Classic Musicals 50 Movie MegaPack [12 Discs]Classic Musicals 50 Movie MegaPack [12 Discs]

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MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

    Timeless favorites from the Golden Age of Hollywood with Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Chuck Berry, Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Louis Jordan and many others starring in Breakfast in Hollywood (1946), Black Tights (1960), The Fabulous Dorseys (1947), Doll Face (1945), Check and Double Check (1930), Mr. Imperium (1951), Stage Door Canteen (1943), Paradise in Harlem (1939), Road Show (1941), 'Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and more. 12 DVDs. 1929-60/color-b&w/66 hrs., 5 min/NR/fullscreen.

DVD FEATURES:
  • Number of Discs: 12
  • Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Screen: Color
AWARDS
  • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  •     Won Best Score - 1941 (Edward Ward)
  •     Nominated Best Song - 1951 (Burton Lane, Alan Jay Lerner)
  •     Nominated Best Score - Musical - 1944 (Leo Erdody, Ferde Grofé, Sr.)
  •     Nominated Best Song - 1944 (Paul Francis Webster, Harry Revel)
  •     Nominated Best Score - Drama or Comedy - 1943 (Phil Boutelje)
  •     Nominated Best Score - Musical - 1943 (Freddie Rich)
  •     Nominated Best Song - 1943 (James V. Monaco, Alexis Dubin)
  •     Nominated Best Score - 1941 (Anthony Collins)
  •     Nominated Best Song - 1941 (Lloyd B. Norlind)
  •     Nominated Best Score - 1940 (Arlie Shaw & His Band)
  •     Nominated Best Song - 1940 (Arlie Shaw & His Band, Johnny Mercer)
  •     Nominated Best Dance Direction - 1936 (Russell Lewis)
  • Film Daily
  •     Won 10 Best Films - 1943
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
REVIEWS:
  • Although Abbott & Costello are much loved by children, Jack and the Beanstalk is one of the few films they made that was specifically geared toward that audience. (It is also one of only two color films the comedy team made.) Those adults who are diehard fans of the duo will certainly enjoy Jack, but they may be a little disappointed, as the film keeps the two separated for great lengths of time and doesn't allow for as many opportunities for the discombobulated dialogue routines (a la "Who's On First") that are their strengths. While slapstick is always a part of a "Bud and Lou" flick, there's much more of it in Jack than is usual. There's also a great deal more music than one might expect, and it must be admitted that most of the tunes are rather more perfunctory than inspired. However, the fairytale framework does give Jack a more cohesive feeling than many of the team's outings, and there are a great many memorable moments, including an amusing exploding egg sequence and a very funny dance sequence between little Costello and the Amazonian Dorothy Ford. Although Abbott & Costello, as previously noted, are not allowed to engage in their usual repartee, they are otherwise much the same as usual, which will delight some and annoy others -- although the children at whom the film is aimed will undoubtedly fall into the former category. Shaye Cogan and James Alexander sing well but are otherwise quite dull, and the supporting cast in general is adequate rather but little more. But one doesn't watch an Abbott and Costello film for the supporting cast. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • A typical World War II morale booster, Private Buckaroo simply has everything. Everything, that is, except a plot. And who needs a plot when you get the sisters Andrews harmonizing two of their greatest hits, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and "Johnny Get Your Gun Again"? Not to mention the comedy antics of Mary Wickes, Shemp Howard and that quintessential nightclub entertainer Joe E. Lewis, the contortions of the energetic congregation The Jivin' Jacks and Jills, Peggy Ryan and the very young Donald O'~Connor and, best of all, Harry James and his band featuring Helen Forrest and a beautiful rendition of "You Made me Love You". With all this going on -- sometimes all at once! -- you barely have time to notice that the screenwriters actually did drag in a piece of nonsense about self-centered Dick Foran being tamed by Jennifer Holt. The daughter of veteran star Jack Holt and sister of Tim, the latter made her screen debut in this musical and manages to stay well out of the fray. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Career Girl is a B-movie musical, clearly done on the cheap and by the book, but offering a moderate dose of entertainment. Very clearly "inspired" by Stage Door, Career has absolutely nothing new to offer in the way of plot, and most of the incidents that litter said plot seem designed to do little more than fill time. The subplot involving the very sweet but untalented Sue might have been made into something interesting, but there's no depth (nor point) to it, and so it only provides a little climactic melodrama. Career does provide a decent showcase for the highly enjoyable vocalizing of star Frances Langford, whose creamy voice is always a pleasure to hear. The songs are standard-issue stuff, but they get the job done. Langford's no brilliant actress, but her down-to-earth personality makes her easy company to pass some time with. Character actress Iris Adrian steals a number of scenes with her brassy and sassy wisecracking, and Edward Norris has a few good moments as Langford's eventual love interest. Faring less well is Craig Woods. True, he's saddled with a poorly written part, but even so, his performance is dull in the extreme. Career is creaky and silly, but those who love old musicals should enjoy it. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Doll Face is a thoroughly enjoyable little musical with an arresting opening. The viewer sees nervous Vivian Blaine preparing for a Broadway audition, seemingly the typical naive, innocent amateur from the sticks; immediately, you assume you're in familiar Forty-Second Street territory. But after Blaine bowls the producer over with her audition, it turns out that she's no innocent hick -- she's a stripper that's been packing them in down on the Bowery. The rest of Doll Face doesn't quite live up to its opening, eventually settling in to a fairly standard romantic triangle, but it's still handled with enough wit and finesse to make it quite engaging. It helps that Jimmy McHugh's score, while not outstanding, is always hummable and very pleasant. It also helps that the cast is very appealing. Blaine, looking somewhat and occasionally acting somewhat like Susan Hayward, is in great form and has a tremendous chemistry with Dennis O'Keefe, who does an excellent job himself. (It's not O'Keefe's fault that he's saddled with a few lines regarding women and carpets that make modern viewers wince.) A young Perry Como is in good voice, and he and Martha Stewart do especially well with the amusing "Dig You Later" number. And Carmen Miranda brings her unique and special charm to the film; if her "Chico" number is not the showstopper that one expects from Miranda, it's not her fault. Breezy and interesting, with just a touch of sauciness, Doll Face is an easy way to pass an hour and a half. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Fans of early film musicals will want to seek out Dancing Pirate, a curiosity that will have more limited interest to other viewers. Pirate is only a middling film, which is a disappointment considering it boasts a score by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Unfortunately, the normally inventive and classy songwriting duo came up with a truncated score that is only so-so, including the would-be big ballad "Are You My Love?" One gets the feeling that Rodgers & Hart weren't particularly interested in this assignment and were simply going through the motions to fulfill a contractual obligation. As for the story, it's a great load of nonsense -- not unusual for a musical of the day, but this story is even thinner (and more implausible) than most. It also lacks enough memorable dialogue; there are a few exchanges that score, but not enough to make up for the other deficiencies in the script. What makes Pirate worth viewing for musical fans is the presence of Charles Collins in the starring role. An excellent dancer with an agreeable personality, Collins makes the most of every opportunity to dance that he is given, and his work here is quite memorable. He has grace and style and plenty of technique; what he lacks is real star power. Had he possessed that, he might have given Fred Astaire a little competition at the time, though he is not the actor Astaire was and can't handle a song with the same flair that Astaire did. Still, Collins is more than engaging, and it's a shame he didn't have a career in films. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Humor is clearly a personal matter, with what makes one person laugh uproariously leaving another person silent, but those who favor a "nutty" approach to comedy will find a great deal to like in Road Show. Sure, Show has its flaws. For example, the plot in some places is put together with spit and gum, and even when it's made of more solid stuff, it still isn't a work of art. But there's a joyous spirit to Show, a zany devil-may-care attitude that is very appealing, and very infectious to boot. The set-up is simple (and simply preposterous), and it wears a little thin, but it also provides ample opportunity for gags and shenanigans. The musical numbers are nothing special, but The Charioteers do a fine job with them, and the trio of credited directors keep Show moving at an appropriately lively pace. John Hubbard is fine as the man wrongly committed to an asylum, and Carole Landis is gorgeous and engaging as the carnival owner he hooks up with. But it's Adolphe Menjou who walks off with the film. Menjou is quite simply a fruitcake, and it's a treat to watch him having the time of his life, taking very seriously the extremely odd way his character has of looking at life. Menjou is crackers, and at its best, so is Road Show. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • In his later years, songwriter Irving Berlin became incensed when anyone mentioned the name of this rather standard-issue comedy. Originally conceived as a Berlin musical extravaganza, it changed drastically after Douglas Fairbanks signed on as leading man and the public began showing a marked disinterest in musical films. In the end, only one song remained ("When the Folks High-Up Do the Mean Low-Down," hardly one of Berlin's brighter efforts), which benefits greatly from the vocals of Bebe Daniels, brassy June MacCloy and a young Bing Crosby. The story is inconsequential, which would be alright if the dialogue contained wit and effervescence; sadly, it fizzles when it needs to sizzle. The cast, however, is good, with Fairbanks in fine trim, using his considerable star presence to good effect, and he has very good chemistry with Daniels (who looks smashing). MacCloy is also fine, if undistinguishable from any number of others who could have played her role, and Edward Everett Horton is his usual dependable self. The sets and costumes are opulent and eye-filling, and the money that went into the film certainly shows up onscreen. Edmund Goulding's direction is so-so; if he can't reconcile the film's different tones and styles, it's also true that no director probably could. Reaching for the Moon is a bit of a mess, but those in the mood for an old fashioned, silly romantic comedy/farce will find it moderately enjoyable. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Monogram Pictures was about four years late with this already dated Ruritanian operetta. Today, the little songfest is more curious than entertaining and the same can be said for robust leading man Guy Robertson, whose only feature film appearance this was. Happily, the studio filled the minor parts with such scene-stealers as Franklin Pangborn, Joyce Compton, and Ferdinand Gottschalk, all of whom seemingly pretend to be in a much better film than King Kelly of the U.S.A. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Mr. Imperium is a yummy little romantic musical. Is it a flawless classic? By no means. But Imperium has something that many much better films often lack -- genuine charm. Thank the handsome Ezio Pinza and the luscious Lana Turner for this. Neither Pinza nor Turner is giving what could be called a great acting performance in Imperium, although they are much more than satisfactory in this area. But their star personalities and delicious chemistry count for much more than acting prowess, especially given a screenplay that doesn't require a Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. The two stars are wonderful company, and viewers are likely to forgive Imperium a lot merely for the chance to pass an hour and half or so with them. Certainly, the material requires some forgiving, for certain situations have been presented to the audience many times before, and it has to be said that a character here and there is a bit more cardboard than flesh-and-blood. In addition to the stars, there is fine support from Barry Sullivan in a thankless role, Sir Cedric Hardwicke in a wicked one, Debbie Reynolds in prime teenaged condition, and especially Marjorie Main in one of her very rare non-hick roles. Throw in some gorgeous on-location lensing, a few nifty musical numbers from Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields, and some nifty costumes from Walter Plunkett, and the result is an enjoyable way to kill some time. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • One watches the mediocre musical Delightfully Dangerous wishing it were a bit more delightful -- or even a bit more dangerous. Not that Dangerous is bad or difficult to sit through; as long as one has a fondness for lightweight, inconsequential musicals, it's a pleasant little diversion. However, those that dislike musicals, or who want their musicals more challenging, or even who simply want their musicals to contain above average scores, will likely find Dangerous not really to their liking. The screenplay is poor, with one of those stories that has to be handled extremely carefully and with the perfect degree of finesse to come off. The quartet of credited writers fumble the job, and Arthur Lubin, while providing some good visual moments, isn't able to clean up the storytelling mess. An outstanding score would have gone a long way to compensating for the script, but Morton Gould's original pieces, while not without technical interest, don't really please, and the Strauss medley is too long on the on hand and gives short shrift to the songs included on the other. The cast, fortunately, helps to make Dangerous watchable, with a very young Jane Powell in fine voice, Constance Moore looking quite fetching, Ralph Bellamy going through his paces ably, and valuable assists from Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Originally a television musical that received a later theatrical release, The Pied Piper of Hamelin has been more widely seen than most television specials of the period, thanks largely to the fact that it was (a) filmed, rather than kinescoped, (b) shot in color rather than black and white, and (c) was allowed to become part of the public domain, allowing several different companies to release video versions of it. It's a mildly entertaining but somewhat strange musical. Clearly aimed at children, the musical is certainly wholesome and unobjectionable from a moral point of view, but the music -- based upon strains and themes from Norwegian classical composer Edvard Grieg -- is a little advanced for most young ears. The music does, however, amply reward more mature viewers for sitting through some tiresome dialogue scenes, an overabundance of rhymed dialogue, and overly broad characterizations. Viewers of all ages will likely be enchanted by Van Johnson, creating a Pied Piper that is appealing, sly, and very hard to resist; his performance in his other role, Truson, is a tad too conventional, but more than serviceable. Claude Rains is dependable (if hardly taxed) by his role as the villainous mayor (and does rather well with the catchy number, "Prestige,") and Kay Starr is in pretty good voice, if no great shakes as an actress. The film betrays its television origins in its extreme staginess, but director Bretaigne Windust keeps things moving at a fairly decent pace. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Rock, Rock, Rock! was the first of three juke-box movies starring Alan Freed, the legendary dee-jay who, as much as anyone else, played an essential role in putting rock 'n' roll on the map. It also happens to be a dreadful movie in most of the areas by which we usually judge a movie's worth -- among other shortcomings, the "plot" is thinner than tissue paper and the acting is barely on a level that would engender the description "amateurish"; what's more, and, seemingly fatally for a movie with those attributes, it never lets us forget that it is a movie. And, yet, for all of those flaws (and one has to see Tuesday Weld's performance to truly appreciate the awfulness that we're talking about), this is still a movie worth watching, as a popular culture and musical artifact of its time. If one concentrates on the musical acts, whose performances take up most of the movie's running time, one gets a sense of a telling moment in American cultural history, when rock 'n' roll captured the imagination of virtually the entire population below the age of 20, and even some of their parents to a certain degree -- and as this was the first full year of the rock 'n' roll boom, a lot of Black acts that would be swept aside later in the 1950's are featured as well. You sort of wish that someone would shove Alan Freed aside in the final performance segment so that we could see Big Al Sears, the jazz saxophone legend, in the center of the screen, but it's pretty cool just hearing him and seeing his band, and it was Freed who brought them aboard on his package tour. Later on, programmers would become more sensitive to racial and sexual sensibilities but here we get sexy, robust La Vern Baker, the elegant Moonglows, the spirited Flamingos, the beguiling Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, and the totally provocative and lusty Chuck Berry, duckwalking through "You Can't Catch Me", his guitar about as phallic looking a stage prop as anything seen on the screen this side of the bananas in a Carmen Miranda production number -- had a Black man ever before been permitted such a degree of sexual expression (and you can see the delightful, proud smugness on Berry's face, knowing what audience the movie was aimed at) in a movie intended for white audiences? Not to this reviewer's knowledge. The white acts -- even most of the dance bands -- are also pretty good, though there's only one here that matches the Black performers for sheer charisma, and that's Johnny Burnette doing "Lonesome Train". ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
  • Royal Wedding is an excellent example of a film the strengths of which are so strong as to make its considerable weaknesses almost irrelevant. Among those weaknesses, the most problematic is the screenplay. Alan Jay Lerner's story is commonplace, even if set against the backdrop of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The dialogue is generally good, but the plot offers little in the way of suspense or surprise. The real sizzle and fire come from elsewhere: the cast, the score, and the dancing. Fred Astaire is marvelous, demonstrating in his musical numbers that no other male performer -- even those with technically superior voices -- was better at interpreting a song. His dance numbers here include two of his best: the "Sunday Jumps" gym sequence with the classic hat rack duet and the much heralded "You're All the World to Me," in which he dances up the walls and across the ceiling of his room. Jane Powell is not his equal as a dance partner, but she comes off very well in the amusing "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life." Powell also gets to handle the beautiful and unfortunately overlooked ballad "Too Late Now," which contains a melody of admirable purity. Stanley Donen's direction is assured, glossing over the film's shortcomings and knowing how to showcase its assets. Royal Wedding may fall just shy of being a classic, but its highlights are among the best the musical film has to offer. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Second Chorus is one of the weaker Fred Astaire films -- largely because it doesn't seem fully committed to being about Fred Astaire. Astaire doesn't have to dominate a film, of course, as numerous films with the likes of Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, and Judy Garland demonstrate; but if he's cast as the lead of a film, the filmmakers need to let him dominate. Unfortunately, Chorus was originally conceived as a vehicle for Artie Shaw, who ended up having a supporting role; but the writers kept enough of the old concept to hamstring Astaire, making Chorus a bit of a mess, script-wise. Astaire and Burgess Meredith also make an odd pair of pals, with the latter's slightly odd personality not meshing well with Astaire's smoothness. And while Astaire and Paulette Goddard are an interesting romantic pair, she's not dancer enough to fill the role as required. Fortunately, Goddard's appeal helps to overcome this flaw, and there are a couple of first-rate Astaire routines that do more than smooth over the movie's rough spots. Add in some fine playing from Shaw and his band (including a "jazz symphony" that definitely gets better as it goes along), along with an amusing turn from Charles Butterworth, and Chorus ends up decent, if uneven, entertainment. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • The Broadway musical upon which this remake of Sunny was based was famous as a vehicle for the elfin charm of Marilyn Miller. It also boasted a winning Jerome Kern score, some of which has been kept in this version. Filling in for Miller is Anna Neagle, one of Britain's most noted musical stars of the period. It's worth catching Sunny for Neagle, a charming actress and excellent dancer who, while not possessed of the most stunning of voices, was quite at home expressing herself in song. Neagle carries Sunny as best she can, and it's a treat to see her, but there's no escaping the fact that the screenplay is far more than simply familiar: it's bruisingly, boringly familiar. The standard issue plot won't hold the attention of any viewer for more than a few minutes, and the lack of character development is also a hindrance. Fortunately, there are still the songs, especially the immortal "Who" and the title number. There's also the rubber-limbed Ray Bolger, setting the screen on fire every time he is given a chance to dance. There are also a couple of brief turns by Grace and Paul Hartman, a husband-and-wife dance team who were famous on the stage but who made few filmed appearances. The cast helps to keep one's interest in Sunny long after one's interest in the predictable script has waned. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • The Fabulous Dorseys is far from a fabulous movie, but it does have some fabulous moments. It's easy to pinpoint those fabulous moments: they happen whenever the dialogue stops and the music begins. Of course, it's natural for the numbers in a musical to be the highlights, but rarely is there such a discrepancy between the spoken and the played/sung. Also, viewers should be warned that Dorseys is not a musical in which the songs generally advance the plot; these are "numbers," interludes of beautiful music that do little to define character, progress the story or even (with some exceptions) create an emotion that is especially relevant to what is going on in the plot. Viewers should also be warned that not only is the dialogue bland (at best) and the plot contrived, but there's also a big problem with the lead actors: Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey can't act. Not even a little. And with the exceptions of Janet Blair, Sara Allgood, and Arthur Shields, there's precious little acting contributed by anyone else in the film, either. But if you're a devotee of great swing music, in Dorseys it is worth slogging through the non-musical portions just to hear the Dorseys and their instrumentalist buddies in top form, along with wonderful vocal contributions from Blair and Helen O'Connell. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Those in the mood for something nutty and screwy are most likely to enjoy Hi Diddle Diddle, a bit of tomfoolery that unfortunately isn't as off-the-wall as it wants to be. That's certainly not from lack of trying. Edmund L. Hartmann and Frederick J. Jackson's screenplay is cut from very loose cloth, and intentionally so: they writers want to have an "anything goes" kind of set-up so that they can throw in gags and nonsense. That's all well and good, but it takes a special kind of order to frame the kind of anarchy that they're after, and it's hard to achieve that order in a manner that gives the illusion of effortlessness. They don't achieve that, with the result that much of the humor feels forced. Nevertheless, there are some bits that are simply divine, including a running gag involving an actress who keeps showing up in every scene because she's the director's girl friend, and a sequence in which wallpaper depicting Richard Wagner and kin on a picnic suddenly comes to life and flees the din that the other characters are creating. The cast is certainly not to blame for the film's inability to be as daft and daffy as it wishes to be, for Billie Burke, Pola Negri Adolphe Menjou and the rest all give it their considerable best. Perhaps if director Andrew L. Stone had the sensibility of a Mel Brooks or a Groucho Marx, Diddle might have attained the zany heights it aims for. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Till the Clouds Roll By is useless as biography -- but what else is new where Hollywood and musical biopics are concerned? The problem is that, as with so many other useless musical biographies, it's also of no interest as drama. To fashion the plot of the musical, the creators might as easily have simply written down every cliched situation they could think of, put them in a fishbowl, and drawn them out to see what order they would put them in. Under the circumstances, it's hard to ask much of the actors; suffice it to say that Robert Walker does the best he can under the circumstances, Lucille Bremer does somewhat less than the best she can, and Van Heflin actually manages to rise above things a bit. Musically, of course, things are much brighter, with some terrific contributions from Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Dinah Shore (and a much-too-short dance from Cyd Charisse and Gower Champion). Some of the other performers do not fare as well, such as Tony Martin and Kathryn Grayson; while Frank Sinatra certainly sounds good, his interpretation of "Ol' Man River" leaves a lot to be desired. Still, it's hard to beat Jerome Kern's music, even when presented in less-than-perfect circumstances. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • While it has some other, smaller assets, The Duke Is Tops is worth seeing primarily to witness Lena Horne's screen debut. Looking as if she were just barely old enough to be out alone at night, Horne lights up the screen in her several musical numbers. In her dialogue sequences, Horne comes across as slightly tentative; she hasn't really learned how to play a scene yet, and some of the emotions come across forced. But she still has that special sparkle, and when she favors the camera with a song, she fills the screen with life and energy. (Her rendition of "I Know You Remember" is especially noteworthy.) In the male lead, Ralph Cooper is also a bit stiff, but he does have a certain charisma, and a number of the specialty acts -- such as Rubberneck Holmes and the Cats and the Fiddle -- are well worth experiencing. The plot and screenplay are fairly poor, although they do provide for a memorable medicine show sequence. Production values are on the skimpy side, and the whole look of the film is fairly chintzy, but as long as Horne and her cohorts are warbling and grooving, most viewers won't mind. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

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