Harry Tracy

Starring:Bruce Dern, Helen Shaver, Michael C. Gwynne, Gordon Lightfoot, Jacques Hubert, Daphne Goldrick, Lynne Kolber, Alex Willows, Frank C. Turner, Fred Diehl, Charles Siegel, Jack Ackroyd (II), Suzie Payne, Richard MacBride, Kerry Salisbury, Jim Roberts, Tom Braidwood, James Defelice, Dennis Robertson, Joe Dodds
Director: William A. Graham
Studio: Platinum Disc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

My Favorite Movie!
Thoughts on You've Got Mail
classic Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan flick
MY VERY MOST FAVORITIST ROMANCE MOVIE
When Harry Met Sally

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

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Sleepless in Seattle (10th Anniversary Edition)
You've Got Mail
Moonstruck
French Kiss
While You Were Sleeping

Accessories:

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

ASIN: B00003CXDC
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Amazon.com essential video

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

Description

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

Customer Reviews:

My Favorite Movie!.......2007-05-22

I've seen this movie a dozen times and love it everytime. It's a perfect romantic movie. I also love "You've Got Mail" . Both have great endings!

Thoughts on You've Got Mail.......2007-05-18

I totally enjoyed this movie, Billy Crystal Is as always a great watch, plus Meg Ryan is unbeatable. When I see a movie like this I get to believing the actors are really like this in real life. I watch movies to be entertained, this movie entertained me. I liked this more than Sleepless in Seattle, mostly because Meg Ryan was in it more.

classic Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan flick.......2007-04-04

Lots of comical, dry and witty humor.
Especially classic scene of Sally's fake orgasm in the cafe.
Ends up a fantastic romantic comedy that anyone could enjoy.

MY VERY MOST FAVORITIST ROMANCE MOVIE.......2007-04-03

Great movie...well acted, well cast....a real sociological commentary on romance and dating in the 1980s. Who doesn't love Meg Ryan before she screwed up her life and lips? And life is never funnier than when seen through the eyes of Billy Crystal! If you haven't seen "When Harry Met Sally", you better!

When Harry Met Sally.......2007-03-24

One of Billy Crystal's and Meg Ryan's best movie ever made together.

Average customer rating:

Inherit the Wind
Strangely, this film may be more relevant today than when it was made
A Real Zinger
Inherit the Wind (1960) 47+ years and still relevent!!!
Is NOT "all glitter and glamour but no substance"

Inherit the Wind
Starring: Claude Akins , Donna Anderson , Jr. Noah Beery , Jimmy Boyd , and Philip Coolidge
Director: Stanley Kramer
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

12 Angry Men
Judgment at Nuremberg
To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series)
Witness For the Prosecution
The Grapes of Wrath

ASIN: B00005PJ6V
Release Date: 2001-12-11

Amazon.com essential video

Two of the juiciest roles in the American theater fall at the feet of Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, and both men make a meal of it. Inherit the Wind, based on the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is a slightly fictionalized account of the Scopes Monkey Trial, that galvanizing legal drama of the 1920s. When a young Tennessee teacher is prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution in a public school, he receives unwanted public attention as well as the legal advice of a giant. Tracy plays the role based on Clarence Darrow, the eloquent defense attorney, and March storms his way through a part based on Williams Jennings Bryan, the failed presidential candidate (and famed orator) who prosecuted the case. Gene Kelly plays a character based on the acid-penned H.L. Mencken, reporting on the trial and caustically commenting on the absurdity of the human animal. Stanley (Judgment at Nuremberg) Kramer's direction is not especially subtle, but the verbal fireworks unleashed during the trial sequences are still stirring. Even the different styles of the actors are intriguing: March is all mannerism and false padding around the belly, while Tracy does his patented naturalistic grumbling. It would be nice if this story were a quaint period piece, but its issues and arguments keep reemerging in the headlines with each new generation. --Robert Horton

Description

Two-time Best Actor OscarÂ(r) winners* Spencer Tracy and Fredric March go toe-to-toe in this thrilling re-creation of the most titanic courtroom battle of the century. Garnering four Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations**, including Best Actor (Tracy), and featuring Gene Kelly in a rare, critically-acclaimed dramatic role, Inherit the Wind is powerful, provocative cinema and "a heaping measure of entertainment" (The Hollywood Reporter)! The controversial subject of evolution versus creation causes two polar opposites to engage in one explosive battle of beliefs. Attorney Clarence Darrow (Tracy) faces off against fundamentalist leader William Jennings Bryan (March) in a small Tennessee town where a teacher has been brought to trial for teaching Darwinism. Let the trial begin...and watch the sparks fly!

Customer Reviews:

Inherit the Wind.......2007-06-27

Stanley Kramer's spellbinding film features a deft performance by Tracy as the rumpled, deceptively plain-spoken Drummond (modeled on Clarence Darrow), matched by March's larger than life, virtuoso turn as Matthew Brady (based on William Jennings Bryan). Just sit back, pretend you're sitting in that humid courtroom, and watch two old pros at work. You'll re-live history. Also look for Gene Kelly in one of his only serious, non-dancing roles as a cynical journalist based on H.L. Mencken.

Strangely, this film may be more relevant today than when it was made.......2007-05-21

Inherit the Wind is the broad fictional adaptation of the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial in which John Scopes, a football coach who taught evolution in a high school classroom, was put on trial and the city of Dayton, Tennessee was put on the map... and not in a particularly pleasing light.

Spencer Tracy and Frederic March turn out tremendously powerful performances as opposing lawyers in the trial, while Gene Kelly stands aloofly by as a flippant reporter for the Boston Globe.

