Family Fun Saturday - A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song

Warner Bros, 2011

Starring Lucy Hale, Freddie Stroma, Missi Pyle, and Megan Park

Directed by Damon Santostefano

Music and Lyrics by various

The Cinderella Story musicals offer an interesting glimpse into the minds of what was popular with teen girls and their parents from 2004 through 2021. Shoe Fits came out around the time Hamilton, Come from Away, and other musicals incorporating modern genres and stories were suddenly making Broadway trendy with teens. Once Upon a Song debuted during the tail end of the craze for Indian culture and music that also produced Cheetah Girls: One World. How does this tie into the story of a girl who almost loses her voice and her identity to a very wicked stepmother? Let's begin with another fantasy musical number, this one in a more typical concert setting, and find out...

The Story: Katie Gibbs (Hale) is forced to slave away for her ditzy stepmother Gail Van Ravensway (Pyle), spoiled stepsister Bev (Park), and annoying little stepbrother Victor (Matthew Lintz). Gail is the principal of Wellesley Academy of the Arts, and she's absolutely delighted when the wealthy owner of Kensington Records, Guy Morgan (Dikran Tulane), enrolls his son Luke (Stroma), in the hopes of turning him into a top music businessman. Luke's more interested in singing than seeking new talent, but his father wants to mold him in his image.

Katie sneaks a CD with her song on it into Guy's briefcase, in the hope of appearing in the upcoming Showcase he wants to produce at the school. Gail, hoping to promote Bev as a major star, lies and says she was the singer and Katie stole it. Bev, however, can't sing a note and is frankly almost as ditzy as her mother, if not nearly as vindictive. She forces Katie to pose as Bev's voice and take care of Victor instead of attending the Bollywood Ball. Gail's so-called "guru" Ravi (Manu Narayan) helps her and her best friend Angela (Jessalyn Wannlin) attend, but Gail catches them. Now Katie has to go along with the deception if she wants the people she loves, including herself, to have a happy ending...but she has a lot of friends in unexpected places who will help give Gail her comeuppance, including Victor and Ravi.

The Song and Dance: After the annoyingly over-the-top and silly stepmother and stepsister in If the Shoe Fits, I really appreciate Gail being played as a slightly nastier piece of work. At least her plot is a lot more interesting than just shoving her daughter in the limelight. We even get a twist in not only a younger stepbrother instead of a second stepsister, but both are just as abused as Katie. They only go along with their mother to gain her approval, but there's no making Gail approve of anyone but herself and her whims. I also appreciate the complicated plot that does a little more with the "modern Cinderella" premise than just winning an audition. There's real stakes here; Katie stands to lose her home and her chance at success if she doesn't go along with Gail.

Favorite Number: We once again open in a dream, this time as a music video for Katie's big song "Run This Town," complete with dancers and skimpy costumes. "Bless Myself" is heard twice, once as the demon Katie gives to guy, and again in the finale when everyone comes together to celebrate Katie finally being heard. (Listen for a bit of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" towards the end here.) The girls come "Knockin'" when they hear Luke and his buddy Mickey O'Malley (Titus Makin Jr.) writing songs of their own. 

"Oh Mere Dilruba" is the big Bollywood dance-off between Angela, who has studied dance, and Gail, who doesn't know what the heck she's doing. No prizes for guessing who wins that contest. The second version of "Make You Believe" is supposed to be Katie sing for Bev, complete with backup dancers...but thanks to Luke, Angela, and Victor and his cameras, Katie's brought out into the limelight once and for all.

What I Don't Like: The Cinderella is the problem here. Hale has a decent voice, but she's also bland, boring, and is frankly no more fun to watch than her dim stepsister. Stroma's even worse; he's so dull, you'd never believe he'd rather be writing his own songs than taking business courses. The running gag with Mickey throwing increasingly strange bands at Luke in the hope of them being discovered stops being cute the third time they use it. That complicated plot can get to be a little too much at times. You start to lose track of who's doing what to whom by the end. There's also the fact that Ravi comes off as a silly Indian stereotype; him turning out to be only half-Indian doesn't make it better.

The Big Finale: If the Shoe Fits has the better Cinderella and (mildly) better music, but this one has the more interesting plot and villains. Both would make cute slumber party background noise for 8 to 14-year-old girls and their parents.

Home Media: Same deal as Shoe Fits - on DVD and streaming, the latter free with commercials at Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Girl Crazy (1943)

MGM, 1943

Starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Nancy Walker, and Rags Ragland

Directed by Norman Taurog and Busby Berkeley

Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

We leave New York and head out west for Mickey and Judy's last full film together. By 1943, Garland and Rooney were among MGM's top stars. Garland was gunning for more adult roles, and Arthur Freed wanted to remake the classic Gershwin stage musical after MGM acquired the rights in the late 30's. It's a bit different than the other Judy/Mickey movies in several ways, starting with the western college setting replacing the barns, backyards, and Broadway. It's also the second Broadway adaptation they appeared in after Babes In Arms. How close to the original show is this? Let's start in New York, as college playboy Danny Churchill (Rooney) goes out on the town with two luscious ladies, and find out...

The Story: Danny's wealthy newspaper owner father Danny Sr. (Henry O'Neil) is incensed when his son's antics with nightclub chorus girls land on the front pages of his own publications. Hoping to avoid more of such shenanigans and get him to focus on his schoolwork, he sends him to the all-male Cody College in Arizona. Danny manages to meet and fall for the only girl in the area, postmistress Ginger Gray (Garland), on his way there, but she dismisses him as a useless Easterner. 

She's right at first. He can't ride a horse, won't get up early, and thinks the other students' cowboy abilities are silly. He starts to change his tune when Ginger finally starts to return his interest. Things are finally starting to look up for Danny when the Governor announces the college may close due to lack of interest. He and Ginger come up with the idea for a big western rodeo and a Queen of the Rodeo pageant...but that means there will be more girls at the college, and Ginger will have more competition for Danny...

The Song and Dance: The Broadway pedigree, terrific Gershwin music, and a unique modern western-meets-High School Musical plot makes all the difference here. Helps that, unlike with Babes In Arms, they kept almost the entire original Broadway score. Location shooting at a real dessert ranch in California adds a great deal of authenticity to the western setting. Garland may have been overworked and over-medicated during filming, but it doesn't show in her delightfully sarcastic performance. Here, we come full circle - Rooney is now officially chasing her and showing her what he can do, but she's not buying. He's having a great time, especially trying to ride a horse during a camping trip. Rags Ragland actually puts in one of his best performances as the kindly cowpuncher who befriends Ginger and Danny.

