Video Online Store Global Online Shopping Center UK | Germany
apparel   jewelry   musical instruments   beauty   health   sports   office  
books   baby   camera   computers   dvd   games   electronics   garden   kitchen   magazines   music   phones   software   tools   toys   video  
 Help  
Video - Genres - Classics - Classic Directors - Howard Hawks

1-20 of 63       1   2   3   4   Next 20
Favorite ListSimple List

click price to see details     click image to enlarge     click link to go to the store

1. Sergeant York
2. El Dorado
3. Sergeant York
4. Land of the Pharaohs
5. Bringing Up Baby
6. Rio Bravo
$9.44
7. Red River
8. Rio Lobo
9. Sergeant York
10. Air Force (1943)
11. Man's Favorite Sport
12. Hatari
13. Ball of Fire / Movie
14. Scarface
15. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
16. To Have and Have Not
17. To Have & Have Not
18. The Big Sleep (Prerelease Version)
19. The Thing From Another World
$18.98
20. I Was a Male War Bride

1. Sergeant York
by MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Tape (21 December, 1994)
list price: $19.98
Asin: 6301976258
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Gary Cooper plays Alvin York, the real-life country lad and sharpshooter drafted to fight during World War I but blocked from killing by his pacifist sentiments. Howard Hawks makes a rousing, heroic film out of the tale, and Cooper gives one of his best performances (for which he won an Oscar). The 1941 feature seems as much a valentine to wartime America (and a not-so-subtle piece of propaganda) as anything, with Hawks capturing splendidly shot scenes of life in York's home state of Tennessee, which in turn provide a striking contrast to the battlefield. A key scene in the film, in which York is presented with an argument in favor of killing in war, is still thought provoking. Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • HiFi Sound
  • NTSC

Reviews (68)

5-0 out of 5 stars This movie has a lot of heart
This is one of those movies that never gets old.
5-0 out of 5 stars WHEN OSCAR MET COOPER....A TIMELESS TRIUMPH!
For those who wonder why it took so long for SERGEANT YORK to make his journey to DVD, all you have to be familiar with is how AWFUL this movie looked when TCM ran it on TV. Like so many older Warner pictures, it needed to be restored, and over and over again, the grand old studio founded by the brothers Warner is restoring is glittering gems for DVD to look and sound terrific.
5-0 out of 5 stars Took them long enough!!!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie   


2. El Dorado
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (19 February, 1997)
list price: $9.95
Asin: 0792110188
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Read more

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • HiFi Sound
  • NTSC

Reviews (59)

3-0 out of 5 stars The End of An Era
The mid-1960s was a point of intersection for American movies. It is a bit of a lost era and one of the lowest points in Hollywood's history. It is situated long after the peak glories of the `golden age' of Hollywood and just before the New Hollywood movement that would breathe such new and invigorating life into the ailing medium. In many ways the films from this era are the ones which new filmmakers would react so strongly against; movies high in budget but sparse in originality, cast with aging movie stars playing worn characters; bloated, lifeless, and out of touch with the rapidly changing social climate of the day. "El Dorado", released in 1967, is most assuredly a film of this era. It is a western of such a standard concept that it could have been made thirty years prior. Its stars, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, are well past their primes and here look stiff, heavy, and old. It is, like so many others of the time, a film that seems irrelevant and washed up; a product of `going through the motions.' Its one saving grace, however, is that it occasionally seems all too aware of this fact.
5-0 out of 5 stars El Dorado
As all John Wayne (Cole Thornton) movies I enjoyed watching this time and time again.Also, having Robert Mitchum (Sherrif JP Harrah) in this movie added a new twist of actors that co-starred with John.Robert is a good actor and I enjoy his movies as well.Other actors that added a twist to the movie were James Caan (Mississippi), Aruther Hunnicutt (Bull) and Christopher George (Nelson McLeod).I wish there were more authentic westerns and spagetti westerns as there used to be.Tom Selleck in "Quigly Down Under" is another good one.

