Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (Broadway Theatre Archive)
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List Price: $24.99
Our Price: $17.69
Your Save: $ 7.30 ( 29% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Starring: Jason Robards, Myron McCormick, Tom Pedi, James Broderick, Farrell Pelly
Directed By: Sidney Lumet
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0014381087727
Format: Black & White
Label: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2002-01-15
Running Time: 210
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1960-11-14
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: "The Play is the thing."
Comment:
I've got one word for this play and that is "HARD". The second would be Serious. You would never think of "a pipe dream" the same.
Well worth the watch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: celebrated TV drama
Comment: In the Golden Age of Television, there were some productions which became instantly legendary. Some have (unfortunately) disappeared; others are making their way back into the public eye, thanks to enterprises like the Broadway Theater Archive. And so this famous production of O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH, directed by Sidney Lumet, has been available, and it remains a revelation.
The power of O'Neill's writing, rendered with conviction and total empathy by the impeccable cast, is overwhelming. And Jason Robards justifies all the claims of his greatness as the quintessential O'Neill interpreter. With this production, his role in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, Robards made his claim as the premier O'Neill actor, a claim which has not yet been disputed. Here, as Hickey, he brings so much dread and horror, yet also so much humor and brashness, that Hickey becomes totally mythic, a man who has set out to live out an extreme truth, because he has faced life and found it intolerable.
In terms of the production: the production values were skimpy at best, and the visual quality... who are we kidding? There is no visual quality! But there is great energy and pacing, and Lumet shows some of his talent for unleashing the resources of his actors. So many of the actors, for years afterwards, remained so associated with their roles here that it was often a shock to see them in other work. For all its shortcomings as an audiovisual work, as a record of one of the classic theater events of the 1950s, this DVD is invaluable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Iceman Cometh
Comment: Sir
I have not received this item yet. It is now 30th Dec.2007 and I am not too impressed that the items I purchased have not arrived
Regards
William Kavanagh
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE STUFF DREAMS ARE NOT MADE OF
Comment: The dreams of the very wretched of the earth are different from you and I. Or are they? This is the true subject matter of Eugene O'Neill fine play. Very little action, lots of drinking, lots of dreaming, lots philosophizing and in a low down gin mill to boot doesn't sound like the makings of a great American play. But, it is. This thing turns into a microcosm of American society in the early part of the 20th century. Between shots of whiskey and beer the denizens of this small work exhibit all the emotions, contradictions, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of life that the rest of us `normals' have to face. Except, for dramatic effect, those flophouse devotees get their noses rubbed in it by one Harry Hickey- traveling salesman, former chief denizen who now has got `religion' and wants to spread his newfound `glad tidings'. Spare us from the Hickeys of the world-a little dreaminess and a couple of illusions never hurt anyone. Did they? Although in O'Neill's hands the dialogue is a little stilted and the characters are a little stereotyped and wooden the point he is trying to make gets across just fine. This is a must read on your American drama list. Needless to say Jason Robards as elsewhere in O'Neill's work defines the role of Harry Hickey
Customer Rating:
Summary: Robards was incredible!!!!
Comment: I can't get enough of Hickey. O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" captures what all of us pipe dreamers know:'My pipe dream helps me face my reality. Please don't take it away. I might go nuts.' Poor Hickey didn't realize that getting rid of his pipe dream made him totally "bughouse". Jason Robards' manic portrayal was wrenching. His final scene gives me chills.
His portrayal of Jamie in "Long Day's Journey..." was also incredible. It brings tears to my eyes.
Robards' interpretation of the dispossessed strikes a cord deep within that you might find hard to listen to.
I wasn't around when he gave his performances of these two O'Neill plays in 1956-58 but I am so glad someone had the good sense to capture the "staged" production of "Iceman" on celuloid. If only "Long Day's journey..." were similarly captured.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "The Play is the thing."
Comment:
I've got one word for this play and that is "HARD". The second would be Serious. You would never think of "a pipe dream" the same.
