I shall always remember the thrill as a small boy when my parents took me to a local cinema to watch a western. Randolph Scott and particularly Joen McCrea were the order of the day at the time. But Shane was such a hard act to follow regular westerns were just not the same after. Shane played by Alan Ladd, was so good that even with the enhanced photography of today there are not many westerns that can hold a candle to this thoughtful film.
It is interesting that the original intended casting was for Montgomery Clift to play the part of Shane and for William Holden to portray Joe Starrett. Whilst I can see the logic of these selections, Katharine Hepburn as the Mrs. Starrett just does not seem right somehow.
Of course I prefer the original version of this story but this movie is made highly enjoyable and entertaining due to the presence of so many famous faces from British and American television. Witness the two cricket fans - who can watch this scene and not think about the two actors in their familiar DAD'S ARMY roles? Cybill Shepherd would later go on to much success in the show MOONLIGHTING and of course Angela Lansbury eventually found worldwide fame for her turn as the female sleuth in MURDER SHE WROTE. Here Lansbury plays a nanny turned spy who is attempting to get back to Britain with some vital information. Set in pre-WWII Germany this movie chronicles the trip of Cybill Shepherds character back to the UK to be reunited with her fiance. ... Read More:
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This review contains no plot-spoilers! For a film this old, it's a pleasant surprise to see the beautiful DVD print transfer, and hear the superb sound (no hiss, no crackles, even through headphones). Right from the opening scenes, you know this is a film that is going to good. Then Cary Grant walks in, and you know it's going to be superb. The atmosphere of the location is absolutely believable. The storyline & dialogue are both something that today's computer-driven Hollywood wunderkids would cut off their right arm to write. All the actors mesh perfectly. Yes, this is man's man's world; but because everyone 'knows where they stand', men bond deeply, are tender with each other, and even cry too. One of those rare films, like 'Brief Encounter', ... Read More:
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Well- Jean Alexandra AKA Hilda Ogden. Fantastically performed, comically resorected into her old hairnet and curlers as Hilda Ogden once was. But what is troubling me is that she hasn't playe dthe part before about 10 years of making the video and was superb. BettyDriver AKA Betty Williamson was b****y awful. She couldn't ever act if her life depnded on it. But the tape shpws a good 1 hour or more fantatsically funny, dramatic and best moments the street has ever seen.
Most Funniest Moments Come From Hilda Ogden Bet Lynch/Gilroy Raquel Wolstunhume Anne Kirkbride (She's not unny but the vains in her neck are) Annie Walker Ena Sharples Elsie Tanner Phyliss Pearce
20th Century Fox present "HEIDI" (released: 15 October 1937) (88 mins) (B&W/Color Versions) - Under Allan Dwan (Director), Darryl F. Zanuck (Producer), Walter Ferris (Screenwriter), Julien Josephson (Screenwriter), Johanna Spyri (Book Author), Arthur C. Miller (Cinematographer), Sidney D. Mitchell (Songwriter), Lew Pollack (Songwriter), Louis Silvers (Musical Direction/Supervision / Composer (Music Score), Allen McNeil (Editor), Hans Peters (Art Director), Raymond Griffith (Associate Producer), Thomas K. Little (Set Designer), Gwen Wakeling (Costume Designer) - - - - - - American film directed by Allan Dwan which starred child-actress Shirley Temple in the title role. It was adapted from the 1880 children's book, Heidi, by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. The film ... Read More:
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It was in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town that Frank Capra perfected the blend of comedy and social commentary that would become his trademark. The screwball comedy was graceful rather than frantic and the social elements of Robert Riskin's fine screenplay are handled in an even-handed manner that earned Capra the second of his three Acadamy Awards for Best Director. Both Gary Cooper as the tuba playing no nonsense Longfellow Deeds and Jean Arthur as the reporter who exploits him until she falls for his goodness are wonderful in this true Capra classic.
Longfellow Deeds (Cooper) lives in the small town of Mandrake Falls where he makes a living writing greeting card poems and spends his free time playing the tuba. He is less than enthused when a bunch of big city ... Read More:
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Frank Capra tries out eccentricity for size in the enchanting "You Can't Take it With You," a movie all about doing whatever makes you happy, not rich. While he's not quite in his element here (this is supposed to be really weird?), the talented cast and heartwarming message make this a truly enchanting, sweet movie.
Megamogul Kirby (Edward Arnold) has bought out dozens of buildings for a new factory -- only one eccentric family refuse to sell their family house. What he doesn't know is that his dissatisfied son Tony (James Stewart) is madly in love with Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), the daughter of the family. And now they're engaged.
When Tony shows up to meet the future in-laws, he finds ballet in the kitchen, fireworks in the basement, ... Read More:
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Elmer Gantry doesn't need a lightshow, radio mikes or his own TV channel, he creates his own energy and carries all before him with a gift of the gab that can turn any situation to his advantage. Phoney as a two-dollar bill and first seen drinking, womanising and fighting in that order, Gantry is a crude, vulgar showoff with a vocabulary that belongs in an outhouse who goes from selling vacuum cleaners to selling religion in a travelling revival show. Worming his way under her guard to become bad cop to Jean Simmons' Sister Sharon's good cop, he damns them and she saves them. If he's a sharp operator, she's not exactly a mug herself: "God chose me. I chose you." Before long, he's converting her to the ways of the flesh and all hell breaks loose...
In the 1941 western "Arizona," Jean Arthur stars as Phoebe Titus, a frontier hellcat who has gotten the better of every man in Tuscon, circa 1860. Then William Holden shows up as Peter Muncie from Missouri, on his way to California. Phoebe is so smitten with the young lad that she actually takes to wearing dresses, but he wants to get to California. Just to make things worse, local bad guys Jefferson Carteret (Warren William) and Lazarus Ward (Porter Hall) are after her business, stealing her money and having Indians attack her wagon trains. Fortunately, in the best scene in the picture, Peter gets a herd of cattle to stop the attacking Indians, and then the happy couple proceeds to get themselves hitched. Over two hours long, "Arizona" is one of the slowest paced westerns ... Read More:
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In the 1941 western "Arizona," Jean Arthur stars as Phoebe Titus, a frontier hellcat who has gotten the better of every man in Tuscon, circa 1860. Then William Holden shows up as Peter Muncie from Missouri, on his way to California. Phoebe is so smitten with the young lad that she actually takes to wearing dresses, but he wants to get to California. Just to make things worse, local bad guys Jefferson Carteret (Warren William) and Lazarus Ward (Porter Hall) are after her business, stealing her money and having Indians attack her wagon trains. Fortunately, in the best scene in the picture, Peter gets a herd of cattle to stop the attacking Indians, and then the happy couple proceeds to get themselves hitched. Over two hours long, "Arizona" is one of the slowest paced westerns ... Read More:
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