Happy Halloween! - Scooby Doo: Music of the Vampire

Warner Bros/Hanna-Barbara, 2012

Voices of Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, and Grey DeLisle

Directed by David Block

Music and Lyrics by Randy Rogel and Andy Strummer

Scooby Doo, Where are You began in 1969, and was an immediate hit among kids, who loved the antics of ever-hungry Shaggy and Scooby Do. Those meddling teens of Mystery Incorporated have been back in many different forms and programs since then, including this made-for-home media film. While episodes of the franchise have occasionally featured a music-related guest star or incorporated a musical number, this is the first - and to date, only - time they've tried a flat-out musical. How does it compare to other Scooby shows and films? Let's start with, not the kids, but bayou hermit Tulie (Jim Cummings), who'll tell us more about their involvement with the vampires and their strange rituals, and find out...

The Story: Having been worn out by their previous case, the members of Mystery Inc decide a vacation is in order. Shaggy (Lillard) and Scooby (Welker) are hoping it'll be quiet, monster-free, and filled with food...but they only get their last wish. Mystery-loving Velma (Cohn) takes them to Petit Chauve Souis Ville, home of vampire specialist Vincent Van Helsing (Jeff Bennett). 

Van Helsing is hoping the local carnival "Vampire-Palooza" will restore his family's good name and the popularity of his factual vampire books, but his books and the carnival are a bust. People would rather see teen vampire romances and watch a group of performers who live like real vampires perform rituals onstage. Their vampire resurrection ritual gets a little too real when it seems to bring the centuries-old vampire Valdronya to life! 

While Velma joins Van Helsing to figure out what's going on here, Fred takes up with anti-vampire crusader and town mayor Jesper Poubelle (Cummings) to pick up the latest in vampire-catching gear, and Shaggy is convinced that he's been, like, totally bitten by a vampire and is about to turn into one. They all have to join the crusade if they're going to save Daphne from Valdonya and the hypnotized actors, who think she's the Vampire's bride to be!

The Animation: About what you'd expect from a direct-to-DVD movie made a decade ago. The colors are clean and sharp, and while nothing to write home about, the characters move well and the backgrounds are reasonably detailed, especially in the bayou and onstage. There's some decent special effects with the vampire dances and rituals and Valdronya's appearances as well. 

The Song and Dance: Well, I give Hanna-Barbara credit for trying something different with the characters. The vampire scheme is really elaborate, going slightly beyond "bad guy running around with a mask" and into more credible illusions. The kids who "live" their horror roles have a few decent gags, especially when the pale and handsome Bram (Christian Campbell) flirts with Daphne and makes Fred jealous. There's some funny moments when Scooby and Shaggy think the latter's slowly transforming into a vampire about midway through the film, too. 

Favorite Number: The kids sing about how they're "Done With Monsters" in the Mystery Machine on their way to what they think will be a relaxing trip, imagining all the non-mysterious things they'll do when they arrive. "Valdronya Returns" is the vampire actors' big number as they writhe and revel in their crazy special effects, hoping for the majestic evil vampire to rise again. Bram's romantic duet with Daphne hypnotizes her into becoming a bride, asking "Do You Want to Live Forever?"

What I Don't Like: This franchise doesn't really work as a musical. "Kids chasing people in masks" is a weird enough premise as it is. Throwing in musical numbers doesn't really add a whole lot. It doesn't help that DeLisle is the only regular actor who can sing. Cohn and Welker didn't do their own singing, and Lillard's "Scooby and Me," when Shaggy and Scooby claim they'll be together no matter what, is painful. Plentiful spoofs of the Twilight vampire romance series and other teen horror tropes date the story rather badly, too. 

The Big Finale: In the end, I can understand why Hanna-Barbara never tried anything quite like this with Scooby and Mystery Inc again. Only come here if you're a really huge fan of Scooby Doo and absolutely must see all of the films and shows. 

Home Media: As a relatively recent film released direct to DVD and streaming, this is easy to find in all major formats.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - Phantom of the Paradise

20th Century Fox, 1974

Starring Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, and George Memmoli

Directed by Brian DePalma

Music and Lyrics by Paul Williams

Our second Phantom adaptation is about as far away from the stately Universal film as a rock concert is from an opera gala. Director Brian DePalma moves the story into the present day, mixing it with elements of Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray to create one of the truly unique musicals of filmdom. Let's start at Death Records, the company owned by Swan, just as he's auditioning new talent to find out just how bizarre a Phantom tale can get...

The Story: Mysterious producer Swan (Williams) hears eager young composer Winslow Leach (Finley) play his original rock concerto based on the story of Faust. Swan claims he likes it and will use it to open his new concert venue the Paradise, but even after a month, Leach hears nothing about it. He goes to talk to Swan, only to hear pretty singing hopeful Phoenix (Harper) and several other women performing his song. Turns out Swan and his assistant Arnold Philibin (Memmoli) stole his music, publishing it under Swan's name. He tries to see Swan, only to be thrown out, beaten, arrested, and tossed into jail at Sing Sing.

When Winslow hears Swan's 50's revival group the Juicy Fruits made a recording of his song. Raging angry that someone could let someone else sing his music, he makes his way to the Death Records plant to destroy the recordings. Unfortunately, this ends with him falling into a record press, crushing his vocal cords and half of his face. Now sporting a mask and a black cape, he calls himself "The Phantom" and attempts to sabotage Swan's Paradise theater. Swan offers him a deal to use his rock opera and have Phoenix play the lead...but first, he hires glam rock singer Beef (Gerrit Graham) to take the lead role, then tries to lure Phoenix into a bad deal of her own. Winslow is thirsting for revenge on Swan and determined to learn his big secret...even if it takes both of them down.

The Song and Dance: Wow. This was a bizarre one. Williams, who usually played comic roles, came across well here as the scheming music producer making soul-stealing lifetime contracts while being under a nasty one himself. Frawley almost matches him as the raging composer who first wants his work to be acknowledged, then sung in the way he desired. Graham is the stand-out in the supporting cast with his brief but memorable role as the aptly-named glam rocker who is a lot more sensible than his screechy vocals and glittering costumes would make one think. DePalma's dynamic direction gives us some wonderful shots of the Paradise and Swan's world in all its electric, decadent Disco Decade glamor.

