CBS, 1996
Starring Angela Landsbury, Charles Durning, Michael Jeter, and Lynsey Bartilson
Directed by Terry Hughes
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Hoping to bring back the Golden Age of TV Musicals, CBS made this their big Christmas attraction in December 1996. It was a hit at the time...but it seems to have been slightly forgotten in recent years, even as musicals continue to make a comeback on the big and small screens. Is this holiday-themed vehicle for Landsbury still worthy of our attention, or should it be left behind like stale fruitcake? Let's head to the North Pole, where the elves are working diligently on the toys, to find out...
The Story: Feeling unappreciated by her husband when he won't hear her suggestion for a new route, Mrs. Anna Claus (Landsbury) takes the reindeer and sleigh out for a spin about a week before Christmas. A blizzard lands her in New York's Avenue A in 1910, a melting pot of immigrants struggling to survive. She moves into a boarding house run by Mrs. Lowenstein (Rosalind Harris) and her daughter Sadie (Debra Wiseman).
Sadie stands on a soapbox on the street and tries to preach to the crowds about women's rights, but she can't get their attention. Marcello (David Norona), the handsome young caretaker at the stable where the reindeer are housed, has a crush on Sadie, but is too intimidated to tell her. Nora (Bartilson), an Irish child at the boarding house working to raise money for her mother to come over from Dublin, offers "Mrs. North" a job at Tavish's Toys...which turns out to be a sweatshop with deplorable working conditions run by nasty Mr. Tavish (Terrance Mann). She gets involved with everyone, trying to solve their problems, all while badly missing her husband. Meanwhile, Santa (Durning) is just as lost without her, despite the efforts of his head elf (Jeter) to make him feel better. Not to mention, if the sleigh isn't back by Christmas Eve, he won't be able to make his big trip.
The Song and Dance: For the most part, this one is definitely on the nice list. Landsbury pours her heart into the role of the neglected wife who ends up helping everyone around her change their lives for the better. She does especially well with Bartilson and the other kids, clowning around and having a blast with them. Lavish sets and costumes - the outfits were done by the legendary Bob Mackie - add greatly to the period feel.
Favorite Number: There's two good ensemble routines, "Avenue A," where Marcello shows Mrs. Claus around the street and introduces her to the locals, has some spirited choreography in a sequence set at a bar. There's also some nice choreography in Landsbury's number with the kids at Tavish's Toys, "Almost Young." Landsbury joins Bartilson in turning sheets hanging on a clothesline into vaudeville costumes in "Whistle" and duets with Durning on the finale, "The Best Christmas of All."
What I Don't Like: This movie is trying to do way too much. It throws together Mrs. Claus' story about being appreciated with commentary on women's rights and child labor, the secondary romance between Marcello and Sadie, and the one with Nora and her family. Any one or two of those plotlines probably would have covered a full 90 minutes. Not to mention, this is obviously intended to be a cute, smiley-happy musical and lacks the grit of the real New York in that time period. The darker themes don't always work with the sugary feel.
The score is also disappointing for Herman's last work to date. Some of the songs are pleasant enough, but they're not as memorable as his tunes for his Landsbury stage vehicles Mame and Dear World.
The Big Finale: Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half on a cozy Christmas evening if you're a fan of Landsbury or Herman, or are looking for a sweet holiday musical for the whole family.
Home Media: Not currently on streaming, but it was re-released on DVD two years ago and can often be found for under ten dollars.
DVD
Reviews of musical films, from 1930s black and white to widescreen 21st century extravaganzas.
Showing posts with label Jerry Herman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerry Herman. Show all posts
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Cult Flops - Mame
Warner Bros, 1974
Starring Lucille Ball, Robert Preston, Beatrice Arthur, and Jane Connell
Directed by Gene Saks
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Auntie Mame - a fictional biography of a madcap society woman and her loving if bewildered nephew and staff - was a smash hit book by Patrick Dennis in 1955. It later became an equally popular play, and then a blockbuster movie with Rosalind Russell in 1958. The stage musical debuted in 1966, and with Angela Landsbury as Mame, was an even bigger hit. Mame's charmed life seemed to end there. Landsbury was passed over for the film version in favor of Lucille Ball, who was then at the tail end of her her celebrity as the biggest comedienne on television. When it finally debuted around Easter 1974, reviews were scathing and the film was a major flop. It didn't help that the brassy musical comedies that were big in the 60's had gone out of style by the mid-70's. What happened here? Let's head down to Beekman Place in New York City, where the party is just getting started, and find out...