Favorite Number: June Allyson channels her inner Merman to demand Danny and various sugar daddies "Treat Me Rough" at the nightclub. It gets even funnier when Danny ends up onstage and the chorus girls shove him around. Garland and the cowboys are "Bidin' My Time" in a laid-back routine during the campout. Danny asks Ginger "Can You Use Me?" when they're driving back to the college, literally climbing all over her jalopy while she's trying to drive. The cleaned-up cowboys tell Ginger at her birthday that there's no one like "Embraceable You" as they all want to dance with her at once. Danny joins Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra for a wild piano solo to the only additional song, "Fascinating Rhythm."

The film's two best numbers are at the end. Garland puts in a gorgeous performance of "But Not For Me" after she loses Queen of the Rodeo and thinks Danny's abandoned her and the college. We end with that massive version of "I Got Rhythm" that Berkeley and Garland feuded over during filming. You'd never know how much trouble that number caused. It's a literal blast, with Garland and Rooney dancing with multitudes of cowboys and cowgirls and running under the girls' ribbons as the boys set off their guns. 

Trivia: Film debuts of June Allyson and Richard E. Strickland (as Danny's rival at the college). 

Berkeley was fired after pushing the dancers too hard and feuding with Garland during the "I Got Rhythm" number. He was replaced by Norman Taurog; Charles Walters did the remaining numbers and appeared as a dancer. 

The original Broadway show debuted in 1930, with Ginger Rodgers in Garland's role and Ethel Merman as a performer who also comes out west. The pit orchestra alone included such later notables as Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden, and ironically, Tommy Dorsey. It came back to Broadway in 1992 in a heavily revised version, Crazy for You, that was an equally big hit. Neither has been seen on Broadway since, though the original turned up as off-Broadway concerts in 2001 and 2009. 

Remake of the 1931 Wheeler and Woosley musical by the same title. Would be remade in 1965 as Where the Boys Meet the Girls.

What I Don't Like: While this is a little bit more mature than Garland and Rooney's previous romps in the big city and suburbs, the story can still come off as a little cliched, especially if you've seen other musical college stories like Good News. Wish Nancy Walker, as Garland's mouthy cousin, had more to do. MGM never did figure out what to do with her. And why did they change Danny from being sent to a dude ranch to a western college? Wanted to go for the Good News vibe, or just thought Rooney looked a little too young to be running ranches? 

The Big Finale: Terrific numbers, a great Gershwin score, and some nice performances make this the best of the four Garland-Rooney movies. Highly recommended for fans of them or the MGM musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all major formats; the solo discs are from the Warner Archives. It's currently on HBO Max with a subscription.

DVD

DVD - The Mickey & Judy Collection

DVD - TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Rooney & Garland

Blu-Ray

HBO Max

Babes On Broadway

MGM, 1941

Starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, and Virginia Weidler

Directed by George Sidney

Music and Lyrics by various

We're finally finishing up the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland teen backstage movies this week. By this point, the two were bona-fide starts the world over. Garland just had her first adult role the year before and was trying to get away from playing kids, but she didn't mind appearing alongside her best friend Rooney. How does the slightly more mature story of teens trying to make it in Manhattan look today? Let's begin with radio's Town Crier, Alexander Woollcott (himself), as he discusses the influx of hopeful children and teens to New York for stage careers and find out...

The Story: Tommy Williams (Rooney) is one of those hopefuls. He performs in a spaghetti house with his friends Ray Lambert (Ray McDonald) and Morton Hammond (Richard Quine). He doesn't believe it when a lady who gives them a big tip (Bainter) says she's a theatrical agent, but when they do show at her office, she says she has work for them. He's so thrilled, he tells half the kids in New York, including Penny Morris (Garland). 

Penny wants the kids at the orphanage where she works and her friend Barbara Jo Conway (Weidler) lives to have a trip to the country this summer to help their many aliments. Tommy sees it as a great way to promote his act. He convinces the kids to put on a show and a block party to help them. It turns out to help more than just their kids when British kids come around as well and are broadcasted to their parents. They make enough to rent a theater...but first Tommy gets a big job opportunity in Philadelphia, and then, the theater turns out to be run-down. Neither will stop the kids from achieving their dreams or learning that hard work often requires a great deal of sacrifice.

The Song and Dance: It's interesting to see how the two and their relationship have evolved since Strike Up the Band. Here, Judy is an independent young woman living on her own, making her own money, and too busy to pine for anyone. For once, it's Rooney who's chasing her. When she's angry at him, it's not because of some girl, it's because he really is being selfish. He's still going a mile a minute, but his ideas are a lot bigger than small-town barns or getting a school orchestra to a big band competition. 

They're backed by a decent supporting cast. McDonald has a few great tap solos, notably during the "Hoe Down" number, and Weidler is far more appealing here than she was whining over her boyfriend in Best Foot Forward three years later. Bainter has a few funny lines as the woman agent who finally gets the kids their big break.

Favorite Number: Busby Berkeley was the choreographer here, and he really goes to town with the energetic barnyard stomp "Hoe Down" in the auditorium. Garland and Rooney are in overalls and calico, kicking up their heels along with kids in goofy dancing horse costumes. "Chin Up, Cheerio, Carry On" is Garland's song for the visiting British kids and their families on the air, a reminder that the badly battered England had already been at war for two years at that point. The kids sing about that "Bombshell from Brazil" at the aborted show for the orphans...which turns out to be Rooney dressed in drag as Carmen Miranda and singing one of her signature tunes, "Mama Yo Quiero." 

Garland and Rooney are at their best in one big, expansive number and one small, intimate one. They really get into their medley of songs and scenes representing theater greats who once appeared on the stage of that aging theater. Garland' does especially well by the old Blanche Ring number "Rings On Her Fingers," and Rooney really gets into his Cyrano De Bergerac. 

The other big one here is "How About You?" This charming ballad was nominated for an Oscar in 1942. No wonder, with Mickey and Judy happily singing about how much they have in common on the piano, then doing a seemingly spontaneous little dance around the music room. It's sweet, simple, adorable, and proof that you don't always need Berkeley largess to be the best number in a movie.

Trivia: Vincent Minnelli conceived and supervised the "ghost theater" montage. 

Another satire of late 19th century theatrical tropes, the melodrama spoof "The Convict's Return," was filmed but cut and has since been lost (though the songs survive). 

Film debuts of Margaret O'Brian (as one of the kids at the audition) and Donna Reed (as Miss Jones' comely secretary). 

There was to have been a third "Babes" film, "Babes In Hollywood," but it was scrapped in favor of the somewhat more mature Girl Crazy after Garland admitted she was tired of teen roles. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, let's discuss that minstrel show finale. As with the almost identical number in Babes In Arms, it was seen as nostalgia for earlier theatrical tropes in 1940. Nowadays the bad blackface and stereotypical jokes will likely offend more people than they amuse. There's also the cliched story about the kids and their need for country air. It's not as melodramatic as the friend in need in Strike Up the Band, but it's still pretty obvious...and what Mickey and his buddies give up for it is worse. 

The Big Finale: Minstrel show aside, this is delightful fun with Rooney and Garland at the top of their game and some creative musical numbers. Highly recommended for fans of them or the MGM musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all major formats. The solo DVD is from the Warner Archives.

DVD

DVD - The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection

DVD - TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Rooney & Garland

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

Warner Bros, 2015

Starring Sofia Carson, Jennifer Tilly, Thomas Law, and Amy Louise Wilson

Directed by Michele Johnson

Music and Lyrics by various 

From 2008 to 2021, Warner Bros released a series of Cinderella fairy tales for teen girls set in modern times. The original from 2008 with Hilary Duff as the put-upon young woman who finds love isn't a musical, but the subsequent four direct-to-home-media movies were. This one may be the most musical of the bunch, given it involves the making of an actual Cinderella stage musical. Let's begin with a rousing musical number set around a car repair shop, as Tessa (Carson) dreams of stardom, and find out...

The Story: Tessa works hard as a mechanic to support her whiny stepsisters Athena (Wilson) and Olympia (Jazzara Jaslyn) and her obnoxious and silly stepmother Divine (Tilly). She accompanies them to a luxury hotel, where auditions for a major Cinderella musical featuring pop star Reed West (Law). Tessa bonds with makeup artist Georgie (Nicole Fortuin), who thinks she has what it takes to win that audition after seeing her dance with the other teens working at the hotel. 

Georgie gives her a mole and a blonde wig and convinces her to audition. She aces it, and Reed's smitten...but he's also smitten with Tessa when she's able to repair the vintage motorcycle they're using for the show. Tessa's exhausted trying to be two people at once and frustrated over her relationship with Reed, especially after his director and manager Freddie Marks (David Ury) claims he's seeing singer Harper Halston (Ashley De Lange). Divine and her daughters have their own plans for this Cinderella, and they have no intention of letting her make it to the big finale! 

The Song and Dance: Carson makes a charming Cinderella, both in the actual show that plays the story straight, and the film itself. She has fun with her two roles, reveling in showing up the boys when she can fix the motorcycle and the stagehands can't and attempting a (very bad) British accent as Bella Snow. 

Favorite Number: We open with "Full Throttle," as Tessa dreams of stardom in a Grease-esque dance routine set in a fantasy car repair shop...which ends abruptly when she's brought back to real life by a fellow mechanic. "Stuck On the Outside" turns up several times, including for Reed when he's announcing the auditions and as the song Tessa/Bella sings at the audition. Georgie encourages Tessa to "Do You." Their routine is so infectious, the entire kitchen staff ends up dancing along, first around the appliances, then on the beach.

What I Don't Like: Tilly, Wilson, and Jaslyn are annoying and way too over-the-top, even for a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. They're too much for a story that should have been played more delicately. It's also more than obvious that this is a low-budget, direct-to-home-media feature. The musical is put on at a hotel? They couldn't try to get a larger theater, especially for a show featuring a supposedly huge pop star? The costumes are bargain-basement, off-the-rack prom gowns and goofy 80's-inspired neon travesties for Tilly and the stepsisters. The songs aren't really all that memorable, either. 

And there's the obvious fact that the story is pure cliché, no matter how modern it is. You've seen this a thousand times before, and will see it many more times (including twice more in this series). It's not for those looking for a more original twist on this fairy tale.

The Big Finale: Cute time-waster for families with 8 to 14-year-old girls or those who must see every Cinderella adaptation that comes down the pike. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming. Tubi currently has it for free with ads.

DVD

Tubi

Damn Yankees

Warner Bros, 1958

Starring Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, and Russ Brown

Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen

Music by Richard Adler; Lyrics by Jerry Ross

Our second baseball musical this week throws the focus not only back on the game, but those who love it and cheer it on from home. Damn Yankees started as a 1954 novel, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. It became an even more successful Broadway musical in 1955. Warners brought in the entire original cast, replacing the leading man with up-and-coming star Hunter, along with director George Abbott. Since Abbott knew more about stage directing than film directing, they hired Donen to help make it look more cinematic. How does this Faustian baseball fantasy look today? Let's begin at the home of middle-aged couple Joe (Robert Schafer) and Meg (Shannon Bolin) Boyd, just in time to see Joe screaming as his beloved Washington Senators lose yet again, and find out...

The Story: Joe is such a die-hard Senators fan, he claims he'd sell his soul for them to win the pennant. No sooner did he make this rash claim than a man named Mr. Applegate (Walston) appears. He tells Joe he can give him the power to win the pennant for the Senators, if he sells him  his soul and leaves his wife for the season. Joe agrees to it, letting Applegate turn him into the much younger Joe Hardy (Hunter), but adds an escape clause that will allow him to return to his wife after the season's over.

Joe is an instant success with the ailing Senators and their fans, but he misses his wife badly and even takes a room in his home so he can be near her. Applegate sends his seductress Lola (Verdon) to tempt Joe into straying. When that doesn't work, Applegate plants a phony news story that Joe is corrupt. It'll take help from all of Joe's fans and the team that relies on him to keep him out of jail and show him that, no matter how much he loves baseball, he'd really rather be hitting a home run with his wife.

The Song and Dance: Other than cutting a few songs and revising some lyrics, this is one of the few Broadway shows of the 50's and 60's to make it to the screen almost as it was in the theater. Verdon's vamp routine may be a bit much, but she has more fun reminiscing about old times and naughty doings with Walston and in quieter moments with Hunter. Bolin is touching as Joe's neglected wife, who first wishes he'd pay attention to her and not the ball game, then wonders where he went to. Jean Stapleton had one of her earliest roles as a neighbor of the Boyds who becomes one of Joe Hardy's biggest supporters. Extra points for the outdoor shooting that included footage from several real vintage stadiums, including the Los Angeles version of Wrigley Field and Washington's Griffith Stadium. 

Also, I do appreciate that they made the tenacious sportswriter a woman at a time when female journalists were frequently still consigned to the society or lifestyle pages. 

Favorite Number: We kick off with Meg and other wives in a unique diamond split screen lamenting how they lose their husbands to baseball "Six Months Out of Every Year." Manager Benny Van Buren (Russ Brown) gives his discouraged team a pep talk by insisting they gotta have "Heart" to play better. Sportswriter Gloria Thorpe (Rae Allen) declares Joe Hardy to be "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo" and baseball's newest sensation. 

