D.E.B.S. (Special Edition)

Starring:Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Meagan Good, Devon Aoki, Jill Ritchie, Geoff Stults, Jimmi Simpson, Holland Taylor, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jessica Cauffiel, Christina Kirk, J.B. Ghuman Jr., Scoot McNairy, Jean St. James, Eric Dearborn, Jenny Mollen, Aimee Garcia, Roger Fan, Krista Conti, Gina Salemi
Director: Angela Robinson (III)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
You can say this about D.E.B.S.: director Angela Robinson's 2005 feature isn't very good, but it is surprisingly entertaining. The premise, which bears a passing resemblance to any number of previous films (from Heathers and Clueless to Charlie's Angels and the Austin Powers franchise), involves a secret government agency recruiting young women as spies, based on their smarts, their ability to lie convincingly, and the fact that they look fetching in ultra-miniskirts. Four of the D.E.B.S. are then charged with collaring "criminal mastermind" Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), who has returned to the States after hatching all manner of nefarious plots overseas. Then comes the twist: Diamond is gay, and one of our heroines, Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster), unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with her. Out goes the espionage element; in comes the love story, and therein lies the surprise, as this burgeoning lesbian relationship is handled with unexpected sympathy, even tenderness. Sure, the acting, even by veteran grownups like Holland Taylor and Michael Clarke Duncan, is almost uniformly lame, and the script is silly; overall, the film would have to put on considerable weight to even be considered frothy. Still, D.E.B.S. isn't a bad way to kill a couple of hours. DVD bonus features include a making-of featurette and commentary by Robinson and the cast. --Sam Graham
Description
Sultry crime boss Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster, The Fast and the Furious) is back in the states and the D.E.B.S.- an elite team of paramilitary college co-ed superspies- are hot on her trail. But when their top agent, gorgeous Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster, The Big Bounce), mysteriously disappears after coming face to face with the attractive young villainess, the D.E.B.S. begin a full-scale search for Lucy's secret lair, never suspecting that Amy may not want to be rescued after all, in this smart and sexy spy spoof about love at first gun sight.

D.E.B.S. (Special Edition)
Average customer rating:

Awesome, fun, campy, cute.

Love it

Just plain fun

D.E.B.S.

Pleasently Suprised!

D.E.B.S. (Special Edition)
Starring: Sara Foster , Jordana Brewster , Meagan Good , Devon Aoki , and Jill Ritchie
Director: Angela Robinson (III)
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Duncan, Michael Clarke | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0009298MU
Release Date: 2005-06-07

Amazon.com

You can say this about D.E.B.S.: director Angela Robinson's 2005 feature isn't very good, but it is surprisingly entertaining. The premise, which bears a passing resemblance to any number of previous films (from Heathers and Clueless to Charlie's Angels and the Austin Powers franchise), involves a secret government agency recruiting young women as spies, based on their smarts, their ability to lie convincingly, and the fact that they look fetching in ultra-miniskirts. Four of the D.E.B.S. are then charged with collaring "criminal mastermind" Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), who has returned to the States after hatching all manner of nefarious plots overseas. Then comes the twist: Diamond is gay, and one of our heroines, Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster), unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with her. Out goes the espionage element; in comes the love story, and therein lies the surprise, as this burgeoning lesbian relationship is handled with unexpected sympathy, even tenderness. Sure, the acting, even by veteran grownups like Holland Taylor and Michael Clarke Duncan, is almost uniformly lame, and the script is silly; overall, the film would have to put on considerable weight to even be considered frothy. Still, D.E.B.S. isn't a bad way to kill a couple of hours. DVD bonus features include a making-of featurette and commentary by Robinson and the cast. --Sam Graham

Description

Sultry crime boss Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster, The Fast and the Furious) is back in the states and the D.E.B.S.- an elite team of paramilitary college co-ed superspies- are hot on her trail. But when their top agent, gorgeous Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster, The Big Bounce), mysteriously disappears after coming face to face with the attractive young villainess, the D.E.B.S. begin a full-scale search for Lucy's secret lair, never suspecting that Amy may not want to be rescued after all, in this smart and sexy spy spoof about love at first gun sight.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome, fun, campy, cute........2007-06-28

Loved it! It was just what i needed. It is kinda like the animation "Totally Spies" but live action. It was campy cute fun!

