Tales of Hoffman (1951)

British Lion Films, 1951

Starring Robert Rousenville, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, and Pamela Brown

Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Music by Jaques Offenbach; English translation by Dennis Arundell, from the original libretto by Jules Barbier

For years, Powell had wanted to combine moving images and operatic music. The Red Shoes and its ballet sequence was one step to that goal. This is the culmination, a movie set to almost the entire soundtrack of the original opera. This is unique movie in many respects. It's a true opera film. Everything is danced and sung; there's no dialogue. We also have dubbed dancers or singers who can act, with a deliberately unreal stage set and stylized acting. Does Powell's gamble work, or should it be abandoned? Let's begin backstage, where ballerina Stella (Shearer) is being courted by student E.A Hoffman (Rousenville), and find out...

The Story: This is an opera anthology, so there's actually four stories: 

The first begins with Stella onstage, dancing in "The Ballet of the Enchanted Dragonfly." Wealthy Councillor Lindorf (Helpmann) intercepts Stella's message for Hoffman. He goes downstairs to a tavern with his friends, including boyish Nicklas (Brown), and proceeds to get drunk while telling stories of his past romances...

In the second story, we learn how Hoffman fell for Olympia (Shearer), a lifelike mechanical doll created by scientist Spalanzani (Leonide Massine) and inventor Coppelius (Helpmann). Thanks to a pair of magic spectacles that Coppelius puts on him, he truly believes she's real...until the two men tear her apart in a dispute, and he realizes what he's really in love with. 

The third story has Hoffman in love with the courtesan Giulietta (Ludmilla Tcherina), but her only interest in him is to steal his reflection for the evil magician Dapertutto (Helpmann).

The final story veers into tragedy as Hoffman travels to Greece, where he visits his beloved Antonia (Ann Ayers). Antonia has a fatal disease that doesn't allow her to sing. She's tormented by Dr. Miracle (Helpmann), who encourages her to perform the aria that could kill her...

The Song and Dance: And it's all about the song and dance here. As mentioned, this is a full-blown opera, without a bit of dialogue. And it's just gorgeous, as much as the previous Red Shoes. The Technicolor is absolutely radiant, cool and clear. The art direction is sumptuous, the costumes lavish and historically accurate to the 1820's. Helpmann and Rousenville dance off with the movie as they smarmy count who portrays the many variations on evil and the writer who can never seem to keep his lovers around for long. Shearer's even lovelier as the fickle dancer and the darling doll who is so real, she has a living man helplessly in love with her, and Ayers is in ravishing voice as the doomed Antonia.

Oh, and I appreciate that Powell had each person who dubbed a dancer appear alongside them in the end credits. That was an honest and classy touch. 

Favorite Number: Shearer dances "Ballet of the Enchanted Butterfly" with Edmund Audran. Their costumes are realistic, but rather grotesque, making them look almost skeletal as they flit around. She also has some enchanting dances as Olympia, both solo, and with a chorus in hoop skirts, painted white and red "masques," and suits with enormous ruffled shirts. Helpmann does his best work here, too, paired with effeminate Massine. Helpmann is also effective playing off slinky Tcherina. Ayers gets one of the best arias in the film towards the end of the Antonia sequence when she performs a trio with herself, her deceased mother (Joan Alexander), and Miracle.  

Trivia: This also got Oscar nominations for the color art direction and costumes; lost both to An American In Paris. 

What I Don't Like: Unlike the passionate Red Shoes, the opera sort of puts this one at a remove. It comes off as a bit colder compared to the warm and vital Shoes. Also, as mentioned, this is a through-sung opera. This isn't a typical girls-and-gags musical with spoken sequences between the dance routines. It's not even a rock opera. It's as typical of a grand opera as you're going to get on the big screen. If you're not an opera fan or aren't interested in opera, you probably won't be into this.

The Big Finale: This and The Red Shoes are required viewing for fans of opera and ballet, or even those who just want to see what can be done with Technicolor in imaginative hands. 

Home Media: This is also a part of the  Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-Ray. It can currently be found streaming for free on Flex.

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The Red Shoes

Rank Film Distributors, 1948

Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, and Robert Helpmann

Music by various

Our reviews this week return us to the world of grand opera and ballet for two of the most beautiful films ever made in England. We start off with the rarefied world of ballet. This was originally conceived by Powell and producer Alexander Korda in the 30's as a vehicle for Korda's future wife Merle Oberon. 

Powell bought the rights from Korda and reactivated the project after the success of his drama Black Narcissus. They hired dancers who had acting ability, preferring that to actors who could dance. They even created their own ballet company for the 15-minute dance sequence mid-way through the film. Shearer hadn't originally wanted to do the movie, but she was finally convinced to do it. Was she right to blow this off, or does this ballerina deserve a chance to dance? Let's start at Covent Garden Opera House during a performance of Heart of Fire by the Ballet Lermontov and find out...

The Story: Victoria Page wants nothing more than to be a great ballerina. She's invited to a rehearsal by Boris Lermontov (Walbrook), the company's owner and manager. Another newcomer at the rehearsal is Julian Craster (Goring), who had confronted Lermontov over his former music teacher stealing Hearts of Fire. He ends up being hired as the company's conductor and composer. He and Vicky hit it off right away, even as Lermontov sees her potential. After lending her to the Ballet Rambert for Swan Lake, he invites her to join his ballet in Paris and Monte Carlo.

He's so taken by Vicky, he has a ballet created for her, The Ballet of the Red Shoes. Despite being put together in only three weeks, it's an instant success. Vicky is now the top ballerina in the company, and Lermonov wants more scores from Julian. Vicky and Julian fall in love, but try to keep their relationship a secret from Lermontov. He fires Julian when he finds out about it. Vicky goes with him. She and Julian marry...but she can't stay away from dancing for long, and soon the lure of the Red Shoes, and her greatest role, proves too much for her to bear...

The Song and Dance: Probably one of the most gorgeous movies ever made in England. English Technicolor tended to have a somewhat softer look than the process used in the US, more like pastel frosting than a jewel-toned candy box. This makes those temptingly scarlet slippers stand out all the more. Shearer is utterly exquisite as the young woman caught between the man she loves and her need to dance and show her talent to the world. Some of the dancing is wonderful, too, especially from Robert Helpmann as the ballet's choreographer who takes the role of the grotesque little man who sells the girl the shoes in the ballet. 

The stunning art direction, with its chalky white masks and heavily lashed eyes against the soft Technicolor pastel glow, is more than fully deserving of its Oscar win. It's use of German expressionism gives this the look of a horror films at time, especially in the second half and during the ballet when grotesque creatures grab at the girl in her brilliant footwear. 

Favorite Number: This could almost be considered a crash course in famous ballets. We open with Hearts On Fire, which was written directly for the film. Shearer is the mechanical girl to Helpmann's confused inventor in a sequence from Coppelia. She's the dying peasant girl Giselle in a scene from the ballet from that title, the dancing doll in love in La Boutique Fantasque, and Princess Odile during her success in Swan Lake. 