The Story: For Mame Dennis (Ball), every day is an adventure. It's the Roaring 20's, and she's determined to roar right along with it, especially after she adopts her late brother's son Patrick (Kirby Furlong). She wants to show her "little love" and everyone around her, including Patrick's shy nanny Agnes (Connell), how to live life to the fullest. Trips to speakeasies and fire houses and schools where children run around naked may amuse Patrick, but it doesn't delight his conservative trustee, Mr. Babcock (John McGiver). Babcock has him taken away, just as the Depression hits.
Mame first gets a job in a "terribly modern operetta" starring her friend Vera Charles (Arthur), but she forgets her one line. She goes through a series of jobs, until she meets the handsome and charming southerner Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Preston) while working as a saleswoman in a department store. They end up getting married after she charms his family during a wild fox hunt. Beau dies in a skiing accident, leaving Mame back in the black but alone. She and Vera decide that Agnes is their next project, but she gets a little too into the "life is a banquet" thing and comes home pregnant. She's even less happy when a now-grown Patrick (Bruce Davidson) announces that he's going to marry a snotty college girl from Connecticut (Doria Cook-Nelson). Mame has to find someone more appropriate for Patrick while helping Agnes with her delicate condition, too.
The Song and Dance: Most of the complaints centered on Lucille Ball's performance, claiming she was miscast. I thought she was just fine, especially during comic set pieces like the roller skating sequence after she meets Beauregard and the wacky fox hunt. Arthur and Connell are even better repeating their Broadway roles, and Preston makes for an especially charming southern gentleman. The costumes are a lot of fun, from Mame's 20's lounging outfits to that stunning red gown with the massive fan trim she wears to her party for the Upsons in the late 1940's.
Favorite Number: "We Need a Little Christmas" is probably the best-known song from the show, and the number based after it is too adorable. Mame comes home from her sales clerk job and decides to cheer everyone up by celebrating early. (I love Agnes doubling as a tree covered in tinsel garlands.) Robert Preston gets a touching ballad Jerry Herman wrote expressively for the film, "Loving You," performed during the montage of Mame and Beau's decade-long honeymoon. Ball is hysterical flubbing her line in "The Man in the Moon."
Honestly, the movie is worth seeing just for Beatrice Arthur and Lucille Ball going at each other in the classic friends song "Bosom Buddies." They're just too funny in that number; their expressions at each bit of sarcasm is perfect.
What I Don't Like: Ball's singing voice was never terribly good, and while that works for chorus songs or in the comic "Bosom Buddies," her croaking does the dramatic ballad "If He Walked Into My Life" no favors. The soft-focus filters used to make Ball look younger just makes the film look out of focus at some points.
The Big Finale: I think the critics have been way too rough on this one for years, especially those who saw Landsbury in the stage show. If you love Lucy, the original book or movie, or big, bold musical comedy, you'll want to give Mame another chance at life, too.
Home Media: Ball's ongoing status as a major icon of comedy is probably the reason this one can be found on most formats; it was just released to Blu-Ray by the Warner Archives last week.
DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime
Starring Lucille Ball, Robert Preston, Beatrice Arthur, and Jane Connell
Directed by Gene Saks
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Auntie Mame - a fictional biography of a madcap society woman and her loving if bewildered nephew and staff - was a smash hit book by Patrick Dennis in 1955. It later became an equally popular play, and then a blockbuster movie with Rosalind Russell in 1958. The stage musical debuted in 1966, and with Angela Landsbury as Mame, was an even bigger hit. Mame's charmed life seemed to end there. Landsbury was passed over for the film version in favor of Lucille Ball, who was then at the tail end of her her celebrity as the biggest comedienne on television. When it finally debuted around Easter 1974, reviews were scathing and the film was a major flop. It didn't help that the brassy musical comedies that were big in the 60's had gone out of style by the mid-70's. What happened here? Let's head down to Beekman Place in New York City, where the party is just getting started, and find out...
