My Tragic Valentine - Porgy and Bess (1959)

The Samuel Goldwyn Company/Columbia, 1959

Starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., and Pearl Bailey

Directed by Otto Preminger

Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Our next star-crossed couple weren't the only ones who had a hard time staying together. This film version of the 1935 Gershwin opera was plagued with production problems from the start. For one thing, Ira Gershwin wasn't crazy about there being a film based on his brother's life work to begin with. Second, Goldwyn made two popular musicals earlier in the decade, but Porgy and Bess was a lot darker than the fluffy comedian-driven extravaganzas he usually preferred. Rouben Mamoulien was originally going to direct as he did in 1935, but fought with Goldwyn and was replaced by Preminger. Arson destroyed the sets and costumes before shooting started, and Dandridge had just ended a relationship with Preminger and wasn't comfortable working with him. With all these problems, how did the film finally come out? Let's begin with the arrival of fishermen returning to Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina in 1912 and find out...

The Story: Crown (Brock Peters), the town bully, gets a little too rowdy with Robbins (Joe Fluellen) after a craps game and ends up killing him. He flees, abandoning his drug-addicted girlfriend Bess (Dandridge). Porgy (Poitier), a crippled beggar who travels by a goat-drawn cart, takes her in. They fall in love with each other, but when Crown turns up at a town picnic, he does a lot more harm to Bess than stuffing her drugs bought from Sporting Life (Sammy Davis Jr). Bess turns up back at Catfish Row two days later ranting and near-unconscious. Porgy nurses her, with the help of pious Serena (Ruth Attaway) and sensible Maria (Bailey). 

During a massive hurricane, most of the residents of Catfish Row take shelter in the largest house. Not only does Crown return and vow he'll make Bess his again, but Clara (Diahann Carroll) is killed waiting for her fisherman husband who was lost in the storm. Bess and Porgy are happy to take in Clara's baby, but Crown is still determined that Bess should be his alone. Porgy finally stabs and strangles him, but when he's called by the police to identify the body, Sporting Life sees his chance to try to get Bess to come to New York with him one last time...

The Song and Dance: Terrific all-black cast knows how to handle the melodramatic story. At the least, Preminger is on more accustomed turf with a dark opera than he was with the lighter material in That Lady In Ermine ten years before. Poitier makes a wonderful Porgy, especially near the end when he realizes Bess has walked out, and Sammy Davis Jr. is relishing his turn as the deceptively charming drug peddler Sportin' Life. For all the trouble Dandridge had on the set (she ended a stormy relationship with Preminger not long before the movie began), she does well by flighty Bess. The scene with her and Crown on the island is nearly terrifying.

The Numbers: We open with the arrival of the fishermen and Clara and her baby during "Summertime." Sportin' Life and Robbins remind the crap players why "A Woman Is a Sometimes Thing." "Here Comes De Honey Man" introduces the kindly old peddler who sells honey to the locals. Porgy explains his lot with "They Pass By Singin." "The Crap Game" becomes a chorus number when Robbins and Crown end up in a choreographed fight. "Gone, Gone, Gone," Serena wails after her husband's death, because "My Man's Gone Now." The others wonder why Porgy doesn't try for something better. "I Got Plenty O' Nuthin," and that's fine by him.

The duo admit that "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" when she finally agrees to stay with him. "Oh, I Can't Sit Down" sings Maria excitedly with the chorus before the picnic. Serena may scold everyone for having fun, but the chorus points out "I Ain't Got No Shame." After all, Sportin' Life reminds them, "It Ain't Necessarily So." Bess wants to know "What You Want With Bess," but she really already has a good idea of what Crown's after. Porgy begs for Serena to pray to "Oh Doctor Jesus" when Bess is sick. Bess assures her boyfriend "I Loves You, Porgy," while Crown claims "God and Me" will get by when he finds his "Red-Headed Woman." 

"Clara, Clara" is the brief lament for the young mother lost in the storm waiting for her fisherman husband. Bess reprises "Summertime" in her memory. Sportin' Life reminds Bess "There's a Boat Dat's Leaving for New York," and this time, she might be willing to join him on it. After we hear the "Morning Sounds" of the street vendors, Porgy comes home...and wails "O Bess, Where's My Bess?" when he realizes she's gone. We end with him taking off in  his goat-drawn cart as he sings "O Lawd, I'm On My Way."

Trivia: Robert McFerrin (father of singer Bobby McFerrin) dubbed Poitier. Adele Addison dubbed Dandridge. Inez Matthews dubbed Ruth Attaway. 

The original Broadway show debuted in 1935, with Mamoulien directing. It wasn't a success, but the music was popular enough for it be revived in New York in 1942, 1953, 1976, and 2012. 

What I Don't Like: For all the success of its music, there's a reason so many black performers turned this down, and many theater critics and historians have problems with it to this day. First of all, many of the characters here can come off as stereotypical, especially some of the nastier men like Crown and Sportin' Life. Second, this is heavy going. We're not talking about one of the Gershwin's lighthearted romps from the 30's here. Four people die (admittedly two of them in the hurricane), a woman is insinuated to have been raped, and they all but shout what that "happy dust" Sportin' Life keeps giving Bess is. 

Truth be told, no matter how much Goldwyn admired the original Broadway production, he was in over his head with this one. Preminger had a point that the lavish sets and costumes are maybe a bit too lavish for a run-down fishing neighborhood in South Carolina. No wonder someone burned them. For all the size, they're also too cramped. This is more like the filmed opera it is than an actual movie. Except for the location shooting on the island, you may as well be watching this at the Met. 

The Big Finale: Problematic but fascinating, with terrific music and performances that make it worth checking out despite the dated and dark story and treatment of black culture. 

Home Media: The Gershwin estate was so disappointed with how this came out, they won't allow it to be released on legitimate home media. The only places you can find it are in washed-out, blurry copies on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

YouTube

Internet Archive

New Orleans (1947)

United Artists, 1947

Starring Arturo de Cordova, Dorothy Patrick, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holliday

Directed by Arthur Lubin

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we celebrate Valentine's Day with historical movies that have tales of star-crossed or tragic lovers at their core. New Orleans has been one of the centers of the American musical scene for over a century, going back to the beginnings of ragtime, jazz, and the blues in its Storyville red-light district. Storyville was begun to give the prostitutes a place to stay, but by the early 20th century, it was a tourist hot-spot and one of the best places in the city to catch a live band playing that new, modern ragtime and blues sound. How does this historical drama about two radically different couples coming together at Storyville look nowadays? Let's begin with a look at the sights and sounds of Storyville as the camera moves to one specific group practicing in a bar and find out...

The Story: Armstrong (himself) and his Original Dixieland Band play for Nick Duquese (de Cordova) at his club and casino in Storyville. Nick falls for Miralee Smith (Patrick), the daughter of one his casino customers Mrs. Rutledge Smith (Irene Ryan). Mrs. Smith is pushing her talented daughter into an operatic career, but she falls for Nick and the Dixieland sound. Horrified at losing her daughter to a casino owner who pushes a type of music she doesn't approve of, Mrs. Smith tries to buy Nick off. Nick's first girlfriend Grace (Marjorie Lord) is even less thrilled. 

Nick has to leave under any circumstances. It's World War I, and the government is shutting Storyville down to avoid it being a distraction for the troops. He takes the band to Chicago, but his attempts to reopen his casino are blocked by a rival. He does better as a talent scout and music producer, eventually helping Armstrong to reunite with Mrs. Smith's former maid Endie (Holliday). Mrs. Smith took Miralee overseas to sing for the concert halls in Europe. After Nick and his band returns from a similar tour, he's determined to get Woody Herman and His Orchestra (themselves) into New York's Manhattan Symphony Hall. The owner is aghast at the idea, but Miralee's the one who finally proves that jazz, blues, and other "popular" forms of music are here to stay.

The Song and Dance: Interesting look at music and romance in the Deep South is better than it has any right to be from the low-budget pedigree. Lubin felt passionately about jazz, and it shows in his affection towards the characters. Even the snobs are more misguided and out of date than bad. Patrick's not bad as the spoiled debutante who falls for the music and Nick in that order. Armstrong is funny and charming more-or-less playing an adult version of  himself in this time period, and he does have surprising chemistry with Holliday. This would be Holliday's only shot at a feature-length picture, making this movie fascinating for that alone. She's no actress, but her voice throbs with heartache, and hers and Armstrong's numbers are definitely the highlights here. 

The Numbers: The standard "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" came from this movie. It's played no less than four times, including by Armstrong and his band, by Patrick at a concert hall with a less-than-appreciative audience, and in the enormous finale with Patrick and Herman in New York. Armstrong and the Original Dixieland Band open things at the club with "Name Your Poison Blues (aka West End Blues)." They play "Maryland, My Maryland" for the arrival of Miralee's steam ship. "When the Blues Were Born In New Orleans" is another new number for Armstrong and his band. They get the Jelly Roll Morton song "Buddy Bolden's Blues" when Mirilee visits the club the first time. 