Applegate brings Lola in, and she assures him she'll have no trouble seducing this rube. All it takes is "A Little Brains, A Little Talent," and a lot of hip-wiggling. She tries everything she can, including a stripping routine and ending up in his lap, to get Joe to stray. She may think that "Whatever Lola Wants," she gets...but Joe remains faithful to his wife. Verdon does better performing a terrific mambo with choreographer Bob Fosse (whom she later married) to "Who Got the Pain?" at the tribute show for Joe. Disgusted with all the love going around, Applegate reminisces about how "Those Were the Good Old Days" when people were wicked and souls were far easier to gather. Lola and Joe get drunk in a nightclub together after the trial, claiming they're "Two Lost Souls," then getting other lost souls at the bar to join them in a raucous routine.

Trivia: Damn Yankees was one of the biggest Broadway musicals of the mid-50's, lasting three years in its original run. It proved nearly as successful as a TV musical in 1967 with Lee Remick as Lola and Phil Silvers as Applegate and in a 1996 revival with Bebe Neuwirth as Lola and first Victor Garber, then Jerry Lewis as Applegate. Neither the original nor the revival did well in London, barely making it a few months. 

Fans of vintage Washington DC baseball know this is based after real-life. There was a team called the Washington Senators, and they really were terrible for most of their existence, including in 1958. Indeed, they finally gave up in Washington two years later and moved to Minnesota, where they're now known as the Minnesota Twins.

There's currently talks for a remake with Jim Carrey as Applegate and Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Hardy.

What I Don't Like: First of all, let's discuss Hunter. While I disagree with Abbott about him not looking like an athlete, I do think he was stiff and a little dull for most of the movie. He was also only a fair singer and not a dancer, prompting the elimination of Joe's two major ballads ("Near You" and "A Man Doesn't Know") and keeping him on the fringes of most of the numbers. 

It's easy to tell which director was in charge of which numbers. Most of the film is shot like a play and can be pretty static, especially in scenes where people are just talking. There are some numbers, though, notably "Two Lost Souls" and "Shoeless Joe," that try to do more with the camera. Those were likely Donen's doing. Donen was said to have worked better with the actors, too, which may be why people seem to perk up during those scenes.

The Big Finale: If not a home run, this is still a solid hit to the outfield for fans of the stage show, Verdon, Fosse, or baseball. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc from the Warner Archives and streaming It's currently free at Tubi and Amazon Prime.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Tubi

Cult Flops - They Learned About Women

MGM, 1930

Starring Gus Van, Joe Schenck, Bessie Love, and Mary Doran

Directed by Jack Conway & Sam Wood

Music by Milton Ager; Lyrics by Jack Yellen

This week, we say "play ball" and hit the baseball diamond with two musicals revolving around America's national pastime. This one mixes up sports antics with vaudeville numbers to give us two singing ballplayers for the price of one. Van and Schenck were a wildly popular comedy team in vaudeville, the Ziegfeld Follies, and on early radio. After a few shorts they did for MGM went over well, the studio decided they were ready for a full-fledged feature. Were these two variety headliners ready for the big time, or should they be thrown back to the minor leagues? Let's start with Jerry Burke (Van) and Jack Glennon (Schenck) on the train to spring training with the Blue Sox and find out...

The Story: The duo are thrilled to be back with the Sox and with Jack's fiancée Mary Collins (Love). The team's glad to have them back too, especially Sam Goldberg (Benny Rubin) and his stuttering best buddy Tim O'Connor (Tom Dugan) who want to start up their own act. Cunning flapper Daisy Gebheart (Doran) sets her sights on Jack, convincing him to dump Mary and Jerry and stay in vaudeville. When they turn up married, Mary starts seeing Jerry instead...but she still loves Jack. Even after Jack realizes he still loves her and baseball, will it be enough to win the girl and the World Series? 

The Song and Dance: This one is all about the songs and comedy. When it focuses on Van, Schneck, Love, and their numbers and wisecracks, it's not that bad other than what nowadays would be considered to be Italian slurs in a few routines. We even get some authentic baseball footage from the real Yankees Stadium in 1929 that adds flavor to a mostly dull story. Doran has the most fun of the supporting cast as the gold-digger who smells easy prey in Jack. 

Favorite Number: The drunken Jerry kicks us off with "Ain't You, Baby?" sung to a bevy of pretty girls on the train. Van and Schenck get their first number together, "Does My Baby Love," when they're doing their vaudeville act with the team and Mary in the audience. They lead into the sole large-scale number "Harlem Madness." Originally in Technicolor, even in black and white it's still something else. Nina Mae McKinney leads a black chorus through the jazzy routine, which is unfortunately marred when Van and Schenck show up in blackface towards the end. It's quite a ride before that, especially when little girls in ruffled bathing suits and tap shoes break out some pretty incredible moves. Bessie 

Love has an adorable song on the ukulele as she sings about how happy she is to have "A Man of My Own." The most unique number in the film - and in the annals of musical film history - is "Ten Sweet Mamas." This one takes place in the showers as the players sing about their families and we see how they get ready for their regular activities, from showering to massages. 

Trivia: Alas, this would prove to be Van and Schenck's swan song. Schenck died of heart disease six months after the movie's release.

MGM returned to this story over 20 years later in Take Me Out to the Ball Game, this time with the far more musical team of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly.

What I Don't Like: Let's start with "An Old-Fashioned Guy." Some of the language Van and Schenck use in this song - not to mention a few jokes - are considered in very poor taste today, especially the Italian dialect jokes. Jokes abound about pretty much every ethnicity possible, up to and including their blackface in "Harlem Madness." It may offend those of more delicate sensibilities today

Unfortunately, the story degenerates into standard sticky melodrama by the second half. The idea of pretty and smart Love trading off between two pudgy middle-aged comedians/ballplayers is absurd. It's not helped by the stilted dialogue, or Van and Schenck's forlorn attempts at drama. Doran is so obvious, even  Jerry can figure out what she's up to ages before his partner does. And  Nine Mae McKinney has such a blast shaking and shimmying in "Harlem Madness," I wish she had more to do, or at least appeared in a second number. 

The Big Finale: Reviews on Amazon and IMDb seem to indicate that the first baseball movie with sound is hit or miss with audiences today. Some find it to be unique and fun and enjoy the "Harlem Madness" number; others think it's an annoying and silly relic from a bygone era. I'm going to call this a bunt to first plate and mainly recommend it for fans of Love, vaudeville, or early sound film.

Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Happy Easter! - Springtime for Roo

Disney, 2003

Voices of Ken Sansom, Jimmy Bennett, Jim Cummings, and David Ogden Stiers

Directed by Elliot M. Bour and Saul Blinkoff

Music and Lyrics by various

We celebrate Easter with the citizens of the Hundred Acres Woods in the only entirely original Pooh holiday movie. Roo gets top billing, but resident bunny Rabbit is really the one in the spotlight. He learns an important lesson about spring and Easter, via a much-loved story that's usually more associated with Christmas than springtime. Let's start with little Roo (Bennett) as he explains to the narrator (Stiers) why he loves Easter so much and find out why Rabbit's more than a little out of sorts about spring this year...