What is especially striking about Inherit the Wind is the relevance of the movie (almost 50 years later) to the current political atmosphere). In the 20's the law said that evolution couldn't be taught, and now it's creationism that can't be taught. As Tracy's Henry Drummond says in the film, "Well, that's evolution for you."

The acting throughout the film is outstanding and it hardly feels like a two hour film, particularly in black and white. The entire film builds momentum until it all comes to a head at the very end with the showdown between Drummond (Tracy) and Brady (March). This is not a film to be missed if you're at all interested in history (although it's a loose adaptation) and the current intelligent design debate.

Included on the disc is the original trailer for the film, which features a few clips, director Stanley Kramer discussing the film, and lists awards that it had won in festivals. It's interesting to see a trailer that old and compare it to our current ones.

A Real Zinger.......2007-03-30

Stanley Kramer's "Inherit the Wind" seems a bit dated with Ernest Laszlo's Oscar-nominated black & white cinematography. Frederick March plays Matthew Harrison Brady that is loosely based on William Jennings Bryant. March won two Oscars, one for "Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" (1931) and another for "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946). While he won the Silver Bear Best Acting Award for "Inherit the Wind" from the Berlin International Film Festival, this was not among his 5 Oscar nominations. His tirades are so over-the-top that he seems almost to act in a different universe from Spencer Tracy's more modern realism.

Stanley Kramer used bravado to assemble his cast. He told Tracy that he had Frederick March & Gene Kelly signed to the picture, then approached Kelly saying he had Tracy & March signed. Eventually, all did come on board, but it was major salesmanship on Kramer's part that assembled the cast. Kramer had three Oscar nominations as Best Director for "The Defiant Ones" (1958), "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961) & "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), but never won other than an honorary award. Pickets went up at movie theatres protesting the "anti-religious" slant of this picture. Kramer's known liberal platform rings loud & clear in this film, made in the year that John F. Kennedy was elected president.

Spencer Tracy will be remembered as one of film's best actors from its first century as a medium. He had an amazing pair of back-to-back awards for Best Actor Oscars for "Captain's Courageous" (1937) & "Boys Town" (1938). "Inherit the Wind" was among his 9 Oscar nominations, although Burt Lancaster won that year for "Elmer Gantry." Based on Clarence Darrow, Tracy plays Henry Drummond as a cantankerous geezer, but with enough reserve to make the riveting moments real zingers. March, on the other hand, gets on a high note and seems to stay there, making him seem -- as Kramer probably intended -- like a buffoon.

Dick York will be remembered as Darren Stevens on the "Bewitched" TV series. He had been in "My Sister Eileen" and had even sustained a back injury while shooting "They Came to Cordura" in 1959 that would eventually cause him to leave the "Bewitched" series. "Inherit the Wind" is probably his most memorable dramatic role. John Scopes has been changed to Bertram Cates. York's youthful looks seem the right fit for a teacher promoting Darwin's theory of evolution. York would pass away from emphysema 32 years later; but this is probably his best work on film.

Donna Anderson plays Bertram's fiancee. She'd been in Kramer's previous film "On the Beach" (1959) about survivors of a nuclear holocaust. This was the 2nd of the 5 films she would make. She seems pretty confused about the issue of evolution, but love firmly persuades her to stand by her man.

Other performances that shine are Henry Morgan that we also know from the TV shows "M.A.S.H." & "Dragnet." Florence Eldridge, who in real life was Mrs. Frederick March, plays his wife here while having very sympathetic eyes for Spencer Tracy. Claude Aikens plays the staunch Rev. Jeremiah Brown. And TV's "3's Company" regular Norman Fell has a cameo as a radio announcer. The film did not win any Oscars, although it was nominated for Best Editing & Best Adapted Screenplay.

The issues in the film are still relevant today. I didn't particularly find the film "anti-religious" as much as it seemed opposed to fanaticism & intolerance. Science plays a vital role in debunking religion of much of its superstition, but it does not negate the existence of God as Creator. Evolution could be as well interpreted as part of the Divine Technique rather than in opposition to religion. The performances in the film drew me into the picture. I found it entertaining as it nears 50 years since it was made. Enjoy!

Inherit the Wind (1960) 47+ years and still relevent!!!.......2007-03-16

This is a movie about the dispute between creationism and evolution and the legal ramifications of this moral delima (teaching evolution in a town that make evangelicals look like hippies). Look for Spencer Tracy (Drummond), Frederick March (Brady), Harry Morgan as the Judge, and Gene Kelly in a rare dramatic role as a trial reporter! Also for an interesting side note, this was the first in-flight movie EVER!!! Based on a play.

Is NOT "all glitter and glamour but no substance".......2007-03-08

This is a 1960's marvel. The screen writers, actors and actresses alike do a phenomenal job making the Tennessee vs. John Scopes trial come to life. The movie has arguably more depth and reach than perhaps the actual court case had. Issues of Evolution and Creationism (while still present) take a back seat as Spencer Tracy (Counselor Drummond) argues for man's progress and right to think while not completely rejecting spirituality.
This movie will never be in danger of becoming irrelevant as it confronts issues of fanaticism, ignorance, bigotry, and group-think. In my opinion it's the best version of the story out there, play, movie re-make or otherwise. It's one of my all time favorites.

