The World of Henry Orient
by George Roy Hill
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angela Lansbury, Paula Prentiss, Peter Sellers, Phyllis Thaxter, Tom BosleyDirector: George Roy Hill
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of The World of Henry Orient
Movie Review: A Gem of a Movie - A Treasure
Summary: 5 Stars
From its beginning as a first book by the young Nora Johnson, daughter of the great screenwriter, Nunnally Johnson, "The World of Henry Orient" was a labor of love for all who worked on it. Nora's father adapted the book into a screenplay, and then the excellent director, George Roy Hill, transformed it into one of the better movies ever made.
I'm so glad this movie was made at the right time (1964), when cinema still relied on a good story, well told. I firmly believe this film couldn't, or wouldn't, be made today. Hollywood, with some outstanding exceptions, now seems content to churn out formulaic scripts with sophomoric plots and cliche dialogue. But that wasn't the case in 1964, and it certainly wasn't the case in "The World of Henry Orient."
Every aspect of this film is exceptional. The cinematography, with its innovative camera angles, beautifully depicts the special world of the two girls, and is in absolute sync with the script. It also presents a lovely panorama of New York City before its decay. You can watch "The World of Henry Orient" for its scenic selections and camera work alone, and learn more than in most modern movies.
The scenes depicting the changes of the seasons are, for example, carefully correlated with what is happening emotionally in the script. They also show how time changes the girls and their world.
Listen to the movie's score: There is a lovely melody depicting the spirit of the two girls and the passing of time. When the movie gets darker, more solemn orchestration overlays the primary score, but it is never abandoned. It lurks beneath the overlay, ready to break out. The director uses music in the film to tell us something about the inherent optimism and resilience of youth.
The script is rich in depth and texture. It presents a lovely picture of the emotions and innocent fantasies of the two girls adolescent world, and then shows what happens when that world is intruded upon by the petty and sordid behavior of some of the adults in the movie. The masterful blending of these opposing worlds creates a light, airy comedy that is also a poignant drama. It is very rare for one production to combine so many of the elements a great film should have, but "The World of Henry Orient" does.
You won't find better acting than in "The World of Henry Orient." Mr. Hill allows Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth the freedom to create their charming characters, and they do so magnificently. These two young actors almost steal the show from some of the finest performers of our time. It is a credit to the director that each character in the movie is perfectly drawn and marvelously performed.
Thank you, Angela Lansbury, for beautifully playing what must have been a hideous role to perform. Bravo, Tom Bosley, for perfectly portraying a father who has aquired everything but the wisdom to receive his daughter's love.
I will forever smile when I think of the wonderfully phony Peter Sellers, and I will always treasure Paula Prentiss' marvelous depiction of a neurotic on steroids. Thank you Phyllis Thaxter, Bibi Osterwald, John Fielder, Al Lewis, Peter Duchan, and many others for your fine acting. Oh, when you watch the film, look for the cameo appearance by Jack Benny; he is one of the members of the ochestra.
"The World of Henry Orient" will always hold a most special place in my heart. The girls will always be young. Peter Sellers will never cease pursuing the marvelous Paula Prentiss, and Tom Bosley will forever just have learned how to be a father to his child.
What I really wanted to say in this review is thank you to all of those who gave us this treasure. You did an outstanding job, and you can be very proud of what you created. And you did it in 1964.
Summary of The World of Henry Orient
Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury and Tom Bosley are hilarious in The World of Henry Orient, a funny, charming (Los Angeles Times), lively and imaginative (Newsweek) place you'll want to visit again and again! Two starry-eyed schoolgirls spy, stalk and scheme their way into the life of a concert pianist (Sellers) in this wacky piece of inspired lunacy (The Hollywood Reporter). With half of New Yorkincluding a bevy of befuddled cops and one man-hungry momin tow, these precocious teens do all they can to keep tabs on their harried hero, inadvertently turning The World of Henry Orient entirely upside down!The World of Henry Orient would be a classic, if only more people knew about it. Here are the adventures of two prep-school Manhattan girls, memorably played by Merrie Spaeth and Tippy Walker, who decide to dedicate a brief but crucial moment in their lives to the adoration of one Henry Orient (Peter Sellers). Orient is a concert pianist--with curiously uncertain accent--more renowned for his mistresses than his playing. (Although Sellers is onscreen for less than half the picture, he sketches one of his comic gems.) The movie has a wonderful J.D. Salinger flavor of early-'60s New York privilege, with a keen sense of the secret lives adolescents can construct for themselves. Director George Roy Hill brings an occasional burst of New Wave style but otherwise steers the movie into the tone described by one of the girls: "I feel awfully happy in a sort of sad way." --Robert Horton
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