| The Iceman Cometh | | Cast : | Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges | | Director : | John Frankenheimer | | Studio : | Kino International | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 1973 | | DVD Released Date : | April 01, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 05, 2005 | | Summary | Made For Cinema Stage Play | Content
 | Back in the early 1970's, a group called the American Film Theater conceived the idea of bringing the stage to larger audiences by filming theater plays with all-star casts. We all know plenty of stage productions that were turned into movies but they were adapted to the different medium. Sometimes the script was changed, usually the sets were greatly expanded beyond what the stage could accommodate, supporting casts quadrupled, etc. What the AFT intended was along the lines of many Shakespearian film productions where the focus was on the actors and the script rather than the action and the locations. I remember that there were a limited number of productions (14) that were filmed. I recall "Rhinoceros" by Ionesco (I think) but the one that caught my eye was "The Iceman Cometh" both for the play and for the cast.
The AFT productions, as I recall, were not intended for the general theater distribution. They were, instead, intended to be a special release for a limited set of venues. I saw "The Iceman Cometh" in Madison, Wisconsin in 1976. I was impressed enough by the film that I went out and read the play.
"The Iceman Cometh" has a rather complex message that tells the tale of a reformed alcohlic that revisits one of his hangouts to try and reform the dead-enders that inhabit the tavern. The opening scene lets us know just how down and out this clientele is; most of them are coming to in the morning at the chairs they passed out in the night before. Larry Slade (played by Robert Ryan) is the lone person who is awake besides the bartender. As the other come to, we see a group of people who have descended to the lowest point within their reach. The one thing they all look forward to is the arrival of Hickey who comes every year to celebrate Harry Hope's birthday. Hope is the ironically named owner of the tavern and is played by Frederick March. Hickey eventually arives but this time he is out to reform the bunch and get them to throw away their pipe dreams and face reality. The play deals with their attempts to folow his advice and their reaction to their efforts. It is also about Hickey's inability to comprehend his own advice. Is the message that turning a new leaf is easier said than done? "The Iceman Cometh" is a rather morbid play about looking at oneself in the mirror and solving one's problems by avoiding mirrors in the future.
The brilliance of this movie is in the outstanding acting. Special kudos go out to the three most recognizable names in the cast; Robert Ryan, Frederick March, and Lee Marvin who plays Hickey. Of the three, I would give the nod to Ryan if I had to pick the best preformance. However, John Frankenheimer deserves special recognition as well for directing for the stage while making it for film audiences. In many scenes, as the attention shifts from one group of characters to another, the other actors hold their poses in the background so as not to disturb the focus of the audience. That's how it's done on the stage and that's how it's done in "The Iceman Cometh". The set is nothing more than you would find on stage; we get the feel of Broadway in our own hometown and now, thanks the release of the DVD, we get that feel in our own living room. What a great concept and what a great production. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 07, 2005 | | Summary | Best of the best | Content
| Consider the fact that not one but two of the actors in this astoundingly good production gave their last cinematic performances. Now consider that one of them gave one of his first performances. The convergence of talent for this full 4 hour production is beyond prodigious; it's breathtaking. Robert Ryan and Frederic March are flawless as two old, embittered men whose reliance on booze, day to day, gets them through life. Both have women who abandoned them--one died, one left. Both lapse into stark cynicism that breaks the heart. Both, when you see their faces, make you want to cry from the pain they feel.
They are the best here, but the supporting cast is almost as good. Jeff Bridges, in one of his first roles, gives it everything he's got to convey the portrait of a young man who's trying as hard as he can to steer clear of the bitterness and cynicism that surrounds him in Harry Hope's (Frederic March) skid row saloon, frequented by Harry, Larry (Robert Ryan), and an assortment of others whose lives have left them nothing but the will to drink and drink some more.
Parritt, Jeff Bridges' character, almost succeeds in shucking off the hopelessness, but if he fully succeeded, he wouldn't keep returning to the place--which he does. He's the odd one out; the others are grizzled or, if young (like Brad Dillman's character, Willie) so besotted they're decades older than their natural years. Into this morass of self-pity and useless nostalgia comes Hickey--Lee Marvin--a salesman who exhorts everyone to give up their pipe dreams, get off the sauce like he's recently done, and face reality.
Easier said than done. You'd think that four hours of a play would become wearying, but the actors are so good here, and the dialogue so strong--thanks to master craftsman Eugene O'Neill--that rather than putting you to sleep, this drama has the opposite effect. Mention should also be made of Moses Gunn as the sole black man in the place who's embittered as well, blaming the white man for his failure when it's all too clear it's his own shortcomings that have led him to Harry's dive. Gunn is terrific in his role, almost as good as Ryan and March.
This is American drama at its finest, and a production, part of the American Film Theater (AFT) series, that does justice to O'Neill's gripping play. It's impossible to fault anyone here, and the director, John Frankenheimer--better known for great thrillers like The Train and Seconds--said that this was the best work he ever did. The DVD comes with a number of extras including an interview with Edy Landau, co-producer of the entire American Film Theater series; a brief introduction by her now-deceased husband (taped in 1974), Eli Landau, the other co-producer; a gallery of stills; a set of trailers for many of the AFT films; reviews of the series by various critics; and an essay on The Iceman Cometh by Michael Feingold, premier New York film critic.
This is a superior piece of dramatic work that should not be missed, and one of the great American plays. Consider the fact that when this originally ran, it was only for two showings! Hats off to Kino Video for making this available on DVD.
Very highly recommended. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 21, 2005 | | Summary | Powerful and harrowing film! | Content
| John Frankenheimer's masterful direction , Eugene O' Neill's solid script and superb and enviable cast: Frederic March one of the best American actors ever , Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan overthrew the raising career of Jeff Bridges .
Set in a 1912 waterfront saloon : the perfect stage to face the tragic anguish of Hickey -The iceman - , destroyer of his hapless pals .
Superb and superior film.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 26, 2004 | | Summary | Perfect | Content
| I'm not going to write a lot leaving that to others. "The Iceman Cometh" is good writing, good acting and fun. It questions life in a light way. It's wonderfully uncertain regarding meanings. If you haven't seen it, see it. It's terriffic. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 26, 2003 | | Summary | SOLID ACTING; AND ONE REVELATION! | Content
| I originally saw this many years ago wondering what Lee Marvin was doing in such a high brow production and was rewarded with a memorable experience and new respect for the actors involved. I was surprised to find Fredric March in this. A movie star from the early days of the sound era, a two tme Oscar winner, I always knew March was a good and well respected actor, and there were two times when he shocked me and I realised HOW good he was: one was the original A STAR IS BORN where his performance surpassed the era it came from, playing more modern amidst the hokum and phony sentimentality that surrounded everything else in the picture, giving the film a lasting relevancy; the other was INHERIT THE WIND, where I was all geared up to watch Spencer Tracy in a great role and wound up picking my jaw off the floor at March in the Brady role. No Academy nomination, no lasting hossanahs, was anybody else aware of what March was doing here? Well his performance here surpasses those two. Amazing how his acting style kept changing, permitting him to give relevant performances for over forty years in quality films. His work here is fully shaded and from an aesthetic viewpoint, a joy to watch. But even his performance is not the outstanding one in the picture. That honor goes to Robert Ryan. ROBERT RYAN??!!??!! Always a solid performer, whether playing the hard-bitten good guy or the hard-bitten bad guy (usually), there is nothing in his canon of work that will prepare you for the magnitude or the depth of his performance here. Who knew there was a giant, and I do mean GIANT, talent lurking in that lean boxer frame. It will make you angry, and sad, that his talent was barely scratched in all those movies. But it is ultimately a blessing that in this, his last film, he was able to get a role that would utilize his full range as an actor. An incredible revelation. Since these AFT productions only played for 2 screenings, they fell under the radar of the Academy Awards' stipulation that a film must play for a week to be eligible for nominations, which is why you won't see any of these AFT productions in the Academy books on excellence. Marvin doesn't hit the mark of these two performances, but he is very good, at times excellent. Tough going, but a rewarding, memorable experience.. |
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