A Salute to Val Kilmer - The Doors

Tri-Star Pictures, 1991

Starring Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kevin Dillon, and Kathleen Quinlan

Directed by Oliver Stone

Music and Lyrics by various

We honor Val Kilmer, who passed away last week, with our first weekday review. The idea of a biopic of the mercurial Doors front man Jim Morrison had been kicked around in Hollywood since at least the mid-80's. Stone was initially supposed to only write it, but the surviving Doors were impressed with his war epic Platoon and wanted him to direct it as well. 

The movie was problematic from the start. The Doors and the parents of Morrison and his late wife Pamela Courson objected to how the duo were portrayed in the film, and the Doors weren't thrilled with the historical inaccuracies in the script. Were they right, or like Morrison himself, is there more to this movie than meets the eye? Let's begin in 1949, as a young Jim Morrison (Sean Stone) and his family pass by a dying Native American who will shape much of his later feelings on death, and find out...

The Story: By 1965, Jim (Kilmer) is going to college at UCLA. Among the few students who get his provocative and often political poetry are co-ed Pamela Courson (Meg Ryan) and pianist and songwriter Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan). Jim is so impressed with Ray's songs, he, guitarist Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley), and drummer John Densmore (Dillon) form the Doors to show them off.

After trying psychedelic drugs in Death Valley, they return to LA ready for their first gig. They're a sensation at the wildly popular Whiskey a Go-Go nightclub and pick up a huge fan base. Jim's lewd behavior onstage loses them the gig, but gains them a contract with Elektra Records. They're suddenly one of the biggest bands on the planet, enough to gain a spot on The Ed Sullivan Show. It proves to be their only time on the show, due to Jim refusing to change the lyrics to "Light My Fire" to fit then-broadcast standards.

Both Jim's marriage to Pamela and his relationship with the other Doors are increasingly strained by his wild and erratic behavior. Jim begins an affair with journalist Patricia Kenneally (Quinlan) and even gets involved with her wiccan ceremonies. He's arrested in Miami after exposing himself during a concert. Jim knows his life is out of control, but he continues to fantasize about death, even after he and Pamela finally move to Paris. Jim thinks he's escaping the rock lifestyle, but he can't avoid it when his many excesses and abuses finally catch up with him while he's in the tub one night...

The Song and Dance: For all the problems and inaccuracies, they got the casting right. Kilmer pretty much begged for the role of Morrison, and he totally nails it. He looks like him, sings like him (when his actual voice is used), and throws himself into Morrison's wild lifestyle with total abandon. Ryan, still best known for romantic comedies, is nearly his equal as his abused girlfriend, and later wife. Others who rise to the occasion include MacLachlan as the Doors' quieter pianist, Quinlan as the mystical journalist who also fell for Morrison, Mimi Rogers as sassy photographer Gloria Stavers, and Crispin Glover in his brief role as a pitch-perfect Andy Warhol. Gorgeous cinematography in the real LA, New York, Paris, and Mojave Desert add to the dream-like ambiance. 

The Numbers: The first actual number is "California Sun" by the Rivieras, which gives us Jim's arrival in LA and his view of its beach scene. "Love Street" introduces Jim to Pamela when he follows her to her parents' home. We get to see the newly-formed Doors rehearsing two of their most iconic songs, "Break On Thorough to the Other Side" and "Light My Fire," at Pamela' house. "Break On Through" gets a reprise at the Whiskey A Go-Go that gives us our first glimpse of Jim's heavily sexual singing style...and how the women in the audience react to it. 

"My Wild Love" is the Doors' song performed during their acid trip in Death Valley, accompanied by nothing but bongo drums. "The End" starts during Jim's Native American vision in Death Valley, but eventually carries to the Whiskey A Go-Go..and ends. "Light My Fire" is reprised for Pam and Jim's wedding as LA flower children celebrate the Summer of Love. "Alabama Song" takes the doors to their first performances on the east coast in New York City. "Light My Fire" comes up again on The Ed Sullivan Show, but the producers do not like it when Jim sings the original sexually charged lyrics. 

Jim realizes how "People are Strange" during his photography session with Gloria Stavers. "Heroin" by another pioneering hard rock group The Velvet Underground introduces Jim to an admiring Andy Warhol. "Strange Days" shows his increasingly weird drug trips and obvious affairs. The New Haven concert gives us "Back Door Man" before Jim rants about a cop who sprayed him with mace before the show. "The Movie" accompanies their discussion of starring in a film before they're kicked out of the bar. "You're Lost, Little Girl" provides the accompaniment for the disastrous Thanksgiving that ends with Pam and Jim literally at each other's throats.

"To Touch the Earth" gives us Jim at his wild best in concert...before he comes home and realizes he's not the only one having affairs. We see him increasingly erratic, onstage, with Pamela, and with the other Doors. This leads into a Wiccan marriage ceremony and a genuine Native American ritual dance. Unfortunately, it's effecting his performances. His attempts at "Moonlight Drive" and "The Soft Parade" are slurred and under his usual standards. He's late to the Miami concert, but his electric performance of "Five to One," "Dead Cats, Dead Rats," and "Break On Through" ends with him stripping his shirt and being dragged along by the crowd. 

