Until They Sail (1957) Review

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(More customer reviews)With a superb cast and sensitive direction by Robert Wise, "Until They Sail" follows the lives of 4 sisters, who deal with the tragedy and loneliness of war from different perspectives, and in different ways. Joan Fontaine is Anne, who is rigid and virtuous, and Jean Simmons is Barbara, who has only been a bride for a month when her husband leaves for the war. Piper Laurie is Delia, who in desperation marries an obnoxious cad, because he's the only man in town, and Sandra Dee is Evelyn, whose enthusiasm for life cannot be dampened, even by the uncertainty and sadness of the time. Dee was only 13 when this film was made, and it was her delightful screen debut.
Woven into the women's lives are the Americans, who are stationed in New Zealand, among them Jack (Paul Newman), whose principal job in the military is to investigate the potential brides of the enlisted men. After a bad marriage, Jack relies on the comfort of whiskey to get him through the night, until he meets Barbara. Based on a James Michener story, "Until They Sail" is a marvelous wartime melodrama, and though it is essentially a "woman's film," can be appreciated by anyone who likes fine acting and filmmaking. The b&w cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg is lovely, and when the camera focuses on Jean Simmons's luminous eyes, one realizes what a great actress she was, and how she was able to convey depth and passion with just a look. "Until They Sail" is an underrated classic that depicts the emotional toll on the women left behind in a way that is unique, insightful, and memorable. Total running time is 94 minutes.


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Message in a Bottle (Snap Case) (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this movie absolutely fascinating;the story was a typical romance. It explored the human emotion and curiosity that we all feel when we find an insight into another person's relationship. Kevin Costner was your typical man of the sea and portrayed a man not ready to move on with his life after the tragic loss of his partner. It took someone like Robyn Penn Wright to stir the deeply hidden emotions but even then she could not compare to his lost love. She gave him inspiration and made him dig deep to find his true self. Paul Newman was superb as the crusty kindly father and without his inclusion in the film, be it as a supporting role, a lot of the emotion would hasve been lost. The pain suffered by the inlaws at the loss of their daughter was so true to life when someone they love dies so tragically. All in all the scenery was superb and the DVD is recommended

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A TALE OF A ROMANCE SPARKED BY A WOMAN'S ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER THE WRITER OF A HEARTFELT MESSAGE SHE FOUND IN A BOTTLE WASHED UP ON A CPAE COD BEACH. SPECIAL FEATURES: INTERACTIVE MENUS, SCENE ACCESS, FILMOGRAPHIES, AND THEATRICAL TRAILER. THREE OTHER BONUSES: AUDIO COMMENTARY BY THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER AND MORE.

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The Joan Collins Superstar Collection (The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing / Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys / The Sea Wife / Seven Thieves / Stopover Tokyo) (1959) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Joan Collins Collection bundles together five of the better movies that Joan Collins starred in, from her early days as a contract player with Twentieth Century Fox. Each film is handsomley packed in it's own "slim case" with lobbycard reproductions and bonus collector's booklet.
THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING (1955). In a role originally meant for Marilyn Monroe, Joan Collins shines as Evelyn Nesbit, the young showgirl who became attached to the scandalous Thaw/White murder trial. Co-starring Farley Granger and Ray Milland.
RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG BOYS! (1958). Once again, Joan fills a role that was originally intended for another resident studio bombshell, Jayne Mansfield. This briskly-paced romantic comedy stars Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman as a feuding married couple with Collins as the sexpot neighbour.
SEA WIFE (1957). In this evocative melodrama, Collins plays a nun caught up in a terrifying adventure at sea...and contemplating an illicit romance with Richard Burton. Very reminiscent of "Heaven Knows, Mr Allison" (with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum).
SEVEN THIEVES (1960). Sexy and stylish heist thriller with Edward G. Robinson, Eli Wallach and Rod Steiger. Collins provides the all-important eye-candy.
STOPOVER TOKYO (1957). A tension-fueled espionage thriller with contract players Robert Wagner and Joan Collins in full flight. Some great supporting performances from Edmond O'Brien and Ken Scott.
Each DVD comes packed with informative extra features. THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING has a featurette entitled "From Ingenue to Icon" which explores Collins' career through the five movies contained in this set. STOPOVER TOKYO also has a fun clip show called "Hollywood Highlights". Scene-specific audio commentary is provided for each movie by Aubrey Solomon.
A great value box set, perfect for classic movie collectors and fans of the magical Miss Joan!

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Disc 1: **Girl in the Red Velvet Swing '55 Feature **Audio Commentary with Film Noir Historian TBD **Meet Mary Anderson **Noir Poster Art **Still Gallery **Interactive Pressbook Gallery **Theatrical Trailer**Fox Noir: *Daisy Kenyon *Black Widow *Fourteen Hours *House of StrangersDisc 2: **Rally 'Round the Flag Boys '58 Feature **Restoration Comparison **Theatrical Trailer **Still GalleryDisc 3: **Sea Wife '57 Feature **Restoration Comparison **Theatrical Trailer **Still GalleryDisc 4: **Seven Thieves Feature **Restoration Comparison **Theatrical Trailer **Still GalleryDisc 5: **Stopover Tokyo '57 Feature **Restoration Comparison **Theatrical Trailer **Still Gallery

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From the Terrace (1960) Review

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(More customer reviews)A view FROM THE TERRACE is what Paul Newman's character David Alfred Eaton has of his future wife Mary (JoAnne Woodward). The screen play was based on a best-selling novel of the same name by John O'Hara. Given it was released in the 1950s when sex on the screen was verboten and not much more explicit in novels (ban a book in Boston), one must appreciate the work it took for Newman and Woodward to give these performances.
Like many other teenagers of my generation, I was "in love" with Paul Newman. Newman could make female hearts flutter by simply looking at the camera with his big blue eyes. Many other teens preferred Marlon Brando, his peer and rival for female affection. I believe these two actors were the Leonardo de Caprio and Brad Pitt of their day, although in the long run, Newman (like de Caprio) has had more staying power and gracefully made the transition to mature roles.
In the 1950s, to see a film one had to attend a theater, where the screen was usually covered with a huge velvet curtain. FTT played at the Center theater in my small town, and I saw the film six times after it was released. I was able to get into the theater for a quarter, and as my allowance was $3, this was no small sacrifice. So, you might say this film was one of my all time favorites.
Watching it again almost 50 years later, I wondered how I would react, and of course the passage of time and arrival of many other actors and vast changes in filmmaking have affected the way I view the film and Newman, but I still like him enormously, and this film holds it's own, though the storyline may seem archaic.
This film is about infidelity and divorce and the price of success, a story line that may be lost on generations raised in an age of no-fault divorces and dual earner households. Once upon a time, divorce and infidelity were considered absolutely scandalous, and financially disastrous. In fact, if you divorced, your life was ruined. Many couples stayed together and suffered the ignominy of a cheating spouse. FTT was a ground-breaking film because it tackled these issues head-on.
The DVD version of the film is well done, and the price reasonable (technicolor and cinemascope production). Do your self a favorite, buy this DVD and add it to the shelf where you keep CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and other 50's favorites.

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Paul Newman portrays a young man whose struggle for success threatens his personal happiness, in this well-scripted screen version of John O'Hara's best-selling novel.Having never known his father's love or respect, Alfred Eaton (Newman) sets out to prove himself in the business world.Marrying the "right" woman (Joanne Woodward), he works unceasingly, but is ultimately confronted with crises and choices that force him to rethink his priorities.Co-starring Myrna Loy as Alfred's alcoholic mother, Leon Ames as his embittered father, and Ina Balin as the woman who might bring him genuine happiness, From The Terrace is an absorbing tale of ambition, power and love fueled by sharp dialogue, complex characterizations and keen insight into the human heart.

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Harper (1966) Review

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(More customer reviews)Based on Ross McDonald's The Moving Target--one in a long series of crime novels featuring southern California PI Lew Archer--1966's Harper is a perfect complement to Point Blank, released the next year, in which Lee Marvin is tough first, cool second. Paul Newman as Harper is cool first, tough second. Neat trick.
While this is admittedly a little dated, it does bring back the 60s and in fact does a good job of it, too--even to the point of including a hippie pseudo-guru who's a front for smuggling in Mexicans from across the border, but who's got all the trademark paraphernalia--isolated wacky domicile, pet peregrine falcon with a fancy hood over its eyes, and, you know, flowing robes. Strother Martin does this role proud. It also has a "groovy chick" played by Pamela Tiffin who is, uh, a groovy chick--great bod, sexy face, and about as shallow as a frog pond in a drought.
All the middle aged women are great, really great: Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, Janet Leigh, and the great Lauren Bacall. Each one of the ladies is perfectly cast and does a terrific job, especially Shelly Winters as a liquored up former starlet who's now washed up and who sleeps it off, a lot.
Most of the cast is just plain fun to watch and it's also fun to see Newman as Harper put on various accents and personas to weasel and wheedle and wrangle information out of various folks. Harper gets beat up, but recovers fairly quickly (hey, he's the good guy; he has to), and this is OK because it's pretty easy to tell the film itself loves film noir but is subtly funning it at the same time it honors it. Sixties southern California noir--a great mix that Ross McDonald nailed in his novels and director Jack Smight follows pretty closely in the film.
It's about Harper trying to find the missing husband of wealthy wife Elaine Sampson (Bacall) and tracking the trail(s) that various people leave (or that Harper himself sniffs out) to do so. This is a standard noir/PI plot, but it's handled well here and, as noted, is really entertaining, mostly due to the terrific cast.
It would be nice if this was issued on DVD. Since there is no DVD of it, I managed to find a VCD (video compact disk) of it on another website. Worth owning, for sure.
Nice job.

