The Judy Garland Show –
Ray Bolger/Vic Damone (Shows #11
& 12) + Mel Torme/Jack Jones (Shows #21 & 22) [Geneon]
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B
Geneon’s reissue of episodes from The Judy Garland Show
(1963 – 64) originally issued under the Pioneer name adds two more key titles
with each single offering two back-to-back shows in a row. This time, the double episode releases are
of Ray Bolger/Vic Damone (Shows #11 & 12) + Mel Torme/Jack Jones
(Shows #21 & 22), two sets of shows even more impressive than the terrific
sets we looked at last time: Tony Bennett/Steve Lawrence (Shows #5 &
6) + Peggy Lee/Ethel Merman (Shows #13 & 16); all are exemplary
examples of black and white videotaped TV on DVD.
Each show is again about 50 minutes, intended for an
hour-long time slot. I you like
showtunes and song standards, then you’ll enjoy these sets. To have Ray Bolger reuniting with
Garland a quarter century after doing The Wizard Of Oz (1939) is a great
thing, but that he constantly delivers his exceptional talents every segment is
amazing. What a singer, wit and
dancer. The underrated Jane Powell also
shows up in many of the segments and shows off some exceptional vocal talents
of her own. Bolger has an entire dance
routine to himself with an orchestra of instruments minus musicians (they talk
sometimes) and his changes in dance and form is accompanied by what essentially
is a medley of classic standards. If
that was not enough, Garland, Powell and Bolger recreate the now-famous cut
musical number from Oz entitled The Jitterbug, with a
bunch of dancers and Bolger as the title character. The Damone show is good, but cannot compete, though it
also has a pleasant surprise in the form of actress Zina Bethune. She was the co-star of the forgotten medical
hit The Nurses and surprises with her singing and ability to hold her
own against the bigger name talent.
This results in a nice complement to the first show.
The big surprise of the Torme episode is a stunning
appearance by Diahann Carroll, looking beautiful beyond words, taking the
laidback then-Barbra Streisand approach in her beautiful clothes and with
vocals that are nothing short of fantastic as she sings with Garland in a great
medley and on her own with “Quiet Love” and “Goody, Goody” with complex and
clever phrasing and vocal power throughout.
She nearly steals the entire episode, with “Velvet Voice” Torme dueting
with Garland on her classic “The Trolley Song” and taking it into new directions. Jones is good doing the standard singing
he was known for at the beginning of his commercial height in 1963, which ran
until 1967. Non-singer Ken Murray is
the second guest with film footage and witty conversation as a change of pace.
The 1.33 X 1 image is again from the black and white videotape
and looks very good and bright as if it came directly from the original 2”
reels. There are occasional flaws in
the tape and the analog NTSC video is obviously limited, but it looks good for
its age and as good as any such monochrome tape material from its time has
looked on DVD to date. It is at least as sharp and clear as the last DVDs we
looked at and might even have better overall fidelity this time. The Dolby Digital is here in 2.0 Mono and a
5.1 mix that is a little better, but still very much in the front three
speakers. Extras include six outtakes
on the first DVD, two on the second and nice booklets inside the cases of
both. Geneon is continuing to make
these reissues very appealing and that will make fans very happy, but will
impress non-fans as well.
- Nicholas Sheffo