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Category:    Home > Reviews > Musical > Romance > Drama > Magic > Carnival > Folk > Backstage > Comedy > Dancing > Show Business > Writing > The Fantasticks (1995 - 2000/United Artists/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Goldwyn Follies (1938/Samuel Goldwyn Company/Warner Archive DVD)/The Last Five Years (2014/Radius-TWC/Anchor Bay

The Fantasticks (1995 - 2000/United Artists/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Goldwyn Follies (1938/Samuel Goldwyn Company/Warner Archive DVD)/The Last Five Years (2014/Radius-TWC/Anchor Bay Blu-ray)



Picture: B/C+/B- Sound: B-/C/B Extras: B/D/C Films: C*/C+/C+



PLEASE NOTE: The Fantasticks Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last, while Goldwyn Follies is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series. Both can be ordered from the links below.



Here are three ambitious musical projects with their moments, but all of which did not work out as spectacularly as expected.



Michael Ritchie has high hopes for his film version of the Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt stage musical The Fantasticks (1995 - 2000), which was funded and made by United Artists in 1995, but took five year to get to the screen. That is why this new Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray has two versions of the film on it. Ritchie's long, slightly better director's cut is here in standard definition, while the shorter version (cut in the middle of its non release by Francis Coppola, who was working for UA at the time, recutting this as he had Walter Hill's Supernova, an even bigger money loser), which was never released. The studio tired to issue it straight to video after several owner and regime changes, but the original creators' contract prohibited that, so it got a brief theatrical release before being shipped off to home video after that false start.


It is one of those stage musicals that some parts of it (like the recent Into The Woods, reviewed elsewhere on this site) simply could and would not translate onto the big screen and not work. The cast has talent, including Joel Grey in a supporting role, but this is lacking in chemistry, energy and has one too many visual references to the films of Oklahoma! and a bit of the 1939 Wizard Of Oz. Joe McIntyre (Joey from New Kids On The Block) and Jean Louisa Kelly are the possible young couple to be, but I never believed they really loved each other, so when a traveling carnival leader (Johnathon Morris) tries to seduce her, tension is lacking.


Barnard Hughes and Teller (the silent half of Penn & Teller, talking here) show up in the supporting cast and the locales and cinematography are not bad, but it just never works in either cut and despite a few good moments and music numbers that work, this is for fans only and possibly nearly a cult film of a very popular stage musical. You can tell Ritchie was really trying here, but he needed a different approach. At least he saw its release before his passing.


Extras are many and include a nicely illustrated booklet on the film including informative text and an essay by the great Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray offers the longer version of the film in standard definition as noted, an Isolated Music Score Track, Original Theatrical Trailer and no less than three feature length audio commentary tracks. One is a vintage track by Ritchie and we get two new ones: one with Kelly and Broadway & Film scholar Bruce Kimmel, the other with journalist Chris Willman (who covered the six years of ups and downs on the film) hosted by film scholar Nick Redmond.



George Marshall's Goldwyn Follies (1938) was one of the first and earliest full-length films in 3-strip, full-ranging Technicolor from start to finish. Adolph Menjou is a filmmaker who is producing dud after dud, trying to find a way to get a hit. He hires a young woman (Andrea Leeds) who sees real life in simple terms and cuts through the flash and gaudiness of the Hollywood machine as a path towards a hit.


This backstage musical from the Samuel Goldwyn Company uses that set-up and the inevitability that she might fall for him or a younger singer (Kenny Baker) trying to break into the movies. The problem is it needed more comedy (The Ritz Brothers are really funny here, stealing their scenes) and less melodrama, so if it were in black and white, it would be more boring than if it were not in this expensive, beautiful, wide-ranging use of Technicolor at its best. Add Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, Phil Baker, Helen Jepson, Ella Logan, Zorina, solid dancing, fancy sets and songs by George & Ira Gershwin and you have a film worth a look when you have the time and some patience. Samuel Goldwyn knew what he was doing and it shows here more than enough of the time.


There are sadly no extras.



Last but not least is Richard LaGravenese's film of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years (2014), a writer (Jeremy Jordan) and woman (Anna Kendrick of Into The Woods) trying to get her acting career on track trying to have a relationship together and the 94 minutes of screen time for this semi-backstage musical covers five years. Sometimes, this film version comes across as a musical, sometimes it overly deconstructs and sometimes, it plays more like an operetta. But I liked the leads, who had more chemistry than expected, but this still misses the mark a bit despite the on-screen talent and use of NYC outdoors.


None of the songs stuck with me (maybe they needed different or variant arrangements) and might be too laid back (Stephen Sondheim's sense of practicalness haunts the piece in a good way), but I was just a little disappointed. Still, it is worth a look, especially if you like musicals or the leads. LaGravenese (Freedom Writers) again tries something different. I wish more directors would.


Extras include a Sing-Along section and on-camera talk with creator Brown.



The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on both Blu-rays are not bad, with Fantasticks show in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision with few flaws in its print, while Last is an HD shoot with slightly muted colors and is softer despite the older film being about 20 years older. That is fine in both cases and represents how good the films can look.


The 1.33 X 1 image on Follies maybe soft, but it is the best shoot of the three even if the disc is the poorest performer. The print in in decent shape and a really good representation of a dye-transfer, three-strip, 35mm Technicolor version of the film that really deserves its own Blu-ray. I was surprised how consistent it was and helped sell the format along with its stars and studio.


As for sound, both Blu-rays have DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes with Fantasticks intended as a demo for original DTS theatrical sound, but it is a laid-back sound mix, so only expect so much from it. This can also be a quiet film and a 2.0 DTS-MA Stereo track that is slightly weak is also included. Last sounds better overall, though sometimes, vocals can sound a bit forward and maybe slightly edgy. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in Follies is lower in volume and more compressed than it ought to be, though it is consistent, be careful of volume switching and high volumes.



To order The Fantasticks limited edition Blu-ray, buy it (among other great exclusives) while supplies last at this link:


www.screenarchives.com


and to order the Goldwyn Follies Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:


https://www.warnerarchive.com/



- Nicholas Sheffo


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