I OWN THIS DVD HIGHLY RECOMMENED I OWN THE REGION 2 UK VERSION RELEASED FEB 2005
I LOVE THIS MOVIE I OWN THE VHS AND THE REGION 2 UK DISC AVAIALBLE SINCE FEBUARY 2005 WHEN WILL THE REGION 1 DISC BE RELEASED IN THE US? 5 STAR RATING
A must for DVD
The genius of Elia Kazan shines in the classic family movie. A can never imagine any modern director having the ability to put such human emotions on film. This movie depicts an era in America much the same way Godfather II did in Coppolla's film.
Definitely a wonderful movie depicting a family trying to find beauty in a concrete playground. Please hurry up and put it on DVD!!
Preserves the Integrity and Flavor of the Book
Though a bit fast-paced and somewhat similar in style to a stage play, this movie very much brings Betty Smith's characters and their plights to life and does not leave us wishing they had treated the written work with more care. My mother was born and raised as a city girl, and her descriptions of growing up in Philadelphia remind me of this portrayal of life in Brooklyn. I very much envision a reflection of many things my mother described about her childhood in this movie. For example, that some children she grew up with had never seen a cow. A parallel of this exists in the film when Francie writes about going to see cotton fields. The longing behind this is very similar to the stories my mother related to me.
The opposites attract theory is wonderfully done in this story, and I ache for Dorothy McGuire's character, and her struggles, especially her iron will to do what is right for her family's survival. The conflict of Pipedreamer versus Realist is well balanced, so that we are not judgmental of either's actions. The interplay between the characters leads nicely to the heart wrenching loss of one and the anguish of the other over what could have been done differently. The devastating effects of alcoholism are featured in this film, but in contrast with a strong element of hope. Additionally, the reality of the numbers of children born at home and the infant mortality rate of the time period are also presented, but not stressed so overwhelmingly as to take away from the happiness of the new additions to the family and the positive direction of their future.
Joan Blondell's portrayal of Aunt Sissy is my favorite part of this movie. She is charming, funny, steadfast, quirky, and absolutely perfect.
What is interesting about this film in comparison to the book is that only about two-thirds of the family's story is told. I would definitely recommend reading the novel if you want to know about Francie and Neeley as far as their careers after graduation, and what happens to the rest of the family. The book also goes into much greater detail as far as the extent of the struggle with poverty and the multitudes of families who experience similar situations. For those who enjoy this movie, I also recommend I Remember Mama.
This high point in the 1940s vogue for movies about family life at the turn of the century was directed by George Stevens (Shane), and stars Irene Dunne as the matriarch of a Norwegian family that faces hard knocks with grace in 1910 (or so) San Francisco. Based on John Van Druten's hit play (derived from Kathryn Forbes's autobiographical memoir), the film is gorgeously rendered and quite moving as an act of memory. The sterling cast of character actors--Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee, Oscar Homolka, Barbara Bel Geddes, Ellen Corby, Cedric Hardwicke--add great texture and a depth of experience that make the film feel quite lived-in. Hardwicke's turn as a penniless boarder who "pays" his rent by reciting from classic literature is a special highlight. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Irene Dunne - Barbara Bel Geddes Director(s): George Stevens DVD Release Date: Released the 07 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Before he made the classic All About Eve, writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz made this clever story about three wives who spend an afternoon at a children's picnic mulling over a letter all three had just received, from a woman who says she's just run off with one of their husbands. As the wives--a former farm girl (Jeanne Crain), a radio soap opera writer (Ann Sothern), and a social climber from the wrong side of the tracks (Linda Darnell)--mull over the troubles of their marriages, each begins to think that she's the one left behind. A Letter to Three Wives doesn't have the crackling show-biz milieu of Eve, but it has the same mix of snappy dialogue and topnotch performances. The tone ranges from florid sentiment to unblinking cynicism, yet Mankiewicz... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jeanne Crain - Linda Darnell - Ann Sothern Director(s): Joseph L. Mankiewicz DVD Release Date: Released the 22 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Among the earliest writers to set his sights on the director's chair, Preston Sturges brought a frank, unsentimental view of the war between the sexes to his mid-'40s features that exemplify his style, as demonstrated in this prescient 1942 gem. Architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) and his wife, Gerry (Claudette Colbert), further refine the archetypal Sturges couple--the male embodying strength, idealism, and a certain naivete, the female ultimately stronger, smarter, and (as revealed early on in an astonishing speech by Colbert) clearer-eyed and more pragmatic about the subtext of sex. This giddy shaggy-dog story follows the couple's split, and Gerry's subsequent flight to Palm Beach. This head-snapping frolic is paced by double-entendres and lampooning looks at the very rich, with... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Claudette Colbert - Joel McCrea Director(s): Preston Sturges DVD Release Date: Released the 01 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In the opening sequence of The Letter, director William Wyler delivers a primer on film directing: at a rubber plantation, in the tropical funk of a Malaysian night, the heavy stillness is suddenly broken by shots... and a woman with a gun, descending a staircase. She is the wife of the plantation owner, and the dead man is, ahem, not her husband. Holding the gun so securely is Bette Davis, in one of her greatest performances (her acting of a big revelation, late in the film, is still an astounding piece of emotional fluency). The story is taken from one of those sturdy Somerset Maugham tales that has proved itself in many versions, but this is the keeper; it was nominated for seven Oscars®, including best picture, director, and actress, winning none. Wyler's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bette Davis - Herbert Marshall - James Stephenson Director(s): William Wyler DVD Release Date: Released the 11 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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