Minnelli, Vincente

Essential Classics - American Musicals (The Music Man / Meet Me in St. Louis / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

Disc 1: THE MUSIC MAN Disc 2: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS Disc 3: SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERSFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 085391132851 Manufacturer No: 113285

This three-disc set, part of Warner's Essential Classics series, collects three truly classic films--The Music Man, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers--in one inexpensive package. The drawback is you don't get the second disc of either Meet Me in St. Louis or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, so if you're a featurette junky or if you simply have to see the reshot version of Seven Brides, you'll want to stick with the individual releases. But this set does include the commentary tracks and any other material that was on the first disc of those two-disc sets (The Music Man still has everything that was on the one-disc release), and best of all, they have the great remastered pictures of the previous releases. So if you just want the movies looking better than ever with some bonus features thrown in for good measure, the price per movie makes this set an attractive bargain. --David Horiuchi

Brigadoon

Gene Kelly Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse recapture the charm and beauty of the 18th-Century Scottish Highlands in this enchanting fantasy of music dance and romance. Year: 1954Running Time: 108 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 012569672390

Anything is possible in Brigadoon, the Lerner and Loewe musical put to celluloid in 1954 by director Vincente Minnelli: a village can reappear for only one day each century, and Gene Kelly can tap-dance on a dirt path. Kelly and Van Johnson play a pair of New Yorkers who go on a hunting vacation in the highlands of Scotland. But what Tommy Albright (Kelly) captures is the heart of a bonny Scottish lass, Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse). The catch: Fiona lives in Brigadoon, an enchanted town that appears for only one day every 100 years. If Tommy stays, he must give up everything (including his fiancé back home); if Fiona leaves with Tommy, Brigadoon will vanish into the highland mist, never to be seen again. Not that this keeps anyone from having a good time. The men are clad in vivid tartan kilts and leggings, and the women swish about in multicolored petticoats. Fiona's sister Jean is getting married, and the whole town is drinking ale and singing cheery songs--except for Jean's ex-beau, who threatens to leave and thereby end the town's existence. Brigadoon is a charming escape into a sweet fairy tale. Some of the songs may be less than memorable, but Kelly's choreography is often as witty as the banter. When the hectic pace of the modern world threatens to overtake you, consider a brief vacation in the highlands of Scotland. As one character says, "There must be an awful lot of folk searching for a Brigadoon"--even if it only lasts for a couple of hours. --Larisa Lomacky Moore

Meet Me In St. Louis (Two-Disc Special Edition)

One of the finest American musicals, this 1944 film by Vincente Minnelli is an intentionally self-contained story set in 1903, in which a happy St. Louis family is shaken to their roots by the prospect of moving to New York, where the father has a better job pending. Judy Garland heads the cast in what amounts to a splendid, end-of-an-era story that nicely rhymes with the onset of the 20th century. The film is extraordinarily alive, the characters strong, and the musical numbers are so splendidly part of the storytelling that you don't feel the film has stopped for an interlude. --Tom Keogh

St. Louis 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther and little Tootie. 17-year old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door who has just moved in, John. He however, barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transfered to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.

The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Band Wagon (1953) marked the culmination of a series of near-autobiographical pictures Fred Astaire made for MGM following his return from premature retirement in the late '40s. Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a fading film star (his big hit: Flying Down to Panama) who decides to return to his former glory, the Broadway stage. (In 1931, Astaire had starred on Broadway with sister Adele in The Band Wagon, a revue that lent some of its songs to this film.) His playwright-songwriter friends (Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant) hook him up with Broadway's hottest director, Jeffrey Cordova (a nicely hammy Jack Buchanan), who proves that the "new" theater traditions can be an awkward fit with the old. Hunter also finds himself at odds with his prima ballerina leading lady (Cyd Charisse), one of his chief worries being that she seems a little tall. Along the way, producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, choreographer Michael Kidd, and songwriters Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz treat us to some quintessential MGM numbers: Astaire's solo ode "By Myself," the flashy arcade romp "A Shine on Your Shoes," Astaire and Charisse's romantic duet "Dancing in the Dark," the faux-German drinking song "I Love Louisa," the manic trio "Triplets" (with Astaire, Fabray, and Buchanan in matching baby outfits), the Mickey Spillane-esque "Girl Hunt Ballet," and the classic show-biz anthem "That's Entertainment." Even if its ending and obligatory romance fall a little flat, The Band Wagon is one of the classic backstage musicals, a grandiose MGM spectacle that also manages to poke some fun at how grandiose MGM pictures had become. --David Horiuchi

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

When a chain smoker consults a psychiatrist to stop smoking he discovers her ESP powers that reveal former incarnations.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 10-APR-2007
Media Type: DVD

When a psychiatrist (Yves Montand) begins talking to a young woman (Barbra Streisand), he realizes that she can recall a past life while under hypnosis. Although this brash New Yorker is thoroughly modern and somewhat abrasive, he becomes fascinated by the 19th-century English woman who speaks through her. This oddball musical flicks back and forth between period flashbacks and modern times, which may be one reason it never builds up much power in either realm. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever failed at the box office in 1970, one of a number of glossy musicals that could not find an audience in the post-Easy Rider movie world. In fact, one of the film's out-of-place costars is Jack Nicholson, a symbol of the new movies that were making old-fashioned musicals a thing of the past. It didn't help that Paramount severely cut On a Clear Day before releasing it. For all that, the picture is enjoyable and--at the end--really quite touching. Director Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis), then near the close of a fabulous career, maintains his usual careful eye for color and design, and keeps Streisand relatively restrained--for Streisand, that is. --Robert Horton

The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Band Wagon (1953) marked the culmination of a series of near-autobiographical pictures Fred Astaire made for MGM following his return from premature retirement in the late '40s. Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a fading film star (his big hit: Flying Down to Panama) who decides to return to his former glory, the Broadway stage. (In 1931, Astaire had starred on Broadway with sister Adele in The Band Wagon, a revue that lent some of its songs to this film.) His playwright-songwriter friends (Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant) hook him up with Broadway's hottest director, Jeffrey Cordova (a nicely hammy Jack Buchanan), who proves that the "new" theater traditions can be an awkward fit with the old. Hunter also finds himself at odds with his prima ballerina leading lady (Cyd Charisse), one of his chief worries being that she seems a little tall. Along the way, producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, choreographer Michael Kidd, and songwriters Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz treat us to some quintessential MGM numbers: Astaire's solo ode "By Myself," the flashy arcade romp "A Shine on Your Shoes," Astaire and Charisse's romantic duet "Dancing in the Dark," the faux-German drinking song "I Love Louisa," the manic trio "Triplets" (with Astaire, Fabray, and Buchanan in matching baby outfits), the Mickey Spillane-esque "Girl Hunt Ballet," and the classic show-biz anthem "That's Entertainment." Even if its ending and obligatory romance fall a little flat, The Band Wagon is one of the classic backstage musicals, a grandiose MGM spectacle that also manages to poke some fun at how grandiose MGM pictures had become. --David Horiuchi

Some Came Running

Dave Hirsch a writer and army veteran returns to 1948 Parkton Indiana his hometown. His prosperous brother introduces him to Gwen French a local teacher. Dave must come to terms with his roots and with his future.Running Time: 137 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS UPC: 012569647466 Manufacturer No: 1000015049

The first time Frank Sinatra acted in an adaptation of a James Jones novel, he won an Oscar--it was in From Here to Eternity. The resurgent Sinatra found one of his best subsequent roles as a bitter, boozy failed writer, the hero of Jones's Some Came Running. Returning to his hometown in the Midwest, he runs into the rampant hypocrisy of the "good" life, as embodied by his insincere brother (Arthur Kennedy). Sinatra the cynic plumps for the company of a floozy (Shirley MacLaine) and a misogynist gambler (Dean Martin), while making a desperate bid for the affection of a strait-laced teacher (Martha Hyer). Director Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis) infuses the material with a slow-burning tension, and the climax at a carnival is an eye-filling piece of orchestrated chaos. Elmer Bernstein's moody score is another plus. Footnote to film history: the hero of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt says he wears his hat in the bathtub as an hommage to Dean Martin in Some Came Running. --Robert Horton

The Pirate

A girl is engaged to the local richman but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.Running Time: 101 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 012569795228 Manufacturer No: 79522

Gigi

This delightful multi-Oscar winner (including Best Picture) features a turn-of-the-century Parisian tomboy (Leslie Caron) who falls for her guardian Louis Jordan while being groomed as a courtesan. Maurice Chevalier co-stars.Running Time: 116 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 883929002429 Manufacturer No: 1000035633

The Courtship of Eddie's Father

Who will be the next Mrs. Corbett? Will it be the chic designer? The Miss Montana Pageant hopeful? The headstrong lady across the hall? It's a big decision for any boy to make for his recently widowed dad! Like father like son. You'll like 'em both when renowned child actor and future OscarO winner* Ronny Howard portrays Eddie and Glenn Ford is his dad. Vincente Minnelli (Gigi) directs using his flair for vivid colors and balancing the film's humor with the real sense of loss a family feels over a loved one's passing. Shirley Jones Dina Merrill and Stella Stevens portray the prospects under Eddie's self-appointed scrutiny. The amiable Courtship continued years later with a same-titled TV series starringBill Bixby.Running Time: 117 min.System Requirements:Running Time 117 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 012569537729

Decades may pass, but The Courtship of Eddie's Father never loses any of its abundant charm. Long before he became an Oscar®-winning director, 8-year-old "Ronny" Howard (then appearing on TV's The Andy Griffith Show) costarred with Glenn Ford in this heartwarming family classic, later adapted into a TV series (1969-72) starring Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz. While the later show adopted a hip, late-'60s sensibility, this 1963 production is more straight-laced and, for its time, remarkably frank--and disarmingly funny--about the many questions that precocious son Eddie (Howard) has for his widower father (Ford) as they recover from the death of wife and mother. A perfect director for this delicate material (wonderfully adapted from Mark Toby's novel), Vincente Minnelli hits all the right notes of sadness, hope, and parental concern; Ford's unspoken love for a helpful neighbor (Shirley Jones) may be a foregone conclusion, but romantic subplots (and Eddie's diligent matchmaking) add plenty of domestic drama. Sweet but never saccharine, this timeless Courtship is guaranteed to make you smile. --Jeff Shannon