Harrison's Flowers

Starring:Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, David Strathairn, Alun Armstrong, Caroline Goodall, Diane Baker, Marie Trintignant, Christian Charmetant, Gerard Butler, Scott Anton, Christopher Clarke, Dragan Antonic, Marie-BÃ©atrice Bernert, Antony Boehm, Kurt Cramer, Predrag Bjelac, Nicole Estabrooks, Simon Francis (III)
Director: Elie Chouraqui
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

A classic of the late 1950s, this film looks at the string-pulling behind-the-scenes action between desperate press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) and the ultimate power broker in that long-ago show-biz Manhattan: gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster). Written by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (who based the Hunsecker character on the similarly brutal and power-mad Walter Winchell), the film follows Falco's attempts to promote a client through Hunsecker's column--until he is forced to make a deal with the devil and help Hunsecker ruin a jazz musician who has the nerve to date Hunsecker's sister. Director Alexander MacKendrick and cinematographer James Wong Howe, shooting on location mostly at night, capture this New York demimonde in silky black and white, in which neon and shadows share a scarily symbiotic relationship--a near-match for the poisonous give-and-take between the edgy Curtis and the dismissive Lancaster. --Marshall Fine

Description

A powerful film about a ruthless journalist and an unscrupulous press agent who'll do anything to achieve success, this fascinating, compelling story (The Hollywood Reporter) crackles with 'taut direction and whiplash dialogue (Time). Bristling with vivid performances by Curtis and Lancaster, this gutsy exposÃ(c) of big-city corruption is a timeless classic that cuts deep and sends a chilling message. It's late at night in the steamy, neon-lit streets of New York's Times Square, and everything's buzzing with nervous energy. But press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) is oblivious to the whirlwind of street vendors, call girls and con men bustling around him as he nervously waits for the early edition of The Globe. Whose career did gossip columnist J. J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) launch today...and whose did he destroy?

Customer Reviews:

Sweet Smell of Success.......2007-06-26

Turning from his comedic work at Britain's Ealing Studios to direct this noirish, all-American masterpiece about greed, ambition, and the perversity of power, Alexander MacKendrick relied on estimable playwright Clifford Odets and writer Ernest Lehman for their scripting talent. What resulted was one of the most cynical, caustic films ever made about the sleazy underbelly of Manhattan show business, featuring blistering performances from Lancaster and a young Curtis in his prime. "I love this dirty town," proclaims the Walter Winchell-esque Hunsecker, and you never once doubt him. Sinister, tawdry, and burnished with a tone-perfect jazz score by Elmer Bernstein, "Success" was never this twisted.

This Movie Needs to Settle Its Score.......2007-06-13

This is often cited as being a near-classic film, but I was a little disappointed when I viewed it again.

Tony Curtis does turn in a brilliant performance as a desperate, toadying press agent whose last-gasp career depends on getting his clients' names into the papers. But Burt Lancaster as New York's ruling gossip columnist seems improbably over the top in villainy. Although his portrayal may have been loosely based on the reputed ruthlessness of real-life columnist Walter Winchell, no such talk-of-the-town writer could be quite so overtly red in tooth and claw. Most gossip columnists had to maintain at least a glad-handing, amiable façade in order to encourage scoops and rumors to come their way. They had to at least appear to be more about human interest than about their own lust for power.

But the main problem with this picture isn't any one-dimensional character study. The main problem here is the score. The blaring music drowns out the actors. It rakes down New York's skyscraper canyons. It tells us what to think, what to feel at every turn, rather than letting us react to the movie on our own terms. That sort of intrusive score might have been the style in movies of the period. And this score's volume may have been additionally turned up to reflect the clash of wills, the brutal power plays taking place on the screen. But I just wanted the movie to be over in order to get away from those deafening, raw crescendos.

If the film could be re-mastered with a more muted score, maybe viewers could appreciate its performances more, and find the greatness in its themes.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do. That gives you a lot of leeway.".......2006-11-19

Alexander Mackendrick's "Sweet Smell of Success" is one nasty little film. When it finally ends after 96 minutes, you will be running for the shower to wash off the stench left behind by its two main characters.

J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is a powerful New York gossip columnist whose words can make or break careers. When he finds himself with a problem on his hands, he seeks out publicity agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) to do some dirty work for him. Hunsecker is not enamored of the jazz musician who is romancing his younger sister, Susan (Susan Harrison), so he tells Falco to break up the romance. Desperate to remain in Hunsecker's good graces, Falco agrees to carry out the task. However, matters do not go smoothly as Susan decides to stand up to her brother's meddling.

There is essentially nothing redeeming about Hunsecker and Falco. Watching them scheme makes you realize the cutthroat maneuvering and vicious backstabbing that is so common today is not a recent development. Men deluded by their power and men desperate for success have never shied away from treating others cruelly in order to further their aims. This was true in the Fifties when this film was made and it is true today. Lancaster and Curtis are outstanding in their roles with the latter's performance being especially impressive. Those familiar only with Curtis' more lighthearted works will be stunned at the tenacity and viciousness of his Sidney Falco. While it is difficult to watch, "Sweet Smell of Success" is nonetheless fascinating due to its insight into the darker aspects of human nature.

Great Acting, Great Script, Great...Everything.......2006-11-09

"Sweet Smell of Success" is a film from 1957, commonly called one of the greatest films ever made. It's pushing 50 years old, but even now doesn't feel dated for one second and features two great actors in their most memorable roles. These actors are Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster starring as Sidney Falco and J.J. Hunsecker. Hunsecker is one of the most powerful newspaper columnists in New York, who is capable of ruining people with his column. Falco is a press agent, who works with Hunsecker by digging dirt up on people. Early on in the movie we learn that Hunsecker has shut Falco out, mostly due to the fact that Hunsecker hired Falco to break up a romance between Hunsecker's sister Susan (Susan Harrison) and a jazz guitarist named Steve (Martin Milner). Falco has failed to do so. The rest of the film is, for the most part, built on the foundation of this; With Falco and Hunsecker trying to create a smear ad to get Susan away from Steve. The acting is extraordinary. This is probably Tony Curtis' best performance aside from "The Boston Strangler." I'd never seen Lancaster in a movie, so imagine my surprise about how good an actor the man was. This is a very memorable movie; Most movies I see nowadays, I've forgotten the characters name within minutes. It's doubtful you'll forget the name Sidney Falco quickly, it's one of those names that just sticks with you. This is a legendary movie, Roger Ebert called it "One extraordinary American noir."
That's accurate enough, it's superb.

GRADE: A-

Great acting, great writing. A great movie........2006-11-08

As a New Yorker, I really appreciate this film. It is so true to the time and the place. I hung around Broadway and dined at 21. This film captures it all. This is in my opinion the best thing Tony Curtis has done. He and Lancaster play off each other in such a deadly way. Such a pleasure to watch this film.

Average customer rating:

Hard movie to watch

Harrison's Flowers
Starring: Alun Armstrong , Diane Baker , Adrien Brody , Christopher Clarke , and Kurt Cramer
Director: Elie Chouraqui
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
Shooter (Widescreen Edition)
Breach (Widescreen Edition)
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)
The Good German

ASIN: B000OY9V8Y
Release Date: 2007-06-19

Description

Andie MacDowell (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) stars in the compelling story of one woman's determination to find her husband Harrison (David Strathairn, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL), a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist. He is reported as missing while on a dangerous assignment covering a war in a foreign country. When Harrison is presumed dead by his colleagues and editor, only Sarah believes that he is still alive. Driven by intense passion she courageously plunges into a land ravaged by war, risking her own life as she engages in a relentless search to find him.

Customer Reviews:

Hard movie to watch.......2007-07-03

This is not an easy movie to watch. The war with Serbs and Croatians. Seems so far away today but this movie brings back all the insane killing.
Well acted, good production and much too real but makes you think. Not so much about the determination of Sarah, played by McDowell, but man's inhumanity against man. How we must stop it.

