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Print Title: A Nine Piece Electroplated Cocktail Set by Desny, Circa 1925-1930Size: 12 x 9 inchesPlease visit www.amazon.com/artdotcom to check for promotions from time to time.
< A Nine Piece Electroplated Cocktail Set by Desny, Circa 1925-1930 Giclee Poster Print, 12x9 >

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Giclee Print Title: A Nine Piece Electroplated Cocktail Set by Desny, Circa 1925-1930Size: 16 x 12 inches
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Print Title: A Nine Piece Electroplated Cocktail Set by Desny, Circa 1925-1930Size: 16 x 12 inchesPlease visit www.amazon.com/artdotcom to check for promotions from time to time.
< A Nine Piece Electroplated Cocktail Set by Desny, Circa 1925-1930 Giclee Poster Print, 16x12 >

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< Ace in the Hole (AKA The Big Carnival) [VHS] > < Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 (Act of Violence / Mystery Street / Crime Wave / Decoy / Illegal / The Big Steal / They Live By Night / Side Street / Where Danger Lives / Tension) > < The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir) > < The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection > < Breathless - Criterion Collection > < Days of Heaven - Criterion Collection >

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customer 's review
(Review The Product Please...)

(AWESOME MOVIE! WORTH BUYING)

(Darker, More Cynical but Slightly Less Deft Than 'Sunset')

(See Kirk Douglas act like a total ace-hole!)

(Bad news sells best.)

What is it with all you wannabe movie reviewers? I had to sludge through 3 pages of story lines for the ENTIRE film just to find someone who took a moment to write what was on the bonus disc, which is what I was after. Thank you to THAT guy. The rest of you... jeez, do you really think your insight is SO valuable that you have to write the 75th detailed review?
This is one of my favorite movies of all time!
How innovative and cutting edge this film
was for its time. Although it was made in 1951,
the main topic discussed is very true for today's
media. Great film overall! Current films look
terrible compared to this movie. I would highly
suggest everyone see it. I'm 18 and this is
one of my favorite movies ever.
After a long wait for the Criterion edition of 'Ace in the Hole', I must say that I am not disappointed.

As a follow-up to the quintessential Wilder film, 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Ace' works well as a companion piece. But the message is also more poignant and universal than in 'Sunset'. 'Ace' is all about greed and hubris. This is fairly obvious but what strikes me the most is the incredible visual symbolism of such themes (the constant tightening of the hole in the cave throughout the film and the 'headline' in the closing shot of the film). For a script that was uncompleted before Wilder finished shooting, the story is well structured and thematically consistent.

That being said, I got the feeling that the last third of the movie was written on the fly. The film is still thematically correct but the climax was somewhat predictable nevertheless. Some of these notions are touched on, with much verve, in the Criterion edition's commentary. I must agree to some degree because I felt similar to the commentator when I first viewed the film (w/o commentary).

Despite these minor setbacks, the film is otherwise masterful, filled with Wilder's virtuoso dialogue and camera (Wilder isn't noted as being particularly fancy with the camera, but this film has plenty of shots that call attention to the story and it's themes). 'Ace in the Hole' is truly a lost masterpiece from a prolific and legendary film maker. Not to be missed!
In 1950 Billy Wilder was riding high. Fresh off the enormously successful Sunset Boulevard, the German-born Wilder decided to make a very different film; one somewhat critical of the society of his new home, the United States. That film was called Ace in the Hole.

The movie concerns Kirk Douglas as a down-on-his-luck reporter who has been fired from just about every major newspaper in the country. Starting with New York, he's gone from large market to small, and now has ended up in Alberquerque. He's a self-described $250 a week reporter, but settles for $60 a week, and makes it clear at one point he'd be willing to take even less.

But his character, Chuck Tatum, has dreams. Yes, he does. He dreams that one day, the Great Story will drop into his lap. A story that will let him write his way out of the situation he's in, one that will let him write his own ticket and get back to New York.

That Great Story drops into his lap one day when, while on the way to cover a rattlesnake hunt, he stops at a gas station and finds out there's a man trapped in a nearby cave. He boldly goes into the gave, meets Leo Mimosa (Richard Benedict), the man trapped inside, and smells a story.

Immediately he begins to sabotage the rescue efforts. When the engineer in charge of getting Mimosa out explains that it might take most of a day to get him out safely, Tatum conconcts a much more convulted rescue plan, one that will certainly take days. Days during which he can write a great story about this poor man trapped in a mountin. A story that will finally take him back to New York.

Along the way he meets the slightly corrupt sheriff (Ray Teal), who is more-than-willing to help him, figuring the attention boosts his chances of getting relected. Also present is Mimosa's wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling), who can't stand her husband and wants to leave. Tatum practically forces her to remain, saying the story works so much better if there's a grieving wife at home for him to focus on.

As the days roll past, people begin to show up. First just a family on their way to a nice vaction, who end up settling in for the long haul. Before you know it, the entire area is filled with cars, as people come from miles around to witness this great story. Eventually a large carnvial builds up around the site (in fact the movie was, at one point, called The Big Carnival). Access to the cave area, once free, goes from 25 cents a car to 50 cents, and then to a dollar. The gas station is making money hand over fist. Tatum is being courted by New York. Everyone is benefiting. Everyone but Leo.

Things begin to change in the life of everyone involved, including Tatum, when Leo starts to get sicker and sicker. Tatum quickly realizes the story doesn't work if the man in the cave doesn't make it out alive, and starts to try and change his tactics, only to find out that it might be too late.

The story is based to a great extent on real-life events in 1925, when a man named Floyd Collins became trapped in a mine. It also put me in mind of those stories back in the late 80's and early 90's, where it seemed like every week some kid was getting trapped in a well. If nothing else, this movie shows well that the media circus that errupted around those wells was little different from what has gone before.

When the movie was released, it was largely panned. Many people seemed to think it was overly-cynical and presented an image of America as it wasn't. The film also failed miserably at the box office. It did get an Oscar nomination, for the screenplay, but lost. Most people today have never even heard of the film, and that's a tragedy.

The movie was recently released on DVD by the Criterion Collection and turns up on Turner Classic Movies from time-to-time. It's an exceptional film, with stunning cinematography, great performances and a wonderful screenplay. It feels amazingly modern despite being 57 years old.

Roger Ebert said of this movie:

"Wilder, true to this vision and ahead of his time, made a movie in which the only good men are the victim and his doctor. Instead of blaming the journalist who masterminds a media circus, he is equally hard on sightseers who pay 25 cents admission. Nobody gets off the hook here."

He's exactly correct. The public that eats up these stories is every bit as culpable as the journalists who create them. If we ignore these stories, they'll go away. Instead the public lavishes attention onto them, encouraging the worst in journalism. On the plus side, at least in this case, it makes for a wonderful, if sometimes hard to watch, film.
Ignored, unappreciated, even despised by the majority upon its initial release, Ace in the Hole is a bold social critique that pulls no punches. This movie holds up the public mirror and tries to make people see just how much they suck.
Kirk Douglas delivers another fearless performance as Charles Tatum, a shameless big-city reporter that has been exiled from several lucrative jobs. So he retreats to a small town newspaper gig in New Mexico, in order to reestablish his career.
Tatum hates his new job, and desperately searches for the big break that will propel him back into the limelight. That moment eventually comes when a mine collapses, trapping a worker inside. Tatum takes charge of all the relief efforts, not out of concern for the desperate man inside, but for the fame that accompanies this tragedy. A media frenzy ensues.
One moment that illustrates Tatum's arrogance--other reporters try to move in and capture some of the news coverage. One says "We're all in the same boat". Tatum's cynical response was "No, I'm in the boat. You're in the water."
This movie is an excellent display of humanity's overall decline of morality. How vanity supersedes compassion. How humanity has lost touch with one another. I'm not trying to sound judgemental, heck I'm ignoring all company policies and personal job responsibilities by writing this review. Nobody's perfect. But this is a great movie, with powerful but controlled acting and a significant message.
So now, go hug a stranger. No, on second thought you better not. You'll probably get punched.

The character of newspaperman Chuck Taylor (Kirk Douglas) is best summed up by an astonished bystander (herself no soft touch): "I met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my time, but you--you're 20 minutes!" Meet the "hero" of Billy Wilder's corrosive 1951 classicAce in the Hole(a.k.a.The Big Carnival), a former big-time reporter whose reputation is so tarnished he's now at an Albuquerque rag, chasing down local-interest stuff. Until, that is, a local miner gets stuck in a cave--a situation that Taylor not only exploits but actually manipulates, the better to improve his career chances. Wilder got the idea for the movie from the real-life media circus that followed the Floyd Collins story (Collins was trapped in a cave for over a week in 1925). Needless to say, the opportunities for displaying greed and venality are fully drawn out by Wilder; indeed, the film looks unbelievably prescient from a modern perspective of media overload.

Although Wilder had scored a success withSunset Boulevardjust a year earlier, he misread the public's ability to stare into the merciless mirror he held up to them inAce in the Hole. The movie bombed. Paramount changed the title toThe Big Carnival, thus wrecking one of Wilder's most acidic puns, but it didn't help. It also doesn't matter:Ace in the Holeis one of the truly grown-up movies of its time, and age has only improved it. Wilder's ear for cynical dialogue is honed to its sharpest point, and Kirk Douglas has one of his best parts, which he attacks with customary ferocity. Jan Sterling plays the hard-nosed wife of the trapped man, with Porter Hall as Douglas's publisher--the lone voice of decency in the film's cruel parade. Admirably, Wilder takes this all the way down the line: the ending of the movie might be the best in-your-face finish sincePublic Enemy.--Robert Horton
Rerations
< Ace in the Hole (AKA The Big Carnival) [VHS] > < Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 (Act of Violence / Mystery Street / Crime Wave / Decoy / Illegal / The Big Steal / They Live By Night / Side Street / Where Danger Lives / Tension) > < The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir) > < The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection > < Breathless - Criterion Collection > freaks

< Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace [VHS] >

price：~~$29.60~~

customer 's review
(Better Than I Expected!)

Over the years I've always read what a bad film this was, so I was pleasantly surprised when I bought this DVD and found the film to be quite good. I think Christopher Lee is a perfect Sherlock Holmes! Granted, it is a disappointment that he was POORLY dubbed in the American version, but this is something I can overlook because the film is a compelling mystery. Besides, Lee is often dubbed in these European films he made in the 60's, like Mario Bava's "THE WHIP AND THE BODY" and "HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD"; the lame Italian comedy "UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE"; "THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM", etc. So, if you can get past that, you'll find an intriguing and well-paced thriller well worth a look for fans of Lee and/or Holmes. The picture is ok, the print is a bit scratched here and there, and is presented full-frame (my big complaint). I'd rather have a widescreen picture myself. Lee is so tall, often the top of his head is cut-off here. Still, I enjoyed it and do recommend it quite highly.

< Mayerling [VHS] > < Mayerling [VHS] > < Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of Scots > < Belle de Jour > < The Last Metro [Blu-ray] > < Repulsion- Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] >

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customer 's review
(A Visual and Musical Delight)

(Saturated With Khachaturian's Best Music&Entertaining Too!)

(Great film!)

(Not Perfect, But Vastly Entertaining)

(Schmaltz)

I saw the 1968 version of Mayerling in April of 1969 at a base theater
while I was in basic training in the Air Force. I note this because the
subject of the film and its well-dressed actors and its European scenery
were so different from the military surroundings and military "dress"
which I was enduring at the time. I had not heard about the story of
Prince Rudolph and Princess Maria before. But suspected Mayerling's tragic ending from the start, but I think it did take the film a long time to reach its conclusion. However, I believe Mayerling was a visual delight and the musical score was beautiful too.
The cast was excellent with Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve along with
Ava Gardner and James Mason. To many the story of these tragic lovers
seemed unbelievable and some criticized the dresses the women wore as too
1960's in style. I did not notice this.
I have n't seen Mayerling in over thirty years and I think I will buy my
own DVD and see it again. Seeing this film again will remind me of what
I was doing when I first saw it, as I think many films and popular music
do for many people.
IN A NUTSHELL: A FILM WORTH SEEING&HEARING