Favorite Number: Like last year's cult flop Halloween movie Rocky Horror Picture Show, this one kicks off with a distinctive opening number that gives us an idea of what's to come. The Juicy Fruits, Swan's doo-wop revival group, performs "Good-Bye, Eddie, Good-Bye" onstage, the 50's-style tale of a young man who literally dies for his music. Winslow performs "Faust," his big rock concerto, three times. We first hear it when he's auditioning for Swan, then as a brief duet with Phoenix after he meets her at the audition, and then when he's expanding it into a full opera. The singers who performed as the Juicy Fruits earlier become the Undead for "Someone Super Like You," the spooky chorus number at the opening of the Paradise. Beef jumps in to shriek "Life at Last," spoofing all the noisy theatrics the glam rock movement was notorious for.

Trivia: Williams was the singing voice for The Phantom. Raymond Louis Kennedy dubbed Graham.

What I Don't Like: Did I mention how weird the plot is? A lot of this movie just doesn't make sense. When the smartest guy in the film is the coked-up glam rocker named Beef, you know a movie's weird. Apparently, the supernatural/Dorian Gray angle was added later, and it does seem kind of tacked on. They probably could have done the whole evil-rock-producer thing without bringing in the devil thing. Many critics at the time pointed out how overdone the rock spoof is; it may be even more now, after many such satires have come and gone.

The Big Finale: If you love your scares on the campy side like Rocky Horror, are a fan of Williams or DePalma's work, or want a little strange romance with your horror, this is absolutely worth checking out.

Home Media: Out of print on DVD on this side of the pond, but the Blu-Ray is readily available, and it's easy to find on streaming. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

The Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Universal, 1943

Starring Claude Rains, Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, and Edgar Barrier

Directed by Arthur Lubin

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we explore two very different retellings of the classic 1910 horror novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera. Universal made a second go at the story after the famous silent version from 1925 with Lon Chaney. This one would feature full Technicolor, the same sumptuous sets, costumes as glamorous as possible during war time, Nelson Eddy fresh from MGM, and Universal's newest soprano find Susanna Foster. Does it ascend to the same heights as the Chaney film, or will the chandelier come down on this show? Let's begin at the Paris Opera, just in time for a performance, and find out...

The Story: Enrique Claudin (Rains) played the violin at the Opera for twenty years, but he's quickly dismissed when the head conductor discovers his left hand can no longer function. He threw all of his money into anonymously funding singing lessons for Christine DuBois (Foster), a talented young member of the chorus. He tries to sell his latest composition to make money, only for the publisher Pleyel (Miles Mander) to constantly turn him down. When he hears Franz Liszt (Fritz Lieber) playing it, he thinks Pleyel stole it and strangles him to death. His horrified secretary throws etching acid at Claudin's face, disfiguring him. He runs off and hides under the opera.

Meanwhile, Christine has her own problems. She's being pursued romantically by robust baritone Anatole Garron (Eddy) and clever police officer Raoul Dubert (Barrier), but frankly prefers her singing career over either of them. The opera favors spoiled diva Blancarolli (Jane Farrar), who loathes being upstaged. The mysterious Phantom who's been stealing from the opera won't put up with her tantrums or shoving Christine out of the spotlight...and he's determined to get his golden-haired singing angel into the starring role no matter what.

The Song and Dance: This version is light on horror and heavy on music, making it of most interest to classical and opera fans. Some of the opera sequences are beautifully staged, and the color is exquisite. Rains is no Chaney, but he still does pretty well as the soft-spoken musician who unleashes his homicidal side when he thinks he's lost his composition and his love. 

Favorite Number: "Lullaby of the Bells" is the composition by Claudin that causes all the fuss. Eddy and Foster give it a lovely performance early in the film, when we see Christine at her lessons. The three opera sequences are all colorful and exquisitely sung. The first excerpt, from Marta, is the only real opera used. Amour Et Glouire, the sequence where Blancarolli almost ends up off-stage for good, and the finale Le Prince Masque Du Caucasus are fictional, made up from the music of Chopin and Tchaikovsky respectively.  

Trivia: In the original script, Claudin was Christine's father, who had abandoned her and her mother in favor of a musical career. It was cut from the final draft, but it's never really clear in the film why he sponsors her, other than vague attraction. 

This is the only Universal monster movie of the 30's and 40's to win Oscars, for color cinematography and Set Design. 

What I Don't Like: This isn't really much of a horror movie, or a musical, either. On one hand, I'm glad they opted to end with the men being friends and Christine choosing a career over either of them. You don't often see a musical today end with a woman choosing a career over romance, let alone one from 1943. On the other hand, it leaves the film feeling rather anti-climatic. Wish there'd been more of the men confronting Claudin before they bring the roof down. Claude Rains requested that his disfigurement makeup be played down...but it just makes him look a little wrinkled, rather than genuinely frightening. 

The Big Finale: Don't come here expecting to be really scared. This is mainly for fans of Rains, Eddy, classical music, or the Universal horror roster. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all major formats. It's currently streaming for free on Vudu.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Vudu

Musicals On TV - Z.O.M.B.I.E.S 2

Disney, 2020

Starring Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Trevor Tordjman, Kylee Russell

Directed by Paul Hoen

Music and Lyrics by various

Despite (or perhaps because of) its strange blending of horror tropes, racism parables, and High School Musical teen clichés, Z.O.M.B.I.E.S was a surprise hit in 2018. It was big enough for Disney to bring it back for a second outing in February, one of only two Disney Channel Original films to debut this year. How does the second story of the zombies and cheerleaders of Seabrook High fare? Let's begin with an animated retelling of the early years of Seabrook, learning how the settlers fought off werewolves for a moonstone that became the source of power for the town, and find out...

The Story: Addison (Donnelly) is away at cheer camp, which is now integrated with zombies and humans. Her cousin Bucky (Tordjman) intends to campaign for student president and is giving up being captain of the squad, a job Addison would love to have. On their way back from camp, Addison's concerned zombie boyfriend Zed jumps on the bus in an attempt to ask her to "Prawn," Seabrook's version of prom. The bus runs off the road, and after she gets lost in the woods, Addison swears she sees werewolves.

The werewolf kids, including the alpha female of their pack Willa (Chandler Kinney), eventually crash the school. Their discovery is already stirring up a lot of anti-monster feelings in Seabrook, to the point where the anti-zombie laws were reinstated and the zombies can't attend Prawn. Zed runs for class president against Bucky in order to be able to ask Addison to the prom. Addison, however, is intrigued by the werewolves, who are totally themselves...and the werewolves are convinced that she's the "Great Alpha," the one who'll help them regain the moonstone and their home.

