Medical Views Movie Reviews

Growing up in the Midwest, I thought "The West" was Hopalong Cassidy, Randolph Scott and John Wayne ~ nevertheless Westerns or B-Westerns captured my interest and I became addicted to what it was like from the very beginning of the West! Here is a wealth of history collected within the realm of centuries, put down on paper by Geoffrey C. Ward and Dayton Duncan ~ directed by Stephen Ives and presented by Ken Burns on five discs, as we take the journey westward bringing together all races, nationalities and religions striving for a new land and freedom for all her people.

Never have I witnessed such openness in the telling of the triumphs and tragedies of America's westward expansion ~ it took more than 75 historians on this project to make it right. Right from the git go we have Episode One(The People/Bonus DVD Features), Episodes Two & Three (Empire Upon The Trails/The Speck of the Future), Episodes Four & Five (Fight No More Forever/The Geography of Hope) and Episodes Eight & Nine (Ghost Dance/One Sky Above Us) ~ featuring some of the most beautiful photography of our country. The entire collection covers the period of 1800 to 1915, wonderfully narated by Peter Coyote (whose voice sounds very much like Henry Fonda).

This is one of, if not the best documentaries on "The West", I've ever seen. Been collecting Time/Life leatherbound books on the subject for years ~ Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell books and paintings ~ plus bronze of "The Mountain Man", "The Rattlesnake" and "Comin' Through the Rye" by Frederic Remington. Ken Burns "The West" on DVD is something I will cherish the rest of my life ~ will pass it on to my children and grandchildren, so they will know this is the way it was moving WEST!

Total Time: 12 Hours ~ PBS B8891 ~ (9/30/2003)

This movie, like all films on DVD that were made and released by PBS, has a high level of quality to them. They show the whole movie in it's entirety. No cut and paste editing that comes with commercial TV film prints, and they useually allow the film maker to put in extra footage that was not part of the original PBS boardcast, but widens the enjoyment of the film in it's DVD release. I must say that films made on PBS give you your money's worth and are not part of the big rippoffs that come from releaseing whole seasons of forgethable TV shows on other DVD boxed sets that cost way too much money and are not worth the film that they were made. I stay with PBS DVDs. They are worth it.

Absolutely gripping, and heartbreaking how the West was not won! It brought me to tears of how Native Americans lost so much but have endured throughout the years. I also like that this documentary shows that White americans were not the only ones in The West, but Natives(of course), Black, Latino, Chinese(who practically built the West). A fantastic job and the main title song will haunt you forever!

Johanna's Spyri's tale is brought to life and updated in this heartwarming family film.Heidi(Katy Kurtzmann) is living with her Grandfather(Burl Ives) in the Swiss Alps.But her grandfather is slowly losing his eyesight and fears that he will no longer be able to take care of her.While in town,he secretly calls Heidi's cousins in Lucerne and asks them to take custody of Heidi.In the meantime,a young girl named Elizabeth runs away from her school group to follow Heidi back to her cabin.They become best of friends and Elizabeth begs Heidi and her grandfather to let her stay with them.However,Heidi and her grandfather know that Elizabeth's place is with her family,and they return her the next day.While out on a search party for Heidi's friend Peter,her grandfather disappears into the woods and is feared dead.Left with no one to care for her,Heidi is taken to live with Elizabeth's family.With them ,she travels to New York for the holidays,and has many exciting adventures which make this an excellent family movie to watch for all ages!!

loved it all. I loved how the way James Dean did his person very well in this movie. Eli Kazan did a great job of directing it. especially in some of the scenes where James Dean is on the swing talking to his father or the emotional fight between brothers or the ferris wheel kissing scene. arguably Dean's best film. like his others he creates a character we all want to hate or love or appreciate and he does it in a fantastic way. probabyl my favortie old movie

Based on the final chapters of the homonymous J.Steinbeck's novel, Elia Kazan's East of Eden is an authentic masterpiece in its own right, a classic art film.
For those who've read the novel, the epic characters from the novel become more realistic in the film; notably Kate, who, in the novel is the personification of evil, in the film is a vital, independent woman motivated and acting by reason, as best as she is allowed by social circumstance. I suppose that, with Kazan's directions, Paul Osborn, the scriptwriter, helped to formulate this almost new character more distinctly, by the dialogues. The same is true for all the characters; in the novel the story is an elaboration on the biblical myth of Cain and Abel, and the heroes evolve as pure and massive spiritual forces incarnate; in the film the heroes are more like real people, of virtue and failure.

