Frankie and Johnny (1966)

Frankie and Johnny is a pretty middle of the road Elvis vehicle. This is neither one of his strongest films or one of his weakest. If this movie was to serve as anyone's introduction to Elvis, it would not make them a fan, the way a film like King Creole (1958) would, yet Elvis fans (like myself) will have fun watching it.

Though this movie did make money, Elvis was certainly less relevant at this time than he had been before. Rock and roll had moved from the type that Elvis helped popularize to the more experimental music Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were making. That is what makes this film so odd, it seemed to be trying to make Elvis less even less relevant to mid-60's audiences. This is a turn of the century musical of the type that populated movie theatres over 20 years earlier and Elvis was singing songs from that era rather than rock and roll. Young rock and roll fans must have found this movie date. d even in 1966.

Yet none of that means it was not an enjoyable film. Frankie and Johnny had an excellent supporting cast. Harry Morgan is one of the better Elvis sidekicks and provides some good laughs here. Sue An Langdon often steals the show with a great comic performance. She puts all her energy into this part and makes many jokes that are only decent, quite funny with her fantastic delivery. To be honest the comic relief is one of the best parts of this film. Elvis gives a typically good performance here. He is hardly given a part that allows him to show his acting chops, but he still does quite well with what he is given. Of course, his singing voice is as good as ever. I love Elvis' performance of Hard Luck, this is the bluesy side of Elvis at its best. Beginner's Luck and Please Don't Stop Loving Me are typically lovely Elvis love ballads and who cannot love hearing Elvis' voice on one of these songs.

On the other hand the story is typical Elvis fare that we are already very familiar with. It is told well but there is little to make it stand out among many similar movies. Along with the musical highlights, there are also some lackluster song choices. I don't think any of us really wanted the king of rock and roll to perform a song like Petunia the Gardener's Daughter. This song was not a fun type of cheesy that came in Elvis' early years, but rather an embarrassing type of cheesy that is simply not fun to watch or listen to at all. This is as bad of a song as ever appeared in an Elvis film.

All in all this is an enjoyable movie for fans but non-fans should start with one of Elvis' films from the 1950's.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: White Christmas (1954)

 

A simply wonderful musical. 

This film's storyline is incredibly simple. Two men (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye) meet in the army and form a song in dance team. After leaving the army the two become major stars. One day they catch a sister act (Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen) and fall in love with these two girls and follow them to Vermont. In Vermont they meet their general (Dean Jagger) in the army. The general is running a struggling inn and the two men decide to put on a big Christmas Eve show at that inn to help him. All the while they have various romantic entanglements with the two sisters. 

Within this simple story is an incredible amount of charm. Everything about this film works beautifully. The most obvious praise to give this movie is the great musical numbers. All the songs used in this film were written by the great Irving Berlin and the songs chosen show off the songwriter's work to great advantage. There is not one song here that is not a delight to hear. Yet what is visually happening during these song numbers is just as delightful. Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen's wonderful dance numbers are a definitely highlight and make the two simply light up the screen during these scenes. Not only is their dancing amazing, but they also bring a wonderfully fun energy to each of these numbers that will even put a smile on the face of those who don't normally like musicals. Danny Kaye performing Choreography, especially puts a smile on my face every time I see it. His dancing there is equally parts comedic and impressive, showing off both his dancing and comedic talents to their fullest. The beautiful singing voices of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney don't hurt at all. The two are in great form and show off why both are such respected singers. To this day there is no one who can sing a Christmas song as well as Bing Crosby. His voice simply fits the season perfectly and when he croons the title song, one gets that unexplainably wonderful Christmas feeling. The final reprise of the title song may be one of the most perfect moments in Christmas movie history. The image of our four main stars in front of a giant Christmas tree decorated in wonderful Christmas outfits with a group of very talented kids dancing and a beautifully snowy backdrop simply feels as warm and cozy as a cup of hot chocolate at home on a Christmas Eve night.  Yet this movie is even delightful beyond just the musical numbers. The storyline may be simple and sentimental but it is the type of sentimentality that really works. We truly care about these characters and want to the romances work out and for the general to see how much he has meant to so many of his men. The humor is also fantastic and there are quite a few wonderfully funny moments. The banter between Bing and Danny Kaye's characters is especially fantastic and can still make audiences laugh to this day. However the biggest comedic highlight is the two main male characters doing their own kidding of the sisters' Sisters musical number. If you look at Bing Crosby's face during that scene, you can see Bing trying not to break into laughter. This film being directed by the legendary Michael Crutiz (Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)), it is wonderfully paced, giving a warm nostalgic feel while never feeling too slow. 

