Alice, Sweet Alice

Starring:Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula E. Sheppard, Niles McMaster, Jane Lowry, Rudolph Willrich, Michael Hardstark, Alphonso DeNoble, Gary Allen, Brooke Shields, Louisa Horton, Tom Signorelli, Lillian Roth, Patrick Gorman, Kathy Rich, Ted Tinling, Mary Boylan, Peter Bosche, Joseph Rossi, Marco Quazzo
Director: Alfred Sole
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The Little Vampire is excellently acted and great to look at. Stuart Little's Jonathan Lipnicki carries, on his pint-sized shoulders, his every scene as 8-year-old Tony, befriender of vampires, and the Scottish setting lends itself nicely to spookiness. But where this video earns most points is in the plot department. A continent away from his native California, Tony's having a tough time making new friends when a band of vagabond vampires enters his life through his bedroom window. The encounter seems pure coincidence at first, but then the scary truth surfaces: Tony, though he's not a vampire himself, has "sympathy for our kind," as the dad of the bat-linked brood puts it. Visions of vampire happenings from generations past invade the third-grader's consciousness, and they hold the key to the clan's current gypsy-like predicament. Through his clairvoyance and, by extension, the discovery of a long-lost amulet, the mostly benevolent bloodsuckers are able to reclaim their rightful status as proper cave dwellers in their homeland. Clueless-parent predicaments abound and are cleverer than most--Tony's mom and dad smirk at their son's vampire-obsessed imagination until the cape-draped heads of the clan drop by for a visit--and the gang's adventures eluding a bumbling vampire hunter are genuinely chuckleworthy. At-home Twizzler munchers ages 8 and older won't soon tire of this charmer of a Transylvanian transplant. --Tammy La Gorce

Description

Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little) stars as 9-year-old Tony who befriends a young vampire named Rudolph who asks Tony to help him find an ancient amulet that will grant Rudolph and his family their ultimate wish ... to be human again.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features:Original theatrical website; Ability to jump from the script to the scene in the movie
Full Screen Version:Widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film
Interactive Menus
Other:Three interactive kid-friendly games; Hilarious vampire and monster jokes; Easy-to-make recipes for spooky snacks; 5.1 Surround Sound and 2.0 Stereo Sound
Scene Access
Screen Saver:Cool flying vampire cow screensaver

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Movie.......2007-06-27

This movie is a really enjoyable movie for all ages. My son will not stop watching it.

Daughter's Favorite Movie for MONTHS.......2007-03-30

This movie is so cute! The flying vampire cows are insane. Funniest part of the movie is the farmer who keeps going in to check on the cows! Cute, sweet fun. Get it and watch it with your kids. Very funny movie.

This movie is pretty old so actors are pretty well grown by now BUT my daughter has a HUGE crush on boy who plays Rudolph. Be prepared Moms and Dads as he is a little cutie and your girls will flip over this mini heart throb.

It's Great........2007-03-18

My little sister and I love this movie. So does my mother and she does not like vampire movies, but she say's that this one was good.

A great feel good movie.......2007-01-10

My Grandson has worn out two VHS tapes of this movie. It is one of those movies you can watch over and over with your kids and always find something else to enjoy. We bought him two DVDs for Christmas one for his house and one for ours.
The vampires in this movie are not out to harm anyone, just be a "normal" family. The flying cows are a giggle.
Grade school kids should be fine with this movie, preschool kids may need an adult to watch the first time.

not too scary, but maybe alittle, kid's show.......2007-01-03

This is one of my 5 year old's favorite movies. I bought it after renting it about 10 times from Blockbuster. It is a kid's show, but watch it with them at first if your kids are little. Some of the scenes could be a little intense for first time viewers. However, most of them are humorous and the scary of the scary parts wears off. I love the vampire cows especially.

Average customer rating:

Yawn, Gov'ner.
The Only Alice Movie that Really Gets It
A Bit Rushed at the Beginning
Cute!
an Enchanting Fantasy

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Starring: Jonathan Bailey , Ian Holm , Paulette Williams , Charlotte Curley , and Geoffrey Palmer
Director: John Henderson
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Alice in Wonderland [TV 1985]
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Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

ASIN: B0006FO9C4
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Product Description

Alice traveled to Wonderland once-but now she takes another journey to a fascinating world with memorable characters...Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, Red King and Queen, Red and White Knights, and Jabberwocky. Join Alice on this enchanted and magical adventure sure to delight and amaze the whole family!

System Requirements:

Running Time 86 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

A delicious combination of live-action, animation, and special effects tells the fantastical adventures of Alice as she returns to Wonderland, in this imaginative adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic story of the same name. Kate Beckinsale plays Alice, a young girl who steps through a magical mirror and is transported from the real world into an enchanted one of talking insects, nonsensical questions, and reversals of logic. Her journey is marked by mostly incomprehensible encounters with quirky characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Red Queen and White Queen, and Humpty Dumpty. Beckinsale's Alice is a believable blend of curiosity, poise, and impertinence whose presence in nearly every scene carries the film. Other strong performances include Desmond Barritt, as Humpty, who recites a chilling rendition of "Beware the Jabberwocky," and Ian Holm (The Lord of the Rings), as White Knight, with a soliloquy as colorful as his hair. If, as Carroll states at the end of his tale, "all life is but a dream," this wacky version is one to remember. (Ages 10 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Customer Reviews:

Yawn, Gov'ner........2007-06-03

"Easy stomach." [Lewis Carroll] Alice is 7-1/2 now. She has "B" cups and runs around in high heels. She encounters a numbing variety of nuisances each of whom vyes for the title of Most Least Relevant. Her adventure is enhanced by the technical marvel of the shoulder mounted camera. Mm-mm. This is an English picture so everybody talks everybody to death and there is nothing to wake you up when it is over. Read the book first because you probably won't understand most of them. Or want to. Don't attribute this croaker to Carroll. Pin it on Tennyson of some lesser worthy. "All in the sleepy afternoon rode the six hundred ..." If you insist on insulting yourself anyway, make sure you can get your money back. In American dollars.

