Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: DVD Review

8/07/2007 Posted by Admin

Seven films, all digitally remastered, with five marking their debut on DVD.

Included are Gene Kelly and Judy Garland in 1948's "The Pirate" and "Words and Music," the latter of which, a colossal production, features nearly two dozen songs by Rogers and Hart. Kathryn Grayson stars in two films, 1949's "That Midnight Kiss," with Jose Iturbi and Ethel Barrymore, and 1950's "The Toast of New Orleans," with Grayson so woefully miscast opposite Mario Lanza, viewers might toast their own endurance should they get through the movie.

That won't be necessary for 1952's "The Belle of New York," in which Fred Astaire mixes it up with Vera-Ellen and Marjorie Main, while in Stanley Donen's 1951 musical "Royal Wedding," Astaire is on fire, dancing on the ceiling and joining Jane Powell in helping to save Alan Jay Lerner's rote story.

The set also includes the 1985 documentary "That's Dancing," with Gene Kelley, Liza Minnelli, Shirley Temple and others shuttling us through one dizzying musical time capsule.

Grade: B+