Sabrina)

Starring:William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Richard Erdman, Peter Graves, Neville Brand, Sig Ruman, Michael Moore (III), Peter Baldwin, Robinson Stone, Robert Shawley, William Pierson, Gil Stratton, Jay Lawrence, Erwin Kalser, Edmund Trzcinski, Herbert Street, John Mitchum
Director: Billy Wilder
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This boxed set shows the many moods of director Billy Wilder, from luxurious cynicism to spiky romance. He's teamed up for all three pictures with William Holden, and the two are perfectly tuned to each other's sardonic intelligence. Actually, Holden was a last-minute replacement in Sunset Boulevard, when Montgomery Clift abruptly backed out of the project. Holden plays a hard-luck screenwriter who takes refuge in the home of a deluded silent-movie star (played by Gloria Swanson); we know this because his corpse is telling us the story. The 1950 film is one of the great decayed mansions of Hollywood cinema, a fully imagined look at the souring of the American Dream. And, of course, a poison-pen letter to the movie business--Wilder took pleasure in biting the hand that fed him.

Stalag 17 (1953) won the Best Actor Oscar® for Holden, although it's a less complex piece of work than Sunset Boulevard. It is, however, thoroughly entertaining, with a seamless blend of suspense (who in the POW camp is betraying secrets to the Germans?) and raucous comedy. Sixties-TV fans will quickly spot the similarity with the Bob Crane sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Otto Preminger, himself a director, creates a suave piece of villainy as the German camp commandant. In Sabrina (1954), Holden is a blond, fatuous younger brother to staid businessman Humphrey Bogart--but they both do supporting work to Audrey Hepburn. This is one of her great vehicles, and she inspires Wilder to show more of his romantic side. As the chauffeur's daughter who dreams of mingling with the beautiful people, Hepburn shines in the lush glow of moonlight and "Isn't it Romantic?" and the movie finds a zone of pure pleasure. --Robert Horton

Ace in the Hole - Criterion Collection
Average customer rating:

Billy Wilder's Lost Masterwork Get's the Royal Criterion Treatment

One of Billy Wilder's Masterpieces

Not To Be Missed

Gets more relevant every year!

Billy Wilder's Neglected Masterpiece

Ace in the Hole - Criterion Collection
Starring: Kirk Douglas
Director: Billy Wilder
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
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Douglas, Kirk | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Wilder, Billy | ( W ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
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All | Criterion Collection | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000PKG6OE
Release Date: 2007-07-17

Amazon.com

The character of newspaperman Chuck Taylor (Kirk Douglas) is best summed up by an astonished bystander (herself no soft touch): "I met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my time, but you--you're 20 minutes!" Meet the "hero" of Billy Wilder's corrosive 1951 classic Ace in the Hole (a.k.a. The Big Carnival), a former big-time reporter whose reputation is so tarnished he's now at an Albuquerque rag, chasing down local-interest stuff. Until, that is, a local miner gets stuck in a cave--a situation that Taylor not only exploits but actually manipulates, the better to improve his career chances. Wilder got the idea for the movie from the real-life media circus that followed the Floyd Collins story (Collins was trapped in a cave for over a week in 1925). Needless to say, the opportunities for displaying greed and venality are fully drawn out by Wilder; indeed, the film looks unbelievably prescient from a modern perspective of media overload.

Although Wilder had scored a success with Sunset Boulevard just a year earlier, he misread the public's ability to stare into the merciless mirror he held up to them in Ace in the Hole. The movie bombed. Paramount changed the title to The Big Carnival, thus wrecking one of Wilder's most acidic puns, but it didn't help. It also doesn't matter: Ace in the Hole is one of the truly grown-up movies of its time, and age has only improved it. Wilder's ear for cynical dialogue is honed to its sharpest point, and Kirk Douglas has one of his best parts, which he attacks with customary ferocity. Jan Sterling plays the hard-nosed wife of the trapped man, with Porter Hall as Douglas's publisher--the lone voice of decency in the film's cruel parade. Admirably, Wilder takes this all the way down the line: the ending of the movie might be the best in-your-face finish since Public Enemy. --Robert Horton

Studio description

One of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker, Academy Award-winner Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole is legendary for both its cutting social critique and its status as a hard-to-find cult classic. Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead-end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime-and will do anything to ensure he gets the scoop. Wilder's follow-up to Sunset Boulevard is an even darker vision, a no-holds-barred expose that anticipated the rise of the American media circus.

Customer Reviews:

Billy Wilder's Lost Masterwork Get's the Royal Criterion Treatment.......2007-05-05

"Ace in the Hole" is one of those movies that comes around every rare often and belts you right in the kisser. Yet, to my knowledge, Paramount has never released it on VHS, and certainly not on LaserDisc or DVD. Until now: Criterion is releasing a DVD with a cleaned-up print and all the bells and whistles. Until it comes out, I will have to console myself with my VHS third-generation copy that was recorded in the 1980s from some TV channel in Florida. The print is grainy, the sound warbles and the dialogue is out of sync at times. It nonetheless still packs a helluva wallop.

Read the bottom of pages on which Wilder's movies are sold: "Customers who bought DVDs directed by Billy Wilder also bought DVDs by these directors:

"Howard Hawks
"Alfred Hitchcock
"John Huston
"William Wyler
"George Cukor"

There isn't one weak or less than legendary director in this list. Personally, I rate Wilder right up there with Hitch and ahead of all the others. Yet, when Paramount released their DVD boxed set of three Wilder classics ("Sunset Boulevard," "Sabrina" and "Stalag 17"), "Ace in the Hole" was conspicuously absent. What a shame! I consider this his masterwork, arguably equalling "Double Indemnity" and "The Apartment."

