Happy Memorial Day! - Let's Face It

Paramount, 1943

Starring Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Eve Arden, and ZaSu Pitts

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and others

Let's celebrate the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with the last of the four comedies Bob Hope did set in the military. On Broadway in 1941, Let's Face It was a farce with Cole Porter songs that made stars out of Danny Kaye as one of three soldiers who are hired by bored wealthy women to escort them and Eve Arden as the most prominent of those women. It was a surprise hit despite less-than-stellar reviews that didn't consider it to be one of Porter's better scores. How does it look nowadays? Let's begin, not at the barracks, but at a dairy farm that is also a health spa for overweight women and find out...

The Story: Winnie Porter (Hutton) is getting tired of her fiancee, Private Jerry Walker (Hope) ducking out of getting married. On the day they're supposed to finally tie the knot, Winnie catches Jerry selling junk food to her clients, and the Army catches him when he accidentally drives a Jeep through a wall. Desperate to pay off the Jeep, he convinces his friends Barney (Dave Willock) and Frankie (Cully Richards) to join him in arranging dates for wealthy Maggie Watson (Arden) and her friends Cornelia Figeston (Pitts) and Nancy Collister (Phyllis Povah). The ladies are tired of their husbands going off on "fishing trips" and leaving them alone. Furious when they catch them with the women, Winnie and Frankie and Barney's girlfriends Muriel (Dona Drake) and Jean (Marjorie Weaver) take the ladies' husbands out on dates at the same nightclub. Unfortunately, the boys' superior officer Sergeant Wiggins (Joe Sawyer) is also out on the town. When he catches them, it sends the boys fleeing again.

The Song and Dance: Though Hope and Hutton both have some good moments, Arden and the older ladies are the ones who really steal the show. They get all the best lines and have some of the best moments, including when their husbands catch them with the soldiers! Hope does get a few moments of his own to shine, notably in the beginning when he's trying to hustle the ladies with the sweets and the end when the guys are fleeing the entire mess. 

The Numbers: We open with "The Milk Song" as Winnie leads ladies of all shapes and sizes in an exercise class. Winnie and Jerry say "Who Did? I Did? Yes I Did!" as they sing along to an album Winnie made and Jerry tries to show off on Winnie's exercise equipment. "Let's Face It" is the sole chorus number as the Army soldiers sing about the presents their girlfriends sent them. "Who Did?" is heard later as an instrumental dance number for the trio of soldiers as they literally stick together to keep the overly amorous older ladies at bay and as they finally do dance with the women. When we get to the nightclub, two dancers do an instrumental routine that seemed to mainly involve variations on the woman smacking the man. Winnie gives her own option on romance as she insists "Let's Not Talk About Love."

Trivia: Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn wrote "Who Did? I Did! Yes I Did!"

Let's Face It debuted on Broadway in 1941 with Kaye in Hope's role singing two patter numbers written by his wife Sylvia Fine in addition to Porter's songs. As mentioned, it was a surprise hit, running two years in New York and a year in London in 1943. It pretty much disappeared after the London run, other than a TV version in 1954 with Bert Lahr and Gene Nelson as the soldiers and Vivian Vance in Eve Arden's role.

What I Don't Like: No matter who wrote the music, this isn't really much of a musical. I really wish they'd kept more of the Cole Porter score, even if it wasn't one of his best. It might have fleshed out more of the characters. We barely see Winnie other than her numbers, and Jerry's buddies and their girls are fairly interchangeable. 

The Big Finale: Mainly for really big fans of Hope, Arden, Porter, or small-scale 40's musicals. 

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only places you can currently find this are on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

YouTube

Internet Archive

Li'l Abner (1959)

Paramount, 1959

Starring Peter Palmer, Stubby Kaye, Leslie Parrish, and Billie Hayes

Directed by Melvin Frank

Music by Gene dePaul; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Lil' Abner was one of the most popular comic strips of the mid-20th century. From 1934 to 1977, millions of Americans followed the hilarious shenanigans going on in the Kentucky hillbilly town Dogpatch, where characters had names like Earthquake McGoon and Evil-Eye Fleagle and the spoof was broad, hilarious, and firing everywhere. The main characters were the title character, a handsome but hulking young man who was forever being pursued by the sweet Daisy Mae. When Daisy Mae finally caught him in 1952, it was a national event. The strip was popular enough to inspire a hit Broadway musical in 1956. The film version did well enough when it debuted in 1959, but is it still as funny almost 70 years later? Let's begin on "A Typical Day" in Dogpatch and find out...

The Story: Things are moving along in Dogpatch pretty much the way they usually do, with formidable Mammy Yokum (Hayes) giving her strapping son Abner (Palmer) his Yokumberry Tonic, and Abner being chased by lovely Daisy Mae Scragg (Parrish). The ladies are more excited about Sadie Hawkins Day, when the women of the town chase the men they hope to marry. They're shocked to find out Sadie Hawkins Day may not go on this year when Dogpatch is declared the most useless town in the US and is marked for nuclear bomb testing. 

The residents toss out everything they can think of to keep their town from being destroyed, until Mammy tells the government about that Yokumberry tonic. Not only does the government want the tonic, but so does General Bullmoose (Howard St. John). He enters his mistress Appassionata Von Climax (Stella Stevens) in the Sadie Hawkins Day Race and has her catch Abner. She'll marry him and get the tonic recipe, then kill him. 

Daisy Mae and Abner's parents are so horrified when they discover Bullmoose' plot, Daisy Mae agrees to marry Earthquake McGoon (Bern Hoffman), "the dirtiest wrassler in the world," to get him to help. Daisy thinks she'll be stuck being McGoon's wife, but it's the government who figure out what the tonic really does when they use it on the men of Dogpatch...and Abner's Pappy (Joe E. Marks) who finds a way to give his strapping son the gumption to go after the lady he truly loves.

The Song and Dance: You can't fault the cast on this one. Most of them were in the stage version as well, including Palmer as a perfect Abner, Stubby Kaye as the matchmaker Marryin' Sam (who leads most of the chorus numbers), and Julie Newmar, who doesn't need to speak a word for the audience to understand why she's called Stupefyin' Jones. My favorite by far is Billie Hayes, who replaced Charlotte Rae as Mammy on Broadway. I hope she was as much fun as she is here. "Formidable" doesn't begin to describe this tough-minded witch of a hillbilly. You can certainly see why she'd go on to play a more obvious witch in the even stranger world of Sid Kroft over a decade later. The Technicolor is gorgeous, a riot of rainbow colors mixed in every way that shouldn't work and amazingly does. Some really fun songs too, including the hit "I'm Past My Prime" for Kaye and Leslie Parrish.

The Numbers: We open over the credits with "A Typical Day," as the residents of Dogpatch introduce themselves and their unique home. Abner and the younger men of the town sing about what they'd do "If I Had My Druthers." Marryin' Sam leads the towns folk in a rousing salute to local hero "Jubilation T. Cornpone," which is heard briefly again in the finale after Dogpatch is saved. "Don't That Take the Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" are numbers for the townspeople before and after learning they have to evacuate their home. 

Abner finally admits that yes, he does kinda have feelings for "Namely You," Daisy Mae. "What's Good for General Bullmoose" is performed by his lackeys several times, usually whenever he's come up with another nefarious idea. Every woman in town chases after the closest thing to eligible males during the wild Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet, including Appasionata and Daisy Mae. Daisy laments that "I'm Past My Prime," ignoring the fact that Marryin' Sam is more interested in taking her to the altar. "I Wish It Could Be Otherwise" is Abner and Daisy's big ballad right before she's supposed to marry Earthquake McGoon. The ladies of Dogpatch demand "Put Em' Back" twice, in the lab after they find out their men are now stronger but also less romantic, and in the finale, leading to "The Matrimonial Stomp" with Marryin' Sam.

Trivia: Look for Jerry Lewis in a cameo as Dogpatch resident Itchy McRabbit, and Donna Douglas (later Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies), Valerie Harper, and Beth Howland as three of the Dogpatch ladies who later catch themselves husbands. 

Lil' Abner debuted on Broadway in 1956 and was a hit, running over a year. As mentioned, Charlotte Rae was the original Mammy but left early in the show's run, Tina Louise was Appasionata Von Climax, and Edie Adams was Daisy Mae. It's only returned to New York in an Encores concert since then, but is fairly popular with regional and high school theaters. 

The film cut a couple of numbers from the original show, including a really nice ballad for Abner and Daisy, "Love In a Home," a number for the scientists "Oh Happy Day," and one for General Bullmoose, "Progress Is the Root of All Evil." 

What I Don't Like: The stage origins of this one show all too plainly. Everything is filmed flat and looks like the stage play it's based on. The sets are about as fake as you can get, which admittedly does go with the comic book vibe. As in many musicals of the 1950's, the chorus numbers really have nothing to do with anything - "Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" come out of nowhere and contribute nothing to the story. Also, if you don't go in for broad comedy or hillbilly comedy, or you don't know much about the mid-late 50's, you'll probably want to hurry elsewhere quickly. 

The Big Finale: This is funny and tuneful enough to get a recommendation if you love wacky hillbilly comedies or the big, bold, bright musicals of the 50's and 60's. 

Home Media: Don't be fooled - this one is currently DVD-only. Plex is listed as having it online, but they really show the non-musical, black and white 1940 film version. (Which admittedly has a few virtues of its own, including Buster Keaton as Native Lonesome Polecat.)

