Walters, Charles

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Not only was Molly Brown unsinkable, so is the musical based on her amazing life. Released in 1964, The Unsinkable Molly Brown gave Debbie Reynolds one of her most memorable roles and earned her an Academy Award nomination (she lost to Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins). Paired with Harve Presnell, fresh from the Broadway version, Reynolds and Presnell sparkle as Molly and Johnny Brown, well-meaning but gauche nouveau millionaires who take on stuffy Denver society (who are loathe to admit that they are nouveau riche as well). During their Molly-guided quest for "respectability," the pair learns that old adage--all the money in the world can't buy happiness or contentment.

From her beginnings as a foundling floating down the Colorado River to her fateful trip on the Titanic, Molly Brown aims upward, swearing "I Ain't Down Yet." Reynolds imbues her Molly with energy, determination, and poignancy. Molly feels every slight keenly and is convinced that more and bigger will make her place in society. Husband Johnny, who promised "I'll Never Say No," finds it harder and harder to keep his promise as he watches his wife's single-mindedness bury her effervescent personality. In the songs by Meredith Willson (The Music Man), Presnell's rich baritone soars on "Colorado, My Home" and begins a rousing "He's My Friend," while "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys" is a bawdy, catchy romp during which Reynolds shines--rollicking across the dance floor, she's a red-headed dynamo in a gauzy green dress. --Dana Van Nest

Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1 (Top Hat / Swing Time / Follow the Fleet / Shall We Dance / The Barkleys of Broadway)

Fans of classic movie musicals will be in heaven with Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1, featuring the DVD debut of five films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the quintessential dancing duo. The two gems of the set are Top Hat (1935), generally considered their definitive movie, and Swing Time (1936), which many consider their most enjoyable. Follow the Fleet (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) fill out the set, each with its own charms.

Follow the Fleet

The Astaire-Rogers films mix light romantic comedy (usually centered around mistaken identities and ending, inevitably, in blissful wedding promises) with elegant dinner wear and surreal sets intended to transport '30s audiences away from the Depression to such locales as Rio, Paris, and Venice. The two stars are also aided by a recurring stable of RKO players such as Edward Everett Horton (master of the double-take), Eric Blore, and Helen Broderick. And then there's that sensational dancing set to great songs by the likes of Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, and Jerome Kern, numbers that are not merely entertaining but also innovative for their time in that they reveal character and advance the plot. Add it all up, and you have a recipe for an irrepressible joie de vivre that practically defines the movie musical.

With a score by Irving Berlin, Top Hat is most famous for two numbers, Astaire's definitive tuxedo setting "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" and the feathery duet "Cheek to Cheek." But other joys include Astaire's "Fancy Free" declaration, "Isn't It a Lovely Day," and the grand finale "The Piccolino." Favorite musical moments in Swing Time include the set-piece "Pick Yourself Up," in which Rogers "teaches" Astaire to dance before they break into a spectacular number; the farewell ode "Never Gonna Dance," and the Oscar-winning "Just the Way You Look Tonight," from the team of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

Swing Time

Follow the Fleet changes the pace a bit, with Astaire playing a sailor, and it suffers from making him and Rogers the second-banana couple to the dull Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard. But it still has plenty of laughs and some classic Irving Berlin numbers, including "Let Yourself Go," which Rogers sings before she and Astaire compete in a dance contest; a Rogers solo tap number; "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," their best comic dance. The pièce de résistance is "Let's Face the Music and Dance," a show within a show in which the pair dons their customary evening formals. Effortlessly flowing from pantomime to song to dance, this sublime piece of storytelling is one of the series' defining moments. Shall We Dance has a complex plot that has Astaire and Rogers actually getting married before the final credits roll, and turns George and Ira Gershwin's brilliant "They Can't Take That Away from Me" into a heartbreaking ode. Other great songs include "Slap That Bass," "They All Laughed," and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," unforgettably performed on roller skates. The Barkleys of Broadway is the oddity, reuniting the stars 10 years after their last RKO picture when Judy Garland had to be replaced due to health problems. It's trademark MGM: splashy colors, Fred in a gimmicky solo number (playing sorcerer's apprentice to a line of unoccupied shoes), Oscar Levant providing his usual dynamic pianism and acerbic personality, and a score that is at its best when it borrows songs from a previous generation (including the big ballroom number set to "They Can't Take That Away from Me"). The film falls short of their best work, but serves as a fond remembrance of the most glorious partnership in film history. --David Horiuchi

You'll Love The Way Fred and Ginger Look Tonight in the 5-film 5-Disc Astaire and Rogers Collection Volume One including the highly acclaimed Top Hat and Swing Time.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 053939725926

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

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

Domestic comedy about a New York drama critic his wife and children who move out to the country and struggle with dad's daily commute.Running Time: 112 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 012569519725

