Product Details

• Actors: Laurence Olivier, Constance Cummings, Denis Quilley, Ronald Pickup, Maureen Lipman
• Directors: Peter Wood
• Writers: Eugene O'Neill
• Producers: Cecil Clarke
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Bfs Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Run Time: 160 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009WVMJ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,087 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Performances, Great Play, Great DVD, November 30, 2003

By 

Tom From NY "Tom From NY" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Long Day's Journey Into Night (DVD)

I am delighted to be able to add this to my DVD collection. This production of the play is easily the finest ever put on film or tape, infinitely superior to that rather tired film with Katherine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson. This was taped in the studio after a famed production of the play was a major success at England's National Theatre.

Olivier's James Tyrone is indelible, the only actor I have ever seen to make the character a real living person rather than a hard-hearted tyrant. Olivier's performance is heart breaking, one of the most beautiful and moving performances I've ever seen. His James Tyrone manages to be achingly human and sad at all times, without ever once sugar-coating the character's less admirable qualities. That the same can be said of Constance Cummings as Mary Tyrone, and Denis Quilley and Ronald Pickup as Jamie and Edmund is a tribute to an overall magnificent cast.

A more than worthy addition to anyone's DVD library, and vital viewing for anyone interested in watching a great performance of a great play.

All in all, this is a great feast of acting for those willing to sit still and watch it with the attention it deserves. It doesn't get better than this.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Constance Cummings is Magnificent, July 28, 2003

By 

Dennis J. Pauly (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Long Day's Journey Into Night (DVD)

I prefer the Katharine Hepburn version overall but this one I will
buy just for the magnificence of Constance Cummings. Olivier got
an Emmy and huzzahs at the time but I don't really believe his
James Tyrone. But Cummings is Mary Tyrone. Just watching her
in her closeups as the morphine-addicted mother, haunted by her
past. There have been some wonderful Mary Tyrones recently.
Vanessa Redgrave and Jessica Lange were fabulous too. But each
one had a little different interpretation and all are valid I
think. But Cummings is right up there with the best. I still hope
someone puts her shattering portrayal in WINGS on video. It deserves to be preserved too.

67 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the 1962 Katharine Hepburn Classic, June 20, 2003

By 

Jonathan F. Pugh (Weaverville, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Long Day's Journey Into Night (DVD)

For those of you who are thrilled to pieces to have found that this brilliant work will be released on DVD, I might have some bad news for you. I took the liberty to e-mail the President of the studio which is producing this DVD, and he informed me that the version is one from 1973 starring Laurence Olivier. And while Olivier was no slouch as an actor, I think most people will continue to view the 1962 film version to be the superior production. However you feel about it, I thought it would be nice to know what product you are considering. I hope it helps.