To make a movie revolving around the song White Christmas was a natural idea. The song had been a major hit since it premiered in the movie, Holiday Inn (1942). In fact, that is in understatement. To this day Bing Crosby's version of the song is still considered to be the highest selling song of all time. In fact Bing Crosby had already reprised the song in another feature film, Blue Skies (1946). This movie was originally indented to not only reprise the most popular song from Holiday Inn but it was meant to be a reunion of the two stars of that film, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Both stars turned down the picture. Bing Crosby would change his mind though Fred Astaire did not. Fred's role was then given to Donald O'Connor (who would have been great in this movie). However Donald became very sick before production began so the role was given to Danny Kaye. Danny Kaye luckily was a wonderful choice for the role. Rosemary Clooney would later state that the Sisters number worked because she couldn't dance and Vera-Ellen couldn't sing, but together they could pull it off. Vera-Ellen's voice in this number is actually dubbed in by Rosemary Clooney.

This is simply a wonderful piece of old-fashioned entertainment that will simply put a smile on any movie fan's face. 

 The following is a 1955 article from TV Radio Mirror where Rosemary Clooney talks about Bing Crosby. If you have any trouble reading the following pages click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in.

Resources Used

Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold

https://mediahistoryproject.org/ 

Movie Review: Lyle Lyle Crocodile

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

An enjoyable but not especially memorable family film.

This may not be a new family classic, but the movie did put a smile on my face. The main characters are quite likable and easy to relate to. While it may be true that they are not exactly subtle characters, this is a movie about a singing crocodile. I truly liked these characters and found it easy to root for them. Each has their own little story that works quite well and makes them feel more real to us. The main storyline of this film is very familiar but still quite charming and hits some of the emotional notes quite well. The humor is quite charming even if I admit that it made me smile quite a bit but never laugh out loud. This film also has a great look that does a really nice job of combining New York City with a fairy tale style atmosphere. It is quite impressive how directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck (the directing team behind Blades of Glory (2007) and Office Christmas Party (2016)), adapt themselves to this more family friendly and fantasy style environment. The original songs for this movie are really good. They sound very nice, are quite catchy and have some very pleasant feel-good lyrics.  

The main problem I have with this film is that it is not especially memorable. While I enjoyed watching the movie, I have little doubt that a year from now, I am kind of going to forget it exists. This is because it is so similar to many other movies and does little to make it stand out from said movies. I will also say, I thought some of the character development happens much too fast and seems quite rushed. While I like the design of Lyle the crocodile, the design of the CGI cat is another story. This design is simply an uncomfortably awkward combination of a cartoon-y style with a more realistic one. 

This may not be a new classic but it makes for a nice fun trip to the movies.  

Overlooked Classics: Sweet Music (1935)

 I love the Warner Brothers musicals from the 1930's. This of course includes beloved classics like 42nd Street, but it also includes overlooked gems like Sweet Music. It amazes me how little talked about Sweet Music is among classic movie fans. It has everything that makes me love these musicals so much. Great songs, lavish looking musical numbers, a great cast (Rudy Vallee, Ann Dvorak, Ned Sparks, Allan Jenkins...) and great humor are all here. Yes, it is a corny and silly movie, but I think we could all use a little more corniness and silliness in our life and this film is very entertaining to boot.

The director of the film is Alfred E. Green. Green was never a director who had a distinctive style or genre. He directed films as diverse as Dangerous, The Gracie Allen Murder Case, Ella Cinders, The Jolson Story, Baby Face, Smart Money and this film. However, he did bring us a list of usually consistently good movies. Most of his films were usually B-movies but this is a rare A-movie for him and he pulls it off very well.

