Product Details

• Actors: Bryan Pringle, Michael Palin, Alfred Molina, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Fred Pearson
• Directors: Tristram Powell
• Producers: American Friends
• Format: Import, PAL
• Language: English
• Region: Region 4 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009ZERUU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,576 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Monty Python's Michael Palin plays an Oxford don with acute female trouble in American Friends. While on holiday in the Swiss Alps, Palin crosses the path of American tourist Connie Booth and her adopted daughter Trini Alvarado. Both women express an inordinate desire for the bookish Palin, leading to profound changes in the lives of all concerned. Michael Palin insists that the plot of American Friends was drawn from an actual incident in the life of his own great-grandfather. The film unfolds like a good novel; slow on the uptake, but fascinating once it gets going.
...American Friends

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different Role for Michael Palin, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: American Friends [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have rented this movie twice, and I would like to say that this is a video worth seeing. Michael Palin stars as Reverend Francis Ashby, an English professor at Oxford University. He takes a trip to the Swiss Alps where he meets two American women. Connie Booth plays Caroline Hartley, and Trini Alvarado plays young Elinor. Throughout the movie the two women are in a competition for Reverend Ashby. At Oxford however, women are prohibited and also they are not allow to marry. It's a struggle seen by Reverend Ashby who is at odds with his devotion to Oxford and the women he loves. I won't give away whose heart Reverend Ashby wins so you will have to watch and see.

For those of you who are familar with Michael Palin's work, comedy is his speciality. Also Michael is known for his world travels. This movie is drama although it does have a few light moments. Not only Michael stars in the movie but he also wrote the movie. The movie is set in the mid 1800's and is based on the diaries of Michael's great grandfather. The scenery of the Swiss Alps are very beautiful. It makes you want to take your next vacation there. It's a movie that you will want to have and it also shows that Michael Palin can do drama.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And Now For Something Completely Different!, January 28, 2000

By 

Debi Richan (Provo, Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Friends [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a quiet film--very, very British with wonderful shots of Oxford University--particularly New College, although Mr. Palin himself attended Brasenose College. The scenery is beautiful and the story is wonderfully thought-provoking. We enjoyed it very much--particularly the insight into "What is integrity?" It was good to see Connie Booth again and Alfred Molina was very convincing as a Brit. Michael Palinn is quite excellent in his Oxfordian restraint, and it was touching to see people very much in love without having to jump into bed immediately. Imagine! Well done, Mr. Palin!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite film..., January 4, 2007

By 

Grigory's Girl "Grigory's Girl" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Friends [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a beautifully understated, moving film. I remember seeing it simply because Michael Palin was in it, and I am a major Python fan (like almost everyone in the world). This film is not a comedy (I kind of knew that going in), but it is gentle, serene, beautifully shot, and quite moving by the end. Palin acquits himself wonderfully as the Oxford professor, as does the rest of the cast. I was really surprised by how quite profound some of it was. The location shooting is amazingly beautiful, and Palin has a line of dialogue that has always remained in my memory when he is staring at the Swiss Alps. He remarks on how beautiful it all is, and there must have been some divine hand guiding it. I think Palin is the most underrated of the Python performers. He has done very good dramatic work, and has become a global trekker. From all reports, he is an extremely modest man in person, so maybe he doesn't promote himself as the others might have (at least not as much as Cleese likes to do...the Pythons tease Cleese all the time about that). This film is wonderful, and it deserves to be better known.