The Battle Of The Sexes

Starring:Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, Sally O'Neil, William Bakewell, John Batten, Harry Semels, Rolfe Sedan
Director: D.W. Griffith
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
D.W. Griffith is hardly known for his light touch or his sense of humor, but both of these hidden talents are evident in this sexy romantic comedy. Griffith shows a smooth, fluid style and a sophisticated hand in the story of a middle-aged family man entranced by a gold-digging jazz baby. Character actor Jean Hersholt (yes, the same one the Oscars named the Humanitarian Award for) is a frumpy, bespectacled middle class husband and an unassuming Wall Street bigwig wooed by blond floozy Phyllis Haver. He's got a family and she has a boyfriend (an oily gigolo described as "the wrong answer to a maiden's prayer"), but why should that stop a little after-hours fun? This being a Griffith film, the story winds up with a melodramatic climax, but he also displays a sly wit and the winking, thoroughly modern sensibility reminiscent of Ernst Lubitsch's cultured Continental touch. From the clever and elegant introductory scene to the carnivalesque treatment of a lover's tiff to the sentimental coda, Griffith's jazz age sex comedy is lovely, luscious, and more wry than you'd expect from the old man of Victorian melodrama. --Sean Axmaker
Description
D. W. Griffith is properly esteemed as "The Father of Film" from his years of discovery making short films at the pioneer Biograph Company and for such pioneering features as "The Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance," "Broken Blossoms," Way Down East" and "Orphans of the Storm" (all available on DVD from Image Entertainment), but his later films--several of them lost or almost unavailable--were far less critically hailed. Griffith's 1928 comedy-drama "The Battle of the Sexes" proves to be the exception. It is the story of a middle-aged magnate (Jean Hersholt) who makes a fool of himself when he strays from his loving but frowsy wife (Belle Bennett) and children (Billy Bakewell and Sally O'Neil) into the cynical arms of a gold-digger (Phyllis Haver) and her dishonest lover (Don Alvarado). As these characters are hurt and healed, Griffith expertly draws fine lines between tragedy and comedy, and his skill makes all the difference between emotional satisfaction and formulaic melodrama.

A middle-aged magnate strays from his loving but frowsy wife and children into the cynical arms of a gold-digger and her dishonest lover in D.W. Griffith's silent comedy-drama.

D.W. Griffith

Sally O'Neil, Jean Hersholt, Belle Bennett, Billy Bakewell, Phyllis Haver, Don Alvarado

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A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

buy it.......2007-06-10

you must own this film

and never watch the colored version. ever.

From a professional.......2007-06-08

A look back to Quality and to great talent. I have a friend in the film.
Golden Days in all ways!

It's a Bogart and Bergman movie, how many stars would you have given it?.......2007-06-02

Casablanca, of course, doesn't require a review from me--the entire world knows about it. So I'll make this short and to the point.

PROS:

1. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid and that darn French Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) star. That's two stars right there.

2. Some of the best writing Hollywood (we called it Hollywood in those days instead of Harletwood) ever produced. That's a star.

3. Some of the best music ever mastered for a movie--the world still remembers it a zillion years later. That's another star.

4. When you consider the idea is actually a simple love triangle during World War Two how could it have attained such greatness...well of course anyone who has ever seen it already knows, it was the writing, directing, acting, and music. Oh yes, Peter Lorre stars in it and several others you will reconize such as Sydney Greenstreet. I could go on and on about this movie, take it apart and tell about how great the writing, and acting are, but have you seen how many reviews this thing has? Besides, you all don't need this country boy to tell you about THIS movie. Moving along, that's a star right there, a really low end idea that came out 'great'. Proof once again, if you got the idea, writing, your actors can act, and your director can director, (and a fine song or two) nothing else really matters.

CONS:

1. There are no CONS: in this movie, I can suggest no updating, no changing of script, idea, directing, acting or anything to make it better. It's such a good thing Hollywood had a long list of actors to choose from--I don't think they could have pulled it off without them...I'm watching it again as I write this, that darn French Captain kind-a grows on you, and to think HE turns out to be a sentimentalist to!

I will add one last thing, Casablanca is not a popcorn movie like I usually watch (the old Science Fiction and monster movies). It can not be watched like a regular popcorn movie. No. It's script, acting, directing goes too far for such trival things as simple entertainment. You must listen to each word, study their body language, watch their eyes as you watch the movie. And just remember...this movie was filmed and I believe shown as Casablance was "actually" being invaded by the darkest shadow this world had faced in its' ten thousand years of recorded history...and they almost won.

If I weren't a Christian I would have said you need a shot of gin and a cigarrette...but I am, and most snack foods just don't do credit to this movie. You decide.

So there it is, rated as the second greatest movie ever made, and not one s--t, not one cuss or swear word, not one exploding head and almost no special effects. Casablanca can only be described one way and with one word...Art. Bye!

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.".......2007-05-30

I promise somebody I would watch this before the year end and I was fortunate enough to see this early this afternoon. I was quite surprised when I first watched Casablanca to find that I practically could already quote the last ten minutes. So much of this film is engrained into our cultural consciousness from the countless spoofs and references that have come since then. And for good reason.

In World War II, Casablanca is the place where displaced refugees find themselves in. Getting out is the hard part. A cynical American, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) runs the most popular gin joint there. Things are going good for him as he deigns to keep out of business that doesn't concern him. That all changes when a French underground leader, Victor Lazslo (Paul Henreid), comes to town with his wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). It seems that Rick and Ilsa have a past together, and with the Nazis looking for some transit papers Rick happens to have and also trying to detain Victor, Rick finds himself in a tough spot.

After watching this I realized that's there's nothing staggeringly original or innovative about this film. It's how human the characters and the plights they find themselves in are, and the dry humor they throw out in the process. The conflict inside Rick whether to look after his best interests or help the woman he still loves is certainly compelling stuff, but that isn't all. There are so many memorable characters, from the ingratiating Captain Renault (played with relish by Claude Reins) to the weasely Ugarte (Peter Lorre). While the story isn't so much about Casablanca, a little bit of everything is worked in. Not the least of which being the sticky politics and smoldering national pride for Nazi occupied France. The romance is also ... well, the reason why this movie is so timeless. And then there's the script. Though there are numerous lines that are justifiably classic, the rest is a rare work of brilliance as well. The dark humor, the slow eroding of Rick's resolve, all result in classic scenes, one after another. It has it all.

Bogart and Bergman, a rare pairing that results in one of cinema's greatest romances. What more is there to say? They take what could have been completely conventional roles and make them truly human. A great supporting cast rounds out the crowd; there are more than just two memorable performances given. This was a film done in the old Hollywood studio system by all the rules, yet it inexplicably raises itself above and beyond that. It is a remarkable motion picture masterpiece. If you haven't seen it yet, I whole-heartedly recommend it.

Casablanca is a classic.......2007-05-07

Like so many movies out there in the late thirties and early forties.Humphrey Bogart,Ingrid Bergman,Claude Rains and Peter Lorre.Anything with Lorre in is good to me.Its a movie I can watch over and over and not get sick of it.It was playing in a theater near where I live but the time was 1:00 pm during the weekends.Its gone now pity I really would of loved to see it on the big screen.

Average customer rating:

Commentary by Maureen O'Hara is wonderful
Our Family's Favorite
perfect
Big disappointment
Favorite John Wayne Movie

The Quiet Man (Collector's Edition)
Starring: John Wayne , Maureen O'Hara , Barry Fitzgerald , Ward Bond , and Victor McLaglen
Director: John Ford
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JMRD
Release Date: 2002-10-22