Of course, by far the most famous number is the Ballet of the Red Shoes. This 17 minute dance sequence takes up a good chunk of the movie, and is the best thing about it. The dancing is first rate, the costumes are gorgeous, and even the cinematography is exquisite. Where most movies about ballet would have a stationary camera filming the dancers, this one makes use of editing and techniques not available on the stage to show the dancing in a way that reveals what's going on in Shearer's head and how confused she is over the tug between her heart and her art.

Trivia: Also won for Best Score in 1948. 

A Broadway musical version with songs by Jules Styne debuted in 1993. Alas, it was very poorly received and closed after only five performances. 

What I Don't Like: Perhaps a bit long, and more than a little dark. Not for those hoping for a happy ending in their romances. It's pretty easy to guess that Vicky is doomed from the start. In fact, the finale is a tad too melodramatic for what comes before it.

The Big Finale: One of the most gorgeous movies ever made. If you have even a passing interest in ballet or have wanted to check out one of the Powell/Pressburger films, or just want to see a really good color movie, this is one of the best ever made and couldn't be recommended more. 

Home Media: The Criterion Collection put out UCLA's amazing restoration on disc in 2021. It's also free with ads on many streaming sites, including YouTube.

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Family Fun Saturday - Muppet Treasure Island

Disney, 1996

Starring The Muppets, Tim Curry, Kevin Bishop, and Billy Connolly

Directed by Brian Henson

Music by Barry Mann; Lyrics by Cynthia Weil

Muppet Christmas Carol wasn't a huge hit on release in November 1992, but it did well enough for Jim Henson Productions to consider a second adaptation of a classic British novel. This was hardly Disney's first go-around with Treasure Island. Their adaptation was their first live-action film in 1950. Robert Newton went over so well as roguish buccaneer Long John Silver, he was associated with the role for the rest of his life. Does the Muppet version reach the heights of that film and their previous movie, or should it be abandoned on a desert island? Let's begin over the credits as the infamous pirate Captain Flint buries his treasure and find out...

The Story: Young orphan Jim Hawkins (Bishop) and his peculiar friends Gonzo (Dave Golez) and Rizzo (Steve Whitmire) long to visit exotic places far from the inn where they work and demanding Mrs. Bluveridge (Jennifer Saunders). They get their chance when former pirate Billy Bones (Connolly) dies of a heart attack, leaving them the map that leads to Flint's treasure. They're barely able to dodge pirates after the map and get it to Squire Trelawney (Frank Oz), a sweet but rather clueless noble who talks to the little man in his finger. 

Trelawny and scientist Dr. Livensey (Golez) hire the sailing ship Hispaniola to get them to the island where the treasure is buried. Captain Smollett (Whitmire) and strict first mate Samuel Arrow (Oz) are trustworthy, but as Smollett points out, the rest of the crew is not. Jim does manage to befriend cook and former pirate Long John Silver (Curry) and his lobster Polly (Kevin Clash), who teaches him how to navigate by the stars and talks about his father to him. 

Silver, however, has ulterior motives. Jim and his two friends help Smollett avoid a mutiny, only for Jim to be captured by pirates and everyone else to be taken by pig natives. Turns out the natives are led by Smollet's old girlfriend Benjamina Gunn (Oz) and may be willing to help them find the treasure...if Silver and his crew don't get there first!

The Song and Dance: There's some very funny moments in this rip-roaring Muppet swashbuckler. I'm glad Fozzie and Sam have more to do in this one. They get some of the film's best lines as the silly squire who lets his thumb do the talking and the rules-obsessed first mate. In fact, this is probably Sam the Eagle's best role in any of the theatrical films, and one of Oz's best performances as the character. Curry's having an absolutely marvelous time as one of the most famous fictional buccaneers in history and milks his performance for all it's worth, especially after he outs himself as a pirate in the second half. Once again, terrific costumes and sets that (for the most part) accurately depicts seaside England and the Caribbean in the 1780's. 

Favorite Number: We open with "Shiver Me Timbers" under the credits as we see Flint and his men bury their treasure and what happened afterwards. Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo know they want "Something Better" than waiting on sailors at a seaside inn. Jim, Silver, Smollett, and the crew of the Hispaniola are excited to be "Sailing for Adventure" when they shove off. By the time they lose their wind mid-way through, they're all suffering from "Cabin Fever" in a wild Latin spoof that includes neon puff-sleeved shirts and sombreros. 

Even Silver flat-out says he wants to make the most of his big number with the pirate chorus as he encourages Jim to become "A Professional Pirate." Jim, of course, is having none of it. The natives get their own wacky chorus number, "Boom Shakalaka." as they prepare to roast the Hispaniola crew...until the head of their tribe gets a load of Smollett! Benjamina and Smollett are literally hanging by a limb when they sing the movie's big love ballad "Love Led Us Here." The movie ends with the Ziggy Marley reggae number "Love Power" over the credits as the tourist rats whom Rizzo brought on board retrieve the sunken treasure.

Trivia: Frank Oz was busy elsewhere, so that's Kevin Clash operating his usual Muppets. Oz dubbed his voice later. 

Tim Curry had been a huge Muppet fan for years. He relished working with them and later called Long John Silver one of his favorite roles.

Billy Connolly was proud to be the first person to die in a Muppet movie.

What I Don't Like: Due to this being a Muppet adaptation for children, this isn't quite as accurate book-wise as Christmas Carol was. Jim wasn't an orphan, for one thing. His mother was the one who ran the inn. Mr. Arrow really was pushed overboard, not just tricked. Benjamin Gunn was a former pirate who had been stranded on the island for so long, he'd gone crazy. 

While they got away with inserting Gonzo and Rizzo as narrators in Christmas Carol, they work less well as Jim's sidekicks here. Other than a scene where the pirates torture them to find out where the map is (and Gonzo enjoys it!), even they complain mid-way through the movie that they don't have much to do. Piggy's role as Benjamina is kind of shoehorned into the end to give her a better role than acting crazy. 

The Big Finale: I mildly prefer Christmas Carol, but this one has many charms as well for fans of Curry, pirate yarns, or the Muppets.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, often for under $5. Disney Plus has it with a subscription.

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Thanksgiving Short Subject Special - The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw

NBC, 1980

Voices of Ron McLarty, Pat Lysinger, Johnathan Lewis, and Gabriela Glatzer

Directed by Mordicai Gernstein and Al Kouzel

Music by Elliot Lawrence; Lyrics by Stan Berenstein 

This was the second holiday special featuring the Bears in the early 80's. The book series began in the early 60's with The Big Honey Hunt. By 1980, they were an institution, with Stan and Jan Berenstein churning out sometimes as many as five or six books a year. NBC took notice and commissioned these specials featuring bumbling Papa Bear, sensible Mama Bear, and their cubs Brother and Sister. How does the story of a scary Thanksgiving legend that isn't quite as frightening as it seems look today? Let's begin with Mama reading about the legend of Big Paw in the harvest honeycomb and find out...

