DVD Review: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers): Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell: Movies & TV
DVD Review: TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers): Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell: Movies & TV
Product Description
SHOW BOAT (1951) A vivid and vibrant saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars (Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion) in Technicolor radiance, timeless Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. Like Ol’ Man River, its delights just keep rollin’ along. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Betty Hutton (as Annie Oakley) and Howard Keel (as Frank Butler) star in this sharpshootin’ funfest an Oscar winner for adaptation scoring based on the Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlins beloved songs, including Doin’ What Comes Naturally, I Got Lost in His Arms and the anthemic There’s No Business like Show Business. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS The perfect marriage of song and dance! Backwoods boys inspired by romance and the lure of hot biscuits raid the local town for brides. Un-uh: The would-be brides insist the fellas first become respectable! Howard Keel and Jane Powell head a leaping whoop for joy in this exuberant Oscar winner. KISS ME KATE When squabbling ex-married’s Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are cast as squabbling Renaissance romantics in a musical The Taming of the Shrew, life imitates art, art imitates life and it all proves no musical comedy imitates this backstage/onstage delight from the Broadway hit with 14 peerless Cole Porter songs. It’s all Too Darn Hot!
3 Great choices, one not so great, and a great suspicion of my own,
By calvinnme “Texan refugee”
(Fredericksburg, Va) -
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)
It is odd that Warner Home Video chose “Broadway Musicals” instead of some other category of musicals for a collection. This is TCM/WHV’s attempt to bring the classic films to DVD cheaply, and it’s a noble cause. The one film in this bunch I don’t care for is “Annie Get Your Gun”. I’m not going to blame Betty Hutton for this one. She actually got the part and I don’t think Judy Garland would have done a better job. Actually, the problem is Howard Keel, who is the leading man in all four of these films. He was a real disappointment here. For those who like all of the trimmings there is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Two-Disc Special Edition) versus the plain version here. WHV owns all of the versions of Showboat on film, and in my opinion the 1951 version you get here is weaker than the 1936 version - not currently on DVD - mainly because Howard Keel’s character is supposed to be a tower of Jello, and it is just too much of a suspense of belief to believe Howard Keel as such a character. Finally, “Kiss Me Kate” is a fantastic musical that plays to all of Howard Keel’s strengths. It already exists in the Classic Musicals Collection - The Cole Porter Gift Set (High Society / Kiss Me Kate / Les Girls / Broadway Melody of 1940 / Silk Stockings), again for those of you who like all of the trimmings and extras.
For those of you who buy WHV classics on a regular basis I’m going to tell you why I’d hold off on this one. It’s a suspicion of mine. TCM is scheduled to show the 1929 version of Showboat in April. They have been showing an upgraded version of the 1951 version, which I assume you get here versus the older rather washed-out one. In December 2007 TCM aired the 1936 version of Showboat (the best version in my opinion) and the voiceover introduction mentioned that there was a commentary track embedded in the film. WHV has been promising the 1929/1936/1951 versions of Showboat for two years now. Nobody - not even TCM - shows a 1929 part-talkie musical (1929’s Showboat) for the fun of it. Nobody installs a commentary track in a 73 year old film for the fun of it either. I suspect WHV is getting ready to announce the long-awaited trilogy of Showboat movies. That is worth waiting for.
A real Disappointment,
By Les G. Solomon (NSW, Australia) -
Each year around Mother’s Day WB release a set of the great MGM musicals of the past. This year they have opted to only re release already released prints (I dont think you will find this “Showboat”is the upgraded version at all). Why????? This is a real disappointment when there are still many great MGM musicals that have never been released on DVD. Yes I think we shall soon see “Showboat”in all 3 versions and that will be great, but what about “The Student Prince”, “The Great Carouso”, “Athena”, “Give a Girl a Break”(with Fosse doing all that great dancing), “Invitation to the Dance” to name a few, that would have made a perfect set this year????
Search TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers): Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell: Movies & TV from AmAzon
[asa]B001PO550A[/asa]
![Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium Student & Teacher Edition [Mac]](http://www.love-online-video.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/f62f2_51aj0wdWWJL._SL160_SS160_.jpg)
First tagged "video" by Nathan Andersen "film lover, philosophy professor"![Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium [Mac]](http://www.love-online-video.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/6a76f_41eZ53%2BDArL._SL160_SS160_.jpg)
First tagged "video" by Nathan Andersen "film lover, philosophy professor"
First tagged "video" by fuchikoma Customer tags: video glasses(9)