Lucille Ball Collection from Warner (1 Viewer)

[CineKarine]

From the DVD Times:

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of the Lucille Ball Collection for 19th June 2007. Those who ‘love Lucy’ may be surprised to learn that Ms. Ball had nearly 20 years of big-screen credits prior to launching the TV show that made her a household name, and WHV will debut on DVD five of the films she made from 1940 through 1974: Critic’s Choice, Dance Girl Dance, Du Barry Was a Lady, The Big Street and Mame. In addition, Best Foot Forward will be available separately for the first time nationally. All the films will include special features such as Oscar® nominated vintage short subjects, featurettes and classic cartoons. Packaged as a collectible gift set, the five-disc Lucille Ball Collection will sell for $49.92 SRP, with individual titles and Best Foot Forward available for $19.97 SRP.

Critic’s Choice (1963)
Lucille Ball and Bob Hope shine in this comedy from the Broadway hit by Ira Levin (No Time for Sergeants, Deathtrap). Tossing inspired throwaway lines right and left, Hope is New York theatre critic Parker Ballentine, who loves writing pointed reviews that close insufferable plays. But there’s a new show in town – by his redheaded wife (Ball). Is it bad? Parker better think twice before he writes this time. Rip Torn, Jim Backus and Marilyn Maxwell co-star.

DVD Special Features:
Vintage comedy short Calling All Tars with Bob Hope [1935 WB Short]
Oscar-nominated Cartoon Now Hear This [1963 WB Cartoon]
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, classic Hollywood’s sole major female director in the ‘30s and ‘40s, this backstage musical has been embraced by fans for its feminist sensibilities as well as its powerful storytelling. Ball and Maureen O’Hara star as two very different types of women who are in the same chorus line. Judy (Maureen O’Hara) is a serious dancer, willing to suffer for her art, but while her friend Bubbles (Lucille Ball) loves to dance, she’s equally interested in paying the rent. To do that, she swaps her ballet shoes for a G-string…and turns patrons’ fantasies into dollars as burlesque sensation Tiger Lily White. Ball exhibits terrific onscreen chemistry as she vamps onscreen – and grabs the heart with her cynical acceptance of being a woman in a man’s world.

DVD Special Features:
Vintage comedy short Just a Cute Kid [1940 WB Short]
Classic cartoon Malibu Beach Party [1940 WB Cartoon]
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Du Barry Was A Lady (1943)
Lucy stars with Gene Kelly and Red Skelton in this glittery, tune-filled bon-bon featuring lavish sets and costumes, a supporting cast of wags and wits (including the inimitable Zero Mostel) and three Cole Porter songs from the original Broadway smash: Friendship, Katie Went to Haiti and Do I Love You? With Ball playing the glamorous nightclub chanteuse May Daly, who’s transformed into Madame Du Barry opposite Skelton as King Louis XV this is fabulous and fun musical comedy from Hollywood’s Golden Era.

Special Features:
Oscar- Pete Smith specialty short Seeing Hands [1943 MGM Short]
Classic cartoon Bah Wilderness [1943 MGM Cartoon]
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

The Big Street (1942)
This gutsy, touching melodrama was produced from a Damon Runyon story, the man who wrote Guys and Dolls. Ball and Henry Fonda play brilliantly against type -- Fonda poignant as a timid small-timer and Ball impressive as an icy vixen with an ego twice the size of her soul. Lucy plays haughty nightclub singer Gloria Lyons, a gold digger who doesn’t have time for anyone without money, including Little Pinks (Henry Fonda), the busboy who adores her. All that changes when Gloria is paralyzed after a mobster knocks her down the stairs, and she’s forced to see what and who really matter.

Special Features:
Vintage musical short Calling All Girls [1942 WB Short]
Classic cartoon The Hep Cat [1942 WB Short]
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Mame (1974)
This lavish 1974 screen version of the beloved Broadway musical stars Lucille Ball as a high-living grande dame who’s outlandishly eccentric and, when suddenly faced with raising an orphaned nephew, fiercely loving. Veterans of the New York stage original join her: Beatrice Arthur as best friend Vera, Jane Connell as prim governess Agnes Gooch, choreographer Onna White and director Gene Saks. As Mame’s husband Beauregard, Robert Preston (The Music Man) sings Loving You, written specially for the film. Jerry Herman’s songs, from It’s Today to We Need a Little Christmas and If He Walked into My Life, rank among the best show tunes ever.

Special Features:
Vintage featurette Lucky Mame
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Best Foot Forward (1943)
Ball portrays herself as the attention-seeking glamour girl who accepts an invitation to the prom from a Winsocki Military Institute cadet as a publicity stunt. Costars June Allyson, Nancy Walker and Tommy Dix recreate their Broadway roles, and Harry James and his band play at the prom to make this a snappy frolic.

Special Features:
Vintage musical short The Knight is Young, with June Allyson [1938 WB Vitaphone Short]
Classic cartoon One Ham’s Family [1943 MGM Cartoon]
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

 

[Corey]

Mame, that's funny...why didn't they just say it was being announced next week? lol. Definately wasn't expecting this collection at all.

 

[KellyVO]

Yeah really! That's funny! I wasn't expecting that so quickly! Call me crazy but I'll probably just get Mame. I got Best Foot Forward for my birthday already and I haven't seen the rest of the movies mentioned expect for Du Barry Was a Lady and I'm not a huge fan of that one.

 

[Corey]

Don't worry, Best Foot Forward isn't in the set. They're just releasing it alongside the set because before it was just an Amazon exclusive. I would highly recommend you buy the set for The Big Street and Dance, Girl, Dance. The Big Street is her best dramatic role and it's with Henry Fonda. Up until she died Lucille thought it was her best picture and always felt the Oscars snubbed her for not getting a nomination. Amazon will most likely have the set for $34.99 so for an extra 20 bucks you can get 4 more films.

 

[KellyVO]

We'll see maybe I'll get it! Being a teenager and broke all the time doesn't help! TCM will probably air some of these movies before the set comes out.

Can't wait for this!

 

[Corey]

Oh shucks, you just missed it when they had Lucille Ball as their star of the month. I think it was in November or December. They showed a lot of her films (damn, did she have plenty of them).

 

[serenapowell]

I should've guessed when Lucille Ball was Star Of The Month on TCM a little while ago. They aired "Dance, Girl, Dance" and I really liked it...never thought I'd see it on DVD...cool! I already got "Best Foot Forward" from Amazon.com (I wonder if future "Amazon Exclusives" will really just be temporarily so, before going into wider release?)

I'll just skip the 1960s/70s films, 'cause I'm not crazy about that period, and "The Big Street" is a bit too masochistic for me. I'll buy "Du Barry Was A Lady" for sure...I just wondered the other day if it would be part of a RED SKELTON boxset (somehow I thought he was more likely to get one than Lucy, 'cause she's better known for her TV work than her movies...but hey, so is Red, as was pointed out to me in the other thread. )

I hope sometime in the future (Ball vol. 2?) Warner releases the absolutely terrific (and likely influential) airplane disaster movie, Five Came Back (1939, RKO) ...according to Robert Osborne, Lucy's performance in the film was the most critically acclaimed at the time. I think it's great all-around, suspenseful and thought-provoking. Holds your interest better than a certain popular ABC series, despite it's much lower budget and much shorter running time.

I'd also love to own these Warner-owned films starring Lucy: Meet The People (with Dick Powell, Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, June Allyson, Spike Jones & His City Slickers), and Easy To Wed (remake of "Libeled Lady", with Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Keenan Wynn)

Thanks again Warner, for "Du Barry" and "Dance, Girl, Dance" - I'm so happy about that, I'm gonna do a goofy banana dance (why a banana? Don't ask me, I didn't design the smilie emoticon thingys...I just use them with reckless abandon. )

 

[Corey]

In addition, Best Foot Forward will be available separately for the first time nationally.
Serena, Best Forward is not gonna be part of the set. They're just releasing it alongside the set nationally since it was just an Amazon exclusive before.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

This is a MUST BUY set for me! I love every movie in the collection.

Eric Huffstutler
Richmond, VA

 

[Charles Ellis]

I was hoping to see the Technicolor Easy To Wed- a remake of Libeled Lady and Five Came Back. Also, the two Annabel films should be released as a double feature. However, the one Lucille Ball movie I want on DVD above all isn't owned by Warners- and that's The Facts of Life with Bob Hope (a great adult marital comedy that still holds up), which is owned by Sony.

Perhaps Five Came Back should be double-featured with the remake Back From Eternity (with Anita Ekberg in the Ball role!).

 

[Corey]

Well there are enough Lucille Ball movies for many many volumes.

 

[serenapowell]

Corey - yes I was a little confused about "Best Foot Forward" at first, then I went back and re-read the press release. Warner's still keeping their promise about not putting already-released DVDs in a boxset. I'm glad that Amazon "Exclusives" will be available more widely - I felt bad for all the people out there who still don't have internet access, or just don't like to shop online, and might never have known about "Best Foot Forward" being on DVD...

Charles - I'm glad to see someone else wants those particular Lucy films too. If there are enough votes, maybe next time... Good idea about making a double feature DVD with "Back From Eternity".