DVD

Happy Passover! - Fiddler On the Roof

United Artists, 1971

Starring Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, and Leonard Frey

Directed by Norman Jewison

Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

We celebrate the last day of Passover, the Jewish spring holiday celebrating the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, with one of the most famous movies about the Jewish faith ever made. The Broadway musical adaptation of the book Tevye and His Daughters by Sholem Aleichem was one of the biggest hit shows of the 60's, and the first to run over 3,000 performances. United Artists eagerly bought this and Man of La Mancha, another dark mid-60's stage hit, with an eye for a big roadshow adaptation. They knew they were taking a big risk after too many huge epic roadshow musicals in the late 60's and early 70's failed to make their money back, but they still threw everything they had into making this one as realistic and gritty as possible in a musical. Did they succeed, or should this one be sent to Siberia? Let's begin with Tevye the milkman (Topol) as he introduces the people of the Russian Jewish village of Anatevka and their "Traditions" and find out...

The Story: Tevye is hoping Yente the Matchmaker (Molly Picon) will find good husbands for his older daughters Tzeitel (Harris), Hodel (Michele Marsh), and Chava (Neva Small). His daughters have their own ideas. Tzeitel is promised to wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), but she falls for Motel (Frey), a poor but ambitious tailor. Tevye eventually gives in and agrees to the marriage, and finds a way to convince his wife Golde (Crane) that they're made for each other, too. He's less happy when Hodel falls for the handsome revolutionary Perchick (Paul Michael Glaser) but eventually accepts the marriage, even when Hodel follows her husband to Siberia after he's arrested. 

Tevye really hits the roof when book-loving Chava falls head over heels for Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), a Russian Christian Orthodox scholar. Her eloping with him means she'll have to give up her faith. Her father thinks this is the worst of his problems, but then, the town's rabbi (Zvee Schooler) announces that their lives are about to be upended forever, and Hodel isn't the only one who is going to be "far from the home I love."

The Song and Dance: What I love about this movie is only The Sound of Music inhabits the world of the characters as much as this one does. The bleak landscape of Yugoslavia in the 1970's may not be much to look at, but it's as much of a character as Tevye and his family. The stunning cinematography, including gorgeous shots of that fiddler on the roof, won a deserved Oscar in 1972. Unlike most of the huge epic musicals that came out in the late 60's and early 70's, Fiddler really needs those three hours and the widescreen vistas to tell its entire story of how both a family and a town's "traditions" are upended by outside change. 

Topol was a bit of a controversial choice for Tevye after Zero Mostel won acclaim for the role on Broadway, but he's having so much fun shaking along to "If I Were a Rich Man" and is so lovely with his daughters, it's hard to complain now. Crane is equally good as his sensible wife Golde. Frey and Harris are especially touching as the adorably dorky tailor and the sweetly awkward young woman who loves him anyway.

The Numbers: We open with Tevye introducing us to the residents of Anatevka and their "Tradition" even before the credits begin. The fiddler (Tutte Lemkov) plays the overture over the credits while perched on that roof. The sisters dress and do the laundry as they sing about "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" and their hopes for their future husbands. Tevye really gets into wondering what he'd do "If I Were a Rich Man" in the barn, shaking and shimmying with absolute glee. Lazar Wolf joins Tevye's family for their "Sabbath Prayer." Wolf and Tevye announce "To Life" when they treat each other to drinks at the local bar and every man in town gets in on the spree, including the military and local students.

"Tevye's Monologue" is heard in his head as he recalls Tzeitel's childhood and realizes that she does love Motel and he wants her to be happy. Thrilled when Tevye agrees to their marriage, he hurries through the woods with Tzeitel, singing about their "Miracle of Miracles." The surreal "Tevye's Dream" is a black-and-white sequence where Tevye tells Golde about a dream he had where their ancestors and Lazar Wolf's wife claim Motel is the man for their daughter. Their wedding ceremony is a joyous occasion, including the touching "Sunrise, Sunset," men performing with bottles on their heads, and men and women dancing together holding hands for the first time in Anatevka...until local peasants, backed by the Tsar's men, attack and destroy the party.

After the fiddler performs the Entre'Acte, Tevye gives us a brief reprise of "Tradition" and explains what's changed. He has another monologue very similar to his first when Hodal insists on marrying Perchick. Feeling sentimental, he asks Golde "Do You Love Me?" Hodal admits at the train stop that while she does want to be with her husband, she's scared about being "Far From the Home I Love." There's a brief ballet segment shot in silhouette as we see Chava the way her father remembers her...and her in love now. His third monologue after Chava asks to marry Fydeka is briefer and far less congenital. It's one thing to go against an arranged marriage and follow a revolutionary, but very religious Tevye draws the line at giving up one's faith for love. The movie ends with the cast singing about their feelings on leaving their beloved "Anatevka." 

Trivia: Sadly, this would be Norma Crane's final film. She died of breast cancer two years after its release.

Fiddler On the Roof opened on Broadway in September 1964 and was a huge success, becoming the first Broadway show to run over 3,000 performances. Its stars Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova won Tonys, as did the show as a whole. It was an equally big hit in London. The show been revived many times on both sides of the Atlantic since then, most recently on Broadway in 2015 and in London in 2019.

Two stage songs were cut from the film, a duet for Perchick and Hodel, "Now I Have Everything," and a number for Yente and the women of the town, "The Rumor/I Just Heard." Another song, "Any Day Now," was written for Perchick to replace "Everything," but was ultimately cut. 

What I Don't Like: This is not your typical lighthearted musical romp. This is a three-hour epic revolving around the fracturing of a family and of a society. It's not for someone who is looking for something more fun and upbeat. There's also that run time. Admittedly, once you get to the third daughter's marriage, you start looking at your watch and wishing some of this could have been trimmed. On the other hand, we don't get to know some folks as well as you'd like, including the rabbi and the hilarious Yente. 

The Big Finale: Families with older children and teens looking for thoughtful Passover viewing and who can handle the violence and fairly dark story and have time on their hands (or can split this into two night's viewing) may enjoy discovering Tevye, his family, and their "traditions." They may even be willing to discuss similar traditions and their importance in their own families.

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, the latter usually for free with commercials.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

MGM, 1964

Starring Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley, and Hermione Badderly

Directed by Charles Waters

Music and Lyrics by Meredith Wilson

We end our Women's History Month reviews with this rousing biography of one of Colorado's great ladies, featuring one of MGM's biggest stars of the late 50's and early 60's. Though the stage version wasn't quite as big of a hit as Wilson's The Music Man, it was still popular enough for MGM to option it as a huge vehicle for Reynolds and Presnell. Presnell was a big, strapping baritone not unlike Howard Keel the decade prior. MGM was willing to give him a big build-up and Reynolds the role of her career as the scrappy backwoods girl who rises first to Denver society, then to one of the heroines of the Titanic disaster. How does this story look today, especially as a far campier Titanic-based musical spoof prepares to hit Broadway next month? Let's begin with a tiny baby being flung along in raging rapids...and surviving...and see why this was so popular in the early 60's...

The Story: Brassy tomboy Molly Tobin (Reynolds) has big dreams. She heads to Leadville, Colorado to make enough money for a trip to Denver and marriage to a wealthy man. Her plans are derailed when she falls in love with Johnny Brown (Presnell), a poor miner with no desire to ever work the mine he owns. He's equally in love with Molly, teaching her to read and write and even building a cabin for her. 

When he does finally have a big strike at the mine, it propels them into Denver high society, just like Molly wished and hoped for. Denver high society, however, isn't ready for them. Gladys McGraw (Audrey Christie), the queen of wealthy Denver matrons, rejects them as being too vulgar. Mrs. McGraw's mother Buttercup Grogan (Badderly) suggests the duo go to Europe for some "polish." Molly loves it, but Johnny feels out of place among the princes and duchesses. Molly invites them to Denver, but Johnny brings his mining friends around too and ruin the introduction. 

Furious, Molly returns to Europe, only to realize she misses Johnny and Colorado. She returns on the S.S Titanic...and becomes not only one of the survivors when the ship hits an iceberg, but one who encouraged morale and kept at the captain to rescue more people. She returns to Denver as one of its greatest heroines, and to Johnny as the one man who could really keep up with her. 

The Song and Dance: Reynolds never had more fun than she did in this movie, especially the first half when she's brawling with her brothers, with drunk miners, and with J.J Brown. She had such a blast playing Molly, she got an Oscar nomination. Presnell and Begley nearly match her as the laid-back miner who preferred the simple life in Colorado to his wife's ambitions and her hilarious father. Gorgeous cinematography filmed in the actual Colorado and stunning costumes beautifully depicting backwoods Colorado and Denver and European high society in the 1900's and early 1910's help too.

The Numbers: We open with Molly brawling with her brothers, telling them "I Ain't Down Yet." She teaches herself to play "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys," competing with other local dancers and ladies of the evening for their attention. Johnny claims "Colorado, My Home" twice, in his introductory sequence when he's looking over his land, and later when he and Molly return to Colorado after their European trip. "I'll Never Say No," Johnny tells Molly as he teaches her to read and write, builds her a bigger cabin, and even gets the brass bed she wanted. "He's My Friend," says Buttercup, Mr. Tobin, Molly, and Johnny as half the royals in Europe sing awkwardly along. "Johnny's Soliloquy" is a brief reprise of "Colorado My Home" as he admits that he misses Molly.

Trivia: Molly Brown was no backwoods girl when she married "Leadville" Johnny Brown in 1886, but a spirited young lady of 18 who, indeed, had been looking for a wealthy husband. She actually ended up much-beloved in Denver society, as an early and ardent feminist and crusader for worker's rights. Yes, she not only survived the Titanic disaster, she pushed her lifeboat captain to look for more survivors, though the "unsinkable" nickname apparently didn't become more common until after her death in 1932. Unlike in the movie, she and Johnny legally separated, though Molly didn't remarry after Johnny's death in 1922. Their home in Denver and their summer home at Bear Creek, Colorado still exist today as museums.

The original Broadway show opened in 1960 with Tammy Grimes as Molly and Presnell as Johnny and ran for two years, pretty respectable for the time. Alas, despite the success of the film, it's rarely been seen again. It didn't make it to London until 2009. It was heavily reworked to include more of the real-life story of Molly Brown for a run at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 2014. This heavily revised version turned up briefly off-Broadway in 2020, and it's also available for regional productions. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, this takes forever to get where it's going. Those two hours can drag at times, especially during Molly's European jaunts in the second half. Second, note the historical inaccuracies above. This also isn't for people who like their musicals on the quieter or more introspective side. This musical is as noisy and brash as its heroine. Meredith Wilson's score isn't bad, but it's not quite at the level of The Music Man, either. And I wish we could have heard more of it. All but five numbers were cut. "He's My Friend" was written for the film (and has since been added to stage versions).

The Big Finale: If you love the brash, brassy musicals of the 50's and 60's or are a big fan of Reynolds, come on down and get to know the toughest, funniest lady to ever come out of Colorado.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats. The Blu-Ray is from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Sunny (1941)

RKO, 1941

Starring Anna Neagle, Ray Bolger, John Carroll, and Edward Everett Horton

Directed by Herbert Wilcox

Music and Lyrics by various 

Anna Neagle was one of the biggest stars in British cinema from the early 30's through the early 50's. She and her director husband Herbert Wilcox went effortlessly from epic historical drama to elegant comedies to frothy musicals without batting an eyelash. RKO was impressed with their two biographies of Queen Victoria and offered them a four-picture contract in 1940. This is the third of the four, and the second of the three musicals they did. Is it as charming as the original Marilyn Miller film and the Neagle/Wilcox version of Irene, or should it be left at the altar? Let's begin at the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans and find out...

The Story: Sunny O'Sullivan (Neagle) literally runs into millionaire Larry Warren (Carroll) at the Mardi Gras parade. The Queen of Hearts (Martha Tilton) and her entourage encourages Larry to give her a hug and kiss. He does, but she disappears shortly after. He wanders into a circus near where he met the lady. Not only are his sister Elizabeth (Frieda Inescourt), the family lawyer Harry Bates (Horton), and wealthy Juliet Runnymede (Grace Hartman) there, but so is Sunny. She's the premiere dancer and bareback rider and one of the circus' star attractions. He tries to get through to her, but she goes out with her old friend Bunny Billings (Bolger) instead.

They run across each other in the restaurant later that night. Larry convinces her to join him for a ride. They fall in love, and he proposes. She's ready to leave the circus, but his snobbish old-money family isn't ready to accept a bareback rider as a daughter-in-law. She does manage to win over tough Aunt Barbara (Helen Wesley), but Elizabeth still considers her to be beneath them. The circus people turn up on the day of Sunny's wedding to see her off. Elizabeth encourages them to perform, shocking and upsetting Larry. Sunny, furious with his behavior, takes off with the circus. With the help of Aunt Barbara, Larry now has to prove to Sunny that he loves her no matter who she is or what she does.

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a far better showcase for Neagle's talents than Irene. You get two major dance sequences, one with the truly great Bolger, costumes that are just as lovely (at least, what you can see of them in the terrible copies currently in circulation), and some great songs by Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, and others. (Including the trio that were cut from the 1930 Sunny.) Wesley, Horton, and Bolger all have fun with their limited roles, especially Wesley as the tough-as-nails aunt who unexpectedly softens for Sunny. 

The Numbers: After a montage of Mardi Gras parade sights and sounds, our first number is Queen of Hearts Martha Tilton and her entourage insisting that "The Lady Must Be Kissed." Bunny's first dance number lets him incredible splits and spins while executing slapstick falls. Bolger then sing-recites "Who" before we see Sunny with an enormous feather fan in a feather-bedecked gown and they do an elegant dance together. The title song is our first big chorus number as Sunny comes out on horseback to do her bareback tricks and dance with the horse while Carroll tries to flirt with her from the audience. 

"Who" turns up again as Larry takes Sunny on a riverboat ride, sung first by the chorus, then sung by Larry and danced by Sunny. Bunny and Sunny are "Jack Tar and Sam Gob," doing a comic dance dressed as horny sailors. She sings the old folk song "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" at her engagement party, thinking she's impressing Aunt Barbara. She asks Larry "Do 'Ye Love Me?" after she explains things to Aunt Barbara. Dance team Grace and Paul Hartman (in their first of two appearances together onscreen) perform the comic "The Mohache" to the tune of Ravel's "Bolero" at Sunny's wedding. Bunny dances as the "Ringmaster" at the sold-out circus show. Sunny starts singing "Sunshine"when she comes out...before Larry joins in and she realizes he's her only audience. Larry sings "Forever and a Day" as he drives Sunny's trailer to the riverboat in the finale. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, someone really needs to throw money at restoring this, too. This one is in even worse shape than the 1930 Sunny, with wonky sound and horribly scratched picture. Second, the wafer-thin story isn't really improved by the re-writing. Wesley's crotchety Aunt Barbara is a little bit more interesting than Sunny's father, but neither Bolger nor Horton have much to do other than Bolger's numbers. They do nothing with the New Orleans setting besides the opening at Mardi Gras, and only a little bit more with the circus folks than the first film. Dashing Carroll is also a bit of an improvement over the dull Lawrence Gray in the original, but he's still nowhere near Neagle's wattage.

The Big Finale: I did like this one a bit more than the 1930 Sunny or Neagle's first American picture Irene, but it's still mainly for her fans or fans of big 40's musicals. 

Home Media: This is in the public domain, so it's easily found anywhere. It's currently on Tubi for free with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Sunny (1930)

First National Pictures, 1930

Starring Marilyn Miller, Lawrence Gray, Joe Donahue, and O.P Heggie

Directed by William A. Seiter

Music and Lyrics by various

Operetta, of course, isn't the only musical genre to see remakes. Nor are remakes a recent phenomenon. This week, we're going to look at a musical comedy that got two very different versions a decade apart from each other. Sunny was producer Charles Dillingham's follow-up vehicle for Broadway superstar Marilyn Miller after the phenomenal success of her hit Sally. Is this circus-set romantic comedy worthy of the $150,000 she earned for it, or should it be left in the center ring? Let's start at the circus, as men ogle the posters for bareback rider Sunny Peters (Miller) and find out...

The Story: Sunny's dad (Heggie) wants her to marry Harold Harcourt Wendell-Wendell (Mackenzie Ward), who is wealthy but deadly dull. She becomes smitten with Tom Warren (Gray), an old friend who stops by to see her before he takes a boat back to the US. Stealing boy's clothes, she runs away and follows him onboard. Not only is she caught, but she has no idea he's already engaged to socialite Margaret Manners (Barbara Bedford). 

The only way she can get off the boat is to marry her American friend Jim Denning (Donahue). They plan on getting a divorce the moment they can, especially since Jim is already in love with Weenie (Inez Courtney) from the circus. Sunny, still head over heels in love with Tom, tries to fool him into saying he's in love with her by appearing to be hurt at a fox hunt. When that doesn't work, she plans on returning to England and marrying Harold, at least until Tom sees the light.

The Song and Dance: And with a story that flimsy, song and dance...or really, Miller's dances...are the main points of interest. Miller's wattage, at least when she's singing and dancing, hasn't dimmed between films. She still loves what she's doing and is magnetic while doing it. Donahue and Heggie are the only ones who get anywhere near her as the good-natured guy buddy who helps her out and her stubborn father. Some of Jerome Kern's best songs can be found here, too - Gray and Miller singing "Who" is totally charming.

The Numbers: In fact, the movie puts its best foot forward and starts with its biggest hit song. Gray wonders "Who" stole his heart as he pours his heart out to a delighted Miller. They're both so adorable, it's by far the best sequence in the film. Sunny briefly sings "I Was Alone" after she boards the boat dressed as a boy as she wistfully watches Tom on board. She does a totally joyous instrumental tap dance after she's caught and allowed to stay onboard. After a massive wedding, she and Jim have their own hilarious dance as they wonder "When We Get Our Divorce." Tom and the men sing the old chestnut "Oh, He Didn't Ramble." Sunny finishes with her own interpretation of a fox hunt, complete with crop and top hat.

Trivia: This was supposed to have had three more numbers from the original show, "Sunny," "Do 'Ye Love Me," and "Two Little Love Birds," but they were cut from US prints when musicals fell out of fashion late in 1930. "Sunny" can be heard over the credits and as an instrumental number in the opening. 

The original Sunny debuted in September 1925. It ran a year, a pretty big hit for the time. It also did well in London, where ran nine months and toured for three years. 

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this hasn't turned up since that UK tour. The story is a soggy cream puff that collapses entirely in the second half. Cutting the music doesn't help. Miller's wonderful when she dances, but she's still not much of a singer and even less of an actress. Gray's deadly dull other than that charming "Who?" sequence. They really don't make much of that circus setting. I wonder if the cut numbers were set at the circus or did more with it. They're barely there at all before Sunny runs off to the boat. Oh, and Warners needs to throw some money at restoring this. The copy at Tubi and on DVD is scratchy and has wonky sound

The Big Finale: If you enjoyed Sally, you'll want to give Miller's second starring role a look as well.

Home Media: On DVD via the Warner Archives and on Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Cult Flops - The Producers (2005)

Universal/Columbia, 2005

Starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, and Will Farrell

Directed by Susan Stroman

Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks

This week, we're looking at two more recent remakes of older musical and semi-musical films. Mel Brooks' original film version of The Producers did well enough at the box off in 1967 but got mixed reviews. Critics at the time didn't always get the black comedy about two producers who try to put on a flop musical that turns into a huge hit. The 2001 stage version, on the other hand, was wildly popular with critics and audiences alike. Everyone praised Susan Stroman's inventive choreography and direction and the pitch-perfect performances of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as the title characters. Needless to say, all three were carried over to the film version...but what works on stage doesn't always work on screen, as we're about to discover. Let's begin in Times Square in 1959 as theatergoers emerge from producer Max Bialystock's (Lane) latest flop musical and find out just how much a smash stage show can go off the rails onscreen...

The Story: Max is still mourning the demise of his latest theatrical venture when his meek accountant Leo Bloom (Broderick) points out that you can make more money off of a flop than a hit. Intrigued, Max hits on the idea of staging the worst musical possible and reaping the rewards when it tanks. Leo resists it first, until he realizes how tired he is of his bland, boring life at the accounting firm. 

They first seek out Franz Liberkind (Farrell), the Nazi-obsessed author of the ridiculous musical Springtime for Hitler, even taking an oath in order to get the rights to his show. Transvestite director Roger Di Bris (Gary Beach) and his effeminate partner Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart) object to the darker tones in the show, insisting on keeping everything light, even if the Germans win the war. Gorgeous Swedish blond Ulla (Thurman) turns up on their doorstep, and both men are smitten enough to hire her as their secretary and promise her a role on the show. 

The two men do their level best to make sure everything is a disaster, including Max getting dozens of little old ladies to finance it, but...against all good taste and better judgement, Springtime for Hitler winds up as a smash success. Leo's ready to turn them in, until Franz turns up with a gun because everyone laughed at his play and Ulla suggests they take the money and run. Max thinks he's left holding the bag, but you can't break up Broadway's most unlikely and closest producing team, even when they're in jail.

The Song and Dance: It's the movie people who are the revelations here. Who knew Thurman, who is usually associated with action and drama roles, could sing and shake her hips like a champ? And that split she does at the end of "If You Got It, Flaunt It" is incredible. Farrell has way too much fun as the Hitler-adoring Franz, with his pigeons and crazy vows. Makes me wish they both did more musicals. Of the stage folks, only Beach as the mincing director has any idea of how to play the role to the camera. There's some sensational costumes in brilliant colors reminiscent of the Technicolor of 50's MGM musicals, too. And frankly, I do appreciate that the musical drops some dated aspects of the original film, eliminating the character of the hippie who originally played Hitler and giving Ulla more authority and more to do. 

The Numbers: We open with the brief "Opening Night" as two usherettes (Bryn Dowling and Meg Gillentine) wonders how the audiences will react to Max Bialystock's latest show. The theatergoers come out shortly after and give their assessment - it's "The Worst Show In Town." "We Can Do It," Max insists to Leo in his office, though Leo isn't as sure. Leo changes his tune around his "Unhappy" coworkers after he fantasizes about how "I Want to Be a Producer," complete with chorus girls in skimpy beaded dresses prancing in the office. 

Franz teaches Max and Leo the Fuhrer's favorite song, "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop," before he insists on their vows. Roger, Carmen, and their extremely stereotypical stage team think a musical should be much lighter. "Keep It Gay!" Roger proclaims. Ulla auditions for Max and Leo at their office with "If You've Got It, Flaunt It"...and while the duo haven't started casting yet, they aren't exactly objecting to the show. Max gets the money for the show from a chorus line of old ladies tapping on their walkers (including Andrea Martin and stage star Debra Monk) who say "Along Came Bialy." Leo and Ulla are more interested in falling in love, dancing around their now very white office while singing about "That Face."

They can't find a better Hitler than Franz after he floors everyone with his rendition of "Haben Sie Gehurt Das Deutsche Band?" Roger and Carmen claim "You Never Say Good Luck On Opening Night" backstage, but Max disagrees. "Springtime for Hitler" and "Heil Myself" are the big chorus numbers, and they are a riot of color, sequins, and every possible German and World War II stereotype, up to and including Roger taking over as a decidedly not-butch Hitler. 

One of the two new songs added for the film version is "You'll Find Your Happiness In Rio," which shows Ulla and Leo doing just that as Max reads the postcard from them in prison. He feels "Betrayed" as he rants in a soliloquy of the type that were popular in 40's and 50's musicals, relating pretty much the entire show up to that point. Leo returns at the trial, claiming no one thought he was special "Till Him." The duo are still doing their same "sell everyone 100 percent of the show" schtick in prison as Max directs their big jailbird musical "Prisoner of Love." It becomes their first stage hit after they're paroled. Mel Brooks himself claims "There's Nothing Like a Show On Broadway" (the other new song) over the credits before telling the audience "Goodbye!" and that it's time to go home.

Trivia: The Producers opened in April 2001 and was a sensation, running six years and earning 12 Tony Awards, the most of any show to date. It also did well on London's West End, running three years. In fact, at press time, a revival is playing at London's Garrick Theatre. 

Three songs from the stage show, "The King of Broadway," "In Old Bavaria," and "Where Did We Go Right?" were filmed, but cut for time. All three are in an extended cut, and "King of Broadway" and "In Old Bavaria" are included as extras on the DVD.

What I Don't Like: Frankly, it feels like Thurman and Farrell are in an entirely different film from everyone else. Lane and Broderick are used to scaling their performances to the balcony, not to the camera. Everyone else is playing everything way too broadly, shouting when something slightly more sly and subtle would have done better. Likewise, Stroman's direction and choreography is scaled to theater audiences. Despite the filming in real locations, this feels like the filmed play it is. Good as most of the numbers are, they also push the running time a little too long. This is over 2 hours, way too long for a wacky black backstage comedy. Some of the other numbers or the shtick in the middle could have been trimmed with no one the wiser. There's also the simple fact that...a musical about a "gay" Hitler isn't nearly as shocking as it would have been in 1967, nor are the many rather ridiculous gay, theater, and Jewish stereotypes. 

The Big Finale: Good performances from Ferrell and Thurman aren't enough to put this in the "hit" column for anyone but the biggest fans of the leads, Brooks, or modern Broadway shows. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, with the DVD often being found for under $10. 

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Cult Flops - The Vagabond King (1930)

Paramount, 1930

Starring Dennis King, Jeanette MacDonald, O.P Heggie, and Lillian Roth

Directed by Ludwig Berger

Music and Lyrcis by various

For the next two weeks, our weekday reviews will look at musical remakes, either of older films, or a remake and the original. This version of the 1926 stage hit of the same name was intended to be Paramount's stately answer to major film operettas like Warner Bros' The Desert Song or MGM's (now-lost) Rogue Song. It proved to be too stately for 1930 audiences who were looking for war movies and gangster films, but how does it look now? Let's begin in fifteenth-century Paris, where only a lawless poet stands between the King of France (O.P Heggie) and the Duke of Burgundy's attempt to take over his throne...

The Story: Francois Villon (King) is arrested by Louis the XI and his men while drunk and brought to the castle. Louis anoints him king for a day, hoping to enlist him and his fellow peasants, poets, and drinks in battling the Duke and his army. Earlier in the day, Francois had rescued the beautiful Princess Katherine (MacDonald) and had fallen hopelessly in love with her, despite already having a girlfriend in the tavern wench Hugette (Roth). It's the ladies who are willing to lay down the line - and in Hugette's case, her own life - to make sure Louis stays on the throne and Francois is hung for a king's amusement the next day.

The Song and Dance: Oh, how I wish the full color copy was available online! What little color is seen during the "Only a Rose" number is blurry but exquisite, with MacDonald looking every inch the princess she's supposed to be in exquisite peach, standing out against the lavish green garden. In fact, even in the blurry mostly black and white copy currently on YouTube, it's that much-vaunted pageantry where this stands out. MacDonald is a radiant princess in glittering gowns amid enormous, craggy castles and the fetid alleys of a shadow-strewn Paris, while Heggie makes a wonderful opportunistic King Louis. European director Ludvig Berger had made several similar sumptuous fantasies in France and Germany during the silent era, and he knew something about spectacle and how to make it work.

The Numbers: We open over the credits and at the tavern Francois frequents with "Song of the Vagabonds." "King Louis" is Francois' mocking rhyme and assessment of Louis' ability to rule his people. "Mary, Queen of Heaven" is a number for the choir when Katherine is praying in Notre Dame. The ballad "Some Day" is Katherine's first solo as she changes for bed and contemplates Francois and their first meeting in Paris. Francois declares to his followers what he would do "If I Were King." He tells the disguised Louis "What France Needs." 