Critics have called it a black comedy, I suppose because it's a Billy Wilder movie, so we reflexively think of him as a comedic director. In fact, having heard and read so much about this movie, I sort of felt jinxed, because when I go into a movie with high expectations, I come out of it a little disappointing.

And, the opening of this movie disappointed a little: When Kirk Douglas' character, Charlie Tatum, falls down on his luck and lands a job with an Albuquerque newspaper, it seems to be a bit of a new spin on an old classic, "The Front Page" (which, strangely enough, Wilder resurrected in 1974 as a Matthau/Lemmon vehicle).

Yet, that's the movie's genius, because you are lured into thinking it's a comedy. Yet, once Kirk Douglas finds his potential "Pulitzer-prize winning story" buried under fallen timbers in a New Mexico cave, you realise it's a cynical farce.

But then, it's no longer a farce, but a dark tragedy. Not so quick, because by the end you'll find it's an abomination -- not the movie itself, which is superbly casted and crafted -- because it shows at root what base intentions really drive mankind.

Of all his movies, it's the oddest. Imagine a cross between "Double Indemnity" and "The Fortune Cookie." Strange, I know, but that is the closest I can pin it down. Douglas' character is an even more cold-blooded version of Walter Matthau's supreme shyster Whiplash Willie. Think of William Holden's Sergeant Seften without the heart of gold, and you'll get Chuck Tatum.

Jan Sterling is equally, well, sterling as the victim's wife, whose blood runs as ice-cold as Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson. Sterling, though, is no femme fatale: She's too tawdry, and can only aspire to the unimaginative dreams that accompany her former dime-a-dance persona. She does slip a pair of scissors into Douglas' flank, but, hey, he had it coming.

The ending, which I won't give away, is chilling and powerful. Nobody could write ending lines like Wilder could, and this one is no exception. It's right up there with Fred MacMurray's "I love you, too" ("Double Indemnity"), Shirley MacLaine's "Shut up and deal" ("The Apartment"), Gloria Swanson's "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille" ("Sunset Boulevard") and Joe E. Brown's "Nobody's perfect" ("Some Like it Hot").

"Ace in the Hole" walks on the seedy and seamy side of journalist and shows the viewer all the manipulation behind the scenes of the newspaper racket. It presages other blisteringly scathing films as "A Face in the Crowd," "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Network."

One of Billy Wilder's Masterpieces.......2007-05-04

This 1951 film seems as relevant today as it ever did. Kirk Douglas is perfectly cast as an unethical newspaper reporter who, through his influence over the town's sheriff, keeps a dying man trapped in a mine for several days longer than necessary in order to milk the story for all it's worth - a strategy he hopes will help him claw his way back to the top of the journalistic world. Billy Wilder's incredibly vitriolic film tells many truths about how reality is manipulated by the media to serve personal and political ends without regard to the suffering caused by this agenda. His film spares nobody in its critique: those who perpetuate the lies, those who directly benefit from them, even those who uncritically consume the stories are all complicit in the wrongdoing. Wilder made many great films, most of which are far better known than this one, but "Ace in the Hole" is up there with the best of them.

Criterion's upcoming release is definitely cause for celebration.

Not To Be Missed.......2007-04-30

At last, at last, Wilder's finest film, "Ace In The Hole" (AKA "The Big Carnival") is released on DVD. For those without TCM (it's been run several times in the last month or two), you will now finally be able to see a film swimming in deep cynicism as well as experience one of the coldest characters every recorded on film - Jan Sterling's "grieving" wife. She is the female mirror to Kirk Douglas' down-on-his-luck, cruel Chuck Tatum.

More relevant in these media-frenzied times than when it was made, "Ace. . ." still packs a wallop in reminding us of the power of the press to manipulate (in Tatum's case for self-aggrandizment).

I first saw this film when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I couldn't grasp the story's nuances, but it sure put the zap on my pre-pubescent head.

Wonderfully acted from a great script under Wilder's sure hand, "Ace In The Hole" is a cinematic treasure not to be missed. (Especially for Wilder fans.) This is Wilder's masterpiece.

Thank you Criterion!

In short:

Reporter Chuck tatum (Kirk Douglas who's been kicked off every major US paper) ruthlessly exploits a man trapped in a cave he chances upon while on his way to cover a rattlesnake hunt (how fitting) for an Albuquerque daily. While an engineer promises to get the man out in hours, Reporter Tatum, and a corrupt sherrif, lean on the engineer to bore through rock. A process that'll take a week.

Tatum sells the story to the majors who lap it up. When the news breaks nationwide, thousands descend on the disaster. The scenes of the carnival invited by Leo's wife (Jan Sterling) to set up and cheesy country western singer twanging a guitar while singing about poor Leo (the trapped man), are powerful.

O Leo, Leo, Leee-Oooo
We're Coming Leo

Gets more relevant every year!.......2007-04-02

First of all, I want to remind people how amazing it is that Wilder managed to get this withering assessment of capitalism and the mass media made while deep in the bowels of the McCarthy era (1951) when anyone who didn't wave their pompoms for the great US of A and everything it stood for, usually got hauled in front of a Congressional committee of some sort or other. As miraculous in its own way as Marcel Carne's "Children of Paradise" getting made during the Nazi occupation of France.

Now how can you look at the Tatum character today and not see Karl Rove? Amazing!

This movie seamlessly weaves a great story into several still-timely themes, such as the mining of tragedy for profit; the distortion and manipulation of reality by the mass media for profit and circulation; the exploitation of the environment and disrespect of native peoples; the human foible of scrabbling onto the coattails of a media event for the mean purpose of self-aggrandizement. Man, this film is a veritable treasure trove of significant cultural phenomena. And to think it was made BEFORE television, satellite and the Internet! Wow.

The picture's literal "Ace in the Hole" is young Leo Cole, a young miner trapped by an avalanche in a mine shaft. He becomes Tatum's "ace in the hole" for a big story and self-glorification. Cole, in his native goodness and naivete, is almost a Christ like figure, totally beyond and ethically superior to the maggots swarming about his fate.

If this picture doesn't break your heart, you don't have one.

Billy Wilder's Neglected Masterpiece.......2007-03-14

This 1951 film seems as relevant today as it ever did. Kirk Douglas is perfectly cast as an unethical newspaper reporter who, through his influence over the town's sheriff, keeps a dying man trapped in a mine for several days longer than necessary in order to milk the story for all it's worth - a strategy he hopes will help him claw his way back to the top of the journalistic world. Billy Wilder's incredibly vitriolic film tells many truths about how reality is manipulated by the media to serve personal and political ends without regard to the suffering caused by this agenda. His film spares nobody in its critique: those who perpetuate the lies, those who directly benefit from them, even those who uncritically consume the stories are all complicit in the wrongdoing. Wilder made many great films, most of which are far better known than this one, but "Ace in the Hole" is up there with the best of them.

For now the only way to see it is on a bootlegged DVD or the Turner Classic Movies channel. A Criterion edition is due out this summer.

Audrey Hepburn Collection (Breakfast at Tiffany's / Roman Holiday / Sabrina)

Average customer rating:

Awesome!
Beautiful Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn Collection
Wonderful Value for Masterpiece Collection
AUDREY

Audrey Hepburn Collection (Breakfast at Tiffany's / Roman Holiday / Sabrina)
Starring: Humphrey Bogart , Audrey Hepburn , William Holden , Walter Hampden , and John Williams (II)
Director: Billy Wilder , William Wyler , and Blake Edwards
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000CCBCFS
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Product Description

Breakfast at Tiffany's
Winner of two Oscars, the romantic comedy that sparkles like diamonds! From the opening strains of Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's haunting, Oscar-winning song "Moon River," you'll once again be under the alluring spell of that madcap, carefree New York playgirl known as Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) in this 24-carat romantic comedy based of Truman Capote's best-selling novella. George Peppard is the struggling and "sponsored" young writer who finds himself swept into Holly's dizzying, delightfully unstructured lifestyle as she determinedly scours Manhattan for a suitable millionaire to marry. The sparkling special features on this Anniversary Edition DVD only add to the luster of director Blake Edwards' timeless film classic. Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam and Mickey Rooney co-star; Mancini won an additional Academy Award® for his enthralling musical score.

Roman Holiday

Sabrina

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-06-27

I watched these all in a row! Soooo awesome! They just don't make movies like these anymore!

Beautiful Hepburn.......2007-02-16

I totally love these 3 movies by Audrey Hepburn, there is an amazing aura about her...

Audrey Hepburn Collection.......2007-01-25

If you are an Audrey Hepburn fan (and who isn't) you will love this collection.

Wonderful Value for Masterpiece Collection.......2007-01-19

Audrey Hepburn never goes out of style. I got this for my 18 year old for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. There are quite a few teenaged girls who still love Audrey as evidenced on their myspace pages.

AUDREY.......2007-01-05

what can you say about Breakfast at Tiffany's that has not already been said.... From listening to Audrey strum "Moon River" on the balcony to the day she spends with George Peppard in the city getting the ring from the cracker jack box engraved - how could you not fall in love with her....

Roman Holiday and Sabrina are also classics.

Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection (Seven Year Itch / Gentlement Prefer Blondes / Niagara / River of No Return / Let's Make Love / Marilyn: The Final Days)

Average customer rating:

Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection
Marilyn Monroe at her best
I love this lady!
More features

Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection (Seven Year Itch / Gentlement Prefer Blondes / Niagara / River of No Return / Let's Make Love / Marilyn: The Final Days)
Starring: Marilyn Monroe , Joseph Cotten , Jean Peters , Max Showalter , and Denis O'Dea
Director: Henry Hathaway , Billy Wilder , and Patty Ivins Specht
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000EMGJAY
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Description

Collection Includes the following Titles:

**SEVEN YEAR ITCH **GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES **NIAGARA **RIVER OF NO RETURN **LET'S MAKE LOVE **MARILYN: THE FINAL DAYS

Customer Reviews:

Marilyn Monroe.......2007-01-10

While this set doesn't have all the Marilyn Monroe movies, it is a good set to have. Marilyn is beautiful in all of the enclosed movies. She acted various parts and did so in different ways. This set is a good start for anyone beginning a Monroe collection!

Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection.......2007-01-10

I bought this DVD set for my father for his birthday. He just turned 83 years old and he absolutely have always adored Marilyn Monroe and he was so thrilled when he got the set and he said the color on the DVD cover was absolutely beautiful and he (my parents and I are deaf) was happy that the movies was subtitled and he was able to fully understand everything which in back of old days, the movies were not captioned and he would just guess what the stories were about but now he does not have to play guess anymore.

Marilyn Monroe at her best.......2007-01-09

I bought this as a gift for my 15 year old neice! Marilyn is at her best in these classics! She never goes out of style! I would recommend this set to any one that either wanted to start collecting all of her movies or just the best ones.

I love this lady!.......2007-01-03

great movies!. I think she made a great suductress, also she has an awesome body, not a twig like the ladies of today.

More features.......2006-12-13

While the films are a great choice and the prints are in great shape, how about some commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes. Except for SEVEN YEAR ITCH, there is nothing. Marilyn made so few films, only 12 starring roles, as compared to other superstars who've made dozens, I wish there were more to each movie...expecially deleted scenes. I know every one of these film had deletions, but no one has ever said WHAT WAS DELETED. In the case of NIAGARA, much must have been deleted because it seems so choppy. Never sure what day is when. In BLONDES, the first part of the movie also seems a bit disjointed, and one night moves into the next without explanation. I know Mr. Zanack was a stickler for short films and he cut his films a bit too much. So when and if new materials are found and put in these films, I won't be buying any more of them.

Average customer rating:

All time collections
Special features make this a special collection
Elegance and style

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000MGBLSW
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Amazon.com

Breakfast at Tiffany's
No film better utilizes Audrey Hepburn's flighty charm and svelte beauty than this romantic adaptation of Truman Capote's novella. Hepburn's urban sophisticate Holly Golightly, an enchanting neurotic living off the gifts of gentlemen, is a bewitching figure in designer dresses and costume jewelry. George Peppard is her upstairs neighbor, a struggling writer and "kept" man financed by a steely older woman (Patricia Neal). His growing friendship with the lonely Holly soon turns to love and threatens the delicate balance of both of their compromised lives. Taking liberties with Capote's bittersweet story, director Blake Edwards and screenwriter George Axelrod turn New York into a city of lovers and create a poignant portrait of Holly, a frustrated romantic with a secret past and a hidden vulnerability. Composer Henry Mancini earned Oscars for the hit song "Moon River" and his tastefully romantic score. The only sour note in the whole film is Mickey Rooney's demeaning performance as the apartment's Japanese manager, an offensively overdone stereotype even in 1961. The rest of the film has weathered the decades well. Edwards's elegant yet light touch, Axelrod's generous screenplay, and Hepburn's mix of knowing experience and naiveté combine to create one of the great screen romances and a refined slice of high society bohemian chic. --Sean Axmaker

Roman Holiday
Maybe it doesn't quite live up to its sterling reputation, and maybe the leading man and director were slightly miscast. But who cares? Roman Holiday is the film that brought Audrey Hepburn to prominence, and the world movie audience went weak at the knees. The endlessly charming Hepburn had her first starring role in this sweet romance, playing a European princess on an official tour through Rome. Frustrated by her lack of connection to the real world, she slips away from her protective handlers and goes on a spree, aided by a tough-guy news reporter (Gregory Peck). Director William Wyler, more at home with such heavy-going, Oscar-winning classics as The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben- Hur, doesn't always keep the champagne bubbles afloat, and the Peck role would have fit Cary Grant like a silk glove. But the film is great fun, the location shooting is irresistible, and Hepburn embodies an image of chic style that would rule for the rest of the fifties. No coincidence: she won an Oscar, and so did veteran costume designer Edith Head. --Robert Horton

Sabrina
Audrey Hepburn is the delightful young Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who is hopelessly in love with David Larrabee (William Holden), the playboy younger son in the rich Long Island household her father works for. In order to help her forget her woes, Sabrina is shipped off to cooking school in Paris. While there, she befriends a baron who provides a bit of culture--and the encouragement to snip off her childlike ponytail. Upon her return to New York, Sabrina is transformed into a sophisticated woman, and David is entranced by her. However, his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David's marriage to Elizabeth Tyson in order to seal a business merger and thus must steer David away from Sabrina. To do this, Linus takes on the task of wooing her for himself. Full of great dialogue ("A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven") and wonderful performances, this film is a romantic masterpiece. Also enjoyable is the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews:

All time collections.......2007-05-15

I have watched the movie over several years..from my childhood days. Every time I enjoy it albeit different reasons at different age!

Special features make this a special collection.......2007-04-30

I bought this 3 discs in one case collection over her other collections because each movie had special features. This is a great price for these 3 movies.

Breakfast A Tiffany's - Color, Romantic comedy. Probably her most famous and best role, Holly Golightly, is based on Truman Capote's novella. She is a carefree New York playgirl with an unstructured lifestyle. Holly befriends a nameless cat and a struggling writer(George Peppard)who is "sponsored". Widescreen Version, Enhanced for 16.9 TVs, SPECIAL FEATURES: "Making of a Classic", Commentary by Prouducer, "It's So Audrey: A Style Icon", "Audrey's Letter to Tiffany", more.

Roman Holiday- Black and White, This is Audrey's American debut in film. A great picture, it was nominated for ten Academy Awards. Audrey received an Oscar for her portrayal of a modern day princess overwelmed by her duties decides to escape for a holiday in Rome. She meets Gregory Peck a newsman, who pretends he doesn't know who she really is so he can get an exclusive story. Eddie Albert is Peck's fun loving cameraman pal. The screenplay was written by a famous writer blackballed during the McCarthy era. Directed by William Wyler. Features: "Remembering Roman Holiday,", Restoring Roman Holiday", "Edith Head- The Paramont Years", more.

Sabrina- Black and White, Romantic Comedy, Hollywood's great stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden team up for this Cinderella story. Bogart and Holden are mega rich brothers and Audrey is the chauffeur's daughter, who is in love with the youngest brother. Special features include "Sabrina" Documentary.

Elegance and style.......2007-02-16

Audrey Hepburn was -- and remains -- the perfect illustration of elegance and sophistication in Hollywood. A lot of actresses have tried to imitate her look, but they couldn't manage the same onscreen grace and skill.

And the "Audrey Hepburn Collection" brings together three of the films that helped shape that image. Okay, they're not her most impressive. But all three are all funny, charming, romantic movies, and they are also the ones that Hepburn is still best known for doing.

Bored young Princess Ann (Hepburn) goes on a "Roman Holiday," when she gets upset, is sedated by a doctor, and has an odd reaction to it. Soon she has wandered out of the palace and into the streets of Rome, where she is found by struggling American journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). Since she appears to be drunk, he takes her home.

When Joe realizes that he has the missing princess in his apartment, he takes her on a whirlwind tour of Rome, with his pal taking photographs for a full article. But he doesn't count on falling in love with Ann. And Ann has a tough choice to make -- should she give up her royal life and stay with Joe, or fulfil her responsibilities as a princess?

"Sabrina" (Hepburn) is the daughter of the chauffeur at the palatial Larabee estate. She's also in love with the ne'er-do-well second son, David (William Holden), but is sent away to Paris to attend a cooking school. And with the help of a fairy godcount, she gains sophistication, ambition, and confidence... as well as the ability to make a souffle properly ("A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn on the oven!").

When she returns to the Larabees' estate, David is instantly smitten. But even if marrying a chauffeur's daughter were okay with his family, his brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged a business marriage for David. And to make sure David doesn't run off with Sabrina, Linus begins wooing her too... and falling in love for real.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a daily ritual for Holly Golightly, a social butterfly who hosts parties, entertains drunken men, and dreams of owning a horse farm in Mexico. When Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into a neighboring apartment -- courtesy of his rich patroness -- he is instantly enchanted by the ditzy, sweet-natured Holly.

But for all Holly's fun, Paul starts to realize that all is not well with her. She's desperate to marry rich, visits a notorious gangster, and hides that she was an illiterate teen bride. As Holly's life starts to deteriorate, Paul sets out to show her what her life will be like without real love.

Yes, they are all romantic comedies, completely unrelated except that all three have Audrey Hepburn. But all three are fun, well-written ("You can't live here! I live here!" "Hi, neighbor!"), and charming. They're good for daydreaming as well, since they take place in chic apartments, palatial mansions and the streets of Rome.

The movies are definitely romantic -- one theme they share is love that doesn't come easily, whether the problem is one of the people involved, parents or overprotective staff. There's also slapstick comedy (like David sitting down on champagne flutes and injuring his butt), and more sophisticated comedy (like when Anna and Joe pretend that they were speeding on their way to get married).

Unlike many actresses, Hepburn's best-known roles were NOT all alike, nor were they all carbon copies of her. Even when we shouldn't really like the characters, she gave them warmth, sensitivity and likability that can't be faked. And she could be very funny too -- it's hard not to laugh when Holly yells "Timber!", as a drunken guest keels over.

The Audrey Hepburn Collection is the ideal trio of movies for people who are just falling in love, or who appreciate a good romantic comedy. Charming, cute and sweet.

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection (Stalag 17 Special Collector's Edition / Sunset Boulevard / Sabrina 1954)

Average customer rating:

The Wild Billy Wilder

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection (Stalag 17 Special Collector's Edition / Sunset Boulevard / Sabrina 1954)
Starring: William Holden , Don Taylor , Otto Preminger , Robert Strauss , and Harvey Lembeck
Director: Billy Wilder
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
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John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection (The Searchers Ultimate Edition / Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition / Fort Apache / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Long Voyage Home / They Were Expendable / 3 Godfathers / The Wings of Eagles)

ASIN: B000CSUNRA
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Product Description

Sunset Boulevard

Stalag 17
Two worthy Academy Award® nominees from 1950's Sunset Boulevard - actor William Holden and director Billy Wilder - reteamed three years later for the gripping World War II drama, Stalag 17. The result was another Best Director nomination for Wilder (his fourth), and the elusive Best Actor Oscar® for Holden. Holden portrays the jaded, scheming Sergeant J.J. Sefton, a prisoner at the notorious German prison camp, who spends his days dreaming up rackets and trading with the Germans for special privileges. But when two prisoners are killed in an escape attempt, it becomes obvious that there is a spy among the prisoners. Is it Sefton? Famed producer/director Otto Preminger tackles a rare acting role as the camp's commandant; actor Robert Strauss won a Supporting Actor nomination for his role as "Animal." Here's Wilder's powerful, acclaimed film classic -- now packed with never-before-seen special features, including audio commentary and "behind-the-scenes" featurettes.

