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My family always loved this movie...my mom said Lee Marvin's last line in the film was one of the best comebacks in Hollywood scriptwriting...and thanks for not giving it away!
I love the Beatles. I was 16 when John Lennon was assassinated and because of his death there was a resurgence of Beatlemania in the early 80's. A friend of mine had the entire White Album and copied it to cassette tape for me. I literally wore the tapes out listening to it. For some reason I've never seen this film, or "Help" (although I saw Yellow Submarine decades ago.) I need to sit down and watch it.
This film came out when I was 3. I remember when Network tv started showing it in in the 70's. My old man was looking forward to it because he hadn't seen it in the theaters in 68 (because he was married with 2 kids then). He thought it was incredibly boring and turned it off half way through. For years I avoided it and only caught bits and pieces of it. Maybe 12 years ago I sat down and watched the entire thing from start to finish and I finally got the brilliance of it. It's one of the greatest films ever made (and yes, I'm a Kubrick fanboy) and I am prepared to die on that hill.
"The Year was 1964...' A year in which I spent most of the time as a fetus 😁 I actually like this one but my personal favorite from the Connery era is "From Russia With Love."
Probably a good time to revisit this since the great Donald Sutherland just passed away recently. Personally, as somebody raised Protestant in the MidWest, who attended public schools throughout his academic life, it doesn't pack the same emotional punch for me but I thought it was vaguely amusing at the time. Granted I have seen this film since the early 90's.
On its own it is, as you say vaguely amusing, BUT... if you attended Catholic Schools In New York in The Sixties then its a powerhouse. No fooling. I suspect that's why it was made.
I have to say, I never loved this film. To me it looks like they were trying to combine "Bullitt" with other crime thrillers from the 1970's. It's a triumph of style over substance. Visually it's a masterpiece but I find the story telling rather pedestrian.
@@demirdemirbag3194 The location was fantastic - as to the interiors this was more of director Ken Russell's attempts to sneak as much nudity into the film as he could get away with back in those days. From the playboy centerfolds in Harry's office to the paintings by H. Bosch in Dr. Kaarna's home.
Howdy, Pard. I know. We could use more raindrops falling out this way. It's dusty, parched and brown, ready for fire. Raindrops, keep falling to cleanse us of dust, filth, corruption and lies. Rain brings clarity. The playful opening scene -- oh, it was consensual -- we understood. Whether or not our kids and grandkids would understand it is questionable, and they suffer from loneliness and isolation in our well intentioned, confusing world, where the morally bankrupt, sociopathic misfit follows a woman into a department store dressing room, uninvited and maliciously rapes a casual acquaintance, and gets off with a fine. What could be confusing about that? Let it rain. Our Butch and Sundance were smart, quick witted, handsome, and yes, they had long hair. I still do, and let me freak flag, fly. Maybe at half mast after today's Supreme Court unconstitutional, corrupt, ruling. Was it Quid pro Quo? We'll leave that to our Constitutional scholars, Justice Department, or maybe to Pemberton? They always get their man, or woman. El Niño, corporate greed, endless lies demanding that there ought'a be a law -- we've got problem 1971 audiences didn't face. Sure we had Nixon, the War, racial segregation, the Bomb and other problems. We still do, except today's bad guy is now played by a genuine autocratic megalomaniac who, if elected has threatened to be a Clear and Present Danger to our Constitutional Democracy. He makes Nixon look like a "Loser" in that convicted felon's twisted brain. Why did Nixon resign when he could have asked the Attorney General to cancel the Watergate investigation? It was a bungled burglary attempt. That's what the Republican Party would say today. The antihero with a soul and a conscience like Butch and Sundance, or their parts in 1973's The Sting are what's missing in today's Hollywood. That can no longer be done by the Hollywood CEO's and their henchmen, trained with a profit über alles perspective in every aspect of their jobs could ever risk potential income. This is the same confusion in ethics that motivates a Boeing CEO to show no remorse when their planes fail in flight, putting their pilots, flight crew, and passengers at great risk of injury and death. Safety checks cost money. There for "Losers". He must like engineers and the skilled technicians who build these increasingly complex flying machines to get it right the first time. Then we wouldn't need safety checks. I don't know, or concur with the pretzel logic used by todays business managers. Maybe the President can, as an Official act, write and executive order involving his duty to protect an American's right to safe airline travel that places the blame with CEO's when they "streamline" existing safety checks that cause more failures of their aircraft? Boeing makes many of our military's weapons, including aircraft. Is our national security at risk when CEO's change proven safety procedures when make these weapons used to defend our nation. Maybe today's Supreme ruling gives our President in his official duty to throw the man in charge in prison as an identified threat to our National Security? I've gone south, way down south in my comment today. It's 5 AM and I've not been able to calm my mind after today's loss from the Court and all the loss of freedom we've suffered in post WWII America. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is also a film about freedom. The joys of freedom, and the destruction caused by freedom used without responsibility, it's a Robin Hood story set in the late 19th century, but has lessons for people everywhere that are timeless. Thank you for your thoughtful review. Please vote 💙💙💙💙💙 this year, for America's survival and a country by, for, and of all her people.
