well as dramatic. In my opinion John Garfield is the best in the film, and really makes the film worth seeing all the more. He plays a misunderstood and romantic composer.

A standout amongst the time period
So you start this movie thinking it's going to be another happy go lucky late 1930's flick with singing and romance. everything is going nicely, with everyone headed towards a predictable ending when all of a sudden, John Garfield shows up, exuding sex appeal and bringing in a character who seems awfully out of time, in a very good and interesting way. then you're watching a different movie. this flick is out of its genre, and what was an easily forgettable movie becomes something very different. Unfortunately, cooler heads prevail, and the young Lemp daughter, who followed her heart and ran off with Garfield's self loathing Mickey, returns to her safe home and the stable mediocre composer. Oh well. I love this movie anyway, for it's entertaining, if sometimes sad, story. A depression era picture in that it takes place in a happy town, with a happy family who are obviously not hit by hard financial times, (except for Mickey, but he's never had good luck anyway) and actually doing well. The story never gets too serious or realistic. Watch it for John Garfield. Some say he's the best part of the film (my view) or that he's the one thing that brings it all down, so there's a contraversy going on. Judge for yourself, or have a party and debate with friends. either way, the guy did go on to have a pretty excellent career, until he was labeled a communist and died prematurely of a heart attack. Check him out when he was new and different.

Three Lanes and A Page
Claude Rains stars as the father of four pretty, musically talented daughters who learn all about the complications of love. The Lane Sisters - Lola, Priscilla, and Rosemary, along with Gale Page, play the loving sisters. Of these, the non-Lane, Page, gives the best performance as the down-to-earth oldest sister, pursued by one man, but in love with another. It's a quiet, touching performance. The men in their lives are Jeffrey Lynn, Frank McHugh, Dick Foran, and John Garfield. Garfield is easily the standout among the boyfriends, his hardened-by-life musician a precursor to the Method actors of the Fifties. In a way, he clashes with the idealized family presentation and sweet goodness of this unbelievable family, yet it also helps to ground the film in reality. It is sentimental, but everyone performs earnestly and the music adds to the atmosphere. It's a very easy way to spend ninety minutes. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Adventure and Romance
ANTHONY ADVERSE is a good movie with lots of adventure and romance. It has a strong cast boasting some of the best actors from the pre-World War II era such as Fredric March, Olivia de Haviland, Claude Rains, Louis Hayward and Akim Tamiroff. Much is said about the miscasting of Fredric March but he looks suitable enough to me in the role of Anthony Adverse.

Gale Sondergaard collected an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The film also won Oscars for Cinematography, Score and Editing as well as Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Art Direction and Assistant Director (William Cannon).

Mervyn Leroy directed some classic movies including LITTLE CAESAR and MISTER ROBERTS. Although not quite in that same lofty category, ANTHONY ADVERSE certainly merited all of the awards and recognition it managed to garner in 1936. The main competition for Oscars in that year came from THE GREAT ZIEGFIELD, THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR and MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN.

A waste of talent and money
Everytime I cast a glance at an old copy of Hervey Allen's "Anthony Adverse" in my father's library I ask myself: to read or not to read? Now my question has been answered when this film was brodcast. At the start it looks very promising. Claude Rains enjoys himself in the role of a conceited nobleman. The peacock turns into a cuckold. He kills his rival in a duel and puts the fruit of his wife's sin away. Little Anthony Adverse grows up in a convent. Aged 10, the angel-faced boy serves an apprenticeship in his grandfather's household...Sounds like rollicking good fun a la "Tom Jones"? No chance: The boy grows up to become Fredric March. The actor was so annoyed at the habit of his studio to cast him mostly in historic parts that he wears the constant expression of a man so displeased with the dish they served him that he summoned the waiter to complain...We get to see Italy as imagined by a Hollywood art-director: neglected backyards with goats. His grandfather sends him to Havana. No time to marry his sweetheart Angela (Olivia de Havilland), and her farewell-letter is literally "gone with the wind".

Now comes the part of the film others may call "politically incorrect". I call it repellent: Anthony witnesses the whipping of a slave. He saves the priest who tried to prevent it. A "breach of etiquette" in the eyes of his new business-partners: slave-traders. Anthony himself becomes one. I feel it is my duty to warn parents who think that this is just a harmless old history film: the most repugnant scene shows the sale of human flesh - shot by the cameraman, in a flight of fancy, from between the spread legs of one of the victims. Anthony returns to Europe and finds Angela and their son. Angela has become a famous opera-singer and the mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte. Since a man of such impeccable character as Anthony can not marry a woman with a past she renounces her rights to the child who will follow the footsteps of his father...

Such a waste of talent and money! Such expensive sets for scenes that last no longer than one or two minutes...The film runs like a quick thumb through the novel. Needless to say, neither suspense nor empathy can evolve from this story. There is a sheet-anchor: the supporting cast. Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, Gale Sondergaard, Edmond Gwenn. But March's monotonous acting crushes the film. I'm glad to have seen it, though. I wasted just two hours of my life. Reading the novel might have cost me two weeks...

Astonishing Mentality in This "Classic"
I had looked forward to seeing this movie being a fan of nearly all of the cast but I was taken aback by some of the goings on here!! First the two leads are badly cast. Fredric March was almost forty and looked it yet he plays a teenager and very young man for much of the picture with a ridiculous blond wig (to "resemble" his mother) on top of everything. Olivia DeHavilland isn't believable at all as a poor Spanish girl. These are both wonderful actors and they try their best but still are wanting. The mentality of this picture is pretty amazing in 2003. One of March's "adventures" includes slave trading (!!) and despite concerned words from his priest friend this stint in his life is pretty much condoned.

The ending is jaw-dropping too (don't read this paragraph if you want to be surprised by the ending) with the villains unpunished and poor Olivia, forced into being a kept woman by her abandonment (kept by Napoleon no less!) turning down the chance to be permanently reunited with Fredric after a brief happy reunion so that Frederic won't have to have a "fallen woman" for a wife and plan that Freddy agrees with surprisingly fast considered how he has supposed to have been pining for her for years.

The supporting cast is excellent and there are two surprises. Warners starlet Anita Louise completely dominates the first 20 minutes of the movie and she is excellent. Anita was usually cast in throwaway second lead parts. And then there is the magnificent character actress Gale Sondergaard. She won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this picture and I really looked forward to seeing her in it. What a shock to see her part is a small bit of no real consequence and in no way a showcase for her talents. She certainly deserved the award for other films but this is hardly one of her best performances.

That ending to the March/DeHavilland match really floored me and I would have liked this picture a lot better had the movie had as much sympathy to Mrs. Adverse's plight as it did to Mr. Adverse.

Anthony Adverse
I basically agree with other critics that this is a beautifully constructed film. Some "modern" directors would do well to study it carefully. It does something that most films do not do today, it entertains. The story has already been outlined by previous reviewers so I will not repeat it. However, one thing has not been mentioned and that is the wonderful black and white photography. It was made at a time when black and white had just about gone as far as it could go. I should also mention the music. It is simply superb and adds immensely to the telling of the story.
I agree that Fredric March was a little too old but he was such
a great actor that it is very soon overlooked. I have seen this film at least 5 times and shall probably view it many more times.