The Only Alice Movie that Really Gets It.......2007-04-20

No, this is not 100% true to the book. Obviously not, since it starts in the present and stars an adult Alice. But it is one of the few Alices that keeps to the events of the one book, instead of blending both, and it is the only one I have seen to successfully convey the absurdism, the surrealism, the silliness, and the disturbing qualities--as well as the occasional touching moments. The movie is worth seeing if only for Ian Holm's beautifully melancholy rendition of "A-Sitting on a Gate" (or whatever the song is called!). Yes, the filmmakers clearly spent all their money on their cast, and not much on sets and special effects, but they supply in imagination what they lack in budget.

A Bit Rushed at the Beginning.......2007-02-04

This is quite an interesting version of Through the Looking Glass because its screenplay uses little else than direct book quotation. Of course, I can only imagine how challenging pulling off such a feat can be, since Carroll had SO much stuff to say. How to cram it all in? Well, you can try going very, very fast. And that's exactly what this movie does for the first 40 minutes or so. I mean it blazes from one chapter to the next, and as a result the characters seem a bit under-established and it's tough for the viewer to know what the heck is going on. However, the last half of the movie slows down quite a bit to an appropriate pace, and is quite enjoyable, at least to anyone who's read the book.

Another thing to consider in attempting to translate a Carroll book to film is carrying out the dialogue successfully without making the film seem too talky. Speeding through lines DOES make the time spent on talking shorter, but I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, speeding through the Walrus and the Carpenter poem completely ruined it for me. It sounded mumbled and I couldn't even hear most of it since some rather loud background music was playing during the entire scene.

The excessive amount of incredibly witty dialogue doesn't work near as well on the screen as it does in print, but I wouldn't say this film is bad, or even average. Heck, I was very pleased to see that it contained the Wasp in a Wig chapter, and the train scene is incredibly spooky, moreso than it is in the book. There's no denying that this movie does a very good job with the spooky stuff, and the white queen running in super-fast motion darn sure creeped me out. You know, odd as it is, I never felt creeped out reading a Carroll book. I always found his works to be darn funny and thought-provoking (the good kind of provoking) at the same time. What fond memories of the book this Through the Looking Glass DVD brought back to me!

Cute!.......2007-01-18

I liked it, it was an interesting version. I never thought that I'd see Kate Beckingsale playing Alice. It was funny how her hair kept changing with like every scene.

an Enchanting Fantasy.......2006-12-18

I think the Brits really made an enchanting fantasy tale here (I prefer this one to Hollywood's efforts). All the British voices are especially elegant and persuasive (never overdone)- and witty. Older actors are good here, as often in British TV shows (Americans seem to insist on the younger). I liked the music on the soundtrack (especially with the end credits), and found Kate Beckinsale absolutely lovely, and nice as Alice.

Average customer rating:

Cute and worth watching, just don't expect too much
Great movie.
CLOSE THE BOOK NOW PLEASE
Cute puppies. 16th april 2004.
This is a horible movie

102 Dalmatians (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Glenn Close , Gérard Depardieu , Ioan Gruffudd , Alice Evans , and Tim McInnerny
Director: Kevin Lima
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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101 Dalmatians
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ASIN: B000059TCD
Release Date: 2001-04-03

Amazon.com

Don't be fooled by the title. Rather than 102, there are 4 reasons to like this sequel to the successful live-action remake of Disney's animated classic. There are the 101 spotted pooches, Glenn Close back in fine form as Cruella De Vil, Oddball--the spotless dalmation pup--and Waddlesworth, a parrot who thinks he's a rottweiler (and is voiced by Monty Python's Eric Idle). There are just as many reasons to be disappointed. Like most sequels, the story line is virtually a rewrite of the first, the secondary casting isn't as interesting, the dialogue merely serves to move the plot along, and the third act substitutes mean-spiritedness for comedy. After a period of rehabilitation, Cruella has returned to her old tricks. Once again, she simply must have a spotted coat and will go to any lengths to get ahold of the 102 dalmatians needed to make one with a hood. She sets her sights on the pups owned by her probation officer, Chloe (Alice Evans), and the owner of a local animal shelter, Kevin (Ioan Gruffudd of Horatio Hornblower). Her servant, Alonso (Tim McInnerny), and flamboyant furrier Monsieur Le Pelt (Gerard Depardieu, in one ridiculous outfit after another) are drafted to aid in her quest. It should come as no surprise that Chloe and Kevin fall in love, Oddball helps to save the day, and Cruella is defeated. Children should enjoy the animal high jinks, but adults are less likely to be enamored by this perfectly competent, but relatively charmless affair. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Get ready for outrageous fun in Disney's 102 DALMATIANS. It's a brand-new hilarious adventure, starring the audacious Oddball, the spotless Dalmatian puppy on a search for her rightful spots, and Waddlesworth, the wisecracking, delusional macaw who thinks he's a Rottweiler. Barking mad, this unlikely duo leads a posse of puppies on a mission to outfox the wildly wicked, ever-scheming Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close). Filled with chases, close calls, hilarious antics, and thrilling escapes all the way from London through the streets of Paris -- and a Parisian bakery -- this adventure-packed tale is wacky good fun your entire family will want to howl over again and again.

Customer Reviews:

Cute and worth watching, just don't expect too much.......2005-08-05

I didn't expect to like this movie, but it turned out to be entertaining and kind of cute, a solid 3 star offering - and it's definitely just right for the kids. Adults will find the plot transparently obvious and standardly Disney-predictable, but then it *is* supposed to be a kids' movie! If nothing else, grownups, get it to watch the usually serious Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower and Fantastic Four) play tug-of-war with his dogs and get made fun of by his parrot, who was voiced by the incomparable Eric Idle.

