Stanley Kramer Film Collection (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / Ship of Fools / The Member of the Wedding / The Wild One / The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) [DVD]

My piekna zona recently asked me to buy her a copy of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner so I conveniently bought this Stanley Kramer Collection (at a nice price) so I could also have a copy of The Member of the Wedding, which is still not sold individually.The Member of the Wedding (1952) was directed by Fred Zinnemann and stars Broadway legend, Julie Harris, in her film debut. Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding was first published in 1946. A successful theatrical adaptation opened on Broadway in 1950 starring Harris, Ethel Waters, and Brandon deWilde who then reprised their roles in this film.Frankie Adams (Harris) is a lonely twelve-year-old in a Southern town. She has no friends and spends all of her time with the family's Black housemaid, Berenice (Waters), and her young cousin, John Henry (deWilde), who lives next door. Frankie deeply yearns to make a connection, to find the "we of me," and decides she will leave town with her newlywed brother and his wife. Her plans go terribly awry and Frankie must adapt.This is a deeply moving story of loneliness and connection. Many aspects of McCullers' own life are captured in the story. Julie Harris, who was twenty-five-years-old at the time of the filming, gives a remarkable, although overstated, performance that earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Waters is superb. Zinneman's direction is solid and the Alex North score is quite good.The Member of the Wedding is a wonderful adaptation of the novel and I'm thrilled to finally have a copy on DVD. I was very much looking forward to the commentary by McCullers' biographer, Virginia Spencer Carr (The Lonely Hunter), but was disappointed. Carr offers only scant insight into McCullers, the novel, and the film. A few of her comments are even erroneous (e.g., the wedding was to take place at Winter Hill - the wedding takes place at Winter Hill in the novel but in the film the ceremony takes place at Frankie's house). However, we must keep in mind the late Professor Carr recorded her commentary while in her late-seventies.Trivia alert: Hugh Beaumont, who portrays the wedding minister in an uncredited role, would later star in the successful television series, Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963).

No one would ever accuse film director Stanley Kramer of being stuck in one stylistic groove or obsessed with getting out one particular message. Here in one package are five different -- and delightfully different -- top-drawer movies:Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - Tracy and Hepburn's last movie. He's a "liberal" newspaper publisher; she's his wife. Together they confront th fact that their daughter is about to marry a black man.Ship of Fools - An amazing kind of epic with an all-star multinational cast, based on the book by Katharine Anne Porter .The Member of the Wedding - Carson McCuller's sensitive novella becomes a sensitive movie. Great performances.The Wild One - Brando's breakthrough movie. Leather jackets and amoral motorcycle "angels" were never sexier!The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T - An absolutely amazing kids' fantasia, based on a story by Dr. Seuss. A small boy (Tommy Rettig) is held captive by a maniacal piano teacher (Hans Conried) until his two favorite adults can help him out. If Technicolor hadn't already existed, they'd have had to invent it for this wonderful, surrealistic comedy/musical about the perils of kid-dom.

I ordered this Stanley Kramer collection because it had a copy of "The Member of the Wedding" on it--one of my favorite movies, and it is almost impossible to get a copy of this as a single. It is a fantastic collection and I have seen all of the movies before, but of course I had to view "Member" first and then "Ship of Fools." The actors that stand out in this collection are Tracy and Hepburn plus Poitier in "Guess," Marlon Brando in "Wild," Vivien Leigh in "Ship" with equally fine performances by Lee Marvin and Michael Dunne, and of course Julie Harris and Ethyl Waters in "Member." The most stellar performance of the whole pack is the young Brandon de Wilde in "Member." If it were re-windable, I could re-wind and watch this young man over and over and over. Too bad we lost this actor, although his skill seemed to disappate with maturity. The odd movie in this pack is the "1000 Fingers." It is a heroic undertaking, the making of this movie, but instead of being the surrealistic masterpiece it could have been, the sets and props seem amateurish. I must review this one several more times to fully appreciate it--the acting by Tommy Rettig is quite good--and I may finally decide that I love it BECAUSE of its faults, instead of in spite of them. (I have given more detailed reviews of the individual movies, previously) Stanley Kramer was a genius as displayed here on celuloid.

Usually film compilations have a couple of throw away films included. This collection has none...NONE! Each is a classic and brilliant vision of what made Stanley Kramer one of our greatest directors. From Ship of Fools, to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, to The Member of the Wedding, to The Wild One and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T you will find yourself engrossed in each story. The acting ability of these players is nothing short of brilliant and each film in this collection has at least 5 reasons you should not miss it! So sit back and let them roll...one by one, day by day or one right after the other and you'll spend a day wishing there were more...and there are...just not in this collection! Kramer was a prolific and highly regarded director and his films never fail to educate, scintillate and challenge your sensibilities. Enjoy this collection of great films...for each of them will leave you lost in thought and better able to understand the frailties of mankind.

After I had seen Ship Of Fools years ago it became one of my favourite films. I had often heard of films such as The Wild One & Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? I decided to pick up this box set. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

I ordered this collection of Stanley Kubrick films specifically for the film "Ship of Fools" which I saw many years ago and have always wanted in my film collection. Unfortunately, it was always much to expensive to purchase, until now! When I saw this Collection at Amazon.ca, I realized it was a great price for the 5 Kubrick films included and purchased it immediately. Needless to say, I am very pleased with this purchase - thank you very much, Amazon! Ive been a very satisfied customer for a long time and will continue to be!