The substance of a soul
Movie based on the blockbuster epic by Hervey Allen. Tells the story of Anthony Adverse, so named because he is a child of adverse circumstances, the product of an illicit union between Denis Moore, a handsome young cavalry officer, and Maria, the beautiful teenage bride of Don Luis, a cunning, middle-age Spanish nobleman. When Don Luis discovers Maria is pregnant he knows it cannot be his since he has just recovered from painful gout which prevented consummation of their recent marriage. Maria is whisked to the Alps, but enroute at an inn/tavern they are intercepted by Denis, who has been in hot pursuit of his ladylove, whom he has promised to take to America and marry. A confrontation between the two men occurs and Denis dies in the duel that follows. Witnessing the demise of her lover, Maria becomes mentally catatonic; Don Luis delivers her to the Alps, where she dies in childbirth. So lies the unfortunate and scandalous beginnings from which Anthony first comes into this world. Nevertheless, his tragic yet romantic origins are more than matched by the eventful life which awaits him--raised and spiritually nurtured at a convent in Italy where a Father educates and enlightens him; a grand romance with Angela Giuseppe, his great love whom he loves and then loses only to find again to have to sadly give her up; a job with an international shipping firm which takes him from continent to continent and introduces him to several people who greatly impact his life and being. One of the most disturbing yet fascinating aspect is the moral dilemmas Anthony faces while in Africa--everything from slavery to colonialism, animal lust for a seductive native to his "pure" love for Angela, morality and humanity to the meaning of life. The other fascinating aspect deals with the esoteric and universal question of "who am I?" in Anthony's heartrending search for his identity, but is left unresolved since he never discovers his origins and sails off to America with his recently-discovered son by Angela to start a new life, the way Denis, had fate not intervened, planned to do with the pregnant Maria decades before.

I thought the casting was somewhat off: Fredric March seemed a little too old and sedate for the restless, adventurous Adverse (Errol Flynn could have played him well with his persona and background and given he was a Warner Bros. contractee) and Olivia de Havilland in an underdeveloped part is too delicately lovely and wholesome to embody Angela's ways and robust Italian beauty. However, both were skilled enough to be convincing. Claude Rains was terrific as usual as the callous Don Luis, and Louis Hayward as Denis and Anita Louise as Maria were their one-dimensional, usual bland selves in their limited roles. An engrossing film with just one hitch: you'd better read the book after, not before, if you plan to and haven't done so already since the movie captures just a hint of the novel's breadth and depth. Believe it or not, this is just a brief summation--Jack Warner once said about this book, "Read it? Hell, I can't even lift it!" I also thought that instead of the movie ending with Anthony sailing off to the New World, it could've been a far more mesmerizing tale if it had continued on with his experiences once there to his abrupt, tragic death still never knowing his origins, as in the book. ... Read more

Reviews (359)

Even After So Much Time Has Gone By
Only Citizen Kane was ranked higher when the American Film Institute announced its list of "America's Greatest Movies." (The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, and Lawrence of Arabia complete the top five.) My own opinion is that AFI ranked Casablanca higher than it deserves. Nonetheless, the film remains immensely popular among critics and film historians as well as so-called movie buffs. It received an Academy Award as best film in 1943, as did Michael Curtiz for directing it. Bogart and Bergman are joined by an especially strong supporting cast (notably Greenstreet, Henreid, Lorre, Rains, and Veidt). There really isn't much to the plot but the dialogue is first-rate. (Philip Epstein, Julius Epstein, and Howard W. Koch shared an Oscar for best screenplay.) It is tempting to over-analyze this film by, for example, devoting excessive attention to American versus European sensibilities during World War II, the conflict between what Rick and Ilsa want to do with what they think they ought to do, etc.

Obviously, the war in progress outside of Rick's cafe cannot be denied although he makes every effort to insulate himself and his clientele from it. There is no shortage of social and political issues and yet, in my opinion, the significance of the film -- and its enduring appeal -- is explained by the development of the relationship between Rick and Ilsa. The final resolution is necessarily somewhat ambiguous, I think, precisely because the relationship between two people in war time faces quite different challenges, obligations, and implications than it would otherwise. Ultimately, having recently seen this film again in a special edition, accompanied by an abundance of supplementary features (e.g. Roger Ebert's commentary, Lauren Bacall's Introduction, and about ten minutes of additional scenes and out takes), I think the film now has a special symbolic significance which could not have been evident when it was released in 1942. More specifically, it somehow dramatizes what so many of us also struggle with when seeking a balance of obligations to ourselves and to others as well as to certain values which sustain the human race, especially during crises which threaten its survival. Perhaps I make too much of this film but these are among the reasons why it continues to hold special meaning for me.

Rounding Up the Usual Suspects
(To the reader: This review is about the original MGM DVD release and NOT about the 2-disc edition just released.)

Casablanca!

The very name conjures up an exotic mix of adventure, intrigue, heroism, selfless sacrifice, and romance. Hear the title of this 1942 Best Picture winner and your memory will provide you with images of Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Dooley Wilson, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains. Or maybe you'll hear snatches of Max Steiner's unforgettable score, with its interpolation of Herman Hupfeld's "As Time Goes By" and the stirring strains of "The Marsellaise."

Based on the stage play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" by Murray Burnett and Joan Allison, the movie tells a dramatic story of refugees fleeing from wartorn Europe and making a perilous trip to Casablanca in French Morocco. It is December 1941 and that French colony is under the control of "unoccupied France." Ostensibly neutral in World War II, Vichy France is nevertheless a German vassal state, as the arrival of Major Strasser (Conrad Veldt) clearly demonstrates.

Strasser's mission in Casablanca: to stop Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo (Henreid) from obtaining one of two exit visas stolen from two murdered German couriers and escaping from the Gestapo. Having tracked the defiant Laszlo after his escape from a Nazi concentration camp, Strasser is determined to capture the symbol of anti-Nazi resistance once and for all.

Accompanying Laszlo is the beautiful Ilsa Lund (Bergman), a young Norweigan student whom he married in secret before he was captured by the Gestapo in 1940. Devoted to her husband and his great cause, Ilsa has been at his side since Laszlo's miraculous escape and sudden reappearance in Paris.

Unbeknownst to Laszlo, however, his fate will now rest in the hands of American saloonkeeper Rick Blaine (Bogart). In the months following Victor's escape from the concentration camp he was reported as "presumed dead." In loneliness and despair, the grieving Ilsa met and fell in love with Rick in Paris shortly before the German occupation began. For a brief time the lovers were together, only to tragically part ways when news of Laszlo's return reached Ilsa.

Now, in the eve of America's entry into World War II, Victor Laszlo's fate hangs on the conflicting emotions felt by both Rick and Ilsa, as well as the shifting loyalties of French police Capt. Louis Renault (Rains).

The screenplay by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch is a wonderful mixture of romance, intrigue, drama and comedy (the latter provided both by colorful characters and witty exchanges). Director Michael Curtiz and producer Hal B. Wallis made Casablanca as one of many movies produced in 1942, never knowing that it would become a classic of Hollywood's Golden Era.

"As Time Goes By" This Is The Best Film You'll Ever See
From the first frame of "Casablanca" you know you are about to watch something special. There is not a moment in the film where you will find yourself bored or overwhelmed. It is perfect in every way. I have seen many films in my time and I am only 17. I have an extensive collection of over 180 DVDs and this is by far my most prized. I saw this film for the first time exactly one year ago and purchased this Two-Disc Special Edition the day it came out. Not a day goes by when this film does not pop into my mind.

There are many movies but very few great films. The few include Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, The Godfather, and, of course, the rarely seen Imitation of Life. This is at the head of those. It is at the head of all films.

"Casablanca" is about Rick (Humphrey Bogart), the owner of an American bar in Morroco, who is visited by Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the object of a love affair in Paris a few years earlier. She is accompanied by her husband (Paul Heinreid) who knows nothing of this but is only interested in acheiving two exit visas because they are both wanted. What follows is the most romantic and thrilling film of all time.

The DVD transfer is nothing short of miraculous. The film looks like it had been filmed today in B & W. Even the mono soundtrack sounds breathtaking. The DVD does not shy away from some amazing special features. I don't want to spoil them but anyone will find them interesting. I promise you this is one of the finest DVD packages on the market.

So go out now and buy the film that recieved three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay; the film that was called the Second Greatest Film of All Time on the AFI's 100 Best List (it's second to Citizen Kane); and also called the Most Romantic Film of All Time by the AFI's 100 Most Romantic Films.

"Play it again, Sam."

Best Gin Joint in the world!
Simply the best movie ever made.
Bogie at his best, Bergman as always splendid! Add in a wonderful supporting cast headed by Peter Lorre, and the result is the perfect bittersweet love story. A must have for any Bogart fan, and a must see for everyone!

Black & White For A Reason
Ah, kids today. "Man, it's crap if there's no color to assist my info-ladened cranium!" Get a life. It's "Casablanca", for God's sake. It NEEDS to stay in B&W format. And, might I say, this film is a cult classic for more reasons than just minimalist acting. Dialogue: Heard of it, kids? It's what actors used to do instead of blowing (...)up or flying through the air in front of a blue screen. I love my DVD of "Casablanca", and cherish the fact that I don't have to rewind a tape to get to some of my favorite quotes. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A must-see for anyone wanting to understand Mexican History
Every time I view this beautifully done movie, "Juarez" I find something different and more tragically romantic about this period of Mexican History. The cast represents a true Pantheon of Hollywood stars of the time, Claude Raines, Betty Davis, Paul Muni and John Garfield just to mention a few. All the power of fiction couldn't dream up such a tale of the poor Indian boy Benito Juarez becoming El Presidente, fighting for all the good things Mexico needed only to be foiled by deception in his own camp. If that isn't drama enough, his opposition, Maximillian, the Hapsburg Prince duped by Louis Napoleon III of France into believing the Mexican populace wanted him to be the Mexican Emperor is portrayed as a caring individual rather than an arrogant crowned-airhead. He is deeply in love with his wife Charlotta and even opts to adopt a young Mexican boy to succeed him as Emperor when he finds that his beloved Charlotta is unable to have a child of their own. Much of the intrique and action is portrayed against the back drop of beautiful Mexican music, mainly the haunting melody-"La Paloma." Alas, as history bears out Juarez is only partially successful and Max and Charlotta meet with different fates. If you're sick of horror flicks and other thin story lines now masqerading as movies perhaps, this movie, old though it is with its great music, real acting and a genuine, exciting story is just what the doctor ordered.

Hollywood's version of the fight for Mexican independence
This historical drama, directed in 1939 by William Dieterle, tells the tale of Mexican Independence in terms of a political soap opera. Napoleon III (Claude Rains) appoints Maximilian von Habburg (Brian Ahenre) to be Emperor of Mexico. However, Maximilian and his wife Carlotta (Bette Davis) discover they face bitter opposition from the Mexican people, who obviously want the democratic government their President, Benito Juarez (Paul Muni) has been trying to establish. Maximilian is sympathetic, but the day he and his wife adopt a Mexican child as a sign of their good faith, the exiled Juarez has a French munitions supply destroyed. In response, the Emperor signs a decree that allows the government to execute anyone committing acts of agression against the French authority. When President Lincoln lends money to the Juarez cause and asks Napoleon to withdraw French troops with Mexico, Maximilian realizes he is just a political pawn in a tragedy that has to be played out.

"Juarez" is a pretentious film, weighed down by all the history it is trying to impact, that does have several good moments in terms of the performances, most notably when Carlotta begs Napoleon for aid and then descends into madness. Davis provides a nice understated performance, while Muni is excellent and always and Aherne turns in a credible performance as the doomed Emperor. The end result is quite reminiscent of "Nicholas and Alexandra," the tragic tale of a somewhat enlightened monarch caught up in historical forces moving much too fast. John Garfield, Donald Grips, Gilbert Roland, Louis Calhern and Gale Sondergaard round out the excellent ensemble. "Juarez" was based in part on the play "Juarez and Maximilian" by Franz Werfel and Bertita Harding's book "The Phantom Crown."

A Great Film
This hollywood classic stays pretty close to the history for a change. In clear B&W this film has all the little touches of 1930s productions, but considering its time period it is pretty heavy as far as the history is concerned. This is no light weight "Gone With the Wind" set in Mexico. Betty Davis as Carlotta, who was actually a Belgium princess married to Maximillian, is great. This is a real substantial, historical role for her to play for a change. The way she lets lose at the end at Napolean III, played brilliantly by Claude Reines is classic. Her dovation to her doomed husband is accurately played, showing the mental unbalance that later overcame Carlotta at the end.

Louis Napolean's adventure in Mexico was typical of the politics of the parveneau emperor. With all the show, but none of the talents of his great grandfather, Louis Napolean soon embroiled France in a conflict that resembled the Iberian Peninsular of 1808. Another debacle where the French had to contned with a People's Movement. Marshall Achille Bezaine, shown briefly in the film, could never completely conquer the Juaristas. There were some famous actions in this conflict, including the celebrated stand by a handful of French Foreign Legion against three thousand Mexicans at Camerone. But such heroics were not enough to win the land for an imported Hapsburg monarch via France. Paul Muni plays a grim and determined Juarez. His portrayal is not that far off from the truth. For a big budget Hollywood epic this movie gets itself into some pretty weighty issues, such as the inner Mexican conflicts between natives and those of imported Spanish blood, and the loyalties of some of Maximillan's officers, including the native born Tomas, who all came to grief in the end.

While some events may be condensed to fit a 2 hr movie, this production gets high marks for being as truthful as possible. This is no boring historical epic, the action is pretty non-stop. The character of Maximillan himself is brilliantly played. A decent man who got himself mixed up in bad politics. Even to this day Mexicans may hate the circumstances that brought him to their country, but they remain sympathetic to the man himself. Those wanting a big budget classic from the 1930s, with some fine acting and good historical content should find a happy marriage between all three here.

A Great film! Bette Davis viva!!
Juarez features Bette Davis as the Empress Carlotta, who, with her husband, Maximillian, assume monarchial status in Mexico and incur the wrath of Juarez, who has Maximilian killed. Bette tries to save her husband by going to the King of France and this portion of the film is not to be misssed. She storms Claude Rains as the King, and she withers him with her words, and then goes mad, and with such conviuction. The images of Davis careening down corridors of blackness screaming are not to be forgotten. Never mind the camp of Paul Muni as JUarez, it's all Bette Davis, and there are a thousand lessons in screen acting here.

Buy this video now.

Typically bizarre Hollywood history
This movie really should have been called CARLOTTA AND MAXIMILIAN, because the doomy erstwhile emperor and empress get far more screentime than Juarez in this insane Hollywood concoction. Puppet emperors always make for interesting film stories (as in Bertolucci's THE LAST EMPEROR), but the Manichaean demands of classic Hollywood made Warner Brothers realize that no matter how much screen time they'd give to Bette Davis and Brian Aherne as the Hapsburg couple they could never sell them as heroes. So, they recruited Paul Muni, the studio's favorite portrayer of noble biopic subjects, as the glum President Beinto Juarez, and two of Hollwyood's most recognizable essayers of villainous roles, Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard, to wear the black hats as Napoleon III and his empress Eugenie (Sondergaard is so archly evil she may as well be preparing to play the Spider Woman).

