Abenteurer auf der Lucky Lady

Check out Nocturnal Pictures online. They sell Lucky Lady on DVD for $14.00 and some change. I have been looking for this movie on VHS or DVD for quite a long, long time, without success. All I have is an LP soundtrack. This may not be the best movie there is, but I collect Liza Minnelli movies, and this is one (of a few) are not available to buy anywhere. Liza Minnelli's musical numbers are a standout in this movie. I came across Nocturnal Pictures online. However, I am afraid this is a bootleg company that sells DVDs made in their kitchen. Some bootlegs copies are fine. However, I want to make sure this DVD is watchable. Nocturnal Pictures is probably the only company that carries it. Just the same I want to make sure it is a good purchase. If you own such a copy will you kindly email me? Thank you very much.

I still remember seeing this movie, way back in 1976, at the Fortway theater in Brooklyn, NY. It was a second run theater that showed double features, usually movies that were originally released 6 months earlier, for only $2.00 (ahh those were the days). Lucky Lady played on a double bill with Sky Riders, which starred James Coburn, Susannah York and Robert Culp. I was around 13 at the time, and had a little idea of what Sky Riders was about, no idea of the story to Lucky Lady, though I know it received poor reviews. I have to admit I enjoyed them both, but had a grand time watching Lucky Lady. It seemed a bit episodic, and the humor at times was kinda dumb, but I got to like the characters, even the minor ones like Robbie Benson as their "first mate," Michael Hordern as the old captain, and even Geoffrey Lewis as the zealous but loony Coast Guard captain out to sink any bootleggers he comes across. But the villains really stole the show, especially John Hillerman as the machine-gun toting main villain.

One complaint was that the final boat battle was a rip-off of the James Bond battles. Who cares, as long as it's done well--in fact Mr. Donen should have been approached to do some of the Bonds after this movie.

I may have seen the movie on tv shortly after its release. I don't remember if i liked it as much, seeing it on tv wasn't quite the same. I don't know if I would like it as much now either, but I would certainly be interested in seeing it on video. As another person commented, so much dreck is being released on DVD, I don't see why Lucky Lady shouldn't be made available. At least it tried to be a class act, which is more than you can say for many of today's releases.

Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli and Robby Benson are a motley crew who whilst on-board the boat of the title make a killing transporting booze through treacherous waters in 1930's prohibition. Hackman/Reynolds become engaged in a hilarious menage-a-trios with Minnelli who is excellent in her role as Claire who is queen of the rum-runners, the four have to keep one step ahead of the villainous mobster Teague 'John Hillerman' and also avoid Geoffrey Lewis who is a by the book Coast Guard who is out to thwart the lucrative enterprise. The film has lots of laughs and some cracking set pieces most notably the Sea battle climax which in these days of pathetic 'CGI' remains amazing. Directed by Stanley Donen (Charade) 'Lucky Lady' is nothing short of excellent. It's great to finally have it on DVD in 1:85:1 16:9 Widescreen. It's an excellent transfer which was photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth. why this film isn't better known i don't know why? but i liked it:)

Released in Sydney in 1976 in the beautiful lost Plaza cinerama-screen theatre LL was crazily blown up to 70mm for release here and suffered horrible cropping to make it a rectangle 2.2 ratio pic when it seemed to be shot 1.66-1. Heads were cut off, or in one famous scene with Liza in a chair with Hackman and Reynolds standing behind her (the famous "fish fart" line) all we saw was her eyes on the stage and the men's chins at the top. I saw it again in proper ratio and it was far better, so whoever's idea to blow it up literally only added to the maligned 'bomb' status of this very expensive ($13m) 1975 film. Yes, the washed out image also looks weird, and makes you yearn for better access into the antics on screen. We had one of the 3 reported endings: the silly happy one where they all surface in the water after being blown up. The Butch Cassidy ending where the guys die and she is left would have been much better. Amazing that this film cost $4m more than STAR WARS filmed the next year. I saw a terrific 'making of' featurette at a nearby cinema at the same time which was in focus and offered a witty and attractive lead to the film, so there is plenty for the DVD if we get it. Reynolds other films of the time AT LONG LAST LOVE and NICKELODEON deserve favourable DVD releases too; all 3 are funny and enjoyable and compared to new multiplex releases from the USA, are masterpieces. LL is almost a musical and Reynolds is a hoot. The John Held artwork on the credits will make you rush to buy a book of his delicious 1920s cartoons.

Liza Minnelli plays such a selfish harpy in "Lucky Lady" that it's easy to see why this film won her no new admirers. Fans of 1972's "Cabaret" were already softened to love Minnelli no matter what, but here director Stanley Donen seems intent on making Liza's character Claire as brittle and abrasive as possible. The lumbering plot, about a trio of rum-runners in the 1930s who outsmart the competition and fall into an oddly casual three-way love affair, isn't worked out cohesively in terms of the narrative (and the overlapping scenes of raunch, comedy, and mobster melodrama eventually cause impatience and resentment). At first it's a bit shocking to see Liza in bed between Gene Hackman and Burt Reynolds, however the movie isn't all about after-hours fun under-the-sheets; Donen turns the third act into a violent extravaganza (with a slapstick bent), including boats blowing up, guns going off, and dead bodies everywhere. The picture walks a shaky line between nostalgia and bloodshed, with echoes of "Bonnie & Clyde"'s jangly tone. Little of it jells, though the attempt is certainly a curious one. **1/2 from ****