What I Don't Like: The real Doors heavily objected to how Stone played fast and loose with facts and claimed that only the worst sides of Jim and Pamela were portrayed on-screen. Apparently, the problems between the group members weren't quite as bad as portrayed here, either. Jim's student movie was much lighter than the heavy sexual romp seen during his class at UCLA, and he took the Wiccan wedding to Patricia far more seriously than he seems to in the film. Morrison didn't blatantly disregard the request to change the lyrics on The Ed Sullivan Show, either. He simply sang the song as written. (Jim later claimed he meant to change the lyric but was nervous about singing on TV and forgot.) Pamela and Patricia also got along far better than they're seen to here. 

I've been a fan of the Doors for a long time, and while I can understand why their music would inspire Stone to get melodramatic, a lot of this comes off as overly pretentious. The lavish sequences with them dropping acid in the desert and Morrison's visions of the elderly Native can just seem like a little too much, even for a rock star known for his insane lifestyle. Stone gets so into the flash, he never really gets under Morrison's skin and shows how or why he fell so hard, so fast.

The Big Finale: Kilmer's sterling performance and some great music makes this worth seeing for fans of Stone or Kilmer's other work, the real Doors, or classic hard rock.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats. The DVD often turns up for under $10. The 4K is "The Final Cut" with some scenes removed and changed. It's currently on Pluto TV for free with commercials.

DVD

Blu-Ray

4K - The Doors: The Final Cut

Pluto TV On Demand

A Salute to Mitzi Gaynor - Bloodhounds of Broadway

20th Century Fox, 1952

Starring Mitzi Gaynor, Scott Brady, Mitzi Green, and Marguerite Chapman

Directed by Harmon Jones

Music and Lyrics by various

We honor singer and dancer Mitzi Gaynor, who died on October 17th, this week with our first two reviews. Gaynor began at Fox in 1950 at the age of 17 in the musical My Blue Heaven. They wanted to build her into a major star to rival their famous "Fox blonde" Betty Grable. She never became quite that big, but she did make some really interesting musicals on her own. This retelling of a Damon Runyon short story was her second starring role after the biography Golden Girl. How well does she do in this tale of a backwoods girl with a fine singing voice who is discovered and promoted by a gangster? Let's begin with three of Runyon's typical gangsters on the town and a singer in a nightclub and find out...

The Story: That singer is Yvonne Dugan (Chapman), who is persuaded to appear in court for her gangster boyfriend Robert "Numbers" Foster (Brady) while he's hiding out in Georgia. After his arrival there with Harry "Poorly" Sammis (Wally Vernon), Numbers overhears someone beautifully singing a hymn. Turns out to be local girl Emily Ann Stackerlee (Gaynor), who was singing for her grandfather's funeral. Numbers drives her and her two bloodhounds to New York to star in his nightclub. He turns her over to Poorly's sister, 52nd Tessie (Green), who becomes her best friend. Yvonne, however, is jealous, and she'll do anything to get this newcomer out of her hair...even turn on her current boyfriend.

The Song and Dance: Gaynor makes an adorable Georgia farm girl here, bolstered by a genuinely funny script and some good dance numbers. All those Runyonesque gangsters shine here, including Vernon as the fussy Poorly, George E. Stone as Ropes McGonigle, Henry Slade as Dave the Dude, and Richard Allen as slick dancer Curtaintime Charlie. Chapman does so well as the jealous dame who can't stand to see this little hillbilly steal the spotlight, you wish she had more to do in the second half, and Green gets some of the funniest lines. We have some gorgeous Technicolor and lovely costumes, in rural Georgia and on Broadway. 

The Numbers: We open with "Broadway Rhythm" performed over the opening credits, giving us an idea of what's to come. Yvonne performs the sensual "You Send Me" at the nightclub while Numbers looks on. "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" is the hymn Emily Ann performed at her grandfather's funeral that impressed Numbers so much, he stops and listens. She and local kid Little Eilda (Sharon Baird) do an adorable two-step to "Cindy" on wind-up Victrola that keeps speeding up or running down. We get two short sequences of Emily Ann showing off dance steps her grandfather taught her, but Curtaintime Charlie and Tessie insist that "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" in what becomes a cute tap trio. 

After a brief instrumental montage of Emily Ann practicing her steps in the nightclub, we get to see her act. She's a hillbilly claiming she's "Eight Miles from Atlanta" in the first number, prancing with guys in floppy hats and suspenders, then turns glamorous dance star with Charlie for the romantic "I Wish I Knew." The movie ends with Emily Ann as a saloon girl in a Wild West dance hall, singing about that "Jack O'Diamonds" who was a famous card sharp until he fell for a good woman.

Trivia: Final movie for Mitzi Green, who began in the early 30's as a child star. She had largely retired to raise a family by this point and would return to her family after this, only making occasional TV and nightclub appearances thereafter.

What I Don't Like: First of all, this has nothing to do with the actual Damon Runyon "Bloodhounds of Broadway" short story besides its title. There are times when it feels like an imitation Guys and Dolls, with all the goofy vocabulary being thrown around by the gangsters and the cops trying to catch them in the act. As cute as the story is, it can also come off as forced and corny, especially in the second half when Emily Ann uses those bloodhounds of the title to track down Poorly and Numbers after they've fled again. The numbers are a strange mix of old songs and new, and the new songs are nothing to write home about.

The Big Finale: This ended up being a pleasant surprise. If you're a fan of Gaynor, Runyon's other work, or the big, flashy comic musicals of the 50's and 60's, you might get as much of a kick as I did out of Emily Ann's big New York debut.

Home Media: The DVD is in print, but can be pricey. You might be better off streaming this one.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Mother Goose Rock n' Rhyme

The Disney Channel, 1990

Starring Shelley Duvall, Dan Gilroy, Jean Stapleton, and Ben Vereen

Directed by Jeff Stein

Music and Lyrics by various

We honor actress and producer Shelley Duvall, who passed away last month, with this truly unique and extremely early 90's fantasy. Disney made TV movies long before they branded them with the Disney Channel Originals moniker. Most of their earlier movies tended to be dramas and comedies oriented towards the whole family. This would be their only musical until the 2000's. How strange does this modern retelling of famous nursery rhymes look today? Let's begin with Gordon Goose (Gilroy), son of Mother Goose (Stapleton), beginning his day in a neon Rhymeland and find out...

The Story: Gordon is the only other normal human in Rhymeland besides his mother and feels very out of place among the bizarre characters who live there. Little Bo Peep (Duvall), who drives backwards, comes to him driving backwards as she looks for her lost sheep. Bo Peep's sheep are the only Rhymeland characters missing. Mother Goose herself vanishes shortly after Gordon leaves her for the day...and after she disappears, many of the characters in Rhymeland start vanishing, too. Gordon and Bo Peep question the many wacky and colorful citizens of Rhymeland to try to find Mother Goose, before they too disappear forever.

The Song and Dance: The Disney Channel used to run this a lot in the early 90's...and it may be the most early 90's TV movie in existence. Everything is bright, big, boxy, and either neon, black, or pastel. The costumes are especially evocative of the time. The ladies are all in tutus, short jackets, and leggings, and the guys wear baggy suits and sweat suits, and they're pretty darn cool to look at. The entire movie has the look of a pop up fairy tale book of the time, with its goofy cheap sets. 

The stars alone make this worth seeing if you remember the era. Name a star who was even a little popular in the late 80's-early 90's, and they're probably in this. In addition to sweet, naive, goofy Duvall, we have everything from Harry Anderson as a Peter Piper who is addicted to alliteration and Debbie Harry as a decidedly not Old Woman Who Lives In a Shoe to ZZ Top as the Three Men In a Tub who aren't the best at giving directions. There's even Little Richard as Old King Cole. 

Favorite Number:  "Hot To It," featuring the Del Rubio Triplets of Pee Wee's Playhouse fame, introduces us to the wacky world of Rhymeland with some nifty choreography and how Gordon feels out of place in it. The Van Nuys Rap Association and the chorus in funky pastel suits are "Waiting for the King." When Old King Cole arrives, we get more dancing, including female blackbirds bursting out of a pie, for "Party With the King." "Gordon Won't You Come Out and Play" is the big metal number in the dungeon, performed by the appropriately-named The Dank.

Trivia: There's two versions of this available, the longer one that was released on video and a version that ran on TV in later years that cut a lot of the more risque content, rearranged sequences, changed the score, and encored "Party With the King" in the end credits. 

What I Don't Like: Gordon keeps calling himself "normal," but he's really whiny and obnoxious. In fact, a lot of the folks they encounter are more annoying or grating than funny or whimsical. No wonder Gordon spends most of the movie complaining about them. For something that turned up on The Disney Channel, there's an awful lot of adult humor on this, from Jack and Jill fussing about "needs" to the Not-So-Old Woman in a Shoe's children having multiple fathers and the uncomfortable hard rock "torture" sequence in the dungeon. The story is also pretty thin, with Gordon and Bo Peep wandering aimlessly among Rhymeland residents for a good chunk of the movie. (And they never do find Bo Peep's sheep.) 

The Big Finale: My sisters and I loved this movie when our family taped it off The Disney Channel in the early 90's, but it hasn't really dated that well. If you enjoyed it when you were a kid, think your kids might enjoy it and be young enough to overlook the more adult jokes, or are a fan of any of the stars involved, it's worth checking out at least once for the unique wacky look alone.

Home Media: Never on DVD or legitimate streaming, the only place this can currently be found is YouTube.

YouTube - Longer Cut

YouTube - TV Cut

A Salute to the Sherman Brothers - A Symposium on Popular Songs

Disney, 1962

Voices of Paul Frees, Gloria Wood, Skip Farrell, and Billy Storm

Directed by Bill Justice

Music and Lyrics by the Sherman Brothers

This is in honor of Richard Sherman, who passed away on Wednesday. Symposium was one of their earlier projects at Disney, made just a year after Walt was impressed with their hits "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess" for Annette Funicello and hired them. They looked into their own past with this unique 20-minute featurette as they recalled the styles of music their own songwriter father Al Sherman created in the 30's and 40's. 

