Product Details

• Actors: Robert Preston, Tom Aldredge, Fred Gwynne, Frances Sternhagen, Seth Allen
• Directors: Ralph Rosenblum
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Monterey Video
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2004
• Run Time: 37 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002VGSQW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,313 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Seen on PBS

Written By: Mark Twain

Starring: Robert Preston, Fred Gwynne

Directed By: Ralph Rosenblum Description: Hadleyburg has a reputation for unshakable honesty. The smug towns-people are proud of this virtue and keep themselves honest by simply avoiding temptation. That is until The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg arrives in town.

Robert Preston stars as the stranger who plots a revenge on the hypocritical residents by promising a fortune to the citizens who once showed him charity many years before. One by one the stranger tempts the leading citizens to scheme for the money- until Hadleyburg's honest reputation is mud before the world.

Based on one of Mark Twain's best-known short stories, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a cynical, yet humorous view of life in America's small towns-a life that the acerbic Mr. Twain knew only too well.

DVD Extras: About the Author, Actors’ Bios, About the American Short Story Collection, Henry Fonda Intro, Printable Study Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent adaptation, overpriced DVD, May 1, 2006

By 

R. Gale (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (DVD)

This TV production from the 1980s is a decent translation of Twain's classic story to the small screen. Robert Preston is always a joy to watch, and Fred Gwynne is good in his role as the minister. This was one of a number of American Short Stories filmed for a PBS series, and its small budget does show -- the production and technical values are not impressive. But content trumps in this case, and the power of the story takes you through the bumps. The show has NOT been remastered for DVD, so the print has dirt and is not as sharp as it would be if it had been mastered from the negative. The show (like all of the shows in this series) is only about 40 minutes, so at this price, it's a complete rip-off. The video distributor should have put 4 or 5 stories on a disk, and then it would be worth buying at this price. So rent it from NetFlix -- the cost of this DVD will pay for a month's subscription, and you'll be able to rent 10 or 12 of these and get your money's worth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overpriced, March 12, 2008

By 

Sherman Peabody "Sherm" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (DVD)

I have this on VHS and was somewhat surprised to find it on DVD for the price. The running time is just over a half hour and there are no extras listed. Most of the film was shot in South Royalton, Vermont back in the early '80's and some of the stores kept their Hadleyburg logos into the new century. I used to have a summer home six miles away, but if you didn't, the nostalgia is not worth twenty bucks. I'll keep my VHS tape (if I can find it.)