Product Description

It's Always Fair Weather Ziegfeld Follies Till the Clouds Roll By Three Little Words Summer Stock

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37819 in DVD
• Brand: Unknown
• Released on: 2006-04-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: 1.10 pounds
• Running time: 559 minutes

Amazon.com
Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory is a five-film collection of enjoyable but not-quite-top-tier movies from MGM's peak period between the mid-1940s and mid-'50s. The best films are the two with Gene Kelly. In Summer Stock (1950), he teams with Judy Garland in a traditional "let's put on a show" setting. Garland was in her last MGM film, but she shares a tap duel with Kelly and performs one of her most famous routines, "Get Happy" in a black jacket and fedora. It's Always Fair Weather (1955) features Kelly alongside Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd as three GIs who return from the war, a plot reminiscent of On the Town, another Kelly collaboration with Stanley Donen. The songs aren't much, but highlights include the three GIs' trash-can-lid dance, Cyd Charisse's solo supported by a crew of boxers, and Kelly's number on roller skates, "I Like Myself." Ziegfeld Follies (1946) follows the format of a revue, with a wisp of a plot (producer Florenz Ziegfeld is in heaven imagining his dream revue; he's played by William Powell, who had played the character 10 years earlier in The Great Ziegfeld) and a bunch of diverse musical numbers: Fred Astaire's dances with Charisse, Lucille Bremer, and Gene Kelly (their only screen collaboration till That's Entertainment II in 1976); a water number with Esther Williams; and songs by Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Kathryn Grayson. Also following the revue format is Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), which features famous performances by Frank Sinatra ("Ol' Man River"), Lena Horne ("Can't Help Lovin' That Man"), and Judy Garland ("Look for the Silver Lining"). Interspersed among the numbers is a lackluster biography of songwriter Jerome Kern. For a more traditional songwriter biography, try Three Little Words (1950), starring Astaire and Red Skelton as Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, respectively, whose Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songs include "Who's Sorry Now," "My Sunny Tennessee," "I Wanna Be Loved by You," and the title tune. Vera-Ellen is an excellent partner for Astaire, and a young Debbie Reynolds appears as Boop-a-Doop girl Helen Kane.

All the discs are supplemented by new featurettes and classic shorts and cartoons. Deserving special mention is Till the Clouds Roll By, which has been available for years on inferior public-domain DVDs. This version has the best picture by far, and also offers musical outtakes by Judy Garland and Kathryn Grayson. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

A superb collection of classic MGM musicals..JUDY, GENE, & FRED at their best!
During the Hollywood's golden era, the 'tiffany' of movie studios as MGM, where the motto was "Do it big, do it right, and give it class". They sure did, and when it came to musicals, no one else could come close. They had all the greatest stars of the genre, and whereas musicals from other studios may seem stiff and dated, most of Metro's musical output shines with immortality.

No where is this more evident than in this new boxed set of stellar favorites from Warner Home Video, which is todays 'tiffany' of video labels. Nobody does it better. The care, cleverness & dedication they put into their classic releases is abundant, and each film in this set has been given a sparkling new transfer and is loaded with extras, as is the Warner style.

Not only do you get Judy & Gene in the charming SUMMER STOCK, climaxing with GET HAPPY, but you also get those two and a dozen more Metro stars in the dazzling ZIEGFELD FOLLIES. Gene Kelly's final collaboration with Stanley Donen as co-directors, is the magnificent gem IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, with a witty screenplay by Comden & Green, and knockout performances from the entire cast including Cyd Charisse. At last this comes to DVD in 16x9 widescreen with 5.1 audio, and outtakes too! Astaire and Red Skelton team in THREE LITTLE WORDS, which is probably the best and most delightful "composer-bio" ever to come out of Hollywood. It's truthful to the real story of Kalmar and Ruby, and is a joyous blend of great songs and comedic fun. Last but certainly not least is the first legitimate DVD release of TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY, MGM's extravaganza built around the music of Jerome Kern. A huge roster of MGM talent is featured in great musical numbers that now finally look and sound terrific.

Although its heartbreaking that the MGM we once knew is no longer, and survives only as a 'label' owned by another studio, we film fans are so fortunate that the great MGM library ended up with the superbly talented folks at Warner Brothers.

a great bunch of films AND DVDs!!!
I was lucky enough to preview this set recently and am happy to report that the other folks expecting WB's normal fine print quality will not be dissapointed...they look wonderful. As is the custom at WB there are many extras on each DVD as well. Others have listed them...outakes, vintage clips and featurettes...so I won't re-list those but comment on the new 15 minute featurettes on each film. Well, unlike the dissapointing (IMHO) Busby Berkely bonus featurettes..these are well made, informative and VERY entertaining...probably due to the much higher quality of interviewees....like the ever present Garland expert John Fricke. Current sizzling hot Broadway choreographer and director Casey Nicholaw, who lends his expertise on Summer Stock and It's always fair weather. Susan Stroman , director of the recent movie "The Producers, ads a fresh take on It's always fair weather as well.
The absolute gem (again IMHO) however is the Oscar and Grammy winning songwriter of Mary Poppins, Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang and so many more Richard M Sherman. Mr Sherman's thoughts about Jerome Kern (Till the Clouds Roll By) and Kalmar & Ruby (Three Little Words)go much further than the normal "college professors" on other DVDs. As those two movies are about songwriters...who better than one of the all time greats to comment and frankly he seems to be much more than a hired gun , but an actual fan of these writers and very familiar with their work, lives and the movies in question...raising the bar substantially due to his participation.

details on the bonus features
Ziegfeld Follies
New featurette Ziegfeld Follies: An Embarrassment of Riches
Vintage MGM Crime Does Not Pay short The Luckiest Guy in the World
2 classic MGM cartoons: The Hick Chick, Solid Serenade
Audio-only bonus: outtake songs If Swing Goes, I Go Too, This Heart of Mine and We Will Meet Again in Honolulu
Ziegfeld movies trailer gallery
Till the Clouds Roll By
New featurette Till the Clouds Roll By: Real to Reel
Vintage Fitzpartick Traveltalk short Glimpses of California
Classic MGM Tex Avery cartoon Henpecked Hoboes
Two musical outtake sequences: Judy Garland performing D'Ya Love Me? and Music in the Air (I've Told Ev'ry Little Star/The Song is You) performed by Kathryn Grayson and Johnny Johnston
Theatrical trailer
Three Little Words
New featurette Three Little Words: It's All True
Vintage Fitzpatrick Traveltalk short Roaming Through Michigan
Classic MGM Tex Avery cartoon Ventriloquist Cat
Audio-only bonus: Paula Stone's Hollywood USA radio promo featuring Fred Astaire & Harry Ruby
Theatrical trailer
Summer Stock
New featurette Summer Stock: Get Happy!
Classic MGM cartoon The Cuckoo Clock
Vintage Pete Smith Specialty Short Did'ja Know?
Audio-only bonus: outtake song Fall in Love
Theatrical trailer
It's Always Fair Weather
New featurette It's Always Fair Weather: Going Out on a High Note
3 outtake musical numbers: The Binge/Trashcan Dance (alternate takes), Jack and the Space Giants (with Michael Kidd), Love Is Nothing but a Racket (with Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse)
Two segments from The MGM Parade featuring Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly
2 classic MGM cartoons: Deputy Droopy, Good Will to Men
Audio-only bonus: I Thought They'd Never Leave outtake featuring Dolores Grey's unused vocal