Customer Reviews

Last Angry Man [VHS]

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

 

 

This movie is about an elderly doctor in the Brooklyn slums. He has lived and worked in the slums for 45 years. He is dedicated to his profession and his patients. The story revolves around his nephew's efforts to turn the doctor's life into a television program. The movie is ok, but Paul Muni shines. He received an Oscar nomination for this, his last movie. Billy Dee Williams makes his movie debut as one of the doctor's patients. He plays a young thug with a brain tumor. The doctor has to chase after him to treat him. If you look closely at the girl left on he porch in the opening scene, you'll see that it's Cicely Tyson, also an unknown at that time.

"The Last Angry Man" (1959) is notable as Paul Muni's final film and his sixth nomination as best actor. He was nominated for his very first film, "The Valiant" in 1929, and again for "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (1932), "Black Fury" (1935), "The Story of Louis Pasteur" (1936), and "The Life of Emile Zola" (1937). He won once - for Louis Pasteur (although his performance in this film is far superior). To be nominated 6 times over a period of 30 years is remarkable (and unmatched) itself, but this achievement is all the more meaningful when you realize that Muni made only 21 films, and furthermore, he wasn't nominated for "Scarface" (1932) or "The Good Earth" (1937) in which his performances were also exceptional.

While most actors today are type cast and essentially play the same role over and over, Muni was truly versatile. One can contrast his maniacal Tony Camonte ("Scarface") with the quiet dignity of Chinese farmer Wang ("The Good Earth") vs. James Allen, the Veteran wrongly accused of a crime ("Chain Gang"). Muni could equally get lost in costume dramas playing historical characters (Benito Juarez, Emile Zola, Louie Pasteur).

In "The Last Angry Man" Muni plays an elderly Jewish physician, which is probably the least acting he ever had to do, since he was 54 years old at the time and Jewish from birth. After the film was released, Muni returned to the stage, a practice he had adopted throughout his long career. In fact, Muni won a Tony for his performance as Henry Drummond in the play "Inherit the Wind". Eventually his eyesight faded and he retired altogether.

The film co-stars David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, and Luther Adler. Wayne was a busy actor, appearing in more than 100 films, plays, and TV shows, most notably in "The Tender Trap" (1955) and "The Andromedia Strain" (1971). He won Tony's for "Finian's Rainbow" and "Teahouse of the August Moon" but perhaps is best known as the actor who appeared the most times with Marilyn Monroe - 4 times including "Howe to Mary a Millionaire" (1953). Wayne is more than adequate in his performance here.

Betsy Palmer is best known for her many appearances on "I've Got a Secret" from 1958 to 1967, but along the way she had many supporting roles, including "Marty" (1953), "The Long Gray Line" (1955), "Mister Roberts" (1955) and "Friday the 13th" Parts 1 (1980) and 2 (1981) as Pamela Voorhees. Her last role was in 2007.

Luther Adler is another multi-talented actor that moved gracefully between stage, TV and film. He appeared in the remake of "M" (1951) along with co-star David Wayne, played Hitler in "The Desert Fox" (1951), and Paul Newman's uncle in "Absence of Malice" (1981). He appears to coast through most of the film, but as it draws to the end he elevates his performance.

The film marked the debut of Billy Dee Williams and Godfrey Cambridge. Cambridge has little to do but run around, and Billy Dee does OK as a young boy with epilepsy.

The film was directed by Daniel Mann, a well known director whose impressive credits included "Come Back Little Sheba" (1952), "The Rose Tatoo" (1955), "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (1955), "Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956), and "Butterfield 8" (1960). He also made the 1980 TV movie "Playing for Time". He received 3 DGA nominations and 3 nominations at Cannes, winning the International Prize for "Sheba" in 1952. He was fond of material that showed the strengths and weaknesses of people, and liked to shoot his films in New York where he was born.

The photography on this film is exceptional, due to the contribution of James Wong Howe. Howe was a legendary cinematographer, shooting more than 100 films and nominated for 10 of them, winning twice ("Hud" in 1964 and "The Rose Tatoo" in 1955).

The film was a commercial and critical success. It was nominated for Best Actor and Art Direction at the Academy Awards and Best Supporting Actor (Adler) for the Golden Laurel Awards. The film is particularly interesting today as it deals with the very beginnings of "reality TV shows". It's made at a time when Hollywood was just getting over its fear of TV and starting to examine it as a medium

I thought it was great. My grandparents lived in NY at the time, so it feel close to home for them.

Very satisfied with the condition of video. The movie was ,as expected, very good The acting was exceptional by Paul Muni and Luther Adler

It's hard for me to enjoy this film much, since absolutely none of it feels even remotely genuine (well, one aspect of the film feels real, and I'll get to that in a minute). I really wanted to like this movie (that should go without saying; I mean, who wants to dislike their entertainment) and I did enjoy parts of it, but for the most part this seemed to me to be very sub par.

The film tells of the selfless yet very bitter Brooklyn doctor Sam Abelman. He is dedicated to his craft, rather prideful, and puts his patients before himself even when they don't want to be placed there. He meets Mr. Thrasher, a television executive who is trying to create a show the public will adore, something that will boost his career (or save it depending on how you look at it). The problem is that Dr. Abelman wants nothing to do with the show. Thrasher gets Abelman's nephew and close friend to help persuade him, but the doctor's work ethic may get in the way of his own television success.

I found the character of Sam Abelman to be ridiculous really. He just seemed so unrealistic. I think most of it had to do with the poor writing, which gave him little to work with. His relationship with Thrasher seems forced, and even though in the end Thrasher is supposed to learn something from this man, it just seems odd that he does. I felt that for the most part Paul Muni handled his performance the best he could, but in the end (as in, in the last scenes) he throws it all away for Hollywood dramatization that took away from all that he was building. David Wayne fares better, somewhat, but it's the supporting cast that makes it out of the burning building unscathed (all except Billy Dee Williams who was AWFUL here).

Luther Adler and Nancy R. Pollack are both wonderful, delivering strong supporting performances. Pollack is very genuine and very believable as the doctor's concerned wife. I was drawn to her every movement. Adler is also rather sincere, and his comedic touch is a nice compliment to his character.

I guess I shouldn't be so hard on the film. There are moments throughout that are engaging and some of the performances are rich and heartfelt, but overall the film lacks any real connective tissue. It doesn't feel compelling to me and the moral we are supposed to glean seems unfulfilled here. It's not a terrible movie, but it is far from a great one. Some of the dialog is wretched to say the least (when Thrasher offers to by Abelman's nephew a basketball I rolled my eyes it was so LAME, and then when he turns around and offers him a vice presidency at the station I fell off the couch it was so preposterous). I just wish that it had been tweaked a bit (or a lot) to bring to fruition what is lying beneath the surface.