...but that's highly unlikely at this point in time. Chances are this 2003 release from Kino won't get an upgrade unless they decide to put it on Blu-Ray along with the other American Film Theatre titles which, like the original series, have no commercial potential. That's really too bad for just like Shakespeare or any serious drama, subtitles are needed to help people not only get the dialogue but the subtext of that dialogue. This is especially true of O'Neill who uses lots of words to express what his characters are feeling and thinking. THE ICEMAN COMETH is loaded with dialogue that not only works as a character portrait but as a vehicle for the ideas these characters (and O'Neill) want us to think about. No other O'Neill play, not even LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, has such heavy discussions.
This 1973 film version has become legendary for being uncut, for its performances, and for being impossible to see since the original release. Now that it's been preserved, it's something to be treasured. Much has been written about the performances of Frederic March, Robert Ryan, and especially Lee Marvin (who began his career on the stage before becoming a tough guy in the movies) but it's the supporting players who make this version really special. In addition to the young Jeff Bridges there's Moses Gunn whose "I'm a gamblin' man" speech still has the power to take your breath away. Bradford Dillman has never been better as the pathetic son of rich parents who has become a helpless alcoholic. There's Martyn Green, 34 years after his Koko in the 1939 MIKADO and last but not least Tom Pedi, the original bartender from 1946.
Director John Frankenheimer, who began his career directing plays for television in the 1950s, still knows how to film a stage play retaining it's theatricality while making it cinematic. The crisp editing combined with the inexorable close-ups allow us to see the characters' reactions as well as provide a look into the characters' souls. What seems slow and deliberate at first becomes a powerful viewing experience by the end. It's even better on subsequent viewings and it should be seen more than once in order to grasp the subtleties and complexities of the characterizations and to appreciate O'Neill's poetic dialogue. Thanks to Kino (now Kino Lorber) for issuing this classic but now it's time to upgrade to subtitles so that we can get so much more out of what O'Neill has bequeathed to us.
POSTSCRIPT: This review was originally written in 2013, 10 years after the DVD was first released. In 2019, Kino issued it on Blu-Ray which contains the much appreciated subtitles...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
This 1973 film version has become legendary for being uncut, for its performances, and for being impossible to see since the original release. Now that it's been preserved, it's something to be treasured. Much has been written about the performances of Frederic March, Robert Ryan, and especially Lee Marvin (who began his career on the stage before becoming a tough guy in the movies) but it's the supporting players who make this version really special. In addition to the young Jeff Bridges there's Moses Gunn whose "I'm a gamblin' man" speech still has the power to take your breath away. Bradford Dillman has never been better as the pathetic son of rich parents who has become a helpless alcoholic. There's Martyn Green, 34 years after his Koko in the 1939 MIKADO and last but not least Tom Pedi, the original bartender from 1946.
Director John Frankenheimer, who began his career directing plays for television in the 1950s, still knows how to film a stage play retaining it's theatricality while making it cinematic. The crisp editing combined with the inexorable close-ups allow us to see the characters' reactions as well as provide a look into the characters' souls. What seems slow and deliberate at first becomes a powerful viewing experience by the end. It's even better on subsequent viewings and it should be seen more than once in order to grasp the subtleties and complexities of the characterizations and to appreciate O'Neill's poetic dialogue. Thanks to Kino (now Kino Lorber) for issuing this classic but now it's time to upgrade to subtitles so that we can get so much more out of what O'Neill has bequeathed to us.
POSTSCRIPT: This review was originally written in 2013, 10 years after the DVD was first released. In 2019, Kino issued it on Blu-Ray which contains the much appreciated subtitles...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.