Customer Reviews

The World of Henry Orient

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Having watched this movie any time TCM showed it on TV, I was so happy to finally see it come out on DVD and in its original aspect ratio -- the only way to see this amazing movie.

Fans of the movie Ghost World might want to check out The World of Henry Orient as it is so obviously the template for GW -- although, not as cynical.

Henry Orient is a wonderfully nostalgic ode to a New York City that doesn't exist anymore. There is something truly magical about seeing the city as it was back in the '60s. The film captures this magical innocent time when you're a child and how this starts to fade when you grow up in your teen years.

The two girls are fantastic as are the adults -- especially Peter Sellers (is there anything this guy can't do?), Angela Lansbury (again, playing an evil, evil lady!), and most importantly, Tom Bosley who plays one of the girls' lovable, understanding dad -- a great performance!

This is one of the late, great George Roy Hill's best movies -- beautiful directed and shot that also features an infectious, whimsical score by Elmer Bernstein (recently released on CD)that will have you whistling it long after the movie ends.

This is not one of Peter Sellers' most famous films, but I consider it one of his best. It is incredibly funny, charming, and a perfect film about youth and life in New York in the early 1960's.

Sellers plays Henry Orient, an avant-garde pianist and master Lothario, who becomes the idol of two adolescent girls, Val Boyd, played by Tippy Walker, and Marian 'Gil' Gilbert, played by Merrie Spaeth. These girls are perfectly cast in their roles, and have wonderful chemistry. Val is the daughter of wealthy Park Avenue parents, portrayed by Tom Bosley and Angela Lansbury. Gil is from a broken home, and lives with her mother. The girls meet at school, then attend a concert by the flamboyant Mr. Orient. From there, they begin stalking him, although stalking was not in vogue in 1964. They become his ardent admirers, believing what magazines write about him, and hanging around outside his Park Avenue apartment, dressed in Chinese hats.

Henry Orient, of course, is a no-talent, no-good playboy, who is having an affair with the married and somewhat reluctant Stella Dunworthy, well played by Paula Prentiss. It seems that Henry Orient spends most of his days sleeping, talking on his futuristic phone, and chasing women.

It is all an innocent pursuit for the girls, whose friendship is really the center of the film. This is very well portrayed, and backed with gorgeous New York scenery. The trust of the girls is severely tested, and we see the change from wide-eyed innocence, to devastating disappointment.

Angela Lansbury plays a completely despicable society hound, showing her great range as the actress new generations recognize as the sweet Jessica Fletcher. Peter Sellers, as always, moves into his character completely, and switches from sauve to clueless in a matter of minutes.

This is a wonderful film, very entertaining, and based on a book of the same name. It is not dated, it is fresh and funny and I think all ages will enjoy it.

This is what I call a "comfort" movie, one you can watch over and over and still enjoy. Tells the story of 2 teenaged girls - Val, a piano prodigy neglected by her wealthy globe trotting parents, and Gil, a lonely girl being raised by her single Mom and her mom's best friend. The two girls meet at school and become best friends. Val develops a crush on Henry Orient (Peter Sellers) a terrible pianist with a habit of chasing married women. Val and Gil dedicate their lives to the study of Henry Orient and follow him all over New York City, with hilarious results. Great performances from the two young girls as well as from Peter Sellers and Angela Lansbury, who plays Val's mother. If you know a pre-teen or older girl, she would love a copy of this video! A TRULY SATISFYING FILM.

"The World of Henry Orient" was, and remains, a landmark film in every way. Its portrayal of two high school girls coming of age in Manhattan, and their obsession with a 3rd rate pianist, is far more than a madcap comedy. True to the Nora Johnson novel on which it is based (she wrote the screenplay, as well), it is an unforgettable portrait of a friendship, a city, and a particular time in the life of an adolescent girl which rings hilariously--and painfully--true. In particular, Merrie Spaeth's perfect-pitch performance as the guileless Marian Gilbert is deeply touching, funny, entirely believable and perfectly nuanced. As a girl growing up in New York City, "Henry Orient" inspired in me a spirit of adventure and freedom which is as exhilarating now as it was when the film first appeared, in 1964. I own the video, and my young daughter is already completely addicted to it. Elmer Bernstein's (To Kill a Mockingbird) music is terrific, by the way. This is a classic! If you haven't seen it, do. If you have, see it again! It holds up beautifully.

This movie makes my list of the top-ten best of all time. It's too bad it is so little known.

It is the only movie I've seen that gets youth right. It shows what it is like to have a "crush" - to love someone from afar, innocently, absolutely. This sort of enthusiasm is so central to the heart of being young, especially of being a girl - yet I have never seen it portrayed anywhere else. In the fifties and sixties we had blander teens, preoccupied with little home and school crises - like who was going to take whom to the prom. In recent decades we have been bombarded with sitcom teens, sexually precocious, spouting know-it-all one-liners. In between those two stereotypes of teens, there is the truth - what The World of Henry Orient is about.