Average customer rating:

Loved it.
Hepburn/Tracy fun!
I Adore This Movie!
Tracy and Hepburn
Desk Set

Desk Set
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Katharine Hepburn , Gig Young , Joan Blondell , and Dina Merrill
Director: Walter Lang
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

The Hepburn & Tracy Signature Collection (Woman of the Year / Pat and Mike / Adam's Rib / The Spencer Tracy Legacy)
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Adam's Rib
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
The Philadelphia Story

ASIN: B0001NBMAS
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Description

Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) heads up the research department at the Federal Broadcasting Company, a major TV network. And she does her job very well, thank you very much. Assigned by the network president to introduce computers into some of the department?s functions, Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) arrives at Bunny?s well-run division to observe daily activities. Unfortunately, however, Sumner is ordered to keep his mission secret. As a result, the whole staff believes they are being replaced. To make matters worse, there appears to be more than a little electricity between Bunny and Sumner, which upsets Bunny?s boyfriend Mike (Gig Young). As the tension mounts in the office, so do the laughs in this classic romantic comedy.

Amazon.com essential video

One of the later Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn matchups, this time pitting efficiency expert--sorry, that's "methods engineer"--Richard Sumner (Tracy) against TV-network research whiz Bunny Watson (Hepburn) over adding a new-fangled computer--again, sorry, that's "electronic brain"--to her department, thereby threatening her and her colleagues' livelihoods. Gig Young appears as Bunny's beau, an ambitious network executive who strings her along and becomes apoplectic at the idea that she doesn't need him. But as always, it's Hepburn and Tracy's bickering-flirting that makes this such a winning enterprise--a lunch date that turns into an interrogation and their sly repartee during a Christmas party are a couple of the movie's hilarious highlights. Interestingly, what starts out as something of a technophobic exercise--Hepburn fears for her job, and a computer goes haywire--takes an abrupt turn (perhaps the IBM product placement had something to do with that). Briskly scripted by Henry and Phoebe Ephron (Nora and Delia's parents) from a play by William Marchant. --David Kronke

Customer Reviews:

Loved it........2007-07-08

I saw this for the first time on TMC. I bought it to watch with my 26 year old daughter. It was very cute. It was my first time seeing Tracy Spencer and Katharine Hepburn together in a film. You can see the magically chemistry between them.

Hepburn/Tracy fun!.......2007-05-06

Love this movie.
The subtle humor coupled with the great on screen chemistry of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy make this movie a great addition to anyone's collection.

I Adore This Movie!.......2007-04-14

I watch this about once a year and never get tired of it. Hepburn and Tracy are great together as usual. The company setting is appealing, and makes me yearn for the pre-PC days when big companies had bars, Christmas parties with drinking and revelry, etc. It's a Christmas movie out of the ordinary.

My favorite scene is when it's raining and Tracy goes home with Hepburn. They are all cozy with a fire and fried chicken and floating island, only to be walked in upon by the wonderfully arrogant Gig Young. Sometimes I just watch this scene alone!

I also love the line near the end of the movie where Young says he's been thinking and Hepburn asks him what that was like.

A delight!

Tracy and Hepburn.......2007-04-12

can make any movie a great one. This one leaves nothing to be desired. Great movie and great dialogue.

Desk Set.......2007-01-21

This is great movie for fans of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It's also a great movie if you are a lover of classic movies. It's a good comedy, and Hepburn and Tracy are terrific in this movie genre. Some people will find it interesting what technology was like about fifty years ago and the effect it had on people at that time. It's the kind of comedy that will keep you laughing without getting raunchy or unpleasant. Baby boomers will enjoy this, and so will younger people.

Average customer rating:

im satisfyed but............
1950s paranoia just misses the mark
Dead Man, Haunting
A great movie to relax and watch
Tracy's one-armed lawman against one of Robert Ryan's inimitable villains...

Bad Day at Black Rock
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Robert Ryan , Anne Francis , Dean Jagger , and Walter Brennan
Director: John Sturges
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Advise and Consent
Blackboard Jungle
The Naked Spur
Point Blank
Judgment at Nuremberg

ASIN: B0007TKNH4
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Amazon.com essential video

One of the first Hollywood films to deal openly with white racism toward Japanese Americans during World War II, this drama directed by 1950s action maestro John Sturges (The Great Escape) stars Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger named MacReedy, who arrives in the tiny town of Black Rock on a hot day in 1945. Seeking a hotel room and the whereabouts of an ethnic Japanese farmer named Komoko, MacReedy runs smack into a wall of hostility that escalates into serious threats. In time it becomes apparent that Komoko has been murdered by a local, racist chieftain, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who also plans on dispensing with MacReedy. Tracy's hero is forced to fight his way past Smith's goons (among them Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin) and sundry allies (Anne Francis) to keep alive, setting the stage for memorable suspense crisply orchestrated by Sturges. Casting is the film's principal strength, however: Tracy, the indispensable icon of integrity, and Ryan, the indispensable noir image of spiritual blight, are as creatively unlikely a pairing as Sturges's shotgun marriage of Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

im satisfyed but...................2007-05-21

hi thanks for your best services i recived my dvd cd of BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK within time in mumbai india, but sir the money is didected from my 2 credit cards for 2 dvd cds. and i got only 1 dvd cd. so plz try to send another dvd cd of the same as soon as possible

im happy with your services and thinking to place some more orders
thanks SUBHASH JADHAV

1950s paranoia just misses the mark.......2007-04-19

an interesting take on small-town paranoia, as an entire community is subsumed by the attempt to cover up an old murder in the mistaken belief that they are about to be found out. spencer tracy plays the unwitting investigator, with robert ryan his principal antagonist and dean jagger, walter brennan, lee marvin, and ernest borgnine among a cast of familiar faces either proactively or tacitly hiding the truth. sad to say, director john sturges (whose work on films like "great escape" or "gunfight at the ok corral" i admire) was not up to the themes involved here, and what could have been a great political thriller instead is merely a good adventure pic -- but hey, thats not bad either ...

