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Oscar_Gordon
Reviews
Great Performances: Cyrano de Bergerac (1974)
It's finally on DVD!
I waited 25 years for this to be available on video. I was afraid that the years had caused my remembrance of this production to be inflated, but it was every bit as good as I remembered. Peter Donat was as good as any Cyrano I've ever seen (WAY less "actorly" than Depardieu or Ferer), and Marsha Mason leaves all other Roxannes in the dust. Why is Roxanne always cast as a lightweight ingénue? Mason's Roxanne was a woman of spirit and substance - a fitting match for Cyrano.
The previous comment that asks "...do they really help a viewer to feel emotion?" is way off base. When Marsha Mason as Roxanne laments "I have loved one man in my life, and I have lost him twice!" it breaks your heart.
I never miss a chance to see Cyrano performed, and I have seen a dozen productions of this great play, live and on film. This is the production against which all others should be measured.
The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
I can't believe this is getting released on DVD.
This is on my personal list of the worst movies ever made - it may have been written and acted by robots. When I saw that it is being released on DVD, I couldn't believe it. The acting is stiff, the script is overly talky, the film thinks it is profound, but is so only in a "let's get stoned and analyze the universe" sophomoric sort of way. The ending, which is apparently meant to make the viewer leave thinking, is just silly.
I first saw this in college - at MIT, with a bunch of Sci-FI geeks, and WE thought it was the worst movie we'd ever seen. If that was our reaction, what would a normal, thoughtful film goer think?
The only thing that gets it a 2 star rating are two quotes that have defined this movie for me for 35 years.
Maxine: "What should we do about dinner?" Cragis: "Eat it."
and...
Cragis (speaking to a "clicker") "I'll pull your memory so fast, you'll never forget it."
I read somewhere where this is Andy Warhol's favorite film. Go figure.