"Farewell to Storyville" is an affecting blues ballad performed by Holliday as the residents of Storyville sadly pack their bags and belongings and leave the homes and businesses they love so much. "Honky Tonk Train Blues" takes us to Chicago, where it's played by its author Meade "Lux" Lewis. "The Blues are Brewin'" with Armstrong's band in Chicago. By the time he's playing "Endie," Holliday has joined up and joined in. 

Trivia: This would indeed be Holliday's only feature-length film appearance. Keep a sharp eye out for a young Shelley Winters in an uncredited role as Nick's secretary in New York near the end of the film. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, there isn't a drop of historical flavor in this. For one thing, Armstrong was a teenager when this movie was set. Most of the songs, including "West End Blues," were written well after 1917 and sound like it. Herman's band didn't debut until the 30's, either. There's no indication other than on a card at the beginning and several news headlines seen throughout the film that time has even passed. It looks and sounds like 1947 for the entire film. 

Second, though they get some credit for showing blacks and white interacting at all, most of the black characters still kow-tow to the whites (and to Hispanic de Cordova). They're the ones who are most effected by the closing of Storyville, but the movie is more interested in the rather cliche romance between Mirliee and Nick. Even Armstrong courting Endie (and how he eventually finds her) is more interesting. Not to mention, all those wonderful blues songs are seldom allowed to finish...and as much as I like "Do You Know What It Means," it turns up at least two or three times too many. 

The Big Finale: For all its difficult and dated aspects, jazz and blues lovers and fans of Armstrong and Holliday may find this exploration of Big Easy history to be a fascinating glimpse into not one, but two lost eras in music. 

Home Media: Streaming is your best bet here. The Kino DVD has been out of print and expensive for a while now. Can be found for free just about anywhere right now, including Tubi and The Roku Channel with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

The Roku Channel

Animation Celebration Saturday - Beauty and the Beast (1992)

Golden Films, 1992

Voices of John Rafter Lee, Charles Martinet, Michael Gough, and Darran Norris

Directed by Diane Paloma Eskanzi

Music by Merrill Farnsworth; Lyrics by Chris Davis, Bonnie Keen, and Scott Brasher

Golden Films had been making Disney imitations since they began as American Film Investment Corporation in 1990. Admittedly, unlike UAV, they did sometimes branch into original content like The Legend of Su-Ling that wasn't based on frequently-adapted material. Nowadays, though, they're likely remembered for the specials that got far closer to Disney and other 90's animated franchises. This is one of their earliest ventures into flat-out Disney imitations. How does their version compare to Disney's and other retellings of this familiar tale? Let's begin over the title sequence with three rather annoying voices introducing what we're about to see and find out...

The Story: Beauty, her father (Gough), and her three spoiled sisters live in a lovely old house in the country. The sisters do nothing but complain and whine for more, but Beauty is content to take care of her father and her garden. After a storm damages their house and destroys Beauty's garden, their father goes into town to find out if his ships weren't harmed as well. The sisters all want food and fine gifts, but Beauty only asks for a single rose to replace the ones ruined in the storm. 

The gentleman is waylaid in an old castle, where he's tended to by three overeager ghosts. He's delighted with their antics and elaborate show. On the way out, he takes a rose for Beauty...which attracts the attention of The Beast, an enormous bear-like creature. Beauty goes to rescue her father when the carriage turns up without him. The Beast will release her father, if Beauty stays. She gradually begins to have feelings for the creature, who is much kinder than he appears. Her sisters are jealous, and when she returns dressed like a princess, they first try to keep her there, then turn the townspeople on the Beast.

The Animation: Same deal as The Legend of Su-Ling. The colors here are softer pastels, and actually, some of the costumes are quite nice, especially on the sisters. The backgrounds still have no detail to them, though, and it still more closely resembles a TV series from this time period than anything from Disney. (Beauty, in fact, looks more like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty than the Disney Belle.) 

The Song and Dance: I give them credit for using details from the original story that Disney couldn't figure out how to work into their version. The three spoiled sisters, the father getting into trouble for stealing a rose from the garden, the sisters trying to keep her at home, Beauty dreaming of the prince, and the Beast asking Beauty to marry him are all from the original French fairy tales. Not to mention, the Prince's and the ghosts' backstory is actually darker here than in the French stories or Disney's movie. He didn't just treat a fairy badly. He refused to help his failing kingdom, until everyone abandoned it...and as the ghosts point out, some didn't survive.

The Numbers: We open with "Beauty's Dream," a surreal mish-mash of fantasy elements in which Beauty dances with her Prince in their own fairy tale world. (Apparently, some of the effects would later be used in Golden's 1997 Camelot.) Her sisters want "More" as they shrilly whine for all the fancy desserts, jewels, and fine dresses they think they deserve. "Get Into the Spirit" is a genuinely catchy "Be My Guest" imitation with a tinge of gospel as the ghosts bring out dinner for Beauty's father and put on a show. "Beauty's Dream" turns up again when the Beast plays it on the piano, making one wonder if Beauty wasn't the only one having fairy-tale fantasies...

Trivia: If the ghost Charles Marinet plays sounds familiar to Super Mario games fans, he's the long-time voice of Mario in English-speaking countries. 

What I Don't Like: On one hand, the ghosts have a surprisingly interesting backstory and may be takes on the invisible servants from the French stories...but that doesn't make them any less annoying or unnecessary. Even Martinet's Mario voice grates on your nerves in this setting. The cat Beauty drags around is even more so. There's a lot that's not explained, like how Beauty dreamed about the prince before she met the Beast (in the French stories, the dreams happened after she already arrived at the castle) or why the ghosts haunt the Beast and stay with him even after he's transformed.

The Big Finale: Not a bad short retelling of this story for those wanting to introduce the original story to children or only have enough time for an hour special. 

Home Media: Like most Golden Films, this is easily found anywhere, including on streaming for free with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Get On Up: The James Brown Story

Universal, 2014

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Ackroyd, and Viola Davis

Directed by Tate Taylor

Music and Lyrics by James Brown and others

Our next biography is of a real-life R&B legend. James Brown's tumultuous life story was one of the inspirations for The Five Heartbeats. Unlike them, his career spanned genres and generations, from passionate ballads in the early 60's to being one of the most sampled musicians in rap songs by the early 2000's. Brown was known as "Mr. Dynamite" for a reason. 

Universal had been trying to get this off the ground since 2000, but were prevented by financial and music rights difficulties. They tried again when Brown died of pneumonia in 2006,  but finally got it going in 2012 when Mick Jagger agreed to be one of the producers and they brought on director Taylor. How well did they do with the story of the man whose dynamic performances hid a lot more heartbreak backstage? Let's begin at the ending, with Brown (Boseman) attacking his own business while stoned, and find out...

The Story: Brown (Jamarion and Jordan Scott) grew up in a shack near Augusta, Georgia with his mother Susie (Davis) and his abusive father Joe (Lennie James). His mother walked out to become a prostitute and his father joined the Army, leaving him in the care of his Aunt Honey (Octavia Spencer). His aunt runs a brothel, and he becomes fascinated with the flamboyant people who come there, and even more with the "shout" gospel music lauded to the heavens in the church she attends. He boxes briefly later, but proves to be unsuited to it.

At 17, he steals a suit and ends up in jail. He meets Bobby Byrd (Ellis) when he brings his gospel group to sing at the church. Impressed by Brown's voice, Byrd's family gets him parole, and he joins the band and moves their sound from gospel to R&B and soul. Even Little Richard (Brandon Mychal Smith) is impressed when Brown jumps onstage with his newly christened Famous Flames during one of his shows. Little Richard admonishes  him to avoid "the white devil," but Brown joins a white R&B record company and hires one of their people, Ben Brandt (Ackroyd), to be his manager. 

Brandt at first shunts the band off to the sidelines, leading them to quit. They return in 1962 when James puts in his own money to record the hugely successful Live at the Apollo album. Two years later, he upstages the Rolling Stones at the T.A.M.I Show and pays young DJs to promote his albums and avoid paying promoters. He even manages to keep the audience from rioting in Boston after Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in 1968 and, despite almost being shot down, joins the USO and plays for Vietnam troops later that year. 

His home life isn't doing so well. He divorces his first wife Velma (Jacinte Blankenship) and abuses the second Deirdre (Jill Scott). He's not thrilled when his mother tries to get back into his life, and first  his band, and then Bobby quit over his tendency to expect perfection, insist they work on days off, and hog the spotlight. It's not until he gets out of prison in 1993 that he finally mends fences with Bobby, reminding them that, no matter what life throws at them, they still need each other.

The Song and Dance: Boseman and Ellis lead a parade of powerhouse performances in this story of a searing performer driven to sing at all costs, including the cost of his relationships. Boseman may be more attractive than the young Brown, but he still nails his mannerisms and his unending energy and charisma. Ellis more than matches him as his best friend through (almost) thick and thin, who is generally happy to be off to the sidelines and let James bask in the spotlight. Ackroyd and Davis also do well as the "white devil" who proves to be more of an angel in disguise and the mother who left him behind. Love the gorgeous cinematography in many of the real locations this was set, including Paris and rural Georgia. The non-linear story that jumps between incidents from Brown's life makes this a little more creative than most standard Hollywood biographies.