Sabrina

Customer Reviews:

The Wild Billy Wilder.......2007-05-19

The movies chosen to present this trio of Wilder films are all excellent in their own genre. Not only are Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, and Sabrina "true classics",but the extra bonus features
take you inside the set and inside the mind of Billy Wilder. The well spoken narrative on all three films is not only intelligent but enlightening as well. You can really benefit by watching all three films "as they are", but then again
WITH the narrative because it is then that you learn how Wilder worked and got the best performances out of his splendid cast of actors. Bette Davis
once said that Billy Wilder was the ONLY director she worked with who knew what he was doing. The astonishing performance of the 50ish Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. is truly
amazing in itself. Of the three THAT one's my personal favorite.
William Holden fans will be delighted to know that he is in all three movies!! Was there any sweeter girl than Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina)? She wins your heart as does the character in that movie played by Humphrey Bogart whose subtle turn is quite noteworthy.

The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Roman Holiday / Sabrina / Breakfast at Tiffany's)

Average customer rating:

I watch it all the time.
I LOVE AUDREY HEPBURN!
Hepburn at her best
Sabrina Fair
roman holiday

The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Roman Holiday / Sabrina / Breakfast at Tiffany's)
Starring: Humphrey Bogart , Audrey Hepburn , William Holden , Walter Hampden , and John Williams (II)
Director: Billy Wilder , Blake Edwards , and William Wyler
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006IUJU
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Amazon.com

What a trio of movies in this boxed set: three of Audrey Hepburn's best performances in three of her best films. In Breakfast at Tiffany's, she is perfectly cast as Holly Golightly, Truman Capote's prevaricating heroine who has forgotten her past to create a more interesting present--and Blake Edwards's film version is both beguiling and sad. In Sabrina she is ideal as the chauffeur's daughter who comes back from Paris looking a lot better than when she left--and attracting the attention of a pair of wealthy brothers: playboy William Holden and stuffy Humphrey Bogart. And in Roman Holiday, her debut and for which she received an Oscar, she is delightful as the escaped princess who slips away from her handlers and spends a day with a reporter (Gregory Peck), falling in love and seeing how the normal folks live. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

I watch it all the time........2007-02-07

I bought this collection after seeing Sabrina one night on tv. The three films included are really just beautiful stories, but each one is drastically different than the last. They've made me fall in love with Audrey Hepburn. I watch them over and over again, each movie is good for different moods.

The best part of any Audrey Hepburn film, imho is her personal style. I find myself trying out scarves, pearls, and other feminine items I never would have thought - all because she wore them so well.

Anyways, I just love this set. It's one of the few DVD sets I would not want to get rid of.

I LOVE AUDREY HEPBURN!.......2006-07-02

In this astounding collection featuring some of Audrey Hepburn's best movies, (Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's) she is just as charming and beautiful as ever. Hepburn is an incredible actress who is one of the greatest fashion icons ever, and shows it in these three wonderful movies.

Hepburn at her best.......2006-05-29

I was thrilled when I saw that you could buy 3 of the best Audrey Hepburn movies all in one. Each one of these movies is fantastic, and I would encourage everyone to see them. Audrey Hepburn gives a flawless performance in each one. Sabrina is constantly overlooked and yet one of my favorites. Audrey stars opposite Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina, and the two shine. This is a movie set that every DVD collection needs!

Sabrina Fair.......2006-03-10

Love Audrey, especially Sabrina Fair. Full of glamour and fun, especially good for watching while on a treadmill.

roman holiday.......2006-02-21

The DVD won't play at all. (the other 2 is okay) For some reason our player cannot read this DVD. Is it possible if i can return it? Please advice.

Also, follow up on the Microwave rice cooker that I ordered , until now I haven't received it. Please advice if you sent it too..
tks.

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection (The Apartment / Avanti! / The Fortune Cookie / Irma la Douce / Kiss Me Stupid / One Two Three / The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes / Some Like It Hot / Witness for the Prosecution)

Average customer rating:

classic Wilder collection
great collection....but.....

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection (The Apartment / Avanti! / The Fortune Cookie / Irma la Douce / Kiss Me Stupid / One Two Three / The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes / Some Like It Hot / Witness for the Prosecution)
Starring: Jack Lemmon , Shirley MacLaine , Fred MacMurray , Ray Walston , and Jack Kruschen
Director: Billy Wilder
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00008ZZ9T
Release Date: 2003-07-15

Amazon.com

Even if "nobody's perfect," Billy Wilder sometimes came close. This DVD box presents a strong cross-section of films by one of Hollywood's greatest directors, and although his early Paramount years are not covered (they're available in a different set), the box does include a couple of Wilder's woefully underappreciated autumnal gems. Chronologically speaking, 1957's Witness for the Prosecution is the earliest film in the set, a crackerjack courtroom drama derived from Agatha Christie. It gives especially tasty roles to Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. With Some Like It Hot, Wilder merely created the film widely considered the best comedy of the sound era, with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon impersonating female musicians in the Roaring Twenties. Marilyn Monroe is the songbird tired of getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Wilder took home three Oscars® for The Apartment, his exquisitely bittersweet look at an organization man (Lemmon) who loans out his flat for his boss's liaisons.

