Customer Reviews

Marlon Brando 4-Movie Collection (The Ugly American / The Appaloosa / A Countess from Hong Kong / The Night of the Following Day)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Here's a list of the 4 films featured in this collection:

1.) THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY (1968 -- 93 minutes): This is an ultra-realistic crime drama featuring Brando as one of four professional criminals who kidnap a girl (a young Pamela Franklin) and hold up at a beach house in France. Richard Boone stars as the fiendish member. Jess Hahn plays a likable loser, the brother of the pathetically drug addicted Rita Moreno. Filmed in France. At the time of this picture Brando was 44 years old and NEVER looked better physically -- very trim and blond. Brando didn't start getting fat until the later-70's when he was well into his 50's. In other words, people need to quit envisioning Brando as some fat dude; most of his life he WASN'T. Most men in their 40's would kill to look as good as Brando did at the this age. Personal Rating: 4/5 Stars.

2.) THE UGLY AMERICAN (1963 -- 2 hours): This is another ultra-realistic film, an impressive political drama featuring Brando as a new American diplomat in a Vietnam-like SE Asian nation that is painfully struggling between capitalist & communist factions. Eiji Okada plays the country's revolutionary leader, a previous best-friend of Brando who has become brainwashed by the communists. Shot on location in Thailand. The ending expertly depicts how the average American is unconcerned with the political conflicts of other nations. Personal Rating: 3.5/5 Stars.

3.) A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG (1967 -- 108 minutes): It's fun to see Brando in an atypical role in this silly slapstick romantic comedy. Sophia Loren stars as a Russian countess who stows away in a rich American's (Brando) stateroom on a cruise liner to escape a life of forced prostitution. Teppi Hedron is also on hand. This was director Charlie Chaplin's last film; he went into a depression after its box-office failure. The problem I have with this flick is that it's completely set-bound on the cruise liner; in fact, practically the entire film takes place in Brando's quarters. Personal Rating: 2.5/5 Stars.

4.) THE APPALOOSA (1966 -- 98 minutes): This is Brando's 'spaghetti western,' released at the height of this sub-genre's popularity. John Saxon stars as the villain who steals Brando's horse after severely beating him up while in a drunken stuper. Ajanette Comer plays the babe. The Southwestern scenery is spectacular! The best way I can describe this film is to imagine one of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns as if it were actually any good in terms of story. Let's face it, although Leone introduced a cool new style to the western genre, his film's STORIES were honestly quite unmemorable. If you disagree, try sitting through "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in one sitting without falling asleep. Or how about the two "Dollars" movies? I've seen them both a couple of times and can't remember anything about their actual storylines. "The Appaloosa" is essentially a revenge tale entailing Brando's trip to Mexico to get his horse back and kill Saxon. I wasn't all that impressed with the story the first time I saw it, especially since I understandably compared it with Brando's western masterpiece "One-Eyed Jacks" (a powerful precursor to the spaghetti western). The story in "The Appaloosa" is rather slow-paced and uneventful, with few action scenes. I saw it again recently and it dawned on me: The director and writer were NOT shooting for a run-of-the-mill western. In the mid-to-late 60's it became fashionable to make films as gritty and ultra-realistic as possible (disregarding Sergio Leone's westerns, which often contained goofy elements). Such was the case with "The Night of the Following Day" listed above (and to a lesser extent "The Ugly American"); this is also the case with "The Appaloosa." What would happen in REAL life if a man went to Mexico in the late 1800's and tried to retrieve his stolen horse? This picture shows exactly what might happen. Consider, for example, the cliched confrontation-in-bar-leads-to-fight scene; we naturally expect it to end in a brawl or shoot-out. It doesn't. In other words, it boldly sneers at western conventions. Or how about the final shoot-out with Saxon? Some have complained that it's uneventful. Yet, isn't that often the way such death-duels end in REAL life? I'll put it this way, don't expect "The Appaloosa" to play like a Hollywood blockbuster or typical spaghetti western with corny one-liners and unrealistic or goofy action scenes. Personal Rating: 3.5/5 Stars.

Despite the fact that none of these films rate 5/5 Stars, I rate the collection itself 5 Stars because it's a fantastic assemblage of fairly obscure Brando works (I never saw ANY of these pictures prior to getting this 4-pack).

Most people rave about Brando's famous films "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Godfather" and "Last Tango in Paris." Personally, I'm not a fan of any of these overrated pictures, even though I admit "The Godfather" is a good film and can see why some regard it as great. In my view, believe it or not, every film in this 4-pack collection (with the possible exception of "A Countess from Hong Kong") is better than these.

