Reaching For the Moon

Starring:Claud Allister, Bing Crosby, Bebe Daniels, Helen Jerome Eddy, Douglas Fairbanks, Edward Everett Horton, June MacCloy, Jack Mulhall, Walter Walker
Director: Edmund Goulding
Studio: Genius Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

It could have been much better
Buyers beware !
Inferior Quality; this classic deserves better
Lousy DVD
SURPRISINGLY ENTERTAINING.

Reaching for the Moon
Starring: Douglas Fairbanks , Bebe Daniels , Edward Everett Horton , Claud Allister , and Jack Mulhall
Director: Edmund Goulding
Manufacturer: Passport
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CSUNP2
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Description

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

A movieland curiosity! Irving Berlin's first Hollywood musical -- or it would have been, except United Artists deleted all but one of Berlin's musical numbers! That might've consigned this film to the realm of the forgettable, except for the exceptional cast: silent swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks Sr., lovely Bebe Daniels, dependable Edward Everett Horton and, stealing the show in his film debut, Bing Crosby. Add to that mix Berlin's original story, laced with William Cameron Menzies' fantastic Art Deco sets, spiced with liberal doses of pre-Code innuendo, and stirred by director Edmund Goulding's liberated camera movement compared to the stagy talkies of the period, and what pours out is a bubbly comedy cocktail with one show-stopping musical number as the cherry.

Financial tycoon Larry Day (Fairbanks) is a Wall Street wiz, but a dud at the arts of love. Falling head over heels for glamorous aviatrix Vivian Benton (Daniels), he follows her onto an ocean liner, even though she is going overseas to marry someone else. Struggling to woo her, Larry is coached by his valet (Horton). But Larry is wiped out by the market crash and devastated by Vivian's rejection of him. Will he regain his fortune and win his lady love? Find out in this delightful early sound treasure.

60 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

It could have been much better.......2007-03-28

This movie was supposed to be a musical, but by 1930 audiences had tired of at least the "All Singing" part of "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing" movies. Virtually everyone's first talking picture was a musical, and there just wasn't enough good music to go around. I read somewhere that theatres were even putting up signs in the cases of movies that sounded like they might be musicals with statements that read "This is not a musical" so as not to repel audiences. This situation lasted until 1933.

In this case, the movie probably would have been much better if it had gone through with the originally planned musical format. The introductory titles show that the music was written by Irving Berlin, and the cast even includes crooner Bing Crosby, who was so good in "The King of Jazz" that came out that same year. Instead, there is only one musical number two-thirds of the way into the film, and that is the only place we get to see or hear Bing Crosby. On top of that, Bebe Daniels, the lead actress, was a much better singer than she was an actress. Thus making this a romantic comedy of sorts really took away from what she could have brought to the movie.

What you're left with is a little bit more than a shell of a movie. It seems like nobody bothered to fill in the blanks left by the depletion of the would-have-been musical numbers. I give this movie three stars instead of two mainly because of the historical value. Douglas Fairbanks would make only two more movies after this one. Someone else has already mentioned the factor his voice played in the end of his talkie career. It is worth mentioning that his voice isn't outright bad, but it just doesn't match the swashbuckling image he had developed during the silent era. Like John Gilbert, his voice seemed somewhat helium-affected compared to what you're expecting. It is great fun to see him doing some of his trademark acrobatic moves during the film, and it's hard to believe a man of almost 50 could still be so agile and have such a youthful and vigorous appearance. Particularly entertaining is Edward Everett Horton as the valet. He had a good career in silent films, but he would do even better as a character actor in the age of talking pictures where dialogue really allowed him to shine as a well-meaning if somewhat befuddled character in a myriad of films. Also, various sets in the film show off some fine and interesting examples of 1930 architecture, and it is interesting to see how the early stages of the depression were interpreted by people at the time. In 1930 the stock market sell-off is still portrayed as a "panic" and a temporary set-back that has merely bankrupted a few high-rolling financiers.

Buyers beware !.......2007-01-07

The comments on the lousy quality of this dvd do not surprise me at all....when buying silent films or early talkies on dvd remember that a lot of this material is in the public domain...so anyone can purchase an inferior copy and put it on a dvd...! Never buy this sort of dvd from companies like "Delta", "PassPort", "Alpha" and the like...they distribute awfull quality in a colorfull jacket and have the audacity to charge for it!
When you want to purchase these movies , and I am a big fan, buy with confidence any release by "Kino on video", "Image entertainment", in europe "Eureka", "the (pricy) Criterion collection " or anything carrying the imprint "Milestone collection"(usually distributed by Image)...some other less known companies here and there may also occasionally have a good , digitally restaured , version on hand but with the labels I just mentioned you can not go wrong....Also in europe the dvd's of the British Film Institute are faultless but what else would you expect from such a revered institution.
If you still want to buy "alpha", "Delta" or "passport" dvd's because they are fractionally cheaper then remember that when you pay peanuts you get ...peanuts.