Boyd is the "genius" who sparks to Henry Orient (played by Peter Sellers) first. Orient is a second-rate concert pianist performing for a season in New York. Boyd is not blind to his shortcomings. She admits he "needs practice." But she is smitten with him nonetheless. She brings her friend into the adoration. The two girls romp through New York together, following their idol, collecting his discarded cigarette butts ("No filters. He's not scared!"), studying him from a distance - then going back to their rooms to worship him in Oriental rituals they invent and elaborate themselves.

There is no word for what these two girls are up to. We would call it "stalking" now. But it's not that. It's at the other end of the spectrum from that sort of malevolence. It's pure eagerness and joy and it's a joy to watch.

The movie takes a turn past midpoint though. This could have been an uneasy mix of pathos and slaptstick - but the director and actors carry it off and make a plausible, inevitable blend of the two.

The girls are wonderful at capturing the squealing, longing delight of having a crush. Peter Sellers is perfect as the only somewhat talented bounder. Paula Prentiss turns in one of the best comedic performances ever as the highstrung married woman with whom Sellers continues to try to arrange a liaison - against increasing odds as he and Prentiss become convinvced that the little girls following them, cropping up everywhere in pagoda hats, must in fact be spies sent by Prentiss' suspicious husband. Angela Lansbury is a true villainess, a mother who has been so indifferent to her daughter and who knows her so little that she interprets the girl's antics as sexual escapade, sullying and perverting the fun.

If you never experienced the sort of sheer gleeful delight these girls enjoy - if your teenage years were spent in the infinitely drearier pastime of all-night keggers - then you missed what youth is all about. But this movie can bring you to the place that should be the birthright of all youth - a place before relationships get sexualized, a place before calculation of costs and benefits. It's a golden interlude. This movie is a MUST-SEE classic.

I was delighted to come across so many other rave reviews for this gem that I wanted to add my voice to the others and urge those of you who have never discovered this film to buy or, at least, rent it. Alternately funny and moving, I can only sum up my reaction to say that the film warms my heart, and I watch it frequently if I'm feeling blue. Filled with great star turns as well as a host of wonderful cameos (Paula Prentiss, Bibi Osterwald and Al Lewis especially), the story is filled with countless moments that grab me emotionally, particularly near the end when, one by one, the members of Tom Bosley's family discover the truths about themselves and each other and face the emotional repercussions of these truths.
The two young stars are not particularly great actresses. Better than that, they seem like real young girls on the verge of womanhood. The film evokes its time and place with fondness and affection. I grew up across the country from NYC in San Francisco, and yet I've watched the film so many times that I wax nostalgic for a city in which I've never lived! Go figure.
Finally, I can't say enough about Angela Lansbury. I know how frustrated she was with the studios' constant casting her as villainous mothers, and I hope she achieves her wish of finding a truly satisfying film role before she retires. Still, I hope she knows that her work as one of the few actors to successfully span the worlds of theatre, film and television speaks for itself, and her range and depth of talent is apparent in this, and all her roles. In this film (as in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, one of the best thrillers ever and her greatest film role), she is fearless in her willingness to create a monster who is at once compelling and abhorrent. We understand why she fascinates her husband and daughter at the same time that she repels them. Her villainy is delicious here, and her comeuppance is one of the most satisfying moments in an altogether satisfying film. See it!

When these two teenagers meet and form a friendship, you are taking on an entertaining and heartfelt journey. Valerie Boyd and Marian Gilbert(played by Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth, respectively) are two unlikely friends who share a zest for life. When the two girls come across the eccentric pianist Henry Orient, played by Peter Sellers, infatuation ensues. Thus begins the pursuit for the infamous Henry Orient. Henry Orient is a madly altruistic ladies man who has been trying to seduce a married woman, Stella (played by Paula Prentiss). Strange things are happening which cause him to believe her husband has found them out and that they are being spied upon. Little does he know that Val and Gil are the ones doing the spying. The girls create a situation which causes some confusion among the adults in the movie. When Val's parents, played by Tom Bosley (Happy Days) and Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote), become intimately involved with the girls hijinks and Henry Orient, the girls are forced to grow up and face life as more than just fun and games. I watched this movie and felt an intense feeling of nostalgia. I was reminded of the days of being young and careless (Ahh. . . the simpler times.). I recalled the feeling of living at home and chumming around with friends. Ahh the good 'ole days... Okay, so I'm not that much older; I still goof off with my buddies and yes, I have friends that still live at home. What I am trying to say is that this movie left me with a longing of days that seemed more innocent. Although you may not get the same vibe I did, I think it is still a classic movie for anyone to watch.

Lovely 5-star film. Had me laughing aloud many times. But (as has previously been mentioned) the sound quality on this DVD is pathetic. Very hard to hear. One needs to turn volume way up, and maybe use the subtitles too. A great pity.

