Action Classics [24 Discs]Action Classics [24 Discs]

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DVD FEATURES:
  • Number of Discs: 24
  • Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
AWARDS
  • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  •     Nominated Best Color Cinematography - 1953 (Edward J. Cronjager)
  •     Nominated Best Score - Drama or Comedy - 1944 (Freddie Rich)
  •     Nominated Best Black and White Art Direction - 1941 (Richard Irvine, Alexander Golitzen)
  •     Nominated Best Black and White Cinematography - 1941 (Charles B. Lang)
  •     Nominated Best Dramatic Score - 1941 (Miklos Rozsa)
  •     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1936 (Perry Ferguson)
  •     Nominated Best Score - 1936 (Nathaniel Shilkret)
  • Film Daily
  •     Won 10 Best Films - 1936
  • Library of Congress
  •     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1994
  • National Board of Review
  •     Nominated Best Picture - 1936
  • New York Times
  •     Won 10 Best Films - 1936
  • Telluride Film Festival
  •     Film Presented - 1984
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
REVIEWS:
  • Although it didn't appear so at the time, East of Borneo proved a groundbreaking experience for Rose Hobart, whom Universal had imported from Broadway and then blithely dumped into this piece of B-movie drivel. Although ostensibly photographed on an expedition to Sumatra, most of the footage bears a rather striking resemblance to the Universal back lot, what with Noble Johnson and Lupita Tovar skulking about in the underbrush. Yet despite this caveat, the little film is actually good fun, if slightly on the naive side and rather politically incorrect by modern standards. That master of the avant-garde collage, Joseph Connell got hold of some of the footage and turned it into a strangely hypnotic silent two-reeler plainly titled Rose Hobart. To the end of her life, the subject found it highly amusing that one of her worst film experiences should, in the end, prove something of a legacy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Although it's odd to see the 1951 version of Mickey Rooney in a Western, My Outlaw Brother owes its very modest appeal to his presence, as well as the presence of co-stars Robert Stack (as the brother) and Robert Preston. They're an odd trio to bring together in one movie, to be sure, but they each have a particular sort of charisma and style, something that Outlaw as a whole lacks. Gene Fowler's screenplay is terribly predictable; it's pretty much a standard issues good brother vs. bad brother scenario, with the added layer of the good brother being a city slicker; one doesn't even have to see the film to imagine how it all plays out, and one would rarely be wrong. Some snappier, more characterful direction would have helped matters, but Elliott Nugent seems to be operating pretty much on automatic pilot here; he gets things done, but without a great deal of flair. The sets are fine, if not particularly impressive. All of this leaves it up to the stars, who may not be turning in dazzling performances but who do provide a good degree of distraction and pleasure. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • A slightly above average adventure picture, Sundown has its ups and downs but comes out just a bit on the up side. As is so often the case, much of the "downs" are due to the screenplay. It seems as if the writers cobbled together a few plot devices from here, a few from there, a good supporting character from one story, an ending setting from Mrs. Miniver and hoped that stirring them all up would create something new. It doesn't. But, that said, there have been far worse screenplays than this, which is functional if nothing more. Its stars are also a mixed bag. On the plus side, we have George Sanders. When "on," Sanders could be relied upon to bring a unique quality to any film, and Sundown catches Sanders definitely in the "on" position. The movie also has the beauty of Gene Tierney, which is truly something to behold. Were her performance in the same class as her beauty -- which it is not - Sundown would have been a much better film. Similarly, Bruce Cabot looks good but his performance is only okay. There's better work from supporting players Harry Carey and Cedric Hardwicke. Henry Hathaway's direction is uneven, but it's spot on during the battle scenes; these are among the film's highlights. Charles B. Lang's cinematography is also a definite plus, moody when needed, dazzling on occasion. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • A terribly light little romp, Mr. Robinson Crusoe is at times silly and at all times unbelievable, but it's a moderately entertaining picture. Modern viewers will most likely find their enjoyment hampered somewhat by the manner in which the natives in the film are portrayed and may also be bothered by the sexist treatment afforded the character of Saturday. Otherwise, Crusoe isn't offensive. Mixing comedy and adventure, Crusoe has little on its mind other than diverting the audience; occasionally, one might wish that it aimed a bit higher, and the film does drag a bit toward the end. Still, it does have the inimitable Douglas Fairbanks on hand, providing a sophisticated light touch to the comedy and his own patented brand of derring-do to the adventuresome segments. He's terrific company to be in, and his star persona carries the film; as long as it's Fairbanks, who is going to quibble over his ridiculous accomplishments (which are presented in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner anyway)? Cinematographer Max du Pont takes advantage of some marvelous locations, and director Edward Sutherland keeps the proceedings appropriately nimble most of the time. Alfred Newman's score is also an asset. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Because of the talent connected with it, one expects Under the Red Robe to be something special -- and thus one is inevitably disappointed to find that it is, after all, only a rather run-of-the-mill swashbuckler. The aforementioned "talent" that raises expectations includes director Victor Sjostrom; actors Conrad Veidt, {Annabella} and Raymond Massey; and cinematographers James Wong Howe and Georges Perinal. The last-named, at least, do not disappoint: Robe has a marvelous look to it, thanks in large part to the careful ministrations of these expert photographers. There's a full-bodied, gorgeous yet powerful feel to their work, and it adds a considerable amount to the film. One wishes that director Sjostrom could have been as inspired as his camera gurus, but sadly the extremely talented Swedish helmsman is largely uninspired here; he doesn't seem to have his heart in the matter, and so while the film is professional, it lacks spirit and drags a bit. Of course, a large portion of the blame for this lies in the screenplay, which is adequate but nothing more. Veidt is a bit miscast; he's a tad old for the part and doesn't have the natural flair for this kind of thing that Errol Flynn did. Annabella looks stunning but performs without real distinction, and Massey overplays the "heavy" role. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Burgess Meredith made an auspicious film debut in Winterset, bringing to the screen his strangely unsettling intensity -- perhaps a little too unsettling, since Meredith never really achieved widespread audience acceptance, despite his considerable talent. Here, as in many of his other roles, Meredith resembles a bantam rooster, but one that's definitely the number two rooster in the yard. He's wary and wiry, coiled and ready to spring, but always keeping himself in check, knowing that in general he's outclassed. But when the right moment comes, when those searing eyes take a solid lock on someone or something, there's nothing that will stop him. Meredith is just the strongest of an outstanding cast, with particularly notable work from the strangely beautiful Margo and John Carradine. Maxwell Anderson';s play has been tightened and shorn of some of its blank verse; enough remains, however, to give the film an uneven tone in terms of dialogue, and there are several places where the plot turns jar. Director Alfred Santell doesn't resolve the problems in tone, but he does provide a moody atmosphere, greatly aided by Peverell Marley's evocative cinematography and some find editing by William Hamilton. Much of the language makes Winterset dated and a bit difficult to take at times, but it still packs a nice little punch. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Fans of women in prison flics will get a kick out of Lady Gangster, one of the earlier examples of this genre and one that is, to put it bluntly, really rather stupid. Although drawn from the same source as 1933's Ladies They Talk About, Gangster makes enough changes in the already-farfetched original script to take it from the realm of hard-to-believe to just-plain-dumb. That will, of course, be part of its charm, and Gangster is a film that's easy to watch; but easy to watch in no way is the same thing as good. After all, this is a film in which a man in very obvious drag is expected to fool a hardbitten moll and trick her into revealing some vital secrets. There are a couple of good scenes, including the lip reading sequence, but most of Gangster is poor, if entertaining, stuff. Faye Emerson's performance is in keeping with the spirit of the film: not what one would call great or even decent acting, but quite enjoyable. Indeed, the same can be said for all of the cast. Director Robert Florey worked under a pseudonym on this one, and one can only assume it was due to embarrassment. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • It's a hard film to find, but if the prospect of seeing a twitchy, bug-eyed Johnny Cash use six-year-old Ron Howard as a human shield during a violent shootout sounds promising, then Five Minutes to Live delivers in spades. This long-lost picture starts off with Cash riddling a policeman with machine gun bullets and never lets up, piling one raw act upon another with the Man in Black turning in a wild performance as a feral killer. In nearly every scene Johnny is either wielding a weapon or obsessively strumming an acoustic guitar (the tasty riffs he picks were post-dubbed by co-star Merle Travis), and Cash channels something very dark and very disturbed in this role. He nearly trembles with his aggression, and it's clear that if Cash hadn't been the seminal music figure that he was, he could have had a fine career as a Hollywood heavy. Director Bill Karn gives Five Minutes to Live a breathless, desperate energy that transcends its obvious exploitation roots, sometimes coming close to capturing the same vibe as Russ Meyer's early black-and-white melodramas. The film also takes a healthy satirical poke at the sterile face of suburbia, a theme that hadn't yet become standard in American cinema. The Wilsons put on a good show for the neighbors but their lives are a mess of hangovers, adultery, and lazy parenting. When Johnny arrives he makes his disdain for their lifestyle plain, muttering "I never saw so much of nothin' in my life," and smashing the tacky knick-knacks that decorate the Wilson home. There are a few loose plot devices that need tightening, but with a film that moves this fast and furious, it hardly matters. By the time this thriller was re-released (with the lurid moniker Door-to-Door Maniac), Cash was on his way toward cleaning up his own troubled life and embracing Christianity, which might explain why such a vicious portrait remains difficult to see. However, while Johnny Cash's larger-than-life persona depends on his image as an elder statesman of American folk music, there are plenty who still relish his early hell-raising days, and Five Minutes to Live is the film that those fans need to see. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