The Story: The legend says, that if the bears are greedy, and not sufficiently kind to the needy and share what they have with those around them, Bigpaw will come down and devour Bear Country. Papa thinks it's silly, until a squirrel reports having seen an enormous, monstrous bear creature. He panics and has all of Bear Country up in arms, until Mama intervenes and reminds the citizens not to get carried away. A huge noise from Bigpaw's mountain and a massive shadow just sends Papa and the citizens off again. Brother and Sister know that Bigpaw isn't what he seems, and they're the only ones who can remind their father and the others that thanksgiving means being kind to all creatures, monsters included.

The Animation: On par with most Saturday morning cartoons of the time. It's not the fanciest, but it moves relatively well and closely resembles the books that were out then, which is really all this franchise needs anyway. 

The Song and Dance: Possibly the most action-packed of the 80's Berenstein Bears specials, with Papa and his mob trying to attack Bigpaw and Bigpaw almost attacking them. It also has a slightly darker and more sinister tone than the other specials, though it all ends happily. Bigpaw himself went over so well, he'd reappear in Berenstein Bears' Comic Valentine and the first TV show from 1985. Mama is the thing here; she gets two fun numbers and is even more important as the voice of reason than usual when she keeps the citizens of Bear Country from overreacting to the legend the first time.

Favorite Number: Mama performs "Thankfulness" with the Bear family's pet bird as she cleans the house for Thanksgiving and tells the bird what she's thankful for. She tries to explain that "A Stranger Is Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)" to her husband and the citizens of Bear Country, but they're too terrified to really listen. Even the trees and the very ground around Brother and Sister tremble at the arrival of "Bigpaw" when they wander into Sinister Bog to get Papa's favorite mixed nuts for the Thanksgiving table.

What I Don't Like: This is slightly darker than the other Bears specials, what with Papa and the mob and Bigpaw almost trying to kill each other. It's telling that Papa's big comic routine in the opening with how much he likes holidays is spoken; this is the only special where he doesn't get a big goofy song that says how intelligent he thinks he is. Honestly, Papa's not the only one who thinks the legend sounds silly, too. I'm amazed the Bears panicked over it twice.

The Big Finale: Not my favorite of the Bears' holiday tales, but still worth checking out if you have fans of the books who want to see more or remember when this used to turn up a lot on cable for Thanksgiving in the early-mid 80's. 

Home Media: Currently the only Berenstein Bears holiday special not on DVD, due to a brief scene of the squirrel who tells the citizens about Bigpaw smoking a cigar to make it look scarier. It can be easily found on YouTube and other sharing sites. 

YouTube

Swing Parade of 1946

Monogram Pictures, 1946

Starring Gale Storm, The Three Stooges (Moe and Curly Howard and Larry Fine), Phil Regan, and Edward Brophy

Directed by Phil Karlson

Music and Lyrics by various

Jukebox musicals go back much further than most people realize. Many very early stage musicals had songs culled from the popular hits of the day. As late as the early 30's, musical comedies on stage, even ones that weren't revues, often tended to be jumbles of whatever hit songs the producers could get their hands on. The situation was changing in New York by the 1940's as more composers followed Rogers and Hammerstein's lead and wrote all of the music for the whole show, but the Poverty Row studios frequently couldn't afford this route. 

Monogram did manage to get popular radio singer Storm and borrowed the Three Stooges from Columbia for what is a relatively lavish affair for them. How does the story of a singer who finds herself mixed up with a new nightclub and three very goofy waiters look today? Let's begin with Carol Lawrence (Storm), the young lady in question, as she's being evicted from her apartment for not paying the rent and find out...

The Story: Carol goes to millionaire Daniel Warren (Russell Hicks) for a secretarial job. He ends up hiring her to deliver an eviction notice to his son Danny Warren Jr. (Regan) that would close the nightclub he's been working on. Warren Sr. wants his son to join him in the family business. Gale is first hauled off by the three dishwashers (The Three Stooges) Danny hired, then faints from hunger. 

After she realizes how kind they've all been to her and that Danny never touched her, she agrees to audition as a singer. She passes...but she still hasn't served that eviction notice. Daniel Sr. goes to the club to find out what's going on, but after the Stooges throw him out, he's more convinced than ever that his son needs to close down and come home. Wealthy patron Marie Finch (Mary Treen) is the one who finally gets through to him and makes him understand that there's no harm in going out and having a little fun once in a while.

The Song and Dance: This was much better than I figured it would be from the low-budget pedigree. Storm is reasonably charming. Brophy plays it to the hilt as the stage manager determined to keep the Stooges in line and process servers out, while Treen runs with her rare chance to portray a relatively sophisticated lady instead of a maid or secretary. Curly Howard is a bit peppier and like his old self here than he was in the shorts the Stooges made at Columbia around this time, maybe because they aren't the whole show. Monogram even brought in a couple of real hit bands and singers, including Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Connie Boswell. 

Favorite Number: We don't get our first real number until almost 15 minutes in, but it's Storm singing "Oh Brother" at the audition. Almost all of the other songs are performed at the nightclub. Boswell ladles her throbbing contralto into "Stormy Weather" twice, in her solo performance and in the big finale. Louis Jordan and his boys are really glowing when their instruments light up for "Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule." They have the hit "Caldonia" earlier. 

"On the Sunny Side of the Street" turns into one of the show's big numbers, with dancers swinging in glittery star-trimmed costumes as they swing around Storm. Treen gets to join Will Osborne and His Orchestra to remind Carol and Danny that "A Tender Word Will Mend It All" and "Just a Little Fond Affection" will do their relationship a world of good. Danny's big ballad is "Small World." He finally joins Carol for "After All This Time" in the finale.

Trivia: There's a colorized version (which is what I watched). 

Rifftrax did a show around this as Swing Parade. 

What I Don't Like: Many Stooge fans aren't really big on this film and wish they had more to do besides chasing Storm off a few times. I wish Regan was as much fun as them. He's about as interesting as the cardboard nightclub sets. Obviously, this isn't for someone who wants a stronger story. It's also not for those who aren't fans of the Stooges or the big band and swing music of the 30's and 40's. 

The Big Finale: Fun time-waster if you're a big Stooge fan or really love big band and swing music. 

Home Media: On DVD from the Warner Archives. It can currently be found streaming for free on Tubi.

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Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - Treasure Island (1973)

Filmation/Warner Bros, 1973

Voices of Richard Dawson, Davy Jones, Dal McKennon, and Larry Storch

Directed by Hal Sutherland

Music and Lyrics by various

This is the first of two animated movies based on classic British literature Filmation did for Warner Bros in the early 70's. Animated versions of this classic Robert Lewis Stevenson pirate yarn had been done in Russia and Japan in 1971, but this is the first time an American animation company took a crack at the book. Is this adaptation sea-worthy, or should it walk the plank? Let's begin on land, with Billy Barnes arriving at the inn run by young Jim Hawkins (Jones) and his mother (Jane Webb), and find out...

