Danny Kaye on blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

[benbess]

Is there a single Kaye movie on blu-ray? I don't think so, but maybe I've missed something. There were a lot of good, imho, Kaye films made in the 40s and 50s. Which ones would you vote for? Which 3-5 would be considered the best of Danny Kaye? Are any of these owned by Warner?

Although I haven't seen it in many years, as a kid the Secret Life of Walter Mitty cracked me up. And aren't there rumors of a remake with Jim Carrey? Maybe released to take advantage of the publicity?

I also like Wonder Man...






7.

Wonder Man

1945

Edwin Dingle / Buzzy Bellew

H. Bruce Humberstone

Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran

Technicolor



8.

The Kid from Brooklyn

1946

Burleigh Hubert Sullivan

Norman Z. McLeod

Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, Eve Arden

Technicolor



9.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947

Walter Mitty

Norman Z. McLeod

Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Ann Rutherford

Technicolor



10.

A Song Is Born

1948

Professor Hobart Frisbee

Howard Hawks

Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, Hugh Herbert, Steve Cochran

Technicolor



11.

It's a Great Feeling

1949

Himself

David Bulter

Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson

Technicolor



12.

The Inspector General

1949

Georgi

Henry Koster

Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart

Technicolor



13.

On the Riviera

1951

Jack Martin / Henri Duran

Walter Lang

Gene Tierney, Corinne Calvet

Technicolor



14.

Hans Christian Andersen

1952

Hans Christian Andersen

Charles Vidor

Farley Granger, Zizi Jeanmaire

Technicolor



15.

Knock on Wood

1954

Jerry Morgan / Papa Morgan

Norman Panama
Mevin Frank

Mai Zetterling, Torin Thatcher

Technicolor



16.

White Christmas

1954

Phil Davis

Michael Curtiz

Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger

VistaVision
Technicolor



17.

The Court Jester

1956

Hubert Hawkins

Norman Panama
Mevin Frank

Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury

VistaVision
Technicolor



18.

Merry Andrew

1958

Andrew Larabee

Michael Kidd

Anna Maria, Pier Angeli

CinemaScope
Metrocolor

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The Court Jester is an all-time fav!

 

[Matt Hough]

I saw Hans Christian Andersen on MGM-HD several months ago, and it looked very nice.

White Christmas would be my number one choice, but The Court Jester certainly would be a great film to have in HD, and I'll bet it would look smashing.

 

[JohnRa]

My vote goes to The Court Jester for a Blu-ray release. Hilarious movie. /img/vbsmilies/htf/laugh.gif

 

[Radioman970]

Best of Kaye (of what I've seen):
1. Court Jester hands down...it's first rate and luckily a lovely DVD
2. Inspector General (which is actually my 2nd fav comedy of all time after Paper Moon)...but hard to get a decent copy of on DVD. I mean, theTroma people did the best one, I think. And that's just weird! Toxie and Danny Kaye?!! Somebody can do better please...
3. Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Kaye and Karloff!)
4. Hans Christian Anderson (even though I'm not too fond of all the ballet, it's a good time overall with Kaye as completely likeable as always)
5. ...then it gets fuzzy. I'd probably vote White Christmas to complete a 5-BD set. I've never seen it.

I'd seriously want ALL his flicks in a single set so I could watch them from the beginning. A CD of his singing and storytelling should be included along with some TV appearances. I'd pay a LOT for something like that. I have a book of Han Christian Anderson stories and every time I read one I hear Kaye's voice in my head. :*)

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Would love to see The Court Jester on BD as well.

And I remember liking Hans Christian Anderson (from OTA broadcasts) when I was a kid, but not sure how well it holds up for adults. Still, it'd probably make for good entertainment for the family.

Don't think I've seen any of the others although Secret Life of Walter Mitty probably made for an excellent Danny Kaye flick -- yeah, I've never actually seen White Christmas either.

_Man_

 

[Radioman970]

Yeah, Kaye is about perfect in Mitty.

 

[KeithHob]

I would be happy to see The Madwoman of Chaillot on either Blu-Ray or DVD!

 

[Radioman970]

White Christmas was released on Bluray on November 2nd. That's a start...

 

[Dick]

I'd love to see an announcement that Criterion was preparing THE COURT JESTER for Blu-ray release with extras.

 

[Derek M Germano]

Definitely put me down for WONDER MAN, THE COURT JESTER, A SONG IS BORN, THE KID FROM BROOKLYN and THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY.

 

[benbess]

Just started this biography of Danny Kaye that's hot off the presses. Seems good so far, and clearly it was a labor of love by the author. It's much more about Kaye's work than his personal life, but that's fine with me....

 

[benbess]

Knock on Wood is a quality Kaye comedy set in England. It has some classic numbers, and is worthy of a blu-ray. A rather so-so HD master is up of this Technicolor film at Netflix instant. It's clear it hasn't had much clean up, or the benefit of WB's Ultra-rez, and it could do with both. But PQ is decent, and it's a lot of fun!

 

[benbess]

Up in Arms, from 1944, was Danny Kaye's first film. And master producer Samuel Goldwyn introduced him in style. It wasn't a slow build up, as this was a spectacular and at times surreal Technicolor extravaganza. Haven't seen this since the late 1970s, when that wonderful guy on KTLA channel 5 used to introduce movies. Anyone remember his name? I can't. Anyway, he loved Kaye too, and gave this one a good intro and got me watching....At least a couple of times I remember that as a c. 14 year old my jaw literally dropped while watching this. Deserves to be on blu if the elements are in good shape.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Up in Arms, from 1944, was Danny Kaye's first film. And master producer Samuel Goldwyn introduced him in style. It wasn't a slow build up, as this was a spectacular and at times surreal Technicolor extravaganza. Haven't seen this since the mid 1970s, when that wonderful guy on KTLA channel 5 used to introduce movies. Anyone remember his name? I can't. Anyway, he loved Kaye too, and gave this one a good intro and got me watching....At least a couple of times I remember that as a 12 year old my jaw literally dropped while watching this. Deserves to be on blu if the elements are in good shape.

Tom Hatten, a very nice man and a huge film buff.

 

[benbess]

Tom Hatten, a very nice man and a huge film buff.

Hats off to Tom Hatten. If I'm remembering right (and I may not be, it was so long ago), Hattan had an almost annual Danny Kaye festival on KTLA. He also did great intros for all sorts of other films.

 

[benbess]

A couple of clips from Up in Arms. First, Kaye's famous nonsense draft song, 4F, and then the elaborate musical dream sequence with Dinah Shore and the Goldwyn gals....
[VIDEO]

 

[benbess]

 

[benbess]

Quote about Samuel Goldwyn by writer Melville Shavelson (found on page 67 of the new bio of Kaye by David Koenig):
"When you turned in a script to (Goldwyn), he said, 'I don't like it.' You said, 'What don't you like about it, Mr. Goldwyn?' And he said, 'I don't know, but when it's right I'll know.' Which is the most frustrating kind of work to do. But as I said, his standards were very high. He always wanted to do the best, and he never stinted on money. And also he was a one-man operation. He not only ran his studio, he financed his own movies, and he released his own movies. So you know he was a pirate and a pioneer. I learned a hell of a lot working for him. I also developed an ulcer."
When Kaye was working on Broadway in 1940 and 41 he started getting offers from Hollywood studios. But those studios, Kaye's wife Sylvia Fine shrewdly understood, just wanted him for small bits to spice up a movie. They didn't want to make him a star. Samuel Goldwyn, by contrast, wanted to make Kaye a star and would give the films his undivided attention. Goldwyn made one film at a time. They were always A pictures. He hired only top talent and demanded the best work from everybody. And he was willing to let Kaye's zaniness come across on film.
Goldwyn was born in Poland, spoke with an accent, and was famous for his off beat ways of saying things, kind of like a "Yogi" Berra before Berra. Here are a few examples of Goldwynisms from this book on page 66:
"A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on!"
"I read part of it all the way through!"
"Include me out!"

 

[benbess]

My top 10 for Danny Kaye
I've seen the first 5 Goldwyn flicks, and I think they're all probably worthy. A Song is Born is maybe the weakest, but it still has some good moments and some great music. The Inspector General did not work that well for me or for my kids. Obviously it's an elaborate production, and has a few good songs, but we just didn't think it was that funny. Have not seen On the Riviera. It gets good reviews at imdb, but guess what, it's Fox—and so the Technicolor negative is in a landfill somewhere. The HD master of the VistaVision film The Five Pennies is up, and as mentioned elsewhere that's a solid film with good bits of music, comedy, and drama in equal measure. Anyway, I think this would make a great set in the unlikely event WB HV ever does something like this. They own or have access to all of them. By making it a boxed set you might get the lesser known titles sold and watched again as they deserve to be.
Up in Arms (1944)
Wonder Man (1945)
The Kid From Brooklyn (1946)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
A Song is Born (1948)
Hans Christian Anderson (1952)
Knock on Wood (1954)
White Christmas (1954)
The Court Jester (1956)
The Five Pennies (1959)