The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 10/24/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"BROADWAY BOUND is a DVD sampler of sorts. All ten of these titles were previously issued by MILL CREEK in their FAMILY CLASSICS 100 MOVIE PACK and MUSICAL CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK. For the beginning collector of vintage films this box is certainly a nice way to examine the type and quality of musicals available on the larger sets, but for those with established libraries this package may only be redundant.
As to some of what's here:
ROYAL WEDDING is a pleasant Technicolor MGM musical that contains the famous trick sequence of Fred Astaire dancing on walls and ceiling.
THE ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD is not a Crosby/Hope vehicle. It's primarily a compilation of film clips from early Mack Sennett shorts that Bing Crosby appeared in.
PALOOKA stars Stuart Erwin as the Depression-era comic strip boxer.
TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY is Hollywood's tribute to Jerome Kern and his many classic songs and showtunes.
PRIVATE BUCKAROO is one of the numerous patriotic-themed musicals made during WWII.
Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
(6.6) Black Tights (France-1960) - Cyd Charisse/Maurice Chevalier/Moira Shearer
(5.7) Calendar Girl (1947) - Jane Frazee/William Marshall/Victor McLaglen
(6.0) Doll Face (1945) - Vivian Blaine /Perry Como/Carmen Miranda
(5.7) Palooka (1934) - Jimmy Durante/Lupe Velez/Stuart Erwin
(5.4) Private Buckaroo (1942) - Andrews Sisters/Joe E. Lewis/Shemp Howard/Harry James
(5.2) The Road To Hollywood (1947) - Bing Crosby/Bud Pollard/Marion Sayers (in archive footage)
(6.6) Royal Wedding (1951) - Fred Astaire/Jane Powell/Peter Lawford
(5.7) Second Chorus (1940) - Fred Astaire/Paulette Goddard/Artie Shaw
(6.4) Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) - June Allyson/Judy Garland/Frank Sinatra/Van Heflin
(7.0) Trocadero (1944) - Rosemary Lane/Johnny Downs/Sheldon Leonard"
Broadway bound
T. A. Collins-Niemeyer | 04/24/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"the quality of this video collection is poor on several of the movies, only two were of a quality to enjoy the program"