Scaramouche (1952) Review

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(More customer reviews)What a great movie! Lesser known than many other great swashbucklers, "Scaramouche" is nonetheless a top-notch production in every way.
Stewart Granger stars as the quick-witted Andre Moreau, a charming drifter who after the murder of his best friend dedicates his life to the destruction of the murderer, the cold-blooded Marquis de Maynes (Mel Ferrer). Along the way he fights many duels, romances sweet Janet Leigh AND fiery Eleanor Parker, and has several close shaves.
"Scaramouche" features a solid script, beautiful sets, lush costumes and gorgeous cinematography. The cast is excellent, with Mel Ferrer in particular giving shading and nuance to the role of the villain. The last 20 minutes of the film feature a long, spectacular sword fight that is a must-see for fans of the genre. I highly recommend "Scaramouche" to any film buff and especially to those who love adventure films.
GRADE: A
(As a side note, I have also read the novel on which this movie is based, and I found it very entertaining. The movie differs from the book in several key areas, so if you have yet to read the novel, don't worry, the movie won't spoil it for you.)

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Scaramouche is the secret identity of a hero fighting for independence in the French Revolution.Genre: Feature Film-Action/AdventureRating: NRRelease Date: 1-JUL-2003Media Type: DVD

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Martha Graham Dance on Film - (The Criterion Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD was absolutely outstanding for me (unfamiliar with modern dance) and exceeded my wife's expectations (very knowledgeable and familiar with modern dance). The reasons for this very positive impression were: Martha herself narrates and explains the whole DVD, the film producer also provides insights into Martha's life and personality, and original dancers performing the original productions.
Very enjoyable either as an expert or as a beginner.

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One of the great artistic forces of the twentieth century, performer, choreographer, and teacher Martha Graham influenced dance worldwide. Criterion presents a sampling of her stunning craft, all collaborations with television arts-programming pioneer Nathan Kroll. A Dancer’s World (1957), narrated by Graham herself, is a glimpse into her class work and methodology. Appalachian Spring (1959) and Night Journey (1961) are two complete Graham ballets, the first a celebration of the American pioneer spirit, scored by Aaron Copland, the second a powerfully physical rendering of the Oedipus myth. These are signature Graham works and tributes to the art of the human body.

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Lucky Me (1954) Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though when Doris Day marched into Jack Warner's office to protest the script of "Lucky Me", little did she know that her fans would love this picture and cherish it for decades.
I can understand her concern. She had just come off the great success of "Calamity Jane" which had been an Oscar winner and Day had had a tremendous hit record with "Secret Love".
After being convinced that she should do the picture, she decided to give her performance 110% even though she was in ill health. And, what a performance it is! With able support from Phil Silvers, Nancy Walker, Martha Hyer and Eddie Foy, Jr. and a terrific co-star in Robert Cummings, she was delightful as "Candy Williams" a stranded-in-Florida showgirl with dreams of Broadway stardom.
Miss Day performed , or was involved in all of the musical numbers in the film, most notably, "Love You Dearly", "Bluebells of Broadway", "I Speak to the Stars" (a Day record hit) and the showstopping, "I Wanna Sing Like an Angel".
Phil Silvers was "Sgt. Bilko" and Nancy Walker was "Ida Morgenstern" and Eddie Foy, Jr. was "Hindsey" from "Pajama Game". In short, they were playing their most famous roles.
Doris Day's opening number was a true star performance. Only she could get away with singing her head off, bouncing down the Miama streets singing "The Supersitition Song". Truly great.
The film moves along nicely and has no lags, thanks to the director, Jack Donahue, who kept things bouncy. The color is bright and the actors work well together.
See this one and don't forget the popcorn.

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The star of a third-rate theatrical troupe in Miami catches the attention of a Broadway songwriter.