The Song and Dance: I give Disney credit for attempting the racism parallels at all. Many adults, let alone teens, can likely relate to Addison's desire to "find her own pack" and Zed's to fit in at all cost, even if he sacrifices a part of himself. The werewolves are also fun to watch as they (sometimes intentionally) stir things up; Kinney and online star Baby Ariel are having the most fun as the head of the group who doesn't appreciate Addison invading her pack and the pack's toughest member. The 60's-inspired sets and costumes remain colorful and fun. I love the colorful exterior of the high school, which intentionally resembles the exterior of a vintage 60's mall. 

Favorite Number: Once again, the chorus numbers stand out. "We Got This" begins the film with a burst of energy as Addison and Zed explain the changes in Seabrook and their lives since the last movie. The werewolves have the killer "We Own the Night" as they sing of how much they love who they are and being a part of their pack. Addison joins the werewolves as they make her over to look more like them and  "Call to the Wild." "Flesh & Bone" is the big number for all of the kids as they remind their parents that they're all walking, talking, living and breathing...and aren't as different as they look on the surface. 

What I Don't Like: This is a rehash of the first film, with Zed joining a school institution to impress Addison and Addison trying to figure out who she is with the "dangerous cool monster" kids. Everyone automatically forgets what they learned in the first film the moment the werewolves appear on the scene, and it's really annoying. The makeup and special effects show their TV origins rather badly, too. Once again, they don't look like zombies or werewolves. They look like normal kids in bad green makeup and wearing slightly ragged fur-trimmed jackets. 

The Big Finale: This seems to have divided audiences in February. Some wildly praised the movie's leads and willingness to tackle sensitive topics; others called it out for being a rehash and the dull music. I still think I'm the wrong audience for these movies. If you're more of a horror fan than me or have kids who are in the appropriate 8 to 14 age range, you may find a lot more in the campy tales of Seabrook High than I did.

Home Media: As the most recent movie I've reviewed, this is very easily found on DVD and streaming, including free on Disney Plus with a subscription.

DVD

Disney Plus

Alleujah! The Devil's Carnival

Cleopatra Films, 2015

Starring Paul Sorvino, Adam Pascal, Terrance Zdunich, and Emilie Autumn

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

Music by Saar Hendleman; Lyrics by Terrance Zdunich

The Devil's Carnival went over so well on the touring circuit, the creators decided they were able to go ahead and make a feature-length, slightly more elaborate sequel. Here, they trade the "50's/literal amusement park from Hell" aesthetic for a "Golden Age of Hollywood" theme as we find out more about the (not-so) heavenly counterpart of the Devil's Carnival and how the Painted Doll came to Hell. This time, let's start with a train full of condemned souls on their way to Heaven, including Ms. Merrywood (Briana Evigan)...

The Story: Merrywood finds a horseshoe pendant while on the train. She's questioned by The Agent (Pascal) and the Translators on arrival. Turns out the pendant once belonged to the Painted Doll (Autumn), formerly known as June. As Lucifer (Zdunich) relates in another Aesop's Fable, she was once an "applicant" who was best friends with the shy and mousy Cora (Lyndon Smith). She asked a few too many questions about banned books and had too much ambition of Heaven for God's liking, so he ordered the Agent to seduce her and expose her for what she is.

The Agent takes June to a nightclub and tries to have something like an affair with her, all while the "Watchword" (Barry Bostwick), a gossip columnist, watches over her and goads Cora. June tries to take one of the banned books, only to be caught...and the Agent refuses to save her. She's beaten and cast into Hell, where Lucifer repaints her and intends to use her for his war against Heaven. Heaven may be more prepared than he thinks, but to give the Devil his due, he has his own tricks...

The Song and Dance: And once again, song and dance are the operative words. The glittering Art Deco setting allows for some fairly exuberant numbers and absolutely gorgeous sets and costumes for the budget. Autumn is the stand-out here in her expanded role as the beauty cast out of Heaven for not being a perfect follower; Pascal also does well as the young "lap dog" who never wanted to do anything besides impress his "God" boss. 

Favorite Number: We're introduced to June, Cora, the "Applicants" (angels), and Bousman's vision of a 30's Heaven in the robust Charleston "All Aboard (Everybody's Doin' the Ark)"...but even that doesn't end quite perfectly when one God's "Ladies of Virture" is carted off. David Hasselhoff gets to camp it up as the Designer with an eye for flair and un-heavenly sweatshops in "Only by Design." "Down at the Midnight Rectory" is the big night club dance routine, as angelic jiggerbuggers get down and dirty to the Agent's swinging number. God comes in with a lady on his arm and the big ballad spoof, "Cloud Serenade." "The Watchword's Hour" has fun with vintage radio shows and gossip sheets as he breathlessly relates all the details of June and the Agent's affair. "After the Fall" is June's feelings when she comes to the Devil's Carnival and is remade into the Painted Doll.

What I Don't Like: I'm not into religion myself, and even I found the depiction here of Heaven as being near-Nazi Land as being...unsettling, to say the least. While it remains fairly restrained gore-wise compared to some modern slasher films, there's still violence, some heavy swears, a fair amount of blood, and those unsettling images of what makes "Heaven" and what makes "Hell" I mentioned. Like the first film, this absolutely not for children. 

The Big Finale: I'm not a horror fan...but to my surprise, I really enjoyed both these movies. If you are a horror fan, a fan of grotesque fantasy, or like your musicals and/or horror on the colorful, brassy side, both of these independent movies are well worth tracking down. 

Home Media: DVD or streaming are the way to go here; the Blu-Ray is expensive. It's currently free on YouTube and with a subscription to Amazon Prime.

DVD

YouTube

The Devil's Carnival

Independent, 2012

Starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes, Terrance Zdunich

Directed by Darren Lynn Bouseman

Music by Saar Hendelman; Lyrics by Terrance Zdunich

We begin this year's Halloween reviews with a series of low-budget fright-fests made for the independent film circuit in the mid-2010's. Bouseman specializes in horror, having started out directing movies in the gory Saw franchise in the 2000's. Thankfully, this one tones down the gore somewhat in favor of glittery numbers in a (literally) hellish fable. How does the story of three souls seeking redemption amid Hell's amusement park fare? Let's start with the tragic ends of those three lost souls and find out...

