Two for the Seesaw [VHS]

Two for the Seesaw [VHS]
by Robert Wise

Two for the Seesaw [VHS]

List Price: ~~$19.98~~
Category: VHS Video
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Product details

Actor: Eddie Firestone, Edmon Ryan, Elisabeth Fraser, Robert Mitchum, Shirley MacLaine
Director: Robert Wise
Cinematographer: Ted D. McCord
Producer: Robert Wise
Editor: Stuart Gilmore
Producer: Walter Mirisch
Writer: Isobel Lennart
Writer: William Gibson
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 119 minutes
Release Date: 1992-12-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

VHS Movie Reviews of Two for the Seesaw [VHS]

Movie Review: Right cast in the Wrong script
Summary: 4 Stars

I decided to watch "Two for the Seesaw" because it starred Robert Mitchum and I must say that this is one of his better movies. His strong, forceful "man in control" persona comes through very well. Unfortunately, that's the major problem I had with "Two for the Seesaw" because the lead male role calls, in my opinion, for a more bewildered man. Consider the plot's premise; A middle-aged lawyer from Nebraska comes to New York City to escape his marital problems at home. He meets a Greenich Village-type woman who's his complete oppostite and they attempt to have a normal relationship. I looked up the history of this play and Dana Andrews as well as Henry Fonda (a REAL Nebraska fellow) played the part on stage. Without knowing for sure, I presume that they brought a humorous sort of "Gee Whiz" bewilderment at not only the big city but the strange folks that live there. I presume that this made this comedy a funnier presentation than Mitchum's "ho-hum, nothing gets in my way" approach. With his leading role, the rest of the cast had to put together whatever humor they could salvage. Maybe I'm missing the playwrite's purpose; maybe he meant to show a man buckled under by others controlling his life who becomes a person looking for someone he could control. I think not.

OK that's out of the way, now for the positives. Mitchum and MacLaine work very well together and create a very interesting relationship. As I said, this is one of his best "Robert Mitchum" preformances. There is a good supporting cast but it's essentially a two person show. There is a soundtrack that is outstanding. Whoever was playing that trumpet has a knack for jazzy blues. I was absorbed in the movie but I kept thinking that someone was coming on too strong. Apparently the director, Robert Wise, didn't think so.

Movie Review: Mitchum+MacLaine on the marquee, Music+Cinematography are the substance
Summary: 3 Stars

The William Gibson play-cum-film Two for the Seesaw was on TCM recently, and being a Robert Mitchum fan I wanted to see it. Not to mention Shirley MacLaine (yes, she's been around forever!), Robert Wise (his first post-West Side Story direction) and Andre Previn doing the music.
But little did I know that the music and the cinematography (by Ted D. McCord) would be the best part of this film. Both were nominated for Academy Awards, they stand out so much-not that Mitchum and MacLaine, who dominate this two-hander almost totally, were terrible, to the contrary-that the movie became more of a celebration of New York in glorious black & white, and the jazz score a stunning evokation of the tumult of star-crossed love.
I certainly was surprised by Mitchum's settled and reserved performance here, as a seperated wandering Nebraskan lawyer who falls hard for a younger dancer. His characteristic muscularity or physical imposition is covered by a sharp suit the whole time, and the internal strife of his instability-which is only exacerbated by MacLaine's Gittel, her immaturity and vibrance-combined for a distinct performance in the Mitchum canon. MacLaine by the way is very cute and spunky here, sharp and vulnerable, & but for her nasally whim and inflections, she is also excellent.
But the cinematography of Ted D. McCord and the music of Andre Previn are the highlights here. In fact I later realized that Two for the Seesaw was on TCM because of it's brilliant cinematography, scheduled along with To Catch a Thief, Black Narcissus, A Farewell to Arms, all of which won Oscars for cinematography, and The Facts of Life, which was also nominated....

Movie Review: For those who like film noir
Summary: 5 Stars

For every exigent situation in life that ends in happiness, another ends in tragedy... Life IS a zero sum game. Only two pictures in my life, have moved me to tears....Two for the Seesaw is the second one. The other moved me on a more superficial level, for a death of a young love is almost unthinkable. That movie was LOVE STORY, and at that time I was young and in love, when death is imponderable. This movie leaves both protagonists alive, but both of them with a hurt inside, that will never heal. It would have been easy to let MacLaine and Mitchum live happily ever after. But, that would not be real life, which is a series of unrequited loves that ultimately fail, interspersed with new loves that(look at marriage statistics and factor in all the bad marriages that stay together for children, family, societal mores,etc.) most often fail again and again. Evolution is not the best way to propagate a species, just the most efficient. Evolution works great, until you add a large frontal lobe to the brain.

Movie Review: Contains film greatness
Summary: 5 Stars

Like Helen Morgan's "Applause", the film version of "Two For the Seesaw" gives its viewers a seldom seen look at the real theatre world of New York City in the 20th Century. This is a gritty, realistic love story on the cold, hard streets of New York that somehow is still able to show the real romance of the giant city. Not unlike the neo-realism of Fellini, Viscounti and Pausolini, "Two for the Seesaw" shows how actors and artists romatically collide with everyday people as they barely hang onto their dreams. Shirlely MacLaine lived this life before "The Pajama Game" and probably had friends like Gittel Mosca who were still striving for greatness long after MacLaine was a star. And Robert Mitchum, always surprising in roles in which he seemed to be wrongfullly cast, was never better. All this superior quality is magnified in the beauty and clarity of black and white. Don't read the following reviews. Those people have never been in love and working in the theatre in New York. I have and know how right-on this film is. It should be on DVD in widescreen. I've copied it off TCM and treasure my VHS in letterbox.

Movie Review: A Bad Adaption
Summary: 3 Stars

Unfortunately for viewers, this is a bad adaption of a brilliant play. This two-character relationship drama, William Gibson's first play, works extraordinarily well on the stage, with the two characters originally performed by Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft on Broadway.
However, the drama onstage is lost onscreen; it flounders, and leaves the audience with a bad taste in their mouth.
The theatrical "trick" of a two character play is that it brings the audience close to the characters in a way that many larger plays cannot and most films do. As a film, then, the two character drama seem an artistic conceit rather than dramatic device.
Moreover, some of the better concepts of the play are lost in the film format. Despite the excellent performances of Mitchum and MacLaine, this play just doesn't translate well to film, and the adaption isn't worth much attention.
I would highly recommend seeing this on stage if you should get the opportunity, or renting the film if you're a real classic movie buff, but buying it is not a good idea.
I'm giving it three stars because I know the writing and ideas here are excellent; were it an original screenplay I'd only give it two or even one.

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Crumbling Marriages Video

Genres > Comedy > By Theme > Love & Romance
By Year > 1960-1969
Drama > By Theme > Psychological Drama
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