This allows a most charming youth, as James Dean then, to masterly implement his role with real empathy, as an (unappreciated by his good -yet- insensitive father) adolescent with a wealth of love, filial loyalty and affection, who can also be dangerous when wounded. He really reverses the tables, and becomes the charmer instead of his brother, the gifted with innocence and father- beloved first borne...

It was the Fifties, the world had come out of a most homicidal war, which had let women in the production process, in the place of the conscripts, new social strata had come out with wealth and a better position; the demand for change was aired by the popular art production most eloquently, too. It spelled challenge to the eternality of old arrangements, social or "mythical', including the concepts of good and evil and the estate of womanhood.
Drastically yet artfully, a question to the truths of the myth is put forth in and with this classic film, that helped to create new popular images as well as to popularise new ideas.

There are two extraordinary moments in this film. The first is Cal/Dean leaping among the rows of sprouting soybeans, then lying on his belly sizing them up with an exuberant inner ecstasy.
The second takes place on the ferris wheel ride. As Dean kisses Julie Harris, the fingers of his hand slowly stretch to a blossom born of stunned discovery.
Astonishing.

Many a moon ago, I saw the final 15 minutes of this movie on "Wonderful World of Disney" and so regretted coming late--it seemed like it was a really good movie!

Well, about two weeks ago, I came across "Summer Magic" at the public library, and snatched it to my bosom to take home and show the folks. But alas, the 90 minutes or so preceding that last 15 minutes were not so engaging as I had hoped.

"Summer Magic" is not a bad movie, but it is really rather uneventful. Burl Ives just shuffles around his store and Dorothy McGuire's house. We are told at the outset that Ms. McGuire has been recently widowed and left kinda penniless. But when she comes home, she's pretty stylishly dressed for a grieving widow and never seems to rgeret the loss of whoever it was she was married to. I wondered if this was so she could find romance in the new location she was headed for with her family; she'd have to be out of mourning almost to think of such things. But no, nothing like that developed. Her daughter Hayley Mills was the usual HM kind of heroine, except that I did find her a little too cruel to her visiting cousin. I don't know why that girl would elect to keep living there, because nobody does treat her nicely, despite what Ms. McGuire says. Hayley's brothers are weird looking, so much so that I found Burl's son Michael J. Pollard to be better-looking than they, so draw what conclusions you will from that.

So, my quest for "Summer Magic" was an anticlimax for me. Workmanlike Disney fare. Mediocre.

Back when the Disney was good, they used to show this movie a few times a year. I would wait for it to come on on "Vault Disney." I generally find Hayley Mills to be annoying, but she was stunning in this movie. It is a fun movie with unforgettable characters, and a great story behind. I'm a natural fan of all musicals, and this is no exception! I can't wait for it to come out on DVD, but I'll be waiting on it!

I saw this movie as a child when it first came out. I loved it so much, even now, all these years later, it still brings back those wonderful memories of a truly enchanting and "magical" movie. My daughter watched it with me several years ago and this movie has since become a summer tradition for us to get together to watch. My daughter lives over two thousand miles away but will be visiting me on the 4th of july, and we have already made plans to put in our "Summer Magic". I hope they will put it on DVD soon, because I will have a copy to cherish along with all of my wonderful memories involved around this lovely movie.

Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Gene Wilder are great comedians. I've always heard great things about this movie. As a result, I'd waited years to see it. It's a real letdown. Every scene is built around one joke. These jokes are often funny, but long after the viewer gets it the scene will go on and on to milk every possible aspect of the joke. Eventually this gets tedious.