This seems to be one of those movies that is either loved, hated or ignored by movie fans. Interestingly, most of the reviews I have seen make mostly relevant points both pro and con. Nevertheless, I do admit feeling some very tugging emotions during many parts of the movie and not just the romantic interludes between the Grand Duke and his very charming young mistress "Maria Vetsera" played by Catherine Deneuve. There is a sense of real urgency between "Grand Duke Rudolf" played by Omar Sharif and his father "Emperor Franz Josef" played by a convincing James Mason. A "wall" has been built between the two and the Grand Duke makes it clear to his all powerful sulking father that it will be up to him [the Emperor] to remove it. A task perhaps to great for even the all powerful. I find myself wishing for this universal issue between this father and son to be resolved and its possible historic importance only adds to the urgency.

OKAY - THERE ARE SOME ODDITIES ABOUT MAYERLING

Nevertheless, although there is much good to be said for the movie as a whole, it does contain some very difficult to take flaws. Casting aside, the wardrobe department made itself very obvious in the choice of eyeshadows, blushes and hairdos that are right out of the 1960s. This emphasis on the 1960's howwever only affects the women so they seem a bit out of place when they are seen typically with uniformed high ranking officials whose wardrobe is very accurately right out of antiquity. This is a needless distraction that detracts from the exquisitely time perfect sets that are genuine in most respects. Also, Ava Gardner [Empress Elizabeth] seems out of place and there is a mix of foriegn and English actors that are for better or worse ample and very correctly attired.

AH: BUT THE MUSIC BY KHACHATURIAN

The entire film is lifted quite a bit by the very appropriate and well timed saturation of Khachaturian's Best Music from the ballet Spartacus. Most of it sounds like variations from the Adagio movement which is one of the most longing and romantic orchestral overtures ever written and very strongly suggestive of the last vestages of the Holy Roman Empire and this doomed romance which is of course the setting for the entire film.

----- * THE CAST --*

Omar Sharif - Crown Prince Rudolf
Catherine Deneuve - Maria Vetsera
James Mason - Emperor Franz Josef
Ava Gardner - Empress Elizabeth
James Robertson-Justice - Prince Of Wales
Genevi?ve Page - Countess Larisch
Andr?a Parisy - Princess Stephanie
Ivan Desny - Count Josef Hoyos
Fabienne Dali - Mizzi Kaspar
Veronique Vendell - Lisi Stockau
Howard Vernon - Prince Montenuevo
Irene von Meyendorf - Countess Stockau

----- * THE PRODUCTION CREW --*

Terence Young - Director / Screenwriter
Robert Dorfmann - Producer
Claude Anet - Book Author
Michael Arnold - Book Author
Dennis Cannan - Dialogue Writer
Joseph Kessel - Screenwriter
Henri Al?kan - Cinematographer
Francis Lai - Composer (Music Score)
Monique Bonnot - Editor
Georges Wakh?vitch - Production Designer
Maurice Colasson - Art Director
Tony Roman - Art Director
Marcel Hellman - Executive Producer
Marcel Escoffier - Costume Designer
Jacques Carrere - Sound/Sound Designer
Joseph DeBretagne - Sound/Sound Designer

----- * AWARDS --*

Best Foreign Film - English Language (nom) 1969 Golden Globe

BOTTOM LINE:

Sentimental and very compelling period piece with great personalities brought to the screen by great actors. The tone set by Khachaturian's Spartacus [Adagio Movement] recurs thematically throughout the film and seems just perfect for the bittersweet mood of this tragic romance.

James Mason is as handsome as ever. It's a really well worth seeinf film. I highly recommend it.
I have been told that the French predecessor of this film is better, but I don't see how. The compelling true story of the downfall of the Hapsburg family is recounted here with an emphasis on the personal tragedy of Prince Rudolph. Here is a man trapped in a loveless marriage, domineered by his tyranical father, deprived of the love of a mother who tries to dazzle everyone, caught in the uprisings of democratic politics, and addicted to cocaine to dismiss his pain. To add to his personal pain, he meets a beautiful, penniless noblewoman, whose family is basically out of favor, and falls hopeless in love. The politics, the personal manipulation, the suffering of the lovers is beautifully presented by MGM in their grand style. Sharif may not be the optimal Rudolph, but who could be immune to Catherine Deneuve's charm. James Mason is a perfect cold and stern Emperor, and Ava Gardner (miscast) fares adequate as the Emperess. It is James Roberton Justice, who plays the Prince of Wales, who steals the movie. His every scene is a joy. The European character actors who fill out the cast do a fine job, and the story unfolds as the tragic love should. Whether you believe that Rudolph killed his mistress and himself, or that his father had the secret police remove him, you will enjoy this movie. Good musical score too!
In early 1889, Crown Prince Rudolph, son of Emperor Franz Joseph and heir to the Hapsburg Empire, took his teenage mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera, to a hunting lodge called "Mayerling." What happened there has been the subject of a good deal of speculation, but the most popular version is this: That sometime in the early morning hours of January 30th, Rudolph killed Maria with a single shot from his revolver, and then, some hours later, took his own life. How they came to this moment in time is the subject of the film, "Mayerling" which stars Omar Sharif as Rudolph and Catherine Deneuve as Maria.

The film is highly sympathetic to the lovers, portraying them as kindred souls beset by the prejudices and stupidities of everyone around them. Rudolph's liberal political views and Maria's innocence are made much of, and the idea that they were driven to the desperation of a suicide pact is central to the persuasiveness of this film. Unfortunately I have a hard time buying any of it, and perhaps it's partly because I know too much about the real couple and their situation, but I think it's also because the film is so heavy-handed that we feel more bludgeoned than persuaded. Sharif is wooden as Rudolph, but in all fairness some of the lines he's asked to deliver are almost laughable. The Oedipal subtext between Rudolph and his mother, Elizabeth, has no real purpose beyond titillation, and it is frankly difficult to believe in Deneuve as ingénue. Had all the roles been written with more authenticity the story might well have worked as a tragedy, but Terence Young, who apparently drew on the novels of Claude Anet and Michel Arnold to write the screenplay, has taken the easy route here, complete with cardboard villains and people's heroes. Not even James Mason as Franz Joseph or the ravishing Ava Gardner as Empress Elizabeth can propel this particular film out of the category of Bad Romance.

The look of the film owes more to the era in which it was made than that which it seeks to portray. Makeup, hairstyles, even costumes reflect a sixties sensibility which may have put audiences at ease in 1968, but which are jarring today. Frankly, this is one of the things that can really turn me off of a film; I tolerate it in "Doctor Zhivago," but in "Mayerling" it becomes so distracting, that any credibility this film might have had for me goes right out the window whenever I see an actress with overdone, sixties-style eyeliner or lots and lots of hair woven into intricate, sixties-inspired dos. I suggest you give this one a miss unless you're in the mood for some schmaltz.
Rerations
< Mayerling [VHS] > < Mayerling [VHS] > < Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of Scots > < Belle de Jour > < The Last Metro [Blu-ray] > freaks

< Little Mother > < Drive-In Cult Classics - 8 Movie Set > < Silip: Daughters of Eve > < Blood&Black Lace >

price：~~$29.98~~
Image Entertainment(1999-08-10)

customer 's review
(A Plea For Help!)

