MGM Classic Musicals (West Side Story/Guys and Dolls/Fiddler on the Roof/A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
by David Swift, Jerome Robbins, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ken Hughes, Norman Jewison
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Actor: Dick Van Dyke, George Chakiris, Natalie Wood, Phil Silvers, Zero MostelDirector: David Swift, Jerome Robbins, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ken Hughes, Norman Jewison
Brand: Sony
Writer: Abe Burrows
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 845 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-09
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of MGM Classic Musicals (West Side Story/Guys and Dolls/Fiddler on the Roof/A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
DVD Review: A good collection of musicals, but somewhat mistitled
Summary: 5 Stars
This set is somewhat misnamed - these are not musicals from MGM's "classic musical period", usually defined as from about 1939 to 1955. You won't find Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, or Cyd Charisse in these films. These films were either distributed by United Artists and not produced by MGM at all, or they were produced by the Sam Goldwyn Company. Otherwise they'd be in the possession of Warner Home Video. That doesn't mean they are without merit though, and all six are presented in widescreen. I describe each in chronological order and give the rating as provided by a popular internet film database:
Guys and Dolls (1955) 7.2/10 - Marlon Brando is Sky Masterson, and Frank Sinatra is Nathan Detroit. Both are rival small-time hoods, and Masterson bets Detroit one thousand dollars that he can get any woman Detroit picks to go to Havana with him. Detroit picks a prim missionary woman played by Jean Simmons. Of all six films this one has the most classic musical feel to it.
West Side Story (1961) 7.7/10 - Won 10 of the 11 Oscars for which it was nominated including Best Picture of 1961, and unlike so many other Oscar decisions I think it still holds up as the best picture made that year. Many feel that is too dated to be appreciated today, but its purpose was never to be a time-transcending view of urban violence set to music. Instead it is an urban American Romeo and Juliet story, and the music, the romance, and the tragedy are still moving. This is the only way to see this film in widescreen unless you buy the two disc special edition.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) 6.8/10 - Movie musicals were losing popularity by the time this movie was made, so this film is less musical and more comedy. Even though this film is set in the days of the Roman Empire it has a very 1960's feel to it. The visual comedy is great, the film has a fun manic pace to it, and it is also Buster Keaton's last film - he has a minor but interesting role.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967) 7.1/10 - This film, although amusing, is also somewhat stuck in the 1960's. However, it is probably the best role Robert Morse ever had - he is generally very good at satire. Although the sexism isn't quite so blatant today as it was when this movie was made, the film does a good job of poking fun at corporate culture and the basis on which business decisions are made. The empty suits and their golden parachutes will always be with us, although not with as much good music as in this movie.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) 6.4/10 - This film has some great stuff in it and it has some unique and interesting ideas - the once celebrated race car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, abandoned as junk and then picked up by inventor Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) and turned into a flying machine, the idea of a kingdom where all children are outlawed and kept in a castle dungeon and fed garbage, but it is just about half an hour too long in my opinion and could have stood some heavy duty editing at the time of its release.
Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 7.7/10 - One of the great musicals of all time, made long after the golden age of the musical was over. However, it returned to the movie musical's classic roots and actually gave you the feeling of being in another place and another time with simple values rather than trying to woo a modern audience, which is the mistake musicals tried to make in the mid to late 1960's and probably part of why they didn't go over too well. Topol plays Tevye, a Jewish peasant with five daughters, who is trying to live a traditional Jewish life in pre-revolutionary Russia where Jews are not particularly welcome. On top of that, his daughters aren't so sure of continuing along the lines of Tevye's traditions either.
I don't have any information on possible extras on these films, but MGM/UA doesn't generally put extras in their classic film sets, so I would doubt that you are getting anything other than the movies themselves.
More MGM Classic Musicals (West Side Story/Guys and Dolls/Fiddler on the Roof/A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) reviews:
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Description of MGM Classic Musicals (West Side Story/Guys and Dolls/Fiddler on the Roof/A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
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