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justoldbill
Reviews
Main Street to Broadway (1953)
A 10 for sentimental reasons.
An interesting note- Tom Morton, who plays Tony Monaco in the film, toured in the national company of I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE under the stage name of Tony Monaco. This film is a theatre-lover's delight for so many reasons, my favorite being Tallulah Bankhead yelling at Agnes Moorehead "Aren't they writing plays for nice people like ME ANYMORE?!?!". Other people appearing in the film not listed in the cast or in the other posts include Al Hirschfeld at work on one of his drawings, Regis Toomey as a policeman, Lydia Reed back-stage with Helen Hayes at MRS. McTHING, Constance Carpenter backstage at THE KING AND I, first-nighters Maureen Stapleton, Joan McCracken, Vivian Blaine, Paula Lawrence, Sam Jaffe, Dolly Haas(Mrs. Hirschfeld), Nedda Logan, Dorothy Rodgers, Dorothy Hammerstein, and best of all Estelle Winwood, providing the gem, "Tallulah's got a wonderful heart- only sometimes it pumps the wrong way." Oddly, Henry Fonda is always credited with a cameo, but I don't see him in the VHS print. This may be due to the fact that some changes in personnel and plot happened along the way, probably with the involvement of MGM. Originally, it was to be Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland who bail Tony out of jail, not Louis Calhern and Ethel Barrymore. The Faye Emerson radio broadcasts were written to be done by Arthur Godfrey. The Gertrude Berg character was originally named "Mrs. Donatelo", probably to be more Italian than Jewish. The playwright's name was originally Tony Fletcher, not Tony Monaco. Even then-mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri (another first-nighter) was to get into the act with a climactic car chase on the Pulaski Skyway involving himself, Tony and Mrs. Danotelo pursuing Mary and Frank on their way back to Indiana, while in New York, THE PLAY IS A SUCCESS!!! Don't ask.
The Producers (2005)
A zero without Zero.
Without question one of the worst movie musicals ever made- right up there with CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC and the Glenn Close SOUTH PACIFIC. Even SONG OF NORWAY has better music and nicer scenery. Pasting Nathan Lane's hair down to make him look more like Zero Mostel didn't help matters. It's seems everyone believed that since the stage production was such a hit (still a mystery to me), they could take the easy road and simply slide on it's reputation. The makers of films like MY FAIR LADY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC didn't make that mistake. One of the biggest frustrations of this film is the roster of New York talent who ended up mostly on the cutting room floor- people like Andrea Martin, Marilyn Sokol, Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba(!), and many more listed on the credit crawl and hardly, if ever, seen. Major frustration! To boot, the film has a cheap, badly lighted look to it that doesn't help. All in all, a missed opportunity.
State Fair (1962)
Arthur Godfrey
I recall once seeing an "In Production" ad in an early '60's film yearly announcing 20th Century Fox's remake of "State Fair" starring ARTHUR GODFREY!!!(the only star billed in the ad). I'm glad it didn't happen, but I think it explains "More Than Just A Friend" and "It's The Little Things In Texas". If the role of the father was being built up for the remake, the placement of two additional songs for the character makes sense, and could even have been Hammerstein's idea, although he didn't live long enough to write the songs. And these two songs almost sound as if Rodgers was keeping Arthur Godfrey's "folksy" persona in mind. With Godfrey no longer involved, the story (and billing) again focused on the two young couples, but the song spots for the father remained. My guess is time restraints curtailed further script development. Arthur Godfrey-star billing, Tom Ewell-fifth billing. Go figure. (Do I like this film? No.)
Sweet Charity (1969)
one of the best.
Opinions vary, but this has always been one of my favorites. It was once accused of going too far with the editing techniques and other tricks. Today, some 30-plus years later, the film looks more tame and thought-out, especially compared to films like MOULIN ROUGE or CHICAGO. If nothing else, this film is THE historic testament to the Fosse style of the 1960's, as THE PAJAMA GAME captures his style of the 1950's. Few dance sequences can top THERE'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN THIS or STEAM HEAT. I recommend both.
A Little Night Music (1977)
The Glamorous Life
My one favorite part of this film has always been THE GLAMOROUS LIFE. If only the rest of the film had been as droll, dry, and on the mark as this segment. No one seems to have an opinion on Chloe Franks, the young actress playing Fredericka. I've always thought she was one of the best people in the film.