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Lord Mountbatten - The Last Viceroy (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a splendid 6 part mini-series centering around the end of British rule in India and Lord Mountbatten's role in it. It's a superb production which successfully evokes the splendour of the last days of the British Raj followed by the turmoil and bloodbath of post-independence India. The splendour was deliberate. Mountbatten was adamant that the British would not just slink away. He saw what a monumental occasion this was. As he summed up in a private toast with his wife, this was about "the birth of India and the death of the British Empire."
The series covers the year immediately preceeding Independence and the year after, effectively Mountbatten's tenure on the sub-continent, as the last Viceroy and then the first Governor-General of India (1946-1948). There is an excellent all-round cast, even with non-Indians playing the major roles - Ian Richardson painted brown as Nehru and a similarly tanned Vladek Sheybal, a Pole by birth, as his arch nemesis Jinnah. History is decidedly seen from the British, or more precisely Mountbatten's, perspective. He and Nehru were close, his wife and Nehru closer still. That intimacy is alluded to very pointedly here. The villain of the piece, as the Amazon reviewer has stated, is clearly Muhammad Ali Jinnah, head of the Muslim League and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah was someone Mountbatten couldn't get close to and didn't trust and he is portrayed here as a slithery snake who schemed and slimed his way towards the painful partition of India and the forced migration of some 14 million people, plus the deaths of up to a million Hindus and Muslims who had to flee to "their" side of the border - ethnic cleansing the likes of which dwarf that seen during the more recent Balkans conflict.
Such was their friendship that Nehru extended a personal invitation for Mountbatten to stay on as the First Governor-General of independant India. Jinnah on his part immediately installed himself as Governor-General of Pakistan. The series paints Jinnah as the instigator and behind-the-scenes manipulator of the Kashmir conflict which sparked off 2 full scale wars and remains unresolved to this day.
The series devotes equal time to both pre and post Independence India, the first 3 episodes revolving around the negotiations with the various factions (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and the Princely States) preceeding Independence, and the last 3 episodes chronicling the bloodbath that followed partition and the short-lived Dominion of India with Mountbatten as Governor-General before it achieved full republic status in 1950. The series ends with Mountbatten's farewell to India in 1948, including Nehru's touching farewell speech in which he makes plain his love for Lady Mountbatten and his final toast, "We will remember you... forever." As a reward for the successful transition to Indian independence, Mountbatten was finally granted an Earldom. He was made 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a title that was passed on to his eldest daughter upon his death in 1979. This was also in recompense for his having renounced his royal titles (he was the grandson of Queen Victoria and he was born Prince Louis of Battenberg) at the request of the Royal Family during the anti-German hysteria of the First World War.
Mention should also be made of the score written by John Scott, especially of the stirring opening theme which is very reminiscent of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches (the Fourth March in particular), which capture in music the splendour that was once the British Empire.
What a shame that this series has been released by Acorn Media. Acorn has a checkered history with regards to DVD quality, their transfers of newer productions looking pretty good but with older series fairing rather poorly. Unfortunately Mountbatten falls into the latter category. Your heart sinks at the opening credits, as the blurry looking Union Jack flutters under the orange glow of the setting sun. It looks like a mediocre VHS tape recording. The picture is soft and blurry, the colours which should have been resplendent (the brilliant crimsons of the Imperial troops, the lush greenery of the countryside) all look drab, dingy and lifeless. Quality improves slightly as the film progresses but not by much. Thankfully the later episodes do improve quite a bit especially at the end. By and large it's a disappointing transfer. It's hard to believe that this production actually dates from 1985. There are 1960s sitcoms that look in better shape than this. One can only hope that another company buys the rights to this series and gives it the proper restoration and remastering that it deserves.

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A great grandson of Queen Victoria, nephew of the Tsar, and cousin of the Prince of Wales, Lord Louis Mountbatten had proven his mettle as Supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia during World War II. But his toughest mission came after the war, when British Prime Minister Attlee tapped Mountbatten to oversee India’s transition to self-rule. This Emmy®-winning Masterpiece Theatre classic portrays the human drama behind the history. As blood runs in the streets, Mountbatten (Nicol Williamson) becomes the go-between for the charismatic leaders at the heart of the struggle: the Congress Party’s Pandit Nehru (Ian Richardson) and Sardar Patel (A.K. Hangal), the Muslim League’s Ali Jinnah (Vladek Sheybal), and the father of independent India, Mahatma Gandhi (Sam Dastor). The task is daunting, but the blue-blooded Englishman and his compassionate wife (Janet Suzman) soldier on, ending 200 years of British rule in India.