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Blarney and bliss, mixed in equal proportions. John Wayne plays an American boxer who returns to the Emerald Isle, his native land. What he finds there is a fiery prospective spouse (Maureen O'Hara) and a country greener than any Ireland seen before or since--it's no surprise The Quiet Man won an Oscar for cinematography. It also won an Oscar for John Ford's direction, his fourth such award. The film was a deeply personal project for Ford (whose birth name was Sean Aloysius O'Fearna), and he lavished all of his affection for the Irish landscape and Irish people on this film. He also stages perhaps the greatest donnybrook in the history of movies, an epic fistfight between Wayne and the truculent Victor McLaglen--that's Ford's brother, Francis, as the elderly man on his deathbed who miraculously revives when he hears word of the dustup. Barry Fitzgerald, the original Irish elf, gets the movie's biggest laugh when he walks into the newlyweds' bedroom the morning after their wedding, and spots a broken bed. The look on his face says everything. The Quiet Man isn't the real Ireland, but as a delicious never-never land of Ford's imagination, it will do very nicely. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Commentary by Maureen O'Hara is wonderful.......2007-05-31

The commentary by Maureen O'Hara is wonderful. I've seen this movie many times over the years but never knew the many stories and facts that Miss O'Hara reveals in the two hours of commentary. Her memory is remarkable and her comments are charming.

Our Family's Favorite.......2007-05-28

The Quiet Man (Collector's Edition)
This has been an all time favorite of our family for years. Perhaps because it is set in Ireland, or because we are all of Irish descent; or just because it is just a great story and very well made. In any case it is a movie for the whole family to watch and even though it is a classic, it seems like it was made recently.

It will pull on all of the emotions, bringing out laughter, cheering, and tears. The guys will be drawn by the great male cast, the women by the romance and the children by the fun. It is truly for all genders and ages.

perfect.......2007-05-19

The dvd was new and in perfect condition and arrived in three days. It also contained interviews from the actors and other extras. Well worth the price.

Big disappointment.......2007-05-18

What a dreadful DVD. Everyone concerned should be deeply embarassed by the appalling picture quality, not to mention the out of sync sound track. Both Paramount and Republic seem to be associated with this disc and should at once go out and try to produce a worthy version, preferably up to the Warner standard. A masterpiece deserved better than this.

Favorite John Wayne Movie.......2007-05-15

This movie shows you a different John Wayne, not just a cowboy. I can watch it over and over

Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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Gone With the Wind
Four-Disc Collector's Edition Gives New Luster to Selznick's masterpiece...
THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!
The best movie of all times
Gone with the Wind DVD must have set

Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Everett Brown , Fred Crane , Clark Gable , Howard C. Hickman , and Leslie Howard
Director: Cukor, George , and Fleming, Victor
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000BYA4LA
Release Date: 2006-01-31

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David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Gone With the Wind.......2007-06-20

One of the world's most cherished and enduring pictures, "Wind" was birthed in the mind of novelist Margaret Mitchell and incubated by the brilliant, obsessive David O. Selznick, who spared no expense in bringing this powerful, affecting story to the big screen. The ultra-lavish production features ornate costumes and art design, jaw-dropping set pieces and historical sequences (especially the burning of Atlanta, for which a Hollywood set was torched), all wrapped around the story of a resourceful, if not likable, heroine. Leigh plays the self-absorbed Scarlett to perfection, while Gable's Rhett is devilishly suave and fiercely masculine. Grand studio filmmaking at its aristocratic best, Selznick's brainchild nabbed an armload of Oscars, including Best Picture.

Four-Disc Collector's Edition Gives New Luster to Selznick's masterpiece..........2007-06-08

Just as Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was one of the most readable works ever written, so is David O. Selznick's production one of the most watchable films of all time. Something is happening every moment--and all of the characters relate to each other in fascinating ways only apparent after repeated viewings. It's the kind of movie that transports you to a time and place that may not have existed except in the mind of its Southern author--and yet, whatever historical inaccuracies are presented here--it's a remarkable achievement and has rightly become a part of American folklore and culture.

