A Few Words About A few words about…™ Annie Get Your Gun – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[RobertMG]

The Medved brothers claimed, in one of their books, that the one-two punch of STAR! and DARLING LILI tanking in a big way is what ultimately put the kaibosh on it. Do we know if that's true?

Hugh Fordin's great book tells it all, great info on Annie Get Your Gun and also Say It With Music. Amazon product

 

[Matt Hough]

As I recall, Julie Andrews was paid a million dollars by MGM for canceling Say It with Music where she had a pay-or-play contract. When MGM canceled the film, their first alternative was to do She Loves Me with Julie and Dick Van Dyke (oh, the pain of that not getting made with them; perfect casting) and then when they had second thoughts about that, I Do! I Do! with the pair was suggested, but in the end, MGM paid off Julie and made nothing.

 

[Will Krupp]

Hugh Fordin's great book tells it all, great info on Annie Get Your Gun and also Say It With Music.

Oh damn, and I HAVE an old hardcover copy of that book, too!

Thanks for the tip!!

 

[verneaux]

A shame Garland couldn’t do Annie. It would be a treat to show Annie Get Your Gun & A Star Is Born on a double bill. Variations on the same basic plot: one a musical comedy and the other a musical tragedy.

 

[M90GM]

Even though it's an occasionally odd, and imperfect musical, Annie Get Your Gun remains one of my absolute favorites.

Re-cast due to the death of Frank Morgan and the illness of Judy Garland, I've always though it would have been better had they placed Ethel Merman in the lead role.

Betty Hutton lovingly bounces about and mugs her way, using her comedic talents, and at 28, appeared more in tune for the role.

But Annie is supposed to be far younger than Ms. Merman's 41 years. What worked on stage - I saw her in the wonderful 1966-67 NY run - from a proper seating distance, won't work for close-ups on screen.

The new Blu-ray, from Warner Archive, is from the finest surviving nitrate elements - mostly the original negatives, with a couple of reels (lost in the Rochester fire) filled in with nitrate masters.

I'll leave it to readership to try and figure out what's original and what ain't.

AGYG is another three-strip success for Warner Archive, and should be in every serious library.

Image – 5

Audio – 5

Pass / Fail – Pass

Upgrade from DVD – Without a doubt

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

The soundtrack CD released by Rhino (WB) featured some tracks in stereo. It would be wonderful if - where some songs were available with a stereo track - that those portions of the film were featured in stereo - or give us a bonus of the part-stereo version together with the standard mono mix...The stereo "extra" of the extended Atchison Topeka number on Harvey Girls is a revelation - a shame we cant enjoy it in the context of the film. Looking forward to Showboat where I understand a stereo soundtrack has been constructed. Looking forward to watching both on my theatre system!

 

[Matt Hough]

You shouldn't be disappointed with Show Boat. It looks and sounds amazing.

 

[MatthewA]

As I recall, Julie Andrews was paid a million dollars by MGM for canceling Say It with Music where she had a pay-or-play contract. When MGM canceled the film, their first alternative was to do She Loves Me with Julie and Dick Van Dyke (oh, the pain of that not getting made with them; perfect casting) and then when they had second thoughts about that, I Do! I Do! with the pair was suggested, but in the end, MGM paid off Julie and made nothing.

Did Dick Van Dyke get paid off, too? It is interesting that this played out at M-G-M when if that movie had happened, Warner Bros. would own it now while today's MGM owns his UA musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (along with the nonmusical films he made there such as Cold Turkey and Fitzwilly).

 

[Matt Hough]

No, Dick Van Dyke did not have a pay or play contract. He was not a part of Say It with Music which is where Julie's contract came from. The other potential films never got to the contract stage with him. (At least, not to my knowledge. I'm operating on memories as a teenager when I devoured Variety each week.)

 

[OLDTIMER]

Just got my copy of Annie. Mostly looks fantastic. Some of the later scenes obviously didn't come from the original negs as the quality is not quite as good. Sadly, once again Warners have mucked up the extras which look pretty awful. I understand this is in the transfer from SD to Blu-ray because Blu-ray does not support SD. I copied the extras from the Annie DVD to a blank DVD and put it with the Blu-ray in a double-case.

 

[Will Krupp]

Sadly, once again Warners have mucked up the extras which look pretty awful. I understand this is in the transfer from SD to Blu-ray because Blu-ray does not support SD.

Not to be "that' guy, sir, but what you mean to say is that blu-rays don't support SD content progressively transferred at 24fps (as DVDs do) and forces it to appear interlaced on blu-ray at 30fps/60hz. This is why the DVD counterparts of SD content are almost always more desirable.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Which would be why the wonderful bonus short feature 'The Gay Parisian' on the 'The Maltese Falcon' blu ray is sadly virtually unwatchable.

 

[Will Krupp]

Which would be why the wonderful bonus short feature 'The Gay Parisian' on the 'The Maltese Falcon' blu ray is sadly virtually unwatchable.

Well, not to derail the thread too much, but that's a case of the short also being sourced (for some strange reason) from an entirely different and vastly inferior element on the FALCON blu-ray vs what was on the DVD. (I still scratch my head over that one.)

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I never knew that. How incredible. It's as if someone said 'go out and find an inferior source'. I hope one day this is remedied .. maybe if an entire Blu ray was given us of outstanding short features.

 

[Will Krupp]

I never knew that. How incredible. It's as if someone said 'go out and find an inferior source'.

I think it was just a mistake, but not one they were willing to spend the money to correct since it was just an extra.

 

[roxy1927]

Amazon now has it at 13.49 so I finally got it. Wonder why certain titles get this low. Spartacus 4k is 9.99.

 

[Malcolm R]

I also found Betty Hutton unwatchably manic; talented, yes (and more suitable than Garland, for sure) but just...too much.

Watched this today for the first time, and have to agree. Though that's often my issue with a lot of older films, the older style of acting that was so broad and over-the-top. All the big gestures, and mugging faces, and it's always so LOUD since everyone seems to be shouting everything.

The film was beautiful to look at, and the scene on the train with the sunset into the moonlight ("They Say It's Wonderful") was absolutely gorgeous (though I did tire a bit from the same three trees passing by in the background).

 

[Will Krupp]

All the big gestures, and mugging faces, and it's always so LOUD since everyone seems to be shouting everything.

Apologies in advance for thread-crapping but you just described every movie Betty Hutton ever made....

 

[roxy1927]

All the big gestures, and mugging faces, and it's always so LOUD since everyone seems to be shouting everything.

And that is her and her films' charm.

 

[roxy1927]

Watched this today for the first time, and have to agree. Though that's often my issue with a lot of older films, the older style of acting that was so broad and over-the-top. All the big gestures, and mugging faces, and it's always so LOUD since everyone seems to be shouting everything.

Well then maybe you simply don't like MGM musicals which is fine because that's what you're going to get. You're not going to get a lot of subtlety with lines like 'A man may be hot but he's not when's shot.'
If they're not playing to the last row of the second balcony even in a movie they're doing it wrong.
My regret is they took out my favorite song Moonshine Lullaby. They also should have left in the west song which they filmed but cut. Like Brigadoon it's too short. Also Alton's original staging for I'm an Indian is better. Why is it so poor visually in the extras? I've seen it much crisper with more vibrant colors. A lost opportunity like leaving out Garland's takes for Doin' What Comes Natur'lly where the kid messes up and nobody makes her feel self conscious.

 

[David_B_K]

Amazon now has it at 13.49 so I finally got it. Wonder why certain titles get this low. Spartacus 4k is 9.99.

$11.49 today! (July 5).