Love this film Sidney Portier was an amazing actor with dignity and sophistication. I also ❤the Arabic hairstyles and wardrobe of Rossana Sciafono and Beba Loncar
Thank you, Christina. Sidney was all of that and more. Like all "Firsts" he handled his historic role with grace and humility. And that's the mark of a true hero. As for the Rosanna Sciafino and beba Loncar's wardrope and hairstyles - well., lets just say they cost me many a sleepless night.
I'm an Xer (b.1965) so I missed this in the theater but it was on network and then local television throughout the 70's and 80's, where a lot of us saw it. It's been in my collection for years, and even if you can make the case that "The Sting" is a better film, I still think this one is more fun, despite the downer ending.
The guy who monitored the radar scope with James Best's character portrayed the chubby kid janitor ("Alfred") from the 1946 Christmas film, "Miracle on 34th Street." Viva Big Rhed!
@@joemorrisseyistheboomer4321 Many thanks! I appreciate your prospective on this and other films. They are archetypes by which other films have built their foundations. I'm a 1950s "dino kid." Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen were brilliant! Keep up the great work! Cheers! -- W
I love this movie because the castle is Turku Castle in Southwestern Finland. It's one of the oldest and most important buildings in Finland. There is no way they would be able to use the castle like this today, especially like in the truck scene. There are some scenes that were shot inside the castle too, specifically the attic of the castle.
I understand. There are so many reasons why we may like a particular movie and a familiar location is certainly one. I myself like "Coogan's Bluff" not because its a good movie but becuase the climax was shot at The Cloisters, a museum in the Washingtion Heights section of Manhattan that I used to visit when I lived there in the early sixties. And so it goes. And thanks for watching.
Could you do that? You know you did as well as I. Your talking about a above ground subway L . Our playground. Don't fuck with a 1950's stop motion horny New York monster.
Hey Joe, long time no see. I can't tell you how much I loved your review of this movie. The scenes you highlighted are indelibly imprinted in my brain thanks to countless hours of watching Ch. 9's Million Dollar Movie back in the day. Watch a movie half a dozen times in one week and you'll be imprinted too !! Those were the days - thank you for bringing them back, even if just for a little while. Be well friend.
Yeah, I grew up watching both of these films in the 70's and early 80's on local television. I'm not sure which one I think is better but it's interesting that half a century later, Viking themed shows and films are all the rage again. I've enjoyed shows like "Vikings," Vikings: Valhalla" and "The Last Kingdom" quite a bit recently.
I wasn't born when this film came out but I grew up watching it on local tv in the 70's and 80's. It's been in my dvd collection for at least 20 years now. I've been a James Garner fan since "The Rockford Files" debuted in 1974 and I'll generally watch anything he's in.
I absolutely LOVED this movie when I was a little kid. I didn't love it with the passion that I had for Forbidden Planet, but it was exotic and loads of fun. Sidney Poitier made an incredible impression on me. I was in a remote, subarctic Canadian town, and had never seen a Black person. I became fascinated by the Moors, and then read a lot of West African history.... which culminated, when I grew up, in some time spent visiting several West African countries and even reaching fabled Timbuktu. As for the Vikings --- well I also fell in love with Iceland, which I ended up visiting three times. But that wasn't because of The Long Ships. It was because of Journey to the Center of the Earth. The kind of "entertainment" I experienced with movies as a child actually shaped my life.
Wow, you've led quite a life. As for movies i assume you mean 1959's Journey To The Center Of The Earth with James Mason, Pat Boone and Arlene Dahl. - also one of my favorites topped off by a great score by Bernard Hermann.
@@joemorrisseyistheboomer4321 Glad you mentioned Bernard Hermann's magnificent score, which made the whole movie work. But you didn't mention Pétur Rögnvaldsson [aka Peter Ronson in the cast list], the only Icelander in the film. He was an olympic athlete living in Los Angeles at the time, and was hired to speak the Icelandic lines, but he was so godlike in appearance that they kept his shirt off for most of the movie ---- and he was a pleasant distraction from the embarrassing Pat Boone. Arlene Dahl was American, but born in Minnesota and fluent in Norwegian, so she had no trouble playing her part. But of course, the REAL star of the film was Gertrude the Duck, who got full starring role placement in the credits. . . I'm French Canadian, and Jules Verne's "Voyage au centre de la Terre" was one of the first books I read as a kid. I was a dinosaur fanatic from an early age, long before Jurassic Park made it commonplace. Both the book and the film were important childhood experiences. However, I was already aware of all the wrong science in the film, which took away some of the thrill. . . When I finally visited Iceland, I climbed Snæfellsjökull (it's not a difficult climb, you basically just walk up to the top, the last bit on the glacier being the only hard part). Unfortunately, no tunnel leading into a subterranean wonderland was to be found. I also visited Carlsbad Caverns, where some of the scenes were filmed. My advice to anyone who travels: instead of going to places that other people tell you are important, dig into your own childhood and visit the places of your childhood imagination. This is far better than getting herded into famous landmarks that mean nothing to you emotionally.
@@philpaine3068 Very sage advise about traveling, PhilipAside from touring with shows in my early days, I tend to travel emotionally whether its a memory or just curiosity.
