| | | Their Story is Written on His Arm!
Features: DVD
A heroin-addicted hairdresser, needing $100 a day to support his habit, robs a Broadway restaurant. The tough, harsh world of Times Square junkies is brought to the screen with powerful drama and gentle humor. A brilliantly acted portrayal of people in trouble struggling to survive.
"Unjustly neglected...Very well acted..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"...really brilliant scenes...a nice cynical sense of humor, and Segal is a virtuoso at making his character." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Editor's Note
Ivan Passer's BORN TO WIN is a fascinating, though widely overlooked, time capsule that reflects the down-and-dirty New York City of the early 1970s. In a career filled with memorable performances, George Segal is once again astounding as J, a heroin addict whose life has begun to spiral out of control. No longer interested in being a hairdresser, J spends his days searching for another fix. Along the way, he meets Parm (Karen Black), another weary soul who clings desperately to J. As J gets more and more lost in the haze of his addiction, he must face up to the junky life that has trapped him.BORN TO WIN marks Czech director Passer's first foray into American filmmaking. While his unflinchingly honest approach to the material may have contributed to the picture's lackluster box office return (as opposed to, say, Jerry Shatzberg's THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK), the film nonetheless remains a vital contribution to the canon of 1970s American cinema. This can be largely attributed to Segal and Black, who have never been better. Robert De Niro even shows up for a pre-MEAN STREETS appearance.
Plot Summary
A drug-addicted New York hairdresser tries to cope with the downward spiral that is his life.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: MAC FILMWORKS, INC. |
| Release Date: 4/24/2007 |
| Original Release Date: 1971 | | Catalog ID: 00049 | | UPC: 00879431000497 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew | George Segal | | Karen Black | | Paula Prentiss | | Robert De Niro | | David Scott Milton - Writer | | Ivan Passer - Writer | | Ivan Passer - Director | | Jack Priestley - Cinematographer | | Jerry Tokofsky - Executive Producer | | Murray P. Stern - Art Director | | Philip Langner - Producer | | Ralph Rosenblum - Editor | | Richard C. Kratina - Cinematographer | | William S. Fisher - Original Music By |
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| | Professional Reviews | Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
Ivan Passer's "Born to Win" is a good-bad movie that doesn't always work but has some really brilliant scenes...With "Born to Win," he was trying to give us an ultimately tragic movie about heroin addiction -- and to throw in some slapstick along the way. This is asking for trouble, and Passer gets into some, but "Born to Win" is much more interesting than most of the recent cycle of drug films...has a nice cynical sense of humor, and Segal is a virtuoso at making his character funny and sad, laughing and laughed at, brave and pathetic. It may have, been the film's daring, rather than its accomplishment, that got it invited to the New York Film Festival... - Roger Ebert
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