Beavers (Large Format)

Starring:Earl Pennington
Director: Stephen Low
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

Cary Grant is hilarious as a successful New York advertising executive who wants to escape the confines of his family's tiny midtown apartment. So he designs his dream home in the suburbs and discovers the project wasn't as easy as it seemed. The house gets larger. The bills get bigger. The problems just won't go away. Eventually, the whole affair becomes a nightmare-a very funny nightmare-that left audiences laughing in 1948 and will have you in stitches, too. This is the comedic masterpiece that inspired the popular 1987 movie "The Money Pit." It's an adventure in homeowning that strikes a familiar chord with everyone who's ever bought a house. Year: 1948 Director: H.C. Potter Starring: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas

Amazon.com essential video

Cary Grant stars as an advertising executive who dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with problems. (See the 1980s Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit for an updated version of the same idea.) The big appeal here are the two leads, Grant and Myrna Loy, who were each in their early 40s and at the peak of their careers. Together with solid support from Melvyn Douglas and a screenplay that might have been tailor-made for their polished brand of comedy, the stars dominate this simple project. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

The Greatest Movie Ever Built!.......2007-07-08

This is simply one of the greatest Cary Grant movies out there. Follow along as Cary Grant (Mr. Blandings), Myrna Loy (the Mrs.), and their ever intrusive lawyer, Melvyn Douglas (as Bill Cole), strive to get away from city life and build their dream home in the country.

What follows is a hilarious 'nightmare' of a building process, with debts and depressing comedies adding up for the grand finale. Anyone that's built their own house needs this DVD. Don't let the '1948' date fool ya - this is an excellent classic!

My favorite movie..........2007-05-12

This movie has been my favorite since I was a young girl ~ I am now in my mid-fifties...and I have yet to change my mind.
My favorite actor of all time, Cary Grant, puts in one of the most wonderful performances of his career in this film...as a hapless, exhausted, overburdened middle-class ad exec trying to build a home in the country for his family ~ and set back at every turn through (usually) no fault of his own.
His bank account takes a severe beating by the end of the story, but he indeed gets what he wants...however, not without nearly losing everything of value beforehand!!
This story is one that continues to entertain, enchant and enthrall viewers even today ~ generations after it was first released to the public.
I daresay that the public in those days was thoroughly delighted and if they still made movies like this today, we would be lucky indeed.

A must watch for all homeowners/contractors!.......2007-04-18

My contractor husband has decided this is mandatory viewing for all homeowners even thinking of building or remodeling their home! The film highlights some of the foils of building that perfect dream home, and trust me, not all of them are exaggerated. This is great comedy, even if it does hit a little close to home for those who have 'been there and done that'. I especially love Cary Grant's performance as the flustered husband trying to please everyone while stressed about coming up with a new advertising slogan for 'wham ham'. A slogan that is vital if he wants to keep his job. Wonderful classic!

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

Mr. Blandings Is a Miss.......2007-04-13

I'm an "old movie buff" and I find this to be a pretty awful movie. It's really full of the most simple-minded dialogue. See these great actors in something that's a little less polemical. The writers' social conservatism just jumps off the screen. You could use this for a Media Studies film to contrast with an "old film" from the same time that shows people living with much more self-awareness. Two stars only for the bright young daughters - great actresses!

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.......2007-04-10

You have to be an old movie 'Buff' to enjoy this one. It's a feel-good, old-time movie. Entertaining.

The Cary Grant Signature Collection (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House / Destination Tokyo / The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer / My Favorite Wife / Night and Day)

Average customer rating:

Why can't they provide REgion free DVDs
Nice little set
Entertaining
Poor quality
Excellent Buy

The Cary Grant Signature Collection (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House / Destination Tokyo / The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer / My Favorite Wife / Night and Day)
Starring: Cary Grant , Myrna Loy , Melvyn Douglas , Reginald Denny , and Sharyn Moffett
Director: H.C. Potter , Delmer Daves , and Irving Reis
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Cary Grant Box Set (Holiday / Only Angels Have Wings / The Talk of the Town / His Girl Friday / The Awful Truth)
The Hepburn & Tracy Signature Collection (Woman of the Year / Pat and Mike / Adam's Rib / The Spencer Tracy Legacy)
Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / The Philadelphia Story Two-Disc Special Edition / Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / Stage Door / To Be or Not to Be)
Topper/Topper Returns
I Was a Male War Bride

ASIN: B0001WTWYW
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Greatest movie star ever? How can you argue against Cary Grant, the graceful clown, the ironic romantic? Equally at home in an Alfred Hitchcock suspense piece or a Howard Hawks screwball comedy, the superb Mr. Grant (born Archie Leach) could handle just about anything. And it's a testament to his appeal that this boxed set, which contains not a single great movie, is nevertheless an entertaining catalog of Grant's splendid run during the 1940s.

The earliest picture, and a sheer delight, is 1940's My Favorite Wife, one of Grant's blissful pairings with the wonderful Irene Dunne. He's about to remarry when his first wife washes up again after having been lost on a desert island (with he-man Randolph Scott) for seven years. Destination Tokyo is a WWII submarine picture, with Grant as the stalwart skipper--slightly odd casting, but he brings it off with admirable professionalism. (The film's propagandistic jabs at demonizing the Japanese enemy have not aged well.)

Night and Day is one of those composer biographies that veers rather radically from reality, with Grant playing Cole Porter. A ton of great songs and the canny casting of Cary as the champagne-sophisticate Porter make it passably de-lovely, despite the whitewash of the composer's real-life story. The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer puts Grant in deliciously antic mode, mooned over by teenager Shirley Temple but preferring the company of her older sister, Myrna Loy. He re-teams with Loy in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, an artless but regularly hilarious tale of Manhattanites whose Connecticut fixer-upper becomes a money pit. --Robert Horton

Description

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer My Favorite Wife Destination Tokyo Night and Day

Customer Reviews:

Why can't they provide REgion free DVDs.......2007-06-23

I am one Cary Grant fan and it is distressing that I cannot view these products. Grant has fans worldwide!!!!

Nice little set.......2007-06-14

I like the other Cary Grant box set better but this one is nice to have

Entertaining .......2007-02-22

Thoroughly recommended. For lovers of old classics & Cary Grant these are a must to have in your library. I particularly enjoyed watching a much older Shirley Temple in The Batchelor & the Bobby Soxer.

Poor quality.......2007-01-19

Item arrived in timely manner, but item appeared used, DVD cases were chipped and broken only one DVD had plastic wrapping.

