Customer Reviews

The Betsy (Snap Case)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I always liked it. My son said it was flawed. That was so many years ago. I liked the story and I liked the actors. It kept me entertained flaws or no flaws. Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duval are standouts. They got John Barry to write the music so it can't be all bad. My days are numbered. This was one of the first DVDs that my son bought. He just found it in that pile of rubble he keeps in his room. I asked him for years to play it for me. Now I am too tired and it doesn't seem all that important. He put it in the player but the images seem to have lost the magic. The first time I saw it there was magic. I remember that it had a good story. The kind of story I like to see when I go to the movies. Well Tommy Lee and Duvall are still plugging away. Maybe there is magic in the world after all.

There are moments in "The Betsy" where you think you're watching something as profound as "The Godfather" before you pinch yourself and realize you are watching what is essentially schlock. Entertaining, well-crafted schlock but schlock nonetheless. It's Harold Robbins for goodness sake. Credit director Daniel Petrie and his scriptwriters for fashioning a film that is almost respectable. A first-rate cast is assembled to give the film some gravity led by Laurence Olivier as a scion of an auto empire who is as ruthless in the boardroom as he is in his personal relationships. A young Tommy Lee Jones impresses as an ambitious auto racer. Absolutely luminous are Lesley Anne Down as a gold-digging Brit and Kathleen Beller as Olivier's granddaughter. I've never read a Harold Robbins book the film feels like one of those page turners you read on a lazy summer day.

There's so much awfulness to love in this movie, a camp classic done as straight as an arrow.

I have a hard time figuring out what's my favorite thing about this movie because there's so much to love -- the total miscasting? Olivier's "Americanish" accent which is frequently slurred? The complete lack of chemistry between any of the principle characters? That "Where's My Paycheck?" look on Katherine Ross' face? The way Tommy Lee Jones spits out his lines so quickly like he needs to leave the set early to go to the Coal Miner's Daughter audition? ... The heavily gauzed-lens flashbacks? The complete implausibility of Harold Robbins' story? Mansions decorated with whicker furniture? Sir Larry's parade of horrendous toupees?

If you miss Dynasty or The Colbys for any of the above reasons, or if you are just a connoisseur of So-Bad-They're-Great movies you can't miss this one. ...

One of my favorite trashy, guilty pleasures movies. This is the story of a dysfunctional family, prominent in the auto manufactuing business. It is great fun to watch Robert Duvall and Sir Lawrence Olivier try to one-up each other, with Tommy Lee Jones as a sort of good guy, with an agenda of his own.

The film is excellent quality considering its age.
It has not lost anything with the passage of time. The sets are rich and opulent, the acting terrific and so is the quality of the sound.
I saw this film about 25 years ago at the movies and enjoyed it just as much.

The betsy which is based on a novel by Harold Robbins is not

a very good movie but it is not that bad.I didn't like Olivier's

performance but i think Tommy Lee Jones did great.The love

scenes in the movie are very beautiful and Kathleen Beller is

a very gorgeous actress [Most known for her role as Kirby

andrews in Dynasty] and i adore her love scene with Tommy Lee

Jones.

This is a movie with no pretensions. It is about corporate intrigue, family disputes and beautiful bodies. It is an unashamed pot-boiler. It is helped by the fine acting that does not descend into camp. There are many highy capable actors here. No one hams it up for the camera which only makes this glorius bit of cheese all the more fun.

The Betsy is indeed the Edsel,Apparently enough it is even worst throw in some immorality in this case incest and nudeyshots and over the top soapopera-esque acting based off some girly novel apparently and knows nothing about cars and you get this A Turbine car,perhaps unaware of the Howmet Tx(Turbine Racer) and other Turbine powered cars.And the references to Nader,Why give such an ambulance chaser Attention?The movie is boring and if it is speaking on Rich and Elitism and Class then it has missed it's mark.

There aren't enough lousy adjectives to describe this dated piece of coal - and like coal - this should be tossed into a fire for warmth, thereby receiving something worthwhile in return for wasting your time.

This is a classic example of why writers like Jackie Collins and Harold Robbins are not renown for their great literary contributions or the efforts to bring their melodrama to the screen - this being a prime example.

I can think of two good things to say about this ridiculous 'extravaganza'.

First, you can witness how the passage of time can sometimes be used to better one's self. This early Tommy Lee Jones flick proves you can get better, infinitely better, as you practice and hone your craft. Yikes, he was HORRIBLE back then. You would've never, absolutely never, guessed he'd win an Oscar one day.

Second, the surprising amount of adult content for a US-released mainstream film. Full frontal nudity and the suggestion of fellatio was extremely rare in 1978 for a non-exploitation movie. I was shocked. I've only seen one other film from this period, again, in a mainstream release, that visually captured such raw sexuality.

Otherwise, this should be shown to film students as a showcase of bad acting, terrible scriptwriting, unrealistic sets/stage design and wholly ridiculous storytelling. And let's not even discuss Sir Laurence Olivier's accent.

I am curious how the producers got Robert Duvall hooked into this piece of trash? Money? Lose a bet? It makes one wonder.

Besides disaster movies the 70's gave us the trashy all-star soap opera for the big screen (The Love Machine, Once Is Not Enough, The Greek Tycoon) and this slice of cheese. We get incest, rape, homosexuality, greed, murder, backstabbing, and lots on SEX AND NUDITY!!!! The plot is silly and the dialog is corny, but the actors seem to be having fun and it moves very fast and and does what these movies are suppose it do, Entertain! Turn your brain off, put the kids to bed(it's rated "R" for a reason), and curl up with someone you love and watch the rich treat each other like dirt!!! Enjoy