Dead Man, Haunting.......2007-03-02

I've tried to find a copy of Howard Breslin's short story to round out the sense of dissatisfaction I found with this film. Thus far, BAD DAY AT HONDO appears to out of print, but the next best thing is the shooting script which is available online. A side-by-side comparison of script and film reveals a great many omissions and revisions that make for a kind of open-source experience, and many of the peculiarities in the film are justified in the script. I believe the longer film would have been significantly better, but the one we have is Plenty-stimulating.
Dore Schary also produced GO FOR BROKE, a 1951 film that tells the very poignant tale of 442nd RCT Japanese-American volunteer GIs in Italy and France, and works as a fine prequel to BLACK ROCK by grounding Macreedy's rationale for coming to a hostile, flyspeck cowtown (where you'll never see a horse) and probing buried animosities until they gush with fresh blood.
The very literate script for BLACK ROCK also brings a satisfying roundness to the dimestore loafers (Marvin and Borgnine), while making Francis necessary and every other speaking role more plausible and real, most especially Macreedy.
It WAS explosively subversive, and it still is, despite the fact that this film that bristles with subtext was meant to contain much more than was shot (or much more that was left on the cutting room floor).
I also think the score is tremendously manipulative, instructing us when and what it insists that we feel. All in all, it's a truly fascinating Grade B Cinemascope launchpoint with a shower of rising and radiant stars
(how many oxymorons can I pack into this sentence?)
for thought about film, politics, culture and pretty much everything!

A great movie to relax and watch.......2007-01-10

I loved this movie and had waited for the dvd to finally come available. It is clear and a wonderful copy of the first reel that ran in the movie houses. The action is strong and never dull and ofcourse the actors are some of the greatest in Hollywood at that time. I don't believe the movie is based on a true life fact , however it could have happened and that is what I liked about it. It is easy to put yourself in Macreedy's {Spencer Tracy} position and then ask yourself "what would I do". It is a class A movie in every detail. I watch it offen . Hope you enjoy it as well. Wiley

Tracy's one-armed lawman against one of Robert Ryan's inimitable villains..........2006-12-18

John Sturges' "Bad Day at Black Rock" is a great contemporary Western nominated for three Academy Awards, and set on one sunny morning in 1945, when the Santa Fe train pulls in and John Macreedy (Tracy) gets off...

Macreedy is a challenging fellow with only one arm... He is looking for a Japanese farmer in order to give him his son's posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism... The miserable-looking town is under the thrall of an ungracious boss-man (Ryan) and his two rough henchmen (Borgnine and Marvin).

Brooding silences, with intimidations of an explosive climax at any moment, characterized Tracy's performance and the movie itself, keeping audiences in suspense and exhibitors out of the red... Sturges imposes cool, hard, detached style, emphasizing action, excitement and the rugged environment of the unequivocal title, endorses the point...

Average customer rating:

If you review... Jabber..... Be a more informed and sentive reviewer!
Up to Par?
if fidel watched this hed fall asleep forever
Faithful to the novel
Fine Hemingway adaptation

The Old Man and the Sea
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Felipe Pazos , Harry Bellaver , Don Diamond , and Don Blackman
Director: Fred Zinnemann , John Sturges , and Henry King
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Sea Adventure | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

Moby Dick
The Old Man and the Sea
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Islands in the Stream
Captains Courageous

ASIN: B00004YRID
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Amazon.com

The classic Ernest Hemingway novel about man battling nature and the demons within himself is adapted admirably in this 1958 film starring the legendary Spencer Tracy. Playing the fisherman who goes on an intense and futile quest as he contemplates his own nature, Tracy turns in a spellbinding performance of understated power. He plays an itinerant Cuban fisherman whose luck at catching his prey has been poor of late, until he becomes embroiled in an intense pursuit of a giant marlin and in the process must confront his own frailties. Though the visual aspect of the film seems dated, Tracy is more than enough reason to see this effort at bringing one of the modern classics of literature to life on the screen. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

If you review... Jabber..... Be a more informed and sentive reviewer! .......2007-06-03

I find it interesting that a person with a nickname (Jabber) finds works like "As time goes by", a wonderful British Sit-Com with Oscar winner Judy Dench who played the Queen in "Shakespeare in Love"(1998) and "The Old Man and the Sea", and this person thinks they are Dull. Well I can only say that this person probably has no interest in Character study, Human Nature, Literature, Human Inner Struggle and even Good Comedy and should consider confining his/her Comments & Critiques to Subjects that have nothing to do with the Human Condition. I would also suggest for this person to find a way to broaden his/her horizon by Traveling,Good Books,Literary works by renowned Authors and even merely observing other people and maybe only maybe his/her horizon might broaden.
I will be honest and have not been able to get into it yet, because unfortunately I have a short attention span. I am willing to give it a second try knowing that Ernest Hemingway was such an accomplished writer and got a Nobel Prize for this work. I will probably read the Book first then see the Movie again.
I have a special interest in this story because I am Cuban born and have also been in Cojimar, the fishing Town where the story took place. It will be of interest that Hemingway was adopted by the Cuban people and he based his story on a real fisherman who lived in Cojimar and became his friend.
I was a a young girl when the story was written (1953) and lived there until 1962. In the 1940's & 50's the pace of life in Cuba was much slower than here, specially in small Fishing Towns like Cojimar. It is a very different world from the one we know here in the USA but it is a wonderful one to live or vacation since it is so relaxing. Your tensions just melt away. The Movie may not be for everyone for its style departs from the ones where they chew it for you. I am sure the book is much better as you can enjoy Heminway's wonderful descriptive prose and enjoy a world foreign to so many here in the USA.
I spent my best Summer days/hours at a Beach named Baracoa, in Havana's North Coast, not far from where the story took place, and met real Cuban Fisherman there. I hope my comment is helpful to those who are looking for more than an easy way out in being entertained. Worth watching!

