Critic's Choice |  | Director: Don Weis
Actors: Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Maxwell, Rip Torn, Jessie Royce Landis
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $9.97
as of 11/24/2009 20:08 CST details
You Save: $10.01 (50%)
New (16) Used (10) from $4.94
Seller: dvdpeddler
Rating:  6 reviews
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D113716D
UPC: 085391137160
EAN: 0085391137160
Theatrical Release Date: April 13, 1963
Release Date: June 19, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
With a light touch of New York sophistication, Critic's Choice is a smartly grown-up vehicle for Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, making their fourth appearance as an on-screen duo. Adapted from the Broadway play by Ira Levin, it's a fitting follow-up to the pair's previous comedy (1960's The Facts of Life), with its upscale story about top-ranking theater critic Parker Ballantine (Hope) and the trouble he gets into when his second wife Angela (Ball) decides to write a play. Given Parker's snobbishly influential reputation for writing scathingly negative reviews, it's only a matter of time before he's forced to confront the issue of reviewing "Sisters Three," the comedy that Angela has written, rewritten and polished with the help (and romantic advances) of Dion Kapakos (Rip Torn), one of Broadway's hottest young playwrights. Complicating matters even further is Parker's touch-and-go friendship with his ex-wife (Marilyn Maxwell) and the disapproval of his young, intelligent son John (Ricky Kelman), who serves as his father's much-needed voice of conscience. Add it all up and Critic's Choice is an easygoing comedy that occasionally falls flat (veteran TV director Don Weis can't decide if he's directing an all-out comedy or a marital melodrama), but Bob & Lucy make it surprisingly enjoyable, and Levin's source material has a lot to say about marriage, divorce, and the foibles of playwrights and critics in the high-pressure world of New York theater. It's also interesting to see Rip Torn so early in his long-running career, and the fine supporting cast includes such '60s stalwarts as Jim Backus, Richard Deacon, and John Dehner. Also available in The Lucille Ball Film Collection, this DVD includes two noteworthy short subjects from the Warner Bros. archives: "Calling All Tars" is a 19-minute Vitaphone comedy short from 1936, starring Bob Hope in one of his earliest screen appearances, and "Now Hear This" is an Oscar-nominated "Looney Tunes" cartoon from 1962, directed by the great Chuck Jones in the kind of innovative, abstract design style that was in vogue among animators in the early 1960s. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
1963 comedy pairing Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. Broadway fans will enjoy the inside jokes of this movie based on a play by Ira Levin. Ball is a young playwright while Hope is her husband - and a drama critic.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 085391137160 Manufacturer No: 113716
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
My favorite Hope/Ball film! March 15, 2009
Ruth Anderson
Critic's Choice is the fourth on-screen pairing of comedy titans Bob Hope and Lucille Ball (following Sorrowful Jones, Fancy Pants, and The Facts of Life), and I'd probably rank it as my favorite of their films together. Hope and Ball play off each other extremely well, and it's no stretch at all to imagine them as a married couple. Hope plays a high-brow New York theater critic known for how he relishes in eviscerating plays through his reviews. When his wife (Ball) takes it into her head to write a play based on her childhood, and when said play is actually finished and goes into production, the result is (mostly) comic marital discord. The feel of the movie kind of reminds me of the classic rom-coms Doris Day and Rock Hudson made together, only a shade deeper and more serious in how it deals with relationship friction between a married couple. For my money this flick is a thoroughly enjoyable way to while away a couple of hours. It's well-scripted, fast-paced, and does an excellent job of balancing humor with the more serious emotional and relationship issues Hope and Ball have to work through regarding their clashing careers, his clingy ex-wife, and her admiring director. The DVD has two extras - one, the comedy short Calling All Tars, is a lot of fun and is actually one of Bob Hope's earliest screen appearances, while the second is the so-so cartoon "Now Hear This."
Critic's Choice March 10, 2009
K. Hanlin (The Woodlands, TX USA)
This is a great movie, if you love Lucille Ball (and Bob Hope, of course). These two iconic actors make a wonderful team on screen. Two thumbs way, way up!!!
Peace, K :)
 THERE'S HOPE FOR LUCY. August 30, 2002
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Bob is cast in his usual one-dimensional character as theatre critic Parker Ballantine - who must review his wife's new play!...With the comfort of booze, analysis, and the comfort of his first wife (Marilyn Maxwell), Bob labouriously decides to pen a review...Arriving drunk at the opening, and himself immediately being the center of attention, Lucy takes the expected measures, which lead to a comical - if routine - conclusion. A funny comedy which was even a more successful Broadway play. Implausible as it is, the great talents of Hope and Ball will undoubtedly please their many admirers. The costumes by Edith Head are above par and the supporting cast is excellent: Jessie Royce-Landis, Jim Backus, Lurene Tuttle, Jerome Cowan, Rip Torn, John Dehner and Richard Deacon.
Wonderful! April 15, 2001
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This movie doesn't really fit in well with the other Ball-Hope movies; it's much better. There is a lack of slap-stick comedy and a presence of realism that I found refreshing. If you are looking for a typical Hope movie, try "Fancy Pants," but if you are looking for a great semi-dramatic movie, try this. Just try to remember that the characters are not Lucy Ricardo and the usual Bob Hope: they are the Ballentines. Highly Reccomended!
Very funny! Lucy is exceptional, as usual! March 2, 2000
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This movie is great! Lucy is the world's best actress, and she shines in this funny film. Lucy and Bob make a great team. Lucy looks beautiful in this movie, as she does in everything else she's in. Lucy lovers will love this movie, and Lucy even more. Watch it!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
|
|
|