One, Two, Three is a breathless Cold War comedy (and a time capsule of its era) with James Cagney as a Coca-Cola executive in Berlin. Irma La Douce teams Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in a racy Parisian love story that became a box-office smash. With Kiss Me, Stupid, Wilder suffered a rare flop, although the once-scandalous sex comedy looks better and sharper as it ages. The Fortune Cookie, which nabbed an Oscar for Walter Matthau, is one of Wilder's most cynical tales, but the last two films in the set represent Wilder's late-career romantic flowering. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes arranges slapstick around the melancholy, misogynistic figure of Holmes, who might just be a directorial self-portrait. Avanti! is a delightful, leisurely romance about a businessman (Lemmon again) who loosens up while in Italy settling his late father's business. It's a lovely end note for a snappy, often acerbic collection. --Robert Horton

Description

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection includes the following films: The Apartment, Avanti!, The Fortune Cookie, Irma la Douce, Kiss Me Stupid, One Two Three, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Some Like It Hot, and Witness for the Prosecution.

Customer Reviews:

classic Wilder collection.......2006-02-25

For Billy Wilder fans, this is a must. Get this box set now before it is discontinued now that Sony distributes MGM's library.

great collection....but............2004-12-29

This is a great collection but why is one of the best, Double Indemnity, missing ??? It is a good collection of a genius who was such a major influence on modern film making. Both his comedy and dramatic films are in this set. I have to say that his dramas hold up a lot better then the comedy films. The constent theme of stupid women, or the whore with "a heart of gold" now seems just pathatic and not endearing.

Billy Wilder DVD Collection (Sunset Boulevard/Stalag 17/Sabrina)

Average customer rating:

Three great films
Where's the great lost Billy Wilder classic
Sunset is a Masterpiece- But What About Double Indemnity?
Folks, hello, this is a *Paramount* collection ...
He Left Us Too Soon

Billy Wilder DVD Collection (Sunset Boulevard/Stalag 17/Sabrina)
Starring: William Holden , Don Taylor , Otto Preminger , Robert Strauss , and Harvey Lembeck
Director: Billy Wilder
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006IUJR
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Amazon.com

This boxed set shows the many moods of director Billy Wilder, from luxurious cynicism to spiky romance. He's teamed up for all three pictures with William Holden, and the two are perfectly tuned to each other's sardonic intelligence. Actually, Holden was a last-minute replacement in Sunset Boulevard, when Montgomery Clift abruptly backed out of the project. Holden plays a hard-luck screenwriter who takes refuge in the home of a deluded silent-movie star (played by Gloria Swanson); we know this because his corpse is telling us the story. The 1950 film is one of the great decayed mansions of Hollywood cinema, a fully imagined look at the souring of the American Dream. And, of course, a poison-pen letter to the movie business--Wilder took pleasure in biting the hand that fed him.

Stalag 17 (1953) won the Best Actor Oscar® for Holden, although it's a less complex piece of work than Sunset Boulevard. It is, however, thoroughly entertaining, with a seamless blend of suspense (who in the POW camp is betraying secrets to the Germans?) and raucous comedy. Sixties-TV fans will quickly spot the similarity with the Bob Crane sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Otto Preminger, himself a director, creates a suave piece of villainy as the German camp commandant. In Sabrina (1954), Holden is a blond, fatuous younger brother to staid businessman Humphrey Bogart--but they both do supporting work to Audrey Hepburn. This is one of her great vehicles, and she inspires Wilder to show more of his romantic side. As the chauffeur's daughter who dreams of mingling with the beautiful people, Hepburn shines in the lush glow of moonlight and "Isn't it Romantic?" and the movie finds a zone of pure pleasure. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Three great films.......2006-01-13

I had the honor of listening to a talk by Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon for the a presentation of Some Like it Hot. It was a fun night. Probably the most touching part was his reflection of Monroe. He got emotional and simply said "She should be here"

After that it only increase my liking of his film work. I was happy to find this set.

Of the three I would have to say Sabrina and Stalog-17 are my favorite.

Sabrina: Is a great film with a powerful cast. One of the great beauties of the area is Audrey Hepburn and this film and Roman Holiday made her one of my favorties. She pulls off a great performance especially when working beside Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. It is a sweet story of the Cinderella like story of a young girl who is in love with the son of her fathers employer. Her charm simply carries the film.

Stalog-17: The film that served the foundation for Hogan's heros. This is a classic as William Holden plays self serving loner of a POW camp during WWII. The rest are trying to escape but every attempt is foild and people die. Somebody is betraying them. Is it Holden who never seems to go without favors or special gifts? The support cast really make the film fly. Even when it ends you still want more!

Sunset Boulevard: Is a great story that paints a bad image of Hollywood. We have Norma Desmond once queen of the cinema now forgotten by Hollywood. Holden is hired to write her a script to bring her out of "retirement" Holden thinks it's a job but it turns out to be much more. This film led to many uses of the famous line "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr DeMille" It's rather scary! Too bad many people.

A sad thing that many people don't know these films.

I will finish with giving a tribute to Mr. Wilder.

Years ago I was in a theater that shows old films. I went with my wife to watch Sabrina. Two women sat behind us and my wife heard one say:

"I saw the new movie they just did. This film is way more funny then it!"

Where's the great lost Billy Wilder classic.......2004-03-06

Every Billy Wilder film is available in some format except for
Big Carnival(AKA Ace in the Hole). This movie deserves a dvd release. It is a great indictment of mass media. It stars Kirk Douglas in one of his best performances. At the time of its release Billy Wilder didn't think it was hard hitting enough.