Well worth the watch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: celebrated TV drama
Comment: In the Golden Age of Television, there were some productions which became instantly legendary. Some have (unfortunately) disappeared; others are making their way back into the public eye, thanks to enterprises like the Broadway Theater Archive. And so this famous production of O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH, directed by Sidney Lumet, has been available, and it remains a revelation.
The power of O'Neill's writing, rendered with conviction and total empathy by the impeccable cast, is overwhelming. And Jason Robards justifies all the claims of his greatness as the quintessential O'Neill interpreter. With this production, his role in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, Robards made his claim as the premier O'Neill actor, a claim which has not yet been disputed. Here, as Hickey, he brings so much dread and horror, yet also so much humor and brashness, that Hickey becomes totally mythic, a man who has set out to live out an extreme truth, because he has faced life and found it intolerable.
In terms of the production: the production values were skimpy at best, and the visual quality... who are we kidding? There is no visual quality! But there is great energy and pacing, and Lumet shows some of his talent for unleashing the resources of his actors. So many of the actors, for years afterwards, remained so associated with their roles here that it was often a shock to see them in other work. For all its shortcomings as an audiovisual work, as a record of one of the classic theater events of the 1950s, this DVD is invaluable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Iceman Cometh
Comment: Sir
I have not received this item yet. It is now 30th Dec.2007 and I am not too impressed that the items I purchased have not arrived
Regards
William Kavanagh
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE STUFF DREAMS ARE NOT MADE OF
Comment: The dreams of the very wretched of the earth are different from you and I. Or are they? This is the true subject matter of Eugene O'Neill fine play. Very little action, lots of drinking, lots of dreaming, lots philosophizing and in a low down gin mill to boot doesn't sound like the makings of a great American play. But, it is. This thing turns into a microcosm of American society in the early part of the 20th century. Between shots of whiskey and beer the denizens of this small work exhibit all the emotions, contradictions, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of life that the rest of us `normals' have to face. Except, for dramatic effect, those flophouse devotees get their noses rubbed in it by one Harry Hickey- traveling salesman, former chief denizen who now has got `religion' and wants to spread his newfound `glad tidings'. Spare us from the Hickeys of the world-a little dreaminess and a couple of illusions never hurt anyone. Did they? Although in O'Neill's hands the dialogue is a little stilted and the characters are a little stereotyped and wooden the point he is trying to make gets across just fine. This is a must read on your American drama list. Needless to say Jason Robards as elsewhere in O'Neill's work defines the role of Harry Hickey
Customer Rating:
Summary: Robards was incredible!!!!
Comment: I can't get enough of Hickey. O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" captures what all of us pipe dreamers know:'My pipe dream helps me face my reality. Please don't take it away. I might go nuts.' Poor Hickey didn't realize that getting rid of his pipe dream made him totally "bughouse". Jason Robards' manic portrayal was wrenching. His final scene gives me chills.
His portrayal of Jamie in "Long Day's Journey..." was also incredible. It brings tears to my eyes.
Robards' interpretation of the dispossessed strikes a cord deep within that you might find hard to listen to.
I wasn't around when he gave his performances of these two O'Neill plays in 1956-58 but I am so glad someone had the good sense to capture the "staged" production of "Iceman" on celuloid. If only "Long Day's journey..." were similarly captured.
Jason Robards burst onto the Broadway scene in 1956 with his performance in Eugene O'Neill's devastating Iceman Cometh, playing the central role of Hickey, a salesman who comes to a rundown bar on a mission to bring peace to its boozing denizens by lifting their illusions--only to wreak disaster on them and himself. Four years later, director Sidney Lumet (later to direct such classics as Dog Day Afternoon and Network) made this skillful television version of the play, bringing back Robards, along with a sterling collection of character actors (particularly Myron McCormick as a former communist who comes to see his reasonableness as a form of cowardice) and a young Robert Redford (in a strikingly unheroic role). Robards became famous for his roles in many O'Neill plays; his galvanizing performance drives The Iceman Cometh and makes this production one of the landmarks of television drama. --Bret Fetzer
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