The Story: For Mame Dennis (Ball), every day is an adventure. It's the Roaring 20's, and she's determined to roar right along with it, especially after she adopts her late brother's son Patrick (Kirby Furlong). She wants to show her "little love" and everyone around her, including Patrick's shy nanny Agnes (Connell), how to live life to the fullest. Trips to speakeasies and fire houses and schools where children run around naked may amuse Patrick, but it doesn't delight his conservative trustee, Mr. Babcock (John McGiver). Babcock has him taken away, just as the Depression hits.
Mame first gets a job in a "terribly modern operetta" starring her friend Vera Charles (Arthur), but she forgets her one line. She goes through a series of jobs, until she meets the handsome and charming southerner Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Preston) while working as a saleswoman in a department store. They end up getting married after she charms his family during a wild fox hunt. Beau dies in a skiing accident, leaving Mame back in the black but alone. She and Vera decide that Agnes is their next project, but she gets a little too into the "life is a banquet" thing and comes home pregnant. She's even less happy when a now-grown Patrick (Bruce Davidson) announces that he's going to marry a snotty college girl from Connecticut (Doria Cook-Nelson). Mame has to find someone more appropriate for Patrick while helping Agnes with her delicate condition, too.
The Song and Dance: Most of the complaints centered on Lucille Ball's performance, claiming she was miscast. I thought she was just fine, especially during comic set pieces like the roller skating sequence after she meets Beauregard and the wacky fox hunt. Arthur and Connell are even better repeating their Broadway roles, and Preston makes for an especially charming southern gentleman. The costumes are a lot of fun, from Mame's 20's lounging outfits to that stunning red gown with the massive fan trim she wears to her party for the Upsons in the late 1940's.
Favorite Number: "We Need a Little Christmas" is probably the best-known song from the show, and the number based after it is too adorable. Mame comes home from her sales clerk job and decides to cheer everyone up by celebrating early. (I love Agnes doubling as a tree covered in tinsel garlands.) Robert Preston gets a touching ballad Jerry Herman wrote expressively for the film, "Loving You," performed during the montage of Mame and Beau's decade-long honeymoon. Ball is hysterical flubbing her line in "The Man in the Moon."
Honestly, the movie is worth seeing just for Beatrice Arthur and Lucille Ball going at each other in the classic friends song "Bosom Buddies." They're just too funny in that number; their expressions at each bit of sarcasm is perfect.
What I Don't Like: Ball's singing voice was never terribly good, and while that works for chorus songs or in the comic "Bosom Buddies," her croaking does the dramatic ballad "If He Walked Into My Life" no favors. The soft-focus filters used to make Ball look younger just makes the film look out of focus at some points.
The Big Finale: I think the critics have been way too rough on this one for years, especially those who saw Landsbury in the stage show. If you love Lucy, the original book or movie, or big, bold musical comedy, you'll want to give Mame another chance at life, too.
Home Media: Ball's ongoing status as a major icon of comedy is probably the reason this one can be found on most formats; it was just released to Blu-Ray by the Warner Archives last week.
DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Hello Dolly!
20th Century Fox, 1969
Directed By Gene Kelly
Starring Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, and Marianne McAndrew
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
The Story: Dolly Levi (Streisand) is a matchmaker (and pretty much everything else) in 1890 New York City who has been engaged by wealthy feed store owner Horace Vandergelder (Matthau) to find a husband for his niece Ermengarde (Joyce Ames). Horace has his own interest in Irene Malloy (McAndrew), who runs a hat shop with her friend Minnie Faye (E.J Peaker). They're not the only ones visiting New York, either. Dolly encourages Horace's clerks Cornelius (Crawford) and Barnaby (Danny Locklin) to close the feed store and head to the big city in search of excitement and their first romances. She also brings together Ermengarde with her artist sweetheart Ambrose (Tommy Tune).
After a disastrous afternoon at Irene and Minnie's shop, everyone finally ends up at the Harmonia Gardens restaurant, Dolly's old favorite stomping grounds. A friend of Dolly's (Judy Knaiz) keeps Horace from fleeing while Dolly makes her big entrance. He's not as happy when she ends up judging a dancing contest...and his clerks and niece are involved in it. Dolly has to figure out how to bring all these couples together...including Horace and herself.