One of the main reasons for this film existing is it's star Rudy Vallee. Rudy Vallee was one of the biggest music stars of this era, and Hollywood was quick to take advantage of his popularity. His first film appearance was in 1929 with the short Radio Rhythm and that same year he would appear in his first feature The Vagabond Lover. He would have a great career as a movie actor as well with films such as The Palm Beach Story, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, I Remember Mama, and Gold-diggers in Paris, and this film. He would prove he was a great performer whether an actor or a singer. However this film was made to show off Rudy's music. He would often times clown around when performing on stage and that is taken to full advantage here. For instance Rudy does an imitation of radio star Fred Allen during a great comedy song called Outside and there is much slapstick with him and his band on stage. This film truly lets Rudy Vallee show his very likable stage image at its best.

Rudy Vallee isn't the only great thing about film's cast. Especially of note are Ned Sparks and Allan Jenkins (who my fellow Hanna-Barbera lovers might know as the voice of Officer Dibble in Top Cat). Both of these actors played smaller roles in many Warner Brothers musicals. They were always quite funny in those small roles and they are even better in their larger roles here. Their parts in this film are hilarious (Ned Sparks as Ann Dvorak's agent and Allan Jenkins as a nutty publicity agent). Also what works well here is that Ann Dvorak and Rudy Vallee have great chemistry.

The song writers for this film are the great team of Al Dublin and Harry Warren (42nd Street, Gold-diggers of 1933) as well as the team of Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal (Footlight Parade) and another songwriting team of Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel (Flirtation Walk). One of the highlights of the film is the great ending musical number written by Dublin and Warren.

Critics and audiences both enjoyed the film when it was released, and I am sure many classic film fans will love it today.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
tcm.com/this-month/article/410227%7C409219/Sweet-Music.html

Movie Review: Inu-oh

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A wonderfully unique anime feature film.

Those of you who are familiar with Masaaki Yuasa's previous movies (The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2017), Lu Over the Wall (2017), Ride Your Wave (2019)) know they will be in for a visual treat watching this film. This movie does not let down in this department at all. This film is simply lovely to look at. Every moment is dripping in pure visual delight. This is especially true of the musical numbers. Visually these scenes are as large scale and elaborate as anything Busby Berkley ever did. The numbers also take pure advantage of the fact that this is animation and in animation you can do anything. There is such a wealth of creative ideas in these scenes that give this movie a truly unique and wonderful feel. Speaking of the musical numbers the music is excellent. While normally I am not the biggest fan of modern music being used in period films, I feel it works exceptionally well here. In the fairytale atmosphere of this movie, this music doesn't feel out of place. Plus how many characters state they never heard anything like it before, helps make this feel like it belongs in the movie. The songs are also simply a lot of fun and I could see a lot of people being fans of these songs even if they weren't used in a movie. Yet this film is not simply a matter of style over substance. The film also benefits from a very smart script by Akiko Nogi (who has written for live action movies and TV shows, but for whom this is his animation debut). This script gives an intelligent look at how parts of our history disappear and get forgotten. 

This is a must see for all anime fans. 

Overlooked Classics: Music For Millions (1944)

 In 1944 Margaret O'Brien won a special Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actress. One look at her output that year and it is not hard to see why. After all it was the year she played her most famous role, as Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis. That same year she also acted in Jene Eyre, The Canterville Ghost, Lost Angel and this overlooked gem Music For Millions. There is little need to state that she plays a big hand in making this movie so delightful.

This movie also marks the first time she played sisters with June Allyson. They would later play sisters again in the 1949 film version of Little Women. Their chemistry is very apparent in this film, and in fact so was there chemistry off screen. The two became very close and June Allyson always kept a picture of little Margaret on her dresser. They had even more in common too. They were considered the best actresses at crying at this time and had earned the nickname "The Town Criers". Director Henry Koster (who is best remembered today for directing The Bishop's Wife (1947) and Harvey (1950)) even remembered Margaret O'Brien being able to control how much of her tears would be visible for the camera.

This film boasted another excellent team behind the camera as well. Henry Koster and producer Joe Pasternak. They had previously both helped save Universal from financial problems, with a series of successful musicals starring Deanna Durbin. This was the first film the team had made together after moving to MGM. It was also Koster's first MGM movie. However, it was Pasternak's sixth.

The story revolves around little Mike (Margaret O'Brien) visiting her sister Barbara (June Allyson). Barbara is a member of an orchestra and many of the women in that orchestra take Mike in. Meanwhile though Barbara is waiting for a letter from her husband (who is fighting in World War 2) but no letter comes. 

This film is a tearjerker, but it never feels forced. The storyline always feels real because the characters feel real. This is achieved through a great script (by Myles Connolly) and great performances from the whole cast.