The Numbers: We don't get our first number until nearly fifteen minutes in, but it's Brown's searing "Out of Sight" that steals T.A.M.I from the Rolling Stones. He dances to his signature "I Feel Good" with the band in red ski sweaters on the set of the winter Beach Party imitation Ski Party ...at least until he realizes he'd much rather be taking things up a notch over a decade later. That "shout" preacher almost literally throws himself into "No More, My Lawd" at an all-white church, inspiring Brown's signature funky style. He's one of the inmates joining Bobby's gospel band for "O Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't Your Mourn," until he's attacked by another prisoner and starts a fight.

Smith is equally magnetic in his one number as Little Richard. "Tutti Frutti" shows Richard's flamboyant style even better than "Caldonia" showed off Brown and the Flames. James' one boxing match even turns into an instrumental jazz number as he imagines a jazz combo playing as he's beaten black and blue. "This Thing Called Love" gives us a brief routine at a club showing Brown's early success with black audiences. Syd Nathan (Fred Melamed) doesn't understand "Please, Please, Please" the way Ben Brandt does, considering it repetitive and protesting Brown recording it despite Brandt pushing it.

No wonder Live at the Apollo was such a smash, with a short but really funky rendition of "Night Train" that the audience adores. "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" shows how he fell for Deidre and how dramatic his shows could get, which takes us back into a brief reprise of "Please, Please, Please." "Cold Sweat" is performed in the recording studio, showing how hard he could be on his band, his wife, and his best friend. His band mate Pee Wee imitates him singing "Mother Popcorn" in the studio...before the assassination of Martin Luther King. He convinces the mayor of Boston to let the concert go on, despite the riots in the summer of 1968...and keeps the audience from tearing the town apart with his rendition of "Mother Popcorn," even letting one kid dance onstage. 

He records the Civil Rights anthem "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" with a chorus of kids in the studio. A lean, mean James comments on his current situation right before a dynamic "Soul Power" in Paris. His truly heartfelt "Try Me" in 1993 is what finally convinces Bobby and his wife Vicki that all is forgiven. 

What I Don't Like: Though the non-linear story makes this unique among biopics, it also makes it hard to follow. The erratic quick-change editing that rarely lets anyone finish a number doesn't help here. While the costumes are nice and remain true to the time, the makeup on everyone later in the film is anything but convincing, particularly on Ells. They could have gone even further into certain aspects of his life, like his heavy involvement with the Civil Rights Moment and writing his own material. Like Five Heartbeats, this also goes on for way too long. 

The Big Finale: Worth seeing for Boseman and Ellis' performances if you're a fan of Brown or vintage R&B and soul music with time on your hands. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - The Five Heartbeats

20th Century Fox, 1991

Starring Robert Townsend, Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, and Tico Wells

Directed by Robert Townsend

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we dive into Black History Month with reviews of biographies of fictional and real R&B stars. We begin with the fictional group. Doo wop and early R&B groups were at the height of their success in the early 1960's, as the Civil Rights Movement gathered steam. If young men weren't creating groups in garages and on street corners, they were starting record companies to showcase those garage bands. Townsend was coming off a success with the 1987 stand-up comedy film Eddie Murphy Raw. Keenan Ivory Waynas produced Raw and wrote Townsend's first movie Hollywood Shuffle and In Living Color, the satirical variety show that was in it's second year when this debuted. Is this as much fun as In Living Color, or should it be thrown off a balcony? Let's begin backstage at a band contest in Columbus, Ohio and find out...

The Story: Brothers Donald "Duck" (Townsend) and J.T (Robinson) Matthews and their friends Eddie King Jr. (Wright), Anthony "Choirboy" Stone (Wells), and Terrence "Dresser" Williams (Harry J. Lennox) are members of the doo-wop group the Heartbeats. They don't win the contest, but they do manage to impress manager Jimmy Potter (Chuck Patterson). He takes them on when they fail to win another contest and introduces them to Ernest "Sarge" Johnson (Harold Nicholas), who redoes their choreography. Potter's not crazy about them signing with corrupt Big Red Davis (Hawthorne James) and his record company after his independently published single is a hit and they finally win a contest, but no one else will take them.

They become an instant success, despite a difficult tour with bad conditions and racism in the south. Eddie, who was never the most stable to begin with, handles it the worst. He takes to drugs and heavy drinking, to the point where his girlfriend Baby Doll (Troy Beyer) breaks up with him. Jimmy and the other Heartbeats are more concerned about his deteriorating performances. Eddie's worried that Jimmy intends to replace him and has Big Red cut him out. Jimmy retaliates by threatening to go to the cops with all of Red's shady activities, which promptly ends with Big Red's men running him down in front of his wife Eleanor (Diahann Carroll).

Eddie is horrified and guilt-ridden by his part in everything and does end up quitting the band. They replace him with Michael "Flash" Turner (John Canada Terrell), a far more flamboyant singer. Their success comes to an abrupt end when Flash decides to go solo and Duck and J.T have a falling out over Duck's fiancee (Carla Brothers). They don't speak to each other again until 1991, when they all finally admit that, even with all the trouble, they've never forgotten the one thing that always meant the most to all of them...singing and dancing together.

The Song and Dance: There's some terrific performances in this look at the darker side of the 60's music scene. Some of it may hit harder in today's racial climate, like the Heartbeats being furious over four white performers appearing on the cover of their album and their treatment during that tour. Carroll and Patterson come off best as the manager hoping that these guys won't leave him in the dust if they make it and his supportive wife. Wright's performance can be overwrought at times, especially in the second half, but his over-the-top delivery especially works. When the guys see him again as a poor drug addict, he's so desperate, you can practically feel it coming off him. The colorful costumes and sets do well representing the mid-60's through the early 70's, especially those sharp primary-colored suits and narrow-brimmed fedoras most of the men seem to favor.

The Numbers: We open at that contest with one girl band doing "I Never Felt This Good" and Baby Doll singing "I Love Joey." The next number gives us a glimpse of Flash's intense style that'll later take over the group with "Are You Ready for Me?" The Heartbeats finally debut with "Nothing But Love." Bird and the Midnight Falcons sing "Baby Stop Running Around" to their adoring fans who have been instructed to cheer them and boo the Heartbeats...until they hear the Heartbeats' "9:20 Special" and "A Heart Is a House for Love," and one girl literally faints into Eddie's arms. 

Duck spends all night writing a new song, but it's his little sister (Tressa Thomas) who helps him put "We Haven't Finished Yet" together. (Thomas is such a scene stealer here, I wish her brothers could have found a way to get her into the group.) Duck and J.T hear "Nothing but Love" on the radio even before they wake up, ending with dancing joyously with their many siblings. Weeks on the road playing terrible venues and staying in dirty hotels takes its toll on "Nights Like This," which ends with the guys tearing their clothes apart in a free-for-all....but the tearing goes over so well, it's incorporated into the act. 

The Four Tops' hit "Same Old Song" gives us a montage of the Heartbeats' success, from the covers of Time and Esquire to appearances on American Bandstand. We hear Flash performing "Down for the Count" with his original band, right as Eddie's life starts to go seriously south. After Eddie leaves, Flash finds himself "In the Middle" of the band's other drama. Jennifer Holliday (who starred in the original 1984 Dreamgirls on Broadway) performs a searing "Amazing Grace" at Jimmy's funeral. "Just In Case" proves to be the swan song for Flash and the Heartbeats before they finally disband. Eddie and Baby Doll finally get a number together in the 90's as part of Anthony's choir, "I Feel Like Going On." "We Haven't Finished Yet" is reprised in the finale by Patti LaBelle with Billy Valentine and Thomas.

What I Don't Like: This movie is cliched to high heck. It's basically the male flip side of Dreamgirls, with a lot of the same done-to-death complications. No wonder this wasn't a hit in 1991. We've seen it all before, and will again many times. Things get a lot less interesting after Jimmy's death and Eddie's involvement. The last half-hour with the brothers fighting over the same woman comes off as dull soap opera claptrap and makes the movie a lot longer than it needs to be. 

The music that everyone makes such a fuss about is derivative and boring, especially compared to the real vintage R&B from the groups who inspired this that plays throughout the film. (And why use "Same Old Song" for the rise to success montage? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have a song by the Heartbeats, let them actually show why they became so popular so fast?) 

The Big Finale: This seems to be one of those things people either love for the decent performances and numbers, or hate for the overwrought melodrama and inconsistent tone. It's still worth checking out at least once this Black History Month, if only to see where you stand.  

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Snow Day (2022)

Nickelodeon, 2022

Starring Micheala Russell, Ky Baldwin, Fabi Aguirre, and Shelby Simmons

Directed by Michael Lembeck

Music and Lyrics by various

Nickelodeon began making original films in 2006, nearly a decade after their rival Disney Channel put out their first films. It was 2009 before they started making musicals, and even then, most of those were based on familiar characters or extension of their shows. This one is a remake, but not of a Nick show. Nickelodeon began a unit for theatrical films in 1996. Snow Day was their third live-action film, and their first not based after one of their properties. It was a surprise hit in 2000 despite bad reviews, but how does the story of a pair of siblings who experience one life-changing winter's afternoon look with music added? Let's begin as Natalie Brandston (Russell) explains why it's so important that snow cancels school and find out...