"Only a Rose" is the only Technicolor sequence existing in current online prints. The gorgeous singing from King and MacDonald and exquisite color somewhat make up for MacDonald being right about King's ego and his continued attempts to push his nose or hands into her shot. Roth's solo is "Hugette's Waltz," as she explains to the vagabonds that she is how she is, take her or leave her. Francois and Katherine get a second duet, "Love Me Tonight," shortly before he is to fight the Burgundians. The people of Paris reprise "Song of the Vagabonds" during the actual siege. "Nocturne" is the executioner's number as he's about to hang Francois.

Trivia: The color prints do exist and were restored by UCLA in 1990, but alas, to date have only seen there other than the "Only a Rose" sequence taken from the PBS documentary Broadway: The American Musical. 

This is based on the fanciful book and non-musical play If I Were King. If I Were King was filmed as a non-musical three times, in 1920 and 1938 under its original title and in 1927 as The Beloved Rogue. 

The Vagabond King opened on Broadway in 1925 with King as Villon and was a huge hit for the time, running over 500 performances. It had a brief revival on Broadway in 1943. It hasn't been seen there since, but remains popular with light opera companies in New York and elsewhere. The film would be remade in 1956 with Kathryn Grayson as Katherine (which we'll be looking at on Thursday). 

What I Don't Like: Jeanette MacDonald had a point about Dennis King and his ego. He's a little too into the role, proclaiming everything to the rafters when film calls for a somewhat subtler approach. He's too hammy even for a swashbuckler. This is likely why he very rarely made movies after this. Lillian Roth has the opposite problem. She's too much of a cute comedienne to be playing a sensual streetwalker and really can't pull off her "Hugette's Waltz." And oh, how I wish UCLA would release the rest of that color copy to the general public! I have the feeling it would help this tremendously, and certainly be nicer to look at than the dim, blurry copy currently on YouTube.

The Big Finale: In the end, as lovely as it is, it's really only for fans of MacDonald, operetta, or early film musicals. 

Home Media: Which perhaps makes it just as well that the only place you can see this is in that blurry copy I mentioned that's currently on YouTube. 

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Family Fun Saturday - Bye Bye Birdie (1995)

ABC, 1995

Starring Jason Alexander, Vanessa Williams, George Wendt, and Chynna Phillips

Directed by Gene Saks

Music by Charles Strouse; Lyrics by Lee Adams

Let's head back to the US for this remake of the 1963 movie. Though it did fairly well at the time and it certainly wasn't bad, it had a lot of problems, including deleting five songs and the two leading ladies being miscast. As in the Broadway show, they went with stage veterans who also knew their way around TV. How well does the story of how a rock star on his way to the army and his entourage descend on a typical small town work in a very different time period? Let's begin with those screaming fans of Conrad Birdie (Marc Kudish) and find out...

The Story: Albert Peterson (Alexander), Birdie's manager and songwriter, is trying to figure out how to deal with Birdie being drafted into the army. His long-time girlfriend Rose Alverez (Williams) would rather he gave up managing to marry her and be an English teacher, but Albert is under the thumb of his formidable mother and partner Mae (Tyne Daly). Mae sees him and Birdie as her meal ticket and threatens to kill herself every time he even remotely considers leaving show business or marrying Rose. 

Rose comes up with the idea of Birdie kissing one typical fan on The Ed Sullivan Show as a farewell publicity stunt. The girl she chooses is Kim McAffee (Phillips), a normal energetic teenage girl in Sweet Apple, Ohio. She adores Birdie, sure, but she also loves her boyfriend Hugo Peabody (Jason Gaffney). Neither Hugo nor Kim's gruff father Harry (Wendt) are thrilled with the chaos that invades their home or with Birdie's screaming fans awakening them at all hours, until Harry finds out they're going to be on television. 

Rose, however, is fed up with everything, including Mae when she turns up whining and begging her son to come back to New York. She lets Hugo hit Conrad on national television before Kim gets her kiss. Now Kim's furious with Hugo, and Conrad is bored stiff and tired of girls watching his every move. His insistence on taking Kim out for some fun and Rose's on going out on the town ends with all of the parents in Sweet Apple literally up in arms and Hugo and Albert learning how important their ladies are to them.

The Song and Dance: This time, it's the supporting cast and an impressive production for a 90's TV musical that really shines. Williams is a delight as the strong-willed Rosie, who may love Albert, but sure as heck won't let his obnoxious mother bully her. Her Shriner's Ballet, with Rose letting out her inhibitions at a local bar, is a highlight. Wendt has a few good moments as the frustrated Harry, especially early-on when he can't even read his newspaper without either Albert or Conrad's entourage interfering. Broadway star Kudisch projects so much heat as Conrad, you can totally understand why the girls are so crazy about him. The period-accurate costumes and colorful sets representing typical small-town America in 1959 are truly well-done, from Rose's dresses to Mae's fluffy furs and the pastel poodle skirts on the teenagers. I also appreciate that this comes a lot closer to the original Broadway show, without the silly subplot with Albert being a chemist that cluttered up the second half of the 1963 film. 

The Numbers: We open with the title song over footage of Conrad's many screaming fans. It's heard later at the soda shop when four of the girls lament losing their idol. At their office in New York, Rosie tries to convince Albert that he's better off being "An English Teacher." The Sweet Apple teens crowd around two telephone booths to tell each other the latest gossip about Hugo and Kim in "The Telephone Hour." "How Lovely to Be a Woman" introduces Kim, dressing for a day out with her friends in boy's clothes despite talking about dressing up in the song. Albert encourages a despondent Birdie fan to "Put On a Happy Face" in Penn Station before he leaves for New York.

Hugo is furious when he discovers his steady girl is going to kiss a rock star on national television. Kim and her friends placate him by saying there's only "One Boy" for her. Albert and Rosie give very different versions of Conrad's background as "A Healthy, Normal American Boy" when they're about to leave for Sweet Apple. They drag out his fans to sing whenever the questions get too probing. The brief "Let's Settle Down" has Rosie impressed with small-town Ohio life and hoping she and Albert can have that for themselves. Conrad claims he's "Honestly Sincere" on his arrival in Sweet Apple, which causes just about everyone in town to faint at his charms. 

Harry is finally won over by a "Hymn for a Sunday Evening" and the chance to be on national television. "One Last Kiss" is Conrad's big TV song, complete with the McAfee's in patriotic costumes and other Sweet Apple officials singing the chorus. Furious with their men, Rosie and Kim insist "What Did I Ever See In Him?" and go out for a night on the town. Conrad's pretty fed up, too, and tells Kim he has "A Lot of Livin' To Do." The McAfees wonder where they went wrong with the current generation in the ragtime lament "Kids." Rosie becomes the "Spanish Rose" Mrs. Peterson thinks she is as she sasses a bartender and dances with Shriners. The barflies become the chorus as Albert tries to get Rose to "Talk to Me" over the phone. "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore" wails Mae when Albert insists on dissolving their firm. Albert tells Rosie he's thrilled to have taken "A Giant Step" at the ice house and dances with his "Rosie" at the train station after he's gotten his mother and Conrad out of their lives for good.

Trivia: "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore" had apparently been written for the original 1960 Broadway production, but was dropped because Kay Medford wasn't a singer. It was reinstated to give Tyne Daly, who has sung on Broadway, more to do. "Let's Settle Down" and Albert's "What Did I Ever See In Her?" were written for the TV version. "A Giant Step" was written for a 1990 US tour. The title song originally turned up in the first film version and has been used in most productions of Bye Bye Birdie since. 

"What Did I Ever See In Him," "Spanish Rose," "A Healthy, Normal American Boy," "Talk to Me," "An English Teacher," and the original music for the Shriners' Ballet were dropped from the 1963 version. Rose's fantasy ballet on what she'd do to Albert if she could, "One Hundred Ways to Kill a Man," is the only number to have been omitted from both screen and TV versions. (To be fair, it's usually cut from most stage versions nowadays as well, including the 2009 Broadway revival.) 

NBC kept announcing a live version of Bye Bye Birdie with Jennifer Lopez, but it was finally canceled in favor of Dr. Seuss's The Grinch in 2020.

What I Don't Like: First of all, while Chyanna Phillips certainly looks more like a normal small-town woman than sensual Ann-Margaret, she's still no teenager. In fact, all of the so-called "teens" are obviously way too old for their roles and for screaming over rock idols. Stage and TV vets Daly and Alexander overdo their roles; Alexander in particular is a wonderful singer, but he's not really a leading man type. Daly's Mae is obnoxious to the point of nearly being unbearable. Vanessa Williams is African-American/Native American, not Hispanic. 

In fact, we have the opposite problem from the 1963 film, which mainly focused on Kim, her father, and Albert. Here, it's Albert who is miscast. Wendt's funny when we see him, but he doesn't really have enough to do, especially in the first half. And yes, there's a reason I'm not a huge fan of this show in general. While some of it (like it's interracial main couple) may actually have been ahead of its time, other aspects of this show haven't dated well. Though The Ed Sullivan Show is slightly more visible on streaming than it would have been on TV in 1995, it and other similar variety programs of the 50's and 60's still aren't that well-remembered by families, let alone adored enough to have a whole number around it. There's also Rose's obsession with getting Albert to settle down, which may come off as annoying or too needy nowadays. 

The Big Finale: Honestly, if you took the best parts of this and the best parts of the original 1963 film, you might get one good version of Bye Bye Birdie. As it stands, I did enjoy this one slightly more than the original film for its decent cast and fidelity to the stage show. If you love big, bold 60's musicals or the cast, you might want to give this "one last kiss" a look.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the latter often for free with commercials.

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Family Fun Saturday - Wicked: For Good

Universal, 2025

Starring Cynthia Ervio, Ariana Grande, Johnathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Music and Lyrics by Steven Schwartz

The idea of making Wicked into two separate movies was controversial from the outset. For one thing, the second act of the musical has always been problematic on Broadway. (And to be fair, the second half of the book the show is based on is, too.) Critics have long carped that it's long on plot and melodrama and short on music and characterization. For another, most movies separated into two parts are science fiction multi-verses or big action movies, not musicals. How well does this work with the story of how Elphaba and Glinda embrace their destinies and become the Witches of Oz? Let's begin with the creation of a familiar golden road, helped along by abused animals, and find out...

The Story: Five years after Elphaba (Ervio) left the Wizard's (Goldblum) tower, she's still fighting for animal rights from her own home in the woods. Fiyero (Bailey) is engaged to Glinda (Grande), who is the Wizard's assistant and spokes-witch. She still has no powers of her own, so Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) gives her a flying bubble to transport her around Oz. Elphaba tries to encourage the animals of Oz to join her, but they'd rather flee than go up against the Wizard once the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo) wails that he never wanted to be freed from his cage as a cub.

Elphaba's sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is angry and resentful because Elphaba abandoned her and didn't come to their father's funeral. She's also frustrated with Boq (Ethan Slater), who tries to leave her and return to Glinda. Nessa uses Elphaba's "Grimmerie" spell book to make him love her, but it shrinks his heart instead. Elphaba's attempt to fix the spell just turns him into a Tin Man. 

Elphaba flees to the Emerald City, where the Wizard and Glinda almost persuade her to join them...until she sees animals in cages below his throne room. She releases the animals and lets them stampede over Glinda and Fiyero's wedding. Furious when Fiyero joins Elphaba, Glinda tells Madame Morrible to use a rumor that Nessa is in trouble to bring Elphaba out of hiding. 

Morrible creates a tornado that drops the house belonging to Kansas resident Dorothy Gale (Bethany Weaver) on Nessa instead. Glinda and Elphaba initially come to blows when Glinda gives Dorothy Nessa's shoes, until Fiyero turns up. While Elphaba is determined to save him and get the shoes back, Glinda realizes how important their friendship is when she learns about the tornado and decides that when it comes to friendship, doing the right thing is far more important than any public image.

The Song and Dance: Whew! Some people may have questioned separating the two movies, but I think they did the right thing. There's enough plot for three fantasy movies just in this half! It does correct some of the problems from the first half of the film and the original Broadway show, including giving Boq and Nessa (slightly) more to do, bringing in Dorothy earlier, showing Glinda and Fiyero's wedding, and focusing more on Elphaba's attempts to help the animals. Ervio and especially Grande give powerhouse performances as the two witches, while Goldblum is suitably smarmy as the Wizard who was never able to leave his busker side in Kansas. The production remains stunning, with incredible, glittery costumes and a brilliant Technicolor mix of CGI and practical effects.

The Numbers: We open with "Every Day More Wicked," a reprise of "No One Mourns the Wicked," as the citizens of Oz worry about the havoc wrecked by the Wicked Witch of the West. "Thank Goodness" they have Glinda, who claims "I Couldn't Be Happier" to have everything she wants. Elphaba tries to rally the animals to remain in Oz by reminding them that "There's No Place Like Home," but the Cowardly Lion breaks into her big power ballad. "The Wicked Witch of the East" is the extended sequence where Nessa tries to make Boq love her and both sisters end up causing more damage in the end.

"Wonderful" is the Wizard's song, as he and Glinda remind Elphaba that truth can be bent and is what people want to hear. Glinda laments "I'm Not that Girl" after her ruined wedding and Fiyero runs off with Elphaba. The two lovers declare that "As Long as Your Mine," nothing else matters. Furious when her attempt to keep Fiyero from harm transforms him instead, Elphaba angrily declares "No Good Deed" goes unpunished. Boq, now the Tin Man, leads the charge with "March of the Witch Hunters" chorus. Glinda realizes how badly she's been manipulated in "The Girl In the Bubble," the other new song written for the film. Elphaba and Glinda make their tearful goodbyes at the abandoned castle where Elphaba is keeping Dorothy, realizing that they have changed each other "For Good." Everyone gets their just rewards in "A Wicked Good Finale," including Glinda, Elphaba, and the animals.

What I Don't Like: First of all, it's the same deal here as in the first film. If you're not a fan of fantasy, musicals, or The Wizard of Oz (or darker Oz retellings), you're not going to be into this. This is still a colorful world where people burst into song. Second, it may be too dark for people expecting something funnier and lighter like the first film or the 1939 Wizard of Oz. They tried to dial down the violence and sexuality from the book, but it's still pretty violent, and there is the "As Long as You're Mine" romantic sequence. Frankly, this half moves way too slow at times, especially in the middle of the film with the "March of the Witch Hunters," and I never thought the love triangle was all that interesting even in the original show (or the book). 

The Big Finale: While I don't think this is quite as good as the first movie, I don't think it's nearly as horrible as critics are making it out to be, either. They're either not musical fans or were expecting "more of the same." If you give this one a chance and have time on your hands, you may find a lot to love on the darker side of Oz.

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are scheduled to debut on January 26th. 

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Amazon Prime

The Desert Song (1929)

Warner Bros, 1929

Starring John Boles, Carlotta King, Myrna Loy, and Johnny Arthur

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music by Sigmund Romberg; Lyrics by Otto Haurbach and Frank Mandel

This week we dive into the romantic, swashbuckling world of operetta, where every romance is a rhapsody, every duel a symphony. The Desert Song, inspired by the actual Riff tribe uprisings in North Africa, was a huge hit on Broadway in 1926. Warner Bros thought it would be perfect for their first all-talking, all-singing film and pulled out all the stops. There's lavish costumes and scenery, then-up-and-coming John Boles as the Red Shadow, most of those gorgeous songs recorded onto live Vitaphone discs, and originally, blazing two-strip Technicolor. While the color prints don't survive, how does the rest look in black and white today? Let's begin with "The Riff Song," as we see the tribes riding in the desert, and find out...

The Story: The Red Shadow (Boles) is the mysterious Robin Hood-like leader of the Riffs. He is in reality Pierre Birabeau, the son of the French General Birabeau (Edward Martindel) who came to Morocco in an attempt to impress Margot Bonavalet (King), a girl at his father's outpost. He took over the Riffs and now pretends to be a weakling in order to hide his secret identity. Margot is engaged to the General's dashing right-hand man Captain Fontaine (John Miljan), but she yearns to be romantically swept into the arms of some desert sheik.

She gets her wish when the Riffs attack the outpost and take her, Pierre's friend Benny Kidd (Arthur), and Benny's female friend Susan (Louise Fazenda) to their camp. Susan and Margot are quite surprised when the Red Shadow treats them with every Western courtesy. Margot eventually falls for the Red Shadow, while Benny dresses as a woman to escape and get help. The General comes to rescue Margot and challenges the Red Shadow to a duel, but Pierre can't harm his own father. Meanwhile, Captain Fontaine is told the location of the Riffs by jealous dancing girl Azuri (Loy), and Benny and Susan end up having their own fun when they get lost in the desert.

The Song and Dance: Oh boy, this was fun. The archaic stiffness of most early operetta is replaced by some of the hammiest acting I've ever seen in a major film musical. It's clear everyone knew darn well they were in a hoary old melodrama and just ran with the lunacy. Boles might be a little bit better as supposedly spineless Pierre than the dashing Red Shadow, but he and King do more than justice to their songs. Check out King's incredible high note on "The Sabre Song!" Some of the supporting cast works too, including Loy as the traitorous Azuri and Roberto E. Guzman as the Red Shadow's second-in-command Sid El Kar.

The Numbers: We open with "The Riff Song" as they explain who they are and why they follow the Red Shadow. "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "French Military Marching Song" are Margot and the women of the barracks' lament that their men are perpetually away fighting. Margot has modern dreams of romance, but Pierre's are more courtly. "Then You Will I Know," he tells her after she explains her dreams of being swept off her feet. "Why Waste Your Time?" The Red Shadow wonders, before he and Margot go into the rapturous title song. One of his men, Sid El Kar, sings "Soft as a Pigeon Lights Upon the Sand" as Azuri and her girls dance in traditional Arabian garb. Margot and The Red Shadow reprise the title song when she's being abducted to end the first half.

The second half starts with Spanish dancers performing "My Little Castagnette." Clementina, the lead Spanish dancer, also performs "Song of the Brass Key." Head of the Riffs Ali Ben Ali (Jack Pratt) tells the Red Shadow to "Let Love Go." This goes right into Sid's big ballad, "One Flower Grows Alone In Your Garden." Red Shadow counters with one of the big standards from this, the ballad "One Alone." The Red Shadow insists to Margot when she complains about the desert that "I Find the Simple Life Entrancing." "The Sabre Song" is Margot's soliloquy as she wonders about the Red Shadow and who he really is. "You Love Me" Margot and the Red Shadow declare before going into another reprise of the title song. The Red Shadow sings "One Alone" before going off into the desert...and it's how Margot knows it's really him when he sings it in the finale.

