Contains spoilers!

This was one hard to find DVD... but one the dedicated Gerry Butler fan can't really live without. I finally got my copy from New Zealand a few weeks ago and did a marathon viewing of all 16 episodes. From the bits and pieces I had seen before, I thought the series is rather shallow and very light hearted but I was surprised. There are some good, rather deep story lines dealing with the hassle of the daily, modern life as problems at your job, problems with your family and so on. Of course a good mix of good (and bad) romances are thrown in as well. I thought the acting was overall pretty good especially in some of the supporting roles like Lucy's parents.

Of course I need to dedicate a paragraph to Mr. Butler here since I assume a lot of his fans are wondering if they should get the DVD or not. He is in 13 out of the 16 episodes and has some good, but relatively short scenes in there. He plays the role of the scoundrel Gus really well and very believable. You just love to hate him. He looks absolutely gorgeous as Gus which works so well for a character like this whom shamelessly uses his good looks to get what he wants from the girls he's with. He truly is a jerk and as the show goes on the more you dislike him. I'm not sure though that I like the fact that Gus really doesn't seem to have any redeeming character traits. He's just bad, which is true to the book. His story line is kind of left open at the end (which is the same in the novel) and I as a viewer was somehow not satisfied with that. He just got away with anything without paying for it or redeeming himself somehow. But in that matter they stayed true to the book. Is it worth getting for any Gerry fan out there? I do think so.

Somebody wrote in an earlier review that Gerry didn't do his own singing. That is not true. He said himself in an interview that he did sing in the two episodes. And you can hear that it's him. It's his voice. Yes, he obviously sounds a bit different in "Phantom..." but in POTO he's a bit older, had a lot of voice training, and his voice had matured considerably, but it's still the same voice.


I was on the last hundred pages of 'Lucy Sullivan' and had decided to put the book down - make it last. Then the thought popped into my head "There's a DVD set you can watch, just read it!". So i finished the book that night, really happy and excited about renting out the TV Adaption the next day.

Now i wish I'd savored the book, and not wasted my $10 on this crap. Not even Gerard Butler could save it. This is the worst thing i have watched since, and probably before, Gigli. The Characters are completely altered, none of the changes are positive. Too much detail is paid to things that are pointless and/or dull. The acting is awful and the entire feeling of the show leaves you empty.

Do not bother. It's an insult to all things Keys!


An absolutely superb movie.

The performances were believable without a doubt. Perhaps this is just coming from a male's perspective, but there is no-one in this movie you cannot relate to. Watch for similarities with "American Beauty", and, to a far lesser extent, "Cruel Intentions" and "American Pie".

The cinematography is spectacular. Each scene's camera angle, lighting, et al, increase the mood tenfold. The ending is how all Hollywood movies should be. No wonder this one isn't.

Issues with the amount of smoking and drinking they do, but then again, who didn't at that age? No gratuitous sex or violence, although rather large portions of both.

Overall: ********/**


This movie really made me laugh, I loved the flavor, the "ambiance" of the movie, I was really there in Paris in the 60's. Some of the dialog are really funny especially the ones from aurelian vick and alice taglionie, some parts are very sexy. The music is amazing, I will get the soundtrack.

The photo is also very nice, this movie remained me the spirit of the 60's, how the teens were at the time.

The rock and roll attitude of the character is funny, the way they talk to each other, they way they danced.

I recommend you to watch this, it brings you back in time


I strongly disliked this movie. It was a waste of time, and I would not recommend it. My reaction to it, during its viewing, varied from finding it mildly annoying, to quite infuriating.

Things being relative, I do not know what qualifies as a "spoiler". Although I do not reveal crucial plot elements, I discuss to some small extent what the movie talks about; so, please be warned about what comes next.

This movie is literally a "talking picture", and the location of the action is sometimes just a pretext. This is not the problem, though. The problem lies in the content of all that talking. Initially, it is restricted to a history lecture inspired by sites visited along the Mediterranean coast, while later it goes on and on about philosophical/political/whatever issues. The first part gives the impression of being pedantic and somewhat patronizing. It tries to be didactic, but often confounds history with fiction or legend, without qualifying the latter as such. In the second part, the level of discourse goes all the way from reciting the commonplace, to being juvenile and just plain silly! The core ideas are for the most part quite simplistic, often pure clichés, served in a pretentious faux-intellectual wrapper. They also exhibit huge political and cultural bias, which makes them sound even more hollow, and, arguably, at times questionably motivated.

As far as the acting is concerned, the film is a disappointment. The actress in the leading part, Leonor Silveira, gives new meaning to bad acting; she delivers her history recitations dryly, as if reading passages out of a middle-school history book. The little girl is cute; however, the initial cuteness of those incessant "Why mommy...?"'s becomes really annoying after a while. Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, and the other actors are trying their best, but inadvertently fall short, because of the poor script; however, the polyglot setting they are involved in is indeed an interesting idea, albeit inadequately exploited. Of all the actors, I would single out Irene Papas, who, despite the unfortunate content of her lines, shows a certain naturalness of performance, in the idiosyncrasy, mannerisms and intonation of her native tongue.

All in all, this film is very disappointing, in my opinion. The fact that it comes out of the European art-house festival circuit raises high expectations, which it fails to measure up to. Perhaps, instead of pondering which gender's rule the E.U. would be better off under, the Portuguese, Italian and French producers should concern themselves more with what European taxpayers' money is spent on... IMHO.


sorry but this film is one of the worst i'v seen in European cinema. alright, it has all the clichés and canons of European civilisation, but simply plucking these cultural allusions from everywhere doesn't show any intelligence. moreover, these citations are the most stereotypical, the explanations (of the ruins, legends, etc) the most simplicist, repeating parrot-like the information one can usu find in primary-school text books. the multilingual conversation is amazingly superficial, setting up all these binaries of man-woman, east-west, love-hate. frankly this degree of intellect can be simply found in any street. the ending is quite atrociously suspect to racism, and certainly very stupidly eurocentric. probably the worst thing of the film is that it pretends to make some profound comments whilst it is at best a slap-stick piece of nonsense with a jerk in the last scene


aw, gee, what a bummer. i'll give any film with either Catherine Deneuve or John Malkovich a fair chance, as i have long been a fan of both actors for many, many years; my critical film watching began in nyc in the late 60's and was sharpened at the cinematheque in Paris in the early 70's. i'm willing to give Catherine Deneuve a lot of slack, because she is so beautiful to watch, but the thing that's troubling me here, in part, is that both she and Malkovich are lending their names to a film where they do little else, as also in the otherwise wonderful "I'm Going Home." unlike Johnny Depp, who has made his home in France but hasn't presumed to impose himself on French cinema, Malkovich keeps turning up but never seems to vary his vocal cadence, nor his basic persona. it's the same character over and over and over again. sad to see two formerly excellent actors walk their way through yet another film to pick up a paycheck.


This could have been a much better film. Strangely, it seems to have been made by well-meaning amateurs (that includes the talented veteran actors who performed in a stilted manner and seemed rather lost). I found the historical content and some of the dialogue pleasing, but it became ultimately pointless. The ending was ridiculous and destroyed any credibility that may have existed up to that point. Others have commented on the film's realism. I did not experience that. The characters seemed unnatural and self-conscious, except for the young girl, who was adequate. There is no artistry here. I would prefer to view someone's home movies showcasing untrained actors and unplanned situations. I did think that Irene Pappas had a lovely voice and her moving rendition of the Greek song was a nice break from the tedium. What was Oliveira thinking?


About the only enjoyment I got out of the first two-thirds of this movie came from the fact that I was a History Major in College. The scenery was interesting and so was the commentary from the mother to her daughter. But other than that you're just waiting and waiting for something to happen. The only excitement, other than the very very end, is when John Malkovich finally shows up. However, I found his character far too fawning and pathetic. And then the final scene! Okay maybe there is some big point about history and civilization, the daughter goes back for her doll But does this bit of a twist at the end make up for an hour of bad writing and camera work? Who's giving this film a 10/10? Does it really warrant it? Considering all the great films produced (especailly when compared to some of the stinkers from Hollywood) how can this film get such a high rating from people?


Where did that 8 rating come from? Must be someone with a wishful attempt to get viewers. I refuse to waste more time even reviewing it. Stay home and read a book. Surely you will be better of. IMDb requires you to write @ least ten lines of comments and that is exactly what I am doing. For the sake of anyone who might take the time to go ever these lines before deciding whether or not to see it. I have not sat through such kind of film for a long, long time. There is definitively a waste of talent and resources used in this film. Literally I mean it!!! Somehow I felt that they were trying to demonstrate their superiority over the viewers, in a flagrant way, and get away with it. There is no value whatsoever in this movie and if there is it escapes me. I take that back there is value in it.

Once you are done viewing it you realize how important is time and even when we allocate time for purposes of pure entertainment, and just that one has to chose wisely. I regret not spending such time watching another movie instead. This is the first time I review a movie on IMDb and I am taking the time, as I said before, to spare someone the torture.


I enjoyed this movie very much. I got this movie thinking that it would be great just to watch for the scenery. It was.

What I was not expecting was the great intellectual content this movie offered.

I think you will like it if you enjoy ancient history, especially Greek history. At times it will seem SO MUNDANE and nearly boring, but persevere - it all comes together wonderfully at the end and will leave you thinking.

I, too, thought the movie was going off course, no pun intended, for a bit. Everything in the movie is there for a reason.

This is a thinking person's movie though. If you don't like history and politics and ancient civilization, you may not like it...however, if you really LOVE these things, then this is one you shouldn't miss.

I think the director is brilliant. There's a scene where the ship is seen from a distance, and its midday and it looks so washed out. Then I realized, that is JUST what things look like midday. Its just so mundane, and that is what will eventually strike you hard at the end if you just keep an open mind until you get there. Its worth it.