The Song and Dance: Let's get the elephant out of the room. Yes, Barbara Streisand was probably too young to be playing Dolly. Honestly, she's having so much fun (especially in "So Long, Dearie"), it doesn't really matter. Walter Matthau is even better as the cranky object of her affections. This movie was so expensive, it almost bankrupted Fox, but it was money well-spent. There's so many wonderful details of 1890 New York and Yonkers bursting from every frame, you can spend a viewing alone trying to catch them all. The cinematography's nice too, especially on some of the bigger numbers like "Dancing" and "Before the Parade Passes By."
Favorite Number: Kelly and choreographer Michael Todd are at their best in vigorous ensemble pieces like "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," and the title song. "Before the Parade Passes By" features a powerhouse performance from Streisand and one of the most expansive and realistic parades ever on film. Crawford's lovely "It Only Takes a Moment" and the hilarious "Elegance" are also fun.
What I Don't Like: Crawford's American accent keeps going in and out and is distracting at times. Like many musicals of the late 60's-early 70's, it's too big, with too much going on. Pretty much everyone working on the film, from Kelly and Kidd to Streisand and Matthau, clashed, making this a troubled production all around, and the tension does show on occasion, especially during the second half.
The Big Finale: Critics have been rough on it since it came out, and it took it being one of the first movies released on home video in 1978 for it to recoup it's costs. (Despite it being one of the biggest hits of 1969, it still lost money.) I think they're too rough on it and am more inclined to agree with big Dolly fan Wall-E. This is a charming romp if you're a fan of Streisand or Matthau or like your musicals as big and bold as possible.
Curtain Calls: DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime
Directed By Gene Kelly
Starring Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, and Marianne McAndrew
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
The Story: Dolly Levi (Streisand) is a matchmaker (and pretty much everything else) in 1890 New York City who has been engaged by wealthy feed store owner Horace Vandergelder (Matthau) to find a husband for his niece Ermengarde (Joyce Ames). Horace has his own interest in Irene Malloy (McAndrew), who runs a hat shop with her friend Minnie Faye (E.J Peaker). They're not the only ones visiting New York, either. Dolly encourages Horace's clerks Cornelius (Crawford) and Barnaby (Danny Locklin) to close the feed store and head to the big city in search of excitement and their first romances. She also brings together Ermengarde with her artist sweetheart Ambrose (Tommy Tune).
After a disastrous afternoon at Irene and Minnie's shop, everyone finally ends up at the Harmonia Gardens restaurant, Dolly's old favorite stomping grounds. A friend of Dolly's (Judy Knaiz) keeps Horace from fleeing while Dolly makes her big entrance. He's not as happy when she ends up judging a dancing contest...and his clerks and niece are involved in it. Dolly has to figure out how to bring all these couples together...including Horace and herself.
The Song and Dance: Let's get the elephant out of the room. Yes, Barbara Streisand was probably too young to be playing Dolly. Honestly, she's having so much fun (especially in "So Long, Dearie"), it doesn't really matter. Walter Matthau is even better as the cranky object of her affections. This movie was so expensive, it almost bankrupted Fox, but it was money well-spent. There's so many wonderful details of 1890 New York and Yonkers bursting from every frame, you can spend a viewing alone trying to catch them all. The cinematography's nice too, especially on some of the bigger numbers like "Dancing" and "Before the Parade Passes By."
Favorite Number: Kelly and choreographer Michael Todd are at their best in vigorous ensemble pieces like "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," and the title song. "Before the Parade Passes By" features a powerhouse performance from Streisand and one of the most expansive and realistic parades ever on film. Crawford's lovely "It Only Takes a Moment" and the hilarious "Elegance" are also fun.
What I Don't Like: Crawford's American accent keeps going in and out and is distracting at times. Like many musicals of the late 60's-early 70's, it's too big, with too much going on. Pretty much everyone working on the film, from Kelly and Kidd to Streisand and Matthau, clashed, making this a troubled production all around, and the tension does show on occasion, especially during the second half.
The Big Finale: Critics have been rough on it since it came out, and it took it being one of the first movies released on home video in 1978 for it to recoup it's costs. (Despite it being one of the biggest hits of 1969, it still lost money.) I think they're too rough on it and am more inclined to agree with big Dolly fan Wall-E. This is a charming romp if you're a fan of Streisand or Matthau or like your musicals as big and bold as possible.
Curtain Calls: DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime
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