Love it.......2007-06-15

I have to say that I wasnt expecting a lot from the movie but I ended up loving it! It was laugh out loud funny and always entertaining with good plot. Like others said, its not oscar worthy but it was an hour and a half well spent. I watch it all the time when I get bored and now my friends love it too. Well worth watching; it may not look promising at first but after 10 min. you'll be addicted.

Just plain fun.......2007-05-31

I agree that this movie is not oscar-worthy, but it was a fun way to spend an hour or so as it was funny and entertaining. Isn't that what movies are supposed to do - entertain us? Well, this one does. As long as you don't take this one too seriously, it's worth a bag of popcorn.

D.E.B.S........2007-05-25

A great movie to have fun with. The best satorical comment on lesbian coming out and dating. A film that can make anyone laugh at that first chance meeting. One that can be watched more than once and still laugh.

Pleasently Suprised!.......2007-05-23

Ill admit I completely misjudged this movie...It was greeat! Granted you'll have to have a certain sense of humor (Just as the others said, if you liked Austin Powers or Clueless type movies) to like it. Very entertaining and the pacing was fantastic. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!!

Average customer rating:

Engaging realism; ahead of its time
A good script!
Excellent story dealing with the morals of war.
WW II counterintelligence drama
Top-notch war thriller!

Decision Before Dawn
Starring: Richard Basehart , Gary Merrill , Oskar Werner , Hildegard Knef , and Dominique Blanchar
Director: Anatole Litvak
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EHSVV4
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Amazon.com

Rooting for a German soldier was a daring choice for a movie made in 1951, but Decision Before Dawn justifies the risk; this is a crackling good war movie. In late 1944, the Allies are pushing through Europe but need intelligence behind German lines. Two Americans (Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill) recruit German POWs and enlist them to spy on their former Fatherland. We follow the adventures of one such agent, arrestingly played by the young Oskar Werner, who parachutes into Bavaria and gathers information. (Oddly, the film abandons Basehart and another recruit, marvelously played by Hans Christian Blech, who have also gone under cover.) The well-deployed suspense is accompanied by a constant examination of what it means to be German, and what loyalty to one's country really entails--dutiful devotion or skeptical rebellion? This question doesn't go deep (there's a sense that the movie is a make-nice effort toward a new economic ally), but the film is on solid ground whenever the clockwork suspense takes over. Hildegarde Knef (here billed under her Hollywood spelling, Neff) turns up as a conflicted fraulein. Director Anatole Litvak, shooting on location, gets some amazing shots of bombed-out buildings and ruined towns; in that sense, the film is almost like a documentary record of the postwar landscape. Decision Before Dawn was nominated for the best picture Oscar, but became a lesser-known film in the decades that followed. It deserves a higher profile. --Robert Horton

Description

Richard Basehart and Gary Merrill star in a film that?s ?as stirring a drama as any you'll want to see? (The New York Times). Adapted by Jack Rollens and Peter Viertel from George Howe?s novel Call It Treason, and directed by Anatole Litvak, this riveting World War II drama was nominated for the 1951 Best Picture Oscar®.

As the Third Reich declines in power, the Allies develop a radical new plan ? to employ German POWs as spies. Led by American Colonel Devlin (Merrill), and executed by Lieutenant Rennick (Baseheart), the plan is risky, and the tension builds as the Americans learn whether the former Nazis will help or betray the Allies.

Customer Reviews:

Engaging realism; ahead of its time.......2007-06-17

I'd never seen or heard of "Decision before Dawn" until it appeared in my recommended list on Amazon.com. Released in 1951, it apparently has been on TV a number of times, but I never caught it. Having it on DVD, especially at a bargain price, is welcome, indeed.

There are no big stars in the movie, although Gary Merrill, Richard Basehart, and Oskar Werner are certainly well-known names. The story is rather obscure in that it features Germans who change sides at the end of World War II, and end up spying on and fighting the Nazis. Some of these spies are heroic, like Oskar Werner's character; others are simply mercenary. In any event, we see that there were some good Germans who were loyal to their country, if not to the savage regime that took it over for 12 years.

The movie is in black-and-white, which lends itself well to the feel of the subject. It comes across almost as a docu-drama, to use modern terminology. Many of the outdoor shots feel like how Germany must have been in the latter years of the war after allied bombing had reduced most cities to rubble. You get a sense for the desperation and futility of ordinary people, as well, as the only "love interest" in the show, Hildegard Neff, vanishes almost as quickly as she appears. And she never is seen again.

