Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory – Volume Three (Hit The Deck/Deep In My Heart/Kismet/Nancy Goes To Rio/Two Weeks In Love/Broadway Melody Of 1936/Broadway Melody Of 1938/Born To Dance/Lady Be Good; Warner Bros.)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C (Mono)/C+ (Stereo/5.1 mixes)     Extras/Film

 

 

As a great companion to the three That’s Entertainment films (reviewed on HD-DVD elsewhere on this site) and just for fans who want more, Warner continues to issue key musicals from their catalog and Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory – Volume Three continues with seven more gems that are among those sampled in those famous documentaries:

 

Hit The Deck (1955)  C+/C+  This comic wartime farce directed by Ray Rowland has the great trio of Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds and Ann Miller going at it with Tony Martin, Walter Pidgeon, Vic Damone, Gene Raymond and Russ Tamblyn in an attempt to capitalize on the success of On The Town.  Though it is not as good or memorable, it does have its moments and the money is on screen.  Audio-only bonuses are among the extras.

 

Deep In My Heart (1954)  C+/B-  Stanley Donen tries his Singing In The Rain approach with a biographical drama and comes up with some interesting moments as Jose Ferrer (in an impressive performance) plays a music writer going after that next hit that does not seem to materialize.  Merle Oberon, Paul Henreid, Rosemary Clooney, Walter Pidgeon, Cyd Charisse, Howard Keel, Gene & Fred Kelly plus Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Walter Pidgeon, Vic Damone and Ann Miller co-star in one of the biggest surprises on this set and a film worth rediscovery for Donen’s intelligent approach to the material.  Audio-only and two outtakes are among the extras.

 

Kismet (1955)  C+/C+  “Stay In Baghdad, Stay In Baghdad” goes one of the many amusing numbers in the musical remake of the 1944 hit drama that treats the now-war torn country like an exotic otherworld.  Directed by the great Vincente Minnelli, it is obviously an unintentional howler of a film, but outside of its ironic context to what is going on now, it is an ambitious big money production from MGM and without Minnelli at the helm, might have been a disaster.  Howard keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray, Vic Damone, Charles Lederer and Sebastian Cabot lead the big cast.  Audio-only outtake song, a filmed outtake, samples from the MGM Parade TV series and the trailer for the 1944 original film are among the extras.

 

Nancy Goes To Rio (1950)  C/B-  The best of the narrative block style films here, as an actress (Jane Powell) and her mother (Ann Southern) to the title city and find excitement and a new life.  Amusingly done, it is a good film, but what puts it over the top is one of the most elaborate of musical numbers featuring Carmen Miranda that shows us why the color format on this film was rightly named Glorious Technicolor.

 

Two Weeks In Love (1950)  C/C+  Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalban in his early leading man glory find romance in this decent comedy/drama in the Catskills of the 1900s and when you add Busby Berkeley musical numbers in the middle of Roy Rowland’s directing, you get a Musical worth looking into.  A Reel Memories/Private Screenings from the TCM network with Robert Osbourne interviewing Powell is among the extras.

 

Broadway Melody Of 1936/Broadway Melody Of 1938   C/B-  These two often spoofed classics (see several cartoon shorts from the time if you do not believe me) are legendary all-star musical parties as the characters have cute meets and any excuse for interaction, showing off MGM’s latest acting talent and launching into expensive production numbers.  Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, Buddy Ebsen and Frances Langford are among the big names in the 1936 fest, while Powell, Taylor and Ebsen return for the 1938 blast and are joined by Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland among others.  You can even see why the less-known names were here, because the studio rightly believed in their talents.  No wonder they could boast about having more stars than the heavens!  Audio only bonuses are included in the extras for both films.

 

Born To Dance (1936)  C/C+  Eleanor Powell and a very young and instantly big screen star Jimmy Stewart co star in this backstage musical that offers understudy Powell falling for this unusual young man who might just change her life.  Another pleasant surprise and classy film at that, audio-only bonuses are among the extras.

 

Lady Be Good (1941)  C/C+  Two struggling songwriters (Robert Young, Ann Southern) might find each other with the help of an outsider (Eleanor Powell) in this well-liked comedy/drama/Musical co-starring Lionel Barrymore, John Carroll, Red Skelton and Virginia O’Brien.  Audio-only bonuses are among the extras.

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 CinemaScope transfers on the first three films have their moments, but can also be softer than they should be and the two-lens CinemaScope system is sometimes the culprit.  The 1.33 X 1 color images usually look good, while the 1.33 X 1 black and white images can look good and sometimes grainy.  For DVD, the older films fare a bit better than the Scope ones.  The Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono is adequate-at-best where applicable, while the Dolby 5.1 and 5.0 mixes recreate the magnetic stereo intended for behind the screen playback through four speakers.  Hopefully, the Blu-ray versions will upgrade to Dolby TrueHD, PCM or DTS.  Besides where other extras are noted above, a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodie cartoon, live action short and trailer are included in all cases.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo