Hiller, Arthur

Love Story

Strife-torn America wanted a meat-and-potatoes romance in the late '60s, and the country embraced Erich Segal's slim, generic-sounding novel in a big way. It did so again for the film adaptation in 1970, starring Ryan O'Neal as a law student who defies his rich and powerful father (Ray Milland) on every issue, including the former's love for a music student (Ali MacGraw). The two marry, start life together...and then the Grim Reaper turns up at the door. Directed by Arthur Hiller (The In-Laws), the film ends up lacking the kind of stylistic boost that might have made it a must-see for the ages. But its faithfulness to the book's uncomplicated and, yes, moving intentions is pretty solid. O'Neal is convincing as a nice guy who's as bullheaded in his own way as his steely father (a nice job by Milland), and MacGraw has a way of getting under one's skin. A viewer just has to try not laughing at the refrain, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." --Tom Keogh

An affair between two college students is tinged with tragedy even as they try to work things out. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/25/2005 Starring: Ryan Oneal Ali Mcgraw Run time: 100 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Arthur Miller

Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Season Three

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/09/2007 Rating: Nr

Silver Streak

On a long-distance train trip a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed or at least pushed off the train. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 05/30/2006 Starring: Richard Pryor Jill Clayburgh Run time: 114 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Arthur Hiller

Despite the presence of hack director Arthur Hiller, this hybrid comedy-thriller works most of the time as pleasant faux Hitchcock. Gene Wilder is a book editor who is relaxing by taking a cross-country train ride. Then he gets caught up in a murder--and becomes a suspect. It's up to him to prove his own innocence. As noted, the script, by Colin Higgins, owes a big debt to Alfred Hitchcock; but the mystery isn't all that mysterious and the comedy isn't all that hilarious--at least not until Richard Pryor shows up, which is at least halfway through the film. Things definitely pick up from there. Jill Clayburgh, as the love interest, is merely along for the train ride. Wilder and Pryor eventually teamed up for several other films, but they were never as funny together as they are in this one. --Marshall Fine

The Out-of-Towners

Arthur Hiller (Love Story) directed the film adaptation of Neil Simon's curious comedy about a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. Remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. --Tom Keogh

An ohio businessman and his wife fly to new york and have nothing but trouble for the next 24 hours. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Jack Lemmon Ron Carey Run time: 98 minutes Rating: G Director: Arthur Hiller

Miracle of the White Stallions

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 01/11/2008 Rating: G

The In-Laws

Incredibly wacky comedy of an uptight dentist and a maniacal renegade c.I.A. Man thrown together for the most outrageous spy adventure of all time. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/13/2003 Starring: Peter Falk Michael Lembeck Run time: 103 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Arthur Hiller

This 1979 comedy is absolutely indispensable for fans of Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, or Andrew Bergman, who wrote the film's screenplay and went on to direct The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas. (Let's forgive him for Striptease.) Arkin is extraordinarily funny as a dentist who quickly grows skeptical about the wild claims of his daughter's future father-in-law (Peter Falk) that he is a CIA agent. When he is drawn into a bizarre adventure in a banana republic, however, he takes a different view. Arthur Hiller (Love Story) provides serviceable direction, but the real draw here is the perfect chemistry between the two leads and Bergman's weirdly comic mind. Watch for the look on Arkin's face when Falk's character tells a story about giant tse-tse flies. --Tom Keogh

Man of La Mancha

Academy Award® winners* Peter O Toole and Sophia Loren are magnificent in this lavishly produced (LA Herald-Examiner) and beautifully acted (The New York Times) epic masterpiece. Featuring an Oscar®-nominated** score with the classic The Impossible Dream this original and daring (Films & Filming) musical is an experience not to be missed!Jailed during the Spanish Inquisition for offending the church author Miguel de Cervantes (O Toole) is forced to act out one of his manuscripts for the entertainment of fellow inmates. Cervantes delivers a rapturous performance as the legendary Don Quixote the chivalrous knight whose choice to see life as it should be not as it is takes him into battles with an imaginary foe and into romance with the beautiful Dulcinea (Loren).Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 027616903983 Manufacturer No: 1006196

It's hard to imagine a finer Don Quixote than Peter O'Toole, who's spent most of his career with a slightly mad, dreaming look in his marvelous eyes. O'Toole's suitability for the role is tested by the Broadway treatment of Man of La Mancha, the film version of the hit stage musical. Everybody knows "The Impossible Dream," that indomitable hymn to, well, quixotic questing, and it is indeed the best of the Spanish-inflected songs. Despite the location shooting in Italy, Love Story director Arthur Hiller can't elude the stagey concept (in which Cervantes, imprisoned by the Inquisition, acts out the tale of Don Quixote for his fellow prisoners). James Coco, as Sancho Panza, is overshadowed by the film's irresistible Dulcinea: Sophia Loren, at her mature peak. (Her singing, alas, is not as ripe as her beautiful self.) If you love Cervantes for his earthy ironies, this movie will seem a curious slice of inspirational shtick. --Robert Horton

Outrageous Fortune

Sometimes a movie works despite all its faults. Outrageous Fortune has a flimsy, formulaic script, so-so production values, and an odd combination of stars, but somehow it's engaging and fun. Shelley Long and Bette Midler play two struggling actresses--one a hoity-toity priss and the other a brassy slob--who learn they've been sleeping with the same guy (Peter Coyote) when he gets blown up in a terrorist assault and they confront each other in the morgue. When they discover that he's still alive, the bickering pair track him down, traipsing across the U.S. in high heels, pursued all the way by government agents, using their dubious acting talents to get them out of tough situations. The absurd plot keeps things moving and director Arthur Hiller (Silver Streak, The Out of Towners) gets cheerful performances out of everyone, particularly the strong supporting cast--including Robert Prosky (Broadcast News, Mrs. Doubtfire) as a pompous acting teacher, comedian George Carlin as a burnt-out would-be Indian, and the underused John Schuck (M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs. Miller) as a long-suffering agent. Contrived, cliché-ridden, but just absurd enough to entertain. --Bret Fetzer

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

It was murder. The blind guy couldnt see it. The deaf guy couldnt hear it. But now theyre both wanted for it in this drop dead comedy. When a man is found murdered outside the newsstand where they work the police collar these two unlikely buddies as theyre main suspects. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 07/24/2007 Starring: Gene Wilder Richard Pryor Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R

The Americanization of Emily

In world war ii europe an unlikely affair blooms between idealistic ambulance driver julie andrews and cynical officer james garner. An endearing blend of bittersweet romance and savage military satire. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/10/2005 Starring: Julie Andrews Melvin Douglas Run time: 115 minutes Rating: Nr

Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (Marty) sinks his satirical fangs into this story of an American naval officer (James Garner) selected to be the first victim at the invasion of Normandy. Julie Andrews plays a prim, British war widow who falls for him. Cynical in tone, the story becomes an interesting collision of manipulative interests and renewed life, the same formula that worked so well in Chayefsky's scripts for Network and Hospital. --Tom Keogh