Product Description

An all-star cast that includes Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, Johnnie Ray and Mitzi Gaynor sparks this tuneful Irving Berlin musical that depicts the trials and triumphs of a veteran vaudeville family. Molly (Merman) and Terry (Dailey) Donahue start out as a duo and keep adding kids to the act until they finally become The 5 Donahues. Their busy, sometimes tumultuous lives aren't always easy, but the Donahues have plenty of love to get them through the hard times and more than enough talent to keep them on top. Highlighted by one classic Irving Berlin song after another and an array of dazzling production numbers, this upbeat, utterly delightful tale of life on the stage proves, beyond and doubt, that There's No Business Like Show Business!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18537 in DVD
• Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
• Released on: 2002-05-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.com
This 1954 dinosaur brings together two giants of Broadway, Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin, just as their moment was passing forever, to create one last hurrah: a celebration of the glories that were vaudeville. Still, it's hard to imagine that Broadway--or nightclub entertaining, for that matter--was ever quite this lavish and satisfying. The story centers on a married couple, the Donahues (Dan Dailey and Merman), who live on the road as vaudeville entertainers, and since they have children, begin incorporating the kids into the act. Eventually, the kids grow up to be Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, and Johnny Ray, and they begin having interests of their own. Donald's is an ambitious showgirl (Marilyn Monroe), whose standoffish response to his romantic overtures drives him to drink. Best for its lavish, splashy production numbers built around some of the best of the Berlin songbook, including the title tune and "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody." --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Dazzling Production and Masterful Show Tunes Make This A Favorite
I love musicals and this one has been a favorite since it first came out in 1954. I was thrilled to receive the DVD and even more thrilled to find that the songs and dances were still as wonderful as I remembered, the production numbers still as splendid, and the total show as remarkable as ever.

Dan Dailey and Ethel Merman are Terry and Molly Donahue, vaudeville performers circa 1919 when the movie opens. They quickly add children Steve (Johnnie Ray) Katy (Mitzi Gaynor) and Tim (Donald O'Connor) to the act as each child is old enough to wobble on stage. They become the successful act known as The Five Donahues and tour constantly even as vaudeville dies away. When their paths cross with an ambitious blonde named Vicky (Marilyn Monroe) things are never the same. She breaks Tim's heart and he spirals downward into an alcoholic haze, son Steve leaves the act when he decides to become a priest, and Broadway replaces vaudeville as the elder Donahues spend less time on stage and more time in their New Jersey home. The ending always leaves me dissolved in tears, but it is the lavish production numbers that make this a favorite. From the catchy opening of Merman and Dailey performing "When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam'" (later reprised by Gaynor and O'Connor) to the lavish staging of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and the uplifting closing of the title song, this movie is a feast for fans of music and dance. Even though Marilyn Monroe shines in her sexy "Heat Wave" number, the long-legged Dailey makes dancing an effortless joy throughout and Merman's voice is uncommonly rich, it is Donald O'Connor and Mitzi Gaynor who enthusiastically dance their way into your heart and steal every scene they are in.

Lousy story, great production number.
A plot that has Johnny Ray playing a priest torn between his vows and his bows--and it only gets worse from there. But some of the production numbers are deliciously extravagant even by Hollywood standards. The "Alexander's Ragtime Band" montage--a musical workout that incorporates a variety of musical styles and ethnic costumery and dance--is easily worth the price of admission all by itself. It alone testifies to Berlin's importance to American music and consequently to the universe. (But as a fan of Marilyn Monroe, I must say her performance is not indispensable viewing.) For a more aesthetically satisfying tribute to Irvin Berlin, check out the movie entitled "Alexander's Ragtime Band," starring Tyrone Power and Alice Faye--or, for that matter, "Top Hat" with Fred and Ginger.

If you like musicals then you'll love this one!
This movie stars Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey as vaudevillians Molly and Terry Donahue, who are trying to raise their three children(Steve, Katie, and Tim)as normally as they can. Molly and Terry narrate throughout the story, so the movie actually spans 20 years of their lives. The film starts out with a little song and dance number, and the introduction of Donahue kid #1, then it moves through #2 and #3 and their childhoods with some great comic scenes between Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey. Finally, with the kids all grown up, the family becomes an act called the Five Donahues. The first time you get to see the grown up Donahue children is in a big number called "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in which all the family members get to spotlight their individual talents. That night, after the show of course, Steve (the oldest) gets his true calling and Vicky Parker (Marilyn Monroe)enters as Tim's (Donald O'Connor)love interest, both events conspiring to break the act up. This film is filled with plenty of song and dance numbers, almost all of which were written specifically for the movie by Irving Berlin, plenty of talent, and plenty of fun. Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, and Donald O'Connor are great comedic talents who deliver quite a few laughs throughout, as well as doing a great job with the singing and dancing. I highly recommend this movie to everyone out there who needs a good laugh! If you find that you like this one, try "Singing in the Rain," also co-starring Donald O'Connor, "Wonder Man," and "The Court Jester," starring Danny Kaye.