Product Description

The extraordinary story and songs of international singing star Petula Clark with special guests Lou Rawls and Richard Carpenter. In Petula Clark: A Sign of the Times, Petula gives a spectacular performance showcasing many of her still popular songs including "Downtown," "I Know a Place," "Don't Sleep in the Subway," "A Sign of the Times," "Color My World," "Who Am I," "Call Me," "The Wedding Song," and "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love."

Also included on the program is This Is My Song, a 30-minute documentary that offers rare material such as her guest appearance on The Dean Martin Show, television specials, movie trailers, newsreels, and stage productions. Petula's fascinating life in music is told by herself and her friends and colleagues. 125 minutes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101183 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 74 minutes

Customer Reviews

I Couldn't Live without Pet, but...
Unfortunately, the concert portion of this DVD is almost painful to watch. Pet seems to be struggling with her notes on many of her 60's classics (although she hits the high notes on such Broadway fare as "Tell Me it's Not True" without breaking a sweat), and this distressing performance is only exacerbated by her shockingly unkempt appearance. Straggly hair, unflattering makeup, and the ugliest costumes ever to grace a major celebrity stand in stark contrast to the svelte, swingin' Pet of the Sixties that we see in cruelly contrasting footage.

On the plus side, this DVD features a fascinating documentary on Pet's life and career, which is endlessly entertaining. Also, the bonus FULL LENGTH clips from "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Hollywood Palace" and Pet's own TV specials are worth the price of the DVD alone. Now, that's what we'd really love to see: a collection of Pet's classic performances from those great variety shows of yore.

Petula can still dredge up her old power and clarity, on record and in person. Sadly, when this concert was recorded, she was not at the top of her form. Buy this DVD for the "extras."

Still magical
As a long-time Petula fan, I must say I was a little perturbed by some of the comments above on Pet's unkempt appearance and trouble reaching high notes. After watching this concert, the verdict is... I agree. Some of those outfits are really ugly, especially that gold lame number which is way too big on her. And what's with the false eyelashes? They are so thick she can hardly keep her eyes open!

But... on the plus side, Pet still has that magic that has endeared her to millions of fans around the world. I also bought the CD of this concert and when you listen to that, you don't hear the strain in her voice that for some reason is evident when you watch the video. Her renditions of the songs from Les Miz,and Blood Brothers are superb. And by the way, who is the idiot that decided to leave out her incredible rendition of "With One Look" from Sunset Boulevard?? This is outrageous, considering that it IS included on the CD of the same concert.

All in all, get this DVD, by all means, the extras included are a treasure you don't want to miss.

AN INTERESTING CONCEPT THAT BACKFIRES
Someone must have thought the idea was brilliant and, in fact, the concept is an interesting one - film a contemporary concert with British superstar Petula Clark, then edit it by intercutting her present day performance with clips of her singing the same songs on various variety shows televised in the 1960s. Unfortunately, Clark was not in top form for the two concerts that closed the Virginia Arts Festival in Spring 2001 and were captured on film for broadcast by PBS late last year, and her weaknesses are even more pronounced when compared to her work thirty-plus years ago. (This is not to say she's past her prime, since her performance in concert in Long Beach in January 2002 was brilliant - and should have been the one to be captured on film.) Cutting back and forth between Clark "now" (dressed in a succession of unflattering ensembles, with her hair a mass of disheveled curls, she frequently struggles to reach or sustain notes) and "then" (with her powerful voice wrapping itself around notes with such clarity that you can hear her dot her "i"s and cross her "t"s) ultimately leaves the viewer wanting to see more of the old black-and-white clips and less of the recent performance. Guests Lou Rawls and Richard Carpenter contribute some pleasant moments, but with much of their appearances left on the cutting room floor, their inclusion here seems almost superfluous. Far more interesting is the 30-minute documentary that chronicles Clark's incredible life and career, now in it's sixty-second year, that is tacked on at the end of the concert portion and added an extra star to my review. Even non-diehard fans will find this section - with its rare clips and commentary by fellow artists who have shared the stage with her in the past - to be a fascinating portrait of a true superstar. If only her performance here could have offered better testament to the fact that Petula Clark is truly deserving of the title "show biz legend."