Rita Hayworth really was a screen goddess in the late 1940s--so why not cast her as Terpsichore, the goddess of dance? That's the premise of this splashy Technicolor musical, which borrows some devices (and cast members) from Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Rita descends to earth to inject authenticity into a Broadway show about Terpsichore, posing as an actress and turning the head of impresario Larry Parks (then in the brief moment between his Jolson Story smash and his blacklisting). This leads to an overblown, pretentious out-of-town tryout, an amusing sequence that predicts the highbrow disaster in The Band Wagon. In general, this film is funnier than its reputation, although it doesn't add up to anything and the song score is tepid (with one delightfully weird number... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Alexander Hall DVD Release Date: Released the 11 May 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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The devil is in the details when it comes to this effervescent Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth musical. The slight storyline is a hook upon which to hang dance sequences, bits of humor, and songs by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer. Set in Buenos Aires, it's a remake of an Argentine feature from the previous year and followed You'll Never Get Rich. Astaire stars as a professional hoofer and Hayworth is Adolphe Menjou's second oldest daughter. The wealthy businessman won't let his youngest daughters marry until Maria (Hayworth) ties the knot. She couldn't care less--until a case of mistaken identity leads her to believe that Robert (Astaire) is in love with her (he's just looking for a job at her father's club). Highlights include a tap dance set to "Shorty George" and the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Fred Astaire - Rita Hayworth Director(s): William A. Seiter DVD Release Date: Released the 25 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"Say, he looks like an actor," says the platform conductor. And with that introduction, Gene Kelly steps off the train and into his film career. After starring on Broadway in Pal Joey, Kelly made his film debut in For Me and My Gal opposite Judy Garland, with the pair playing vaudeville performers who team up to find success and, of course, romance. But just when things are looking up, World War I intervenes, and Kelly has to take drastic measures to keep a promise and avoid the war, at least temporarily.
Bad move, Gene. Filmed in 1942, For Me and My Gal vigorously supports the war effort, including teaching Kelly the error of his ways. The old-time setting also allows for a basketful of nostalgic charmers, including "After You've Gone," "Oh You... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Garland - George Murphy - Gene Kelly Director(s): Busby Berkeley DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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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... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Walter Lang DVD Release Date: Released the 20 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Gary Cooper's forte--the searching, lone figure beleaguered by conflicts over conscience, truth, and ethics--followed him all the way to the ambitious They Came to Cordura, his third-to-last feature. Cooper plays Thomas Thorn, a career officer in America's fading horse Army of the early 20th century. Thorn's alleged cowardice in battle has been papered over by superiors: He is to identify acts of bravery during an attack on Pancho Villa's troops and lead those designated heroes to a Medal of Honor ceremony in Cordura, Texas. Though Thorn tries to extract the secret behind courage from each man, he discovers a battle-hardened, bestial side to them as well. The Cordura journey becomes fraught with mutiny and near-assaults on a Yankee expatriate (Rita Hayworth). Thorn, reputation... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Rossen DVD Release Date: Released the 27 July 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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