Cult Flops - In the Heights

Warner Bros, 2021

Starring Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, and Corey Hawkins

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

I know this came out in June, but I saved it for now in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. This was supposed to have come out last year, but like many major movies, was held back a year due to the pandemic. It didn't do well at the box office last summer. Critics loved it, but audiences found horror and action more likely to get their rears into a theater and near people while the pandemic continued to rage, plus there was casting backlash. How does all this look now, when the movie has come and gone? Let's start with Usnavi de la Vega (Ramos) telling children about living in Washington Heights during the late 90's-early 2000's, and find out...

The Story: Usnavi has a major crush on the beautiful Vanessa (Barrera), but she's more focused on becoming a clothes designer and trying to get an apartment. He wants to leave New York and reopen his father's bodega (small convenience store) in the Dominican Republic, but lacks the funds. Taxi company owner Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smitts) is proud of his daughter Nina (Grace) attending Stamford University, but she ran headlong into racism and isn't as thrilled about it as he is. "Abuela" Claudia (Olga Merdiz) is a childless older woman who is pretty much the mother of the neighborhood and takes care of everyone, including Usnavi. 

Usnavi's employee Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) reveals that a lottery ticket bought at the bodega netted $96,000. While everyone tries to figure out who bought that ticket and gets the money, Usnavi finally gets Vanessa on a date, only for Washington Heights to be hit with a blackout while they're arguing in the club. Unfortunately, the stress and the heat proves to be too much for Abuela Claudia...but she's left Usnavi and the neighborhood more of a legacy than she'll ever know.

The Song and Dance: Vibrant performances and gorgeous cinematography in the real Washington Heights really help bring this tale of a young man and his community to life. Ramos is a revelation as de la Vega, grounding his emotional moments with an intensity that matches the tough-tender street life around him. I also like Merdiz as the community grandma whom everyone mourns when she's gone and Leslie Grace and smooth Corey Hawkins as Nina, the girl who's not sure about her place in the neighborhood, and Benny, the guy who definitely knows she has a place in his heart. Director Chu gives it the right look and keeps everything moving with energy and style. Look for songwriter and original star Lin-Manuel Miranda as the pirageuro, the water ice seller who complains that the Mr. Softee trucks are honing in on his business. 

Favorite Number: The title song is Usnavi's introduction of all the principals and their roles in the neighborhood and his life. Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), the salon owner, and her employees sing "No Me Diga" in an attempt to get gossip from Nina about her life in Stanford, but Nina drops a lot more of a bombshell on them than they expected. Vanessa says "It Won't Be Long Now" until she gets a better apartment, but racism causes her to be rejected. The pool number "$96,000" turns into a spoof of Esther Williams water numbers as everyone frolics in the local pool and wonder who will get the money and what they'll do with it. 

Grace and Hawkins get two adorable and beautifully-shot numbers, the glowing "When You're Home" as Benny assures Nina that she's the smartest girl around and will find her place, and their dancing on the side and fire escapes of Nina's building "When the Sun Goes Down." "Paciencia y Fe" is Abuela Claudia's recollection of her idyllic childhood in Cuba and how she and her mother came to New York looking for a better life, set in the subway right before she dies; "Alabanza" brings the entire neighborhood together to show how much their cared about their matriarch. Daniela initiates "Carnival Del Barrio" when she encourages everyone to stop sitting around and start really living and enjoying life, the way Abuela Claudia would have wanted them to.

Trivia: The Broadway show opened in 2007 and was a smash, running almost four years. It was nominated for thirteen Tony awards and won four, including Best Musical and Original Score. Despite being a very American show, it proved to be a two-year hit in the West End as well. 

What I Don't Like: As lovely as it is, I wonder what audience Warners intended this for. Despite its Tony win, In the Heights isn't as well-known ten years later as Miranda's other big Broadway hit Hamilton, nor is the music quite as good. The cast mostly consists of unknowns and semi-well-known character actors. It may be enough for New York critics (who gushed over this), but not likely for most casual audiences. And forget it if you're not a musical fan. While not a flat-out opera, there's a lot of music in this movie and a lot of singing and dancing. There's the backlash over not casting darker-skinned actors, too. 

The Big Finale: It may not be for everyone, but if you love big, bold musicals with a lot of culture and character or are a fan of Miranda's other work, you may want to take the trip uptown and enjoy a beautiful summer in Usnavi's neighborhood. 

Home Media: Just released on DVD and Blu-Ray last month. It's also available for streaming at several sites.

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Roller Boogie

United Artists, 1979

Starring Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland, and Mark Goddard

Directed by Mark L. Lester

Music and Lyrics by various

Disco came in many forms during it's heyday in the late 70's and early 80's. By far the most popular offshoot was roller disco, or roller-skating to disco music in a skating rink or dance club. The success of disco clubs and Saturday Night Fever also lead to a brief musical movie revival as kids in sharp collared suits and ladies in flowing dresses danced their heartbreak away on the nightclub floor. The roller disco craze popped up in films throughout the entire disco era, especially ones marketed to teens like this. How does the story of two kids who fall in love on the roller disco floor and save their favorite boardwalk disco club look now? Let's begin on the boardwalk and beach in Venice, California, where the roller skating-obsessed teens are gearing up for the big Roller Boogie contest at the end of the summer, and find out...

The Story: Terri Barkley (Blair) is already a master flutist at age 18 on her way to Julliard, but she's also bored with her wealthy life and her negligent parents, lawyer Roger (Roger Perry) and stuffy Lillian (Garland). She takes off to Venice for some excitement with her snooty friend Lana (Kimberly Beck). Her first encounter with Bobby James (Bray) is when they're knocked into each other on the roller disco floor at Jammers. Bobby does try to put the moves on her, but she brushes him off until she hears about the big Roller Boogie contest being held at Jammer's. She pays him to teach her his big moves...but it ends with them falling for each other.

Their relationship and the contest are threatened when they and their friend Phones (Stoney Jackson) overhear a trio of goons threatening Jammer Delany (Sean McCrory), the owner of Jammer's, into selling. No Jammer's means no contest. Worse yet, Terri's lawyer father represents the sleazy developer and honestly thinks he's getting the better deal. Terri, Jim, and the other kids have to convince Roger and the local cop Thatcher (Goddard) that their music and moves are worth it, or they'll lose their beloved hangout forever.

The Song and Dance: Considering how notoriously bad most of the other musicals that capitalized on the disco skating fad were, this is a lot more fun than it has any right to be. Blair shows off some of her Academy Award-nominated acting chops to dig into Terri's very real teen angst, especially towards the middle when she briefly runs away. Garland and Perry do almost as well as her snobbish parents who think classical music and their demands are the only ones worth hearing. The shooting in authentic Venice locations gives it a surprisingly gritty feel despite the fairly fluffy story, and the kids are obviously having a ball skating and twirling and enjoying the real California sunshine.

Favorite Number: The film opens with "Hell On Wheels," performed by Cher over the credits as Bobby, his buddies, and the kids on the Venice boardwalk show off their moves and just how wildly popular roller skating was. Earth Wind & Fire's hit "Boogie Wonderland" provides the backdrop for the first big number at Jammer's, as Bobby and the other kids wind around each other, dodging the one guy who can't stay on his feet. "We've Got the Power" provides the backdrop for Bobby and Terri's first duet a little bit later, as they first begin to fall for each other. "Lord It Is Mine" is Bobby's big solo; he skates a dynamic routine with lots of twirling and jumps at an empty Jammer's after it's closed by the goons. Bobby and Terri's big romantic duet in the end is skated to "Love Fire," as he lifts and twirls her around the floor, to the delight of Jammer and the other kids.

Trivia: Blair was doubled for some of the tougher lifts in the finale, but she generally did most of her own skating. 

Bray garnered 250 trophies by the time he was 18. He went pro shortly after this was released; this would be his only film. 

What I Don't Like: Though not as goofy as other disco musicals of the era like Xanadu or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it's still really cheesy. Bray was a champion skater chosen because they couldn't find a leading man who could skate; he's amazing in his solo number, but Blair acts rings around him. His Olympic dreams are pretty ridiculous, too; there's never been an Olympic roller skating event. The cliched and silly story is a cross between Xanadu, Grease, and the Comden-Green musicals of the 50's and 60's with gangster side plots. This is absolutely not the place for you if you're looking for something more polished or with a darker story, or aren't into the glittery disco aesthetic.

The Big Finale: I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Maybe it stems from having grown up seeing movies like this frequently on cable as a young child, but I thought it was really cute, and the kids are obviously having a great time. It's no masterpiece, but it's certainly an improvement over something like Can't Stop the Music. Throw on your old Donna Summer albums and give it a whirl.

Home Media: Currently DVD only from Olive Films; a Blu-Ray is out of print. 

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Animation Celebration Saturday - Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Disney, 2011

Voices of Jim Cummings, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey, and Craig Ferguson

Directed by Stephan Anderson and Don Hall

Music and Lyrics by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez

Pooh was hardly idle in the 90's. In addition to the hit TV show The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, the citizens of the Hundred Acre Woods appeared in four holiday specials, three theatrical films, and five direct-to-home-media features made around those holiday specials. Anderson and Hall opted to go back to basics for this one, in more than one way. It was their first traditionally-animated movie since The Princess and the Frog in 2009, and the first to use the actual Pooh stories since The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. How well did they do with the tale of Pooh and his search for honey, Eeyore's tail, and Christopher Robin, in that order? To find out, we start with Pooh in his home, as the narrator (John Cleese) wakes him up to a busy day...

The Story: Pooh (Cummings) is disconcerted to discover there's no honey in his home, so he goes out in search of some. On his way, he learns that Eeyore (Luckey) has lost his tail. Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter) holds a contest to find Eeyore a new one, with a pot of honey as the prize. Pooh tries, but his idea doesn't work out. Kanga (Kristen Anderson-Lopez) is the ultimate winner...but even her idea isn't quite right. 

Pooh, meanwhile, still has honey on the brain. He goes to Christopher Robin for help, only to find the boy missing and a note at his door. Owl (Ferguson) interprets the note to mean that the boy's been kidnapped by a horrible "Backson." The others set out to trap the Backson and rescue their beloved friend.

The Animation: Intentionally made to look like the sketchy animation of the original shorts and Many Adventures, but the characters move more fluidly, and there's some original touches. The pastel chalk drawings come to life on "The Backson Song" and Pooh's Busby Berkeley-inspired honey hallucination are especially creative. 

The Song and Dance: I love how this movie makes better use of Pooh being a part of a book than any other media featuring the characters. Pooh and the others trip over letters, ask about paragraphs and parts of a sentence, and even use them to escape the Backson pit near the end. It's also adorable how they all treat the red balloon that floats around throughout the movie like it's as much of a character as they are...and it does end up being a "hero" in the end. I also appreciate the book fidelity. They adapted three stories more-or-less straight from the original anthologies, with no additional characters as in other Disney Pooh stories. 

(Don't forget to stick around for the end credits! They're the best part. The first half recreates key scenes from the film with actual stuffed animals and toys, as the real Christopher Robin would have. The characters dance, run, trip, and swim around the words on the screen in the second half. There's also a final scene after the credits that's absolutely hilarious.)

Favorite Number: Pooh sings "The Tummy Song" when his is growling in the opening and he badly wants to fill it with honey. Zooey Deschanel croons about how finding Eeyore's tail is "A Very Important Thing to Do" as the citizens of the Hundred Acres Woods searches everywhere for his lost appendage, or something like it. "The Backson Song" uses Owl's scratchy chalk drawings to describe how terrible (and silly) the Backson is. "Everything Is Honey" to Pooh when he's so desperately hungry, he starts hallucinating that everything is honey. His imagination conjures up Busby Berkeley routines and bees swimming through sticky yellow stuff.

Trivia: The film was originally supposed to feature five unused A.A Milne stories, but it was eventually cut to three. 

Rabbits friends and relatives, who were often spoken of in the books, were supposed to be in the film, but their scene was cut.

What I Don't Like: Short and sweet...maybe a little too short. I wish they'd stuck with their plan and adapted five stories. It might have fleshed things out a little and given everyone more to do. At just a little over an hour, this is one of the shortest Disney "canon" animated films. It also has a lot in common with the lesser-known direct-to-home-media movie Pooh's Grand Adventure, including the idea of rescuing Christopher Robin from a monster. Grand Adventure not only does more with the premise, it digs deeper into the relationship between Pooh and his human and is a lot more thoughtful and touching. 

The Big Finale: That said, this version is much lighter and just as much fun. If you have very young Pooh fans, or younger kids who are ready for Disney movies, start them on this or Many Adventures. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all formats, including on Disney Plus with a subscription. 

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A Salute to Jane Powell - Nancy Goes to Rio

MGM, 1950

Starring Jane Powell, Ann Sothern, Carmen Miranda, and Barry Sullivan

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard

Music and Lyrics by various

Powell started at MGM in the mid-40's as their answer to the opera-singing teen sensation Deanna Durbin at Universal. MGM had such high hopes for Powell's stardom, several of her early vehicles were remakes of Durbin's films, including this one. Carmen Miranda, whose florid World War II stardom was on the wane in a less flowery post-war world, also dropped in for this tale of a mother and daughter who love the same man. How does it look today? Let's start backstage at a Broadway theater as major star Frances Elliott (Southern) finishes the run of her latest show and find out...

The Story: Frances and her father Gregory (Louis Calhern) travel to Rio to rehearse lines for a part in a play she hopes to get. Playwright Ricardo Dominngos (Fortunio Bonanova) sees Nancy in a stock company operetta and is so impressed, he offers the part to her. Hoping to surprise her mother and grandfather, she takes a ship to Rio.

On board, she meets the handsome businessman Paul Berten (Sullivan) and his feisty partner Maria Rodrigues (Miranda). Berten overhears her rehearsing lines from the play where her character is pregnant and mistakenly thinks she's pregnant. He proposes to her in order to get an overeager young man off her back, but she takes it for real. After she arrives in Brazil and learns her mother is also after the part, she accepts his proposal...but then Frances falls for him, and he for her.

The Song and Dance: Charming performances and the believable mother-daughter chemistry between Sothern and Powell bump this up over the very similar Powell vehicle from two years before, Luxury Liner. The characters - including well-meaning Nancy herself - are a lot more pleasant, and Miranda's Latin-flavored numbers are a heck of a lot more fun than the operatic songs from the previous film. There's also ravishing Technicolor sets that pop against the many glitter and gossamer New Look gowns.

Favorite Number: We open with Southern and the chorus in enormous bell-skirted ruffled gowns performing the ballad "Time and Time Again" in her closing operetta vehicle. Nancy realizes how badly she envies her mother's success with their lovely duet to "Shine On Harvest Moon." Powell and her boyfriend Scotty (Scotty Beckett) join their youthful operetta cast for the spirited title number. Miranda gets two big numbers, the less elaborate "Yipsee-I-O" on board the ship with several Latin dancers, and the more colorful and elaborate Baiao (Ca-room Pa Pa) at Carnival with dancing clowns, a man covered in umbrellas, and Miranda sporting her trademark huge bright hat. Nancy gets the finale, "Love Is Like This," dancing with the male chorus in a bright pink gown at her show as, in a reverse of the opening, her mother and Paul look on.

Trivia: Remake of 1938 Deanna Durbin film It's a Date.

A second number for Powell, Beckett, and the teens, "Mention My Name In Sheboygan," was cut from the final film and partially survives.

What I Don't Like: The story hasn't dated well in either version.  The way Barry acts with Nancy on the ship seems a wee bit creepy, whether he thinks she's pregnant or not. No wonder she took the proposal seriously. It's really a lightweight excuse to let Powell and Southern sing and Carmen Miranda clown in crazy color with a Latin chorus. 

The Big Finale: Worth checking out for the numbers alone if you're a fan of the three leading ladies or the musicals of the 1940's and 50's. 

Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives. 

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A Salute to Jane Powell - Three Sailors and a Girl

Warner Bros, 1953

Starring Jane Powell, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Our weekday entries this week honor Jane Powell, one of the last major stars of the Golden Era of Hollywood, who died last Tuesday at 92. She was known for her small-town-girl-next-door roles in cheery musicals like this one. MGM loaned her to Warners to play a role that seems more suited to Doris Day, that of a slightly more mature belting star who hopes to help her producer get the title sailors to back their play. How well do they pull it off? To find out, we'll begin on the submarine, where sailors Choirboy Jones (MacRae), Twitch (Nelson), and Porky (Leonard) are trying to figure out what to do with Choirboy's wad of cash...

The Story: Fast-talking producer Joe Woods (Sam Levene) and singing hopeful Penny Watson (Powell) convince Jones to sink his and his fellow Navy mates' money into his show. No matter how good Penny is, though, the show is a flop. Its operatic leading man Emilio Rossi (Georges Givot) doesn't understand the comedy and after it dies in Boston, he and the author drop out. Jones is ready to leave, too, but can't bring himself to when all his mates are excited about the money they'll be making. His friends are there for him, though...and so's the entire Marines when they have to drum up more money!

The Song and Dance: Powell gets to show off her slightly grittier side with a lot more dancing than usual and nasal belting (and high-pitched yelling) on "Kiss Me Or I'll Scream." Levene's the other stand-out as the obnoxious producer who thinks his show can't lose...until the stage floor suddenly drops out from under him. Love the energetic and vivacious choreography, too, especially in the first version of "The Lately Song." 

Favorite Number: We open with Nelson, Leonard, and MacRae entertaining their buddies on the submarine with "You're But Oh So Right." Powell does the rowdy "Kiss Me Or I'll Scream" twice, first as a solo audition song for a none-too-pleased banker, then as a full-on girlie chorus routine to convince the Marines to back their show. She and the three sailors dance "The Lately Song" all over the garage where they're rehearsing, making creative use of lifts, tires, and tools. Powell and Leonard make fun of women's tendency to use men as their credit cards in "Show Me a Happy Woman (and I'll Show You a Miserable Man)" from the first flop version of the show. "Home Is Where the Heart Is" is the big finale that brings everyone together onstage in a huge dancing routine, with solos for Nelson and Powell.

Trivia: Look for a very funny cameo by Burt Lancaster as a Marine trying to get into the show towards the end.

The last of six film versions of the 1925 Broadway play The Butter and Egg Man. 

What I Don't Like: That's pretty obvious in the twice-told and derivative story. It's a cross between On the Town and earlier Warners backstagers like 42nd Street. MacRae is a bit too naïve and aw-shucks for a guy who just spent a year in the Navy. Most of the supporting characters, including Veda Ann Borg as a sarcastic secretary, barely register. 

The Big Finale: Cute but ultimately forgettable time-waster if you're a fan of Powell, MacRae, or the musicals of the 1950's or run into it on TCM.

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

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Animation Celebration Saturday - Freddie as F.R.O.7

Rank Film Distributors, 1992

Voices of Ben Kingsley, Jenny Agutter, Brian Blessed, and Billie Whitelaw

Directed by Jon Acevski

Music and Lyrics by various

The success of Don Bluth's historical adventures and Disney's musical fantasies in the late 80's and early 90's triggered a raft of imitators. It seemed so simple to either grab a familiar fairy tale or rework an older concept and toss in a few big songs in different genres. The effort Bluth and the Disney Company put into their films became more apparently when none of the imitators could match their success. This bizarre entry from England is definitely one of the more unique ones. What do magic, mystery, and an evil sorceress have to do with a giant French frog who saves the world from a super villain? Well...not a whole lot, as we'll learn shortly. Let's start with the young Prince Fredrick (Edmund Kingsley) as he learns about magic from his father the King (Sir Michael Hordern) and find out...

The Story: Fredrick's evil sorceress aunt Messina (Whitelaw) turns him into a frog after she kills his father. He grows up to become a six-foot-tall frog and a modern-day secret agent in France and England under the code name F.R.O.7 (Ben Kingsley). Brigadier G (Sir Nigel Hawthorne) recruits him to figure out who's been stealing all the great landmarks of London. Freddie's joined by lovely female agent Daffers (Agutter) and Scotsman Scotty (John Sessions) to stop super villain El Supremo (Blessed) from stealing none other than Big Ben with Messina's help.

The Animation: Not that far above your average Saturday morning cartoon of the time. The characters move as if they're floating, especially during action sequences. The designs are at least constant, and the backgrounds are colorful and attractive, but the effects animation for the magic and gadgetry looks as cheap as it likely is.

The Song and Dance: Well, you can't say this one isn't original. I don't see many other animated movies spoofing James Bond camp spy capers or sword-and-sorcery fantasy, and certainly not in the same film. You don't often get the Loch Ness Monster doing big chorus routines, either. Nice cast of familiar British character actors, too, including Hordern in his last role. 

Favorite Number: Grace Jones dubs Whitelaw for "Evilmaina," as she describes bad guys through the years, from Nazis to modern super villains and their gadgetry. Nessie (Phyllis Logan) claims she's a "Shy Girl," but there's nothing shy about her big chorus routine with all her grandchildren as they help free Freddie from the lake. "Lay Down Your Arms" is the big action finale, as Freddie, Scotty, and Duffers use anything but guns to take down El Supremo's hoards of gas-mask sporting lackeys.

Trivia: They started planning a sequel, Freddie Goes to Washington, before the movie came out...but it did so poorly at the box office, in England and the US, those plans were cancelled. 

The movie was the lowest-grossing animated film in the US until the release of The Ten Commandments in 2007 and Delgo in 2008. 

What I Don't Like: Uh, yeah, there's a reason it was such a monumental flop. It's pretty bad. The songs are dull, as mentioned the animation isn't great, the dialogue is stiff and silly, and the story has plot holes the size of Canada and doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. The characters aren't much fun, either. Scotty and Freddie are snobbish twits, Duffers is pretty dumb, and the villains are stock tropes whose plot sounds like it came out of Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego. What does the sword-and-sorcery stuff have anything to do with it, and how does Freddie jump from medieval times to 20th-century Europe? It's never explained. There's also the references to Nazis in a few parts that may offend people now, along with some mild sexual gags, mostly aimed at Duffers.

The Big Finale: In the end, I honestly have no idea whom Rank intended this for. Adults who would be interested in the action and spy spoof plot will find it silly, and it'll likely go above the heads of kids who would be interested in a story about a giant frog who saves the world. It's probably just as well that this is very hard to find outside of YouTube. It does seem to have its fans, but for the most part, this is too silly and weird to be of interest.

Home Media: It was on video, but it's never been on DVD anywhere. YouTube is the only place you can find this one at press time.

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The Barkleys of Broadway

MGM, 1949

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, and Billie Burke

Directed by Charles Walters

Music by Harry Warren and George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

MGM originally intended to reunite Astaire and Judy Garland in this movie after the success of Easter Parade, but Garland's ongoing problems caused her to drop out. Rogers came in at the last minute. That makes this the the last of the ten movies she and Astaire made together...and one that hit a little close to home, so to speak. How does the story of married dancers who split when the wife wants to do drama look today? The best way to answer that is to go right into our very first number over the credits and see the most famous dancing pair in Hollywood history in action...

The Story: Dinah (Rogers) and Josh (Astaire) Barkley are the toast of New York in their hit show Manhattan Down Beat, but Dinah's tired of Josh criticizing her acting and taking credit for both their successes. She's flattered and interested when French playwright Jacques Barrendout (Jacques Francois) suggests she could be a wonderful dramatic actress. Dinah tries to keep Josh from figuring out her new interest, but he finds the script for Jacques' play and jumps to conclusions. She finally leaves him and the show, but is too nervous to do well in rehearsals. After their grumpy friend Ezra (Levant) tries to help, Josh steps in, playing Jacques on the phone to give her acting tips. It works too well, and now Josh wonders if he's lost his wife and favorite partner for good.

The Song and Dance: Astaire and Rogers have as much fun here as they did the decade before at RKO, with the benefit of MGM's unstinting production. The color in the copy at TCM is glowing, and the costumes are gorgeous, especially Rogers' gowns. It's interesting that the story was originally intended for Garland and Astaire. Rogers gave up doing musicals briefly in the early 40's to focus on drama and get away from her Astaire films, and was a success at it...but she too ultimately returned to musicals.

Favorite Number: We start right off with Fred and Ginger doing what they do best as the credits roll over "The Swing Trot," a big chorus routine with them tapping in the thick of it. Josh tells Dinah "You'd Be Hard to Replace" at their home. They have fun "Bouncin' the Blues" and challenging each other to a delightful duet at rehearsals. "My One and Only Highland Fling" spoofs Scottish courtship as Astaire and Rogers attempt bad accents and swirl around in plaid kilts. They try to convince Ezra that a "Weekend In the Country" would be fun, but he's a creature of the city and is having none of it. Astaire dances a duel with shoes that tap on their own in the nifty special-effects-laden "Shoes With Wings On."

Astaire and Rogers reprise "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance, this time doing a graceful and thoughtful pas de deux to it as Josh believes he's lost Dinah to drama and Jacques for good. Of all the numbers, it most recalls their beautiful duets from the films at RKO, with their elegant steps and fluid motion.

What I Don't Like: First of all, why not wait until after the credits for "The Swing Trot?" We can barely see it, and it's one of the best numbers in the film. (MGM finally rectified this by showing the number without the credits during That's Entertainment III.) Second, the supporting cast isn't nearly as much fun as their RKO films. Billie Burke is all right as the dithery arts supporter, but Levant can come off as pushy and annoying, and Francois is so dull, you wonder why Dinah's mesmerized by him. And that story can be pretty fluffy at times, despite its relation to the stars' careers.

The Big Finale: The musical numbers alone are enough to make this a must-see if you love the Astaire-Rogers movies or musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Like all the Astaire-Rogers films, it's easily found on DVD and streaming; the DVD is currently released by the Warner Archives.

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Shall We Dance (1937)

RKO, 1937

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, and Eric Blore

Directed by Mark Sandrich

Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

With their last three movies having been among the biggest hits of the mid-30's, RKO went all-out for their next vehicle. They enlisted the Gershwins, who rarely worked in Hollywood, and went all out with enormous Art Deco sets and glittering costumes. Pitting jazz and pop against classical music was all the rage in 30's. The popularity of jazz, swing, and other forms of pop music began to supersede older musical forms, to the frustration and disappointment of those who championed those forms. How does this battle look in Fred and Ginger's breezy world? Let's begin with a ballet class accompanied by one of Gershwin's symphonic pieces and find out...

The Story: Petrov, aka Pete Peters (Astaire), has passed himself as a Russian ballet dancer. What he really wants to do is blend tap and ballet under his own name, but he's the star of a company owned by fuddy-duddy Jeffery Baird (Horton). He falls hard for a photo of jazz dancer Linda Keene (Rogers), but she's put off by his "Petrov" persona. He finally arranges to meet her onboard an ocean liner with his own name and personality. Linda's beginning to like him, until journalists on the boat get photos of them, jump to the wrong conclusions, and claim they're married. 

Linda's horrified, but her manager Arthur Miller (Jerome Cowan) thinks the idea is wonderful publicity. Linda's fiancée Jim Montgomery (William Brisbane) would disagree. Fed up with being hounded over the scandal, Pete and Linda decide to get married, and then divorced. They start to fall for each other and decide that calling the whole thing off isn't a good idea...until it turns out Pete has a fiancé (Ketti Gallan) of his own.

The Song and Dance: This wasn't a huge hit at the time, but nowadays, it has one of the most enduring scores from any Astaire-Rogers movie. Almost every song here is a standard, and two of Gershwin's background music and instrumental pieces turn up in concert halls occasionally, too. The Art Deco sets here are a marvel, especially the massive boiler room setting for "Slap That Bass" and the mirror finale with the many dancing Gingers. Blore and Cowan have the most fun of the supporting cast as the fussy butler who has a hard time keeping up with who's married and who isn't and the slick manager who wants to get the most publicity he can out of the marriage mix-up.

Favorite Number: Astaire sings "Slap That Bass" with Dudley Dickerson and the black workers in the oddly pristine Art Deco boiler room, his quick taps done in time to the rhythm of the boiler machinery. "They All Laughed" brings the two together in a nightclub, first with Fred spoofing his ballet reputation, then together as they swirl around the floor and end up on a piano. 

They insist "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" while doing a delightfully goofy tap dance on roller skates in the park. The Oscar-nominated ballad "They Can't Take That Away From Me" was a personal favorite of Rogers and Astaire, perfectly accompanying their departure from the boat when they think they're getting a divorce. The title number is the big mirrors routine, with Astaire pursuing Rogers imitators in masks...until the real thing decides to dance back into his life.

What I Don't Like: As with most of the Astaire-Rogers vehicles, the plot is pretty much piffle. Cecil isn't the only one who may get confused by who's engaged to whom and who's married to whom and who isn't after a while. It's also a bit more abrasive than some of their films; Arthur's lucky Linda and Pete didn't slap him silly for messing around with both their lives. 

The Big Finale: A must-see if you're a fan of the Gershwins or the stars for the musical numbers alone.

Home Media: As with all the Astaire-Rogers films, it's easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Man Called Flintstone

Hanna-Barbara/Columbia, 1966

Voices of Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Jean Vander Pyl, and Gerry Johnson

Directed by Joseph Barbara and William Hanna

Music and Lyrics by John McCarthy and Doug Goodwin

This one is in honor of the 60th anniversary of The Flintstones' debut. The Flintstones was Hanna-Barbara's first shot at a prime-time animated sitcom. Fred Flintstones (Reed) is the head of a "modern stone-age family" whose adventures satirize comedy tropes popular in the 60's...and even today. Shortly after the show ended, Hanna-Barbara decided they were popular enough to make them their second venture into feature-length theatrical animation. How does their take on the spy craze of the mid-60's look now? Let's begin in the thick of the action, as goons Ali (Don Messick) and Bobo (Paul Frees) chase Rock Slag...who's a dead ringer for Fred Flintstone...across a stony blue landscape, and find out...

