Reviews

I first saw this program when it was originally broadcast in 1967. Until that time I hadn't paid much attention to Mark Twain's life and career, but Mr. Holbrook's amazing performance awakened an interest in those subjects that has proved to be very rewarding. Twain was an authentic American genius, and Mr. Holbrook does a wonderful job of conveying the nature of the man and his writing. I was lucky enough to see Mr. Holbrook in person in the mid-70's, and the CBS program, although different than that live performance, is a perfect 90-minute demonstration of what Mr. Holbrook can do. This video is a priceless gift to Americans, both for the quality of the performance and its depiction of the nature of the man being portrayed. We are all in Mr. Holbrook's debt.

It is sad to think about how far we've fallen, from "Mark Twain Tonight" on network television in 1967 to the awful nonsense shown on it now. At one time, at least, we were better than we are now.

This remarkable 1964 film has many virtues, among them a strong script, fine photography, and a pre-Kirk William Shatner (whose idiosyncratic acting style is already well-developed, however).

The story is a Westernization of "Rashomon", the story of a rape and murder told from the points of view of three participants and an outsider. The contrast between the subjective stories (told by the bandit, the husband, and the wife) and the story told by the miner who witnesses what really happens is both hilarious and thought provoking.

Everyone is in fine form, but DaSilva's miner and Edward G. Robinson's snake oil salesman are especially fine. Newman's portrayal of the Mexican bandit is often over-the-top, but always interesting.

This is one of those movies that makes one wonder if Mr. Maltin saw the same thing. I think that it is one of the better films of the 60's, a decade that produced a great many of the best movies ever made.

Terrence Malick's much-anticpated third movie measures up to the cinemaphotography standard set by his earlier films, but its philosophical musings are often inappropriately distracting. It has a dream-like quality that is entrancing, but at times at odds with the subject matter. Some sequences, such as the attack on Japanese bunkers on top of a ridge, rank among the best depictions of combat ever filmed. Mr. Malick is also to be congratulated on getting his details right: the aircraft shown at Henderson Field, for example, are the right types in the correct markings for the period.

Overall, somewhat disappointing, but well worth seeing, and definitely superior to the much-ballyhooed "Saving Private Ryan", a movie that was badly flawed by sentimentality and predictable plot elements. There is no false sentiment in "The Thin Red Line".

An excellent adaptation of Richard Hughes' novel. Quinn and Coburn have never been better, and they are well-served by a fine supporting cast. Evil has never been more banal than it is in this fine film.

Parts of this movie are asinine and sophomoric, but it also has some scenes that are brilliant. The opera sequence, for example, is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on film. The cast is excellent, with Dom Deluise particularly good as the evil blackmailer Gambetti. Madeline Kahn has never been better, and her music hall songs are wonderful. I very much look forward to being able to get this movie on DVD.