The Story: No one is more excited about Easter than little Roo...which is why he's disappointed when he and his friends arrive at Rabbit's to find no Easter decorations. Rabbit declares it Spring Cleaning Day instead and orders the others to help clean his house. The others try to spruce up his quarters with Easter decorations, but he ends up furious with them for not doing what he told them to and chases them out. 

Roo can't figure out why Rabbit's so upset. He used to love Easter. Tigger goes to talk to him, only for Rabbit to insist even harder that he won't allow anyone to celebrate Easter anymore. The narrator takes things into his own, well, hands when he shows what happened the year before when Rabbit tried too hard to make Roo's first Easter at the Hundred Acre Wood perfect. When even that doesn't make Rabbit relent, he finally reveals how his current behavior is upsetting Roo...and what will happen in the future if he continues trying to control his friends and how they celebrate the holidays.

The Animation: Mostly par for the course for the Winnie the Pooh franchise. It's nothing flashy, but all this franchise needs is for the characters to move well and at least somewhat resemble the ones in the books, which they do here. There are a few decent effects during the "future" segment as well. 

The Song and Dance: This one gets points for originality. As mentioned, first of all, it's the only Pooh direct-to-media holiday film with no added filler from TV specials or The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Second, there's some surprisingly good performances here. This is Samson's best outing as fussy Rabbit outside of the Kessie shorts in New Adventures, Bennett's charming as Roo, and Stiers lends gravity and even a hint of menace as the narrator. 

This also makes better use of Pooh and his friends being in a book than any Pooh media outside of the 2011 Winnie the Pooh film. They flash forwards and backwards in time via turning the pages in the book. Rabbit even gets stuck in the pages at one point.

Favorite Number: Tigger and Roo sing about how "We're Hunting Eggs Today" as they head to Rabbit's, only to find Rabbit has no intention of doing anything like that. "Sniffity Sniff" is Pooh's comic number as he tries to keep from sneezing while sweeping Rabbit's home, only to make a worse mess when he does let it out. Roo and Tigger are glad to share "Easter Day With You" when they help the others put up decorations at Rabbit's house. We see why Rabbit got upset the Easter before when he tries to get the others to play by his rules, because that's "The Way It Must Be Done."

What I Don't Like: Rabbit is such a jerk here, even by his standards, it gives this outing an unusually bitter tinge. The Christmas Carol theme in the second half, with the narrator playing ghost and showing Rabbit what will happen if he continues to alienate his friends, seems like an odd choice for this gentle series. Also, the focus is mainly on Rabbit and Roo, with Tigger bouncing in as well. We don't really get much of Pooh beyond his "Sniffity Sniff" number and complaining about Rabbit keeping his spring honey pot, and even less of Eeyore and Piglet. At least they're in the movie. Gopher, Owl, and Christopher Robin are missing, and aren't even mentioned. 

The Big Finale: The Christmas Carol second half is too weird to make this a favorite of mine, but it does have some things of merit if you love Roo, Rabbit, or the other Pooh holiday films. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all major formats. Disney Plus has it for streaming with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Disney Plus

Sister Act 2: Back In the Habit

Touchstone Pictures, 1993

Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Barnard Hughes, James Coburn, and Lauryn Hill

Directed by Bill Duke

Music and Lyrics by various

Sister Act was such a smash hit, a sequel was likely inevitable. They got most of the original cast on board, including Whoopi Goldberg. They also brought in several Broadway veterans, tough guy Coburn, and a cast of talented kids to show what happens when Sister Mary Clarence is called back to save her old school from closing. Let's start with her Vegas lounge act to see how she does this...and changes hers and the kids' lives in the process...

The Story: The Sisters of St. Katherine's now work for St. Francis Academy in San Francisco. The school is in danger of foreclosure, unless it can improve its standing among the archdiocese. Like St. Katherine's, it's a small school in a low-income neighborhood with unruly kids. Delores (Goldberg) discovers this the hard way when the head friar Father Maurice (Hughes) convinces her to don a habit again as the school's new music teacher. The kids ignore her and play pranks, until she lays down the law. Most of them are there to get easy As and stay, but popular Rita Louise Wilson (Hall) walks out. Mary Clarence finally brings her back when they fix up the music room and she channels their spontaneous rap sessions into a full-fledged choir.

The kids so impress the school board, Mary Clarence convinces them to enter the All-State Choir Championship, though head of the archdiocese Mr. Crisp (Coburn) disapproves of the entire deal. Rita's mother Florence (Sheryl Lee Ralph) is also concerned that her daughter will come to a bad end like her father if she tries singing. Mary Clarence believes in them, though...and so do the other nuns and friars. Everyone bands together to earn money for the trip, then make sure the kids get on that stage.

The Song and Dance: Despite using the original cast, this is a very different story, but it does have its charms. The talented kids really go to town with the numbers. Hill shows the vocal prowess that later made her one of the most popular rap and R&B stars of the late 90's and early 2000's. Look for another talented teen, Jennifer Love Hewitt, among the girls. The monks, including Thomas Gottschalk as Father Wolfgang and stage star Michael Jeter as Father Ignatious, steal the show with their wacky antics. 

Favorite Number: Once again, we start off with another 60's girl-group medley, this time with a slightly glitzier show in Vegas that ends with the nuns onstage and Delores on a swinging moon. "Oh Happy Day," the montage number that shows how the kids came to respect Sister Mary Clarence, starts off with her teaching them "la la la," and comes to a showstopping conclusion with them having a ball in front of the entire school. In between, we see them bonding as they clean up and paint the school's music room. "Ball of Confusion" is Delores' outdoor number with the nuns as they perform for a huge crowd to earn money for the trip to the All-Choir Championship.

The movie ends with two different - and equally good - versions of "Joyful, Joyful." The Chapman College Choir gives it a more traditional soft sell that's more in keeping with the song. When the St. Francis kids get to it, they launch into a delightful gospel-rap that includes a brief re-written version of "What Have You Done With Him Lately?" by Janet Jackson. Hill and the kids have such a blast with that number, you understand why they eventually won.

And don't cut out before the end credits! The cast performs "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," with the monks and nuns doing Busby Berkeley around the names, and it's the funniest number in the entire film.

What I Don't Like: The story is cliches of the highest order, especially compared to the witness protection program plot from the first film. It's basically an updated, rapping version of the Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney movies of the 30's and early 40's. Hill is the only kid you really get to know well beyond their brief introductions when Mary Clarence takes over the class. In fact, there's so much focus on the kids and the monks and their gags, Goldberg doesn't really have much to do. Coburn's nasty uptight school administrator is no replacement for the gangsters who provided genuine tension to the original film. 

