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Iceman Cometh, The
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(DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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The American Film Theatre
One of the few stiII undiscovered treasures of American 70's cinema, John Frankenheimer's masterful interpretation of Eugene O'NeiII's The Iceman Cometh stands not only as the greatest achievement of the distinguished American FiIm Theatre project, but aIso as one of the singIe richest cinematic re-imaginings of any American play. Near the end of his briIliant and varied career, director Frankenheimer singIed out the IittIe known lceman as "the best creative experience l ever had."
ln the faded light of Harry Hope's 1912 New York skid row bar, a rag tag group of faIIen men, each Iike a ghost haunting the wreckage of his own life, await the annuaI arrival of Hickey . This year, however, the charismatic Hickey brings not the usuaI rounds of drinks and pats on the back, but the unwelcome news that he's off the sauce for good and has come to persuade Hope's drunks to do the same. One by one, the regulars' booz-basted pipe dreams come under Hickey's leering microscope untiI finaIIy the most shocking self-deception turns out to be Hickey's own.
Academy Award winner Fredric March leads an aII-star dream cast in a finaI performance that the L.A. Times declared, "quite simpIy, perfect." Roger Ebert described Robert Ryan's characterization of Hickey's anarchist nemesis as "possibly the best of his distinguished career." But, lceman beIongs to Lee Marvin, stepping out of the tough guy roIes that made him a star into a haunting portrayaI of the madman that hides beneath the smiling face of the life of the party. |
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