The main stars of the film aren't the only ones who put on great performances. The whole cast does. However Jimmy Durante stands out here as being at his best. His slowly growing to love Mike is very heartwarming. One of the highlights of this film is him preforming a song number called Umbriago. His performance of this song is just dripping with pure energy and enjoyment of what he is doing. I don't see how anybody can not like this scene.

Adding to the musical fun is real life conductor and pianist José Iturbi. He and his orchestra help treat us to some great renditions of various classical music standards including an especially good finale of Handel's Messiah.

Overall this movie is a must see.

  Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2704/Music-for-Millions/articles.html

Video Link: "Gotta Have Me Go With You" - A Star Is Born (1954)

Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)

 

Between making Have Rocket Will Travel (1959) and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962) for Columbia, The Stooges would make their first and only movie for 20th Century Fox, Snow White and the Three Stooges. 

Originally set to direct this movie was Frank Tashlin. Tashlin would have been a perfect Stooge director. He began his film career working in cartoons. Though he worked for Van Bueren, Disney and Columbia, Tashlin did his best cartoon work for Warner Brothers. His Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons rank among some of the best the studio ever made. Wholly Smoke (1938), Plane Daffy (1944), Porky Pig's Feat (1943), Scrap Happy Daffy (1943), Nasty Quacks (1945), Swooner Crooner (1944), and The Stupid Cupid (1944) all appear in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons and with good reason. As a cartoon director Frank Tashlin has easily earned a place among such greats as Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Jack Kinney. In the 1950's Tashlin moved into live action filmmaking. Here he also had great success. He directed some of the best movies Bob Hope (including the brilliant Son of Paleface (1952)) and Jerry Lewis ever made as well as such gems as Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) and The Girl Can't Help It (1956). Imagining what a Frank Tashlin Three Stooges movie is a comedy buff's dream. Yet this was not to be. Fox replaced Frank Taslin with Walter Lang. Walter Lang was a great director and one with a well-established reputation. Starting his career in the silent era Lang had directed such classics as The Red Kimona (1925), The Little Princess (1939), State Fair (1945), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), The King and I (1956) and Desk Set (1957). Snow White and the Three Stooges was not the first time Lang had directed the stooges. He had directed them in the movie, Meet the Baron (1933) in which the stooges played a smaller but quite memorable role. Snow White and the Three Stooges would be the last film of Lang's long career. While certainly a great director, Lang had never been particularly suited to slapstick comedy, which explains quite a bit about this movie. Along with the change of directors, the cost of this film also changed drastically. Under Tashlin this film was planned to be made on a budget of $750,000. However with Lang as director the cost would amount to 3 and a half million dollars. 

To play Snow White, Fox hired Carol Heiss. Carol Heiss had not been a professional actress. The world knew her much better as a figure skater. At this time she was at the high point in her career and had the previous year won the gold medal for the 1960 Olympics. So with her being on top of the world, it is no wonder Hollywood came calling. This was to be her first movie as well as her only movie. 20th Century Fox would offer her another film role after this one, but she would turn it down and move back to Ohio. 

Boxoffice, 1961

The Wicked Queen was played by Patricia Medina, who had been working in the movie since the late 1930's. This was not her first time acting with a slapstick comedy team. She had also worked with Abbott and Costello in their feature film, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950). Her other movies included the first of the Francis the Talking Mule films, Francis (1950), The Three Musketeers (1948), Aladdin and His Lamp (1952), Valentino (1951) and The Secret Heart (1946). In later interviews, she stated that her and Carol Heiss did not get along and that Heiss tried to get her fired. Medina was also the wife of Joseph Cotton, who many film buffs will know from his role in Citizen Kane (1941) among other classics. Prince Charming was played by Edson Stroll. Stroll would not have much of a movie career appearing in very few films and sometimes in uncredited roles. He would however go on to much more success on TV playing the character of Virgil Edwards on McHale's Navy (1962-1966). He would appear once again with the Stooges in the feature film, Three Stooges in Orbit (1962). Quinto the ventriloquist puppet was voiced by the one and only Mel Blanc, who is best known today for voicing the majority of the male Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters. 




