Customer Reviews

The Iceman Cometh

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

 

 

I originally saw this many years ago wondering what Lee Marvin was doing in such a high brow production and was rewarded with a memorable experience and new respect for the actors involved. I was surprised to find Fredric March in this. A movie star from the early days of the sound era, a two tme Oscar winner, I always knew March was a good and well respected actor, and there were two times when he shocked me and I realised HOW good he was: one was the original A STAR IS BORN where his performance surpassed the era it came from, playing more modern amidst the hokum and phony sentimentality that surrounded everything else in the picture, giving the film a lasting relevancy; the other was INHERIT THE WIND, where I was all geared up to watch Spencer Tracy in a great role and wound up picking my jaw off the floor at March in the Brady role. No Academy nomination, no lasting hossanahs, was anybody else aware of what March was doing here? Well his performance here surpasses those two. Amazing how his acting style kept changing, permitting him to give relevant performances for over forty years in quality films. His work here is fully shaded and from an aesthetic viewpoint, a joy to watch. But even his performance is not the outstanding one in the picture. That honor goes to Robert Ryan. ROBERT RYAN??!!??!! Always a solid performer, whether playing the hard-bitten good guy or the hard-bitten bad guy (usually), there is nothing in his canon of work that will prepare you for the magnitude or the depth of his performance here. Who knew there was a giant, and I do mean GIANT, talent lurking in that lean boxer frame. It will make you angry, and sad, that his talent was barely scratched in all those movies. But it is ultimately a blessing that in this, his last film, he was able to get a role that would utilize his full range as an actor. An incredible revelation. Since these AFT productions only played for 2 screenings, they fell under the radar of the Academy Awards' stipulation that a film must play for a week to be eligible for nominations, which is why you won't see any of these AFT productions in the Academy books on excellence. Marvin doesn't hit the mark of these two performances, but he is very good, at times excellent. Tough going, but a rewarding, memorable experience..

Consider the fact that not one but two of the actors in this astoundingly good production gave their last cinematic performances. Now consider that one of them gave one of his first performances. The convergence of talent for this full 4 hour production is beyond prodigious; it's breathtaking. Robert Ryan and Frederic March are flawless as two old, embittered men whose reliance on booze, day to day, gets them through life. Both have women who abandoned them--one died, one left. Both lapse into stark cynicism that breaks the heart. Both, when you see their faces, make you want to cry from the pain they feel.

They are the best here, but the supporting cast is almost as good. Jeff Bridges, in one of his first roles, gives it everything he's got to convey the portrait of a young man who's trying as hard as he can to steer clear of the bitterness and cynicism that surrounds him in Harry Hope's (Frederic March) skid row saloon, frequented by Harry, Larry (Robert Ryan), and an assortment of others whose lives have left them nothing but the will to drink and drink some more.

Parritt, Jeff Bridges' character, almost succeeds in shucking off the hopelessness, but if he fully succeeded, he wouldn't keep returning to the place--which he does. He's the odd one out; the others are grizzled or, if young (like Brad Dillman's character, Willie) so besotted they're decades older than their natural years. Into this morass of self-pity and useless nostalgia comes Hickey--Lee Marvin--a salesman who exhorts everyone to give up their pipe dreams, get off the sauce like he's recently done, and face reality.

Easier said than done. You'd think that four hours of a play would become wearying, but the actors are so good here, and the dialogue so strong--thanks to master craftsman Eugene O'Neill--that rather than putting you to sleep, this drama has the opposite effect. Mention should also be made of Moses Gunn as the sole black man in the place who's embittered as well, blaming the white man for his failure when it's all too clear it's his own shortcomings that have led him to Harry's dive. Gunn is terrific in his role, almost as good as Ryan and March.

This is American drama at its finest, and a production, part of the American Film Theater (AFT) series, that does justice to O'Neill's gripping play. It's impossible to fault anyone here, and the director, John Frankenheimer--better known for great thrillers like The Train and Seconds--said that this was the best work he ever did. The DVD comes with a number of extras including an interview with Edy Landau, co-producer of the entire American Film Theater series; a brief introduction by her now-deceased husband (taped in 1974), Eli Landau, the other co-producer; a gallery of stills; a set of trailers for many of the AFT films; reviews of the series by various critics; and an essay on The Iceman Cometh by Michael Feingold, premier New York film critic.

This is a superior piece of dramatic work that should not be missed, and one of the great American plays. Consider the fact that when this originally ran, it was only for two showings! Hats off to Kino Video for making this available on DVD.

Very highly recommended.

The American Film Theater Series was an interesting experiment promoted by American Express in the early 1970's. Buyers paid a subscription price for tickets for a series of plays on film that were shown at a few select area theatres. Iceman was my favorite of the series. Going in I wasn't expecting brilliance from tough guy Lee Marvin. Boy, was I wrong! Marvin was magnificent. So were March, Ryan and Bridges.
The series made its one run through the movie houses and then it disappeared for decades. Back in the 1990's I wrote American Express asking why none of the plays from the series were ever made available to viewers again after 1973. I was told that there were issues regarding residuals & royalties. For many years the only copy of Iceman that was available to the public was maintained at the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
If you were not one of the few who saw the production in 1973, you might never have known that this fine production ever existed - not because it wasn't great but because it wasn't available.
Despite its relative obscurity, Iceman is a true classic not to be missed. The same is true for Rhinoceros, another play now finally available from the series. All of the plays in the series might be of interest to theatre goers, but Iceman and Rhinoceros will appeal to theatre goers and non theatre goers alike. They are absolute treasures, lost for years and finally re-found.

All the performances in this film are excellent. A fine example of cohesive ensemble playing. Lee Marvin has been described by various critics as being miscast as Hickey. I suppose this is based upon comparisons with Robards. I haven't seen any other versions of this play but I think Marvin's performance is fine. Certainly Ryan and March are brilliant and for these two performances this video is worth owning. For those of you who have seen this version on TV in the past note: this is the 4 hour uncut version rarely seen outside of the original season of 1973. Only O'Neill can sustain drama over such a long time. You Americans should be proud of him he was a genius and this is his masterpiece.

I will simply agree with the other reviewers raving about March and Ryan, as well as the thought that the entire ensemble is incredibly good. This movie was a cult favorite of mine back in the day - I would drag people to see it as a way of communicating that I really cared about them.

It was very upsetting to see how bad the print is. Wow. It would be a labor of love for someone to go through this to correct the color. Since it is the acting and the dialogue that is most important, this is still a treasure, but it would be wonderful to be able to see it with all the atmosphere it had when it was released in theaters.

Back in the early 1970's, a group called the American Film Theater conceived the idea of bringing the stage to larger audiences by filming theater plays with all-star casts. We all know plenty of stage productions that were turned into movies but they were adapted to the different medium. Sometimes the script was changed, usually the sets were greatly expanded beyond what the stage could accommodate, supporting casts quadrupled, etc. What the AFT intended was along the lines of many Shakespearian film productions where the focus was on the actors and the script rather than the action and the locations. I remember that there were a limited number of productions (14) that were filmed. I recall "Rhinoceros" by Ionesco (I think) but the one that caught my eye was "The Iceman Cometh" both for the play and for the cast.

The AFT productions, as I recall, were not intended for the general theater distribution. They were, instead, intended to be a special release for a limited set of venues. I saw "The Iceman Cometh" in Madison, Wisconsin in 1976. I was impressed enough by the film that I went out and read the play.

"The Iceman Cometh" has a rather complex message that tells the tale of a reformed alcohlic that revisits one of his hangouts to try and reform the dead-enders that inhabit the tavern. The opening scene lets us know just how down and out this clientele is; most of them are coming to in the morning at the chairs they passed out in the night before. Larry Slade (played by Robert Ryan) is the lone person who is awake besides the bartender. As the other come to, we see a group of people who have descended to the lowest point within their reach. The one thing they all look forward to is the arrival of Hickey who comes every year to celebrate Harry Hope's birthday. Hope is the ironically named owner of the tavern and is played by Frederick March. Hickey eventually arives but this time he is out to reform the bunch and get them to throw away their pipe dreams and face reality. The play deals with their attempts to folow his advice and their reaction to their efforts. It is also about Hickey's inability to comprehend his own advice. Is the message that turning a new leaf is easier said than done? "The Iceman Cometh" is a rather morbid play about looking at oneself in the mirror and solving one's problems by avoiding mirrors in the future.

The brilliance of this movie is in the outstanding acting. Special kudos go out to the three most recognizable names in the cast; Robert Ryan, Frederick March, and Lee Marvin who plays Hickey. Of the three, I would give the nod to Ryan if I had to pick the best preformance. However, John Frankenheimer deserves special recognition as well for directing for the stage while making it for film audiences. In many scenes, as the attention shifts from one group of characters to another, the other actors hold their poses in the background so as not to disturb the focus of the audience. That's how it's done on the stage and that's how it's done in "The Iceman Cometh". The set is nothing more than you would find on stage; we get the feel of Broadway in our own hometown and now, thanks the release of the DVD, we get that feel in our own living room. What a great concept and what a great production.

