Description: The greatest actor of the 20th century presents five works by great 20th-century playwrights. Stars include Olivier, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Maureen Stapleton, Alan Bates, Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Joanne Woodward, Carrie Fisher, Greta Scacchi, and Joan Plowright..
The Plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. A rich plantation owner and his family come to grips with their greed, envy, and self-delusion. The Collection by Harold Pinter. What did, or did not, take place in a Leeds Hotel ruffles the lives of four habitués of fashionable London. Hindle Wakes by Stanley Houghton. An independent young mill worker refuses to bow to convention after an indiscretion with the boss’s son. Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge. Loss and regret bubble to the surface of a troubled marriage after a young boarder moves in. Saturday, Sunday, Monday by Eduardo de Filippo. A monumental argument erupts, smolders, and subsides over a weekend in the life of a boisterous Italian family.
Bonus! The Ebony Tower, the novella by John Fowles adapted by John Mortimer. A young artist studying the work of a great painter becomes intrigued by the elderly man’s female companions. Contains some nudity.
Amazon.com: The staggering breadth of roles in Laurence Olivier Presents will reaffirm why so many consider Olivier the greatest actor of the modern era. With every part, from a fussy, controlling lover in Harold Pinter's The Collection to Tennessee William's swaggering Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to a daffy Italian patriarch in Saturday, Sunday, Monday, the British thespian tackles every role with zest and skill, never letting the seemingly effortless accents overshadow the emotions. Ironically, the show that really emphasizes Olivier's talent is the one he isn't in: Hindle Wakes, a strikingly progressive and sardonically funny play from 1912, is co-directed by Olivier and stars Donald Pleasance. Pleasance is a topnotch actor, solid and subtle, but he just doesn't have the cunning intelligence and perpetual fire that burns in Olivier's eyes. These plays feature a fantastic array of actors (including Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Natalie Wood, Joan Plowright, and Alan Bates), but the one who really gives Olivier a run for his money is Joanne Woodward. Her performance as the lonely wife of a struggling Midwestern alcoholic (Olivier) in Come Back, Little Sheba is wrenchingly sad without once asking for pity. Their combined firepower, supported by a simple but assured performance by Carrie Fisher, makes this William Inge play the strongest of a substantial selection. (The one weak spot is the "bonus" film The Ebony Tower; though less stage-bound--it was adapted from a novel by John Fowles, not from a play like the others--the story is lightweight and tries to make up for it with copious nudity.) Towards the end of his career, Olivier took on a lot of mediocre movies for the money; these straightforward but effective television productions will erase all memory of the mercenary hackwork and leave Olivier's fierce, phenomenal talent glowing in your mind. --Bret Fetzer
Dixie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof The little girl who played Dixie was Heidi Louise Rundt. She was brilliant! Sir Olivier was pretty good, too.
Worth it for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" alone!!! I found this for my parents who have been looking for the Natalie Wood and hubby Robert Wagner version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"(they saw it ions ago on TV!) for decades!!! Well,the wait is over!!! The got it and love it and I ended up liking it too!!! This "Laurence Olivier Presents" box set delivers!!! The other produtions on this DVD set are great as well!!! Loaded with stars,including the now oscar winner Helen Mirren,Alan Bates,and more!!! Two thumbs up!!! Way up!!! Five stars!!! A+
INCREDIBLE Acting, cheesy 70's production is worth enduring I've watched three of these plays so far, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Hindle Wakes", and "Come Back Little Sheba". They've all exceeded expectations, the acting is amazing. You need to overlook the production in terms of lighting and such, that's obvious given the era and the fact these were made for television. But it's adequate enough, and keeps you focused on the acting, which I've been particularly impressed by. Olivier, Maureen Stapleton, Joanne Woodward, Natalie Wood - all amazing. The general cast in Hindle Wakes did an excellent, fine job. A surprising and very progressive play for 1912.
My favorite so far: "Come Back Little Sheba", which blew my mind, it was searing. WOW. I felt like I was watching a tornado slowly form, in excruciating detail; I was an entranced and queasy witness to this family story. This play really winds itself into a force of nature, gathering horribly to a explosive, insane peak. It seemed so real, I believed it. The acting by Woodward and Olivier was utterly convincing, and PAINFUL to watch. It caught me off guard. Kudos also belongs to the playwright, it's a masterpiece.
In "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Natalie Wood and Maureen Stapleton were fantastic, and I found Olivier's performance virtually flawless. I found his accents to be beyond reproach. Amazingly, I didn't even realize it was him at first, that's how good his acting is.
I could easily dock this DVD one star if the acting weren't so superb. However, I cannot bring myself to take the fifth star off my rating.
Uneven collection but with great standouts This collection features the five episodes of the late '70s British TV series "Best Play of the Year", all five plays directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. As a bonus is an adaptation of a John Fowles novella, "The Ebony Tower", also featuring Olivier.
The productions suffer from some of the innate problems of filmed plays, as well as the limitations of video technology of the time and a few instances of miscasting. However, they serve as good documentations of these plays, and a couple of them make for interesting comparisons with the more well-known Hollywood adaptations. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", for instance, is far more faithful to the original play than the film version is. Natalie Wood does a memorable job as Maggie. On the other hand, Olivier is not wholly convincing as Big Daddy, partly because of his accent. Whereas Burl Ives' performance in the movie (he had performed the part on stage) is pretty definitive.
The plum here is the version of Harold Pinter's "The Collection". This "chamber play" is in any case more suited to television than the other plays, and Pinter as usual wrote the screen adaptation himself, making the "opening up" of the play wholly in tune with the original. It's archetypal Pinter, full of spoken and unspoken menace, conjuring a fascinating world of betrayal, deceit, denial and self-denial, asking more questions than it answers and thus inviting the viewer to fill in the blanks. And the cast is magnificent: Olivier, Alan Bates, Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren. For anyone interested in Pinter, I would also recommend the movie version of "The Caretaker" especially, again with great performances by Bates, Donald Pleasence and Robert Shaw; and (to a slightly lesser degree) "The Birthday Party" with Shaw and "The Homecoming" with Ian Holm.
Natalie Wood At Her Finest...Finally On DVD "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF" I have waited for 30 years to see "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" from 1976 which I saw one night on TV back when it first aired in 76 and at 19 years old I was already a Natalie Wood fan for quite some time and I was in Awe that night!I never seen that TV Play again since nor could I find it on VHS or DVD...I wrote the movie company and Ted Turner's cable station and after a half dozen letters I finally heard that this DVD set had just come out.I was so happy to finally get this DVD set in the mail from Amazon and to see Natalie Wood at her finest and most beautiful.Both Natalie and Her Husband Robert Wagner head this fine cast with Olivier and Marureen Stapleton to boot!But I must say all eyes are on Natalie when she comes in the room and you see her for the first time as soon as the film rolls.With her finest Southern accent since This Property Is Condemed back 10 years eailer she look a bit older but like fine wine she aged for the better.If you liked her in This Property then you will love her in Cat.and you will surly be very happy with this DVD.The Color and quality could not be better,infact I have not seen a DVD this clear and all the other stories on this set is a added bounus for me and I truley enjoyed them all.GET THIS!!! You will not be sorry....
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