Great movie........2005-06-10

My Grandma gave this movie to me and I really wanted to see it. I watched it and it was great. Cruella just gets released from jail and she tries to be nice because she dosen't want to go to jail again. Eventually she becomes mean and tries to kills the puppies once again. They end up at a cake factory and they cook Cruella. I enjoyed watching this movie. I think anyone should get it. A great film!

CLOSE THE BOOK NOW PLEASE.......2005-03-26

101 DALMATIANS, the original animated film, is one of my favorites from childhood that I still relish as an adult now. It had charm, wit, marvelous voicing and the indomitable Cruella DeVil. The live action feature which preceded this sequel was okay, thanks mainly to the dynamically overblown and convincing Glenn Close in the role of Cruella. This sequel to that live action version is mindless entertainment, with a few clever and cute scenes, but it is basically a rehash of the original plot, with again Ms. Close obviously having a jolly good time going bonkers on screen. Gerard Depardieu was embarrassing to watch as Le Pelt, and the human leads (Alice Evans, Ioan Grufford) are too cardboard to care about. Tim McInnerny as Cruella's manservant was very enjoyable in his role, and even though the macaw finally got too cutesy, he was fun for a while. Close's costumes and hairdos were splendid fun, and it is to her credit that this movie is as fun as it is, it should've been a bomb, but Close keeps it afloat.

Cute puppies. 16th april 2004........2004-04-16

I have never really seen the first propally, but i could imagine the second been that bit better. Great for anyone, really cute doggies, and ther are 102 of them on a adventure near to the end.

This is a horible movie.......2004-02-13

I thought it would be a delightful flick with cute pupies running away from a nasty lady but it's not that way. old tired jokes get used agan agan and agan. BOTTOM LINE: it stinks

Average customer rating:

I didnt like it
very very good
Go Axe Alice
Finally A Classic Being Re-Released As It Should Be!! 4.5 stars...
One Thing

Alice, Sweet Alice
Starring: Linda Miller , Mildred Clinton , Paula E. Sheppard , Niles McMaster , and Jane Lowry
Director: Alfred Sole
Manufacturer: Henstooth Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000MX7V3O
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

Paula Sheppard is Alice, a pouty, petulant problem child at that awkward age living with her precocious little sister Karen (Brooke Shields) and single mom. When Karen is murdered during her first communion and Alice takes her place in line, suspicion immediately falls on her. Then a diminutive killer in a yellow slicker and opaque mask continues the reign of terror, and Alice's estranged father takes up the investigation to prove her innocence. Director Alfred Sole has acknowledged a debt to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now, but Alice, Sweet Alice is really in the Hitchcock mold, a stylish, smartly executed psychological suspense thriller. The violence is rarely graphic but often grueling and always harrowing, and the deaths reverberate through the film in genuine and sometimes hysterical outpourings of grief. Even when Sole reveals the killer's identity in a startling moment halfway through (à la Vertigo), the tension never lets up. The original title of the film, Communion, better captures the Catholic elements of guilt, sacrifice, and redemption that become central to the film (another tip to Hitchcock). Only a couple of grotesque caricatures (notably an obese pedophile landlord) and a few rough moments (largely special effects scenes, likely due to budgetary constraints) mar this otherwise intelligent and well executed thriller. The DVD also features an insightful commentary track by director Alfred Sole and editor Edward Salier and an alternate credits sequence (identical but for the film's title), as well as brief biographies and filmographies and a stills gallery. --Sean Axmaker

Description

When ten-year-old Karen (Brooke Shields) is killed in church on the occasion of her first communion, her seemingly innocent older sister Alice (Paula Sheppard) becomes the prime suspect. Matters become complicated as more of Alice's family members are attacked, along with residents of her apartment building. Can a twelve-year-old girl be capable of such mayhem, or is someone else with a vicious plan destroying her family? ALICE SWEET ALICE features a surprising amount of bloodletting along with a heavy dose of Catholic iconography. This was the first (albeit brief) screen appearance for Shields. The film is alternately known as Communion and Holy Terror. Special Features Include Commentary by Director Alfred Sole & Film Editor Edward Salier and Photo Gallery. Presented in Letterboxed format (Aspect Ratio 1.85:1)

Customer Reviews:

I didnt like it.......2007-06-19

Dysfunctional Catholic family, 10 yr old Karen 'Brooke Shields' is killed during her communion afterwards her innocent sister becomes a suspect. Then more people start being attacked in the building she lived in. Was it really the sister or someone else who did this? This one was something else... I didnt understand it. It was too confusing, it wasnt scary, just didnt do it for me. Too much of a soap opera plot and issues going on in this one.

very very good.......2007-05-29

i just got this dvd, the Henstooth Video version that came in may 2007 (not the anchor bay version that is out of print) i was very surprised by
this movie.Great cast, great music, a nice 70`s feel (it reminded me a bit
of The Exorcist) The only thing is that their are no xtra features and the
transfer wasent great (it looks grayish)If you have never seen this movie (and if you are a horror movie fan) go get it now.Cant say if the anchor bay version is better (im sure it is cause they are the best)

Go Axe Alice .......2007-05-11

Director Alfred Sole's independently-produced cult classic, 'Alice, Sweet Alice' (1976), which is also known as 'Communion,' is a flawed but fairly unique and psychologically interesting horror film. While potentially murderous children were not an unknown in American cinema at the time of the film's release (1956's 'The Bad Seed' introduced young Patty McCormack as a smiling, blond, and pony-tailed killer), when combined with a cast of characters which includes a filthy, morbidly-obese, and sexually perverted landlord (Alphonso DeNoble in a high camp performance that almost ruins the film), a neurotic, nervous, and controlling aunt (Jane Lowry), and a variety of religious fanatics, 'Alice, Sweet Alice' certainly stands out from the dozens of low-budget horror films of the period.