The Story: Barnes is joined shortly after by a blind man named Pew, who gives him "The Black Spot" that is supposed to summon him. He dies instead. Jim finds a treasure map in his chest that leads to the buried treasure of long-gone pirate Captain Flint. Pew and his men first chase him, then chase Hiccup the mouse when he gets the map. Jim manages to get it from Hiccup and brings it to Dr. Livesey (Larry D. Mann) and Squire Trelawny. They arrange for a trip on the Hispanola with its Captain Smollett (Storch), bringing on board a crew and the cook Long John Silver (Dawson).

Hawkins takes over as cabin boy, and he and Silver strike up a friendship, which makes it much harder when Jim overhears Silver and the men planning to steal the map and take over the ship. Though Livesey and Trelawny manage to avert the mutiny, Hawkins ends up with them. Long John Silver is desperate to find Captain Flint's treasure...but he's also genuinely fond of Jim and won't hurt him. Jim eventually flees the pirates to warn Trewlawny and the others with the help of marooned former pirate Ben Gunn (McKinnon). 

The Animation: Looks pretty much like any Filmation cartoon of the time. There are some nice backgrounds. The tropical islands in particular are very colorful and attractive, with their bright colors and towering palm trees. All of the characters look a little too cartoony, though, especially the Squire and Doctor. 

The Song and Dance: Like with Oliver Twist a year later, I give them credit for sticking to the book relatively well. They also didn't try to insert too many silly sidekicks this time. The mouse is it, and other than ending up with the map briefly, he doesn't figure that heavily into the story. Silver's parrot is from the original book. They even get in some of the scarier aspects, like Jim being attacked by Israel Hands and Billy Bones' death in the opening. Dawson makes a perfect Silver, and Jones plays fairly well off him. 

Favorite Number: We open with the traditional "15 Men on a Dead Man's Chest," sung by the pirates over the black and blue sketch artwork in the credits. Our first actual number is "Find the Boy," which Pew demands his men do after Jim gets the map. It becomes "Find the Mouse" after the map ends up in Hiccup's paws. After everyone boards the Hispanola, Smollett declares "I'm the Captain" and he gives the orders. Silver teaches Jim "Sailor Talk" in the kitchen in order to let him fit in with the rest of the crew. Ben Gunn rants "Backwards I Speak" as Jim tries to figure out what he's trying to explain about Silver and the treasure.

The rousing "Hi Ho! It's a Pirate's Life" is heard three times. The pirates sing it the first time right before they attempt mutiny. Silver and Jim reprise it in the final minutes as Jim sails away on the Hispanola and Silver rows off into the horizon. We hear them sing it again over the end credits. 

Trivia: This ran in two parts as an NBC Special Treat in 1980. 

What I Don't Like: This looks as cheap as it is. The animation isn't great, and the music is totally unmemorable. All of the good guys but Jim and Ben, including Trelawny and Livesey, are played as total idiots who are easily duped by Silver and anyone else. While the mouse doesn't do a lot, there's still a lot of slapstick that bogs the film down, especially in the first half before they get on the island. 

The Big Finale: Same deal as Oliver Twist. Unless you're a huge fan of Jones, Dawson, or Filmation, there are far better adaptations of this story out there. (One of which we're going to look at next week.)

Home Media: DVD only from Warner Bros Home Entertainment. 

DVD

The Great Caruso

MGM, 1951

Starring Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, and Jarmila Novotna

Directed by Richard Thorpe

Music and Lyrics by various

We jump from the world of romantic composers to grand opera for our next biography. Enrico Caruso was one of the major tenors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He sang on opera stages across Europe and North and South America, but is primarily known today as one of the leading stars of New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1903 to right before his death in 1921. He also became one of the first singers to embrace the new recording medium, which not only bolstered his Met career, it made him one of the major superstars of the first two decades of the 20th century. 

MGM had been trying to get this movie off the ground for years. It wasn't until Philadelphia tenor Lanza joined the company in 1948 that the studio finally found its Caruso. How well does Lanza do as his idol? Let's begin with the birth of a great singer in Naples, Italy in 1873 and find out...

The Story: Young Enrico (Peter Price) is devastated when his mother dies. She encourages him to keep singing and training. Unfortunately, it doesn't earn the grown Enrico (Lanza) much money. He's singing for pennies in cafes when he tries to marry his hometown sweetheart Musetta (Yvette Duguay). Her father (Argentina Brunetti) disapproves of singing as a career and brings him into his flour business instead. He ends up being discovered by an agent at a cafe he's delivering flour to. Musetta's father fires him and turns him away when a storm ruins the flour. Enrico swears he'll come back after he's made money singing.

He does make money singing, working his way up to leading roles at Milan's famous La Scala opera house...but Musetta marries someone else. Heartbroken, he leaves for a world tour that ends with him at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He accidentally insults one of the leading patrons of the Met, Park Benjamin (Carl Benton Reid), then  goes to his house to apologize and charms Benjamin's sweet socialite daughter Dorothy (Blyth). 

Neither Benjamin nor the New York critics find Caruso as adorable as Dorothy does. He finally weds her against her father's wishes after another long tour, attempting to prove himself as a singer of refinement. Opera diva and Caruso's fellow Met performer Louise Heggar (Dorothy Kirsten) tries to explain to Dorothy that Caruso's life revolves around his voice, but she's too much in love to care. They prove to be a happy couple with the world at their feet. Caruso, however, doesn't have long to live, thanks to illness...but his recordings and tremendous popularity assure that he will never be forgotten.

The Song and Dance: Lanza may have been born to play Caruso. Both men were said to be large in spirit, possessing of two of the finest operatic voices heard in the 20th century, and great lovers of women and luxurious living. Lanza pretty much blows everyone else off the screen. He's just as big and hearty as this movie, with its gorgeous settings and lavish recreations of many famous operas. In fact, this movie may be even more of a crash course in famous operas than it is of Caruso's life. You really get a sense of what made Caruso a star, and why many of these shows remain popular to this day. 

Favorite Number: We open with the young Caruso singing in a local choir that goes on a procession through the Italian town where he was born. He knows his mother is gone when she doesn't come to the window to watch him sing. "A'Vuchella" is the number Caruso sings with his friends at the cafe, while "La Danza" is the one that so impresses Casazza despite the spoiled flour. 

We see Caruso performing sequences from many major operas. Tosca is his first major hit at La Scala, and he does several different scenes from that throughout the movie. Kirsten joins him for the finale of Aida, the sextet from Lucia de Lammermoor,  and the title song of the Victor Herbert operetta Sweethearts. He's seen in segments from Pagliacci, Il Trovotore, Rigoletto, La Boheme, La Giocanda, and Cavaliera Rusticana in montages. Blyth joins him for the movie's big hit ballad, "The Loveliest Night of the Year," which Dorothy performs with Enrico during his birthday party. Caruso's last appearance is in Martha, but it's the show that literally kills him.