Of course lots of people really like this movie. I recommend renting it or catching it on cable before buying the video.

Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), an accountant, visits Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), former big shot theater producer, to review Max's book keeping. This leads to the two of them building up a huge scam, which involves a play that will for sure flop. The chose the musical Springtime for Hitler, which was written by a Nazi sympathizer. In addition, the cast must not be able to perform this horrid musical. Producers is a hysterical comedy that offers a wonderful cinematic experience.

I first saw this movie about 20 years ago, and it continues to be amongst my very favorites!! I've seen the show on Broadway with Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick- which BTW was great- but nobody can beat Zero Mostel & Gene Wilder! Besides, the movie has Dick Shawn singing "Love Power"......I think I'll go watch it again!

Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Gene Wilder are great comedians. I've always heard great things about this movie. As a result, I'd waited years to see it. It's a real letdown. Every scene is built around one joke. These jokes are often funny, but long after the viewer gets it the scene will go on and on to milk every possible aspect of the joke. Eventually this gets tedious.

Of course lots of people really like this movie. I recommend renting it or catching it on cable before buying the video.

Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), an accountant, visits Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), former big shot theater producer, to review Max's book keeping. This leads to the two of them building up a huge scam, which involves a play that will for sure flop. The chose the musical Springtime for Hitler, which was written by a Nazi sympathizer. In addition, the cast must not be able to perform this horrid musical. Producers is a hysterical comedy that offers a wonderful cinematic experience.

I first saw this movie about 20 years ago, and it continues to be amongst my very favorites!! I've seen the show on Broadway with Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick- which BTW was great- but nobody can beat Zero Mostel & Gene Wilder! Besides, the movie has Dick Shawn singing "Love Power"......I think I'll go watch it again!

this is a Special that I always watched&was always sad at the end.but it truly struck a nerve with me that is timeless&I'll never forget it.it's one of those Holiday Specials you will talk about for years to come.

It simply doesnt get any better than this, when it comes to Christmas Dvd's. "Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer" is the classic story of how a Reindeer (Rudolph) goes from thinking that he is insignificant, to realizing that the very thing that made him feel like such a misfit (His red nose) actually makes him the special being that he is!
This charming show will remind us all that each and every one of us has a purpose and that all of God's creations great and small deserve love, kindness and a moment to shine, like Rudolph and his wonderful nose.
Enjoy and have a Beautiful CHRISTmas!

You've all seen it a hundred times. Buy the extra quality of the DVD for your grandchildren. It's a timeless classic.

this is a Special that I always watched&was always sad at the end.but it truly struck a nerve with me that is timeless&I'll never forget it.it's one of those Holiday Specials you will talk about for years to come.

It simply doesnt get any better than this, when it comes to Christmas Dvd's. "Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer" is the classic story of how a Reindeer (Rudolph) goes from thinking that he is insignificant, to realizing that the very thing that made him feel like such a misfit (His red nose) actually makes him the special being that he is!
This charming show will remind us all that each and every one of us has a purpose and that all of God's creations great and small deserve love, kindness and a moment to shine, like Rudolph and his wonderful nose.
Enjoy and have a Beautiful CHRISTmas!

You've all seen it a hundred times. Buy the extra quality of the DVD for your grandchildren. It's a timeless classic.

Is it just me, or does anyone else come to realize how tragic the character Burl Ives plays becomes. I actually feel for him. I think before one watches this movie, you have to develop an empathy for the time and lives these people led BEFORE this moment in their lives. I views the movie again with my wife (Her first viewing) and realized that if this had been me, I would felt more of a liking for Hannasey than the Major. He was a least a man of rough honor. I think most are missing this in their reviews. Ives character had a more character than all but McKay, and in a way they were more alike than one would suspect. The scene when he is preparing the dueling pistols is very poignant, where he gruffly dismisses McKays advice on how to prep the dueling pistols, that he had handled "flintlock and cap and ball" before McKay was even born, and chastises his son because he had never faced danger with "only one shot" between him and death, instead of a "fast draw" and and six shooter. Think about this when viewing, and also when he crashes the engagement party. This man had cajones! I have known few men in life with this type of character, and I feel bad for people who never have been blessed by this type of association. What a tribute to the American personality!