If you're looking for a film that shows one of the pivotal points of the war, like "The Battle of the Bulge," or "The Battle of Britain," you might be disappointed in this show. But if you want to see a realistic depiction of patriotic Germans who resisted the Nazis and helped end the war, you should be pleasantly surprised. Acting is first-rate and the story is well-written and engaging.

There is not really a happy ending in "Decision before Dawn," unless you feel that the war is closer to its end as a result of what you've seen. In that sense, the movie really seems much ahead of its time and should find a receptive audience. As other reviewers point out, "Decision before Dawn" is really an anti-war film, showing as it does the futility of one group of humans intent on destroying another group.

In summing up, I can't think of another movie to compare this one to. I'd have to say the film is unique and worthy of its place in any World War II collection.

A good script!.......2007-04-05

"Decision Before Dawn" was written by Peter Viertel, once himself a member of the O.S.S.
It's a good script, full of weird characters, played by German actors like Hans-Christian Blech, Hildegard Neff and the famous O.E. Hasse. If you look close enough, you can even spot a very young Klaus Kinski!
The performance given by young Austrian master-actor Oscar Werner is simply superb.
If you like a gripping (anti-) war-movie, you'll be delighted with "Decision Before Dawn".
Watch out for a TV-documentary on the screenwriter Peter Viertel: "PETER VIERTEL: BETWEEN THE LINES". It will be shown in the fall of 2008. Don't miss it!

Excellent story dealing with the morals of war........2006-11-10

Definitely an anti-war classic story. Authentic in every respect and a good view and moral lesson for anyone with an interest in the meaning of loyalty to one's country. R. Woolfe

WW II counterintelligence drama.......2006-10-26

Anatole Litvak's engaging WWII drama "Decision Before Dawn" examines the war from an entirely different perspective. Filmed in the war ravaged remains of Nazi Germany in 1950, the story commences as American troops are poised to cross the Rhine and enter Germany. In the waning days of the war an American intelligence detail lead by Col. Devlin played by Gary Merrill and Lt. Rennick played by Richard Basehart are using captured POW's to act as spys. Using specially trained and suitable German soldiers they hope to gain sensitive information to aid in the war effort. Oskar Werner playing Cpl. Karl Maurer is just such a man.

Werner, an educated son of a physician, and not a loyal Nazi supporter, is a medic in the German Luftwaffe. He and Basehart along with another Nazi traitor code named Tiger and played by Hans Christian Blech are dropped behind enemy lines to determine the location of crack Panzer units.

What makes the film so unique, was that Werner's odyssey through the dying Third Reich gives us insight into the disposition of the German populace. Their downtrodden existence scrounging out an existence in the final months of the war is a disturbing sight to behold.

Litvack's film is a tribute to the nameless German spys who aided the Allied war effort.

Top-notch war thriller!.......2006-10-06

Based on real facts, this movie scrutinizes the ethic side of an idealistic and disappointed German medic / P:O:W: who decides by own will to become spy for his captors. He will be parachuted in order to demonstrate his firm resolution.

This might be the masterpiece of Anatole Litvak and the best performance ever given by Oskar Werner.

Tense, absorbing and high voltage movie.

Average customer rating:

Technically and Historically Fascinating, But Unlikely To Appeal To Most Modern Viewers
An old dark house, a clever bat, some outstanding tracking shots. Just don't say rubeola is a plant
Definately worth a look.
Hard to FInd
This Movie is not out of print no more.................

Bat Whispers
Starring: Chance Ward , Chester Morris , Una Merkel , Richard Tucker , and Wilson Benge
Director: Roland West
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000214FG
Release Date: 1999-11-30

Amazon.com

One of the truly oddball artifacts of the early talkie era, either a cockeyed fluke or a surrealist masterpiece. Producer-director Roland West had already done a silent film version of The Bat (1926), Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood's creaky stage melodrama about a fiendish criminal haunting a lonely Long Island mansion. The coming of sound cued a remake--now The Bat could whisper as well as skulk. And in a stroke of genius worthy of his mad mastermind, West added yet another dimension: The Bat Whispers would be one of a handful of 1930 features shot in widescreen, with a compositional emphasis on forced perspective and inky shadow play.

The plot is lunacy, but there are images here that seem to have escaped from the collective unconscious. Some of the miniature work, like a plunge down a skyscraper that then tilts and cuts "subliminally" into a real-life street scene, is easy to spot, yet chances are you'll find yourself enchanted all the same. And there's a chase during which the widescreen angles suddenly drop the floor right out from under one character, and you feel it in the pit of your stomach.

Like 1930's other pre-CinemaScope experiments , The Bat Whispers was shot in two versions--the 65mm Magnifilm production and one in the conventional "square" 35mm format. Deprived of the widescreen's radically unsettling asymmetry, West's movie became just another old-dark-house picture. You can see both on the DVD, and compare the standard version against the lustrous widescreen restoration by the UCLA Film and Television Archive (different cameramen, different setups, and occasionally different rhythm and action). On the other hand, why not just click on the real movie and prepare to go batty? --Richard T. Jameson

Description

The Bat, a master criminal who dares the police to catch him, has been terrifying the city. A bank is robbed, and the home of the bank president becomes the center of mysterious happenings. Amidst thrills, chills and laughs, the stolen money is discovered, and the Bat's secret identity is revealed!

Customer Reviews:

Technically and Historically Fascinating, But Unlikely To Appeal To Most Modern Viewers.......2007-06-25

THE BAT WHISPERS has a convoluted history more interesting than the film itself. Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1957) created this tale of a master criminal skulking around a creepy country mansion as the 1907 novel THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE. Critics were not impressed, but the public loved it--and in 1917 Rinehart joined forces with playwright Avery Hopwood to adapt it to the stage. Retitled THE BAT, in 1920 it took Broadway by storm with its mixture of crazy characters, corny situations, and spooky atmosphere, and in 1926 film director Roland West brought the play to the screen. Once again it proved a great success; not only was the film an audience favorite, it was critically well-regarded too.

It was also made just as sound began to roar. In 1930 West decided to remake the film as a "talkie." He also decided to add a few innovative bells and whistles in a visual sense as well. Many directors of early sound films had enough to do in coping with sound technology--and so they tended to lock the camera down, a circumstance that gave most Hollywood films made between about 1929 and 1933 a visually static quality. Not so West: THE BAT WHISPERS would be noted for a remarkably fluid camera that made the most of detailed minitures and lavish sets. But more than this, THE BAT WHISPERS would truly stun audiences of the day via a widescreen format.

Widescreen format? In 1930? Surprising, yes, but true. Directors had tinkered with widescreen formats since the silent era, with French director Able Gance's 1927 masterpiece NAPOLEON a case in point--but although interesting, the results were hit and miss. With THE BAT WHISPERS, cinematographer Robert H. Planck nailed it flawlessly. He also left something of a puzzle: film historians are still not entirely sure how he brought it off. Most records seem to indicate that Planck actually shot the film on 35 mm, and then somehow managed to paste, cut, process, and reprint the original footage onto 70 mm. Regardless of how it was done, the result is astonishing, and every one who saw the film was amazed.

Unfortunately, those who saw it were few and far between. Theatre owners were still recovering from the expense of buying audio systems and they were not in a mood to pay for an expensive new screen and projection system as well. When the film went into general release, it went in standard ratio filmed by cinematographer Ray June. Again, it is hard to say exactly how this was done, but looking at both versions it would seem that June took a fair amount of Planck's footage, cropped it, and then re-shot most key scenes directly onto 35 milimeter stock.

We now come to something of a paradox. Planck's widescreen version is both visually beautiful and innovative--but Planck and director West were pretty much working without any precedent and they weren't quite sure of what do with the effect once they had it. Virtually everything is done in long shot, and when the camera isn't in motion THE BAT WHISPERS feels dry as dust and twice as slow. The June version, however, makes solid use of close-ups and medium shots, and while it sometimes feels a bit jumpy it has a better flow and a significantly better pace. Ironically, the June version is actually the more watchable of the two.

But I use the word "watchable" in a comparative sense here. The style of acting that worked so well for silent film proved horrifically awkward in sound film, and directors and actors struggled for several years to find a new acting technique. Both versions of THE BAT WHISPERS find the cast struggling in the gulf between old and new. The Planck version tends to highlight the difficulties involved; the June version softens them--but whether it be Planck or June, the performances are chiefly notable for their awkward quality.

The plot is also antiquated. Part of the charm of the novel, the 1920 play, and the 1926 film was the use of already old-fashioned plot ideas that had not yet worn out their welcome--but by 1930 the whole thing was wearing very thin, and it emerges here as overworked and lacking the necessary light touch. Every thing about the story had become very cliched, and two years later director James Whale would wickedly spoof the entire genre with a film aptly titled THE OLD DARK HOUSE. Although the Rinehart story received one more major turn before the cameras in 1959 with Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead, the type of plot involved is now more often done tongue-in-cheek, with such films as MURDER BY DEATH and CLUE cases in point.

