The Cane (The Weapons Art of a Gentleman)

Starring:Emil Farkas
Director: Y-Ishimoto
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Emil Farkas who is best known as a historian now shows his skill with one of the oldest weapons, a simpl cane.

In this easy to follow video there are no phony techniques that just won't work it is all reality right form the start.

One of the few weapons of opportunity the cane is a fabulous weapon for self defence. farkas an expert in karate/judo shows how anyone at any age can use the cane to defend themselves against anyone who should be so foolish to attack you.

You will learn prnciple strikes,blocks combinations and so much more you won't believe it.

Amazon.com

"A basket full of kisses for a basket full of hugs." Those are chilling words, at least when uttered by that ice princess, Patty McCormack. As Rhoda Penmark, she is as pretty as a porcelain doll but drips venom with each curtsey and polite response. Little Rhoda's mother is terrified she has passed on her own mother's corruption. Oops, turns out she's right. This passes the test of time, as it still gets under your skin. The character development is tight and the story very involving. Not even Freddy Krueger had the ability to scare like tiny McCormack, looking just like a little adult while she literally beats out the competition for a penmanship award. However, director Mervyn LeRoy's hands were tied over the ending, which was changed from the source material--Maxwell Anderson's hit Broadway play. A supposedly more appropriate, and moral, ending was demanded by the studio. This was remade (badly) in 1985. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews:

! the bad seed - every character deserved an oscar !!!!!.......2007-06-30

i will never forget seeing this movie the bad seed when i was a young teenager. i have seen it over and over again since my teenage years. this movie is top notch. the acting in this movie is superb. every character in this movie deserved an ACADEMY AWARD. the bad seed is a true, real thriller. this movie has everything. nothing is lacking in this movie. where did they find this child actress ? i am astonished every time i watch this movie at her chilling performance. i do not think i ever saw her in another movie. she should have been at the top of every directors list for a role in their movies. i find acting talent to be lacking. especially, in this type of movie genre. i am always shocked when i see the date this movie was made 1956. this movie was way ahead of its time and underappreciated. everyone should watch this movie and understand afterwards what a true classic it truly is.

The Bad Seed.......2007-06-26

LeRoy's divinely campy classic about a psychopathic child with a suspiciously sweet veneer was adapted from Maxwell Anderson's Broadway play, also starring Kelly and McCormack. When Christine discovers a long-buried secret about her own biological family just as another "accidental" death clouds their home once again, the plot takes a chilling twist. McCormack is one of the eeriest evil dolls you'll see, and Eileen Heckart, playing the mother of Rhoda's first victim, delivers an extraordinary, Oscar-nominated performance. Despite a silly tacked-on ending dictated by sponsors of the day, "The Bad Seed" remains a highly distinctive, creepy little thriller about a very badly misbehaved child. Classic dialogue between Rhoda and her dad: "What will you give me for a basket of hugs?" "A basket of kisses!" Yikes!

melodrama to whip up fear of genetic determinism.......2007-06-06

This is a crude plug for genetic determinism of a sociopathic child murderer. While some of the details of the plot are frightening - a child committing savage acts for the most mundane of motives - the one-sided assumption that it is purely because of "bad genes" ruined the experience for me. Sure, I admit my bias for a combination of genetic temperament with environment to explain who we become, so my revulsion is personal. I just think viewers should know about the film's message,

Awful and badly acted; not as good as the book.......2007-04-17

Having read the book by William March many years ago and really liking it, I recently had the chance to see the film version again. It is obviously not as good as the book; in fact it is pretty terrible and laughable.

It's obvious that it's just an opened up stage play; it seems stiff and stilted and stagey; everyone seems to speak loudly as if trying to make their voices reach the upper balconies of a theater. Pretty badly acted all around but the worst is Nancy Kelly. She got an Oscar nomination for this?? All she does is scream or shout her lines in an increasingly hoarse voice and wrings her hands dramatically almost like a character in a Perils of Pauline movie. She is so laughably bad in every scene and her character is just about as stupid. Finally it takes a hammer to the head for her to figure out what's going on.

Patty McCormack and the usually excellent character actor Henry Jones are both pretty one-note in their performances. Enough said. But the saddest is to see the great Eileen Heckart overacting badly as a grieving drunk of a mother. Her histrionics make you want Rhoda to do away with her too. And the neighbor Monica...equally annoying. I kept waiting for Rhoda to shove her down the stairs just to shut up her incessant prattling on about nothing.

This was a huge hit on Broadway and the cast was carried over for the film version; maybe it worked better on stage, I don't know...but it's a pretty awful film; not the classic it's reputed to be. Not a bit of suspense or horror or anything else here to give you chills. Just a chance to watch some good actors like Heckart and Jones stumble around with a silly script and overact like kids in a high school play. It's a lot of fun to watch if your intent is to not take it seriously and to make fun of it. Then you should have a good time.

****SPOILER FOLLOWS****

Best part? The end when Rhoda gets nailed by a bolt of lightning. Too bad the lightning didn't get her mom at some point early on.

Back When Hollywood Knew How To TOTALLY CREEP YOU OUT!.......2007-04-12

Nothing creeps out and frightens and audience on more levels than something horrorable that could honestly happen in real life. The other creepy thing about this movie is the question it asks. Are truly bad people bornas a result of bad genes or made products of maladjustedf enironments growing up, which is the primise of this movie.

Too look at her the young girl child in the bad seed is on her surface sugar and spice and everything nice. But under that sweet gentle refined lady like exterior beats the heart of an uncompromising savage willing to do, say and hurt anyone to get her way. The child in this movie is a champion manipulator who beleives all people are put on this Earth specifically for her use as she see's fit. The child is an absolute sadist. The funny thing is part of you is taken in by her sweet darling image. The most wonderful thing abouut the Bad Seed is its ending, you think she gets off but does she really! Watch the movie. The Bad Seed is in all ways shocking and funny.

Kansas City Confidential (MGM Film Noir)

Average customer rating:

Finally - The Official MGM DVD Release! Great Film Noir!
Excellent cops and robbers movie.!!
A good example of what second-feature B movies were all about: Not too bad, not too good.
I have to echo these other positive reviews
"You been giving me the fisheye all night."

Kansas City Confidential (MGM Film Noir)
Starring: John Payne , Coleen Gray , Preston Foster , Neville Brand , and Lee Van Cleef
Director: Phil Karlson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir)
The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)
A Bullet For Joey (MGM Film Noir)
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 (Act of Violence / Mystery Street / Crime Wave / Decoy / Illegal / The Big Steal / They Live By Night / Side Street / Where Danger Lives / Tension)
Ace in the Hole - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B000PMFRVK
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Customer Reviews:

Finally - The Official MGM DVD Release! Great Film Noir!.......2007-06-03

For years Kansas City Confidential has languished in the Public Domain Hell. Released in a woefully substandard version from Alpha (watch the video wiggle at the bottom of the screen every 10 seconds), and a much better, but still flawed version from Image (the picure is just a bit too dark and has some minor print damage), along with several "dollar" DVD versions that were even more flawed than the Alpha and Image releases, Kansas City Confidential was a movie that most Film Noir fans thought would never see an "official" DVD release by MGM (owner of the master print, and - presumably - the negatives).