The Story: The goons manage to land Slag in the hospital. Fred also ends up there after an accident with his best friend Barney Rubble's (Blanc) car, right as they're preparing to go on a camping trip. Chief Boulder (Harvey Korman) convinces Fred to take his family to Paris, France in order to capture master criminal the Green Goose before his missile destroys the world, though Fred at first thinks he's chasing a rare bird.

They're barely in Paris before master of disguise Triple X (Frees) sends them along to Rome, Italy, where the Green Goose has his hideout. Fred's supposed to meet with his lieutenant Tanya (June Foray), but he keeps getting chased by Rock Slag's many female admirers. When he does finally make the meeting, his wife Wilma (Vander Pyle) gets the wrong idea and walks off, then pounds Rock Slag before he can rejoin them. Now Fred and Barney will have to be the ones who save the world, before the Green Goose can launch his deadly inter-rockinental missile! 

The Animation: Most of it isn't far removed from what you see in any given episode of The Flintstones on DVD or Boomerang. Hanna-Barbara put more effort into the stylized opening credits, with their slanty geometric designs and bright colors, and musical numbers, particularly Pebbles and Bamm Bamm's two fantasy sequences. "Tickle Toddle" has dreamy effects that match the sweetly silly song, and "When I Grow Up" resembles a toddler's drawing come to life, with stick figures and simple artwork.

The Song and Dance: If you love the Flintstones or spy stories, have I got a treat for you. This was the last appearance of the entire cast of the original show, and they make this a bit different than most other subsequent Flintstone projects. Frees has a great time lending his many voices to the Chief, both of his best agents, and the terrible Green Goose himself, while Foray gets a rare chance to play a temptress. 

Favorite Number: The dynamic title song over the credits give us an idea of what's to come and the spy tropes they're making fun of. "Spy Type Guy" also parodies spy tropes as Fred imagines himself saving the girl. "Team Mates" shows us Fred and Barney's sports prowess and their ability to work together, no matter what. Louis Prima performs "Pensate Amore (Think Love)" over Fred imagining himself and Wilma as Romeo and Juliet on a moonlit Roman balcony. 

"Tickle Toddle" is Pebbles and Bamm Bamm's dream sequence as they imagine themselves flying around the moon. "Someday (When I am Grown Up" sounds like something similar, but this time, it's in Fred's imagination, as he wonders what the kids will be if they're able to grow up...and realizes why putting his life on the line to stop the Green Goose is so important. 

Trivia: The film originally opened with Wilma dressed as the Columbia Torch Lady, a gag that naturally doesn't appear in the current Warner Bros DVD. 

Henry Corden, who provided Fred's singing voice, would take over the character's regular voice as well when Alan Freed died in 1977.

What I Don't Like: First of all, while the music is catchy and fun, with the exception of "Someday" motivating Fred to catch the Green Goose, the songs have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot and are completely unnecessary. The cutesy "Tickle Toddle" in particular exists as padding and to give Pebbles and Bamm Bamm more to do. An extended chase with Fred and a young Italian girl and her brother who want the lady to marry Rock Slag also has nothing to do with spy capers. And frankly, none of this seems especially Italian or French to me; the finale with the abandoned amusement park could have been set anywhere in the Flintstones' world.

The Big Finale: Even with the caveat on the flimsy plot, this is still miles above the two live-action theatrical films from the 90's and early 2000's. Recommended if you're a fan of the Flintstones, loved this as a kid on cable like I did, or have kids who won't mind the goofy spy story and simple animation. 

Home Media: Out of print on solo DVD, but can be found as part of a collection and on streaming, admittedly in the edited version without the Wilma/Columbia joke. 

DVD 

DVD - Flintstones: 2 Movies & 5 Specials

Amazon Prime

Back to School Again - Varsity Show

Warner Bros, 1937

Starring Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Pricilla Lane, and Ted Healy

Directed by William Keightley 

Music by Richard A. Whiting; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Even the Busby Berkeley spectaculars of the 1930's went back to school. Berkeley took his overhead formations and perfectly synchronized dancers from Broadway to higher education for that hallowed tradition of many big colleges, the varsity show. How does a college musical revue look like ala Berkeley and Dick Powell? Let's start at fictional Winfield College, where the students and assistant faculty advisor Ernie Mason (Fred Waring) are at odds with th old-fashioned advisor Professor Sylvester Biddle (Walter Catlett) and find out...

The Story: Desperate to make their show a success, the kids hit New York to hire Winfield alumni Chuck Daly (Powell), who is supposedly now a big-shot Broadway producer. The truth is, he hasn't had a hit in years. Hoping to get a big payment, his manager William Williams (Healy) convinces him to take the show and make it they way they want it to be, with lots of nifty jazz and swing numbers, under Biddle's nose.

Even after realizing he won't be getting the money from a school dance, Chuck decides to stay on. Biddle's still insisting on the show being done his way, with "genteel" music and no swing or jazz. Fed up with his fuddy-duddy ways, the kids go on strike and won't show up to class. When Chuck finally leaves to keep them from getting expelled, the kids decide to bring the show to him and prove that he still has what it takes to make it on the Great White Way.

The Song and Dance: The last thing I expected was to see in a 30's musical were college kids picketing the offices and taking part in a sit-down strike. For a while towards the end, I started to wonder if we were in college during 1937 or 1967. Their antics and talk of the realities of higher education during the Great Depression add a unique layer of authenticity to this backstage story. Powell's having a little bit more fun here than he did in the goofier Going Places a year later and Catlett enjoys his role as the stuffy professor whose musical ideas are a bit too dowdy for the Depression. Healy has a great time as the fast-talking manager who tries to avoid nerdy-but-cute co-ed Cuddles (Mabel Todd). 

Favorite Number: We open with all of the kids singing about how "The Varsity Show" is being put on tonight, and everyone is excited to try out. Johnnie Davis joins Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians to show off his big "Old King Cole" routine to a horrified Biddle. Healy, Powell, and the senior class sing why "We're Working Our Way Through College" as "freshmen" Powell and Healy are escorted down the senior walk. Rosemary Lane sings "On With the Dance" as Buck, Bubbles, and the college kids proceed to do just that during the big senior dance. She and Powell share the duet "You've Got Something There" during a romantic dance in the moonlight. 

The spectacular finale brings together all of these numbers, plus the hits "Have You Got Any Castles Baby?" and "Love Is On the Air Tonight," along with a medley of college fight songs. Black dance duo John W. Bubbles and Fort Washington "Buck" Lee start things off with some amazingly dexterous tap  work. Priscilla Lane takes over, cartwheeling her way through "Castles," while Busby Berkeley's overhead formations give us students forming the initials of major schools. 

Trivia: Priscilla and Rosemary Lane's film debuts. 

The movie was released at over two hours. In 1942, Warners re-edited it, losing 40 minutes and at least four more musical numbers, including more songs for Powell and Waring. The original version remains lost. 

Davis is best known to animation fans as the voice of "Owl Jolson" in the Looney Tunes short "I Love to Singa." 

What I Don't Like: First of all, Ernie's lucky he and the kids weren't arrested for just walking into a theater and taking it over. That was weird, and frankly kind of silly. Yeah, some of the plot can be pretty goofy or veer too close to other Warners/Berkeley extravaganzas of the time, and all of the Berkeley in the world can't make the dull music exciting. Lee and Bubbles are the janitors and are pretty slow and stereotypical unless they're dancing. Waring as the drama coach determined to have the kids show off their talent is a little too corny to be believable and comes off somewhere between stiff and creepy. 

The Big Finale: Some good numbers make this worth checking out for fans of black dancers, Powell, or the Berkeley musicals of the 1930's. 

Home Media: Easy to find on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Back to School Again - Grease Live!

Fox, 2016

Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Julienne Hough, Aaron Tveit, and Carlos PenaVega

Directed by Thomas Kali and Alex Rudzinski

Music and Lyrics by various 

Most of the live TV musicals made to this point were hit-or-miss. The Wiz went over well; Peter Pan didn't. The Sound of Music seemed to have been slightly better-received by audiences than critics. Fox took a chance on doing a remake of a beloved hit, one of the most popular musicals made in the last 40 years. How well did they pull it off? Let's start at the Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, California as singer Jesse J performs the title number and introduces us to the cast and find out...

The Story: It's September 1959, and Sandy Young (Hough) just moved from conservative Utah to sunny Burbank in time for the school year, after spending the summer falling for lifeguard Danny Zucco (Tveit). She befriends Frenchie (Carly Mae Jepson) on the first day. Frenchie introduces her to her friends, the Pink Ladies. Ultra-cool head of the group Rizzo (Hudgens) thinks she's "too pure to be pink" and too sweet to be hip. 

Danny seems to as well, at first. His buddies the T-Birds, Rydell's greaser gang, aren't sure what to think of Sandy. Frenchie's worried about getting through beauty school, while pretty and tough Marty (Keke Palmer) is more interested in playing pen-pal to the entire US Marine Corps. Rizzo's fed up with her immature boyfriend Kenickie (PenaVega), who is more interested in the car he's remodeling than her.

The Song and Dance: Neither rain nor the death of Vanessa Hudgens' father the day before could daunt this production. Everyone did a fabulous job. Kudos to Hudgens for her truly touching Rizzo, Hough as a lovely and affecting Sandy, and Palmer as sassy Marty. Wendall Pierce has a few funny moments as Coach Calhoun, especially dealing with Danny during "Those Magic Changes," and Ana Gastmeyer and Haneefa Wood are hilarious as Principal McGee and her overly enthusiastic secretary Blanche. The colorful costumes are perfect for the decade, and the complicated moving high school and bedroom sets won Emmys. They even manage to integrate the live audience watching the show as extras. They even corrected some problems I had with the original movie, like giving the rest of the cast more to do and re-adding a few stage songs dropped from the film. 

Favorite Number: We kick off with singer Jessie J performing "Grease (Is the Word)" in the real rain as we get a glimpse of the cast under bright red and yellow umbrellas. "Summer Nights" gives us Sandy and Danny's versions of what really happened during their summer romance on opposite sides of the gym. "Freddy My Love" is a dream sequence for Marty where she imagines herself singing for the USO in a slinky sequined dress, with the Pink Ladies in uniform providing background vocals. "Those Magic Changes" is originally a song composed by group musician Doody (Jordan Fisher), but turns into background for Danny's transformation from greaser into jock. Hughes pours her grief into an especially moving and effective "There are Worse Things I Could Do." 

Three big dance routines anchor the movie. The school dance has as much energy as the famous number from the original film. Boy group DCNE (featuring Joe Jonas) put out a vibrant "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" and "Born to Hand Jive" as everyone shows off some great choreography. The male dancers tear into "Greased Lightning," which makes up for sanitized lyrics with vibrant choreography and imaginative lighting effects. Sandy in particular makes the most of "You're the One That I Want," slinking around the school fair and knocking around the drooling boys with aplomb. 

Trivia: Didi Conn, who played Vi the Waitress, and Barry Pearl, who played National Bandstand producer Stan Weaver, were Frenchie and Doody in the original movie.

What I Don't Like: Tveit is a fine dancer and singer, but lacks John Travolta's irreplaceable charisma. The additional song "All I Need Is an Angel" was tossed in to show off pop singer Jepson's capabilities, but it and Boyz II Men's performance of "Beauty School Dropout" sound too 21st century for this very mid-20th-century story. The cast still look too old for the roles they're playing (though not to the degree of the original film), and though they try to integrate it a bit better, Sandy's about-face at the end is still a bit too sudden and, frankly, dated. (Apparently, there were audio problems on the original broadcast, but those seem to have been corrected or aren't as noticeable on the copy currently at Paramount Plus.)

The Big Finale: Grease is still the word, even 50 years later. Vibrant performances, a fabulous production, and terrific dancing makes this a must-see for fans of the cast, Grease, or live musicals. 

Home Media: Easily found on all formats; as mentioned, it's currently on Paramount Plus with a subscription. (It's on Blu-Ray bundled with the other two Grease movies.)

