Search - Actors And Sin: Actor's Blood, Woman of Sin on DVD

Okay low budget film - the highlight is the Interview with M

Steven I. Ramm | Phila, PA USA | 08/24/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Okay low budget film - the highlight is the Interview with Marsha Hunt

Talk about an obscure film from the 1950s - with an all-star cast - which nearly no one has heard of! This two-for-the-price of one film was a vanity project for playwright Ben Hecht. It was filmed over 5 days on a shoestring budget and was produced, written AND directed by Hecht and the second half features his child actor daughter! (Bet he didn't have to pay her much!). The cast consists of A-list actors (Edward G. Robinson, Marsha Hunt - in the years before the blacklist ended her career - and Eddie Albert) doing B-list acting. Albert is one of the few that isn't overacting more than he should. Jenny Hecht began and ended her film career with this movie.

The black and white 82 film has been restored and the image is sharp and clear.

The real reason to get this DVD IMHO is for the "bonus feature" : A new 30 minute interview with Marsha Hunt in which she discusses her career, blacklisting, working with actors like Robinson, her involvement with the United Nations and even her new career as a record producer at age 92! The interviewer - Joel Blumberg knows his film history and draws out the utterly charming Hunt. You won't want the interview to end. I found it more interesting to watch the interview before seeing the film. Hunt gives you some things to look for. You probably won't watch the film more than once though.

Thanks to VCI for putting together this nice package.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
"

Five Stars for Marsha!

Louis A. Mari | Colorado Springs, CO USA | 12/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I give this restored rare vignette 5 stars primarily because of magnificent Marsha Hunt--not just because she stars in the first story with the great Edward G. Robinson, but because she "sparkles" in the special interview at the end of the CD. Marsha is one of Hollywood's most endearing actresses of the Golden Age. She remains vivacious, charming and eager to share glorious anecdotes from her fantastic career in cinema. She is radiantly beautiful at 92 years of age, and her vivid recall of days past and the legendary performers she knew is awesome. Always modest concerning her own tremendous accomplishments, she lavishes praise on those who served Hollywood so well at its zenith. Marsha continues to be active in all sorts of entertainment and is a sterling example of dedication to professionalism without sacrificing principle.
Marsha's interview alone is well worth the price of this CD, but the unique nature of the format in this dual film treat and rare perfomances of its stars make for a most rewarding view into cinema-making history. A "light weight" production it is, but yet a ground-breaking piece of entertainment in its own right. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in vignette film making and, of course anyone who loves Marsha Hunt."

Children and Art

Randy Buck | Brooklyn, NY USA | 08/14/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The invaluable Kit Parker Films brings us another loving restoration of a "lost film" for DVD, this time a Ben Hecht picture that had long fallen through the cracks. ACTORS AND SIN, from 1952, is one of those episodic movies Hollywood and the British film industry loved for a while -- two or more short anecdotes strung together, sometimes with only the flimsiest of connections. Here, the relation's show biz, with the opener, "Actor's Blood," dealing with the Broadway theatre scene, while the second tale, "Woman of Sin," lampoons Hollywood. Both employ absolutely the ripest of language from Hecht, to differing effect. The former, with Edward G. Robinson and a miscast Marsha Hunt, both in there pitching as the hammiest of thespians and his dipso, nympho daughter, is overripe to a fault; bright, talented actors can't save this one from an obvious, melodramatic story and cheap production values. The second, though, is a treat. Hecht knows the territory of Hollywood screenwriters inside out, and his wicked tale of the chaos that ensues when the author of the latest studio historical sex epic proves to be a nine-year-old girl is a riot. Hecht's daughter, Jenny, is hysterical as Millicent Egelhofer, she of the nom de plume "Daisy Marcher," the pint-sized penwoman with the raspy delivery and precocious talent. Eddie Albert, Tracey Roberts, and Alan Reed contribute to the fun, but this one's Jenny's show all the way. She knocks her father's zingers out of the park with the greatest of ease, and provides one of the all-time great comic fade-outs in Hollywood history. Easy to see how this picture vanished for decades; now that it's found, though, anyone who loves a good laugh at vintage Tinseltown excesses should jump while it's still available."