What we have here is a blood feud over water rights between two ranching families headed by Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford) and Rufus Hannassey (Burl Ives), with school teacher Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons) caught in the middle. Directed by William Wyler with stunning cinematography by Franz Planer, we follow a narrative which involves the engagement of Easterner James McKay (Gregory Peck) to Terrill's beloved daughter Pat (Carroll Baker). Frankly, what he sees in her continues to elude my understanding. Some reviewers have dismissed this as a "B" movie but I do not. The quality of the acting (notably Ives's which earned him an Academy Award for best supporting actor) is outstanding. Although in what I guess could be considered a minor role as Steve Leech, Terrill's ramrod, Charlton Heston delivers a remarkably nuanced and controlled performance as does Chuck Connors as Buck Hannassey. This is much less a western than a study of two patriarchs (Terrill and Hannassey) who play a zero sum game to gain control of access to water on which they and their herds obviously depend. But there is something else at work in this great but (for whatever reasons) under appreciated film. Julie Maragon is quite willing to allow both patriarchs access to the water. That is not the core issue: rather, it is the conflict between the inflated egos of two proud and stubborn men who detest each other.

For me, one of the most memorable scenes occurs when, just before dawn, McKay and Leech finally have it out. It is an awkward but inevitable and immensely effective fist fight, with much of it filmed as if we were observing it at a distance. Of course, the fist fight achieves nothing other than demonstrating that McKay is more of a "man" than Leech once thought. Before they begin throwing punches, McKay insists that no one know about their fight. Leech totally misunderstands McKay's reasons. Another memorable sequence of events focuses on Terrill and Hannassey as they slowly and carefully work their way through a canyon to their final confrontation. To repeat, theirs is a zero sum game except that neither wins. In these and other scenes, Planer's cinematography and Jerome Moross' music score blend effectively with the cast's superb performances under Wyler's direction.

Why has The Big Country been under appreciated, if not totally ignored among western films? I have no idea. I really don't.

As others have written very complete reviews, I just had a few miscellaneous comments I hadn't seen elsewhere.

It's interesting to contrast the quiet and unassuming confidence Peck projects in his character with the characters of the westerners, who assume Peck's low-key personality means he's a coward, or at least unwilling to defend himself, despite the fact that he's a former sea captain and has probably seen more danger on the high seas in a few years of sailing than most of the ranchers have seen in their entire lives. His manhood is constantly being questioned by the cowboy types, who don't understand Peck's more restrained nature nor his background.

For example, in one scene he rides off into the desert overnight to visit a neighbor and doesn't come back the next day. They mount a search party, thinking he's lost, but he's not. He has a map and a compass, and he knows how to use them. Eventually he rides into the camp of the searchers, who haven't been able to find him yet, apparently none the worse for wear, but the ranch foreman accuses him of lying when Peck says he wasn't lost. The ignorant cowboys have no idea that a former sea captain like Peck, who could navigate a ship over thousands of miles of open sea with no landmarks with a sextent and a chronograph, would find it easy to navigate on land with a map and a compass. But the ranchers remain unconvinced.

There are several other incidents like this, and even his new wife doubts him. In the end, however, Peck shows himself to be twice the man of any of the other brash and blustery cowboy types who have doubted him all along when he single-handedly confronts Burl Ives and his gang alone at the end of the movie. He also realizes that his wife, who also doubted him, isn't worth the trouble and isn't the girl for him. Instead, he ends up with the Jean Simmons, who understood him better all along (and who tried to talk sense into his wife, unsuccessfully), and who is a much classier lady, anyway.