What I Don't Like: This is another musical biography that plays fast and loose with facts. First of all, Caruso never sang in an opera chorus. He always played leading roles. He was a hit at the Met from the first time he sang there in 1903 and never had to win their favor. He had many relationships with women not shown in the film, including one that resulted in the birth of two sons out of wedlock. He didn't meet and marry Dorothy until 1917. His voluminous recording career is barely touched on. He made over 200 recordings between 1903 and 1920, many of which survive and remain popular to this day. And while he did suffer a throat hemorrhage during an opera performance in 1920, it didn't cause him to die onstage. He finally passed away in Naples a year later while waiting for an operation.

And yeah, this follows all the standard beats of a movie biography. This isn't for you if you're looking for something with less music, or that treads new ground. The dialogue is as stiff as some of Enrico's costumes at the Met.

The Big Finale: This is a must-see if you have even a passing interest in Lanza, Caruso, or opera, or want to learn more about opera on the big screen and in general. 

Home Media: DVD and Blu-Ray only from the Warner Archives. 

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Blu-Ray

A Song to Remember

Columbia Pictures, 1945

Starring Cornel Wilde, Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, and Nina Foch

Directed by Charles Vidor

Music by Frederic Chopin

This week, we're elevating our cultural status with a dive into biographies of classical musicians and opera stars. Polish composer Chopin remains one of the most beloved in classical circles. Many of his piano pieces continue to be played in concert halls and on classical music collections and radio stations to this day, and he remains one of the best-known musicians of his period. Does this movie do his short but dramatic life justice, or should it be sent back to Warsaw? Let's begin in Poland, with the music teacher Josef Elsner (Muni) as he discovers the young piano protege Frederic Chopin, and find out...

The Story: Elsner receives an invitation from music publisher Louis Playel (George Coulouris) for Chopin to play for him in Paris. Unfortunately, Chopin's family can't afford the trip. Chopin (Wilde) remains in Warsaw, where he sees his own people taken prisoner by Russian police. He and Elsner become Polish freedom fighters, even as Elsner continues to fight to take Chopin and his music to Paris. He's to play for a count's fancy banquet, but refuses when he hears that the Russian head of Poland is one of the guests. 

He and Elsner finally flee to Paris. Playel won't hear Chopin's music now that he's no longer a child protege...until Chopin plays his "Polonaise" for him. He introduces the young man to fellow composer Franz List (Stephen Bekassy). It's List who arranges for him to meet writer and critic George Sand (Merle Oberon), who greatly admires his music. Chopin his heartbroken when he loses his friends in the Polish secret society and walks out of a concert, but a great review from Sand gives him heart. They end up falling hard for each other, even as Elsner finally gets Playel to publish Chopin's work. 

He and Sand spend the next few years in Majorica, an island near Spain. Elsner can't get him to do concerts or send more music to publish and ends up teaching back in Warsaw. Things aren't so great in Poland, though. Chopin ends his relationship with Sand when he hears news of friends who were imprisoned during the 1830 November Uprising and she wants him to stay with her. He returns to Elsner and embarks on a series of concert tours across Europe to earn money for the Polish people...but it ends up being too much for his already weakened health...

The Song and Dance: Muni and a gorgeous production anchor this romantic melodrama. Muni takes top honors as the kindly teacher who never stops believing in his student, even when his student abandons him. Oberon is also excellent as strong-willed, demanding Sand, whose desire for love far outweighs her interest in patriotism. The sets and costumes are stunning for normally low-budget Columbia; the cinematography was Oscar-nominated. It looks every bit 1830 Poland and France, from the charming peasant costumes on Chopin's parents in the beginning to the lavish velvets, brocades, and braiding worn by the members of the French court to George Sand's austere dark masculine suits. 

Favorite Number: Pianist Jose Iturbi played all of the numbers we hear in the film, starting with the number young Chopin plays as Elsner arrives at his home. Playel may not be impressed by Chopin's "Polonaise in E Flat," but the audience certainly was. Iturbi's full recording of this number went on to be a best-seller. The "Heroic Polonaise" at Chopin's debut is every bit as stunning as Sand says in her review later, with Iturbi and Wilde throwing themselves passionately into it. Likewise, the number he plays at the reception hosted by the Duchess of Orleans is intense enough to understand why Playel wanted to publish it. The concert tour medley starts out passionate and gets increasingly weary as Chopin grows more and more ill.

Trivia: The scene where Sand brings a candelabra to Chopin's piano inspired a young Liberace to have one  in his piano act. 

What I Don't Like: This melodrama with music is a load of piffle that has very little to do with history. Chopin and Sand did have a passionate relationship, but she was just as big on Polish patriotism as he was. They did part ways, but for other reasons besides their politics, and she absolutely would not have forced him to choose between her and his country. Elsner was fictional, a representative of his many teachers over the years. While he didn't get to Paris until he was older, he did play outside of Poland as a child protege, including in Russia. 

Wilde was nominated for an Oscar as Chopin, but outside of his attempts to follow along with Iturbi's piano playing, he's dull as dishwater. Honestly, Oberon's Sand is vastly more interesting than this superficial pretty boy. He looks more like a vampire from an adaptation of an Ann Rice novel towards the end than a dying man. 

The Big Finale: Mainly for big fans of classical or romantic-era music or major fans of Muni, Wilde, or Oberon. 

Home Media: The solo DVD is part of Columbia's Screen Classics By Request DVD-R line and is expensive at this writing. You're better off streaming this one - it's currently free at Tubi with commercials. 

DVD - Screen Classics By Request

Tubi

Saluting Our Troops - Skirts Ahoy!

MGM, 1952

Starring Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine, Joan Roberts, and Barry Sullivan

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Ralph Blane 

This year, we honor the women who have served our country with this unusual MGM musical. The WAVES, the Women's Naval Reserves, was largely disbanded in 1948. The Korean War made it necessary to recruit women for war duties again, so the WAVES were restarted. Hollywood jumped in to help recruit new members with this tale of three women from different backgrounds who join up and find love and adventure in basic training. How well did they do? Let's begin by seeing why each of those women joined the WAVES and find out...

The Story: Mary Kate Yarborough (Roberts), Whitney Young (Williams), and Una Yancey (Blaine) meet in basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago. Midwestern girl-next-door Mary Kate was left at the altar by her fiancee Dick (Keefe Brasselle), who wanted to see the world. Long Island socialite Whitney left multiple fiancees at the altar over the years. Brooklyn shopgirl Una is hoping to follow her sailor fiance Archie (Dean Miller) to Paris. 

Una and Whitney easily take to the Naval life. Mary Kate is initially homesick, until Dick turns up and says he doesn't think she can handle it. She stays to prove that she can be fully and truly independent. Whitney's having her own problems. She falls for the camp's doctor Lieutenant Paul Elliot (Sullivan) when they meet at a nightclub, but after he defends her against three WACs who picked a fight with her. He tells her she lacks discipline. Una tries to get them back together at a dance, to no avail. Whitney following him to a theater only ends in an argument over her abandoning suitors and him being snobbish. At least, no matter what else happens or where they're assigned after graduation, the ladies have each other...and the self-confidence they've gained from their military training.

The Song and Dance: Two things make this stand out from most musicals revolving around soldiers in the Armed Forces. First of all, this being about women recruits changes a lot. The ladies chase men, but they're also loyal to each other and their friendship. Unlike the guys, they don't want to just see the world. They want to prove that they can make a difference and take care of themselves. Finding a man is important, but so is finding themselves. Second, most musicals about military life tend to revolve around the soldiers' adventures on leave. This is one of the few to be set in a boot camp and show the women actually training. 

Williams is sassy and fun as the mouthy socialite looking for a cause besides avoiding marriage. Roberts starts slow, with Mary Kate spending most of the first half of the movie crying and moping. Once she faces Brasselle and that Naval board, she gains a spine and becomes a lot more interesting. You really do hope she stays. 

Favorite Number: Our first number isn't until nearly 10 minutes in, but it's Blaine, the five look-a-like DeMarco Sisters who always stick together, and the chorus to tell Mary Kate that they're "Glad to Have You Aboard." Williams and the DeMarcos have a number together at a talent show, with them swabbing the deck while tossing buckets of water at Williams and wondering "What Makes a Wave?" The three ladies join together at a polished pink tea room to wonder "What Good Is a Gal Without a Guy?" The DeMarco Sisters wonder the same when they reprise the song at the boot camp later in the film. 

Band singer Billy Eckstine makes one of his few film appearances in the night club sequence, crooning "Hold Me Close to You." Brasselle gets the ballad "I've Got a Funny Feeling" at another night club later in the film. Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van get a random dance routine in goofy neon outfits to "Oh By Jingle" as a USO number for the ladies. The sweet "Navy Waltz" has Williams dancing with Emmett Lynn as the DeMarcos and the Chorus perform the dreamy number in the back ground. A black drill unit do a lively precision marching number to an instrumental version of the title song. 

They do manage to sneak in two low-key water ballets for Williams. She performs dives and dances in the water with two small children, Bubba and Kathy Tongay, who did their own water ballets in the early 50's as the Aquatots. Williams gets a solo water routine later, "dancing" with an inflatable Navy toy. 

Trivia: Sadly, Kathy only lived for a year after the release of this film. She died tragically after her father forced her to dive off of a 33-foot high platform in Miami, Florida. Her father was sentenced for manslaughter and served ten years. Bubba later became a lifeguard in Miami.

Williams redesigned the Navy swimsuits seen in the film, as she called the originals inappropriate for swimming. She also didn't get along with Lanfield and called him out for bullying Vivian Blaine.

This would be Lanfield's last movie. 

What I Don't Like: For all the seriousness of the military setting, this is a pretty goofy, fluffy musical. Most of the numbers have nothing to do with anything, including the Reynolds/Van romp that's dropped into the middle of the movie for no other reason than to have a big dance routine. The movie can't seem to decide whether it wants to emphasize the ladies striving for their independence and how important their relationships with each other are, or push the romances. Williams has absolutely no chemistry with the dull Sullivan, who is not only older than her, but acts like a jerk. Blaine has the opposite problem - she's a little too much at times, seemingly playing to the Guys & Dolls stage audiences instead of the camera. It's also pretty obvious this was not intended to be a Williams vehicle. Her two water sequences were forced in with a crowbar, and they look it. 

The Big Finale: While far from the best thing Williams ever did, it's charming enough to be worth a look for major fans of hers or lovers of the big MGM musicals of the 1940's and 50's. 

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

DVD

Amazon Prime

East Side of Heaven

Universal, 1939

Starring Bing Crosby, Joan Blondel, Mischa Aurer, and Irene Hervey

Directed by David Butler

Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Johnny Burke

Since we did a Bob Hope movie on Tuesday, we'll do one featuring his old friend Bing Crosby today, and one many of you might not have heard of. Bing was so popular in the  late 30's, he was able to wrangle a deal that allowed him to make movies away from his home studio Paramount. We've already seen the first and the last, Pennies From Heaven and If I Had My Way. How does this one compare to them, and to the other movies Bing made at Paramount at this time? Let's begin in New York, as singing telegram boy Denny Martin (Crosby) delivers a message to a wealthy family, and find out...

The Story: Denny has already postponed his marriage to switchboard operator Mary Wilson (Blondel) three times. Mary's hoping the fourth time is the charm, but the day they're to marry, he loses his job after he stands up for his friend Cyrus Barrett Jr (Robert Kent), an alcoholic whose father (C. Aubrey Smith) wants to take custody of his baby son (Baby Sandy) from him and his wife Mona (Hervey). Mona's had enough of Cyrus Jr and wants a divorce, something his father thoroughly disapproves of. Denny does manage to get a job as a singing cab driver, and even convinces Cyrus Jr. to go into rehab. His father, however, takes advantage of his absence to move against his wife on kidnapping charges.

Desperate, Mona leaves her son at the one place she figures no one will ever look - Denny's apartment. He and his Zodiac-obsessed Russian friend Nicky (Aurer) find themselves hiding the infant from the detectives Barrett Sr. hired to find the child. Mary hears them talking baby talk and thinks Denny's talking to a woman. She reports this to her gossip columnist friend Claudius DeWolfe (Jerome Cowan), who would like nothing more than to discredit Denny in her eyes. He first gleefully parrots her item about him seeing someone else, then decides he wants to deliver the baby to Barrett Sr. himself...

The Song and Dance: There's some charm to be had in this sweet melodrama with music. Crosby and Blondel work better together than you might think; her sarcasm plays well off his breezy manner. It makes you wish they didn't usually work for different studios and got to do more movies together. Smith also comes off well as the worried grandfather who thinks he can give his grandson a better home than with his liquor-addled father, and Baby Sandy is too cute for words as the infant in the center of Barretts' legal battle. There's nifty Art Deco sets, too, especially at the streamlined Frying Pan Cafe. 

Favorite Number: Our first number is "Happy Birthday to You," which Denny sings as he discovers Mona and Barrett Junior and Senior arguing over their child's future. He auditions for a job with the jaunty "Sing a Song of Sunbeams," which somehow lands him the Singing Cabdriver gig. "Hang Your Heart On a Hickory Limb" is the big number at the Frying Pan Cafe. Denny performs this one to sober up the very sloshed Barrett Jr, while waitresses become a makeshift chorus and the owner Mrs. Kelly (Jane Jones) joins two cooks as his backup singers. Denny sings about "The Sly Old Gentleman" to a lady in a cab eagerly listening to his every word. He performs the title song twice, as a lullaby to Baby Sandy and Mary as they look out over the rooftops of New York in the nighttime, and in the finale.

What I Don't Like: The entire legal battle over the baby comes off sounding more like one of Shirley Temple's movies than one of Crosby's and gets very annoying after a while. Aurer's Russian astrologist is dated and a little too goofy. Some of his gags with the baby seem to be more there to pad out the film than anything. In fact, the movie really takes a while to get where it's going. The plot with Denny and Nicky doesn't kick in until nearly 40 minutes into a 90 minute movie. 