Muni doesn't make much of an impression plodding around impassively as Juarez, and with his stony facial expression the screenwriters and director clearly decided they'd better do **something** to remind the audience he was playing the good guy. So, Muni is always photographed in front of pictures of Abraham Lincoln (to remind viewers he's the republican). Aherne and Davis fare much better as the tragic Hapsburgs, and the film does have one great scene when Davis has to go to France to plead Naopeon and Eugenie for support and goes mad before their very eyes. Though you'd never guess it from the film's general free-and-easy approach to history, this scene actually happened in real life, and the dialogue in the scene pretty much follows the historical record--and there's a great visual touch when Davis, convinced the Bonapartes are trying to poison her, runs out of into the Tuileries gardens as if possessed into the night, her beautiful silver silk traveling dress billowing like a cloud around her as she shrinks into the blackness of the night (and her madness). But this, and the film's lovely use of "La Paloma" as a recurrent musical theme, are hardly enough to sustain you through the longeurs of Muni stalking around like a zombie. ... Read more

Description

Humphrey Bogart reunites with director Michael Curtiz and other key Casablanca personnel (Including co-stars Claude Rains, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet) for a tension-swept Passage to Marseille. Bogart plays Jean Matrac, a World War II French patriot who escapes Devil's Island, survives a dangerous freighter voyage and becomes a gunner in the Free French Air Corps.

Passage sailed into theaters on stormy seas. Controversy surrounded the scene in which Matrac machine-guns the helpless survivors of a downed plane that had attacked the freighter. That a soldier of freedom (one played by Bogart, no less!) would act ignobly brought protests from religious and censorship groups. But, like Matrac facing a strafing dive-bomber, the studio held its ground. War could even dehumanize a hero. Domestic prints would remain uncut. Year: 1944Director: Michael Curtiz Starring:Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michelle Morgan, Philip Dorn, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre Special Feature: Original Theatrical Trailer

B&W/110 Mins. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

They don't make movies like this anymore!
Ever since Casablanca, this movie made in its wake was considered a disappointment, but I enjoyed it just as much, if not better! I'm not a particular Bogart fan, but I really liked him in this movie...his role befits him: hardened, determined, yet with deep passion in spite of his steely exterior. During the film, his life takes several turns: as a newspaper printer, a hard labor prisoner, a refuge on a French military ship, and a hero for France. He loves his wife, and he loves his country, and in spite of the injustice he suffered in France, he vows to fight against the Nazis to save her.

The first few minutes of the film in which there is a lot of talk is somewhat dull, but then we are launched into the telling of the adventures and dangers of sentenced men escaping from French Guyana in a little boat provided by another older prisoner, who gives up his own escape to allow the few younger men the room in the boat, and a chance to fight for France. There is plenty of adventure, and some sweet romance which our hero has with his wife, and a touching ending.

Is the movie unrealistic? Is it melodramatic? Is it wartime propaganda? Maybe to some people, but I loved it!

A Hidden Jewel
Great character actors doing what they did best - - ACT. No pretty boys; just superb acting and character development. A wonderful investment of your time.

Another look at Bogey
The movie promises all the action you can stand but it was
not what I was lead to believe. I will say that this would be
a very good added VHS to someones Bogey collection. All in
all a not bad.

Worth seeing, but not Casablanca by a long shot....
Any film that reunites the Casablanca leads (minus Ingrid Begman and Conrad Veidt)is worth seeing, and on this front this movie is not a disappointment. The familiar faces from Ricks Cafe Americain are all great in unfamiliar roles, and the story-telling here is engaging. Sydney Greenstreet is particularly good (if not appealing) as a pompous, French nationalist with a fascistic streak, and Bogart plays the embittered romantic well. Peter Lorre oozes unctuous charm, even though you wouldn't want his character to date your sister. And other cast members effectively draw the audience into the war time drama.

The downside with this movie is that it is clearly a piece of war-time jingoism--far more so than Casablanca. The propagandistic angles help make the movie a curiosity, but they also detract from the film's entertainment/artistic value. Looking backward from the early 21st century, the characters' musings about their "beloved France" are idealized and embarassingly mawkish. Are we really supposed to believe that prisoners sent to a work camp as horrible as Guyana is depicted would get so teary eyed about returning to serve the country that wronged them? Highly doubtful. Nonetheless, the convicts here wallow in praise of La France, and we repeatedly hear the Marsellaise in the score, reminding us of France's glory and how loyalty to France transcends the inhumanity of the penal colony and all past wrongs done to our protagonists. Yeah, yeah, only in wartime Hollywood.....

The scenes involving Bogart's girlfriend/wife and son border on the saccharine; they are too romantic, too patriotic, and too cloying. And the final letter to Bogart's son, read aloud on a cliff littered with soldiers' graves, is embarassing to watch for a peace time audience. (The cynic in me suspects that the scenes dealing with Bogart's private life were added in order to bring a female audience into an otherwise tough-guy movie.)

The generation that lived through and fought WWII may find this film's romantic patriotism appropriate. Others, however, may enjoy the movie's drama but cringe and shrug-off the flag waving as a period piece oddity.

PS--Check out Across the Pacific, a film that reunites the Maltese Falcon leads---Bogart, Greenstreet, and Mary Astor.

Casablanca for the tough-as-nails set...
I'll admit, I wasn't expecting much from this film when I saw it. I checked it out because it reunites the core crew of Casablanca; Michael Curtiz back as director, Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre and Syndey Greenstreet all come back to a World War II movie that once again doesn't take place on any battlefields or any locations of infamy. The thing is, this movie is so great that you'll wonder for a moment if it can really be this good, if they could possibly re-create the magic of Casablanca, but do it in such a completely different, but altogether touching way.

They did. This movie is 5 movies all packed into one. The story of the french patriots and how they got put on Devil's Island, how they escaped to go fight for their country, their run-in and interaction with a french ship filled with military out to expose them and send them back, and their fight against the Germans. It's a mirror aimed at a mirror, because one story inevitably bleeds into another into another into another and the sheer courage of such complex screenwriting and confident directing is one of the many reasons to seek this out.

This movie also has heart. The story of Bogart's love affair with both France and his wife and son is just as powerful as the French struggle to fight the Germans and regain their homeland. From the first frame to the last, it's a film riddled with emotions and real characters with actual hearts and joy and sorrow and triumph. Plus, there is a ton of action, from machine-guns against airplanes to escaping from treacherous jungles to air-raids against the enemy.

Enough cannot be said about this extremely underrated classic. Bogart fans and Casablanca fans alike will be kicking themselves that they've gone so long without experiencing this almost essential companion piece to the film widely-regarded (and rightly so) as a classic of filmmaking and storytelling. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Five years after Captain Blood made him a swashbuckling star, Errol Flynn returned to the high seas as privateer Captain Thorpe in The Sea Hawk. Flynn plays the dashing gentleman pirate as dedicated patriot, looting Spanish ships for English coffers with the private blessing of Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson, reprising the role from Fire over England). The film opens with a rousing sea battle: broadside cannon fire sends masts falling and splinters a-flying before Flynn's men take their Spanish quarry in a furious shipboard cutlass battle. The fearless fighter becomes a stumbling schoolboy when he falls for the Spanish ambassador's niece, but he's back in his element when he sails to the New World for treasure and lands in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. Big-eyed beauty Brenda Marshall stands in for Flynn's usual love interest Olivia de Havilland, and the film misses the latter's sass and spirit, but it's a minor shortcoming. Claude Rains plays his usual smoothly conniving villain, and hearty Alan Hale returns as Flynn's loyal sidekick. Michael Curtiz proves once again why he was Warner Brothers' top director with a handsome, action-packed film that mixes intrigue and suspense with grand set pieces, concluding with a rousing series of escapes, chases, and a runaway sword fight. Classic Hollywood swashbuckling at its best. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Right up there with the top 10!
This movie has to be seen to be believed. It's an absolutely fabulous film. Director Michael Curtiz is, in my opinion, one of the great storytellers of all time. (After all, he directed "Casablanca" only two years after "The Sea Hawk.") This is a film unencumbered by flashback sequences and neurotic characters. At the same time, the characters are rich and complicated, all of them caught in an escalating war between England and Spain. These were symbolic when the film was made for the Allies and the Nazis, and you can almost feel the actors' intensity over their uncertainty of the future, and Erich Korngold's music is probably his masterpiece in conveying not only chivalry and heroism, but an extraordinary longing for freedom and release from political aggression.

Like the other reviewers have noted, Errol Flynn is at his best. The cast is generally superb, although I would have cast something closer to a real Spaniard for Don Alvarez instead of - again! - Claude Rains. As a Spaniard, he should at least have tempered his British accent. Flora Robson as Queen Elizabeth I is simply the best Elizabeth I have ever seen on film. (Sorry Bette Davis and Judi Dench.)

This film is not only thrilling, dashing, and heartwarming, it is really "about" something. And since September of 2001, this film has suddenly taken on yet a new meaning for our own time.

I am holding my breath for a DVD of this soon?? And please, be careful with the sound transfer. The music for this film is one of the finest film scores ever composed.

FLYNN IN HIS ELEMENT
An English privateer learns the Spanish are going to invade England with their Armada....Even without the benefit of Olivia de Havilland and Technicolor, this is a prime Errol Flynn outing. After CAPTAIN BLOOD proved to be such a gold mine, Warner Bros. put writer Delmer Daves to work adapting another Rafael Sabatini novel THE SEA HAWK; it ranks as one of Flynn's best all-round films, and remains a beautiful picture to see and hear. The 1.7 million dollar budget was lavish by 1940 standards; an enormous new sound stage was inaugurated for the film. Two newly built full-scale ships - one 165' long, the other 135' - both surrounded by 12 feet of water (!) helped make the opening of the movie an amazing, crammed-with-detail piece of filmmaking. The musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold was his last for an historical pageant and one of his best; his score splendidly captures the "sweep and roll" of 16th century ships. It's interesting to compare Flora Robson's interpretation of Queen Elizabeth I to Bette Davis's. Both are intelligent and convincing, but Robson conveys level-headedness with flashes of temper while Davis (in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, which she made with Flynn one year prior) projects distinctly neurotic and indecisive aspects of her character. Flynn's performance is good and believable; he chose a relatively quiet, restrained delivery here and he was at the apex of his career both looks and performance-wise. The term was "sea dogs" was conveniently changed to "sea hawks", thereby refuting history and confusing Sabatini buffs, but giving a 'raison d'etre' to the saleable and dramatic title the studio decided to retain. Available colorized, which is advantageous for some, and an affront to others.

One of the great swashbuckler films
A REVIEW BY NICK EVANGELISTA:
The Sea Hawk is one of the great swashbuckler films of all time. Errol Fylnn was in top form for the movie. The fencing is a joy to watch. As the author of The Encyclopdia of the Sword and The Art and Science of Fencing, and the publisher of Fencers Quarterly Magazine, I recommend it highly.

Fabulous High Seas Adventure
This movie deserves 5 stars and so I had to vote. Great adventure, message, and appropriate for children. The action and story is awesome.

Stunning Errol Flynn Adventure On The High Seas
"The Sea Hawk" is the definitive swashbuckling tale and captures legendary actor Errol Flynn at his most dynamic. He was an actor born for these type of romantic action roles as seen in the earlier classics "Captain Blood", and "The Adventures of Robin Hood". This film reveals Flynn in a tailor made role when he was at the peak of his physical fitness, and athletic prowess and he brings a new maturity and depth to his character here after 5 years of top stardom at Warner Brothers. "The Sea Hawk", is everything a good high seas adventure should be with eye filling adventure, exotic locations, romance, dashes of intrigue and superb swordplay.

With the the huge box office returns Warner's got for "Captain Blood", it was certain that Errol Flynn would be the natural choice to head any future productions of lavish pirate tales being filmed by the studio. That encore came along in another adventure story written by Rafael Sabatini "The Sea Hawk",which Warner's planned as one of their most lavish productions for 1940. Discarding most of the original novel writers Koch and Miller fashioned an exciting and beautiful screenplay that worked wonderfully on screen. "The Sea Hawk", tells the story of British Privateer Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn), who with secret backing from Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson), sets out on many voyages designed to harrass the Spanish Empire while enriching the British treasury with plunder from the Spanish Galleons that Thorpe raids on their way back from the New World. An adventure of a different sort confronts Thorpe when he inadvertently captures a Spanish ship that happens to be carrying the new Spanish Ambassador Don Jose Alvarez de Cordoba (Claude Rains),and his niece Dona Maria (Brenda Marshall) to England. What initially starts out as outrage at the injustice done to her by Dona Maria slowly turns to love as she sees Thorpe's humane side in rescueing the unfortunate slaves from the Spanish ship's galleys and in seeing to her comfort on the journey to England. Once in England after a superficial reprimand from the secretly pleased queen for the benefit of her Spanish guests, Thorpe and the other Sea Hawks press her about the seriousness of King Phillip of Spain's threat to England's security with the mighty Armada he is planning. Capt. Thorpe plans to attack the Spanish before they are ready to sail and with the Queen Elizabeth's un-official blessing secretly plans a voyage to the Carribean to raid more Spanish vessels to get more gold to help build England's defense fleet. He however doesn't count on English spy Lord Wolfingham who by underhanded means finds out about the voyage and warns the Spanish Ambassador of Thorpe's intent. Once the privateers are in Panama they are ambushed by the Spanish in a trap and sentenced to life imprisonment as galley slaves. All seems lost until Thorpe and his men orchestrate an escape plan which sees them get back to England. Aware that the Queen has been forced to put an arrest order on all Sea Hawks in England, Capt. Thorpe literally fights his way room by room to get to the Queen along the way duelling to the death with his enemy the traitorous Lord Wolfingham. Pardoned by the Queen the preparations to defend England from the growing threat of the Armada are put into place beginning with a rousing speech by the Queen about the need for the nation to be united as one in times of adversity.

"The Sea Hawk", is a stunning "A" class production despite it's strange absence of colour photography. It contains great work by Errol Flynn who is in turn rogueish and athletic on the high seas and then refined and subdued in the romantic and court scenes. The supporting cast is headed by "Flynn regular", Alan Hale in the role of Thorpe's offsider in adventure Mr. Pitt, and the lovely Brenda Marshall as Dona Maria who has just the right dark icy beauty to be perfect as the upright noblewoman who is melted by love for Capt. Thorpe. Claude Rains lends his usual excellent suport to the role of the Spanish Ambassador and Henry Daniell steals ever scene he is in as the traitor Lord Wolfingham. Flora Robson in a great performance also lends impressive support in the smaller role of Queen Elizabeth and delivers a totally convincing and balanced interpretation of this famous woman, at times stern and authoritian and at others almost playful and very human in her dealings with Thorpe. The "Sea Hawk", production christened the huge new sound stage at Warner's built to accomodate this huge production and two full sized galleons were constructed for the sea bound action scenes. With a huge budget of almost 2 million dollars the costumes, sets, and attention to historical detail are unsurpassed. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's sweeping Academy Award nominated musical score is one of the best in his distinguished career and really enhances the overall impact of the story. The recently restored "Sepia " sequence is also a highlight during the Panama scenes and it's murky quality really lends atmosphere to the hot swamp scenes when the men are being pursued by the Spainards and are dying of fatigue.