This would also the be the first and only theatrical short for Professor Ludwig Von Drake, a talkative duck who was more commonly seen on The Wonderful World of Color TV show. Does Von Drake do as well with his hosting duties on the big screen as he did on NBC in the 1960's? Let's begin with Von Drake inviting us into the enormous mansion that houses the Symposium and find out...

The Story: Professor Von Drake explains the history of popular music and claims he more-or-less invented it, via 7 songs ranging from ragtime in the early 1910's to then-current rock.

Animation: While not the best they ever did, the Professor generally looks and moves a bit better here than he does on his episodes. The opening with the elegantly sketchy blue mansion is especially nice. The music segments are done as stop-motion and look unique for Disney, with their adorably cut-out-paper, hand-drawn look. 

The Song and Dance: If you know anything about the history of popular music up to the early 60's or are familiar with Von Drake's other shorts, this is really cute. Von Drake has some genuinely funny moments, including his rollicking take on rock in the finale. All of the stop-motion is pretty nifty, but the opening "Rutabaga Rag" with the dancing vegetables are definitely the coolest. 

Favorite Number: The Professor opens by claiming he created ragtime because he was broke and in rags when he did it. This takes us to our first number, "The Rutabaga Rag," with actual fruit and vegetables dancing to the ragtime beat. "Charleston Charlie" takes us into the Roaring 20's as the Professor recalls the days of raccoon coats and Betty-Booping flappers. He claims the name of the song was originally "Louisville Ludwig," but what we hear is a Dixieland satire performed by a cut-out booping cutie. 

"Although I Dropped $1,000" spoofs the cheer-up ditties of the early 30's that the Shermans' father Al specialized in, and even mentions a few of them. "I'm Blue for You, Boo Boo Boo" jumps to later in the 30's as we're introduced to a line-drawing version of crooners like Bing Crosby. "The Boogie Woogie Bakery Man" has fun with the Andrews Sisters and the close-harmony numbers they performed during World War II. "Puppy Love Is Here to Stay" is a homage to the more innocent brand of pop music that was big with teenagers during the early-mid 50's, while the Professor's "Rock, Rumble, and Roar" finishes things off with the rock that was just coming back into fashion.

Trivia: Nominated for Best Short Subject in 1963.

Though this is the only theatrical short featuring Professor Ludwig Von Drake to date, he continues to be used on TV, usually as a brainy absent-minded professor type on Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck-based shows. 

What I Don't Like: Let's discuss "Boogie Woogie Bakery Man." The lyrics that reference Orientals and stereotypical treatment of the Chinese is in line with the time period being depicted and the early 60's, but song and artwork come off as dated and a bit offensive for many people nowadays. In fact, a lot of the references in the songs will likely fly over the head of younger kids who would enjoy watching Von Drake do his routines, and many adults who would be interested in the music and animation might get irritated by Von Drake's constant chatter. 

The Big Finale: Truth be told, while the Shermans' songs are a lot of fun, I don't think the Professor was quite ready for his theatrical close-up. Recommended only for major fans of Disney, Von Drake, or the Shermans. 

Home Media: To date, this has only been released on DVD as part of the limited edition Walt Disney Treasures set Disney Rarities, which is insanely expensive on Amazon. You're far better off looking for this used or on YouTube.

DVD - Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920's - 1960's

YouTube

A Salute to Angela Lansbury - The Court Jester

Paramount, 1956

Starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury, and Basil Rathbone

Directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama

Music by Sammy Cahn; Lyrics by Sylvia Fine

One of the Golden Age of Hollywood's last living legends, Lansbury passed away on October 11th. I'm surprised she didn't do more film musicals. She may have been too unique a character for the Golden Age, which preferred more traditional beauties. Danny Kaye came off the blockbuster success of White Christmas and into this, the most expensive comic musical made to that point. It wasn't a hit then, but does it deserve recognition from royalty nowadays? Let's begin with the jester of the title, Hubert Hawkins (Kaye), singing and clowning under the credits as he explains what's about to happen, and find out...

The Story: Hawkins is minstrel to the Black Fox (Edward Ashley), the dashing bandit who continually robs and harasses the court of King Roderick (Cecil Parker) and his court. He protects the infant heir to the throne of England, whom the king usurped. Hawkins would love to be a legitimate member of the Black Fox's group and impress lovely Maid Jean (Johns), but the Black Fox considers him to be little more than a fool. 

They're the only ones who can take the baby to safety when the Black Fox's hideout is discovered. They pass themselves as wine merchants, until they run into the surly jester Giacomo (John Carradine) on the road. Jean knocks him out and encourages Hawkins to take his identity. The king's advisor Lord Ravenhurst (Rathbone) actually hired Giacomo to kill the other three advisors. 