  • Jail Bait was Edward D. Wood Jr.'s first attempt at making a mainstream movie. Previously, he'd directed, written, and starred in Glen or Glenda, a very personal film about transvestism that was made for the exploitation film circuit. Jail Bait, however, was a crime film, really a film noir, made for Howco, a low-budget production company that specialized in genre entertainment and distributed its films to drive-ins and cheap but respectable neighborhood theaters. Co-written with Alex Gordon, Jail Bait follows the path of conventional crime movies, telling a cautionary tale about the privileged son (Clancey Malone) of a successful surgeon (Herbert Rawlinson, in a part intended for Bela Lugosi), who comes to no good end when he takes up with a professional hood (Timothy Farrell) in his quest for kicks. The plot up to that point isn't too different from that of the 1944 East Side Kids drama Million Dollar Kid, except that it's also presented partly as a police procedural. Wood was evidently intent on emulating the style and approach of Dragnet, which was then the hottest thing on television, although Jail Bait, thanks to Wood's strange direction, more resembles the radio version (then again, even the television version of Dragnet in those days strongly resembled its radio version). The focus is just as much on the two police detectives (portrayed by Lyle Talbot and Steve Reeves) as it is on the doomed Don Gregor or his family. Another bizarre element is the dialogue, both as written and as handled under Wood's direction. In between the police jargon and the tough-guy talk is very strangely written and paced developmental dialogue, especially between Rawlinson and Dolores Fuller (Wood's paramour at that time), playing his daughter, who sound like they're rehearsing a radio drama (and like they need a lot of work). It's when Rawlinson, portraying a gifted veteran surgeon, utters lines admitting that he finds plastic surgery "very complicated" that modern audiences start to laugh. Then there are scenes like the one where Don Gregor's corpse, left standing upright behind a curtain, tumbles out in front of his father without making enough noise to alert anyone in the next room. (Come to think of it, the idea of a day-old corpse left standing upright, perfectly still and without starting to smell of decay in a kitchen, is pretty funny too.)

    Those elements, plus the facial reconstruction surgery that Dr. Gregor improvises in a living room, would be enough to make Jail Bait worthwhile viewing for connoisseurs of the odd and unusual in filmmaking. But Wood also had the goal of emulating the zither score from The Third Man and the mood that it created, even though his movie is set in southern California and not Vienna. He couldn't find a zither player (or else couldn't afford to hire Ruth Welcome, who was certainly around at that time), so he reused Hoyt Curtin's guitar score from Howco's Mesa of Lost Women; thus, Jail Bait has this dramatic Spanish-style guitar, embellished with piano for the dramatic moments, noodling underneath its action and dialogue. That track, plus the presence of an embarrassing (but accurate) black-face comedy number set at the theater that's to be robbed, firmly place this movie in the main body of Wood's work, if not as well developed as it would later become in its mistakes and errors in judgement. It's not prime Edward D. Wood material -- as he gained experience and confidence, he grew bolder and began reaching beyond his grasp, making bigger and more interesting mistakes -- but, like watching a car that's starting to veer onto the shoulders of a highway at a medium speed, one can see here where Wood and his career were going. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
  • Michael O'Shea looks a bit like a young Spencer Tracy but the resemblance ends right there. In fact, Jack London could have used an actor of Tracy's verve and vigor, the aforementioned Mr. O'Shea hardly suggesting the ruggedness of the legendary author. Not that the failure of the film is all down to O'Shea's too innocuous performance. The majority of the blame must instead go to screenwriter Ernest Pascal, who allows his protagonist to speak lines that sounds too much like book cover blurbs. The film biography marked the first production of Samuel Bronston and the screen acting debut of Virginia Mayo. The latter, who plays London's partner in an oyster boat, married Michael O'Shea in 1947. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Modern audiences will undoubtedly find Bird of Paradise heavy going (as well they should), but it was quite a hit with Depression-era audiences. Forget about the plot (which includes a virgin sacrifice to the volcano) right away; even when it was filmed, this kind of South Seas romance was old hat, bordering on camp decades before camp existed. And don't count on the dialogue to elevate things; while there's the occasional decent line, most of it is trite or corny, often embarrassingly so. As a matter of fact, Bird is probably best watched with the sound off; there's nothing so complicated here that the average viewer over the age of ten can't figure out without the wince-making wordage. Since Bird's biggest assets are visual, nothing is really lost. True, you don't get Joel McCrea's easy, unpretentious way of handling this schlocky dialogue, for which he deserves credit. But McCrea's physicality carries a lot of his performance anyway. This is doubly true for Dolores Del Rio, whose character is basically unfamiliar with English anyway; the actress handles herself very well under the circumstances. Neither actor is giving a legendary performance, because the script simply doesn't allow it, but they're as good as they are allowed to be. More importantly, they look gorgeous and are given ample opportunity to show off their physical beauty, most memorably in a near-nude swimming scene. Director King Vidor gives up on the script and concentrates on his stars' looks and on the stunning location-shooting. The result is a silly film that's long on hokum and ridiculous in the extreme, but looks absolutely fabulous. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • No matter what one may think of the films of the early 1970s in terms of their quality, it's hard to argue with the fact that the era produced a staggering number of films that were quite daring in subject matter or style, and such is the case with Born to Win. Like many other of its brethren at the time, Win doesn't totally succeed as a film, but it's an incredible microcosmic look at a particular place in a particular time. Rarely has the city of New York -- or rather, a segment of the city of New York -- been captured so completely, a fact that is all the more surprising given that the director who captured it, Ivan Passer, was newly arrived from Czechoslovakia. Passer can't get the film as a whole to work the way he wants it, but he brings an outsider's eye to the film and thus is able to catch the details and the nuances that those used to living in and observing the City would miss. Had Passer been able to pull off the very difficult tone of the piece -- a black comedy about serious drug addiction -- Win might have been an incredible cinematic experience. As it is, it meanders too much and it too often doesn't make the punches it wants to, and it definitely doesn't combine the comedy and the drama seamlessly. But there are extraordinary moments, such as Karen Black's exhortation to George Segal as she returns him to New York to get a fix, that burn themselves into the memory. And Segal's desperation when he's naked and awaiting word of his fate provides a marvelously funny sequence. Segal and Black are excellent throughout, and there's also a small bit by a young Robert De Niro, which is interesting mostly for historic reasons. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Outpost in Morocco promises intrigue, adventure and danger, but it doesn't keep its promises. Put the blame -- a good deal of it at least -- on George Raft. Raft has the lead role in this Foreign Legion extravaganza, and while there are other factors that can influence the success of this type of picture, a virile, entrancing star is crucial. Raft, past 50 at the time he made this, simply doesn't seem to try. He alternates between looking tired and uninterested, and this is fatal to Outpost, much more so than any attacking marauders could possibly be. Perhaps he was attempting a laidback Humphrey Bogart-style approach, but it comes across as bored instead. Occasionally there's a flicker -- a gleam in the eyes, or a sneer in the lips -- that makes one think he's about to come to life; but the flicker inevitably fades before becoming a fire. Opposite him, Marie Windsor does the best she can (and looks stunning); but there's nothing for her to play off of. Akim Tamiroff livens things up appreciably, and some of the action sequences are notable. But even some impressive location lensing and a generous costume budget can't make up for the stiff leading man. Throw in a strictly-average screenplay and the result is a fairly tepid affair. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Robert Webb's Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was only the second movie ever shot in Cinemascope at 20th Century Fox, and it presented challenges all the way around. The use of Cinemascope underwater was something entirely new and shooting in color underwater offered potential pitfalls as well. Webb succeeded, mostly with help from two central performances -- by Gilbert Roland and Richard Boone -- that had a lot of heart (this might be Roland's best movie), and the extraordinarily beautiful, Oscar-nominated cinematography by Edward J. Cronjager. Those virtues were all topped off by one of the finest scores ever written by Bernard Herrmann, the composer making full use of the range of timbrel effects and stereo separation in creating a dazzling musical accompaniment to the action. The drama itself is fairly routine, distinguished mostly by Roland and Boone's performances, though Robert Wagner and Terry Moore do try hard in what cannot have been an easy shoot, with lots of location work involved. There is also a surprising degree of depth and subtlety to the script that may be lost amid the