More surprisingly, the songs are among the weakest from any Crosby film. None of the music really stands out in any way. "Sing a Song of Sunbeams" was a minor hit at the time, but even Crosby was disappointed with his songs in this outing. (Though he apparently otherwise enjoyed making it, later calling it one of his favorites.) 

The Big Finale: Not one of Bing's best films; mainly recommended for major fans of him, Blondel, or Temple's family melodramas.

Home Media:  Easily found on DVD, both solo and as part of two Crosby sets.

DVD - Universal Vault

DVD - Screen Legend Collection

DVD - Silver Screen Collection: The 30's

Election Day Special - Louisiana Purchase

Paramount, 1941

Starring Bob Hope, Vera Zorina, Victor Moore, and Irene Bordoni

Directed by Irving Cummings

Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

While you wait for the election results to come in, here's a hilarious political satire to check out. Louisiana Purchase started life as a Broadway show the year before. This spoof of political corruption in general and the state of Louisiana dropping Huey Long's Share the Wealth program and supporting the Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal was a huge hit in New York, but does it still earn the vote with viewers today? Let's begin with Paramount's lawyer (Emory Parnell) as he and his secretary (Iris Meredith) and the chorus explain in song that this is a spoof and none of this really happened...maybe...and find out...

The Story: Three Louisiana House of Representative members have been using the federal funds for the Louisiana Purchase Company to furnish their lavish lifestyles. They're horrified when they learn that Senator Oliver P. Loganberry (Moore) is coming to conduct hearings into their corrupt activities. They force the fourth member, Jim Taylor (Hope), to lure Loganberry into a trap that'll let them blackmail him into dropping the matter. 

Taylor's friend Madame Bordelaise (Bordoni) suggests European beauty Marina Von Minden (Zorina), who is trying to earn enough money to bring her mother to the US, to be used as bait. She seduces him and gets him drunk, but then has second thoughts and claims she's his fiancee. Now Jim is really in the senatorial dog house...until he can filibuster for three days and keep Loganberry from making those changes to the legaslature!

The Song and Dance: Hope is backed by a great supporting cast in one of the rare Broadway adaptations of the 40's to be a fairly accurate adaptation of the original. It's so accurate, Bordoni, Zorina, and Moore repeat their original roles. Gorgeous production, too. It was his first color film, and Paramount really threw everything they had into it. We even get a fashion show mid-way through when Jim insists on showing off the latest fashions to impoverished Marina. Moore takes top honors as the rigid politician who is so into his job, he barely knows anything but what goes on at Capitol Hill. 

Probably the most famous moment from this today is Hope's filibuster in the end. It's hilarious, with him reading everything from Gone With the Wind to Goldilocks and the Three Bears to keep everyone from leaving. Hope has a great time with it, especially towards the end as it's becoming obvious Jim is burning out. 

Favorite Number: We open with the "Lawyer's Letter" and "It's New to Us," possibly the first and only time in film history that a musical began with a chorus routine that says "this is fiction, don't sue us." We don't get another number until nearly half-way in, but it's the sweet "You're Lonely and I'm Lonely" as Zorina begins to realize that Loganberry isn't really a bad guy. Beatrice (Dona Drake), one of Madame's girls, joins the chorus for the title song at the Mardi Gras parade. "Dance With Me Tonight at the Mardi Gras" says Zorina in a lavish ballet as she and dancer Charles Laskey pirouette around the ballroom. 

The film's best number was also its only hit on Broadway. "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow" begins with black waiters cleaning up in the kitchen, singing about their hopes for a new day. Jim, stripped of his king's costume after Marina turns on him, sings along, but his heart isn't really in it. It's a simple but effective moment in an otherwise overstuffed movie.

Trivia: Gaxton, Moore's usual stage partner, played Hope's role on Broadway.

The Broadway show ran almost two years, not bad for the early 40's. It largely vanished until a concert version with the complete score played Carnegie Hall in 1996.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this disappeared for fifty years. The political satire was amusing then, but largely hasn't dated well. I wish it was even more of a musical. There were more songs on Broadway that are only used as underscoring in the film. They could have gone a long way towards fleshing out other characters, like the corrupt senators and Beatrice. Zorina had at least one more ballet that gave her more opportunity to show off her real talents, too. She never was much of an actress. Berlin's songs are far from  his best, with only "Lovely Day Tomorrow" coming anywhere near his more famous work. 

The Big Finale: Mainly for major fans of Hope, Berlin, or big Technicolor 40's and 50's musicals. 

Home Media: DVD only as part of the Universal Vault Series.

DVD

Family Fun Saturday - Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)

Sony/Columbia, 2022

Starring Shawn Mendes, Javier Bardem, Winslow Fegley, and Constance Wu

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon

Music and Lyrics by various

The children's books The House on East 88th Street and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile date back to the early 60's. The tales of the Primm family, who discover a friendly singing crocodile living in their bathtub and takes him in, has entertained generations from New York and beyond. It was originally made into an animated musical special for HBO in 1987. There was talk about it moving into feature-length animation or a live-action/animated hybrid for years, but nothing came of it until it was announced in 2021. It finally debuted last October and did well with families looking for an alternative to gruesome horror and dour dramas. How well did they do bringing Lyle's story to life? Let's begin with magician Hector Valenti (Bardem), who is desperate to get onto a talent show, and find out...

The Story: Hector finds a baby crocodile singing in the back of an exotic pet shop in Manhattan. He dubs him Lyle (Mendes) and teaches him everything he knows about the stage. Lyle,  however, has stage fright and won't perform in front of an audience, even after Hector puts their New York brownstone up for collateral to rent a theater. That disaster causes Hector to lose their home. He ends up abandoning Lyle in order to find jobs and earn money to buy the house back.

The house is eventually sold to the Primm family, Katie (Wu), Joseph (Scoot McNairy), and their son Josh (Fegley). Josh is terrified about everything in New York City, from the subways to the city noises, until he discovers the now-grown Lyle in the bathtub. They eventually strike up a friendship after Lyle rescues Josh from a mugger, showing him how much fun the city and expressing yourself can be. He even manages to charm Katie and Joseph. 

One person is not charmed by Lyle. Priggish Alistair Grumps (Brett Gelman) wants nothing more than peace, quiet, and everyone obeying his rules. He sets up cameras to catch Lyle in the act, but can't prove anything...until Hector returns to see his singing pet. Hector still has big dreams of making Lyle into a singing star, but he also has big debts. Grumps finally convinces him to tattle on his pet and send him to the zoo. Not only does Hector regret it when he sees how upset the Primms are, but he still believes Lyle has what it takes to be a real star...if he can overcome his stage fright and share his talents with the world.