The Big Finale: The numbers are reason enough to catch this if you're a fan of Hill or Goldberg or loved the first movie. 

Home Media: Same deal - solo DVD can be found for under $5, is on Blu-Ray in the US with the original, streams on Disney Plus with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray - 20th Anniversary 2-Movie Collection

Disney Plus

Sister Act

Touchstone Pictures, 1992

Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Harvey Keitel, and Kathy Najimy

Directed by Emile Ardolino

Music and Lyrics by various

We're going to do something different for Holy Week this year with the two wildly popular Sister Act comedies. Originally conceived as a vehicle for Bette Midler, the movie was eventually retailored for Goldberg's more streetwise charms when Midler had no desire to play a nun. Goldberg may be an even-less-likely convent-dweller, but her wisecracks and some great numbers made this movie one of the biggest hits of the early 90's. How does the story of a lounger singer who ends up remaking a convent choir look nowadays? Let's begin with the young Delores Van Cartier (Goldberg) as her Catholic school teacher despairs of her learning anything about religion and find out...

The Story: Twenty years later, Delores is now a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada. She's placed in witness protection after witnessing her gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca (Keitel) kill a man. To her horror, they place her among the nuns in a San Francisco convent. Neither she nor the stuffy Mother Superior (Smith) are happy about this at first, until she's put in charge of the church choir. She makes use of her performing experience to not only get them singing in harmony, but re-writes 60's girl group numbers as inspirational gospel routines for them. 

Mother Superior is shocked, but Monsignor O'Hara (Joseph Maher), the parish priest, thinks it's a wonderful way to get more people into their failing parish. It does put the nuns on the street and gets them more involved with their congregation, but it also puts Delores front and center. Which is something she doesn't need, since Vince is still out there, gunning for her...

The Song and Dance: This may not have been written for Goldberg, but she still runs with the jokes anyway - literally, the two times she dashes through kitchens trying to escape Vince and his boys. All of the nuns are having a great time, especially Najimy as bubbly Sister Mary Patrick and Mary Wickes as grouchy former choir mistress Sister Mary Lazarus. We even get a real church in San Francisco standing in for St. Katherine's with some nice location shooting for the "Just a Touch of Love" meet the people montage. 

Favorite Number: We open with a medley of 60's girl-group songs performed by Delores and two back-up singers that's intentionally cheesy, to the point of being a parody of lounge acts, including "Heat Wave" and two more songs we'll hear later. "Rescue Me" provides our first montage, depicting Dolores constantly having to do chores and cleaning, to her frustration. She even dances along while cleaning a car at one point, but Mother Superior isn't pleased. "Just a Touch of Love" is the other montage, this one showing how the popularity of the choir finally gets the nuns out into the world to meet their rough-and-tumble congregation. Check out Sister Mary Patrick getting so into the dance moves from some girls on the street, she forgets to follow after them!

Of course, the big ones here are the numbers for the nuns. Delores finally gets them singing together with a rocking gospel version of "Hail Holy Queen." "My God (Guy)" and the big finale "I Will Follow Him" are the re-written songs from Delores' Reno act. Both are delightful, especially "Follow Him," with its slow, reverent hymnal opening beautifully flowing into the faster gospel.

Trivia: It became a stage show in 2006 with additional music by Alan Menken. It opened in London in 2009 and transferred to Broadway in 2011, where it had a short run of a year and a half. 

What I Don't Like: This is a typical 90's comedy, with stereotypical gangsters for villains and a cliché story about a woman discovering herself. It's also very much a Goldberg vehicle; those who aren't fans of hers probably won't be into this. For all the gags with the nuns, there's still a slight dark streak in the fact that Delores is on the run from people who want to kill her. And I'm surprised they didn't play up the interest between Delores and the cop assigned to her case (Bill Nunn) more. (Apparently, they were going to have a full-blown love interest, but it was cut. The stage show makes more use of this.)

The Big Finale: If you love Whoopi or goofy comedies from the early 90's, you'll want to give this sister act a spot on the heavenly choir.

Home Media: Easily found solo or bundled with its sequel Sister Act 2: Back In the Habit in any format. The solo DVD can often be found for under five dollars. Disney Plus has both with a subscription. 

DVD

Blu-Ray - Sister Act: 20th Anniversary 2 Movie Collection

Disney Plus

Animation Celebration Saturday - Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland

Toho-Towa/Hemdale Corporation, 1989

Voices of Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, Rene Auberjonois, and Laura Mooney

Directed by Masami Hata and William Hurtz

Music by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

This Japanese-American co-production has a complicated history. Producer Yutaka Fujioka first became interested in turning the whimsical early 20th century Little Nemo comic strips drawn by Windsor McKay in 1975. He got permission from McKay's family in 1978, but couldn't get funding until 1981. He tried to interest veteran animators in making a Japanese film with the quality of Disney, eventually bringing aboard two of their famous "Nine Old Men" and, initially, later Japanese Legend Hayao Miyazaki. It was suspended in 1984 when they couldn't find a director or more funding, then ran through many scripts in 1985 and 1986 in search of an appropriate story. They didn't really get going with a director and funds until 1987. Was all that trouble worth it, or should this dreamy fantasy be left with the Nightmare King? Let's begin flying on a bed in the mind of Little Nemo (Damon) himself and find out...

The Story: Nemo is excited about a circus in town and is disappointed when his parents say they can't take him, and then tries to steal a pie and is caught. He dreams that the circus people are all from Slumberland, and want him and his pet flying squirrel Icarus (Danny Mann) to be princes and take over from King Morpheus (Bernard Erhard), as well as be a companion to daughter Camille (Mooney). His dream gets a lot scarier when mischievous Flip (Rooney) convinces him to open the door to Nightmare Land, just for a peek. That "peek" lets The Nightmare King (Bill Martin) escape and capture Morpheus. Now it's up to Nemo, Camille (Mooney), his advisor Professor Genius (Auberjonois), Flip, and a group of good-natured demons called Boomps to return the magic scepter to the King and save Slumberland and all beautiful dreams.

The Animation: For all the trouble he had in other areas, Fujioka did manage to make the quality animation he wanted. This is nearly on par with Disney movies of the period, especially with eye-popping designs like the steampunk-esque Dream Dirigible that brings Nemo to Slumberland and the black mist grabbing King Morpheus at the coronation. The characters move fairly well, as if they're floating on the clouds of those dream lands.

The Song and Dance: I remember hearing about this as a kid in the early 90's, but I didn't get to see it until many years later. Now I wish I had caught it then. It's charming and funny, with a dark streak in Flip's destructive mischief and the unleashing of The Nighmare King. Rooney has by far the most fun as Flip, the hobo whose thoughtless antics eventually gets Nemo - and everyone in Slumberland - into major trouble. Demon and Mooney make an adorable couple, too, even vocally, and Mann manages to make the most out of Icarus the Flying Squirrel's squeaks.

Favorite Number: "Slumberland" is heard twice, as Princess Camille, Nemo, and Bon Bon play in giant balls in the sky and ride a goat-driven sleigh and in the closing credits. Every instructor in the palace tries to teach Nemo "Etiquette" in one of the last of the Shermans' tongue-twisting tunes, but he's more baffled than anything. "The Boomps Song" explains who they are and why they don't get along with the Nightmare King.

Trivia: The original American dub had 11 minutes of more violent content cut out; recent DVD copies add it back in, but usually keep the dubbing. (Some recent DVDs do keep the Japanese audio as an extra.)

This was a huge box-office bomb, especially in North America, where it had little advertising. 

The tie-in video game Little Nemo: The Dream Master did far better and is actually quite well-remembered by gamer fans to this day. The video was also a big seller, eventually turning this movie into something of a cult favorite. 

What I Don't Like: The first half with the circus and in Slumberland is meandering and slow, with little going on other than the musical numbers. The movie kicks off with a strange sequence involving Nemo outrunning a train that's never mentioned again (though it may have been a nightmare Nemo understandably forgot). To be fair, the first half is probably closer to the original comics. The Nightmare King, Nightmare Land, King Morpheus, and Icarus were all added for the film, and the padding does show. Icarus can be funny, but he's basically your standard comic relief critter and doesn't have that much to do with anything outside of the finale. There's also Flip's makeup and heavy lips making him come uncomfortably close to racist caricature for some people. 

The Big Finale: I'm glad I finally found my way to Nemo's dream world. Recommended for families with older dreamers and anime fans who'll enjoy the action and Disney-esque fantasy.

Home Media: The American dub is easily found on disc and streaming; Amazon Prime has the full uncut American dub version for free with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - Fashions of 1934

Warner Bros, 1934

Starring William Powell, Bette Davis, William McHugh, and Verree Teasdale

Directed by William Dieterle 

Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Irving Kahal

This isn't technically a musical, but it does have a big Busby Berkeley number that's worth discussing. At this point, Warners was still trying to figure out what to do with Davis. She wanted to be loaned out to RKO to appear in Of Human Bondage, but they opted to give her the glamor treatment first, with a platinum blonde wig and false eyelashes. William Powell was already on his way to MGM after Warners couldn't quite figure out his dapper persona, either. How do both come off in this strange combination of elegant gowns and elaborate cons? Let's begin with con man Sherwood Nash (Powell) as his latest scheme is going broke and find out...

The Story: Sherwood's encounter with struggling fashion designer Lynn Mason (Davis) inspires his next big idea. They provide discount shops with cheap copies of the latest Paris fashions, at least until the designers start complaining. His next plot involves Lynn creating her own gowns, inspired by designer Oscar Baroque (Reginald Owen), but signing the names of famous designers. 

Once again, the designers complain...but this time, Baroque hires the two and Sherwood's photographer buddy Snap (McHugh) to spy on the designs of his rivals. When they're caught, Sherwood manages to blackmail Baroque's current girlfriend the Grand Duchess Alix (Teasdale) into getting her boyfriend to design a musical revue, using feathers sold by a friend of his (Hugh Herbert). It's a sensation...but when Sherwood opens his own competing house, that's when Baroque realizes he may have been outfoxed by this wily American...

The Song and Dance: This hodge-podge does manage some moments of amusement, especially when Powell is going a mile a minute with yet another big idea. He's a shady con artist and borderline crook, but you almost let it pass because he's so darn charming. The other big thing here - the fashions - don't disappoint, either. Warners went all out with costumes here, from glittering spangled gowns to the multitudes of feathered outfits and bikinis in Berkeley's "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" number. 

Speaking of, this is fairly racy for a movie that came out just before the Production Code went into effect. In addition to the scanty costumes, there's McHugh chasing anything that looks vaguely female, a man in Paris trying to sell him "filthy pictures," and some scanty-bordering-on-nude costumes in the Berkeley routine. 

Favorite Number: There's only one major number, but it's a lulu. Berkeley went all out with "Spin a Little Web of Dreams." A shop girl surrounded by feathers dreaming of a better life somehow turns into women playing living harps made of barely-dressed chorus girls, women in bikinis waving feathered fans in time to the music, and Berkeley's famous overhead shots turning them into feathery flowers. 

What I Don't Like: There's no glamor treatment in the world that could make Davis comfortable in even a semi-musical. She's clearly bored throughout, making her decision about whether or not to marry Sherwood or the rather dull orchestra conductor Jimmy Blake (Phillip Reed) unnecessary and dull. And why didn't Warners go full musical with this one? This could have been so much more. Berkeley could have done more with the other fashion show routines, or they could have tossed in a few more numbers or given Reed and burbling Hugh Herbert more to do. 

The Big Finale: The one big number is nifty, but not enough to make this interesting. For hardcore fans of Berkeley or the stars only. 

Home Media: Easy to find on Warner Archives DVD and streaming, including HBO Max with a subscription.

DVD

HBO Max

Cult Flops - West Side Story (2021)

20th Century Fox, 2021

Starring Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBoise, and David Alvarez

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Music by Leonard Bernstein; Lyrics by Stephan Sondheim

Spielberg's interest in West Side Story goes back to his childhood, when the film soundtrack became his first brush with popular music. He initially expressed interest in directing a new version as far back as 2014, but things didn't really start picking up until Tony Kushner came on board and wrote the script around 2017. It was supposed to come out in 2020, but like many movies, was held back due to the pandemic. That doesn't seem to have helped its chances. It was a flop on release last December, but it still received high praise from critics for its staging, numbers, and performances anyway. Were the critics right that this is as good as the original, or did it deserve to be cut out? Let's begin as the camera swoops down on the grimy gray demolition of New York slums and find out...

The Story: Puerto Rican gang The Sharks fight the white Jets for control of their shrinking turf on New York's Upper West Side in 1961. Former Jet Tony (Elgort) falls for Maria (Zegler), the sweet sister of head Shark Bernardo (Alvarez), at a school dance. No one's thrilled about their relationship, least of all Bernardo, who intended his sister to marry the more upstanding Chino (Josh Andres Rivera). Maria begs Tony to stop the fighting, but his intervention ends with two of the kids dead. Tony flees the scene, but it sets off a chain of events that ends with more people dead...and Maria wondering what all this senseless killing was for. 