Meanwhile, Princess Gwendolyn (Lansbury) refuses to marry Sir Griswold (Robert Middleton). Her lady-in-waiting, the witch Griselda (Mildred Natwick), claims her true love is coming. Griselda hypnotizes Hawkins to be the robust lover Gwendolyn wants. However, there's also Jean, who was brought to the castle with the baby, and the fact that he can't hide his identity from Ravenhust forever. He'll have to play the role of his life to get out of this wild mess!

The Song and Dance: Danny Kaye is one of the few major comedians of the Golden Age of Hollywood who could pull off historical roles. He's just as funny at the court as he is dueling with Rathbone in the end or wooing Princess Gwendolyn. He's not the only one having a great time. Everyone puts in delightful performances, especially Lansbury as the strong-willed princess, Natwick as the crafty witch, and Rathbone as the oily Ravenhurst. Colorful sets and costumes show where all the money went as they ably show off a fairy-tale medieval England. The castle in particular is wonderful, with its many nooks and crannies. 

This is also a marvelous showcase for Kaye's tongue-twisting dexterity. "The pestle with the vestle" routine at the joust near the end is probably the most famous of Kaye's patter routines, and almost every character in the movie gets in on it. (Oh, and for the record, they broke the chalice from the palace.) 

Favorite Number: We open with Hawkins singing and dancing directly the audience under the credits, explaining why "Life Could Not Better Be." He continues as the Black Fox in the whirling opening number "Outfox the Fox" with his band of little people, until the real Black Fox comes in. He impresses the court with his whirlwind performance of "The Maladjusted Jester," a glum man who was so dreary, becoming a jester was the only way he could cheer up himself. He has two ballads, the gentler "I'll Take You Dreaming" to Maid Jean and "My Heart Knows a Love Song" later. "Ritual of Knighthood" is the big chorus routine, with all the knights doing a noisy Riverdance-style stomp before the court.

Trivia: Rathbone's last sword fight on film. 

"Life Could Not Better Be" was used as part of the theme song for Kaye's TV variety show in 1963. 

Two numbers were dropped from the film, a duet for Kaye and Lansbury, "I Live to Love," and a longer version of the "Pass the Basket" routine. Both are on the soundtrack. 

What I Don't Like: Perhaps a bit long for a comedy, and very complicated! Kaye's not kidding in the beginning when he sings "plot we got." They got enough plot for six swashbucklers. It may have been a bit much for many audiences in the mid-50's to take in. 

The Big Finale: If you love Kaye, Lansbury, Rathbone, swashbucklers, or 50's musicals, then this movie could not possibly better be. 

Home Media: Thanks to this being one of Kaye's most popular and well-regarded vehicles, it can be found easily in almost every format, usually for under $10. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - For the Boys

20th Century Fox, 1991

Starring Bette Midler, James Caan, George Segal, and Patrick O'Neal

Directed by Mark Rydell

Music and Lyrics by various

We honor the passing of tough guy character actor James Caan with this vehicle for him and Bette Midler. The story of a woman who devoted her life to entertaining soldiers with her partner, even though war continually brought her tragedy, would seemingly be a perfect fit during the ultra-patriotic Gulf War. The movie wasn't a success then, but how does it look now, as the US pulls away from another war? Let's begin with preparations for a TV special to honor beloved USO entertainer Dixie Leonard (Midler) and find out...

The Story: Dixie refuses to come to the show, and explains her reluctance to a studio assistant (Arye Gross). She began as a singer who was contacted to perform in the Pacific with then-popular comedian Eddie Sparks (Caan) during World War II. Sparks claims her humor is too coarse and tries to have her fired, but in reality, she was a bigger hit with the soldiers than he was. Her comedy writer Uncle Art (Segal) convinces her to stay.

Eddie and Dixie are a big hit with the men in uniform. He even brings her soldier husband onstage in the North African desert. Sadly, that's the last time Dixie sees him, as he dies before the war ends. She continues appearing with Eddie only early television, but their relationship is fracturing, even before he says they've signed up to play for the boys in Korea. She doesn't like how his drinking and playing around is influencing her son Danny (Brandon Call). In Korea, Eddie finally fires Art when he shows Communist sympathies, enraging Dixie, who refuses to work with him again.

Fifteen years later, Dixie's back with Eddie, this time playing a Christmas show for all of the soldiers in Vietnam. She's mainly there to see the now-grown Danny (Christopher Rydell), who followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Army. Sadly, her reunion with her son and her tour-of-duty there ends in tragedy, leaving her to wonder why she keeps on going. It's Eddie who gives her the answer at the TV special, and reminds her why singing "for the boys" means so much to both of them.

The Song and Dance: Midler was Oscar-nominated for her brassy, sassy performance here. She's having the time of her life, whether she's tossing out raunchy patter with Caan or gently crooning a ballad for an audience of eager soldiers. The sets are so authentic, many of them were filmed on actual military camps before the real-life "boys" were shipped overseas for Desert Storm. Segal and Rosemary Murphy come off the best of the supporting cast as Dixie's opinionated uncle and a stuck-up gossip columnist in the Korean War segment who is frequently the butt of jokes. 

