Customer Reviews

They All Laughed [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This film is perfectly charming all the way through. There's lots of great talent in the star-studded cast and the whole effect is one of a charming fairy tale with wit and humor. The story is just a little bit far-out when private investigators break with their professional code and actually meet and fall in love with the people they are hired to watch. But putting that on one side, this is a lovely story that shows us a charming side of New York. This film rises to the delighful level that one rarely sees in films set in New York. Too many wallow in the 'mean streets' with guns and violence, but this one is a story about people who enjoy the city and move seamlessly through it, jumping from taxi to taxi arriving for meetings and liasons so smoothly. John Ritter shows us he is a master craftsman at being the buffoon and comes up with an assortment of fients, starts and gaffs to lighten the story. Ben Gazzara shows a charmingly romantic side of him, Audrey Hepburn is the masterful actress she always was. The street scenes are entirely authentic and lend credibility to the film. Nice acting, smooth cutting and humorous sub-plots are there too, and these make it all the more real. Dorothy Stratten glows with charm and beauty and is absolutely captivating. Peter Bogdanovich has posed and illuminated her well and she carries herself with confidence. What a charming legacy to leave behind is this film. How sad she was not given the opportunity to do more.
I put this film on whenever I want to be put in a good mood, and visit The City, and the film never fails to show me additional things each time I see it. What a gem

The last credit in this film explains its appeal - - Thank you to the people of Manhattan on whose island this was filmed. A charming and witty romantic comedy, it is a love story written to New Yorkers (Peter Bogdanovich is a native) who can identify every location (West 12th Street, Greenwich Avenue - not Street, the Ansonia, the old FAO Schwartz, the Plaza, the Roxy, and City Limits which was a country & western club - not a Tex-Mex joint). One gets the impression that the entire ensemble cast clicked as well off-screen as they do on, and this intimacy is clearly communicated. I laughed, I cried, it was better than CATS. Not only an ode to Dorothy Stratten, it was also one of Audrey Hepburn's last appearances on-screen (if not THE last) and her inner beauty seeps from the screen. Buy it, make a big tub of popcorn, and curl up with someone you love.

I think the picture is a neglected masterpiece, a lovely bittersweet romantic postcard to a New York pretty nearly gone now, shot stunningly by Robby Mueller (who also shot Bogdanovich's great SAINT JACK in a similar seat-of-the-pants style). The good news is that the picture on this dvd looks excellent, and the film is actually the original theatrical version (there was a misbegotten director's cut floating around for awhile that took a scene from the middle and stuck it at the beginning for no good reason) WITH additional footage in one sequence that is quite funny. So it takes all the good stuff added to the "director's cut" but keeps the original's superior sequencing.

The DVD also has a conversation between Peter Bogdanovich, the director with young director Wes Anderson, whose quite a fan of the film, plus a commentary. For fans of this film, you couldn't do better than this.

There is a certain French farcical charm, however calculated, about director Peter Bogdanovich's 1981 urban valentine to romantic entanglements in Manhattan; but just released on DVD a quarter-century later, the film still feels half-baked in execution. Perhaps because Bogdanovich has too innate a familiarity with Hollywood's golden era, there is just too much pastiche and not enough depth to the shenanigans of three private eyes, their put-upon boss and the various women with whom they intertwine most predictably. The characters come in and out of this omnibus tale like Robert Altman's "Nashville" and Jean Renoir's "Rules of the Game", but the results are not nearly as resonant.

Unfortunately, the movie was jinxed immediately when co-star Dorothy Stratten, who became romantically involved with Bogdanovich during filming, was infamously murdered by her husband right after its completion. If the film was meant as the director's launching pad for Stratten as he did previously for Cybill Shepherd in "The Last Picture Show", he is only partially successful this time as the pretty starlet makes a comparatively modest impression as Dolores, the innocent object of obsession for bumbling detective Charles. These two are part of a larger ensemble, which includes Arthur, a long-haired shamus constantly on roller skates, and John, the veteran investigator who finds himself drawn to Angela Niotes, the possibly philandering wife of an Italian industrialist.

Bogdanovich had the good fortune of casting Audrey Hepburn, in her last feature film starring role, as Angela. Even though her story does not even get going until an hour into the movie, a fiftyish Hepburn looks radiantly stylish and is the epitome of resigned grace as an unhappily married woman. In an apparent nod to Bogie, Ben Gazzara performs too close to the vest as world-weary John, while a young, bespectacled John Ritter seems to regale in all his slapstick business as the smitten Charles. Less successful are Blaine Novak as the overly hip Arthur, model Patti Hansen (long since married to Rolling Stone Keith Richards) as bromide-spouting taxi driver "Sam", and a particularly unctuous Colleen Camp as motor-mouthed country singer Christy Miller insinuating herself into everyone else's lives.

