Customer Reviews

Rock Hudson Screen Legend Collection (The Golden Blade / Has Anybody Seen My Gal? / The Last Sunset / The Spiral Road / A Very Special Favor)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is great to see Universal release more of Rock Hudson's films to dvd. And thankfully the three discs in this collection are single sided. I thoroughly enjoyed The Spiral Road - a very good drama set in and around Borneo in 1936 and which also stars Burl Ives. Both are doctors and surprised I had never heard of it until now. By the way, three of the films, including Spiral Road, are presented in their OAR of 1:85 ( widescreen )and are Anamorphic. The label on the dvd incorrectly lists Spiral Road as 2:35. If you are a fan of Rock Hudson don't hesistate to pick up a copy.

Finally, The Spiral Road is available on DVD, and that alone is worth the cost of this collection. Amazon indicated the format was standard and I was prepared to accept that. Thankfully, it was issued in widescreen. I agree this is an obscure title, but an excellent movie. Grab it while you can.

From another site, these minor films of Rock will be included
Screen Legend Collection - The Franchise Collection
- Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
- Very Special Favor, A (1965)
- Golden Blade, The (1953)
- Last Sunset, The (1961)
- Spiral Road, The (1962)

Five stars for honoring this legend. Let's have more and better RH films on DVD!!

Universal is starting to get better with their franchise collection DVDs, including this one, as they are released on single discs with only one to two movies on each. This allows for better quality unlike the dual-sided discs crammed with up to four movies a disc.

While this collection features rare Rock Hudson movies, I must say the entertainment value is well worth the expense. At about 4 or 5 dollars a movie, it's cheaper than a movie ticket. AND YOU GET TO KEEP THEM! With this release also came out similar collections of Cary Grant and Bing Crosby. Unfortunately, there is some technical skipping or stoppage in one of the Cary Grant discs--the only technical malfunction so far as I still have more of the collections to watch. (Skipping and stopping has been an issue with Universals Franchise Collection DVD packaging for awhile now, but slowly it's getting better.)

The packaging is nicely done with some interesting side notes on each film inside the casing. However, there is a misquote on the three films he did with Doris Day (at least in my copy there is). It states the three movies Rock did with Doris were Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, and <EM>Come September</EM>? The first two are correct, but the latter is suppose to state <EM>Send Me No Flowers</EM>. He did Come September the same year as Send Me No Flowers, but he did it with an italian actress, Gina Lollibrigida as their second movie together.

PLOT SPOILER
Spiral road turned out to be an excellent, thoughtful film. It was too long in obscurity. Hudson plays an ambitious doctor and top competitive athlete who feels utterly self-confident. He is not sympathetic to people who can't handle life without community or for example religion.The film has lush tropical atmosphere in color, but such a view of humanity is the core issue here.

Ives is the crusty old world expert on leprosy who is too busy treating patients and coping with jungle life to publish his stack of research findings. He maintains a tough exterior but gains deep respect and affection for Hudson, that he tries to conceal.

PLOT SPOILER
Toward the remarkable ending Hudson cracks under quite strange but believable psychological pressures. He is being outwitted and starts making dumb mistakes as any human might under such alien circumsances. If you are the sort who thinks YOU wound never ever make such mistakes, forget this film. Anyway he falls apart mentally out alone in the jungle. He has to be rescued. All that saves him is that other human beings who love him more than he loves them have come to care about him. It is implied that he comes to realize that loving human bonds are not simply weaknesses but are critical to human survival and give meaning to life.

Elsewhere I read that the film is about atheism versus religious belief. The film does involve missionaries who run a leper colony, Hudson's disdain for religion, and it does end with a quote from the Bible, but the overall characterization is misleading. All these elements largely raise issues for the viewer to ponder. For example suppose Hudson's scientific arguments were correct, and the religious position was wrong. So what? -- Apparently what was really important was the love component in religion as it was presented in the film in the context of care for the lepers and the importance of personal bonds among the doctors in tough situations at the edge of survival. I don't know the book, and it is not impossible that the author originally had a different objective, and that Hudson would have found God in the end. But that was not how the film developed the story.

Hudson and others did quite respectable jobs of acting. Some would say he was out of character, but I would say that the film is rather unusual in any event and any famous actor might seem out of character for some viewers. I liked the way he played the role, however. Gratefully, the actors did not overplay and trivialize the points that I just made. I liked the dialogue. There were some nice thought provoking lines.