The Story: The Devil (Zdunich) eagerly awaits the arrival of three new lost souls to his endless carnival. The first is John (Flanery), a man who committed suicide after he couldn't handle the death of his young son Daniel. Ms. Merrywood (Evigan) is a thief who died in a shootout, while naïve teenager Tamara (Lowndes) was murdered by her angry boyfriend. On their arrival, the women throw themselves right back into the same traps. Ms. Merrywood follows a pamphlet to a large diamond, only to lose a game of chance to herself. Tamara lets a handsome 50's greaser who calls himself "The Scorpian" out of a cage, but he makes her a part of his knife act before betraying her. John could face the same fate, if he can't learn to let go of his son and his grief.

The Song and Dance: And given this is an opera, with few spoken words, "song and dance" is the operative phrase. I'm very impressed. This is well-done for a hour-long, low-budget film, particularly the delightfully grotesque makeup and costumes. Flanery and Zdunich get top honors as the grieving father who only wants his child back and the most affable devil you'll ever meet. I also like Evigan as the greedy and self-centered Ms. Merrywood, and Emilie Autumn as the Painted Doll with the cracked face.

Favorite Number: We open with a montage of how our three lost souls ended up in hell while God (Paul Sorvino) throws away "broken" dolls he's working on in "Heaven's All Around." "The Devil's Carnival" introduces the Carnies and the Carnival itself, giving our three protagonists (and the audience) a taste of what's to come. The Twin becomes Ms. Merrywood's mirror image for her game, allowing Evigan to lay into "Beautiful Stranger." The hobo clown (Ivan Moody) demands "A Penny for a Tale" as he reveals how the fable "The Dog and the Mirror" relates to Ms. Merrywood's story. Zdunich offers "Grace for Sale" to John in his segment. "In All My Dreams I Drown" is a sequence with Tamara falling for the Devil in the credits as she trust yet another "bad" man she probably shouldn't.

Trivia: The "Drown" segment was originally intended for the film proper, but it was decided it didn't flow right and was moved to the credits.

What I Don't Like: This is a darn strange film. There's echoes of Chicago in the "glamorous entertainment used as metaphor for Hell" theme, and if you're not into the "music commenting on the action" format, you may not get into this. While not nearly as bloody as the Saw films, there is some blood and gore (including a stabbing and someone biting off an ear). Despite the carnival theme, this is absolutely, positively not for children. It's also not for those who like their horror or musicals quieter or more subtle. This is loud, flashy, and glittery.

The Big Finale: If you like your horror on the glittery, colorful, slightly bloody side, this is one carnival worth getting in line for.

Home Media: You're better off streaming this one or looking for the DVD/Blu Ray combo pack that comes with a ton of extras. 

DVD/Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Hansel & Gretel (1987)

The Cannon Group, 1987

Starring David Warner, Hugh Pollard, Nicola Stapleton, Cloris Leachman

Directed by Len Talan

Music by Englebert Humperdink; Lyrics by Enid Futterman and Nancy Weems

Here's another entry in the Cannon Movie Tales, a series of film fairy tales B-picture specialists The Cannon Group made between 1986 and 1989. Given the original story is already pretty spooky, I thought this would be a great way to transition into the horror musicals I have planned for the rest of the month. How does this adaptation of the Grimm's Fairy Tale about the two children lured by a witch in the woods looks now? Let's start with the children and their father in the village and find out...

The Story: Hansel (Pollard) and Gretel (Stapleton) live just outside the village in the woods with their father (Warner) and mother (Emily Richard). The family is very poor, thanks to a famine and the father's inability to bully his clients into giving him the money they owe. The frustrated mother is at the end of her rope, especially after the children accidentally let the family cow in and knock over a big pitcher of milk. To get them out of her hair, she sends them to pick berries. Hansel drops bread crumbs, but birds eat the crumbs, and they end up lost.

As they search for their way home, the duo discover a tempting house made of gingerbread and candy in the middle of the woods. A little old woman (Leachman) invites them in and offers them lots of food. Hansel thinks they've found heaven...at least until they discover that the woman is a witch, and she wants to turn them both into gingerbread, too!

The Song and Dance: This may be one of the most straightforward adaptations of this story I've ever seen, and it's all the better for it. Using the lush music from the opera keeps the score from sounding as tinny as the other films in the series, and some of the cinematography in the woods isn't bad. Leachman has a wonderful time chewing the scenery to atoms as the witch, the kids are a lot of fun, and Warner and Howard aren't bad as the beleaguered parents. 

I really like how this movie plays the mother. Most versions of Hansel and Gretel stick to later retellings with a stepmother who insists on leaving the kids alone in the woods. Here, the mother isn't hateful and does love her children. She's just fed up with their naughty behavior, especially after the incident with the milk. 

Favorite Number: David Warner doesn't do too badly by the jaunty opening, "Oh What a Day." Two puppeteers and their friends introduce the kids and townspeople to "Punch and Judy's Dance" in the village. The kids have an adorable reprise later at the cottage, dancing and playing when they're supposed to be looking after the milk and the cow. Leachman entices the kids with "Sugar and Spice" after they've discovered her candy home.

What I Don't Like: Although the cheap production isn't as obvious here as in other Cannon Movie Tales, it does occasionally bleed through. The finale, with the pink stuff gushing out of the candy house after they destroy the witch, is especially weird. As per the original story, the movie can occasionally get more than a little grotesque, with the scary witch turning ducks into gingerbread. 

The Big Finale: One of the best Cannon Movie Tales. Show this to elementary school-age kids who love fairy tales and are up to dealing with the fairly scary witch.

Home Media: The DVD is wildly out of print and expensive (and early prints cut out a lot of the scary stuff), but it's pretty easy to find in full on streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - The Opposite Sex (1956)

MGM, 1956

Starring June Allyson, Joan Collins, Leslie Nielson, and Dolores Gray

Directed by David Miller

Music by Nicholas Brodszky and others; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn and others

By the mid-50's, spurred by the popularity of the genre on TV and the stage, musicals became bigger, brighter, and bolder. This all-star retelling of the play and classic 1939 movie The Women features some of the most popular female musical stars of the stage and screen, and it's big in every way possible, from the colorful sets to the brassy numbers to the ladies' catfights. How does this story of how a group of New York socialites deal with the divorce of one of them look now? Let's head to Sydney's, a favorite hair salon among New York's wealthiest - and most gossipy - women, and find out...

The Story: Former singer Kay Hillard (Allyson) is married to wealthy stage producer Steven Hillard (Nielson). They're about to celebrate their tenth anniversary when Sylvia Fowler (Gray), a gossipy friend of Kay's, tells her Steven is having an affair with gold-digging chorus girl Crystal (Collins). Angry and hurt, Kay gets a Reno divorce, leaving him free to marry Crystal.

She joins two other divorcees - the Countess de Brion (Agnes Moorehead) and Gloria Dahl (Ann Miller) - at a ranch for divorcees. While there, they're all wooed by handsome cowboy Buck (Jeff Richards). He ends up with the newly-divorced Sylvia, but neither he nor Crystal are being faithful. Kay's little daughter Debbie (Sandy Descher) lets it slip that she heard Crystal having a phone conversation indicating that she's hardly a doting little wife. That gives Kay the ammunition she needs to get her husband back...and get even with the conniving, catty witches who ruined her marriage.

The Song and Dance: You can't fault the cast in this tale of marital infidelity and what women will do to get - and keep - their men and their security. Some of the biggest film and stage stars of the mid-50's can be found here, along with the up-and-coming Joan Collins (way before she portrayed a more calculating gold-digger in Dynasty). My favorite sequence by far is the hilarious cat fight between Miller and Gray after the latter learns that the former ended up with her previous husband. It builds up well to a very funny ending. The Metrocolor production is stunning, with gorgeous, glittering sets and costumes representing the highest echelons of New York society and the down-home world of the Reno ranch for divorcees.

Favorite Number: "Yellow Gold" is the number performed by the chorus - including Collins - featuring hundreds of bananas that makes pregnant mother Edith Potter (Joan Blondell) so sick. Allyson sings "Now Baby Now" backed by a male chorus playing purple base cellos at her radio show as she revels in her newly-free status. "Rock and Roll Tumbleweed" is Buck's big number at the club, and it's given a relaxed workout by Richards, backed by a country combo.

Trivia: This was the last movie for Charlotte Greenwood, who played the owner of the divorcees-only ranch, and would be June Allyson's last role at MGM. 

Jo Ann Greer dubbed June Allyson on the ballad "A Perfect Love." 

Yes, that is Dean Jones, who later starred in several Disney comedies in the 1960's and 70's and the stage musical Company, as the assistant stage manager and messenger in the beginning. 

Grace Kelly, Eleanor Parker, and Esther Williams were all considered for Kay Hillard.

What I Don't Like: First of all, the dubbing on "A Perfect Love" is badly done and way too obvious. It doesn't sound like Allyson's voice at all. Second, the only people who get to do what they're good at are Allyson and Collins. Miller doesn't dance, Gray only sings over the opening credits, Blondell is hardly the mother type, and Greenwood and Ann Sheridan (as Kay's sympathetic best friend) have little to do. The songs are either performed by Allyson or the chorus, other than the one song for Richards. I would have liked to have heard from other characters, too, including the other divorcees. 

The original film and play are all-female...and maybe the musical should have been, too. The men don't really add much to the proceedings besides Richards' "Rock and Roll Tumbleweeds" number and as hunks of meat to fight over. If they had to be there, there should have been a duet in there somewhere. And this whole thing really goes on for way too long. The chorus numbers are nice, but once again serve to pad the story, rather than move it along.

The Big Finale: Despite the excellent cast, I can understand why this one didn't do well when it came out. Only recommended if you're a huge fan of any of the ladies here or the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's.

Home Media: On DVD and streaming, the former in a remastered edition from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Lili

MGM, 1953

Starring Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Jean-Paul Aumont, and Zsa Zsa Gabor

Directed by Charles Walters

Music by Bronslaw Caper; Lyrics by Helen Deustch

This sweet little story of a lonely girl who befriends a group of puppets, believing them to be real, was a surprise hit in 1953. It would be one of Leslie Caron's best-regarded performances and garnered her an Oscar nod, and gave Ferrer's career a boost. How does this whimsical tale look today? Let's start in a small town in the French countryside on market day, just as Lili (Caron) arrives, and find out...

The Story: Lili seeks the town's baker, but he's dead when she arrives. She's taken in by Marcos (Aumont), a magician with a carnival, who gets her a job as a waitress. Her job ends quickly when she spends more time watching Marcos and his assistant Rosalie (Gabor) in their magic act than serving tables. About to throw herself off the tightrope, she's stopped by the voices of the puppets in the puppet show. She interacts with them and treats them as if they were real, which enchants the crowds. 

The crowds may love Lili's new act, but she doesn't love the man in charge of the puppets, Paul Berthalet (Ferrer). Paul was once a great dancer, but his career ended after he injured his leg during World War II. He's been bitter ever since. Any good and kind feelings he has are filtered through his creations. Lili's more interested in Marcos, until she learns the truth about him. Now Paul has to reveal his true feelings, before Lili walks out on him and his creations for good.

The Song and Dance: What a lovely, adorable film! Caron is truly enchanting as the innocent young woman who wants nothing more than to love and be loved and thinks she's found real friends in the puppets. No wonder everyone at the carnival had fun watching them. It really is a delight to see her chat with them, and the puppets all have equally distinct personalities. The costumes and Oscar-nominated sets are the appropriate mix of real-life French country simplicity and the glitter and spangle of the circus. Ferrer also comes off well as the unhappy former dancer who thinks his new career is beneath him.

Favorite Number: Along with the lilting hit "Hi Lili, Hi Lo," which Lili performs with the puppets when she first encounters them, Caron gets to show off her dancing chops with two extended dance fantasy sequences. Lili imagines herself as a glamorous gamine who is able to finally capture Marcos' roving eye and make him see her as every bit as womanly as Rosalie. The finale has Lili imagining she's running off with human versions of the puppets and dancing happily with them...only to realize that they each represent a facet of Paul's personality. 

Trivia: Famous puppeteers Walton and O'Rourke created the puppets. They rarely appeared on TV; this would be one of the only recordings of their work.

Lili became the first film musical to be turned into a stage show. Carnival! opened on Broadway in 1961, with Anna Maria Alberghetti as Lili and Jerry Orbach as Paul. The show was a minor hit, running two years. 

What I Don't Like: I love Carnival! so much, I wish the film could be even more of a musical, with maybe one more dance sequence and songs for other characters besides Lili and the puppets. Speaking of the puppets, they can be a little creepy-looking at times, especially when they're represented by huge masks during Lili's fantasy dance towards the end. And obviously, this isn't for anyone who isn't into dance or fantasy, or are looking for a darker story.

The Big Finale: A truly charming and gentle film with sweet performances and some delightful dance routines. Highly recommended for lovers of dance, whimsical fantasy, or gentle romances.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the former from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy Columbus Day! - The Road to El Dorado

Dreamworks, 2000

Voices of Kevin Branagh, Kevin Kline, Rosie Perez, and Armande Assante

Directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul

Music by Elton John; Lyrics by Tim Rice

Uh, remember I said back in April that The Prince of Egypt was Dreamworks' only traditionally animated theatrical animated musical? Well...I was wrong. In my defense, this is far less traditional take on the genre. In 1995, Jeffery Katzenburg read a book on Hernan Cortes ransacking old Mexico and thought the Age of Discovery would be a great setting for a musical. By the late 90's, the darker, more adult story took a turn to the goofy as it was transformed into a comic adventure in the style of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road To... movies of the 1940's and 50's. It was a huge flop in 2000, but how does the tale of two con-artists who discover a lost city in the Mexican jungle look today? To find out, let's head to Spain, where Cortes (Jim Cummings) is recruiting men to join him on a quest to the New World, and find out...

The Story: While Cortes calls sailors to his ships, con men Tulio (Kline) and Miguel (Branagh) use rigged dice to win money off sailors...though ironically, they win a map to hidden treasure off one fairly. The guards (and an angry bull) chase them to the dock, where they hide in pickle barrels that are loaded onto Cortes' ship. They manage to escape, thanks to the horse Altivo (Frank Welker), and eventually make their way to shore.

Excited about the possibility of unlimited gold, Miguel convinces Tulio and Altivo to follow the map with him. After many mishaps, Tulio is about ready to give up when they run across a native woman (Perez) running from guards. When they notice how similar the two men and horse are to their totem, they bring them through the falls and into the sprawling city of El Dorado. The Chief (Edward James Olmos) believes them, but his blood-obsessed high priest Tzekel-Kan is more skeptical until the two seemingly stop a volcano from erupting. As Tulio gets to know opportunistic Chel better, Miguel gets to know the city. He's in love with the culture, and doesn't appreciate his partner chasing after the lady...but it'll take both of them to evade not only Tzekel-Kan's magic, but Cortes as well.

The Animation: Gorgeous enough to make you wish Dreamworks hadn't fully embraced computer animation after this bombed. The colors are brilliant and warm, the backdrops lush and extraordinarily detailed, especially in El Dorado. While some of the 3D computer effects haven't dated well, others still look good to this day - particularly the work they do to make the gold at the end look like real gold, rather than just yellow. 

The Song and Dance: This is one of the funniest animated musicals out there. Branagh and Kline recorded together, even having mock fights in the studio with plastic swords, and you can hear their delight in throwing off ad-libs. (Many of which were so witty, they made it into the finished film.) Perez more than matches them as the smart girl who sees the guys as her ticket out of El Dorado. The action is genuinely rousing and well-done, and Elton John's music is probably his second-best from a film after The Lion King. Hans Zimmer contributed a delightful Spanish-tinged background score as well. Armande Assante has a grand time chewing the jungle to ribbons as the priest who thinks sacrifices and fear are the way to govern the people of El Dorado.

Favorite Number: "The Trails We Blaze" shows mishap after mishap (mostly happening to Tulio) as the grifters and the horse follow the map through the jungles. "It's Tough to Be a God" gives us Tulio and Miguel's early views on their newfound status among the people of El Dorado, and it gets wilder and wilder and more psychedelic as the two grow more inebriated. "Without Question" is the lovely ballad that accompanies Miguel exploring the city and learning to appreciate its inhabitants. The heartbreaking "Friends Never Say Goodbye" accompanies the montage showing how Tulio and Miguel's relationship fractures, even as Tulio prepares to leave for Spain. The lilting "Someday Out of the Blue" on the end credits is one of John's finest ballads (and is my personal favorite John single).

What I Don't Like: A lot of critics at the time complained loudly about the cliched plot...and yeah, they have a point. This is nothing many people haven't seen in movies ranging from the afore-mentioned Road to... series to the more dramatic Man Who Would Be King. There's also times I wonder what audience Dreamworks intended this for. Kid-oriented gags like them suddenly stopping the volcano and some of the jokes with the horse and armadillo mix a little awkwardly with scarier sequences like the chase with the magical jaguar, some near-swears, and Tulio and Chel's obvious attraction.

The Big Finale: I think audiences - and critics - at the time were still conditioned to think all animated musicals had to be Disney princess extravaganzas. This has long picked up a cult following that enjoys the action and finds the dialogue endlessly quotable, and it more than deserves it. If you're a fan of jungle adventures or either of the leading men, or are looking for a good animated movie for older elementary and pre-teen boys, you'll want to hit the road and take a look at this. 

Home Media: That cult following assures that it's easily found on all major formats, often for under five dollars.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Talent Scout

Warner Bros, 1937

Starring Donald Woods, Jeanne Madden, Joseph Crehan, and Fred Lawrence

Directed by William Clemens

Music by M.K Jerome; Lyrics by Jack Scholl

From the 1920's through the 1960's, the studios churned out "B" pictures to fill double bills on the big screen. These movies were usually shorter than the "main" film, sometimes as little as an hour, and often featured actors who were up-and-coming or hadn't quite made the big-time. We get a little both in this tale of a top agent (Woods) who brings his newest discovery to hit the Hollywood big-time. We get a little bit of both as we start on a bus with several lovely ladies taking part in Steve Stewart's (Woods) latest publicity stunt...

The Story: After the bus breaks down again, the head of Apex Pictures A.J Lambert (Crehan) fires Stewart and tells him to find his own way home. On his way back, he stops at a local burlesque and discovers Marry Brannigan (Madden), a sweet and gifted singer, performing at a burlesque. He sees real talent in her and takes her to Hollywood, where he tries to sell her to Lambert. Her stuffy old-fashioned screen test isn't a success, and she accidentally dumps her lunch into the lap of the studio's biggest star Raymond Crane (Lawrence). Steve finally gets the studio to notice her after she hits it big singing at a charity benefit, then promotes her as sweethearts with Crane. It works too well. She actually falls for him, to the consternation of his Crane's partner Bernice (Rosalind Marquis), and to Steve himself, who is also starting to fall for Mary.

The Song and Dance: Fast-talking Woods is a lot more interesting than anyone he promotes as the talent scout who can turn anyone, even a bland young singer, into an up-and-coming star. The supporting cast isn't bad, either, including Crehan as his blustery boss who doesn't know talent until it's literally staring at him and Mary Treen as his supremely sarcastic secretary gets in a few good lines. There's also a few amusing Hollywood stereotype gags, including the two writers who have been waiting to talk to Lambert for four months. 