Up to Par?.......2007-01-10

Being one of Hemingway's most enduring works (it earned him a Nobel Prize in 1954), it was only a matter of time before it was put to film. Although John Sturges was given credit as director, two uncredited director's also worked on the film (Henry King & Fred Zinnemann); Which may be the reason this film falls far short of the novella. In any case, Spencer Tracy does bring the character to life, gives this film credibility and also brought him an Academy Award nomination. If your a Hemingway, Sturges or Spencer fan you definitely need this film in your collection.

if fidel watched this hed fall asleep forever.......2006-11-10

the chances of anyone making a workable movie out of hemingways novella were slim, and this might count as a noble effort if not for the fact that it is as deadly dull a movie as any ive ever seen. spencer tracy rarely came off as a dullard, but this just doesnt work on any level. A for effort, F for execution.

Faithful to the novel.......2005-11-12

This version of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is a faithful adaptation of the novel. The story focuses on Santiago, an old man who has spent 84 days without catching a fish. Spencer Tracey plays the old man to perfection for the most part, as he sets out on the 85th day to capture his big prize. While it isn't a movie that blows you away with either script or action, it is a film with a purpose.

Perhaps what most viewers or critics of this movie won't get is that it is richly symbolic in nature, and therefore probably won't appeal to viewers who lack attention spans. Most of Santiago's stuggle is within himself, and his age is a symbol for wisdom and perseverance. The boy, his counterpart, continually befriends him in hopes that the one day will arrive when he brings home the big catch.

The movie really is a testament to Man versus Nature, and is able to depict this sucessfully. One of the most essential points of the story is not only Santiago's respect for the sea and its inhabitants, but the essential quality of being successful at something.

If you are expecting a ton of action, or some big crash or storm scenes, then this probably isn't your movie. However, if you want a movie that successfully illustrates what Hemingway wanted for his short novela, then this is it.

3 1/2 stars.

Fine Hemingway adaptation.......2005-02-27

Spencer Tracy gives a powerful performance as Santiago, the desperate old fisherman who must struggle to subdue and then keep the giant marlin that represents his salvation. Director John Sturges and screenwriter Peter Viertel retain much of Ernest Hemingway's symbolism, making of Santiago a Christ-like figure. A more apt Biblical analog might be Job; like him, Santiago endures the indignities and strife thrust upon him, but perseveres and endures while retaining his appreciation of nature and simple pleasures./

There is a lot of voice-over narration in this film. In addition to playing Santiago, Tracy reads excerpts from the novel to deepen and comment upon the action. In most cases, I would be annoyed by such pervasive intrusion, but it makes sense here because Santiago spends so much time alone. In addition, since the narration is drawn directly from the novel, it provides the added pleasure of a wonderful actor performing Hemingway's deceptively simple prose.

Average customer rating:

Dinner at Eight
One of the great sophisticated pre-code films
Dinner at Eight
Five Star DVD of a Five Star Movie
Jean Harlow Sizzles in Dinner at Eight

Dinner at Eight
Starring: Marie Dressler , John Barrymore , Wallace Beery , Jean Harlow , and Lionel Barrymore
Director: George Cukor , Jom McQuade , and Roy Mack
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Libeled Lady
Grand Hotel (Snap case)
Twentieth Century
Stage Door
To Be or Not to Be

ASIN: B0006Z2KXO
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to hysterical perfection by Billie Burke. The Great Depression is presented in microcosm as Millicent frets about throwing the ultimate society dinner, oblivious to the world tumbling down around her. She is forced to invite to her precious party such undesirables as crass financier Dan Packard ("He smells Oklahoma!"). Even worse in Millicent's eyes than Packard (Wallace Beery, doing an impressive steamroller imitation) is his social-climbing wife, Kitty (Jean Harlow, never funnier than she is here, malingering in bed gobbling chocolates, or braying at her husband: "I'm gonna be a lady if it kills me!"). Be sure to watch for Harlow's brief encounter with Marie Dressler, who brings an extraordinary winking wisdom to the role of aging star Carlotta Vance. As the two enter the dining room in the film's final scene, Harlow makes an offhand remark that elicits from Dressler one of the great screen double takes of all time. Like so much of Dinner At Eight, the moment is priceless. --Laura Mirsky

Customer Reviews:

Dinner at Eight.......2007-06-20

Sharp ensemble piece (scripted by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) gets the full MGM treatment, with peerless direction by Cukor and uniformly fine work from the stars. Both Barrymores are particularly good, along with the fabulous Dressler, whose final line caps a sublime evening out. Don't miss this grand old chestnut.

One of the great sophisticated pre-code films.......2007-04-17

"Dinner at Eight" is a 1933 film that still holds up when viewed by today's audiences. How odd that it wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award. This could be because it is quite similar in form to "Grand Hotel", which won the Best Picture Oscar the year before. It really is more of a comedy/melodrama than pure comedy, since there is much tragedy unfolding during the movie. Aging star Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) is broke, silent film star Larry Renault (John Barrymore) is "washed up" and a hopeless alcoholic, and Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore) is in danger of losing his shipping business. While these people are all struggling, the only characters that are doing well are the reptilian Dan and Kitty Packard (Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow). Dan Packard is a self-made millionaire with no ethics, and his wife is a gold digger with eyes for another man - her personal physician. The lives of the players all intertwine in ways that are unknown to them, with the depression-era message being that the rules of life have changed in ways that had never occurred in the U.S. before. The vice of the opportunistic social-climbing Packards is rewarded, while the well-heeled of yesteryear, playing by the rules of the past, have nothing but their memories and faded finery left to comfort them.

