Product Description

This hilarious comedy stars Jack Haley and Patsy Kelly as married football coaches. Judy Garland in her first film appearance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55352 in DVD
• Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
• Released on: 2007-05-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.com
The first major movie produced by the then-brand-new studio 20th Century Fox, the black and white 1936 musical Pigskin Parade is a story about the power of self-confidence. Stars of the day Stuart Erwin, Jack Haley, and Patsy Kelly are joined by then-newcomers to the screen Judy Garland (on loan from MGM studio), Betty Grable, and Anthony (Tony) Martin for an ensemble cast with incredible talent for singing, dancing, and acting. The story begins with a small, mediocre Texas State University football team being mistakenly invited to play against Yale University in a charity ball. The Texas team doesn't have a chance of winning against the mighty Yale team, so everyone thinks, but a new coach (Jack Haley) and his wife (Patsy Kelly) come to town and, thanks to some inspired instruction, their players begin to develop a new self-confidence that, combined with an unlikely new recruit (Stuart Erwin), makes them true football contenders. Much more than just a sports movie, Pigskin Parade is a true musical production complete with elaborate dance numbers like "You're Slightly Terrific" danced by Dixie Dunbar and a host of great songs including "Down With Everything" and "We'd Rather Be In College" performed by the Yacht Club Boys and the powerful "It's Love I'm After" performed by a young Judy Garland. Bonus features include a "Making of the Team" featurette which looks at the talented cast, a "Remembering Judy" segment featuring Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, and a "Meet the Coach" featurette that explores producer Darryl Zanuck's career and his instrumental role in the merge between 20th Century Studios and the Fox Film Corporation. Also included are still galleries and a brief restoration comparison. --Tami Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable football musical comedy

PIGSKIN PARADE is a 1936 Fox football musical comedy with location filming at USC and the nearby Coliseum. It stars Oscar nominee Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley, Betty Grable, Dixie Dunbar, Tony Martin, and a scene-stealing young Judy Garland in her film debut. She was on loan-out from MGM and three years later would be reunited there with Haley for THE WIZARD OF OZ. Kelly is a delight. Garland's one musical number, "It's Love I'm After", brought down the house when it was filmed; applause ruined the first take. And Grable would become a huge star in the 1940's at Fox with Technicolor musical delights, some with Haley also. What a cast this has!

The plot is nonsensical. Yale is playing a big football game with the Texas State University hayseeds, and the latter's musical numbers are what really matters. The Yacht Club Boys are also featured in a couple of numbers. Of course, there is a last minute winning touchdown, and the movie patrons exit the theater happily.

There are tons of bonuses on a $14.95 DVD--Meet the Cast featurette, meet producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Lorna Luft talks about mother Judy Garland, there is a theatrical trailer, and there is an envelope of lobby cards. And incidentally the DVD box is wrong; the movie is in original B&W, not color. Have a great time with PIGSKIN PARADE, on home video for the first time.

A fun, unassuming, old-fashioned comedy
This college comedy is notable as the onscreen debut of the teenage diva-to-be, Judy Garland, but it also stands on its own as a fine, fluffy '30s comedy. A small-town college in Texas is accidentally invited to meet Yale in a nationally-watched football match. It's the biggest thing that's ever happened at good old TSU, and the student body is understandably all worked up about it -- moved to stage musical shows and pep rallies galore, as a matter of fact. Garland, who was constantly miscast in her early career, enters the picture as the snub-nosed hayseed little sister of TSU's new star quarterback, an Arkansas [kid] who can pitch a long pass with devastating accuracy. The real stars of the show, though, are the team's coach, played by comedian Jack Haley (later to work with Garland as the Tin Woodman) and the brassy, wisecracking Patsy Haley, as the coach's sports-savvy, shrewish wife. The plot isn't too flimsy and pleasantly zips along, bouyed by some choice performances by all concerned. Yeah, Betty Grable's in there, too, but only in a bit part; half the musical numbers are provided by vocal quartet from the Catskills circuit known as the Yacht Club Boys... Their middleaged appearances are deftly explained by a goofy number called "Sophmores 'Til The Day We Die"; even more hilarious is a political numer called "Down With Everything!" which is sung in honor of a young Bolshie agitator who appears in order to rile up the locals, but winds up instead ont he wrong side of Texas justice. Sports fans will be gratified by the finale, which edits in some tantalizing archival footage of a 1930s Yale game, played in a howling blizzard. Fun film all around... and you can certainly see why the studio heads went ga-ga over Garland!

Garland's feature film debut
Garland fans I'm sure were happy when this movie was finally made available on home video. An otherwise forgettable outing about college football is made great by a young Garland who steals the show from the likes of Betty Grable and Jack Haley (aka "The Tin Man"). When Garland sings, the film soars. Buyer beware: Garland is really more supporting player than star in this one. For fans only.