Favorite Number: We open with Midler and two other women singing a rousing World War II Hoagy Carmichael number, "Billy-a-Dick." She really goes to town at her first USO concert with the swinging "Stuff Like That There,"  which morphs into a bluesy version of "PS I Love You" after the stage spotlights go out. Eddie hams up his "I Apologize" at a club in England when he's telling Dixie he's sorry for trying to fire her. "I Remember You" and "Dixie's Dream" are performed twice, during their North African World War II show and later on their own TV program. Dixie sings the Johnny Mercer ballad "Come Rain or Come Shine" in North Africa, right before her husband comes onstage. 

The old 20th Century Fox musicals number "Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish" becomes an intentionally corny routine for their TV program, including girls in Technicolor harem costumes doing a kickline and Eddie and Dixie popping out of huge "jars." She sings one of the Beatles' most famous songs, "In My Life," in a quiet and touching moment with the boys and a few war orphans in Vietnam, just before the explosions begin. Listen for Midler singing the hit Diane Warren ballad "Every Road Leads Back to You" during the end credits. 

Trivia: Those real-life soldiers were sent out to Desert Storm so quickly, their ranks had to be filled out by civilians in some scenes. 

Movie debut of Vince Vaughn as one of those civilian soldiers; also look for Billy Bob Thornton as a Marines sergeant. 

Martha Raye claimed Midler's character was based after her and tried to take the case to court, but it was ultimately thrown out.

What I Don't Like: Caan fits in no better here as the Bob Hope expy than he did in Funny Lady twenty years earlier. He's a good singer, but he's just not comfortable in musicals. Christopher Rydell was likely hired because he was the director's son, not due to any acting ability. He's stiff as Danny, especially when he's supposed to be delivering a bitter speech on the horrors of war after his mother's arrival in Vietnam. They should have been more careful with the choice of songs, too. Some of them are anachronistic; "Come Rain," for instance, was written in 1946, more than a year after the war ended. 

Frankly, the movie is too darn long, especially in the second half during Vietnam. It did not need to be over two and a half hours. A lot of the slower sequences, especially with Danny, could have been cut or trimmed. Heed the R rating, too. There's a lot of swearing (including the F-word onstage), and plenty of realistic blood in the war sequences.  

The Big Finale: Worth checking out if you have time on your hands and are a huge fan of Midler, Caan, or "through the years" type stories. 

Home Media: Out of print on disc; streaming is by far your best bet.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

A Salute to Arlene Dahl - Three Little Words

MGM, 1950

Starring Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen, and Arlene Dahl

Directed by Richard Thorpe

Music by Harry Ruby; Lyrics by Bert Kalmar and others

For our first two reviews this week, we salute red-headed beauty Arlene Dahl. She's nowadays mainly known for her television work, but did do movies as well from the late 40's through the early 70's. At this point, she was still an ingenue with MGM who was occasionally farmed out to low-budget studios for bigger parts. This was her second role in a major musical, having debuted in the biography My Wild Irish Rose. How does she look here, alongside three of the biggest names in musicals at MGM? Let's begin onstage at a vaudeville theater with dance partners Bert Kalmar (Astaire) and Jessie Brown (Vera-Ellen) as they give us our first number, and find out...

The Story: Kalmar really does love performing, but he's also a big fan of magicians. His attempt at a magic act is disrupted by a clumsy, baseball-loving stagehand (Skelton). The stagehand is Harry Ruby, who's looking for help with a song he wrote. Kalmar finally joins him when he hurts his knee and can't dance. They seem to do well, but Kalmar walks out when he realizes Ruby was the one who ruined his act. Ruby has the song published anyway, and it becomes a big hit. 

The two continue as songwriters, even doing Broadway shows. Ruby helps bring Kalmar together with Jessie, while they try to keep Ruby from consorting with the wrong women. It's when Ruby convinces a backer to withdraw from Kalmar's not terribly good play that Kalmar really blows his top and the two split. It's up to Jessie and Ruby's lady Eileen Percy (Dahl) to reunite them.

The Song and Dance: The simple story and small cast makes this a refreshing contrast to the previous MGM composer biographies 'Till the Clouds Roll By and Words and Music. Cameos are limited to Gloria DeHaven playing her mother Mrs. Carter DeHaven and Debbie Reynolds as (and with the voice of) Betty Boop inspiration Helen Kane. The emphasis is right where it should be, on the four talented leads. 

Astaire and Skelton put some of their best performances as the feuding songwriters whose hobbies sometimes clash with their work. Astaire won a Golden Globe; he would later say this was one of his favorites of his movies. Keenan Wynn has a few good bits as their energetic agent too, especially when he gets drunk and spills the beans about Kalmar's play.

Favorite Number: We open with a delightfully simple tux-and-cane soft shoe duet for Vera-Ellen and Astaire, "Where Did You Get That Girl?" "Mr. and Mrs. Hoofer at Home" is an instrumental non-vocal parody of what happens when dancers marry, with Astaire and Vera-Ellen performing some fairly dexterous moves as they depict a dancing domestic scene. The duo get two even better romantic duos later, "Nevertheless" onstage when Jessie and Bert reunite, and the gorgeous "Thinking of You" in the world's most massive cruise ship room. 

Gloria DeHaven looks every inch the Broadway beauty her mother must have been as she introduces what's now likely Kalmar and Ruby's best-known song, "Who's Sorry Now?" Reynolds gets to have her own fun when she "boop-oop-a-doops" as Kalmar and Ruby work on their latest song...and they're so impressed, she ends up doing "I Wanna Be Loved By You" with a nervous Carleton Carpenter onstage. Dahl's solo is "Love You So Much," and she's radiant strutting down that staircase in bubble gum pink and waving a huge feather fan among the boys. Vera-Ellen's big number "Come On Papa" is a French spoof with her in scanty costumes that's also done with an appreciative male chorus. 

Trivia:  Kalmar and Ruby were good friends of Astaire's from their vaudeville days. Kalmar died in 1947, after giving MGM permission to make the film, but before filming began. Ruby lived until 1974 and was a consultant on the film. 

The song "Three Little Words" was actually written for the 1930 film Check & Double Check. 

"Thinking of You" and "Nevertheless" were huge hits after this came out, as was the movie itself. 

For all that was fabricated, Ruby really was a huge baseball fan, and Kalmar was indeed a magic aficionado. Kalmar did have a bad knee injury that ended his vaudeville dancing carrier and forced him to turn to songwriting. 

What I Don't Like: Like the other musical biographies of this era, this is complete fiction. Kalmar and Ruby were friends all their lives. They did occasionally work with other partners but never had a dramatic split like the one depicted here, and certainly not over their hobbies! They didn't discover Helen Kane booping on the sidewalk, either. She'd been doing that routine for years when she sang "Wanna Be Loved By You" in the Broadway show Good Boy. Ruby didn't invade Kalmar's magic act, and he never sabotaged Kalmar's play. 

They could have done more with the ladies. Vera-Ellen does have some fun bits with Astaire (I love her expressions when he takes credit for her ideas or keeps going on about magic), but Dahl doesn't appear until the second half and has very little to do beyond "Love You So Much." Oh, like the other MGM composer biographies, there's no historical accuracy whatsoever. It looks like 1950 for the entire movie. 

The Big Finale: I'm going to agree whole-heartedly with Astaire on this one. This is my second-favorite Astaire movie at MGM after The Band Wagon. Highly recommended for fans of the four leads, dance nuts, or someone looking for a lower-key MGM show.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

A Salute to Stephen Sondheim - Evening Primrose

ABC, 1966

Starring Anthony Perkins, Charmain Carr, Dorothy Stickney, and Larry Gates

Directed by Paul Bogart

Music and Lyrics by Stephan Sondheim

Even as Funny Thing debuted on the big screen, home viewers got their own taste of Sondheim with this special made for the anthology ABC Stage 67. Anthony Perkins isn't the first guy you'd think of in a musical, but he was a good friend of Sondheim's. He even went on to pen the mystery film The Last of Sheila with him. In a way, though, this very strange and eerie tale of a man who falls for a girl living with elderly people hiding in a department store is rather fitting for a man best known for the Hitchcock movie Psycho. How does this eerie tale look nowadays? Let's start just outside of Stern Brothers' Department Store in New York as a young man enters with the crowds and find out...

The Story: Charles Snell (Perkins) is a poet who has fled the problems of the outside world by hiding in a department store. Turns out he's hardly the only person with that idea. He's discovered by a group of elderly people who have lived in the store for years, headed by seemingly kind Mrs. Monday (Stickney). Ella (Carr) is her gentle servant who was abandoned in the store as a child and has never seen the outside world. Charlie will take her there...if they can evade a disapproving Mrs. Monday and the "dark men" who turn humans into mannequins...

The Song and Dance: Weird little musical does have its charms. Perkins is a better singer than you might think; he and Carr are an especially sweet and sensitive couple. Stickney makes a subtly menacing grand dame, too. Some good songs in Sondheim's score, along with a haunting background score that nicely reflects the odd story. The faded black and white copies currently available actually go a long way to making the low-budget show seem spookier than it actually is. 

Favorite Number: The show kicks off with the driving "If You Can Find Me, I'm Here" as Charles explores the store and reveals why he's there. "I Remember" is Ella's touching solo as she recalls her childhood in the outside world. Charles wonders "When?" he can see Ella again, as Mrs. Monday and the other people living in the department store try to keep them apart. Ella wants Charles to "Take Me to the World" in an outdoors display but Charles isn't sure...until they do finally attempt escape. 

Trivia: Was originally broadcast in color, but the masters have since been lost. 

Bogart wanted to film in Macy's, but they pulled out at the last minute. He ended up filming during the early morning hours in the now-defunct Stern's Department Store in Manhattan instead. Some footage of Perkins outside of Macy's in the opening does survive. 