Much like a Jacques Demy film ("The Young Girls of Rochefort" comes immediately to mind), the plot unfolds after a long wordless introduction, and character motivations get filled in on an as-needed basis until the film gains some gravitas and then whimpers away. On the DVD's main extra, Bogdanovich states emphatically that this is the favorite of his films in an interview conducted with director Wes Anderson, who also admires the film (as does Quentin Tarantino, who makes it one of his top ten in "Halliwell's Top 1000" book). The details of the location shooting are interesting, as much was done on a modest scale with a minimum of extras, and Bogdanovich gratefully does not belabor the sensationalistic aspects of Stratten's death. He also provides a solid commentary track, and the print transfer on the DVD is relatively clean. I'm not sure the film is completely worthy of rediscovery in a vaunted 25th Anniversary Edition except for Hepburn's near-valedictory work and any lingering curiosity about Stratten.

Over the years a cult has grown up around this movie. And most of it centered around the murder of co-star Dorothy Stratten, who it must be pointed out is immensely appealing here. One can only wonder what lay ahead for her had she lived. It's obvious that Bogdanovich(her real-life fiance) tried to turn this movie into a valentine to her. It's just too bad he nearly lost his shirt in the process, because this is certainly a very charming picture.
But it could also be argued that charm is this film's selling point since it offers very little by way of a script. It moves along rather aimlessly from one story to the next, and for a comedy there really aren't all that many laughs to be had. Still, I completely enjoyed this movie. The charm and appeal of all the players more than made up for any shortcomings in the script. Stratten, like I said is breathtaking here and it's certainly no stretch of the imagination why John Ritter, playing the somewhat addled detective assigned to follow her would take more than a professional interest in his work(In an ugly parallel to the film Stratten's real-life estranged husband had her followed in a similar fashion in the weeks leading up to her death). Patti Hansen and Colleen Camp are both great-looking and likeable although Camp's over-the-top character can be grating at times. Audrey Hepburn brings her usual touch of class, as well as a lot of warmth to her part. Ben Gazzara shows a softer, more sensitive side that we rarely get to see. And John Ritter proves that with the right director he can be a comic force to be reckoned with.
An added bonus. The cinematography is top-drawer. New York has never looked so good.
The verdict? Yours to make, really. Just lie back, put your brain and neutral and enjoy. There are a lot worse ways to kill a couple of hours. Enjoy.

They All Laughed is a masterpiece. Peter Bogdanovich is the new Orson Welles. No director in the history use "subjective cinema" with such perfection. He's signature visual move is similar to Hitchcock's Rear Window. A little bit like the wonderfull Saint-Jack, he captures the intangible "feel" of New-York. At such moments, this movie becomes almost a non-narrative study of an urban environment. They All Laughed is nice, tender, sweet, funny and sad. Better than the Last Picture Show and Daisy Miller. One of the greatest film ever made.

Whether the story line makes any sense at all is irrelevant. This movie features the last appearances of Dorothy Stratten and Audrey Hepburn. For no other reason, that makes it worth the price of admission. Then add to that appearances by John Ritter and Ben Gazzara and you have some top actors doing the best they could with the script. I am also a Colleen Camp fan and as a songwriter enjoyed hearing her sing. She is a very good actress who is not well known. Believe it or not Colleen has been involved with more than 80 films in her career. This film is basically a showcase and was supposed to help Dorothy breakout into some legitimate acting roles. Peter had a very active interest in Dorothy to say the least. As it turned out, the picture is not only a fun experience to watch but more than that it is an historical document. The tragedy of Dorothy's death and the timing of it damaged the film's distribution. Although now it is somewhat dated the work of some fine actors is preserved and we get to see Dorothy one more time. Audrey Hepburn was and forever is one of the world's most beautiful women. Supposedly she had had an affair with Ben Gazzara during the filming of Bloodline in 1979. Their re-uniting was also a bittersweet moment because the scenes they shared were particularly poignant. It is a shame that the film never really had a national promotional campaign behind it and consequently only had a limited release. But those of us who know the film and appreciate it for it's own beauty and grace as well as comedic sense, are very pleased that it is now available on DVD and no longer need to worry about our well worn VHS copies. Thanks Amazon for having a copy for me to buy.

I bought this because Audrey Hepburn was in it and she is one of my all time favorites, but the movie, itself, does not live up to the hype on the cover. Very disjointed, very ridiculous, and found it very boring. There just didn't seem to be chemistry between the characters and the story, itself, was very weak. I would not recommend this movie even if you are diehard Hepburn fan like myself.

"THEY ALL LAUGHED" is a wonderful romantic comedy about Manhattan detectives who fall for the women they are following. Peter Bogdanovich directed this 1981 movie that stars Audrey Hepburn (her last lead role), Ben Gazzara (after his and Audrey's affair had ended), John Ritter, and Dorothy Stratten (her one and only starring role in a movie). Colleen Camp plays a delightful country-western singer. Filmed entirely on the island of Manhattan gives you a pre-9-11 sense of big city life. This DVD also has a commentary track with the director reminiscing about the movie. The soundtrack features Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, and a great roller-skating scene featuring "Sing, Sing, Sing." ENJOY!

Finally this wonderful film has been released on DVD and the quality of the picture is amazing! It literally looks like it was shot yesterday. This film also includes some extra footage of Dorothy Stratten. The extra footage comes when John Ritter is outside the shoe store and is looking in through the window and observing Dorothy talking with the other girls.

This is a fun film and an excellent transfer. Blu-Ray soon?