Search - Critic's Choice on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Not For Children Movie Release: 1962 DVD Release: 06/19/2007 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Comedy Drama, Showbiz Comedy

Ira Levin wrote the stage comedy Critic's Choice as a good-natured retort to a comment made by critic Walter Kerr. In his essay -How Not to Write a Play, Kerr noted that the worst possible scenario would involve a drama critic forced to review a play written by his wife (we should mention that Kerr's own wife was noted playwright Jean Kerr). Levin utilized this very scenario, and the result was a Broadway hit. Less successful artistically was the 1962 film version, though with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as stars, the film couldn't help but clean up at the box office. Hope portrays theatrical critic Parker Ballantine, while Lucille Ball plays his wife Angela. Feeling "useless," Angela writes a play as a lark, then is amazed when it is optioned by a major producer. Parker does his best to get out of the responsibility of reviewing the play (which very well may be as bad as he thinks it is), but cannot escape the responsibility. Much of the verbal wit of the Levin original is sacrificed in favor of one-line quips; there is also an overabundance of gratuitous slapstick during a little-league game and the climactic "opening night" sequence. Still, Hope and Ball work together well as always. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob Hope - Parker Ballantine
Lucille Ball - Angela Ballantine
Marilyn Maxwell - Ivy London
Rip Torn - Dion Kapakos
Jesse Royce Landis - Charlotte Orr

Critics Choice used to show up regularly on television in the 1960's, on afternoon movie hours and the like, all cropped, panned and scanned from its widescreen original -- programmers understood that it was one of the most accessible showcases they could get for Lucille Ball and Bob Hope, regardless of the content or what one was losing in the image. The movie has finally been given decent treatment -- including a letterboxed (2.35-to-1) image -- on DVD, and it turns out to be pretty decent as entertainment. Ira Levin's play has been retooled as a vehicle for Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, but it's still easy enough to recognize the playwright's jabs at Walter Kerr and Jean Kerr, and the sensibilities behind -Please Don't Eat The Daisies, as a book and as a movie. The cinematography by Charles B. Lang, and Edith Head's costuming at least get full play, and the 26 chapters indicate that someone paid some serious attention to this comedy in the mastering process. The only bonus feature is an original trailer in which the two stars immediately step out of character to promote the movie, an indicator that everyone involved was on the same page from day one of this production. The disc opens automatically to a simple, easy-to-use menu. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide