Ewell, Tom

Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection (The Seven Year Itch / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / Niagara / River of No Return / Let's Make Love / Marilyn - The Final Days)

The Marilyn Monroe Special Anniversary Collection consists of five Marilyn Monroe films plus the documentary The Final Days. Howard Hawks's 1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Monroe and Jane Russell as friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The film is charged by Hawks's stylish snap, a famous set piece or two (including 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 Seven Year Itch (1955) is a memorable laugh machine. As a married man left alone during a hot summer, Tom Ewell shows off crack timing matched by Monroe's zesty comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia of great movie images. In Niagara, Monroe is a full-fledged sex goddess, a scheming wife tormenting husband Joseph Cotten in their cabin by the falls. This Technicolor slice of pseudo-Hitchcock is a fun location picture with a genuinely exciting climax. Otto Preminger's River of No Return has Monroe livened up by the presence of costar Robert Mitchum, in a strong outdoorsy Western that catches the two stars in appealing form. By the time of 1960's Let's Make Love, Monroe looks tired. This backstage musical is more interesting as a time capsule than as a romance, although one number shines: "My Heart Belongs to Daddy."

In The Final Days, producer-director Patty Ivins chronicles Monroe's final, aborted feature film, Something's Got to Give, which was ultimately shut down after the star was dismissed from the production. Beyond Monroe's fragile emotional and physical health, this well-crafted profile examines the financial crisis facing her studio as well as the mounting frustration of meticulous director George Cukor and his cast, including costar Dean Martin, as Monroe's absences drove the shoot over budget. The documentary concludes with a 40-minute reconstruction of footage completed for the feature, which would subsequently be reshot as a vehicle for Doris Day and James Garner, Move Over, Darling.

Collection Includes the following Titles:

**SEVEN YEAR ITCH **GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES **NIAGARA **RIVER OF NO RETURN **LET'S MAKE LOVE **MARILYN: THE FINAL DAYS

The Seven Year Itch

A married man, left alone during a hot summer, fantasizes madly about the impossibly gorgeous woman living in the upstairs apartment. When the woman is Marilyn Monroe, such fantasies are the stuff of epics, and The Seven Year Itch is a memorable laugh machine. Tom Ewell, repeating his role from George Axelrod's Broadway hit, plays the itchy protagonist, whose vivid imagination gets the better of him. When Monroe finally comes downstairs and becomes friends (confiding, among other things, that she keeps her undies in the icebox in this hot weather), imagination meets reality in a merciless attack on the male libido. Ewell's crack timing is matched by Monroe's zesty comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia of great movie images. Director Billy Wilder adapted the play with Axelrod; if the film is not one of Wilder's signature works (Some Like It Hot and The Apartment would soon follow), it is nevertheless a smoothly crafted comedy. --Robert Horton

It's a steamy summer in New York City and this scandalous, sexy comedy heats things up even more! A married man (Tom Ewell), whose wife and son are away for the summer, has his fidelity put to the test when a seductive starlet (Marilyn Monroe) moves in upstairs. Keeping his marriage vows in the face of her flirtations proves tough when challenged by the notorious "seven year itch." Faced with this provocative problem, he's victim to an outrageous mating dance filled with hilarious comedy!

Easy Money

Rodney Dangerfield gets a load of respectand a chunk of changein Easy Money! Joined byJoe Pesci and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dangerfield is outrageous as a working-class buffoon who takes on the first-class tycoons in this million-dollar comedy!Monty Capuletti (Dangerfield) has everything money can't buya loving wife, two devoted daughtersand a few things it can: he drinks, smokes, gambles and eats way too much! But Monty couldn't be happier especially when he learns that his mother-in-law has left him a hefty inheritance. There's just one catch: according to the will, he must turn his vices into virtues before he can turn his windfall into cold, hard cash! Now, themisbehaving Monty will have to put the brakes on the binging and trade his lifestyle for a LifecycleÂ(r), or lose his one shot at the family fortuneforever!

Adam's Rib

There are two great husband-wife teams (one on-screen, the other off) involved in this classic 1949 comedy. Not only do Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy throw comedic sparks as a married team of lawyers on opposing sides of a high-profile case, but their exquisite verbal jousting was scripted by the outstanding team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. Leading all of this stellar talent was director George Cukor at the prime of his career. The result is one of Hollywood's greatest comedy classics, still packing a punch with its sophisticated gender politics. Arguably the best of the Tracy-Hepburn vehicles, Adam's Rib shows the stars at their finest in roles that not only made their off-screen love so entertainingly obvious, but also defined their timeless screen personas--she the intelligent, savvy, rebellious woman ahead of her time, he the easygoing but obstinate modern man who can't help but love her. Screen teams don't get any better than this. --Jeff Shannon

Back To School / Easy Money (Double Feature)

Disc 1: Easy Money WP Disc 2: Back to School WP

The Seven Year Itch

A married man, left alone during a hot summer, fantasizes madly about the impossibly gorgeous woman living in the upstairs apartment. When the woman is Marilyn Monroe, such fantasies are the stuff of epics, and The Seven Year Itch is a memorable laugh machine. Tom Ewell, repeating his role from George Axelrod's Broadway hit, plays the itchy protagonist, whose vivid imagination gets the better of him. When Monroe finally comes downstairs and becomes friends (confiding, among other things, that she keeps her undies in the icebox in this hot weather), imagination meets reality in a merciless attack on the male libido. Ewell's crack timing is matched by Monroe's zesty comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia of great movie images. Director Billy Wilder adapted the play with Axelrod; if the film is not one of Wilder's signature works (Some Like It Hot and The Apartment would soon follow), it is nevertheless a smoothly crafted comedy. --Robert Horton

It's a steamy summer in New York City and this scandalous, sexy comedy heats things up even more! A married man (Tom Ewell), whose wife and son are away for the summer, has his fidelity put to the test when a seductive starlet (Marilyn Monroe) moves in u

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Brian Keith Ernest Borgnine Suzanne Pleshette and Tony Curtis head a first-rate cast (Motion Picture Herald) in this sharp amusing (The New York Times) comedy that pits the fed-up brass of an Army base against the fired-up citizens of a nearby town!In an effort to shore up a shaky truce between civilians and base personnel three hapless Army buddies find themselves appointed community public relations officers. Unfortunately Sergeant Shannon Gambroni s (Curtis) idea of community relations includes pursuing and wooing Ramona (Pleshette) a sexy waitress whom Sheriff Harve (Borgnine) considers his personal property. And when ammo and amour finally clash in an outrageous battle royal who will ultimately surrender?System Requirements: Running Time 112 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 027616908308 Manufacturer No: 1006669

Hollywood Screen Tests, Take 1

It's the equivalent of documentary fast food, but there's something irresistible about these long-shelved scraps of Hollywood history. Sometimes formal, sometimes loose, these screen tests show a batch of actors as you've never seen them--i.e., nervous, hesitant, but often flashing the X factor that separates them from the other would-be stars. Check out the 1958-model Sean Connery, or Mia Farrow auditioning for the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music (her warbling on "I Am Sixteen" suggests one reason she didn't get the role). Newcomer Ann-Margret needs no vocal help; knocking out a couple of songs, she looks about as inexperienced as Helen Hayes. Cultists will zip to Patty Duke's test for her role in Valley of the Dolls, and there's a long section devoted to the '60s Batman TV series. Lyle Waggoner as the Caped Crusader? Ah, how different screen history might have been. --Robert Horton

The greatest stars in Hollywood all got their start somewhere, and now, straight from the studio vaults, you can see your favorite actors like never before! Witness the discovery of raw talent as these matinee idols in the making appear in front of the cameras for the first time, offering an amazing demonstration of the studio system at its height. If you thought the movies themselves were amazing, wait until you see how it first came together in these entertaining, enlightening looks at Hollywood legends in the making! Includes: Mia Farrow's screen test for the role of Liesl von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and her screen test for "Peyton Place," a role she went on to win; newcomer Ann-Margret's 1961 personality test and her screen tests for "State Fair" in which her unmistakable sex appeal won her the role of Emily; Patty Duke's screen test for "Valley of the Dolls" in which she shattered her good girl persona and proved she was capable of a wider range of roles; Raquel Welch's screen test with James Coburn for "Our Man Flint;" Sean Connery's 1957 screen test for "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness;" Marlon Brando in his test for "Viva Zapata!" in 1952; Dustin Hoffman's personality test and stock test in 1966; screen tests to cast the "Batman" duo with Adam West testing with Burt Ward and Lyle Waggoner testing with Peter Deyell; director Robert Wise's marathon search for the children in "The Sound of Music," including the screen tests of Angela Cartwright, Kim Darby and Tish Sterling; rare soundtrack of Christopher Plummer singing "Edelweiss" in "The Sound of Music" as well as the final film version, with vocals by Bill Lee.

Best of the 40s (Adam's Rib / The Big Sleep / The Maltese Falcon / Mildred Pierce)

Hollywood Screen Tests, Take 2

Judy Garland in Valley of the Dolls? Walter Matthau in The Seven Year Itch? These are among the what-ifs offered by these screen tests from the vaults of Twentieth Century Fox. Some of the pieces are more intriguing than others (there's too much time spent on Hello, Dolly!), but the goodies are choice: teenage Tuesday Weld showing her independent spirit in a casual "personality test," and the brand-new Rock Hudson rather unpolished in an extended emotional scene. A highlight is a long test of a pre-Green Hornet Bruce Lee (shot, Lee mentions, a few days after the birth of his son Brandon), in which the future star shows off his dazzling kung fu moves. Matthau's test (he was favored by director Billy Wilder) is played side-by-side with Tom Ewell trying the same scene; Ewell got the role he'd played on Broadway, but this snippet makes you wonder what might have been. --Robert Horton