Favorite Number: "I am the Singer, You are the Song" is the number Mary performs at the benefit that so impresses the studio brass. "No, No Senior," Bernice's big Mexican-tinged number with the chorus, is the closest this gets to a big number. Steve brings Mary and Raymond together in the end to perform two numbers to make up after a quarrel, "I Was Wrong" and "Born to Love" (the latter with the chorus).

What I Don't Like: Let's start with characters who are either obnoxious (Steve) or dull as dishwater (Mary and Raymond). The ladies are a very big problem. None of Steve's promotion can make the supremely boring Mary into an exciting find. She may sing prettily, but she has no personality. No wonder Madden only made two more movies after this. Fox doesn't do much better, coming off as annoying rather than passionate. The story is a mess of boring cliches you've seen in every movie about Hollywood to this day. And what happened to the women on the bus Steve starts out with? Did their transportation home ever arrive?

The Big Finale: No amount of build-up can make this small-time musical into something more than a mildly diverting time-waster if you ever run into it on TCM.

Home Media: Can occasionally be found on TCM and streaming in a few places like Sling TV.

Watch TCM

Show Girl In Hollywood

Warner Bros-First National, 1930

Starring Alice White, Blanche Sweet, Jack Mulhall, and John Miljan

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Music by Sam H. Stept; Lyrics by Bud Green

Alice White started out as a secretary at First National, but by 1930, she was a minor star in movies like The Girl From Woolworth's and Playing Around that showcased her bubbly and mildly sexy allure. This was to have been her big break, a sequel to the 1928 non-musical hit Show Girl that had White reprising the character of wanna-be chorus cutie Dixie Dugan. How does this story of how Dixie shoves her way into Hollywood look now? To answer that, we begin in New York, where the show Rainbow Girl just closed, and find out...

The Story: After the show closes, Dixie and her boyfriend Jimmy Doyle (Mulhall) first encounter director Frank Buelow at a nightclub. Impressed with the song she performs onstage, Buelow offers her a contract and claims he has a part waiting for her out west. Turns out he says that to every girl he comes across. Not only is there no role for Dixie, but the studio fired Buelow for his casting-couch practices. She's still determined to have a movie career and barges into producer Sam Otis' (Ford Sterling) office, yelling at him to give her a role. It doesn't work, but she does manage to befriend her favorite movie star Donny Harris (Sweet), who hasn't done a movie in two years and feels she's washed up at the ripe age of 32.

Dixie returns to the studio to discover that Otis wants her back. The studio bought Rainbow Girl, and they want her to star. She's thrilled at first...until Buelow returns. Angry that he was let go, he tells Dixie to be more demanding with Otis. Her bellowing for the script to be re-written ends with the film shut down. It'll take Donny's near-death experience to remind Dixie that she's not the only person struggling in Southern California.

The Song and Dance: The major interests here are the supporting cast and the antique technology on display. The movie studio setting allows us to see how the studios really filmed a musical number in 1930, from the cumbersome boxes holding the noisy cameras to the men recording the song on Vitaphone discs. Sweet is the real stand-out in the cast as the actress looking for a career comeback who understands stardom a lot better than Dixie. She did several movies with DW Griffith, and her dramatic chops show, especially in the sequence leading up to her near-death. 

Favorite Number: Sweet kind-of-sings "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood" as she tries to explain to Dixie what show business does to aspiring performers. The second run-through of "I've Got My Eye On You" is the one we see filmed; along with getting a glimpse of behind the camera booths, we also the spectacle of dancers prancing out of a creepy set designed to look like huge eyes and a mouth. I really wish Warners could have held on to the Technicolor for "Hang Onto a Rainbow." The sequence was originally in color, but current prints have it in black and white. Even without the color, it's still a pretty neat number, with tons of dancers swirling around Dixie in her starburst headdress while a huge rainbow appears behind them.

What I Don't Like: The movie's biggest problem is the "Show Girl" herself. Dixie is frankly a spoiled idiot who should have known better to believe anything a jerk like Buelow said, especially after he lied to her to get her out west. It doesn't help that the dialogue is terrible, and White's performance isn't much better. Her blank stares and silly "Gee!" undercuts the attempt at pathos with Sweet's "Tear for Every Smile" song. The story is a mass of every cliché that ever landed in a movie about Hollywood...and despite everyone talking about White's freshness and youth, the (slightly) older Sweet is the one you'll remember. 

The Big Finale: Mainly of interest to fans of the early talkie era or the two leading ladies. 

Home Media: Currently DVD only via the Warner Archives.

DVD

Animation Celebration Saturday - A Troll In Central Park

Warner Bros, 1994

Starring Dom DeLouise, Cloris Leachman, Phillip Glasser, and Charles Nelson Reilly

Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

Music and Lyrics by various

This was to have been the next Don Bluth film after Rock-a-Doodle, but production delays caused it to be shelved for two years. It was pushed even further back when Warner Bros opted to release Thumbelina earlier in the year instead. After all that, it wound up being one of the biggest failures of the year. Did it deserve the trouble, or is there a sweet-smelling rose under all that stone? Let's head to the Kingdom of the Trolls and find out...

The Story: Stanley (DeLouise) is cast out of the Kingdom of the Trolls by the evil Queen Gnorga (Leachman) for having a green thumb that gives him the power to make plants grow and come to life. Trolls are supposed to enjoy misery and ugliness, but Stanley is kind gentle. Her henpecked husband Liort (Reilly) sends him to New York, a place of "concrete and stone, where nothing grows"...but doesn't realize there's a huge green place in the middle of Manhattan, Central Park. 

Meanwhile, in an apartment on the Lower East Side, a little boy named Gus (Glasser) is crushed that his lawyer father is too busy to take him to the park like he promised. He ends up taking his little sister Rosie (Tawny Sunshine Glover) instead. While he's working with his boat, Rosie wanders off and discovers Stanley and his magical singing flowers hiding in a cave. She thinks he's her stuffed troll doll at first, but he eventually befriends her. He doesn't have as much luck with Gus, especially after he breaks the kid's boat. Gnorma sees Gus' anger and uses it to try to drown them, but Stanley uses his own dream magic to save them.

Fed up, Gnorma finally drags Liort with her to New York via tornado. They chase the kids and do manage to capture Rosie, but Gus flees to Stanley. Gus tries to get Stanley to go up against her, to no avail...until he reminds Stanley just how important his dreams of "having a green space of his own" are to him.

