Reed, Carol

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Carol Reed (The Third Man) directed this 1965 portrait of the relationship between Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison), who commissioned the artist to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Based on a novel by Irving Stone, the script plods along, juggling the dynamics between the two men along with a somewhat perfunctory love story and distracting battle sequences. Reed seems more attuned to the nuances and great pains of the artistic process, as seen in sequences of Michelangelo working. But the overall focus of the film is unfortunately fuzzy. --Tom Keogh

Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison portray two of the Renaissance's most colorful figures in this historical drama based on Irving Stone's best-seller set in the early 16th century. When Pope Julius ll (Harrison) commissions Michelangelo (Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist initially refuses. Virtually forced to do the job by Julius, he later destroys his own work and flees to Rome. Eventually resumed, the project becomes a battle of wills fueled by artistic and temperamental differences that form the core of this movie. Nominated for an Oscar® Cinematography and named one of the year's best films by the National Board of Review.

Oliver!

Film buffs and critics can argue until their faces turn blue about whether this lavish Dickensian musical deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1968, but the movie speaks for itself on grandly entertaining terms. Adapted from Dickens's classic novel, it's one of the most dramatically involving and artistically impressive musicals of the 1960s, directed by Carol Reed with a delightful enthusiasm that would surely have impressed Dickens himself. Mark Lester plays the waifish orphan Oliver Twist, who is befriended by the pickpocketing Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and recruited into the gang of boy thieves led by Fagin (played to perfection by Ron Moody). The villainous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) casts his long shadow over Oliver and his friends, but the young orphan is still able to find loving care in the most desperate of circumstances. Full of memorable melodies and splendid lyrics, Oliver! is a timeless film, prompting even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael to call it "a superb demonstration of intelligent craftsmanship," and to further observe that "it's as if the movie set out to be a tribute to Dickens and his melodramatic art as well as to tell the story of Oliver Twist." --Jeff Shannon

Oliver! (DVD Gift Set with CD Soundtrack)

Film buffs and critics can argue until their faces turn blue about whether this lavish Dickensian musical deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1968, but the movie speaks for itself on grandly entertaining terms. Adapted from Dickens's classic novel, it's one of the most dramatically involving and artistically impressive musicals of the 1960s, directed by Carol Reed with a delightful enthusiasm that would surely have impressed Dickens himself. Mark Lester plays the waifish orphan Oliver Twist, who is befriended by the pickpocketing Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and recruited into the gang of boy thieves led by Fagin (played to perfection by Ron Moody). The villainous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) casts his long shadow over Oliver and his friends, but the young orphan is still able to find loving care in the most desperate of circumstances. Full of memorable melodies and splendid lyrics, Oliver! is a timeless film, prompting even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael to call it "a superb demonstration of intelligent craftsmanship," and to further observe that "it's as if the movie set out to be a tribute to Dickens and his melodramatic art as well as to tell the story of Oliver Twist." --Jeff Shannon

Experience the high-spirited adventures of Oliver Twist in this Oscar®-winning musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale! Young Oliver (Mark Lester) is an orphan who escapes the cheerless life of the workhouse and takes to the streets of 19th-Century London. He's immediately taken in by a band of street urchins, headed by the lovable villain, Fagin (Ron Moody), his fiendish henchman, Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), and his loyal apprentice, The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). Through his education in the fine points of pick-pocketing, Oliver makes away with an unexpected treasure... a home and a family of his own. Set to a heartfelt score that includes such favorites as "Consider Yourself," "Where Is Love?" and "As Long As He Needs Me," OLIVER! leads us on a journey in search of love, belonging and honor among thieves. Winner of six Academy Awards® (1968), including Best Picture and Best Score, OLIVER! will steal your heart!

The Fallen Idol - Criterion Collection

The Fallen Idol was the first of three collaborations between director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene who would later team up on the legendary The Third Man and is a small masterpiece itself. An elegant thrilling balancing act of suspense and farce this tale of the fraught relationship between a boy and his beloved butler whom the child eventually believes might be guilty of murder is a visually and verbally dazzling knockout with enough tricks up its sleeve to stand with the best of early Hitchcock. Special Features: New restored high-definition digital transfer"A Sense of Carol Reed" a 2006 documentaryOriginal press bookNew essays by critic Geoffrey O'Brien author David Lodge and Nicholas WapshottIllustrated Reed filmographySystem Requirements:Running Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 715515020527 Manufacturer No: CC1655DDVD