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: Im Auftrag der reichen Mrs. Sampson sucht Privatdetektiv Harper ihren spurlos verschwundenen Ehemann. Scheinbar wurde der Millionär entführt â€" und Harper trifft gleich auf mehrere Verdächtige, denen er allesamt mehr als lästig ist, darunter seine Auftraggeberin (Lauren Bacall), ein Anwalt mit nervösem Finger am Abzug (Arthur Hill), ein Swimmingpool-Gigolo (Robert Wagner), ein versoffenes Ex-Starlet (Shelley Winters), ein Jazz-Junkie (Julie Harris) und Harpers Ex-Frau (Janet Leigh). Paul Newman zeigt eine unvergessliche Leistung als Titelheld dieses Kassenknüllers nach Ross MacDonalds Reiche sterben auch nicht anders. Newman hatte damals bereits 23 Filme gedreht, aber noch nie einen Detektiv gespielt â€" mit Ein Fall für Harper gab er dem Genre neue Impulse. In seinem cleveren Skript erweist sich William Goldman als Meister scharfzüngiger Dialoge.

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Exodus (1960) Review

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(More customer reviews)Exodus is a sprawling, 3 and half-hour epic that sets several fictional characters against the backdrop of the founding of modern Israel after the Second World War. The story opens in Cyprus, where thousands of European Jewish refugees are being detained by the British. The refugees are trying to make it to Palestine--which the British control--and form a new Jewish state. Eva Marie Saint plays an American nurse, recently widowed, who becomes involved in the refugees' plight, especially that of a young girl, Karen (Jill Haworth), searching for her father. Paul Newman is an Israeli freedom fighter who is determined to get a shipload of the refugees out of Cyprus to Palestine--while finding time to romance Saint. Karen worries about her friend Dov (Sal Mineo), an Auschwitz survivor who wants nothing more than to join a Jewish terrorist organization, which happens to be facilitated by Newman's uncle (David Opatoshu).
Exodus was a huge blockbuster back in 1960-61, with Ernest Gold's memorable, Oscar-winning score even making the Top 10 charts. The film also places a footnote in Hollywood history, as it was one of two films that year that dared to credit blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (his other 1960 credit was Sparticus); Trumbo's adaptation of the Leon Uris book is largely straight-forward, focusing more on the plotting than on the characters. Fortunately, with Otto Preminger in command, the flick moves along briskly, what with glorious wide-screen vistas of Cyprus and Israel and several genuinely exciting action sequences--especially a terrific prison break-out. The film's somber coda is even more moving considering that the issues it raises are still unresolved to this day.
Newman and Saint are nice to look at, but there's not much chemistry between them--he seems stiff and she's just, well, saintly. The supporting cast is much better. Mineo received an Oscar nomination for this (he lost to Sparticus' Peter Ustinov), primarily for his emotional interrogation scene where he recounts his experiences at Auschwitz. Haworth is delicate but headstrong. Opatoshu, for my money, was the best thing in the whole movie--methodical, yet quietly commanding--there's a wordless scene between him and Lee J. Cobb (playing his brother) that is just marvelous. The cast of thousands also includes Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, Hugh Griffith, John Derek, Gregory Ratoff, and George Maharis.
This being an MGM DVD, there isn't much in the way of extras--just the original theatrical trailer and several choices for subtitles. As noted elsewhere, the quality of the transfer isn't as high as one would like--the sound, especially, should've been remixed while the the picture quality is terrific sometimes and other times less than perfect. Hopefully, they'll reissue it with improved specs.

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Inspired by Leon Uris' international bestseller, this "extraordinarily moving" (The New Republic) chronicle of the rebirth of a people and the establishment of a nation is the ultimate experience in human drama. Nominated* for three Academy Awards® and winner* for Best Score, Exodus is an "exciting, dramatic, scenic, panoramic and deeply moving" (New York Daily News) masterpiece.Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman), a commander of the Israeli underground, manages to lead 600 Jews from the detention camps of Cyprus onto a large freighter bound for Palestine. But British forces soon learn of his plan and insist that he turn back. Undaunted, Ari and his passengers refuse to give up, risking their lives for the greater cause of Israeli independence.

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Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) Review

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(More customer reviews)As much as I admire Paul Newman, this film is so terribly flawed that even his presence can't salvage it. The Manhattan Project is such a critical juncture in recent history that I think it's very important that the story be told realistically. This film is 90% Hollywood formula and 10% history. Only in the broadest brushstrokes does this movie give the viewer any kind of concept of that monumental undertaking. Do yourself a BIG favor; watch the far superior (and very accurate) "Day One" instead. In all respects, it is a much better account and much more interesting film. The main characters are presented as scientists, engineers, and military officers, not goofballs and nutty professors, as they are in "Fat Man and Little Boy."

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