- Actors: Walter Huston, Pat O'Brien, Kay Johnson, Gavin Gordon, Constance Cummings
- Directors: Frank Capra
- Language English
- Classification: U
- Studio: Columbia Tristar Home Video
- Run Time: 75 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- ASIN: B00004RUU5
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 14,660 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Product details |
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
So this Capra guy did corny movies then?
I am of course being a touch sarcastic there because it often gets forgotten that Frank Capra, as wonderful as his homely corn uplifters are, did in fact do straight, serious and technically excellent pictures as well. American Madness is a tale of hysteria during the Great Depression, it's poignant and a fine reference point as regards that particular bleak time in American history, it's a story well worth investing time in purely for that alone. That it boasts a fabulous performances from Walter Huston and a usual irrepressible one from Pat O'Brien merely cements this in the must see category. Yet the main selling point here is Capra himself, obviously still honing his skills, this piece stands as an interesting marker for anyone doubting Capra's worth as a director of note. Splendidly adopting a single sets mentality, Capra crafts his story within the confines of a bank, wonderfully gliding his camera around and quick cutting to emphasise the scattergun nature of the "madness" unfolding.
It's not a film to revisit once one has viewed, but you owe it to yourself as a film fan to see it just the once, for here we have W Huston and F Capra on particularly fine form. 6.5/10
I am of course being a touch sarcastic there because it often gets forgotten that Frank Capra, as wonderful as his homely corn uplifters are, did in fact do straight, serious and technically excellent pictures as well. American Madness is a tale of hysteria during the Great Depression, it's poignant and a fine reference point as regards that particular bleak time in American history, it's a story well worth investing time in purely for that alone. That it boasts a fabulous performances from Walter Huston and a usual irrepressible one from Pat O'Brien merely cements this in the must see category. Yet the main selling point here is Capra himself, obviously still honing his skills, this piece stands as an interesting marker for anyone doubting Capra's worth as a director of note. Splendidly adopting a single sets mentality, Capra crafts his story within the confines of a bank, wonderfully gliding his camera around and quick cutting to emphasise the scattergun nature of the "madness" unfolding.
It's not a film to revisit once one has viewed, but you owe it to yourself as a film fan to see it just the once, for here we have W Huston and F Capra on particularly fine form. 6.5/10
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A fine, little-known Capra drama
21 Dec 2002
Frank Capra's fast-paced Depression-era drama stars Walter Huston as a bank manager facing a financial panic that leads to a run on his bank. It's easy to peg this early talkie as a dry run for "It's A Wonderful Life," but it also stands on its own as a fine film, shot with a nice noir-ish feel. The desperation and panic of the time is painfully palpable throughout this film, and the indiscriminate hysteria of the opening sequences ratchets up into individualized, personal agony as Huston steels himself to lose all that he's ever worked for. Tense and anxiety-provoking; worth checking out!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Early Drama By Capra - Still Capra - Also Available In The "Premiere Frank Capra Collection"
28 Dec 2008
This review refers to "American Madness"
Something a little different from Capra, in the form of a drama. The time is the Great Depression era, one bank President(Walter Huston) will not give in to the demands of the Board of Directors to merge for the good of the bank. Huston plays a bank president with a heart(yes they used to have some of these around). He believes in people. If they are honest, hard workers, he can't say no to granting them a loan. He has faith. He has run the bank for 25 years, always steering it in the right direction.
But times are different now. Money is tight. People are out of work. Huston won't budge and the board looks for reason to oust him. Things start snow-balling out of control for the bank. There's a robbery, probably an inside job and the rumors abound that the bank is going down.
Customer's are panicking and there's a run on the bank.
Huston's character, a sort of happy-go-lucky bank president, never gives up. The money is about to run out and in a very Capraesque turn of events, things will greatly improve. The people Huston has been so good to, will now be there to help him.
Other sub-stories add to the plot to create a total snowball effect of what can go wrong will - Huston believes his loving wife is having an affair, there's an office romance and some very tough thugs to deal with -and our guy in on the verge of losing everything.
Capra's style is evident in this early film(1932). A style that lifts our spirits even when the going gets tough. And as always you'll find marvelous acting,filming and dialogue and you can't help but get involved with the characters and the tense storyline.
Highly recommended for Capra and Huston fans, you can also find the Region 1 edition(and a very nice quality transfer with commentary,and subtitles) in "The Priemere Frank Capra" collection. The collection also includes "It Happened One Night","Mr Deeds Goes To Town","You Can't Take It With You","Mr. Smith Goes To Washington", and a Documentary - "Frank Capra's American Dream"
Happy New Year To All and enjoy the film.....Laurie
Something a little different from Capra, in the form of a drama. The time is the Great Depression era, one bank President(Walter Huston) will not give in to the demands of the Board of Directors to merge for the good of the bank. Huston plays a bank president with a heart(yes they used to have some of these around). He believes in people. If they are honest, hard workers, he can't say no to granting them a loan. He has faith. He has run the bank for 25 years, always steering it in the right direction.
But times are different now. Money is tight. People are out of work. Huston won't budge and the board looks for reason to oust him. Things start snow-balling out of control for the bank. There's a robbery, probably an inside job and the rumors abound that the bank is going down.
Customer's are panicking and there's a run on the bank.
Huston's character, a sort of happy-go-lucky bank president, never gives up. The money is about to run out and in a very Capraesque turn of events, things will greatly improve. The people Huston has been so good to, will now be there to help him.
Other sub-stories add to the plot to create a total snowball effect of what can go wrong will - Huston believes his loving wife is having an affair, there's an office romance and some very tough thugs to deal with -and our guy in on the verge of losing everything.
Capra's style is evident in this early film(1932). A style that lifts our spirits even when the going gets tough. And as always you'll find marvelous acting,filming and dialogue and you can't help but get involved with the characters and the tense storyline.
Highly recommended for Capra and Huston fans, you can also find the Region 1 edition(and a very nice quality transfer with commentary,and subtitles) in "The Priemere Frank Capra" collection. The collection also includes "It Happened One Night","Mr Deeds Goes To Town","You Can't Take It With You","Mr. Smith Goes To Washington", and a Documentary - "Frank Capra's American Dream"
Happy New Year To All and enjoy the film.....Laurie
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A Run on the Bank!
18 Dec 2006
American Madness is a film about the insanity of a crowd and the way a rumor can turn into a major problem. For fans of It's a Wonderful Life, this film is the problems of the Savings and Loan under a microscope. A bank is thriving during the Great Depression and is still able to lend large sums of money in hopes of pushing the economy back up to it's height. This is all thanks to the man who runs the bank (Walter Huston), fighting against his superiors the whole way. However, one of the workers (Gavin Gordon) gets into trouble with a group of gangsters, and out of fear, he aids them in robbing the bank. Now the bank has two major problems. There is a run on the bank as soon as the public finds out (and believes millions of dollars were stolen). Also, there is a murder/theft investigation among the employees for the money stolen and the guard who was killed.
This film takes a bit of time to get going since it is important that we gain some sort of fondness for all of the characters but also to understand the situation of the bank and the reasons why it is so important that it stay open. As always in Frank Capra's typical films, there is a great deal of comradory and the idea that good can triumph over adversity. It doesn't matter how many times you've seen his films or heard that theory, you can't help but get caught up in it when it's happening on the screen. This, like most of Capra's other films, is a true classic.
This film takes a bit of time to get going since it is important that we gain some sort of fondness for all of the characters but also to understand the situation of the bank and the reasons why it is so important that it stay open. As always in Frank Capra's typical films, there is a great deal of comradory and the idea that good can triumph over adversity. It doesn't matter how many times you've seen his films or heard that theory, you can't help but get caught up in it when it's happening on the screen. This, like most of Capra's other films, is a true classic.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