No other film has so many memorable "quotes" from a large cast of characters--and at the centerpiece is Vivien Leigh's striking performance as the willful Southern belle. Others around her are equally impressive, down to the smallest character roles--everyone has their moment of glory with the only weakness being the casting of Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes. Otherwise, the casting is perfect--Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Harry Davenport, Jane Darwell, Victor Jory, Ann Rutherford, Rand Brooks, Ona Munson--and the wonderful Hattie McDaniel giving the most genuine display of emotion in the whole film with her "staircase scene" with Melanie when she tells Scarlett's friend what Rhett has said and done after Bonnie's death.

All of the sets, costumes, art direction and photography are of the highest order. William Cameron Menzie's production design is superb (he storyboarded the whole concept of what the scenes should look like with beautiful watercolor paintings). The one film above all others that shows what Hollywood's expertise could do with a gigantic novel when transferring it to the screen.

Much of the dialog is witty and pointed with some of the best lines delivered in mocking style by Clark Gable. An abundant amount of humor and sharp observations about human nature are present in the script. No wonder it's still the most beloved American movie of all time--not just here in the U.S. but elsewhere in the international market. It was an instant classic and still remains one, richly deserving all eight of the Oscars it won, as well as the Irving G. Thalberg Award for David O. Selznick.

Selznick would have been proud of what the Ultra-Resolution process has been able to achieve in the new 4-Disc version. Image clarity has never been as fully realized before and makes the viewing an even richer movie-going experience for today's viewers. Highly recommended.

"The Making of a Legend" is included, one of the best documentaries ever filmed about a feature film that was an instant classic with critics and public, and the "Melanie Remembers" feature gives Olivia de Havilland the chance to recall why making the film remains one of her favorite memories.

THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!.......2007-06-03

This is the Greatest Movie of all time because all aspects of the movie were carefully and painstakingly crafted with such precision and agility. The story is a classic and the cinematography is superb. The lighting is dream-like and the delivery of acting compliments the era that was showcased. There will never be a production such as this. Clark Gable is at his prime as the dashing Leading Man. Vivian Leigh steals all scenes and it is no wonder that she won the Academy Award for this picture. George Reeves plays one of the twins in the very early part of the movie. He is Super! This movie was well- directed and produced. It has endured the test of time. Frankly, my Dear ...You will give a Damn about this Classic. Pick it up today!

Noel Serrano

The best movie of all times.......2007-05-17

This 4 DVD set is a must to own for those who like this probably the best movie ever made.

Gone with the Wind DVD must have set.......2007-05-14

I never get tired of this movie. And the four disc set is really nice. I consider it a must for my DVD collection.

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Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable"
One of Woody's Best
A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original
The best of Allen's genius
The Movie That Started It All!

Annie Hall
Starring: Hy Anzell , Colleen Dewhurst , Shelley Duvall , Russell Horton , and Carol Kane
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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Casablanca

ASIN: 6304907729
Release Date: 2000-05-30

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Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater."

The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings. It couldn't be more engaging. --Susan Benson

Description

Considered to be "Woody Allen's breakthrough movie" (Time), Annie Hall won* four OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture, and established Allen as the premier auteur filmmaker. Thought by many critics to be Allen's magnum opus, Annie Hall confirmed that he had, "completed the journey from comic to humorist, from comedy writer to wit [and] from inventive moviemaker to creative artist" (Saturday Review). Alvy Singer (Allen) is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work. Introduced byhis best friend, Rob (Tony Roberts), Alvy falls in love with the ditzy but delightful nightclub singer, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). When his own insecurities sabotage the affair, Annie is forced to leave Alvy for a new lifeand lover (Paul Simon)in Los Angeles. Knowing he may have lost Annie forever, Alvy's willing to go to any lengthseven driving L.A.'s freewaysto recapture the only thing that ever mattered'true love. *1977: Picture; Actress (Keaton); Director; Original Screenplay

Customer Reviews:

Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable".......2007-06-17

Before 'Borat' Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition) confronted anti-Semitism, and Seinfeld Seinfeld - Season 7 did brilliant comedy about "nothing," 'Annie Hall' said a great deal about a lot of things of varying magnitude in this funny Woody Allen movie masterpiece. Taking place, of course, in New York City, Allen's nearly autobiographical alter ego, Alvy Singer, has an on-again, off-again romance with the titled character (Diane Keaton) who is his soul mate and counterpart to his own labored existence. Episodic to be sure, Allen's directing and co-writing take everything bothersome and makes it into an honest labor of love. (Alvy, too, is a stand-up comic who spars about anything from strained love relationships to Republican politics. Not to mention both have that eloquent obssession with "sex and death".) While Alvy always seems maladjusted, he is unable to cope without Annie who, while from Chippewa Falls, WI, can relate to him and help him through the shipwreck of his nuerotic life.

'Annie Hall' is exceptionally funny. In one scene Annie is relating a dream to Alvy where "Frank Sinatra is suffocating" her. Alvy, quick to psychoanalysis, immediately says that she is suffocating her career as a singer. She counters that her therapist says that it is he who is suffocating her because his last name in Singer. (And by all means psychology gets a comedic thrashing many times.) While thinking aloud on the street, Alvy stops a couple to ask them roughly why they seemed so happy. "Basically, I'm shallow," she confides. "I'm basically shallow, too," he adds. In another scene he talks to his friend (Tony Roberts), where he relates talking to a dinner guest. He talks about the meal and tells of a companion who said, "I had salad. Didjyou?" To which they both debate anti-semitism. There's also a split-screen scene where Alvie and Annie are each talking to their pyschiatrists and the differences are acutely funny. (One should also add that Allen did more in these few minutes than 'Conversations with Other Women' did in a whole movie.) Pet peeves are also confronted to provide creator and audience with plenty of therapeutic laughs.

'Annie Hall' is just delightful fun. Chockful of wit and candor, it is a sustaining comedic classic. (Also with cameo appearances by Shelly Duvall as a 'Rolling Stone' reporter and Paul Simon.)

One of Woody's Best.......2007-06-11

Annie Hall is one of the best Woody Allen movies out there. It features Dianne Keaton in one of her best performances, and is a thoroughly enjoyable movie with great wit and humor. If you are ever tempted to rent or buy one of the new below average movies put out so often by Hollywood nowadays, rethink the decision and watch this instead. Some great fun and the New York v. Los Angeles debate that is often a basis of Woody' humor, is in great form here. 5 Stars.

A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.......2007-06-05

Full of neuroses and classic comedy bits, Woody Allen's Annie Hall is that rare breed of movie: a romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.

Allen's character, a neurotic standup comic named Alvy Singer, meets free-spirited Annie Hall (played with superb wit and energy by a young Diane Keaton). Their on-again-off-again romance flows throughout the movie leading both of them on a roller coaster of emotions that they both want to stay on and get off of at the same time.

Annie Hall features cameos from several of today's stars, although when Annie Hall was filmed these actors were just dayplayers. It's a veritable who's-who of small parts. Jeff Goldblum as a party guest, Sigourney Weaver as one of Alvy's dates, Beverly D'Angelo as a character in a TV show, Truman Capote as a Truman Capote lookalike, and Christopher Walken as Annie's slightly off-kilter brother. Paul Simon also makes an extended appearance as musician Tony Lacey.

Annie Hall is the first Woody Allen movie I've seen, and now I can't believe I waited this long. If you're going to see one Woody Allen movie, or just one movie, make it Annie Hall. You won't be disappointed.

The best of Allen's genius.......2007-05-22

Annie Hall falls at a crucial juncture of Woody Allen's career - when he was switching from the laugh a minute, slapstick routines of his early films such as 'Take the Money and Run' and 'Bananas' to the more sombre, philosophical treatments of his later works. This film captures the best of both worlds. As a result, I think it is Woody Allen's finest.

