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The Time of Your Life
- Starring: James Cagney, Marlene Ammes, William Bendix
- Director: H.C. Potter
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Description
After turning down several other Hollywood producers, playwright William Saroyan sold the film rights of his whimsical Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Time of Your Life to James and William Cagney. The scene is a rundown San Francisco waterfront bar, populated by a group of lovable eccentrics. Joe (James Cagney), a philosophical souse, encourages all around him to indulge in their wildest dreams. Joe's pal Tom (Wayne Morris), a born patsy, runs errands for Joe, the only person who has ever shown him kindness. Kitty (Jeanne Cagney), a streetwalker, willingly allows Joe to sponge drinks off her in exchange for a few nice words. Harry (Paul Draper), an enthusiastic but hopelessly untalented dancer-comedian, is hired by bartender Nick (William Bendix) at Joe's urging. And Kit Carson (James Barton), an addled old man who lives in a dream world, is prodded by Joe into weaving his unlikely reminiscences of the Wild West. It is Kit Carson (James Barton) who solves everyone's problems by eliminating a particularly scabrous detective named Blick (Tom Powers). Time of Your Life was originally filmed with Saroyan's bizarrely humorous ending intact, but the preview audiences reacted negatively, forcing the Cagney brothers to shoot 300,000 worth of retakes. Though many historians have written off The Time of Your Life as a brave failure, the film was actually a hit, grossing 1.5 million. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Features
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Category: Americana, Ensemble Film
- Theme: Down on Their Luck
- Release Date: October 21, 2003
- Studio: Alpha Video
- Lead Actors: James Cagney, Marlene Ammes, William Bendix, James Barton, Reginald Beane
- Supporting Actors: Pedro de Cordoba, Rena Case, Moy Ming, Eddie Borden, Floyd Walters, Donald Kerr, Ann Cameron, Wayne Morris, Jeanne Cagney, Broderick Crawford, Gladys Blake, Ward Bond, Claire Carleton, Paul Draper, Richard Erdman, Howard Freeman, Jimmy Lydon, Grazia Marciso, John Miller, Gale Page
- Director: H.C. Potter
- Run Time: 1 hr 39 min
- Format: DVD
Additional Information
- DPCI: 246-00-5395
- ASIN: B002HXOHFW
- Catalog #: 11332022
- Item can not be gift wrapped.
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- Estimated Ship Dimensions : 7.64 inches length x 5.58 inches width x 0.59 inches height
- Estimated Ship Weight: 0.29 pound.
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Expert Reviews
Craig ButlerBy all rights, The Time of Your Life really shouldn't work as a film. Almost the entire action of the play occurs on one set, which usually is an anathema to the cinema. It's filled with dialogue that is heightened and artificial, which is difficult to pull off onscreen, and the plotless character study features a cipher at its center, which often leaves a big hole in the middle of a film. Yet, in Time, the limited setting doesn't feel stodgy and confined, thanks to subtle little tricks by master cinematographer James Wong Howe; the unrealistic dialogue comes across as flavorful, thanks to the expert cast that handles it with commitment and care; and James Cagney projects such warmth and overflowing humanity that most viewers won't realize -- or care -- that they know essentially nothing about the character that holds the entire movie together. "Warm" and "human" also apply to the movie as a whole, which is one of the most joyous expressions of life one is likely to encounter; joyous, but not cloyingly sentimental. While the work finds the good, the brave, and the admirable in its characters, there's still a thin vein of melancholy running underneath that enriches it considerably. As noted, James Cagney's performance is crucial, but the entire cast is splendid, with exemplary work from William Bendix, Jeanne Cagney, James Barton, and Wayne Morris, among others. The ending, altered from William Saroyan's original, is a bit out of place, but this doesn't keep Time from being a delightful, engaging, and thoroughly appealing film experience. Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