But here it is - MGM is actually releasing (or has released, depending on when you read this) the "official" DVD for this fantastic Film Noir. Based on their track record of releasing official versions of movies previously relegated to public domain releases (see He Walked By Night as an example - MGM's DVD is flawless!), this should see a drastic improvement in both image and sound quality over all of the previous versions released to date.

The movie itself is a tightly written, well acted (John Payne is fantastic, and the supporting cast of Preson Foster, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, Jack Elam, and Coleen Gray are all near perfect in their roles), and extremely well directed by Phil Karlson. The cinematography by George E. Diskant should also get special mention, as Kansas City Confidential has the classic look of Film Noir.

This is a classic crime/wrong man framed and sets out for revenge movie. For fans of Film Noir this is truly a, "Must Have," DVD.

Excellent cops and robbers movie.!!.......2007-04-29

Stars John Payne as a flower deliveryman who is set up as a fall guy for a robbery planned by disgruntled cop Preston Foster. Released from police custody for lack of evidence, Payne follows leads to Mexico where he uncovers the real criminals. Very good performances all round and a classic "cops & robbers" movie. Excellent!!

A good example of what second-feature B movies were all about: Not too bad, not too good........2006-11-26

Is Kansas City Confidential a noir? Some critics think so. Some have even gone so far as to praise the movie. For me, the film is just one more B-level programmer, churned out in the thousands during the Forties and early Fifties to fill out double bills. The one thing it has going for it is a clever plot idea that combines a crime caper with a resentful Mr. Big who disliked being placed on forced retirement. Is that enough to take the premise seriously? I don't think so, but the way the payback for the retirement is planned and carried out isn't bad.

The movie turns on two plot pivots. First is a bank heist. Three tough guys are recruited by Mr. Big, who wears a mask. He makes the others wear masks, too. Only Mr. Big knows who everyone is. Their getaway leaves behind an innocent patsy, Joe Rolfe (John Payne), a war hero who once got in trouble with the law. After the Kansas City police try to beat a confession out of him, they realize they have the wrong man and let him go. Joe gets mad and decides to track the robbers down.

The second pivot centers on a small Mexican resort village where Mr. Big and the three accomplices have gathered, months later, to split the loot. Joe has taken the identity of one of them, Pete Harris. Joe had tracked Harris down and was forcing him to go together to the resort. By coincidence, Harris was gunned down by police at the Tijuana airport while Joe was at the ticket counter. Complicating things is Tim Foster (Preston Foster), a retired police captain from Kansas City who likes to fish, and his daughter, Helen (Coleen Gray). Helen, soon to pass her bar exam, showed up unexpectedly to visit her father. We're often reminded that there is a substantial reward for whoever captures the crooks and finds the money. There are beatings, slappings, double crosses, cold-blooded murder, noble sacrifice and a promised happy ending for Joe and Helen. A lot goes on, but it's something of a slog to get to Joe's and Helen's big kiss.

Second bill programmers were most often noted for only adequate acting, workmanlike but often clunky scripts, music scores that telegraphed what we were supposed to be feeling and the barest budgets the studios could get away with. This didn't mean that the movies were bad, just that there needed to be something -- an occasional standout script, or a solid actor, or an unusual concept or mood -- to make the movie worth remembering. With Kansas City Confidential we have, to my way of thinking, just two things that stand out. First, is that clever plot idea. Second, are the actors who play the three goons recruited by Mr. Big. There's Neville Brand playing Boyd Kane. Kane is dumb and violent. Brand's tough features and rough voice make him believable. There's Lee Van Cleef as Tony Romano, smooth and sleazy...not a guy you'd want to leave your daughter alone with. And there's Jack Elam as Pete Harris, a sweaty chain smoker, a squirming coward unless he's holding the gun. With Harris, you can almost smell his cigarette breath and body odor. Elam really does a fine job. But then we have John Payne as the hero. Payne, in my opinion, was a handsome, colorless, reactive actor. He acts tough, but it's as phony as Robert Stack acting tough in House of Bamboo. While I doubt even Bogart or Cagney could do much with lines like this, "I know a sure cure for a nosebleed: a cold knife in the middle of the back," Payne just looks irritable when he says it. Coleen Gray doesn't help much; her job is to be perky and sympathetic, almost in spite of the dialogue: Says Joe Rolfe, "Look, you're a nice girl, but in case you're thinking of mothering me, forget it! I'm no stray dog you can pick up, and I like my neck without a collar. Now get lost!" Says Helen, "Now I'm supposed to be hurt. Maybe even cry. But I won't. I think you're in trouble, and I'm going to help you!"

My advice: Watch it and learn what programmers were about. You might find you like it well enough. The film is in the public domain. The Image version is so-so; too dark and with too much contrast. It's not as bad as some public domain releases are. There are a few extras, including a cream-puff interview with Coleen Gray by noir specialist Eddie Muller. He also provides liner notes for an insert in the DVD case.

I have to echo these other positive reviews.......2006-10-09

I have to throw my two cents in along with some of the other reviewers. Kansas City Confidential is one of the finest examples of gum shoe film noir I can think of. As a noir fan and collector, I have seen hundreds of films of this nature. Kansas City Confidential is one of the handful of films I watch over and over again. If you are a fan of film noir, and this fantastic film has not yet made it into your collection, BUY IT NOW !!! You won't regret it.

"You been giving me the fisheye all night.".......2006-04-29

Revenge fueled noir about a police chief forced into an early retirement who nearly gets away with the perfect crime. Using masks all the time to conceal their identities, even from each other, he recruits three tough guys (Neville Brand, Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef!) to help him rob an armored car using a fake florist delivery van. That way the driver of the real florist van (John Payne) will initially get blamed for the robbery.

They go through with the plan and it goes off without a hitch, now they split up with the intention to meet up at a later date to divide the money, and at this later meeting the ex-cop will bust `em and get the $300,000 reward. Only problem is he didn't guess just how pissed off the fall guy would be. Once freed, but not before the cops clobber him all over the joint, he hunts down the bad guys and let `em have it. "Thanks - FOR NOTHING!"

Some of the scenes are a little cheesy with the tough guy stuff and the final scene is too soft, but those fight scenes were riveting. I especially enjoyed Van Cleef.

The DVD by Alpha Video has a rough looking picture and no extras, but hey is 8 bucks so what do you expect?

Average customer rating:

Marty
ONE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN ROMANCES
Pure and Simple...
Great film but incomplete DVD
Best Of The Classics

Marty
Starring: Ernest Borgnine , Betsy Blair , Esther Minciotti , Augusta Ciolli , and Joe Mantell
Director: Delbert Mann
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Lost Weekend
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Greatest Show on Earth
Gentleman's Agreement
All the King's Men

ASIN: B00005AUKB
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Amazon.com

Originally broadcast as a 50-minute drama on Philco Television Playhouse in 1953, Marty ensured Paddy Chayefsky's status as one of the greatest writers of television's golden age. When Chayefsky, director Delbert Mann, and actor Ernest Borgnine reunited for this 90-minute film version, the play had been polished with extra scenes, further perfecting Chayefsky's timeless study of loneliness and heartbreak. And the film, in which Borgnine excels as the single, 35-year-old "fat and ugly" butcher Marty Pilletti, received well-deserved Oscars® for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. Although Chayefsky's central theme is the pain of being unwanted (as felt by Marty himself as well as his elderly Aunt Catherine, who's become a burden to her married daughter), the film is never somber or depressing, and achieves a rare quality of honesty, humor, and hopefulness without resorting to artifice or sentiment.

