The Noel Coward Collection
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DVD details
Actor: Noel CowardBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 1260 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
DVD Reviews of The Noel Coward Collection
DVD Review: Low Point of Civilization
Summary: 1 Stars
I admit I had never seen a Noel Coward play before picking up this DVD collection. I was much happier before.
While there are a few palatable selections here, most of these plays are among the most repugnant, nasty and anti-human works I have seen. Coward himself seems to be an artist of little depth, vacuous, with no humanity.
Some of the more enjoyable works include a movie about a British couple who stay on their diplomatic post in the face of a Japanese attack. There is also a very enjoyable work about a playwrite who helplessly watches as his play is butchered by the industry. In fact, it seems Coward is at his best when writing about the theater. The eight one act plays with Joan Collins are also relatively unoffensive to decent people. A few other tolerable moments can be found on these discs, but they in no way make up for the rest, which I have to say is worse than what comes out of Hollywood or on the TV nowadays.
A work about a dying man recounting his life with a dance troupe would have, in most hands, been a vehicle for feelings ranging from tender to angry. Coward does nothing but creep me out. The man is creepy, his thoughts are creepy and the presentation is creepy. Instead of feeling sad or angry or happy, I felt my skin crawl.
Private lives has a couple of characters who I kept wishing would die painful deaths. Coward is in gear here, showing his complete lack of empathy, maturity or decency as well has his hatred of the institutions of society.
But it is Design for Living that scores the winning goal. The characters are like 4 year olds trapped in adult bodies crying the whole time, "I don't want responsibility Mommy! I want I don't want to do chores! No Mommy, NO!" I wanted to see them done in, but that wasn't happeneing since the characters are probably Coward himself in different modes. Shallow and hateful. Very hateful of anything good and decent. I would have hoped Coward would have had the sense to redeem the film and have Ernest push the three off the balcony, but no.
I have a low, low opinion of Coward after this. Not only an immoral man, but really not very talented. I can watch works with themes I despise yet still give credit to an artist for technical skill. Coward has little. Shallow, shallow. The world will not miss him.
Description of The Noel Coward Collection
No�Coward was a master playwright whose prodigious talent dominated the theatre of the 1920s & 30s. "The Vortex" made him an immediate hit and controversial sensation. "Hay Fever," "Private Lives," and "Design for Living" are as popular today as when they were first performed. His series of one-acts "Tonight at 8:30" which he performed with Gertrude Lawrence have become a treasure trove for modern theater companies. This collection features star-studded BBC productions of Coward's full-length plays, one-acts and short stories plus bonus features including several radio plays, interviews and profiles of Coward. It's a must own collection for lovers of great theatre!DVD Features:
Interviews
Other
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