Customer Reviews

Our Town [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although this is the most expensive of the Our Town videos, it seems to be the ONLY one available that is staged as a play rather than a movie. There is no scenery and there are few props and set pieces--just as Wilder meant it to be. I find this version to be the most effective for teaching students and the most interesting to watch as an individual viewer.

Moving, simple, elegant...these are the words that occur to me regarding this version of Our Town, a play which, in this video, LOOKS like a play, which makes it all the more effective. Movies are good at some things; other things, like human relationships, somehow seem more real on stage. The acting is superb, the direction unobtrusive and natural, the work itself one of those rare moments caught by an artist. Rent it, buy the laser disc, wait for it to drop in price, but see it.

Thornton Wilder's classic dramatic play comes to life on screen in this well-cast 1977 stage production. The acting is rich and the characters well-developed, and both are accented by the simple yet homey nature of the sets and backdrops. Those who have already met George and Emily in the pages of Wilder's book will be extremely pleased with this version, and those who have yet to discover Our Town will find themselves immediately intimate with the world of Grover's Corners.

I have always thought you should judge art by does it work or not. This works, the play is just heartbreaking, the performances all top notch, not overplayed. And I do love Glynnis O'Connor, (somebody bring back Sons and Daughters). This is so powerful I could almost not stand to see the end of it, reminds me of the end of Searching for Private Ryan. If you liked this try The Bridge Over the San Louis Rey which is just as good (not the movie, the book). I remember seeing this version of Our Town when it first came out and liking it. I read some reviews that say the lack of props bother some people, but those same people said they had trouble following the plot. I did not having any problem at all following the play, it would have hurt less if I had. Wonderful stuff. Please bring this out on DVD and drop the price so people can afford to buy it. Still worth the money though, every penny. Best thing I have seen in the last year with MAYBE the exception of City of God.

Some good news- this version, along with the 1989 version, is now available from Amazon in a DVD version. Look for "Thornton Wilder's Our Town: Two Historic Productions (1977)" and you'll get this version as well as the 1989 Lincoln Center version starring Spalding Gray, Eric Stoltz, Penelope Ann Miller, and Peter Maloney. 3 3/4 hours total for both.

And now to my review.

This 1977 version is, in my mind, the very best of all I've seen. It's set as a simple play using simple props on an obvious empty stage, which produces powerful results. I love the clean simplicity of this production. It allows the audience to concentrate on the characters- and the characters are very well developed and played with depth.

Sorry, but I can't call this version "flawed" at all. I first saw it on PBS back in 1977 and found it to be one of the most thought-provoking plays I'd ever seen- live or otherwise.

We had this movie on Beta. The homespun quality of the characters - HH and all of the fine cast - warms your soul. Used to seeing the play performed on step ladders, this production does not destroy the minimalism - the sets in this film version are tasteful and add a touch that I believe TW would have approved of. Now we have the movie on VHS - Return of the Prodigal indeed.