Marty's just about given up on love when he meets plain-looking Clara (Betsy Blair), a 29-year-old teacher who's endured similar cycles of rejection. Much of Marty explores the simple decency of these characters, their admirable qualities and mutual connection, and the slow escalation of self-esteem that will hold them together. Marty is a supremely compassionate film, but it's also an entertaining one, trimmed (like a good butcher's meat) of any dramatic fat. And although Blair (who earned an Oscar nomination) is superb in her role, it's worth noting that she's more conventionally "attractive" than Nancy Marchand (late of The Sopranos), who played Clara with arguably greater authenticity in the original 1953 telecast. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Americaand the worldfell in love with Marty, the first film to win* both the Best Picture OscarÂ(r) and the Cannes Film Festival's Golden Palm. Nominated** for a total of eight Academy AwardsÂ(r), this timeless classic is rich in laughs and tearsa masterpiece of warm-hearted storytelling (The Hollywood Reporter). I ve been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life, says Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine). Yet, despite all his efforts, this 34-year-old Bronx butcher remains as shy and uncomfortable around women today as on the day he was born. So when he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a lonely schoolteacher who's just as smitten with himas he is with her, Marty's on top of the world. But not everyone around him shares Marty's joy. Andwhen his friends and family continually find fault with Clara, even Marty begins to question his newfound love until he discovers, in an extraordinary way, the strength and courage to follow his heart. *1955 **1955: Best Picture (won), Actor (Borgnine, won), Director (won), Supporting Actor (Joe Mantell), Supporting Actress (Blair), Screenplay (won), B&W Cinematography, Art Direction/Set Decoration (B&W)

Customer Reviews:

Marty.......2007-06-26

Written by the vastly talented Paddy Chayefsky, who'd go on to script "Network" two decades later, "Marty" is a sweet, perceptive film about two lost souls who finally find each other. Borgnine, a skilled character actor and supporting player, won the Best Actor Oscar in 1955 over several more photogenic leading men, and the film itself--a playhouse gem from television's golden age--won for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay. A unique and irresistible film romance.

ONE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN ROMANCES .......2007-05-25

Marty is not only one of the great American films of the 20th Century, but the greatest American romance ever made. It's a shame they don't make em' like this anymore.

Marty Piletti is a 34-year-old Bronx Butcher who lives with his mother. He's a sweet natured guy with a good heart, stocky build and not so perfect looks. He's feeling pressure from customers, friends and family to get married. All of his brothers and sisters are married and they want him to get married. Unfortunately poor Marty has met up with so much rejection and humiliation he's become resigned to never finding that special someone. But at the goading (nagging) of his mother he and a friend Angie, head down to the Stardust Ballroom on Saturday night. There Marty meets Clara, a plain Jane 29-year-old science teacher who has been unceremoniously dumped by her date. Marty comforts Clara and asks her to dance. As, they walk around the neighborhood discussing their hopes and dreams we learn how beautiful these two people are on the inside. Over the course of a night this man who seemed so hopeless starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sunday morning, Marty is buzzing over the chance for romance. As he starts to see opportunity for growth in his relationship with Clara, his family and friends insecurities grow over the changes in their own lives. This is the brilliant plot twist in Chayefsky's screenplay- everyone wants Marty to marry-so he can be just as miserable as they are! Marty is under pressure to not call or see Clara again, and spends a whole day debating his options. While spending another Sunday night with the fellas, he realizes that misery loves company and he has an opportunity at something better. The movie ends when he wakes up and makes the call to Clara and takes his own happiness into his own hands.

This is a great film; it deserved every Oscar it got and more, it's one of the best pictures the American Cinema has ever produced. Period. Within Chayefsky's simple character study of a South Bronx Butcher is a deep multileveled examination of love and the human condition. On the surface it looks like Marty's family and friends are interested in his happiness by pressuring him to get married. But the irony is that they want him to conform and be like them- Miserable and dissatisfied with their own lives. They secretly want to take away Marty's happiness! Clara the educated woman represents independence and self-control, things Marty desires in his own life. While Marty represents courage, drive and character to Clara, something she desires in her own life. Both inspire each other to make the changes in their lives to find happiness and self-actualization. I love this movie!

Production values are amazing on this movie. Filming on location works to great advantage for Director Delbert Mann. As a lifelong resident of the South Bronx, it was a delight to take a trip through time and see places I go to shop and hang out on the weekends like Webster Avenue and Fordham Road looked like over 50 years ago. Now I know what older people talk about when they say the Bronx was beautiful back in the day. The lights on the streets reminded me of Times Square.

Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar Winning screenplay is a work of art. Plain and simple it is brilliant. Every line has a purpose; every action has a reason for being there. The dialogue feels real, the storyline tighter than a drum It is the work of a master of his craft at the height of his prime.

The acting here is some of the best I have ever seen. Ernest Borgnine is powerful as Marty. He brings warmth, humanity and love and compassion to the character. You see every part of this man's inner torment and his daily struggles onscreen. He deserved his Oscar for best actor. Betsy is beautiful as the dowdy schoolteacher Clara. She has great chemistry with Borgnine and brings out the inner beauty of her homely character. Joe Mantell is great as Marty's buddy Angie. He felt just like a neighborhood guy from that era. Esther Minciotti Augusta Ciolli give powerful performances as Marty's Mom and His bitter old aunt. The scene where the two middle-aged women sit in the house contemplating their lonely futures is one of the best scenes in the movie; don't miss it!

Marty is a top five Shawn James essential video. YOU MUST BUY THIS ONE FOR YOUR DVD COLLECTION!

Pure and Simple..........2007-05-04

This is definately one of my favorite movies; a real little gem of a story told simply and directly. No car chases, no dirty jokes, no technicolor; just the pure and simple human drama of every day American life. Now this movie can also be considered an historical 1950s American cultural and media artifact.

Great film but incomplete DVD.......2007-04-29

Poignant story of "average" people and the profound changes in their lives: loneliness, widowhood, fear, frustration, boredom, shyness. All in the Bronx!

Wonderful film that deserves its awards.

One problem: the DVD is missing a scene! This is yet another example of sloppiness on the part of the studio who released the film not doing its homework to make sure the complete film is there. The film is complete on the video and laserdisc but not on the DVD.

It is the same with Star!, The Owl and the Pussycat, and countless other films.

Shame.

Best Of The Classics.......2007-01-10

This movie classic, is a fabulous movie. The story represents a common dilemma faced by 1st generation young people whose parents are immigrants.
Here is this sensitive, kind-hearted fellow, Marty, a butcher, who just wants to meet a nice girl and get married. Nobody really wants him to be happy and have his own life, especially his mother, and his aunt. These two actors play their character parts perfectly, just like real "battle-axes" from the "old country," etc. They gossip and try to ruin his relationship with a nice girl he has just met. It is hilarious and entertaining and very true to life. I love watching this movie over and over.

Average customer rating:

Born Yesterday
Another classic to love
What Learning Will Do to You
Great Performance
A Revival of Sorts.

Born Yesterday
Starring: Judy Holliday , Broderick Crawford , William Holden , Howard St. John , and Frank Otto
Director: George Cukor
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Satire | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Solid Gold Cadillac
It Should Happen to You
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Born Yesterday

ASIN: B00003L9CI
Release Date: 2000-02-15

Amazon.com

Judy Holliday's Oscar-winning performance is just one of the reasons to watch this terrific 1950 comedy, which is equally acclaimed for its deliciously witty screenplay (based on Garson Kanin's long-running Broadway hit) and George Cukor's silky-smooth direction. Holliday plays Billie Dawn, the floozie fiancée of a junk-dealer millionaire (Broderick Crawford), who is trying to make a good impression among the Washington, D.C., politicos he's hoping to influence. To ensure that Billie gets properly "culturefied," the corrupt Crawford hires a D.C. journalist (William Holden) to give the seemingly dim-witted blonde a crash course in politics, history, literature, and--you guessed it--true love. Billie's not nearly as dumb as she seems, of course, and before long she's graduated from pawn to sassy queen on her husband's political chessboard.

Watching Born Yesterday is a crash course in itself--an object lesson in how low American screen comedy has fallen from these delirious heights. The movie's funny even when there's a pause in the golden dialogue, such as when Holliday tests Crawford's patience in a sublimely comedic round of gin rummy. There's not a single scene in which Holliday (reprising her Broadway role) isn't simply perfect, the cogs turning smoothly behind her dim expressions and coarsely high-pitched squeal. Suave as ever, Holden is her match made in heaven, and Crawford is a brute who's too stupid to be genuinely malevolent. Put 'em all together and you've got a timeless classic, so flawless that a 1993 remake was instantly doomed to pale comparisons. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Born Yesterday.......2007-06-25

New York-born comedienne Holliday had her first real film break the prior year as the wronged wife in the Tracy-Hepburn comedy "Adam's Rib" (1949), and her solid supporting turn helped her clinch the role of Billie, a role she'd done on Broadway. With its witty screenplay and "Pygmalion"-like story, the result was pure gold, netting Holliday the Best Actress Oscar for 1950, and jump-starting her film career in earnest. Broderick is wonderfully crude as her pre-occupied husband, and Holden performs the unheralded job of straight man with finesse. And Judy is fantastic. Smoothly paced comedy from master George Cukor.

Another classic to love.......2007-04-02

I remember seeing this film when I was 12 or so with my Mom. It left an impression and I knew I would have to add this to my classic movie collection. How I enjoyed watching Judy Holliday's performance, she was unique with a wonderful sense of comedic timing. Anyone who collects classic comedies should add this to the list.

What Learning Will Do to You.......2007-04-02

Born Yesterday begins with a narcissistic junk dealer Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford) who is planning a major merger with his company to make loads of money. He uses his dizzy girlfriend Billie (Judy Holliday) as a middleman, though he really controls everything she "owns." She is just content to accept his lavish gifts and be pretty. That is until Paul(William Holden) comes along. He is hired by Harry to educate Billie; she embarasses him in front of sophisticated company. In the process, she learns just how corrupt her fiancee is and why her father has disowned her. She also develops eyes for her teacher.

Holliday won the Oscar for her performance in this film against such professionals as Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson. Indeed, her performance is wonderful. One can watch her character transform before one's eyes from a gold digging chorus girl to an intelligent woman. Her relationship with Holden is believable and powerful. In fact, all of the roles are well developed. The dialogue is conversational but intelligent, making this a very worthwhile film.

Great Performance.......2006-12-04

I'm not a big Judy Holliday fan. She seems to have played the ditzy but smart squeaky-voice role over and over. This said, Born Yesterday is easily her best movie. The script is smart and sweet and she and William Holden have a natural, believable screen chemistry. The performances are excellent as is the Pygmalion like transformation of Holliday's character from mouse to lionness. A great comedy of manners and morality.

A Revival of Sorts........2006-09-11

This original Oscar-winning movie starring Judy Holliday was clever, witty and wise. It was shown on TCM with Nick Clooney guiding us with his winning ways into the mood of the Forties. He couldn't have seen the original at the theaters, either, as he and I are the same age, so I know I didn't see it when I was only ten. I thought the moll was ditzy and pretty dumb with a silly-sounding voice. In Pulaski, Nate Street from Hickman County, a radio personality who liked to be thought of as a drama critic as he always attended dress rehearsal of the college plays, voiced his like for this crazy dame. So, I thought that if he thought she was so good, as she was in "Bells Are Ringing," maybe he was right again.

Today, I saw a revival of "Born Yesterday" with my favorite local actor as the genius, Paul Verrall. He was splendid as I expected, though he did not have the Washington, D.C. accent. The whole performance was professionally done at the Clarence Brown Theater here. Previously, I was lucky to have stumbled into a performance in which Terry Weber was a one-man play about Abraham Lincoln/John Wilkes Booth and have never enjoyed a performance of any play more. He has an unusual talent to be serious, musical, and sometimes funny.

The play centers around political corruption in which Billie becomes unknowingly involved. That is, until Paul tutors her on proper ways of thinking and talking so as to 'fit in.' Judy played to the camera and acted as a silly, dumb blonde. Today, the actress was unusually clever in adopting Judy's unique way of speaking but showing how easy it is to change practically overnight into an educated woman who can fall in love and not just be used by a rich man. She was smart enough to take her furs when she left him. Broaderick Crawford, known for "Highway Patrol" on television, could not have been as brutal as Neil Friedman from Chicago as Harry Brock. He didn't even use his Chicago accent. That was good acting to say the least. Terry was the star of this revival of sorts, a revolution against violence and money laundering of any kind.

Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at Home

Average customer rating:

Baseball Joyful Escape
Outstanding!
Kill the Umpire
...... STRIKE THREE!!!......YOU'RE.....OUT!!!!!
At Long Last

Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at Home
Starring: William Bendix , Una Merkel , Ray Collins , Gloria Henry , and Jeff Richards
Director: Lloyd Bacon , and Walter Doniger
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000MNOX80
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Amazon.com

Kill the Umpire and Safe at Home reside cozily on this family-friendly disc, a pair of entertaining movies about baseball-crazy characters with very different reasons for getting close to the game. The 1950 Kill the Umpire stars William Bendix as Bill Johnson, a working man so enamored of America's pastime that he regularly loses jobs because he can't stay out of his favorite New York ballpark when he's supposed to be at the office. Loudly disdainful of all umpires, Bill gets both a blessing and a comeuppance when his father-in-law (Ray Collins), a retired ump, sends him off to umpire school to learn the profession he deserves. After a lot of resistance, Bill understands the basic nobility of being the guy people love to hate despite also being necessary to baseball. The script is by Frank Tashlin, the animation director who would soon have better things to do in the 1950s and beyond, such as directing Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and guiding Jerry Lewis in some of his best vehicles. Indeed, Kill the Umpire, in many ways, looks like a collection of old cartoon gags connected by Bendix's charming performance. But under the sure hand of seasoned director Lloyd Bacon (Knute Rockne All-American), it all comes together nicely.

The 1962 Safe at Home is built around the presence of New York Yankees stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who prove stiff but game playing themselves in the story of a little boy who gets in trouble for overstating his friendship with them. Young Hutch Lawton (Bryan Russell), a motherless child trying hard to help his preoccupied dad (Don Collier) build a business, brags to his Little League team that he knows Maris and Mantle, then sets out on a journey to talk the legendary sluggers into going back with him to meet the team. William Frawley (who also appears in Kill the Umpire) helps keep the pace going as the Yankees' manager, and Patricia Barry is a welcome presence as Mr. Lawton's love interest. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Kill The Umpire: When his wife threatens to leave him unless he finds steady employment, a baseball fanatic reluctantly accepts a job as a minor league umpire, "the lowest a man can get."

Safe at Home: When a young boy brags of his nonexistent friendship with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, he travels to the Yankees' spring training camp to make his boast come true.

Customer Reviews:

Baseball Joyful Escape.......2007-05-30

When the rat race of modern life gets to you there is always timeless baseball. Unfortunately the modern world has found a way to corrupt the purity of the game. These two movies harken back to the older " purer " days. Yes the movies are dated and abit corny but the values still ring true.

Outstanding!.......2007-05-14

Kill The Umpire is one of William Bendix's best performances, right up there with Life Of Riley.This is a great baseball movie from the other side of the game, the umpire's point of view.
Safe At Home is a great piece of nostalgia for baby boomers. Mantle, Maris, and the rest of the Yankees at their height! What's not to like?

Kill the Umpire.......2007-05-07

Although "Kill the Umpire" is a great Bendix classic, "Safe at Home" is more like a documentary or short that would be included with a good movie instead of billed as a double feature. This DVD is well worth owning just for "Kill the Umpire". Now if they will just put "It Happens Every Spring" with Ray Milland on DVD I will be basball movie satisfied for awhile.

...... STRIKE THREE!!!......YOU'RE.....OUT!!!!!.......2007-04-25

Very funny comedy with William Bendix at his best...wonderful tale about the [10th] player on the field...the umpire[s]...Una Merkel plays Bendix's wife in her own trademark prissy fashion....good clean family entertainment to boot about America's sporting pastime...no wonder actor William Bendix had a looong and varied career before the camera...let us return to yesteryear when the game of baseball was fun and even had heroes to cheer for...not like today's game of greed, etc....SGGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF

At Long Last.......2007-04-22

Kill The Umpire is quite simply, one of the best baseball movies ever made. Ok, its not a Bull Durham or Major League, but look at when it was made!! William Bendix as "Two Call Johnson" is quite simply, hilarious in this role - no one could have played it better. Also featuring Tom DeAndrea (probably misspelled), the duo clicked so well they wound up starring in the TV version of "The Life of Riley." This is - quite simply - a great, underrated movie. Be prepared to laugh until you cry.

Average customer rating:

This Original Outshines the Remake
Shaggy Dog (Orig Version)
A Disney Classic
No such dog as a Bratislavian Sheepdog
DISNEY'S COMEDY CLASSIC "THE SHAGGY DOG"

The Shaggy Dog (Wild & Woolly Edition)
Starring: Fred MacMurray , Jean Hagen , Tommy Kirk , Annette Funicello , and Tim Considine
Director: Charles Barton
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
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ASIN: B000CR7RH0
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Amazon.com

Unlike the fly in the 1958 horror classic, they never really explain what happens to the neighbor's sheepdog when young Wilby Daniels trades places with it. The dog just vanishes, or is subsumed or assumed or something, leaving Wilby (Tommy Kirk) to explain to his dog-hating, allergic, mailman father (Fred MacMurray) that he's turned into a canine. The Shaggy Dog seems like the first instance of Disney packaging, as most of the principals were either Mouseketeers or had been in the short Disney segment Spin and Marty or a previous Disney film. As successful as The Absent Minded Professor for humor, Dog follows Wilby and a rival as they vie for the hand of the new French girl in school, and the girl next door (Annette Funicello). The exchanges with Wilby's younger brother, Moochie (Kevin Corcoran), who always wanted a family dog, are alone worth the price of the tape. Indeed the most successful element of this overall endearing film is the re-pairing of the two actors as brothers (they had done so before in 1957's Old Yeller). This is family fare that's diverting without pandering, a feat that the later Disney regime would have a difficult time re-creating. --Keith Simanton

Description

The first live action movie ever produced by Walt Disney is on DVD for the first time ever! Fred MacMurray heads an all-star cast that includes Jean Hagen, Tim Considine, Kevin Corcoran, and Annette Funicello in her big screen debut. After years of on-the-job clashes with cranky canines, mail carrier Wilson Daniels (MacMurray) sees man's best friend as his worst enemy. This makes for one hairy situation when a magical ring accidentally transforms his teenage son Wilby (Kirk) into a lumbering sheepdog! Can Wilby break the spell and foil a team of international spies, or will both he and his dad wind up in the doghouse? Packed with sidesplitting antics, slapstick chases, and hilarious sight gags, this madcap adventure will tickle the funny bone of every two- (and four-) footed member of your family!

Customer Reviews:

This Original Outshines the Remake.......2007-04-11

This film is a classic family film to be enjoyed by everyone, and the recent remake can't hold a candle to it. Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran are at their best.

Shaggy Dog (Orig Version).......2007-03-14

This is a good clean funny Disney movie. Typical for the era it was made for and for kids. I was getting it for a small grandson as a birthday present and also ordered one for myself at the same time. Unfortunately, some of the remakes of Disney movies have not been for the very young any more which is why I prefer to get the original version. My grandson loved it and watches it repeatedly and his parents do not have to worry about a 6 year old seeing anything inappropriate for his age. At the same time adults also enjoy watching it for laughs and fun.

A Disney Classic.......2007-01-29

This Disney movie is charming and full of fun. The movie manages to pack a lot into a relatively short time, boasting at least five plots and sub-plots. Though one of the central plots involves spies, a car chase and a boat chase, the movie is quite tame and suitable for even the youngest members of the family.

Wilby Daniels, played by Disney regular Tommy Kirk, is somewhat of a geek. He experiments in his basement. His latest experiment is a missile interceptor that seems to be ready to launch though Wilby did not ignite it. Moochie Daniels, played by Kevin Corcoran, another Disney regular, is Wilby's younger brother. Disney paired Corcoran with Kirk as Kirk's younger brother in five movies. This movie was the second of the five.

Given Wilby's nerdy ways, he has a problem meeting girls. Lovely Allison d'Allessio, played by Annette Funicello, yet another Disney regular, lives close by, but Wilby struggles to ask Allison out. Wilby's supposed friend Buzz Miller, played by yet another Disney Regular Tim Considine, is a smooth operator when it comes to dating and is an even smoother operator when it comes to getting Wilby to pay for Buzz's dates.

Dad Wilson Daniels is a mailman who hates dogs. Fred McMurray, one more Disney regular, plays Wilson Daniels. Wilson suffers throughout this movie, mostly because of Wilby's activities. There is the hole in the roof, the near disaster as Wilby gets ready to hammer a lump that turns out to be Wilson's head, the talking dog that gets Wilson in trouble with the police. Poor Dad.

Though Wilby seems to be in continuous trouble, major trouble ensues when Wilby accidentally picks up a ring from a museum. Wilby reads the inscription on the ring, in canis corpore transmuto, which translates approximately as change into a dog's body. Soon Wilby sprouts fur, paws and a cold wet nose, and comedy is sure to follow.

The movie has already set up comedy because we know that Wilson Daniels dislikes dogs. Wilby is also supposed to go to a dance with Buzz, Allison, and a beautiful new neighbor. But the excitement increases when Wilby, in his dog form, overhears spies. Soon Wilby wreaks al kinds of havoc as he drives a car while still a dog. Things become even more exciting when Wilson Daniels attempts to explain to the police and then the government how he knows about a secret project. Who is going to believe anyone that a dog told them?

Some of Disney's best movies were light comedy. "The Shaggy Dog" combines the talents of some of the best Disney stars of the era with a fast-paced plot and moderate slap-stick. In addition, nearly every movie with Fred McMurray in it is guaranteed to be enjoyable. Most important, every member of the family can watch this movie. Sit back and enjoy one of the better live action movies produced by Walt Disney.

No such dog as a Bratislavian Sheepdog.......2006-06-10

I would just like everyone out there to know that there is no such dog as a Bratislavian Sheepdog. The name was created strictly for use in this movie. The dog in the role as Wilby Daniels & Chiffon is in fact an Old English Sheepdog named Sam, who was rescued from a pound for the amount of $3

DISNEY'S COMEDY CLASSIC "THE SHAGGY DOG".......2006-03-15

One of the best Disney feature films with incredible performances from the young teenage cast, as well as Fred MacMurray and Jean Hagen. Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran play brothers, Wilby and Moochie Daniels, who are always getting into trouble with their imaginations (telling the cops their neighbors are spies) and experiments in the basement (a rocket goes through the roof of their house!) in this delightful family comedy. Tommy and Tim Considine play best friends who are in competition for the affections of two lovely young girls, hometown beauty Annette Funicello and the new girl in town, sophisticated beauty Roberta (Bobbie) Shore. Roberta's from Europe and owns a big, shaggy sheep dog, which takes an immediate liking to Tommy Kirk. As the story progresses, Tommy, Tim, and Roberta are visiting the local museum, Tommy accidentally knocks over a small table of ancient jewels and one of the rings gets caught in the cuff of his pants. Later at home, he discovers the ring and reads a mysterious encryption on the ring. Thus, turning him into a big shaggy sheep dog! The story is great and it keeps the viewers attention throughout. The folks at Disney have done a great job with this dvd release, which presents the movie in the original b&w widescreen version (this is the one I watched first) and a colorized version. Also included are interviews with Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, Tim Considine, and Roberta Shore. A nice tribute to the late Fred MacMurray, with comments from all of the before mentioned. "The Shaggy Dog" had a follow-up film in 1976 "The Shaggy D.A." which starred Dean Jones as Wilby Daniels. The movie is inferior to the original, but is still entertaining and very funny thanks to Tim Conway's co-starring role. I wish the folks at Disney had made this follow-up film with Tommy Kirk and the entire original cast reprising their roles. I highly recommend "The Shaggy Dog," for it holds a very special place in my dvd library and I'm sure it would yours too.

Average customer rating:

The Dark Corner - Fox Film Noir
Unusual Lucy
So-so story.
The light and the dark
Not your typical Lucy!

The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
Starring: Lucille Ball , Clifton Webb , William Bendix , Mark Stevens , and Kurt Kreuger
Director: Henry Hathaway
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000B8380A
Release Date: 2005-12-06

Amazon.com

The Dark Corner can't seriously be proposed as a great film noir, but it's one that people cherish. For one thing, it's unique in having Lucille Ball--who has absolutely no "splainin'" to do--as the smart, resourceful, devoted secretary of beleaguered private eye Mark Stevens. Lucy actually rates top billing, with Clifton up-to-his-old-Laura-tricks Webb and William vicious-brute-in-a-white-suit Bendix also getting their names above that of the hero in the credits. In this, there's a certain justice; they all deliver the goods, whereas Stevens seems a tad lightweight as the hardnose, Phil Marlowe type cracking wise and punching his way through the mean streets. His character comes burdened with more backstory than usual for movie detectives; this time, the case the private eye has to solve is his own. The intriguingly convoluted screenplay (by Jay Dratler, who co-wrote Laura, and Bernard Schoenfeld, from a story by Leo Rosten) takes hold like a vise and sustains the tension even though, by rights, its credibility should be shrinking with each passing reel. Henry Hathaway's direction is crisp, and the cinematography by Joe MacDonald (who would next shoot John Ford's My Darling Clementine) is both pungent and gorgeous. With Cathy Downs, Kurt Kreuger, and Reed Hadley, who plays a police detective here but more often supplied the voiceover on Fox's semidocumentary thrillers and Anthony Mann's T-Men. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Lucille Ball has a change of pace role as the loyal secretary of a private eye in this brooding film noir about a man being set up for a murder rap. Framed by his partner years ago, hard-boiled detective Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) served a two year stretch for manslaughter. Now trying to start over, he spends his time serving his clients and romancing his new secretary, Kathleen (Lucille Ball). But everything changes with the appearance of a sinister man in a whit suit (William Bendix) who's apparently working for Galt's ex-partner, Tony Jardine. When Jardine is killed, the police blame Galt. It's another frame, but if Galt can't prove he's innocent, this time he's headed for death row.

Customer Reviews:

The Dark Corner - Fox Film Noir.......2007-07-03

Though we tend to associate Film Noir with Warner Brothers pictures, many of the excellent examples of the genre were made by Twentieth Century Fox. "The Dark Corner" is one of these. The titles give top billing to Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, and William Bendix - but the star of the film is Mark Stevens, an underrated actor who could play hard-bitten parts as well as anyone. The camera follows him around as the plot of the movie unfolds. Clifton Webb does his usual excellent job in a part reminiscent of his role in "Laura."
William Bendix, known for both his comedic roles as well as his tough guy parts, throws his weight around and gets thrown around in this one, and Lucille Ball, who gets the undeserved star billing, is quite good in a straight part. She shows none of the "Lucy" zany qualities that she became famous for in later years.
In my opinion, Mark Stevens should have had a bigger career. I wonder what happened!

Unusual Lucy.......2007-05-28

This is Lucy in a dramatic role. It showcases her talent very well. Male lead would have been better played by Dana Andrews but otherwise good Film Noir.

So-so story........2007-05-09

Don't get me wrong, I love noir whether it's books or film. I think Lucille Ball was terrific in this film. In fact, she's so much better than the story and the awful acting of Mark Stevens, that I'd say she was wasted. The story is weak, there are no real surprises except one: Director Hathaway somehow managed not to create any tension at all. No tension, no sexual chemistry between the leads, and Kreuger was a vanilla villain -- I couldn't work up any feelings about him one way or the other. Not only that but the pacing is truly sluggish. Clifton Webb could have phoned in his performance, it's pretty much the same one he did in 'Laura,' except for that nifty bit of murder he performed on William Bendix, which was done in Webb's inimitably urbane style. It's a watchable movie, but if you have to take a phone call in the middle of it you're not going to miss any great moments.

The light and the dark.......2007-03-20

This is one of those movies in which, among the principals, no two acting styles are alike. It shouldn't work, you think, but somehow it does. It's a satisfying little mid-forties Fox noir, well directed by Henry Hathaway.

Mark Stevens is private eye Bradford Galt. He has a small office with one secretary, Kathleen, played by Lucille Ball. During the prelude to their developing romance, they find that they're being shadowed by "the man in the white suit," played by William Bendix. Except that Bendix ("Fred Foss") doesn't stay in the shadows and he's wearing a fershlugginer WHITE SUIT--I mean, even the secretary spots the tail right off. After luring Foss into his office, Galt conducts a roughhouse interview; Foss spills the name "Jardine" as the baddie who hired him. Not the Beach Boy, it turns out, but Galt's former partner, who had tried to kill him several years earlier but only succeeded in framing him and getting him sent to the slammer. Galt, free again, thinks Jardine may have plans to finish the job. . . .

William Bendix is, as usual, terrific. He's a palpably slimy presence, but his acting is never over the top; his pug mug and his soft, sandy voice are far more menacing than his actual dialogue. Like most baby boomers, I first knew Bendix as Chester A. Riley on TV. Later on, watching him play sadistic hoods (first in THE GLASS KEY), I had no trouble accepting the transformation. For some reason, I couldn't make the switch with Lucille Ball. She is and always will be Lucy McGillicuddy Ricardo. As Kathleen in THE DARK CORNER, she seems to be marking time. In her defense, the role is relatively colorless: she gives Mark Stevens someone to talk to, kiss, send on errands, and so on, but her character isn't as essential--or as provocative--as that of Cathy Downs, the other beautiful woman in the movie.

Mark Stevens overacts, yet seems right for the part. Kurt Kreuger, Clifton Webb, and Constance Collier are all excellent. Bit parts and walkons reveal other familiar faces: Reed Hadley, playing a smooth detective whose fedora remains firmly clamped down to his eyebrows; Ellen Corby, who gets to scream; John Russell, whom I remember mainly from TV's "Soldiers of Fortune"; and, in a performance sequence, Eddie Heywood, the fine jazz pianist and bandleader.

The real star, however, is Joe MacDonald, the cinematographer. The source print used in the Fox Film Noir DVD is less sharp than I'd anticipated, but the lighting throughout the film is stunning nevertheless. It does far more than the talky script to establish the mood of each scene, and it makes me want to revisit MacDonald's other noirs-- THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948), CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948), and PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950). He also did Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), the lovely little Ray Milland comedy, IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING (1949), and many color films from the fifties onward (including HOUSE OF BAMBOO in 1955).

Not your typical Lucy!.......2007-02-25

Lucille Ball stars in this film as the secretary for a private investigator. Not her typical comedian role she is best known for. However, I have to admit, she is very convincing in this role. I enjoy film noir and rate this as one of the best of the fox series. A must buy for film noir fans.

Average customer rating:

A delightful and ahead of it's time film
A peculiar concoction

Casanova Brown
Starring: Gary Cooper , Teresa Wright , Frank Morgan , Anita Louise , and Edmund Breon
Director: Sam Wood
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000NIBUTE
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Customer Reviews:

A delightful and ahead of it's time film.......2007-03-15

This film stars Gary Cooper as a small town college professor and Teresa Wright as the society woman he meets and immediately falls head over heels in love with while on a trip to New York. He's trying to get a book published about his ancestor, the notorious lover Casanova. Her mother however who consults the astrology charts for every decision she makes tells the newlyweds that their marriage is doomed to fail. Cooper disagrees and a heated argument insues between the family which eventually leads to an anullment. Nine months later back in his home town Cooper is set to marry Anita Louise whose father played by Frank Morgan (the wizard from the Wizard of Oz) is adamantly against the marriage. Not because he dislikes Cooper but because he dislikes marriage! He turns in a very funny performance as the cranky father of the bride. On the day before their wedding Cooper receives a cryptic letter from a maternity hospital in Chicago saying they need to speak with him. He recounts the tale of his week long marriage to a woman in New York to Morgan and he encourages him to go to Chicago and see what's going on.

There's a very funny bit once he gets to the hospital and they escort him to a room and tell him to undress. He's quite perplexed seeing as how it's a maternity hospital and he's a man. They run him through a battery of tests as other expectant father's watch in disbelief while they wheel him around on a hospital bed. It turns out that Wright has had a baby girl and Cooper is the father. She plans to put her up for adoption and they ran all the tests on him to get his medical information. At first he is very surprised to know that he has a child but once he sees her he's completely smitten and also very upset that she will be given away. He can't talk Wright out of it so out of desparation he dresses like a doctor and kidnaps his little girl.

After checking into a hotel he enlists a bellman and a maid to help him take care of his daughter. He knows very little about babies but with the help of some books he gets the hang of it pretty quickly. My favorite scene is where he mistakes her rapid weight gain (which is normal for newborns) as a sign of a glandular problem. He sits on the bed looking at his daughter and very sweetly whispers to her 'daddy will love you no matter how big you get'. I don't want to give away the ending but it is a happy one.

The movie was released in 1944 and I can imagine it was quite shocking to see a single man taking care of a baby. Cooper even says in one scene how unfair it is that a man can run the country but they won't let him take care of his own child unless he's married. This is a very sweet and funny movie and I would encourage you to give it a look.

A peculiar concoction.......2000-05-16

This is a strange little movie.The tone is light,the performances likeable but the story (about a man who "steals" his ex-wife's newly-born baby) is in dubious taste.Part of the problem is the fact that the movie is composed of "chunks" rather than coherent scenes:there is a chunk of story dealing with Brown's impending marriage and then a chunk dealing with his immediate past,and then another featuring his abduction of "his" child,but these long sequences fail to bond together into a meaningful whole.Another problem has to do with the characterisations:Brown's fiance is never really anything more than a plot device,his ex is only barely drawn and his eccentric fatherly confidante is unbelievable.Cooper,however,is as intriguingly charming as ever,and there are moments of real humour,but,as a whole,the effect is disappointing.Students could probably use the theme to spark off a debate about "movies/comedies and good taste",and admirers of Gary Cooper will warm to his contribution,but not everyone will be satisfied with this as a straightforward light comedy.

Average customer rating:

I need to move to Australia
Cane Toads - campy but informative
Environmentally sound!
Funny, informative, and ridiculous
The truth is stranger than fiction

Cane Toads - An Unnatural History
Starring: Tip Byrne , H.W. Kerr , Glen Ingram , Bill Freeland , and E.S. Edgerton
Director: Mark Lewis (VII)
Manufacturer: First Run Features
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JG6X
Release Date: 2001-07-17

Amazon.com

This odd documentary is for the audience that can't get enough of off-center, real-life tales akin to those captured by Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven). In the 1930s Australian sugar-cane farmers imported the bufo marinus, or cane toad, from Hawaii to destroy the crop-damaging greyback beetle. In short, the descendents of the original 102 toads virtually took over half a continent. We hear from all sides about the problem: the scientific studies of their mating habits (bruising), defense systems (poison that can kill a predator), and their eating habits (almost anything). Much of Mark Lewis's short film sticks with the common folk and their polarized feelings about the animal. Told with a great amount of wit, this 1987 documentary illustrates that the strangest things on film are always true. --Doug Thomas

Description

A fat, ugly creature whose sole purpose in life is the pursuit of sexual gratification is rapidly taking over Australia! The Cane Toads were imported by the sackload from Hawaii to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the Greyback beetle, which was rapidly destroying their sugarcane crop. The Cane Toads adapted beautifully to their new surroundings. Problem was, the beetle could fly and the Cane Toad couldn't. What the Cane Toad is unusually good at, however, is making more Cane Toads--thousands upon thousands more. If Monty Python produced a National Geographic Special, it would be Cane Toads!

Customer Reviews:

I need to move to Australia.......2007-05-02

This is the perhaps the best movie I have every seen. It is informative and yet it somehow will make the viewer laugh throughout. I saw it in a class and had to come home and buy it. All I can say now is that I want some Australian friends.

