Product Description

See a cavalcade of legendary actors and actresses at the top of their form in this stunning collection of rare musical and comedy sequences excised from classic Fox films! The history behind each deleted sequence blends with fascinating interviews, recently discovered dailies, and rare archival footage and stills to offer a comprehensive story of Hollywood's Golden Age! Includes: W.C. Fields, Margaret Dumont and Phil Silvers in the 13 minute restored comedy sequence from "Tales of Manhattan;" rare outtakes of Buster Keaton and Alice Faye rehearsing comedy gags for "Hollywood Cavalcade;" "I'll See You in My Dreams" performed by Alice Faye (deleted from "Rose of Washington Square"); a restored version of the "Sheik of Araby" musical sequence from "Tin Pan Alley" featuring Alice Faye and Betty Grable, including never-before-seen alternate takes of a dance routine performed by the Nicholas Brothers; "The Old Army Game" performed by Kay Francis, Mitzi Mayfair, Martha Raye and Carole Landis (deleted from "Four Jills and a Jeep"); the Ritz Brothers perform a hilarious comedy sequence cut from the film "On the Avenue."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78389 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Comedy is king in this second collection of outtakes from the Fox studio vaults. Some former vaudevillians are captured in rare clips, including behind-the-scenes footage of Buster Keaton instructing Alice Faye in the proper method for taking a cream pie in the face. W.C. Fields holds court in a legendary sequence from Tales of Manhattan, cut from the film's release but restored here to something like its original shape (alternate takes show Fields's incorrigible genius for improvising). Danny Kaye shines in a brilliant bit from On the Riviera, parodying an off-key singer manhandling "Begin the Beguine." The musical numbers tend to be so-so, with the notable exception of the Nicholas Brothers tearing through an athletic dance routine in a harem. Skating enthusiasts will welcome the footage of Sonja Henie, whose somewhat mysterious popularity is examined. The spectacle of Victor Mature as a singing star is mercifully (and amusingly) brief. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

...even more fun than the first Hidden Hollywood....
...some real gems...a thirteen minute sequence with W.C.Fields
and Margaret Dumont (she remains totally unflappable in the face
of Mr Field's shenanigans!)....Sonja Heine...who won medals in
THREE winter Olympics, starting when she was probably twelve..
and may well be the single most influential female skater of
the 20th century (the ice fairies in 'Fantasia' skate exactly
like Sonja!)--has some delightful unused sequences here..and
of course, our old friends Betty Grable and Alice Faye..and
Carmen Miranda, complete with an extension cord...this dvd packs
quite a bit of 'lost' entertainment into 90 minutes. If you
are a 'movie nut' you will love this...if you are not...go rent
Terminator II, please.

Pieces of the jigsaw
Darryl Zanuck, head of production at Fox, was famous for his editing skills. This DVD contains outtakes from many famous Fox films, trimmed sometimes for censorship or even political reasons or maybe simply to reduce the running time.

If you know the films, you can mentally piece the outtakes into the originals. Some of the numbers are pretty awful such as Bert Lahr's incomprehensible song. Others are memorable like Jimmy Durante's number with Shirley Temple and Alice Faye's "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows". It is also amusing to see the performers grimace and pout as the camera starts to roll. The DVD is a gold mine to the film buff and since the material has been taken from original negatives and restored, it is in great condition.

The DVD is partly documentary as narrated by Joan Collins. Whatever you might think of Collins as a performer, she has a beautiful English accent with perfect diction. Her delivery is music to the ears and the script is informative but succinct.

...Some treasures are more valuable than others....
..but these treasures are quite delightful. AMC broadcast them
a few years back, and I am glad they are available on dvd. It is
fun (well, it is for dyed in the wool movie freaks such as myself)..to see things that feature favorite performers that
have not ever seen a movie screen. This has Alice Faye, Shirley
Temple, Betty Grable...and OTHERS...doing alternate takes,
sometimes completely cut numbers...a variety of things...all
give one a fresh view of how movies were made and a look at
some material that just never got used. These are very entertaining. One or two, of course, are good examples of why
they were never seen. But, in many cases, restoration has been
done and some interesting performances brought to light. I have
my copy...but dear friends at Fox...there is a seven minute
ballet missing from Betty Grable's "The Farmer Takes a Wife"...
perhaps you could show us that on the NEXT installment???