From the off, the jokes are teriffic: the movie opens with a typically emotionally fraught Allen addressing the camera direct: 'There's this joke, two Jewish women at a Catskill mountain resort having dinner - one says 'the food here's terrible,' the other says, 'yeah, and such small portions' - and that sums up my view on life'. Annie Hall is Woody Allen's finest diagnosis on love and life. Annie is an endearing character in her men's shirts and ties, the grass smoking temptress who unwittingly draws the intellectually fraught Alvie Singer (Allen )into her seemingly innocent web - 'What, did you live in a Norman Rockwell painting or something?'. The couple poke fun at New York Intellectuals: 'Samuel Beckett - he just doesn't hit me at a gut level' - 'I'd like to hit him at a gut level'. And the transient curve of modern sexual relationships. The intellectual angst of New York against the Hollywood vapid glamour of LA and the West coast. It is a fine movie, packed with many jokes and superb life observations. Worth many a viewing.

The Movie That Started It All!.......2007-05-22

About 15 years ago...I was at one of the local swapmeets in LA...and who did I run across, but Diane Keaton...I went through the usual, should I go say hi to her and tell her what an inspiration she is to our female generation? Instead, I opted to leave her alone and enjoy her day of shopping...but I hope that she understands what an influence she has had on young women, and part of it is because of Annie Hall...she and Annie have shown us that it's ok to be ourselves and be not follow the mainstream "ideal" that Hollywood usually portrays...This movie is funny and sweet and is a good start in watching any Keaton/Allen movie!

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Operation Petticoat
Starring: Cary Grant , Tony Curtis , Joan O'Brien , Dina Merrill , and Gene Evans
Director: Blake Edwards
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005N90X
Release Date: 2001-09-18

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Blake Edwards's delightful 1959 comedy stars Cary Grant as a World War II submarine captain whose preference for a by-the-book command reluctantly yields to certain realities. Chief among those is that Grant's first officer (Tony Curtis, who impersonated Grant that same year in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot), a shameless hustler, is better than the navy at delivering whatever supplies the ship and crew need to keep going. But when Curtis sneaks a handful of Philippine refugees and several gorgeous nurses onto the all-male sub, the skipper not only has to cool down his crew but deal with an unexpected feminine influence on ship protocol. The film is a great deal of fun, sprinkled with the director's trademark sight gags (including one of Edwards's best, involving a torpedo and jeep), and graced with his unmistakable lilt. Grant is in great form, his comic brilliance almost impossibly effortless. --Tom Keogh

Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

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Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Christina Applegate , Fred Armisen , Steve Carell , Darcy Donavan , and Will Ferrell
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
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ASIN: B00005JMYI
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Amazon.com

Will Farrell followed up his star-making vehicle Elf, which matched his fine-tuned comic obliviousness to a sweet sincerity, with a more arrogant variation on the same character: Ron Burgundy, a macho, narcissistic news anchor from the 1970s. Along with his news posse--roving reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd, Clueless), sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner), and dim-bulb weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell, Bruce Almighty)--Burgundy rules the roost in San Diego, fawned upon by groupies and supported by a weary producer (Fred Willard, Best In Show) who tolerates Burgundy's ego because of good ratings. But when Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate, View from the Top) arrives with ambitions to become an anchor herself, she threatens the male-dominated newsroom. Anchorman has plenty of funny material, but it's as if Farrell couldn't decide what he really wanted to mock, and so took smart-ass cracks at everything in sight. Still, there are moments of inspired delirium. --Bret Fetzer

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The Lion in Winter
Starring: Peter O'Toole , Katharine Hepburn , Anthony Hopkins , John Castle (II) , and Nigel Terry
Director: Anthony Harvey (II)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

A Man for All Seasons (Special Edition)
Becket
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Lawrence of Arabia (Limited Edition)
Cromwell

ASIN: B000056HEA
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Amazon.com

In this 12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the future of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as she is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion against him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the problems raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons.

James Goldman won an Oscar® for the brilliant screenplay, based on his Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, as the action is kept to a minimum, but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole tango, which is often. Both were nominated for Academy Awards® for their vigorous performances. (She won; he didn't.) There's also an infamous homo-erotic exchange between Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) and Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins). Both actors were making their feature-film debuts. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Description

Katharine Hepburn delivers an amazing (Variety), OscarÂ(r)-winning* performance 'that must be seen to be believed (Boxoffice) in this dazzling (Los Angeles Times) all-star film that is not to be missed. Behind the great stone walls of an English castle, the world's most powerful empire is in crisis. Three sons struggle to win their father's favoras well as his crown. King Henry II (Peter O'toole) and his queen, Eleanor (Katharine Hepburn), engage ina battle of royal wits that pits elder son Richard (Anthony Hopkins) against his brothers, while the cunning King Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) takes advantage of the internal fracturing in his bid to destroy their kingdom. *1968: Actress

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The African Queen [IMPORT]
Starring: Theodore Bikel , Humphrey Bogart , Walter Gotell , Katharine Hepburn , and Richard Marner
Director: John Huston
Manufacturer: Castaway Nw UK
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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High Noon (Collector's Edition)
Casablanca
The Queen

ASIN: B000GJ2882
Release Date: 2006-10-31

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Father Goose
Starring: Cary Grant , Leslie Caron , Trevor Howard , Jack Good (II) , and Sharyl Locke
Director: Ralph Nelson
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005N910
Release Date: 2001-09-18

Amazon.com

Cary Grant's penultimate feature before retirement was this cheerful 1964 effort to overturn his career-long image of urbane sophistication. As the unshaven, messy misanthrope Walter Eckland, a World War II-era beach bum who monitors Japanese air activity for the Australian navy in exchange for booze, Grant makes a convincingly hard-bitten, hard-drinking antihero. Until, that is, a pretty French schoolmistress (Leslie Caron) and her seven little charges (all girls) survive a nearby plane crash and invade Eckland's raunchy isolation. Directed by 1960s hit-maker Ralph Nelson (The Lilies of the Field, Charly), Father Goose is a glossy comedy that also does justice to its more suspenseful scenes (a deadly snakebite suffered by Caron's character is especially memorable) and leaves plenty of room for Grant to indulge in some entertaining if atypical screen behavior. All in all, this is a minor treat in the actor's magnificent filmography. --Tom Keogh

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When Harry Met Sally...
Starring: John Arceri , Robert Alan Beuth , David Burdick , Frances Chaney , and Donna Hardy
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Sleepless in Seattle (10th Anniversary Edition)
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While You Were Sleeping

Accessories:

When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally: Music From The Motion Picture
Sleepless in Seattle (Special Edition)

ASIN: B00003CXDC
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Amazon.com essential video

Nora Ephron wrote the brisk screenplay for this 1989 romantic comedy, director Rob Reiner made a nicely glossy New York story (very much in a Woody Allen vein) out of it, and Billy Crystal's unstoppable charm made it something really special. Crystal and Meg Ryan play longtime platonic friends who keep dancing around their deeper feelings for one another, and Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher are their respective pals who fall in love and get married. Ryan doesn't get a lot of funny material, but her performance is typically alive and intuitive, and she more than holds her own with Crystal's comic motor mouth and sweet sentimentality. Reiner is on comfortable ground, liberated from the burden of making serious statements in the lead-footed manner of subsequent features. --Tom Keogh

Description

"Brimming over with style, intelligence and flashing wit" (Rolling Stone), this "splendid and irresistible" (Los Angeles Times) film from director Rob Reiner(American President is one of the best-loved romantic comedies of all time. Featuring dazzling performances from Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, exceptional music from Harry Connick Jr., and an OscarÂ(r)-nominated* screenplay by Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally is an "explosively funny" commentary on friendship, courtships - and other hardships - of the modern age (Newsweek)! Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman? that's what Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) debate during their travels from Chicago to New York. And eleven years and later, they're still no closer to finding the answer. Will these two best friends ever accept that they're meant for each other...or will they continue to deny the attraction that's existed since the first moment When Harry Met Sally? *1989

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Cultural Philosophy of Paul Robeson

Namak Halaal

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Der sogenannte historische Jesus und der geschichtliche, bib