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DVD Call Me Madam
A great star and a great composer can make a Broadway musical into a smash, as Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin proved with Call Me Madam. Not a bad place to start with a movie, either, and the 1953 film of the show has both Merman and Berlin represented in brassy fashion. Granted, Merman's platinum-throated talents were best suited to the stage, and the production overall has that dutiful, stodgy tone of so many Fox musicals. Extra points for the suavity of George Sanders (he's Merman's love interest in tiny Lichtenburg, where the lady has been appointed U.S. ambassador), and for the dancing of Vera-Ellen and Donald O'Connor. A year after crashing through the wall in Singin' in the Rain, O'Connor has a similar solo athletic workout to "What Chance Have I with Love." High point: Merman and O'Connor trading verses on "You're Just in Love," the best tune in a bouncy score. --Robert Horton
Merman was fortunate in being born during the Golden Age of popular song and she worked with the best composers: Porter, Berlin, Rodgers and Styne. In collaberation with those people she created the leading roles in more classic broadway shows than anybody. Ethel loved singing and she loved singing for YOU. Her legendary energy and generousity was not limited to the stage. I have a friend who spent many of his teenage days in New York Hospitals and Ethel could be heard singing throughout the hospital on days when she came to volunteer by entertaining the shutins. I don't think that "Call Me Madam" is as strong a show as "Annie Get Your Gun" but since we don't have "Annie" on film with Merman this is our chance to see the lady in action. Subtle she ain't but when you gotta knock 'em dead in the back row, you don't need subtle. Seeing this gives me another reason to hate Hollywood: 1, Not using Julie Andrews in "My Fair Lady" and 2, Not using Ethel Merman in "Gypsy." Two incredible opportunities down the drain. So get this DVD to see an American Musical Comedy institution in action. Supporting her are the under-rated Donald O'Connor and a singing George Saunders. No dub job here. The guy really had a great Bass voice. Had he chosen that route he could have been an opera singer.
A great musical film.
A great musical film, Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor at their best. A lot of vitality and fine singing and dancing. The commentary on the DVD is not bad either.
Ethel Merman Shines As The "Hostess With The Mostess", In Delightful Musical
If ever there was a better marriage of star performer and movie vehicle than in the case of the legendary Broadway star Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin's "Call Me Madam", I'd really love to see it. Perfect casting would be it's best definition with Merman's performance as fresh and vibrant today as it was upon first release. For years prior to first seeing it just this month I've heard the sung praises of this movie musical based on the very famous 1950 Broadway show and after screening it I now also can't praise it loudly enough. Long unavailable to home video and DVD enthusiasts, "Call Me Madam", has been a much sort after musical gem which is highly significant in being one of the rare occasions when Merman, a legend on Broadway for over 30 years, was actually hired to repeat one of her roles in the planned film version. While viewed by some as an acquired taste I've always loved Ethel merman's broad playing and powerful voice that can belt out a tune like no other. Twentieth Century Fox's 1953 movie version of "Call Me Madam", happily preserves forever Merman's legendary performance as Washington hostess and American Ambassador Sally Adams and provides a truly sumptuous production filled with breathtaking colour, amazingly lavish sets and Academy Award nominated costumes, intricate dance sequences courtesy of the always excellent Donald O'Connor and Vera Allen. Of course the film also boasts a full battery of Irving Berlin numbers that certainly give this film many memorable moments helping create something which is much more than simply a filmed stage musical.
Ethel Merman plays Oklahoma widow come Washington hostess Sally Adams who on the strength of her great party giving ability is assigned as America's Ambassador to the tiny duchy of Lichtenburg. Sally soon finds herself thrown in the deep end with international diplomacy as she is forced to learn very quickly the complex world of etiquette in a foreign court, deal with diplomats seeking a sizable loan from the USA which she must refuse, and deal with the not entirely unwelcome attentions of Lichtenburg diplomat Cosmo Constantine (George Sanders). Adding to the complications is Sally's number one offsider Kenneth (Donald O'Connor), who falls deeply in love with the Crown Princess Maria (Vera Ellen), despite their different "stations', in life. Many misunderstandings occur often prompted by Sally's pompous aide Pemberton Maxwell (Billy De Wolfe), who believes he has to "educate", Sally in the ways of international diplomacy and Sally has a serious falling out with Cosmo based on misunderstandings just prior to her being recalled to Washington by President Trueman. An equally heartbroken Kenneth also follows Sally back to Washington however as in all good musical stories things have a way of working themselves out when much to Sally's amazement Cosmo is assigned to the USA as ambassador from Lichtenburg and brings along Princess Maria who has renounced her right to the throne and is now able to marry Kenneth. Sally and Cosmo then sort out their differences and both couples end up finding the happiness they have been so earnestly seeking with each other at the fadeout.
Having missed out on a chance to star in the eventual film versions of so many of her Broadway hits such as "Annie Get Your Gun", and "Gypsy", Ethel Merman more than made up for it here playing a character modeled on Washington hostess Pearl Mosta who was given a controversial ambassador's appointment to Luxembourg during Harry Truman's time as President. President Truman himself is even used in a running gag in the film through his repeated phone calls to Sally filling her in on how the family are doing. Merman handles beautifully the comic moments in the script with two of the standouts being when she repeatedly locks horns with her etiquette driven assistant played by Billy De Wolfe, and when she is first presented at Court in an elaborate gown with a menacingly long train which is a comic gem. She really has a star presense here and despite critics feeling she was better suited to theatre I personally believe she is just as suited to film especially in such a well suited role as this. Its amazing that with such a standout performer as Ethel Merman at centre stage, anyone else gets even a look in however "Call Me Madam", does allow the other performers to shine as well. George Sanders is the biggest surprise in this production and while I always enjoy his well known screen persona of the villian or cad as seen in such memorable efforts as "Rebecca', and "All About Eve", here he actually has a decent character to play for a change and he does well as Sally's on again off again love interest. Merman and Sanders have a surprisingly pleasing chemistry on screen together and the running joke of Sanders not being able to understand Merman's characters American slang is a delight. Donald O'Connor and Vera Ellen also shine in their supporting parts and the dancing done by this pair really is on a par with the very best that Hollywood has produced. Their dance numbers here involving very complex choreography make the O'Connor/Ellen combination, which was sadly never again repeated on screen, a worthy successor to Astaire and Rogers. Happily with a couple of exceptions most of the original score for "Call Me Madam", was retained for the movie version so these legendary Irving Berlin numbers are preserved on film forever. "Something to Dance About , "The Hostess With The Mostess", and "You're Just in Love", along with new additions such as "What Chance Have I with Love", are sublime and resulted in Alfred Newman winning the 1953 Oscar for scoring for a musical picture. The films' visual qualities are first rate with Leon Shamroy's cinematography a standout and when combined with the films' art direction by John de Cuir helps make the duchy of Lichtenburg coming across as one of those technicoloured, wedding cake type, Middle European kingdoms of no fixed location that Hollywood seemed to love so much. While Ethel Merman is first and foremost renowned for her powerful ability to belt out tunes her fashion sense was never one of her trademarks however in "Call me Madam", she has been given the full Hollywood Star treatment with a superb wardrobe of Academy Award nominated gowns by designer Irene Sharaff which make her look every inch the star in every scene.
Big lavish musicals built around larger than life personalities like Ethel Merman are most definately a thing of the past in modern Hollywood and to see that old fashioned star power at work you need go no further than Irving Berlin's "Call Me Madam". It's announcement recently as an upcoming DVD release for the first time ever was most definately greeted like the return of a lost child in movie musical circles and it certainly doesn't disappoint with its entertaining score, superb dance numbers and good old fashioned romantic plot with comedy undertones. Try and find the time soon to sit down and enjoy "the Merm", in a tailor made role as Washington's "hostess with the mostess" in Irving Berlin's classic "Call Me Madam". A fine nostalgic musical experience from the heyday of musical cinema is assured.
For Julie Andrews fans, Star! will be something more than just a legendary albatross around Old Hollywood's neck--after all, Julie is onscreen virtually every minute of this film, singing and dancing and flouncing around in an endless parade of over-the-top costumes. Seeing her tackle a variety of Noel Coward tunes and a nicely understated "Someone to Watch Over Me" is pleasant, but it's easy to see why this three-hour musical failed to click with 1968 audiences. A biopic of the celebrated stage star Gertrude Lawrence (puckish Daniel Massey plays Coward, Lawrence's childhood chum), the movie staggers around between the big production numbers. Its social message--independent Lawrence just needed a man to boss her around--was just as grating in the age of The Graduate as it is... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Julie Andrews - Richard Crenna Director(s): Robert Wise DVD Release Date: Released the 20 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It's terribly boring. period.
This DVD makes me fall asleep very easily.
Too many interviews and the video quality is really bad. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Rick McKay DVD Release Date: Released the 09 November 2004 Usually ships in 6 to 8 days
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America's pastime gets a Faustian twist in this 1958 studio musical, which recounts the ballpark bargain struck by an aging Washington Senators fan obsessed with helping his team trump the Yanks. With echoes of the real-life 1919 Shoeless Joe Jackson scandal, and tart observations on the tradeoffs between youth and experience, Damn Yankees fuses a classic dramatic dilemma with musical comedy to often charming effect.
In transferring George Abbott's Broadway hit to the screen, codirectors Abbott and Stanley Donen are smart enough to retain Richard Adler and Jerry Ross's clever songs, Bob Fosse's sizzling choreography (with Fosse himself on camera for the sultry mambo number), and stars Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon, reprising their devilish turns as the Horned One himself, Mr.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Stanley Donen - George Abbott DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The follow-up to the original Broadway's Lost Treasures delivers more of the same--historic performances of great moments in American musical theater televised on the Tony Awards--but is a step up in terms of sheer entertainment value. The first volume included only performances before 1987, and while they had bigger stars (Yul Brynner, Robert Preston), some of them were lip-synced and considerably less polished than their feature-film equivalents. Broadway's Lost Treasures II features newer performances that are almost indistinguishable from an actual show, including scenes from splashy, high-energy revivals such as Anything Goes (Patti LuPone and company performing the title tune) and Guys and Dolls (the fabulous "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat"), and new... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Lauren Bacall DVD Release Date: Released the 26 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In an era when we have an unprecedented number of movies and other diversions at our fingertips, is there still a need for a clip show like That's Entertainment? Certainly, because the film series, beginning in 1974, was an unabashed peddler of glorious nostalgia, not only collecting many of the most memorable moments in the magical history of the MGM musical--and therefore in the history of film--but bringing in many of the original stars to introduce them decades later. And another few decades after the series was released, the nostalgia is that much greater since many of those stars are now gone. In addition, the sheer number and variety of clips (though they're often too short) would be hard to match in any collection or in the span of an evening's viewing. Where else could... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Kelly DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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