"Teresa de Jesús" is a jewel of Spanish cinema, with Concha Velasca playing the role of Teresa of Avila (for this is how most of us know her), mystic and, ultimately, Doctor of the Church. This is no naïve, sweet interpretation of sainthood. The writers and Concha Velasca make us aware of Teresa's struggle to be humble and remain faithful to the church one the one hand, and reform an entire religious order (the Carmelites) taking them back to their primitive rule and thereby launching one of the most effective answers to the Protestant challenge to come out of Spain. Along the way, Saint Teresa of Avila, discovers and launches another saint (and Doctor of the Church), John of the Cross. "Teresa de Jesús" is an 8 hour mini-series, and Concha Velasca's "aging" (she was about the same age as Teresa when she began her reform at the time this was filmed) with the character seems both effortless and natural -- what talent.

Here is a "masterpiece", but you will not see it on American television, which seems to have a parochial view of religious content (unless it is Count Dracula, of course). What a loss. This series is less about religion and more about the spiritual journey. The writers (two women and a man, including the director, Josefina Molina) were able to be sympathetic to the plight of women in Spain in the 16th Century without breaking the spell of age with modern messages. A example of their success is the discussion of the dilemma of women -- marriage, childbirth and higher odds of an early death, or celibacy and, typically, life in a convent.

This reality of women was sharp enough that numbers of Spanish women did choose a convent life, and this invariably led some convents to gravitate to the comfortable life. Teresa of Avila upset this trend, and much of this story is about her struggles with "conventional" Christians (who preferred a self-contained life with some luxuries and who battled her most of her life), her ability to inspire others even in the face of violent opposition, and her adroit handling of superiors. As difficult as the bishops and priests are (everyone has an agenda), the women of nobility raise the biggest fires. Noblewomen were not only patrons of convents, but often had them attached to their grand homes. The film successfully introduces us to their complex personalities: vain or pious, they too have agendas. Some considered convents a good source of female help; moreover, as Teresa's reputation for sanctity spread, some would coerce priests to order Teresa to visit them. It was then fashionable to have a presumed saint in residence.

The writers carefully pace the series. They gradually introduce more elaborate costumes (beautiful and authentic Spanish costume of the period), exotic locations (Medina del Campo for those of you who know it from James Mitchner or Carlos Fuentes) and new characters, and these add to the enjoyment each episode. I would like to mention two women in particular. Mid-series we meet the Princess of Eboli (yes, she really was a beauty and she really did have only one eye), played by Patricia Adriani (pulling it off as one of the youngest of the adult actors in the series). You will not forget the image of this powerful and willful person as she conveys her dead husband to their castle and, she presumes, her future convent. Compared to her, the Inquisition was for Teresa easy. The other woman is Sister Ana, who takes care of Teresa late in her life. Sister Ana is Teresa's, ah, left hand (we who are sinistral notice these things). I enjoyed Sister Ana's subtle maturation, all in the last hours of the series, from someone "not able to write" to the embodiment of all of the saints successes. I do not know for sure who played the role, Silvia Munt I think.

So how did I see this? A friend bought a copy of the series (3 DVDs on the bargain counter) in a Madrid department store. They are PAL format (European standard), but I was able to play them through a laptop (with commonly available DVD software). I S3 videoed and audio jacked it out to an LCD TV. And as an American poet, who also read St. Theresa's autobiography, wrote -- "that is that, is that."


Saint Teresa of Jesus (Avila) is so beautifully portrayed in this movie, and brings her writings into a brilliant reality. For those who have read her works, you will see her actions lived out along with her spiritual insights. The acting could not be better, it is human and humble. I really enjoyed the true-to-life settings, and language. I am happy to see this series has won awards, and Concha Velasco won my heart over. Her portrayal of this Saint was remarkable due to the ability to convey humility, spiritual depth, holy virtue, love for Jesus Christ, and over the course of time to age in character. The rest of the cast was superb in evoking a love or hate relationship for the viewer because one either will love or hate Saint Teresa of Jesus, and those for or against her strong determination to create the Discalced Carmelite Order that has flourished through-out the world to this day. I highly recommend this to anyone, believer or not. You will be inspired by one woman's courage to follow through, and will never be able to feel self-pity or make excuses you can't do something great with your own life after watching this series.

There really should be more series made for TV just like this one. The world surely needs them.


This series, based on the life of Santa Teresa de Jesús (sometimes called Santa Teresa de Ávila) offers a historically validated account of the times when this mystic nun was setting up monasteries in the deepest depths of the interior of Spain. Excellently prepared settings, both indoors and outdoors, admirably carry forward Concha Velasco in the best performance of her life, ably supported by a magnificent cast.

However, I would prefer you to read my notes on an abbreviated version of this series - Teresa de Jesús (TV) (2003) - with the same cast, recently re-shown on the Spanish State Television (TVE), which should appear on IMDb in a few days.


Whether looking at paintings by Velázquez, Zurbarán or Murillo, or by Tiziano, Botticelli, or by Van Eyck, or whether listening to Masses and Requiems by Berlioz, Rachmaninov, Brahms or Verdi, I tend to take on an aesthetic attitude and of course a historical contemplation of what my eyes and/or ears are perceiving. Religious aspects do not take part in any appreciation of anything which may be a work of art.

This same philosophy stands me in good stead when watching what at first appraisal is a religious film, be it for the cinema or for TV. My mind focusses not only on the story being told - often too well known, anyway - but on the acting, the sets, the dialogues, the accompanying music, and so on. Apart from that, religious significance for me has little o no interest whatsoever.

From 1492, when Columbus sailed the wide ocean and found what he thought was India, up to the death of Teresa de Jesús 90 years later, Spain went through rather traumatic experiences. The `Reyes Católicos' sowed havoc among the populace with their fiendish interpretation of religiousness, Carlos V opened up to a more tolerant attitude, and Felipe II immediately slammed all that shut with beraged intolerance, producing the Inquisition and all the disaster resulting thereof.

Given such a background, Teresa emerged from the cold high plateaux of the deepest interior of the Iberian peninsular to become a nun. Daughter of a Jew who converted to Catholicism - hardly surprising amid the socio-religious upheavals taking place - and one of ten children, she joined the Carmelite sect and went on to found her own `descalzas' -literally `shoeless' or `barefoot'.

This film takes up from her early twenties and goes through to her death, following her life around the high lands of Ávila, the Encarnación Monastery, and her later travels around most of central Spain, reaching as far afield as Aragón and Sevilla. Faithfully recreated from the anals of time by the historian Víctor García de la Concha, specialist in Spanish medieval matters, who helped in writing the script with novelist Carmen Gaite, this film mostly avoids being sanctimonious or preachy. The film is accompanied by music from José Nieto, though on some occasions I detected certain other sources, most notably a piece which sounded like `tafelmusik' by Georg Philippe Telemann - more than a hundred years later. It gave rise to my hopes of hearing something by Tomás Luis de Victoria, also from Ávila and coinciding in time with Mother Teresa, one of the great examples of early polyphony later taken up by the Italians.

Mother Teresa herself wrote a lot, including poetry which later became categorized as `mystic', a leaning also taken up by Juan de Yepes y Álvarez - San Juan de la Cruz/St. John of the Cross - who appears in this film, as well as the mysticism of Fray Luis de León, following on from the Archpriest of Hita, himself outrageously prone to remarkable romantic - sexual - verses.

Concha Velasco was born to do something in this life: her role in this film is her crowning achievement; nothing else comes anywhere near her interpretation of this 16th Century saint. Only `Más Allá del Jardín' (1997) (qv) is worthy of mention, as anything else in which she has taken part has either been minimal or trivial. But in this excellent production, directed by Josefina Molina, who also carries out her own particular masterpiece, Ms Velasco reaches the absolute peak of her creative ability.

Precisely in the Monastery of the `Encarnación' a chamber organ was found more or less when this film was being made: lost for over 400 years the `organillo de la Teresita' was discovered in an underground vault; it has now been restored and is the oldest working organ in the world.

This shortened version of the original series has a few inexcusable editing faults. Some scenes even include interrupted dialogues, with the ensuing sudden shift of scenario that is somewhat off-putting. Another fault here is the absolutely essential inclusion of a voice in off who narrates certain passages so as to link up the scissored continuity - or perhaps I should say discontinuity. The result is a little harrowing a couple of times, but with some misgivings has to be admitted as necessary for the well-being of the whole. Even so, at just over 220 minutes it would be advisable to show/see this version in two parts, or - better still - show/see the full original 1984 uncut TV series in its natural episodes of approximately 1 hour each.

FOOTNOTE:

The Spanish used is pure `Castillian' - that is, the most neutral and unregionalised, which will be of special interest to students of the Spanish language.


W.S. Van Dyke seems to be having a blast directing this madcap comedy that brings together one of the most endearing couple of the cinema: Myrna Loy and William Powell.

"I Love You Again" starts aboard a Trans Atlantic crossing where we meet Larry Wilson. He is a tight man with his money, as shown at the ship's bar where his penny pinching is embarrassing. After an accident lands him on the water, Larry suffers a blow to the head and he becomes amnesiac, reverting into a former self, a con artist. With the help of his new best friend, Doc Ryan, he realizes he's struck gold. He's rich!

Little prepares Larry for what awaits him on arrival in New York. His wife, Kay, is at the pier! Nothing makes sense of Larry, and thus begins a game of catch up with his new persona. Along the way, Kay and Larry battle because she doesn't want any part of the stingy Larry. We watch Kay as suddenly falling for Larry as he seems a changed man. Love will win in the end!

William Powell plays the double personality man Larry Wilson/George Carey, with his usual flair. Myrna Loy is shown at her best. She showed such a beauty and sophistication in the film that's hard to imagine anyone else playing Kay. Frank McHugh is excellent as Larry's would be partner-in-crime. Edmund Lowe and Donald Douglas are good as well.

The movie is a lot of fun and will reward anyone watching it.


Hilariously entertaining tale of a man with double amnesia: a dull penny pincher on one hand, a thieving con artist on the other. After being conked on the noggin he revives to find he has spent the last nine years as someone he isn't and reverts to his former tricky self. His apple cart is upset when he discovers he is falling for the wife he picked up during the nine year blackout. A plan to bilk some of the locals over a phony oil deal doesn't appear so rosy once his thorny heart is pricked by love, which puts him in danger from a mean tempered associate intent on becoming rich. Fast paced and very funny film, well worth watching, especially Powell's zany character.


I highly recommend this film. It's funny , very funny and like the tagline of the film says, YOU WILL L-A-U-G-H!!!! Powell & Loy make a great team, that is why they went on to make 14 films together, they have wonderful screen chemistry. Powell is one of my favorite actors and he's just so good in everything he's in whether it be comedy or drama, but I have to admit I love him in comedies more than anything. Highlight of this film : The "cooing" moments! *pees* Also when Powell dances alone! Check it out! If it doesn't make you laugh you're dead! ;-)


When the movie going public demands you back 14 times you know that something is being done right by both the studio and the players involved.

William Powell and Myrna Loy hit a real career high point in this film with a rather original plot gimmick. The amnesia gimmick is stood on its head in this film.

Powell and Loy are married and he's on a business trip involving an ocean voyage. Powell is something of a stuffed shirt when we meet him on the ship. When a drunken Frank McHugh falls overboard, Powell dives in to rescue him and in the process gets himself knocked out.

When he comes to, like in Random Harvest, he discovers his former identity which is that of a confidence man and as it turns out McHugh also is a full time grifter.

Unlike Ronald Colman who spent the whole of Random Harvest searching for his lost years, Powell has his identity there. Returning to his town with his new found friend McHugh, he finds wife Loy together with the fact he's a person of some means. But he also finds out that Loy was planning to get rid of him.

Powell together with McHugh and former associate Edmund Lowe try to work an elaborate con game on the town. At the same time Powell is falling for the woman he married and embarks on a campaign to win her back. Those two agenda items come into conflict.

Bill and Myrna are at their best in I Love You Again. Two highlight scenes for me are Powell's cooing courtship of Loy and his trip through the woods in his Boy Ranger uniform with his Boy Ranger troop. This must have been the same outfit that Jimmy Stewart was trying to get a summer camp for in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The goings on are similar to what Powell went through fishing in Libeled Lady.

I Love You Again is movie comedy at its very best. Don't miss it if TCM runs it again.


After saving a life, William Powell becomes the victim of amnesia in "I Love You Again," a 1940 film also starring Frank McHugh and Edmund Lowe - this having the distinction of two Philo Vances, Lowe and Powell, in the cast.

Powell plays a cheapskate named Larry Wilson. While on a cruise ship, he jumps into the ocean to save "Doc" Ryan (McHugh) and suffers a head injury. When he wakes up, he has become his former self, a con artist named George and has no memory of the respectable, conservative, stingy life he has been living for some years. Off the ship, he discovers that his lovely wife (Loy) can't wait to get rid of him - or so she thinks, until she realizes that "Larry" is a changed man - for the better.

Powell is out and out hilarious in this film. For such a distinguished looking man, he has provided this writer with almost as many laugh out loud moments as the Marx Brothers. One of his best scenes is when his wife refuses to dance with him, so he dances by himself. Another occurs when, as a boy scout troop leader, he is asked to continue with the deer-tracking techniques he was teaching before leaving town. Of course, he has no memory of any such thing and, as a reporter follows him, he falls into holes, crawls around the brush, and gets stuck in a couple of traps.

The pairing of Powell and Loy is magical. She looks particularly beautiful in this film and her confusion regarding her changed husband and sadness over her marriage is quite touching.

Highly recommended.


William Powell plays both George Carey and Larry Wilson, and Myrna Loy is his wife Kay in this wonderful, deft, entertaining screwball comedy directed by Woody Van Dyke III...."Hey, this is kinda funny. We're not talking about you but a lug named Wilson, and you're both fellas." The words are those of Doc Ryan, George Carey's pal. George, you see, has had amnesia for nine years, and during that time he became Larry Wilson, a pompous businessman....Enter Larry's charming wife Kay. George learns that Kay is eager to divorce Larry because of his miserable, suffocatingly materialistic ways; and when meets Kay, whom he has forgotten, he falls for her and sets out to reclaim her love....The film's defining moment surprises us with its tenderness. Standing in contrast to the film's madcap goings-on, it takes place when George escorts Kay, who thinks he's Larry, to the spot where years before he proposed to her as Larry. The scene precisely captures the distinctive and wonderful chemistry between Powell and Loy, who went on to make ten more pictures together....Like his two most famous characters (Godfrey of MY MAN GODFREY and Nick Charles of THE THIN MAN), Powell's George Carey emerges as a humane individual with the common touch. In fact, he becomes a hero, saving the townsfolk of quaint Haversville from a criminal scam perpetuated by a big city gangster named Duke Sheldon.


William Powell gets knocked on the head during an ocean cruise. It seems he's had amnesia for the past nine years and was a penny-pinching, thoroughly unlikable man married to Myrna Loy. Now that he's become his real self (which is strong and masculine) he falls in love with Loy. But she's planning to divorce him...so he has to win her all over again. And deal with his past as a gangster.

Very funny movie. Fast-moving, well-directed and acted...but it's all because of Loy and Powell. Those two were absolutely incredible on-screen--they played off each other brilliantly and their quick, non-stop dialogue and one-liners were just fantastic. I prefer this one over the "Thin Man" series they did--in the "Thin Man" they were always drinking and it was played for laughs!!! This one doesn't have that. Unfortunately it also doesn't have that adorable dog Asta.

Still, this quick and lots of fun. An excellent Hollywood comedy that (strangely) is almost forgotten today. Well worth seeing.


I wonder if this might be the great granddaddy of all amnesia films. If it's not, it's sure one of the first and has inspired countless sitcom episodes. William Powell is bonked on the head and suddenly he's a completely different person--one who apparently disappeared nine years earlier. Who he was during the last nine years is uncertain, but what IS certain is that the new personality is a crook. When this shady guy figures out that during the last nine years he's become a pillar of the community and has access to gobs of other peoples' money, he wants to steal everything he can and run. The problem is, he discovers he has a wife (Loy) and can't bring himself to leave--even when he finds out she hates him. Well, much of the movie is spent trying to win her back, though he still wonders whether or not to rob his "friends". What he does and how the entire mess is resolved is brilliant and a lot of fun. This isn't wacky fun like his other film, LOVE CRAZY, but is a little more sophisticated and deliberately paced. A wonderful old film with excellent acting, writing (aside from the dumb plot device) and direction. One of Powell's and Loy's best.


William Powell and Myrna Loy were paired together in 14 films. Most notably, "The Thin Man" series stands out, but a little lesser known film, "I Love You, Again", is a gem of a comedy, and the two stars shine brightly.

Larry Wilson (Powell)while saving a stranger's life, receives a blow on the head. This makes him "wake up" from suffering amnesia. In reality, he is George Carey, con man. It seems that nine years earlier, Carey received a blow to the head, which turned him into Wilson.

During those "missing" nine years, Wilson has married Kay (Myrna Loy), worked as the manager of a pottery manufacturer, and been nothing but a cheap, teetotalling, boor, whom everyone in a sleepy Pennsylvania town loves. Except for Kay. She has grown tired of Wilson and wants a divorce.

This scenario is given to you in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, and it's off to the races in this delightful comedy.

Of course it's ridiculous, and of course, everything works out in the end. But who cares, Powell and Loy are superb, and that's all we really care about. Myrna Loy will break your heart with her beauty and grace, and that little up-turned nose. Powell is utterly charming as Carey, and hysterical as Wilson. They are the ultimate dream team.

Expertly directed by W.S. Van Dyke II, with great support from Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe and Donald Douglas (in what could be called the "Ralph Bellamy" part).

8 out of 10 stars


William Powell and Myrna Loy! A pure recipe for alchemical gold, and nowhere better seen outside of the 'Thin Man' series than here. This is a better film than LOVE CRAZY which they made the following year. This is a truly hilarious film, with a wonderful script and first rate gag lines, with plenty of opportunities for laughing out loud. The story itself is, or at least seems, flimsy and nonsensical. William Powell was hit on the head nine years earlier and has had amnesia. Having previously been a con man, he has along with the amnesia experienced a total personality change. He has settled down and become a respectable citizen of Habsberg, Pennsylvania, where he is a pillar of the community, the head of the Boy Scouts, and a member of the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, and all those worthy bodies. He manages a pottery. He never touches alcohol, his hobby is taxidermy, and he even keeps a stuffed squirrel by his bedside which he stuffed himself. He is also pathologically mean with money and counts every penny obsessively. In other words, he has become a super-bore, and his attractive wife Myrna Loy can't stand being ignored anymore and has filed for divorce from this most disappointing, annoying, and unsexy husband. At this point he is hit on the head again and reverts to being his previous mischievous self, whom Loy had never known. This leads to all sorts of comedic escapades and because he now finds Myrna Loy irresistible, Powell sets about wooing her afresh as his new/old self (hence the title of the film). The strange thing is that there are documented cases in the annals of psychology of this sort of amnesia-associated personality change taking place, and also of the reverting back. It is rare and extreme condition, but it does happen. It is known as a dissociated fugue-state. (See my review of HOME AT SEVEN with Ralph Richardson where I discuss this psychological issue further.) The general public will just accept all this as 'a bit of hokum', not being aware that such things have actually happened from time to time. However, this is no time to be serious. This film is intended as pure fun. It works because of the magical sparkle between Powell and Loy, which chiefly owes its magic to Powell's remarkable and humorous personality and the unique response to it which seems to have emerged spontaneously from Myrna Loy from the moment they met. Theirs was a cinematic matching made in heaven. The two of them together really are so amazing that one ceases to pay any attention to what the film is about, and one just watches, mesmerized, as they interact with one another. They could be sitting and knitting or reciting the telephone book and it would barely matter. In this film, Myrna Loy finds 'the man she always thought was hidden inside' her husband and 'loves him again'. However, he then is hit on the head again. And I won't ruin anything by saying what happens next. One of my little hobbies is imitating the cooing of doves. I had not realized that William Powell was there before me, but then I must not reveal too much about what he is cooing about, as it might not make it past the Hays Office.


