Hollywood Movie Reviews......... Options

[Reeth]

Please review and express your feelings about the Hollywood movies old and new ,that you have watched,liked & would recommend to the other members ......

I start off with an all time favourite film of my entire family....i have lost count of the number of times
i have watched this since the time.....

The Ten Commandments (1956)






It is one of the Greatest movies ever made in the history of World Cinema...
The film covers the life of Moses from his discovery in a basket floating on the Nile as a baby by
Bithiah, a childless young widow and daughter of the then-Pharaoh, Rameses I, to his eventual
departure from Israel in the wake of God's judgment that he not be allowed to enter the Promised
Land. In between, the film depicts the early adulthood of Moses as a beloved foster son of
Pharaoh Seti I (successor of Rameses I and brother of Bithiah) and general of his armies, his
romance with Throne Princess Nefertari and rivalry with the Pharaoh's own son,
Prince RamesesII.

Critics have argued that considerable liberties were taken with the Biblical story, affecting the film's
claim to authenticity, but this has had little effect on its popularity.....

Aside from winning the Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects, it was also nominated for
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Costume Design,
Color (Edith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins and Arnold Friberg), Best Film Editing,
Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording







Cecil B DeMille’s swan song is a movie for the ages. At 75 the legendary director was at the
peak of his fame, his name a house-hold word and his voice recognized by millions. He probably
knew The Ten Commandments would be his last film it almost killed him. He certainly knew it
would be his most important.

Shot in widescreen Technicolor, The Ten Commandments remains the standard by which
Biblical epics -- and many epics in general -- are measured
When Moses turns his staff into a snake and back again, the effect is seamless. His turning of the Nile
into blood is an impressive camera trick, but his parting of the Red Sea is one of Hollywood's most
famous stunts. It's worth sitting through the 220 minutes of movie for this alone....

MAIN CAST

#Charlton Heston as Moses
# Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Rameses II
# Anne Baxter as Nefertari
# Edward G. Robinson as Dathan
# Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora
# Debra Paget as Lilia
# John Derek as Joshua
# Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Seti I

But the Ten Commandments isn’t about God alone.... It’s about a woman, Neferteri the beauty of
Egypt, and whom she marries will become Pharoe and rule the Earth...she prefers Moses who races
chariots and saves old women from being crushed under the monumental obilisk he is raising in honor
of Neferteri’s father — and helped by the fact he’s played by manly-man Charlton Heston who looks
great,She does not want Ramses, the delicious Yul Brenner who wants Neferteri because of the
wealth and power that comes with her.
Moses is banished and Neferteri is forced to marry Ramses instead.
History might know about Moses and Ramses, but DeMille knew about
scorned women.....




It remains one of the five most successful films of all time.It is Cecil B. DeMille’s last and arguably
greatest film.....Definitely worth watching....

[Dimple]

My personal favorite:

THE SOUND OF MUSIC : 1965
===============



Julie Andrews ... Maria

Christopher Plummer ... Captain Georg von Trapp
Richard Haydn ... Max Detweiler
Peggy Wood ... Mother Abbess
Anna Lee ... Sister Margaretta
Portia Nelson ... Sister Berthe
Ben Wright ... Herr Zeller
Daniel Truhitte ... Rolfe
Norma Varden ... Frau Schmidt
Marni Nixon ... Sister Sophia
Gilchrist Stuart ... Franz (as Gil Stuart)
Evadne Baker ... Sister Bernice
Doris Lloyd ... Baroness Eberfeld
Charmian Carr ... Liesl von Trapp

Nicholas Hammond ... Friedrich von Trapp


Maria had longed to be a nun since she was a young girl, yet when she became old enough discovered that it wasn't at all what she thought. Often in trouble and doing the wrong things, Maria is sent to the house of a retired naval captain, named Captain Von Trapp, to care for his children. Von Trapp was widowed several years before and was left to care for seven 'rowdy' children. The children have run off countless governesses. Maria soon learns that all these children need is a little love to change their attitudes. Maria teaches the children to sing, and through her, music is brought back into the hearts and home of the Von Trapp family. Unknowingly, Maria and Captain Von Trapp are falling helplessly in love, except there are two problems, the Captain is engaged, and Maria is a postulant! Written by Katy Richardson

The Sound of Music is a magical, heart - warming story of a spirited young nun - Maria who gets sent to be the governess of Captain Von Trapp's 7 children as his wife died years back & goes away alot. The Children have drove all the over governesses away by playing tricks on them, to get their father's attention however with "fraulein" (young lady) Maria they take to her kindness, and she brings music & love back into the hearts of the children & the Captain, who although is engaged to the Baroness, is falling madly in love with Maria, & she is him, it is only when the Baroness tells Maria that the Captain loves her she panics & returns to the Abby, where the Rev. Mother tells her she has to look for her life, & so she returns to the home of the Captain & Children by which time Georg Von Trapp decides he can't marry the Baroness if he's in love with Maria, & calls off his engagement & tells Maria. The happy ending comes when Maria & Georg Marry, but have to leave Austria as he has to take a position in the Navy round the time the Nazis were in Power, The Sound of Music is based on a true story surrounding The Von Trapp's, & the 40th Anniversary DVD of this has many special features inc. a 50 min documentary on the real Von Trapp Family. This is one of the best films of all time & will always be a classic for all the family. Written by Katie

Baron Von Trapp, a widower, runs his home near Salzburg like the ship he once commanded. That changes when Maria arrives from the convent to be the new governess of his seven children. Their romps through the hills inspire all to sing and to find joy in the smallest things -- like raindrops on window panes. With a renewed zest for life, the baron hosts a party to introduce his new fiance. Maria knows then she does not want to be a nun. She marries the baron. The happy ever after part is threatened when Austria's new German rulers want the baron back in military service. Written by Dale O'Connor {daleoc@interaccess.com}

Maria is a failure as a nun. The Mother Superior sends her off in answer to a letter from a retired naval captain for a governess for his seven children. She goes to their house and finds that she is the latest in a long line of governesses run off by the children. She teaches the children to sing and that becomes their bonding force, of course leading her to fall in love with their father and marries him. As this is happening Austria votes to be assumed by Germany on the eve of World war II. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

Captain Baron von Trapp is a widowed ex-naval officer with seven children who serve only to remind him of his deceased wife. The Von Trapp home is thus turned into a gloomy place of order and discipline, until the arrival of a new governess: Frauline Marie who is from a nearby Salzburg abbey. Marie shows the Von Trapp children the miracle of the Sound of Music, and teaches them how to sing. Captain von Trapp's heart opens up to feelings he had forgotten and he and Marie fall in love. Marie and Georg von Trapp are married, only to have their world brought down around them by the 1938 Anschluss of Austria, where Nazi Germany takes control of the country and demands that Captain von Trapp assume a position in the German Navy.

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