Gigi

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1958 direct-to-screen follow-up to their My Fair Lady was--miraculously--every bit as memorable as that stage smash. Set in fin-de-siècle Paris and based on a Colette story, Gigi also is about a girl (Leslie Caron) on a lower rung of society who blossoms into Cinderellahood before our eyes and ears. Thank heaven for Hermione Gingold and Maurice Chevalier as her mentors, and Louis Jourdan as her prince. The screenplay writer and lyricist Lerner always said that Gigi's title song was his favorite of all he'd written, and it's easy to see why--"Gigi" is a transcendent anthem to being transformed by love from an unexpected source. The entire score, including "Say a Prayer" (which had been cut from My Fair Lady), "I Remember It Well," "The Night They Invented Champagne," and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," comprise a sparkling, rare soundtrack recording that stands alone and can be enjoyed and understood by those who have not yet seen the movie, deprived souls that they are. The winner of nine Academy Awards (plus a special Oscar for Chevalier), including Best Picture, Gigi was the last great MGM movie musical and one of the best. --Robert Windeler

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

Easter Parade (Special Edition)

Cimarron

The 1960 remake of Cimarron manages a slight improvement on the worst Best Picture (1931) in Academy Award history. Not that Edna Ferber's novel of pioneer Oklahoma was ever a movie natural. There's a plethora of themes--several species of prejudice, capitalism vs. charity, sons unhappily following in fathers' footsteps, and the irreconcilable tensions between a stability-craving wife and her footloose hero-husband--but the action is front-loaded and the husband (Glenn Ford) is offscreen for years at a time. Anthony Mann gets solo directorial credit, yet the movie seems more typical of his replacement, Charles Walters, a maker of pastel musicals. Most of the large cast comes and goes without establishing identities; Maria Schell's Sabra Cravat is tiresome as both ditz and pill. Photographed in CinemaScope and Metrocolor by Robert L. Surtees, the Oklahoma land rush is properly spectacular--though less impressive than John Ford's in Three Bad Men. --Richard T. Jameson

Set in Oklahoma from 1890-1915. A quarter century of change is seen through experiences of a pioneering couple determined to succeed in America. Based on a novel by Edna Ferber.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 883929005109 Manufacturer No: 1000036299

The Classic Musicals Collection - Broadway to Hollywood (Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two Disc Special Edition / Bells Are Ringing / Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon)

Broadway to Hollywood: The Classic Musicals Collection is a five-film set of fondly remembered, mostly MGM musicals: Easter Parade (1948), The Band Wagon (1953), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Finian's Rainbow (Warner, 1968), and Brigadoon (1954). Four of the films are making their DVD debut, all are available separately (for a higher price), and the two best films, Easter Parade and The Band Wagon, come in two-disc special editions complete with commentary tracks, new and vintage documentaries, and musical outtakes. Both of those films star Fred Astaire following his return from premature retirement. Easter Parade is a Pygmalion-like tale of a Vaudeville veteran (Astaire) who attempts to develop an act with a small-timer (Judy Garland) after his partner (Ann Miller) leaves him. Favorite songs include the title tune, "Steppin' Out with My Baby," and "We're a Couple of Swells." The Band Wagon was a sort of career retrospective for Astaire, as he plays an aging film star trying to resurrect his career by returning to the Broadway stage. Costars include Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray, and favorite numbers include "Dancing in the Dark," "By Myself," "Triplets," and "A Shine on Your Shoes."

Bells Are Ringing is a charmingly dated Vincente Minnelli film starring Judy Holliday, in a reprise of her Tony-winning Broadway role as an employee at an answering service who finds herself falling for a client (Dean Martin). Favorite songs include "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over." Finian's Rainbow is a bloated oddity directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola and starring Astaire as a leprechaun and '60s pop icon Petula Clark as his daughter. It does have some great songs, however, including "How Are Things in Glocca Mora," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," and "Old Devil Moon." Brigadoon has been out on DVD twice before, but appears now in its best version yet, remastered, anamorphically enhanced, and with musical outtakes. It stars Gene Kelly and Van Johnson as Americans who stumble across a Scottish village that only appears on Earth one day every 100 years, which is a problem when Kelly falls in love with one of its residents (Cyd Charisse). Favorite songs include "Almost Like Being in Love," "The Heather on the Hill," and "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean."

While none of the films in the Broadway to Hollywood collection are absolutely top-tier MGM (and Astaire, Garland, and Kelly all made better films in their careers), all have their charms and are welcome additions to the DVD catalog. Trivia note: The title of the set isn't 100% correct. Easter Parade did not originate as a Broadway musical, but Tommy Tune made an unsuccessful attempt to adapt the movie into a Broadway show in the late 1990s. --David Horiuchi

Walk Don't Run

This extraordinarily sweet--but thankfully not sappy--film proves once and for all that Cary Grant was devastating, period. Young, mature, or in his golden years. The reason Ian Fleming modeled James Bond after Grant is startlingly clear. Grant was 62 when this film, set during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, was made. Grant plays Sir William Rutland, who is caught in the crowded rush--without a place to stay. He finds himself subletting an apartment along with Christine Easton (Samantha Eggar), who's in town to be near her fiancé, a British diplomat. Also sharing their tight quarters is Olympic competitor Steve Davis (Jim Hutton), who's evasive about his sport. Soon Sir William, a distinguished businessman, finds himself playing Cupid to his young housemates.