Average customer rating:

Well-made
Sarah Sarah
GRITTY WAR BITS BUT A VAPID LOVE STORY
MacDowell, Brody & Gleeson are Great Even When Film Isn't
Harrison's Flowers

Harrison's Flowers
Starring: Andie MacDowell , Elias Koteas , Brendan Gleeson , Adrien Brody , and David Strathairn
Director: Elie Chouraqui
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Shooters
The Cherry Orchard
Tale of the Mummy
One More Kiss
The Jury

ASIN: B00006HAX6
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Amazon.com

An implausible plot doesn't prevent Harrison's Flowers from being a harrowing and moving depiction of the cost of war. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah Lloyd, the wife of a photojournalist reported lost in the 1991 civil war raging between ethnic divisions in the former Yugoslavia. Refusing to believe her husband is dead, Sarah flies to Austria and then drives into the heart of the war, where she teams up with other photographers (Adrien Brody and Brendan Gleeson), who help her find a small town where her husband was last seen--while all around them rages one of the most horrific conflicts of the late 20th century. The story is barely credible, but the depiction of the war itself is stunning, and the depiction of the lives of photojournalists--partly thrill-seeking voyeurs, partly truth tellers--is complex and compelling. Though MacDowell isn't a great actress, all the performances are solid, and Brody is outstanding. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Well-made.......2007-02-24

In a word? "Good."

This is a very moving film, which touches on many things -- not least of which is the role of the press in times of war. This ethical question has not become any less important with the Iraq war, and will undoubtedly increase in its importance in wars to come.

Overall, this is a very well-produced film, with very talented actors indeed, that will definitely become one of my most frequently watched films. The one thing that could be improved on, however, and that could've pushed this to be one of my favourite films, would be the plot. Not the plot of the war, of course, that is a well-stated fact.

No, I'm speaking specifically about the plot of the journalist-wife who goes into this psychiatric state, yet is allowed to travel into a war-zone instead of being prescribed psychiatric help. I do find this a bit hard to fully believe, and this takes up a bit too much of the film, in my opinion.

But still, put the popcorn on -- a good movie, by all accounts.

Sarah Sarah.......2006-08-28

Oddly this movie includes some of the best acting and some of the worst I've seen recently. Adrian Brody as a hard-nosed photographer in a theater of war is really compelling; meanwhile, Andie MacDowell, handsome as ever but no more talented, delivers every line in a disconcertingly wooden way.

This disjunction somehow seems apropos of the film's gripping and (to my eye) realistic portrayal of the scene of war: gray, monotonous, punctuated by horrifying violence. In some of the shots inside the car, the dull rhythm of the windshield wipers scraping across the window of the grimy TV van attempting to nose its way further into the war zone becomes like the tell-tale heart. I about jumped out of my skin when they were shot at!

The movie, in short, has some astonishingly good moments, especially in the war scenes. The male actors are really impressive, though David Strathairn is assigned more than even he can deliver when he must remain catatonic for over a year (I think there is a Shirley Temple movie with a similar hospital scene in which a bandaged war veteran groans "Sarah, Sarah" -- A Little Princess?). Sentimentalized tripe. At the same time, the film is unblinking in its unsentimentalized portrayal of war. Contradictions... contradictions. Still, worth watching.

GRITTY WAR BITS BUT A VAPID LOVE STORY.......2006-03-26

Yes it's kind of a corn-fed theme, but imagine a warring Yugoslavia from fifteen years ago. As its city of Vukovar is being ripped to smithereens, our Newsweek journalist goes MIA. This sets sets up the perfect pretext for his New Yorker wife, played by a suitably melancholy Andie McDowell (also a journalist, which made me wonder about their ten bedroom house), to take a flying trip into the thick of all that macabre action.

I sat tight hoping for what promised to be a gritty love-during-war film with an Eastern European twist, but all it really was was a dress rehearsal for Adrien Brody's award-winning cameo in The Pianist two years afterward.

My problems began when voice-overs of all the characters sprung up in the middle of the script. A curious narrative technique for a theme of this nature. Just when you were in the moment feeling dumbstruck with what you had just seen, out came someone in candid camera reminiscing after the fact. Smacks to me of an eleventh hour decision made during post-production, or a failed stunt to lend a realistic tone to the film (we are told it is based on real events).

As a War-is-Evil statement it succeeds to an extent in depicting some heinous atrocities of war, supported amply by a brilliant score, but I left with no more appreciation for the ethnic belligerence in the Balkans than I had before the film. "Welcome to Sarajevo" or "No Man's Land" have stricken a lot more strident note in that regard.

While our motley crew of reporters meandered through cavernous cities, the romantic undercurrent held my interest in parts but unravelled much too slowly, leaving enough time for some key melodrama to unfold. In a sloppy finale, when the Mr. Harrison of the title is found and brought back to the warmth of his humongous family house, all his remnant trauma is resolved much too quickly. Other than a few magical flowers it is rather unclear what brought about his turnaround.

Much of my three-star appreciation for the film goes to the cinematographers for evoking a smoking war zone which includes some very difficult shoots through a nightmarish countryside. The 48 journalists that the DVD tells us were killed during the conflict had a clear purpose to leave a memory of the war for posterity, but the purpose of this commemorative film is anyone's guess.

MacDowell, Brody & Gleeson are Great Even When Film Isn't.......2004-11-19

Stirring war drama + sappy love story with a rather tunnel-visioned heroine + powerful performances by Adrien Brody and the always-excellent Brendan Gleeson = a film that's watchable enough on cable on a rainy afternoon, but not 100% satisfying. Brody practically steals every scene he's in as bitter but dedicated photojournalist Kyle Morris, who's grieving for a friend and fellow photographer killed in the Balkan war yet still manages to help Sarah Lloyd (Andie MacDowell in a nicely understated performance) find her presumed-dead husband Harrison (David Strathairn, who doesn't get much to do except look earnest, but is a likable presence all the same. My husband, accustomed to seeing him as bad guys in DOLORES CLAIBORNE and others, found it refreshing to see Strathairn in a sympathetic role for a change), who's a prize-winning photojournalist on one last job for Newsweek. Brody's Kyle is a fascinating bundle of contradictions, in a realistic way. (For one thing, it's kind of refreshing to see that Kyle is not immediately vilified for abusing cocaine at one point in the film -- although my smart-aleck hubby couldn't resist a wisecrack about the amount of coke needed to fill a nose like Brody's! Men! :-) As a mom, I was troubled that Sarah was willing to leave her two children at the drop of a hat to go to Croatia to look for Harrison. Yeah, she left the kiddies with her mom (always nice to see 1960s fave Diane Baker get work), but what if Harrison was indeed dead and then Sarah went and got herself killed, too? I can hear the kids now: "So we're orphans because Mom loved Dad so much she went off to the war zone herself instead of getting the Red Cross or something to help her find him? Thanks for nothing, Mom!" BTW, HARRISON'S FLOWERS is the second film in a row (after BREAD AND ROSES) in which Adrien Brody sports bedhead and a beard, lending him a cuddly look even in his most intense moments, IMO. If I may allow my hormones to do the talking for a moment, Brody might want to consider playing more roles where he gets to look like that! :-)

Harrison's Flowers.......2004-09-14

This movie is haunting. It is the core of humaness laid bare for all to see. The horror of war is depicted, as I can only imagine, as well as could be.
The actuality of the scenes, I'm sure, are only a small percentage of the reality.
The movie reveals what people will do to one another for whatever reason, politics, religion, predjudice...and more.
The subject as to why & how photo journalists do what they do is deeply explored. Is it money, competition, compassion, devotion to ones beliefs or just the adrenalin rush of the situation? How do their families tolerate the seperation & fear that their significant other may never come home? What holds this all together?
I see many things in a movie, not just from the entertainment point but the story, director interpertation, the actors portrayal, the depth of the characters history and where they come from both intelectually, emotionally, psychologically & spirtually.
I recommend this movie only to person's who view film as art, expression & interest in reality based screen plays. This is not a film for entertainment or superficial thinkers.

Average customer rating:

An astonishing film
And You Thought You Had a Hard Day?
One of best documentaries ever.
GREAT VINTAGE DOCUMENTARY BY KING KONG'S CREATORS
A remarkable document, with message aimed at contemporaries

Grass: A Nation's Battle For Life
Starring: Marguerite Harrison , Haidar Khan , Lufta , and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

People of the Wind
Chang
Man of Aran
Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong
Nanook of the North - Criterion Collection

ASIN: 6305773955
Release Date: 2000-03-28

Description

A classic adventure by the makers of "King Kong." In 1924, neophyte filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack hooked up with journalist and sometime spy Marguerite Harrison and set off to film an adventure. They found excitement, danger and unparalleled drama in the migration of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia (now Iran). Twice a year, more than 50,000 people and half a million animals surmounted seemingly impossible obstacles to take their herds to pasture. The filmmakers captured unforgettable images of courage and determination as the Bakhtiari braved the raging and icy waters of the half-mile-wide Karun River. Cooper and Schoedsack almost froze when they filmed the breathtaking, almost unbelievable, sight of an endless river of men, women and children--their feet bare or wrapped in rags--winding up the side of the sheer, snow-covered rock face of the 15,000-foot-high Zardeh Kuh mountain.