The film, which takes place in a working-class New Jersey neighborhood in 1961, creates a near-suffocating atmosphere of underdeveloped consciousness. Most of the characters are relatively uneducated, only moderately socialized, and live in an ugly, claustrophobic urban world of frustration, disappointment, superstition, and strict obedience to Catholic dogma and ritual.

'Alice, Sweet Alice' is rather astute in its vision of an inner-city environment in which sociopaths, psychopaths, psychotics, and neurotics are the norm rather than the exception: only Alice's much put-upon mother (Linda G. Miller), Alice's remarried and disenfranchised father (Niles McMaster), and handsome, cheerful Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich) appear mentally stable and healthy. Almost everyone else is both a victimizer and victim in some way, or, like Alice's cousin, Angela (Kathy Rich), a fat child who can't stop stuffing food into her mouth, hardly more conscious than a goldfish.

Much of the film is seen from the perspective of Alice (Paula Sheppard), a psychopathic 12-year old who enjoys tormenting other people in any number of sadistic ways, and who enacts a number of strange rituals of her own devising in the cellar of the sprawling multi-family house in which her family lives. But, the film asks, does Alice's psychopathology necessarily mean that she is the petite killer, dressed in the same bright yellow rain slicker and spooky semi-translucent mask that are Alice's oddball trademarks, who is brutally attacking people in her immediate vicinity?

Alice may be a psychopath, as a clinician later explains to her parents, but Alice is also a victim of her environment and of her family's history, which may or may not explain the often cruel and predatory state of her psyche. 'Alice, Sweet Alice' ultimately works effectively because Sole allows the viewer to vicariously experience Alice's vulnerability, confusion, and doubt as well as her viciousness.

Sole and co-writer Rosemary Ritvo made the unfortunate choice allowing their film to reach one of its pivotal climaxes midway through, a decision which takes quite a bite out of the story's forward momentum.

The killer's eventually-revealed motives are so complicated, weakly presented, and loosely scattered over several scenes that the viewer is forced to make a concerted effort to understand the plot in the manner in which its producers intend. Some of the rampaging killer's actions and behavior while wearing the raincoat-and-mask-costume are simply impossible to square with the killer as we have come to know him or her over the course of the film.

Such an approach might have been successful in the hands of a more capable director, but to make the killer's motivations and activities genuinely convincing, 'Alice, Sweet Alice' should have included one more solidly-written expository scene. Even the killer's physical stature seems to fly in the face of the haunting tiny figure the viewer has repeatedly witnessed.

There are other scenes which also defy believability, such as when Alice's father, Dominick, receives a telephone call for help from a young relative. The voice the viewer--and presumably Dominick--hears is so high-pitched, unnatural, and bizarre that it's impossible to accept that this previously rational, level-headed adult actually thinks he is speaking to the party in question.

In the next scene, which was clearly inspired by the climax of Nicholas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' (1973), Dominick, in an effort to provide assistance, ludicrously chases a small, continually fleeing figure in a yellow raincoat. Thus, when Dominick suddenly finds himself the hunted and not the hunter, cinematic justice for his foolish behavior seems to have been served.

Lastly, a very brief interlude in which Alice has ostensibly come to believe that Karen's ghost is responsible for the attacks is woefully underdeveloped.

The badly-paced, often undisciplined 'Alice, Sweet Alice' has been compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but the only Hitchcock film it even remotely resembles is 'Frenzy' (1972), a late and uncharacteristic Hitchcock indeed. Nonetheless, for an independent writer-director's first mainstream effort, 'Alice, Sweet Alice' is as remarkable as some of Dario Argento's lesser productions from the same relative era, such as 'Cat O Nine Tails' (1971) or 'Four Flies On Grey Velvet' (1972).

Finally A Classic Being Re-Released As It Should Be!! 4.5 stars..........2007-02-17

I remember when I had the 1999 DVD edition of Alice, Sweet Alice and I remember it was quite a thrill to own and watch. It was one of the superior thrillers out there (see my other review of that edition which is available and it will tell you my thoughts on this movie). Finally, our wonderful movie heads have decided to re-release this classic in a new edition. For those of you who have waited patiently while the other edition sells on ebay for $30-$50 a pop, you can now own this movie for less than $25 and it will most assuredly be a necessary edition to your collection. Whether you're a Brooke Shields fan or a fan of cult classics, Alice, Sweet Alice should not disappoint you fans who have been hungering for this! Now, you'll have the chance to own a movie that has become a cult hit in its own right!

One Thing.......2006-11-05

Hi. i just want to say that i have never seen this movie. i really want to but there is just one problem. THE ANCHOR BAY VERSIONS ARE SO DAMN HARD TO FIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAT THE HELL ANCHOR BAY!!!!!!YOU SHOULD RE-RELEASE THESE MOVIES!!!!!!THE FULCI FILMS, THE ARGENTO FILMS, TRILOGY OF TERROR, ALICE SWEET ALICE, AND TONS OF OTHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!YOU JUST RELEASE THE MOVIE ONE YEAR AND ONLY MAKE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF COPIES!!!!!!!!!!OH YEAH!!!!!!!AND WHEN I FINALLY GET THE COPY OF THE MOVIE I END UP PAYING HUNDREDS OF FRIGGIN BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!DO ME A FAVOR AND RE-RELEASE THIS MOVIE AND THE OTHERS SO WE WONT END UP PAYING 100 DOLLARS TO SOME GOTHIC KID WHO SELLS BOOTLEGS IN NEW YORK ALLEYWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Once again, Fox blows it
Gangs of New York
A perfect example
Disappointing transfer
Fabulous Busby Berkely musical

The Gang's All Here
Starring: Alice Faye , Carmen Miranda , Phil Baker , Benny Goodman , and Benny Goodman Orchestra
Director: Busby Berkeley
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000K7VHN2
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Amazon.com

Here's one of Hollywood's great excursions into surrealism: The Gang's All Here, the legendarily over-the-top wartime musical. Director Busby Berkeley threw every demented idea that every swirled out of his teeming brain into this madcap affair, and decades later the film was still wowing 'em as a campy jaw-dropper.