George Roy Hill's THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT is an absolutely one-of-a-kind work that almost defies categorization. It might be considered a kind of comic antecedent to HEAVENLY CREATURES: two well-to-do young teenagers from broken homes find solace in their mutual fantasies of a second-rate celebrity pianist, the libidinous and scheming Henry Orient (Peter Sellars). Innocently following him all over Manhattan, they unwittingly wreak utter havoc in his life, especially in his attempts to seduce a nervous suburban housewife (inspiringly played by Paula Prentiss).

Mostly the film is a kind of paean to girlish infatuation, and allows Hill to show his great gift with younger actors (Merrie Spaeth and Tippy Walker as the teenagers are extremely winning). The latter part of the film--involving Walker's fraught homelife with her ineffectual welathy father (Tom Bosley) and his cuckolding and disagreeable wife (Angela Lansbury)--becomes a bit melodramatic, and yet it remains very memorable nonetheless. It evokes a kind of wealthy Eisenhower vision of Manhattan that doesn't exist anymore and may never have existed, the same Manhattan evoked in J. D. Salinger's novels where a teenage girl can safely wander Central Park at night unmolested and where two women who can afford to share a large two-story brownstone in Greenwich Village can be despised as "middle class." The film is more amusing and evocative rather than outright funny: still, it has one of the funniest "shaggy dog" sequences of all American films from this period--the great "Jayne Mansfield" sequence, which has an absolutely terrific payoff you'll remember for quite a while afterwards. (Prentiss was never funnier in her whole career than here.)

"The World of Henry Orient" holds a very special place in my heart. It reminds me of myself and my friends when we were in school, in the early `70s. We're still friends, by the way! Secondly, it was filmed in New York City, where we went to school. "Henry Orient" is one of those special films about kids "coming of age" that treads a very fine line, where one false situation or characterization or line of dialogue could easily sink it into maudlin sappiness, which, thank goodness, it never does. Two New York City schoolgirls, one from a happy, middle-class single parent home, the other from a wealthy but unhappy home, meet, become friends, and through a series of coincidences, cross paths with Henry Orient, a mediocre concert pianist who is something of a Don Juan. The girls begin to fan-worship Henry, wearing coolie hats, talking "Orient speak", and the usual adolescent mishigas that most of us go through. Their antics eventually lead to misadventures, and a fateful meeting between the rich girl's mother and Henry that leads to adultery, an imminent divorce, and a bonding between the girl and her father, who had been absent for most of her young life.
Nora Johnson wrote the screenplay for "Henry Orient", which she adapted from her book, and did an admirable job. She has a great understanding of teenage girls (well, she was one once!), and the girls' dialogue is particularly memorable and genuine. The cast is great. Peter Sellers plays Henry as a second-rate Lothario, whose "Continental" accent occasionally slips away, revealing his original, heavy Brooklynese accent, a sort of Pepe lePew by way of Bensonhurst. `Tippy' Walker as rich girl Valerie Boyd and Merrie Spaeth as Marian Gilbert are charming, talented girls. They are the stars of film. I always felt like I knew them. Perennial "kooky" actress Paula Prentiss is her usual funny self as Stella Dunnworthy, a married nervous nellie who never consummates her would-be illicit affair with Henry. Phyllis Thaxter and the late Bibi Osterwald are likeable and warm as Marian's mom and her best friend, Boothy, and Tom Bosley is remarkably believable as Valerie's dad. Character actors Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis as a concerned shopowner, and John Fiedler as Henry's manager lend great support. And now, we come to the remarkable Angela Lansbury as Isabel Boyd, Valerie's promiscuous but not-too-lovable mother. For years I had convinced myself that I didn't like Angela Lansbury, based on how convincingly she played the cold-as-ice Isabel Boyd. This is the proof of a really talented actress. This was in the "monster mothers" phase of her career, along with her evil mother In "The Manchurian Candidate". What an amazing lady! I also must give credit where credit is due to Elmer Bernstein, for his sweet and heartbreaking musical score for this film. It is considered, along with his other great "kid" score for "To Kill a Mockingbird", one of his greatest.
"The World of Henry Orient" is a very fond, nostalgic tribute to the innocence of youngsters, particularly girls, before imminent adulthood comes into their lives and shatters their youthful fantasies. It is also a fond reminder of a very different New York City, seen through rose-coloured glasses perhaps, but aren't nice memories like that anyway?
The picture and sound quality on this DVD are great. I had never seen "Henry Orient" in widescreen, so this was a particular treat. The colors are rich and vibrant, the picture razor sharp. There is only one "extra" feature on the DVD, the original theatrical trailer, and there isn't a program inside the case, but for this price, who's complaining? This is Valerie Boyd and Marian Gilbert's world, and welcome to it!