The Song and Dance: In many ways, this has a lot in common with the Paddington movies from a few years ago. A wild animal lives with a family in a major city and has to deal with a grumpy neighbor who wants to get rid of them. This one may be even more fun, thanks to the nifty animation on Lyle and some splendid performances. Bardem walks off with the honors as the shady magician who loves his scaly friend, but loves money and the stage more. Fegley also does well showing how Josh goes from terrified of everything around him to confident enough to help Lyle onstage. Attractive location shooting in the real New York helps ground the stranger aspects of the story in reality.

Favorite Number: Our first number is "Take a Look at Us Now," as Hector teaches Lyle the ins and outs of stage training, from dancing to making an entrance. "I Like It Like That" is the number the kids are performing at school when Josh accidentally gets in their way. Lyle shows Josh how much fun it can be to live on "Top of the World" when they dance and climb around on the roof of a Broadway theater. Likewise, he teaches cookbook author Katie to "Rip Up the Recipe" and improvise with her life and her baked goods. 

Hector makes a second stab at "Take a Look at Us Now" with a now-reluctant Lyle in tow, but it doesn't work out any better than the first. Lyle laments that they got "Carried Away" after he ends up in the zoo. Josh attempts "Take a Look at Us Now" at the talent show, but he's terrible. It's his brave performance that finally convinces Lyle to take the spotlight. The movie ends with the family singing along with Elton John to the inevitable "Crocodile Rock" as they head off to vacation. We get one last song from Lyle, "Heartbeat," over the real illustrations from the books in the credits.

What I Don't Like: This is another recent family movie that runs longer than it really needs to. Once again, some unnecessary gags with Lyle and the family and obnoxious Grumps and his cameras bogs down the middle section. While the first half is a pretty good adaptation of the books, the ending is totally different. In the original Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Lyle ends up befriending Grumps and his cat Loretta when he rescues them from their burning house. That might have been just as interesting as the sudden finale with the talent show, and make a lot more sense than what Hector reveals at the trial against Lyle.

The Big Finale: Charming and fun, if you and your family loved other recent children's book adaptations like the Paddington movies, you'll equally enjoy this trip to the Big Apple with Lyle and the Primms. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc and on streaming. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

4K

Amazon Prime

Celebrating the Day of the Dead - Coco

Disney/Pixar, 2017

Voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alanna Ubach, and Benjamin Bratt

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Music and Lyrics by various

Disney and Pixar had apparently been planning this one since 2010, when it was going to be about an American boy who learns about his Mexican heritage. Research on the actual Mexico and its culture convinced the director to switch to it being about a Mexican child. Dia de los Muertos, aka The Day of the Dead, so impressed the animators with the holiday's vibrant colors against the macabre skeletons that they decided to make the story revolve around it. They worked hard to get the culture right, including hiring a mostly-Hispanic cast and bringing in Mexican songwriters to craft the score. Did they do well depicting Mexico and its people and heritage, or should this be allowed to fade away? Let's begin with the story of how Miguel's (Gonzalez) family traded music for shoe making and find out...

The Story: Miguel wants nothing more than to play music, like his late hero Ernesto de la Cruz (Bratt), but his family doesn't trust musicians after his great-great-grandmother Imelda's (Ubach) husband ran out to be a musician and left her alone. Only his great-grandmother Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguia) understands his passion. He accidentally breaks a photo of Coco and Imelda on the family's Day of the Dead ofenda (shrine with offerings) and discovers there's another section to it...a section with a man who holds a guitar that resembles Ernesto's. 

Miguel tells his family he wants to be a musician, but that ends with his grandmother (Renee Victor) destroying his guitar. He goes to take Ernesto's from his tomb, so he can join a contest. The second he does, he becomes invisible to the living. The dead, however, can see him just fine, including his late ancestors. Unfortunately, stealing the guitar put a curse on him. He needs a blessing from his family, or he'll die. Imelda won't do it unless he abandons music, and he won't stop the thing he loves most. An itinerant skeleton named Hector (Bernal) offers to bring him to Ernesto, if he can put his picture on an ofrenda so he won't be forgotten. 

Ernesto, however, is not what he seems...and he'll do anything to make sure he's the one who stays in the limelight and continues to be the one everyone remembers. Miguel, however, realizes that while music is important to him, so is family...and there's one person in the family who really remembers her father's song...

The Animation: Gorgeous, some of Pixar's best to date. The vivacious purples, oranges, and neon shades of the Land of the Dead are contrasted with the strictly flat and realistically dusty Land of the Living. So many images linger with you, from how perfectly every brilliant-shaded hair on the fur of the spirit guides move to the rickety wooden buildings, skeletal themselves, that move ever upwards. That first shot of Miguel going over the golden-orange marigold bridge to the Land of the Dead is absolutely breathtaking. 

The Song and Dance: Touching and beautiful depiction of Mexican culture and one of their most important holidays isn't afraid to ask big questions about life, death, and how one can follow their dreams without abandoning those who love them. Gonzalez, Bratt, and especially Bernal give pitch-perfect performances as the kid who badly wants to play music, the musician who believes in his legacy and image above all else, and the goofy guy who just wants someone, anyone, to remember him. I'm also fond of Miguel's ancestors, some of whom are pretty darn funny. There's a lovely score by Michael Gianncino and some terrific music; "Remember Me," the movie's main ballad, won an Oscar. The movie is so accurate to Mexican culture, actual Mexicans wound up adoring it. 

Favorite Number: Our first full number isn't until nearly ten minutes in, but it's "Remember Me." Ernesto performs it on a huge revolving stage, surrounded by dancers in flashy outfits. It's so huge, it seems fitting that it ends with no less than Ernesto's death. Ernesto's other big number is "Much Needed Advice," which he sings to a lovely senorita on Miguel's screen. Hector explains to Manuel how "Everyone Knows Juanita" in the Land of the Dead. "Un Poco Loco" is Miguel and Hector's number at the big talent show in the Land of the Dead. They really get into it, dancing up a storm...until Miguel's family arrives. They perform "The World Es Mi Familia" when trapped together. Imelda inadvertently ends up performing the traditional ballad "La Llorona" onstage after she's accidentally lifted up there while getting Hector's photo back. Miguel's solo for his family in the finale is "Proud Corazon." 

"Remember Me" is heard three more times. Hector performs it early in the film to the young Coco before he leaves. Later on, Miguel plays it for the elderly Coco to remind her of how much she loved her father. We also hear it over the credits, performed by singers Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade. 

Trivia: This movie got Mexican culture so right, it remains one of the top-grossing animated films of all time in Mexico. 

Won Oscars in 2018 for Best Animated Film and Best Song. 

What I Don't Like: It does run a little long. The middle sags a bit as we get a series of gags involving Hector, Miguel, and the people of the Land of the Dead who are almost forgotten and not put on ofrendas. It's not a deal breaker, but this is one of Pixar's longer movies. 

The Big Finale: Makes me wish Pixar took a stab at the musical genre more often. A must-see for lovers of Pixar, great animation, or anyone who wants to learn about Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead or teach their older elementary-school-age children and pre-teens about them. 

Home Media: As a relatively new and very popular title, this is easily found in all formats. Disney Plus has it with a subscription. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

4K

Disney Plus