Cane Toads - campy but informative.......2007-03-18

Somebody else said it was Monty Python meets Marlin Perkins. Throw in a little of "The Far Side", and you've got it. A decent documentary. It *does* demonstrate invasive species in action and highlights the perils of introducing animals or plants we don't understand into new envirmmonents.

Environmentally sound!.......2006-12-18

This movie, although a cross between Monty Python and National Geographic, is a must for EVERY environmental student. I show this to my high school environmental classes every year to demonstrate how intoduced invasive species can decimate an ecosystem.

Funny, informative, and ridiculous.......2006-07-10

I saw this on T.V. a few weeks ago really late at night. I really just wanna go to Australia with my pellet gun and waste these things after watching this. I'm not gonna go into detail and spoil the funny parts, but it's definitely worth the hour or so it takes to watch. Also through some research I've found that Cane Toads- An Unnatural History is completely factual despite its humor.

The truth is stranger than fiction.......2006-03-22

This documentary is factual, hilarious, and very Australian. It provides interviews with different individuals, who relay their experience and opinions of the Cane Toad, an introduced species that is basically wiping out the Australian ecosystem north of Sydney. See the Canadian scientist with the slight flinch in his eye while he tells you of the toad induced death of his prized endangered cat. See the Aussie bloke in the Combi Van who likes to run over them ("if you get 'em just right, they go pop ...."). Fascinating info on the toad itself, as well.
Luckily, this is so warped and funny, that you hardly notice the environmental catastrophe. EVERY AUSTRALIAN SHOULD SEE THIS.

Average customer rating:

Noir for Noir Fans
A long way behind "Gilda" in likability...
Good but not great
Run-of-the-mill film-noir production
Post-War Noir

Dead Reckoning
Starring: Humphrey Bogart , Lizabeth Scott , Morris Carnovsky , Charles Cane , and William Prince
Director: John Cromwell
Manufacturer: Columbia Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00007ELD1
Release Date: 2003-01-14

Amazon.com

The shadow of World War II falls over this stateside film noir thriller about a GI paratrooper (Humphrey Bogart) who trails his AWOL war buddy to a treacherous city populated by gamblers, goons, pug cops, and the smoky, suspicious Lizabeth Scott, a seductive femme who may be fatale. Bogie's tight lipped, war hardened intensity dominates the B roster of supporting actors (Morris Carnovsky as a finicky nightclub owner with a gambling sideline, Marvin Miller as his brutal baby-faced thug) and the plot echoes with elements of earlier Bogie classics The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon recast on a low budget. Scott is, for all her fog-voiced sultriness, no Lauren Bacall, but her mannered performance is appropriately ambiguous and the film's cynical edge, ruthless desperation, and tarnished view of small-time hoodlums with big dreams casts a darker shadow unique to Hollywood's postwar funk. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Noir for Noir Fans.......2007-06-06

As "Dead Reckoning" opens, Humphrey Bogart is a U.S. Army Captain, chasing one of his men who has gone AWOL. The trail leads to an eponymous Southern town, where HB finds the guy has been murdered! There are good early noir scenes: the dark church, dreary morgue, dingy hotel room, menacing cops-and a beautiful woman! She is none other than the classic good girl/bad girl, Lizabeth Scott. (Bogey narrates DR throughout via flashback while telling his tale to a fatherly Army chaplain). Bogey's Southern trip leads to a strange brew of murder, lies, conceit, double-cross, blackmail - and a secret marriage! Scott is at the heart of it all and plays her role to the hilt. She and Bogey make a nice pair and overshadow the supporting cast. Other reviewers have compared Scott to Lauren Bacall. This reviewer is an LS fan. It says here that to compare the two ladies is to compliment Miss Bacall! This review won't divulge the ending. Does Bogey find out who murdered his buddy? Folks will just have to watch for themselves. DR is definitely recommended for noir fans. Those new to the genre may be somewhat less satisfied but the movie may just make some new fans too. If DR has a weakness, it lies in that awkward fadeout. What were the suits at Columbia Pictures thinking? It must have been a last minute substitute for the original. A final question: Was Marvin Miller (the guy who played the heavy, Krause), the same fellow from the 50s TV drama "The Millionaire"?

A long way behind "Gilda" in likability..........2006-12-25

"Dead Reckoning" is somewhat of a rehashing of the plots and dialog of "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Big Sleep," but it contains much more visual violence... It is a typical Hollywood film noir of the post-war but a long way behind "Gilda" in likability...

Bogart is again portraying his now all-too-familiar role of the sardonic cynic with his own moral code who, this time, is on the trail of a killer who has murdered a wartime paratrooper friend...

Lizabeth Scott is cast as Bogart's femme fatale, obviously hoping to exploit her close resemblance to Lauren Bacall... Unfortunately, like Bacall, her first few films found her equally awkward and expressionless...

Good but not great.......2006-09-15

I won't rehash the plot, other than to say it is about as plausible as any other film noir, and more understandable on a first viewing than, say, the Big Sleep. But it somehow lacks the monumental quality of that movie, mostly because of weaker characterization. Bogie has some great lines, and his performance carries the movie along. Lizabeth Scott smoulders, but never really catches fire, and her southern accent could use some work. The bad guys aren't quite bad enough, and the copper is a little too stock. Nonetheless, a tense psychological thriller that will not disappoint, and is worth watching more than once. One day, someone will write a book about why the forties produced so many gun-toting femme fatales. Statistically, men kill their women and not vice versa, although you'd never guess that from this genre. But hey, it makes for good (and sometimes great) cinema.

Run-of-the-mill film-noir production.......2005-12-15

Humphrey Bogart in a fairly routine film-noir murder mystery set on the Gulf Coast. Bogey's army buddy, about to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, suddenly disappears and then turns up murdered. Bogey investigates and finds out the guy was involved in a murder and apparent underworld coverup, though Bogart is convinved he's innocent.

Of course there's a doll in the middle of it all - Lizabeth Scott, who's acting is not much to rave about - and sure enough she's the real murderer who's allowed Bogey's buddy to take the rap. Bogart falls for her, of course, but at the end is ready to turn her in (honor over love any day), but she dies in a preposterous car crash before he gets the chance. The script is pretty weak and most of the actors seem to be just going through the motions, though Bogey is very good.

Post-War Noir.......2005-10-24

Humphrey Bogart is a paratrooper coming home from WWII in the company of a comrade due to get the Congressional Medal of Honor. On the train to Washington DC the hero jumps out and does his best disappearing act. Bogart soon learns the man was in the Army under an assumed name and is determined to find out who he really was.

The film has many noir moments to relish. It opens with the scene of a city at night in the pouring rain. An illuminated sign proudly announces we've arrived in "Gulf City. Paradise City of the South". Other great shots include one from inside a telephone booth and the faux art deco nightclub where Bogart calls the nervous male bartender, "sweetheart". We also get a nice shadowy noir underworld shot inside the city morgue. In addition there is a great scene of Bogart, trying to kill time in a hotel room, where he phones the front desk and mocking talks to them in a silly southern accent of his own devise.

The moment we first gaze upon femme fatal Lisabeth Scott is a heart stopper. When she says to Bogart, "Where have we met?" he replies, "In another guy's dream". In additon Morris Carnovsky is very good as an icy cold creep.

The technique and dialogue admittedly outweigh the story and the fourth star here is really for the Bogart performance. A lesser fan of his than I may be less impressed.

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