I have to agree with the other reviewers and say that Burl Ives is the real standout and surprise here, turning in a great performance as the crusty, scheming old patriarch of a disreputable family of ne'er-do-wells and ruffians who feels he deserves better, including his errant son, played by Chuck Connors, who also turns in a fine performance. It's too bad Connors didn't get that many other good roles like this, as he shows he's a much more capable actor than he's normally given credit for. The entire cast does a great job, actually, and Charlton Heston is also good in his role as Peck's nemesis, playing something of a bad guy with regard to Peck, but who eventually comes to appreciate Peck isn't the man he thought he was when he and Peck get into a fist fight. Both men end up taking and dishing out a lot of punishment during the course of the long fight, so there isn't exactly a clear winner, but Peck shows he can certainly take care of himself and isn't the pushover Heston had thought.

The movie also has a great score that really adds to the ambience and drama, which helps, since the movie is over 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Overall, it's a fine movie and a great western that isn't as well known as it should be. Big Steve says go rent it and don't Bogart the popcorn.

Watching Anthony Harvey's "The Lion in Winter" is like watching an advanced workshop on the art of acting. Of course, you would not expect any less from a production that casts two legends of the screen - Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn - in its lead roles. So convincing are the legendary performers in their roles and so authentic is the recreation of the period that history truly does feel like its coming alive as you watch the film.

King Henry II of Britain (O'Toole) comes to the realization that he must finally decide which of his sons will succeed him as King. He is leaning towards naming John (Nigel Terry) as his heir to the throne, but his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Hepburn) favors Richard (Anthony Hopkins) instead. Further complicating the situation is the scheming of the son left out of the equation, Geoffrey (John Castle) and the arrival in Britain of King Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) who was promised the hand of Henry's sister, Alais (Jane Merrow) in marriage. As all the players jockey for position amongst each other, Henry tries to stay one step ahead of them all while dodging venomous barbs from Eleanor.

"The Lion in Winter" is dialogue-dense and not a film for the action-adventure enthusiast. It is a film build around political intrigue and the difficult decisions that determine the destinies of nations. There are no epic swordfights or grand battles between warring armies on open fields. Instead, there are battles of the mind as strategies are formed and countered. The performances are solid throughout but Hepburn must be singled out. She is so regal as Eleanor that one could easily mistake her for a true monarch. If ever there was an actress born to play royalty, it was Hepburn.

What a treasure this movie is. Based on a (then unsuccessful) play by James Goldman, The Lion in Winter has some of the best dialogue ever written for the screen Regardless of the plot, or the historical accuracy of the piece, you just watch the film over and over, listening to the words like music.

It is a rare instance of all the right things coming together at the right time - a great script and a great cast. This is definitely one of Katherine Hepburn's best roles even though she made it when she was quite past her prime. Next to Lawrence of Arabia, this is Peter O'Toole's best film. It is also Anthony Hopkins first film. It reads as a textbook as to how a movie should be made. They, quite simply, don't make 'em like this anymore.

The plot concerns a (fictional) Christmas court held in 1183. Henry II takes his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, out of prison to help him great the young French king Phillip. Their three sons - John, Geoffrey, and Richard Coeur de Lion - are there as well. What ensues is an exercise in political machinations by the most dysfunctional family you have ever seen in your life. It has inspired me to learn more about the personages actually involved.

This film is a spectacular dramatic portrayal of the dynastic squabbles of the Angevins toward the end of Henry II's dynamic but troubled reign. Aside from bringing out one controversial subject (Richard I's possible homosexuality), it also has a poignant, if disturbing, portrayal of the often forgotten and little mentioned middle son, Geoffrey of Brittany (if he had survived the tournament in Paris, there likely would never have been King John!). Topping it off is the humorous and tragic figure of Eleanor (although she did bring a lot of her troubles on herself); and of course, Henry is again marvelously played by Peter O'Toole. As a medievalist, I cannot recommend this enough. Although one should be wary of taking all of it seriously, as with any film production, it is a surprisingly accurate rendition of the period.