|
|
1 internautes sur 1 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
THIS HONEY IS REAL SWEET !, Fév 1 2009
Presented for the first time on DVD format from VCI Entertainment "Honey West" includes all 30 episodes remastered in glorious Black & White. Either the prints used for this DVD release were in great condition to start or VCI thoroughly cleaned them up because this show looks spectacular! The video image is crisp and clean and the sound is terrific. This incredible 4 single sided disc set with amazing artwork and solid packaging is a must for any "Honey West" fan new or old. Nothings Sweeter than Honey!
In the early 1960's British audiences were treated to Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) the beautiful female co-star of the Avengers TV series in Britain. In 1965 just about the same time as Mrs. Emma Peel was introduced into U.S households the beautiful "Honey West" (Anne Francis) made her mark as one of televisions first female action / adventure stars in a lead role. The "Honey West" character was first introduced in an Episode of "Burke's Law" called "Who Killed the Jackpot?" where honey outwitted her male counterpart played by Gene Barry proving that she could be as good as any male detective.
Premiering in the fall of 1965 "Honey West" was given her own 30 minute television series from producer Aaron Spelling, sadly this show only lasted 30 episodes. Anne Francis was the perfect choice for the "Honey West" character she was beautiful, seductive, glamorous and everything her British counterpart Emma Peel was. In an era of television when women stayed mostly in the background or took lesser roles Anne Francis was a pioneer and she paved the way for many actresses who followed.
"Honey West" following in the footsteps of her late father a top notch investigator in his own right, inherited his private eye firm as well as his old partner Sam Bolt. Even tough the sexual tension between the new partners was evident throughout the series Honey's first and only true love was the thrill of the chase and no man could equal that.
No stranger to hand to hand combat "Honey West" wasn't afraid to mix it up from time to time to get the job done. She was an expert at judo and she also held a black belt in karate. Honey also owned an arsenal of weapons filled with cool James Bond like gadgets guaranteed to get results. These neat gadgets included an exploding compact, a garter belt gas mask, teargas earrings and a lipstick microphone, talk about a woman who was "Dressed to kill". "Honey West" was a fantastic half hour show that definitely paved the way for shows like Charlie's Angels, Policewoman, Cagney and Lacey and countless others.
DVD Features Include:
-Anne Francis Photo Gallery
-Behind the Scenes Photo gallery
-Episode selection
-Vintage Commercials
DVD Episodes Include:
The Swingin Mrs. Jones / The Owl and the Eye / The Abominable Snowman / A Matter of Wife and Death / Live a Little Kill a Little / Whatever Lola Wants / The Princess and the Paupers / In the Bag / The Flame and the Pussycat / A Neat Little Package / A Stitch in Crime / A Million Bucks in Anybody's Language / The Gray Lady / Invitation to Limbo / Rockabye the Hard Way / A Nice Little Till to Tap / How Brillig, O, Beamish Boy? / King of the Mountain / Its Earlier than You Think / The Perfect Un-crime / Like Visions and Omens and All That Jazz / Don't Look Now, But Isn't That Me? / Come to Me, My Litigation Baby / Slay, Gypsy, Slay / The Fun-Fun Killer / Pop Goes the Easel / Little Green Robin Hood / Just the Bear Facts Ma'am / There's a Long, Long Fuse A' Burning / An Eerie, Airy, Thing
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 internautes sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Honey honey, Oct. 16 2008
Every time a semi-intelligent, capable heroine appears on a hit TV show, we're told that now all those old cliched women's roles are passe, compared to Heroine X.
But Honey West was truly one of the groundbreaking TV heroines, way back in the mid 1960s when women were still classified either as housewives or girlfriends, and a sexy woman was usually an evil one. "Honey West: The Complete Series" ended up being a pretty solid, unique detective show, with a heroine who definitely broke the mold -- both back in the sixties, and in the current day.
Honey West (Anne Francis) inherited a detective agency from her father, and instead of living off other people's work she dove into it, along with her long-suffering (and very hot) partner Sam Bolt (John Ericson).
As the series opens, Honey attempts to nab a criminal for a client -- the baddies get lonely, wealthy widows and wives into sexual situations, photograph them, and then blackmail them for ridiculous amounts of money. To make herself a target, Honey stays at a luxurious resort and pretends to be the neglected wife of a senator... while Sam pretends to join the blackmailing gang. Of course, it doesn't take long for the bad guys to start catching onto them.
And as the series goes on, Honey and Sam have some interesting problems to deal with, both for themselves and for law and justice and all that -- firebugs, kidnapped pop singers, stolen designer dresses, a horrendously spoiled little girl, a jade owl, jewel thieves, gypsies, a mobster's ex, an amnesiac with way too much money, loads of counterfeiting, psychics, embezzlement, and lots and lots of assorted thieves. There's even one thief who impersonates the one and only Honey West. Now that's personal.
In many ways, Honey West was a heroine ahead of her time -- she was a smart, self-sufficient heroine who was perfectly okay with being feminine, rather than having to be one of the boys. She did martial arts (we even see her practicing at home), wore glamorous gowns, took professional calls from the tub, had a pet ocelot, and had a vaguely James-Bondian array of magical technology (like a garter that turns into a gas mask, or a watch that served as a microphone). Oh, and her partner happened to be not only a technical wiz, but also quite tough and handsome.
It's a testament to Anne Francis that she can make this character seem semi-realistic and likable (although Honey's rotten money sense helps) rather than utterly nauseating. Francis -- best known as the daughter from "Forbidden Planet" -- brings a jaunty, sharp-edged energy to Honey, and handles her groundbreaking character without any visible strain. Though Ericson is technically the sidekick, he's more of an equal partner -- handsome, capable, and with a sharp tongue whenever Honey enmeshes them in another weird problem.
The mysteries themselves are pretty solid, classic material -- blackmail, theft, kidnapping and drug-running are the major culprits, although occasionally they become a little too wacky to be believed. They're handled with a deft mingling of the gritty (car chases, truckstop brawls) and the refined (Honey's luxurious apartment), and the mysteries take us to lots of mansions, ransacked offices, museums, boats, woodland cabins and occasionally a catwalk. And of course, lots of disguises and fun gadgets too.
And it's peppered with lots of intriguing twists in the detective work, clashes with the Californian cops, mild comic relief ("Finders keepers?" Honey muses after rescuing stolen designer dresses), and plenty of table-busting action. Ericson does most of the punching and wrestling, but Honey gets her fair share also (not always convincingly), and she adds some clever twists during the action scenes. For example, one episode has two attack dogs homing in on Honey's distinctive perfume -- until she splashes the bottle all over their master. Guess what happens.
"Honey West: The Complete Series" has aged quite well since the 1960s -- it may be in black and white, but the solid mysteries and excellent heroine keep it fresh. Nice vintage crime series.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 internautes sur 3 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
"Honey West (1965-1966) ... Anne Francis ... VCI Ent. (2008)", Juil 31 2008
VCI Entertainment presents "HONEY WEST COMPLETE SERIES" (17 September 1965) (30 Episodes on 4 DVD's) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Actress Anne Francis portrayed Honey West on television --- The character made her first television appearance in an episode of the series Burke's Law (1965) --- The character was popular enough that the ABC network spun her off into the series Honey West (1965-1966), produced by Aaron Spelling --- Honey West is a fictional character created by Gloria and Forest Fickling under the pseudonym "G.G. Fickling", and appearing in numerous mystery novels by the duo --- Both picture and sound have been digitally restored from the original 35 mm fine grains.
Under the production staff of:
Directors:
James H. Brown (6 episodes, 1966)
John Florea (3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Murray Golden (3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Paul Wendkos (3 episodes, 1965)
Thomas Carr (3 episodes, 1966)
John Peyser (2 episodes, 1965)
Sidney Miller (2 episodes, 1966)
Screenwriters:
Gwen Bagni
Paul Dubov
Gloria Fickling
Skip Fickling
G.G. Fickling
Honey West, a slinky, glamorous female private eye, was something new to television --- In an era when actresses were confined to sedate housewife and girlfriend roles, this series marked a unique and original departure. This was the first dramatic TV series in the U.S. with a female star in an action-adventure role traditionally played by a male actor. In addition to being television's first modern, independent, self-sufficient woman, Honey frequently engaged in energetic fight scenes and shootouts. As The Avengers had not yet aired in America, it was unprecedented to see a beautiful, curvacious woman in a catsuit beating up male attackers with a high-kick, judo-flip, or well-placed karate chop. She is also the first character, male or female, on U.S. television to use martial arts as self-defense.
Her untamed feline qualites were reflected by her leopard spot and animal-print wardrobe and decor --- She also kept an exotic pet ocelot and raced around in a convertible sportscar --- The risque aspect of the novels was toned down for television, although sultry Anne Francis nevertheless exuded a considerable sex appeal --- And she frequently went on undercover missions requiring some revealing outfit or bikini, etc.
In keeping with the secret agent trend of the '60s, Honey was outfitted with a number of James Bond-type gimmicks: an exploding compact, a garter-belt gas mask, and tear-gas earrings --- Her partner and man-Friday "Sam" (John Ericson) usually stayed in the background or sat in their high-tech surveillance van talking to Honey via a radio hidden in her lipstick case --- Their relationship was kept platonic, and Honey usually had to rescue him instead of the other way around --- (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
the cast includes:
Anne Francis ... Honey West
John Ericson ... Sam Bolt
Irene Hervey ... Aunt Meg
Bruce ... Bruce the Ocelot
Don Gazzaniga ... Butler
Ken Lynch ... Lt. Barney
COMPLETE EPISODE GUIDES:
1. "The Swingin Mrs. Jones" (September 17, 1965)
2. "The Owl and the Eye" (September 24, 1965)
3. "The Abominable Snowman" (October 1, 1965)
4. "A Matter of Wife and Death" (October 8, 1965)
5. "Live a Little... Kill a Little" (October 15, 1965)
6. "Whatever Lola Wants..." (October 22, 1965)
7. "The Princess and the Paupers" (October 29, 1965)
8. "In the Bag" (November 5, 1965)
9. "The Flame and the Pussycat" (November 12, 1965)
10."A Neat Little Package" (November 19, 1965)
11."A Stitch in Crime" (November 26, 1965)
12."A Million Bucks in Anybody's Language" (December 3, 1965)
13."The Gray Lady" (December 10, 1965)
14."Invitation to Limbo" (December 17, 1965)
15."Rockabye the Hard Way" (December 24, 1965)
16."A Nice Little Till to Tap" (December 31, 1965)
17."How Brillig, O, Beamish Boy?" (January 7, 1966)
18."King of the Mountain" (January 14, 1966)
19."It's Earlier Than You Think" (January 21, 1966)
20."The Perfect Un-crime" (January 28, 1966)
21."Like Visions and Omens... and All That Jazz" (February 4, 1966)
22."Don't Look Now, But Isn't That Me?" (February 11, 1966)
23."Come to Me, My Litigation Baby" (February 18, 1966)
24."Slay, Gypsy, Slay" (February 25, 1966)
25."The Fun-Fun Killer" (March 4, 1966)
26."Pop Goes the Easel" (March 11, 1966)
27."Little Green Robin Hood" (March 18, 1966)
28."Just the Bear Facts Ma'am" (March 25, 1966)
29."There's a Long, Long Fuse A' Burning" (April 1, 1966)
30."An Eerie, Airy, Thing" (April 8, 1966)
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Anne Francis Photo Galleries
2. Vintage Commericals
3. Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
4. Episode Selections
5. Each Episode is complete with no commercial interruptions
BIOS:
1. Anne Francis
Date of Birth: 16 September 1930 - Ossining, New York
Date of Death: Still Living
2. John Ericson (aka: Joseph Meibes)
Date of Birth: 23 September 1926 - Düsseldorf, Germany
Date of Death: Still Living
3. Irene Hervey (aka: Irene Herwick)
Date of Birth: 11 July 1909 - Venice, California
Date of Death: 20 December 1998 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Check out my review on "Burke's Law - Season One - Volume One" featuring Gene Barry, Gary Conway and Regis Toomey also from VCI Entertainment and posted on Amazon.Com
Hats off and thanks to Robert Blair and his staff at VCI Entertainment --- VCI was named in Variety and Hollywood Reporter as the first company to produce and release motion pictures directly to the home marketplace --- order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- VCI are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector -- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections.
Total Time: 900 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 8515 ~ (9/02/2008)
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accueil Amazon