4-0 out of 5 stars ice your drinks and get the popcorn ready
What could be better...you get to see The Duke riding through beautiful western landscapes....with western towns populated with beautiful women...and bad guys in black hats....plus Robert Mitchum being Robert Mitchum and James Caan with that funny hat and big gun, and they play well with The Duke.The staging and the filming in technicolor plus the Olaf Wieghorst western art with the opening credits characteristic of the late fifties and early sixties took me back to some great memories of going to the movies as a kid. A side note...an acquaintance who was working on the set during filming says that John Wayne and Robert Mitchum were not talking to each other...who knows why, supposedly they were friends at one time..during the breaks Mitchum went off with the upper echelon while Duke would lunch with the crew....this is a great DVD to own for those Saturday nites when you feel like watching a fun shoot'm up western...you'll also love Rio Bravo.. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Movie    2. Westerns   


3. Sergeant York
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (08 May, 2001)
list price: $14.95
Asin: B00005A1VH
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Gary Cooper plays Alvin York, the real-life country lad and sharpshooter drafted to fight during World War I but blocked from killing by his pacifist sentiments. Howard Hawks makes a rousing, heroic film out of the tale, and Cooper gives one of his best performances (for which he won an Oscar). The 1941 feature seems as much a valentine to wartime America (and a not-so-subtle piece of propaganda) as anything, with Hawks capturing splendidly shot scenes of life in York's home state of Tennessee, which in turn provide a striking contrast to the battlefield. A key scene in the film, in which York is presented with an argument in favor of killing in war, is still thought provoking. Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • Closed-captioned
  • Original recording reissued
  • NTSC

Reviews (68)

5-0 out of 5 stars This movie has a lot of heart
This is one of those movies that never gets old.
5-0 out of 5 stars WHEN OSCAR MET COOPER....A TIMELESS TRIUMPH!
For those who wonder why it took so long for SERGEANT YORK to make his journey to DVD, all you have to be familiar with is how AWFUL this movie looked when TCM ran it on TV. Like so many older Warner pictures, it needed to be restored, and over and over again, the grand old studio founded by the brothers Warner is restoring is glittering gems for DVD to look and sound terrific.
5-0 out of 5 stars Took them long enough!!!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   


4. Land of the Pharaohs
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (07 July, 1994)
list price: $19.98
Asin: 6302354110
Sales Rank: 1641
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • NTSC

Reviews (18)

5-0 out of 5 stars Importance in History
The great director Howard Hawks thought Land of the Pharaohs was
3-0 out of 5 stars Potent spectacle allied to wretched dialogue
This movie was regarded as a failure by its director ,Howard Hawks,but for my money it is an interesting and visually striking picture .Unlike most movies set in ancient Egypt there are absolutely no references to Cleopatra and not an ambulatory Mummy anywhere in sight .
5-0 out of 5 stars Land of the Pharaohs
I watched this about 16 years ago when I was 20 and I think this movie is outstanding. It's about a pharoah named Kufu wanting a slave named Vashta to build a pyramid for him. Vashta does this because the pharaoh says he will let Vashta's people go if he builds this pyramid for him. Vashta agrees, but he still knows he has to die in the end but it's a risk he is willing to take just to save his people. It passes about 15 years and you now see Vashta's son Senta a grown man. Vashta is having a hard time reading in this pyramid because of old age and Senta decides he has to help his father and his people. Vashta is reluctant to let his son taking the chance of dying because Vashta has to tell him the secret about where the pharaoh is being burried when he passes. When Kufu makes a suprise visit to the pyramid the domino-effect stone accidentally brakes loose from the rope and falls down which triggers a pole or something to fall on Kufu. Senta helps him back up and brings him out of the pyramid knowing that Kufu knows Senta knows the secret so now Senta will have to also.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   


5. Bringing Up Baby
by Turner Home Ent
VHS Tape (14 October, 1997)
list price: $19.98
Asin: 6304383177
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

"The love impulse in man," says a psychiatrist in Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • Closed-captioned
  • NTSC

Reviews (122)

5-0 out of 5 stars Clean, funny movie
Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant at their prime! Hysterically funny movie about a "madcap" heiress and an archeological professor who is missing his "bone". One of the best!

5-0 out of 5 stars Bringing Up Baby
Bringing Up Baby might be the best screwball comedy ever, and is certainly one of the best. Cary Grant plays a staid, bespectacled professor of paleontology, engaged to a prim maiden who doesn't want to take time off from work to have a honeymoon. His life takes a sudden turn when he encounters a liberated society girl, played by Katherine Hepburn, at the golf course, where he is trying to impress the lawyer of a potential donor to his museum. She begins by playing his ball, and soon is driving away with his car, with the professor on the running board. Several adventures later, he and Hepburn are driving a tame leopard named Baby to her aunt's Connecticut estate, in a stolen car. Things don't really get crazy, however, until Baby escapes. Oh, yes - Baby loves dogs. Hepburn was never cast in a romantic farce before or since, but she is marvelous at it. The gags are so non-stop it's almost like a Marx Brothers movie. It's energy and wit carry it along to its breathless conclusion.

5-0 out of 5 stars May Charm Even Those Who Don't Like Screwball Comedy.
Now regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made and perhaps the best example of screwball comedy to reach the silver screen, "Bringing Up Baby" was a box office failure in 1938. The film was adapted from a story by Hagar Wilde that had appeared in Collier's magazine, directed by Howard Hawks, and starred Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in her only screwball role -before her triumphant return to Hollywood in the 1940s. This was Hepburn's last film for RKO. She bought herself out of her contract and returned to Broadway. "Bringing Up Baby" was rediscovered and began its ascent to iconic status in the 1960s. I'm not usually a fan of screwball comedy, but I have to admit that Hepburn and Grant make this one irresistible. So what explains the film's initial failure? Some have speculated that the wealthy characters are not portrayed as sufficiently unworthy to please audiences during The Great Depression. Or perhaps people wanted to see a more romantic, less adversarial pairing.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   


6. Rio Bravo
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (26 January, 1993)
list price: $4.97
Asin: 6300268470
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: John Ford's Read more

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • NTSC

Reviews (94)

5-0 out of 5 stars Long on Atmosphere, Short on Action - one of the best Westerns ever made
From the opening credits until the climactic confrontation at the end, this movie has the `feel' of a great Western.The tale is simple and relatively small in scope.A small town sheriff (played by John Wayne) and his ragtag groups of deputies and assistants (including Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Walter Brennan) must hold a man (Claude Akins) arrested for murder in the town jail until the US Marshal arrives.Akins' brother, played admirably by John Russell, and his gang of ruffians will stop at nothing to break him out.Ward Bond, another longtime filmmate of Wayne's, also has a minor role.Angie Dickinson plays the love interest.This is a film about atmosphere and the interaction between the characters, not action, and is filled with multiple subplots.This film has the `feel' of the Old West, perhaps not as it really was, but as it should have been.The main line of the story progresses slowly, so if you are ADHD and can only keep interested with lots of gunfights and explosions, this film is probably not for you.Dean Martin's character is a recovering alcoholic and trying to become the man he once was.Wayne's character, while trying to hold his prisoner, is becoming entangled in a relationship with Angie Dickinson.It is really the development of these subplots and the relationships between the characters that make this film so memorable.One of the other reviewers states that this film is easy to watch, and I would agree.I can watch this movie over and over, and if you like Westerns with atmosphere, I think you will too.

5-0 out of 5 stars We want more of J.T.
Back when entertainment entertained, there was Rio Bravo, the Gesamtkunstwerk of the Old West, what with the Tiomkin score, Big Duke in front of the camera, Walter Brennan complaining from off screen, and Howard Hawks behind the camera. BTW, I understand that scenes containing Harry Carey, Jr., were left on the cutting room floor. How about restoring them?

5-0 out of 5 stars Sorry don't get it done, dude!

Read more

Subjects:  1. Movie    2. Westerns   


7. Red River
by MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Tape (01 April, 1992)
list price: $9.94 -- our price: $9.44
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 6304429754
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Any short list of the all-time greatest Westerns is bound to include this 1948 Howard Hawks classic about an epic cattle drive. Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • Closed-captioned
  • NTSC

Reviews (64)

3-0 out of 5 stars "Funny what night does to a man!"
John Wayne plays a rancher, Dunston, who has a large ranch north of the Rio Grande in Texas.His adopted son Matt (Montgomery Cliff) returns from the Civil war to assist his father on the ranch. Due to post-war economic conditions, ranchers in Texas are unable to sell cattle locally. Dunston determines to drive 10,000 head of cattle to Missouri one thousand miles away. The trials and tribulations of the cattle drive, as well as the intricacies of the relationship between father and son are the primary focus of the movie.
5-0 out of 5 stars Epic Western that is Character Driven
John Wayne at his best. An all star cast lift this film from a western genre to an intense character driven plot. An ego driven John Wayne is not so lovable as he pulls out the darker side of his character Tom Dunson. In his screen debut Montgomery Clift is riveting as Mathew Garth. He pushes his character into principles first as he is forced to go against his mentor. A great classic movie with great direction, great acting, and photograpy. If you are a western fan and a John Wayne fan... this classic is a must to own.

3-0 out of 5 stars I tried, but I'm sorry it just isn't a very enjoyable movie to watch.
After reading all the accolades and excitement about this movie, I went ahead and bought it.It has been decades since I saw a John Wayne film, but I do remember that he was not known for his acting range.I will say I thought his performance was good and his character was somewhat interesting.But the overall story was only mildly engaging, and I found the violence to be gratuitous.I'm all for violence when it is properly placed and appropriate, but I just didn't find the final scene, where Dunson kills Cherry and then makes up with Matt just yards away, to be believable.As they wrap up the light-hearted ending, I am still thinking about Cherry (who appeared in the movie nearly the entire way from Texas) lying dead just a camera pan away, while we are just supposed to forget about him and laugh it up about how Dunson isn't such a bad guy after all.I guess I just missed the point about how Dunston could just mow down so many people throughout the movie, and then at the end suddenly everything's supposed to be fine.I guess that is how we are supposed to believe the Old West was, but for me it left me cold. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Movie    2. Westerns   


8. Rio Lobo
by 20th Century Fox
VHS Tape (26 August, 1997)
list price: $9.98
Asin: 630179849X
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

The final film by the legendary director Howard Hawks, released in 1970, found him paired with longtime leading man John Wayne in a story slightly similar to their more familiar Read more

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • HiFi Sound
  • NTSC

Reviews (19)

2-0 out of 5 stars It's all been done before, and done much better.
I love Westerns, especially John Wayne Westerns.But, I found this movie to be lacking.In the movie, they tried to showcase a handsome, young actor (Jorge Rivera) who had no charisma or acting skills whatsoever. It was so bad that I almost stopped the movie. I kept watching, just to see if it would get better.It didn't. The movie in general is nothing special.Train robberies, cavalry soldiers, bandits.The same old same old, and poorly done.The best part of this movie is the majestic outdoor scenery.I could watch Westerns all day.But, not this one.

5-0 out of 5 stars Rio Lobo
My husband is pleased with anything with John Wayne in it.
4-0 out of 5 stars If you've seen "El Dorado" and "Rio Bravo", you've basically seen "Rio Lobo"
Not that it's bad, of course.Fans of the Duke will want to add "Rio Lobo" to their collection because it's classic John Wayne stuff.This time, the Duke is a Yankee Colonel who attempts to track down a pair of Union traitors responsible for the theft of Union gold shipments during the Civil Was and ultimately, the death of a Yankee Lieutenant who was like a son to Wayne's character in the movie.Along the way, he is aided by a pair of Rebs (Jorge Rivero and Chris Mitchum) and beautiful Jennifer O'Neill.The quartet find themselves facing overwhelming odds (don't they always?) as they attempt to get the bad guy, while at the same time helping the oppressed citizens of Rio Lobo.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Movie    2. Westerns   


9. Sergeant York
by Warner Home Video
VHS Tape (16 May, 2000)
list price: $14.95
Asin: B00003OSTR
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Gary Cooper plays Alvin York, the real-life country lad and sharpshooter drafted to fight during World War I but blocked from killing by his pacifist sentiments. Howard Hawks makes a rousing, heroic film out of the tale, and Cooper gives one of his best performances (for which he won an Oscar). The 1941 feature seems as much a valentine to wartime America (and a not-so-subtle piece of propaganda) as anything, with Hawks capturing splendidly shot scenes of life in York's home state of Tennessee, which in turn provide a striking contrast to the battlefield. A key scene in the film, in which York is presented with an argument in favor of killing in war, is still thought provoking. Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • Original recording reissued
  • NTSC

Reviews (68)

