Once Upon a Time
by Alexander Hall
List Price:
Our Price: $16.87
You Save: $13.08 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.22 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cary Grant, James Gleason, Janet Blair, Ted Donaldson, William DemarestDirector: Alexander Hall
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Once Upon a Time
Movie Review: Hollywood System Polishes Flawed Film
Summary: 3 Stars
The large cast in this is wonderful, from Cary Grant to virtually every contract player who has a line; the production values as well. It would be impossible to cast a film like this with that kind of wall to wall talent now; its a small monument to the lost studio system. The problem is that with an intriguing premise and Cary Grant going for it, the film falls short in comparison to what Preston Sturges could have done with it in one direction or Frank Capra in another. It straddles being a children's tale or an adult's tale with a child at its center, probably for calculated economic reasons. It almost moves you, it almost becomes a giddy satire, it almost makes you believe the story, but just stops short. The ending is just right. And watching Cary Grant dance through the theatrical role makes you dream about what he could have done with "Twentieth Century". With a Sturges rewrite polish, this could have been...but it isn't.
Summary of Once Upon a Time
Cary Grant is, irrefutably, the greatest movie star of all time. For evidence, take a look at Once Upon a Time, an airy souffl? of a movie about a once-hot Broadway producer named Jerry Flynn (Grant), now on a cold streak, who discovers a young orphan boy with a dancing caterpillar. Convinced this will save his theater from being reclaimed by the bank, Flynn skillfully turns the caterpillar into a media sensation and becomes a substitute father for the boy--but he plans to sell the caterpillar to the highest bidder, even though he promised the boy that he wouldn't. The surprise in the movie is not how impossibly charming Grant is, but how willing he was to take chances; Flynn becomes more of a villain than you'd ever expect before he sees the right path, and Grant doesn't shy away from it. A slight movie, but a superb performance. --Bret FetzerComedy DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in The Films of the Debonair Cary Grant
NotoriousRelease date: 1999-09-07; DVD
Best price: $134.90
Mr LuckyTurner Home Ent; Release date: 1998-04-14; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $99.99
Night and DayWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
The Howards of VirginiaRelease date: 2003-03-25; DVD
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
The Talk of the TownGRANT,CARY; Release date: 2003-02-25; DVD
Best price: $10.24
Price in other shops:
Destination TokyoWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops:
Only Angels Have WingsRelease date: 1999-08-31; DVD
Best price: $12.74
Price in other shops:
The Pride and the PassionRelease date: 2002-05-07; DVD
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
Once Upon a TimeRelease date: 2003-02-25; DVD
Best price: $24.50
Price in other shops:
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)Release date: 2005-03-01; DVD
Best price: $17.93
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Walk Don't RunRelease date: 2003-04-29; DVD
Best price: $13.07
Price in other shops:
Father GooseRelease date: 2001-09-18; DVD
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
SuspicionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-09-07; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
I Was a Male War BrideRelease date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Kiss Them for MeGRANT,CARY; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
The Howards of VirginiaRelease date: 2003-03-25; DVD
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
The Amazing AdventureRelease date: 2002-02-19; DVD
Best price: $3.29
Price in other shops:
Cary Grant: Screen Legend Collection (Big Brown Eyes / Kiss and Make Up / Thirty Day Princess / Wedding Present / Wings in the Dark)UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2006-11-14; DVD
Best price: $18.49
Price in other shops:
People Will TalkRelease date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops:
Born to Be BadGRANT,CARY; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $7.18
Price in other shops: