Broken Glass: Masterpiece Theatre (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)This Mobil Masterpiece Theater production of an adapatation of Arthur Miller's play is a gripping look at both the dilemma of being Jewish in pre-war America, as well as a fascinating look at how fear can, literally, cripple a life.
The story revolves around a married Jewish couple, the Gellburgs, in Brooklyn in 1938. Mrs. Gellburg suddenly finds herself unable to move her legs, and becomes the patient of Dr. Hyman, played powerfully by Mandy Patinkin. Mr. Gellburg, in a way, also becomes the patient of Dr. Hyman as Mrs. Gellburg's diagnosis is revealed to be hysterical paralysis -- i.e., it's all in her head.
What Dr. Hyman is left to uncover about the Gellburgs, including both the extremely personal -- their marriage and their identity as Jews -- and the extremely impersonal -- the beginning of the torture and slaughter of Jews in Germany -- teaches great lessons about the choices we make in our lives; when to give in, when to stand up and say, "Enough." Fear can be either a force for change, or an excuse to avoid the inevitable pains of life.
I highly recommend this serious and thought-provoking drama; it provides much food for thought for people of any age or situation.

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Death of a Salesman & Private Conversations (1985) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was glad to find this DVD just shortly after reading the play. While I enjoyed reading it very much, I found the play to be very confusing. Just from the text alone it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't. Seeing the film version of this triumphant play really helped a lot. "Death of a Salesman" is a sad and tragic drama that emotionally involves you from start to finish.
Willy Loman is a tired and heart-broken salesman who no longer lives in the world of reality. Instead, he is trapped in his world of delusions. Each day that passes by seems to be worse and worse for Willy. He spends way too much of his time in the past when he needs to be focusing on the future. His wife and two sons have no idea what they should do for him as they know that he is heading towards disaster in this unforgettable drama.
Like I said, to actually see this really made me appreciate the play more than just reading it from the text. It can get confusing when you only have the words, but when you see it performed it all comes together and make sense. The acting is terrific. Dustin Hoffman really does an outstanding job of playing Willy Loman. Not only does he just "act" the part out, he "becomes" Loman. I admit that I had my doubts at first, because I didn't see him playing the part. My doubts quickly fled from my mind after the first 10 minutes or so. Everybody else is also terrific as well. (Wow, look how young John Malkovitch looks!) I think the movie does a fine job doing Arthur Miller's play justice.
The DVD is pretty neat as well. The picture quality is good, considering the fact that it is an old movie. The DVD also includes a feature length documentary behind the movie, which is really entertaining, and a still gallery. While it may seem like this DVD doesn't have a lot to offer, the documentary really makes it worth-while.
"Death of a Salesman" is a powerhouse drama that hooks you from start to finish. Reading it is one thing, but to actually see it makes it much more enjoyable. If you just read the play from the text it can be pretty confusing at points. If you're looking for a great dramatic movie with great acting and writing, then this is something you should really think about checking out.

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Willy Loman has spent his entire life believing he and his family are bound for greatness. Struggling day to day as a traveling salesman, Willy begins to lose touch with reality and drifts away into the past. Meanwhile his family, including wife Linda and sons Biff and Happy, attempts to cope with Willy's self-destruction and the still-lingering ghosts of the past. Arthur Miller's timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning play is brought to the screen with a powerhouse performance by Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman, who earned Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for this role. The stellar supporting cast features Kate Reid, Charles Durning, Stephen Lang, and in his first breakout role, John Malkovich as Biff, all guided by internationally-acclaimed director Volker Schlondorff (The Tin Drum) and a haunting score by legendary composer Alex North (Spartacus).

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Death of a Salesman (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1966) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a great admirer of Arthur Miller's work, I have always wished I could have seen the original 1949 production of his masterpiece, DEATH OF A SALESMAN. This video of a 1966 television production, featuring the original Willy and Linda, Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock, is the next best thing -- especially as it was taped "live" and is more like a stage production than like a movie. As wonderful as Dustin Hoffman's portrayal is in the superb 1985 movie version of SALESMAN, Lee J. Cobb simply IS Willy Loman; he conveys the sadness and insecurity that lurk beneath Willy's outward bravado. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Act II scene with Bernard, when he offers Willy a cigarette from his expensive silver case. Cobb takes the case, holds it, looks at it, then slowly hands it back to Bernard. This one moment is so telling: Willy, who never achieved success, either for himself or for his sons, is envious of Bernard's success (and Bernard was never even "well-liked"), symbolized by the silver cigarette case. Mildred Dunnock is likewise ideal as Linda: fragile, but hard as steel when defending Willy to her two resentful sons, Biff and Happy (George Segal and the excellent James Farentino). Segal is especially fine in the hotel-room scene and at the end when, in the middle of a heated argument with his father, he suddenly grabs him and hugs him, weeping. This gesture tells us that Biff is furious with Willy not because he hates him, but because he loves him. Of the supporting actors, Edward Andrews stands out as Charley, Willy's prosperous but "laid-back" neighbor -- the antithesis of Willy himself. Only Bernie Koppel as Howard, Willy's boss, seems an odd choice: he looks more like a college student than like the head of a company. (But perhaps the director, Alex Segal, was just trying to emphasize Willy's age and his failure to "keep up with the times.") This, however, is the only possible weakness in a marvelous production that is essential viewing, if only for the classic portrayals of Cobb and Dunnock.

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"Attention must be paid" to this abbreviated but superb 1966 television adaptation by Arthur Miller of his Pulitzer Prize-winning modern tragedy, starring the incomparable Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock recreating their original Broadway roles as the Lomans. In a career-defining performance, Cobb portrays the suffering Willy Loman--the middle-aged man at the end of his emotional rope--with Dunnock equally impressive as his patient wife, Linda. George Segal and James Farentino play their disillusioned sons, Biff and Happy. Shattering and unforgettable, this landmark television production has been digitally remastered and will endure for all generations to come. "In a word, superb." --New York Times. With Gene Wilder as Bernard.

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An Enemy of the People (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1966) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Television's Golden Age," the 1950s, gets that moniker because the best of that decade's live drama anthologies -- such as "Playhouse 90," "Studio One" and "Kraft Television Theater," featured innovative plays that made insightful comments about contemporary life.
Though "Enemy of the People" aired on National Educational Television (the precursor of PBS) in 1966, Arthur Miller's adaptation of the Ibsen classic feels like an extension of the "golden" era.
In the Norway of the 1880s, an idealistic doctor (James Daly of "Medical Center") discovers that water from a new spring is contaminated with deadly bacteria. Because the spring is expected to bring a solid tourist trade to this small town, his repeated attempts to convince the town's officials and citizens are met with hostility -- most notably by the mayor, who happens to be the doctor's brother (Philip Bosco).
The acting here is uniformly excellent, delivered in normal theatrical style. Daly is ideal in the lead role, never sounding a false note. Kate Reid is solid as his concerned wife, though sometimes encumbered by wild motivational swings in her character, as written.
Bosco is appropriately maddening as the doctor's brother, though viewers may be somewhat amused by his stage mustache, which becomes skewed during one sequence.
A number of very good actors from the period inexplicably go unbilled on the box, and are even absent from the IMDB entry. Among them are George Voskovec as the doctor's scheming father-in-law; James Olson as an unscrupulous newspaper editor; and William Prince as the battle-scarred publisher of the newspaper. Tim Daly, best known for his role on "Wings," plays one of the doctor's young sons; he is the real life son of the late James Daly.
Rue McLanahan appears in a bit role.
In what might have been rather startling for TV viewers of the mid-'60s, the mild profanity of Miller's adaptation is kept intact.
The play was shot on black-and-white videotape, and the print that was used for this DVD is very good. It's always so much better to see the straight video from this period, rather than a kinescoped copy.
"An Enemy of the People" will be rewarding viewing for any lover of classic television.

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Adapted by master playwright Arthur Miller from Henrik Ibsen's groundbreaking 1882 play, An Enemy of the People is a scathing indictment of a corrupt society. An idealistic doctor, played by 1966 Emmy-winner James Daly, discovers that the medicinal springs- source of a small Norwegian town's wealth and fame--are in fact poisoned. "Few dramas... clamor with as much present-day social relevance," declared Variety. Veteran Broadway, screen, and television actress Kate Reid plays the doctor's indomitable wife who stands by him in the face of the town's hostility to his findings, as he becomes "an enemy of the people." "Few dramas...clamor with as much present-day social relevance." --Variety

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