Trivia: Though this was completed in late 1928, it was held back until May 1929 due to Warners' release schedule at the time. It was a hit when it came out, but critics thought it stilted compared to movies that had been released in the interim like The Broadway Melody. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, though this is probably the most complete version of this show on film or TV, there's still a few songs missing, notably Margot's solo "Romance" and Benny's two comedy numbers. Second, Warners really needs to take a crack at restoring this, even if they can't find the color. The black and white copies on YouTube are horribly blurry. Third, this is not for those who want their musicals quieter or more subtle. This is a romantic adventure drama where everyone shouts their lines to the non-existent balconies. 

King sounds better than she acts. She's stiff as a board in the first half unless she's singing, until she really gets into "The Desert Song" and "The Sabre Song." There's this being an early talkie, too. People do stand around and just sing a lot. We also have all your attendant Arab stereotypes, mixed in with your obvious gay stereotypes with Benny (how he ultimately ended up with Susan I will never know). 

The Big Finale: Great for early talkie enthusiasts and operetta and action fans like me who may be willing to sit through some of the baked ham to enjoy some truly fine singing. 

Home Media: Best place to find this one is on YouTube. 

YouTube

Cult Flops - Cats (2019)

Universal, 2019

Starring Francesca Hayward, Judi Dench, Idris Alba, and Jennifer Hudson

Directed by Tom Hooper

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics by T.S Elliot and Taylor Swift

Cats is another musical from the last 40 years that had a long road to the big screen. It had been a smash everywhere it played since its debut on the West End in 1981. Steven Spielburg had originally planned on turning it into an animated film in the early 90's, but then his studio Amblinmaion shut down. A taping of the stage show in London did make it to home media in the late 90's and received excellent reviews, but most people thought that was the closest Cats would ever get to the big screen...until 2013, when Andrew Lloyd Webber started talking about a film adaptation. The movie finally debuted in December 2019 to some of the worst reviews and box-office for a major film that year. Does it deserve that fate, or should this Jellicle Cat get another chance to ascend the Heavinside Layer? Let's begin on the streets of London with the arrival of something the cat let out of the bag, a scared white kitten named Victoria (Hayward), and find out...

The Story: Victoria was abandoned on the streets of London just in time for the Jellicle Cats to have their Jellicle Ball. This is where they decide which cat will ascend to the Heavinside Layer and be granted a new life. Victoria meets all the competitors - Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), a domestic tabby who can make mice and cockroaches dance, Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo), known for his extravagance, Skimbleshanks (Steven MacRae), a ginger cat who works for the railroad, Gus (Ian McKellen), a kindly old cat who had once played major roles onstage, and Busterphous Jones (James Corden), a plump tuxedo cat who shares his food with the others. 

Each one vanishes before Victoria's eyes, to her horror and that of Old Deuteonomy (Judi Dench), the head cat who will decide which will make the ascension. Macavity (Alba) wants to be the one chosen, and he'll do anything to get that new life, including eliminate the competition. Meanwhile, at the ball, Victoria befriends Grizabella the Glamour Cat (Hudson), who had once been aligned with Macavity. When Macavity takes off with Old Deuteonomy, it's Victoria who suggests that magician cat Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Robinson) use his magic to retrieve her. It works, inspiring the other cats to rescue themselves. Old Deuteonomy doesn't need a song and dance to know which cat is truly worthy of the Heavinside Layer, and Victoria to know where she truly belongs.

The Song and Dance: While yeah, this is not a great movie, or even a decent one, a few good things do manage to sneak in. Swift and Webber's "Beautiful Ghosts" is a genuinely touching song that sounds gorgeous on Hayward. Swift, rather surprisingly, isn't too horrible as Macavity's current flame Bombilina, Dench gives Old Deuteonomy tremendous gravity under her thick fur, and Alba makes a perfectly slick and greedy Macavity. 

The Numbers: We open with Victoria's entrance to the first chorus number, which introduces us to "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats." Mr. Mistofflees and Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild) introduce "The Naming of Cats" and give "The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball." Munkustrap takes Victoria into a typical London home to introduce "Jennyanydots: The Old Gumbie Cat" and her dancing mice and cockroaches. She in turn introduces "The Rum Tum Tugger." Victoria stops several young cats from abusing "Grizabella the Glamour Cat," and befriends the exiled former animal star. Rum Tum Tugger takes Victoria to meet "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" and his huge appetite. Victoria gets into major trouble - and almost gets attacked by a dog - thanks to the mischievous cat burglar twins "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer." 

"Growltiger's Last Stand" gives us the nasty old pirate cat who watches the kidnapped competitors for Macavity. Munkustrap brings Victoria to meet "Old Deuteonomy," who begins "The Jellicle Ball." Grizabella tells Victoria about her "Memory" of better times, while Victoria admits that all she has are "Beautiful Ghosts." Old Deutoeonomy talks about "The Moments of Happiness" and introduces "Gus the Theater Cat." Munkustrap takes us for a ride with "Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat." Bombalurina (Swift) performs a lurid number about her current lover "Macavity: The Mystery Cat." Victoria and Munkustrap encourage "Mr. Mistofflees" to use his magic and free the missing cats. After everyone has been returned, Grizabella and Victoria reprise "Memory," while Victoria and Old Deutoenonomy reprise "Beautiful Ghosts." The movie finishes with "The Journey to the Heavinside Layer" and Old Deutoenonomy describing "The Ad-Dressing of Cats."

Trivia: Cats ran from 1981 through 2002 in London and 1982 through 2000 in New York. It had brief limited-run revivals in 2014 in London and 2016 in New York and saw a stripped-down off-Broadway production in 2024. The off-Broadway production is currently said to be moving to Broadway in April 2026. It also occasionally turns up in regional stages for theaters with a large amount of dancers or who are looking for a surefire audience pleaser.

What I Don't Like: The idea of humans dressed as cats and dancing in giant sets made to look like the back alleys and bourgeois homes of London is far more believable onstage, where you can feel the intimacy of all those people dancing almost literally around you, than it is on film. If they had to adapt it to film at all, they should have stuck to animation. Even with the revised special effects put out after the ones in the first version of the movie were said to be terrible, this still looks ridiculous. It's more like dancing AI animal paintings than human-sized cats moving around gracefully. 

Hayward dances beautifully and does do well by "Beautiful Ghosts," but she otherwise spends most of the movie looking scared or blank. Most of the cast, including Rebel Wilson as the languid Jennyanydots and lively Robinson as Mistofflees, are defeated by their silly dance numbers, the almost spooky uncanny valley CGI, or just not being onscreen for very long. The movie shares a problem with the Broadway show in that there's so many cats who do so much, none of them are on the screen for very long. You don't get to know the ones like Bombalurina or Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer you'd like to know better. Hudson's far too bombastic as Grizabella and certainly doesn't suggest an aging glamour cat. 

The Big Finale: I'm going to be honest and admit that, though I have the original cast album, I've never been a fan of the stage Cats, either. "Memory" aside, it all just seemed too silly and way too much. This certainly won't change my mind. Unless you're a really huge fan of Swift, Webber, or any of the stars involved, you can look for "Beautiful Ghosts" online and abandon the rest of this one on the streets of London without another thought.

Home Media: Easily found everywhere, including on disc (often for under $10) and on Netflix and Amazon Prime with subscriptions.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Netflix

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Lionsgate Films, 2025

Starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, Tonatiuah, and Tony Dovolani

Directed by Bill Conden

Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb

This week, we're jumping closer to the here and now to cover two adaptations of 80's and 90's Broadway musicals in the 21st century. This one's trip to the big screen was almost as tortured as its central couple. It began as a 1976 novel of the same name by Manuel Pug and had been adapted as a play in 1983 and an Oscar-winning film in 1985. The 1993 stage musical gave Chita Rivera one of her definitive roles as Aurora, the movie star in the stories woven by gay window dresser Luis Molina (Tonatiuah) while in prison. How well does the current film version measure up, especially in the current political climate? Let's begin by introducing Molina as he gets a new roommate in prison and find out...

The Story: Molina's new cell mate is Valentin Arregui Paz (Luna), a revolutionary who was jailed for his work with a revolutionary group. Valentin is annoyed by Luis at first, but finally lets him tell the story of his favorite Hollywood musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman. In the film, Aurora (Lopez), a glamorous magazine publisher who has never truly been in love, finally falls for Armando (Luna), a brilliant photographer. They return to the town where they were both raised for a photo shoot. This cements their relationship, but it also brings in Armando's old flame Paulina (Aline Mayagoita) and the gangster Johnny Desidero (Dovolani), whom Armando owes old debts to. 

Molina, as it turns out, is spying on Valentin for the warden in exchange for parole, so he can return to his sick mother (Graciela Daniele). He's supposed to get information from him while taking care of him after he's poisoned, but he ends up falling for him. Molina continues the story as their relationship deepens, revealing how the village is protected from evil spirits by the Spider Woman (Lopez), who demands the sacrifice of a native woman's lover. Aurora is afraid it'll be Armando and pushes him away, not realizing her assistant Kendall (Tonatiuah) loves Armando, too. Kendall betrays both of them to Johnny after Aurora admits her love. Paulina helps them escape into the jungle, where the Spider Woman gets her sacrifice...but not the man she expected.

As the story ends, so does Molina's time in the prison. He got his longed-for parole, but he's a changed man. So is Valentin. Molina's ready to admit that he can't hide in dreams forever, and maybe Kendall isn't the only one willing to make a sacrifice, while Valentin realizes that the imagination can be a very powerful place to be, and there's more than one type of love in this world.

The Song and Dance: Jennifer Lopez wanted to make this movie for years, and while she certainly goes to town in the gorgeous numbers, the real heart here is the surprisingly sweet love story between Luna and Tonatiuah. The men are gentle and charming in their banter in the prison despite the brutal setting, and utterly gorgeous in the musical numbers. The use of color here is stunning, whether it's the lush Technicolor jungle or the pop of pastel on Luis' robe and the old movie posters in the prison cell. Gorgeous costumes, too, with Argentina in 1983 and South America by way of Hollywood in the late 40's equally well-represented. 

The Numbers: We open with "Prologue," as we get an explanation for the story to come. Our first Technicolor chorus number is "Her Name Is Aurora," as Aurora dances her way through men and life in gorgeous costumes, wondering why she can't fall in love. We hear it again at the nightclub where Aurora meets Armando and falls in love with him...and Molina imagines Valentin as Armando. Aurora sings about how "I Will Dance Alone"...but Molina performs it, too, as he's equally worried that he's doomed to a life of loneliness. Armando and Aurora sing about how he's "An Everyday Man," both in the town and in his workroom as they develop the photos. Molina as Kendall drapes himself in Aurora's beads and perfumes, singing about how "She's a Woman," the pinnacle of soft perfection that he wants so much to be. 

"Where You Are" brings in Aurora to remind Molina, frightened of the beatings in the prison and worried for Valentin, insists that it's better to be "Where You Are" and live in your head than deal with the troubles outside. Two men in the compound sing "Dear One (Quiredo)" during a rest period as Valentin begins to wonder about his feelings for Molina. "I Do Miracles" insists Aurora when Armando has been beaten nearly to death and she's caring for him at a house in the jungle...and Valentin sees his beloved Marta when Molina encourages him to use his imagination to get through the pain of the beatings.

"A Visit" brings in Aurora's Spider Woman persona as she sings to Molina about how she wants him...or his lover...and needs the sacrifice. "Gimme Love" is the Gene Kelly-esque dream ballet. Aurora imagines herself in a red artwork-stage-like nightclub set as she dances with the chorus boys, then with an Armando who looks distinctly like Kelly in most of his ballets. It degenerates into a nightmare, with Aurora hounded by men in animal masks...just as Molina is beaten. Aurora and Armando embrace in the jungle as she claims that it was "Never You" who walked away from her. Kendall makes his sacrifice to the tune of the Spider Woman performing the title song. The movie ends with Molina's own sacrificial death...and his final dream, as he imagines himself as the object of beauty he always wanted to be "Only In the Movies."

Trivia: The original Broadway show debuted in 1993 (after a run in London the year before), with Chita Rivera in her last great stage role as Aurora. It was a hit, running two years in New York and a year in London. It hasn't been seen in either city since, but does occasionally turn up in regional stagings. 

The movie is dedicated to the memory of Fred Ebb (who died in 2004), original musical writer Thomas McNally (who died of Covid in 2020), and Chita Rivera (who died in 2024 during production). 

What I Don't Like: As with the film version of Chicago, almost all of the musical numbers set in the prison were eliminated to further establish the line between reality and fantasy...but it means we don't get to know the two men as well as we'd like. Frankly, Valentin's right. Their touching romance in the gray prison is far more interesting than Aurora's Hollywood camp fluff, and frigid, stiff Lopez, while fabulous in the musical numbers, lacks Rivera's spicy old-time glamour. Also, keep in mind that, despite the lavish musical numbers, the language, sexuality, and general themes makes this very much a Technicolor romp for adults. 

The Big Finale: I can kind of understand why this isn't doing well in theaters. This is the kind of movie you're either really going to get, or really won't get at all. At the very least, it's far better than last year's prison-set fantasy musical with similar themes, Joker Pas et Deux. Highly recommended for fans of Lopez, Luna, the Technicolor Hollywood fantasies this refers to, gay cinema, or those with a taste for adventurous musicals that go way outside the box.

Home Media: Currently for streaming pre-order at Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime

New Faces

20th Century Fox, 1954

Starring Eartha Kitt, Ronny Graham, Alice Ghostley, and Robert Clary

Directed by Harry Horner, John Beal, and Eugene Anderson Jr.

Music and Lyrics by various

Revues saw a revival on film and stage in the 40's, when they entertained the troops going overseas. Though they continued on Broadway for a few years after the war ended, they ended up being superseded by that upstart rival, television. Variety shows were among the most popular genres on TV in the 1950's, casting the same wide net over show business that revues once did. Why go see a theater show when you could watch the same type of acts on Ed Sullivan or Milton Berle - and even more - for free? There were a few revues on Broadway in the early 50's that did manage to do relatively well, this among them. Leonard Stillman had been putting out New Faces revues since the 1930's, always on the cheap. He struck gold with the 1954 edition, rounding up a genuinely talented cast and some great material. It was so well-received, it was adapted as a film two years later, one of Fox's earliest ventures into Cinemascope. How well did they pull this off? Let's begin backstage at the New Faces show and find out...

The Story: Wealthy Texan Mr. Clayton (Charles Watts) insists that he'll back the show if he's impressed with the talent and numbers involved...and with his daughter Virginia's (Virginia de Luce) performance. Virginia is not only frustrated that her big number keeps getting cut off, but she's fallen in love with one of the dancers. Meanwhile, diminutive Frenchman Robert Clary (himself) locks a bill collector in a dressing room before he can collect or stop the show.

The Song and Dance: And yeah, this one is all about the song and dance. There's admittedly some impressive talents here. Eartha Kitt became a recording superstar, Ghostley, Clary, Graham, and Paul Lynde were TV sitcom stalwarts, and June Carroll and Carol Lawrence were among the most popular leading ladies on Broadway in the 50's and 60's. Some of the more memorable non-musical sketches include a spoof of dark stage melodramas of the 50's featuring Lynde as the criminal father, Ghostley as his wife, and Graham as the son who'd rather play baseball than follow in his father's footsteps and Graham in a fairly amusing takeoff on Truman Capote and the southern Gothic stories he specialized in.

The Numbers: We open and close with "We're the New Faces," with said new faces stuck into a black set as they sing about why they love what they do and what we're going to see. Kitt gets the first actual number, "C'est Bon," a sultry French ditty. Virginia deLuce keeps trying to sing "He Takes Me Off His Income Tax," but never actually gets through the song before the next act is announced. Clary is "Lucky Pierre" when he's joined by the female dancers (including Carol Lawrence and Patricia Hammerlee) for a typical girls-and-guy routine. Weary woman of the world June Carroll sings wistfully about "Penny Candy" as she sees the ghosts of her childhood and recalls how others made fun of her desire to be an actress.

Alice Ghostley is a plain woman whose "Boston Beguine" may be the closest thing she gets to exotic excitement. Robert Cary is joined by Eartha Kitt and Rosemary O'Reilly to show why "Love Is a Simple Thing." Mother and daughter June Carroll and Alice Ghostley say it's "Time for Tea" as they recall how the daughter almost fell in love...but her parents drove her suitor off, and she never married. Clary's joined by Lawrence and the chorus girls again, this time offstage, to perform the traditional French song "Alouette." Eartha Kitt introduces the show's big standard, the seductive "Santa Baby," as a woman who wants a lot more than candy and an orange in her stocking for Christmas.

Graham, Ghostley, and the chorus spoof operetta waltzes as they describe the delights of damp "Waltzing In Venice," then "Taking Off the Mask." For Robert Clary, everything is "Raining Memories." Kitt is a Turkish woman singing about "Uska Dara." Robert Clary is a school boy who claims "I'm In Love With Miss Logan," but gets quite disappointed when he realizes Miss Logan has someone else. The chorus gets the world's only hoedown dedicated to the trial of that infamous murderess "Lizzie Borden." Kitt and Clary go back into French mode with "Bal, petit bal." Kitt finishes things off with "Monotonous,"as a star who is bored with her life of fame.

Trivia: Film debuts of Paul Lynde, Alice Ghostley, and Carol Lawrence.

What I Don't Like: For all the wonderful numbers and performances, this doesn't really belong on film. It's a filmed play and doesn't pretend to be anything else. This intimate revue didn't need the widescreen and made no use of it whatsoever. There's a lot that hasn't dated well, too, notably Lynde's rather annoying safari sketch and Graham's Truman Capote takeoff. (No matter how funny Graham is in that segment, a lot of people aren't that familiar with Capote's work nowadays.) The story is piffle and adds absolutely nothing to the numbers or the movie.

The Big Finale: Even with the above caveats, this is still worth seeing for the performances and songs alone if you're a fan of any of the above stars or of 50's musicals and revues. 

Home Media: In the public domain, so it's pretty easily found anywhere. Tubi currently has it for free (though in a rather blurry copy).

DVD

Tubi