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West Side Story [VHS]

West Side Story [VHS]

Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Staring: Natalie Wood , George Chakiris , Richard Beymer , Russ Tamblyn , Rita Moreno
Director: Jerome Robbins , Robert Wise
This brilliant (The New Republic) film sets the ageless story of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and scripted by Ernest Lehman, the film combines Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's unforgettable score ( Maria, America, 'somewhere, 'tonight ) with Robbins own exuberant choreography to achieve an exhilarating work of art (Saturday Review). A love affair is fated for tragedy amidst the vicious rivalry of two street gangsthe Jets and the Sharks. When Jets member Tony (RichardBeymer) falls for Maria (Natalie Wood), the sister of the Sharks leader, it's more than these two warring gangs can handle. And as mounting tensions rise, a battle to the death ensues, and innocent blood is shed in a heartbreaking finale.
List Price: $9.94 Our Price: $2.50
Andromeda Strain [VHS]

Andromeda Strain [VHS]

Rated: G (General Audience)
Staring: James Olson , Arthur Hill , David Wayne , Kate Reid , Paula Kelly
Director: Robert Wise
The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses. Projecting total contamination, the scientists isolate the deadly strain in a massive, high-tech underground lab facility, which is rigged for nuclear destruction if the virus is not successfully controlled. The movie spends a great deal of time covering the scientific procedures of the high-pressure investigation, and the rising tensions between scientists who have been forced to work in claustrophobic conditions. It's all very fascinating if you're interested in scientific method and technological advances, although the film is obviously dated in many of its details. It's more effective as a thriller in which tension is derived not only from the deadly threat of the virus, but from the escalating fear and anxiety among the small group of people who've been assigned to save the...
List Price: $6.99 Our Price: $5.50
Sand Pebbles [VHS]

Sand Pebbles [VHS]

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Staring: Steve McQueen , Richard Attenborough , Candice Bergen , Richard Crenna , Emmanuelle Arsan
Director: Robert Wise
Following the success of The Sound of Music, director Robert Wise chose to film Robert McKenna's prize-winning 1962 novel, The Sand Pebbles--an ambitious choice for a director at the peak of his career. Shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the film combines historical sweep and intimate human drama in several parallel stories, all revolving around U.S. Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman (Steve McQueen). Holman is a skillful but fiercely independent sailor who joins the "sand pebble" crew of the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River on the eve of the Chinese revolution in 1926. The San Pablo's inexperienced captain (Richard Crenna) obsessively defends the Navy's mission--however unnecessary or unwanted--to protect American missionaries and businessmen, blind to the more dangerous implications of American involvement with China's opposing political factions.

Holman is a defiant voice of humanity in this clash between outmoded values and inevitable change; his final line of dialogue ("What the hell happened?") is a tragic summation of misguided policy, expressing the film's criticism of the Vietnam War. Rather than preach, however, Wi...
List Price: $29.98 Our Price: $9.75

Star Trek: The Movie Collection (6pc) [VHS]

Star Trek: The Movie Collection (6pc) [VHS]

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Staring: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan , George Takei
Director: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , Nicholas Meyer , Robert Wise
Devoted Star Trek fans will surely cite the "even number" rule in evaluating the Original Crew Movie Collection, but all six of these films qualify as rousing entertainment. Undeniably, the even-numbered films in Paramount's lucrative Trek franchise tended to be the best, as demonstrated by the superiority of The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, and The Undiscovered Country. And yet each film has something to offer die-hard Trekkers, beginning with the epic-scale wonders of the first Motion Picture (presented here as a two-disc special edition). Evolving from Gene Roddenberry's aborted attempt at a second Star Trek TV series, the effects-laden Motion Picture divided fans while proving that Star Trek had a promising big-screen future. Nicholas Meyer's The Wrath of Khan made good on that promise, reviving the Star Trek spirit and proving, in the case of Mr. Spock, that beloved characters "never really die." It's widely regarded as the best of these half-dozen features.

With its deadly Klingon confrontation, the Leonard Nimoy-directed Search for Spock was a thrilling (albeit contrived) excuse...
List Price: $59.70 Our Price: $19.95

Executive Suite (1954) [VHS]

Executive Suite (1954) [VHS]

Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Staring: William Holden , Barbara Stanwyck , June Allyson , Fredric March , Walter Pidgeon
Director: Robert Wise

List Price: $19.98 Our Price: $14.88
The Sound of Music [VHS]

The Sound of Music [VHS]

Rated: G (General Audience)
Staring: Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer , Eleanor Parker , Richard Haydn , Peggy Wood
Director: Robert Wise
When Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive with the sound of music" from an Austrian mountaintop in 1965, the most beloved movie musical was born. To be sure, the adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit has never been as universally acclaimed as, say, Singin' in the Rain. Critics argue that the songs are saccharine (even the songwriters regretted the line "To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray") and that the characters and plot lack the complexity that could make them more interesting. It's not hard to know whom to root for when your choice is between cute kids and Nazis.

