Musicals on Blu-Ray, why so few after all this time? - Page 6

I met Margaret O' Brien ("Tootie") a few years back. She is a sweet, warm, lovely lady. She autographed my copy of the dvd and a picture of her and Judy. She wrote "During Happier Times."

Eric: Thanks for sharing that story. She's great in that film.

Har har! I used to work at Macys in the early 90s. She would come in from time to time and raise hell. Jane Russell and Sofia Loren used to come in too; and they were like radiant goddesses on earth--

Really?! Wow, she was one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I hang out with a lot of the Judy biographers/historians and the Munchkins at this event and we are all like a family. My friend owns Judy's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" red velvet dress. He presented Margaret with a piece of it that day. So, it wasn't just a fan meeting. I spent a few hours with her.

Any relation to the more famous Sophia Loren?  
 

 

Very happy to finally see West Side Story on Blu-ray. It was my first exposure to a musical, and what a way to set an impressionable 10-year old off! It's been with me through Betamax, Laserdisc and DVD, so I have great expectations for the announced Blu-ray.

 

I've always kept a soft spot for musicals, and have discovered many great such films through blind purchases on DVD and Blu-ray (I'm sort of playing a cultural catch-up). My biggest surprise must have been 7 brides for 7 brothers. What a magnificent piece of entertainment, and I wholeheartedly recommend it as an eyeopener to anyone who's sceptical of musicals.

 

During the 90's I felt the torch was being carried by Disney animation, many of whose films are pure musicals in disguise. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a high-point in that regard.

 

A recent musical I've not seen mentioned in this thread is The Phantom of the Opera, which has several HD releases worldwide, of which I'd recommend the Japanese Blu-ray. (I have the US HD-DVD, the German HD-DVD, the US BD, the UK BD and the Japanese BD). Big Phantom fan, here.

 

And let's not completely ignore the High School Musical franchise. It's recruited many new fans to the genre, musical merit not withstanding :-)

I never waited on her but the women had lots of Margaret stories to tell. But those were nothing compared to the time Maureen McCormick came in and tore up the Hello Kitty store next door--

Nope. No relation whatsoever. Our Sofia Loren was an ex-school bus driver from Oxnard who later worked scrubbing toilets at our local Wal-Mart.

Aside from "Mary Poppins", the most splendid gift Disney could bestow on the world in Blu-ray would be "Song of the South."

 

I know! I know!  The studio line is that this film is racially offensive, although I'm not clear on why that is.   There is nothing in "Song of the South", to my mind, that is anywhere near what I always thought would be considered offensive:  The stereotyped crows in the "When I See an Elephant Fly" number in "Dumbo." 

 

"Song of the South" has one of the finest original scores ever in a musical, and some of the finest, most delightful animation Disney ever created.

 

When will heads be removed from behinds?

Edited by Virgoan - 5/26/11 at 3:04pm

I'd like to see a decent bluray release of That's Entertainment as well as Turner's compilation of Busby Berkeley musical numbers that was on laserdisc. But mOst of all, Stormy Weather.

I'm curious, what's the problem with the current release of That's entertainment?

 

Also, a BD release of Cry Baby is scheduled for the fall here in Europe

The image quality is barely better than the DVD. It looks like they didn't consider bluray when they did the transfer.

Interesting news about CABARET. Is there any information indicating some restoration was done and that an American blu ray is in the works? The current dvd is a real shame, maybe the worst dvd of any major catalog title. Does anyone know what state the elements are in?