For all lovers of swashbuckling adventures you need go no further than the Michael Curtiz directed pirate classic "The Sea Hawk". This film is certainly what the legend of Errol Flynn is all about and his obvious appeal to movie goers is very evident in his powerful screen charisma here. Many copies of "The Sea Hawk", have been made but none come close to it in great story telling, lively performances and beautiful production values. "The Sea Hawk", is classic Hollywood at its very best and is esential viewing for all classic movie lovers. ... Read more

Reviews (359)

Even After So Much Time Has Gone By
Only Citizen Kane was ranked higher when the American Film Institute announced its list of "America's Greatest Movies." (The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, and Lawrence of Arabia complete the top five.) My own opinion is that AFI ranked Casablanca higher than it deserves. Nonetheless, the film remains immensely popular among critics and film historians as well as so-called movie buffs. It received an Academy Award as best film in 1943, as did Michael Curtiz for directing it. Bogart and Bergman are joined by an especially strong supporting cast (notably Greenstreet, Henreid, Lorre, Rains, and Veidt). There really isn't much to the plot but the dialogue is first-rate. (Philip Epstein, Julius Epstein, and Howard W. Koch shared an Oscar for best screenplay.) It is tempting to over-analyze this film by, for example, devoting excessive attention to American versus European sensibilities during World War II, the conflict between what Rick and Ilsa want to do with what they think they ought to do, etc.

Obviously, the war in progress outside of Rick's cafe cannot be denied although he makes every effort to insulate himself and his clientele from it. There is no shortage of social and political issues and yet, in my opinion, the significance of the film -- and its enduring appeal -- is explained by the development of the relationship between Rick and Ilsa. The final resolution is necessarily somewhat ambiguous, I think, precisely because the relationship between two people in war time faces quite different challenges, obligations, and implications than it would otherwise. Ultimately, having recently seen this film again in a special edition, accompanied by an abundance of supplementary features (e.g. Roger Ebert's commentary, Lauren Bacall's Introduction, and about ten minutes of additional scenes and out takes), I think the film now has a special symbolic significance which could not have been evident when it was released in 1942. More specifically, it somehow dramatizes what so many of us also struggle with when seeking a balance of obligations to ourselves and to others as well as to certain values which sustain the human race, especially during crises which threaten its survival. Perhaps I make too much of this film but these are among the reasons why it continues to hold special meaning for me.

Rounding Up the Usual Suspects
(To the reader: This review is about the original MGM DVD release and NOT about the 2-disc edition just released.)

Casablanca!

The very name conjures up an exotic mix of adventure, intrigue, heroism, selfless sacrifice, and romance. Hear the title of this 1942 Best Picture winner and your memory will provide you with images of Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Dooley Wilson, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains. Or maybe you'll hear snatches of Max Steiner's unforgettable score, with its interpolation of Herman Hupfeld's "As Time Goes By" and the stirring strains of "The Marsellaise."

Based on the stage play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" by Murray Burnett and Joan Allison, the movie tells a dramatic story of refugees fleeing from wartorn Europe and making a perilous trip to Casablanca in French Morocco. It is December 1941 and that French colony is under the control of "unoccupied France." Ostensibly neutral in World War II, Vichy France is nevertheless a German vassal state, as the arrival of Major Strasser (Conrad Veldt) clearly demonstrates.

Strasser's mission in Casablanca: to stop Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo (Henreid) from obtaining one of two exit visas stolen from two murdered German couriers and escaping from the Gestapo. Having tracked the defiant Laszlo after his escape from a Nazi concentration camp, Strasser is determined to capture the symbol of anti-Nazi resistance once and for all.

Accompanying Laszlo is the beautiful Ilsa Lund (Bergman), a young Norweigan student whom he married in secret before he was captured by the Gestapo in 1940. Devoted to her husband and his great cause, Ilsa has been at his side since Laszlo's miraculous escape and sudden reappearance in Paris.

Unbeknownst to Laszlo, however, his fate will now rest in the hands of American saloonkeeper Rick Blaine (Bogart). In the months following Victor's escape from the concentration camp he was reported as "presumed dead." In loneliness and despair, the grieving Ilsa met and fell in love with Rick in Paris shortly before the German occupation began. For a brief time the lovers were together, only to tragically part ways when news of Laszlo's return reached Ilsa.

Now, in the eve of America's entry into World War II, Victor Laszlo's fate hangs on the conflicting emotions felt by both Rick and Ilsa, as well as the shifting loyalties of French police Capt. Louis Renault (Rains).

The screenplay by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch is a wonderful mixture of romance, intrigue, drama and comedy (the latter provided both by colorful characters and witty exchanges). Director Michael Curtiz and producer Hal B. Wallis made Casablanca as one of many movies produced in 1942, never knowing that it would become a classic of Hollywood's Golden Era.

"As Time Goes By" This Is The Best Film You'll Ever See
From the first frame of "Casablanca" you know you are about to watch something special. There is not a moment in the film where you will find yourself bored or overwhelmed. It is perfect in every way. I have seen many films in my time and I am only 17. I have an extensive collection of over 180 DVDs and this is by far my most prized. I saw this film for the first time exactly one year ago and purchased this Two-Disc Special Edition the day it came out. Not a day goes by when this film does not pop into my mind.

There are many movies but very few great films. The few include Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, The Godfather, and, of course, the rarely seen Imitation of Life. This is at the head of those. It is at the head of all films.

"Casablanca" is about Rick (Humphrey Bogart), the owner of an American bar in Morroco, who is visited by Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the object of a love affair in Paris a few years earlier. She is accompanied by her husband (Paul Heinreid) who knows nothing of this but is only interested in acheiving two exit visas because they are both wanted. What follows is the most romantic and thrilling film of all time.

The DVD transfer is nothing short of miraculous. The film looks like it had been filmed today in B & W. Even the mono soundtrack sounds breathtaking. The DVD does not shy away from some amazing special features. I don't want to spoil them but anyone will find them interesting. I promise you this is one of the finest DVD packages on the market.

So go out now and buy the film that recieved three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay; the film that was called the Second Greatest Film of All Time on the AFI's 100 Best List (it's second to Citizen Kane); and also called the Most Romantic Film of All Time by the AFI's 100 Most Romantic Films.

"Play it again, Sam."

Best Gin Joint in the world!
Simply the best movie ever made.
Bogie at his best, Bergman as always splendid! Add in a wonderful supporting cast headed by Peter Lorre, and the result is the perfect bittersweet love story. A must have for any Bogart fan, and a must see for everyone!