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The Belle of Amherst Review

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(More customer reviews)This astonishing video performance of Julie Harris' one-woman show about poetess Emily Dickinson's life and work is a true tour-de-force. Ms. Harris' range of expression both physically and vocally evokes Emily Dickinson so precisely that one can hardly imagine that she ever looked or sounded any other way. The poems which are featured in this script are so deftly and subtly interwoven that the entire presentation feels seamless and eminently REAL. I am a Theatre Arts/Speech teacher at a small High School in Virginia, and my students are perpetually astonished at the humor and relevance of a video made more than twenty years ago - usually, they want to tune out anything "old". This is a rich and sumptuous piece of living literature with a tremendously broad appeal - not just Dickinson's poetry, but her unique life is showcased in this privileged interview. This is EXACTLY the kind of "living literature" that we need most in our homes and in our schools - by bringing authors and works of note to life, we can perpetuate the essential reverence for the power of the written word which has perenially distinguished our culture. Please don't let the relatively high price of this product deter you - it is an investment which will repay itself many times over!

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BELLE OF AMHERST - DVD Movie

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Cinema Paradiso (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Cinema Paradiso is one of my favorite movies.I finally found the new version available for rent through Netflix when I couldn't find it in any Blockbuster.
For those who have already seen Cinema Paradiso it needs no introduction. For everybody else, it won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film in 1989 and features one of the most nostalgic treatments of the role of movies in people's lives. Ennio Morricone's theme song has also been recycled in countless commercials and movie montages and trailers.
What's good about the Director's Cut or "New Version" DVD is that one can view the director's cut with added scenes on one DVD side and the originally released version on the other.
For those of us who wanted some kind of closure to Toto and Elena's relationship, the Director's Cut has it-- there's about an hour more of footage of their relationship. The new version also more footage of Toto's military service and his adulthood. The added scenes somewhat mute the focus of the movie, so I could see why they were originally cut out. But, at the same time, the added scenes fill in the blanks that originally made a lot of us think, "Hey-- What about...?" And although Toto's childhood scenes are, as far as I can tell, unchanged from the original version, we also find out more about Alfredo.
After finishing the New Version I appreciated the original version better. I highly recommend the new version not because it makes Cinema Paradiso more of a masterpiece, but because it adds more characterization to what, arguably, is a masterpiece. The added scenes can be a bit superfluous, but they show how important editorial decisions are to shaping the structure and momentum of a movie.

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A famous film director returns home to a Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years.He reminisces about his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso here Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films.He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena, ho he had to leave before he left for Rome. Cinema Paradiso is one of the most beloved Foreign films of all time!Winner ofthe 1990 Oscar for Best Foreign Film!

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The Producers (Special Edition) (1968) Review

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This is it! The source, THE PRODUCERS, the 1968 release with screenplay and direction by Mel Brooks, juicy parts by Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and others, and a well-deserved reputation as one of the funniest movie comedies ever. Filmed on a pittance (less than $1 million, cheap even by Sixties standards), THE PRODUCERS almost died unrecognized until it became a cult hit in New York, L.A., Chicago and then, everywhere.
SPOILER GRAF: The plot is brilliantly diabolical: a corrupt Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and his nebbishy accountant assistant (Gene Wilder) deliberately oversell a play with the design to create a flop and keep the proceeds. They hire the worst possible playwright, director, and choreographer and deliberately insult the drama critics. But the play is so hilariously awful it becomes awfully hilarious. The essence of 1960s camp: It's good because it's so bad.
It's hard to overstate just how good Mel Brooks' first movie is. The low budget forced a lot of outside shooting in New York City, and as a result the movie looks fresh, not cosmetized. The premise of a play about "Adolf and Eva in a gay romp at Berchtesgaden" was, if anything, more offensive just 23 years after the end of the Second World War than it is today. A big gamble on Brooks' part, but it played.
This edition is well worth the extra couple of dollars over the "movie only" version. It includes a second CD, apparently put together about the time of the 2001 Broadway musical, and contains stills, bios, and an engaging documentary about the film's making and reception. The last is especially fun since all the principals involved (except the late Zero Mostel) are alive and active and possessed of strong memories of that "kooky" classic-in-the-making.
The 2005 movie with Broadway vets Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick is proving a disappointment to those who remember the original movie or the 2001 Broadway smash. The new movie took the Broadway book and set it in an imagined-and expensive--"indeterminate past" full of late 1950s cars and fashions. Unfortunately, what works on the stage doesn't always translate on film, and despite all the talent and money involved, the new movie comes across as stagey, self-absorbed and at times a bit labored. And LONG: half again as long as this original, which clocks in right at an hour and a half.
The verdict: All versions of THE PRODUCERS are funny, but the 1968 movie is the one to start with. Enjoy it now at a great price.

