Product Description

Slice-of-life drama about a Cockney drifter in London between World Wars.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3830 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-04-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Customer Reviews

Close to home for Mr. Grant.
Cary Grant was born in Bristol, England. His father put his mother in an insane asylum when young Archie Leach (his name at the time) was only a boy. Grant grew up without a mother, and when he read the script for the movie, frinds of his such as Frank Sinatra, and Gregory Peck siad he was overjoyed, and throughout the film's production, too. Cary really got to display some emotions in the film he was never given a chance to in real life until he was an adult. Ethyl Barrymore's outstanding, Oscar winning performance made it all the more easier for Cary to show his feelings. Cary was very excited when he took everyone he knew to the film's premier, but after, all were stunned at the dark, sombre mood of the film. The Oscars agreed with Cary, however, and gave him his second and last nomination... but of course he was stiffed because the Acadamey Awards are often ridiculous. A young cockney drifter returns home to help out his poor mother in time of need. The film is very sad, and grave, and sombre. There is nothing else like it in the Grant filmography, although his dramatic turns are always his best roles. So dark and grimy, richly dteailed, beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, cleverly written, and carefully directed, this is one of the greatest films ever made, certainly in the Grant top five, and the all around top ten or fifteen. Those who know Grant and have any brains at all will be almost shocked by this wonderful display of how motion pictures can truly affect us.

First Rate Drama
Clifford Odets wrote and directed this movie. Naturally, it follows the type of dramatic lines that you would expect from a playwright. I disagree with Leonard Maltin's review. This is a very fine movie and well worth any drama lover's attention.

Cary Grant is very good in his role as Ernie Mott. Ethel Barrymore plays his mother in the movie and she is riveting and marvelous. Barry Fitzgerald is his usual fine self. The actor who played Jim Mordinoy--Coulouris I believe--had his character down to a finely honed edge. A truly memorable heavy. June Duprez who played Ada was superb. She was lovely, eloquently honest, and terrifically sexy.

For me it's hard to do much better than a Clifford Odets script. His dialogue always seems to sparkle with intelligence, wit, and a hard won wisdom that hasn't had all of its innocence destroyed by a brutal world.

The theme of the movie seems to revolve around a line that Ernie says a couple of times. Something to the effect that: "In this world you're either the fox or the hound. But what if you don't want to be either the fox or the hound? What then?" Or something along those lines. Ernie's task in this movie is express his love for his mother and Ada and also to find a "decent life" in this world.

The script and the cinemaphotography reflect a gray and bleak picture of the struggle for survival by working class people in the England of the 30's--shortly before the outbreak of WWII. It's really a typical Odets'critique of the brutality and heartlessness of western society. Regardless of your politics, though, if you like fine drama and brilliant dialogue, catch this movie. It won't lift you up, but it should educate your heart--the lonely one that is. ...

You get to see another, more somber side of "archie"
As a boy growing up in England and having an estranged relationship with his mother, I believe this was his way of going back to his roots and being the son he so desperately wanted to be. He gives an air of hominess to the movie. It really seemed like he could have been living the part. You can also tell that there was a lot of raw emotion pent up inside of him that he didn't let just anyone see in his other comedic roles, this one was very close to his heart, and being a Cary Grant fanatic, I like the fact that he let everyone see a glimpse of his real self behind all of the glitz and glamour of hollywood. It took guts to relive the old memories.