5-0 out of 5 stars This movie has a lot of heart
This is one of those movies that never gets old.
5-0 out of 5 stars WHEN OSCAR MET COOPER....A TIMELESS TRIUMPH!
For those who wonder why it took so long for SERGEANT YORK to make his journey to DVD, all you have to be familiar with is how AWFUL this movie looked when TCM ran it on TV. Like so many older Warner pictures, it needed to be restored, and over and over again, the grand old studio founded by the brothers Warner is restoring is glittering gems for DVD to look and sound terrific.
5-0 out of 5 stars Took them long enough!!!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   


10. Air Force (1943)
by MGM (Warner)
VHS Tape (01 September, 1998)
list price: $14.98
Asin: 6302224446
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

There was no better director than Howard Hawks at depicting groupaction. Because of his sense of character and pacing, Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • NTSC

Reviews (11)

5-0 out of 5 stars A wonderful propaganda film, but not history
This is a wonderful film. It has powerful messages.There are numerous examples of how teamwork acheives something.My favourite is the tale we are told in little scraps about how the kid sister got wounded driving a guy to the air base - so he could fly a fighter and shoot down some Japs.
3-0 out of 5 stars A Look At the Reason for War
I saw "Air Force" for the first time the other night.Frankly, I had thought I'd seen or at least heard of the better WWII movies that were made in the 40's, 50's, and 60's.I'm not certain that this belongs in the category of "better" WWII movies but, if not, it's on the cusp.It does a great job of telling the story of the outbreak of WWII though they eyes of the crew of the "Mary Ann", a bomber that was in flight to Pearl Harbor on 12/6/41.Needless to say, they come on the scene just as the stuff hits the fan.After a brief stop, they head to Manilla by way of Wake Island.In case you don't know, those were the hot spots for the US at the beginning of WWII.They depart Manilla and discover a fleet of Japanese naval ships.They radio for help and the Battle of Midway ensues.At the end we see the surviving members ready to head off on a bombing mission over Tokyo.
2-0 out of 5 stars Historically inaccurate, but served its purpose at that time
Good special effects for that time period.Served its purpose to boost the morale of the American public during 1943.The heroic acts by those in the U.S. military at that time should always be remembered.Outgunned and outmanned they held their own, and then some on Wake Island and in the Philippines.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Feature Film-action/Adventure    3. Movie   


11. Man's Favorite Sport
by Universal Studios
VHS Tape (30 April, 1996)
list price: $14.98
Asin: 6300185370
Sales Rank: 1210
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • NTSC

Reviews (9)

5-0 out of 5 stars A Funny Movie
This is one of the best comedys I have seen. It is a favorite.

5-0 out of 5 stars A Funny Movie
This is one of the best comedys I have seen. It is a favorite.

3-0 out of 5 stars One of Prentiss' shining moments
Paula Prentiss was a talented actress who didn't make it as far as she should of. Even in supporting roles such as "Where the Boys Are" and "The Stepford Wives", Prentiss was able to stand out and make you ask who is that girl. Her charisma isn't easy able to label which maybe was one of Hollywood's reasons. Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   


12. Hatari
by Paramount
VHS Tape (12 August, 1991)
list price: $19.95
Asin: 6300215954
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Howard Hawks's 1962 adventure-comedy is basically the same, loosely plotted movie Hawks made over and over again for decades. A collection of professionals with a common goal--in this case, animal trapping in Tanganyika--forms a pocket community and holds each other to high standards in their work. This is a film about camaraderie, crisp banter, romance, and exciting action (the animal sequences are great). John Wayne played this part in about a thousand ways for Hawks over the years, and he could not be more entertaining as a grizzled pro. Read more

Features

  • Closed-captioned
  • Color
  • HiFi Sound
  • NTSC

Reviews (57)

5-0 out of 5 stars Wayne at a tender moment
This is John Wayne in a more tender moment.Tough guy is there but yous see a more tender Wayne as he falls in love....

5-0 out of 5 stars Happy with "Hatari"
We had a self-taped version of this John Wayne GREAT, which copy was wearing badly.How pleased I was to find a NEW replacement at a bargain price on Amazon.com.Shipping was speedy and economical and we have many hours of viewing pleasure ahead of us.Thanks a million, Amazon.