What I Don't Like: This is one strange musical. I give them credit for the unique plot, based after a short story, but...people living in an underground community in a department store? It's more like a musical Twilight Zone episode and isn't as scary as it would like to be. Bogart's indifferent direction and the cheap and dull production don't help matters. And yes, the horror aspects make this relatively dark, especially for TV in the mid-60's. It's not really for kids, or for people looking for something sunnier and more upbeat. 

The Big Finale:  Worth checking out at least once if you love Sondheim, Perkins, or are looking for a small-scale musical with a fairly dark plot.

Home Media: Out of print and expensive on DVD. Streaming is by far your best bet.

Amazon Prime

A Salute to Stephen Sondheim - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

United Artists, 1966

Starring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Michael Crawford, and Phil Silvers

Directed by Richard Lester

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim, one of the greatest songwriters and champions of musical theater, died on Friday. I honor his legacy and life this week with my first two reviews. Funny Thing was Sondheim's first show as a solo composer to debut on Broadway. The 1962 production wound up being a smash, thanks to a first-rate cast of Catskills comedians and a hilarious script based after the farcical comedies of Roman playwright Plautus. How does this ribald tale of a slave who'll do anything to secure his freedom...and almost gets half his neighborhood killed trying to do it...looks now? Let's begin in Rome, as Pseudolus (Mostel) introduces the major characters and the homes in question, and find out...

The Story: Pseudolus lives in a house in Rome with his master Senex (Michael Hordern), his domineering wife Domina (Patricia Jessel), their son Hero (Crawford), and the more loyal slave Hysterium (Gilford). The houses on either side of them belong to Marcus Lycus (Silvers), a seller of gorgeous female slaves, and Erronius (Buster Keaton), who is eternally searching for his children who were lost at sea. 

Hero catches sight of Philla (Annette Ardre) in the window at the house of Marcus Lycus and begs Pseudolus to bring him the girl. In return, he'll give Pseudolous the freedom he so craves. Trouble is, Lycus has already sold Philla to the loud and demanding soldier Captain Milos Gloriosus (Leon Greene). Psedulous convinces Hysterium to pose as Philla and convince Miles she's dead. Miles, however, is too convinced...and then Senex shows up, and Domina decides to come home early from visiting her mother...

The Song and Dance: Fast and funny farce is in the capable hands of a pack of professional hams, former Catskills, silent, and music hall comedians who definitely know how to handle the material. Mostel and Gilford delightfully repeat their acclaimed roles as the least and most loyal slaves in Rome, Crawford is an awkwardly adorable Hero, and Hordern and Jessel have a blast as the randy old man and his tough but (mostly) loving wife. Silvers has some nice moments as Lycus, too, especially when he's posing as a leper in order to sneak into the house and figure out what Pseudolous is doing. 

The production plays along with the rowdy antics by giving us a far earthier and more realistic Rome than usually seen in American films. It's one of the few musical movies that matches The Sound of Music for how well the characters inhabit their world. The characters dance and chase each others around outdoor locations in Spain that ably stand in for their Italian counterparts. 

Favorite Number: Pseudolous starts off with "Comedy Tonight" as he explains each of the principals, their relationship to each other, and why he wants his freedom so badly. Hero sings to Philla that she needn't be anything but "Lovely" in a spoof of romantic duets in musicals. It's even funnier later on,  when Pseudulous and Hysterium sing a reprise while dressing the latter in drag to fool Milos. "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" gets especially nutty, with Pseudulous, Hysterium, Senex, and Marcus singing about why everyone should have a cute little servant around in and around the house and all over Rome, even on a crumbling viaduct. Milos demands that Marcus "Bring Me My Bride" as he and his men parade into town, to the annoyance of the Romans who throw vegetables at them. 

Trivia: Buster Keaton's last film. He was 70 and had terminal cancer at the time and was still able to do many of his own stunts, including running into the tree and rolling back up again. 

The Broadway show was a huge success that ran two years. It's seen two major revivals in New York, with Silvers as Psedulous in 1972 and Nathan Lane in the role in 1996. It went over well in London too in 1963 and was popular enough to also be revived twice there, in 1986 and 2004. 

"Comedy Tonight" wasn't originally part of the show. The opening number out of town was a ballad...but it was too slow to start a wacky comedy. Sondheim wrote "Comedy" at the last minute, and it finally put the show over. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, the movie is way too long at almost two hours. The continual farce and everyone running all over the place gets a bit wearying after a while, especially once Milos and his booming voice and sex-crazed men enter the picture. It can be hard to keep track of all the characters and whom is in love with whom. For all the very real cinematography, the material frequently has more of the feel of a play, with the cast ducking in and out of doors and playing to the audience. 

A lot of songs were cut from the stage version. In the show, everyone sings, including Domina and Senex. Lycus, Philla, Hero, and Hysterium all lost solos that went a long way towards fleshing out their characters, and in the case of Lycus, that of his ladies. 

The Big Finale: Highly recommended for fans of classic comedy and Sondheim lovers with time on their hands. 

Home Media: Easily found in all major formats. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

A Salute to Jane Powell - Three Sailors and a Girl

Warner Bros, 1953

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

Directed by Roy Del Ruth

Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DVD

Amazon Prime