Lionsgate Music Makers DVD/CD Wave One: A Man Called Adam (1966)/Beyond
The Sea (2004)/Ballad In Blue
(1964)/Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Picture: C+
(C for Social) Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Films: B- (C+ for Social)
To bring
attention to four key music titles they are offering on DVD, Lionsgate has
launched a DVD/CD collection called Music
Makers and all four of the initial titles offer the same five-track CD that
includes at least one song from each of the four films. Those films are:
A Man Called Adam (1966) – A black and white drama
about the extremely talented title character, an amazing trumpet player who
slowly falls into addiction, Sammy Davis Jr. gives a great performance in one
of his few serious acting roles. Directed
by Leo Penn, an ace TV director, helmed his only feature film with fine
results. Along with the help of real
life music greats (Nat Adderley does Davis’ playing, Mel Tormé and Benny Carter
also show up), the amazing cast includes Ossie Davis, Cicely Tyson, Peter
Lawford, Lola Falana, Johnny Brown, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Louis Armstrong also
playing drama unusually, plus look quickly for Morgan Freeman and Ja’net
DuBois. The Director of Photography was
Jack Priestly (Across 110th
Street) and this DVD comes with a fine anamorphic 1.66 X 1 transfer here
and Trace-Mark Productions would survive to produce two Davis Jr./Lawford
comedies; Salt & Pepper and One More Time, reviewed elsewhere on this site.
Beyond The Sea (2004) – We previously reviewed
this ambitious biopic by Kevin Spacey on Bobby Darin. Except for the picture looking a bit weaker
here, this is the same disc we covered at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2367/Beyond+The+Sea
Ballad In Blue (1964) – Ray Charles plays
himself on tour befriending a blind child and his mother in this drama/comedy
shot in black and white and featuring Charles at his musical best. Why this was not out in a big way when Ray was a hit is puzzling, but it has a
good cast, takes place in several countries (starting in London, England)
and has a capable supporting cast including Dawn Addams. Director Paul Henreid (Dead Ringer from 1964) handles this nicely and this is nicely shot
in 35mm film by Director of Photography Robert Huke, presented in a fine 1.33 X
1 presentation. A sort of backstage
musical meets melodrama, it has some good moments and oddly, was produced by
Alexander and Michael Salkind. The
Salkinds later became known for franchises and not always doing them well, so
they can be proud of this more accomplished work.
Buena Vista Social Club (1999) – The overrated Wim
Wenders has been making bad narrative films for years and this documentary gave
him a hit break from that rut by collaborating with Ry Cooder to go to Cuba and see
the top folk talent hidden from view for decades. It revived interest in the musicians and
their music, but this DVD is a 1.33 X 1 pan & scan (or is that tunnel
vision) edition with picture issues and the sound is not much better. Fans should wait for a proper 1.78 X 1
edition.
The CD
with all four releases offers Darin’s classic hit Mack The Knife, Ray Charles’ I
Got A Woman, Davis Jr.’s I Want To Be
Wanted, Omara Portuondo’s Veinte
Arlos and Darin’s Beyond The Sea.
- Nicholas Sheffo