Of course, there are plenty of comic moments. Billie Burke's performance as Mrs. Jordon is hilarious as her prime concern is that her carefully planned dinner party is coming apart before her very eyes. She comes across as a kinder, gentler Marie Antoinette when she acts like the accidental destruction of her centerpiece dish, a lion-shaped aspic, is the end of the world. Although many have said that Jean Harlow steals this picture, and her talents do shine through, I think Marie Dressler's comic touches really help make the film. For example, when a forty-something secretary mentions that she saw Dressler's character perform "when she was a little girl." Dressler replies that the two must get together some evening and discuss the Civil War. Dressler also makes the very last scene of the movie. As everyone is going into dinner, she finds herself in conversation with Harlow's character. First off, she does a hilarious double-take when Harlow mentions she's been reading a book. Next,Harlow tells Marie Dressler how this book she has been reading says that machinery will soon take over every profession. Marie Dressler looks Jean Harlow up and down as only she could do and says "My dear I don't think you need to worry about that."

Dinner at Eight.......2007-03-22

I am a huge Jean Harlow fan. I keep waiting for a Jean Harlow DVD boxed set to be released but alas none yet. So I am buying her movies one at a time. Dinner at Eight is one of the first screwball comedies of the 1930's. Also one of the first "all star" movies. It features such greats as John and Lionel Barrymore and the wonderful Wallace Beery. Jean Harlow did not make many movies, she tragicly passed away at age 26. But she left behind some great movies and Dinner at Eight is one of her best.

Five Star DVD of a Five Star Movie.......2007-02-20

I'm glad to see virtual unanimity of approval of this classic film, so I won't rehash how great the cast is, or the story, or the great double-take near the end. The comments I have to add are few:

Notice who the first billed performer is? It's Marie Dressler, 65 years old and the highest paid actress in the 1930s. We shall be charitable and say it wasn't because of her looks -- though she'd agree -- and I wonder if any movie made in Hollywood today or in the future would dare give lead billing to a woman over 30.

This movie reminds me of many other classic movies, beginning with John Barrymore's excellent self-destructing alcoholic (cf. Ray Milland, "Lost Weekend"); Jean Harlow's constant sniping at Wallace Beery (cf. Judy Holliday and Broderick Crawford in "Born Yesterday"); and Dressler's wilting Carlotta Vance (see also Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard").

What hasn't been discussed a lot (but has been mentioned) is the DVD, and it's worthy of the movie. Besides the good to very good transfer, there's an original trailer. Better yet is the inclusion of Warner Bros. spoof "Come to Dinner", a short comedy featuring impersonators of all the cast members of "Dinner at Eight". It's amazing how sharp satire could be in 1933, one year before the Hays Code started to be enforced. And last, but not least, is a documentary about Jean Harlow, hosted by protege blonde siren Sharon Stone, and providing an interesting insight into an actress who was taken from us far too early.

Jean Harlow Sizzles in Dinner at Eight.......2006-10-11

Dinner at Eight is one of the earliest films I have had the pleasure to see. It certainly was a product of its times--the Great Depression, replete with financial empires on the brink, aging theater stars, gold-digging vixens, and wealthy patricians seemingly immune to the tremendous suffering all around them.
The terrific cast are a great ensemble, but the character who really steals their thunder is Kitty, played by a delightfully brassy Jean Harlow. Harlow delivers one caustic, unforgettable zinger after another, calling her husband "a big slug . . . a crook", informing him she's an "introvert who has to spend her day introvertin'"; she lets her maid know she's a "dummy . . . a nitwit" and informs the audience during a row with the dissolute fanancier who is her husband that "I'm going to be a lady if it kills me!"
The plot is skillfully fleshed out with a great script, and the viewer soon learns that the Jordan Shipping Line is poised to sink, and Harlow's amoral husband is skulking around to seize the wreckage, in the guise of saving the family business. His duplicitous behavior makes him a deserving recepient of Kitty's blackmail that, while wicked, manages to save the Jordan family from financial ruin.
I particularly enjoyed a scene in which the cook informs the Jordan matriarch, after we've seen Mrs. Jordan jump giddily over a jello-mold shaped to look like the royal British lion, that the "aspic" has been destroyed. And why? Because the cook was forced to drop it during a knifefight between two butlers over the maid, who we can hear crying in the distance.
It is truly a delightful film and fans of old Hollywood will not be disappointed!

Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)

Average customer rating:

Pre-Hays Code Wildness, Camp and Hilarity!
Good collection of horror films at a great price
My kind of Entertainment...
THE DREAM TEAM FOR NIGHTMARES
Great set of horror from Hollywood's golden age

Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)
Starring: Lionel Atwill , Fay Wray , Lee Tracy , Preston Foster , and John Wray
Director: Michael Curtiz , Vincent Sherman , and Karl Freund
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Horror | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

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

The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)
Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/The Black Room/The Man They Could Not Hang/Before I Hang)
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Movie Collection
Motion Picture Masterpieces Collection (David Copperfield 1935 / Marie Antoinette 1938 / Pride and Prejudice 1940 / A Tale of Two Cities 1935 / Treasure Island 1934)
Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 2 (The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition / Across the Pacific / Action in the North Atlantic / All Through the Night / Passage to Marseille)

ASIN: B000GRUQJW
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

Universal ruled the monster movie in the 1930s, but this hugely enjoyable DVD set offers a counter-argument from MGM and Warners. Its half-dozen horror titles run the gamut from classic vampirism to baroque romanticism, and gather horror luminaries such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre.