The Song and Dance: Incredible performances highlight this tough-tender tearjerker. Ariana DuBose won a Supporting Actress Oscar as Anita, who talks about the American Dream, only to see its ugly underside when she's attacked by the Jets. Zegler is an affecting and heartbreakingly innocent Maria, particularly flitting around playing with hats and sunglasses as she tells the ladies "I Feel Pretty." Rita Moreno plays Valentina, the older Hispanic woman who owns the drug store where both groups hang out. She has an especially touching moment during the "Somewhere" number and is heartbreaking leading Chino away during the finale. 

The production is a unique blend of on-location filming in New York, Brooklyn, Newark, and Paterson and CGI backdrops that manage to look gritty and authentic to the early 60's without being too obvious. The colorful costumes are stunning, especially the ladies' prom dresses at the dance and the brilliant sundresses and pedal pushers worn for the "America" number. And for those of you who complained about the 1961 film rearranging songs or giving them different lyrics, here, most of the songs return to their original lyrics and contours (though some have been rearranged).

And if nothing else, I appreciate that they not only got actual Hispanics to play the Sharks this time, but even found kids the right ages. It makes the ending all the more tragic. There's even quite a bit of Spanish that's not captioned for more authentic flavor. 

Favorite Number: We open with Lietenant Schrank (Corey Stoll) trying to end the rumble, but only getting "The Jet Song" and the all-Spanish "La Borinquena" from the Sharks. Tony's "Something's Coming" is shot with some nice lighting as we see him excited over the possibilities of life and what lies ahead. "The Dance at the Gym" is just as dynamic here as in the original, with all the Jets and their ladies in cool blues and the Sharks and their dates in roaring reds and golds. The dancing is phenomenal here, especially once they get into the mambo segment! 

"America" comes off the roof and onto the streets as Anita tells Bernardo her American Dream and why she loves her adopted homeland, even as Bernardo complains he hasn't exactly felt welcome in it. Both versions of "Tonight," with the lovers on their fire escape and everyone preparing for the rumble later, are beautifully shot and full of vigor and, in the case of the lovers, wistful innocence. "Gee Officer Krupke" is now staged at the police station after the Jets were hauled in. They have a great time throwing papers around and making fun of their least-favorite man on the force.

"One Hand, One Heart" makes use of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, with its glowing colors and simple heartfelt feelings. "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" was sung live on-set, and the ladies give it an immediacy that's touching and heartbreaking. Moreno gets to sing the biggest hit from this show, the ballad "Somewhere," against a montage of Valentina remembering her white husband and how they ran the drug store together and the lovers also coming together, proving that races and classes can co-exist. 

What I Didn't Like: Let's start with Elgort. This seems to be a tough role to cast, since I wasn't a fan of original Tony Richard Beymer either. He's a bit stiff and not all that great of a singer, especially against Zegler's luminous soprano. To his credit, he does wake up more in the action scenes, especially when feuding with Bernardo and Riff during "Cool." 

This is a very dark musical with an unhappy ending, set in squalor and gritty gray CGI. If you prefer your musicals on the light and fluffy side, this is not the place for you. There's also all that Spanish with no translation, some sexual situations, violence, language, and the smoking common at the time. This is definitely for teen and adult romance fans. Some folks also pointed out that the Puerto Rican kids can come off as a little stereotypical, especially when they're on their own. 

The Big Finale: I really hope this and the other largely Hispanic musical from last year In the Heights find more of an audience on streaming and DVD. Neither of them remotely deserved the drubbing they got at the box office. Highly recommended for older lovers of tragic romance. 

Home Media: As one of the most recent movies I've reviewed, this is easy to find in all formats, including several streaming platforms. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Disney Plus

HBO Max

Musicals On TV - The Little Mermaid Live!

Disney/ABC, 2019

Starring Auli'i Cravalho, Graham Phillips, Queen Latifah, and Shaggy

Directed by Hamish Hamilton

Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater

Disney took its sweet time getting into the live musical craze. It was 2017 before they announced a live version of their beloved 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid as ABC's next big special. Technical difficulties caused it to be pushed off the schedule for two years, until it finally made it to the air in November 2019 in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original film. With another live-action Mermaid coming out next year, how does this initial attempt at doing the story with living actors fare? Let's begin with dancing sailors singing about the stories of mermaids and fantastical creatures who live in the "Mysterious Fathoms Below" and find out...

The Story: Ariel (Cravalho) is a mermaid who lives under the sea, but she longs to see the world on land. After she falls for the human Prince Eric (Phillips), she goes to the sea witch Ursula (Queen Latifah) to give her legs. Ursula will, but for the price of her beautiful voice. Eric only heard her sing and doesn't recognize her as a human. Now she and her friends Flounder the fish, Skuttle the seagull, and Sebastian the crab (Shaggy) have to find a way to prove to Eric she's the real deal, whether she can sing about it or not.

The Song and Dance: I really wish Disney didn't chicken out on the technical problems and went full-on live with this. What we see of the physical production is gorgeous and creative, with some nifty costumes for the mermaids and Ursula and incredible oversized sets. The split "If Only" ballad for Ariel and Eric, showing her wishing she could sing for him in her bedroom while he's "outside" on the other side, was very well done. 

Favorite Number: "Mysterious Fathoms Below" turns the opening number into an elaborately choreographed routine for Prince Eric and his sailors as he returns home and they tell him about mermaids and their siren voices. Amber Reily introduces the "Daughters of Triton" in their flashy sequined mermaid costumes. Cravalho pours her heart into a lovely "Part of Your World" in a beautifully recreated and detailed underwater grotto. "Under the Sea" has Shaggy in a simple red jacket wiggling through pure chaos as we see everything from acrobats on the ceiling to puppet fish to people in huge foam fish costumes playing "the toot of soul." 

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is staged largely the same as in the film, with a gold light representing Ariel's voice and two huge puppets standing in for Ursula's eels. Making their debuts here are "Her Voice," a touching solo for Eric after Grimsby reminds him that he's just chasing a fantasy, and "If Only," a duet for Ariel and Eric where he wishes he could find that dream girl, and she wishes she could tell him. "Les Poissons" becomes a huge dance routine for everyone in the kitchen as they chase huge crabs in foam costumes for dinner, including John Stamos as the crazed Chef Louis.

Trivia: "If Only," "Her Voice," and the reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" are from the stage Little Mermaid that debuted on Broadway in 2007. 

What I Don't Like: Once again, I really wish Disney had gone full-on live. As much as I enjoy the animated film, it really takes away from the stage production. They either should have let the stage show stand on its own, or ditched the live version permanently and just re-ran the animated film. It's too bad, because some of the performances are excellent. Latifiah in particular has a ball as Ursula, and Cravalaho makes a charming and sweet Ariel.

The Big Finale: This is cute, but could have been so much more. You're better off showing your kids the animated film again and waiting for the live-action version to come out next year. 

Home Media: Streaming exclusive at the moment. Disney Plus has it with a subscription.

Disney Plus