Excellent Buy.......2007-01-04

This was a high quality packaged item suitable for saving and showing off. The movies are also terrific and will be watched again and again. I was impressed with the quality of the packaging for the price of this set. I expeceted the interior cases to be minimal, but they are first rate.

Average customer rating:

Holiday Inn wish color was available
A True Classic
Holiday Inn
Finally a remastered version of this classic
Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn (Special Edition)
Starring: Bing Crosby , Fred Astaire , Marjorie Reynolds , Virginia Dale , and Walter Abel
Director: Mark Sandrich
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000I0QL82
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

In 1942, Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby teamed up at Der Bingle's Paramount Pictures for Holiday Inn, a black-and-white musical that proves more entertaining than Crosby's color semi-remake White Christmas in 1954. Astaire and Crosby play partner/rival song-and-dance men who compete for the hand of their performing partner, played by Virginia Dale. After Crosby loses, he moves to the Connecticut countryside where he creates a resort that is only open on holidays and puts on the shows with the help of Marjorie Reynolds. Dumped by Dale, Astaire makes a drunken arrival at the inn on New Year's Eve and dances with Reynolds. He decides she'll be his new partner, but doesn't remember what she looks like, setting off a frenzied search at every subsequent show while the once-bitten Crosby does his best to steer him off track. The theme gives Irving Berlin an excuse to craft or recycle a number of holiday-themed songs, such as (in the former category) "Washington's Birthday" or (in the latter) "Easter Parade." The most famous of the new material, of course, is "White Christmas," which became one of the bestselling songs of all time and the title song of Crosby's 1954 film. Astaire and Crosby also team up for "I'll Capture Her Heart," which playfully contrasts the stars' specialties, and Astaire's "It's So Easy to Dance with You" became one of the signature songs of his post-Ginger Rogers career. Astaire and Crosby teamed up again for Blue Skies in 1946. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Holiday Inn wish color was available.......2007-06-09

Great movie, I can't add much to the already positive reviews. although I wish a colorised version was available. I never would have said that 10 or more years ago. But Colorization has come a long way. For purists a dual black and white-color version would be awesome. See legend films if you think it can't or shouldn't be done.

A True Classic.......2007-04-08

Although I was not around during his peak of popularity, I am a huge fan of Bing Crosby. The first album I ever personally bought was a cassette of Bing Crosby's Christmas songs, and my respect for Bing carries over into this wonderful classic as he showcases both his acting and his singing.

This is one of those wholesome films that captures your heart right from the start. The characters are easy to relate to and the musical score that accompanies this is excellent. There is nothing vulgar about the film at all, making it a top pick for family viewing (or for any type of viewing, for that matter--who needs the awful junk that makes up 95% of Hollywood's output today?)

The film brings feelings of nostalgia to me despite the fact I am significantly younger than the film. It makes me feel as if I am a few years younger and makes me remember the Christmases of years past, all of which have their own special memories. They are vintage wine--the oldest ones get even better with age--and the movie is the glass to hold that metaphorical wine. I just watched it for the first time last Christmas but plan to make it a tradition. However, I should note that the movie is good at any time of the year--after all, there are other holidays featured in this film!

Holiday Inn.......2007-02-19

This reproduction of the original movie loses quite a bit due to sound quality. I had to continually turn up the sound and then turn it down again a few minutes later.

Finally a remastered version of this classic.......2007-02-05

Long overdue for restoration, so glad I could see something close to the original. This was long one of my favorite musicals: the plot is aptly sentimental, Bing's crooning is right on the mark, and Astaire's dance numbers were spectacular, great showcases for his unequalled talent. What's unfortunate is the blatant racism in some of the plot and most especially in at least one of the holiday production numbers (Lincoln's Birthday.) Of course this film was made in a different and clearly unenlightened era, but even as a non-African American I find some of the scenes painful and embarrassing. I still have to admit to the guilty pleasure of enjoying most of it. This really was Astaire's showpiece.

Holiday Inn.......2007-01-28

I found this movie to be a lighthearted feel good movie with a happy ending. Good for tradidional Christmas viewing or any other time of the year for that matter. This is a must see for anyone who enjoys music, dancing and comedy. As a classic oldie it definately stands the test of time and can hold it's own against any contempory offerings

Easter Parade (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Easter Parade
Visual Poetry in Slow Motion !!!
Easter Parade
ABSOLUTLY WONDERFUL
didn't recieve it

Easter Parade (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Judy Garland , Fred Astaire , Peter Lawford , Ann Miller , and Jules Munshin
Director: Charles Walters
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007939MU
Release Date: 2005-03-15

Amazon.com essential video

Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) is devastated when his longtime dancing partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), breaks up the team to set out on her own. Determined to prove that he can succeed without her, Astaire vows that he can pick any random chorus girl and make her a star. Fortunately for him, the chorus girl he picks happens to be one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, Judy Garland (playing Hannah Brown). Easter Parade turned out to be the first and only collaboration between the two screen legends. Garland made the 1948 film despite ongoing health problems then had to pull out of a planned follow-up, The Barkleys of Broadway (Ginger Rogers replaced her); Astaire had retired following Blue Skies in 1946 but was brought in for this film as an emergency replacement after Gene Kelly broke his ankle playing touch football. Fortunately, Easter Parade always feels like an Astaire film rather than a Kelly film, from its Pygmalion-esque plot (which helps explain the principals' 23-year age disparity) to its score of Irving Berlin standards (some new, some recycled from earlier films). The film capitalizes on the strengths of both stars, Astaire in dance solos, including "Drum Crazy" and "Steppin' Out with My Baby" (MGM's take on Astaire's earlier, persona-defining "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails"), and Garland in vocal solos, including the torchy "Better Luck Next Time." The stars especially shine, however, when they perform together in their vaudeville numbers, most notably the persona-defying hobo routine "We're a Couple of Swells." Watch this classic every Easter. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Easter Parade.......2007-06-21

In this joyous musical romp, MGM producer Arthur Freed paired Garland with the recently "retired" Astaire after original lead Gene Kelly injured his ankle. Combining Astaire's moves and Garland's pipes with a phenomenal Irving Berlin score adapted by Johnny Green and Roger Edens, highlights include the vaudevillian duet "We're a Couple of Swells" and Astaire's excellent solo to "Steppin' Out With My Baby". The movie was a big success in 1948, and no wonder! By all means, step out with this title.

