Cinderella Liberty (1973)

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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

When I first saw Cinderella Liberty I was in the Navy and a friend suggested I see it....that was one great friend. I had watched James Caan in the Godfather, ElDorado and Brians Song....all were great and I feel thankful that we have had the pleasure to watch this talented actor...but when I saw Cinderella Liberty he played that part to a T....I have to say the writer of this script either was in the Navy or received some first hand input.....I myself took a fellow shipmates watch many times and it is not hard to do all the things that happened in this movie...But the acting and the story will last forever... the kid ....the bar scene...the hustle..and Marsha Mason what else do you need to say...I have looked for this movie to come out on DVD forever....it never has...I ran across a DVD copy on the internet recently and it is very good and finally I can watch this movie when I want to and show it to my family and friends. Thank you James Caan for this great gift the gift of Cinderelly Liberty it will make you laugh and it will make you cry but most of all it will make you feel alive. [email protected]

I remember seeing this movie as a kid at the movies. I really liked this movie because it didn't candycoat anything to make the storyline more digestible. It was sailor meets hooker, sailor falls for hooker, hooker does sailor wrong. It wasn't doctored up like Pretty Woman was years later. It was very sad in parts, had some funny and happy moments. Most of all, I found myself drawn in by all four main characters. You could actually find yourself caring about what happened next to them. That is rare in a movie nowdays. I liked the ending, however, it would not be likely to happen nowdays with all the high-tech identity trackers that are used now. It was probably feasible back then in 1972 or 1973, though. This is probably James Caan's best movie.

I have never forgotten this film for a second after seeing it on VHS years ago. 2 of my favorite actors of the 70s, Mason and Caan....Marsha needs to be better represented on DVD; why isn't this film and "Only When I Laugh" on DVD yet? Who do we complain to? There were so many surprising elements to this film...i was shocked to see the nudity in this film, and also the mixed race of her son, if my memory serves me correctly, and played by an interesting child actor. The movie was just more than i was expecting it to be, a very pleasant surprise. I just read that she beat out Babs for this part, and i really can't see her playing this part the way Marsah did, tho i do love her as well.

Granted there are some literary devices which are a tad far-fetched that simply have to be accepted to allow this story to work - for one, the cavalier way in which Baggs is treated while his papers are 'lost', and for so long. None the less, this is, in the end an affecting and inspiring tale. Perhaps one of the reasons for its dubious reception here is that in this extremely cynical and selfish age people have difficulty accepting a tale about someone who assumes so much grief in order to help people ("It makes me feel good," says Baggs, simply and disarmingly.) Perhaps the world would be a better place if we could all be more like the guileless Boatswain, played by James Caan in a good-guy departure from his usual tough guy parts. Of particular note is the fine job Eli Wallach does with the minor part of Baggs' nemesis Forshay. It's a memorable moment when Baggs, asking Forshay, as he is drummed out of the service without benefits or pension, "Where are you going? Home?", hears Forshay reply "THIS was home." The combination of sadness, bitterness, and fear of the future that Wallach puts into these three words is testimony to his power as an actor. A bit of judicious editing might have been called for, as the movie was a tad long (cutting Paul Williams' execrable songs would have been a good place to start), but none the less it's a feel-good movie that rises above its gritty setting.