5/5 Harry Hope: "What's it to us? We want to pass out in peace!"
  by Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth)
That Eugene O'Neill... he musta had some issues!
In his stage masterpiece THE ICEMAN COMETH, we are witness to anarchistic socialism, obssession, neglect, alcohol abuse, mental illness, guilt and despair. Lost people lean on each other for support in a rundown gin mill, trying to muster goodfellowship as they laugh at the same old jokes, sing the same old songs and drink away the same old pain.

I like to watch "Iceman" on gray or rainy days, or when I'm blue. Like the others in this story, Hickey gets on my nerves with his bellowing, hand-clapping and obviously false good spirits. During his famous 40 minute soliloquy, saloon owner Harry Hope whines that Hickey "did something to the booze" that's preventing everyone from getting drunk. I think the reality of their own existences that Hickey held up to each like a mirror is what was keeping them all sober, not any bottle trickery or even Hickey's confession of a terrible crime.

The BROADWAY THEATRE ARCHIVES version of "Iceman" is, despite a less-than-perfect audio track and somewhat grainy b&w image a remarkable exploration of what makes us all human: our weaknesses, our fears and most of all: our dreams.


5/5 Can on emarry a play?
  by Erika K. Bolin (Los Angeles)
This is my favorite O'Neill work featuring my favorite O'Neill word slinger (Jason Robards). Hickey is such a likable chap. Um, yeah. And the group at Harry's is just a few of the ne'r do wells eeking through life. But through O'Neill's artistry we are pulled in and grow to love them all. Paul Giamatti did a "Jimmy Tomorrow" on Broadway that stole this version's thunder(to me at least). And a couple have produced an engaging Hickey. They've even been superb (Kevin Spacey was my other favorite Hickey; same charisma with a touch of danger). This is a long piece to be sure. But Robards still rules. And the wordy play in the hands of this dynamic cast (surprises await) the hours fly by. I could go on (and have) for hours about this play - and this production. Just get it. For the love of all that's holy - get it. See why Eugene O'Neill is such an American treasure.

3/5 Slowly became a bore.
  by Graham Mccoll
Depressing for the most part - went on too long to the point of being very boring in the final analysis.

4/5 "The Play is the thing."
  by Roderick A. Williams (Castro Valley, California United States)

I've got one word for this play and that is "HARD". The second would be Serious. You would never think of "a pipe dream" the same.
Well worth the watch.


5/5 celebrated TV drama
  by Daryl Chin (Bklyn, NY USA)
In the Golden Age of Television, there were some productions which became instantly legendary. Some have (unfortunately) disappeared; others are making their way back into the public eye, thanks to enterprises like the Broadway Theater Archive. And so this famous production of O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH, directed by Sidney Lumet, has been available, and it remains a revelation.

The power of O'Neill's writing, rendered with conviction and total empathy by the impeccable cast, is overwhelming. And Jason Robards justifies all the claims of his greatness as the quintessential O'Neill interpreter. With this production, his role in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, Robards made his claim as the premier O'Neill actor, a claim which has not yet been disputed. Here, as Hickey, he brings so much dread and horror, yet also so much humor and brashness, that Hickey becomes totally mythic, a man who has set out to live out an extreme truth, because he has faced life and found it intolerable.

In terms of the production: the production values were skimpy at best, and the visual quality... who are we kidding? There is no visual quality! But there is great energy and pacing, and Lumet shows some of his talent for unleashing the resources of his actors. So many of the actors, for years afterwards, remained so associated with their roles here that it was often a shock to see them in other work. For all its shortcomings as an audiovisual work, as a record of one of the classic theater events of the 1950s, this DVD is invaluable.