ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

kag2 This superb drama offers middle-aged longing, lost dreams, success, despair, and superb acting by Jack Lemmon (won the Oscar) and Jack Gilford (nominated for supporting). BUT: this film is not for everybody. A serious drama about middle-aged loss, struggle, and fading dreams won't grab every one. It's too slow for some viewers, and too realistic for some others. Harry Stoner (Lemmon) is as an LA businessman who seeks an arsonist to burn him out so he can collect the insurance and rebuild his failing business. His aging partner Phil Greene (Jack Gilford) opposes this, but realizes at his age (close to 65) he may never find another job. Both men are decent but jaded, and troubled by the lost innocence (or false innocence) of their youth in Brooklyn. Harry is also troubled by post-traumatic stress flashbacks from his lost comrades at Anzio in World War II, while Phil is troubled by going along with a crime that means losing his integrity. Both men appear to be Jewish, and may feel added burdens that come with having beaten anti-Semitic discrimination (or worse). There is the also longing for their boyhood in New York, before crime made cities less safe, and before the Dodgers (plus these two men) deserted Brooklyn for Los Angeles - which is not quite the sunny paradise that both probably hoped for. This film also came out in 1973, as Watergate, Vietnam, and the non-success of the Great Society all seemed to evidence a certain national decline. Save the Tiger is like "Death of Salesman Goes To LA." There is fantasy, failure, and searing struggles for success. The two main characters are not so tragic as Willie Loman; yet they are not all that far removed, either.

Syl Jack Lemmon won an Academy Award for playing Harry Stoner in this film. He's a businessman in fashion in Los Angeles, California. His wife goes away for a funeral on the East Coast. Their daughter is in boarding school in Switzerland. The film begins with the morning of a long day in this man's life. There are plenty of brilliant moments of Jack Lemmon's acting ability where you see why he won the Oscar for this performance. The film does lack a strong script. The script is more of a character study where the audience understands a man's yearning for the past in the present in 1972. Life is not easy for this businessman who gives a lift to this young woman played by Laurie Heineman. Jack Gilford should have gotten awards for his performance as his business partner. The film is more dramatic and comedic at times. It's not for children or immature audiences.

thinker1691 As an audience grows older, their perception of life changes. When viewing a movie in your youth, you may not understand the tiny, subtle remarks, nor the innuendos. But as you reach mature milestones, suddenly those secret words, phrases and remarks make so much sense, you wonder why you didn't understand them the first time. That is the message in this film called " Save the Tiger." Although the initial message in the movie was to try and save an endangered species of Indian Tiger, the subliminal message was it could also apply to an American Original; an Idealist American businessman on the verge of extinction. Jack Lemmon plays Harry Stoner, a middle age clothing designer trying to save his faltering business. Despite having a winning fashion line which will yield a sizable profit, they can achieve their goal if they can meet their payroll. As a result, Stoner and his business partner Phil Greene (Jack Gilford, superb acting) may have to resort to criminal options to survive. Thus enters a professional arsonist named Charlie Robbins (Thayer David, is brilliant in this role) who for 10% of the insurance will make short work of an aging property and make it look like an accident. Phil wants nothing to do with the arson plan despite the fact he is already part of last year's fraudulent scheme. Added to his worries, is the fact that Stoner like so many other Veterans, cannot seem to lose the nightmarish visions of the war, where so many of his fellow soldiers died. Stoner fades in and out of reality often dreaming of a past where the highlight of a day was to see the 'Old Fashion Wind-up and pitch' of his youth. This is truly a Classic for anyone wishing to recall a younger segment of one's life which we all understood. ****

JoeKarlosi Caught this last night on TCM and was very taken by Jack Lemmon's deserved Oscar-winning performance. The movie itself is about a middle-aged man whose business is dying and who is becoming desperate; he thinks about resorting to arson, provides hookers to some of his clients, and is tormented by memories of the war from 30 years past. Jack Gilford plays his pure-hearted business partner of many years who tries to resist his warped ideas. Thayer David is very good also in a smaller part as a criminal Lemmon approaches to settle his problems. The movie is pretty basic and simple, and the ending left me a little unsatisfied this first time around, but the performances make it captivating. It's another of these movies I relate to in the sense of getting older myself these days and wondering what happened. *** out of ****