E1 ENTERTAINMENT Captains and The Kings

Captains and the Kings Based on Taylor Caldwell's international bestseller, "Captains and the Kings" is the sweeping rags-to-riches tale of an Irish immigrant in late 1800s. Joseph Armagh (magnificently played by Richard Jordan in a multifaceted performance for which he deservedly won a Golden Globe) was a poor Irish immigrant who came to the U.S. in the mid-19th century. Through struggle, heartache and hard work, he became one of the richest and most powerful men in the country who was determined to make his handsome eldest son (Perry King is in top form) the first Irish Catholic President of the U.S. It is also the story of the price that was paid for it in the consuming, single-minded determination of man clawing his way to the top; in the bittersweet bliss of the love of a beautiful woman; in the almost-too-late enjoyment of extraordinary children; and in a curse which uses the hand of fate to strike in the very face of success itself. Patty Duke, who's never been better since her Oscar-winning performance in "The Miracle Worker", is equally impressive in an award-caliber performance as Bernadette Armagh (Joseph's drunken, mentally unstable wife) for which she took home an Emmy, as did the brilliant cinematography (Ric Waite) which is a major highlight. Other highlights are a top supporting cast splendidly filled with fine and strong performances all around, Charles Durning exceptionally superb; lush production values, with gorgeous set decorations & excellent art directions; beautifully photographed studio locations; outstanding costume design; and wonderful Elmer Bernstein's music score which earned an Emmy nomination for Best Music Composition. By all means, a truly memorable movie spectacle to say the least.

I loved this mini-series. I have always had an interest in the Gilded Age. This production was privately financed and made during the early evolution of the mini-series format. It is wonderfully cast and the late Richard Jordan's performance as Joseph Armagh is excellent. You also can see the earlier work of other well-known actors such as Patty Duke, Charles Durning, Perry King, Jane Seymour, Blair Brown and Vic Morrow. Blair Brown also gives an introduction of the making of the series and the acting styles of the 70's. The mini-series is based on Taylor Caldwell's novel and considered by many to be her best work. I would encourage reading of the book and compare it to the mini-series. The mini-series is not as dark as the book in plot and many characterizations were modified. One of the two who come to my mind especially is Joseph's brother Sean who is practically the reverse of the novel. Bernadette is much more innocent as a young woman and it is understandable how she declines so sadly as the series progresses. In the novel, she is cynical and manipulative when first introduced as a teenage girl. Changes had to made because the novel in the hardback version is 693 pages. That much story had to be condensed. I think the DVD is worth watching for those who love the gilded age and the Kennedy saga. Much of what transpires is certainly similar to the trials and tribulations of that family but just set in an earlier american period.

I was so excited when I learned a few months ago about this under-rated television treasure was finally being released on DVD. As a huge Patty Duke fan, it is always wonderful to see her Emmy-winning performance, but this film is excellent, no matter who is on the screen. I was first disappointed by the lack of extras on here. I contacted Koch saying Ms. Duke (I run her official website) might be interested in doing some special features for this, but my words went ignored for months. By the time I spoke with them again, it was too late. They said Blair Brown was the only actor from this huge mini-series they could get a hold of. That is doubtful, although the low budget-looking intereview with Brown is excellent. Clocking in at just over sixteen minutes, Brown offers many wonderful tidbits on the making of this epic mini-series. I have accepted the lack of extras, but I cannot accept the lack of picture quality on this set. It's awful! I have not seen the Universal- released VHS from about ten years ago in a while, but I can tell you this DVD picture is no improvement over the VHS. In fact, I think it may be worse. The color of the picture is not bad, but the specks on every single frame of the film make me feel like I am watching it back on TNT in the early '90s! At least Koch does not falsely claim to have digitally restored this, but in 2009 I guess I assumed it was a given. Silly me. Despite the flaws of the DVD itself, this mini-series should not be missed. In my own opinion it is one of the finest pieces of that genre in television history, something that could stand proudly beside Angels in America and Tales of the City. The price is not bad (especially if you get it from a vendor on here). This should be part of everyone's DVD library if for no other reason than to see televison at it's very best.

This is a good movie/video. I saw it long ago when it was a series on television and when I found it on Amazon.com I was thrilled. Great acting and great story. The older child in this movie had to overcome his parents death and make a life for his younger siblings. Always working to take care of them, kept him from growing and really knowing them. He was a self made rich man because of working no stop, but lost something along the way.

As some of the other reviewers have already said, I have been waiting for this mini-series to be released on DVD for years!! I have it on VHS but the tapes are close to twenty years old and I'm almost afraid to play them anymore. A brilliant novel by Taylor Caldwell and an equally brilliant mini-series starring Richard Jordan as the ambitious but troubled Joseph Armagh. A host of great actors appear in the mini-series, too, including Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins, Jane Seymour, Perry King, and Henry Fonda to name but a few. January 13, 2009 can't come soon enough for me!!! Run - don't walk - to buy this wonderful story on DVD!!!

God it is awful. The rags to riches story of a immigrant is an intereting angle but it is overshadowed by hours of cheap melodrama about things that might be considered a scandal in the 19th century but just make you yawn now. There is a lot of yearning by a young man for a married woman and then later illicit love affairs between in-laws and people of mixed race from the south. A pregnant woman even falls down the stairs in slow motion after being pushed by her drunken husband. I knew she was going to lose the baby the moment she started walking up the stairs towards the man. The main charactrer spends a lot of time covering up illegitemate children to protect his irish sons political career. Gee could their be a parallel to a real life family in the USA, think hard. Save your money, vacum your carpet and then admire the straight lines on the floor.

Having read the book when it was published, then about a year ago, I appreciated this film very much. I missed the original miniseries shown on TV. This is one of the best, and my favorite Taylor Caldwell book. If you don't know much about the plight of the Irish immigrants in the 19th century, here is a good place to start. Yes, they author embellishes the story, but the real history is even more gory. This is an allegory of the Kennedy family, and the curse that follows them. It is just as interesting after all these years as it was when I read the book. It is not for the impatient. Not only is it entertaining, but eye-opening as well. Books/films such as this lead to reading actual history for the curious. Highly recommended.

Both the book and the miniseries changed my life. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Western Samoa, I found a ragged copy and took it back to my humble abode (fale) on a whim. Going out the door of the PC office, a fellow volunteer bellowed, "Don't read that piece of crap, Gerry. It is nothing but unadulterated hogwash!" Thank God, I didn't listen to him. There is really nothing I can add to the other five starred reviews, except this caveat: At the back of the novel, Taylor Caldwell listed some nonfiction "suggested reading" titles. High on the list was Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time. A few years later I would read Quigley's book, thus learning where Caldwell had come up with her "Committee on Foreign Relations" (Council on Foreign Relations anyone?) and her thesis that the robber barons run the world. It was this thesis that changed my life, that made me view the world more critically, that made me see that wars and political assassinations and fluctuations in the stock market were not arbitrary and random, that made me see that the world is dominated by economic monsters. My life was never the same after that. How odd that a sweeping historical novel would not only alter my nonfiction reading for decades to come but the way I viewed the world as well!