Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

GazerRise Fantastic!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

mbeallo-78462 I agree with the positive reviews. I think the series was amazing. I loved the book (yes, it was a book), the movie, and the series, both the CBS version and the Showtime version. They were all great, but the Showtime version was the best.I saw the original film when I was in high school. After seeing the movie, I read the book (written by John Jay Osborn, Jr.). Those were two things that made me want to go to law school. I eventually did, but not until I was in my early 30s.I don't know what to add beyond what has already been said. Houseman's Kingsfield was the archetype law professor. I never had a professor that was anything like him, thank goodness, but I did have a lot of respect for my own Contracts professor.If the show is not available on DVD, it should be. If you haven't seen it, and there's any other way of watching it, give it a shot.

bpatrick-8 I spent a short time in law school about a year before the CBS version of "The Paper Chase" started. I'm not sure law school is as intimidating today as it was in the '70s, but it was pretty accurate at the time. Still, I would not care to see this show revived in a softer classroom environment, and for one reason: John Houseman. He actually did teach acting at UCLA drama school, and a student once told him he wasn't acting in "The Paper Chase," that that was really his classroom manner. And as for his character, Professor Kingsfield, yes, he can strike fear in his students, but at the same time, when he allows himself a small smile after a particularly good class, you know he's rooting for his students to make it into the legal world. Personally, I think that if there were more Kingsfields at real-world colleges (and even high schools), we wouldn't be talking about a crisis in education in this country.I also want to single out James Stephens, who I thought was a more credible Hart, the Midwestern kid who idolizes Kingsfield, than Timothy Bottoms in the movie; Bottoms seemed to be the last of the hippies. I also liked the fact that the series rarely, if ever, got into the relationship between Hart and Kingsfield's daughter, the subplot of the movie. There are some shows ("Law & Order" was another) where viewers don't care about the characters' personal lives.It's been noted that "The Paper Chase" was slotted against the two hottest shows of the era: "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley." CBS may have been hoping for an alternative audience, much as "The Waltons" achieved against Flip Wilson a few years earlier. Thus, some of the episodes were flashier than "The Paper Chase" should be; the nadir was the one where Hart escorts a visiting Russian gymnast; Houseman refused to appear in that episode.Finally, like the similar "White Shadow," which was on CBS around the same time, these students do graduate! And as Houseman himself might say, they've won Kingsfield's respect the old-fashioned way: they've earned it.

SedonaRocksFilms I am Stephen Seretan, and I wrote all the music for the series from CBS to Showtime. John Houseman was a joy to work with and a good friend. I miss him. He was an original. The series was great fun and a dream job for me. Thanks for all the nice comments. I would love to see it aired again.The shows had very little music for each episode, so my job was easy. Does anyone remember the scores to any shows? I would like to know. Film music is supposed to be "not heard" by the audience, but in our show it was prominent. I had several themes going to bind the drama together.

renfield54 This was such a great show it was continued as a SHOWTIME cable series. An improvement on the film of the same name, the continuity was seamless and was done expertly and lovingly. The adventures of Mr. Hart and his co-horts was a pleasure to watch. The small screen version so defined the Paper Chase and Harvard Law School that I find the big screen, Timothy Bottoms, version very unsatisfying and dated.Timothy bottoms is not missed as Mr. Hart, due to the great performance of James Stephens. John Houseman reprising his role of the scholarly, curmudgeon, Professor Kingsfield, provides the link to the original movie that makes the series work. He was exceptional in the role. First feared and hated (by some), he gradually wins you over becoming admired and even loved by those that understand him best (like Hart), providing a near father figure.An intelligent series for the masses, try to see it in chronological order. ENJOY.........