This is quite simply a thought provoking film -- it is not an action or adventure film. It is not the usual sort of drama. It is not an inspirational religious film about conversion. It is difficult to put it into the usual categories without raising misleading expectations.

I am a Rock Hudson fan, and I enjoyed these movies, I had never seen any of these movies before!
I remember seeing Rock Hudson on TV for the first time, when I was a very young little girl, watching a Rock Hudson movie on TV, with my parents, and I thought that he was the most handsome man in the world! I think that he was the first handsome man, that I'd ever seen! Rock Hudson is one good looking, beautiful man! Wow! He is my all-time favorite handsome leading man, and to this day, I have not seen anyone out do Rock!

In this movie collection HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL, is a very good movie, it gives you a idea of how it was with the roaring 20's, college era, and about people who have money, and the people who don't! I loved the funny, old man who was the secret, rich, millionare! I enjoyed it!

And my favorite was THE GOLDEN BLADE, I just loved it, and I loved the chemisty between Rock Hudson, and Piper Laurie, who played the beautiful princess! This movie I will watch again, it is your classic romantic, love story, with your dashing handsome hero(Rock Hudson), that saves the princess, and her kingdom!

The movie A VERY SPECIAL FAVOR, reminded me of some of Rock Hudson's movies with Doris Day, but in this movie Leslie Caron was the leading lady, and of course Rock was your handsome playboy! I loved the man who was the matchmaking father, who was trying to fix up his beautiful daughter, with Rock!

I just loved this movie THE LAST SUNSET! Kirk Douglas was the handsome outlaw, and Rock Hudson was the handsome cowboy hero! Wow! Rock Hudson as a cowboy! My favorite scene in the movie was when Rock Hudson moved the wagon to point to the north star, so that he could seek the attentions of the pretty widow Belle, who was in the wagon.

But the movie that touched my heart was THE SPIRAL ROAD, I love Burl Ives ,he is always one of my favorite actors, he is simply outstanding! No one can out do Burl! But Rock Hudson surprised me in this film, he show me that he was more than a handsome leading man, he showed me what a outstanding, talented man he really was, in the scene where he gets lost in the jungle, standing in the water, with tears in his eyes touching his reflection in the water, and realizing that it was his reflection in the water, staring back at him, that scene was awesome! I loved this movie collection, and I highly recommend it! And I will watch these movies again!

I really enjoyed this 5 dvd movie pack. the picture quality is very good and all 5 movies are in color. Great story lines are presented on all 5 movies! this dvd set is a great addition to other Rock Hudson Movies.

The Spiral Road was one of my favorite movies when I was high school and college. It wasn't a "popular" or terribly huge box office success, but the theme is wonderful, and I believe it remains one of Rock Hudson's absolute best performances. It's theme is we all need each other, and we need God. The scene that just brings sobs to me every time I see it - is the "Aha" moment, where Dr. Anton Drager comes to a realization that he does need help. If you read Daniel 4 in the Bible, you'll see a close parallel between King Nebuchadnezzar and Dr. Anton Drager. Thankfully, Dr. Drager doesn't spend seven years as a madman, maybe only a few weeks. But the outcome is the same.

The moments are very powerful and the cast is terrific. You have the beautiful Gena Rowlands as Else, the love of Anton's life, "Honeylamb" according to Dr. Brits Jensen, the foremost expert on leprosy. He is wonderfully played by Burl Ives, who can go from very serious to very humorous and back again in the course of the movie. There are many other notable performances in the film as well, in smaller parts. The witchdoctor you'll recognize as the assassin from "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (Doris Day and James Stewart version). He is appropriately creepy.

One of my favorite characters was the long-suffering, yet non-judgmental and humble Dr. Willem Waters of the Salvation Army. He responds well to persecution and mockery. He took responsibility for any quarrels, even though they weren't his fault. I totally appreciated that as an example of what real humility looks like.

I did watch The Golden Blade, A Very Special Favor, and Has Anybody Seen My Gal. They're OK. I really liked Has Anybody Seen My Gal, and I thought The Golden Blade was a lark.

But I bought this because it is the only place you can get The Spiral Road. That movie has the best message, the best cast, and I believe will linger long with you after you see it. It's been nearly 40 years since I saw it the first time - and I was so thrilled to be able to get it on DVD.

all ok well then i don't want to review I was satisified witht he product and that's all I want you to know

I loved "Has anybody Seen My Gal" most of all. It is a show I will watch over and over. The other four are injoyable, too. I liked "A Very Special Favor." Rock Hudson can be a good comedian. Jo