The greatest film of the bunch is Mad Love (1935), a rich and oft-imitated bit of perversity with a deeply romantic streak. Concert pianist Colin Clive (from Frankenstein) has his hands wrecked, and his actress wife (Frances Drake) turns to the obsessive Dr. Gogol (Lorre), who has long worshipped her. But the doctor replaces the pianist's hands with those of a murderous circus knife-thrower! Superbly directed by Karl Freund (The Mummy), this eerie film is shaped by Lorre's subtle, uncannily sympathetic performance.

Karloff reigns in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), which offers more minute-for-minute lurid action than any other movie in this set. Connoisseurs of horror will be well pleased by the roster: a crocodile pit, deadly snakes and spiders, poisons, various forms of torture including a man strapped beneath a giant reverberating bell, and Fu Manchu's sexy daughter (Myrna Loy). MGM designer Cedric Gibbons runs wild with a wonderfully daffy Deco-meets-Orientalism scheme. There are some undeniably racist epithets thrown in the direction of the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, but he gives as good as he gets, and the character is ultimately as irresistible as any evil mastermind. Karloff gives one of his juiciest performances ever.

Doctor X (1932) is presented in a recently-restored 2-strip Technicolor process (a lot of throbbing greens and oranges), which gives the movie an antique appeal. Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill) brings his colleagues together to figure out which of them might be the Full Moon Killer; daughter Fay Wray and reporter Lee Tracy (a typical fast-talking role for this fun actor) tag along. Michael Curtiz directed; he also did the similar Mystery of the Wax Museum, again with Atwill (available on the House of Wax disc). The Return of Doctor X (1939) is more of a curio than a full-fledged horror movie, as it has Humphrey Bogart, resplendent in a Bride of Frankenstein hair streak, in a rare supernatural outing.

The other two films are directed by Tod Browning. Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a clear example of MGM trying to ride the Dracula gravy train, with plenty of smoky graveyards, scuttling possums, and Lugosi in a tuxedo striding through giant spider webs. Lugosi is peripheral here, as Lionel Barrymore hunts down the blood-suckers. It's slow going, but the touches are wonderful and there's a spooky vampiress. Browning makes The Devil-Doll (1936) a memorably oddball thriller, with Barrymore a wronged man seeking revenge--and exploiting a device that allows people to be miniaturized. All the films have lively commentary tracks, except Devil-Doll. Overall this is a very neat package; even the inclusion of Return of Doctor X makes sense as a pairing with its original. MGM and Warners seemed embarrassed by the horror genre in the thirties, but these examples prove they could rise to Universal's game. --Robert Horton

Description

Doctor X/The Return of Dr. X Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu Mad Love/The Devil Doll

Customer Reviews:

Pre-Hays Code Wildness, Camp and Hilarity!.......2007-06-27

These films are such gems, each of them, and the restored prints are so beautiful, that this collection should not be missed whether you are a seasoned archivist or just discovering the Universal Horror Canon. The bonus features are sparse, comprising mostly commentary tracks from film historians and critics (although one,The Return of Dr. X, which stars a very creepy Humphrey Bogart, has commentary that includes the 100-year-old director!) and sometimes the theatrical trailer. But The Mask of Fu Manchu alone is worth thet price of the set for the chance to see, uncut, its pre-code craziness, high camp and very overt erotic and sadomasochistic overtones!
Barrymore, Atwill, Karloff, Lugosi, Lorre, Myrna Loy, Fay Wray... the list goes on. Whatever they're asking for this delightful box set, it's a pittance. It doesn't get much better than this.The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)

Good collection of horror films at a great price.......2007-06-13

Rather than just focusing on a few horror franchises and milking them for all they were worth with five or six B quality sequels apiece as Universal did with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man, in the 30's and 40's Warner and MGM would usually take just one good idea and make just one good horror movie. This is a collection of six of Warner and MGM's better excursions into the horror genre during that era.

Everyone else has gone into the plots of these movies in detail, so I will not do the same. Let me point out, though, that "Return of Doctor X" is not really a sequel to "Doctor X" at all. The two stand alone. The only thing they have in common is the theme of a wise-cracking reporter on the trail of what turns out to be a mad doctor. As far as transfer quality, "Mad Love" has noticeable artifacts in the video, at least through the first half of the movie. It's nothing too distracting, though. With "Doctor X" you have to get used to the peculiarities of two-strip technicolor which includes occasional green skies and also green skin tones when people are shown in the dark. The rest of the films look quite good, and the audio quality is very good on all of the films. The extras that come with the films are as follows:

Special Features for Mark of the Vampire:
Commentary by genre historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Mask of Fu Manchu:
Commentary by Greg Mank, author of Karloff and Lugosi: A Story of a Haunting Collaboration

Special Features for Doctor X:
Commentary by horror scholar Tom Weaver
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Return of Doctor X:
Commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Chronicles of Terror author Steve Haberman
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for Mad Love:
Commentary by Steve Haberman, author of Chronicles of Terror
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Devil Doll:
Theatrical trailer

Although not really a complaint, the packaging of this set somewhat surprised me. In particular, each DVD comes in a slim case rather than the thicker and sturdier keep case in which most of the DVDs in Warner DVD sets are packaged. At any rate, the set is a great deal for the money and I highly recommend it.

