The Singing Detective

Amazon.com

The late Dennis Potter was a master at mining the popular songs of the 1930s and '40s for dramatic effect, but he never did it better than in this British miniseries starring the inestimable Michael Gambon. Gambon plays a mystery writer named Philip E. Marlow, who is suffering a torturous bout of psoriatic arthritis in a British hospital, where he is a victim of both his disease and the national health plan. Unable to move without pain, he escapes into his imagination, plotting out a murder tale in which he is both a big-band singer and a private eye. But Potter and director Jon Amiel also mix in flashbacks of Marlow's youth and his unhappy marriage to explain how the real Marlow reached this sorry pass. Flawlessly, intricately, kaleidoscopically assembled, the six one-hour episodes of this British miniseries fly by like some fantastic fever dream. --Marshall Fine

Description

A gripping murder mystery. A lavish musical. An intense psychological thriller. A warped romance. Dennis Potter's legendary, award-winning mini-series is all this and more. Hailed by the Chicago Sun Times as "The greatest production in the history of television," this genre-deying masterpiece is soon to be a major motion picture starring Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Audio commentary with star Michael Gambon and director Jon Amiel
Documentaries:2 Behind-the-scenes specials
Photo gallery

Customer Reviews:

One of a kind.......2007-03-19

The Singing Detective is a virtually unique entitiy: Rashoman-like dramatic stories, interwoven through and around one another, with humor, intrigue, fantasy, tragedy, sex, psychology, and music!! To try to describe it with any degree of accuracy would be to become so bogged down in detail as to make the telling of it well nigh incomprehensible; meaning, I suppose, that it can't be described, it has to be experienced. And you'll either love it or hate it. I love it!

Engrossing show.......2007-01-10

This is a masterpiece of semi film noir. Tha acting is superb, and you will be guessing and wondering throughout. A real treat!

OUTSTANDING BBC MINISERIES.......2006-08-18

I first saw this excellent British Chandleresque miniseries starring Michael Gambon in 1991, and purchased the DVD set a few years ago. It was well worth the cost. I did not know that the autobiographical details in the film were in fact factual accounts of the late novelist Dennis Potter's life, until reading his obituary several years ago when he passed away. The fictional detective, Philip Marlowe (played by Gambon) suffers from a debilitating disease called psoriatic arthritis, and indeed so did Dennis Potter. If you like a great story, with film-noir tossed in and excellent acting I would highly recommend buying this DVD set. Or rent it. The "Singing Detective" is well worth the watch.

huh?.......2006-08-11

20 years after I first saw this on the BBC, I watched it again, just as mystified and enthralled and, I have to say, confused.

Dennis Potter makes enormous demands of the viewer in trying to figure out just what the heck is going on during the whole thing. That's partly the enjoyment of watching it.

As with his earlier 'Pennies from Heaven', Potter has the cast break into song sporadically to great effect.

Well worth the money.

Confused But Captivating.......2006-06-16

This series left me feeling rather dumb, but that doesn't stop me from thinking that it was well done. I've had people ask me what it's about, and I found it hard to describe. I shall have to watch it again to get my grip on it. In the meanwhile, I will say this: The acting is superb, the situations/vignettes are gripping, and even if I wasn't sure what was going on, I eagerly continued to watch it.

Average customer rating:

not good at all
Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr.
Touched by Genius
Seen on its own merits . . .
Weirdly compelling

The Singing Detective
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. , Robin Wright Penn , Mel Gibson , Jeremy Northam , and Katie Holmes
Director: Keith Gordon
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001AW04I
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Amazon.com

If you can pull The Singing Detective out from under the long shadow cast by the acclaimed 1986 British miniseries, Keith Gordon's 109-minute film version achieves its own distinction. It was a daring (and some might say foolhardy) assignment to film Dennis Potter's screenplay, written out of Potter's desire to see his semi-autobiographical drama in feature-length form, but Gordon rose to the occasion with a superlative cast led by Robert Downey, intense as ever as Potter's on-screen alter ego. Bedridden with an excruciating case of skin-rotting psoriasis, pulp novelist Dan Dark (Downey) escapes into his vivid imagination, where gunmen and gumshoes pursue their pulpy agenda, casting himself as the titular "warbler" whose pain and anger is focused like a laser on his cheating wife (Robin Wright Penn) and anyone else who's made his real and imaginary worlds unbearable. Coproducer Mel Gibson appears under heavy makeup as Dark's condescending psychiatrist, and supporting roles are played with stylish flair by Adrien Brody, Katie Holmes, Jeremy Northam, Carla Gugino, and others. While many critics called this a noble failure, The Singing Detective captures the essence of Potter's story, offering a welcome alternative to the acknowledged superiority of the miniseries. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

not good at all.......2007-05-07

it was all scrated and will never by from them again.

Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr........2007-05-07

I'm a huge Robert Downey, Jr. fan, but this movie did not live up to my expectations. I found it tedious and boring for the most part. I guess every great actor has an occasional bad movie.

Touched by Genius.......2006-08-17

The film is a strange animal, all right, a work sans genre, and at times Gordon seems to have overreached himself, grasping for effects he isn't quite able to achieve. The various styles, moods, and genres give the film a slightly garish, amateurish feel, yet in the end (perhaps consciously on Gordon's part) this very awkwardness works in the film's favor. The Singing Detective is a remarkably ingenuous work, fresh and daring, almost childlike in its lack of pretension, and easily one of the most original American movies of the last twenty years. Above all, it showcases Robert Downey Jr.'s raging, embittered psoriasis-afflicted pulp writer, inside whose head the whole movie (more or less) takes place, and Downey gives an inventive, powerful performance, what may be the apotheosis of his enormous talent. Praise for Downey notwithstanding, on its release Gordon's film met with a wall of critical resistance, a veritable consensus of contempt. This may have been due in part (in the UK at least) to a fondness for Potter's original TV series; but it was perhaps due even more to the basic incompatibility of Potter's idiosyncratic, scathing vision with mainstream (critical) tastes. Whatever the case, the movie once again tragically failed to find its audience.

As with his previous adaptations, Gordon respected the source material without revering it, and as a director, he has a rare gift: the ability to fuse his own sensibility and talents with his subject at a fundamental level. In the case of The Singing Detective, it was a somewhat less seamless fusion; Potter's vision (his bizarre blend of musical fantasy with bleak psychological realism) was so startlingly original it required another sensibility at least as strong and eccentric to fuse with. Gordon doesn't quite possess (yet) the surrealist gifts to make Potter's vision his own, or to take it to the next level (David Lynch might be the only director capable of that). He's a proficient director in every way, and seems to be blessed with a natural rapport with actors (perhaps why so many good ones want to work with him). Yet Gordon isn't a visionary director, and this was a visionary script. Fortunately, he had a visionary actor at a career peak to take up the slack, and Downey carries the day.

The Singing Detective isn't a masterpiece; it's flawed and fractured and at times thin, even facile and occasionally redundant (most especially in the pseudo-noir sequences). But it's an imaginative and fearless piece of cinema, an admirably eccentric work that manages to do something like justice to a brilliant piece of writing. Full of inventive delights and heartfelt touches, it leaves most other recent American films in the dust. Yet it flopped badly, both in the UK and the US, being so poorly reviewed that many people (myself included) gave it a miss, wary of the stench of failure. As it happened, the bad smells came not from the film but from critics too corrupt and jaded to recognize a work of art when they saw it.

(Excerpt from "True to the Muse: Keith Gordon's Life on the Fringe," from DOGVILLE VS. HOLLYWOOD, by Jake Horsley)

Seen on its own merits . . ........2006-05-21

Few if any reviewers here indicate having watched Keith Gordon's director's commentary on this DVD. I think it would alter some of their judgements. As Gordon explains, the film script was in fact written by Dennis Potter, whose original "Singing Detective" ran as a much longer miniseries on British TV 20 years ago, and the changes to an American setting with 1950s American pop music were really Potter's own ideas. If the transition to feature film format loses something in the translation, it is in part due to his reconceptualization of his original creation.

As the commentary reveals, much of the inventiveness in this new version is not apparent in a single viewing. While it may seem to truncate and over-simplify the lengthier TV version, there is still complexity and ambiguity enough to entertain and engage a thoughtful viewer appreciative of good screenwriting and wonderful performances. Robert Downey's dual role as the embittered writer and the Bogart-style detective of the title reveal the mercurial range of this amazing actor, and his scenes with Robin Wright Penn, who plays his wife, are a brilliant portrayal of two people equally matched in their struggle to preserve a relationship and, at the same time, the integrity of themselves as individuals.

Strong cast. Interesting contrast of visual styles. Rated R for a wide range of disturbingly graphic and lurid visual imagery, including the main character's horrific skin condition. Granted, this "Singing Detective" is no substitute for the original, but seen on its own merits, it still stands up well on its own.

