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Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand star as sociopolitical opposites--he's a WASP novelist, she's an activist--who nevertheless strike up a romance in the 1930s, and have a rocky relationship through the next two decades that reflects much of America's history. An essential part of the movie--the Hollywood blacklist and the McCarthy witch- hunt years--comes across as a botch, due to some excessive cutting before the film was released. But except for that hole in the heart of the story, director Sydney Pollack(Out of Africa) has crafted a strong and moving drama about two interesting characters. Redford (always good with Pollack) is at the height of his powers, and Streisand is persuasive.--Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (51)

Babs is a great actress
These scenes are so well written - credit to the genius of arthur laurents - that any one of them could be taken out of context and make a great scene for an acting student.

The movie is shot beautifully and the score is a classic. (If a little repetitive at times)

The main reason to see this movie is for the great acting of Streisand and Redford. They are incredible.

Barbara has so many great moments in this - probably the "phone scene" is her best but so hard to choose. She is just great in this movie.

Redford is perfect - saying much more when he is silent than any actor does with dialogue.

The ending scene is a classic of american cinema - so sad and perfect. The most classic goodbye scene since CASABLANCA.

The documentary on this DVD is awesome. The interviews with Barbra, Pollack, the Bergmans, Hamlisch are great. The only disapointment is no Redford. The deleted scenes in this documentary are great and worth seeing.

I highly recommend this DVD.

DVD is Well Done - Looks & Sounds Better Than Ever
Finally! THE WAY WE WERE in widescreen! I think it really makes a difference. I've only seen pan and scan versions on video. It is especially noticeable in the opening credits where names/credits appear on one side of the screen and action takes place on the other side. For the first time we get to see Katie at her typewriter and Katie talking to her teacher.

The rest of the dvd is done just as well. The picture and sound are pristine. The menu screens are classy and easy to use. The bonus trailers from FOR PETE'S SAKE and Streisand's later films are fun to see.

The hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Sydney Pollack and Streisand is very revealing. Pollack seems humble and grateful about the film. Streisand is relaxed and beautiful - again, reflective and humble about the experience as Pollack is. There is even a segment with Marvin Hamlisch on piano playing the different versions of THE WAY WE WERE theme. And Alan & Marilyn Bergman are a hilarious couple!

Sydney Pollack's comments on the extra audio channel are interesting as well. I haven't gotten through the whole movie yet, but so far so good!

The dvd is definitely a must-have for Streisand fans. But even fans of this classic romance will find much to like about the dvd as well.

A classic! A tearjerker! Two treats in one!
I've seen this movie many, many times. I can be brought to tears by watching JUST the last scene. This movie is a true visceral experience.

Characters that could have been stereotyped are incredibly complex and true. And that's a big part of the story. We go through life and label people, yet we just don't know what might truly lie beneath.

Katie and Hubble see what lies beneath. How we don't know. Two soul mates who come into each other's lives but cannot stay. I know all of this sounds sentimental but this is a truly sentimental favorite.

Watch this movie!!

"Katie, it was never uncomplicated."
As stated many times before, THE WAY WE WERE is one of only a handful of romantic blockbusters to actually feature an intelligent script and complex characters. Writer Arthur Luarents' based his screenplay (and subsequent novel) on girl he knew in college, who fought for liberal (and sometimes communist) causes. The film was a surprise box office smash when originally released, and became the fifth-highest grossing film of 1973 and an instant classic. Katie Morosky is a character that Barbra Streisand born play, and she delivers on all accounts. Fierce and determined, yet vulnerable and self-conscious, Katie is a tricky character and Streisand inhabits her so deeply that she seems nothing less than completely believable. Justifiably nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, she was unfortunately robbed of the award.

Redford, who actually turned down the role twice before director and friend Sydney Pollack talked him into taking the part, displays some of the best reflective acting ever seen on the big screen and definitely deserved a nomination as well (he was, however, nominated for Best Actor that year for his light comedic performance in THE STING). The film's enduring popular success with the mass audience is due to the magnetic chemistry between Streisand and Redford and the gorgeous visuals and strong directorial hand supplied by Pollack, however it is the complexity of the romance with politics and the strong characterizations by both leads that continues to make THE WAY WE WERE the best love story for adults.

About the DVD: The picture quality is beautiful, quite possibly the best the film has ever looked. The sound quality is also vastly improved. Pollack's commentary track is interesting, but the 60-minute documentary is the best extra on the disc. Featuring insightful interviews from Pollack, Streisand, and Laurents (as well as composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman) the documentary is well-produced and entertaining, and it was great to finally see those much-debated deleted scenes.

For such a great film, the dvd should have been much more!
I, like many thousands of others love this movie and could watch it over and over again. What should have been a 25th Aniversary spectacular is a very lack luster. My major complaint is with the 60 minute documentary.
1.Great, we get to see some scenes that were cut that really SHOULD have been put in the film in the first place. How about the rest of the cut scenes? Legend has it that there is much more.
2.Barbara's commentary is good but I really think she could have added a lot more. What about the screen play she supposedly was interested in that was, in essence, a part two of this movie entitled "the way we are"?
3.Redford is absent on the disc because of "scheduling" problems? Or so I have heard....Gee, nobody could have waited even to get 3-4 minutes of commentary from him? Something isnt right.

I also dont think the transfer of this movie came out too well. Not exactly great quality for such an icon. ... Read more

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The Coen brothers (RaisingArizona, Fargo) have become the most consistently originalfilmmakers in the land. In a salute/reworking of the fast-talkingcomedies of the '40s, we follow Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) and hisamazing rise to the top. But he's only a puppet for the evil Sidney J.Mussburger (Paul Newman), who wants the company for himself. The Coens' design is the real star, and their first big-budget film will stimulatemovie fans. The story weakens in the middle, but you will find very few films that move with this much imagination. As a KateHepburn hybrid, Jennifer Jason Leigh is wonderful in an almost unplayable role. The lessyou know about the film, the better it plays, so just think of it as How toSucceed in Business Without Really Trying mixed with Brazil and every journalistic drama madebefore 1960. Cowritten by Sam Raimi. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (81)

You know . . . for movie lovers!
Massively undervalued thematic sequel to *Barton Fink*. I say that because *The Hudsucker Proxy* (a bad title that guaranteed box-office oblivion, btw) treads a lot of the same water as the earlier film: hucksterism, commericalism, the notion that one person can singlehandedly come up with One Great Idea -- in short, the American Dream. This time, it's the world of business instead of Hollywood, but the corporate fatcats at Hudsucker Industries are relevant enough "proxies" for movie-studio fatcats; i.e., the point is well-taken. Indeed, the movie is -- as most Coen Brothers movies are -- about movies themselves, and you're not giving the Coens enough credit if you think *The Hudsucker Proxy* is merely a send-up of some Frank Capra movie. It's a send-up of the entire film industry, which is pretty cheeky, considering that this was their first "big-budget, major-studio" production. If you must have it: the plot concerns a doe-eyed graduate of Muncie Business College who winds up in the basement mailroom at Hudsucker Industries in New Yawk City. The President of the company has just taken a swan-dive from the 45th floor (not counting the mezzanine). Meanwhile, the fatcats on the Board of Directors, of which Paul Newman is the cattiest, come up with the brilliant idea of promoting a moron to the President's chair in order to devalue Hudsucker stock -- that way, they can buy up the remaining shares of the company, after which the moron can be comfortably dispensed with. But Tim Robbins, the putative moron, has one killer idea up his sleeve that throws a monkeywrench in the gears. But don't take all this too seriously. The fun's in the details . . . and, let's face it, you probably have to be in on the joke to really appreciate what the Coens are doing here. Meaning? They assume you have a knowledge of old-movie conventions, and that you appreciate the homage this movie pays to them. Basically, they insist that you bring something to the party. They insist you get off your Lazy-Boy and meet them halfway. Oh, by the way: the movie's hilarious, too.

You know, for kids!
When Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) of Hudsucker's Industry commits suicide by plunging out the window of his building, the board of directors lead by Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) comes up with a brilliant scheme. They will appoint a 'proxy' president for the company, someone so stupid that their stocks will drop. And when they do, the board of directors will buy up all the stocks, then restore their fortunes. So who do they appoint as their proxy? Who else but idealistic and naive Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins)? But things don't exactly work out perfectly for the greedy board of directors as Pulitzer winner report, Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh), starts digging around. And suprisingly, Norville just might not have been the perfect 'dummy'...

