Sadly Over-hyped

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Starring a variety of leading players in various stages of ascent and decline; this is a train that never really leaves the station.Jimmy Stewart plays a 40-year criminal who has amassed $25,000 by steadfastly saving the pittance he has been paid for his life-time's prison labour. A juvenile Kurt Russell is also being released along with reliable Strother Martin ('What we have here is a failure to communicate'). Three friends going free together. George Kennedy plays the inevitable hypocrite guard who is rotten to the core but quotes the gospel. Anne Baxter hides her lines behind a plastering of ghoulish cosmetics as a sympathetic whore.The criminal heroes are put on a train and sent out of state. Unfortunately, Stewart's cheque can only be cashed at the one bank of issue and by him personally. It's a trick played by the banker himself, who knows that his bank will collapse if it has to pay-up. The movie, by the way, is set in depression-time America (which might be about 2010). If Stewart attempts to go back and redeem the cheque, he will be shot.That's the basic premise. It's a weary, plodding effort, that - like a number of movies from this period (Ashanti, Cassandra Crossing) - attempts to trade upon the names of fading Hollywood stars rather than creating a watchable movie.It's a comedy crime thriller, or tries to be. The nearest that come to mind are those created by or starring Clint Eastwood. 'Thunderbolt & Lightfoot' for example, which also stars George Kennedy in a much more believable role, and even the excellent wartime 'Kelly's Heroes'.This is neither. It doesn't come close. The takes seem to drag. The script is inadequate, neither serious nor comic. Stewart's character is simply not believable. The glass-eye stunt is shambolic and amateurish. Still; it is the first screening of a suicide bomber and a simple explanation for the very motives that most politicians now claim to be incomprehensible when they are done in the name of God or freedom. Perhaps Al-Queda should begin demanding money as it's the only thing we in the west seem to understand.Don't be won-over by the cast list. This is a second-rate movie in every other respect. There is absolutely nothing to recommend it unless you're an out-and-out fan of the players. Even then, if you are possessed of the least critical evaluation, you will feel a little ashamed on their behalf of what they allowed themselves to be talked into.

I grew up in Moundsville W.Va. where the movie was filmed and got to watch many of the areas they filmed, i was able to get several signatures from the actors, Jimmy Stewart, Struther Martin and George Kennedy. I never got to meet Kurt Russell. It was a really good movie, not Oscar material, but very enjoyable. The last comment about why the movie never made it to copy, is because (this is what I've heard) Anne Bancroft did not like her portrayal and would never authorized a release in copy. She is now deceased, so i can only hope this will allow copies to be made and distributed. I for one would be the first in line to get it!.

hooray!!!!at last I have the name of the film that I have been searching for for years this being Fools Parade I was starting to think i had imagined it as no-one knew of the film with the late great Jimmy Stewart and his glass eye.Question though can anyone tell me PLEASE what the eye was called?? I know that it had a name but can not remember it or if any one can give me any advice as to where I might find this out.Of all the films made by Jimmy Stewart this is one that in my opinion does not get enough air time here in U.K.we see all of his westerns and the occasional showing of Harvey or Wonderful life but not this one many thanks

My Dad grew up in WV and took my brother and I to see this movie at the theater when it came out in 1971. It was a great film! I have waited for 35 years to see it again, with no luck.The beginning of the movie was set and filmed in Moundsville, WV in the early 30s. Jimmy Stewart played a character with a glass eye, who had served some 30 or 40 years in prison and was headed to the WV capitol to cash his check for funds owed to him for his prison labors. The conflict in the movie is the evil warden type, played by George Kennedy, who is out to kill Stewart and his two buddies, one of which is played by Strother Martin. The Strother Martin character wants to open up his own grocery store with the help of the Jimmy Stewart character.This is a wonderful film, somewhat similar in style to The Film Flam Man, and of the same vintage. I would love to get a copy of it, or see it again on TCM or another channel.Could anyone guess why this movie has never been made available since its original release? I would sure like to know...