brawling, violence, and threats of violence. This is very much a movie of its time, its plot steeped in issues of prejudice and the perceptions of prejudice. The Rhyses and the other American-born fishermen despise the Greeks as interlopers and poachers, but Gwyneth Rhys and her father are smarter than the others, recognizing in Tony and his father qualities of bravery and honor that they can respect and admire. They also see in Arnold (Peter Graves), one of their own, a lot of qualities that they come to despise. This element of the script may seem simplistic by modern standards, but it makes Beneath the 12-Mile Reef a much more serious film than it's usually perceived as being. This script would not have been written that way, or the film shot to such a script, a decade earlier, and its social subtext is one of the elements that has helped it maintain its audience across 50 years. Most viewers, however, will probably be drawn first to the film's technical virtues. The combination of Cinemascope and color in the underwater sequences are worth the price of admission, creating an enveloping effect that is completed by Herrmann's score. Alternately bright and exuberant, or dark and ominous, the music incorporates elements of impressionism in its unusual sonorities (including a cadenza for nine harps that anticipated a similar, better-known piece of music that he wrote for the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth six years later). The haunting melodies that crop up throughout are a delight to the audience, without ever overwhelming the visual component of the picture. Herrmann's music for this film was so strong and memorable that parts of his score were still being excerpted by Fox's music department more than a decade later for use in other productions. To be appreciated properly, the movie must be seen in widescreen, fully letterboxed, in one of its better home video editions. The copyright on Beneath the 12-Mile Reef lapsed in 1981, and since then it has been heavily bootlegged on videocassette, in mostly not very attractive versions. In the 1990s, however, a preservation-quality 35 mm Scope print turned up in the hands of a collector, and this has since become the source for an excellent letterboxed edition of the movie (with stereo sound) on laserdisc from Lumivision and DVD from Slingshot Entertainment. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
  • Telly Savalas's performance as a powerful Mafia don is the main reason for watching I Familiari Delle Vittime Non Saranno Avvertiti (aka Crime Boss), but that's not to say he's particularly good in the film. From the first moment we see Savalas, tending to his roses while wearing a beret tilted at a stereotypically European angle, he's playing a caricature of a mob boss rather than a three-dimensional character, and there are moments where he seems to be appearing in a sketch from the old Dean Martin show rather than a serious crime drama. At the same time, Savalas has a great deal more charisma than anyone else in the movie, and at least he brings some much-needed brio to the proceedings. Antonio Sabato displays a certain stoic charm as a young mob mechanic on the rise, but even though he's the prime focus of the story the script doesn't give his character much depth and he can't seem to find it on his own, and it's almost comical how little chemistry he has with Paola Tedesco, who plays the head Mafioso's daughter as well as the young upstart's lover. Crime Boss's pacing is slow and inconsistent, the screenplay offers few fresh wrinkles on a common story, and director Alberto De Martino has trouble making the film work either visually or as an actor's showcase, even when Savalas is chewing the scenery. Crime Boss is a curiously bland example of Italian crime cinema of the 1970s, and while there's a bit of fun to be had with Savalas's overworked delivery, otherwise this is only for the most obsessive fan of European genre filmmaking. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
  • The Capture is a treat for viewers looking for an intriguing drama that they haven't seen time and time again. Relatively obscure, thanks to its financial failure when first released, Capture is a lean, crisply directed thriller that plays with interesting questions or morality, innocence and guilt. Playing at times like a Western, at other times like a mystery, and at others like a romance, Capture perhaps tries a little too hard to be all three types and thus becomes slightly unfocused; but most viewers will be adequately rewarded by its assets and forgive it for being perhaps a little overly ambitious in trying to bridge these genres. Certainly there will be no complaints about its cast, with an appropriately guilty Lew Ayres and a typically luminous Teresa Wright leading the way and the always dependable Victor Jory and a solid Jacqueline White and Jimmy Hunt providing support. Niven Busch's screenplay is well constructed, setting up its situations with a sure hand, utilizing the flashback structure most effectively, and raising moral issues in a manner than both supports the story and adds depth to the characters. John Sturges' direction is spot-on, and there's fine cinematography from Edward J. Conjager that adds to the atmosphere and tension. Thos seeking something a little off the beaten path should keep an eye out for Capture. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • The Fast and the Furious (1954) was the movie that began Roger Corman's business relationship with Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson, and their American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures). On that basis alone, it's an important movie for establishing the link between one of the best low-budget filmmakers of the 1950s and '60s and the distribution company that issued most of his best work from those same decades, as well as for helping to establish that same company. Nicholson and Corman had known each other previously, when the former had worked at Realart Pictures, and while Corman had sold his first produced feature, Monster From the Ocean Floor, to another company, they'd stayed in contact and discovered, along with Nicholson's new business partner, Sam Arkoff, that each had something to offer the other. Corman initially had been unable to get John Ireland to star in the proposed movie for a fee below his normal asking price, but then Ireland came back and agreed to do it if he were allowed to direct it as well -- as Corman needed a director anyway, as well as needing Ireland for his star power, he agreed immediately. Ireland proved to be more than competent in his debut behind the camera, and the resulting movie was one of the more exciting and satisfying B-movie action thrillers of its period -- the racing scenes, which Corman worked on, and in which he was one of the stunt drivers, were handled exceptionally well, given the low budget and short shooting schedule (nine days total), while the dramatic sequences by Ireland and Dorothy Malone were consistently rewarding. Interestingly, Ireland showed a subtly vulnerable side in his portrayal of a man on the run that one seldom got to see in his screen work, while Malone was a memorably independent and self-actualized female screen figure for the early 1950s. The Fast and the Furious is one of the more enduring titles out of Corman's early output as a producer, and plays well even 50 years later, with the added allure that many of the racing cars shown in the rally sequences have since become classics in their own right. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
  • The first of many feature film versions of the James Fenimore Cooper novel about the travails of the American Mohican Indians during the French and Indian Wars was characterized by its innovative use of color and its brutal battle scenes. The Native American parts are all played by Caucasians, as was the custom in those days. The great silent film star Wallace Beery plays a traitor to his own people, the villain Magua. Barbara Bedford is the fetching female lead. Director Maurice Tourneur was incapacitated after three months on the set and turned over the reins to the younger Clarence Brown. Color tints enhanced the film's photographic quality, especially during the bloody, unflinching scenes from the climactic fight at Fort McHenry. Though the film has its share of stereotypes, it's generally sympathetic to the plight of the Native Americans, who were used by both sides in the war. This American classic was filmed again in 1932, 1936, 1960, 1977, and 1992. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
  • This 1987 TV miniseries tells the true story of imprisoned Jews who devise and execute an elaborate escape plan. The production is gripping throughout. The setting is a Nazi extermination camp in a forest near the Polish village of Sobibor. There, 250,000 Jews, mostly from Poland and Russia, died in five gas chambers during the camp's operation between May 1942 and October 1943. The story engrosses the audience the moment the principal characters arrive at the camp and suffer brutal treatment by SS and Ukrainian guards. Only captives with useful skills are spared; the rest proceed to the gas chambers. In time, the traumatized prisoners, led by Leon Feldhendler (Alan Arkin), decide to escape -- but how? Then, Russian soldiers under the command of Alexander Percherski (Rutger Hauer) arrive as prisoners, throw in with Feldhendler, and provide the technical and military know-how to hatch an escape plan. Arkin and Hauer both perform brilliantly as co-leaders of the uprising, the largest and most successful of its kind in World War II. Simon Gregor as Shlomo Szmajzner also deserves high praise for his portrayal of a callow boy who learns how to cozen his Nazi captors and eventually kill them. The suspense builds gradually. Then the film explodes with action. Knives, axes, and guns give the Nazis their due as communication lines are cut and prisoners run hell-bent for freedom. Escape From Sobibor is one of the best escape films made about World War II. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi
  • While twiddling his thumbs waiting for horror films to make their eagerly anticipated comeback, Boris Karloff plays a German spy masquerading as a French servant masquerading as a British counter-espionage agent masquerading as a German spy, etc., etc. Or is it the other way around? Meanwhile, leading lady Margaret Lindsay does him one better by playing a British intelligence officer masquerading as a German spy masquerading as a British counter-intelligence officer masquerading as a German spy. Confused? Well, British Intelligence, if nothing else, proves that the English Secret Service was almost as dense -- but only almost -- as its German counterpart during World War I. Or is it World War II? With all the veiled references to a certain Herr Hitler, it is hard to pinpoint which. All of which add up to perhaps Karloff's most tedious Warner Bros. vehicle. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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