Fabulous Dorseys
by Alfred E. Green
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DVD details
Actor: Tommy Dorsey; Jimmy Dorsey; Janet Blair; Paul WhitemanDirector: Alfred E. Green
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-13
Studio: Reel Enterprises
DVD Reviews of Fabulous Dorseys
DVD Review: Even Dorsey Fans Can Live Without It
Summary: 2 Stars
When I was eight years old, and beginning to learn the trombone, my parents went out and bought me a two record set--"The Great Tommy Dorsey Orchestra: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." For the next eight years I worked to sound like him, until I discovered Bill Watrous in my teens, and eventually Jay Jay Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Frank Rosolino, and others. I never lost my fondness for Tommy, though.
When I was younger, I was eager for footage of Dorsey playing. One of my favorite films was A SONG IS BORN, with Danny Kaye, and featuring Dorsey along with Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, and many others including Benny Goodman in a real acting role. Even after I had moved on from Tommy as a model, footage of the old big band leaders was gold to me.
I wonder what I would have thought of THE FABULOUS DORSEYS had I seen it then. Would I have been excited just to see Tommy and Jimmy talk and put their instruments together? Or would I have noticed the difference between a film directed by Howard Hawks and one directed by, well, Alfred E. Green?
I think I would have been indulgent--the footage is of the Dorseys and others, after all. But I don't think I would have remembered it fondly. The film focuses on the embattled musical relationship between the two famous big band brothers, Tommy and Jimmy. The brothers can't seem to play together without fighting, and the movie chronicles the efforts of the people around them to convince the brothers to set their differences aside and play together--their apparently strict but really sentimental father, their loving mother, and their unexplained non-sister "Jane" (presumably a fictional replacement for their actual sister Mary--who may not have wanted to be included).
Green tells the story capably enough--but he tells it without much music. The only real musical highlights are full performances of "Marie" by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and "Green Eyes" by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (the two songs which would appear on different sides of the same single in 1954 when they were really reunited), and a jam session featuring Tommy and Jimmy playing with Charlie Barnet, Ziggy Elman, and Art Tatum. And that is the sum total of the musical interesting moments of the film.
That might be forgiven if the story was even remotely interesting. But the attempt to clean up and simplify actual events is disappointing, especially to anyone who actually knows something about the brothers. The distinction of the two boys by instrument is understandable, if a little silly; both brothers, like most people who play music for a living, played several instruments and would often each double on trumpet in the early days of their association. But other details are also left out. Tommy's perfectionism and poor sense of humor are depicted, but very little of his somewhat violent temper and his lurid love life. The fact that the brothers were both more successful on their own is never explored--so insistent is the film on its own master-plot of bringing the two of them back together.
One explanation for this would be that the reunion between the brothers was in the works when the film first appeared. Driven by the promotional needs of the musical reunion, Green's work is bent on representing the potential greatness of the two brothers when they join forces. In the film itself, by the way, the agency of the reunion is their participation in a concerto featuring trombone and clarinet and conducted by the venerable Paul Whiteman. There is no need to reflect on the value of this moment from a musical standpoint. Does anyone even know of a recording of this distinguished moment? Has it appeared on any of the "Best Of" collections of either brother?
The other explanation is Green himself. His later career includes a number of biopics--THE FABULOUS DORSEYS, THE JOLSON STORY, THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY, THE EDDIE CANTOR STORY--so perhaps he was seen as the man to use in that genre. But a look at his whole career will show you that he was quite prolific in directing movies-you've-never-heard-of.
A year after THE FABULOUS DORSEYS came out, Howard Hawks' Danny Kaye vehicle, A SONG IS BORN was released. If you really want to watch a fun movie about the big bands, buy that one.
More Fabulous Dorseys reviews:
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