Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

MARIO GAUCI It took me a long while to purchase this one (by which time, most of the output by DVD-producing company All Day Entertainment – with whose president, film historian David Kalat, I had the pleasure of corresponding on a number of occasions – had gone out-of-print) and some more before I actually sat down to check it out. Having finally watched this, I must say that the mainly gushing reviews which I had read on the Internet upon the DVD's first appearance – citing the film as a neglected masterwork (though not quite director Dmytryk's best, in my opinion) were very much accurate; incidentally, the main feature bears the official title given above rather than that attached to the DVD i.e. Christ IN CONCRETE, actually the name of Pietro Di Donato's original source novel. Knowing of its pedigree – Dmytryk having famously been one of The Hollywood Ten, jailed for refusing to appear before HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee) in view of his alleged past Communist leanings – and its theme – the domestic and professional troubles of struggling Italian immigrants in the construction business with a 1920s New York setting – I had expected to be somewhat unenthused by it, but the reverse proved to be the case, thanks largely to Dmytryk's unerring eye for detail and a handful of naturalistic performances (an achievement which seems all the more remarkable when considering that it was entirely filmed in England with a mostly British cast!). That said, one of the two leads was a genuine Italian – Lea Padovani – and the other an American, fellow victim of the blacklist Sam Wanamaker: both of them are terrific playing husband and wife, though he remains attached to friendly Kathleen Ryan, and their consistently precarious economic situation (exacerbated by the Wall Street crash of 1929) shatters the wife's dream of owning her own home. Also appearing in the film are Charles Goldner (the old man who actually got the couple together), Bonar Colleano, William Sylvester and George Pastell as Wanamaker's team-mates at work, Sidney James(!) as another construction operative who harbors ambitions to start his own company and wants the hero to get in on the business with him, and Karel Stepanek as the elderly landlord of the protagonists' house. In view of its inherent grittiness, unusual compositions (employed during melodramatic passages) and doomed hero, the film has been rightfully likened to the then-prevalent noir style – in which, as it happens, Dmytryk had already proved himself several times while still employable on his home turf. Despite its generous length (115 minutes) and the occasional Marxist viewpoint (it is clearly stressed that Wanamaker's downfall transpires because he dared to stand out from the crowd, even if all he wanted was to improve his family's conditions), the proceedings compel attention all the way through – culminating in the unforgettably harrowing sequence of the hero's death, engulfed in cement after the weak structure he had been supervising gives out. Regrettably, I did not have time to look into the numerous extras featured on the double-sided "Special Edition" DVD – I had actually made a resolution in this regard at the beginning of the year, but which I am now finding myself increasingly unable to accommodate! In closing, I cannot fail to mention Benjamin Frankel's superb music score – no wonder that one is even given the option to listen to it in isolation on the All Day disc.

rube2424 After many years in political purgatory, the film version of Pietro Di Donato's masterpiece CHRIST IN CONCRETE comes to beautifully restored DVD. The story of a humble bricklayer (Sam Wanamaker) who wants only the best for his family, and is briefly seduced by becoming "managment" holds up beautifully. Wanmaker is a wonderful, natural actor (I kept thing Actor's Studio before there was such a thing!) and though I had known him in later years, I never realized how dynamic he was as a leading man. (No surprise then that his daughter Zoe is one our finest actors.) Lea Padovani is magnificent, and the rest of the cast give superb performances as well. (What a kick it is to see William Sylvester, Dr. Heywood Floyd of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as a young man in his first film!)The director, Edward Dmytryk, clearly influenced by Greg Toland as well as the neo-realismo films of the time, uses fascinating camera angles, moody lighting and a steady pacing that makes the nearly two hour running time seem half that time.I had loved the novel and had always wanted to see the film. What a joy it is to finally see it in near pristine condition. Thank you ALLDAY films for finding and restoring this masterpiece. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED................

dsmith-7 I saw this film many years ago on television and was quite stunned by it. This very simple drama of the life of an ordinary working man is turned into high tragedy through the wonderful talents of the filmmaker. The film is all the more impressive when one considers that it was made on the cheap in London, though set in New York. The low budget gives rise to one or two false notes, but the story is so well told that you easily forget about those. Perhaps the lack of budget was a blessing, in that it allowed the actors and director to concentrate on the more ineffable qualities of story-telling. I would love to see this film again. It should be revived so that many more people can appreciate the great talent of Edward Dmytrk and the social-realist style, of which it is a wonderful example.

ebeckstr This rarely seen, hard-hitting film combines Depression-era melodrama with noir and social realist sensibilities. A Brooklyn bricklayer struggles to fulfill the American Dream, but his efforts seem increasingly futile in the face of modern capitalism's socioeconomic indifference. Features impressive acting, cinematography, and writing; unforgettable opening and closing sequences. Christ in Concrete was made in England by the exiled director Edward Dmytryk, one of the blacklisted Hollywood 10.