The key word to describing this movie would probably be 'bizarre'. And bizarre it is. The plot is admittabley very original, and the directors (and writers) Joel and Ethan Coen put a certain style into this movie which we don't see very often. Most of the humor is incredibly dry while there is some slapstick involved.

The characters in the film are not your average characters in that they are so obviously two-dimensional but the actors give such a flair into their acting that you can't help but love 'em. Take Tim Robbins as Norville for example, he's totally lovable though he's not actually very birhg or incredibly smart. But I must say that Jennifer Jason Leigh's character Amy Archer is one of the most fascinating characters I've seen. She's a replica of the sassy Katherine Hepburn and as fast-talking as Rosalind Russel in "His Girl Friday". She just talk soooooo fast that I recommend you see the movie at least twice to enjoy her dialogue all the more so.

My recommendation for "The Hudsuckers Proxy"? I'd say that a rental first is a good idea. I'm really not sure if everyone will love this movie since I feel that only certain people could appreciate the humor and the whole 'bizarreness' of the film.

Boring beyond belief
This is one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. I wish I could give the movie a rating of zero stars, but that isn't an option. I just got through watching "The Sword of the Valiant", it was so bad it made me smile. "The Hudsucker Proxy" is so bad it made me groan. I couldn't wait for it to end. It was pure torture, I expected a lot better from Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I would just burn the DVD, but maybe I can find someone who will be as taken by this movie as all the other people who gave it glowing reviews, maybe one of them would be willing to give me the $15 I paid for this turkey.

a thingamajig that would bring everyone together
A film by the Coen Brothers

"The Hudsucker Proxy" is the fantastic story of Noville Barnes (Tim Robbins). Norville is just some poor shmoe looking for work, but he isn't qualified for anything and he has no work experience. He takes a job as a mailroom clerk at Hudsucker Industries. We're not sure what they do or what they make, but at a board meeting, we find out the company is posting record profits. When a man is done with his litany of the company's successes, the chairman, Mr Hudsucker himself, stands up on the long table, starts running, and commits suicide by jumping out the window and falling to his death.

What to do? The rest of the board needs to be able to purchase a controlling interest in Hudsucker stock, but the stock price is too high. The formulate a plan to temporarily drive down the stock prices by hiring as president of the company someone so incompetent that shareholders will be so scared that stock prices will plummet. The dimwit president: Norville Barnes. It is Sidney Mussburger (Paul Newman) who is pulling the strings behind the scenes to make all this happen; it is his master plan that sets all this in motion.

Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is the fast talking reporter who goes undercover to investigate Norville and find out why Hudsucker would have hired him as the president. "The Hudsucker Proxy" is funny in a smart, clever way, and is highly entertaining. The Coen Brothers do not make ordinary or conventional movies ("Intolerable Cruelty" aside), but they definitely make some of the top movies of any given year.

-Joe Sherry

Not the Coens greatest, but.............
This is a great movie from the Coen brothers. It is not a violent or gory as some of their other films, but there are certainly some very devious characters. The movie includes a heavily character driven story, it is very well paced and fun all the way through. The visual style is brilliant, showcasing the Coen brother's ability to make film footage of ordinary settings seem surreal and slightly comic bookish, and they keep it up consistently for the length of a movie. This inevitably aids their storytelling by making the movie's world distinct and vivid as a setting for the characters who are equally ordinary yet unmistakeably unusual. ... Read more

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After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (470)

VERY funny and original
Yeah, the F-word is uttered about 500 times, the lead character is either drinking or smoking grass all the time, and the core plot was probably written on a couple bar napkins at 2:00 a.m. But this is a laugh-out-loud masterpiece, full of both subtle humor and farce/slapstick. To those who are tired of unfunny Hollywood comedies (does the name "Adam Sandler" mean anything to you?), this is a breath of fresh air. Marvelously inventive in its concept and presentation, with dialogue that almost demands that you watch the movies again. The fact that I came of age in the 60s and was a dedicated stoner for a number of years undoubtedly enhanced my appreciation of this flick. But anyone with a taste for over-the-top humor and quirky characters will love it. While Jeff Bridges was quite good, John Goodman's character is the most memorable in recent memory. BTW, after seeing this movie, you'll never be able to think of the drink "white russian" without laughing.

A very interesting movie..
You wouldn't expect anything lesser from the makers of Fargo and Raising Arizona, arguably two fantastic movies in their own right. The B L is a freaky comedy without any situational plot in particular but weirdly engaging in the theme and its treatment nevertheless.

It's about a man named Jeff Lebowski, who calls himself the Dude, and is described by the narrator as the laziest man in LA County. He lives only to go bowling, but is mistaken for a millionaire named the Big Lebowski, with funny consequences. The Dude is played by Jeff Bridges with a goatee, a potbelly, a ponytail and a pair of Bermuda shorts so large they may have been borrowed from his best friend and bowling teammate, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman). Their other teammate is Donny (Steve Buscemi), who may not be very bright, but it's hard be sure since he never is allowed to complete a sentence.

Los Angeles in this film is a zoo of peculiar characters. One of the funniest is a Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro), who is seen going door to door in his neighborhood on the sort of mission you read about, but never picture anyone actually performing. The Dude tends to have colorful hallucinations when he's socked in the jaw or pounded on the head, which happens often, and one of them involves a musical comedy sequence inspired by Busby Berkeley. (It includes the first point-of-view shot in history from inside a bowling ball.)

Some may complain The Big Lebowski rushes in all directions and never ends up anywhere. That isn't the film's flaw, but its style -- ala "Go" and "Swingers". The Dude, who smokes a lot of pot and guzzles White Russians made with half-and-half, starts every day filled with resolve, but his plans gradually dissolve into a haze of missed opportunities and missed intentions. Most people lead lives with a third act. The Dude lives days without evenings.

Definitely a light hearted allround enjoyable movie -- something that deserves more than 9 reviews at Amazon! (as of this writing)

gay
this movie really sucks hairy old fat balls. what kind of trashy filth is this? it dosen't even make sence.

Times like these call for a Big Lebowski.
While I haven't seen the latest Coen Brothers films, like Intolerable Cruelty (2003) or The Lady Killers (2004), I have seen all their movies since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and I can say I've never been disappointed, and that certainly holds true for The Big Lebowski (1998), the film, not received well by the critics, they made after their Oscar winning film Fargo (1996). While it may not have been a critical success, it is one of my favorite films, and one the rarely gathers dust on my shelf, as I've seen it a few times.

The film boasts quite a cast of actors including Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jullianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, Ben Gazzara, Sam Elliot along with a few veterans of previous Coen brothers films like Steve Buscemi, John Tuturro, and Peter Stormere. So what is the film about? Well, I'll tell you...The film, which takes place in California in the early 90's, starts off with a little expository by a narrator known as The Stranger (Sam Elliot) giving us a little detail about the main character, Jeffery Lebowski aka The Dude, played by Bridges, who seems to have put on a bit of weight for the role, and sports long hair much like that he had when he was in the 1976 flopperino remake of King Kong. Anyway, the first thing you notice about The Dude is he is extremely laid back, very possibly a casualty of the California counterculture of the 60's and early 70's who seems perfectly content to take each day as it comes. While returning to his modest rental home one night, he finds two thuggish men waiting for him, one who soon acquaints The Dude's head with the inside of The Dude's toilet, while the other decides to despoil The Dude's living room rug in the manner of a unhousebroken dog. Seems these two men work for a smut peddler named Jackie Treehorn, and are looking to collect money owed to Mr. Treehorn by Jeffery Lebowski's wife, Bunny (Reid). Only thing is they got the wrong Jeffery Lebowski. Seeking reimbursement for his rug, The Dude visits the other Jeffery Lebowski, an older, well-to-do wheelchair bound man whose young trophy wife seems to have amassed quite a debt to a number of people, including Mr. Treehorn. This meeting sets into motion a complicated series of events including kidnapping which evolves into a mystery, a ransom request for one million dollars, a suitcase of dirty underwear, a stolen car, an altercation with nihilists, various beatings, guns, a bowling tournament, interpretive dance, a sexual liaison, a ferret, some drugs, painting in the nude, the removal of a toe, a wicky drug-induced dream sequence, copious amounts of profanity and even a death, all with The Dude right smack in the middle.

Jeff Bridges is wonderful as The Dude, a laid back individual with a self awareness few possess having to deal with harshness put upon him by circumstances just always a bit out of his control. He ends up basically going with the flow, finally stumbling on a moment of clarity as the mystery resolves itself. The funniest scenes usually involve The Dude, his friend and bowling teammate Walter Sobchek (Goodman), and fellow friend Donny (Buscemi) as their conversations, riddled with ludicrous tangents, usually devolve into heated debates and personal attacks, usually with Donny getting the worst of it. One of the things I like so much about this film is there is just so much going on, much of which may seem unrelated to the main plot, but I think it's purposeful, weaving an thick, intricate, colorful tapestry right before your eyes and definitely requires numerous viewings, just to soak it all up. There is definitely a beginning, a middle, and an end here, but the path between is very convoluted at times, but not confusing, if that makes sense. Normally I dislike dream sequences in films, as they often tend to be a mish mash of stylistic tripe, but the one in this film was truly enjoyable and laden with symbolism relating to the events preceding it, and even utilizes a song I consider to be a classic in that of Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. It was funny, because the core of the story is based on a mystery, but I spent little time in trying to decipher it, as I was so intrigued with everything that was going on, the related and seemingly unrelated material. A word of warning, though, as I've mentioned before, there is a good amount of profanity throughout the film, so if you are easily offended, you might steer clear of this movie.

The film is offered in both wide screen and full screen format, and the picture quality is good, but not as good as I would have expected with such a recent release. Some scenes seemed a bit dark, and there was a slight fuzziness at times, but nothing very notable unless you are seated very close to the screen (I normally refrain from getting so picky, but I've seen this film a number of times). Special features are pretty slim, including a 30-minute interview with the Coen brothers on the making of the film, along with a teaser trailer and cast biographies. I didn't care for presentation much, as after putting the disc in your player, you are directed to pick a format, wide screen or full screen, and the movie would start playing, skipping entirely over the menu, presenting it only after completion of the film, or by pressing the menu button on the remote. This is most common on older or extremely cheap releases (this was originally released in 1998, and then again in 2003 with no enhancements or changes). If any film was ripe for an enhanced special edition re-release, this is it.

Cookieman108

The Coens at their best
I saw this when it came out and didn't get it. After Fargo, The Big L just seemed like a loser's mystery that never went anywhere. A year later my friends are cracking me up doing movie quotes and it helped me see it in a new light. The movie is hilarious! It's awkward at first because the Coens are messing with you, setting up expectations and constantly doing something else instead. Once you're in on the game, sit back, make a white russian, and let the funny happen. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Surprisingly insightful, lots of fun to watch
It's hard to like Sonny and Hallie when we first meet them. He's a tipsy has-been cowboy, unsuccessfully living off past fame, and she is an aggressive journalist out for a story and thus a little fame for herself. But then, enter a champion race horse in need of rescuing, and Sonny (Redford) becomes the heroic cavalry, kidnapping the horse and riding off into the Las Vegas night, possibly to rescue himself at the same time. Hallie(Fonda)follows and not surprisingly, but perhaps too quickly, the prickly relationship between these two turns to romance. Perhaps for a few days, during the escapades as Redford sneaks the racehorse across some lovely countryside enroute to being set free from the chains of society, these two characters find what they are truly searching for -- intimacy. The romance is fun, since both Redford and Fonda know how to do on-screen romances very well. But more than that, this is a story with its poignant moments probably more solidly captured in an indictment of advertising and corporate hype, a warning about industrial profiteering, absurd greed, and the loss of humanity. There are a few political messages forced into the plot which are distracting from the overall moral story. But for the most part this is a fun movie. The characters Redford and Fonda meet up with along their route are entertaining and very human. Not a glamorous film, but very nitty-gritty, this is an enjoyable story about caring, really. Caring about the well-being of an animal or about people, about affording living things respect rather than dressing us all up to be celebrities or consumers. It ends beautifully also, with Redford trying to hitch a ride on a lengthy stretch of lonely highway, as the camera pulls farther and farther away and Willie Nelson sings an appropriately romantic and misty song . . .

A Cowboy Finds Redemption
"The Electric Horseman" is one of those movies that I have seen in bits and pieces on TV over the last few years. Just recently one rainy Saturday afternoon I was able to see the whole thing on DVD and find out what a enjoyable fim I had been missing.Robert Redford plays former champion rodeo rider, Sonny Steele, who has become a spokesperson for a large corporation pushing breakfast cereal.His life is now a string of endless, dreary appearences riding around in a ridiculous electric suit.He seems to have lost his self-respect and continually drowns himself in tequila and wild times.It is at a Las Vegas convention that Sonny awakens from his stupor, when he finds out that the corporation is mistreating Rising Star, a former horse racing champion.Sonny kidnaps the horse and on the run meets an enterprising and determined reporter (well played by Jane Fonda)as he attempts to release the animal into the wild. This is a wonderful story of a man who is sick of compromising and must rediscover what was good about himself.It is only then that he can find some redemption. Redford and Fonda are both excellent in the lead roles and have loads of chemistry together.They are also complemented by a good supporting cast that includes Valerie Perine and country singer, Willie Nelson.Mention should also be made of the beautiful cinematography which shows off some amazing western desert landscapes.The movie also has a good soundtrack which includes songs by Willie Nelson.My only complaint is that the DVD itelf is very bare bones and nothing to shout about.There are no extras and not even a trailer or proper menu.Still,it is a very good movie and I highly recommend it.

Image Entertainment release of this movie
I must disagree with the "Widescreen Review" of the image on this movie. They rated it a 2 out of 5. While non-anamorphic, and retaining a certain graininess, as compared to pristinely transferred movies, I have certainly seen much worse transfers of movies. Given that the correct intro music is on the Image release and not the later Universal release, I would still recommend this disk to anyone interested in this movie.

The movie itself is a definite 4 of 5. The transfer rates about a 3.

It is, however, a bare-bones edition. Not even a main menu. Just scene selection and the movie.

A REDFORD CLASSIC
In THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN Robert Redford plays Sonny Steele, an aging all-around champion rodeo cowboy who, as the result of numerous injuries and losing step with rodeo, has lost his vision and become a corporate spokesman for a cereal company. He somehow puts up with a lifestyle that, while making him rich beyond his dreams, has reduced him to nothing more than a poster boy. When Steele discovers that the company has purchased a classic racehorse, Rising Star, and is determined to do the same thing to the horse as they have done to him, doping it up and dragging it down in the process, he decides to save the horse's dignity and in the process saves himself as well.

Redford's performance is wonderful and spontaneous. Jane Fonda shines as a TV reporter bent on getting a story at any cost and in the end gets the cowboy too. Together Redford and Fonda pack the screen with a chemistry that quite literally mesmerizes every viewer.

Willie Nelson is terrific as a Steele handler and contributes with some of his best musical offerings and look for an early Wilford Brimley cameo.

Buy this one for the soundtrack alone. I keep hoping that one of these days Willie Nelson fans and lovers of the classic western harmonica tracks in this one will stage some sort of a revolt to get it released. Until then the movie's the next best thing.

Douglas McAllister

BEWARE!!!
Don't buy the 2003 Universal Edition of this DVD. Instead, sift through the web and find the DVD released by Image Entertainment in 1998. Why? You'd be better off asking "what's in a song?"

The latest version has omitted Willie Nelson's "My Heroe's Have Always Been Cowboys" in favor of some generic faux-Western instrumental. The song was played during the opening credits and when Sonny releases Rising Star into the wild. When I watched the new version (not knowing there was a new version), I was left emotionally flat by the experience, but I couldn't figure out why. Finally, I dug up an old VHS version I'd taped off of cable several years ago and realized the change.

Call it song as metaphor, song as objective correlative...call it any theoretical term you need to. MAYBE it would not matter to a person who'd never seen the original. But I think it would (somehow). The song captures those two moments of the film -- the song makes an emotional connection. The image and the sound, the joyful melancholy, all gel perfectly.

Why'd they change it? Who knows. The rest of Willie Nelson's songs remain on the soundtrack. I tend to think that the dimwits in charge of "product" treat these films like, uh, product. The battle of art versus commerce rages on...

It matters. And I'm sick of the culture industry manipulating music and movies that have affected me. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Britain's Ealing Studios was at the top of its game when this classic comedy was released in 1951--one of the all-time best crime-caper comedies and a quintessential example of the witty and subtly subversive Ealing style. Alec Guinness stars as a mild-mannered transporter of gold bullion who has spent 20 years moving gold bars to banks in an armored truck. Then one day he simply decides to help himself to a million British pounds' worth of the gold, but to pull off the heist he enlists and old friend (Stanley Holloway), who sculpts and manufactures paperweights. Once the gold is hijacked, it's molded into souvenir miniatures of the Eiffel Tower and shipped off to Paris, right under the noses of British customs officials on alert for the missing gold. Panic ensues when six of the gold miniatures are mistakenly sold to a group of English schoolgirls, and just when the amateur thieves think they've finally pulled off their heist without a hitch ... well, let's just say this classic comedy has a few climactic tricks up its sleeve. Guinness is in peak form here, and director Charles Crichton (who scored a late-career hit with A Fish Called Wanda over a quarter-century later) keeps the action moving with impeccable British efficiency. Along with The Ladykillers and The Man in the White Suit (both starring Guinness), The Lavender Hill Mob represents the golden age of British comedy, and it's still delightfully entertaining. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Black and white heist flick bathed in purple and gold
I'm usually not a fan of movies featuring bumbling innocents trying to do right, brought down by an endless series of accidents and mistakes. The futility of the whole exercise frustrates me, and I can't find any room for humour in the whole endeavor. "The Lavender Hill Mob" nearly falls into this trap, but thankfully doesn't. The reason it doesn't -- and it's a reason I can't go into without ruining the wonderful surprise ending -- preserves the comedy of this delightful little heist movie.

It's a very subdued comedy. The word on the street led me to believe that wacky hijinks and silly shenanigans would be the order of the day. Not true. Actually, there's a lot of quiet dignity here. Which makes the moments of action that much funnier. Alec Guinness as the mob's "boss" Henry Holland, a 20-year vet of the straight and narrow, is a desperate man, but he always does his best to maintain control in stressful situations. He screws up his face, peers (with glorious wide eyes) knowingly from behind his glasses, and does his best to understand and analyze the predicaments he finds himself in. When he's successful in that endeavor, the proceedings are funny. But when he isn't... well... they're that much funnier. Stanley Holloway plays his cohort, Pendlebury, a disgruntled manufacturer of cheap souvenirs. He's a less menacing, almost innocent Sydney Greenstreet-type, who gets roped into a situation that appears foolproof. Too bad these men aren't fools; they'd have gotten away scott free. It's their intellect that does them in. They're joined by a couple of charismatic career criminals, who may dress the part but seem more at home sipping tea than casing joints. The scene where the four men meet, while simultaneously trying to rob a payroll safe, is a wonderful moment of manners in the face of criminal activity. A joy to watch.

The giggly English schoolgirl scene (a classic) is creepy and disturbing. It's hilarious how a group made up of innocents can be turned menacing in a certain context. Combine the danger of the heights (they're at the top of the Eiffel Tower) with their high pitched giggling, and their tragic effect on the plot, and the girls turn into a dangerous phenomenon. It's quite ludicrous, and very funny. This is followed by a wonderfully surreal chase scene, in which Holland and Pendlebury chase them down via a spiraling staircase. Even though the special effects are cheap and obviously fake, it felt like a ridiculous version of Hitchcock's "Vertigo". It's combination of the stuffy Englishman, the Tower spinning around them, and a wind-whipped trenchcoat tossed overboard makes for some great fun. And the finale, a romp through a police exhibition, has a cool Keystone Cops quality to it that had me giggling with glee.

Unfortunately, at times, deteriorated audio tracks and murky, fuzzy video marred some of the action. Wading through the thick accents would have been tough enough, but when you can't hear their voices (or at worst see their lips move), understanding these men was a trial. Too bad, because what I did manage to hear was charming, witty, and terribly funny.

Classic British Caper Film.
This will be a short review, since I concur with the other positive comments on this classic Ealing comedy, as well as the extensive plot summary ( actually a little too extensive for people who have not seen the film ). I gave it four stars only because I consider "The Ladykillers" to be superior.

As always, Sir Alec shines in the lead role, with fine support from Stanley Holloway and Sidney James, years before his "Carry On" fame. The humour here is dark and subtle, and of course there is a delightful "twist" at the end, an Ealing trade mark.

I found the quality of this DVD to be more than acceptable for a 50 plus year-old film. Some of the location scenes in London are interesting, with areas damaged by the "blitz" in World War II still very evident.

So--if you like comedy with genuine wit and style ( very rare today, in the era of teen-oriented gross-out movies ), you will enjoy this one. Recommended.

A marvelous DVD version of a great Ealing Brothers romp
This marvlous film unites the talents of two of the greatest English comedians of the forties and fifties (Guinness more or less ceased doing comedy in the sixties on): Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. Guinness is, of course, one of the most famous and distinguished actors of the past half century, but Holloway is primarily known in the United States for a single role, though by no means his most representative, that of Alfred P. Doolittle in the film version of MY FAIR LADY. In this film we see him at his more typical, more akin to his performances in movies like PASSPORT TO PIMPLICO and BRIEF ENCOUNTER. Guinness, who was so versatile that he had no particular role that was typical of him, shines as a long suffering, faithful bank clerk of whom the old expression "still waters run deep" is especially true. Behind his nonexpressive, stoic face is the soul of a thief who intends to rob the bank of a small fortune. Holloway plays the owner of a very small company that makes tourist trinkets for souvenir shops. They team up to form the Lavender Hill Mob (named for the address of the boarding house in which they both live).

As in so many movies, it isn't the getting there but the going there that's good. The plot takes a definite second place to the performances of the leads. One of my major complaints with Guinness is that the further he went in his career, the more he foresook comedy for drama. He was a subtle and brilliant commedian who excelled in subdued performances. Guinness could get more mileage out of a sly grin and his eyes than most actors can in their entire body. Holloway, on the other hand, is the master of broad comedy: exaggerated facial expressions, horrified poses, distraught reactions. Together they balance one another out perfectly. In scenes like their frantic and futile dash down the steps of the Eiffel Tower they are used to perfection.

Ealing Studios made a string of utterly superb comedies in the 1940s and 1950s, and this is one of my favorites. I actually prefer this to the deeply cynical and dark KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, and consider it on any grounds to be superior to THE LADYKILLERS (oddly marred by Guinness's inexplicable impersonation of Alastair Sim, down to false teeth, body padding, and a hair-do that mimicked Sims's--when you go that far, why not just hire Sim instead?), and an honorable companion to films such as PASSPORT TO PIMPLICO, THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, and THE TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT).

Audrey Hepburn had a number of walk on roles in British films in the very early 1950s, but didn't achieve real success until her stage work brought her to the attention of Hollywood. She is easily spotted in a bit role in this one, as the radiantly beautiful woman who stops to say hello to Guinness in the opening scene of the film.

Minor classic of Ealing comedy
I do not rate this as among the great Ealing studios comedies and it trails behind such movies as Kind Hearts and Coronets ,The Ladykillers and The Man in the White Suit as examples of that genre.It is however ,an enjoyable and diverting piece of work ,solidly in the traditions of comedy established by the studio.
Th framing scenes depict Alec Guinness as Holland ,clearly a luminary of the expatriate English set of Rio De Janeiro ,relating the tale of how he came to acquire his wealth and postition .His audience is a soberly dresssed man clearly also English.
We then are taken back to the execution of a gold bullion robbbery ,masterminded by Holland ,a long serving ,meek and decorous Bank of England employee who has dreamed of robbing the vehicle containing the gold .He enlists the aid of Pemberton (Stanley Hoilloway)who owns a small souvenir making business ,and that of two small time professional criminals -played by two British comedy stalwarts in Sid James and Aldie Bass.The robbery is executed without violence and the ingots melted down into replicas of the Eiffel Tower which Pemberton and Holland go to Paris to rescue .Alas, some find their way onto the market and the duo are forced to try buying back the models from the schoolgirls who have purchased them .

There is a lively car chase -again comedic in tone rather than an exercise in screeching rubber -before the twist ending in Rio.

This is a gently amoral comedy -the larceny perpetrated is without violence or malice and is shown as the revenge of the timid and passed over in an age of drabness and austerity.It is a tale of the "little man "who rebels .In contrast to more recent caper movies these are not vicious professional criminals but opporunists who shrink from violence .It is thus a period piece and miles removed from the unappealing specimens deopicted in the modern British crime movies like those of the morally null Guy Ritchie.
Beautifully acted by Guinness and Holloway in particular this is a gently satiric ,nicely written comedy of the worm that turns.

Truly a "Classic" Comedy
I recently purchased The Horse's Mouth (1958) from Amazon as well as "The Alec Guinness Collection" which includes The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) plus four others: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Captain's Paradise (1953), and The Ladykillers (1955). Frankly, I was amazed how well each of the six films has held up since I first saw it.

This film was directed by Charles Crighton. Noteworthy in the first scene is a brief appearance by Audrey Hepburn, identified in the credits as "Chiquita." After she departs, Henry Holland (played brilliantly, as always, by Guinness) begins to recount the Lavender Hill saga to his companion. As he explains, he was a mild-mannered fellow who supervised the transportation by van of gold bullion. His boss, the armed guards who accompany him, and those who receive the shipments all respect his fastidious (albeit anal retentive) attitude toward his duties. Holland seems to have no private life except for his friendship with Alfred Pendlebury (played by Stanley Holloway) who owns a company which manufactures paperweights. For reasons which will not be revealed here, Holland and Pendlebury decide to steal a shipment worth (in 1951) several million pounds. They realize they will need help so they recruit two smalltime Cockney crooks, Lackery Wood (Sidney James) and Shorty Fisher (Alfie Bass), and thereby create the Lavender Hill Mob. In my opinion, how they plan and then complete the heist is far less entertaining than what happens afterward. T.E.B. Clarke received an Academy Award for his script which, paradoxically, is quite simple and yet wholly unpredictable. The acting is consistently first-rate. Also, while recently seeing this film again, I enjoyed the exterior shots London and Paris more than 50 years ago. This comedy is indeed a "classic." ... Read more

Reviews (38)

A Southern Gothic Treat
How could a movie fanatic go wrong with this one? Sidney Pollack directing, with Francis Ford Coppola helping out with the adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play? A great cast , with especially memorable performances from Natalie Wood, Kate Reid and Mary Badham (as younger sister, Willie Starr)? Roberts Redford and Blake and Charles Bronson thrown in for lagniappe? Sounds like great gumbo to me.

Natalie Wood is absolutely alluring in this one. She and Redford, who also teamed together in the memorable INSIDE DAISY CLOVER, did indeed appear to have a lot of screen chemistry. He is the cynical company man who appears like the Grim Reaper in a small, shabby, depression-era southern town, carrying pink slips with him, instead of a scythe. The role has a lot of resonance now, what with all the corporate downsizing currently going on. Needless to say, the townfolk don't much cotton to Mr Owen Legate, with his fancy suit and self-assured ways.

With a couple notable exceptions. Tom boyish Willie Starr is taken by him right away and the minute her big sister Alma sets eyes on him, she's putty. Wood's expression in that initial glance is part of film history.

Owen further antagonizes the townfolk because they see that Alma has taken a shine to an outsider. Alma's been something of a tramp up this point, givining it up to varying degrees to most of the men in the town. Several of them, including an old geezer with an invilid wife, have been fantazising about further adventures with Alma. And Alma's mother is upset with Owen, because she sees that he is going to take away her gravy train. Hazel Starr is one of Williams' great eccentric female characters, and perhaps his most unctuous (though Amanda Wingfield, in THE GLASS MENAGERIE, is no prize, either. Kate Reid is perfect in the role. This, to me is her most memorable performance, followed closely by her title role in AND MISS REARDON DRINKS A LITTLE, which unfortunatley appears to be impossible to find. It's hard to believe she never won an Oscar or a Tony.

This was only the second feature film that Pollock directed. He of course went on to great things with such films as THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY and TOOTSIE. He and Cinematographer James Wong Howe do a great job of capturing small southern town lethargy, as well as 30's New Orleans ambience. The print, unfortunately, could definitely use a full restoration. It's faded noticeably over time. The film certainly warrants the extra work. Yet time cannot wither Natalie Wood. She's still one of the most lovely women a camera ever made love to. This film definitely belongs near the top of the list for screen adaptations of Williams' plays.

BEK

Perfect but tragic
I feel that calling this movie tragic gives away too much of the plot. But (sigh) I did it. This film was not to me sulty, sexy or smoldering, and it lacked the scented decadence that I've come to associate with a Tennessee Williams play. (He was a hero of mine in high school.) However, Williams didn't write this screenplay, though it's from a shorter work of his. It was a wonderful movie, everyone acted it to the hilt. Redford was great, and had his usual inflections and mannerisms. Wood covered all the emotions exactly, from nervous anxiety at the start, though joy, grief and horror, indignant rage, dreamy fantasizing, the works. I thought she deserved an Oscar. The flick also had a very young shy Robert Blake in it. I never hated a character so much in my movie-going life as I did Kate Reid, Wood's mother in the movie. Shoot anyone who tells you how it ends, then watch it anyway (if this sort of thing is your sort of thing).

So Much Talent
Natalie Wood just never seemed to get a break. For an actress with an obvious talent, one that can usually carry a picture, her later career seems saddled with pictures that could have been good yet just do not come off. An excellent example is This Property is Condemned. Just a glance at the credits will convince you that the result of so many talents, (Tennessee Williams, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Kate Reid, Francis Coppola, John Houseman, Ray Stark, James Wong Howe), the picture has got to be a classic. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. The result of so much talent ends up a mishmash of patched together themes, uneven editing and reactions that do not fit the characters. One problem is the fleshing out of the original one act play, pulling in additional material that does not seem to match the first half of the film. Laden with long drawn out pans of Wood wandering New Orleans, the movie stumbles to a clumsy ending made only worse by the "let's take care of all those loose ends" epilogue with Mary Badham as Wood's younger sister. What could have been a taut and emotionally devastating film results instead with the viewer wondering how could so many great talents create something so flat and lifeless? Natalie Wood however is wonderful and a joy to watch and makes the best of the poor script handed her. Equally good is Mary Badham, a special treat to watch in what I believe is the only film she made other than her amazing turn as Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. If I had to pick just one thing that condemned the movie all together-the music. Some of the sappiest and inappropriate background soundtrack I have ever heard in my life. When the film cries out for a subtle dramatic score the viewer is presented instead with calliope tunes better suited for a circus themed comedy.

Wish me a rainbow, wish me a star ...
A year after Tennessee Williams's 1945 breakthrough success with "The Glass Menagerie," a collection of his then-existing one-act plays was published under the title "27 Wagons Full of Cotton." Included in that collection was "This Property Is Condemned," a two-person play describing a chance encounter between a boy named Tom and an orphaned school drop-out named Willie by the railroad tracks outside a near-abandoned, post-depression-era Southern town. During their conversation, Willie tells Tom about her sister Alva, who was once the town's "Main Attraction" with suitors galore, fancy clothes and always out to party; but died young when her lungs "got affected." Yet, everything about Willie already spells "doom" as well: Her dreaminess and lack of realism, her cheap rhinestone bracelet and raggedy old-fashioned party dress (which were once her sister's), her shabby doll, and of course the fact that she still lives in her family's old railroad-side boarding house, long-since shut down and bearing the sign "This Property Is Condemned," from which the story thus takes its symbolic title.

Inspired by Tennessee Williams's play, Francis Ford Coppola sat down with TV writer-producers Fred Coe and Edith Sommer (as well as uncredited David Rayfiel) and created a screenplay fleshing out the backstory; the story of Alva, who dreams of nothing more than getting out of her small backwater home town and seeing the world (or at least New Orleans, which is more or less the same thing), but is trapped between lack of money and prospects on the one hand and a mother heavily capitalizing on her physical attractions on the other hand. And both the screenwriters and Natalie Wood, who stars as Alva, did the famous playwright proud: Their heroine is as much an inhabitant of Williams's "Dragon Country" - that place too painful to live in, yet somehow endured - as are her sisters-in-spirit Blanche DuBois ("A Streetcar Named Desire") and Amanda and Laura Wingfield ("The Glass Menagerie"); like them hiding from a reality deemed intolerable behind a gauze veil of make-believe, and prone to immediate destruction when robbed of her illusions.