Visual Poetry in Slow Motion !!!.......2007-06-10

Words are not able to fully describe what your eyes will see.
Can never, ever, be remade even with an unlimited budget.
Fred is Priceless.

Easter Parade.......2007-05-19

I love Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. The singing and dancing is wonderful. I orriginally bought it because my Grandson figure skated to Steppin out with my baby in a show.

ABSOLUTLY WONDERFUL.......2007-04-16

ANOTHR GEM FROM THE GOLDEN AGE. I THINK THAT FRED ASTAIRE DOES SOME OF HIS GREATEST DANCING IN THIS MOVIE: STEPPIN OUT. YOU'VE READ THE STORY PLOT IN THE OTHER REVIEWS. THE IMMORTAL JUDY GARLAND SHINES IN THIS. NOT ONLY HER WONDERFUL SINGING, BUT HER DANCING AS WELL. WHAT A TALENT. AND OF COURSE THE IRVING BERLIN SONGBOOK. THIS MOVIE IS JUST GREAT.

didn't recieve it.......2007-02-24

I never recieved this item. If you could look into it for me I would like to have it though

Average customer rating:

Grand hokum on the high seas!
One of My Favorite Movies
Reap the Wild Wind
De Mille Sea Epic with John Wayne!
A different kind of John Wayne

Reap the Wild Wind
Starring: Louise Beavers , Janet Beecher , Charles Bickford , Ben Carter , and Lane Chandler
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0783230400
Release Date: 1998-12-15

Amazon.com

John Wayne was in the early stages of superstardom when this lavish Cecil B. DeMille adventure was produced in 1942, so it's interesting to see the Duke in a heroic supporting role as opposed to the commanding one. Here he's on equal footing with Ray Milland in the romantic lead; they play a pair of dashing yet wildly different characters who've both fallen for a feisty Southern belle played by Paulette Goddard. It's 1840 on Florida's Key West, and while Wayne plays a daring seaman eager to command a brand-new steamship, his ambitions are hampered by his daredevil reputation and the ruthless profiteering of a salvager (Raymond Massey) who preys on ships that are routinely wrecked in the Key's rocky coastal waters. Milland plays the dapper gentleman who can decide Wayne's future, but Wayne's competitive edge leads to a progression of apparent betrayals and shifting allegiances. Ultimately, both men cast aside their differences to seek justice on the open sea, where an underwater encounter with a giant octopus threatens to bury them both in a watery grave. Providing spectacle and romance as only DeMille could serve it up, this blustery adventure has its share of corny dialogue and obligatory crowd-pleasing action, but that's all part of the movie's considerable charm. It's like Gone with the Wind on the open sea, with the high-spirited Goddard (who had been a candidate for the role of Scarlett O'Hara) holding her own with her chest-thumping costars. DeMille fills his frame with delightful characters and background business, spicing up the story with just enough humor and hokum to offset the movie's forgivable flaws. Presented in glorious Technicolor that's been flawlessly preserved on DVD, the film earned Oscar nominations for its cinematography and costumes, and its still-exciting climax earned an Oscar for Best Special Effects. All in all, this is rousing Hollywood entertainment from the peak years of the studio system that DeMille had dominated for decades. --Jeff Shannon.

Customer Reviews:

Grand hokum on the high seas!.......2007-05-08

Cecil B. de Mille's typically lavish tale of wrecks and wreckers, Reap the Wild Wind, stars Paulette Godard, Ray Milland, John Wayne and that giant squid. Godard gets to play a Southern belle the way she'd have probably played Scarlett O'Hara had she got it, so we all had a lucky escape there, while Raymond Massey provides the black-hearted villainy as he lures the Duke's honest skipper onto the reefs in more ways than one. There's gorgeous Technicolor photography and some generally impressive special effects work - the studio tank work on the opening wreck is particularly striking - though I could have done without Ray Milland's ventriloquist act with the dog.

Universal's DVD offers a superb transfer which corrects most of the audio problems with their video release.

One of My Favorite Movies.......2006-11-08

REAP THE WILD WIND is a great movie. I think it is much better than movies being made now. It has everything-Romance, Adventure, Family, Betrayal, Beautiful scenery and Gorgeous costumes. The acting is great. I especially like Ray Milland. Paulette Goddard, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey. Robert Preston and the rest of the cast do a great job. I never liked John Wayne after I saw him in this, but if you like him, you will be surprised by his performance. Try this DVD, and you will be glad you did. It would make a great gift to someone who hasn't seen it.

Reap the Wild Wind.......2006-11-03

WOW! What can I say about Cecile DeMille,the director that hasn't been said. A wonderful film with two great stars, John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The photography is spectacular, a very well written story and the action is certainly above par. I recommend purchasing this for anyone at just about any age from 10 on up. Why I started at 10 is because it's primarily an adult story, but having said that, you don't have to worry about language, or the scenes.

With a film with John Wayne in it you can't go wrong!

Enjoy!

John Matty, Springfield, VA

De Mille Sea Epic with John Wayne!.......2006-08-15

People unfamiliar with John Wayne's vast filmography are often
surprised to discover he actually starred in a Cecil B. DeMille
extravaganza, although everybody seems to recall "The Film with the
Octopus" that Wayne made (it was actually a giant squid, but that's
really unimportant). In actuality, DeMille, who early-on saw Duke's
potential, twice attempted to team him with Gary Cooper in his
productions (he had been seriously considered for the role of Buffalo
Bill in "The Plainsman", and as the Mountie Preston Foster ended up
portraying in "North West Mounted Police"). Each time, scheduling
conflicts and studio pressure curtailed the pairings, and one can only
daydream about what might have been...

"Reap the Wild Wind", the one film Duke DID make with DeMille (one
of SEVEN 1942 productions he starred in), while not 'top-drawer', is still a
rousing Technicolor adventure, offering another of DeMille's 'American
history lessons'. A nautical tale set in the Florida Keys in 1840, of
salvage ships, their stalwart captains, and greedy profiteers (embodied
by Raymond Massey and Robert Preston), the film works best when
sticking to the 'physical' action, despite a sparkling performance by
Paulette Goddard as the head of one of two rival salvage companies.

Wayne is a hard-headed, impatient skipper who Goddard rescues and falls
for, but when lawyer Ray Milland arrives on the scene to investigate
Wayne's lost ship, the inevitable 'triangle' develops, with Duke
misreading things, and aligning with rival Massey. Milland, top-billed,
is given the meatiest role (and is excellent), but Wayne, who
eventually comes to his senses, is actually quite good, as well.

Expect little subtlety (this IS a DeMille film!), some 'over-the-top'
performances (Massey's hiss-able villain, Lynne Overman's crusty
sailor), a 'star-in-the-making' turn by young Susan Hayward (who, 14
years later, would again work with Wayne, in the infamous "The
Conqueror"), and the unforgettable (if not quite realistic) climactic
confrontation with the squid (which DeMille plays to the hilt, not
letting audiences know WHO sacrificed his life until the last moment).

"Reap the Wild Wind", while certainly a career 'boost' for the Duke, is
not generally listed among his best films (or DeMille's), but remains
an entertaining time-passer from early in WWII, the heady days of John
Wayne's meteoric rise to superstardom.

It certainly is worth a place in your 'John Wayne' collection of DVDS!

A different kind of John Wayne.......2006-08-10

It's good to See John Wayne in a role that is not necessarily the good guy. He could play both sides of the street convincingly.

I am a huge John Wayne fan and highly recommend this movie to anyone that is a Wayne fan.

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)

Average customer rating:

brigadoon is short-changed
Five of the Best Color Musicals Ever Made
Not the best musicals
Thank You, WB!
A SUBLIME COLLECTION OF GREAT MUSICALS!

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)
Starring: Judy Garland , Fred Astaire , Peter Lawford , Ann Miller , and Jules Munshin
Director: Charles Walters , and Vincente Minnelli
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

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Classic Musicals Collection - The Cole Porter Gift Set (High Society / Kiss Me Kate / Les Girls / Broadway Melody of 1940 / Silk Stockings)
That's Entertainment! The Complete Collection
Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / The Philadelphia Story Two-Disc Special Edition / Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / Stage Door / To Be or Not to Be)

ASIN: B0007939PW
Release Date: 2005-03-15

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews:

brigadoon is short-changed.......2007-06-24

This set was given to me a few months ago. My personal interest is in Brigadoon. Cyd and Hugh are probably the greatest dancers to ever crossover (and Mr Kelly doesn't count since he was never really on the other side). What angers me about the transfer of the film version to dvd is that it was edited. DVD transfer is an opportunity to realize a film's full life. The version of Brigadoon in this collection is clearly formatted for some kind of commercial-tv presentation. The beautiful and crucial number "Come to Me Bend to Me" is formatted as an outtake, as if there wasn't time for it in the tv format. I remember when the film was released in 1964. All of us in the production had a sense that this was a show that could delight and move people who would never see a stage production. I cannot fathom why the people that gained the rights to the dvd transfer did nothing more than dump a tv-commercial-edited version onto a piggy-back of a multi-dvd set--they don't know the show, or don't give a damn

Five of the Best Color Musicals Ever Made.......2006-03-28

BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD is Warner Home Video's blanket title for five of the splashiest and most tuneful color MGM musicals ever made: THE BANDWAGON, EASTER PARADE, BRIGADOON, BELLS ARE RINGING, and FINIAN'S RAINBOW.

Two of these are sleeper gems. Vincente Minnelli's BRIGADOON (1954), with an army of musical numbers by Lerner and Loewe, has travelers Gene Kelly and Van Johnson coming upon a Scottish village that can only be seen once every hundred years; Cyd Charisse is the lovely leading lady. The movie has been criticized for its sound stage re-creation of a Scottish village, but that is a plus for me. Along with CinemaScope, one gets the feel for what this show was like on Broadway. A dozen songs, choreographed by Kelly, include "The Heather on the Hill" and "It's Almost Like Being in Love." BRIGADOON is a lovely movie, with remastered color and sound. Bonuses include three outtake musical numbers and several original theatrical trailers.

Francis Ford Coppola does brand-new audio commentary on his own fabulous FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968), in Technicolor and letterboxed Panavision. Again, we are mostly on a soundstage, with Fred Astaire and Tommy Steele as leprechauns and Petula Clark at her loveliest as Astaire's daughter. This E.Y. Harburg-Fred Saidy-Burton Lane musical has songs I cannot get out of my head weeks later, including "Look to the Rainbow,""That Old Devil Moon," "How Are Things In Glocca Mora?" and Steele's show-stopper: "If I'm Not With the Girl I Love, I'll Love the Girl I Am With." The movie is glorious and very underrated, from a late 1960's era of underrated movie musicals, including STAR! and HELLO, DOLLY!

BELLS ARE RINGING.(1960), with Vincente Minnelli directing a delightful Betty Comden-Adolph Green screenplay, with Jule Styne music, is a great musical vehicle for wonderful Judy Holliday, re-creating a Tony winning stage role. She is a switchboard operator named Melasande at Susanswerphone in a lower-depths part of Manhattan. She is not supposed to get personally involved with the clients, but as "Mom" falls in love with songwriter Dean Martin. She also does not know that bookie Eddie Foy, Jr. is using the answering service as a gambling front. Terrific songs here include the legendary "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over". DVD bonuses, in addition to remastered color and sound, include outtake musical numbers and a filmmaking documentary. You also get to see a CinemaScope movie at its right aspect ratio.

The two crown jewels of the BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD set are double disks of Charles Walters' EASTER PARADE (1948) and Vincente Minnelli's THE BANDWAGON (1953). Both have magnificently remastered sound and picture to look and sound brand new. EASTER PARADE has about fifteen old and new Irving Berlin songs, performed by the incomparable Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Its magnificent bonuses include the finest Garland documentary, two full hours from PBS, that I have ever seen; a filmmaking documentary; and audio commentary by Astaire's daughter Ava and Garland biographer John Fricke. This is an all-time favorite musical of mine, and I have never enjoyed it more.

Last and probably best (which is saying a lot!) is THE BANDWAGON (1953), which several movie musical experts feel is the best movie musical of all time. It is certainly one of the most sophisticated and stylish color ones, with a wonderful Oscar-nominated Comden and Green screenplay about putting on a Broadway show. Astaire stars this time with lovely Cyd Charisse, never better than in "Dancing in the Dark." Other hit songs include "By Myself," "Shine on My Shoes." "Triplets," "Louisiana Hayride," the gorgeously-designed Mickey Spillane climax, and "That's Entertainment!" Comden and Green have a delightful time spoofing themselves as the Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant characters. The biggest bonus here is audio commentary by a very happy and friendly Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein, along with a filmmaking documentary and an hour-long "Men Who Made the Movies" documentary on Vincente Minnelli.

If you'd like to own this DVD boxed set, BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD, it retails for about $60, but sells from Amazon for about $45, less than an orchestra ticket for a downtown San Francisco stage show. Happy viewing!