The plot is the nonsensical stuff of homefront musicals, with chorus girl Alice Faye waiting for soldier boy James Ellison to return from the war, little knowing he is engaged to another woman. But the real point here is the crazy production design and the flabbergasting numbers--most famously, Carmen Miranda's "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat," which includes a chorus line of women dancing while holding giant bananas over their heads. It might have been dreamed up by Salvador Dali after an acid trip. Alice gets her due with the equally crazy "Polka-Dot Polka," and Benny Goodman and his orchestra are also around. So are such reliable second bananas (you should excuse the expression) as Edward Everett Horton and high-kicking Charlotte Greenwood.

The DVD extras include a 20-minute documentary on Berkeley's peculiar art, plus a charming 25-promotional film featuring Alice Faye reminiscing about her old pictures and extolling the virtues of physical fitness (made for the Pfizer drug company while Faye was their spokesperson). A deleted comedy scene and two episodes from the long-running radio show Faye did with husband Phil Harris are also included. The print itself is a source of controversy; the colors lack the "pop" of the original Technicolor, and the film looks dimmer and vaguer than its original glory. Here's hoping a cleaner, fuller version will emerge. --Robert Horton

Description

Her girl-next-door looks combined with a sultry singing voice made Alice Faye one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the Golden Age of Cinema.

Eadie Allen (Alice Faye) is a chorus girl who dreams of becoming a star. While working at a New York nightclub, she meets Sergeant Andy Mason (James Ellison); they fall in love but he is shipped off to war. As Eadie becomes the headliner at the nightclub, Andy comes home a war hero. But complications arise when Eadie finds out Andy is unofficially engaged to another woman. It's up to Eadie's friend and nightclub co-star Dorita (Carmen Miranda) to set things straight. The Gang's All Here is filled with leggy chorus dancers and lavish musical production numbers including Faye's flashy neon finale "The Polka Dot Polka."

Customer Reviews:

Once again, Fox blows it.......2007-05-14

After years of waiting for this DVD, we're given a poor transfer, just like with "Oklahoma." What is wrong with Fox? Be prepared to really jack up the color on your monitor if you want to watch this film. In the restoration featurette, you can clearly see that the 94 transfer is better - couldn't Fox see that?! Wake up, people! What a bummer...

Gangs of New York.......2007-04-28

I suppose I will be kicked out of the international brotherhood of camp fans, but I have to say it, THE GANG'S ALL HERE is far from being the ne plus ultra of Busby Berkeley extravagance, or even fun. It had its vogue in the 1960s, when it played in a midtown New York movie theater for four months to sellout crowds, and it has its admirers today, but for me, I can take it or leave it.

That is, except for Alice Faye who looks beautiful in nearly every closeup and who sings a couple of wonderful songs, especially "A Journey to a Star," in that low husky, actually freakish voice of hers. What was going on behind the scenes I wonder? Why did she quit making musicals after completing this? It was a national tragedy! Was it she was weary of uphill sledding having to play opposite such goodlooking nothings as James Ellison, who plays Andy Mason here as though he had never seen a girl or even walked on a floor before. There's an extended bit of business in which Alice Faye and Sheila Ryan, playing her rich girl rival, keep swiping back and forth a glamor photo of Andy, and putting it proudly in their own bedrooms. Well, James Ellison does better acting in the photo than he does in the actual rest of the picture. And Sheila Ryan is like Ann Miller without the personality.

The movie may be slightly overstuffed, and I could have done without Phil Baker (as himself, and that means, as "who"?) and also Benny Goodman, he's great but he leaves no lasting impression in the movie. It's hard to believe that Greenwood, Miranda, and Faye all mixed up together could produce such a blah result, but they are given nothing to do together and Greenwood, in particular, looks squelched trying to play an impossible part where she hardly gets to kick up her heels in her signature high splits but once or twice. The "Apash" dance she performs is just awful; it's supposed to be funny, true, but the Apaches should have sued for defamation. The problem with the movie is the two incredibly stupid plots (or three, I guess). Edward Everett Horton trying to conceal from his wife his interest in Carmen Miranda--right. James Ellison forgetting that he's engaged, no matter how ritualistically, to Sheila Ryan, when he meets and woos Alice Faye. No matter how they try to explain it, he still comes off as a dirtbag--or a cad, to use 40s Fox terms. And the horrid story of show business in the blood of Charlotte Greenwood and her daughter, it's more gruesome than you can possibly imagine.

Some fans say, well, the plot is just an excuse for those elaborate, Freudian, nutty surreal Berkeley numbers. And they are pretty great (except in the new transfer nearly every number looks blah and bleak). The Polka Dot Dance is crazy, isn't it. Alice Faye stands in front of a ballroom filled with waltzing pairs of little kids, and claims that the polka as a dance is dead, but the polka dot will never die.

A perfect example.......2007-03-25

THE GANGS ALL HERE is a perfect example of a 1st Class musical film of the 40's. Busby Berkley pulled all the stops out when he directed this classic. The extras this DVD is a great insight into the making of these wonderful films.
I must congratulate UCLA film archives for resurrecting films such as these, to show this generation how it was all done.

Disappointing transfer.......2007-03-15

I reluctantly agree with the early comments about the poor quality of the transfer. I own the laserdisk version of this film; it is an extraordinary record of 1940's Technicolor: bright and vibrant. The DVD is a pale comparison.

Amazingly, the DVD has a side by side comparison of a 1994 version of the film, and the current, "restored" version. This is where the "before" is miles better than the "after." It looks as though Fox considers getting rid of some specks here and there as representing a full restoration. At Warner, the efforts with Gone With The Wind, Singing in the Rain, Wizard of Oz, etc. have shown that it is possible to get a sharp, clear, colorful result that is arguably better than the original prints. Perhaps this film does not rate as much restorative an effort, but it would have been nice to see, at the very least, as nice a transfer as the earlier laser.

Fabulous Busby Berkely musical.......2007-03-14

This musical is surreal from start to finish..it has the most lurid colors you'll ever see in a musical. Alas, the DVD transfer is not good, keep those copies you made from the Fox Movie channel!

However, if you adjust the color on your set to high, and fool with the HUE button, and the Brightness button, you will have the return of the colorful magic of this wild and crazy film.

Miranda and Faye are drenched in pastels and sing songs that are beyond the realm of fantasy when the color is added..Also, Charlotte Greenwood, with those swinging long legs is on hand to dance by the pool with a young dancer and it's almost like a merrie melodie..so cartoonish, but they are people!

Busby Berkely was known for making humans do the inhuman, and he does it here all the time, and so you have an uncommon film of stars immersing themselves into this tutti frutti technicolor bath with wild abandon.

Also, notice that camera rock and roll, unintentionally I am sure, as it pans all over the place, sometimes with no point of view or even good focus. In the opening the camera cannot stay still..Berkely often took over the camera, and it seems that here there was squabbling going on between him and the cinematograher.

This is also Alice Faye's last film for Fox, until that camp State Fair of 1962 with Ann-Margaret. It is a hell of send off, but the confusion, the color, the shots that needed to be re shot and are not, make it allunique in all of cinema musical history.

Remember, keep your tapes, but work with the color, hue and brightness, and watch the film as it was made, IN COLOR times a million.

Average customer rating:

Ill Take Sweden 1965
Bob Hope Learns About Love the Swedish Way in Cute 1960's Comedy
Bob Hope and Sweden rule!!!
Pretty Bad
I'll take Sweden... back to Best Buy for a refund. Ha!

I'll Take Sweden
Starring: Bob Hope , Tuesday Weld , Frankie Avalon , Dina Merrill , and Jeremy Slate
Director: Frederick De Cordova
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Princess and the Pirate
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ASIN: B0007O38ZS
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Description

Bob Hope leads an all-star castincluding Frankie Avalon (Beach Party), Tuesday Weld (Bachelor Flat) and Dina Merrill (Operation Petticoat)in this deliriously funny comedy about a beleaguered dad and his ocean-hopping attempt to keep his teenage daughter from marrying! Bob Holcomb (Hope) will do anything to stop his daughter JoJo (Weld) from tying the knot withher lazy boyfriend (Avalon), even move her all the way to Sweden! But once they're "safely" out of the country, JoJo falls for a sly Swedish playboy. Content with a new love of his own (Merrill) and faced with the prospect of more heartbreak for JoJo, Bob makes secret plans for another international trip one that should make everyone happy.

Customer Reviews:

Ill Take Sweden 1965.......2006-04-19

This is a disaster and most boring movie ever watch with Bob Hope (1903-2003) Made nearly almost in a Studio and in a Fake Sweden and its much talking around and Frankie Avalon (1939- ) are the most boring of them all ! . Save your money or buy some better Bob Hope movies !

Bob Hope Learns About Love the Swedish Way in Cute 1960's Comedy.......2005-12-29

While it would never be considered anywhere near the best comedy Bob Hope ever made "I'll Take Sweden", has it's own quaint charm coming as it does from a much more innocent age in movie making. The "sexy" goings on in the storyline, probably considered 'risque", back in 1963 now of course seem positively tame by today's standards which in my belief gives this film it's antique appeal. The film was in many ways a wise career move for veteran comedian Bob Hope as here he succeeded in moving with the times, placing himself right in among the supposed "hip" movie going crowd of the mid 1960's who would have gone to see this film mainly because of it's two young and extremely popular costars in the beautiful Tuesday weld and singing sensation turned movie actor Frankie Avalon.

Bob Hope and Sweden rule!!!.......2005-09-15

This is a superb 60's comedy starring Bob Hope,Tuesday Weld and Frankie Avalon filmed mostly in beautiful Sweden.It's a must see!!!!!!!!

Pretty Bad.......2005-07-21

I got this DVD because I am Swedish and it seemed like it could be a fun comedy from the mid-60s. While it does have a few funny moments, boy is it bad! I can't decide what was worst: the very dated plot, the overacting, the literally laughable special effects, or the worst Swedish I have ever heard! I also can't figure out why anyone went to the trouble of releasing this turkey on DVD. Avoid this DVD.

I'll take Sweden... back to Best Buy for a refund. Ha!.......2005-07-16

Wow, this movie is bad. I'm a huge Bob Hope fan, and I really like some of his later films... The Private Navy or Sgt. O'Farrell, How to Commit Marriage. But this movie is the PITS! The story centers around Bob's surf goddess daughter and the obsession Bob holds for her virginity. Uncomfortable. People who where alive for the sixties may be amused by how incredibly off-base this movie's depiction of the era's youth culture is, and fans of music will dig the lyrics to the films title song, as crooned by Frankie Avalon: "I'll never get bored, of smorgasbord, I'll take Sweden, ya-ya-ya." So, so bad. But it is a shade away from craptastic.

Average customer rating:

Cute and worth watching, just don't expect too much
Great movie.
CLOSE THE BOOK NOW PLEASE
Cute puppies. 16th april 2004.
This is a horible movie

102 Dalmatians (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Tony Bluto , Jim Carter , Glenn Close , Ron Cook , and Hugh Futcher
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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101 Dalmatians
101 Dalmatians (Limited Issue)
101 Dalmatians II - Patch's London Adventure
The Little Mermaid II - Return to the Sea
Lady & The Tramp II - Scamp's Adventure

ASIN: B00003CXQ7
Release Date: 2001-04-03

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Cute and worth watching, just don't expect too much.......2005-08-05

Great movie........2005-06-10

CLOSE THE BOOK NOW PLEASE.......2005-03-26

Cute puppies. 16th april 2004........2004-04-16

I have never really seen the first propally, but i could imagine the second been that bit better. Great for anyone, really cute doggies, and ther are 102 of them on a adventure near to the end.