Animation: Really the film's sole saving grace, along with a decent score and songs. The hand-painted visuals are lush and colorful, especially the backgrounds of a Technicolor Central Park in the fall and Stanley's dream worlds. The sequence with Stanley taking the kids for a ride in his "dream boat" and the finale (no matter how creepy it seems) is especially well-done.

The Song and Dance: Along with the lush visuals, there's also some mildly amusing performances. Reilly and Leachman aren't half-bad as the mismatched royal troll couple, and Glasser is fine as the spoiled child who learns to believe in his dreams and stand up for what he loves. Robert Folk turns in a surprisingly lovely score, especially with the gorgeous music over the end credits. 

Favorite Number: Gnorma tells everyone in the Troll Kingdom how she's the "Queen of Mean," and everyone better get out of her path. Stanley introduces Rosie to his world and his dancing flower friends in "Absolutely Green." "Welcome to My World" takes us into a colorful land of Stanley's own imagination, where everything is blooming and everyone is like him.

What I Don't Like: Where do I even begin? Bluth really should have thrown as much care into the writing as he and his crew did into the music and animation. None of this makes even a glimmer of sense. Not to mention, a lot of it is more disturbing than cute, like Stanley's overly enthusiastic reaction to toddler Rosie kissing him or what he does to New York in the big "Absolutely Green" finale. Stanley is sickeningly sweet and overwhelmingly dull, to the point where you start caring more about the villains than the so-called "good guy." Gus is a spoiled brat who needs to be sent to his room more than he needs a lesson in green thumbs from a cutesy critter. 

The big action climax is a silly, drawn-out let-down, and some of the details are downright idiotic. (Gnorma and Llort chase the kids on tricycles?)  There are so, so many plot points that are never explained or elaborated on, from barely visiting Troll World and seeing how gloomy it is to how New Yorkers reacted to the total destruction of one of the largest city parks in the word. 

The Big Finale: I will add that the film does have a small cult following of people who grew up in the 90's and enjoyed how gentle and sweet it was...but this is another one I just couldn't get into. The lovely score and visuals and good voice-acting can't make up for an unfocused, weird plot and an overly sweet and cutesy lead character. For major Don Bluth fans or those with very small children who can handle the trolls and overlook the weird script only. Everyone else would be better off looking up Anastasia or The Secret of Nimh (my personal favorite Don Bluth films). 

Home Media: Out of print on DVD. Streaming is by far your best bet.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Babes In Arms

MGM, 1939

Starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Charles Winninger, and Margaret Hamilton

Directed by Busby Berkeley

Music and Lyrics by various

We jump back a year to the first of the Garland-Rooney "put on a show" films. This one started out as a hit Broadway show in 1937. It proved to be even more popular on the big screen, bigger than Garland's other major film that year, The Wizard of Oz. Does it continue to delight audiences with it's talented teens and their barnyard show today, or should it be sent to the orphanage? Let's begin with the birth of a future trooper and find out...

The Story: Mickey Moran (Rooney) is literally born into show business. He dances with his parents in their vaudeville act, at least until the arrival of talking pictures, radio, and the Great Depression brings an end to variety shows. Many aging vaudevillians moved their families to a small town in Long Island, New York after their careers ended, including Joe Moran (Winninger). He encourages the other former vaudevillians in the town to go on tour and prove they're still relevant, before their homes and children are taken away.

Meanwhile, his son is equally determined to show that their children can be every bit the performers their parents are. After their parents claim they'll just be "baggage" on the road, he encourages his sister Molly (Betty Jaynes), his best friend Patsy Barton (Garland), and the local kids to help him put on a show in a barn. Patsy's upset when Mickey initially gives former child star "Baby" Rosalie Essex (Preissler) her role, to the point where she leaves...and there's the lady from the work houses (Hamilton) complaining that the kids should be going to school and studying for a trade, not show business.

The Song and Dance: Berkeley's first movie at MGM shows a lot of creativity, especially in dealing with the kids. There's a lot of energy from everyone, especially the ever-moving Rooney. What I really like is, unlike with Strike Up the Band, there's real stakes here. It's not just winning a contest or helping a friend. The kids are trying to keep their families together by doing what they love during the worst economic downturn anyone ever knew. It makes the melodrama later on a bit easier to take than it is in Strike Up the Band. 

Favorite Number: Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney really get things moving with their lively version of "Good Morning," sung on the piano before an interested song publisher. Betty Jaymes and Douglas McPhail are supposed to be singing a romantic "Where or When" on a moonlit boat ride, but Rooney doesn't think they're putting enough heart into it. He points to Garland to show them how to really pour passion into a song. Speaking of passion, she gets the hit ballad "I Cried for You" on the bus after arguing with Rooney over Rosalie taking her place in the show. The movie ends with a huge patriotic extravaganza, "God's Country," and Rooney and Garland parodying the popular conception of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at the time, "My Day."

Trivia: The "My Day" Roosevelt spoof was cut after Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945. It was thought lost until the 1990's, when it was discovered on 16 millimeter film and restored. "God's Country" was originally introduced in a stage show called Hooray for What! MGM bought it, but never filmed it. 

This was Garland and Rooney's second film together after the drama Thoroughbreds Don't Cry. 

The original show debuted on Broadway in 1937 and did well for the time, running a little over 9 months, with music by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and choreography by George Balanchine. It was heavily re-written and sanitized in 1959; though the original does turn up from time to time, the 1959 version is the one usually seen in revival and performed by community theaters.

What I Don't Like: Too bad they couldn't have kept more of the original plot or songs. Garland and Rooney proved they were perfectly capable of handling gems like "I Wish I Were In Love Again" and "Johnny One Note" in the later Rodgers and Hart biography Words and Music. "The Lady Is a Tramp" can be heard in the background when Rooney's trying to woo Preissler, but it's not performed on-screen. There's also the big minstrel show number, with Rooney, Garland, and all of the kids in blackface and bad southern accents. It was nostalgia for an earlier era of entertainment then; nowadays, many modern audience members will likely be offended well before rain brings the number to a premature end. 

The Big Finale: This one isn't bad, but I think the Garland-Rooney movies got better as they went along. There's enough good numbers here for this to get a recommend, particularly for fans of the two young stars. 

Home Media: All of the Garland-Rooney musicals are easily found on DVD and streaming, the former from the Warner Archives. 

DVD

Amazon Prime