Black & White For A Reason
Ah, kids today. "Man, it's crap if there's no color to assist my info-ladened cranium!" Get a life. It's "Casablanca", for God's sake. It NEEDS to stay in B&W format. And, might I say, this film is a cult classic for more reasons than just minimalist acting. Dialogue: Heard of it, kids? It's what actors used to do instead of blowing (...)up or flying through the air in front of a blue screen. I love my DVD of "Casablanca", and cherish the fact that I don't have to rewind a tape to get to some of my favorite quotes. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Claude Rains practically owns his film debut in The Invisible Man, despite the fact that his face (let alone his body) is seen only for seconds in the final moments. As the brilliant scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility, Rains steps into the film wrapped up like a mummy behind a layer of bandages and blanketed in heavy clothes. When he removes his garments, there's nothing underneath, a simple but effective bit of 1930s movie magic that, apart from a few glitches, works as well today as it did in 1933. Like Frankenstein, another cautionary tale of science gone horribly wrong, the consequences of the doctor's experiments are dire: the chemicals drive him insane. Director James Whale infuses the film with plenty of humor, much of it arising from the quaint quirks of the local villagers, but it turns to black comedy as the doctor transforms from an impish prankster upsetting bicycles and taunting tavern patrons to a megalomaniac bent on world domination. It's slow going even at 71 minutes, but full of delightful touches and boasts a terrific performance by the all but unseen Rains, whose rich, cultured voice envelopes the picture in a kind of omnipresent fog. Vincent Price took up the role in the sequel, The Invisible Man Returns. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (39)

A Good Science Fiction Film For Its Time
THE INVISIBLE MAN can be an enjoyable movie - particularly if you don't take it too seriously. By the standards of the early 1930's the special effects are good enough and the acting by Claude Rains as the invisible man is superb.

The story by H.G. Wells about a scientist who develops a method of becoming invisible and then gradually goes insane is unique. Local police who try to capture the invisible man provide much slapstick humor.

Gloria Stuart who played the girl friend of the invisible man also acted in REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM and THE THREE MUSKETEERS in the 1930's as well as TITANIC and THE LOVE LETTER in the 1990's. Director James Whale directed FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN in the 1930's.

A deserved classic
Though this marvelous film was made 70 years ago, it holds up beautifully today. The primary reason is the riveting performance by Claude Rains, who is seen on screen full face for only a few seconds at the conclusion of the piece. His voice virtually carries the picture and his performance is dynamic, comic and quite masterful. In contrast, the weakness of the film are the supporting players, with the exception of those in the British tavern.

Gloria Stuart, recently "re-discovered" in her role as the elderly Rose in Cameron's "Titanic," is singularly awful in her role as the Invisible Man's (Jack's) girlfriend. Though beautiful, she overacts and puts on a childish display in every scene. She adds virtually nothing to the narrative except a pretty face. William Harrigan plays Jack's partner and reluctant accomplice and he is also dreadful and theatrical. Henry Travers is excellent and pay special attention to catch an uncredited Walter Brennan in a brief speaking role in the tavern.

The script is excellent and provides many hilarious moments. The special effects are similarly good and leagues ahead of their time. Though a trifle awkward in spots, one must remember this is 1933 and the effects must have stunned and delighted audiences of that era. This is a must-see classic movie, made memorable by the riveting concept and a seering performance by Claude Rains.

Classic Monster Movie Thriller
This movie is 1 of of the 6 classic monsters

i saw it 3 in a half years ago on AMC'S Monster fest 2000
not that bad of a movie i liked it then i kept seeing it pop up on AMC throughout the weeks to come .. its really hit the spot light of Special Effects and even a little bitta humor in the movie i like it and i think every1 should buy the private collection movie of this classic universal SHOCKER

An Universal movie monster that you must see!
'Invisible Man, The' is one of the most sucessful Universal monster movies of the thirties, along with 'Frankstein' and 'Dracula'. A superior adaptation of a H.G. Welles novel, the movie has humour, suspense and a excelent development of the story that made this movie actual for all ages.
Claude Rains (the actor that made 'Phantom of the Opera) gives life to Jack Griffin, a young scientist that discover a strange formula to turn himself invisible and goes crazy along the process. The movie has some great scenes,like the tricks that Griffin plays with the people of a little village and the persecutions of the police, always confused by the inteligent and unusual invisible enemy. Great special effects for the time makes the movies even more valuable and Rains gives a strong and convincible performance, although all the time 'invisible' for the public.

He may be invisible, but The Invisible Man is a must-see
The Invisible Man is one of the most impressive Universal "monster" films of the 1930s, a motion picture masterpiece still as vibrant and engaging now as it was in 1933. It is also a representative of the rarest of movies - one which succeeds much better than the novel upon which it was based. Don't get me wrong - H.G. Wells was a brilliant writer, one of the two founding fathers of science fiction, but The Invisible Man left me as cold as the invisible man must have felt running around naked in the bitterly cold countryside. The invisible man is thoroughly unlikable in the novel, much more so than he is here. A running time of just 71 minutes and a brilliant tour de force of a film debut by Claude Raines make Jack Griffin a fascinating albeit quite mad character who never completely turns the viewer off with his misguided antics. Of course, the sword cuts both ways. In the novel, one gets a much deeper appreciation of the pain and struggle the man faces trying to restore himself to visibility. In the movie, the transition to raving megalomaniac occurs much more quickly, with several palliative dashes of humor thrown into the mix early on.

There isn't that much to the story, really. A man wrapped in bandages and clothed in a long overcoat, glasses, and hat suddenly enters the Lion's Head pub and inn one snowy night demanding a room. He makes it very clear that he wants privacy and soon begins performing chemical experiments. The fellow is a scientist named Jack Griffin (Claude Rains), a young chap who, after five years of private work, discovered the secret of invisibility; unfortunately for him, he has yet to figure out an antidote, as becomes evident when he begins to shed his clothes and bandages - yep, the title was right, he really is the invisible man. Now most fellows, were they to become invisible, would probably run right out and try to see the girl next door in her birthday suit, but Griffin is different. That special ingredient in the potion tends to make a person just a little bit insane, and Griffin has already begun forming plans to get filthy rich and make the world grovel at his invisible feet. His surly attitude and just plain weirdness soon get him evicted, and soon his secret is out. He has a jolly good time playing pranks on local villagers, but his pranks soon turn to mass murder. The police dragnet is fun to watch (it isn't easy to catch an invisible man), but the movie takes a continually darker tone as the inevitable conclusion approaches. I am of the belief that the story of The Invisible Man really doesn't teach any sort of lesson with it, although others are certainly free to voice their own interpretations of the story. Griffin is just too disagreeable to teach me anything (apart from the ubiquitous "don't meddle in God's domain" thing).

The special effects in the film are actually quite amazing. Many of them are rather simple but well-done, and the central bits featuring clothes walking around on their own serve the story very well indeed. There is one scene featuring a pair of pants skipping down the road accompanied by Griffin singing the kind of ditty a madman might be prone to sing that is absolutely priceless. Alongside Dracula and Frankenstein, The Invisible Man completes the threesome of truly must-see 1930s Universal "monster" films, even though we all know it's really pure science fiction and not horror. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Worthy Addition to the Univeral Horror Classics
My expectations weren't very high for this movie. I was expecting it to be much like THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, having a few creepy scenes, but no good acting to make the rest of the movie interesting. EDWIN DROOD, however, succeeded on all levels. It was surprisingly funny (usually intentional) and light in certain scenes, and suberbly moody and dark in the others. The acting was excellent. I was especially impressed with Douglass Montgomery as Neville and Zeffie Tilbury as the old opium lady. But, if you're like me, you'll pick up this movie because it stars Claude Rains. And you won't be disappointed! If you think Claude Rains is talented at playing creepy, wait until you see him playing stoned and creepy!