Inferior Quality; this classic deserves better.......2006-03-25

I echo the last reviewers complaints. No chapter stops. Terrible source copy. And, um, I know I'm

watching Reaching for the Moon, I don't need an obnoxious logo at the bottom right corner. I'll be honest,

I only watched the 1st 5 min. of this, long enough to have a blot slowly moving down the screen & at one point blocking out

Douglas Fairbanks face! Sound is as bad or worse than the picture.

This racy pre-code movie features opulent Art Deco sets & boasts a cameo appearance by Bing Crosby

singing "When Folks High-Up Do The Mean Low Down", my favorite song by him.

Skip buying this one & watch it on Turner Classic Movies. You'll get ten times the quality. They air it once or twice a

year on TCM. It was funny because I also bought "Millie" (1931) w/ Anita Louise from Alpha Video on the same order & expected

that one to be terrible quality & RFTM to be excellent. Well, it was just the opposite. I was pleasantly suprised with

Millie. It's just under Turner Classic Movie quality for a film of this era with some slight artifacts. I hope another

company will eventually release Reaching for the Moon in better quality (it would be hard not to).
; )

Lousy DVD.......2006-03-18

While the previous entries acturately discuss the film itself, none mention the abysmal quality of the source material and/or the mastering of the DVD itself. Not only is the film tough to watch, Passport has added the words "Reaching for the Moon" in the right-hand conner of the frame which appears throughout the running time of the film. The viewer knows the title of the film. It's an annoyance for 72 minutes. Lastly, there are no chapter stops on the DVD. So if you stop the DVD prior to the movie's conclusion and your DVD player doesn't remember the location as mine doesn't, you must watch the whole film again or scan through the movie to the section you last watched. Also annoying. The only good thing going for this DVD is the price, the chance to see some incredible art deco sets, and Fairbanks in his first talkie, if you can manage to wade through the fuzzy, low contrast image.

SURPRISINGLY ENTERTAINING........2003-01-09

An interesting early talkie, this film will give viewers a rare glimpse of the vivacious 48 year-old Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. In the same hotel, two separate parties are being held: one for a wealthy society named Vivian Benton an amateur aviatrix, the other a recognition dinner for successful stockbroker Larry Day. Amusing romantic issues ensue concerning the above duo. A superstar of silents, Fairbank's career in the movies waned with the advent of talkies: his voice isn't bad, just cartoon character-like. Another big star of the silents was Bebe Daniels: she to would see her career quickly fade by 1935. Directed by Englishman Edmund Goulding (DARK VICTORY), this 1931 feature remains a fascinating curio for those in the mood. Curiously enough, Fairbanks made a 1917 silent with the same title, of which this isn't a remake.

Mr. Robinson Crusoe/Reaching For the Moon

Average customer rating:

Mr. Robinson Crusoe/Reaching For the Moon

Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0006GQN1I
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Average customer rating:

Bing Crosby's Solo Debut & one of Douglas Fairbanks' Few Sound Films

Reaching For the Moon
Starring: Claud Allister , Bing Crosby , Bebe Daniels , Helen Jerome Eddy , and Douglas Fairbanks
Director: Edmund Goulding
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Comedy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0006H31XA
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Customer Reviews:

Bing Crosby's Solo Debut & one of Douglas Fairbanks' Few Sound Films.......2005-08-28

Reaching for the Moon is a piece of Hollywood History because it contains one of Douglas Fairbanks's few sound films and it is the solo debut of Bing Crosby.

Fairbanks is a wizard of Wall Street who falls head over heels for aviatrix Bebe Daniels and chases after her on an ocean liner to England. Along for the ride is Edward Everett Horton who plays his butler/sidekick.

Irving Berlin wrote an original score and the screenplay. During production it was decided to scrap Berlin's score with only one song remaining, When the Folks High Up Do a Mean Low Down. Bing Crosby sang a chorus of it and then passed it over to Bebe Daniels and bit player June McCloy. At the time of the filming Crosby was appearing at the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles with his Rhythm Boy trio.

Bebe Daniels is pretty much forgotten today. But she was a beautiful woman and had a great singing voice.

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