A few words about...™ Words and Music -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Hi!

I'm Dick Rogers, and I want to tell you about a strange film that M-G-M made about me and my early musical partner Larry Hart. Larry and I met around 1918, when I was only sixteen. Larry was seven years older. Initially, Larry would have liked to have had me a more than a writing partner, but I never allowed things to go there.

We worked together until he died in 1943.

M-G-M came up with the idea for their film, Words and Music, in early 1948. Seems they made films about everybody else in the industry. Warner's also did several including one rather good one about Cohan. We started shooting in Technicolor in April, and wrapped three months later. I'm still not certain how I feel about the film, as it turned out to be more of a studio showcase, using every contract player available, especially for musical numbers.

We have a nice screening room up here, and I recently was able to see WB Archive's new Ray-disc. It's a tiny little thing that's put in a player and projected just like a movie.

I thought it looked quite good, if not exactly what the film looked like back in 1948, but very nice.

What can I say. Larry was an odd bird. My next partnership seemed to work far better, as we were able to create some nice stage properties.

In the film, Larry is played by Mickey Rooney, who was actually a few inches taller than Larry, but it works, and Mickey certainly shows off Larry's uncontrollable energy. I think he did a good job.


Image

Forensic - 9

NSD - 10

Audio – 9 (DTS-HD 2.0 Monaural)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Upgrade from DVD - Yes

Worth your attention - 7

Slipcover rating - n/a

Recommended

RAH

 

[Thomas T]

Cute story from Janet Leigh's autobiography:

"When my daughter Jamie graduated from the Choate-Rosemary Hall boarding school in Connecticut, I flew back for the ceremony. The senior class presented a production of OKLAHOMA! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. During intermission, an attractive woman about my age approached me and by saying, "Oh, hello! I'm sure you don't remember but you played my mother in a movie once." I was truly astonished. How could I have been her mother? Unless I was a lot older than I thought or she was a lot younger than she looked. My confusion must have been apparent, for she quickly explained, "I am Mary Rodgers". Of course ... I played Dorothy Rodgers, HER mother in WORDS AND MUSIC".