If you want to witness how incredibly charismatic Brando was as an actor, check him out in any on these magnificent pictures: "Apocalypse Now" (the original 1979 version), "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962), "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) and "The Young Lions" (1958).

Although I hope the people that are dissapointed with the Brando films being released...I do not think it is fair to blame Universal dvd for releasing what they are ABLE to! This collection is excellently priced and carries with it some very gems, which the average movie viewer may not have seen. This also offers the viewer different looks at the talent of Brando:
The Ugly American (Brando does drama), a look at how other countries view the U.S. - and a story that is interesting to watch through the lens of our current relationship with Iraq.
The Appaloosa - (Brando does western) a western in the "spagetti" genre...good story, and very entertaining.
A countess from Hong Kong...(Brando does comedy)...directed by Charlie Chaplin! Appears to be more of a 40's screwball comedy, it holds up and is funny and entertaining. Chaplin's son, Sydney is hiliarious in one particular bar scene and one can enjoy the cameo of Charlie himself as a ship's steward.
The Night of the Following Day - (Brando does a Hitchcock-like thriller) a taught thriller with a "never looked better than this" Brando involved in a kidnapping plot.
All in all this is a marvelous collection, especially for those who do not have any of these films. One would expect to find any of these titles alone at around $15 each so the price of less than $20 is an added bonus!
Want to see Brando do more than "Stella!" or "I coulda been a contenda..." then this set is for you!

Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando), is a tight-lipped loner who returns from the Civil War to his surrogate family in the border town of Ojo Prieto to settle down. When Matt's prize Appaloosa stallion (played by Cojo Rojo) is stolen by bad banditos and spirited away to Mexico, he goes after them with a vengeance. Somewhat slow, and the title character isn't in the movie all that much. However, since it's the only way to get this movie on DVD, the boxed set is recommended.

Staci Layne Wilson

Universal is to be commended for releasing theme collections (how about W.C. Fields Vol. 2 please!!!) but this set really lets down the Brando fanatic that already purchased three of the four films in this set already (and now have to buy those three titles AGAIN because it's the only way you can get THE APPALOOSA.) Why didn't they include BEDTIME STORY - another obscure, underated Brando title in their vault?

FIRST OF ALL:
CDNOW.COM DESCRIBES THIS AS A 3 MOVIE COLLECTION BUT IF YOU ARE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND MAKE IT LARGER AND THE TEXT ON THE BOX CLEARLY STATES: 4 MOVIE COLLECTION

SECOND OF ALL:
IF YOUR A BRANDO FAN LIKE I AM YOU HAVE BEEN EAGERLY AWAITING FILMS OF HIS WHICH FOR SOME REASON OR OTHER HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED ON DVD SUCH AS:
1 "Desiree" (1954)
2 "Viva Zapata! (1952) (Oscar nomination, best actor)
3 "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962)
4 "The Brave" (1997)
5 "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)
6 "The Fugitive Kind" (1960)
7 "Bedtime Story" (1964)
8 "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967)
9 "Burn!" (1969)
10 "The Nightcomers" (1971)
11 "The Missouri Breaks" (1976)
12 "Raoni:Fight for the Amazon" (1979) [A rare documentary narrated by Brando]
13 "The Formula" (1980)
14 "A Dry White Season" (1989) (Oscar nomination, best supporting actor)
15 "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery" (1992)
16 "Julius Caesar" (1953) (Oscar nomination, best actor)


INSTEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND DON'T ASK ME WHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Universal Studios Home Video decides to release this collection (for which I will certainly buy although I have 3 of the films since I adore ANYTHING Brando does)

However This set includes three films ALREADY!!!!!!!! available on DVD:
1. The Night of the Following Day
2. The Ugly American
3. A Countess from Hong Kong
ONLY
4. The Appaloosa is the bonus film which will be available on Region 1 DVD for the first time.

Anything Brando does is incredible to me but these films are subpar compared to other releases they should have released such as his performance in Julius Caesar and the AMAZING performance in Viva Zapata.
Of course you can purchase these on Hong Kong DVD issued releases but these are actually just VHS recorded onto DVD but if your like me and unable to wait this is the only way to purchase them since they are out of print on VHS as well.

***ALSO***
Do not confuse this set with another set available --> Brando 3-Pack (On the Waterfront / The Wild One / The Freshman)


How about releasing a Brando DVD collection with some other Brando films which haven't been released such as ANY of the 16 Possiblities above???!!!!!?!!!????

Just Another Frustrated Brando fan tired of Film companies slowly releasing DVD's to create anticipation, desire and demand!