4-0 out of 5 stars A very fine 'Duke' Wayne Safari pic that blows Clint 'what's-his-names' 'White Hunter, Black Heart' away!
Since Clint has gone 'politically
Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Feature Film-action/Adventure    3. Movie   


13. Ball of Fire / Movie
by Hbo Home Video
VHS Tape (21 February, 1995)
list price: $14.98
Asin: 6302413656
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Offering a screwball twist on the story of Snow White and the SevenDwarfs, this delightful comedy has grown dated since its release in 1941, but that only adds to its everlasting charm. Written by the ace screenwriting team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett and directed by Howard Hawks, the movie presents a breezy case of opposites attracting when nightclub singer "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) is recruited to teach jazzy slang to a group of culturally isolated professors. Gary Cooper plays Bertram Potts, the straight-laced scholar who's compiling slang for a new encyclopedia, and his equally stodgy colleagues are fascinated when Sugarpuss and "Pottsie" seem to be warming up for romance. Complications ensue when the savvy singer must distance herself from her mobster fiancé (DanaAndrews), and Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • Closed-captioned
  • NTSC

Reviews (26)

5-0 out of 5 stars Beware of originals and their price!
I'm a collector of DVDs from Criterion to mediocre "original" Studio Productions (WB e.g.). This Taiwan-Copy of "Balls of Fire" is first rate quality, picture and sound and anything you can wish for in a remastered DVD. If you want THIS movie, get it at it's low price. If you are a snob or real freak, get it at its "English Original" price. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get something else. Well, I prefer the remake with Danny Kaye to this first Howard Hawks-movie, but then I prefer American Jazz to dated American slang. Gary Cooper against Danny Kaye? impossible to chose. "Ball of Fire" has more bite, "A Song is Born" too much schmalz, but then there is the music and Danny Kaye.
3-0 out of 5 stars SnowWhite as a showgirl singing Drum Boogie?
Sure, why not? I'd buy this movie just for that opening extended version by Gene Krupa's band. Does Gene seem a little keyed up? I don't know if Barbara Stanwyck is actually singing. I have no idea how they came up with the title Ball of Fire.No matter. It is Stanwyck's second, excellent screwball comedy of 1941 with a slight edge to The Lady Eve. It is sexier & Henry Fonda is a bit better in his role than Gary Cooper was in his. Cooper had just finished Sergeant York, his masterpiece & his role asProf. Bertram Potts was just average. It is Stanwyck's movie as it always is. She's Sugarpuss O'Shea, a hip, wise cracking working girl on the lam from her fiance & his mob. She hooks up with Prof. Potts to teach him some slang for his dictionary. She moves in with Potts & his six elderly collegues & teaches them a few things about life beyond their cloistered existence. So of course Sugarpuss & Bertram fall in love. In they end they outsmart the crooks. You know the end, it's alway the same. But its a pretty good movie. Barbara Stanwyck doesn't know how to make a bad one.

5-0 out of 5 stars STANWYCK'S GREATEST COMEDY!SHE COULD DO ANYTHING!!!
One only needs to watch Ball of Fire to realize the depth of Barbara Stanwyck's incredible talent.I'd match her up against ANY ACTRESS of her era or any other era!!Here is a woman who can rip your heart out...even when she plays unlikeable characters because she always lets you see multi-dimensions of her characters.Sugarpuss O'Shea is a perfect example of a bad girl with a soft heart who succumbs to the love a naive, good-looking gentleman.But she also shows her love to the other professors.1941 was Stanwyck's greatest Movie Year.....she made "Meet John DOe" and "The Lady Eve" in this year as well and she is excellent in all of them.Stanwyck is the ONLY ACTRESS I CAN THINK OF who CAN DO ANYTHING!!From drama to comedy, to musicals and of course westerns!!While Stanwyck's singing is not on a par with her other talents (her singing was dubbed in Ball of Fire) she can still do a musical song and dance as is evidenced in her 1937 film (THIS IS MY AFFAIR where she plays a vaudeville entertainer).Bette Davis could never play comedy and was too mannered with her rapid fire clipped speech and overacting.SHe couldn't sing or dance (as Barbara did in Ball of FIre, Lady of Burlesque, This is My Affair and Banjo on My Knee).Katharine Hepburn was a good actress but very unnerving also with her mannerisms, high patrician attitude and SHE COULD NEVER PLAY A PART IN A MUSICAL.SHE COULDN'T SING).Joan Crawford was a good actress in good movies but very few of her movies are good and she couldn't sing.Doris Day was brilliant in comedy, musicals and drama but she would never be believable as a villainess or a heavy.The same with Judy Garland.Rare is the talent who could do it all.I dare anyone to disagree with me that Stanwyck was the ONE who could do it all....Drama, Comedy, Westerns, Musicals!! Heroine or villainess! Stanwyck's work is always FIRST CLASS even when applied to material that is not. She was simply the greatest and I'm sorry this review has turned into a tribute to Stanwyck but she should have won the Oscar in 1941 for Ball of Fire when she proved that she was the greatest actress in that wonderful era of actresses!!The movie, Ball of Fire is great fun!!From beginning to end Stanwyck and Cooper are unbeatable!!!And the other professors are hilarious to watch as well!!There is also a marvelous musical score and the production values are top notch! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Movie   