The movie is a comedy of clever words, of misunderstandings, and, surprisingly, of physical humor. Grant, stripping down to boxers and a T-shirt, takes to the Tokyo streets, participating in "the event" to the incredulity of those around him and to the amusement of the audience. It's a priceless and very funny scene--and the film is full of such joys. Grant lived another 20 years, but this was his final film and a fine cheerio it is indeed. --N.F. Mendoza

During the housing shortage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two. Stars Academy Award winner Cary Grant in his last film role.

Doris Day Collection 1 (Billy Rose's Jumbo / Calamity Jane / The Glass Bottom Boat / Love Me or Leave Me / Lullaby of Broadway / The Pajama Game / Please Don't Eat the Daisies / Young Man with a Horn)

The Doris Day Collection features six new-to-DVD titles -- Young Man With a Horn, Lullaby of Broadway, Love Me or Leave Me, Billy Rose's "Jumbo", Please Don't Eat the Daisies, The Glass Bottom Boat -- along with two of Ms. Day's all-time favorite musicals, Calamity Jane and Pajama Game which have been repackaged for the Collection. All DVDs are packed with bonus features including vintage shorts and featurettes, cartoons, trailers and more.

Young Man with a Horn (1950)
With a second-hand trumpet and the loving guidance of a brilliant bluesman, a lonely boy grows into manhood as a superb musician whose talent carries him from honky-tonks to posh supper clubs. But his desperate search for the elusive high note, trapped in his mind but impossible to play, starts him on a boozy downward slide. Charged with dynamic performances by Kirk Douglas (the title role), Doris Day, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael and pitch-perfect direction by Michael Curtiz, the film is a feast of hot, cool, moody jazz. Legendary Harry James dubbed Douglas' horn work.

Lullaby of Broadway (1951)
Day danced divinely and sang in this musical delight about a singer newly arrived in New York and destined for Great White Way fame in the capable company of co-stars Gene Nelson, S.Z. Sakall, Billy DeWolfe, Gladys George and Florence Bates. Highlights are the inclusion of the OscarR -winning title tune, Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things", "Somebody Loves Me" and six more songs.

Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Laced with Doris Day's vibrant performances of songs from the era, this 1955 Academy AwardR winner (Best Motion Picture Story) is the tough-minded true tale of Ruth Etting's life with the man who boosted her career with strong-arm tactics yet smothered her in an obsessive grip she escaped at great peril. As Martin "The Gimp" Snyder, James Cagney earned one of the film's six OscarR nominations. Ms. Day's Etting was a career-best dramatic performance, bringing acclaim from critics and protest letters from fans unprepared for the departure from her traditionally sunny roles. DVD special features include: Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Three vintage shorts, the first two with Ruth Etting (A Modern Cinderella, Roseland, A Salute to the Theatres)

Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
Radiant Doris Day sings beloved Rodgers and Hart tunes and does her own horseback riding tricks in this razzle-dazzle musical based on Billy Rose's stage spectacular and featuring circus sequences directed by Busby Berkeley. The story revolves around a circus owner (Jimmy Durante, star of the 1935 Broadway original) with only two real attractions: his daughter (Day) and popular pachyderm Jumbo. Three-ring pandemonium breaks out when a handsome rival (Stephen Boyd) infiltrates the circus, and father, daughter and Dad's wisecracking fiancie (Martha Raye) are suddenly at risk of losing the greatest show on earth. o DVD Special Features include: Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Musical short Yours Sincerely, Tom and Jerry cartoon Jerry and Jumbo, Original overture rejoined to the film for the first time in more than 40 years.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1962)
o Ms. Day brings her trademark radiance to this jovial comedy from the bestseller by playwright Jean Kerr. With Janis Paige, Spring Byington and Richard Haydn on hand for snappy comic support, Please Don't Eat the Daisies is breezy family fun with popular songs "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Anyway the Wind Blows."

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
Doris Day entered her eighth consecutive year as a Top-10 Box-Office Star when she boarded The Glass Bottom Boat, a blending of romantic comedy and the era's burgeoning spy-movie genre. Frank Tashlin directs with a cartoonist's sensibility, embracing everything from spy guises to push-button chaos in a futuristic kitchen. The film also stars top comedians Arthur Godfrey, Paul Lynde, Edward Andrews, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise and Dick Martin. o DVD special features include: Three vintage featurettes (Catalina Island, Every Girl's Dream, NASA), Oscar-winning cartoon The Dot and the Line.