This is a horible movie.......2004-02-13

I thought it would be a delightful flick with cute pupies running away from a nasty lady but it's not that way. old tired jokes get used agan agan and agan. BOTTOM LINE: it stinks

Average customer rating:

One of Michael's best
great movie
Life With Mikey................A mediocre existence.
really really good movie
@ Brian L Perkins:

Life with Mikey
Starring: Michael J. Fox , Christina Vidal , Nathan Lane , Cyndi Lauper , and David Krumholtz
Director: James Lapine
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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For Love Or Money
Greedy
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ASIN: B00008978M
Release Date: 2003-04-08

Amazon.com

Michael J. Fox's Mikey is the Broadway Danny Rose of child actors. A former child sitcom star turned half-hearted agent to a stable of overeager adolescents, he finds a natural talent when he watches a 12-year-old pickpocket (Christina Vidal) work a crowd to tears. Of course, nothing comes without a price, and the self-involved bachelor soon becomes the unlikely big brother to street-smart Vidal, who soon gives way to sunny cheer. Fox is such an inspired casting choice that most critics missed the undercurrent of self-loathing and loneliness in his impulsive irresponsibility and glib, effortless charm, and Nathan Lane is hilarious as his overworked brother and business partner. They don't get much help from the script, which bounces between smarmy showbiz satire and warm, fuzzy family comedy and winds up as neither, but they manage to make it funny nonetheless.--Sean Axmaker

Description

Hollywood favorite Michael J. Fox (BACK TO THE FUTURE Trilogy) is at his best in this hilarious comedy about show biz. Fox stars as Mikey, a former child star having a little trouble with his new role as a kids' talent agent. He's desperate to find a way to keep his third-rate talent agency from going under when he meets Angie, a young con artist. With her streetwise smarts and irresistible charm, she's a natural for TV commercials and could be their ticket to the big time -- if they don't drive each other crazy first! Count on big laughs with LIFE WITH MIKEY, a fun-filled comedy treat that's sure to entertain everyone!

Customer Reviews:

One of Michael's best.......2007-07-05

This movie is so fun. Michael J. Fox and Nathan Lane are struggling to make stars of their clients, who are kids. The pressures of Hollywood. This movie is a favorite of our family. It also stars Cyndi Lauper and who doesn't love her.

great movie.......2006-11-14

my kids love this movie and were glad to be able to find it on video on Amazon

Life With Mikey................A mediocre existence........2006-10-30

This is not a really bad film, but lacked in a lot of areas to me. The concept was very good, as was much of the acting. The part Cyndi Lauper played could have been better cast to an animal actor like Lassie. Her performance was mediocre at best. Michael J. Fox and Nathan Lane stand out with their performances. The child actors were cast fairly well, video and audio was good, but the plot just wasn't that well written. It's an "ok" movie, and worth adding to a collection for Fox fans, but not something I would ever want to view a second time. I would have liked this film much better with a major re-write to stay with the initial concept it started off with. I thought it was somewhat boring all in all. If your expectations are low before viewing this film, maybe it won't be a tremendous disappointment to you. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

really really good movie.......2005-10-28

I saw this movie after hearing about it for so long and I'm so glad I finally did. It's about a girl named angie who makes a commerical and she's really really funny and sassy. It's one of those success stories

@ Brian L Perkins: .......2005-02-27

@ Brian L Perkins: if you really dislike this, you can choose not to write here, coz write critical things like "i hate that movie" is not being liked by others. I hope that you really respect yourself.

This movie is the best one among all adult-content movie but China still rate it M-18. anyways, this movie is the reason of my christian name...Mikey. yeah coz i think that it's really brilliant.

to brian Perkins, you can choose not to write here if you really not like. Nobody wish to read negative comments. also, if I were u, I wouldn;t degrade myself by writing sth like u.

Average customer rating:

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Starring: Alice Through the Looking Glass
Manufacturer: Liberation Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FIHN6Q
Release Date: 2006-06-20

Barbra Streisand - The Belle of 14th Street [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

Streisand's Belle engaging
not enough Barbra
JUST PLAIN AWFUL
BELLE Not A Bummer
Vaudeville Revue Format Has High Points But Still Remains a Letdown

Barbra Streisand - The Belle of 14th Street [Region 2]
Starring: John William Sublett , Carol Swanberg , Barbra Streisand , Norma Davids , and Lee Allen
Director: Walter C. Miller , and Joe Layton
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000G75B1U
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Amazon.com

Barbra Streisand's third television special, The Belle of 14th Street (October 11, 1967) is something of an oddity. It's styled like a vaudeville show, with period costumes (including the audience) and old-time numbers. Jason Robards (singing and dancing!), John Bubbles, and others guest-star. Streisand plays a modest stripper for "Alice Blue Gown," plays an operatic diva for "Liebestraum," then does double duty as a boy (pre-Yentl) in the audience invited to sing a duet of "Mother Macree" with the on-stage Streisand. The last segment is Streisand singing (accompanied on stage by David Shire before he wrote shows on Broadway with Richard Maltby) such songs as "My Melancholy Baby," "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," and a medley that includes "My Buddy" and "How About Me?" Previously released as part of the five-disc Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials. --David Horiuchi

Description

Her first television special to feature guest-stars, The Belle Of 14th Street celebrates, in ways both comedic and heartfelt, "The Golden Age of Song". A marvelous showcase for such evergreens as Sophie Tucker's "Some Of These Days", "How About Me" (written by "a young new talent" Irving Berlin), the poignant "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", and the sublime "My Buddy" - all classics of the vaudeville era, reinvented by "the greatest star" of our time.

