Depressed With Paramount Musicals (1 Viewer)

[TedD]

I saw this in NYC during it's premiere run and was completely captivated by the story, the dancing and the music.

Ted

 

[Werner_R]

a "Scrooge" release is good news, thank you Martin !
They used to air it every year on the BBC, love that movie.

A R2 release would be nice

 

[BarryR]

I'd be thrilled with SCROOGE.

But I must also cast my next vote for LIL ABNER--it's a one of a kind musical, and very faithful to its Broadway origins. The Michael Kidd choreography is superlative, Julie Newmar is, well, Julie Newmar (she would have made one hell of a Jessica Rabbit!!!), and the whole thing absolutely explodes with vitality and color. It more than deserves a DVD edition. I will bless Paramount forever if they ever release it.

 

[Greg_M]

Barry,

I would buy "Lil Abner" before I'd buy "Scrooge" "Scrooge" isn't all that great imo. I would think Abner would eventually get released (At least it's in color, most Black and White films don't stand a chance nowadays)

 

[Benn]

Gregg_M, The 1970 Albert Finney version SCROOGE (released by CBS/Fox) was/is in vivid color. I recommend you check the movie out and experience a really good musical. It has a great Oveture segment on black screen which preceeds the "title" Overture. I'm hoping that when Paramount releases it on DVD that they include that overture and the closing "credit" finale music.
Some years back, I loaded the soundtrack into my computer,from my VHS, cleaned it up and burned a great CD. Now every member of my extended family has it for their their Christmas.
And to Martin, I say, "Thank you very much. Thank you very much, that's the nicest thing that anyones ever done for me. And if I had me bugle, I would blow it, to add a sort of rum-te-tum-te touch. But since I left me bugle at 'ome, I'll simply have to say. Thank you very very very much!"

 

[BarryR]

There's a creaky 1935 b & w British film called SCROOGE; I could see why Paramount wouldn't be too quick to push that one.

 

[bob kaplan]

SCROOGE.... a most welcome addition. There will be at least two purchases of the title in our family.
thanks

 

[Greg_M]

Benn,

I own the widescreen laserdisc of "Scrooge" it's an ok film, not great. The movie was shot mostly in shades of grey, and is not a very attractive looking film, plus is been released on Laserdisc twice and VHS a number of times. I'd rather buy "Li'l Abner" the VHS copy is marginal pan & scann, with colors that bleed all over the place. This film would make a stunning DVD. Plus it's never been available on a disc format before. It's the one musical from Paramount I would request.

 

[Greg_M]

Quote "Now, if Paramount would only get off their butts and start releasing their musicals - LI'L ABNER, DARLING LILI, HALF A SIXPENCE, OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR! and ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER spring to mind. With CLEAR DAY, there are loads of deleted scenes, songs and material; while DARLING LILI could contain BOTH the original Roadshow cut as well as Blake's director's cut. "

Tony this couldn't be more true. Paramount is the ONLY studio sitting on their musical films. They hinted to a release "scrooge' the only film on the list that wasn't made by Paramount.

 

[TonyDale]

Thanks to whoever posted in the DOLLY COVER ART thread to lead me here.

Lordy! Paramount used to have an online petition for which of its titles we'd like to have on dvd, and surprisingly enough, LI'L ABNER was usually in the top ten; don't the suits at Paramount listen to their self-sanctioned petitions?

It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my irritation with Paramount! Hell, even when they do a formidable job with one of their musicals (PAINT YOUR WAGON) you can't tell from the chapter list or the cover blurbs that you're holding a true musical!

Personally, I wasn't all that thrilled with the transfer of GREASE. Am I alone?
On the other hand, I did find a new appreciation for SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, a movie I loathed in its initial release, but I still find it to be a smug and smarmy tale only made bearable by the choreography and the BeeGees tunes.

Warner recently did some commendably things with their Blake Edwards' titles (if you don't count the glitch in the opening credits of THE GREAT RACE), so the market for DARLING LILI is surely out there. Plus, since Julie is no longer singing, the song score provided by Henry Mancini is lovely, and Dame Julie delivers memorable performances of the score. Plus, it has one of my personal favorite Mancini melodies, "Whistling in the Dark."

With the exception of OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR!, I've seen all of the post 1959 Paramount musicals on a big screen in their initial runs, even THE LITTLE PRINCE, which while certainly a sloppy film, has a far more interesting song score than the animated CHARLOTTE'S WEB, which Paramount has not only released on dvd, but released a stright-to-video sequel as well. I just got a vhs copy of THE LITTLE PRINCE from Ebay, and have been spending quite a bit of time watching it. Stanley Donen, Lerner & Loewe and a classic story: a combination which sounds great on paper, does anyone (JoeCaps) know what went wrong once THE LITTLE PRINCE reached the editorial stage?

ON A CLEAR DAY, with the Streisand box coming in July from Warner, should be a no-brainer. Release it, there is a Barbra contingent out there who will buy it even if it is bare-boned; but you also have a director (Minnelli) who is currently undergoing a resurgence and re-appreciation, this would certainly be the time to come out with a dvd presentation. Oh, they could even advertise it as *starring* JACK NICHOLSON, if they really want to.

 

[Joe Caps]

Releasing ON A CLEAR DAY along with the Streisand Box set coming up ahould be a no brainer. Paramount does not have the stereo pre records for the songs. Mis Streisand does and she would love to have this film remixed for stereo with the missing scens put back in.

 

[Greg_M]

"On a Clear Day" was the only film Streisand made for Paramount Pictures. If Streisand has the missing elements and wants to restore the film to it's original length (as has been reported in various books etc.), it would seem that Paramount would want to work with her on the DVD (unless they fear it would he too much of a headache).

Warner Bros. seems to have a wonderful relationship with Streisand as they are releasing a bunch of her films with Streisand's cooperation. Streisand fans would naturally buy the film esp. with restored songs.




"They were only playing leap frog,"
"They were only playing leap frog,"
"As one staff officer jumped right over"
"The other staff officers back" - Oh! What a Lovely War

 

[Joe Caps]

Lets not jump to conclusions. Miss Streisand has the stereo prerecords for the songs because they were used for the aoundtrack album. She always owned the masters for here albums. She has the originals that do NOT have the album reverb. In the Streisand pink box set you can hear the title song minus the reverb.
She does NOT have the missing scenes and missing filmed songs.