The Story: Natalie is frustrated because there's been no snow this year, and she wants to get out of a major test. Her brother Hal (Baldwin) wants to impress Claire (Simmons), the girl he's had a crush on for years. They both get their wishes when a freak snowstorm blasts through, closing school and everything else. Natalie spends her snow day trying to keep the kid-hating guy running the snow plow (Jerry Trainor) from getting through. Hal pursues Claire with the help of his best friend Lane (Aguirre), who has her own crush on him. Claire's boyfriend Chuck (Myles Erlick) barely knows her, but she's crazy about him. Natalie and Hal's parents Tom (Rob Huebel) and Linda (Laura Bell Bundy) attempt to make the perfect pancake for their youngest son Randy (Viggo Hanvelt).

The Song and Dance: I haven't seen the original movie, but this one does have some good points. There's a few decent numbers, including the opening with the kids in the snow and the ensemble number with the cool kids "Cake." Aguirre and Simmons come off by far the best as girl who really is interested in Hal for what he is, and the sweet ballerina he wants to change for. Some of the filming isn't bad for TV, either, especially when the kids are pursuing the man with the snow plow.

The Numbers: We open with the title song as Natale and all the local kids celebrate their first snow day on her front lawn. Claire, Chuck, and their friends sing about "Cake" at the local hang-out with the waitresses joining in. Hal insists "I Need a Sign" as he laments having accidentally dumped a milkshake on Claire and wanting her to love him. The snow plow driver grumps about "These Kids" who block him from doing his job after the snow starts. Lane wonders "What If?" Hal would see her as more than a friend. The kids all skate together in the finale as they celebrate another snow day, declaring that "The Best Is Yet To Come." We get the vigorous "Everyone Celebrate" over the credits. 

What I Don't Like: Honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to spend a real-life snow day with either Natalie or Hal. Hal awkwardly chasing Claire comes off uncomfortably close to stalking at some points, especially given he knows everything about her. Natalie is a snide little brat who blackmails her teachers because she can't be bothered to study and harasses a snow plow driver who is just doing his job. She's lucky she and her two guy friends didn't get hurt or into worse trouble for their antics. 

Their parents apparently had a lot more to do in the original film, including a whole subplot with their father and a rival weatherman that wasn't carried over here. (That may have had something to do with Chevy Chase playing the father in the first movie.)  The songs are cute enough but not terribly memorable or enjoyable and are just kind of there. They probably could have remade this as a straight comedy without music. 

The Big Finale: Fine for 8 to 12 year olds who are stuck at home on a real-life snow day, but most adults will probably be annoyed or bored. 

Home Media: Seems to be streaming only at the moment. It's not currently on Paramount Plus, but can be found elsewhere.

Amazon Prime (Buy Only) 

YouTube

Animation Celebration Extra - Shinbone Alley

Allied Artists, 1970

Voices of Carol Channing, Eddie Bracken, Alan Reed, and John Carradine

Directed by John David Wilson

Music by George Kleinsinger; Lyrics by Joe Darion

Cockroach poet Archy and his alley cat girlfriend Mehitabel go back to 1916, as comics by Don Francks in the New York Tribune spoofing city life in the 1910's and 20's. The comics remained popular in the 1950's, enough for a concept album based around the characters featuring Bracken, Channing, and David Wayne to be released in 1954. It was expanded for the stage in 1957, retaining Bracken as Archy and with Eartha Kitt replacing Channing as Mehitabel. Despite featuring some of the first stage work of Mel Brooks and the use of animal characters and an integrated cast, it was not a success, but the songs and the original stories retained enough fans for British animator Wilson to try them as an animated film. How well does he do bringing the trials and tribulations of two very different animal friends to life? Let's begin with a splash, and the voice of Archy (Bracken) as he jumps off a bridge, and find out...

The Story: Archy's suicide attempt ends with him being reincarnated as a cockroach. He's horrified by this at first, until he figures out how to write poetry by jumping on the keys of a reporter's (Byron Kane) typewriter and finds a muse in alley cat Mehitabel (Channing). He and Mehitabel become friends, despite her going off with tough tomcat Big Bill (Reed). Archy tries to convince her to get a better job after Bill drops her, but she just goes off with shady producer cat Tyrone T. Tattersall (Carradine) instead. 

Tattersall finally kicks her out when he's angry over her upstaging him by singing Romeo and Juliet. Mehitabel briefly ends up back with Big Bill, inspiring heartbroken Archy to lead the other bugs to a near-revolution. He eventually learns that Mehitabel has been abandoned with kittens and finally convinces her to take a respectable job as a house cat. Her children have a home, but she's bored, and Archy isn't allowed in the house. He takes up with decidedly unladylike ladybugs before he finally realizes that being a real friend means accepting your friends for what they are, bad choices and all. 

The Animation: The sketchy style is pretty common for animated films from this era. The characters move very well, and the backgrounds in particular are quite detailed, with its depictions of down-and-dirty New York in the 1910's from an animal's point of view. The animation is bumped up for the musical numbers. Archy's attempt to incite his fellow bugs to revolt against humankind is drawn in the sparer style of the original George Herriman artwork, indeed looking like a hand-drawn strip literally come to life.

The Song and Dance: Terrific performances anchor this odd adult animated musical. Bracken comes off better (and a lot less annoying) here than he ever did in live-action, especially screaming for bugs to riot in that revolution number! Channing more than matches him as the wild and fickle kitty who follows her heart - and her libido - first and her best friend a distance second. Alan Freed is so good as self-centered Bill, you'd barely recognize him as the long-time voice of Fred Flintstone. The animation is limited but occasionally gets fairly creative, as in that revolution sequence. And honestly, just the unique subject matter of a poetry-writing cockroach falling for a wild-living alley cat makes this more interesting than most animated films from this era.

The Songs: We open with "I Am Only a Poor Cockroach" as Archy explains his situation and how he ended up in a roach's body. Mehibital and her ladies sing "Come to Meeoww" as their introductory and the introduction to life as an alley cat. Big Bill and his buddies have more positive feelings about their home in the jaunty ragtime title song. "Archy's Philosophies" covers everything from the human race to poetry, which segways in to "The Moth Song" as he describes what happens to a moth when they do "the conventional thing" and play with fire. 

Mehitabel comes back after Bill drops her, determined as ever to say "Cheerio My Deario" and sing and dance her trouble away. Reunited, the two claim "Who Cares If We're Down and Out?" "Ah the Theater, the Theater" introduces Tyrone and shows him to be the fake we and Archy know him to be and Mehitabel doesn't want to believe he is. Her version of "Romeo and Juliet" is hilarious, singing her idea of the words and annoying Tyrone more and more.  

The background cat girl singers croon a "Lullaby for Mehitiabel's Kittens," even as the mother herself laments constantly having to sacrifice her career for children. "Blow Wind Out of the North" finally convinces her to take a real job and seek shelter for herself and her children. "The Lightning Bug Song" is another bittersweet Archy story, this one about a flashy lightning bug who got above his station. Mehitabel is used to the wild life and gets very tired of the constant "Here Pretty Pussy" from her new owners. Archy ends up dancing with "Ladybugs of the Evening" when he gets drunk after his best friend throws him out, reminding him that roaches aren't allowed in the house. Mehitabel reprises "Cheerio My Deerio" when she returns to Shinbone Alley with her buddy Archy, then goes into the finale reprise of the title song.

Trivia: As mentioned, the stage Shinbone Alley was even less of a success than the film, barely lasting three weeks. It was filmed for TV in 1960 under the Shinbone Alley title with Bracken and Tammy Grimes, but only audio survives. 

Director John David Wilson mostly did shorts in England. This would be his only feature.

What I Don't Like: No wonder this never seems to have worked as anything but a concept album. What audience did they intend this for again? The semi-cute animated bugs and their antics are for kids, but the subject matter - including two attempted suicides and kittens born out of wedlock to parents who don't want them - is decidedly adult. They couldn't figure it out in 1957 onstage or on film in 1970, and I doubt anyone could now. The songs are ok, not horrible, but nothing that memorable, and the animation leans heavily on the barely-moving sketchiness that was common in this time period. Not only that, but frankly, neither Archy nor Mehtiabel - or anyone they meet - are all that pleasant to begin with. 

The Big Finale: If you can talk your young teens into an animated film with singing animals or are intrigued by the cast or are familiar with the comics this is based on, the performances here are good enough to make this worth checking out at least once. 

Home Media: The DVD is in print, but is currently expensive. You might be better off looking for copies on YouTube or elsewhere. 

DVD

YouTube

Honoring Chinese New Year - The Legend of Su-Ling

Golden Films, 1998

Voice cast unknown

Directed by Diane Paloma Eskenanzi

Music by Mike Himmlestein; Lyrics by Mike Himmelstein and Terry Sampson

UAV was far from the only company that put out imitations of the latest animated blockbusters in the 1990's and early 2000's. Golden Films debuted in 1990 to make low-budget animated films and specials for television. Unlike UAV, they occasionally branched into original stories in addition to Disney and Don Bluth imitations. Given when this was released, it's likely this was originally intended to piggyback the success of Mulan, but it has more in common with daintier Disney stories from earlier in the decade like Beauty and the Beast. How well does it come off today? Let's begin with the opening number "Land of Jade" as Chinese peasants work in the sun and sing about their kingdom and find out...