 

[Charles H]

The prints of EASY TO WED always seemed problematic on VHS and TCM. Most likely it would be part of an Esther Williams set anyway. I'd love to see Jules Dassin's TWO SMART PEOPLE and Jacques Tourneur's EASY LIVING. The latter is a very unusual and downbeat football drama based on an Irwin Shaw short story. It's got an amazing cast: Victor Mature, Lizabeth Scott, Jim Backus, Lloyd Nolan, Jack Paar, Sonny Tufts, Jeff Donnell, Art Baker, and Richard Erdman. Also: VALLEY OF THE SUN, SEVEN DAYS LEAVE, A GIRL, A GOB, AND A GUY, and MEET THE PEOPLE. Also would be great if Sony brought out HER HUSBAND'S AFFAIRS, MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND, THE MAGIC CARPET, THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL with THE FULLER BRUSH MAN as a bonus disc! And then released THE FACTS OF LIFE concurrently through MGM/UA. Hope that WB starts releasing the MGM Hopes (BACHELOR IN PARADISE, A GLOBAL AFFAIR).

 

[Matt Hough]

Really happy about MAME. Sure, it's a very flat film, and Lucy is wrong as Mame, but it's still a guilty pleasure, and I finally broke down last year and found the widescreen laserdisc on Ebay for a reasonable price and got it. Glad I'll be able to retire it with this sure-to-look-good DVD.

And DUBARRY, of course, I'm also happy about. Any Arthur Freed musicals released on DVD are a cause of celebration even if Lucy is dubbed in most of the movie.

 

[Corey]

Who owns the rights to Life With Lucy?? I sure would like to have that show on dvd. It was one of the biggest flops in tv, but that opening was so funny. I know it hurt her deeply when it got canned because she thought the public wasn't interested in her anymore.

 

[Steve...O]

This is a nice set and one I will pick up. CRITIC'S CHOICE is an enjoyable comedy with a delightful cast (including a young, less angry Rip Torn) and I'll get my Skelton fix with DuBARRY on DVD. I've never seen MAME. Is there anyway to digitally superimpose Angela Lansbury, who most believe should have had the role, into this picture?

The extras look great. Early Hope and any Pete Smith are much appreciated.

Thanks Warner!

Steve

 

[Greg_M]

Can't superimpose Angela, but it would be great if they had the rumored Lisa Kirk vocal tracks they were thinking of using instead of Lucy's vocals (Love Lucy - but she wasn't a singer)

 

[DaveK]

THERE IS A GOD!!!!

I think I'm gonna cry....LOL

I do have some issues I would like to address about the box set:

About an hour or so into the movie Dubarry Was A Lady the picture becomes blurry for a little while (I guess that's called a technicolor registration issue)???
Did Warners fix this issue for the DVD presentation. If you have the movie on VHS or seen it on TCM recently (it came on last night), you'll see what I'm talking about.

I think they put her all of her best movies in this boxset which sucks because I would like a volume 2 to come out and the only movies leftover that Waner owns would be the rest of her RKO movies, Meet The People, Two Smart People and Easy to Wed from MGM. Being a diehard Lucy fan I would buy these other movies on DVD, but will others?

What they would probably have to do is put two (or three) movies on one disc with a common theme:
The Affairs of Annabel/Annabel Takes A Tour
I Dream Too Much/That Girl from Paris (the most painful-looking Lucy slapstick EVER) (both movies starring opera singer Lily Pons)
Five Came Back/Panama Lady (both film-noiresque)
Go Chase Yourself/Look Who's Laughing (radio stars of the day)
A Girl, A Guy and A Gob/Seven Days Leave (sailor comedies)
Next Time I Marry/You Can't Fool Your Wife (screwball comedies)
Having A Wonderful Time/Don't Tell The Wife/Joy of Living (screwball comedies)
That's Right, Youre Wrong/Meet The People (musicals)
Twelve Crowded HoursThe Marines Fly High/Two Smart People (action and suspense)
Beauty for the Asking/Easy Living (dramas)
Valley of the Sun (a western...should stand alone on one disc)
Easy to Wed (should stand alone on one disc)
As you can see I put a lot of thought into this.....LMAO

I know Warner's can't do featurettes for EVERY classic movie they release, so they should have production notes (describing the making of the movie) as a menu option (similar to what was done with the Universal Abbott and Costello collection)

In the movies selected for the boxset....you will hear Lucy sing not only in Mame, but in DuBarry (the song Friendship) and in Dance, Girl Dance (definitely her)...lol

 

[CineKarine]

Greg, my wish is the same as yours, hoping the Lisa Kirk's vocals for Lucy in Mame do exist somewhere - that would help the film a lot

Totally delighted about DuBarry was a Lady (43) of course - I can never get enough MGM musicals, especially any with Gene Kelly! The film really works although most of the Porter songs were sacrificed along the way and some strange ideas were used like getting the Dorsey band and singers in period costumes for the occasion! But that's why we love musicals, isn't it? Sheer, upbeat escapism.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

It's a shame Warner didn't get the rights to the 1974 Here's Lucy episode, "Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball".

In it, Kim enters a Lucille Ball look-alike contest, but does not make the finals. Lucy brings the matter to Lucille Ball herself, who insists that she and Kim be in the contest. Both ladies end up as finalists, and not only have to look like Lucille Ball as she appears in Mame, but sing the jingle for the sponsor of the contest.