Product Details

• Actors: Mickey Rooney, Dennis Quaid
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Star Classics
• VHS Release Date: March 27, 1990
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630167796X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,094 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Winner of two Emmy awards starring Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT NEWS!! Both BILL & BILL ON HIS OWN are available!!, September 18, 2002

By 

D. COLLIER "Top Guhzillion Reviewer" (Brownwood, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

That's right, the extremely hard to find, out-of-print for who-knows-how-long movies are now available for everyone. But first let me say a word or two about BILL for those people who know nothing about it.

It's Mickey Rooney's finest performance, as many of his fans who have met him in person have told him. He portrays William ("Bill for short") Sackter. Bill spent 40 years in a Minnesota mental institution. Sometime after his release he befriended struggling amateur filmmaker Barry Morrow, who would later receive an Academy Award for co-writing the movie RAIN MAN. Barry and his wife Bev reached out to help Bill probably without realizing that Bill was helping them and all the others who crossed his path.

You see, Bill was the word "optimistic" made flesh. When you see him standing in the ICU hospital room of the little girl, and he's reciting the Lord's Prayer and praying for the little girl...I can't even describe it, except to say it's one of the most powerful scenes that have ever been on my television screen.

This movie (and its sequel) are proof that the entire family can view something wonderful on the television.

...

I also highly recommend Thomas Walz's book, THE UNLIKELY CELEBRITY: BILL SACKTER'S TRIUMPH OVER DISABILITY. This, thank goodness, is not out of print.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bill with Mickey Rooney, February 10, 2002

By 

Dion (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie staring Mickey Rooney is a great movie of love and inspiration for the whole family. It will bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I WISH I COULD GIVE THIS 10 STARS, October 11, 2004

By 

Nancy Sherburne (Tucson, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My roommate was forever complaining of how many movies I taped. Well, looking at a used price of almost $80 for this gem, I am certainly glad it's one I taped from my television! How an actor of normal intelligence can portray a person as mentally-challenged as Bill is a tribute to his mastery. While a lot of people made fun of Bill, or gave him a look of distaste or even fear, a struggling filmmaker and his wife took him into their lives and hearts -- and our hearts, too. Spending decades in a frightful mental institution, Granville, he wanted to forget about it. But when Barry convinced him to return so he could film him there, Bill re-establishes friendships with the patients he left behind. I found the film to be sensitive to the subject in showing Bill's difficulty in comprehending things, but never making fun of him in the process. At the end of the movie, we are treated to a look at the real William (Bill for short) Sackter together with Rooney, and in his annual role as Santa (Bill for short), proving mental illness does not have to prevent one from becoming a member of our society. I can't fault the directing, script, or acting, so if you are not fortunate as I to have already taped it, it really is worth purchasing.