I was wondering if you all could give me your views on The Gin Game. I'm thinking of buying it, but I'm not quite sure yet. I was hoping that maybe you all could help me decide. Thanks for any feedback you can give me. :)

Carrie,
"The Gin Game" is a nice little plotless, two-person play that was adapted for TV by PBS. If you are a die-hard fan of either Dick or Mary, and if you like theater or movies that are character driven, you'll like it, considering you are not sensative to language. If you are, you'll be inundated by it, so definately avoid it, at least as far as purchasing, or you'll end up with something in your movie case that you won't want to put in your machine.

Steve

I really liked "The Gin Game." Dick and Mary's acting was superb, the story was interesting and the underlying message was fascinating. So, you say it's coming out on DVD? I'd love to see it again!

Annette - the "Gin Game" is already on DVD albeit a bit pricey at about $20.

Carrie - SawgrassSteve hit the nail on the head. The performances are beyond excellent which compensates for the fact there really is no "plot". It is simply a brilliant character study. MTM gives a wonderfully subdued performance and Dick is very believable in playing against type.

The language is strong (although not really that much stronger that what you'll hear on network primetime). It certainly isn't as profane as your typical HBO show.

An interesting tidbit is that Dick said that because he doesn't curse in real life that "they had to teach me how to swear". That had to be an interesting rehearsal to watch :)

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it! :) I think I will probably get it seeing as I am a huge DVD fan. It will be nice to see him and MTM together in a movie. I'll have to adjust a little to the strong language because I'm not used to hearing either of them talk like that. ;)

It's really weird about "The Gin Game".....When I watch that production and see the superb chemistry between Dick and Mary, I get more nostalgic about the Rob and Laura Petrie characters than I did watching Tuesday night's reunion special....even though Dick and Mary play entirely different characters in "The Gin Game"! (See? I TOLD you that it was a weird thing!) :confused:

If it were any other actors I probably would've been bored out of my mind after the first 5 min. :eek: But the characters are very well written and once again Mary and Dick worked their magic. It came across as being both haunting and beautiful at the same time. I actually read the play a few months before the movie first aired (knowing who'd be portraying the characters) so I was prepared for the language. I'd highly recommend it.

I've been wanting to see this for a while now too but keep putting it off! This is definitely on my list now. Thanks for all the reviews!

I just ordered my copy from Amazon.com. I wanted to get Mary Poppins on DVD too, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Does anyone know where I can find it?

Carrie, Mary Poppins is out of print, although you can usually find it used. I would hold off though, because it's being rereleased as a 2-disc special edition with commentaries, I believe, by Dick and Julie Andrews, loads of extras, etc... I'm not sure on the date because I think it's been changed a few times already. I think there's a Disney DVD website out there somewhere, I'll have to check. There might be some more information on it, but I have read that it's in the works. I'm glad now that I never bought the other version on DVD because Disney's 2-disc special editions are really great.

Thanks for letting me know Scott. I will definitely wait for the 2-disc set then. I checked on Ultimate Disney (http://www.ultimatedisney.com) and it seems that the 40th anniversary addition of Mary Poppins will be released on December 7, 2004. It will feature a digitally-remastered 2-disc Special Edition, all-new musical number with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, audio commentary, making-of documentary, & much more. There's also a picture of what the DVD cover will look like. More info can be found here (http://www.ultimatedisney.com/comingsoon.html) (near the bottom of the page). :)

Dick has been quite active in participating in the various DVD releases of his projects. In addition to Mary Poppins and the TV show, the SE DVD of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" contains a new interview with him as well that's a real treat to watch (as is the movie!)

As a side note, I read in Tony Randall's obit that he did "The Gin Game" on the stage. If I remember correctly, "The Gin Game" play was performed most often by Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Wouldn't that have been a treat to watch!

Well, I watched The Gin Game this weekend. I must admit that I was a little disturbed by it. I didn't like the way that DVD and MTM talked to each other. It was totally different than I have ever seen them together and the words that came out of their mouths...geez! I know that they were just acting, but it was still a little shocking. I think that the movie was good, but I didn't quite get the ending. I'll be watching it again, but not for a while. After I finished watching it on Saturday, I found myself searching for an episode of TDVDS where Rob and Laura were gushing all over each other...lol. I think I'll stick to watching them smooching all over each other. ;) :D

Good choice, Carrie. At the risk of being chastized yet again for a "critical" post, let me just say that THE GIN GAME was not my favorite DVD and MTM moment on the screen.

B&W "I just couldn't take the language" fan

I don't think there's anything wrong with being critical of "The Gin Game". Certainly someone who is bothered by the content has every right to voice that opinion.

In my case, I don't curse or use foul language and generally prefer not to be around it. However I admit I've become somewhat densensitized because I've had bosses and co-workers at work who swore like sailors.

I liked "The Gin Game" because I thought Dick and Mary's performance were so outstanding. The fact that they totally played outside type made the performances even more remarkable. I will admit that if someone other than Dick and Mary were the leads I probably wouldn't have liked it.

Another factor is that I was able to separate Dick Van Dyke the man from the actor here. The real life Dick is someone I admire because for many years he has consistently expressed how important his Faith is to him and how important religion is to raising a family. Most of his work has been "family friendly", and he went out of his way to indicate that "Gin Game" was not for everyone in all the promotional interviews he did for this.

Carrie, glad you got a chance to see it and I totally agree with you...I didn't like the mean and bitter way in which they talked to each other and put each other down. It was kind of disturbing for me also but then as other posts have mentioned Dick and Mary are brilliant dramatic actors and their performance blew me away.

BTW for any of you who own the Gin Game on DVD are there any bonuses or extras that might make it worth purchasing?

I agree. Dick and Mary are definitely brilliant dramatic actors. :)

There's not much on the dvd except for the movie itself. I couldn't find any extras, unless I accidentally missed them somewhere.

I also found it disturbing to see Dick and Mary in full makeup/costume as really old people....but then I realized they really are senior citizens and maybe if they didn't work so hard to keep up their appearances they might actually look a little like senior citizens. Ahhhh :eek:

Well, I don't think Dick had to use much make-up :) He just had to mess up his hair and walk old.

Mary still looked quite beautiful with grey hair. One wonders what color her hair would be if she didn't dye it. The thing is, she looks a lot more "natural" as a senior citizen than she does with dyed hair, etc.

Well, I don't think Dick had to use much make-up :) He just had to mess up his hair and walk old.

Mary still looked quite beautiful with grey hair. One wonders what color her hair would be if she didn't dye it. The thing is, she looks a lot more "natural" as a senior citizen than she does with dyed hair, etc.

What makes you think she dies it? I have several relatives who are in their 60s, and do not have one gray hair in their head, even withiut dying it. Also, not very many people are fully-gray. Most people are just partially gray, and get more gray as their age progresses. Mary probably has a rinse put on her hair.

Here's an in-depth link for The Gin Game (http://www.pbs.org/hollywoodpresents/gingame/id/index.html), and if you click on the green tab at the top marked "Remembering..." you'll also get interesting observations from the stars and Garry Marshall about TDVDS!

Steve

That was great! Thank you so much for the link Steve. :)

I just watched "The Gin Game" and WOW am I shocked. I agree with everyone that the acting was good but I didn't like the language.
I'm with whoever posted this: B&W "I just couldn't take the language" fan