Powell and Loy starred in 14 films. Although this is not one of their better efforts, their charm and chemistry makes it worthwhile. Powell is a shady fellow who snaps out of a nine-year amnesia spell to discover that he has become a shrewd businessman and a pillar of the community during this time except that wife Loy is about to divorce him because he's too dull. The premise sounds better than the execution. The bit where Powell goes into the woods with the boy scouts is not very amusing and is too drawn out, causing the film to lose momentum. Van Dyke is reunited with Powell and Loy, whom he directed in several of the "Thin Man" films.


Yes as mentioned, a lot of fun. Haven't seen Love Crazy but prob just as much fun. I too wish it had a more solid title but movie factory was in

crank 'em out mode as Great Depression I rolled on. If they remade this one, Grace from Wiil & Grace (Debra Messing) would be a knockout lookalike for Myrna Loy. DM has the bearing and clothes horse style with a slow/fast burn comedic ability. DM not given big screen use much except for Woody Allen in Hollywood Ending. Woody is always 5 years ahead of consensus at breaking talent. So give this one a ride unless they make one for the

Great Depression II from viewpoint of unemployed that is as that is the usual determinant.


William Powell and Myrna Loy, a great movie team starred in this 1940 farce about a man who gets clobbered by accident at sea and reverts back to a former life.

William Powell gets clunked and so do we as we have to watch this nonsense.

Frank McHugh is in this too and he is great in his drunkard scene, but once Powell tries to save him and gets hit, McHugh becomes his partner in crime as they together with another person shall try to bilk the town of a lot of money.

There is also Powell marching with a group of boy scouts in the woods. I thought he'd get clunked again there and go back to his previous ways. This didn't happen there but he gets hit by the partner when love conquers all and he decides to quit the scheme when he falls back in love with Loy.

Bring back those Thin Man mysteries. Asta, too.


Wanted, Dead or Alive was a star vehicle in the truest sense of the term. It was a western calculated to exhibit the talent and charisma of its star, Steve McQueen. It lasted for three seasons before McQueen decided to devote full time to the big screen.

McQueen was after some of the most dangerous fellows in the old west, plenty who could shoot a lot better than he. His character Josh Randall needed an equalizer.

In John Wayne's classic western El Dorado, you remember that Duke discovers that James Caan can't hit the broad side of a mountain with a regular six shooter. Before going to El Dorado to aid Robert Mitchum, they stop off and see a gunsmith who fixes Caan up with a Josh Randall special. After that Caan's of considerable help to Wayne and Mitchum.

Of course the sawed off shotgun was also an evil weapon in the wrong hands. Take note of the Dan Duryea western, The Bounty Killer, a very Freudian piece where Duryea becomes hated and feared as a bounty hunter until an innocent bystander gets shot with it.

But with McQueen you knew the weapon was on the side of law and order. As for his Josh Randall character, you can see a bit of him in all the people Steve McQueen brought to the screen like Virgil Hilts, Nevada Smith, all the way to his last two films, Tom Horn and Pappa Thorsen.

Wanted, Dead or Alive was most folks first exposure to a screen legend. I wish that westerns like that were made today.


"Wanted-Dead or Alive" was a half hour western series appearing on CBS television for three seasons from 1958-1961. The series actually got its start as an episode of another popular TV series of the time, "Trackdown", during the second half of the '57-'58 TV season. "Wanted-Dead or Alive" starred Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall in what was a very good start to an outstanding acting career in feature films. As played by McQueen, Josh Randall was the most laconic of a broad television landscape of would-be laconic western series heroes.

Josh Randall carried a sawed-off 44/40 Winchester carbine (his "Mare's Leg", as he called it) on his hip instead of the traditional Colt 45 pistol. This of course played into the TV "cool factor" as his weapon made a much louder, more devastating sound when fired and of course had much more "stopping power" upon impact with the intended victim. Cool! Although "Wanted-Dead or Alive" was truly nothing out of the ordinary in terms of content or quality compared to other like fare of the period but Steve McQueen as Josh Randall and his unique weapon made this a "must watch" series. Only Paladin was better and "cooler" than Josh.


I first saw this serial on TV in the 1950s in New York. It was my first exposure to the "anachronistic westerns" that republic pictures produced at that time. Six Guns, railroads, airplanes horses,gunfights,a machine gun and automobiles; what a combination in a western serial. One would probably have thought seeing this and other republic features made along these lines that people walked around with six guns like the old west in modern times living in California. This formula however in my opinion worked very well. Republic's music scores of that time were wonderful with basically the same themes used in this and other films of 1937. The casting was fine for this serial. John Caroll made a wonder modern Zorro. In a change of pace, Richard Alexander, the unselfish prince Barin of Flash Gordon,1936, makes a marvelous villain as the character, El Lobo (Brad Dace). Kudos to the rest of the cast especially Duncan Renaldo. There is no question that the production company knew how to put together a rousing actioneer of all the components I mentioned above. The closest of films that we see today that even approach the mood and mystique of this serial would probably be the Star Wars epics. This is one of my favorite serials because it has "entertainment value"; one to pop on a vcr to enjoy and relax more than "once a year".


The first of the many serials based on the Zorro character released by Republic during the 30s and 40s.

In this one John Carroll (before going on to bigger and better things) plays the hero and his mild-mannered alter ego James Vega. Noah Beery Sr. is wasted as the Marsden, the head bad guy trying to take over the California/Yukatan Railroad. He basically never leaves his office and only appears to radio instructions to his henchman led by Richard Alexander and Robert Kortman.

As usual in Republic serials, the stunt work in this one is great. Yakima Canutt visibly doubles the hero and performs some dangerous horse to train transfers among others.

All in all it isn't bad. The only problem I had with it was the inclusion of a couple of songs for Zorro to warble as he galloped across the range. A tip of the hat to the singing cowboys of the day, I suppose.


A good effort from Republic,with exciting effects including a horse to train transfer by Yakima Canutt, concerns Noah Berry's efforts to take over a railroad and John Carrols[as Zorro] heroic efforts to stop him. Good location photography,and supporting acting adds to the excitement. Whitney and English direct in fine style.The primitive musical score [used in earlier serials],detracts. Though not the same caliber as Zorros Fighting Legion, this is still a top notch serial,well worth viewing.


Good early Republic actioner. Only one cheat at a chapter ending, where you see Zorro fall from a building, but the next chapter shows him still hanging there. Carroll is best, Renaldo is fun, and Yakima Cannutt's stunt work is first rate. If only they didn't have Zorro SING!


First Zorro serial is one of the best. It's a modern story with planes and trains and cars and horses all being used to great effect to tell the story of Zorro (James Vega) trying to stop the villain from blowing up the railroad he own stock in. Its one of the large scale serials that Republic did in the late 30's and early 40's before budgets got tighter thanks to wartime austerity. The large cast of characters is nicely handled and it doesn't have the round and round feeling that later Zorro serials engendered. This has spectacular effects that help elevate things a couple of notches- Where else are you going to see a train try to out run a plane that is trying to bomb it?. If there is a flaw it's that there is a few musical numbers that don't really fit (Most musical numbers don't fit in serials since they slow the serial down too much)


George Raft and Humphrey Bogart after a stretch in prison are getting out together. Raft is going to make a go of the straight life, but Bogart just wants to get back to being a criminal.

Raft makes a try at it, but the fact he's an ex-con is continually being held against him. Eventually he rejoins the old gang, but keeps it a secret from mother Flora Robson and brother William Holden.

Holden in the mean time is barely keeping his financial head above water at the gas station he works at. He's thinking real hard himself that brother Raft might have the right idea. All this is most distressing to Flora Robson and his fiancé, Jane Bryan.

At Warner Brothers, it's all been done before, the players slip comfortably into roles that are very familiar to them.

George Raft, a guy with limited skills was always believable in the urban criminal milieu because of who he hung out with. From Owney Madden to Meyer Lansky and most importantly Bugsy Siegel, Raft inhabited the wise guy world and basically was what you saw on the screen. Please recall Warren Beatty's film Bugsy which was spot on about Raft's relationship with him.

It's interesting to speculate that if Raft had been at Warner Brothers from the beginning of his career instead of Paramount what path it might have taken. The best gangster flicks were done by the Brothers Warner, but by 1939 with their stable of gangster stars established, Raft is like a spare tire there.

This was Bill Holden's second film and his joint contract holders of Paramount and Columbia lent him out here. He's playing the callow youth parts he specialized in before Sunset Boulevard. 'Smiling Jim' roles was what Holden disparagingly called these parts. It is rumored that Holden is also one of the extras in the prison yard in the James Cagney-George Raft film Each Dawn I Die. I've never been able to spot him though.

Flora Robson's one great actress, her talents allowing her to play a slum mother and Queen Elizabeth the first. Some critics say she's wasted here and maybe she is, but one of her better later roles is as Mrs. Gonzo, the Maltese mother in Alec Guinness's The Malta Story. Very similar part.

Jane Bryan's career was cut short all too soon, but not with tragedy, far from it. Shortly after this Bryan married Rexall Drug founder Justin Dart. She concentrated on the wife and mother thing and she was the wife of one of America's wealthiest citizens. Later on she had a hand in convincing her husband to back another of her former Warner Brothers contract players in a political career and lived to see Ronald Reagan become our 40th president.

Both Bill Holden and Humphrey Bogart would feud legendarily on the set of Sabrina in the Fifties. No hint of their future troubles here in Invisible Stripes. Bogart's done it all before at Warner Brothers. George Raft helped Bogey in his career by shortly turning down High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon and later Casablanca.

Fans of all the players mentioned here including myself will enjoy this film which admittedly won't rank in the top 10 of any of their credits.


George Raft and an unrecognizably young William Holden are top billed as brothers Cliff and Tim Taylor in this 1939 gangster genre film that has both brothers skirting opposite sides of the law as they try to make a life for themselves.

The story opens with Cliff Taylor and fellow Sing Sing inmate Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) about to leave prison with their sentences completed. Taylor is determined to go straight, Martin can't wait to get back to his criminal life. As Cliff tries to settle back into his former life with his family, events conspire against him making it difficult to stay on the straight and narrow. Additional pressure comes from brother Tim, who wants to make a better life for himself and fiancée Peggy (Jane Bryan), but earning twenty dollars a week as a mechanic makes him fantasize about "taking what he wants".

The film see-saws it's way back and forth for Cliff, who alternately tries to play it straight and then gets mixed up with Martin's gangster pals. In that regard, George Raft really gets to portray a con man, hiding his involvement from Tim and his mother (Flora Robson), until events spiral out of control during a botched robbery attempt by Martin's gang.

If you're into film nuances, this one offers a number of treats. For starters, there's the scene where Bogey's character Martin is shown coming out of a movie theater with his blonde girlfriend Molly (Lee Patrick); the film that's playing - 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder", starring Humphrey Bogart! Speaking of Molly, she's almost a dead ringer look alike for Bette Davis, making me do a couple of double takes. And then there's the brief uncredited appearance of Dead Ender Leo Gorcey as the head stock boy for a general store where Cliff briefly finds a job.

I found myself enjoying this film, even if uneven at times. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart went on to make one more film together in 1940's "They Drive By Night", where they share equal billing as brothers involved in wildcat trucking, one might call them brother truckers.

For it's own part, "Invisible Stripes" may be hard to come by, not available as a studio release, but many of these Warner Brothers films find their way onto classic movie TV channels like TCM or are available through specialty video houses. This one would be well worth your time, especially if you're a fan of Raft, Bogey, Holden or the gangster genre itself.


"Invisible Stripes" is by no means a great film but I enjoy the heck out of it. Any crime picture that has George Raft and Humphrey Bogart is going to be worth a look. Here they play two cons: Raft planning to go straight and provide for his Mom and kid brother while Bogey returns to his criminal ways. There are so many interesting angles to this picture for true film buffs. First, Raft's younger brother is played by 21 year old William Holden in his second film. Watching him in this it is amazing he made many more; he is pretty whiny and forgettable as the hotheaded sibling. The great British actress Flora Robson plays their mother in a colossal bit of miscasting but since her role is minimal she retains her dignity (although some of the lovey-dovey exchanges with her movie son Raft are borderline incestuous). Bogey is his typical brilliant self and easily walks off with the picture. While he is continuing his cycle of bad-guy supporting roles his character is not without some redeeming features. Cast as his moll is Lee Patrick; the two would combine again in a couple of years as Sam Spade & Effie Perrine in "The Maltese Falcon." Another interesting footnote in the film is the brief appearance of Leo Gorcey as a department store clerk.

And finally I come to the star, George Raft. He has gained a reputation as a mercilessly wooden performer and some of it is deserved. I have always liked him and find this performance relatively solid; he is acted off the screen by Bogart in their scenes together and his one shot at emoting over his plight as an ex-con is comical but in the overall he is very likable. This is the kind of role Raft wanted to play: the tough guy who is good to his Ma, loyal to his friends, and possessing a strict code of ethics. Despite turning down nearly every role that made Bogart a star, Raft's brief career at Warners represents his best work.

If you are a fan of old Warners crime pictures you will have a good time with "Invisible Stripes."


This film should have been more interesting with the potential of such a cast. The script tries to be important. Indeed, we again get a "Les Miserables"-themed story of a parolee trying to go straight but finding all of the rules and society's prejudice forcing him back to crime. But Lloyd Bacon's sluggish direction holds everything back and it is never interesting storytelling.

How can a film with George Raft, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden not be compelling? Thank you, Mr. Bacon, for demonstrating. Raft tries hard to be the nice guy but the script gives the character no depth. He could be any ex-con coming home after a stint in Sing Sing. He seems handcuffed throughout. He does believably make a (much) older brother for Holden - the voice, the nose - but he surely can't pass for 27. Holden is so young and enthusiastic and all his acting mechanics are hanging out there for everyone to see. As few as his scenes are, Bogart is a steady if smarmy hand to get the action started.

Flora Robson, as the mother of Raft and Holden, is the most sympathetic character. The actress had a tremendous soul to give weight to what could be a thankless part. Only through her does any real feeling come into this melodrama. And though nearly seven years younger than Raft, just a little age makeup makes her look as if she could at least be his aunt.

It is interesting that the film never shows the cons in actual prison stripes. The only two scenes of Raft and Bogart in prison are in the shower (thank you) and in the warden's office before leaving.

I do like to show this film to friends after they've seen John Ford's "Mary of Scotland" just so they can be amazed at Moroni Olsen's range.


The years 1937-39 were extraordinarily productive ones for rising star Humphrey Bogart. He appeared in no less than 20 (!) films during those three years (seven in '37, six in '38 and seven in '39), playing "the heavy" in most of them. His last film of this period was "Invisible Stripes," a lesser Warner Bros. gangster film that still offers much. Bogey, fourth billed here, plays Chuck Martin, an inveterate hood who is released from Sing Sing after a five-year stretch and returns to his old ways back in the big city. Getting out of the slammer on the same day is Cliff Taylor, played by the film's nominal star, George Raft. Back at home, Cliff finds that being on parole isn't so easy. His old girlfriend summarily dumps him, no employer will hire him, and his kid brother (William Holden, here in one of his earliest roles) is being drawn into a life of crime to finance his dream of an automotive shop and to marry pretty Jane Bryan. Good thing that Bogey consents to bring Cliff along on a string of capers to pick up some folding money.... Anyway, while not in the same rarefied league of such Warners gangster flix as "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "The Roaring Twenties," this Bogey outing is still lots of fun. It features an exciting armored-car robbery and resultant high-speed car chase, loads of terrific character actors (Flora Robson, Leo Gorcey, Paul Kelly, Lee Patrick, Marc Lawrence, John "Perry White" Hamilton, et al.), reams of snappy patter and even some brightly amusing bits. (I love the scene in which Bogey and his blond moll are shown exiting a movie theatre that is playing "You Can't Get Away With Murder"...another Bogart picture from 1939!) Bogey easily walks away with this picture, stealing every scene that he is in, and his final words, "You can't live forever," are worth the price of admission alone. It would be another few years until 1941's "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" really made the world see him in a new light, but "Invisible Stripes" was still a highly entertaining vehicle for his ever-growing talent.


I've just recently started watching the reruns of this show, and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. And honestly, that surprises me because I really haven't liked much of anything that was new on TV during the 2000s decade. But one night I was flipping through the channels and all I could find was Bernie Mac. I started watching, thinking it wouldn't be any good, but I couldn't have been more wrong. If you're looking for a good laugh and a show that hasn't forgot about family (but doesn't make the family message too exaggerated like many family shows), I'm telling you, this is the show for you. You watch a couple episodes, and I guarantee you'll be hooked. I know I am. And since I never saw it while it was new, all the reruns are new to me. I love having a "new" show on TV that I look forward to watching every night.


This is my favorite sitcom of all time, and one of the best written, best directed and best acted series of any kind on TV.

I will write a longer article at some later date explaining why I state this. Let me briefly just say that if you do not appreciate it, you have probably not seen it for long enough to appreciate it. It is hard for me to imagine who would not like it or what they would complain about. The few people that I "talk TV" with all love it, and TV (especially network) is not normally anything I would plan my life or even my day around. I don't know if that explains in any way why I think this show is among the best and an instant "classic" in every sense of the word. This show easily stands alongside any beloved series that has ever been broadcast in the US. (I only say that because I do think in general that some European countries aim a bit higher demographics and might have some shows that are better that I am unaware of). I find that is blends occasional over-the-top humor with a complex and rich story that seems to genuine to be fiction. Only the over-the-top humor functions to keep it from getting too emotional at times. They find humor (and really good humor) in a set of circumstances one would not expect it. They have also been able to develop the characters and the situations in perfect harmony with the age of the show and all of the children actors (in other words, no stupid season plot lines that are forced by cast changes or whatever). Today I saw Vanessa struggling with the difficulty she (her character) would feel with great expectations of her natural talent and intelligence, with the lagging insecurities that come with growing up with an uncle thousands of miles away from her mother and other circumstances she once lived with. They had Bernie trying to lead her with nuggets of wisdom and of course she could not help taking out her anxiety on Bernie, attacking him passively and at times more outwardly for trying to "control" her. This theme was harmonized by seeing Bernie doing similar things for Jordan, while Jordan faked gratitude to manipulate Bernie. For his efforts, Jordan scored a new "boombox" and then an iPod. In the end, when Vanessa finely saw (through the explanation provided by Wanda, that allowed her to see it was not pressure that moved Bernie, but utter confidence that she would succeed and merely playing his role the best (and perhaps the only) way he knew how. When Vanessa was allowed to see this, it relieved the pressure, and the writer's block and she chose to write about Bernie as the most influential person in her life (for her application to Stanford University). It was done really well all around, and it was one of those episodes that amazed my once I recovered from my temporary (it is still only TV) emotional immersion in the story. Maybe the fact that I have a son the exact same as an only child and a not so secret desire to have a daughter in addition to him, might make me more vulnerable to this kind of theme. I will remind you then that I would also notice more quickly if there were flaws in the writing. I am so picky, I am annoy myself at times and though I occasionally fail to get hooked on some episodes of the re-runs, today I was reminded just how brilliant enjoyable this show is.

Having said all this, there is still so much more I would want to say. I would love to sit with Bernie and ask him how much involvement he has with the writing. His character is clearly influenced by his comedy act. which may or may not be closely related to his social persona (while not "on" as the comedian).


Bernie Mac show is very hilarious. It's a different type of show in which it seem to be a down to earth story of Bernie's experiences in every day life with his sisters kids,him and Wanda. The kids and his wife are excellent actor and actresses in their roles. If any of these things happened in real life to Bernie. all I can say is 'God Bless America.' I like the show because it really gives you a good belly laugh sometimes, its clean comedy and sometimes you can ID with him from things that has happened to the viewers own life experience. The show always make you laugh. It is a nice family show. I also like the the way Bernie talk to the viewers during the show.