I am a Radley Metzger fan, and as such I am interested in this film. But I can find no info on it, and desperately want to hear some feedback on it first, as I am a starving student. I don't want to buy the tape if it is trash, a bad transfer, cut to blazes, etc

Thanks in advance!
Christiane Krüger is Marina Pinares, a thinly veiled Eva Peron known to her adoring public as "Little Mother" who sleeps, self-promotes, and blackmails her way to political power in an unnamed South American country. The mosaicCitizen Kane-like structure begins in the present, as the hypocritical hero of the people campaigns to become canonized while flashbacks reveal her wicked past: her early life as a call girl, wild orgies, and her cagey manipulations of a succession of powerful lovers. As in most of Radley Metzger's work, the sex is more teasing than explicit and Hans Jura's cinematography is lush and lovely, but the tone is more swinging '70s than cynical satire, neither as luridly sensationalistic as it should be or as dramatically compelling as it could be. Kruger never captures the necessary dynamism to convince us that she's the most loved figure of her time, but she delivers the ruthlessly ambitious dimension in spades and the supporting cast, including Ivan Desny (The Marriage of Maria Braun) and Anton Diffring (Fahrenheit 451), brings a touch of class to the sleazy but stylish decadence. Metzger's art-film ambitions are better realized in the lush romantic tragedy ofTherese and Isabelleand the heady mind games ofThe Lickerish Quartet.--Sean Axmaker
Young Eva Peron sleeps her way to the top of a nation, bedding important ministers and generals. When her new husband becomes President, she finally has all the power she craves--until her shocking downfall.
Rerations
< Little Mother > < Drive-In Cult Classics - 8 Movie Set > < Silip: Daughters of Eve > freaks

< Madeleine >

price：~~$14.95~~
DVD)

customer 's review
(You Know As They Say, Hell Hath No furry As The Scorn Of A Woman)

David Lean's 1950 entry into his Pinewood Studio filmography is the unsung "Madeliene". Lean was the acclaimed director of "Blithe Spirit" and "Oliver Twist" and the beautifully told "A Brief Encounter", all made during his tenure at Pinewood. But he will forever be remembered for his grand Hollywood epics; "Lawrence Of Arabia", "Bridge On The River Kwai" and "Dr Zhivargo".

"Madeline" like "Lawrence of Arabia" is based in fact, not fiction. It is the murder trail of a young woman in Victorian Edinbourgh. She is the daughter of a wealthy and highly respected architect. Accused of murdering her lover, Madeleine stands trail amid an angry mob hell bent on revenge. But was justice served or was Madeleine fortunte enough to have had the resources of an upper class family. Her attorney provided a convincing case against the charges brought on by The Crown. And finally, what was the real outcome of the story beyond the jurry's verict? What can be said of our final glimpse of Madeleine leaving the courthouse, seated in her coach as she is wisked away to freedom and out of reach of a hostile, blood thirsty crowd. Is this the look of relief or of satisfaction or is it sheer elation to be free of these charges? Perhaps she is resolute to live out her days as a social outcast? In reality she would never regain all that was lost of her prior life. She died alone and forgotten in 1927, living in a Bronx apartment. The jury's verdict did not vindicate Madeleine of the charge of first degree murder. Instead they merely found the case "unproven", according to Scotish law.

I could ramble on for some time in my attempts to describe the superb black&white cinematography. Suffice to say, I have never seen more meticulous detail in recreating the atmosphere of Victorian splendor. The scene of Madeleine's arrival into the courtroom is incredible. She is filmed assending a narrow stairwell and emering by way of a trap door set in the floor. Lean chooses the most dramatic effects throughout this very underated and unrecognized film. Particularly noteworthy is the closing scene mentioned earlier, which is a close-up of Madeleine alone in her coach. This final scene is shot with the utmost depth and intrigue, making Madeleine a truly memorable film, in every respect.

A last note of interest and by way of comparison... Seek out the wonderful "Dance With A Stranger", starring Miranda Richardson. This is also based on the real life murder trail involving Ruth Ellis, the last woman put to death in The UK. Set approxamately sixty years apart, the two movies have much in common. They are woman from vastly different circumstanses yet their characters are similar in many ways. Both become consumed by the object of their deepest desires. And both pay the ultimate price for their indiscretions. You know, as they say, "Hell hath no furry as the scorn of a woman".

Dance with a Stranger

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