Until They Sail

UPC: 883316331217

Studio: Warner Bros. Digital Distribution

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Questionable for Children]

Summary: Adapted by Robert Anderson from a story by James A. Michener, the Robert Wise-directed soaper Until They Sail is set in World-War-II New Zealand. Paul Newman plays been-there-done-that U.S. marine captain Jack Harding, assigned to investigate servicemen's requests to marry local girls. An unemotional cipher, Harding begins to warm up when he meets war widow Barbara Leslie Forbes (Jean Simmons), a woman with three sisters (played by Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie, and Sandra Dee -- what a gene pool!). The Newman-Simmons relationship is played against the romance between uptight spinster Anne Leslie (Fontaine) and good-natured officer Richard Bates (Charles Drake), and the dysfunctional marriage between the emotionally desperate (and nymphomaniacal) Delia Leslie (Laurie) and slimy Shiner Friskett (Wally Cassell), who is off in battle. The fourth sister, Evelyn (Dee), watches her sisters' amorous pursuits longingly, her mind occupied by her own true love, who is off to war. Until They Sail was a copacetic reunion between star Newman and director Robert Wise, who'd previously collaborated in Somebody Up There Likes Me. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Romance

Until They Sail

Format: DVD

Release Date: 07/01/2011

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 95 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Craig Butler

An effective war time soap opera, Until They Sail is an entertaining, if superficial, look at the trials and tribulations of a rather unlikely New Zealand family -- unlikely because it is simply hard to imagine the likes of Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie and Sandra Dee as sisters (let alone as New Zealand-ers). Still, once one gets past this Hollywood casting, it's a treat to see four such appetizing stars on screen, and when a young Paul Newman is thrown into the mix, it's clear that Sail at the very least provides plenty of visual entertainment. The story that these actors are employed in is a sudsy, rather predictable one, but it's given the proper treatment in Robert Anderson's smartly crafted screenplay and definitely "works." Is it a bit unbelievable? Yes, but then we've already established a certain level of unbelievability via the casting, so it comes out fine. Robert Wise's direction is slick and appropriate, if not among his best jobs; he doesn't seem to have a personal stake in this effort and so he comes across as somewhat mechanical, if always effective. Joseph Ruttenberg's lensing is appropriately atmospheric and captures the stars at their most appealing. Newman and Simmons come off quite well; Fontaine and Dee not quite so well. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: William Boyett  Actor 
Hilda Plowright  Actor 
Ben Wright  Actor 
Morgan Jones  Actor 
Roger McGee  Actor 
James Todd  Actor 
Phyllis Douglas  Actor 
Jimmy Hayes  Actor 
Vesey O'Davoren  Actor 
Anne Wakefield  Actor 
Pamela Light  Actor 
Stanley Fraser  Actor 
James Douglas  Actor 
Patrick Macnee  Actor 
Don Eitner  Actor 
David Thursby  Actor 
Robert Keys  Actor 
Jim Cox  Actor 
Nicky Blair  Actor 
Kendrick Huxham  Actor 
Pat O'Hara  Actor 
Patrick Waltz  Actor 
John Rosser  Actor 
David Raksin  Composer (Music Score) 
Charles Schnee  Producer 
Robert Wise  Director 
Robert Anderson  Screenwriter 
Jean Simmons  Actor 
Joan Fontaine  Actor 
Paul Newman  Actor 
Piper Laurie  Actor 
Charles Drake  Actor 
Sandra Dee  Actor 
Wally Cassell  Actor 
Alan Napier  Actor 
Ralph Votrian  Actor 
John Wilder  Actor 
Tige Andrews  Actor 
Adam Kennedy  Actor 
Mickey Shaughnessy  Actor 

Country: USA