After years of sitcoms about dysfunctional families, Fox came up with a winner in The Bernie Mac Show. Even though it's a one camera comedy with no studio audience or laugh track, it's a sitcom I really enjoyed since the episodes usually featured Bernie talking to the home audience from his easy chair, referring to the people watching at home as "America." But Fox kept moving this sitcom around to different slots and Bernie Mac's movie career began taking off which is why I thought led to the show's cancellation after five seasons.

The supporting cast was outstanding, including Kelita Smith as his wife Wanda and the young actors who play Vanessa, Jordan and "Baby Girl" added a lot to the show. One line I'll always remember was Bernie's declamation of tough love "I'm gonna bust your head until the white meat shows!" It's a shame that Bernie Mac died suddenly at 50. America, his show will live on in reruns.


A standup comic suddenly finds himself with three children to raise, the result of a drug-addled sister. One is a young girl trying to grow up, the second is an Urkel-type boy who loves to cause trouble and the third is a very young female who likes to eat. A lot. The comic struggles to be a father, and is aided (and sometimes not helped) by his adoring wife. Bernie Mac as the comic periodically breaks the fourth wall by sitting, facing the camera and talking directly to it, which means he is talking to us. No laugh track, no live audience, thank God. The show is decidedly hit and miss, and your feelings about it will depend on how you feel about the late and great Mr. Mac and his particular brand of humor. Guest stars abound.


I started watching this show in 2006, probably the last season it was in production, and now enjoy the reruns every night. What a thoughtful and funny show. It rivals and possibly exceeds all of Bill Cosby's shows with family humor that never sinks to the low humor used on so many situation comedies. Each show is an original and enjoyable learning experience. The actors are great, especially Bernie and the adorable Jeremy Suarez (I just want to squeeze that child, he is the cutest child ever), and the music is fabulous. All in all, one of my favorites. I love the way its shot and how Bernie addresses America. It's just so good, I wish it was still in production so I could see more of it. Thanks Bernie from a fellow, former, Chicagoan.


Without a doubt, there are many moments where The Bernie Mac Show becomes laugh-out-loud. However, for every hilarious scene, there's a mild letdown to ensue.

To sum it up easily, The Bernie Mac Show will have a certain peak in the episode that will make the rest of the comedy pale in comparison. The first season is far more immune to this flaw, yet the later ones are the one I'm referring to right now.

All in all, this isn't really for kids, though can be entertaining if they know the subject matter. Some of the language and sensual moments can get out of hand, but it's all confined to be appropriately inappropriate. I only recommend this show to his loyal fans and anyone looking for something to watch when nothing else is on.


I am a very late comer to Bernie Mac TV show. I know I have passed it by on many occasions and written it off at first glance as just one more lame formula sitcom. But owing to the fact that it is in reruns at the very time I go to bed and am ready to watch TV at the end of the day, I finally sat through an episode. And I have been a huge fan ever since.

You know, it really isn't like anything else I've seen. The only possible comparison I can make is to the Bill Cosby show, because it leaves me with that same feeling of well-being and makes me laugh. There is some serious sophisticated wit at work in the writing, and they've taken what couldn't sound more like a tired plot and just twisted it into something completely fresh. The writing incorporates some very modern scenarios (example: Baby Girl got on the internet just looking for pictures of some pussycats....you can guess the rest) but incorporates them in ways that seem realistic and timely instead of contrived and trendy with a short shelf-life.

I'm loving Bernie Mac and all the characters on the show. It's just a great balance of unique humor, honesty, and warmth.


I will like to make a comment about Putting Bernie Mac Show on The Internet So I can Watch Bernie Mac On Line. If You Could Put All Of the Show on line. My Boy Jorden He A very good actor. Wanda Remind me of my younger sister Trace, She Act just like her. I like the show when the air condition broke and ya had fun with the water hose out side, I like the way Jordon say stud pion. And then you had Jorden fake an as ma tack too see the cipher game and Jorden chop down the cherry tree. So far I know you play in House Party, and Friday. By any chance do you happen to know when was Jorden born and where he was born at,and baby girl too, and Verneser. Thats the goldest girl. I Watch your Show Monday through Saturday at 7;00. they playing repeat. Its on channel 2 here in Monroe Michigan. tell Jorden when you see him that he a good Actor and keep up the good work. what state is the show is from? PS I like to see Bernie Mac show on line. How tall is Jorden and how much he weigh? Tell Jorden and baby girl to write back or email me. You can write me at Richard Osborne, Post Office Box 2504 Monroe Michigan 48161. or email me. Give them th Information. see you on the show. peace and I'm out here.


Somehow, I've found myself watching reruns of "The Bernie Mac Show" quite often recently, usually late at night and on some podunk network. This is a remarkable occurrence because I sort of loathe television, particularly sitcoms, and most especially family sitcoms.

But I don't loathe Bernie Mac! It's actually a pretty clever show. It has a number of signature gimmicks that might annoy some viewers, but I like them; Bernie talks to the camera a lot, for example, breaking the so-called "fourth wall." There are also plenty of amusing pop-up captions that comment on the action.

The plot is relatively straightforward stuff - Bernie is suddenly entrusted with the care of his two nieces and his wheezy little nephew, and he must somehow cope with this unexpected foray into the territory of "fatherhood." Though this may sound really standard, the scripts, from what I've seen, actually contain some pretty insightful and clever observations about parenting.

Maybe the best part is that the show is filmed like a movie, complete with moody lighting and interesting camera angles. Visually speaking, it just blows away all the cheap-looking sitcoms that are filmed on over-lit, tacky three-walled sets. I wonder when other sitcoms will finally get around to switching over to this more "cinematic" look?

I'll conclude now with the not-too-deep (but still very pertinent) observation that Kellita Smith, the actress who plays Bernie' wife, is really gorgeous. And that sure doesn't hurt the show, either!


This show is repulsive, has always been repulsive, and will always be repulsive. Bernie Mac's whole shtick has been to center episodes around the abhorrent parenting philosophies he waxed philosophical about in a TV Guide interview a few years ago (The basic premise: If children do anything at all to get under your skin, threaten to hit them with a belt). In the interview, Mac talked about how he used to stand in the outfield of his little league games "afraid to go home" because of the beatings that often awaited him at the hands of his grandfather. But instead of learning from those experiences, he chooses to repeatedly exploit the concept for the cheapest of laughs in a show that redefines the phrase "appealing to the lowest common denominator".

Some viewers praise Bernie Mac's alleged "tough love" (a PC term if ever there was one) approach, but psychological studies have proved conclusively that prisons all across the nation are filled with the results of the same parenting style that Mac would have us believe is acceptable. Those who look to "The Bernie Mac Show" for parenting tips are equally likely to view "The Power Rangers" as a deeply thought-provoking social commentary on how to solve conflicts without resorting to violence.

While I am certainly not suggesting that parents viewing "Bernie Mac" will immediately pick up a belt and start hitting their kids with it, it is clear to me that this sad excuse for a show has the capacity to desensitize people to family violence by making it appear that it is somehow appropriate, even 'amusing'. I'm not exactly sure when acts/threats of child abuse somehow become synonymous with "great comedy" on FOX (perhaps with the equally exploitive "Titus", or maybe when Homer started choking Bart in a vile running gag that dates back to the eighties?), but as for me, I'd rather spend eight straight hours reading the nutritional labeling on every cereal produced by General Mills than spend time each week watching this overgrown bully browbeat and physically intimidate his unfortunate charges over and over again in a truly desperate attempt for yuks.


I didn't watch the BM show till just recently now that it's in reruns and I LOVE it. Soooooooooo cute. Very well done. Much better than The Cosby Show, more real for sure. I love the boy's devilish laugh and I love the way the little girl (baby girl) says: " Uncle Bernie"??? So sweet and innocent. The oldest child's problems as a teenager are done very well too. So glad I found out about this show. Won't miss an episode. Does anyone know where I can write BM to tell him how much I love his show? I also get a kick out of how protective he is of the kids. That's true love. And they always seem to try to out smart Bernie but not without a fight from Bernie.

Bravo Bernie on a great show. Too bad it's gone but at least we have it in reruns.


The Bernie Mac Show is one of the most hilarious live-action sitcoms on FOX! The show is about Bernie and his wife and they never wanted to rise kids until Bernie's sister is sent to jail and her kids move in with Uncle Bernie. Bernie believes in tough love and as long as the kids follow the rules, he'll always try to do the right thing, but sometimes Bernie's right thing is the wrong thing. Bernie's hilarious rules in the show were It's his house. Second rule: All the stuff in the house is his and no one touches anything without permission. That goes for the TV, the VCR, the DVD and especially Bernie's James Brown CD collection. The idea of the show was originally pitched to NBC, ABC, CBS and The WB put FOX got the show of course. Bernie Mac does a great job playing a TV uncle! Great!


i think the Bernie mac is one of the greatest comedies ever, Bernie always talking negative about the kids and how much trouble they are but the show seems to teach morals while still being funny at the same time. i think fox is making a mistake if they cancel this show after 5 seasons, which would be a huge loss, the sixth season has a lot of potential story lines which would be interesting to see. the show makes you laugh hysterically and when will Vanessa learn to stop being so rebellious and when will Jordan become popular and shed his nerdy image. the best part of the show is when Bernie be talking to the camera, saying America, and sometimes the most outrageous stuff comes from Bernie. even though he is tough, he loves the kids very much.


The Scorpion with Two Tails has all the makings of a great Giallo. Aside from the intriguing title, it's also directed by Sergio Martino; the same man who made some of the best Giallo's of the seventies with films such as The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh, it's written by Ernesto Gastaldi; whose name will mean a lot to every Giallo fan worth their salt as he has written many of the best films that the genre has to offer, and on top of that - we've even got a performance from cult actor John Saxon. However, Martino clearly didn't have his penchant for directing by 1982, Gastaldi was having an off day and John Saxon's character lasts all of about two minutes! Like the earlier Giallo, The Dead Are Alive, this film focuses on the ancient 'Etruscan' civilisation. Joan Barnard, the wife of Arthur Barnard; a famous archaeologist is having problems. She's suffering from nightmares that focus around ancient tombs. Her woes increase when her husband calls from Italy and ends up getting his neck snapped mid-phone call! She then travels to Italy to investigate.

This film was apparently cut down from a television series, and I can only assume that they left the worst parts in! There's barely any excitement to speak of whatsoever, and this ensures that the film is very hard to care about. Add in some extremely unenthusiastic performances (unenthusiastic even by Italian horror standards!) and some silly fantasy crap and what we've ended up with here is one of the worst Giallo's ever made! It's a real shame too as this film blends in a few different styles and if Martino could have just pulled it all together better, this could definitely have sat alongside his more esteemed film credits. One of the few saving graces in this film is the music; but once you recognise it from The Beyond, the credibility soon dries up! At least the film manages to limp through with a decent finale; though once you've sat through the first eighty five minutes of the film, it could be the best ending of all time and most people would be unlikely to care. Overall, this is absolutely nothing to recommend this film for and I recommend that everyone skips it!


Minor Spoilers

In New York, Joan Barnard (Elvire Audrey) is informed that her husband, the archeologist Arthur Barnard (John Saxon), was mysteriously murdered in Italy while searching an Etruscan tomb. Joan decides to travel to Italy, in the company of her colleague, who offers his support. Once in Italy, she starts having visions relative to an ancient people and maggots, many maggots. After shootings and weird events, Joan realizes that her father is an international drug dealer, there are drugs hidden in the tomb and her colleague is a detective of the narcotic department. The story ends back in New York, when Joan and her colleague decide to get married with each other, in a very romantic end. Yesterday I had the displeasure of wasting my time watching this crap. The story is so absurd, mixing thriller, crime, supernatural and horror (and even a romantic end) in a non-sense way. The acting is the worst possible, highlighting the horrible performance of the beautiful Elvire Audrey. John Saxon just gives his name to the credits and works less than five minutes, when his character is killed. The special effects are limited to maggots everywhere. The direction is ridiculous. I lost a couple of hours of my life watching 'Assassinio al Cimitero Etrusco'. If you have the desire or curiosity of seeing this trash, choose another movie, go to a pizzeria, watch TV, go sleep, navigate in Internet, go to the gym, but do not waste your time like I did. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): 'O Mistério Etrusco' ('The Etruscan Mystery')


Damn you Sergio Martino and your constant re-using of titles! Here I was under the impression that I finally tracked down a copy of "Case of the Scorpion's Tail" and then it turns out this is an entirely different movie, actually one that is even more rare but also a whole lot worse. Then I wanted to take comfort in the fact this production stars the almighty B-movie legend John Saxon, but he's only in it during the first EIGHT minutes and then he has his neck wrenched around 180 degrees! "The Scorpion with two Tails" is undeniably a disappointment, mixing too many story ideas and cult sub genres into one overly confusing film. The plot covers typical giallo-elements as well as supernatural forces of evil and even crime syndicates! However, none of the story lines are properly elaborated and the whole thing is just intolerably incoherent. Mr. Saxon briefly appears as an American archaeologist who phones his wife to announce he discovered a genuine Etruscan tomb during his research expedition in Italy. He then gets killed and the wife Joan instantly travels to Italy to investigate the circumstances of his death. She learns that her own beloved father runs an international hard drugs network, hallucinates about eerie maggots crawling around everywhere and eventually hooks up with another archaeologist that fancies Etruscan tombs. Every once and a while, a redundant character is killed off by a pair of unidentifiable hands that clearly adore twisting people's necks around! Sergio Martino is a great director, and Ernesto Gastaldi is an even greater scriptwriter, but "The Scorpion with two Tails" totally lacks all their usual trademarks. It's uninvolving, boring, slow-paced, poorly presented and the murder sequences are tame and entirely gore-free! The neck-twisting modus operandi is interesting to show once, but not seven times in one film! The search for the killer's identity  if he/she is even human  isn't nearly as compelling as in any of Martino's previous gialli and features no ingenious red herrings. Heck, even the music is lame since it's identical to the score in "Hell of the Living Dead" and that film already stole it from Goblin's soundtrack for "Dawn of the Dead". Nothing to recommend here, not even to die-hard fans of Italian cinema.


Boring and disappoiting work from shlockmeister Sergio Martino. Nothing much happens on the screen... Giallo specialist writer Ernesto GASTALDI was really tired this time. Elvire Audray is pretty but a terrible actress...Nice to see former sexy star of the italian adventure/action movies of the 60's Wandisa GUIDA but unfortunately she isn't doing much.

Cinematography is standard TV-like. You simply don't care about the plot, the actors but you will hate the awful muzak.

The fact Sergio Martino gave up on the anamorphic 2:35 format is, I think, a turning point in his career. He began with this "thing" (I hardly call that a movie)a long serie of disappointing and less radical movies especially aimed at a more US and european market (2019 AFTER THE FALL OF N.Y; ATOMIC CYBORG; AMERICAN RICKSHAW among others) where his visual style (weird camera angles, fast editing...) totally disappeared.

You'd rather avoid this easily forgettable ASSASSINIO AL CIMITERO ETRUSCO and prefer TUTTI I COLORI DEL BUIO or LA CODA DELLO SCORPIONE, his best works to me.


He may not be quite as well known among casual fans of Italian genre films as the names Bava or Argento, but Sergio Martino is responsible for some of the absolute best Gialli ever made. His earlier, frequent collaborations with Edwige Fenech are almost legendary and produced some of the best films this genre has to offer. Movies like The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, All the Colors of the Dark, and Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key are all among my favorites. Unfortunately, Scorpion with Two Tails does not come close to measuring up to Martino's previous successes. There are any number of problems I had with the film, but chief among them is that it's about as dull as any Giallo I can remember seeing. A plot involving an Etruscan Cemetery, a missing shipment of heroin, bad guys trying to find both, and a beautiful young woman with visions of Etruscan ceremonies  it just never drew me in the way Martino's other films have. Also, I never really cared for any of the characters. Elvire Audray plays the role usually played by Edwige Fenech in one of Martino's movies (she almost resembles a blond Edwige). But to be blunt, Elvire Audray is no Edwige Fenech. She has none of Edwige's screen presence or charisma. Genre legend John Saxon is on hand, but his role is so small that it really added nothing to the film. Saxon was most likely hired to put a "name" on the cast list. And when the killer was revealed, it had no effect on me at all. I didn't care enough about any of the characters to even care who the killer was. Also, I'm not a big fan of supernatural elements being thrown into a Giallo. These movies should be all about black gloved killers, stalking their human prey for greed, money, or jealousy. The risen spirit of an ancient Etruscan just doesn't feel right. As much as I hate to give a Martino Giallo such a low rating, I don't have a choice in this case. Scorpioin with Two Tails really doesn't deserve much more than a 3/10.


I'm very disappointed from this work of the Italian director Sergio Martino.We can't call this as a movie Also the Italian thrilling specialist writer Ernesto Gastaldi is hardy recognizable and it would be better for him to forget this text. Elvire Audray is a nice girl but not an actress and also Wandisa Guida only sexy and not so much. Better forget the music. But only the appearance of the Italian famous dramatic actress ANITA SAGNOTTI LAURENZI illuminate with her wonderful characterization and suggestion the scene.Her wonderful and deep voice remember the sweet time in Viterbo , were she is born , as she accepted the first declaration of love in old Greek. The characterization of Anita Sagnotti is short but unforgettable. Anita Sagnotti , daughter of a Carabinieri General ,is appreciated in many other better appearances by the Italian Radio-Television and remain unforgettable in my hearth.


Minor Spoilers

In New York, Joan Barnard (Elvire Audrey) is informed that her husband, the archaeologist Arthur Barnard (John Saxon), was mysteriously murdered in Italy while searching an Etruscan tomb. Joan decides to travel to Italy, in the company of her colleague, who offers his support. Once in Italy, she starts having visions relative to an ancient people and maggots, many maggots. After shootings and weird events, Joan realizes that her father is an international drug dealer, there are drugs hidden in the tomb and her colleague is a detective of the narcotic department. The story ends back in New York, when Joan and her colleague decide to get married with each other, in a very romantic end. Yesterday I had the displeasure of wasting my time watching this crap. The story is so absurd, mixing thriller, crime, supernatural and horror (and even a romantic end) in a non-sense way. The acting is the worst possible, highlighting the horrible and screaming performance of the beautiful Elvire Audrey. John Saxon just gives his name to the credits and works less than five minutes, when his character is killed. The special effects are limited to maggots everywhere. The direction is ridiculous. I lost a couple of hours of my life watching 'Assassinio al Cimitero Etrusco'. My suggestion is that if you have the desire or curiosity of seeing this trash, choose another movie, go to a pizzeria, watch TV, go sleep, navigate in Internet, go to the gym, but do not waste your time like I did. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): 'O Mistério Etrusco' ('The Etruscan Mystery')


Minor Spoilers

In New York, Joan Barnard (Elvire Audrey) is informed that her husband, the archeologist Arthur Barnard (John Saxon), was mysteriously murdered in Italy while searching an Etruscan tomb. Joan decides to travel to Italy, in the company of her colleague, who offers his support. Once in Italy, she starts having visions relative to an ancient people and maggots, many maggots. After shootings and weird events, Joan realizes that her father is an international drug dealer, there are drugs hidden in the tomb and her colleague is a detective of the narcotic department. The story ends back in New York, when Joan and her colleague decide to get married with each other, in a very romantic end. Yesterday I had the displeasure of wasting my time watching this crap. The story is so absurd, mixing thriller, crime, supernatural and horror (and even a romantic end) in a non-sense way. The acting is the worst possible, highlighting the horrible and screaming performance of the beautiful Elvire Audrey. John Saxon just gives his name to the credits and works less than five minutes, when his character is killed. The special effects are limited to maggots everywhere. The direction is ridiculous. I lost a couple of hours of my life watching 'Assassinio al Cimitero Etrusco'. If you have the desire or curiosity of seeing this trash, choose another movie, go to a pizzeria, watch TV, go sleep, navigate in Internet, go to the gym, but do not waste your time like I did. AVOID IT! My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): 'O Mistério Etrusco' ('The Etruscan Mystery')


The video of this I rented features lots of "Americanized" Italian names. I get how "Paolo Malco" (from MST3k's "Escape 2000") became "Paul Malco", but how did "Sergio Martino" become "Christia Plummer"?

