The Broadway to Hollywood

THE BAND WAGON is (along with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN) my favorite musical of all time. Coming in a close second is EASTER PARADE. Warner Bros. has applied their amazing Ultra-Resolution technology to these two films, to bring out their TECHNICOLOR brilliance.

If you saw what WB did with GWTW, MEET ME IN ST LOUIS or SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, you know we're in for a treat!

But it doesn't stop there...

THE BAND WAGON has a commentary by the director's daughter...this girl named Liza, and a new documentary about the making of the film, and a documentary about her amazing father, and a Vitaphone short with Jack Buchanan, AND the deleted song TWO-FACED WOMAN. Add to this a new 5.1 stereo soundtrack, and you're in BAND WAGON heaven!

Then we get to EASTER PARADE, the quintessential Hollywood favorite with Judy Garland at her best teaming up with the amazing Astaire. The extras here include Fred's daughter on commentary along with the foremost Garland author John Fricke, a gallery of Astaire trailers, a docu on the making of EASTER PARADE and best of all, the amazing PBS Biographical epic that was created by American Masters last year, JUDY GARLAND: BY MYSELF (it won a boatload of Emmy Awards).

OK. So if that was all WB was giving us in this box, I'd be going nuts, but they don't stop there.

We also get a brand spankin' new 16x9 transfer of BELLS ARE RINGING with Judy Holliday re-creating her stage triumph, along with Dean Martin, a 5.1 soundtrack, outtakes, a new docu, and more...

..and then Francis Ford Coppola personally guides us through one of his earliest works, as Astaire stars with Pet Clark in FINIAN'S RAINBOW, for the first time on DVD, with a 16x9 transfer, and 5.1 audio and director commentary, and premiere footage...

Last but not least is the return of BRIGADOON, which on DVD before looked like $%^&*(*&!!!!

Not anymore! A 16x9 remastering with 5.1 sound, and a slew of outtakes gives us a definitive presentation of Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse creating Minnelli magic to the Lerner and Loewe score.

All this, in one box, with our kind Amazon friends selling it at an unbelievably bargain price, is really beyond belief.

WB continues to boggle the DVD-lover's mind! WOW!

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.

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!