Four 'minor' Brando films, each with its own reason for watching. Night of the Following Day is a good suspense thriller during the shooting of which Brando and the director were constantly at odds. In spite of that both men were professional enough to turn out a film not quite like any other of its noir genre. Recommended. -- The Appaloosa is directed by Sidney J. Furie at a slow deliberate pace that delivers the desired emotional impact at the right times. Furie always knows what he is doing (check his body of work) and handles his cast with skill and patience. -- The Ugly Amerrican is a relic of cold war days, but does show off Brando's very real talent. -- The Countess from Hong Kong is that venerable Broadway standby, the bedroom farce. In the hands of any other director but the aged Çhaplin it might have worked as well as, say, Pajama Tops. A comedy such as this depends on impeccable timing, which regrettably here is just enough off to scuttle the film. Nevertheless, at the price, worth buying.

This dvd should be bought for it brings to life brando's overlooked movies.

The ugly american is a great political drama and brando is brilliant as the well meaning american ambassador to a country in south east asia. A good solid film which failed when it was released but deserves to get a second look.

The appaloosa is goood taught western and brando is in great form. Has some great lines and is very ably supported by the menacing JoHn Saxon. The arm wrestiling match with scorpions is a must watch.

The night of the following day has brando looking great and acting even better. This movie is an average kidnap drama which has its share of tense moments.

A countess of hong kong starts off well and then meanders away. brando is very good in some cominc moments and Sophia loren looks voluptous.

All in all there could have been some extra features in all the dvds about the movies, behind the scenes etc.

But this 4 movie collection highlights the fact that brando did not make trash in the 60s. none of these movies can be called ouright bad, infact 2 out the 4 here are good solid movies. But then the critics of the time were comparing everything brando did in the 60s to the stuff he did in the 50s which is not possible coz that kind of magic happens only once. He displayed that magic again in the 70s. which highlights the fact that brando was the greatest ever, period. The studios should get all his work on dvds with extra features and they will make a killing.

amen to that.

I bought this set for a friend because he had been looking for "The Appaloosa" for years and couldn't find it. He let me borrow the set after I gave it to him and was so impressed I am going to buy it for myself. The 4 movies are all different types of stories, "The Appaloosa" was a pretty good western with Brando doing his best imitation of Brando. The only poor choice on the set was "The Night of the Following Day' it was slow and the ending was flat. The set is a gem though with Sophia Loren in The Countess and "The Ugly American" is a gem.

THE APPALOOSA [1966] is one of my all-time favorite Westerns. It should be released on DVD on its own and not as part of a collection. Largely forgotten and rarely talked-about even among ethusiasts of the genre despite having a hall-of-famer [Marlon Brando] in the lead. It was probably lost in the wake of Sergio Leone's memorable epic THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY of the same year. Ed Harris' THE APPALOOSA [2008], a pretentious, unrelated and perturbingly bad film only served to obscure the original even more. This is a slowly-paced, somber, brooding [thanks Leonard Maltin, couldn't have described it better], sensitive, and rather unconventional Western saga. There's minimal action or gunfire. You've got to have the time and be in the right mood and in the right setting to see this one---like tasting wine: let it breathe, pour it, swirl it, smell it, sip it---slowly. The film is about a dust-beaten rogue [Brando as "Mateo" or Mathew] who returns home after a long hiatus. He returns with an expensive and prized Appaloosa upon which rests his dreams of retiring, owning his own farm and of helping the poor Mexican family who raised him. The horse, however, is stolen by the leader of a gang of Mexican "pistoleros" who wants the beautiful animal as a gift for his woman. The Mex badguy [Chuy Medina] is played by John Saxon, he of 50's & 60's horror/exploitation movies fame, who is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME in no doubt the finest performance of his career. He is arrogant, mean, chisled and strong. His gal was played by Anjanette Comer, a somewhat underrated character actress often seen in numerous 70's TV movies and TV shows, who never looked better. Medina warns Brando that if he wants his horse back he will have to come to Medina's Mexican town and retrieve it. Problem is, Medina's town is a refuge for killers, fugitives, drifters, losers + outcasts, and Medina himself is carefully protected by his pistoleros. Brando, against the pleas of his Mexican family who fear that he will not return alive, decides to go after his prized horse. Director Sydney J Furie, who rarely did Westerns [if any?], did an excellent job here. His detail, great use of close-ups and nice pacing was surely influenced by Leone. Geez, you could count the number of gold caps on one of the pistoleros' teeth. And how about the gritty bartender serving Brando's drink with his 'where-have-they-been' fingers submerged half way in it. What distinguishes this film from many is the vulnerability of the lead character imparting everyday realism and sympathy for our main man. Brando, drunk during the theft of his horse, is bedraggled, humiliated and laughed at by Medina and his boys. When he reaches the Mexican haunt Medina challenges him to an arm-wrestling match with deadly scorpions on either side of the table, the winner getting the horse. Medina, physically stronger, wins the match. Brando is tossed out into the street left to die. Medina's woman, however, fed up with his possessive and demeaning treatment, and of being one of his many women, takes an obtunded Brando to local sheep man Ramos [played by Frank Silvera of HOMBRE, 1967]. Ramos gives Brando sanctuary, takes care of him, brings him back to health and conceals him. Interestingly, in Brando, Medina's lady sees an opportunity to escape the hell she's been living in. It is apparent that while Medina is physically [and numerically] stronger she has come to admire Brando's gumption, perseverance and courage---just the right person to get her out of there. Indeed, Brando is emotionally, mentally stronger than Medina---has to do with the ticker, hard bark, guts, cojones. Brando is ready to go back home without his horse, but with the lady, until Medina's pistoleros show up looking for the dame. They proceed to brutalize and kill Ramos who refused to give them any info. The plans now drastically change as Brando buries his friend and vows to return to kill Medina. It's brain over brawn this time, though, as Brando smartly uses Medina's ego and mindset against him, sending one of Medina's own boys to deliver a derogatory message intended to isolate and bait Medina away from his protecting pistoleros. Great lines here especially the deliciously prodding: "...the poison of your scorpion is weak...like the blood of the Medina". The way Brando gets Medina at the end was industrious, smart, very cool---check it out yourself. Happy ending with Brando returning home with both horse and babe. Neat how inner strength, moral courage and conviction and some level-headed thinking won out over bodies, brawn and boisterous belligerence. This has long been one of my favorite movies, Western or not. Brando gives a marvelously understated, offbeat, great performance with that unforgettable parlance. Deepest thanks to all those involved in the making of this well-crafted, atmospheric film which has given me so much pleasure over the years especially Director Furie in his FIRST Western & the actors---Brando, Saxon, Comer...and we can't forget "Squint Eye".

