VHS Products

Paul Newman, an American original, would seem to be the perfect choice to direct a film adaptation of the second novel by another American original--Ken Kesey. But Kesey's novel, written under the influence of both LSD and growing fame, was a mishmash, and Newman's film can't rescue it. It also seems strange to see the ultraliberal Newman starring as a strike-busting logger who honors a contract ...

Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Jim Burk, Bennie E. Dobbins, Henry Fonda, Alan Gibbs, Mickey Gilbert

Manufacturer: Paramount
Starring: James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Richard Ward, Brenda Sykes
Directed By: Richard Fleischer

The hit Broadway musical by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards became the basis for this 1972 film about America's first congress and the nation's declaration of independence from Britain. Most of the original cast members are aboard, including William Daniels as John Adams. The film is a little stodgy and moves stiffly from scene to scene--the adaptation to the screen is not a smooth success. But it ...

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Donald Madden, John Cullum
Directed By: Peter H. Hunt

Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
Starring: Claudia McNeil, Janet MacLachlan, Robert Christian, Larry B. Scott, Roy Poole
Directed By: Jack Smight

Adapted from a Harold Robbins potboiler, The Betsy offers power struggles, incest, adultery, gold digging, and car racing. Laurence Olivier plays a ruthless but fallible auto tycoon with a tortured family history including a weakling son (Paul Rudd), a daughter-in-law he loves too much (Katharine Ross), a resentful grandson (Robert Duvall), and a devoted great-granddaughter (Kathleen ...

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Katharine Ross, Tommy Lee Jones, Jane Alexander
Directed By: Daniel Petrie

Up the Down Staircase wasn't the first inspirational-teacher movie, but along with To Sir, with Love (also released in 1967), it seemed to set a pattern that gets brushed off every few years: Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, etc. etc. And this one still holds up, thanks to the sensitive direction of Robert Mulligan and the central performance by Sandy Dennis. The ...

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Sandy Dennis, Patrick Bedford, Eileen Heckart, Ruth White, Jean Stapleton
Directed By: Robert Mulligan

Experiment in Terror, a stylized noir thriller, was director Blake Edwards's second film in 1962, the first being a devastating portrait of alcoholism, Days of Wine and Roses. Neither film would seem standard fare for a filmmaker best known for his sophisticated slapstick comedies. For Experiment in Terror, Edwards perfected the stylish black-and-white cinematography he used ...

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers, Roy Poole, Ned Glass
Directed By: Blake Edwards

Manufacturer: Good Times Home Video
Starring: George Kennedy, Joanna Pettet, Lee Montgomery, Collin Wilcox Paxton, Roy Poole
Directed By: Gordon Hessler

The hit Broadway musical by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards became the basis for this 1972 film about America's first congress and the nation's declaration of independence from Britain. Most of the original cast members are aboard, including William Daniels as John Adams. The film is a little stodgy and moves stiffly from scene to scene--the adaptation to the screen is not a smooth success. But it ...

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Donald Madden, John Cullum
Directed By: Peter H. Hunt

Manufacturer: Provisional
Starring: Burl Ives, Joseph Campanella, James Farentino, Hal Holbrook, Steve Ihnat
Directed By: Richard A. Colla