The Prize (1963) [Blu-ray]

I read many Irving Wallace novels in my high school and college years. From about 1963 until 1973, I eagerly devoured every word he wrote. I really enjoyed the depth and complexity of his novels. I still remember some of them fairly well, even though I only read most of them once. For example, "The Man," from 1964, tells the story of a black Congressman who assumes the office of President of the United States after freak accidents kill the President, Vice President and Speaker of the House. Imagine how that idea went over in the segregated, racially charged environment of the mid-1960s! "The Three Sirens," "The Seven Minutes" and "The Word" are other Wallace novels that I enjoyed immensely. But the first one of his books that I ever read, and the only one I re-read every 10 years or so, is "The Prize." An excellent story with memorable characters and exotic locales, it is also an armchair guide to the process of selecting Nobel Prize winners.So how does this film version of "The Prize," from 1963, compare to the book, and is it worth seeing? The short answers, in my opinion, are "Very well" and "Emphatically yes." Starring Paul Newman, Elke Sommer, Edward G. Robinson, Diane Baker, Leo G. Carroll and Kevin McCarthy, "The Prize" is an excellent adaptation of the novel, and a riveting thriller in its own right. The movie is not quite as deep as the book, and a few of Mr. Wallace's characters don't make it to the screen, but it's still a great story that will hold your interest from start to finish.Taking place in Stockholm in the dead of winter, the location shots often look so cold that they made me shiver. The performances are uniformly excellent. Paul Newman is perfect as hard-drinking, irreverent, wisecracking American writer Andrew Craig, the Nobel Prize winner for Literature, who has not written a serious novel in years and makes his living churning out cheap detective fiction. Edward G. Robinson excels as Physics Nobelist Dr. Max Stratmann. The delectable Miss Sommer's charms help dispel the chill of the Swedish winter, and Gérard Oury and Micheline Presle, as bickering Drs. Claude and Denise Marceau, are quintessentially French. ALL the actors give great performances, and the interactions among them are so compelling that they suck you into the story and don't let go. The plot hinges on the America-versus-the-Soviet-Union, Western-Bloc-versus-Eastern-Bloc rivalry during the Cold War, a concept that younger viewers may not relate to but that "The Prize" presents very well indeed. The idea behind the movie was not that far-fetched at the time, kids. Spies skulking around, clandestine meetings in dark alleys, brutal assassinations, secret handshakes, and so on, were what both sides did to try to win the "hearts and minds" of the world's unaligned peoples. "The Prize" is a rollicking good tale set against this backdrop. It stands up very well to modern movie standards, and I recommend it highly to all viewers.Please note that most of the poor reviews here are from years ago, and DO NOT apply to this new, manufactured-to-order, official studio release. I wish there were a way to get rid of those reviews so they don't bias the ranking of this version, but I guess that's just wishful thinking. In the meantime, be very careful in considering these reviews, and be sure to reject any dated from BEFORE August 1, 2011, when this DVD came out.

This was Composer Jerry Goldsmiths best early work. The score is a treat and the perfect mirror of the fun and excitement on screen. Back to EL. In conjunction with Alfred Hitchcock EL created North by Northwest from a few ideas Hitchcock had to loosely tie together and create a story. It worked as one of the Director's true triumphs. Irving Wallace wrote a long and talky tale replete with his salacious sex scenes tied in with a story built around the winners of a specific year of the the Nobel Prize. The book goes on and on while the movie does it's best to carve the story down to just over two hours and add the funny and excitement of North by Northwest with a story which mirrors and reuses much of the Hitchcock success. Both the films should be enjoyed and compared. Bernard Herrmann created a tense and exciting score for NBNW and young composer Jerry G. did an even better job in The Prize. The new Blu Ray edition of The Prize looks terrific. The VHS version used pan and scan to keep as much on screen as should have been there. A couple of years ago I bought an import version on Blu Ray of The Prize and while it was an improvement over the VHS there were a few issues it had and we were stuck with. The newest version seems to fix all the problems. Sit back and enjoy Paul Newman's hijinx in Stockholm while trying to convince us that Winters were not cold in Stockholm in December. The Nobel Prize ceremony occurs annually from December Third to December Tenth each year. It looks more like SoCal in early October where most of it was shot. Along with Paul Newman are Elke Somner, Edward G. Robinson in a double role as well as Kevin McCarthy who always delights. Enjoy every note of one of J. Goldsmiths very best work. All for under Ten Bucks.

Fairly entertaining movie. I had to have it because it was the 1st time I got paid to work on a movie. I play the 784th guy in the back row of the hall. If you squint maybe you can see me.

The product was quality. The review of the film is first-class. Thrilling all the way. Elke is gorgeous!

Chemistry is quite good among Newman, Sommers, and Baker. Didn't like the lack of commitment to an espionage thriller, and the great Robinson was underutilized, if not miscast.

Love Paul Newman, and this old classic shows quite a bit of Stockholm, Sweden, where I spent a lot of time. Fun.

Haven’t seen this movie in years and really enjoyed watching it again. Forgot just how young Paul Newman was in this movie. Interesting watching watching what the world look like a 1963. DVD was in very good condition and very satisfied with the seller.

I enjoy watching older movies as they depend more on the story rather than on special effects and violent fight scenes. This was a movie i enjoyed when it was released and had forgotten about it. A good vehicle ofr Paul Newman and Elke was amazing. I enjoyed the movie and the quality was good even though it wasn't remastered or cleaned up the image was good.

Perfecto el envío. Apenas 1 día y medio. Y excepcional la película. También la calidad del producto.

Excellent spy thriller.

RAPIDO L'INVIO DEL DVD, IL FILM, PER GLI AMANTI DEL GENERE, NON TRADISCE LE ASPETTATIVE PECCATO CHE SIA EFFETTIVAMENTE LA VERSIONE ORIGINALE PER CUI NON SONO PRESENTI ALTRE LINGUE (SOLO INGLESE O MEGLIO AMERICANO) E NEANCHE SOTTOTITOLI (IN ORIGINALE O ALTRE LINGUE). PERTANTO SE NON SI CONOSCE BENE L'INGLESE DIVENTA DIFFICILE APPREZZARLO

At last this terrific 1963 film has been released on DVD. Mark Robson's thriller is a Hitchcock pastiche that works better than most Hitchcock films. Suspenseful, fast moving and funny from beginning to end. It also introduces two of the most beautiful actresses of that era, the misses Elke Sommer and Diane Baker. The print is pristine and it is presented in its original widescreen version.Finally, although it is a USA release and allegedly a region 1 disc, I have found that it will play perfectly on my region 2 player as well as my multi-region player indicating that it must be region 0 and will play on any machine. Anyone without a region 1 player could safely buy this disc and enjoy this almost forgotten classic.