Warner Archive Press Release: Girl Crazy (1943) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

You talking to me? Yeah that MGM tuner starring everyone's favorite musical co-star Victor Mature.

Actually, I was referring to someone else but if you want to take blame I won't stop you . Million Dollar Mermaid is not a musical unless you consider Williams' swimming production numbers a "musical". No one sings songs, no one dances least of all Victor Mature. Which begs the question, have you actually seen it?

As for "starring everyone's favorite musical co-star Victor Mature", is he any worse than other favorite musical co-stars like Ernest Borgnine, Pierce Brosnan, Joan Crawford, Tony Curtis, Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Jose Ferrer, Joan Fontaine, Richard Gere, Gloria Grahame, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Lee Marvin, Steve Martin, Walter Matthau, Kim Novak, Peter O'Toole, Sidney Poitier, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, George Sanders, Rod Steiger, James Stewart, Liv Ullmann, Shelley Winters to name just a handful

 

[bujaki]

Actually, I was referring to someone else but if you want to take blame I won't stop you . Million Dollar Mermaid is not a musical unless you consider Williams' swimming production numbers a "musical". No one sings songs, no one dances least of all Victor Mature. Which begs the question, have you actually seen it?

As for "starring everyone's favorite musical co-star Victor Mature", is he any worse than other favorite musical co-stars like Ernest Borgnine, Pierce Brosnan, Joan Crawford, Tony Curtis, Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Jose Ferrer, Joan Fontaine, Richard Gere, Gloria Grahame, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Lee Marvin, Steve Martin, Walter Matthau, Kim Novak, Peter O'Toole, Sidney Poitier, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, George Sanders, Rod Steiger, James Stewart, Liv Ullmann, Shelley Winters to name just a handful

Hey, don't knock my Oscar-, Tony-winning compatriot, Jose Ferrer. I actually saw him onstage doing a creditable Man of La Mancha. Look, Ma, no dubbing!

 

[Thomas T]

Hey, don't knock my Oscar-, Tony-winning compatriot, Jose Ferrer. I actually saw him onstage doing a creditable Man of La Mancha. Look, Ma, no dubbing! But I

I'll take your word for it. I based my opinion on his hideous performance in Deep In My Heart. But I'll be upfront about it. To say Jose Ferrer is one of my least favorite actors is an understatement.

 

[moviepas]

Babes on Broadway. Warners should have done this first if they had known what was coming. We all know Uncle Walter censored(or the next lot of management) several 40s Disney films.

With Girl Crazy I would have included the 1932 version as an extra. Of course there is a third one, When the Boys Met the Girls.

 

[roxy1927]

Actually, I was referring to someone else but if you want to take blame I won't stop you . Million Dollar Mermaid is not a musical unless you consider Williams' swimming production numbers a "musical". No one sings songs, no one dances least of all Victor Mature. Which begs the question, have you actually seen it?

As for "starring everyone's favorite musical co-star Victor Mature", is he any worse than other favorite musical co-stars like Ernest Borgnine, Pierce Brosnan, Joan Crawford, Tony Curtis, Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Jose Ferrer, Joan Fontaine, Richard Gere, Gloria Grahame, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Lee Marvin, Steve Martin, Walter Matthau, Kim Novak, Peter O'Toole, Sidney Poitier, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, George Sanders, Rod Steiger, James Stewart, Liv Ullmann, Shelley Winters to name just a handful

After I wrote that I knew somebody would get me for it. I then started thinking of all the 'musical' co stars we've had to endure.
I saw MDM many years ago in a revival house in a beautiful print and I knew this was Williams biggest hit and I guess except for the big Berkeley number I found it a slog. I tried watching it on TCM and found it just as tedious. And I'm a big fan of hers. Really like her in Duchess of Idaho and as I said Easy to Love. She was beautiful and personable. Contrary to what Fanny Brice said she was a star out of the water as well.

 

[Nick*Z]

Yes you have two songs that could be a problem in "Babes On Broadway", "FDR Jones" and "Waiting for the Robert E Lee" I have read after the first preview they had to add a brief scene showing Judy and Mickey putting on the black face make up because many in the preview audience didn't recognize them in the "FDR Jones" number . On the other hand "Holiday Inn" with the "Abraham" number has been released on blu ray as has "Swing Time" with "Bojangles of Harlem."

Movies are a product of their time and should never be censored. Black face was an ensconced and popular form of entertainment and remained so well into the mid-1940's, slowly fading into obscurity by the end of the decade. Mickey and Judy's black face in Babes on Broadway is meant to pay homage to this tradition which was then neither considered 'racist' nor in any way meant to demean black culture in the same way that Mickey, donning a tutti-fruity headdress and sequined gown to portray Carmen Miranda in the same movie was not discrediting Brazilian culture either. Yes, I know, Miranda was not Brazilian, but Portuguese. You get my drift.

Personally, I always favored Babes on Broadway as my personal favorite, but am over the moon to get Strike Up The Band and Girl Crazy on Blu. PS - Babes in Arms also features a black-face number that gets rained out before the big finale. Will either of these ever arrive on Blu. I do hope so, if, with a disclaimer suggesting the views depicted within do not represent Warner's current cultural stance on race relations in America.

But seriously, Mickey and Judy in black face do not represent 'white privilege' any more than Snap, Crackle and Pop - another iconic bit of Americana the present movement is looking to ban, along with GWTW, and Eskimo Pies. Ugh. I wanna throw up!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Movies are a product of their time and should never be censored. Black face was an ensconced and popular form of entertainment and remained so well into the mid-1940's, slowly fading into obscurity by the end of the decade. Mickey and Judy's black face in Babes on Broadway is meant to pay homage to this tradition which was then neither considered 'racist' nor in any way meant to demean black culture in the same way that Mickey, donning a tutti-fruity headdress and sequined gown to portray Carmen Miranda in the same movie was not discrediting Brazilian culture either. Yes, I know, Miranda was not Brazilian, but Portuguese. You get my drift.

Personally, I always favored Babes on Broadway as my personal favorite, but am over the moon to get Strike Up The Band and Girl Crazy on Blu. PS - Babes in Arms also features a black-face number that gets rained out before the big finale. Will either of these ever arrive on Blu. I do hope so, if, with a disclaimer suggesting the views depicted within do not represent Warner's current cultural stance on race relations in America.

But seriously, Mickey and Judy in black face do not represent 'white privilege' any more than Snap, Crackle and Pop - another iconic bit of Americana the present movement is looking to ban, along with GWTW, and Eskimo Pies. Ugh. I wanna throw up!

As a black man I take umbrage with your opinion on what's racist/demeaning or not.

 

[Nick*Z]

As a black man I take umbrage with your opinion on what's racist/demeaning or not.

Bottom line, Robert. It's your right to disagree. Not to censor. Just saying. And one more thing. I choose not to judge individuals based on their taste in entertainment, but by the content of their character and their attitudes towards me as an individual in a free-thinking society where all lives matter and all views are up for grabs in healthy, well-rounded discussion that is meant to expand upon our collective thought processes rather than silence the views we, again as individuals, would rather not hear.

But seriously, racism will not be expunged from the earth if these movies are banned. They are touchstones that prove two maxims - first, how far we have come in our mutual understanding in race relations, and second, that to silence them now is to suggest to future generations no such viewpoints ever existed in the past.

I really don't think that's a progressive way to address social ills. And one final point - as hard as it may be for some to digest, there will always be bigoted individuals who harbor resentment against others either based on their flawed/skewed perspective of another person's race, sexual orientation, or class and affluence in society. Jealousy is a human characteristic - ugly and unfair - but virtually baked into our DNA.

Not even Dr. Jekyll was able to separate the good from the bad. And Robert Lewis Stevenson's tale of horror proved a very sound point: that in trying to split the 'atom' of human physiology the results are far more painful and self-destructive than if one learned to cope with the inadequacies as a whole as best we can.

I personally, am not a proponent for racism. I am, however, a champion of free-speech and the expression of it in entertainment as a cultural touchstones from the past, present and future. I will continue to adopt this stance until I no longer breathe on this earth.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Bottom line, Robert. It's your right to disagree. Not to censor. Just saying.

I'm against censorship of movies and books, but I find some of your comments about what's racist and what's not, offensive to me. With that said, this is a private forum! If I had my way every single movie would be available to the general public. However, that's not my call.

 

[Nick*Z]

I'm against censorship of movies and books, but I find some of your comments about what's racist and what's not, offensive to me. With that said, this is a private forum! If I had my way every single movie would be available to the general public. However, that's not my call.

Robert, I have no wish to offend, here. Never have. But I would like to address why you should find my opinion 'offensive'. It is only that, an opinion, just as I take no offense to any reasonable opinion offered to me by anyone on this forum. I sincerely hope this isn't a cause celebre between the two of us. It's just a discussion. A healthy one, I hope. But I make no apology for differing in my opinions from yours just as I do not expect you to apologize for yours to me.

As I said before in another forum, I don't much appreciate being dictated too by a certain sect of the population who would not only not respect my ability to have an opinion in general, but would forcibly prevent me from formulating one of my own by denying me all of the variables to procure it.

And certainly, I am not suggesting here that this is what you have done. Not at all. Just want to make that clear. And, as you say, if it were 'your call' you would liberate all movies to be seen by the general public. I can distinctly support that too.

So, I think we're on the same side here. We're just approaching the discussion from two distinctly different points of embarkation.

 

[roxy1927]

And what's the one where she plays a matador? I liked that one as well. It would be progressive even for today. Not that I want movies to necessarily be 'progressive' but when you see one it's always interesting.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Robert, I have no wish to offend, here. Never have. But I would like to address why you should find my opinion 'offensive'. It is only that, an opinion, just as I take no offense to any reasonable opinion offered to me by anyone on this forum. I sincerely hope this isn't a cause celebre between the two of us. It's just a discussion. A healthy one, I hope. But I make no apology for differing in my opinions from yours just as I do not expect you to apologize for yours to me.

As I said before in another forum, I don't much appreciate being dictated too by a certain sect of the population who would not only not respect my ability to have an opinion in general, but would forcibly prevent me from formulating one of my own by denying me all of the variables to procure it.

And certainly, I am not suggesting here that this is what you have done. Not at all. Just want to make that clear. And, as you say, if it were 'your call' you would liberate all movies to be seen by the general public. I can distinctly support that too.

So, I think we're on the same side here. We're just approaching the discussion from two distinctly different starting points of embarkation.

I just want you to know that I disagree with your take that "blackface" isn't demeaning to black people. I don't care if it's a product of its time as I already accepted that reality a long time ago when I became a film buff in my early teens. My maternal grandfather, who was born in 1901, told me back in the mid-1960's that John Wayne, my favorite all-time actor, who appeared in black face in the movie "The Spoilers" offended him. I was watching that movie on TV in his house and he sat down and talked with me. He explained to a young Robert why it was offensive and why white performers doing so was meant to demean black folks. I was about 11 or 12 then, but that conversation always stayed with me.

Atticus Finch quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird":

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.

 

[Joel Arndt]

And what's the one where she plays a matador? I liked that one as well. It would be progressive even for today. Not that I want movies to necessarily be 'progressive' but when you see one it's always interesting.

Fiesta (1947) which was a massive hit. In most cases, I find her roles to be progressive for that era. She played independent women who wanted a man in her life, but didn't need one to succeed financially.

 

[bujaki]

I also enjoy the 1932 Girl Crazy simply because it co-stars the irrepressible Mitzi Green. Plus I saw a 35mm screening of it, which helped immeasurably, but it was nearly 45 years ago. I'm sure the elements are not up to par for a BD release.

 

[Glenn C.]

Bottom line, Robert. It's your right to disagree. Not to censor. Just saying. And one more thing. I choose not to judge individuals based on their taste in entertainment, but by the content of their character and their attitudes towards me as an individual in a free-thinking society where all lives matter and all views are up for grabs in healthy, well-rounded discussion that is meant to expand upon our collective thought processes rather than silence the views we, again as individuals, would rather not hear.

But seriously, racism will not be expunged from the earth if these movies are banned. They are touchstones that prove two maxims - first, how far we have come in our mutual understanding in race relations, and second, that to silence them now is to suggest to future generations no such viewpoints ever existed in the past.

I really don't think that's a progressive way to address social ills. And one final point - as hard as it may be for some to digest, there will always be bigoted individuals who harbor resentment against others either based on their flawed/skewed perspective of another person's race, sexual orientation, or class and affluence in society. Jealousy is a human characteristic - ugly and unfair - but virtually baked into our DNA.

Not even Dr. Jekyll was able to separate the good from the bad. And Robert Lewis Stevenson's tale of horror proved a very sound point: that in trying to split the 'atom' of human physiology the results are far more painful and self-destructive than if one learned to cope with the inadequacies as a whole as best we can.

I personally, am not a proponent for racism. I am, however, a champion of free-speech and the expression of it in entertainment as a cultural touchstones from the past, present and future. I will continue to adopt this stance until I no longer breathe on this earth.

I don't think anybody here is espousing movies should be banned. I think you're trying to expand your argument as I don't see anybody saying movies should be censored.

 

[David Norman]

Self-deleted. This isn;t the thread for the discussion I want to, but don't want to have

 

[Robert Harris]

I just want you to know that I disagree with your take that "blackface" isn't demeaning to black people. I don't care if it's a product of its time as I already accepted that reality a long time ago when I became a film buff in my early teens. My maternal grandfather, who was born in 1901, told me back in the mid-1960's that John Wayne, my favorite all-time actor, who appeared in black face in the movie "The Spoilers" offended him. I was watching that movie on TV in his house and he sat down and talked with me. He explained to a young Robert why it was offensive and why white performers doing so was meant to demean black folks. I was about 11 or 12 then, but that conversation always stayed with me.

Atticus Finch quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird":

Robert (and Nick),

While off-topic, I feel this discussion is more important than the release of a Blu-ray. As a non-politically oriented site, I applaud this discussion, and hopefully it will not be removed. To me, it brings to the fore one of the most important attributes of HTF, the ability of people to have a serious-minded discussion, that while not easy, can be had in a peaceful, respectful fashion. The more people of different (fill in the blank) can discuss potential differences, educate and learn from one another, the better.

The way that people of different cultures, religions, outer skin colors, have been portrayed in film since the beginning of the medium, has been a mirror to the times - and in some cases not a pretty one.

I believe I mentioned this in the past. While working on a continuity for the 1939 Jesse James, I was able to access the original Technicolor cutting sheets, which in the briefest of terms identify the content of shots. Adapting it to our needs I came upon two shots which read something akin to MS Fonda, followed by MCS Darky.

It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The word was used to describe Ernest Whitman, a wonderful character actor, who plays the role of “Pinkie” in the film.

Whomever was creating the notes could just as easily either checked the actor’s name, or simply noted MCS Man.

Presumably not a big deal in 1939, but today, it‘s abhorrent.

And yet, as has been discussed, these films, like the history of our nation and the world, should be seen, albeit with a proper framing device.

I now, per Robert’s mention I need to get Spoilers into a player and check out the scene in question, of which I have no memory.

 

[roxy1927]

Post not meant for this thread.

 

[Bob_S.]

I love all the Rooney/Garland films but Babes will always be my favorite. Hope it comes out soon. Astaire in blackface in Swing Time, I always looked at it as a tribute to Bill Robinson and perhaps Astaire had much respect for him but that's just me.

 

[roxy1927]

I watch very little TV and haven't done so for years. I thought blackface was discredited a long time ago. Even the minstrel number in White Christmas in '54 does not use it. Years ago When I saw Passage to India which is like 40 years ago I was surprised to see it. Yet I am reading on line it has been used by people like Jimmy Kimbell and Jimmy Fallon and on 30 Rock. And now they are apologizing all over the place and saying they regret the pain it caused. Oh really? What is wrong with these people?