So what, exactly, is the value of THE BAT WHISPERS for a modern, casual viewer? The answer, rather sadly, is "not much." Hardcore fans of early 1930s film will likely enjoy the film, and film students interested in the history of cinematography cannot afford to miss it--but few others will be able to see beyond the awkward acting styles and now-absurd plot to experience the charm this film--in both widescreen and standard versions--had in 1930.

In terms of picture, the standard ratio version has the occasional blip and blemish but has weathered very well. Although it has been restored, artifacts abound in the widescreen version; even so, the picture is very clean and they do not significantly detract from the film. Sound quality is a problem in both versions, less so in the standard ratio version, more so in the widescreen version. To some extent, this may be due to the recording technology of the era (actors tend to become fainter as they move away from the center of the sets), but it seems safe to say that the entire sound balance is off on this DVD release. You'll have to turn up the volume all the way to hear it--and where the widescreen version is concerned you'll also have to sit by the speakers.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

An old dark house, a clever bat, some outstanding tracking shots. Just don't say rubeola is a plant.......2007-05-19

When you hear the Bat whisper, you don't know whether to smile at the dated melodrama or admire some classy scenic set ups and camera work. The film may show its age with acting that is over the top, broad comic relief and a solution that for modern audiences is fairly easy to anticipate, but it looks great. The film was shot in an early version of wide-screen as well as a standard release version, using different cinematographers, cameras and set-ups. The wide-screen version is the one to watch. This is an old-dark-house creeper-thriller, with a stormy, thundering night, lots of shadowed stone staircases, massive doors and fireplaces, things that bump and thump, and, of course, a hidden room which may contain thousands of dollars stolen from a bank. More to the point, the film has a master villain who creeps and slides around wearing a bat outfit. He can shimmy up a rope in a flash or hang head down while he tips a victim out of a high window. And for fans of Bob Kane's Batman comic books plus all those Batman movies, this Bat is the grandaddy of both. He...it?...casts harsh, disturbing shadows of a tall figure with huge bat wings attached to unnaturally long arms. Is this just the work of the shadows or are his victims dispatched by some hideously deformed creature? And it whispers. All we know for sure is that the Bat is determined to frighten...or kill...his way to the stolen fortune.

The movie was based on a hugely popular stage play. The number of characters is almost large enough to make its own crowd scene. Whenever things get really tense, it seems a new character suddenly pops up. In this old mansion is the owner, a grande dame named Cornelia Van Gordon (Grace Hampton), an imperious woman with a vast bosom, a sturdy waist and a shrewd mind. How shrewd? She knows the new gardner is not what he seems when she asks him what he thinks of rubeola and he says it's a nice plant. Mrs. Van Gordon has a niece, Dale Van Gordon (Una Merkel), who seems a typical brainless flapper until we realize she's in cahoots with the false gardner. There is also a loyal maid, Lizzie (Madge Eburne), who has hysterics, rolls her eyes, prepares bear traps, sits on funny objects and acts like a cross between Patsy Kelly and Harpo Marx. There's a mysterious doctor, a small town elderly police lieutenant, a butler, a handyman who shakes violently when the Bat whispers, and a smart, big city cop, Detective Anderson, who is determined to catch the Bat and solve the bank robbery. We are faced with a question as simple as the plot, just who among all these characters could be the Bat?

Anderson is played by Chester Morris. If you're familiar with Morris' work you may recall him as a tough-guy leading man in a lot of Thirties movies. He never quite got both feet firmly on the A-level actors' list but never entirely was considered just another B-level lead. He exuded no-nonsense confidence, a kind of tall Jimmy Cagney without most of Cagney's empathy. He was always, in my opinion, an interesting actor. Then in 1941 in Meet Boston Blackie, he played Blackie, another tough, good guy detective. He was so good in the role he was instantly type cast. He played Boston Blackie in many movies during the Forties, each one a little worse than the other as the studio turned the series into a cash cow. By the time the string ran out, Chester Morris, who could be a fine actor, found himself doing television and regional theater. He killed himself with an overdose of sleeping pills in 1970 while starring in The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal at a theater in Pennsylvania. As Detective Anderson, Morris gives an odd performance that combines a clipped, sort of semi-off-and-on British inflection with a high degree of intensity.

The thing that makes The Bat Whispers of interest is the use of miniatures, especially at the beginning, the use of camera tracking shots that pull us away while walls slide back or that take us from a clock tower down to a street. Considering the weight of cameras in 1930, these shots are a tour de force. Some stunning lighting shows up, particularly when the Bat is framed against back lighting that is almost blindingly bright. And it is genuinely unnerving when the giant shadow of the bat shrivels down toward the floor and a dark, hunched shape rises up and starts slowly to limp towards us.

On balance, I think The Bat Whispers is something more than just an old and odd curiosity, but just barely. It's only out on VHS, as far as I know. Be sure you get the wide-screen version which was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Definately worth a look........2007-03-25

The Bat Whispers is definately best of the "Old Dark House/Clutching Hand" type film I have ever seen (and that's covering about 53 years of movie viewing). This film held my attention from beginnning to end with creative model work, active camera movement and very imagenative camera angles and cinematography. This film is best viewed in the "Widescreen" version (This DVD contains both the 65MM experimental Widescreen version and standard Fullscreen versions)because it broadens the expanse of the settings and give you a broader view of what is taking place.
The characters are quite interesting and enjoyable and the acting is pretty straight forward for a film that was made right at the beginnig of the sound era. I also was amazed at how well the movie was able to keep the "Bats'" identity a secret. Neither I or any of my movie loving friends were able to figure out who he was until he is unmasked.
I had seen the original silent version titled "The Bat", by director Roland West also, some ten years ago and thought that it was a very creative film. But with the original "The Bat" the effect was lessened by its silence so director Roland West realized this and refilmed a whole new movie with "Sound".
If you are a fan of classic cinema "The Bat Whispers" should be on you list because they did not make many that are as creatively artistic or as well made as this one.

Hard to FInd.......2007-01-09

I tried for months to purchase this and each place said it was out of print or unavailable. Then I came here and here it was and in stock. So I quickly purchased it. I must say I was pleased after reading up on all the hype of this movie. There were parts of it that were comical only because of the difference in time and when this was made. But you need to take all that into consideration when you watch this. If you can, put yourself back into the year this came out and just marvel at it.

This Movie is not out of print no more........................2006-12-26

Is there any reason why these sellers are selling this movie so much still? apparently it is in print again. Anyhow this is a artistic classic I Highly Recommend this movie.

Average customer rating:

A Rain That Never Stops

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Starring: Judith Anderson , Walter S. Baldwin , Roman Bohnen , Charles D. Brown , and Catherine Craig
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006FFR98
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Customer Reviews:

A Rain That Never Stops.......2005-09-12

It's pouring rain as this dark noir melodrama opens, and after the night is over, it will always be raining for Martha Ivers. Lewis Milestone directed this tale of a life-long guilt that has festered until misplaced suspicion destroys one person and puts another out of her misery. There are good performances from a great cast, none better than Lizabeth Scott's as a girl down on her luck and hoping against the odds for something good to happen. She is the outside element to three lives bound together since childhood by a crime that has haunted two of them into adulthood.

This is a strange noir in many respects, mostly due to Milestone allowing the moviegoer to see the story in chronological order, rather than using flashbacks. It creates sympathy for the twisted Martha Ivers, because we know how one selfish moment of hatred in her youth set her on a coarse she can not change. It has been raining inside her ever since, until the water is sick and stagnant, but it always keeps coming. At the same time, however, we are rooting for the vulnerable Scott, hoping she'll be the victor in a battle she's not sure she can win.

Judith Anderson is Mrs. Ivers, little Martha's (Janis Wilson) aunt. She's none too nice and on a rainy night Martha causes her death in the heat of the moment, only her pal Walter (Mickey Kuhn) a witness. But they both think their friend Sam (Darryl Hickman) saw the crime also, and ran away. He did run away, but before the event that would change their lives forever.

It is nearly two decades later, and the adult Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) has an accident just outside of Iverstown. It brings back memories of when he was a brash kid, and the girl who now controls both Walter (Kirk Douglass) and the town. He meets the lovely Toni Marachek (Lizabeth Scott) on his first night there and helps her out a bit. She is fresh from jail and though Sam is a WWII veteran, his past is nothing to sneeze at either. There is something beginning between them but fate may decide Toni's future as a past Sam was no part of intrudes on the present.

Barbara Stanwyck is the adult Martha, married to the weaker of the boys from her youth, Walter. But you can tell she always wished it had been Sam who'd stayed that night so long ago. Even though they think he's there to blackmail them, she can't help but throw herself at him, even though she is too far gone on the inside for anything like real love. She does this right in front of her weak husband Walter, who may be more courageous in the end than Martha. Martha has it over on Walter because he loves her, but he is a constant reminder of the past for her. What they have together is a sick and twisted version of the real thing.

The relationship of Sam and Walter sort of mirrors their childhood but Heflin starts to feel sick about it and begins to like Walter, especially when he finally understands why they are so scared he'll tell something he didn't even know about. It's one thing to kill someone, but quite another to let someone else hang for it. All the while Toni has little moments with Sam, hoping it's enough to make him care, and blow Iverstown forever.

Even at the bitter end, there is that moment when you see in Matha's eyes, ever so briefly, that little girl again, and feel sympathy. Douglass is very good in his first screen role and Stanwyck's portrayel of the sad and sick Martha Ivers can stand proudly with any she played in the 1940's. Though her screen time is less by comparison, it is Scott who steals this film, however, as Toni is easily the most memorable character. Even when she isn't around, we are thinking about her plight, wondering where she's at and what will happen to her.

Heflin is solid as always and this is one of the great neglected noirs of the 1940's. There is a great ending where both couples get what they really want, and neither will look back on Iverstown anymore.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - Lady of Burlesque

Average customer rating:

NEWLY REMASTERED

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - Lady of Burlesque
Starring: Judith Anderson , Walter S. Baldwin , Roman Bohnen , Charles D. Brown , and Catherine Craig
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Marengo Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000IJ7AG0
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Description

The strange love of martha Ivers: Barbara Stanwyck plays the part of a young cold-hearted heiress who murders her strangely sadistic grandmother. In doing so she sweeps a young companion in as a co-conspirator to help her cover up her crime. Flash forward a number of years and we find she has become the icy matriarch of the city aptly named after her family, Iverstown. She literally runs the community with an iron fist. Lady of Burlesque: Based on Gypsy Rose Lees G String Murders Lady of Burlesque takes us back stage into the seedy world of burlesque. Rising star Dixie Daisy is the headliner in the troupe and actually steals the show with her terrific song and dance routines.

Customer Reviews:

NEWLY REMASTERED.......2006-12-13

Marengo Films is proud to announce the release of these two fine movies. We did a complete sound design and color correction for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers and believe it is now the finest print of this movie on the market. The Lady of Burlesque - an older film - was a little worn but the print was put through an extensive remastering process including color correction and sound design. We feel that this too is now the finest print of this movie on the market.

Average customer rating:

Read "Martin Eden" instead.

Jack London
Starring: Ernie S. Adams , Louise Beavers , Brooks Benedict , Sven Hugo Borg , and Hobart Cavanaugh
Director: Alfred Santell
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

Sailor on Snowshoes: Tracking Jack London's Northern Trail
Great Writers - Jack London
In Old Chicago

ASIN: B0006SST1I
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Description

Jack London is a rugged young aspiring writer determined to lift himself out of poverty by any means necessary. Dissatisfied with working conditions at a canning company, London enlists in a string of adventurous jobs, from oyster pirating to seal-hunting on the Bering Sea and searching for Yukon gold. Mercilessly bullied for his bookishness, and surviving intolerable living conditions, London's spirit, strength and determination allow him to triumph over man and nature, while every night he writes about the poverty and brutality he witnesses. After a successful publishing deal with The Call of the Wild makes him famous, London falls in love with the beautiful Charmain Kittredge, but his insatiable drive for adventure forces him to choose between marriage and kids and an opportunity to travel the world as a war reporter. A compelling biography and moving tribute to the great American author Jack London who finds his literary voice through the struggles of everyman.

Customer Reviews:

Read "Martin Eden" instead........2006-04-15

Every movie made in the early 1940s had to promote the war effort, and this 1943 movie is no exception.

The movie begins with the launching of the warship "Jack London", then does a quicky on Jack's poverty, a few scenes of his life at sea, one scene of his education at Berkeley, a few scenes in the gold rush, a quicky of his relationship with Charmian, then spends the last 40% of the movie on anti-Japanese propaganda, giving a detailed presentation of Jack's experiences as a war correspondent (which probably lasted a few months) covering the Japanese-Russian War.

No mention is made of Jack's first marriage to Bess or his two daughters by her. No mention is made of Jack's long-term membership in the Socialist Party or his public resignation from that party when he considered them hypocrites. No mention is made of Jack's self-education that took him far beyond a college education or of the IQ he must have had to be able to go so far on his own.