Anyhoo, this French/Italian coproduction tells the incredibly unengaging tale of some drugs hidden in some ancient burial tomb thingee and some other stuff happens and there may or may not be supernatural forces at work. Alan Hale jr-look-a-like Van Johnson (MST3k's "San Fransisco International") gives loooong expositional scenes, and John Saxon (MST3k's "Mitchell") gets his head twisted backwards (and apparently the killer also switched his right and left hands). Another victim looks like a cross between Michael Caine and Elmer Fishpaw from "Polyester". The music by Fabio Frizzi is just the score from "Gates of Hell" used again. The special effects are just maggots- maggots on photos, maggots on hands, maggots on statues.

Anyway, it should go without saying, but don't watch this movie.


I'm a big fan of these Italian crime flicks, and while Emergency Squad may not be the best one to come out of Italy during the seventies; it's decent enough and does deliver most of what I have come to expect from this sort of film. Emergency Squad does not really add anything new to the genre, and director Stelvio Massi did do better four years later with the Maurizio Merli vehicle 'Convoy Busters'. The main reason I wanted to see this film was for the fact that it stars the excellent Tomas Milian, though like Stelvio Massi; this doesn't represent his best work either. Tomas Milian plays Interpol officer Tomas Ravelli, who finds himself on the trail of a gang of crooks after a botched robbery which left a police officer dead reveals that one of them is using the same gun that was used to kill his wife years earlier. Although it's not his case, Ravelli goes after the criminals anyway to gain revenge for what they did to his wife. He later forsakes the police force, leaving him free to get the crooks by any means necessary...

One of the reasons why this isn't Milian's best work is down to the role he is playing. Almost Human clearly shows that Milian is much more at home playing sadistic criminals; so seeing him as a copper, even one that is happy to break the rules, just isn't putting him in a position to do what he does best. The supporting cast doesn't stand out as much as Milian (as usual), though it does feature esteemed stars such as Ray Lovelock and Stefania Casini. The film does feature the staples of the genre; there's a fairly good car chase, plenty of shootouts and the leading man gets to throw his weight around on several occasions. The film benefits from tight plotting and a storyline that doesn't veer off on a tangent often, as plot lines in other Polizi flicks often do. There's not a great deal of violence in the film, though that isn't a big problem as the plot itself usually contains enough to keep the audience entertained. Overall, I won't name Emergency Squad as one of the very best of the genre, but it's a decent enough film and I can recommend seeing it to my fellow Polizi fans.


"Squadra Volante" (aka. "Emergency Squad") of 1974 is an underrated Poliziottesco which gets less attention than it deserves. Sure, this is no notorious Italian Cop highlight en par with "Almost Human", but it is nonetheless a raw, action-packed, and highly entertaining film starring two of the Italian crime cinema's greatest, Tomas Milian, one of my personal all-time favorite actors, and Gastone Moschin, who is immortal for his role in the absolute greatest of all Italian Crime flicks, Fernando Di Leo's masterpiece "Milano Calibro 9". The main reason why some people seem to dislike "Squadra Volante" is due to the fact that they compare it to Umberto Lenzi's notorious Poliziotteschi-highlights "Almost Human" (1974) and "Rome Armed To The Teeth" (1976) that were made around the same time. Tomas Milian was outstanding in the role of the sadistic criminal Psycho he played in Lenzi's films, but, as far as I am considered, he is also the perfect choice to play the rough-and-ready copper he plays here.

A violent holdup in the city in broad daylight leaves a cop dead. Inspettore Tomas Ravelli of Interpol is immediately convinced that the assault was the work of the same criminals responsible for the death of his wife, who was killed in Marseille some years ago... Milian is once again outstanding in his role of the mustached, cigar-smoking tough-guy copper he plays. Gastone Moschin is equally great in the role of the bad guy the ruthless criminal Marseiliese, who is troubled by his chain-smoking habit. The supporting cast includes Italian Genre-cinema regulars Ray Lovelock ("Almost Human", "Macchie Solari", "Roma Violenta",...) and Giuseppe Castellano ("Milano Calibro 9", "Manhunt", Almost Human",...). Stefania Casini is sexy, but almost annoyingly dimwitted as Marsiglese'S bimbo girlfriend Marta. While "Squadra Volante" is not nearly as (brilliantly) gruesome as Umberto Lenzi's Poliziotteschi from the time, it is nonetheless a rough and violent film in which a lot of blood flows. The action is raw and well-made and enthralling, and while the story may not be the most original, it is definitely more than well-executed. Director Stelvio Massi was mainly a very good cinematographer, and this is also visible here as the camera work is very good. The score by Stelvio Capriani is also great. Overall, "Squadra Volante" is no Poliziottesco masterpiece, but it is definitely a very good, action-packed film with an excellent cast that I highly recommend to all my fellow fans of Italian Crime cinema.


Though undeniably enjoyable, the popular poliziottesco subgenre - which proliferated in Italy throughout the 1970s - is also frustrating because one can never tell the quality of a specific title until one has watched it himself (this is mainly due to the fact that this type of film has been largely dismissed by the critics, while at the same time turned into a cult by fans): the thing is that a handful of titles definitely merit a critical re-appraisal, while many others are overrated by the aficionados. Personally, during the last few years, I've sampled films which fall in both these categories - but, thankfully, EMERGENCY SQUAD turned out to be one of the best poliziotteschi out there.

Having just watched ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH (1976), whose narrative was all over the place, it's easy to see how EMERGENCY SQUAD benefits from having a tight, compelling plot line. Besides, I tend to find star Tomas Milian more interesting when playing an anti-hero (as here or in his better Spaghetti Westerns) than an out-and-out villain. The film is clearly inspired by both DIRTY HARRY (1971) - the taciturn, iconoclastic cop hero with a dead spouse - and THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) - the desire for revenge has turned Milian's pursuit of gang boss Gastone Moschin (who, like Fernando Rey in that movie, also hails from Marseilles) into an obsession; curiously enough, the dock finale of this film anticipates the one in FRENCH CONNECTION II [1975]! Moschin (terrific as the anti-hero hood in MILANO CALIBRO 9 [1972]) is a credible villain here, also because the script has atypically made him a victim of tuberculosis.

The supporting cast is led by Stefania Casini, who has fun with her role as a ditzy gangster's moll but isn't really given a lot to do: the actress' above-the-title billing certainly suggests that her character will be more central to the main plot and that, perhaps, she'll become involved with Milian at some point - but they only get to share one scene at the very end! Also featured, among others, are Mario Carotenuto (as Milian's elderly sidekick and conscience) and Ray Lovelock (as one of Moschin's lackeys, though he exits the proceedings rather quickly in one of the film's best scenes).

Director/co-writer Massi's background as a cinematographer is evident in the film's stylish look (even if there's an over-abundance of zoom shots), and equally notable is the inventive editing technique adopted throughout (which shows a definite influence from modern American films - the overlapping of shots from successive scenes before a full transition being borrowed from EASY RIDER [1969], the juxtaposition in slo-mo of Moschin's death with that of Milian's wife at the climax from the work of Sam Peckinpah). Regular genre composer Stelvio Cipriani contributes an excellent and eclectic score, providing several variations on the catchy main theme throughout.

The plot, meanwhile, shows the gang cleverly take up various disguises to accomplish their criminal schemes (dressing up as undertakers, members of a film crew and priests during the course of the film); interestingly, the scene in which they hold a family hostage will be reprised in Milian's subsequent and better-known effort in the genre, ALMOST HUMAN (1974) - where he actually plays the psychotic leader of a gang of crooks. Also, the vulgar humor associated with the genre only makes itself felt in the scenes taking place on the set of an erotic movie and, later, in a hippie commune; in fact, the film's tone is generally quite serious - but this doesn't mean that the hard-boiled dialogue, which so characterizes the poliziotteschi, has been downplayed (thus raising the occasional chuckle, especially among those fluent in Italian).

I watched this via a recording off Italian TV but as the reception wasn't perfect - not to mention the fact that I was surprisingly impressed by the film - I'll have to pick up No Shame's reportedly solid R1 DVD release somewhere down the line...


I'm not sure why people keep saying that EMERGENCY SQUAD is merely "above average." This one blew me away, and it's probably the great Stelvio Massi's finest work. Not only do Milian and Moschin turn in outstanding performances (and Milian actually LOOKS much different than he usually does in these Italian actioners), but the shot design is fantastic and understated, with FRENCH CONNECTION-inspired hand-held camera stylistics that left my mouth agape.

EMERGENCY SQUAD is a violent, cleverly written, expertly acted poliziotteschi that demands to be seen by fans of Italian cop/crime films. If you enjoy this sub-genre, you owe it to yourself to seek this one out.


I do not agree with the other post. The show had a lot of potential, and unfortunately, it was not given the chance. It was after all a pilot, so they were setting up the story lines. Justin Hartley did an excellent job as A.C. His character was rebellious and cocky, but very likable. Ving, Lou, and the rest of the cast did a great job as well. All the actors worked well with one another. I found the story lines to be really interesting, and the special effects were awesome. The ending only left me wanting more, and it left me wondering why the heck CW passed up on it. It's an incredibly stupid decision on their part. They take up another season of 7th Heaven and leave this out? It's still #1 on i-Tunes, and it's been 5 days already. The trailer did really well on you-tube too gaining over 100,000+ views. For the most part, people like it. I would hope by its success on i-Tunes that there's still a chance for this show come mid-season. It's such a shame if this is all we get to see. CW hasn't even come out yet, and already, they made a stupid decision.