The Alice Faye Collection (20th Century Fox)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ (B- for Here) Film: B
When it
comes to great movie stars of the past, it is easy to loose sight of why some
were so big and their names can outlive the films and success. Alice Faye is one such star. You may have heard of her, but odds are high
that you have not seen her films or know why she was a big star. Fox has issued four of her best films in The Alice Faye Collection and one look
at any of them will instantly reveal why she was one of the biggest and best in
the business.
The four
films are all-star Musicals and though it is MGM who often gets the credit for
having the best in the genre, the other majors came up with some great Musicals
themselves and before their run of Rogers & Hammerstein feature hits, Fox
was making some very impressive, extravagant films that hold up surprisingly
well all these years later.
On The Avenue (1937) has Faye on the rise in a Dick
Powell/Madeline Carroll vehicle, but the twist is the entire score is written
especially for the screen by none other than Irving Berlin! For those only used to his later work in film
(There’s No Business Like Show Business),
this is a surprise with a fun storyline and some great music. The Gene Markey/William Conselman screenplay
is still clever, mature, witty and entertaining as Faye plays the star of the Broadway
show within the film. Comedian Joan
Davis and the famous The Ritz Brothers also star. The 1.33 X 1 black and white image is nicely restored
here and features Lucien N. Androit’s smooth cinematography, the kind that will
make those who only want color think again.
Extras include a terrific feature length audio commentary by Mile
Kreuger, deleted “Plumbers” Musical number with The Ritz Brothers and new Alice
Faye: A Life On Screen featurette.
Lillian Russell (1940) is another one of the kind
of upbeat biopics Darryl F. Zanuck loved to greenlight, this time staring Faye
in the title role. Though the tale of the
1890s singer turned activist and feminist figure is true and a Musical here, it
has some biopic trappings, but Faye’s performance helps to overcome those
limits and holds up well. Also starring
Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Edward Arnold, Ernest Truex and Nigel Bruce, Irving
Cummings directed from William Anthony McGuire’s screenplay and John F. Palmer supplied
the music. Leon Shamroy’s cinematography
is top notch and for a cinematographer known for his widescreen and color work,
this black and white 1.33 X 1 film proves he was always that good, especially
restored as it is here. Extras include
the original theatrical trailer and A Woman Like No Other: The Real Lillian
Russell featurette.
That Night In Rio (1941) shows that Faye was as
great in Technicolor as she was in monochrome, offering a huge, lavish
production, co-starring Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, J. Carrol Naish and Lillian
Porter. Faye and Ameche are royals going
to South America and find escape and their love for each other, but this is not
as corny as you would think and is an excellent color production. Cumming’s once again directs and Fox went all
out in a way that makes this an underrated gem.
Mack Gordon & Harry Warren wrote the really good music that
especially makes Miranda look good, along with her trademark fruit hat and some
expensive clothes and sets. The
restoration here shows off the Ray Rennahan/Leon Shamroy Technicolor
cinematography and the vibrancy shows both the color and the money on the
screen. Very impressive and the 1.33 X 1
image here very much looks like three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor. All film fans should see this just for the
transfer. Extras include the original
theatrical trailer, Alice Faye: A Life Off Screen featurette and deleted
Faye/Ameche “The Chicka Chicka Boom Chick”
Musical number.
The Gang’s All Here (1943) also stars Carmen Miranda,
Benny Goodman, Eugene Pallette, Edward Everett Horton, Sheila Ryan and The
Benny Goodman Orchestra, but this clever Technicolor Musical extravaganza also
has a big star in director Busby Berkeley making his first-ever color film and
delivering a classic in the genre.
Though this addresses WWII directly, it is still very escapist with its
boy-meets-girl storyline and is clever throughout. The Nestor Arnaral & S.K. Russell music
is also a plus. The 1.33 X 1 image shows
off Edward Cronjager’s cinematography nicely, though the Technicolor is not as
vibrant here as in That Night In Rio. However, it is nice and clean, but I would
have to see some three-strip dye-transfer footage to see how accurate this
clean transfer really is. Extras are the
best for this DVD, including the original theatrical trailer, “$64 Question”
deleted scene, two audio-only network radio excerpts that are very
entertaining, another outstanding feature length audio commentary track by film
scholar Drew Casper, Busby Berkeley: A Journey With A Star
featurette and “We Are Here” – the
last film Alice Faye ever made. It is a
very good short promo film for a major pharmaceutical company where she
reminisces about her career. It is the
last thing you should see from this set, ending it with grace the sponsor could
have never expected.
All the
restored films are in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and Mono, while most of the
supplements are Dolby Stereo, leaving trailers and “We Still Are” in Dolby
Mono. Each disc also has stills and a
restoration comparison on all four films.
The featurettes are top notch as well and all worth seeing, even if you
land up not liking the film.
The Alice Faye Collection is a long-overdue, historical,
archival set that belongs in all serious film collections.
- Nicholas Sheffo