@@joemorrisseyistheboomer4321 Actually, my name is Philippe, not Philip. Pronounced in the French Canadian way to rhyme with "tip" and "dip" and not the European French way that rhymes with "deep." But I've always just been known as Phil.
I so wanted to see this movie on the big screen but never did. I, too, loved "Secret Agent'' and having McGoohan play the spy was God's gift to 15 year olds.
Good movie, Burt is so great in everything, those hostages getting shot stuck with me, just thought it was disturbing, one of my earliest memories of a theater experience was Bridge on the River Kwai, I remember leaning my head out in the aisle because I couldn’t see over who was sitting in front of me, but I remember the train falling into the river, those movie posters you showed are amazing, true art , thanks
Hi Joe, great video today! I haven't seen this movie but it is definitely going to be on my list this week. My husband and I love Burt Lancaster movies . Lately we have been fixated on old 70's TV movies. We found that on RU-vid they have many of the old ABC Sunday Night at the Movies, complete with the old time commercials. They really take you back in time and give the whole 70's tv experience. We have been enjoying them so much. Lately Its all I want to watch in the evenings. Tony said he felt his blood pressure drop several notches the moment he heard the ABC Sunday Night Movie theme song, because it instantly took him back to a slower place in time. :). I also love the Lady Vanishes, great movie. And Hard Days Night, sure brings back the memories. I first saw that in a drive in when I was a very little girl. I was hopelessly in crush with Ringo. Sigh! I too enjoy trains very much. Being from California originally, I never had the chance to ride on a train until my Grandfather took me to Knott's Berry Farm. Grandpa had once been a foreman on a railroad back in the early 1920's. He really loved trains. We rode the one at Knott's around the park several times that day, raising our hands up every time the bandits came on board with their cap pistols blazing! :). Tony and I also had the opportunity to live for a year in Rhinefelden, Switzerland, in 1997. He was sent there on a job assignment. We rode the trains all over Switzerland. The train station or "Bahnhoff" in Basil near where we lived looked very much like the picture you showed of Penn Station. We also rode the train all the way from Switzerland to Florence Italy and then on to Venice. From our base in Switzerland we were sent for a two week assignment to London, England. We stayed in a little nearby town called Kingston Upon the Thames. It was my first time ever riding a subway or "tube" as they call it. Then one day we rode the train across England from Victoria Station to the Satellite Ground Station on the Cornwall Coast. A little side note, my husband still keeps my London train pass in his wallet to this day because he says he likes the picture and it reminds him of our trip. We are sentimental that way. :) My train riding experiences were really beautiful and I was able to see many things I would never have been able to had we driven by car. Thanks again Joe for another video, as always I enjoy them very much.
Thanks Delisa. A Burt Lancaster film you might like is the spy thriller "SCORPIO" which also stars Paul Scofield again with Burt AND Alain Delon. It's not great but the actors are. Plus it's an early seventies film.
John Sturges unforgettable Bad Day at Black Rock started it all. A true "modern" Western. Cast, dialogue and acting is like a template for coming generations. A smart film indeed.
Thanks Peter. Very few movies are better than the books they originate from. Although there are some exceptions, Goldfinger being one. Never read the book of "Mirage" but will look for it.
I agree that this is the best of the first three, and fact, I think it's the best Star Wars movie ever made. I'd put "Rogue One" behind it a bit, with the original "A New Hope" (gack) behind those two. I was 15 when I saw this and thought it was amazing. I re-watched it a few years ago and still love it.
Thank you for your review of this underappreciated little movie. It has a surreal quality, which is unusual for a war film. Burt Lancaster is great (of course), and the ending is worth the wait. It was Lancaster's star power that got this movie made. That and Pollocks credentials. Believe it or not, after seeing the movie, I actually read the book, by William Eastlake, that the movie is based on, and the movie is pretty faithful to the book. I always want to tell people who want to watch it, that it is NOT an action film. It goes much deeper. Also, the cinematography is incredible, and the scenes with the snow are beautiful. I watch this every December the 16th, which is when The Battle of the Bulge started. A little odd story. I grew up in a small southern town, with two television stations, and two AM radio stations. The only way to catch movies you had never seen before was late on Friday and Saturday nights. Late one night this movie came on, and I fell asleep. After that, I never ever saw it again anytime, anywhere. It just disappeared. Fat forward to December of 2023, and I caught it on the tv in the breakroom where I worked. Now that I knew the title, the next day I bought a copy on eBay. But to this day I have never understood why it just vanished from the airwaves. I hope that more people will watch your review, and give this undiscovered gem a look. It deserves to be remembered. Thanks again!
Thanks for your response. I've always loved this movie and when Columbia first released this on DVD it was only a pan and scan version. There was a huge protest by the movie's fans and Columbia re-released in in wide screen formant - but only 3,000 copies. On the day of its re-release I hurried to the local video store to grab my copy.
Actually the Capitol WAS an old time movie palace but got modernized a few short years before as a CINERAMA theatre, although not true three projector Cinerama. Still it was a great space very similar inside to the Cinerama Dome on Sunset.