It doesn't matter. Audiences fell in love with the struggling novice Maria (Andrews), the dashing Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), and, yes, the cute kids, all based on a real-life World War II Austrian family. Such songs as "My Favorite Things," "Do Re Mi," "Climb Every Mountain," and the title tune became part of the 20th century Zeitgeist. In addition, The Sound of Music officially became a cult hit when audiences in London began giving it the Rocky Horror Picture Show treatment, attending showings dressed as their fa...
List Price: $12.98 Our Price: $4.78

Sound of Music [VHS]

Sound of Music [VHS]

Rated: G (General Audience)
Staring: Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer , Eleanor Parker , Richard Haydn , Peggy Wood
Director: Robert Wise
Guaranteed to work or your money back - PLEASE NOTE ALL MONIES FROM THIS SALE GO TO A 501 (C)3 NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTER
List Price: $19.98 Our Price: $3.48
Sound of Music (Rmst Thx) [VHS]

Sound of Music (Rmst Thx) [VHS]

Rated: G (General Audience)
Staring: Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer , Eleanor Parker , Richard Haydn , Peggy Wood
Director: Robert Wise
When Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive with the sound of music" from an Austrian mountaintop in 1965, the most beloved movie musical was born. To be sure, the adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit has never been as universally acclaimed as, say, Singin' in the Rain. Critics argue that the songs are saccharine (even the songwriters regretted the line "To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray") and that the characters and plot lack the complexity that could make them more interesting. It's not hard to know whom to root for when your choice is between cute kids and Nazis.

It doesn't matter. Audiences fell in love with the struggling novice Maria (Andrews), the dashing Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), and, yes, the cute kids, all based on a real-life World War II Austrian family. Such songs as "My Favorite Things," "Do Re Mi," "Climb Every Mountain," and the title tune became part of the 20th century Zeitgeist. In addition, The Sound of Music officially became a cult hit when audiences in London began giving it the Rocky Horror Picture Show treatment, attending showings dressed as their fa...
List Price: $6.98 Our Price: $1.10

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection (South Pacific, The Sound Of Music, The King And I, State Fair, Carousel, & Oklahoma!) [VHS]

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection (South Pacific, The Sound Of Music, The King And I, State Fair, Carousel, & Oklahoma!) [VHS]

Rated: G (General Audience)
Staring: Jeanne Crain , Dana Andrews , Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer , Rossano Brazzi
Director: Fred Zinnemann , Henry King , Joshua Logan , Robert Wise , Walter Lang
This lavish set contains film versions of the five major works by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped define the American musical landscape and rewrite the direction of musical theater. After enjoying extremely successful careers working with others, Rodgers and Hammerstein first teamed up in 1943 for the prairie tale Oklahoma!, with songs including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love." The subsequent 1955 film starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who teamed up again for 1956's Carousel. While that film's dark nature made it less popular than its predecessor, the score ("If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone") was Rodgers's favorite. The King and I (also 1956) featured stage star Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as schoolteacher Anna Leonowens, who must learn Asian customs even as she tries to instill some of her Western ones. The somewhat bloated version of South Pacific (1958) follows two couples during World War II and features standards such as "Some Enchanted Evening" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" from stars Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi. The last film, T...
List Price: $49.98 Our Price: $199.00
I Want to Live (1958) [VHS]

I Want to Live (1958) [VHS]

Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Staring: Susan Hayward , Simon Oakland , Virginia Vincent , Theodore Bikel , Wesley Lau
Director: Robert Wise
Susan Hayward won an Academy Award® for her performance in the compelling 1958 classic I Want to Live! Hayward plays Barbara Graham, a "good-time girl" with a heart of gold and absolutely no instincts about when to drop a bad association. After bouncing in and out of the prison system for a series of petty crimes, Graham suddenly finds herself framed for murder and facing the death penalty. Hayward is simply marvelous, giving a wrenching, complex performance without ever becoming maudlin. Director Robert Wise ratchets the tension up to a nearly unbearable level, making Barbara's moments of hope as agonizing as those of her despair. The film is based on the story of the real-life Barbara Graham, taken from her letters and interviews with reporter Ed Montgomery. Montgomery himself appears as a character, and the film is surprisingly evenhanded about condemning his own role in Graham's conviction. This is definitely a must-see for Hayward fans. --Ali Davis
List Price: $14.95 Our Price: $5.65