Weirdly compelling.......2006-02-12

The tagline for this film tells you everything - "all clues, no solutions." It never does clearly reveal which parts of the story are reality and which parts are merely the products of Dan Dark's fevered imagination. This is frustrating on some level, but it also spurs a lot of questions and post-viewing conversation.

Robert Downey, Jr. uses his unique intensity to good effect here; who can doubt Downey as a tortured but brilliant man on the edge? It's fun to see well-known actors in the other parts, especially Adrien Brody, although Robin Wright Penn seems out of place - she's too spare and sharp to have the right noir look, especially in the sexier scenes. Carla Gugino, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect in each of the roles she plays.

I haven't seen the original British mini-series, so I can't offer comparisons there, but I will say that this film makes me curious to see the other. I don't think that the film is a "failure" outright, but it does leave the reader with so many clues and so few solutions that I can see how it would have had a lot of trouble finding an American theatre audience. Still, I think it draws the viewer in with its strange fusion of plots and genres.

Wire in the Blood - The Mermaids Singing

Average customer rating:

Creepy, Fascinating Crime Drama
xcelente
On the Edge of Your Seat Thriller!

Wire in the Blood - The Mermaids Singing
Starring: Philip Whitchurch
Director: Terry McDonough , Andrew Grieve , Roger Gartland , Andy Goddard , and Nicholas Laughland
Manufacturer: Lance Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000C23DR
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Description

Brilliant, passionate and eccentric, clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill (Robson Green) has an extraordinary understanding of the criminal mind. It enables him to empathize with both victim and murderer and even to visualize the crimes. All the serial killers Dr. Hill has encountered have been behind bars...until now.

Customer Reviews:

Creepy, Fascinating Crime Drama.......2005-02-05

Robson Green creates yet another fascinating, quirky crime solver, this time as Dr. Tony Hill, a criminal psychologist with a penchant for seeing his criminals as all too human, in a system that wants to brand them all monsters. His views and work methods frustrate, infuriate and fascinate his fellow case workers. All three "Wire in the Blood" episodes make for powerful, hair raising crime drama and the first installment "The Mermaids Singing" may well be its creepiest. Fun stuff for crime buffs!

xcelente.......2004-03-04

Una de las mejores series. y como dice el spot ingresa a la mente de un asesino ..simplemente espectacular

On the Edge of Your Seat Thriller!.......2004-01-12

If you are a Robson Greene or a mystery fan looking for an intelligent story, then this is dvd worth owning. It will keep you on the edge of your seat,and make you cringe as you examine the clues and evidence. The criminal pyschologist and detective try to profile and apprehend a serial killer who seems to prey on gay men with inexplicable ease. To make matters worse, a supervisory detective tries to thwart Tony Hill (psychologist) and take matters into his own hands while another detective leaks information to the news media in exchange for sexual favors....will they catch the killer? Will Tony Hill survive the confrontation or will he become the next unfortunate victim!

Description

An interview with best-selling author Scott Turow about the death penalty and his book, Ultimate Punishment. Then, actor Robert Downey Jr. discusses his role in the film, The Singing Detective, and his turbulent personal life. Finally, Emmy-winning actor and comedian Eddie Izzard talks about his HBO special, Dress to Kill.

Average customer rating:

"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Robin Hood of Texas (1947) ... Image Ent."

Robin Hood of Texas
Starring: Gene Autry , Lynne Roberts , Sterling Holloway , Adele Mara , and James Cardwell
Director: Lesley Selander
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0000AINJ9
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Customer Reviews:

"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Robin Hood of Texas (1947) ... Image Ent.".......2007-09-09

Republic Pictures present "ROBIN HOOD OF TEXAS" (15 July 1947) (72 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time --- the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- The Following Segments are from the "Melody Ranch Theater", which originally aired on the Nashville Network in 1987 --- Hosted by Gene and longtime sidekick Pat Buttram the program showcased many of Gene's classic motion pictures and featured personal anecdotes about how the films were made --- Information on costars and significant happenings in Gene's personal life and career. --- don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's features loaded with action and songs that will leave you wanting more of Gene Autry's B-Western Adventures --- The sale of this DVD will further the educational and cultural mission of the renowned "Autry National Center in Los Angeles".