Not the best musicals.......2005-05-22

Theses are not the best examples of the Hollywood musical. While I love Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, there a much better films with Fred or Gene.

Easter Parade has the two best musical stars, Fred and Judy, but together they have no chemistry and are further hampered by a weak script.

Finian's Rainbow is Fred's last musical and what a poor choice. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, he went on to much better fare. This was a groundbreaking musical but does not translate well to the large screen.

Brigadoon is for Gene Kelly super fans only. Kelly is great but this is not one of Lerner and Lowe's better efforts (Think Gigi and My Fair Lady).

There are only 2 great films.

The Band Wagon is Fred at his best. This is classic camp. A show within a show. Fred, Nannette Fabray and Oscar Levant are making a musical version of Faust that turns into a big egg. But they quickly take all the good pieces and rework it to a smash. Sounds familiar but it is original. Most people remember this for the Tripplet's Song.

Bells are Ringing is Judy Holiday at her best. She conquered Broadway with this show and then proved herself again with this film. Dean Martin is her costar and features Jean Stapleton.

Of course both are Comden and Green shows, which of course helps. My suggestion is buy the titles you like seperately.

Thank You, WB!.......2005-03-31

The wonderful folks at Warner Home Video have outdone themselves recently with several amazing boxed sets of great films. We now have definitive batches of the best of Film Noir, Classic Comedy, Gangster Films--and this beauty, my favorite so far. The sheer brilliance of the technical work that went into restoring these classic musicals is reason enough to pounce on Amazon's bargain price while it lasts.

What can you say about the films themselves that hasn't already been said? THE BAND WAGON is the crown jewel here, of course, but the others are excellent. EASTER PARADE is terrific. BELLS ARE RINGING, though not the strongest story or score around, has B'way legend (and Oscar-winner) Judy Holliday in her final star vehicle. And BRIGADOON has all that dancing in the heather, not to mention the stunning score of Lerner & Loewe.

For me, the most pleasant surprise in the box is FINIAN'S RAINBOW. I'm familiar with all the other titles here, but I'd never really looked at this one all the way through before, and it's visually impressive and surprisingly charming. Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, and an energetic supporting cast of singer/dancers do wonders with the dated story and timeless score. And young Francis Ford Coppola had some fresh and interesting visual ideas (montage, cross-cutting, swooping aerial shots, etc.) to keep it all humming along. Coppola is unnecessarily self-effacing throughout his commentary track--he has no reason to apologize. With its restored widescreen picture and 5.1 stereo soundtrack, this film is really quite beautiful.

All in all, this is yet another must-have collection for all serious film buffs. Thanks again, Warner Home Video!

A SUBLIME COLLECTION OF GREAT MUSICALS!.......2005-03-16

Warner has been doing a magnificent job of using the latest picture resolution process to restore and/or polish up their best movies; and again they do not disappoint! Warner Home Video truly hits a home run and does the incredible with this boxed set of five of the greatest musicals of all time! The set is well presented with excellent digital transfer, wonderful sound and a bevy of sublime extras.

The Band Wagon (which itself is a two DVD special edition) stars Fred Astaire as an older entertainer trying to be successful again in show business. Things do not go well: he doesn't like the director; there aren't fancy dance scenes that he prefers to perform and he has to dance with a ballerina! The show is unpopular and Fred's character Tony Hunter saves the day using his superior technique and know-how. The extras are wonderful! Liza Minnelli (whose Dad, Vincente Minnelli, did an excellent job as director of the picture) and Michael Feinstein provide an engaging commentary. There are also two documentaries: "Get Aboard! The Band Wagon" about the making of the movie and an older expose entitled "The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli." You won't regret these-they are excellent and very informative! SMILE There's also the outtake musical number of Two Faced Women. Very good! For Astaire fans there's an Astaire trailer collection and even a musical short of Jack Buchanan with the Glee Quartet. I was particularly pleased with the fine commentary Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein give here.

The other two disc special edition is of the MGM classic Easter Parade. Wow! This has always been one of my very favorite musicals. The acting and the chemistry between Astaire playing the professional dancer and Judy Garland playing Hannah Brown his at first unlikely dance partner-and eventually romantic partner-is nothing short of excellent and captivating! Ann Miller turns in a great performance as the dancer who leaves Fred's character to try to get even further ahead in her career. The digital quality of the video and the sound are both excellent. There's a documentary of the making of this movie and a particular favorite of mine is the American Masters documentary profile: "Judy Garland: By Myself" put out only with the essential effort of my friend John Fricke. (The American Masters documentary won more than just one Emmy, making this a particularly valuable extra! John won one of the Emmys for this; he is the leading Garland biographer who wrote several books on Judy.) John worked so hard on this profile! John's fine commentary along with Ava Astaire (Fred Astaire's daughter) proves to be an excellent resource for reliable information about this film and Judy. You also get the outtake musical number "Mr. Monotony." There's a Judy Garland trailer collection and some promotions for the original film are provided. Wow! A fine two disc set in and of itself.

Bells Are Ringing is Judy Holliday's last performance; she plays a worker at a telephone answering service who gets overly involved with her client's personal lives. Jean Stapleton, a favorite actress of mine (from All In The Family as Edith) is in this picture as well. This picture was nominated for an Oscar for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and the song "Just In Time" is certainly one good reason why! Outtake musical numbers include "Is It a Crime?" and "My Guiding Star." The digital transfer is again excellent and the sound quality is excellent. This is definitely a classic musical.

Brigadoon boasts a wonderful musical score by Lerner and Lowe. The principle cast is only the best: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse. An adventurous American suddenly uncovers a magical Scottish town which is only visible one day a century! Does he stay there and perhaps experience a fine true love; or should he return to his life as it is? Quite the dilemma! There are three musical outtakes you want to look at: "Come to Me Bend to Me," "From This Day On," and "Sword Dance." An audio outtake and a brand new digital transfer make this a fine addition to the box set as well as your DVD collection.

Last, but certainly not least, is Finian's Rainbow. A wonderful fanciful musical, this film stars Fred Astaire in his final full length performance as Finian McLonergan. Somehow Finian steals a pot of gold from Og the leprechaun. Finian and his daughter Sharon (the lovely Petula Clark) go to America (as does Og) and use their powers to overcome a rather prejudiced senator. Not only are the musical numbers excellent; the cinematography is superlative and the ending is a happy one! There is an excellent commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola and a cute feature on the film's premiere.

All in all, this is clearly one of the best boxed sets of supremely fine great musicals and it is very reasonably priced. For me personally this set was an easy decision-it is already in my personal DVD collection! I highly recommend this boxed set for fans of the great American musicals as well as all patrons of the arts. This is also a solid introduction to some of the quality musicals produced on film to date. Equally important, the hard work and effort everyone put into the seemingly countless extras is superlative.

Average customer rating:

An amusing murder mystery at the racetrack, with Nick and Nora Charles...and a waiter who insists they order the sea bass
"Baby, you've arrived!"
A jockey is shot in the shower.
One Glaring Flaw
Nick and Nora Charles Investigate a West Coast Gambling Racket.

Shadow of the Thin Man
Starring: William Powell , Myrna Loy , Barry Nelson , Donna Reed , and Sam Levene
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BYWZO4
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Product Description

Nick and Nora Charles are looking forward to a day of leisure, but when they make a trip to the race track, they learn that a jockey, who was recently accused of throwing a race, has just been found shot to death. With his friend Lieutenant Abrams in charge of the case, Nick has difficulty keeping from getting involved. Then a special state deputy, in charge of investigating gambling scandals, comes to see Nick. He tells Nick that the jockey could have been silenced by a gambling syndicate, and he asks for Nick's help. Soon Nick is fully involved in a complicated and hazardous investigation

Customer Reviews:

An amusing murder mystery at the racetrack, with Nick and Nora Charles...and a waiter who insists they order the sea bass.......2007-06-06

"You know that jockey, Gomez," says Lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene) to Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) as the two arrive at the racetrack for a little betting, "the one who was caught throwing the fourth race yesterday? He was shot." "My," says Nora, "they're strict at this track." And we're off on the fourth of the Nick and Nora Charles Thin Man series. The mystery isn't bad. The Powell-Loy chemistry is just as fine as always, and the characters...well, Nick remains the suave, gentleman private detective, fond of martinis and double-breasted suits, clever at putting puzzles together, and a man who seems to know everyone from distinguished officials to Rainbow Benny, a racetrack tout. Nora, his wealthy, socialite wife, remains most of the time a skeptical, affectionate, funny helpmate who can match her husband's martini intake whenever she chooses. However, slowly the series is turning Nora into a more conventional wife and mother. In Shadow of the Thin Man, the writers have Nora sometimes just being a ditzy, adoring wife. Myrna Loy makes it work, but some of Nora's smartness and wit have been dumbed down.

Nick agrees to look into the death of the jockey, but then another shooting takes place, this time of Whitey Barrow, a corrupt reporter who is in cahoots with a ring of racketeers who are making a fortune on racetrack gambling. When the dignified Major Jason Scully, hired by the track commission to clean up the situation, and Paul Clark, a young, crusading reporter, visit Nick and try to enlist his services, he turns them down. He's got too much on his hands already with Nora and their three-year-old son, Nick, Jr. That second murder makes him change his mind. Before long he's up to his waist in suspects. There's Link Stephens, the tough smoothie who runs the syndicate and who is weak around the edges; Fred Main, his wise-guy enforcer; Claire Porter, Stephen's upper-class girl friend; and Baku, her chauffeur. There is even a ticket seller to be suspicious of. Plus, just maybe Paul Clark (Barry Nelson) isn't as honest as he seems, especially since his girlfriend, Molly (Donna Reed), works for Stephens. It all comes together, of course, with a big meeting of all the suspects, with Nick taking apart the case clue by clue until the murderer is unmasked. This time, Nora does a bit of heroics that ends with a loving smooch by our favorite couple, with Asta the dog covering its eyes with a paw.

The movie features three genuinely funny set pieces. First up is Nick and Nora at a crowded wrestling match. It's reassuring to see that professional wrestling hasn't advanced an inch in more than 65 years when it comes to the need for great acting ability. Next is the merry-go-round where Nick has to prove that he's not a scaredy-cat to a group of sneering tykes. And finally is a classic that should be revived, where the waiter at Mario's Grotto is determined Nick and Nora and their two guests will all order the sea bass. He will not take broiled lobster as an answer.

And let's spend a moment with Stella Adler, who plays Claire Porter. She was 40 when she made this movie. She was born into one of the leading Yiddish theater families in New York, and became a star in Yiddish theater in the Twenties. In the Thirties she joined the Group Theater, became a star on Broadway, went to the Soviet Union to study under Stanislavsky himself, and returned to become one of America's great drama teachers, as well as an actor and director. Adler never made much of an impression in Hollywood; she spent most of her life in New York. She taught and mentored Marlon Brando and was the single most important influence on his acting career. She died, honored and full of years, in 1992. Just watch her as Porter, a lush, well-bred blonde with a voice as cultured as clotted cream. Except that Claire had been a professional woman, as in the oldest profession. When Claire loses her temper, she loses her culture, her class and her accent. Nick finds this out. Adler handles the role with aplomb, and her instant transformation from cultured to common is something to see.

The black and white DVD transfer is excellent. There is one noteworthy extra, a 20-minute dramatic short based on Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. It was Jules Dassin's first job as a director. It's creepy and it's first-rate.

"Baby, you've arrived!".......2007-05-26

The most fun and sophisticated series in the history of film continued with Maj. W.S. Van Dyke's 1941 entry, Shadow of the Thin Man. William Powell was back, of course, as Dashiell Hammett's greatest creation, Nick Charles. Myrna Loy was back as his better half, and needless to say a shaker of martinis and a lot of witty banter was sure to follow as Nick and Nora got involved in yet another murder mystery. Nora has a new du in this one and is cuter than she's ever been. Nick is busy in the park reading a fairy tale to Nicky Jr. which sounds suspiciously like a racing form, and it isn't long before Nick and "Mummy" are off to the track.

A jockey has just been murdered by the time they arrive with a police escort and it appears to be tied in with a gambling syndicate. Nick does his best to avoid getting roped into real work but when another murder occurs at a wrestling match and a reporter who's an acquaintance of theirs is fingered for the job, Nick sort of saunters into action. A third murder occurs before Nick can get it all sorted out and when Nora gets one of the clues first, a trap is set for the killer. Nora is adorable and she ends up "saving" Nick's life once the denouement scene rolls around.

An attractive cast of MGM players which includes a funny turn by Louise Beavers as the Charles' maid and a very young and pretty Donna Reed as the girlfriend of the accused, make this one easy to watch. Nick gathers the suspects all together as usual, and it's quite a suprise when he fingers the real killer. A gun hidden in a drain pipe, an expensive bracelet used as payment for blackmail and a ledger worth killing for all play a part in the mystery portion of this one.

But the Thin Man films were always about how much fun the audience could have watching Nick and Nora interact as she pushed Nick into action, drink in hand. There is a very funny scene where Nick is shamed by little Nick into drinking a glass of--gulp--milk! Both Nick and Asta get dizzy on a carousel and Asta starts a brawl in a restaurant as this entry moves along at a nice pace. And I'd be remiss not to mention a turtle race on a bar counter which adds to the fun.

All of the five films which followed the original masterpiece were charming and witty fun and there has never been anything that even came close to equaling them as entertainment. They were wildly popular during their day and even more so today, as Hollywood seems to have forgotten what made going to the movies great. The public hasn't, however, which is why films like this one are such a fun breath of fresh air. A great one to own and watch over and over.

A jockey is shot in the shower........2006-09-14

DVD will automatically play movie if option has not been chosen in nearly 3 minutes.
Very cute option screen of Asta hiding and popping up.
This is the fourth "Thin Man" film in the series.
Another who-done-it mystery for Nick Castle (William Powell) and his wife Nora (Myrna Loy) to solve. A horse jockey, Goldez, was shot in the shower. They say he threw a race yesterday.
According to Major Sculley (Henry O'Neill) and reporter Paul (Barry Nelson), the deceased jockey was a witness to a gambling racket.
So once again, Nick and Nora are hot on the trail of the killer. Even Asta the dog (Skippy) finds a couple clues.
Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall) tries to get his father to drink milk.

Also in the cast: Donna Reed, Sam Levene, Noel Cravat. Duke York played "Valentine".

W.S. Van Dyke, director of the first four "Thin Man" films committed suicide, February 5, 1943 at the age of 53.

DVD includes in Special Features, Theatrical trailer, 19-minute short "Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'", MGM Technicolor cartoon "The Goose Goes South".

The next film is: THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1944).

One Glaring Flaw.......2006-06-17

Entertaining and charming as this movie is I found one very annoying and puzzling flaw. During the inevitable and formulaic "gathering of the suspects and revealing the killer" scenes, there seems to be the inclusion of what can only be called an editing mistake. I had to watch the ending several times to make sure it was not just my lack of concentration. The police inspector, in response to the killer grabbing a gun after being "outed", pulls his gun and fires off two shots. In the very next cut Nora attacks the killer to disarm him, but no one reacts to the shots fired, no one is hit, and no one acknowledges that it even happened. What's up with that?

Nick and Nora Charles Investigate a West Coast Gambling Racket........2006-03-22

"Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941) is the 4th movie in the "Thin Man" series directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and the first to which author Dashiell Hammett and screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacket did not contribute. The new screenwriters, Irving Brecher and Harry Kurnitz, give us a typically convoluted mystery with a big cast of suspects, including many colorful underworld characters, and an unpredictable outcome. The Charles family is back in San Francisco with "baby", Nicky, Jr., now a headstrong 3-year-old. Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) Charles' day at the races is sidetracked by a jockey's apparent murder. Police Lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene) tries to rope Nick, who would rather be betting the horses, into the case. When reporter Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), a professional white-washer for mobster Link Stevens (Loring Smith), is also shot to death, and the murder is blamed on Nick's friend Paul Clark (Barry Nelson), Nick enters the fray to solve the case.

Although William Powell and Myrna Loy have a certain warm chemistry between them, no writer since Dashiell Hammett in his original "The Thin Man" novel has succeeded in giving Nick and Nora Charles that loving, irreverent wit that made 1934's "The Thin Man" so memorable. Nora was always a little wide-eyed, but "Shadow of the Thin Man" marginalizes her more than the previous films. She's a pretty, rich hausfrau but lacks good lines. The mystery is very much in the style of the previous "Thin Man" movies, but the banter is a bit dull and self-consciously precious. This film falls down in the dialogue department, and the slow- and fast-motion shots of Asta the dog, intended for comic effect, are ill-advised. But "Shadow of the Thin Man" still works as light entertainment, owing to Powell and Loy's likability and an interesting supporting cast. In fact, the supporting cast is more memorable than the detectives in this one.

The DVD (Warner Brothers 2005): "The Tell-Tale Heart" (20 min) is a short film of Edgar Allan Poe's story about a man who murders his tyrannical employer and is driven mad by the sound of his beating heart, directed by Jules Dessin. "The Goose Goes South" (6 min) is a Hanna-Barbara cartoon about a little goose who goes South for the winter. But he's not flying; he's walking . He encounters various stereotypes on his journey through the American South. There is also a theatrical trailer (3 min). Subtitles are available for the film in English, French, and Spanish.

Average customer rating:

A Throwback to Radio's Last Days and Television's Rise
Movie Buff!
There's Really Only One Reason To Watch It...
Dated, dull, and grainy. Don't waste your money!
Grable and Dailey make a terrific movie pair

My Blue Heaven
Starring: Betty Grable , Dan Dailey , David Wayne , Jane Wyatt , and Mitzi Gaynor
Director: Henry Koster
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000EXDSAM
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Customer Reviews:

A Throwback to Radio's Last Days and Television's Rise.......2007-03-17

MY BLUE HEAVEN takes a viewer back to the last days of radio and the first days of television. Betty Grable and Dan Dailey play Kitty and Jack Moran, a husband and wife song and dance team. We discover early in the story that Kitty is pregnant with their first child, but loses the baby after a car accident. Kitty learns she may never be able to have her own child and the couple accepts the possibility of being childless until they visit two friends and colleagues Walter and Janet Pringle (David Wayne and Jane Wyatt) who have adopted some of their bustling brood, Kitty and Jack decide to adopt. They have to face a number of obstacles including a snobbish adoption service director and a mother who decides to put her child up for adoption and then wants the child back. Since this is a 1950's musical, we know that the story will all work out better than anyone could expect but like all predictable Hollywood musicals, we may know how the story will end but we want to know what will happen to get to the happy ending.

Most of the musical numbers are interwoven in the radio and television numbers, so the story has a bit of a flow to it. There is a spoof of sorts on an "operetta set in the South Pacific" which in a buffoonish way bears a bit of a resemblance to another Twentieth Century musical. Mitzi Gaynor plays a young vamp named Gloria Adams who makes a move on Jack which Kitty takes rather well. Grable and Dailey are good partners in the film and there are some moments that make viewers feel sorry for the couple when they face setbacks.

I'm assuming that this DVD will appeal primarily to film buffs and Hollywood musical lovers. It doesn't have too many special features: a collection of stills from the filming and trailers for DOWN ARGENTINE WAY and THE DOLLY SISTERS. Still it's an enjoyable film and a good example of a 1950's musical.

Movie Buff!.......2007-01-10

I BOUGHT THIS MOVIE SIMPLY BECAUSE I LIKE THE OLDER STARS, AND MUSICALS, BUT MAINLY BECAUSE IT WAS DIRECTED BY HENRY KOSTER, WHO ALSO DIRECTED "A MAN CALLED PETER". I WAS HOPING FOR THE SAME QUALITY DIRECTING, BUT I PERSONALLY DID NOT SEE THAT. IT IS AN "OK" FILM, BUT I'VE WATCHED BETTER. THIS IS MITZI GAYNOR'S FIRST FILM ROLE, FOR YOU OLDER MOVIE BUFFS. I DON'T CHALK IT OFF, EVEN WITH MY COMMENTS ABOVE!

There's Really Only One Reason To Watch It..........2006-09-07

"My Blue Heaven" is boring. The plot is insipid; the characterizations and dialogue stink; the musical numbers, while occasionally staged in interesting ways, are not only too often absurd, but also lyrically trite, painfully bright, and emotionally hollow to the core. The leads, Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, are attractive professionals; however, in spite of their every talented effort to uplift the drear and uncompelling material, they fail. David Wayne and Jane Wyatt, for all their demonstrated talent in other projects, are more or less cyphers here.

There's really only one reason to watch "My Blue Heaven". One reason...one star: Mitzi Gaynor, in her film debut. Her total screen time is probably less than ten minutes, but so what? Her pert and promising screen personality, her feline beauty, and her exceptional charisma shine through gloriously and make these minutes the most watchable, memorable, and exciting moments in the entire film. If you would value an opportunity to see a tremendous young talent on the rise, then check out Miss Mitzi Gaynor in "My Blue Heaven."

Incidentally, I scorn (and would urge you to avoid) Drew Casper's manic, obsessive-compulsive DVD commentary for this film. Wordy, digressive, unduly fastidious, frequently ill-timed with what is playing on the screen, and galloping throughout with an excess of nervous energy, his comments are absolutely indigestible.

Dated, dull, and grainy. Don't waste your money!.......2006-07-13

I loved watching old Betty Grable movies with my grandmother on TV years ago. She loved them when she was young, and thought I would enjoy them, too. I was barely a toddler, and have fond memories of those viewings. So, I recently purchased the new batch of Grable DVDs hoping to re-experience those treasured memories.

BAD MOVE!

I should have waited for more GABLE instead of wasting money on GRABLE.

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey were performers of modest talents to say the least. They had a nice chemistry, and were surrounded by good production values, nice music, and what I assume originally was gorgeous Technicolor.

The DVD looks very bland and flat, and doesn't do the film's production values justice. Whether it was actually filmed in a bland way, or is just a grainy transfer with color breathing, I couldn't tell you. Fox musicals usually compensate their lack of substance with dazzling colors or terrific songs.

None of that is here. The DVD is drab looking, the songs in the film are mediocre, and the performances are downright tacky at times. I may have liked it at age 5 or 6, but MY BLUE HEAVEN is hardly heavenly when viewing this ugly looking DVD which can't compensate for the drab screenplay, tired stars, and boring music.

Grable and Dailey make a terrific movie pair.......2006-07-10

This was the disc in my recently arrived Betty Grable Collection set I was initially least interested in, however when I watched it over the weekend I really enjoyed it. Betty's movies turn up regularly on tv here in the UK, but I'd never seen My Blue Heaven before. By the end of the movie I was completely won over by the pairing of Betty and Dan Dailey - they make a terrific movie team and the chemistry between them is warm and believable.

The DVD print is gorgeous; check out the colours! This movie has a more subdued look to it than the Fox musicals from the early '40s and its a joy to the eye how everthing comes together in each scene with colour, lighting and costumes. Interesting to compare Betty's look and style in this movie too with her earlier appearance in Down Argentine Way. In the 1940 movie she is fresh and lovely and comes over like a breath of fresh air, full of energy. In this later movie, she is every inch the long-established glamour star, her make up immaculate, her hair almost white-blonde, her wardrobe stylish and sophisticated (though she gets the chance to wear some very sexy outfits too). She's lost none of her appeal over the decade between the two movies. In My Blue Heaven her style is less brassy, much warmer, her famous legs are still highlighted and she's in terrific shape.

Can't emphasise enough how appealing Betty and Dan Dailey are together, now I understand why they were so popular together at the box office and I hope in Volume 2 of the Betty Grable collection another of their movies is included. In My Blue Heaven they look great together in their musical numbers and come across as very believable in their dramatic moments.

After watching the movie, I watched it again with the commentary with Drew Casper and I would recommend it. It is lively and informative and you won't believe how much info he manages to get across as the movie plays. All of it relevant and never dull.

I still have The Dolly Sisters and Moon Over Miami to watch from the Betty Grable Collection Vol 1, and already I'm looking forward to Volume 2.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Movie
Beuatifully photographed
The Incredible Beaver Cam!
Beavers - Busy yet Hilariously Interesting
Beavers....truly fun for the whole family

Beavers (Large Format)
Starring: Earl Pennington
Director: Stephen Low
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

IMAX | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Nature & Wildlife | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00003XAMO
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Amazon.com

Originally intended for IMAX theaters, this documentary follows a family of beavers as they lay claim to a dam and build a place to live. The animals live as extended families, complete with uncles and aunts, and with their instinctive engineering skills build complex dams and apartments for themselves. What could be a mundane nature documentary, though, is made lyrical by its score, lighting, and camera work. It's a rare documentary that can be sweet but not cloying, with plenty to hold the interest of kids and adults alike. Beavers' accompanying making-of film answers some of the inevitable questions and reveals that the project was an incredibly arduous task. The film was made in the mid-1980s and involved lugging around the cumbersome IMAX camera in the wilderness, as well as weeks of waiting for the beavers to actually do something. Set against the breathtaking beauty of the Canadian Rockies, this is an incredible example of nature photography and a rewarding little film about our bucktoothed rodent friends and their innate construction drive. --Jerry Renshaw

Description

The biggest dam movie you ever saw! Have you ever danced in the moonlight, played in the shadow of great mou