Judy, Fred and Gene in CLASSIC MUSICALS FROM THE DREAM FACTORY V.2! July 24th, 2007! (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Budgell]

Judy Garland, Fred Astaire & Gene Kelly Return in.CLASSIC MUSICALS FROM THE DREAM FACTORY VOL. 2

Get ready for toe-tapping, finger-snapping and tune-whistling fun when Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory Volume 2, a collection of seven newly-remastered favorites from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Golden Era, arrives July 24 from Warner Home Video.

The collection features the DVD debuts of The Pirate, That's Dancing, and Words and Music along with two new to DVD Double Feature discs: a pair of Mario Lanza/Kathryn Grayson musicals -- That Midnight Kiss and The Toast of New Orleans, and two Fred Astaire favorites -- Royal Wedding and The Belle of New York.

Following last year's successful Volume 1 (It's Always Fair Weather, Summer Stock, Three Little Words, Till the Clouds Roll By, and Ziegfeld Follies), this second spectacular collection of the fabled studio's vintage musicals features some of the most memorable numbers by the greatest stars of the genre, top lined by the Hollywood musical's golden trio of immortal legends -- Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Landmark numbers include Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling and with a coat rack, Gene Kelly's "Be a Clown," and Judy Garland belting out "Johnny One Note." The talents of Mickey Rooney, Jane Powell, Lena Horne, Ray Bolger and many more stars are also showcased.

Each feature film has been meticulously restored and remastered from its original elements and complemented with new featurettes, commentaries, rare outtake musical numbers, radio interviews, audio only bonus outtakes and vintage cartoons. The titles will be available individually for $19.97 SRP, the 2-disc DVD of Royal Wedding/The Belle of New York and 2-disc set of That Midnight Kiss/The Toast of New Orleans will sell for $24.98 SRP and the seven-disc collection will sell for $59.92 SRP.

The Pirate (1948)

A treasure trove of fun awaits when a Caribbean beauty (Judy Garland) with a mad crush on a legendary pirate meets a vagabond actor (Gene Kelly) who poses as the scoundrel. Vincente Minnelli, who was married to Garland at the time, directs, bringing his uncanny skill with color and design to this joyous romp set to Cole Porter tunes. Mixing tremulous girlishness with hellcat hilarity, Garland was never better as a comedienne. Parodying the rakish style of Fairbanks and Barrymore, Kelly duels, dupes and dances with buccaneer bravado. All by itself, his Be a Clown (danced with the Nicholas Brothers and reprised with Garland) is reason enough to love the film.

DVD Special Features:
Commentary by historian John Fricke (Noted Garland biographer Fricke details every aspect of this tempestuous production as Garland, Kelly and Minnelli pushed the artistic limits of the movie musicals to the breaking point)
New featurette The Pirate: A Musical Treasure Chest
Oscar®-nominated Pete Smith Specialty 1948 MGM comedy short You Can't Win
1947 MGM classic cartoon Cat Fishin'
Mack the Black stereo remix version
Audio-outtakes: Love of My Life and Mack the Black
Roger Edens' guide tracks of Be a Clown, Manuela, Nina, Voodoo and You Can Do No Wrong
Promotional radio interviews with Gene Kelly for On the Town and Judy Garland for The Pirate
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Words and Music (1948)

Hart wrote the lyrics. Rodgers wrote the music. Audiences still applaud the results. Mickey Rooney (as Lorenz Hart) and Tom Drake (as Richard Rodgers) team in a splashy biopic of the songwriters behind Babes in Arms, Pal Joey and more Broadway classics. In glossy Hollywood style, the film plays loose with facts and lets the songs speak for themselves. Judy Garland belts out Johnny One Note. Lena Horne delivers a haunting Where or When. Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen lead a streetwise Slaughter on 10th Avenue ballet. Some 22 songs/specialties and a baker's dozen of major stars are included within the film.

DVD Special Features:
Commentary by historian Richard Barrios [Author and historian Barrios provides fascinating insights into the genius of Rodgers and Hart, one of the greatest songwriting teams of the twentieth century, and why the studio failed to bring the truth of Hart's story to the screen.]
New featurette A Life in Words and Music
Oscar-nominated Theatre of Life 1948 MGM short Going to Blazes!
1948 MGM classic cartoon The Cat That Hated People
Lover and You're Nearer Outtakes featuring Perry Como
Audio-only bonuses: Outtakes of Falling in Love with Love, I Feel at Home with You, Manhattan (alternate version), My Funny Valentine, My Heart Stood Still, On Your Toes (alternate version) and Way Out West on West End Avenue
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Double Feature: That MidnightKiss (1949) and The Toast Of New Orleans (1950)

The muscular tenor of Mario Lanza combines with the bright coloratura of Kathryn Grayson in two marvelous musicals. Lanza makes his debut in That Midnight Kiss as a trucker who travels the road to romance and musical success. Pianist José Iturbi, who helped popularize classical music on
film, makes his final movie appearance in this breezy treat. Next, big voices conquer the Big Easy in The Toast of New Orleans, with selections from Verdi, Bizet, the popular Be My Love and more. David Niven co-stars in this tale of a haughty diva and the shrimp fisherman whose talent she
discovers.

DVD Special Features:
Disc One - That Midnight Kiss
Pete Smith Specialty 1949 MGM comedy short Sports Oddities
1949 MGM classic cartoon Senor Droopy
One Love of Mine outtake sequence with Lanza and Grayson
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Disc Two - The Toast of New Orleans
2006 BBC documentary Mario Lanza:Singing to the Gods
Vintage Fitzpatrick Traveltalk 1940 MGM shorts Modern New Orleans and Old New Orleans
Theatrical trailer

Double Feature: Royal Wedding (1951) and The Belle of New York (1952)

Fred Astaire slips on his dancing shoes for two magical musicals. In roles loosely based on Fred's career with his sister Adele, he and Jane Powell play siblings whose London stage engagement overlaps Princess Elizabeth's Royal Wedding. Stanley Donen directs this delight which features
Astaire's famous dance with a hat rack, as well as his famous dancing on the walls and ceiling to the song "You're All The World To Me". Lovely Jane Powell was given her first "adult" role in this smash hit, in which she introduced the Oscar-nominated Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner hit "Too Late Now". On the other side of the pond, Fred and Vera-Ellen star in The Belle of New York.
Loosely based on a turn of the century stage play, this 1952 screen treatment is a showcase for sensational songs by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer, and the incomparable talents of the two stars, all under the inspired direction of Charles Walters. Fred plays a playboy who sings (I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man). She's a charity worker likelier to prefer a guy with his feet on the ground until Fred dances her off her feet and into the sky.

DVD Special Features:
Disc One - Royal Wedding
Private Screenings with Stanley Donen [2006 TCM special]
Royal Wedding: June, Judy and Jane - A New Featurette
Car of Tomorrow [1951 MGM cartoon]
Droopy's Double Trouble [1951 MGM cartoon]
Ev'ry Night at Seven outtake with Peter Lawford and Jane Powell
Fred Astaire and Jane Powell MGM Promotional Radio Interview for Royal Wedding [audio only]
Theatrical trailer

Disc Two: The Belle of New York
Musiquiz [1952 MGM Pete Smithshort]
Magical Maestro [1952 MGM Tex Avery cartoon]
I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man-Unused alternate take
Theatrical trailer

That's Dancing! (1985)

Executive producer Gene Kelly hosts this extravagant celebration of dance that features some of his greatest screen work, as well as performances that range from Baryshnikov to break dancing, Fred and Ginger to Shirley Temple and Bojangles, and Busby Berkeley spectaculars to Michael Jackson music videos. Written, produced, and directed by Jack Haley Jr., who performed the
same duties creating the legendary That's Entertainment! in 1974, That's Dancing! follows a similar structure. Kelly, joined by co-hosts Ray Bolger, Sammy Davis Jr., Mikhail Baryshnikov and Liza Minnelli, set the stage for clips from the peerless M-G-M musicals, also featuring landmark moments of dance on film from virtually every studio in the industry, adding more fun and glorious surprises. This cinema anthology spanning eight decades of dance has boundless energy, unending artistry and "no shortage of showstoppers" (Entertainment Weekly).

DVD Special Features:
Introduction by Gene Kelly and Jack Haley, Jr.
Invitation to Dance
The Search
The Cameras Roll
The Gathering
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

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http://www.DameElizabethTaylor.com

 

[Charles H]

Does anyone know if the collection will be in slimcases?

 

[Matt Hough]

What a treasure chest of great musicals and love the commentaries announced for THE PIRATE and WORDS AND MUSIC! Release date can't get here soon enough for me!

 

[Mark B]

Let's hope these two double feature presentations of the "lesser" MGM musicals will be a sign of things to come.

 

[Corey]

OMG, Serena and Karrine are going to be so excited, just like I am. I can't wait for this set. I was thinking last night that this set or Joan Crawford Vol 2 would be the next sets to be announced and I was right. Bring on those DOUBLE FEATURES.

 

[Mark VH]

Great stuff here - caught a bit of the Stanley Donen "Private Screenings" interview, and it was excellent - so glad they decided to include it.

Also, the July release date has to indicate, to me at least, that the Film Noir Collection Volume 4 announcement is right around the corner.

 

[Edward Weinman]

Any indication if the sound track will include any stereo elements?