For me, "The Appaloosa", along with "One Eyed Jacks" were my two favorite Brando films, probably because I have a weakness for a well-written Western, especially those shot with splendid Southwestern vistas, which can take up a lot of slack with regards to my viewing pleasure - and both of these qualify. This review focuses on "The Appaloosa" of the two, and used this dvd because I couldn't find it as a single.

The "Gringo", Matt Fletcher (Brando) returns to a little hardscrabble Mexican Hacienda whose simple peasant farmers have befrended him in the past - but this time he does not come alone; he is riding a beautiful Appaloosa stallion with which he dreams of developing a strain of colored horses from this foundation sire. The horse is an outstanding individual in every way, there is no doubt of that, and Fletcher's pride in the animal is beyond price.

It does not take long before a gang of outlaws steal the horse and take him to a remote Mexican village that is controlled by a Mexican varmint (Chuy Medina) played to the nines by John Saxon; he is perfect for the part and when he fixes those evil hooded brown eyes on his subject, even the viewer on the couch shifts uneasily. This is Medina's town, and it has no use for Gringos in the best of circumstances; as Fletcher rides in, on a covert mission to find his horse, it doesn't take long before the story is relayed to the right people. Medina decides the easiest way to thwart the equine recovery effort is to "set up" the Gringo in some way and he knows just how to do this. As Fletcher enters a Church, so does the femme fatale mistress of the outlaw, Trini (Anjanette Comer) who is forced to pretend, under pain of avoiding unpleasant consequences unless she does, that Fletcher makes unwanted advances to her. Far from naive, and knowing that while she is a beautiful woman now, her shelf life as the favorite of a man such as Medina is limited, she decides to help Fletcher escape and go with him as her most prudent open option.

The chase is on, with the Mexican Medina taking a dim view of her exodus with the Gringo and the horse he wanted to boot - and there are some unique strategies employed along the way that give this story interest if the viewer is inclined to appreciate this kind of movie. In one scene, as they are holed up waiting for the danger to pass, Fletcher urges her to quit him and go home to Medina, facing whatever consequences are in store in order to save her life. She demurs, saying she will be killed anyway; but he matter-of-factly and in an unexpected truth advises her that "no, he might beat the stuffin' out of you, but he ain't going to kill you - you're too good lookin' to kill".

This 1966 film isn't a movie of the calibre of a "Shane" but then, what will ever be again. However, it is well worth watching and I thought it very good. Beautiful Southwestern photography, active story line that is mostly believable, it is a good evening's entertainment.