DVD

Blu-Ray - The Grease Collection 

Paramount Plus 

Happy Labor Day! - Career Girl

PRC, 1944

Starring Frances Langford, Iris Adrian, Edward Norris, and Craig Woods

Directed by Wallace Fox

Music and Lyrics by various

Not every low-budget musical in the 40's went the patriotic or nostalgic route. Some were basic backstage tales featuring popular radio singers of the time with a few tunes or production numbers thrown in. Langford began on the radio in the 30's; by 1944, she was at her zenith of popularity as one of the most popular singers with the members of the Armed Forces. Most of her movies had her appearing as herself, or in a minor role that focused on her singing. This was one of the rare times she gets to throw the spotlight on more than her way with a song. How does she fare? Let's begin at an expensive hotel in New York and find out...

The Story: Joan Terry (Langford) arrived from Kansas City with dreams of becoming the next Broadway sensation. After a few months, she's so broke, she moves out of that fancy hotel and into a smaller women's boarding house. All of the ladies there are equally unsuccessful, including her sarcastic roommate Glenda (Adrian). 

Her fiancée James (Woods) is a rich coal-mine owner who wants her to come home and become a wife. She almost does, until the other women decide to pool their finances and get behind Joan and her lovely voice as a "corporation," with her as the product. They manage to convince a producer (Charles Williams) to produce a musical version of the play boarding house resident Sue (Ariel Heath) wrote. James, still angry over Joan's rejection, buys the show with the intention of closing it...until tragedy reminds everyone that the show must go on.

The Song and Dance: Langford does acquit herself fairly well in this musical variation on the 1937 film Stage Door, which was also set at a boarding house filled with wisecracking wannabe actresses. Iris Adrian is the stand-out as Langford's roommate who gets the ball rolling on the corporation and is her most vocal advocate. It's too bad Heath seems to have been limited to bits after this; her Sue is sweet and funny in her devotion to her play, and she's a real beauty. 

Favorite Number: Ann (Lorraine Kruger), another boarding house resident, does a lively "Buck Dance" tap routine at the newcomers' party in honor of Bill Robison. Joan, still sad over giving in to James, follows that up with the bluesy ballad "Blue In Love Again" that convinces the girls she's the one they should pool their money on. The big finale "That's How the Rhumba Began" is something else - a strange song performed by a stationary Langford with chorines in weird leafy sarong costumes attempting to swing their hips to the title dance behind her. 

What I Don't Like: It's pretty obvious this is as low-budget as a musical can get. The sets and costumes (other than that "Rhumba" number) are dull, and the songs (two of them by, of all people, later TV comedian Morey Amsterdam) are even worse. Woods and Edward Norris as the playboy who falls for Joan really have nothing to do and are there as bland love interests. 

The Big Finale: Worth a look if you love backstage tales, Langford, or are interested in the B films of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Home Media: In the public domain, so it can be found everywhere on most formats. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Wabash Avenue

20th Century Fox, 1950

Starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Phil Harris, and Reginald Gardiner

Directed by Henry Koster

Music by Josef Myrow and others; Lyrics by Mack Gordon and others

We're staying at Fox and with late 19th-early 20th century nostalgia for our next film. Originally intended to be the life story of songwriter Gus Kahn, Fox turned this into a remake of the 1943 Betty Grable vehicle Coney Island when that fell through. How does this version of the tale, about a huckster who turns a honky tonk singer into a classy lady, look now? Let's begin on bustling Wabash Avenue in 1892 Chicago, as con man Andy Clark (Mature) strolls into his old buddy's bar, and find out...

The Story: Andy wants his part of the dance hall and pub he and Mike Stanley (Harris) began several years ago, but Mike refuses to let him in. He's also interested in Mike's blousy girlfriend and the lead singer at the bar, Ruby Summers (Grable). In order to get revenge, Andy first shoves his way into a job as the pianist, to Ruby's annoyance, then encourages temperance leader Tillie Hutch (Margaret Hamilton) and her militant ladies to destroy the music hall. Harrigan (James Barton), the Irish drunk who hangs around the music hall, is hurt in the ensuing melee. Andy convinces Mike and Ruby's he's dead and uses this information to go into business at the Chicago's World's Fair. Ruby's eventually sited by Oscar Hammerstein (the First) as a major star, which would take them all to New York...but then Harrigan returns...

The Song and Dance: Mature and Grable show a lot of sparks in their fourth and last film together. Harris gets a few nice bits on his own, especially when Mature cuts in front of him on the Ferris Wheel and he ends up almost proposing to a sailor. Hamilton's hilarious leading the women from fighting for the vote to tearing up Mike's music hall after they see two women dragged out and Andy claims they're virtuous and are doing this for family. While not as fabulous as in Coney Island, the colorful costumes and sets still do well in representing the Chicago and New York of 120 years ago, especially the special effects as they ride the Wheel.

Favorite Number: We open with Ruby and the chorus girls wiggling and swinging to "On the Wabash" in the music hall. Ruby wows with a golden fringed leotard that matches her famous golden legs as she shows why "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate." Harrigan does a charming drunk soft-shoe to the Irish ballad "I've Been Floating Down the Old Green River." Ruby and the chorus girls also ask "May I Tempt You With a Big Red Apple?" as they try to hand fruit out to the audience before the melee. The big number is the Oscar-nominated "Wilhelmina," with Grable and the chorus girls frolicking under frilly parasols as the boys in top-hats try to keep Grable's away from her.

Trivia: Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas were originally set for the leading men roles. 

What I Don't Like: While Mature is an improvement on dull George Montgomery from Coney Island, Harris is too funny and amiable to be as smarmy as the script wants him to be. He's certainly not as much of a cad as Caesar Romero. Despite the Oscar-nomination for "Wilhelmina," the score is cute but not terribly memorable. There's also the obviously twice-told story. And I still think Ruby would have done better to dump both guys - they still use everyone around them. 

The Big Finale: Coney Island's gritty tone makes it slightly better, but this one has its charms too. If you're a Grable fan, get both of them and see for yourself which you prefer. 

Home Media: Another one that's only on DVD via the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archive.

DVD