The Story: The peasants are forced to give up their treasures to the Emperor, who amasses wealth and beautiful things to fill the hole in his heart after the death of his wife. He tries to force his son Chen into marrying a princess of his choosing, but she's a spoiled brat with no patience or appreciation for the garden Chen has worked hard on. The Emperor and his sniveling toady Wang want Chen to marry and add the princess' wealth to their coffers, but Chen wants to marry for love.

Tired of his father's smothering and greed, Chen flees the palace in the guise of a peasant. He takes up with a kindly old fisherman and falls for his beautiful granddaughter Su-Ling. Su-Ling is angry because the Emperor took her nightingale, the one thing she owned, as a present for the princess. When the nightingale refuses to sing, Wang convinces the Emperor that Su-Ling's grandfather might have a spell that would make it perform again. Su-Ling follows him, flat-out telling the Emperor that the bird won't sing because she won't. The Emperor forces Su-Ling to marry his son...but Su-Ling doesn't realize that the prince and her beloved fisherman are one and the same...

The Animation: Only slightly above UAV's usual work. The colors are bright and jewel-like, as appropriate for a story set in China, but the movement is stiff, there's no expression on the characters, and they tend to look all alike. The backgrounds and costume designs are a little bit more detailed, especially in the opening chorus number and during Chen's number when he's venturing into the world.

The Song and Dance: Golden Films gets credit for going with an original story and not a flat-out rehash of Mulan. Despite Su-Ling being in the title, Chen is the one who really propels the action. This is has more in common with a gender-reversed Aladdin or the Hans Christian Andersen story The Nightingale than Mulan. I'm also glad no one is really played as a bad guy. The Emperor may behave like a jerk, but he's reacting badly to the loss of his wife. Wang is a yes-man who is just following orders. The real story is seeing how the Emperor learns that beauty and graciousness is something that can't be bought or forced, and that all the riches in the world can't compare to the richness of a loving heart. 

The Numbers: We open with that chorus number "Land of Jade" depicting Su-Ling, Chen, and the people of China at work and play, which also closes the film. "Here I Go Out In the World" takes Chen out of the palace and among his people to find his own way. "I Found This Love" is Su-Ling and Chen's big ballad as they help her grandfather and fall for each other. We also get a short chorus dance with a "Dragon" before Chen marries the woman his father wants him to.

What I Don't Like: For the character who is actually in the title, Su-Ling could have had more to do. She's feisty, standing up to her grandfather and the Emperor, but she's mostly seen in the beginning and the end. She and Chen barely have time to fall in love, or do much of anything together besides their ballad. One minute, she mistakes him for a thief, and the next, they're crazy about each other. The Emperor's sudden change of heart in the end is a little too fast as well. Once again, I really wish they'd been able to expand it another half-hour or so to flesh out the characters and their motivations.

The Big Finale: Short but charming fairy tale is worth checking out this Chinese New Year for fans of Aladdin and those looking for a sweet and unique way to pass 40 minutes or so before dinner.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, including currently for free with commercials on Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Family Fun Saturday - Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

Warner Bros, 1952

Starring Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, Charles Laughton, and Hilary Brooke

Directed by Charles Lamont

Music by Bill Russell; Lyrics by Lester Lee

Lou and Bud didn't make too many flat-out musicals, and the few that they did make tended to be for other studios. Universal wouldn't make their films in color, so they insisted on making one independent film outside the studio a year that they financed and would be more lavished than the norm for their vehicles. Character actor Charles Laughton had starred as Captain Kidd in a popular 1945 film. He admired Lou and was eager to appear in a knockabout comedy. How well does Laughton's gravity work with the duo's usual slapstick shenanigans? Let's begin with the infamous Captain Kidd (Laughton) and his men pulling into port and find out...

The Story: Oliver "Puddin' Head" Johnson (Costello) and Rocky Stonebridge (Abbott) are working at the Death's Head Tavern when Kidd and his men arrive. Pretty Lady Jane (Fran Warren) wants Oliver to bring a love note to Bruce Martingale (Bill Shirley), the singer at the tavern. Oliver manages to get the love note mixed up with the map to an enormous treasure belonging to Kidd. Kidd's not the only one who wants that map back. Captain Ann Bonney (Brooke) doesn't appreciate Kidd raiding ships on her turf and wants her share of the treasure, too. 

Rocky convinces Kidd to bring them on board and share the treasure. Not only does Kidd have no intention of sharing the treasure with anyone - including Anne - but he forces Bruce onto his ship and kidnaps Lady Jane after he raids the ship taking her to the New World. Not to mention, Captain Ann thinks Lady Jane's love note was intended for Oliver and wonders what she sees in him. She may be the only one who can save them all when Kidd goes back on his word and all of them end  up in danger.

The Song and Dance: Laughton may be having more fun than you might think as the tyrannical Kidd, but Brooke does the best here as the lovely female pirate who is determined to get her share of the treasure...and of Oliver, too. The three-strip Cinecolor has a slightly softer look to it than Technicolor, giving this the feel of a painting in a book on pirate lore. Abbott and Costello have some decent gags as well, including the handcuff sequence taken from their 1942 mystery movie Who Done It? 

The Numbers: We open with Kidd's first mate Morgan (Leif Erickson) bellowing "Away Ay Aye Ay" as he and he pirates tell us about their life on the sea. "Meet Captain Kidd" brings in the tyrannical sea dog and shows why he's respected and feared. Morgan and Bruce claim they lead "A Bachelor's Life" at the tavern. Oliver and Rocky join Morgan sing to the chorus that "Tonight We Sail." Bruce and Lady Jane are kept apart, but the still manage to duet on "Speak of Me the Tall Pine" and "North of Nowhere."

What I Don't Like: For one thing, too many of their gags are recycled from older material, and not just the handcuff sequence, either. Laughton and Brooke dominate the proceedings so much, it's hard for anyone else to come across - including Bud and Lou. Laughton acts rings around both of them, and frankly there's too much emphasis on him and on the uninteresting Jane and Bruce in the second half and not them.

The Big Finale: Harmless hour and a half's worth of viewing for fans of swashbucklers, Laughton, or Abbott and Costello, but nothing you need to go out of your way to see. 

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and DVD. The latter comes from the Warner Archives; the former is currently free with commercials at Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Cult Flops - Forbidden Zone

The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1980

Starring Herve Villechaize, Susan Tyrell, Marie-Pascal Elfman, and Phil Gordon

Directed by Richard Elfman

Music and Lyrics by various

Our second cult musical of the week jumps ahead five years to a very different rock group. The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo began life in 1972 as a surrealist street performance troupe. They added 30's and 40's jazz and their own material when original founder Richard Elfman's brother Danny joined in 1976. By 1979, Danny Elfman wanted to take the group in a whole new direction. This movie was seen as a way for Richard Elfman to transition from making music to making movies, and for Oingo Boingo to move from being a theatrical troupe to a New Wave rock group. How successful were they? Let's begin as the title card explains about the house with the entrance to the Sixth Dimension in its basement and find out...

The Story: Drug and slum lord Huckleberry P. Jones (Gene Cunningham) sells one of his houses to the Hercules family. They're told not to open the door to the basement, the Forbidden Zone. Sister Frenchy (Marie-Pascal Elfman) does it anyway and is captured by the Princess (Gisele Lindley), who brings her to King Fausto (Villechaize) and Queen Doris (Tyrell) of the Sixth Dimension. Fausto falls for Frenchy and wants to marry her. The Queen is insanely jealous and orders their frog servant Bust Rod (Jan Stuart Schwartz) to throw her in the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Frenchy's brother Flash (Gordon) and their Gramps (Hyman Diamond) have also gone to rescue her, but are taken prisoner as well. Their father (Cunningham) is blasted into the Sixth Dimension and ends up captured as well. Flash and Gramps escape and discover the first Queen (Viva), who wants her revenge on Doris for seducing her and locking her in the dungeon. There's also their meek friend Squeezit (Matthew Bright), who reluctantly goes looking for Frenchy and his sibling Rene (Bright), only to run a foul of Satan (Danny Elfman) and his Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

The Song and Dance: Um, yeah. You can't get much more out there than this movie. With its wacky pastel cardboard sets and surreal animation, this is about as cult as you can get. No wonder Danny Elfman would go on to work extensively with Tim Burton for years. They share a very similar sensibility. For all that they insult every race out there, this movie is surprisingly decent to its transvestite characters. At the very least, Renee and Squeezit are no worse or less strange than anyone else. Bright and Tyrell come off best as the sensitive drag duo Squeezit and Rene and Susan Tyrell as the Queen who is determined to fight off every newcomer and keep her throne and her short man. 

The Numbers: We open with the title song over the animated credits, performed by Danny Elfman and the Mystic Knights. Our first full-on number is a version of the standard "Some of These Days," performed by Ma, Pa, and Frenchy to explain why they shouldn't go into the Sixth Dimension. We then go down below for an instrumental version as a mostly-naked chorus performs it in the Sixth Dimension. Frenchy dances to the Josephine Baker number "La Petite Tonkinoise" during class, joined by two blind dancers. 

Frenchy arrives in the Sixth Dimension finds The Kipper Kids dressed as boxers joining real-life Latin singer Miguelito Valdes singing "Bim Bam Boom" in the ring. Queen Doris' introductory song is "Witch's Egg," on why she's such a bad girl and doesn't want to share her hubby. Frenchy briefly performs another Baker number, "Plure," while begging for help. Queen Doris does not like her husband watching this number one bit! "The Alphabet Song" is a spoof of the Three Stooges' "Swinging the Alphabet" that begins with Miss Feldman (Kendric Wolfe) giving their own version and ends with it becoming a rock number and those "kids" tossing out some pretty sweet dance moves. 

Rene laments what the Queen will do to them, while Doris rages about the "Queen's Revenge" and how she intends to eliminate her rivals. "Pico and Sepulveda" is the chorus number for Pa Hercules and the workers at the La Brea Tar Pits, singing with the real voices of Felix Figureroa and His Orchestra. Satan himself and his men get to lay into the jazz parody "Squeezit the Moocher" as Squeezit begs to help Frenchy and his sister. Queen Doris is not impressed with Mr. Bernstein's "Yiddishe Charleston" and zaps him out of existence. The wild "Finale" brings everyone who is still alive together to celebrate rock, jazz, and taking over the universe.

Trivia: The movie was filmed in black and white. It was originally going to be hand colored, but that was eventually discarded as expensive and inefficient. It would be digitally colorized under Richard Elfman's supervision in 2008. (I reviewed the colorized version currently at Tubi.)

Richard and Marie-Pascal Elfman were married at the time. They originally financed the movie repairing and selling houses. They ran out of money but were helped by a benefactor.

Richard Elfman has been trying to make a sequel to this for years and has discussed putting out collectibles and books based after the Sixth Dimension characters as well. 

What I Don't Like: If anything in the above descriptions offends, annoys, upsets, or mystifies you, this probably won't be your thing. This movie insults pretty much everyone else besides transvestites, including gay people, Jews, and African-Americans. The opening animation includes blackface, and the school "kids" include gay and black stereotypes. (The Mystic Knights' makeup in the "Squeezit the Moocher" sequence and the clown drug seller in the opening are said to be more obviously blackface in the original black and white version.) Violence, heavy swearing, women who spend the movie running around in little or no clothing, and some noisy and very casual sex makes this for adult cult movie fans only.

The Big Finale: Some things are just too weird, even for me. I thought this had some great music, but was otherwise a bit much for my taste. If you're a bigger fan of Danny Elfman or Oingo Boingo than me or are more into the weirder side of his work, you might find a lot more in the Hercules family's adventures in the Sixth Dimension than I did.

Home Media: Easily found pretty much everywhere, including on disc and free with commercials at Tubi.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

Tommy (1975)

Columbia Pictures, 1975

Starring Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margaret, Oliver Reed, and Elton John

Directed by Ken Russell

Music and Lyrics by Pete Townsend and others

Having enjoyed the unique film biographies I watched last week, I thought I'd dive further into the stranger side of rock with two really weird movies from the 70's and 80's based around groups of the time. Townsend wrote the original Tommy in 1968. It debuted a year later on a two-disc record and was a massive success. Music producer Robert Stigwood, who specialized in rock spectacles like Jesus Christ Superstar, bought the rights and brought in Russell. Russell wasn't a fan of rock, but he knew weird extravaganzas like no one's business. How did  his peculiar sensibilities shape this story of a young deaf, dumb, and blind pinball player who becomes a messianic-like figure? Let's begin with Tommy's mother Nora Walker (Ann-Margaret) and father (Robert Powell) during the early days of their courtship and find out...

The Story: Nora is pregnant with her son Tommy (Barry Winch) when her husband goes missing during World War II. Five years later, she falls for Frank Hobbs (Reed), whom she met at a summer camp. Tommy looks up to Frank, until he sees him murder his returning father reflected in the mirror. Frank and Nora insist that he didn't hear or see anything, making him withdraw into a deaf, dumb, and blind state.

By the time Tommy (Daltrey) is in his early 20's, Nora is in despair of him ever being cured. Frank takes him to a faith healer (Eric Clapton) and a drug dealer (Tina Turner), but nothing works. Leaving him with a bullying cousin (Paul Nicholas) and an abusive uncle (Keith Moon) doesn't help, either. Tommy eventually discovers he's a pinball protege, beating even the reigning champ (Elton John). This brings him a great deal of money, but it does nothing to help his condition. 

Frank finally takes Tommy to a doctor (Jack Nicholson) who suggests he confront his reflection in the mirror. His mother is fed up and shoves him through it...which does the trick. Tommy is not only cured, he wants to transform the entire world. He travels with a band to spread his word, turning his home into a religious camp. That makes him wildly popular with young girls especially, at least until they demand he do more than talk and sing. He loses everything in the ensuing riot...but gains an understanding of the true meaning of salvation.

The Song and Dance: Even just that plot description tells you what you're in for. The Who's music and simply amazing imagery carry the day here. There's also some fabulous costumes, going from the austerity of World War II through the glittering "glam rock" popular in the mid-70's. Russell spared no expense, and the result is a jaw-dropping mish-mash of all-star cameos (look for Turner's "Acid Queen" number and Jack Nicholson in one of his only two musicals to date) to the expansive cinematography and massive sets and pinball machines. Ann-Margaret did so well as Tommy's desperate mother, she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. Reed nearly matches her as the seemingly cheerful holiday worker she falls for, until she discovers his dark side. 

The Numbers: We open with Nora and Captain Walker's romantic courtship, her husband's disappearance, and Tommy's birth in "Captain Walker/It's a Boy." "Bernie's Holiday Camp" shows Tommy's childhood and introduces Frank, showing why mother and son both come to appreciate him. Nora and Frank hope "1951" will be their year, but they worry "What About the Boy" when he sees them kill his father. Tommy's "Amazing Journey" begins and ends with the mirror as he shuts himself in his head. His mother laments that he can't even appreciate his birthday on "Christmas." 

"Eyesight to the Blind" and "Acid Queen" are Frank and Nora's attempts to find someone to heal their son. "Eyesight" takes them to a cult that worships Marilyn Monroe, while the "Acid Queen" deals in drugs and Iron Maidens. Neither "Cousin Kevin" nor Uncle Ernie who "Fiddles About" do much to help Tommy's condition. Tommy eventually finds the "Sparks" that brings him to an abandoned pinball machine. Pete Townsend himself narrates "Extra, Extra, Extra," on Tommy's rise to fame, bringing us to the famous "Pinball Wizard" sequence. Elton John stomps out in massive boots (that he asked to be allowed to keep) in a lavish sequence with the two of them surrounded by fans in probably the show's best-known song.

"Champagne" depicts Tommy's rise as a media sensation. Nora watches in her pristine white room, furious that her son can't experience all of this for himself. She imagines herself covered in the beans she sees on TV and the chocolate she's been eating, writhing in her misery. "There's a Doctor" brings in Frank to explain they're seeing another doctor, and the doctor telling them what's really wrong with Tommy. "Go to the Mirror" leads Nora to the edge, taking us to "Tommy Can You Hear Me" and "Smash the Mirror." 

"I"m Free" finally releases Tommy, letting him enjoy everything he's missed over 20 years. "Mother and Son" and "Miracle Cure" is his becoming that messiah figure. "Sally Simpson" is the young girl who believes in his cult and is hurt defying her father to see him. "Sensation," "Welcome," and "TV Studio" shows Tommy's rise to cult figure. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" brings his people together, but they rebel, claiming "We're Not Gonna Take It." It ends with Tommy fleeing the destroyed home and following the sun in "Listening to You/See Me, Feel Me."

Trivia: Tommy's continuing popularity led to Townsend adapting it to the stage in 1992. It opened on Broadway a year later and ran for two years. The London production in 1996 didn't do nearly as well, not even making a year. It was revived on Broadway briefly in 2024.

Two real-life pinball machines were made by Data East that were inspired by the film, one featuring Roger Daltrey, the other Elton John.

There's quite a few changes from the album (and would be more for the stage version). For one thing, Captain Walker kills his wife's lover on the album and onstage, not the other way around, and he came back from World War I rather than World War II. The order of many songs are reversed, new lyrics were written, and "Bertie's Holiday Camp," "Extra, Extra, Extra," "Champagne," "Mother and Son," and "TV Studio" were added.  

What I Don't Like: Your interest in and appreciation of this film will depend on how big of a Who and hard rock fan you are and your tolerance for Russell's in-your-face style of direction. This is not a subtle movie. It's also not a traditional romantic family musical. It's not for those who aren't fans of hard rock in general and the Who in particular, who can't handle or don't like Russell's wild camp spectacles, or who are looking for a quieter show. Fans of the album and the stage show may not appreciate some of the changes or the weirder casting. 

The Big Finale: Necessary viewing for fans of the Who and Elton John, this is also recommended for those who like their rock musicals huge, lavish, and completely off-the-wall. 

Home Media: Easy to find in all formats, including streaming. The two-disc 4K set will be released on March 18th. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

4K

Amazon Prime

Musical Documentaries - Say Amen, Somebody

United Artists, 1982

Starring Thomas A. Dorsey, Willie Mae Ford Smith, Delois Barrett Campbell, and Zella Jackson Price

Directed by George Nierenberg

Music and Lyrics by Thomas A. Dorsey and others

We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. weekend with this joyous celebration of gospel music, from the director of the delightful tap documentary No Maps On My Taps I reviewed in 2021. Considering King himself was a minister, a musical on gospel and those who brought it to the masses seems extremely appropriate. Nierenberg was a young Jewish man who knew little about the subject, but like with the revival of tap, thought its story deserved to be told. Let's begin with one of the extraordinary performers he brought back into the limelight, Father of Gospel Thomas A. Dorsey, and see how well he did...

The Story:  We hear the story of gospel and how it was brought to the masses, via long-time performers like Dorsey, "Mother" Willie Mae Ford Smith, and the Barrett Sisters. Smith and Dorsey in particular recall the difficulties they had bringing gospel music to churches in the 1930's and the creation of Dorsey's most famous song, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord."

The Song and Dance: What a delight! I'm glad Nierenberg found these people. It's sheer happiness to see them belting their religious numbers to the heavens. They're all obviously having a wonderful time, especially in the finale during the gospel convention. Their stories are fascinating. I've only seen one or two other documentaries on gospel music, so it was interesting to hear it performed and discussed by people who made it what it is today. And  thankfully, unlike Maps, there's more than enough time to learn about all of these people and how many of them sacrificed everything to bring gospel to the masses. 

The Numbers: We open with Willie Mae Smith, the mother herself, belting "Singing In My Soul" and "What Manner of Man" for the huge crowds at the convention. Dorsey gets a brief "When I've Done My Best." We see no less than beloved gospel singer Mahalia Jackson performing Dorsey's "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" in older footage. Zella Jackson Price gets "I'm His Child," Smith reprises "Soul" later for a smaller crowd. 

The O'Neal Twins with the huge Interfaith Choir get the dynamic "He Chose Me" and "Highway to Heaven," along with "Jesus Dropped the Charges." The Barrett Sisters' numbers include "The Storm Is Passing Over," "No  Ways Tired," and "He Brought Us." Dorsey gets a chance to sing his own "Precious Lord" in front of that enormous crowd at the gospel convention near the end of the movie. 

What I Don't Like: Honestly, this might have the opposite problem from Maps. Sometimes, these people go on a little too long before they actually show how good they still are at singing. I kind of wish it had gone even further into its subject, including the reasons these people and their music were barred from so many churches in the 30's and 40's - namely, the racism. that kept the music from spreading faster then. 

The Big Finale: Even non-gospel fans like me can appreciate this joyous celebration of how gospel music and attitudes towards it and those who sing it have changed over the years.

Home Media: The discs are currently out of print but can be found on the secondary market. You're better off looking for this one on streaming.

DVD

Blu-Ray

YouTube (buy or rent) 

Cult Flops - I'm Not There

The Weinstein Company, 2007

Starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, and Marcus Carl Franklin

Directed by Todd Haymes

Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan and others

Better Man isn't the first film biography in the past twenty years to experiment with the format. Likewise, A Complete Unknown is far from the first time a director tried to get into Bob Dylan's head. After his success with the romantic drama Far from Heaven, Haynes went experimental with this look at Dylan's many personas. Six actors play Dylan in time periods ranging from the early 20th century to the mid-70's, filmed in styles and genres ranging from documentary to western. How well does this come off today? Let's begin with folk-rock star Jude Quinn (Blanchett) on an operating table after a motorcycle accident and find out...

The Story: Actually, there's six stories, representing six different periods in Dylan's life. Eleven-year-old black youth Woody Guthrie (Franklin) travels on the rails, performing his blues protest songs for unimpressed hobos. He's taken in by a couple after he nearly drowns, but a call from a corrections officer sends him off again. He eventually ends up in a hospital to connect with his idol, the real Woody Guthrie. 19-year-old Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw) is our first black-and-white segment. He's being questioned, though it's never clear why or by whom. 

Jack Rollins (Bale) was a legend among folk artists in Grenwich Village during the early 60's, but disappeared by the middle of the decade after making insulting remarks at an awards ceremony. He's discovered a decade later in California, now a born-again Christian priest known as Father John. Actor Robbie Clark (Ledger) plays Rollins in a film biopic, but his sexism and stardom strains his relationship with his wife Claire (Charlotte Gainesbourg). 

Quinn is castigated for using electric instruments at a folk concert. He agrees with Rollins that folk has hit a wall and doesn't seem to be living up to its own lofty ideals. The snooty interviewer in England (Bruce Greenwood) who reveals that his past isn't as wild as he claims doesn't help his descent into drug addiction. Legendary outlaw Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) tries to keep the town he's now living in from being demolished for a highway by none other than the man who supposedly killed him, Pat Garret (Greenwood)...but his attempt to confront him ends with him on the road again.

The Song and Dance: No wonder Blanchett was nominated for a host of acting awards, including an Oscar for Supporting Actress. She's mesmerizing as the increasingly erratic genius in her segments, giving him a measure of tender vulnerability and even gentleness under the rage. Franklin also does well as the cheeky African-American boy who ignores criticism to perform his way and is determined to meet his idol. Haynes's work here is equally amazing. The quick editing takes us seamlessly from Woody's late 50's all the way back around, jumping from time period to time period as we learn how one period relates to the next.

The Numbers: We open with "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," performed by Dylan himself over black-and-white images of the ordinary people Dylan sang to in the 60's the ends with Woody jumping on the train. Woody sings "When My Ship Comes In" the white couple who rescues him from drowning. He does even better with the old black gentleman (Richie Havens) who performs "Tombstone Blues" with him. 

Fellow folkie Alice Fabian (Julianne Moore) recalls her first meeting with Rollins and how he was the voice of his generation as we see him singing "The Times They are A'Changin" at a student protest. "Trouble In Mind" gives us Woody being attacked by hobos trying to steal his guitar, while "Visions of Johanna" give us how Robbie and Claire ended their relationship as the Vietnam War ended. "I Want You" depicts the happier start of their relationship. 

A rollicking "Maggie's Farm" performed by Stephen Malkmus at a folk festival is nearly drowned out by the boos of a shocked crowd. He also gets "Ballad of a Thin Man" in a whimsical montage that depicts the interviewer searching for the truth about Quinn, ending at a Black Panther meeting as they too are influenced by Quinn's music and Quinn stumbling around onstage when the crowd boos him. "One More Cup of Coffee" has Billy riding through town, admiring children in costume. "Goin' to Acapulco," sung by a white-faced man in the town, has a distinctly Mexican flavor. 

The Monkees' "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" gives us the voices of another group of artists who struggled for artistic integrity over the party where Quinn admits he couldn't handle the European tour. Quinn and Rollins all question that "Trouble In Mind" as Rollins explains his religious conversion and Quinn hangs out with poet Alan Ginsburg (David Cross). Dylan's gospel period is represented by "Pressin' On," as Robbie and Claire do just that in their marriage; Claire and the people of Billy's town are the "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol" gets Billy out on a train and lets Robbie take his girls on a trip. The movie finishes with footage of the real Dylan playing his harmonica for a sold-out crowd.

Trivia: The grungy Billy the Kid segment was inspired by the violent "hippie westerns" of the late 60's like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, which Bob Dylan did music for. The stark black and white Quinn story took its look from Fellini's 8 1/2 and the Neo-Realist movement of the 60's. Robbie's segment got its inspiration from the films of Jean-Luc Goddard. 

This would be Heath Ledger's last movie released in theaters before his untimely death in 2008. 

What I Don't Like: I think it's abundantly clear that this is not your typical musical biography. Those looking for something more linear or upbeat will want to go elsewhere. Gere and Ledger are defeated by material that's less interesting than Blanchett and Franklin's segments. Whishaw is seen the least and barely has anything to do besides toss out a few quotes. And...yeah, at times, once again particularly in Gere and Ledger's segments, you wonder if there's actually a point to any of this. You don't really learn much more about Dylan than you did coming in, which, given how enigmatic the real Dylan continues to be to this day, is likely what they were going for.

The Big Finale: I'm going to say your enjoyment of this one will depend on your fondness for Dylan and willingness to try something different in your musical bios. If you're a fan of his who wants to see the before and after of A Complete Unknown and are willing to go off the beaten path, there's a lot to enjoy in this unique experiment.

Home Media: It's on DVD, but it can be far more easily found on streaming, including Tubi for free with commercials.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Tubi

Better Man

Paramount, 2024

Starring Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, and Kate Mulvany

Directed by Michael Gracey

Music and Lyrics by various

Our first theatrical musical of 2025 is another rock biography, but is otherwise a very different animal than A Complete Unknown...literally, given its lead is depicted as a walking, talking ape. British rock star Robbie Williams got his start as part of boy band Take That, but he really rocketed to celebrity when he went solo in the mid-late 90's. He thought fame would make him the man he'd always wanted to be, but he was haunted by his insecurities and self-medicated with drugs and alcohol instead. How does the story of how he survived his demons look nowadays, with a string of similar stories having already come and gone? Let's begin with a distinctly simian Williams (Davies) explaining how he always felt less "evolved" than others and find out...