 

[KellyVO]

I think I will just pick up the Fred Astaire double feature dvd. I wish these were released just as single dvds then as a double feature but I'll get over it. I'm not a huge fan of the other movies.

I might pick up The Pirate though.

It's nice to see some more Kathryn Grayson movies on dvd.

 

[DaveK]

I would've had a Fred/Gene double feature and replace Royal Wedding with either Kelly's Invitation to the Dance (1957) or Living In A Big Way (1947)

 

[Charles Ellis]

If only similar treatment can be done for Eleanor Powell and MacDonald/Eddy (whose films are in need of restoration as per the recent Warner Chat)......and where's ESTHER WILLIAMS???

 

[Eric Vedowski]

I was curious about the "audio only bonuses" on Word and Music. If the MGM Composers Collection LaserDisc is any indication they may be the following:
Falling in Love with Love-Gene Kelly & Vera-Ellen
I Feel at Home with You-Perry Como
Manhattan (Extended Version)-Rooney, Drake & Marshall Thompson
My Funny Valentine-Betty Garrett
My Heart Stood Still-Perry Como
On Your Toes (Extended Version)-MGM Orchestra & Chorus
Way Out West (On West End Avenue)-(Presumably the complete version)-Betty Garrett.
Look forward to getting this.

 

[Sammy-G]

Great news. The only must-haves for me are the Astaire films, but I'll pick up the whole box, anyway - I love the first set.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Exciting news!

I've put off buying the first set, but it's coming soon. Maybe, I'll wait and get both at the same time now.

 

[Corey]

I don't get why WB didn't just save the Astaire titles for a set. There were only 5 of them left. I would've like Deep In My Heart and Lili instead.

 

[Corey]

You should buy the first set now. Deepdiscount has it on sale for only $33.25 along with some other Warner musical sets for the same price: Doris Day & Judy Garland (both major steals), That's Entertainment Trilogy, and the other 2 musical collections, Broadway to Hollywood and Cole Porter.

 

[serenapowell]

Yes I was kind of expecting a Fred Astaire Signature Collection too... since George Feltenstein said he wanted to release all the remaining Astaire films... I wonder if this means Ginger Rogers won't be getting a solo boxset either? (hope not, but it seems strange to give Ginger one and not Fred)

I'm still very excited about this announcement though! Been dying for "The Pirate", "Words And Music", the Grayson/Lanza films... all of them, really.

I wonder how "Royal Wedding" and "Belle Of New York" will be packaged... 2 DVDs in a keepcase with a swinging tray thingy? 2 slimlines in an outer box? I'm hoping for the latter so that the movies are kept a little more separate (since they don't really belong together as sequels/a series would) - and so that each one has it's own DVD case for full display of that vintage poster art I love so much. In any case I'm glad each film gets it's own disc and they're not cramming both on one, possibly decreasing the quality (I was afraid of that at first when I read the words "double feature"...eek)

The Kathryn Grayson/Mario Lanza double feature makes sense. I guess this means the rumours of a complete Mario Lanza movie collection being in the works (some discussion over at his IMDb forum) - are wrong, huh? I'm more of a Kathryn Grayson fan myself, so I'm just glad these 2 films are coming!

It'll be great to see "That's Dancing" again after all these years. Needless to say I'll be buying all of these musicals! Twice. Separately, and in the boxset. Yeah, I'm a nut!

 

[Corey]

Why on earth would you buy the same titles twice?? There aren't other movies you would like to spend your disposable income on??

 

[serenapowell]

I bought doubles of all the other MGM Musicals Warner's released too. I like having more than one copy of my favorite movies, partly as a back-up in case something happens to one of 'em, and partly to show my support for the release of MORE MUSICALS! I wanna help boost sales a little and encourage Warner to keep releasing my favorite genre on DVD.

Thanks for the tip about DeepDiscount, Corey - I'm in Canada, but that Doris Day boxset would still be a good deal, even taking into account the exchange rate and probable duty charges. Unfortunately, they seem to be out of stock right now. :frowning:

 

[Corey]

OMG, well I keep my dvds in excellent condition so nothing usually happens, but I'm the sets are selling good enough. . I would still purchase the Doris Day set and then they'll ship it to you when available. I like to buy the original sets before the sequel ones come out. That's why I had to get DD Vol 1, before Vol 2 comes out. The only sequel sets I need now are Bette Davis Vol 2, Errol Flynn Vol 2, and Dream Factory Vol 1

 

[Eric Peterson]

Thanks for the tip, I just might do that.

I also just noted that Tex Avery's "Magical Maestro" is going to be included on the Belle of New York. Since this is one of the most controversial and often edited Avery cartoons, it certainly gives hope that a full Avery set might be coming.