As a movie, the film is streaked, the sound ratty. The Californian Jack London is played by a guy with a strong Brooklyn accent. (This is a switch from today when every character of every nationality and time period speaks with a California accent.)

Bottom line: Read London's autobiographical novel "Martin Eden". It's his best novel and will give you a better feel for the man than any of the biographies, each of which has one ax or another to grind.

Average customer rating:

Tight UK gangsta flick
Crime Jealousy & Revenge
Ruff gangsta bizness
Busted
gangsta flick for the drum'n'bass massive

B.U.S.T.E.D. [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

The Calling
Gunslinger's Revenge
Dead of Night [Region 2]
The Bone Snatcher
Mr. Rice's Secret

ASIN: B00006JY6N

Customer Reviews:

Tight UK gangsta flick.......2007-06-14

To put it bluntly, the film is great. The story is about family and how nobody can pull these two (Terry and Ray) apart... at least that's how Terry sees it. Along the way, Ray's little UK Garage style dance group finally gets the chance to do a show at a big club but under what consequence? The story has great plot twists making you wonder who is really behind all the killing which is later revealed in a voicemail that Ray receives at the end of the film.

The film features a good soundtrack, mostly UK Garage and breakbeat style tracks. It's too bad we didn't hear any DnB or Jungle. The image of the gangsters is quite solid with their nice armored black cars with bangin sound systems. Bowie's performance is good and in the intro you get to see his eyes in their true form and up close... one eye dilated and the other not.

Overall, in this genre of film, it's top notch... especially if you can relate to the nuances and scene that this is placed in. If you're not all that into UK urban culture or gangster flicks, it might not make a good flick to check, but otherwise... HIT IT UP!

Crime Jealousy & Revenge.......2003-05-17

Goldie and David Bowie star in this gritty crime thriller. The film opens with Ray (Andrew Goth) and Terry (Goldie) getting released from jail. The two are cousins, long-time friends, and fellow gang members. Ray wants to go straight, have a family and a real job. Terry wants to get back in the business and does so with a life of crime. He makes a killing selling drugs to school kids, enlarges his already sizeable arsenal, and intimidates all who encroach on his turf, especially a mysterious Chinese gang. During Terry's incarceration, gang matters were left to the button-down super-efficient dealings of Bernie (Bowie); after his release, tensions between the two thugs rapidly build. Seeing Ray's return to the straight life as weakness, the evil jealous Terry kidnaps and tortures Ray's girlfriend. Ray resolves to get revenge and an ultra-violent shoot out soon ensues.The ending shall leave you in suspense......

Ruff gangsta bizness.......2003-01-02

This quintessentially British movie will prob. leave many Americans confused... but its a terrific film! Called "Everybody Loves Sunshine" in the rest of the world, Busted tells the tale of two half-brothers who start (or try to) new lives after prison. One returns whole-hog to crime, while the other gets caught up in the Garage-club scene and starting a performance group.
There's a quasi-sexual tension between Goth and Goldie, but nothing overtly obvious... this is really not that kind of movie.
Bowie plays his business-manager villain expertly. Cold, calculated and ruthless. It's brilliant!
US audiences will undountedly find the ruff accents to be difficult at times to understand, but the movie captures the grim reality of UK gang wars very well - gangsta life is not a uniquely American thing, after all!
The soundtrack is brilliant, featuring some really nice Jungle, Garage and Ragga sounds... its too bad that this is not available in the States. :-(
Highly recommended for fans of British criminal movies.

Busted.......2002-04-10

I watched BUSTED because I saw it advertised somewhere and so I went out to buy it. BUSTED is very good movie. The action, story line, and the music was good. I was a little disapointed that David Bowie's music wasn't heard. Because I watched BUSTED I am now a Goldie fan. I have most of his CDs. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes action, Goldie or Bowie. Oh and Andrew Goth is really cute he also directed this film.

gangsta flick for the drum'n'bass massive.......2002-01-09

Stylish low budget UK gangsta picture set in Manchester: drum'n'bass and ragga soundtrack with bass at realistic nightclub/car audio volumes (at least on the DVD version). Expect your subwoofer(s) to get a good workout, and things to fall off the walls. Maybe the boy-band-ish dance act is a little cheesy, but the violence and bass make up for it.

While the sound on the DVD is excellent, the video is full-screen (4:3) only, and not very sharp. Some of the text in the credits is nearly illegible. See the forum for this movie at IMDB for a transcription of the soundtrack listing.

DVD:

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Der Regenbogenfisch, Teil 6