DICKEN'S SWAN SONG
Film adaptation of Dicken's Byzantine novel about an odd, tortured, drug-addicted choirmaster who vies for the affections of an attractive young woman who is visiting his village. But when things don't go his way, he decides to eliminate what he perceives to be his only obstacle, her fiance (and his nephew), Edwin Drood. Dicken's novel was left half completed at the time of his death and simply ended with Drood missing. In both film versions (there's a 1993 British remake), it's decided that Drood is murdered, and, rather ironically, they picked the same murderer from among Dicken's stable of eccentric characters. Rains is superb in his fourth film as a opium addict (who's a cathedral choir master!) who lusts after delicate Heather Angel. During a raging storm on Christmas Eve, Rains strangles Manners and after dumping the corpse in a quicklime pit, tries to pin the murder on Montgomery. A gothic film with shadowy photography, it's pretty creepy due to its very unusual storyline and twists in logic. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good British thriller with fine performance by Claude Rains
"The Clairvoyant" is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's famous English-made features ("The 39 Steps," etc.). Claude Rains and Fay Wray star as partners in a small-time mind-reading act. When Rains makes a strange, hypnotic connection with a young woman, his fantastic predictions come true and he is thrust into prominence, much to the dismay of wife Wray. The climax intercuts a tense courtroom trial with a mining disaster -- can Rains and his mental powers do anything to save the miners? Performances, direction by Maurice Elvey, and photography by Glen MacWilliams are efficient. The source print is the complete, original-release version; the later American reissue, under the title "The Evil Mind," is more than 10 minutes shorter. Print quality is very good; sound is good but will betray some early-talkie hiss. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The boys are working on a farm. Here comes John Garfield.
This is the forth Dead End Kids film. (Dead End [1937], Crime School [1938], Angeles With Dirty Faces [1938]). A boxer (John Garfield) has a little party after his fight. In a apartment, Johnnie trys to swing a punch at a nosy reporter, but he is so drunk he misses and ends-up passed out in a chair. Another man hits the reporter over the head with a whiskey bottle. The reporter McGee ends up dead. Later, they decide to make Johnnie take the fall. Johnnie is innocently drunk-sleep. The bad man and woman try to make there getaway, but with the police catching them, they go off the road and instantly die. They think it is Johnnie who is dead. But one detective is on the hunt. Johnnie runs away and he comes across a farm where the delinquent Dead End Kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly) have been sent to work. There he meets the boys who he trys to reform. Also a woman at the date farm, Peggy (Gloria Dickson), softens his heart too. Meanwhile a detective (Claude Rains) is close on the trail. This is a good film for Billy Halop, who practically steals the film. Great acting from Halop. Good performances by May Robson who played the Grandma on the farm. Filmed at Palm Desert, California. Great ending. Get a hankercheif. On this DVD version, Alpha Video only offers an "index" which is a chapter selection. Very good print of film.

John Garfield meets the Dead End Kids
Future superstar, John Garfield, is cast as a boxer on the lam from a (false) murder rap.
Claude Raines is miscast as the detective who pursues him.
Garfield winds up at a farm where the ever-popular Dead End Kids are too.
There's plenty of action, drama and intrigue as Garfield gets involved with the farm's gorgeous owner and the Dead End Kids, who come to idolize him.

A Very Thirties Film
The always intense John Garfield stars as a boxer framed for the murder of a newspaper reporter who was about to expose the real story behind his carefully crafted public image. Conveniently, the real killer and the only witness to what really happened are both killed in a car accident, leaving Garfield without a defense. So he takes off, ends up in California and gets mixed up with the Dead End Kids, a girl, and an old lady who befriend him, not knowing his real identity. There's a lot left to luck in this film as dogged detective Claude Rains chases after the boxer. The Dead End Kids are an acquired taste, although in this film they aren't as grating as they would become in later years. Garfield, as usual, is very watchable and believable. Rains, on the other hand, is miscast as the detective and never for a moment seems convincing. Ann Sheridan is equally miscast as Garfield's drunk girlfriend, although she makes a quick exit in the film, despite her uncalled-for high billing. Gloria Dickson, the girl he falls in love with, has a few good moments, but lacks star quality. The script has a number of holes in it, but it also has some good moments. I particularly enjoyed the dramatic water tower sequence, as the boys must try to escape from a water tower where the water is going down. This is very much an old fashioned movie, especially in the boxing scenes, but that is also part of its appeal, since it is a great example of the kind of film Thirties audiences enjoyed.

Boxer on the lam hobos to Arizona date farm.
One of the original six DEAD END KIDS films, this "The Fugitive"-style story involves a world-class boxer(John Garfield) who is thought to be dead (but he's not) and also a murderer (but he's not). On the lam with a new identity and little money he hobos his way to an Arizona date farm where the Dead End Kids are on rehabilitation off of New York's East Side and being taken care of by a gorgeous farmer (Gloria Dickson). Garfield is a bad influence on the kids but somehow he is where he belongs. When a boxing promoter offers $500 a round for anyone who can stay in the ring with his champion, Garfield can't resist coming out of hiding to go for the prize. There is an investigation sub-plot (with Claude Rains doing what Tommy Lee Jones did in "The Fugitive") but here it is totally useless and just doesn't work. The ending is even more useless. Regardless, there is much to like due to great direction (Busby wasn't very good at telling the story but boy did he know where to put the cameras and how to fill up the screen), great acting (John Garfield brings compassion to a dislikable character, the reliable Dead End Kids are in top form, and Gloria Dickson is very appealing).

Entertaining Drama
They Made Me A Crimminal is not remembered as a classic drama, but the film still provides predictable entertainment sixty-one years after its theatrical release. Busby Berkeley's direction is excellent as the sequences involving the car crash, Garfield's train ride, and the water tower appear realistic. The fight scenes in the ring are a bit histrionic, but at least Berkeley used enough extras to create a boxing arena type atmosphere- John Avildsen (Rocky) are you reading this? The film contains a credible cast with John Garfield in the lead as Johnny a prize fighter on the run. Gloria Dickson as Peggy gives a Sylvia Sydney type performance as a reformer intent on reabilitating juvenille deliquents. Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell, and the rest of the Dead End Kids are the NYC teens who idolize tough Johnny, but respect Peggy. Cluade Rains plays a newspaperman who wants to rip the veil of deceit from Johnny's persona. Ann Sheridan receives top billing over Gloria Dickson and for no good reason. Sheridan's role as Goldie is brief and totally unconvincing as a drunken floozie riding the coat tails of Johnny's ring success. For those that enjoy happy endings with morality values, this 90 minute film will not disappoint you. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

aka One Woman¿s Story
This Rank/Cineguild production directed by David Lean is based on a novel by H G Wells, here adapted by Lean and Stanley Haynes, though with a screenplay credited to Eric Ambler. Although the plot is about a triangle, Lean's focus is on Ann Todd as the woman between two men, her husband and the man who was her first love but whom she refused to marry. Her situation is presented in an exchange between the man, Trevor Howard and Todd - "If two people really love each other they want to be together. They want to belong to each other", Todd - "I want to belong to myself", "Then your life will be a failure". However in the tradition of upper class Brits, Todd's life of failure means a marriage to a successful banker, Claude Rains.
The narrative has an unusual triple flashback structure, which is perhaps why it needed three writers, with the present being narrated by Todd with the prospect of a divorce, and flashbacks to the vacation in Switzerland where the instigating incident occurs, Todd's memory/flashback of 9 years earlier re-meeting Howard, and small memories of their first romance. The initial meeting is tainted by lines like Todd's "Why can't we be in love without the clutching and gripping", though later Todd admits to "not being a very good person". Howard's character has his ambiguities too, being a university biology lecturer who knowingly has an affair with a married woman. The infidelity gets a funny spin by Rains' business with Germany and Italy pre-WW2, and Rains saying he has "a taste for intrigue", though the film being made post-WW2 allows him to speak of the "Teutonic hysteria" of the Germans.
In spite of some of Lean's technical touches, the thing that de-passionates the situation is Todd, in her first film for her then husband. Whilst at times she resembles Garbo, the rather butch Todd lacks the divine