Sunset is a Masterpiece- But What About Double Indemnity?.......2003-07-22

This collection includes one of the greatest dark-comic noirs of all time, Sunset Boulevard. I also love the worldly, sometimes sad, sweet, funny Sabrina. Stalag 17 is also a classic, in a very different genre. But I have been puzzling for some time about my inability to find a new, in-print DVD of Double Indemnity, the noir classic of 1943. In my opinion, Double Indemnity tops even Sunset Boulevard -- a close second -- for pure genius film-making. Whom can we pester about releasing a digitally-remastered Double Indemnity??

Folks, hello, this is a *Paramount* collection ..........2002-12-28

No need to say these are all fine, classic movies,but in response to those who wonder why it doesn't include SOME LIKE IT HOT or THE APARTMENT ... this boxed set is issued by Paramount Pictures. Paramount can't release films made by other studios, so please stop complaining. :-)

I think it's great to have these three films boxed, especially the little-seen STALAG 17.

SOME LIKE IT HOT and THE APARTMENT are available everywhere, so let's be grateful for what Paramount is giving us: the best movies Wilder made at their studio.

He Left Us Too Soon.......2002-11-27

Billy Wilder died earlier this year at 95 years old, and it was still too soon. A shame that Hollywood left him after "Buddy Buddy," to spend the last twenty years of his life pining for a movie production that never came his way.

These three movies represent Wilder in his heydey at Paramount Pictures, and also his three best with William Holden, who was just at home playing it straight or wisecracking. Sure, I'd like to see "The Apartment," and "Some Like It Hot" on this collection, but those were released by United Artists, so those would be released by MGM, not Paramount anyhow.

These three movies really hold their own, even -- or rather, especially -- today. "Sunset Boulevard" is one of the darkest of black comedies, and a really disturbing portrait of Hollywood has-been Norma Desmond and Holden as her kept man screenwriter, who's been hired to bring her out of mothballs. Chilling last line: "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. deMille."

"Stalag 17" is a nice mix of serious war movie interspersed with slapstick humour. Though Holden is great, his supporting cast almost steal the show, especially Sig Ruman as Sergeant Schultz, the camp guard, Otto Preminger as Commandant von Scherbach and Harvey Lembeck and Robert Strauss as the camp cutups, Harry Shapiro and "The Animal."

"Sabrina" is a beautiful portrait of a young Audrey Hepburn, so vivacious and full of wondrous energy. Though she's a bit self-aware in her role, her charm still just carries you away. Holden is in a supporting role here, but Humphrey Bogart comes off as a bit stiff. Really, though, it's Audrey's movie from beginning to end, and the romantic-comedy script by Ernest Lehman and Samuel Taylor has wit and panache.

Product Description

Includes: The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days.

Best Pictures - The Ultimate Collection (All Quiet on the Western Front / The Deer Hunter / The Lost Weekend / Out of Africa / The Sting)

Average customer rating:

An eclectic collection of Best Picture winners

Best Pictures - The Ultimate Collection (All Quiet on the Western Front / The Deer Hunter / The Lost Weekend / Out of Africa / The Sting)
Starring: Louis Wolheim , Lew Ayres , John Wray , Arnold Lucy , and Ben Alexander
Director: Lewis Milestone , Billy Wilder , and George Roy Hill
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Film Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005UMFE
Release Date: 2002-01-29

Customer Reviews:

An eclectic collection of Best Picture winners.......2007-02-03

The group of films in this collection is so varied, it would be hard to be a real fan of one of the five and not really dislike one of the others. There's no common theme here, not even a time period. The films included are as follows:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) - A group of German schoolboys are encouraged to sign up to fight in World War I. Once they get to the front, they encounter the harsh realities of killing your fellow man up close. It's still a powerful film because it was made pre-code and there was much more freedom to use harsh symbolism than in films made after 1934. It really embodies the antiwar sentiment that was common between the world wars. (5/5)

The Lost Weekend (1945) - This is another really great film. Great acting by Ray Milland as Don Birnam, an alcoholic writer whose brother pays his bills so he can go on drinking. After decades of movies making drunkenness look like great fun, this film showed just how low a man can sink when he really needs a drink. (5/5)

The Sting (1973) - This was a different kind of film to win the Best Picture award. It seems like it should be a film noir, since it is about revenge for a grifter buddy murdered by a mobster, but the mood of the film is actually rather playful. (5/5)

The Deer Hunter (1978) - This is a great film about the effect of the Vietnam war on three friends from Pennsylvania. It is effectively a war movie without a war. The focus is more on what happens before and after the three experience what happens in Vietnam than what happens during their time in the military. (5/5).

Out of Africa (1985) - This is one of those slow beautiful-to-behold but impossible-to-watch kind of movies that the Academy honors every now and then. I've sat through it exactly once, just so I could honestly say I had given it a chance, but I really found it insufferably boring. It's supposed to be based on the life of storyteller Isak Dineson, who lived in Africa from 1913 until 1931 running a coffee farm, and her love for a man that wants to keep his freedom. (3/5)...And I consider myself an easy grader.

If you average the ratings of the movies together, you get 4.6/5, so I round up the score to 5 stars. You basically have four excellent films in this pack and one pseudo-dud. However, your mileage may vary depending on your taste in film. It's a good value if you are trying to collect the Best Picture winners on DVD and you can find it for under sixty dollars, plus its content doesn't overlap with the other Best Picture boxed sets. Overall, highly recommended.

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John Wayne - The John Wayne Collection