My kind of Entertainment..........2007-02-05

I won't go into the plots of all of these fine films, but will say that I bought it because of "Devil Doll". Those special effects are amazing. None of the films could be considered "Horror", though they all involve some terrific mystery plots. I was especially impressed with "Mad Love", and Peter Lorre was a very underrated actor. (See "The Beast with 5 Fingers" to verify this.) Early experiments with color also enhanced "Doctor X". This is, indeed, an excellent mystery collection, and any aficianado of the genre should have this in their collection.

THE DREAM TEAM FOR NIGHTMARES.......2006-12-07

This set has nice clean video, and of course you can't lose with the actors and titles. One of the most interesting to watch is MAD LOVE which was Peter Lorre's US film debut. The devotee of the old Universal Horror movies will see certain scene similarities to The Phantom of the Opera, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Dracula in Mad Love, and the commentary track picks up on some (not all) of this. Interesting when you consider this is an MGM work. The only downside to this set, and it is a minor point, is the commentary track for Mark of the Vampire, where two obnoxious brits talk over each other saying little of worth. (I've noticed that on DVD commentary tracks when you put brits together, they continually talk over eachother, and it's hard to understand what they're saying. Perhaps that's why we won the Revolutionary War).
Anyway, if you love old horror movies, if you remember Famous Monsters of Filmland, if you want to see the US film debut of the man who said "You deespize me Reek, don't you?" in Casablanca--buy this set.

Great set of horror from Hollywood's golden age.......2006-11-29

The cover art to Warners' Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection features images of horror legends Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart. Humphrey Bogart ... what the heck? Yes, although Bogart was about as much a legend of horror as John Wayne was a musical comedy star, he did appear in one horror film ("The Return of Dr. X") included in this collection. Maybe it is a little erroneous and misleading to describe Bogie as a legend of horror but thankfully Warners' has included his one and only rarely shown thriller. The other films included in this collection feature Hollywood's true horror legends in an array of interesting roles.

"The Mask of Fu Manchu" (1932) may not be a real horror film but it does have the incomparable Boris Karloff in fine form as the demoniacal Fu Manchu. This engaging pre-code film features some delightfully racy scenes and insinuations. A young Myrna Loy as Fu Manchu's lascivious daughter is especially entertaining. Her very obvious goal of making the young male lead her own personal sex slave would surely have been censored from the script just a few years later.

MGM reunited Bela Lugosi and his "Dracula" director, Tod Browning, for 1935s "The Mark of the Vampire." This film was a remake of Browning's own silent classic "London after Midnight" which had starred Lon Chaney (and has been lost for 40 years). The image of the vampire had solidified in the public consciousness in the form of Lugosi's Dracula. MGM, obviously hoping to profit from the Dracula image, hired Lugosi to play the lead vampire character in a departure from the horrific and creepy, shark toothed vampire Chaney played in the original film. The final result is a well-mounted and moody horror offering with all the eerie trappings you'd expect from a 30s thriller including lots of fog, cobwebs, shadows and screams.

Maybe the best 30s horror flick included on this set is MGM's "Mad Love" from 1935. This film features a very young (and very creepy) Peter Lorre as a demented surgeon who torments a highly-strung concert pianist played by Colin Clive. Clive seems even more neurotic here than in his role as Henry Frankenstein in Universal's first two Frankenstein films. Lorre has been lusting after Colin's wife and uses a horrible accident as a means to destroy Clive's life and steal his bride. This is a first class horror film from MGM that rivals Universal's best horror classics.

The two Warner "Doctor X" films have no connection other than a similarity in title. The first film is a pretty slow-moving and dated 1932 thriller. "Doctor X" was filmed in an early two-strip Technicolor process, just like 1933's "The Mystery of the Wax Museum," and is presented here in a restored color version. Even if it is a bit creaky, "Doctor X" is an interesting Hollywood artifact and worth at least one viewing. 1939's "The Return of Doctor X" is the one with Bogie. It's more of a B-movie but very fun to watch with Bogart as the villain of the title.

Rounding out this collection is Tod Browning's 1936 "Devil Doll" from MGM. This one features Lionel Barrymore as a vengeful soul who miniaturizes humans to do his bidding. It's an interesting addition to the set but by no means the primary reason to purchase the collection.

As you would expect from Warners' all the films are high quality transfers from the best available material. There are some trailers and film commentaries (not for all films though) including one with the late film director Vincent Sherman. Overall this set is highly recommended to fans who wish to add to their film libraries of horror films from Hollywood's golden age.

Side note: Some other reviewers have commented on the absence of the Warners' Karloff film "The Walking Dead" (1936). I too was mystified until I realized that this may have been done deliberately. Perhaps Warners has the future intention of offering their own collection of Karloff films. Since both Universal and Columbia released Karloff sets this fall I would guess Warners would have held back. If they choose to release their own set they would only need to take "The Walking Dead" and add "West of Shanghai" (Warners 1937), "The Invisible Menace" (Warners 1938), "British Intelligence" (Warners 1940), "Devil's Island" (Warners 1940), and maybe even "You'll Find Out" (RKO 1940). Let's hope Warners does put out a nice salute to Boris.

Average customer rating:

Spencer Tracy vs. William Powell
A pure joy to watch
Yes!! This is my favorite screwball comedy
Poor transfer, missed opportunities
"She may be his wife, but she's engaged to me!"

Libeled Lady
Starring: Jean Harlow , William Powell , Myrna Loy , Spencer Tracy , and Walter Connolly
Director: Jack Conway
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Screwball Comedy | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Bond, Tommy | ( B )