Sidney, George

Bye Bye Birdie

When Elvis-like rock & roll star Conrad Birdie is drafted into the military, the teen nation is united by a contest in which the winner bestows a farewell kiss upon their idol while on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ann-Margret (in her film debut) is the lucky little lady from Sweet Apple, Ohio, who wins the contest, much to the chagrin of her steady beau (Bobby Rydell) and miserable parents (Paul Lynde and Mary LaRoche). Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh are an older couple kept from marrying by his meddlesome mother, played to the hilt by Maureen Stapleton. Lightweight but fun, this features an exuberant soundtrack with such memorable ditties as "Put on a Happy Face" and "Kids" and the title track. This is a much better choice than the lackluster, 1995 made-for-TV version. --Rochelle O'Gorman

A rock star bids farewell to his fans before entering the army. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 04/22/2008 Starring: Janet Leigh Dick Van Dyke Run time: 112 minutes Rating: G

Show Boat

The show that first defined the Broadway musical has never come to the screen intact, despite three tries. But take this splashy 1951 MGM extravaganza on its own terms, and it boggles the eyes. Not to mention the ears: The Kern-Hammerstein score includes some staples of the American songbook, such as "Make Believe," "After the Ball," and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man." Perhaps a riverboat gambler is almost too-easy casting for Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson is overly twittery, which may be why the film's middle sags when they take center stage. But any time the uncannily beautiful Ava Gardner smolders, a lush tragic undertone takes over (even if the most interesting parts of her story seem to take place offscreen). The physical production is extraordinary: the busy riverside setting, the outrageous color design, and best of all an "Old Man River" (sung by William Warfield) staged in the mists of morning. -- Robert Horton

The cotton blossom owned by the hawk family is the show boat where everyone comes for great musical entertainment down south. Julie laverne and her husband are the stars of the show. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/15/2005 Starring: Ava Gardner Howard Keel Run time: 107 minutes Rating: Nr Director: George Sidney

Pal Joey

First born in the pages of The New Yorker, then translated into a hit Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical, the title character of Pal Joey had undergone quite a transformation by the time he hit the movies in 1957. He was a singer, rather than a dancer, but more importantly he'd had his rough edges sweetly softened; the callous heel dreamed up by novelist John O'Hara was more of a naughty scamp in the film version. However, Pal Joey remains delightfully watchable for two very good reasons: a terrific song score and a surplus of glittering star power. Frank Sinatra, at the zenith of his cocky, world-on-a-string popularity, glides through the film with breezy nonchalance, romancing showgirl Kim Novak (Columbia Pictures' new sex symbol) and wealthy widow Rita Hayworth (Columbia Pictures' former sex symbol). The film also benefits from location shooting in San Francisco, caught in the moonlight-and-supper-club glow of the late '50s. Sinatra does beautifully with the Rodgers and Hart classics "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "I Could Write a Book," and his performance of "The Lady Is a Tramp" (evocatively shot by director George Sidney) is flat-out genius. Sinatra's ease with hep-cat lingo nearly outdoes Bing Crosby at his best, and included in the DVD is a trailer in which Sinatra instructs the audience in "Joey's Jargon," a collection of hip slang words such as "gasser" and "mouse." If not one of Sinatra's very best movies, Pal Joey is nevertheless a classy vehicle that fits like a glove. --Robert Horton

Big-screen version of the hit broadway musical starring frank sinatra rita hayworth and kim novak. Special features: full screen and widescreen versions mono sound subtitles: english spanish portuguese chinese korean thai vintage advertising talent files original hep cat theatrical trailer and more. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/13/2008 Starring: Frank Sinatra Kim Novak Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Nr

The Harvey Girls

Sometimes lively, sometimes pokey, this Technicolor MGM musical inspires mixed feelings in aficionados of the form--except on one point. No viewer will question why "On the Atchison, Topeka, & the Santa Fe" won the best song Oscar for 1946. This is a brilliant, inventive song given an epic staging. Director George Sidney pulls out all the stops for this wowser--even Marjorie Main sings, an eardrum-testing sound. The real-life Harvey Girls were waitresses imported to the far-flung Fred Harvey Hotels, civilizing oases along the railroad lines out west. The fictional Harvey Girls is set in Sandrock, where the traveling waitresses are joined by a sort of mail-order bride (Judy Garland) whose prospective husband is a bust--he's a roughhewn rancher played by Chill Wills. Garland is in fine spunky form; unfortunately, her romance is with John Hodiak (as the owner of a dance hall), that uninspiring World War II-era lead. The film's other great Johnny Mercer-Harry Warren song is the unexpectedly melancholy "It's a Great Big World," performed in a lovely trio by Garland, Virginia O'Brien, and the young Cyd Charisse. The tall, deadpan O'Brien also does a comic take on "The Wild, Wild West" while shoeing a horse. With kewpie-faced Angela Lansbury as a bespangled dance-hall gal and Ray Bolger high-stepping through a dance solo, there are enough good people on board to keep the wheels a-turning "all the way to Californ-eye-yay." --Robert Horton

Musical western about a mail order bride who ditches her bashful suitor and joins a group of women intent on opening a remote whistle stop restaurant.Running Time: 102 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 012569534827

Annie Get Your Gun

Never before available on home video and unseen on television since 1973, the 1950 production of Annie Get Your Gun has achieved somewhat legendary status, most notably for who would inherit the role Ethel Merman had made famous on Broadway in 1946. MGM originally cast Judy Garland, but her ongoing drug and alcohol problems led to her being fired and replaced by Betty Hutton. Fortunately, the bright and brassy Hutton sparkles in this highly fictionalized story of Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter who wins fame in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and wins the heart of fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler (Howard Keel). Dashing baritone Keel was beginning his career as one of MGM's favorite leading men in the 1950s (including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Kiss Me, Kate). Together they make gold of the many Irving Berlin hits--"Doin' What Comes Naturally," "Anything You Can Do," "They Say It's Wonderful," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," and the classic anthem "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Annie Get Your Gun is unquestionably a product of the 1950s. Keel's relentless chauvinism and Hutton's constant fawning over him grow tiresome (though she does stand up to him in a battle of the sexes), and the Indians wear full headdresses and face paint, say "Ugh," and destroy modern conveniences. (In the name of political correctness, the 1999 Broadway revival starring Bernadette Peters removed "I'm an Indian Too" and received its own share of criticism from purists.) Quibbles aside, the excellent cast and immortal score make Annie Get Your Gun a classic musical. It's great to have it back. --David Horiuchi

Howard keel plays frank butler the buffalo bills wild west show sharpshooter who breaks clay pigeons and ladies hearts with equal ease. Betty hutton plays the spunky backwoods girl who dares to challenge him to a match. Her name: annie oakley. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/15/2005 Starring: Howard Keel Betty Hutton Run time: 121 minutes Rating: Nr Director: George Sidney

Kiss Me Kate

Fred and lilly are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by cole porter who has written a musical version of the taming of the shrew Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/15/2005 Starring: Kathryn Grayson Keenan Wynn Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Nr Director: George Sidney

Cole Porter, Shakespeare, and 3-D: Not the usual recipe for an MGM musical, but hey--it works. Although it runs hot and cold, this 1953 take on Porter's delightful Broadway smash lets a chewy cast gorge on some terrific songs and show-biz in-jokes. Think of the plot as His Girl Friday in greasepaint: vain star Howard Keel wants to lure ex-wife Kathryn Grayson back to the boards with a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. The movie's weakness is too much Shakespeare, not enough backstage backbiting (and why are two of the best numbers, "So in Love" and Ann Miller's zippy "Too Darn Hot," confined to a prologue?). Then there's the tendency to throw things at the camera--3-D, what hath you wrought? The candy-store color design is great fun, and Tommy Rall and future dance titan Bob Fosse are turned loose for some sensational leaps. Now that's "Wunderbar." --Robert Horton

The Eddy Duchin Story

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/27/2008 Run time: 122 minutes Rating: Nr

Scaramouche

As first lines go, Scaramouche's is irresistible: "He was born with a gift of laughter, and a sense that the world was mad." This exuberant period adventure is pretty irresistible itself--even more than Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, likewise derived from Rafael Sabatini novels. Within more or less one day in pre-revolutionary France, devil-may-care Stewart Granger learns he's the bastard offspring of a nobleman, gets orphaned, realizes he's fallen in love with his sister (Janet Leigh), swears to avenge his best friend's murder, becomes a hunted traitor, and breaks into show business. George Sidney directs as if making an MGM musical, only with swashbuckling instead of song-and-dance. The unlikely casting of Granger and Mel Ferrer as overripe nemeses proves delightful, cameraman Charles (Sunrise) Rosher's Technicolor palette alternates commedia dell'arte garishness and misty, Watteau-like imagery, and the climactic six-and-a-half-minute duel all over a Parisian theater is a tour de force. --Richard T. Jameson

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 07/01/2003 Rating: Nr

Viva Las Vegas

It's pretty tough to beat Jailhouse Rock in terms of sheer entertainment, but Elvis lovers are particularly fond of this 1964 hit. The Big E plays race-car driver Lucky Jackson, who arrives in Las Vegas for an upcoming Grand Prix race. Lucky's car needs a new engine, so he gets a waiter job at a casino and starts working his crooning charms on Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). It's their on-screen chemistry that makes this flick a lot of fun; Presley never had a better costar than Ann-Margret, and their race-car romance is quintessential 1960s fluff. Then there are the songs, of course, including the snappy title tune, a rockin' rendition of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say?," and "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Viva Las Vegas is one of the Elvis movies that stands the test of time, when the legend was still at his peak. And if you're wondering if the King gets his car fixed in time to win the race, well, check out the movie to find out. --Jeff Shannon

Half a Sixpence

When orphaned shop clerk Arthur Kipps inherits a fortune, his future seems assured--but money doesn't buy happiness, as the gawky lad learns when he mixes with the swells. The splashy musical Half a Sixpence was adapted from H.G. Wells's novel, Kipps, and it saw considerable success as a stage vehicle for the exuberant Tommy Steele. The film version gets caught in that mid-1960s mode of the lumbering super-production (the kind that helped kill the movie musical). Lavishly mounted by old pro director George Sidney, and boasting some echt-sixties photography by the great Geoffrey Unsworth, Half a Sixpence offers its share of eye candy. The blowhard presence of Cyril Ritchard and the spectacular dancing of Grover Dale help. Then there's Tommy Steele, whose stage-scaled performance is all teeth and hair; he attacks the razzmatazz numbers with ferocity--maybe more ferocity than charm. Songs by David Heneker. --Robert Horton

A british drapers assistant inherits a fortune and tries to climb the social ladder. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 04/06/2004 Starring: Tommy Steele Penelope Horner Run time: 143 minutes Rating: Nr Director: George Sidney