Band Wagon [Special Edition] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

One of the most subtle and sophisticated of the musical comedies that came out of MGM's Arthur Freed Unit in the '40s and '50s, The Band Wagon stars Fred Astaire as Tony Hunter, a movie star whose career is in a downturn. Looking for a boost, Tony decides to try starring in a Broadway musical. His friends Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) have written a show they feel would be just right for Tony, and the three team up with Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), a self-styled "genius" director, who gets the idea to turn the play into a revised version of Faust. Cordova's more pretentious ideas don't always sit well with the Martons, and Tony isn't too happy with his leggy co-star, Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse), whom he's convinced is too tall (then again, she thinks he's too old). But when the show proves a disaster in out-of-town tryouts, everyone realizes they have to put aside their differences if they want a show that will be on Broadway for longer than four hours. The Band Wagon featured a rare American appearance for British musical star Jack Buchanan, who does a fine soft-shoe with Fred Astaire on "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." Astaire also shines in the numbers "Shine on Your Shoes" and "The Girl Hunt," a witty Mickey Spillane parody. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitle: English, Spanish, French
• Features:
  • • cc New digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
    • Soundtrack remastered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and original mono
    • Commentary by Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein
    • Astaire trailer gallery
    • Subtitles: English, Français & Español
    • New making-of documentary Get Aboard! The Band Wagon
    • Vintage documentary The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
    • Outtake musical number Two Faced Woman, plus dailies
    • Musical short Jack Buchanan With the Glee Quartet

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Color Costume Design - 1953 (Mary Ann Nyberg)
•     Nominated Best Musical Score - 1953 (Adolph Deutsch)
•     Nominated Best Story and Screenplay - 1953 (Adolph Green, Betty Comden)

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1994

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Vincente Minnelli

• Producer:

  Arthur Freed

• Screenwriter:

  Adolph Green, Betty Comden

• Cinematographer:

  Harry Jackson

• Composer (Music Score):

  Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz

• Musical Arrangement:

  Alexander Courage

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Adolph Deutsch

• Songwriter:

  Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz

• Editor:

  Albert Akst

• Art Director:

  Cedric Gibbons, Preston Ames

• Associate Producer:

  Roger Edens

• Set Designer:

  Edwin B. Willis, Keogh Gleason

• Costume Designer:

  Mary Ann Nyberg

• Makeup:

  William J. Tuttle

• Special Effects:

  Warren Newcombe

• First Assistant Director:

  Jerry Thorpe

• Choreography:

  Michael Kidd, Oliver Smith

REVIEW:

• Made towards the end of MGM producer Arthur Freed's peak period of musical productions, at a time when movies, theater, and other forms of entertainment were all feeling the heat from the rise of television, preeminent musical director Vincente Minnelli's backstage story celebrates the musical itself and its brand of pop entertainment. Pitting Fred Astaire's washed-up movie hoofer against Jack Buchanan's high-falutin' artiste and Cyd Charisse's transplanted ballerina, The Band Wagon reflexively pokes fun at the musical's excesses and delves into the question of what an audience really wants, implicitly defending traditional forms of entertainment at a time when Hollywood was in decline and consumers were turning to new form of recreation. As with Freed's Singin' in the Rain (1952), the sophisticated comedy of show business manners becomes a showcase for the Freed Unit's sparkling production values and musical acumen, as well as Minnelli's stylistic virtuosity. While numbers such as Astaire's 42nd street dance "Shine on Your Shoes" and Astaire's and Charisse's "Dancing in the Dark" reveal Minnelli's mastery at integrating dance and story, the final "Band Wagon" revue is a peerless sequence of pure musical entertainment, with "The Girl Hunt" deftly mixing the high and low arts of ballet and jazz in a parody of Mickey Spillane's detective yarns. Though not one of Minnelli's Oscar winners, The Band Wagon has come to be considered his best musical, and a wise elegy to the form. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi