Synopsis
Happy New Year is an Americanized remake of the 1974 French film of the same name. Peter Falk and Charles Durning play Nick and Charlie, a pair of seedy but suave jewel thieves. Preparing to rob the exclusive Florida jewelry store managed by Tom Courtenay, Nick and Charlie meticulously pre-plan their heist, adopting a variety of false identities and silly costumes along the way. Unfortunately for our heroes, Nick becomes enamored of Caroline (Wendy Hughes, in her American film debut), the beautiful owner of the antique shop next door to the jewelry store. Nick's fascination with Caroline effectively scuttles his and Charlies' "perfect" crime. Claude Lelouch, writer/director of the original Happy New Year, appears in an amusing cameo role. Bedeviled with production problems, the Falk-Durning Happy New Year didn't see the light of day until nearly a year after its completion; after a fitful theatrical release, the film went straight to video, where it finally built up a following.
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Movie News
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Happy New Year Indeed for DVD
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2000 -- With more than 1 million units sold in the fourth quarter of 1999, the DVD market soared over the holiday season, just-released stats show.
With many retailers struggling to keep players in stock, at least one outlet was reporting holiday increases in DVD hardware and software in the triple-digit range.
"It was a huge item at Christmas," Warner Home Video Vice President of DVD Marketing Steve Nickerson said in a statement. "Some retailers thought they were overstocked but ended up selling out."
Despite early naysaying and a frontal assault from a well-financed competitor, the DVD format has not only survived, it has become arguably the most successful consumer-electronics product launch in history.
With more than 5.4 million players sold since its bow in 1997, the DVD format is expected to hit the 8 million-players-so