Save the Tiger [VHS]

Save the Tiger [VHS]
by John G. Avildsen

Save the Tiger [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jack Gilford, Jack Lemmon, Laurie Heineman, Norman Burton, Patricia Smith
Director: John G. Avildsen
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 100 minutes
Release Date: 1994-06-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount

VHS Movie Reviews of Save the Tiger [VHS]

Movie Review: Save Harry Stoner
Summary: 5 Stars

Fashion manufacturer Harry Stoner (Oscar winner Jack Lemmon) is a man filled with regrets: for things he should've done (like play baseball or stay in a band) and for those he actually did (go to war). His marriage to Janet (Patricia Smith) is chilly-- during most of the picture she's out of town. The business is tottering toward bankruptcy, his health isn't great, employees fight with each other and a fashion show that could make or break him is imminent-- yet with all these pressing immediacies Harry's lost in and tortured by the past, especially by horrific memories of the WWII Italian Campaign.

The bank won't extend Harry credit and not wanting to borrow from a mob loan shark he instead contacts arsonist Charlie Robbins (Thayer David) and arranges the torching of one of his factories as a way to collect on insurance. Harry's partner of 15 years, Phil Greene (Jack Gilford) is appalled that Stoner would resort to this illegal act, but Harry's determined to stay afloat no matter what it takes.

While driving on Sunset Strip, Harry picks up Myra (Laurie Heineman) a hippieish hitchhiker. Their conversation illustrates the enormity of the chasm between generations. Eventually this girl his daughter's age asks Harry if he'd like to "ball" but he declines with an amused chuckle. You just know however that this matter isn't settled.

After meeting with and giving a down payment to the firebug, Harry speaks at the fashion show's opening. He fumbles, mumbles, sweats and stops dead, because in his mind the audience has turned into ghastly soldier demons. The show's theme is the Isle of Capri, and when Harry says the name he totally flips and starts ranting about dead soldiers on Capri's beach. The female emcee stops Harry's bizarre outburst by cutting him off.

Back at the factory, Harry shares a drink with an elderly fabric cutter-- the man who's been feuding with his "fairy" designer. The old Russan Jew immigrant talks about passion for work and for a wife who's old but still beautiful. As a result, Harry leaves and calls Janet to try connecting with her by reminiscing about their two weeks of heavy romance on the Riviera. Janet dismisses the memories curtly with "that was six years ago!" and shaken, she hangs up.

More failure for Mr. Stoner.

Later that night, Harry spots Myra (sure enough) and picks her up. She invites him to smoke some good grass at a beach house she's taking care of. They party and they "ball"-- we don't see that thankfully, and afterward while they talk Harry trips out on the past again, remembering dozens of famous folks.

In the movie's final scene, Harry tosses a baseball back to some kids playing a game. He leans on the outfield fence and goes off on another memory ride-- probably to childhood when he dreamed of being a big league pitcher.

Jack Lemmon undoubtedly clinched the Oscar when he lay in bed with Myra and with watery eyes talked longingly of better days and a lost youth. It's a moment that touches the soul.

Movie Review: What Does It All Mean?
Summary: 2 Stars

In this film Jack Lemmon(who inexplicably won an oscar for his role here)plays Harry Stoner,a fast talking,rather smarmy California garment manufacturer..His business is in trouble,he seems to be on the verge of a nervous break down one moment and his usual shifty self the next..He wants to pay an arsonist to burn down one of his buildings,much to the horror of his partner,played by comic Jack Gilford..Already undiscovered white collar criminals for cooking the books the previous season these two gonefs are what passes for the leading charecters in this rather slow,rather meandering film...
The movie is filled with cliches that were standard fare back during the time-period when it was made;the 20-something flower child who picks up Stoner,sleeps with him,gets him high,and doesn't want a thing in return,and the call girl with the proverbial heart of gold,whom Stoner uses to satisfy visiting buyers..
The getting high scene is a laugh riot..Stoner demands that he and the flower child"play a game"..the"game" has nothing to do with intimacy..instead Stoner wants to name names of famous people,none of whom the flower child knows..As mentioned,the scene is a laugh riot,except it wasn't supposed to be..it was supposed to be serious stuff..What doofus did they get to think up this scene?Surely the writer has never even been just a tad drunk,much less high?
As for the title;about two thirds of the way through this plodding mess,and after Stoner nearly has his break-down in front of an audience of buyers come to see his new fashion line,he wanders out into the street...there he encounters a fellow seated at a card table with a poster of a tiger"Save The Tiger" the guy says and stoner hands him a couple of dollars..THAT is the whole she-bang as far as the title is concerned..It makes about as much sense as if Stoner had bumped into Luke Skywalker and R2D2...
In the end Stoner pays the arsonist to torch his building..He also wanders off to a little league game..All through the flic Stoner has been mumbling about baseball players and practicing a pitching wind up...At the little league game happenstance allows Stoner to actually make the pitch..It does not go over well with the kids,one of whom tells Stoner;"You can't play with us,mister"...End of film...
The layers of pretense in this film could sink a battleship...A film about next to nothing...I am not sure who Lemmon was up against the year they awarded him the oscar for this role but surely those other actors must have been light-weights if this performance was"best"?
Films like this used to play to the"art House" crowd,and,when they wound up on the small screen aired on PBS...Monday night at the movies never showed anything like this..The networks knew better..Most of thier viewers would be somewhere else before the first commercial break..
This is a film to fall asleep with,especially if you are having trouble falling asleep.

Movie Review: These subtleties will beat you over the head...
Summary: 5 Stars

Jack Lemmon was in all seriousness one of the greatest actors to ever walk the earth. His comedic skills are unprecedented, but he also had a wonderful way of using his humor to enrich his dramatic offerings. Just look at `The Apartment', a dramedy that is elevated by the rich performance by Lemmon. Look also at the beautifully constructed `Short Cuts' where Lemmon uses his mastery over his profession to create a man so raw and real, so heartbreakingly sincere.

His portrayal of Harry Stoner, the middle-aged business man suffering from his own professional and personal meltdowns, is yet another outstanding professional feat for the actor.

`Save the Tiger' is a very strong film that paints a very real portrait of that mid-life crisis we hear so much about. While watching this film I couldn't help but recall Kevin Spacey's Oscar acceptance speech in 1999 when he won for his portrayal of Lester Burnham, the middle-aged business man suffering from professional and personal meltdowns in `American Beauty'. Both performances are very similar and are equally engaging and impressive. Both Harry and Lester offer a poignant look at the male psyche and the affect our surroundings have on us.

Here, Harry is head of a garment factory which is suffering in sales and is bordering bankruptcy. Harry and his more ethically sound partner Phil Greene start contemplating ways to fix their financial crisis and wind up settling on arson, although neither are in full agreement. The decision seems to be the only way out, but it's yet another issue to weigh heavy on the already haunted Harry, leading him to question everything he knows over the course of two days.

Those two days are enough to understand completely.

Both Lemmon and Gilford (who plays Phil) were nominated for an Oscar, Lemmon being the only winner of the two. These are two very rich and fulfilled performances and were both very worthy of their nominations, even if I would have handed Brando the Oscar for his riveting performance in `Last Tango in Paris'. Lemmon serves up some of his finest work here and I am very glad to see he won a lead actor trophy.

`Save the Tiger' is a startling look at the American Dream and the sacrifices we make to achieve it; but most importantly it reminds us of the bitter consequences that comes from those sacrifices. There are quite a few films that tackle this subject, some of which do a finer job (I personally prefer `American Beauty') but this is truly at the top of the list as one of the better films to broach the subject.

It always haunting to find yourself in a character as distraught as Harry Stoner.

Movie Review: Save the Tiger
Summary: 4 Stars

A great performace by Jack Lemon. You can never go bad with any of his movies.

Movie Review: Last Hurrah For The Greatest Generation?
Summary: 5 Stars

This is surely one of the finer American films to explore the tensions between business, morality, success, idealism, and manhood set amid the backdrop of the moral and ethical conflicts raging in America in the early 70s.

Harry Stoner, a WWII hero who helped liberate Italy at Enzio Beach, is an upwardly mobile garment manufacturer living the "American dream." Yet appearances are deceiving. His relationship with his wife is strained, his business is overextended and failing, and his reality is increasingly fractured by memories of his dead war buddies, the 1939 lineup of his treasured Dodgers, and glimpses of his idealistic youth, particularly his years playing baseball, drumming with a big band and listening to swing music.

The counterculture and the decaying values of Vietnam-era America meet Harry Stoner's sliding immorality head-on, as Harry is faced continually with business decisions that weaken him morally and challenge him ethically, until his fragile efforts at holding it all together rip apart at the seams.

Not only is Lemmon extraordinary, so is the supporting cast, including Jack Gilford as his business partner and moral counterweight and sweet Laurie Heineman as a hippie with a heart of gold. The settings in Los Angeles, such as the garment district, Chinatown, Beverly Hills, and Malibu are exquisitely captured by John Avildsen.

You'd have to fast-forward to Woody Allen's masterful Crimes and Misdemeanors to see as finely a tuned exploration of the pressures on a morally conflicted American businessman as delivered here.

BTW, the new release (with commentary) adds dimension and weight to an already substantial film. Highly recommended.

Write your own review

Summary of Save the Tiger [VHS]

Jack Lemmon won an Oscar. for this dramatic performance, considered by many to be his finest. Lemmon plays Harry Stoner, a man caught in violent collision with his past and present life. He believes there is nothing significant in his life except survival, and that instinct pushes him beyond moral conduct. He'll juggle the books, supply women for clients... and even set fire to his own dress manufacturing factory. He is drawn to an America when life not only had values and heroes, it all seemed worth living and building. But Harry is frightened to break away from the emptiness of his seemingly successful life.

There are several films for which Jack Lemmon deserved to win the Oscar--The Apartment and Days of Wine and Roses among them--but it was this low-key entry from 1973 that garnered the gold (following a supporting award for Mister Roberts.) Harry Stoner is a Watergate-era man in the gray flannel suit--even if his is "Italian silk." Sure, he's got the Beverly Hills manse, complete with maid, but business is hanging by a thread. When it starts to unravel, he risks losing everything. And finances aren't his only problem. After 30 years, he's still haunted by the war and only wants to talk baseball and big bands. His wife urges him to see a therapist. Phil (Jack Gilford, a fine foil) is Harry's garment-manufacturing partner. Neither is a model of business ethics, but when Harry suggests torching a factory for insurance money, Phil is mortified. He suggests they turn to the Mob, but Harry would prefer a quicker fix. As in The Swimmer, another painful portrait of the American Dream gone bad, John G. Avildsen (who picked up his own statuette for Rocky) takes a revealing snapshot of a dying breed. Like much of Lemmon's best work, it can be hard to watch, but just as hard not to. In retrospect, Harry looks like a dry run for the even more nakedly desperate characters of Glengarry Glen Ross and Short Cuts. If you ever wondered how they got that way--Save the Tiger is your answer. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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