Track Listings:
I Don't Care [Act 1]
You're The Apple Of My Eye [Act 1]
Alice Blue Gown [Act 1]
I'm Going South [Act 1]
We're Four Americans [Act 1]
Liebestraum [Act 2]
Mother Machree [Act 2]
A Taste Of The Tempest [Act 2]
My Melancholy Baby [Act 3]
Everybody Loves My Baby [Act 3]
I'm Always Chasing Rainbows [Act 3]
My Buddy [Act 3]
How About Me [Act 3]
A Good Man Is Hard To Find [Act 3]
Some Of These Days [Act 3]
Put Your Arms Around Me Honey [Act 3]

Customer Reviews:

Streisand's Belle engaging.......2006-09-23

This TV special certainly has a bad reputation- and a few online critics here apparently agree. But for me watching this program for the first time recently was a revelation. Yes there are slow parts- and yes- the other guests distract. But to see Barbra hamming it up and being silly is a delight. Then there's her singing. The concert portion with BS as the "belle" is the best- and she shines throughout this section. She looks trim & radiant just a few months after giving birth to Jason. Rent it or buy it- but judge for yourself. Despite some flaws, it's still classic Barbra.

not enough Barbra.......2006-08-07

I think that, when people see there's going to be a Barbra show, they expect to see and hear a LOT of Barbra. That's why I believe that this show is so disappointing in the first place. Since she was a pioneer of the type of TV musical special in which only the star performs (as opposed to the star and "a whole host of musical guests,") that's what we were looking for. This was such a departure from that format that it was a bit jarring.

In the second place, it might have been saved had the entertainment been more ... entertaining. The music wasn't great, the comedy wasn't very funny, the drama wasn't poignant. Although the show might have been a faithful recreation of a real vaudeville show, I think it served more as an example of why vaudeville died.

JUST PLAIN AWFUL.......2006-07-27

WHY BABS WOULD RELEASE THIS AS A SINGLE SINCE IT WAS IN HER RECENT BOX SET IS A SURPRISE BECAUSE ITS A GIGANTIC FLOP DESTINED TO THE .99 CENT BOX IN THE SUPERMARKET.
IT REALLY IS DREADFUL UNLESS YOUR AN IDIOT WITH BAD TASTE.
INSTEAD, GET MY NAME IS BABS, COLOR ME BABS, AND BABS IN CENTRAL PARK IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED NON-STOP BY AN ORIGINAL AMERICAN GENIUS.

BELLE Not A Bummer.......2006-07-17

THE BELLE OF 14TH STREET has a bad reputation among Streisand's television specials. It was never rebroadcast after it aired in 1967. Columbia Records cancelled a soundtrack album that was to be released. And over the years, Streisand fans have come to know of it as her first "bomb".

Now it's out on DVD. You can judge for yourself.

For me, BELLE is not as horrible as people say it is. True, it is a departure from the formula which worked so well in MY NAME IS BARBRA (1965) and COLOR ME BARBRA (1966). In fact, Barbra's next television special (A HAPPENING IN CENTRAL PARK) would return to the format: Streisand - only - singing.

BELLE included guest stars and a format in which Streisand was not prominently featured. Jason Robards and John Bubbles had their own songs. Set in a turn-of-the-century vaudevillian theater, BELLE OF 14TH was an homage to that style of performing. Perhaps it does not succeed because the creative team makes fun of it and yet lovingly salutes it at the same time.

For Streisand fans, there is a lot to enjoy even if the entire concept does not gell. Barbra and Robards sing a fun, patriotic "We're Four Americans". Any fan who wondered what Streisand must have been like in her off-Broadway show ANOTHER EVENING WITH HARRY STOONES need look no further. In "skit" mode, Streisand is charming. With Robards during this song she dances, mugs, and sometimes does some scene-stealing bits. Fun!

Finally, the last concert segment is pure Streisand joy. Every song is superb. Favorites here are "My Buddy/How About Me" as well as the exhilarating "Everybody Loves My Baby" in which Streisand gets to do some comedic singing.

BELLE is not a bummer. It's a hodge podge of styles and a funny homage to vaudeville. If you can't stand to watch the overly long TEMPEST set piece, then just forward to the songs!

Vaudeville Revue Format Has High Points But Still Remains a Letdown.......2006-07-17

After her first two specials, Barbra Streisand threw caution to the wind with her third CBS-TV special, an idiosyncratic departure called "The Belle of 14th Street", a full-fledged tribute to turn-of the-last-century vaudeville of which she is just one of several performers on hand. Not seen since its original airdate in October 1967, the program is not nearly as bad as its reputation claims, and Streisand and her creative team (which unfortunately excludes Dwight Hemion and Peter Matz this time) deserve credit for taking a risk in producing this old-fashioned variety entertainment. All the period detail, including the audience, has been recreated with surprising authenticity, and the overall tone is actually more nostalgic than satirical. This may be part of the problem viewers had with the special at the time since there is no context provided for why vaudeville would be relevant for a contemporary audience, especially during the Vietnam War era.

The bigger problem is pacing and the distracting involvement of guest stars. The redoubtable Jason Robards actually opens the revue with a chorus of hefty showgirls on "You're the Apple of My Eye", and later, he and Streisand perform an overlong though enthusiastic 11-minute version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Legendary tap dancer John Bubbles shows up for a number dressed inexplicably in a half-chicken costume. Streisand performs "Lieberstraum" as a semi-daft German opera diva and then duets with herself as a young boy on "Mother Machree". She even allows a comic striptease by trick wire as she sings "Alice Blue Gown". Regardless, Streisand performs some rare standards beautifully, especially in the last segment when she covers "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and a lovely medley of "My Buddy" and "How About Me?". On one hand, it is an audacious show that does a fine job replicating a bygone era, even though on the other hand, it doesn't provide the optimal showcase for Streisand's talents.

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