In the impressive filmography of British director Carol Reed, The Fallen Idol is sandwiched between Odd Man Out and The Third Man--the second of three consecutive masterpieces (adapted by Graham Greene from his short story "The Basement Room") by a filmmaker at the peak of his artistic powers. Of those three, The Fallen Idol is the most delicately subdued, but it's a flawlessly plotted thriller that achieves considerable tension through the psychology of its characters. By telling the story through the eyes of a child, the plot gains even greater urgency as a variation on the theme of "the boy who cried wolf," as young Phillipe (Bobby Henrey)--the 8-year-old son of the French ambassador to England--struggles to clear his beloved embassy butler Baines (Ralph Richardson) from being wrongfully accused of murder.

Baines is burdened with a shrewish, overbearing wife (Sonia Dresdel) whose rigid, disciplinarian control of Phillipe sets the stage for suspense; when Mrs. Baines dies in a terrible fall on the embassy staircase, her husband (who has been having a secret affair with an embassy typist) is the prime suspect. Phillipe, caught between his love for Baines and his suspicion of the butler's guilt, tries to convince investigators of Baines's innocence. But the boy's pleas are ignored, and The Fallen Idol expertly plays on the child's good but woefully misguided intentions. In Reed's visual strategy, a simple paper airplane can become the focus of almost unbearable suspense, and as incriminating evidence builds a strong case against Baines, Reed maintains that suspense to the final moments of the film. Low-key and yet still highly effective, the film received Oscar nominations for Reed's direction and Greene's adapted screenplay. --Jeff Shannon

The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection

The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an alcoholic pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer, Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering, which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is drawn deeper into postwar intrigue, Martins finds layer under layer of deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles's long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society. Cotten and Welles give career-making performances, and the Anton Karas zither theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley

The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an alcoholic pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer, Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering, which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is drawn deeper into postwar intrigue, Martins finds layer under layer of deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles's long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society. Cotten and Welles give career-making performances, and the Anton Karas zither theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley

Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime, and Joseph Cotten plays his childhood friend, Holly Martins, in this all-time classic thriller scripted by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed. Martins searches for Lime through the seedy underworld of postwar Vienna and gets caught up in a web of love, deception, racketeering, and murder. The Third Man's stunning cinematography, twisting plot, and unforgettable zither score are immortalized in Criterion's pristine special edition, following the 50th Anniversary theatrical re-release.

A Kid for Two Farthings

This dreamy, quirky film, directed by Sir Carol Reed (The Third Man), combines elements of British "kitchen sink" realism with Fellini-esque fantasy and the Jewish fables of Isaac Bashevis Singer. A spunky little boy, Joe, lives with his mother in old Mr. Kandinsky's tailor shop in the midst of a bustling London bazaar a few years after the Blitz. Kandinsky fills Joe's head with stories of the magical power of unicorns and their ability to grant wishes. Eager to help his extended family attain their dreams, Joe buys a unicorn--actually a one-horned baby goat--from a vagrant. For himself and his mother, Joe requests his father's return from South Africa; for neighborhood beauty Sonia (Diana Dors, "the English Marilyn Monroe"), he wishes an engagement ring. Joe also wishes for Sonia's boyfriend, Body Beautiful magazine cover boy Sam, to beat the evil giant Python Macklin (Primo Carnera, a.k.a. "the Ambling Alp") at wrestling, and for Kandinsky to get a steam presser.

The story is sweet but the movie has overtones both serious and surreal: discordant jazz plays on the soundtrack and Joe's pets keep dying on him. The tale Kandinsky tells Joe about how unicorns became extinct is an obvious metaphor for the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. Joe's neighborhood is a true cultural melting pot: one doesn't see many 1950s British movies with settings like this. The film might have been too eccentric to become a family staple, but it's quite fascinating today. --Laura Mirsky

From legendary filmmaker Carol Reed (The Third Man, Odd Man Out, Oliver!) comes this charming fantasy about the power of childhood imagination. Joe is a young boy who lives in a poor section in London. He becomes convinced that through the mythical powers of a unicorn, he can grant the wishes of his mother and friends. Joe searches endlessly and finally discovers his unicorn—which turns out to be just a goat with a misshapen horn. Or is it? A Kid For Two Farthings is a touching film about the power of make believe.

Odd Man Out

Film noir is a term usually associated with American films of the 1940s and 1950s, but this British classic from 1947 fits the definition in almost every respect. It's one of the milestone films of its era, highlighted by what is arguably the best performance in the illustrious career of James Mason, here playing the leader of an underground Irish rebel organization who is seriously wounded when a payroll heist goes sour. Left for dead by his accomplices on the streets of Belfast, he's forced to hide wherever he can find shelter and refuge, and as his gunshot wound gradually drains his life away, his lover (Kathleen Ryan) struggles to locate him before it's too late. Although the IRA and Belfast are never mentioned by name, this film was a daring and morally complex examination of Northern Ireland's "troubles," and its compelling tragedy hasn't lost any of its impact. A study of conscience in crisis and the bitter aftermath of terrorism, this was one of the first films to address IRA activities on intimately human terms. Political potency is there for those who seek it, but the film is equally invigorating as a riveting story of a tragic figure on the run from the law, forced to confront the wrath of his own beliefs in the last hours of his life. It was this brilliant, unforgettable film that established the directorial prowess of Carol Reed, whose next two films (The Fallen Idol and The Third Man) were equally extraordinary. --Jeff Shannon

Hailed for its sensitive treatment of a difficult subject, "Odd Man Out" is a tale of ordinary people trapped in the web of Northern Ireland's troubles. Irish rebel Johnny McQueen (James Mason), maimed and bleeding, weaves an escape route through Belfast's seedy underground while each of his comrades falls prey to bounty hunters and police in director Carol Reed's (The Third Man) classic film noir.

Oliver Gift Set With CD Soundtrack

Film buffs and critics can argue until their faces turn blue about whether this lavish Dickensian musical deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1968, but the movie speaks for itself on grandly entertaining terms. Adapted from Dickens's classic novel, it's one of the most dramatically involving and artistically impressive musicals of the 1960s, directed by Carol Reed with a delightful enthusiasm that would surely have impressed Dickens himself. Mark Lester plays the waifish orphan Oliver Twist, who is befriended by the pickpocketing Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and recruited into the gang of boy thieves led by Fagin (played to perfection by Ron Moody). The villainous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) casts his long shadow over Oliver and his friends, but the young orphan is still able to find loving care in the most desperate of circumstances. Full of memorable melodies and splendid lyrics, Oliver! is a timeless film, prompting even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael to call it "a superb demonstration of intelligent craftsmanship," and to further observe that "it's as if the movie set out to be a tribute to Dickens and his melodramatic art as well as to tell the story of Oliver Twist." --Jeff Shannon

Experience the high-spirited adventures of Oliver Twist in this Oscar®-winning musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale! Young Oliver (Mark Lester) is an orphan who escapes the cheerless life of the workhouse and takes to the streets of 19th-Century London. He's immediately taken in by a band of street urchins, headed by the lovable villain, Fagin (Ron Moody), his fiendish henchman, Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), and his loyal apprentice, The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). Through his education in the fine points of pick-pocketing, Oliver makes away with an unexpected treasure... a home and a family of his own. Set to a heartfelt score that includes such favorites as "Consider Yourself," "Where Is Love?" and "As Long As He Needs Me," OLIVER! leads us on a journey in search of love, belonging and honor among thieves. Winner of six Academy Awards® (1968), including Best Picture and Best Score, OLIVER! will steal your heart!

Legendary World War II Movies (Gung Ho!/Go for Broke!/The Immortal Battalion)

3 Great Movies on 1 DVD. Star Power, Exciting Genre with Extras on each DVD.

The True Glory D-Day to V-E Day

While D-Day began officially on June 6, 1944, the invasion of France actually started on the 5th, as thousands of paratroops dropped into Normandy. The battles that raged in the months that followed resulted in the liberation of Paris, and sealed Germany's fate.

Featured on this DVD are three rare films made by the U.S. Army and British Ministry of Information in the aftermath of V-E Day, showing how Europe was liberated. They include "D-Day Minus One" which considers the airborne assault and the sacrifices made by the paratroops, "Seabees at Normandy" which focuses on the role Construction Battallions played in moving supplies to the beachheads, and finally the 80-minute long epic "The True Glory" directed by famed directors Carol Reed and Garson Kanin. Winner of a special Academy Award(tm), this stunning film traces the campaign from the shores of France to Berlin. It's history, like you've never seen it before.

Digitally remastered and restored from original 16mm film prints, some of the films on this DVD have never been made available to the public. Because of their age and rarity, image and sound quality can vary.

Films are black and white. Over 120 minutes of material.

Please note: this DVD is presented in the DVD-R format. It may not be compatible with older DVD players. See your player's instruction manual for more information.