Out of every film The Three Stooges made, Snow White and The Three Stooges feels the least like a Stooge picture. Despite being advertised as a Three Stooges picture, The Stooges come off as supporting characters in their own movie. This film is much more Snow White than it is Three Stooges. In fact, there are times when it feels like the filmmakers don't really know what to do with The Stooges. Still just because this movie doesn't work as a Stooge comedy doesn't mean, it doesn't work as a Snow White film. Judging this as a Snow White movie rather than a Three Stooges picture, the film actually works pretty well. It may not be on the same level as the Disney version but it is quite entertaining in its own right. 

This was the highest budget Stooge film (and the only one in color) and none of that budget went to waste. This film looks beautiful. This is not a movie that ever takes color for granted, but instead uses it to enhance the fairy tale feel to this story. The use of color in the ice ballet scene towards the latter part of the movie is epically fantastic. These visuals draw you further and further into the magical world of fairy tales making this by far the most atmospheric movie The Three Stooges ever appeared in. 

What this movie actual does better than any other film adaption of Snow White is how it handles Prince Charming. Not only does he have more personality here than in most movie versions, but he also has an interesting backstory. The Queen was to have him murdered as a small child and the Huntsman (Buddy Baer) was hired to do the job. However, The Three Stooges rescue him from this fate, but not without the prince receiving a bump on the head which causes him to lose his memory. So, the Stooges raise him and take care of him. Since Prince Charming is often times the most boring part of this story this is certainly refreshing. Plus there is a real sweetness with his relationship to the Stooges that automatically endures all four characters to us. 

This movie also has one of my favorite film versions of the wicked queen (second only to the animated Disney version). Patricia Medina plays this part perfectly. She perfectly captures the sheer evil of this character, but in such a way that you can easily believe that she was able to hide it from so many for so long. She can turn from charming and glamorous to evil and menacing in the drop of a hat. This makes her a far more terrifying version of the character than many other movie and TV versions. As the witch she is able to drop this guise and be pure giddy evil. Her scenes as the witch are genuinely creepy without being too scary for the young audience this film was intended for. All in all, she is everything a fairytale villain should be. With this in mind is interesting to note that the witch scenes had some initial problems.  When Walter Lang saw the original rushes, he felt the way the witch looked was horrible. Her hat looked like a dunce cap and the makeup department had failed to age the actress' hands. Her entire wardrobe and make up was redone and the scenes were reshot, leading us to what we have in the movie today. It is also worth noting (spoilers ahead) that the witch dies by crashing and falling while riding her broomstick and going up in flames. This idea was written and subsequentially discarded from Wizard of Oz (1939), where the Wicked Witch of the West was planned to die in the same way.   

While this film is not heavy on action there is one action scene towards the climax of the picture with Prince Charming trying to break into the castle. This scene is actually pretty darn exciting and reminiscent of the great Hollywood swashbucklers. 

The story mostly functions as a costume drama for a younger audience, and it works quite well. The cast are quite good in their roles and much of the dialogue is quite well written. The romance is quite well done. While as a kids film the romance here is not mushy, the scenes between Prince Charming and Snow White are quite well done, and the characters have excellent chemistry. The Stooges even get some serious scenes here and they play them quite well, showing what great actors they truly are. 

However there are some faults to even the Snow White side of the story. During the ice skating scenes it becomes too obvious that Carol Heiss is the only one of the main actors who can skate and some of the doubles don't quite look like the actors who play the characters in the scenes off ice. Plus the version of Quinto that appears in the ice skating ballet is creepy rather than charming. It made me feel uneasy as a kid and still kind of does today. There is also a scene after the huntsman tells Snow White to run where she runs through the woods frightened of everything she sees. This scene is lifted almost directly from the Disney version of the story, but it is something that works better in animation than live action and therefore comes off as a bit of a pale imitation.  

 Despite all the things that work about this movie, it does have to contend with the fact that it is not really that funny of a movie and that is an unpardonable sin for many stooge fans. 

Radio TV Mirror, 1961

Boxoffice, 1961

Boxoffice, 1961

By this time, The Stooges had had quite a bit of success making children's record albums. Albums they had already released included The Three Stooges - Madcap Musical Nonsense at Your House (1959) and The Three Stooges Sing Six Happy Yuletide Songs (1959). Naturally with this in mind, the new Stooges movie needed a soundtrack album. Despite the movie being released in 1961, this soundtrack album was released in 1960. Much of this record was made up of The Stooges' dialogue from the movie. The first side of the album is mostly made of dialogue and provides a pretty good audio version of the film's story. This album also includes a song called Looking for People, Looking for Fun. This song was originally planned for the film but was cut from the picture. It is a shame that this song was cut as it is quite delightful and would have been a highlight of the movie, especially for Stooge fans. 

