Product Description

Alice Hyatt (played by Ellen Burstyn who won an Oscar for her performance) is a widowed mother trying to start a singing career while raising a growing son (Alfred Lutter). In the early portions of the film Alice works as a waitress at a diner owned by "Mel" (Vic Tayback); these scenes served as the springboard for the popular TV sitcom Alice. Year: 1974 Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Ellen Burstyn Kris Kristopherson Billy Green Bush Harvey KeitelRunning Time: 112 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085391912125

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32247 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2004-08-17
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 112 minutes

Amazon.com
Having scored a critical triumph with Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese accepted Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore as his first big-studio assignment, proving his versatility and further advancing his promising career. Hot off The Exorcist with her choice of projects at Warner Brothers, Ellen Burstyn sought a hot young talent (Scorsese was recommended by Francis Coppola) to direct Robert Getchell's fine, sensitive screenplay about Alice Wyatt, a newly-widowed 35-year-old lounge singer with a bratty 12-year-old son (Alfred Lutter) and a very uncertain future. Her pursuit of broken dreams lands her a waitressing job in an Arizona diner, where she befriends foul-mouthed Flo (Diane Ladd) and meets and falls in love with a divorced farmer (Kris Kristofferson). With absolute authenticity of emotion and incident, Alice--which earned Burstyn a well-deserved Oscar® and features supporting roles for future Taxi Driver costars Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel--conveys a then-timely sense of strength and endurance from a single mother in desperate times. There have been several similar dramas made since 1974, but Alice (which inspired the popular TV sitcoms Alice and Flo) is still the best. Trivia buffs: Look closely for Ladd's daughter--a very young Laura Dern--and Scorsese as background extras in the diner scenes. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

When Marty Was Good
An early Martin Scorsese film when the director was good, bringing out great performances with a sparce script.

Ellen Burstyn is a hard luck wife with a wife-beating husband. The husband is out of the picture suddenly and she must make it on her own with her young son in tow. Burstyn's acting style, just short of bursting into hysteria at any moment, very interesting really.

Harvey Keitel has a small part, but steals the show as usual. His cowboy accent is a little odd, but that actor can menace.

A small cameo of young boy-like Jody Foster. What were her parents thinking? You could see it coming.

Dishonest
Ultimately this is a dishonest film. To be an honest film, the husband would have had to be a decent, if boring, provider, and he would have had to be divorced, rather than killed off. The ending is also a stretch. Nevertheless, a style of story telling that today's directors should model.

YEARS AGO
Saw this movie years ago and love Ellen as an actress in everything since. The movie was great.