Reviews

The fact that this film was shown at London's Barbican suggests to me that the print must have been acceptable enough for such a showing. Now the question is, Why isn't this long lost and important film available in DVD (or even VHS)? A large number of persons in Europe and the USA have for many years hoped to see this film, if for no other reason than the wonderful music written for it by Sergei Prokofiev. What does one have to do to get such a wonderful production as this available for a wider public, not just patrons to the Barbican at London? Having been a devoted listener to Prokofiev's music for many years and aware of this film, PLEASE, someone 'out there' do the right thing and bring it out as a DVD.

When the dolts in the Movie and DVD industries get around to discovering that some films are better than others, perhaps they will issue Prince of Foxes as a DVD (they don't even seem to know about VHS, since this great film is not available in that format either!). Prince of Foxes was not only one of the last films made by Orson Wells, but Tyrone Power as well. It is a wonderful spectacle film, with some of the most realistic scenes of a medieval siege and the warfare conducted in Italy during the Middle Ages. The music is great, and, dear friends, it actually has a cast of characters who can act! Imagine? A film with people who can act -- who are not just glorified mannequins with voices like retarded eight year olds.

I have but one question: Why in the name of all that we call the cosmos is this film not available on DVD (or even VHS)? It is far superior and reflects much more the times and life of Casanova than the Chamberlain film that trudged its way from start to finish. Casanova was an eighteenth-century intellectual, an intellectual with very definite proclivities for womanizing. Fellini knew his subject and the many places where his subject found himself in a lifetime of incredible sights, sounds and adventures. Get this film out of the closet, dust it off and let us have the very positive experience of enjoying it in the sanctity of our own homes. It has been too long on ice. Someone "out there", get off your duff and let us have one of Fellini's best works.

One wonders if the maguses of DVD ever watch the films they decide to market in the newest digital formats. The classic, "IF I HAD A MILLION", has both the humor (little wonder, when you see who is in the cast) and the marvellous situations filmed in the best Paramount tradition to warrant a reissue in DVD format. Hey, Ted Turner, why don't you produce on DVD films of this caliber, with its clearly positive outlook, instead of all the filme noir and other depressing stories that fill the TMC TV schedule? Come on Paramount, make this and so many other really great and optimistic films from the 30's available on DVD, instead of so much of the present-day violent trash that permeates the media these days.

I have heard that the so-called 'christian' right has had something to do with this first-class film biography of one of the world's greatest scientists not being made available to the public. If this is so, why do contributors, like myself, continue to support Public Television if the directors of WGBH, WNET, and the other PBS stations that are constantly begging us for money refuse to have this marvellous six-part series issued as a DVD or VHS?

It is a disgrace that such a fine film is not yet available to purchase, either on DVD or VHS. Would someone 'out there' do something about this deplorable situation. It is bad enough that there is so much crap for sale as DVDs, but when a superb film comes along, why are film goers to be denied the ability to see it and to purchase a copy? Make this film available. The work speaks for itself!

For some inexplicable circumstances or reasons which are known only to the BBC, this film has never been released to the public. Had I not had the opportunity to see it on PBS Channel WNET in New York several years ago, I would not have known of its existence. It is time that the BBC made some effort to consider their audience and the needs of teachers and students alike - not to mention all the adult persons in the world that are being treated to a declining quality of films and television programs. This film not only carefully and faithfully covers the life and times of Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, but it lays before the viewer a very precise overview of Darwin's theories of species orgins and the principles of evolution. I wonder, as do others, if the disappearance of this film has anything to do with the fanatics of the so-called 'Christian' right that sees the work of science as a threat to their tawdry and ignorant grasp of science and scientific principles. Someone out there: make this film available to any and all who cannot fail to enjoy it and profit from its salutary content. Is anyone listening?

This is one of the best and most sensitive films about the generational progress of an artisan family, one that had to endure betrayal by its own members, the beginnigs of the holocaust in Germany and Austria of Jews, and, inspite of Hitler and the destruction of war, the dawn of democracy at the end of World War II. The story takes place mostly in Salzburg, Austria, and the revelations of the family's history is both insightful and right as rain.

Why is it that so many films of this quality and with casts of characters that can actually act lie around for so many years without being restored and brought out on DVD? When there is so much mediocrity in recent films and audiences having to suffer all the 'pretty' mannequin's in them that pretend to act, performers like Albert Bassermann and the films in which they acted must be restored if there is to be any hope for the film industry. Perhaps reviewers and distributors do not know that the film was originally released with the title, "Passport to Heaven", and is based on the story, "The Captain from Koepenick", which was originally "Der Hauptman von Koepenick". It is an ironically funny film and strikes to the heart of bureauocracy. It is needed now more than ever in this time we live in. Attention Turner Film Classics:let's see it one of these days, please!