14. Scarface
by Universal Studios
VHS Tape (01 March, 1992)
list price: $19.99
Asin: 6300181316
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Howard Hawks's Read more

Features

  • Black & White
  • HiFi Sound
  • NTSC

Reviews (20)

4-0 out of 5 stars the best gangster movie ive ever seen
i just watched and taped this movie from tcm.i really liked it.i thought,like many old movies it would be long and devoid of any action.boy was i wrong!all the events in the movie were based on real life happenings.it is set in a time where one of the biggest crime bosses just went down and 10 more are jumping in to take his place.so theres someone getting shot up in every scene!it was great!of course its done in a 1932 type way so you wont see any graphic violence gow we think of it today,but it was top of the line for its time.my favorite part is when the lead character is getting the building hes in shot to pieces and he looks up for a second at his shooters and sees their machine gun.and he gets really exited like a kid at x-mas and says"they got a machine gun you can carry around!i gotta get me one of those!".i think its the best gangster movie ive ever seen and yes i have seen "the godfather"

5-0 out of 5 stars A "TALKY" THAT CARRIES QUITE A WALLOP -- for 93 MINUTES

5-0 out of 5 stars production code problems
By today's standards it is almost a PG film due to the inherently innocent look into the graphic nature of the cinematography. But just the same, by the standards of that time period, it was a horrifically violent movie with around 30 deaths in the film.This was a record breaker in itself.Howard Hawks, under the control of the industry for which he was working had to hold off on releasing the movie more than two years because they were fearful that it was praise for criminals and the crimes they committed.Chicago alone refused to show the film for another year on top of the original two. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action    2. Action / Adventure    3. Adventure    4. Drama    5. Feature Film-drama    6. Movie   


15. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
by 20th Century Fox
VHS Tape (20 April, 2004)
list price: $6.98
Asin: 6302484383
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan

Editorial Review

Anita Loos's old story from the 1920s about a pair of single women in search of husbands gets a makeover in Howard Hawks's 1953 musical, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe as friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The film is charged by Hawks's stylish snap, a famous set piece or two (Monroe descending that staircase while singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"), Russell's wit, and songs by Leo Robin and Jule Styne. The film may largely be a fluff project best remembered as a showcase for its leading actresses, but then Monroe and Russell rarely got such extended opportunities to prove that they were more than cinematic icons. Read more

Features

  • Color
  • NTSC

Reviews (73)

5-0 out of 5 stars "Talk to me Harry Winston, tell me all about it"
I must confess I had forgotten just how good this movie actually is.The plot involves the adventures of one gold digger (Monroe) and one man hungry vamp (Russell).While I must confess that for Monroe this probably was her starmaking role, Russell really shines in the role of Dorothy, who inevitably must play Ethel to Marilyn Monroe's Lucy.
5-0 out of 5 stars Pure Marilyn, pure light-hearted fun.
Arguably, along with the 'Seven Year Itch', this lighthearted 50's musical comedy is the most definitive 'Marilyn' film. In particular for her memorable 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend' number, so adorable in its (and her)innocent mocking self parody and brought to life again several decades later in Madonna's, 80's' Material Girl' Video.