Customer Reviews:

An astonishing film.......2007-05-08

This is one of the most important films ever made about tribal nomadic life, and the rigors of the filmmaking process make it all the more astonishing. The film does practice a bit of romanticism that was completely unnecessary. It pretends that the Bakhtiari tribe are making their migration as a one-time desperate bid for survival. In fact the Bakhtiari make this 250 km. journey twice every year, and they are still doing it, though they now do some of it by road. The film is inspiring, breath-taking and miraculous for the time it was shot. It belongs in the annals of the best film classics.

And You Thought You Had a Hard Day?.......2006-12-24

You absolutely, positively MUST see this movie. Merion C. Cooper, director of the original (1930's) King Kong & two other Americans filmed this incredible exodus in 1927. With heavy, old camera equipment. In the winter. In the mountains of Iran. By foot and mule. And their subjects are utterly awe inspiring.

I first saw this silent, B&W documentary in 2005. I was right in the middle of packing for a huge, draining household move from the mountains of New Mexico to Texas. My husband was sick, I was utterly exhausted, and I was just 3 days out from the moving company's arrival. I sat down at midnight & caught this on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and was so inspired I promised to never complain about modern moving again (and I haven't)!

These Iranian tribesman undertake an annual pilgrimage across the most challenging terrain you would ever believe humans could traverse JUST TO GET THEIR ANIMALS TO GRASS. They walk barefoot through the snow. Herding cattle and sheep and horses. With cradles on their backs. And dogs tied to the tops of the animals. They cross freezing meltwaters on inflatable goatskins.

If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it. Anyone with a sense of adventure has got to see this one!!!

One of best documentaries ever........2006-11-12

I first saw the film on the TCM on Silent Sunday Night. I was impressed then and am still impressed. What indurance these people must have.

GREAT VINTAGE DOCUMENTARY BY KING KONG'S CREATORS.......2006-09-18

In the early 1920s, the creators of King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and his partner Ernest B. Schoedseck, were fledgling filmmakers when they shot GRASS: A NATION'S BATTLE FOR LIFE.

In dramatic black and white, silent, with music score added later, this account of the Persian (now Iran) Bakhtiarian tribe's annual migration is as gripping as the like-minded People of the Wind (also available on DVD).

This great companion piece to the later and similar film reveals how minimal the changes -- besides fewer numbers, only 50,000 persons -- in the routines over the intervening 50 years between the films.

I like this film's artistry (Shoedsack's photography) and the bold theatrical sense of Cooper's direction. It's the same journey but with different people and from a more primitive and perhaps more daring perspective.

Unrated. Genre: Adventure documentary. 1 hour, 21 minutes. Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Shoedsack and Marguerite Harrison.

A remarkable document, with message aimed at contemporaries.......2005-05-27

This remarkable film easily fits on the same shelf with the finest early documentaries, such as Nanook of the North, Silent Enemy and Man of Aran, whose aim was to capture on film ways of life that were in the process of passing away and now no longer exist. What sets this one apart from the others is that in this film there was a real effort to achieve authenticity and not to create a false (even if "true in spirit") narrative as a backdrop for the plot. In all of the other films mentioned there was a fairly substantial artificiality to the story that was used to retain interest in the material (i.e. they show natives engaging in activities that they no longer engage in, or that they rarely engage in; they set up little dramas; this is something that Schoedsack and Cooper found they needed to do for the success of their next film: Chang; but here they tried to be more naturalistic). In this case, there are two narratives that undergird the document: the story of Schoedsack and Cooper themselves (who remain for the most part in the background) and of the woman who accompanied them (Marguerite Harison); the second is the story of the tribal leader and his young son who will someday take the mantel of the father and lead the villagers along the same journey. While there is some staging of these "stories," it is less complex than in the other films and retains a ring of authenticity -- the boy really will have to become a leader and the crew really did make it across (it is also interesting to note that they include a mark of the authenticity of their journey in the film by filming a signed affidavit from a local authority that they had in fact completed the trek). The real "heroes" of the story, whose actions could not be faked, were the tribe as a whole who had to walk barefoot over snowy mountains to bring their animals to pasture.

In addition to a compelling portrait of a passing way of life, which is full of poignant and witty intertitles and small moments that humanize the massive scope of the operation, the film has a subtext which is to remind American audiences that they have "gone soft" -- that they have lost the hardiness of their pioneer ancestors and that these living people retain it. This is a message that Schoedsack and Cooper remind us of in their subsequent fictional masterpiece: King Kong.

Average customer rating:

Harrison's Flowers

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

One More Kiss
The Cherry Orchard
Shooters
Tale of the Mummy
The Jury

ASIN: B000CIGF7C

Product Description

Immersing herself into a world she never fathomed, Sarah embarks on a perilous journey to find Harrison, her husband, colleague and father of their two children. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photo-journalist is missing on an assignment in a country far, far from home and is presumed dead. But it is Sarah who leaves others in disbelief, hell-bent in her pursuit to find Harrison, dead or alive. And life, as Sarah knew it, suddenly becomes unreal.

Average customer rating:

A Disatisfied Customer
one of the quirkier Fred Astaire musicals.....
A great musical in need of rescue from the public domain
A Bit of Nostalgia
Good Times Video--The Best of a Bad Lot

Royal Wedding
Starring: Fred Astaire , Jane Powell , Peter Lawford , Sarah Churchill , and Keenan Wynn
Director: Stanley Donen
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Ballet & Dance | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

Musicals & Performing Arts | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

Silk Stockings
Funny Face
You Were Never Lovelier
The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)
You'll Never Get Rich

ASIN: 6305066809
Release Date: 1998-07-07

Amazon.com

Fred Astaire dances on the ceiling in this 1951 Alan Jay Lerner musical for MGM, directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain). The appealing story finds Astaire as part of a brother-and-sister act (along with Jane Powell) that travels to London at the time of Queen Elizabeth II's wedding. Astaire and Powell each find romances that threaten to break up the act, but that's mostly fun window dressing in a movie better known for some truly creative sequences made vivid by Donen, including Astaire's famous dance with a hat rack and his duet with Powell, "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You (When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life)?" --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

A Disatisfied Customer.......2007-05-13

This is the first item purchased from Amazon that I was less than satisfied with. I found the DVD of poor quality and the last two tracts were not visable.

one of the quirkier Fred Astaire musicals............2007-05-07

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell play a touring brother and sister dance team, who have a chance opportunity to perform at the same time as the marriage of one of the members of the British royal family. On the way, they perform some jazzy numbers together ["How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You, When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life," "I Left My Hat in Haiti," among others]. What's more, Fred's character manages to fall in love with one of his background dancers [Sarah Churchill, daughter of Winston] and Jane's character falls hard and fast for a British jetsetter [sleezy Peter Lawford].

This film is [perhaps] best known for the famous sequence featuring Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling. For me, that was the best part of the film and he really lit up the screen, for those few minutes. Otherwise, the whole delivery of this story was [more than a little bit] embarrassing. As much as I always loved and respect Fred Astaire, this particular picture really was made with mixed results. One of those factors was Jane Powell. Her singing voice was so shrill and grating, and her character was so snotty, it made me wish that Ginger Rogers had been cast here instead! For Fred Astaire at his very best, I reccomend TOP HAT, SWING TIME and SHALL WE DANCE? The team of Rogers and Astaire will NEVER let you down.

A great musical in need of rescue from the public domain.......2007-04-06

"Royal Wedding" is a great movie for anyone who loves those big MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's and the dancing of Fred Astaire. Of course, the big numbers in this film include Astaire dancing with a hat rack, which only goes to prove he could make any dance partner look good, as well as the famous number where Astaire dances on the walls and ceilings of his London hotel room. The trick here, well known by now, was that the room was actually set up to rotate. What is wondrous about this scene is that Astaire never seems to have any trouble keeping his balance as this rotation is going on. He just looks like someone who is so much in love he is just jumping with joy from floor to wall to ceiling and back. Less mentioned is the number where he dances with Jane Powell onboard ship in choppy waters as furnishings roll about, but it is also a charming piece of choreography.

The plot is fairly simple. Astaire and Powell play a brother and sister song and dance team, Tom and Ellen Bowen, both of whom claim to be against any long-term romantic entanglement. They are invited to perform in London during the period preceding the wedding of then Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip. While in England they both fall in love, leading to a happy ending for both but breaking up the partnership in the process. It's rather interesting that art loosely imitated life in this case, since Fred Astaire's long-running dance partnership with his sister Adele was ended when she got married to a member of the English nobility in 1932. It's also strange that this film was actually made four years after the royal wedding took place. By that time the royal couple already had two children. As for good supporting performances, Keenan Wynn is quite funny playing twin brothers who are theatrical agents on opposite sides of "the pond". They can't understand each other during their telephone conversations because, although both are speaking English, they are using the familiar expressions of their respective countries.

From a technical standpoint, this film is in rather rough shape since it has been in the public domain for some time. However, it is rumored that Warner Brothers is rescuing it from this no man's land, restoring it, and putting it in their upcoming boxed set "Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory Vol. 2", which should be available for purchase by the end of summer 2007.

A Bit of Nostalgia.......2006-11-17

This is a delightful film! Starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell,it revolves around the 1950's wedding of Elizabeth and Phillip. The dancing, of course, is all the elegance, dexterity, and mind-popping steps we would expect from Astaire, even later in his career. Jane Powell's gorgeous and poignant voice is another strong reason to get this film. It is a treasure--the music, especially such pieces as Jane's "Open Your Eyes" and "Too Late Now" are signature songs--so lovely--and they capture an era for many of us that has never been far from our hearts. Astaire's wonderful, rollicking, "I Left My Hat in Haiti" is a charming mixture of song and his unique dance. The plot is rather Shakespearean--the mixup of lovers--but everything turns out happily in the end. The bonus? London--in one of the world's happiest periods! This is a movie to cherish.

Good Times Video--The Best of a Bad Lot.......2006-08-30

Unfortunately, "Royal Wedding", one of the best of the Technicolor MGM musicals, is not available on a high-quality DVD. However, of the several cheap DVDs available, the Good Times Video edition is the best. Not great, with rather poor colors (especially flesh tones), but watchable and well worth the few dollars it costs to hold you over until the film is fully restored and transferred to a good DVD.

Average customer rating:

Well-made
Sarah Sarah
GRITTY WAR BITS BUT A VAPID LOVE STORY
MacDowell, Brody & Gleeson are Great Even When Film Isn't
Harrison's Flowers

Harrison's Flowers [Region 2]
Starring: Andie MacDowell , Elias Koteas , Brendan Gleeson , Adrien Brody , and David Strathairn
Director: Elie Chouraqui
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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

Shooters
The Cherry Orchard
Tale of the Mummy
One More Kiss
The Jury

ASIN: B0000A33RI

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Well-made.......2007-02-24

Sarah Sarah.......2006-08-28

GRITTY WAR BITS BUT A VAPID LOVE STORY.......2006-03-26

MacDowell, Brody & Gleeson are Great Even When Film Isn't.......2004-11-19

Harrison's Flowers.......2004-09-14

Harrison's Flowers [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]

Average customer rating:

Harrison's Flowers [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]
Director: Elie Chouraqui
Manufacturer: UFG
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000AACEJK

Product Description

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o French (subtitles) o English (Dolby DTS) o French (Dolby DTS) o English (Dolby Digital 5.1) o French (Dolby Digital 5.1) Synopsis: French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the happily married wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn). Harrison has been reconsidering his career of covering the world's war zone "hot spots" in order to spend more time with his family, and is accused by his colleague, Kyle (Adrien Brody), of playing it too safe in his risky profession. Harrison elects to accept one more combat assignment to cover the simmering tensions in Croatia, a conflict that quickly erupts into a full-scale, genocidal Civil War. Informed that Harrison is believed to have been killed in the fighting, Sarah refuses to accept her husband's death and becomes convinced that she's seen him, alive, in a news broadcast. She travels to Croatia on a quest to find him, and is eventually aided by Kyle, as well as two of Harrison's other colleagues, Yeager (Elias Koteas) and Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). The group, armed with cameras instead of weapons, witnesses the horrors and atrocities unfolding in the region, while tracing the elusive path of Harrison, who may well be dead already. Special Features: o Scene Access

DVD:

DVD

One Night At McCool's [2001]

DVD: Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

Arlington Road