Under Lesley Selander (Director), Sidney Picker (Producer), John K. Butler (Screenwriter), Earle Snell (Screenwriter), William Bradford (Cinematographer), Gene Autry (Songwriter), Kay Charles (Songwriter), Sergio de Karlo (Songwriter), Carson Robison (Songwriter), Morton Scott (Musical Direction/Supervision), Harry Keller (Editor), Paul Youngblood (Art Director), Adele Palmer (Costume Designer) - - - - - our story line and plot, This Republic oater has Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys accused of bank robbery --- how can they prove their innocence, Gene and the boys in order to find the missing money must be decoys --- two rival group of mobsters check into the Serenity Ranch for dudes as they will hideout and search for the stolen money --- a good blend of modern gangsters and automobiles, a dude ranch, songs, western action and a typical Republic climax of Gene racing to cut the badmen off at the pass --- plenty of action; the usual fisticuffs, horse and car chases --- moves quickly and features a strong cast including Adele Mara obviously relishing her "bad girl" role --- coming to a final close with Republic with a cast of gangsters and sagebrush, proving all westerns are not alike, especially if you're Gene Autry --- Gene's last picture for Republic ended an association that started in 1935 and finished twelve years later, allowing for Gene's absence for WWII from 1942 to 1946 ----- some wonderful tunes, THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED HOEDOWN (Gene Autry and Cass County Boys), GOIN' BACK TO TEXAS (Gene Autry and Cass County Boys), MERRY-GO-ROUNDUP (Cass County Boys), YOU'RE THE MOMENT OF A LIFETIME (Gene Autry and Cass County Boys), YOU'RE THE MOMENT OF A LIFETIME (Gene Autry and Cass County Boys), GOIN' BACK TO TEXAS (Gene Autry and Cass County Boys) - - - - - - some Autry fun facts, Gene always preferred his sponsor's product, Wrigley's Doublemint Gum, to smoking.

the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Lynne Roberts ... Virginia
Sterling Holloway ... Droopy Haynes
Adele Mara ... Julie
James Cardwell ... Duke Mantel
John Kellogg ... Nick
Ray Walker ... Detective Lieutenant Lacey
Archie Twitchell ... Jim Prescott (as Michael Branden)
Paul Bryar ... Ace
James Flavin ... Captain Danforth
Dorothy Vaughan ... Mrs. O'Brien
Stanley Andrews ... Mr. Hamby, Saddle Shop Owner
Al Bridge ... Sheriff (as Alan Bridge)
The Cass County Boys ... Musicians
Edmund Cobb ... Deliveryman

BIOS:
1. Gene Autry
Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas
Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
2. "Don't Touch That Dial", Gene Autry is on the air - excerpts from the Original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
3. Production and Publicity Stills
4. Horseplay
5. Poster and lobby Card Art
6. Trivia and Movie Facts
7. Original Press Kit Material

Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with musical songs and adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Image Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 72 min on DVD ~ Image Entertainment ~ (9/30/2003)

The Singing Detective/Pennies From Heaven

Average customer rating:

The Singing Detective/Pennies From Heaven
Starring: Michael Gambon , Patrick Malahide , Joanne Whalley , Lyndon Davies , and David Ryall
Director: Jon Amiel , and Piers Haggard
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000G8P1IM
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Description

A 2-DVD pack consisting of two Dennis Potter masterpieces Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective.

Average customer rating:

The Singing Detective [Region 2]
Starring: Michael Gambon , Patrick Malahide , Joanne Whalley , Lyndon Davies , and David Ryall
Director: Jon Amiel
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000198ABQ

Average customer rating:

not good at all
Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr.
Touched by Genius
Seen on its own merits . . .
Weirdly compelling

The Singing Detective
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. , Robin Wright Penn , Mel Gibson , Jeremy Northam , and Katie Holmes
Director: Keith Gordon
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JMFB

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

not good at all.......2007-05-07

it was all scrated and will never by from them again.

Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr........2007-05-07

I'm a huge Robert Downey, Jr. fan, but this movie did not live up to my expectations. I found it tedious and boring for the most part. I guess every great actor has an occasional bad movie.

Touched by Genius.......2006-08-17

Seen on its own merits . . ........2006-05-21

Weirdly compelling.......2006-02-12

Average customer rating:

not good at all
Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr.
Touched by Genius
Seen on its own merits . . .
Weirdly compelling

The Singing Detective [Region 2]
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. , Robin Wright Penn , Mel Gibson , Jeremy Northam , and Katie Holmes
Director: Keith Gordon
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00029RDS6

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

not good at all.......2007-05-07

it was all scrated and will never by from them again.

Not the usual Robert Downey, Jr........2007-05-07

I'm a huge Robert Downey, Jr. fan, but this movie did not live up to my expectations. I found it tedious and boring for the most part. I guess every great actor has an occasional bad movie.

Touched by Genius.......2006-08-17

Seen on its own merits . . ........2006-05-21

Weirdly compelling.......2006-02-12

DVD:

DVD

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