For Alva, however, doom doesn't come at the hands of a man: In fact, although she has acquired the reputation of the town's easiest girl, with suitors ranging from her own mother's boyfriend (a marvelously, tightly controlled Charles Bronson) to a wealthy old visitor from Memphis named Johnson (John Harding), railroad executive Owen Legate (Robert Redford), in town with a suitcase full of pink slips and thus the quickly-maligned catalyst of the railroad-dependent community's demise, falls for her when he begins to see through her easygoing facade. (She, of course, was smitten the minute she laid eyes on him ... and sister, I sure am with you there. We're talking about Redford in his prime, after all.) Owen and Alva are a classic case of "opposites attract" - he the realist who never dreams, dislikes his job but does it because someone has to, and tries to make her face the reality of her situation, albeit with the aim of empowering, not destroying her; and she the romantic, who can dream herself inside a snow globe when she wants to feel cold, believes that places vividly imagined are almost as good as places actually visited, and sometimes feels so suffocated by her town's encroaching atmosphere that she has physical trouble breathing (which of course also foreshadows other things). Natalie Wood and Robert Redford have incredible chemistry - their prior collaboration in "Inside Daisy Clover" quite obviously helped a lot - and truly bring to life the precarious, only seemingly carefree young Southern belle and her reluctant lover. But just as crucial is the relationship between Alva and her manipulative mother (Kate Reid), who stands for everything that her daughter is not and, although practically inexistent in Tennessee Williams's play, as an agent of destruction is a worthy peer to his most brutal characters, first and foremost "Streetcar"'s Stanley Kowalski.

While it can hardly be said that the movie is "based" on Tennessee Williams's play - the opening credits aptly use the term "suggested by" - the play itself remains largely intact as an outer frame; using Willie (Mary Badham of "To Kill a Mockingbird" fame) as a narrator and taking the majority of the dialogue between her and Tom ("Lassie"'s Jon Provost) straight from the play. Much the same is true for the Starr boarding house, which in the movie's opening and closing shots quite closely matches Tennessee Williams's (as always) elaborate stage directions, describing the building as "a large yellow frame house which has a look of tragic vacancy:" only one example of James Wong Howe's and Stephen Grimes's excellent cinematography and production design, complimented in turn by the great, venerable Edith Head's period-sensitive costumes.

For most of the movie's participants, "This Property Is Condemned" was a harbinger of even bigger things to come: Although Natalie Wood was a bona-fide star (and the only actor receiving "above the line" billing) and both child actors' parts did not come close to the earlier ones that had made them famous, Francis Ford Coppola was yet to create "The Godfather," Sydney Pollack would go on to direct the much-acclaimed "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?," Robert Redford's career would skyrocket with "Butch and Sundance," and for Pollack and Redford together this was only the first in a seven-film run, including blockbusters like "The Way We Were" and "Three Days of the Condor" and culminating in 1985's multiple-award-winning "Out of Africa." Thus, this is also an important testament to the level of work that facilitated their respective paths to glory. Conversely, in Natalie Wood's case this was probably her last truly great appearance, unmatched by any of her remaining work in the 15 years until her untimely death. For everybody involved, however, it was an important career milestone - and with its spot-on atmosphere, fine acting and all-around great production values it's a movie I'll take over many a more recent release any time; no questions asked.

This Property is Condemned
I was very disappointed by this movie. The only redeeming thing about it was Robert Redford and he couldnt even save this movie. First of all if you are looking for an uplifting movie with a happy ending, this one is not for you. Natalie Wood is gorgeous but I found her character to be so slutty that I did not like her at all and did not find her worthy of Robert Redfords character. All in all, I would suggest to Robert Redford fans to stick with some of his other great movies like Barefoot in the Park and The Way We Were-you can never go wrong with those movies, they are truly timeless. ... Read more

Reviews (75)

Sheer delight
For my money this is Blake Edwards' most enjoyable movie. I've viewed it perhaps a dozen times, and its combination of a peerless cast, fine songs, supremely witty script and sure-footed direction make this a real gem that I will never tire of watching.

Robert Preston (in a role originally intended for Peter Sellers) practically steals the show as Toddy, a gay nightclub perfomer in 1930s Paris. Preston's vitality and charisma make the character of Toddy so warm, humorous and believable that he feels like an old friend by the end of the movie. What a shame Preston made so few films! (We do, however, have his memorable aoppearance in SOB - another Edwards triumph - to be grateful for.)

Julie Andrews is perfectly cast, with her distinctive voice and seemingly ageless face and figure all contributing to a convincing portrayal of a supposed female impersonator. The rapport between her and Preston is a joy to behold, and one can only applaud their classy professionalism.

The rest of the cast is top-notch, and the film reunites Julie Andrews with James Garner 18 years after their first movie together, the 1964 Americanization of Emily. Garner shows a fine comic touch - as always - and Lesley Ann Warren is inimitable as his supremely irritating ex-girlfriend.

The film positively overflows with 1930s Parisian atmosphere and sophistication. In short, Victor/Victoria is a real treat that offers a little something for everybody.

Essential viewing.

Le Jazz Hot!
Although he has just recieved an honorary Oscar, Blake Edwards is often looked upon as a purvayer of low comedy. Although he is the genius behind such sparkling classics as The (original) Pink Panther and Breakfast at Tiffanys, many people frown upon him for his later films such as S.O.B., Blind Date and Switch (let's not mention the post-Sellars Panthers). Victor / Victoria falls, chronologically, between the two sets of films and, in my view, is Edwards at his peak.
Edwards directs his wife Julie Andrews (never better and that includes being a nanny and a nun), in a tale of a [woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman]. The central plot serves as an excellent backbone on which to hang a wonderfully farcical script, some hilarious set-pieces and the fantastic song-and-dance numbers (Bricuse and Mancini's score makes you wish they'd worked together more often).
Andrews, as I say, is flawless coming somewhere between the innocence of Poppins and the lewdness of S.O.B. and giving a fantastic performance. From under her very nose though, the film is stolen by the ever-watchable Robert Preston as Toddy. Preston brings great depth and love to a part that could quite easily have been, as he is refered to in the film, 'a pathetic old queen'. James Garner commendably plays the straight-man (in more ways than one!) with a twinkle in his eye and Lesley Ann Warren hilariously chews every bit of scenery she lays her hands on.
The script, which bears Edwards' name as a co-writer, is as witty and moving as anything written in Hollywood's 'Golden Era' and the musical elements have as much vibrancy as MGM's in their hey-day. Musical highlights include Le Jazz Hot and The Shady Dame from Seville (not to mention the riotous reprise as performed by Preston for the films finale). One-liners don't come much better than "A lot of men can't get it ... up to now, you've been fine", "You look like a raccoon" (you need to see it) and the entire scene in the restaurant that leads to the line "It is a moron who takes advice from a horse's arse" (Edwards regular Graham Stark at his dead-pan best).
The extras on the DVD are limited to trailers and a commentary. The commentary by Edwards and Andrews is informative, if a little disappointing considering the wildness of the film and mainly consists of Edwards enjoying watching the film and Andrews making sure that all of the on and off-screen talent is name-checked.
A real unsung gem that deserves to be seen as often as possible. Tell your friends!

JULIE ANDREWS! A LEGEND!
I remember sitting through it in 1983 in the theatre with Mama and Grandmother. We all LOVED it. With Poppins, Maria and Gertrude; Julie`s Victor/Victoria is HER BEST effort on celluloid. Leslie Ann-Warren, James Garner, Robert Preston, Blake Edwards, Henry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse ALL excell in this comedy. It may be a trifle long and the Hercule Poirot-imitation unnecessary; but it really is the last of the GREAT MGM MUSICALS(although it was shot i England, released by MGM). The set-designs are a treasure 2 behold.

One Big Riot
There is one word that best describes this film, and it's RIOT. The film is one big and grand RIOT. The cockroach-instigated riot scene in the restaurant is memorable. Mr Edwards shot this from the outside so that we get to see a third-person view of what is going on inside through the windows. Also, look at that RIOTY performance by Leslie Ann Warren: the scene where she walks down the train aisle spurting out vehement %$&*$# should be made a classic!! Again, this was shot using a third-person view so that we see inside the train windows but never actually hear her. The film delights in its RIOTS, we get the feeling that it makes fun of its characters in this way, albeit a tender way.
But beneath all the film's RIOTS, is a warm heart (highlighted by Henry Mancini's score.) This warm-hearted attitude transcends even through all those nightclub brawls; and I believe that without this formula, the film might not have been able to handle the issue of homosexuality so well. Excellent performances by Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston (in a delicious drag queen finale,) Leslie Ann Warren (show stealer) and the whole cast. The musical numbers are also winners. Certainly not for the Lazy Afternoon viewing, but for the Friday/Saturday night film. To those who are offended by gay contents, be warned, the film insists. This is one GAY & RIOTY film.

Blake Edwards - Musical Gender Bending At It's Best!
This is most definitely musical gender-bending at it's best!

Not many musical/comedies are produced nowadays, let alone good ones like Rocky Horror Picture Show & Little Shop Of Horrors to name a few that come to my mind.

This 80's musical/comedy is set in 1934 GAY and I DO MEAN GAY Paree! This film is quite unparalled in the fact that Victor/Victoria was a movie BEFORE it made it to The Great White Way. Julie Andrews played Victor/Victoria in both movie and on stage.

Great songs in - Julie's "Le Jazz Hot" & Lesley Warren's bimboesque "Kings Can-Can". The sexual chemistry is A+++ between Andrews & a sexually confused James Garner who plays "King Marchand" a Chicago club owner, who is so TOTALLY out of his element in Paris, let alone being sexually frustrated and confused over his crush on the beautiful, stylish and gay, Victor.

Great cast, great songs and a greater storyline with lots of slapstick comedy make Victor/Victoria a classic of it's time!

Happy Watching! ... Read more

Reviews (162)

Best Irish Mob Film
While not given much attention upon release, Miller's Crossing has developed a devoted cult following, particularly among fans of the Coen Bros. Ratcheting up the elements that made Blood Simple so popular (grotesque, humorous violence, bizarre but consistent characters, random chance undoing complex plans, incredible plot complexity, etc. etc. etc.), Miller's Crossing nonetheless manages to be far more emotionally powerful than the earlier film. This one bears quite a few repeat viewings, with a plot full of more twists and turns than most of us can follow in one sitting. Like most of the Coens' films, this is tremendously enjoyable, even when you're not quite sure what's happening or why. This is one of my all-time favorites. A perfect script, great cinematogrophy, a top-notch cast, and, of course, flawless production and direction make this one a classic waiting to be discovered. Simply put, one of the best films ever made. Miller's Crossing is a morality play created with infinite style. Complex characters, complex plot, excellent acting, and great editing. Probablly Gabriel Byrne's best work. If you consider yourself a sophisticated moviegoer, this is not one to miss. But a caveat to the mainstream, you can't eat popcorn and watch this movie at the same time; it requires your full attention. And if you thought that the Road to Perdition was a great film you will probably not understand why so many of us love Miller's Crossing.

My Favorite Film
Everyone has a movie that they see for the first time and it speaks to them in such a way that it is firmly entrenched in their psyche for all time. Miller's Crossing is that film for me. From the first time I watched this movie in 1990 to my 50th viewing a couple of months back the film has always seemed fresh, vibrant & undeniably a true Coen brothers movie. Filled with the usual oddball characters (from the sleazy Bernie Bernbaum to our quiet Anti-Hero Tom), hilarious dialogue & twisted plotline we enter the dark heart of 1930's Gangland America. Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne, in probably his best role) is the right hand man to Irish underworld boss Leo (Albert Finney) and also lover to Leo's moll Verna (Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden, in her first role). All is well until fellow gangster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) tells Leo that he wants to whack Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) for selling out his fixed fights. Unknown to Johnny however is the fact that Bernie is Verna's brother and when Leo refuses permission to kill him a gang war erupts. Tom finds himself torn between his loyalty to Leo and his love to Verna and thus begins a spiral into deceit, betrayal & death. The major theme of this movie however lies within loyalties, truth and as Johnny Caspar puts so eloquently at the beginning of the film "it's about ethics"--funny coming from a deranged killer & mob boss. In this world of gangsters, it is misguided loyalties which kill and words of truth that cause trouble. Only Tom and Johnny Caspar's muscle The Dane (J.E. Freeman) seem to know which way is up and the two clash constantly throughout the film. Tom always seems in control as the movie progresses, even as his world falls down around him, and we wonder if his brillant Machiavellian-like plan will come to fruition. I'll stop here and let the film do the rest. Every one of the performances is top-notch and it is hard to see character actors like Freeman & Polito in any other movie--it's almost like they were born for these roles. Byrne is solid as the stoic Tom, Finney is a marvel as Leo and you can see why Marcia Gay Harden's career florished after this role. But really Turturro turns this film into a masterpiece with his classic portrayal as Bernie. He definitely deserved a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role but the Academy ignored this movie as they would all Coen Bros. films until Fargo. In closing, Miller's Crossing is a film for fans of film, with beautiful cinematography, Carter Burwell's brillant soundtrack, excellent acting and tour de force directing by the Coens. It begs repeated viewings and never fails to deliver. A Masterpiece of Cinema and my all-time favorite film.

Some Background
"Miller's Crossing" is a direct linear descendent of "Blood Simple" which was extracted from a line in a Dashiell Hammett novel. In turn, I think "Miller's Crossing" is a homage to one of the best writers of the 20th century. Everyone praises the crisp, cynical dialog of "Millers Crossing" and the complex plot that still holds together. This is characteristic of a Hammett novel. While everyone is familiar with Hammett's "Maltese Falcon," "Miller's Crossing" is more of a blend of the character's and story line found in his "The Glass Key" and the gang war is similar to one in his "Red Harvest". If I am right, the Coens couldn't have a better teacher.

"Danny Boy"
The scene in which "Danny Boy" provides the musical counterpoint (I won't describe the scene in case you have yet to see the movie) wonderfully contrasts the beauty of the song with the horrific, yet gorgeously presented, violence of the scene.
It is the most memorable film scene I have encountered. The version of "Danny Boy" used is also the best rendition of this sentimental song that I know of.

Not Good.
'Miller's Crossing' was a film I couldn't keep up with. It did not give enough time for character or story development. I lost interest in the story and people fast. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Best Ever!
Jumping Jack Flash must be my all-time favourite film - it is the only one I can watch over and over again without getting bored. Whoopi Goldberg was hilarious in this film (but then she is a wonderful, natural comedian who can also bring tears to the eyes when needed). Whatever she does, she does well and puts so much feeling into her work. Needless to say she is also my favourite actress. Keep up the good work, Cheers, Blue Wren.

Outrageously hilarious comedy
Whoopi Goldberg shined in this film. The plot, characters and laughs all worked together to create a truly remarkable and fun movie. Lots of very hilarious scenes and sticky situations. The perfect balance of comedy, action, drama, supsense and romance. Recommended for late nights and rainy afternoons.

PLEASE put this on DVD!!!
PLEASE read the other reviews of this movie because they express everything in my heart about this film. Whoopi...you are just totally incredible in this movie. Your timing...your delivery of lines, your "aura" in the role, it's impecible I can't believe that this film is not on DVD yet, AND I hope when they DO release it that there are OUTTAKES and special features galore. This is truly my FAVORITE comedy of ALL times. You, Whoopi, have captured the best of all of the comedians of our time in this film. I loved this from the first because I am a bigtime computer fanatic. I started on mainframes and sent messages to friends and co-workers LIVE and it's SO real it's scary. SOMEONE at the top is missing it (or they are holding out on us and hopefully preparing a DVD with lots of special features).

Dogs barking can't fly without umbrella!
I am so excited one of my all-time favorites has finally been released on DVD. "Jumpin' Jack Flash", along with "Ruthless People" are my two favorite 80's movies. I must respectfully correct one reviewer and report that there is a theatrical trailer on the DVD. But some of the scenes were cut out of the film, and that was a bit of a disappointment because they looked real funny. Full screen & wide screen are available. Everyone has seen this movie so I won't detail it, just wanted to say it is great!

DVD at last!
JJF is one of those excellent 80's comedies that has begged for a DVD release for some time. I presumed the delay was because Fox were preparing a bunch of extras to add to the DVD, but not so. JJF has finally arrived on DVD, and despite there not being a single special feature (not even the trailer), it is still worth owning! Would have been nice for Whoopi to do an audio-commentary. A nice 5.1 surround sound has been given to the soundtrack, and the widescreen anamorphic is nice to have after years of watching the video cropped version. I will say that the DVD transfer is not sharp, but acceptable considering the film's age. JJF is Whoopi at her finest. She plays a bank computer operator who starts receiving help messages on her screen from a spy. It's one adventure after another from then on. Please remember .... it's a gas, gas, gas! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Half of the characters in this 1988 John Landis potboiler seem to be played either by Eddie Murphy or costar Arsenio Hall, swaddled in elaborate Rick Baker makeup appliances that render them unrecognizable but also weirdly immobile. As a pampered African prince who journeys incognito to Queens, New York, to find a bride who will love him just for himself, Murphy manages to look smug and naive at the same time. There are enjoyable sequences of Murphy's Prince Akeem applying his lordly manner to his new job in a fast-food emporium, and falling for the boss's spirited daughter (Shari Headley), who teaches him how to party down, American style. But the fish-out-water premise is never fully exploited. Star spotters will have a field day locating Cuba Gooding Jr., Donna Summer, Louie Anderson, Vondie Curtis Hall, E.R.'s Eriq La Salle, and Samuel L. Jackson in their minuscule supporting roles. --David Chute ... Read more

Reviews (68)

Hilarious classic that will live in our hearts forever!!!
This is one of my all time-favorite African-American movies. First of all, Eddie Murphy is hilarious (in all of his roles). Arsenio Hall is a perfect foil for Eddie's hijinks. Eddie let his full range of talent show in this film; he played an innocent person who grows into a mature adult right in front of our eyes and realizes that there is a price to pay for love; whether or not you are born into royalty. This is one of those movies that a person watches over and over again and ends up reciting the lines as the movies is playing. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair are wonderful in this movie as well as the King and Queen. Madge Sinclair was one of the world's best actresses and I miss her greatly. She tells James Earl Jones "put a sock in it, Geoffrey, the boy is in love." Nobody can deliver that line to a black king, except a black queen. John Amos, (whom I have loved since Good Times), is a great actor as well. He plays the part of a black businessman so well, and as a father he takes no stuff off of the King. He tells James Earl Jones, "I will break my foot off in your royal _____); now that's a ghetto father for you. James Earl Jones knew where to draw the line with Cleo McDowell.

I also like the fact that the Kingdom of Zamunda was filled with kindness, and the people were happy, the royal family was truly wealthy and had everything. You know, this movie is truly a fantasy and helps us escape from our everyday lives. Just to see the Queen and King eating breakfast and talking to their son on a "speaker phone" because the table is so long, is funny. The King and Queen taking their entourage to Queens when they received the telegram to send $1 million to Semmi who had spent up all his pocket change is one of my favorite scenes. That music that is playing during the sequence when the entourage arrives in Queens is so wonderful, moving and swirling, I am buying the soundtrack just to get that song. When I get married, I would like that song to play as my "court" walks down the aisle before me.

All the cameos in this movie are great as well. Nobody can play a doped-up thug like Samuel L. Jackson; Samuel is a natural at playing a killer. Also, Louie Anderson was funny, so was Eriq LaSalle, and Alison Dean.

Now the guys in the barbershop have to be taken from classic characters in the black community. In all the black neighborhoods I have been in during my whole life; there has got to be a black barbershop full of men eating, talking stuff, and cutting hair. When "Clarence" says that Martin Luther King, Jr. ran up to him and hit him in the chest, I just crack up, cause Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prophet of non-violence. And, Eddie Murphy playing a white man is too funny, and a Jewish white man on top of that. Now, that takes creativity; and comic genuis, and Eddie's got it. And, Arsenio's portrayal of Rev. Brown is right on target, there is always some country preacher in the neighborhood that comes to every event, eats up the food, and blesses the weddings, blesses the children, and buries the dead.

One of my favorite parts is when Lisa tells Prince Akeem, she cannot marry him; because he lied to her about his identity. That made Akeem grow up very fast, and learn that nobody; no matter who he is, can buy love.

The clothes in this movie are also wonderful. Deborah Nadoolman did a great job showing how royalty would dress in a foreign country where it is warm, Also, how they would dress in Queens during the winter; those fur coats Madge Sinclair had on were fantastic and so were the suits worn by the King himself. His coat of an entire lion's skin was dramatic and the diamond eyes on that lion's head were cool.

The ending this cinderella story was great, love did really win out in the end.

Well, I could go on and on about how much I liked this movie but, I am going to stop now. Get this movie and keep it in your video collection so you can watch it and laugh over and over.

FUNNY !
This is a feel good movie with the main players being Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. Young Prince Akeem is about to be wed to a beautiful woman, but the problem is he does not love this women. He decides he will travel to Queens, NY In America and find his true love. Now how does a pampered Africian Prince
survive in Queens. Soon he falls in love with his bosses daughter and the story takes you through a tender courtship.
I loved her father, and the King and Queen were priceless!
This was a really fun movie! The wedding scenes at the end were beautiful and my favorite part. Well worth your time to watch!
Qute enjoyable!

F U N N Y
I love this movie. There is nothing I can complain about. This is Eddie Murphy at his Best. This is when Eddie and Arsenio was the BOMB. Every scene makes you laugh. Do you see Samuel Jackson in one of his early roles? Also, ER's Eric LaSalle in his Jeri Curl. This movie is wonderful. I can watch it over and over and over again and laugh at the Soul Glow commercials, because everyone in my area wore a Jerri Curl that looked that nasty. This is a must own.

Fun Relaxed Comedy
Coming to America cheerfully pokes fun at everything. There isn't really a meanspirited moment in the movie. A spoiled Afican Prince comes to Queens, NYC to live a normal life & find his true love. Queens for a future king, get it? The humor isn't exactly highbrow but its constant and Arsenio Hall is hilarious.

Five star cast in a hilariously funny film "fit for royalty"
Coming to America is truly the creme de la creme of the comedic genre. I have watched this movie many times, and never can resist throwing my head back and laughing out loud in total glee. Sometimes I even admit to falling right off the couch in fits of laughter!

Murphy's principal role in the movie is that of Prince Akeem, with Arsenio Hall as his sidekick and personal servant Semi (though both play numerous other minor roles with the help of elaborate makeup to disguise the fact). Promised in marriage to a beautiful woman raised from birth to please him, Akeem finds himself dissatisfied with the very idea of an arranged marriage. He wants to select a wife with a mind of her own who loves him for himself.

Hence Akeem's decision to leave the kingdom of Zamunda to travel to America. Unaware of his son's true purpose for the trip, King Jaffre Jafur decrees that Akeem simply needs to take a trip to "sow his royal oats." James Earl Jones as the King, and Madge Sinclair as the Queen are hilarious in their roles as Akeem's parents.

Akeem and Semi leave their luxurious lifestyle in the palace behind and end up in Queens, NY, posing as "average Americn students." They secure jobs at a knockoff of McDonald's, owned by Mr. McDowell (engagingly portrayed to hilarious effect by John Amos) and his daughters Lisa and Patrice. Falling hard for the eldest daughter Lisa (Shari Headley), Akeem competes with her boyfriend, Darrell(Eric LaSalle), the arrogant, smooth talking heir to the "Soul Glo" hair product fortune, for her affections. The numerous conflicts and silly situations that stem from this will keep you in stitches.

Blessed with an EXCELLENT cast who each make the utmost of their roles (those mentioned previously, plus Samuel L.Jackson, Louie Anderson, Don Ameche and others), truly funny material, witty dialogue, and a delightful feel-good ending, Coming to America is a movie not to be missed. I hope you enjoy this frothy funfilled comedy as much as I did! ... Read more