All fourteen AMERICAN FILM THEATER productions have been rediscovered and restored. Collection One features: Lee Marvin in Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh"; Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel in Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros"; Alan Bates in Simon Grey's "Butley"; Susannah York and Glenda Jackson in Jean Genet's "The Maids" and Stacy Keach and Judi Dench in John Osborne's "Luther".

AFT was the brainchild of producer Ely Landau, who believed a great segment of the movie audience wanted "think and feel." This superior collection of modern plays is performed with superb talents at the peak of their powers. Lee Marvin is a wonder in "The Iceman Cometh" and it's wonderful seeing Wilder and Mostel (The Producers) reunited in the metaphorically puzzling Rhinoceros. For me, the most electrifying of all is Keach and Dench in "Luther". This one is more timely than ever.

This brilliant, first collection of six DVD titles is highly recommended.

This excellent production directed by John Frankenhimer was part of the 1973 American Film Theater series of plays shown in theaters by subscription. This exceptional cast headed by Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Frederic March and a very young Jeff Bridges captures O'Neill's disillusioned band of "pipe dreamers" to a tee. Lee Marvin is especially impressive and dispells the tough guy image in a finely textured and layered performance. I recommend this as well as the 1960 Jason Robards production, also available on VHS and DVD.

The "history" line is so sad yet true. It's uttered by Larry, brilliantly played by Robert Ryan (one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood history). It sums up this Dostoyevsky like play/film. It's very heavy going, rarely showing a ray of sunshine in the dismal existences of the sad souls that populate Harry's Hope, a 1912 dive bar where getting another round of whiskey is all that matters in these shattered lives. Some hang onto their pipe dreams, but they are only dreams. This is a full text, uncut version of the film, directed by the great John Frankenheimer (The original Manchurian Candidate and Seconds). The film had rarely been seen (in any form) since its premiere with the American Film Theater endeavor undertaken by Ely Landau. Kino has restored this film to its original 239 minute length. Kudos to them for bringing it to us. While there are problems with the source material (you can tell where material's been restored and the sound isn't always clear), it's still worth watching. It's not the worst transfer I've ever seen. The performances are superlative. Even Marvin, who some have criticised as being miscast, acquits himself quite well as Hickey. Ryan is the standout in a great cast. See John Ford's The Long Voyage Home and Sidney Lumet's Long Days Journey into Night (also produced by Landau) for great films based on O'Neill's work.

This is a special American Film Theatre performance of Eugene O'Neill's classic play. The time is the summer of 1912 in New York City. The scene is Harry Hope's skid row bar. The action takes place in four acts over two days. Act One is the early morning of Harry Hope's birthday. Act Two is the birthday party that evening. Act Three is the following morning. Act Four takes place in the very early hours of the next day. The total play runs for four hours on two discs, two acts to each disc.

The story is well known. A bunch of life's failures inhabit the bar. They have rooms upstairs, and rarely go out. Some get remittances from families who want them to stay away from home. Others get funds from whatever means. One is a pimp who is supported by a woman. The men are joined by three tarts who use the bar as their home base. The men are awaiting the arrival of Teddy "Hickey" Hickman, a successful salesman who always shows up for Harry Hope's birthday, buys them drinks and kids around. They all have their pipe dreams about how they are going to redeem themselves, but they will do it tomorrow, just as they will pay Harry their room rent tomorrow.

Robert Ryan gave an outstanding performance as Larry, the philosophical ex-anarchist who sometimes can say more with a look than with words. Lee Marvin plays Hickey, the type role where he excelled. The young Jeff Bridges played Parritt, a young friend of Larry who shows up with problems he wants to confess, and is having trouble coming to grips with himself. Fredric March plays Harry Hope, the bar owner just turning 60 who has not left the bar since his wife died 20 years earlier. Tom Pedi is Rocky, the bartender who takes money from two women on the side, but won't admit to being a pimp. The entire supporting cast gave great performances.

Hickey shows up claiming to be reformed, and trys to make the other characters give up their pipe dreams. They all start out the door, but come back again. The time is just not quite right, but they say they will venture out later - maybe tomorrow. In the end, Hickey's own secrets are revealed, and the others convince themselves that Hickey is crazy and that they are OK.

There is a side plot involving Larry, and his young friend Parritt who is grappling with his problems. In the end, Parritt seems to be the only one influenced by Hickey as he resolves his inner turmoil.

The Iceman, by the way, is what is waiting outside the door (in some cases death). The name comes from one of Hickey's jokes about how the iceman comes around to see his wife when he is out of town (this is 1912 when people had ice boxes and took deliveries of ice).

My only complaint is that the full cast is not listed on the DVD case. The amazon page provides a listing if you click on "see more."

This is a PG-13 production because of content.