Warner 20 Film Collection: Musicals (1927 - 1988/DVD Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Films: B
For their
90th anniversary, Warner Bros. is issuing several genre-oriented DVD
box sets with 20 films from their catalog they think exemplifies the genre over
the decades. Here, we get to look at
their set for Musicals that comes from two of the three big major movie studio
catalogs they own.
Warner
broke sound into the industry and it not only made them into a major studio
permanently, but gave them the leg up on Musicals over every studio in town
including MGM and Paramount,
who had the most extravagant films around.
Warner’s films, including their Musicals, would have a darker edge and
comparatively more realism. They also
had some classic songs in their many hit Musicals, though ironically, those
songs are now more known for being sung by their Looney Tunes & Merrie
Melodies characters like Bugs Bunny and Tweety than the stars that were making
millions of dollars for them and for themselves.
Warner
not only has all of their motion pictures, that also own all the MGM films up
to 1986 and virtually all the RKO films ever made. However, despite classics like Top Hat and so many more, this set
omits that studio’s entire output, so Warner has instead chosen to mix MGM and
Warner films for this collection. Some
may note other omissions like My Fair
Lady (1964) which they produced and distributed, but rights have reverted
back to stage owners CBS (you can see our Blu-ray coverage elsewhere on this
site) so that is why it is not in this set.
Of
course, the whole set could have been warner-only releases, especially when you
consider they made so many other musicals.
Auntie Mame and Gypsy immediately come to mind as later
examples, while films included here might be pushing it like Wizard Of Oz (not completely a Musical
by the definition of the genre) and Viva
Las Vegas (a so-called ‘Elvis Musical’ and one of the few good films he
made as such formula films nearly ruined his entire career and legacy before
his 1968 comeback) and not even including Rock Musicals, Warner’s catalog is
rich with many choices, but the set it what it is.
As we go
down the list, links will be included when we have covered a given film before
and in a few cases, alternate versions.
Overall, this is a nice, comprehensive set but it is a shame a Blu-ray
version is not available.
We start
with the original Jazz Singer (1927)
which we just covered on Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11995/Cut+To+The+Chase:+The+Charley+C
That
includes a further link to the DVD box set we covered a few years ago and this
set only includes the first DVD of that release. The Al Jolson film is still considered racist
due to his blackface moments, but it broke in sound and made the genre
possible, even if it is not totally a sound film. Nice transfer too.
MGM’s Broadway Melody (1929) was the first of
several such backstage musicals that hit big for the studio, including a Best
Picture Academy Award as two best friends (Anita Page, Bessie Love) try to
break into what is an obvious clone of the Ziegfeld Follies and it is a comical
look at showbiz life with plenty of sarcasm, one-liner gags and big production
numbers with some classic songs. Charles
King also stars in this surprisingly enduring classic that is still very
entertaining. You can read about some of
the follow-up films (Broadway Melody Of
1936 and Broadway Melody Of 1938)
in this great third DVD volume of Classics
From The Dream Factory issued by Warner at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6838/Classic+Musicals+From+The+Dream+F
Warner
had their own success on the same level with 42nd Street (1933) that also includes choreography by Busby
Berkeley, the studio’s very talented in-house genius who made the Warner
musicals as grand as any studio around, as well as dark and even bizarre on
occasion, but this one also holds up very well with its own wit and look at
backstage show business. Warner Baxter,
George Brent, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are among the legendary names that
made this a Depression-era classic and cemented Warner’s position as a premiere
factory for Musicals.
MGM upped
the idea of making a film in the genre by combining it with a biopic
(biographical film) with The Great
Ziegfeld (1936) telling the actual story of the legendary producer (played
here by William Powell) from his early days doing sideshows at the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1896 to making big production on Broadway a permanent
phenomenon. Running 3 hours, it is a bit
long, but with co-stars like Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Ray Bolger and Fanny
Brice (sometimes the stars play themselves); it works more often than not and
is worth revisiting when you have the energy.
Of
course, Bolger did even better for himself in The Wizard Of Oz (1939) which did not do well when it first came
out, but as you know everyone caught up with it. Also issued on Blu-ray (including in a nice
limited edition gift box; DVD boxes were also issued), we covered the latest
DVD edition at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9073/The+Wizard+Of+Oz+(1939/Warner+2-
This set
only includes the single fist DVD, but we all know it takes more than that to
cover this film.
Proving
he could play more than gangsters, James Cagney played George M. Cohan in
Michael Curtiz’s Yankee Doodle Dandy
(1942) at warner Bros. which also combined the Musical with the Biopic and
another big hit resulted. Made in black
and white (yes, those other copies were hideous colorized editions since
banished (for good we hope)) was a change of pace some thought Cagney could not
pull off. He did and it made him a
legend. It can also be long and a bit
predictable, but it has some great music and slid moments making it more than
worth revisiting.
Back at
MGM, the rise of Gene Kelly was in full swing and Vincente Minnelli’s An American In Paris (1951) was a smash
hit with its dramatic tale punctuated by amazing musical numbers that tend to
take place in a hyper-reality that goes beyond the storyline. Leslie Caron (also in MGM’s Gigi, a candidate for this set that did
not make it) co-stars with a fine cast and many extra dancers that represented
the peak of the original cycle of the genre before the 1950s saw it continue,
but often in either larger remakes or deconstructive variants.
In that
respect, MGM has made Show Boat
several times, but Warner has included the 1952 George Sidney version with Ava
Gardner, Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel that tones down but cannot get away
from the racial issues the work has always had.
Along with Jazz Singer, this
is the most difficult of the films to watch for that reason from the slaves
being a little too happy to pick cotton to other odd moments you have to see to
believe. There are classic songs here
too, but this remake is sometimes still born as compared to similar variants in
other MGM films of the hit.
Stanley
Donen teamed up with Gene Kelly for Singin’
In The Rain (1952) which is a tale of Hollywood
going from the silent to sound era, is a comedy and includes many past classic
MGM hit songs including the ever-present tune that became the title of this
film. Debbie Reynolds and Donald
O’Connor also have some prime moments co-starring, but everyone is good here
and for many, this has become the greatest musical ever because it grasped the
essence of what made the genre come alive to begin with. I may not think it is the greatest, but it is
up there and has aged very well.
The
producers of Seven Brides For Seven
Brothers (1954) had Donen direct and wanted to take the same approach in
using songs from the past for the cast to sing, but Donen got Johnny Mercer
(hitmaker and founder of Capitol Records) to write new songs and they are not
bad, but the film tends to be slow and a little belabored despite good work
from Jane Powell, Howard Keel and choreographer Michael Kidd (Oklahoma!) tries to bring this to
life. It has always been a mixed bag for
me and still is, but maybe having to shoot it at 1.33 X 1 as well as in this
CinemaScope version that is the one that was released hurt the production’s
energy. Either way, it was a hit and MGM
keep the genre going in despite it showing serious wear.
George
Cukor has made A Star Is Born twice
before he did this CinemaScope version with Judy Garland in 1954 for Warner and
it was a big hit, though Garland was counting on it to be her comeback and not
winning the Best Actress Academy Award shocked more than a few (Groucho Marx
called it the greatest robbery since The Brinks Job) but was a tour de force
and groundbreaking widescreen film also made in CinemaScope. It has been issued in a terrific Blu-ray and
we covered the DVD set included in this box set at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10062/A+Star+Is+Born+(1954/Warner+Bros
Less
Musicals were being made by 1962 as TV and Rock Music kicked in, bit Warner
felt the 1957 stage hit The Music Man
could work as a film and they were right.
With Robert Preston playing the title role as he had on stage, the film
was long, but a hit. We covered the
Blu-ray edition at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9511/The+Music+Man+(1962/Warner+Blu-ra
George
Sidney continued to make films well after the 1952 Show Boat remake and one of them was Viva Las Vegas (1963), one of the few Elvis Presley Musicals that
did not make him look trapped in a formula.
We reviewed the Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10170/The+Elvis+Blu-ray+Collection+(Elvis
Warner
hired Joshua Logan to make a three-hour film out of Camelot (1967) with Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave, David
Hemming, Franco Nero, Lionel Jeffreys and Lawrence Naismith among others and
the result was a hit, but one that did not always work or justify its
length. Still, it was a hit and haunted
by one event that happened since the stage version opened in 1960, the
Assassination of JFK. Slow and sometimes
too set-bound, it is worth seeing once just to see what works, but have
patience and energy because you’ll need it.
Burton reprised the role for a 1982
taping I liked more that you can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5109/Lerner+&+Loewe%E2%80%99s+Camel
Mel
Stewart’s Willy Wonka & The
Chocolate Factory (1971) despite some watering down of the original Roald
Dahl book remains superior to the hit Tim Burton/Johnny Depp remake and we
reviewed the Blu-ray edition at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9280/Willy+Wonka+&+The+Chocolate+Facto
Paramount
originally issued the film, but Warner now has the rights, something that also
happened with Bob Fosse’s film of Cabaret
(1972) which was originally an Allied Artists film (co-produced with ABC Films)
whose rights bounced around for a while (Fox reissued it in theaters at one
point) but it has only recently been restored and issued on Blu-ray. This is an older DVD pressing with some extras
that features Liza Minnelli as singer Sally Bowles, Joel Grey as the Master of
Ceremonies sometimes joining her at a popular club in Germany at its pre-Nazi
peak and as the Nazis start to slowly take over the country.
Like Gene
Kelly, Fosse was bringing in a new style to Musicals it needed badly and is now
a permanent part of its language (as the films All That Jazz and recent hit Chicago
prove) in one of the darkest and most ironic of all backstage musicals. Also a remedy of sorts to The Sound Of Music (1965, reviewed on
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site), Michael York is impressive as Bowles’ love
interest and a stylized recreation of Pre-WWII Germany as counterculture makes
the film as relevant as ever.
Actually
nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, That's Entertainment (1974) is a documentary hosted by some of Hollywood’s biggest names
looking at the Musical legacy of MGM. It
became a trilogy and we looked at all three films in the now-defunct HD-DVD
format (they’ve since been issued on Blu-ray in the same HD masters) at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6411/That%E2%80%99s+Entertainment+%E
Though
known by the 1980s for his comedies, Blake Edwards’ Victor/Victoria (1982) was a much-needed hit for the newly formed
MGM/UA and featured Julie Andrews as a woman pretending to be a man pretending
to be a woman in a good, but overrated Musical Comedy that hit a nerve and
along with Tootsie the same year had
transgendered roles a surprise trend.
Robert Preston, Leslie Ann Down and James Garner are also here, but this
was more of a hit and miss film for me despite Andrews now looking like Annie
Lennox and I can at least say it has aged well for what does work.
Based on
a 1960 black & white B-movie with Jack Nicholson, David Geffen turned Little Shop Of Horrors (1986) into a
period comedy about Skid Row, the 1960s and music styles of the time with Rick
Moranis dealing with man-eating plants from outer space. There are some star turns (Steve Martin and
John Candy work) as well as some star singing (Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops),
but this too was hit and miss for me and never cohered for me. Frank Oz did a decent directing job, but it
is only so memorable.
Finally
we have John Waters’ Hairspray
(1988) which is really more of a soundtrack-driven non-musical versus the 2007
film of the all out stage musical we covered on Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6271/Hairspray+%E2%80%93+Shake+&+Sh
The
original version is more successful at capturing and doing something with 1960s
culture than Little Shop, though I
like the 2007 film better and wonder why it was not included instead. The story of how Tracy (a young Ricky Lake)
becomes accepted in a society on the verge of change is as valuable now as ever
and acting turns by Debbie Harry, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller and soul legend
Ruth Brown help this original film endure.
By this time, only Westerns were more of a dead genre and either way,
Warner has found an appropriate title to end the set on.
The DVDs
look about as good as they can, though a few are older and could look
better. Cabaret’s 1.85 X 1 image is letterboxed unfortunately, but all the
widescreen films from the CinemaScope films to date are anamorphically enhanced. The 1.33 X 1 black and white films (all films
to 1942, save Oz) look as good as
they are going to in this format and come from decent prints thanks to the care
Ted Turner took with them when he owned the catalog. All the full color films from Oz to Cabaret (except Viva Las
Vegas in MetroColor) were issued in three-strip, dye-transfer Technicolor
and save Seven Brides (shot in
AnscoColor and in a faded print here) and Show
Boat (a transfer that is not refined) comes from pretty good prints. All color films after also look good, if not
with the color range of the earlier classics.
The lossy
Dolby Digital sound on all the DVDs hold the films back a bit, with the
monophonic films only in 1.0 Mono, but Oz,
Rain, Brides, Star and all
films after save Cabaret (this copy
is only in 2.0 Stereo!) offer 5.1 mixes.
Extras
include a nicely illustrated booklet on the films including brief informative
text while every film offers a trailer.
Outside of extras repeated from our previously covered films with links,
Melody adds Musical Shorts from MGM,
42nd Street has text on
Berkeley and documentary shorts connected to the film, Ziegfeld adds a newsreel and making of featurette, Dandy adds a
solid feature length audio commentary track by film scholar Rudy Behlmer,
Technicolor Bugs Bunny cartoon, newsreels and vintage featurettes connected to
the film, Paris has the classic
Technicolor MGM cartoon Symphony In Slang,
Paris On Parade Technicolor live
action short from the FitzPatrick Traveltalks
short and an amazing feature length audio commentary track that compiles audio
interviews and new recordings with many people involved with the film, Rain has a similar commentary but more
of the audio is newly recorded, Brothers has a trailer gallery for Stanley
Donen films and detailed feature length audio commentary track by Donen
himself, Music Man has a Shirley
Jones into and making of featurette, Camelot
has five trailers and two featurettes, Cabaret
has four vintage featurettes (one documentary length), Victor has a feature length audio commentary track by Andrews &
Edwards, Horrors a feature length
audio commentary track by Director Frank Oz and Outtakes (though not the
footage accidentally included in the first DVD pressings) and Hairspray a feature length audio
commentary track by Waters and Lake.
- Nicholas Sheffo