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Mel Brooks's directorial debut remains both a career high point and a classic show business farce. Hinging on a crafty plot premise, which in turn unleashes a joyously insane onstage spoof, "The Producers" is powered by a clutch of over-the-top performances, capped by the odd couple pairing of the late Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, making his screen debut.\nMostel is Max Bialystock, a gone-to-seed Broadway producer who spends his days wheedling checks from his "investors," elderly women for whom Bialystock is only too willing to provide company.When wide-eyed auditor Leo Bloom (Wilder) comes to check the books, he unwittingly inspires the wild-eyed Max to hatch a sure-fire plan: sell 25,000 percent of his next show, produce a deliberate flop, then abscond with the proceeds. Unfortunately for the producers (but fortunately for us), their candidate for failure is "Springtime for Hitler", a Brooksian conceit that envisions what Goebbels might have accomplished with a little help from Busby Berkeley.\nTruly startling during its original 1968 release, "The Producers" does show signs of age in some peripheral scenes that make merry at the expense of gays and women. But the show's nifty cast (notably including the late Dick Shawn as LSD, the space cadet that snags the musical's title role, and Kenneth Mars as the helmeted playwright) clicks throughout, and the sight of Mostel fleecing his marks is irresistibly funny. Add Wilder's literally hysterical Bloom, and it's easy to understand the film's exalted status among late-'60s comedies. "--Sam Sutherland"

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All Passion Spent (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Lady Slane (Wendy Hiller) spent all her life being an et ux. She enjoyed being the wife of the viceroy, a mother, and a leader of charities. However when her husband died she finally, against her children's wishes, had time to contemplate her life, what it could have been and what it will be.
She moves into a smaller house that she had seen 30 years before. Now she strikes up a friend ship with people as the house owner, the craftsman repairing the house and others.
Unknown to her is a friend of one of her sons, who knew her 60 years ago in India. He reliving the time and she realizing that they both had great depth that was not required of them at the time, form a unique friendship.
We get the privilege of watching Lady Slane make her discoveries and the reaction to this by the family. Of particular interest is her great grand daughter is now on the cusp of making the same life choice that Lady Slane succumbed to.
Based on the novel by Vita Sackville-West, "All Passion Spent" we see a lot of Vita's real life parallels. The screen adaptation is by Peter Buckman. This film has that BBC quality.


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The acclaimed BBC adaptation of Vita Sackville-West’s beloved novel starring Dame Wendy Hiller Dame Wendy Hiller delivers a delicately nuanced performance in Vita Sackville-West’s classic story of emerging feminist identity in post-Victorian England."When can one please oneself if not in old age?" asks 85-year-old Lady Slane (Hiller), who frees herself from society’s expectations upon the death of her politically prominent husband. To the shock of her children, who seem more concerned with the disposition of the estate than with their mother’s happiness, the widow retreats to a cottage in the Hampstead countryside to rediscover herself. Nominated for four BAFTA Awards (including best drama series and best actress), this BBC production brings Sackville-West’s best-known novel to the screen with all its emotional complexity, intellectual vigor, and profound feeling.

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