The Story: As a child growing up in Stoke-On-Trent, England, Robert Williams wanted nothing more to be a singer like his idol Frank Sinatra. His father Peter (Pemberton) is obsessed with Sinatra and the idea of fame, claiming to his son that the admiration of the audience is everything. Robert is devastated when he walks away from the family to become a stand-up comic and misses his debut in the school play. 

Years later, Robert drops out of high school to audition for a boy band. He's almost rejected, but gruff manager Nigel Martin-Smith (Damon Herriman) likes his spunk and hires him. Robert is rechristened Robbie, and becomes the wild "bad boy" of the phenomenally successful Take That. They start out in gay clubs, but by the time they're playing for sold-out crowds of screaming girls, they're an international success. 

Robbie, however, is still filled with doubt and wants more creative control. He finally breaks with the group and goes solo. At first, his solo career seems destined for success. He falls for singer Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) of the group All-Saints, reconnects with his father, and makes a comeback with the help of songwriter Guy Chambers (Tom Budge). Unfortunately, his solo success does nothing to help his inner demons. His father encourages his drinking and debauchery, Nicole leaves him over his cheating, and his beloved grandmother Betty (Alison Steadiman) dies. After a disastrous concert at Knebworth, Robbie realizes that fame is a double-edged sword...and the only person who really needs to love him is himself.

The Song and Dance: First of all, I will admit that, while not a huge fan of Williams or Take That, I had friends who were fans of Williams in the early-mid 2000's and remember hearing music from both on the radio in the 90's and early 2000's. Maybe that's why I enjoyed this as much as I did. I'm familiar enough with Williams' work for this to not be a total surprise, but aren't a big enough fan to know every detail of his life. 

The motion capture work on this was incredible. Yes, it looks like there's an ape doing flips and dancing on city streets and crying into his grandmother's arms. Davies and Williams do well conveying Robert's pain, while Pemberton does the best of the supporting cast as his father who is obsessed with fame, to the detriment of his relationship with his son. I also give them credit for trying something different with the musical biography format, and for being brave enough to get into fairly dark turf with what's going on in Robbie's simian head. 

The Numbers: Our first actual number is the Sinatra standard "My Way." Nine-year-old Robert and his father perform it side-by-side in their living room. They reprise it in the end onstage, singing together for the first time since then. Robert gives us a boisterous "I am the Pirate King" with his classmates after nearly passing out on entrance. Alas, his father never sees it, leading Robert to perform "Feel" as he laments his father abandoning his family. 

"I Found Heaven" is our first chorus number and the first song with Take That. Robbie and the others sing it in rehearsal, then for those sleazy gay clubs when Robbie realizes he's finally found a place that accepts him for what he is. "Rock DJ" is a massive song and dance all over London after Take That is signed to a major contract, as the boys dance and sing with half the kids in England and show off their more famous concert costumes. Robbie wants to "Relight My Fire" when he leaves the band, but nearly "Comes Undone" during a wild hallucination of driving at insane speeds and ending up trapped under the ice. 

"She's the One" is another massive number, this one a romantic pas-de-deux with Nicole on a gold and white yacht...that's contrasted with their life as he has affairs and she has an abortion. Robbie wishes it would turn into "Something Beautiful," but it's not to be. The classic rock standard "Land of 1000 Dances" gives us another montage, this one of Robbie's increasingly insane performances and his destructive lifestyle. Robbie's best-known songs, the ballad "Angels," plays over his grandmother's funeral and his break-up with Nicole. 

"Let Me Entertain You" begins with him suspended over the crowd at Knebworth and ends with him literally fighting every single version of himself who ever repeated negative self-talk. "Better Man" gets him into a rehab as he finally makes up with his former band mates and his parents. We get Williams' new "Forbidden Road" over end credits photos of the real human entertainer. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while Williams still has a fair-sized fan base in England, he's not that well-known in the US. I'm surprised Paramount even wanted to put this in the theater over here. I suspect this might have done better catering to niche audiences on Paramount Plus. It's also not for young boy band fans. There's copious nudity, swearing, drinking, and drugs. Start your older kids on Williams and Take That's albums before coming anywhere near here. 

I suspect the real reason this is flopping the box office is it's sometimes too darn weird for its own good. Despite how well they pull it off, just the idea of a rock idol being played by a CGI ape may be enough to put many people off. It's also way too long, with the second half in particular after he goes solo and falls for Nicole dragging like crazy. Some of the story is muddled, and you never know if it happened, or it's all in Robbie's head. 

The Big Finale: I hope this does better on home media and streaming. It's a truly unique gamble that Gracey and Williams manage to pull off spectacularly, and deserves a lot more than the head-scratching it's getting right now.

Home Media: There's no release date for the film yet, but the soundtrack will be out February 7th. 

CD Soundtrack

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Secret of Anastasia

UAV, 1997

Voices of Lisa DeSimone, Jere Shea, Earl Hammond, and Roger Raines

Directed by Lee Lan

Music by Megan Cavallari; Lyrics by David Goldsmith

The Disney movies weren't the only animated films that had imitations made of them in the late 90's and early 2000's. Any animated film that was even remotely popular at the box office had at least two or three cheaper versions of it released on home video by knock-off video companies. We've already seen one movie from UAV's "Secret" series two years ago, The Secret of Mulan. The year before, they put out their own version of the Don Bluth hit Anastasia. Does it match its predecessor, or should it be left behind at the Palace? Let's begin at the palace, as a narrator (Raines) explains what happened to the Romanov family and why Anastasia (DeSimone) now lives by herself along with four talking musical instruments, and find out...

The Story: Anastasia and her friends are finally forced to flee the Winter Palace when they're attacked by the Secret Police. They end up on a box car bound for Copenhagen, where they encounter former general Vladmir Ikonovich (Shea). He's taken by how much she resembles the lost princess. Ignoring her protests that she is the lost princess, he teaches her how to behave at court and presents her to the Dowager Duchess (Barbara Jean Kearney) at her home in Copenhagen. She doesn't impress the Duchess until she performs a song that only Anastasia knew. 

Handsome Prince Paul (Robert Petkoff) is even more impressed. Vladimir is jealous of the attention he gives her, but Anastasia's musical instrument friends know something is wrong here. The little accordion Alexei (Raines) follows the seemingly charming royal and learns there's something a lot more sinister under the surface, something that could take down the last of the Romanovs for good.

The Animation: Like all UAV productions, this is about as cheap as you can get. The colors are lovely (and actually compliment each other, unlike Secret of Mulan), but the designs are a little weird, with their pale, wide eyes and immobile faces, and there's little detail in the backgrounds. The characters move well enough, but their expressions are either overdone, or they have no expression in scenes that would call on conveying some emotion. Anastasia should be freaking out during Paul's "Prince Charmless" number, not just blinking and looking mild.

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a bit of a surprise. Some of the plot lines here actually make more sense than the Don Bluth Anastasia did, like the Secret Police being the villains instead of Rasputin (who died well before the Romanovs did) and the Dowager Duchess living in her original hometown of Copenhagen. The walking, talking musical instruments are less goofy than they appear at first, especially if you were paying attention to the portraits in the beginning during Alexai's narration. Petkoff is having more fun than he should as Cheka, and DeSimone is a lovely and sweet Anastasia. 

The Numbers: We open with Anastasia and her musical instrument friends in their rooms, singing about how they hope to be "In the Sun" again someday. It's also the song that finally puts her over with the Dowager Duchess when she hears her singing it after being rejected. "A Princess After All" is Vladmir teaching Anastasia how to be a princess, though it occasionally seems she knows more about that subject than him. Paul revels in being "Prince Charmless" when he reveals his real identity to the captive Anastasia. "You Will Be With Me In My Heart" is the finale, as Anastasia's instruments make the ultimate sacrifice to bring Vladmir back to her.

What I Don't Like: In addition to the lousy animation and so-so music, for every plot point they came up with that is honestly better than the movie its imitating, there's two that don't work. Vladimir had a point - why did Anastasia's friends have to be awkward instruments? They could have been anything. Anastasia  herself comes off as more naive and less feisty than the Don Bluth version, but that could be because this Anastasia has lived in one room all  her life, rather than an orphanage. Chaka himself is so wonderfully over the top, he didn't need the annoying skinny sidekick with the raven stumbling around him. Oh, and Anastasia has two more sisters who aren't mentioned or included here. 

My biggest problem is, this does do so much that's right, I wish it could have expanded on it. It needs at least another 20 to 30 minutes to give us a better idea of the characters and maybe show us more of the Revolution and how Anastasia ended up in those rooms in the Winter Palace and her and Vladmir's romance.

The Big Finale: Not a bad way to spend an hour on a cold winter's day if you're a fan of Anastasia or are looking for something fun to watch with your older kids.

Home Media: Easily found anywhere. Many streaming companies have it for free.

DVD

Tubi

The Roku Channel