The movie was not a finical success and it is worth noting that the much cheaper made and less elaborate (but more typical of The Stooges) feature films that Columbia made in the 1960's were much more profitable. 

Resources Used

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Jean Howard Maurer and Greg Lenburg. 

https://filmic-light.blogspot.com/2011/04/snow-white-and-three-stooges.html

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Movie Review: Cyrano

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent musical adaption of the classic story. 

There is a reason that the story of Cyrano de Bergrac still resonates even though the original play was written in 1897. That is that the tale is far more than just a romance, but themes that will always be universal. We all have had opportunities for things we truly wanted but were afraid to take a risk. We have all felt that certain things were never intended for us. And we have all let our pride get in the way of us trying something that might result in failure. Because of this the story is just as powerful and true today as when it was written. Even if this movie changes the reason for Cyrano's self-doubt from a large nose to being short, the message comes across quite powerfully in this film. Every important emotional beat hits perfectly and many of the scenes feel legitimately heart breaking. This is a film that will not only make you tear up but will do it in a way that feels completely real and honest. That is because director Joe Wright and screenwriter Erica Schimdt (in what is impressively her first screenwriting credit) fully understand the emotional power of the original story and make sure none of it is missing here. This movie also heavily depends on Peter Dinklage's performance as the title character. Luckily, he is fantastic in this role. He gives a truly moving and deeply human performance and once again shows what a great actor he is. 

The songs can be hit and miss. While some of them can be quite forgettable, there are two I really loved. Someone to Say is extremely catchy and will be stuck in my head for a while. Wherever I Fall is a very moving song and perfectly accompanies one of the most emotional scenes in the movie. Still these songs can't help but make me wish the rest of the songs were as good. One major fault for this movie however is how the songs are staged. The choreography seems out of place and adds little emotionally or visually to the songs we are hearing. Other times, it can feel like the movie suddenly turned into a music video when one of these songs begins and while they seem like well-made music videos they still feel out of place. 

Those faults however can't distract from how emotionally moving this film can be and with that in mind I highly recommend it. 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

The story of the film is extremely simple. The Smith family lives in St. Louis and loves it there. Esther (played by Judy Garland) is in love with John Truett, the boy next door (played by Tom Drake). Rose (played by Lucille Bremer) is in love with Warren Sheffield (played by Robert Sully), but he has trouble proposing to her. Meanwhile Tootie (played by Margret O'Brien) gets in as much trouble as humanly possible. The father (played by Leon Ames) gets a chance to be promoted, but he must move to New York. The whole family is naturally very upset about this.

This film was directed by one of MGM's best directors of musical films, Vincente Minnelli, who also directed such classics as Cabin in the Sky, The Pirate and An American in Paris. He would also direct such great non-musical movies as The Long Long Trailer, Lust For Life and I Dood It. This film began his romance with the film's star Judy Garland. It was the first film they worked on together and they fell deeply in love. They married the next year and the year after that they gave birth to a daughter Liza Minnelli. Interestingly Judy Garland almost didn't do the movie because, she didn't want to be typecast.

Despite how tight and simple this movie feels, things had to be cut out. In an early draft a subplot about Esther getting blackmailed existed. There was also a song called Boys and Girls Like You and Me that was actually shot for the film but later cut. This song came directly after The Trolley Song.

The songs for this movie were written by Ralph Blaine and Hugh Martin. The song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas originally had darker lyrics. These included "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last". Judy Garland felt it was horrible to sing this to such a small child as Tootie and that Esther should try to cheer her up with this song. The song writers listened and came up with the lyrics that remain in the film (and all the subsequent recordings). Speaking of the songs my fellow Tom and Jerry fans will recognize The Trolley Song, even if they had never seen this movie and that is because Scott Bradley, who did the scores for Tom and Jerry films, used the song as background music in those cartoons often (since they were also made for MGM).

This film is incredibly good. The songs are fantastic, the performances are great, the story is very good and just everything works about this film. Along with the great music and romance, this film also stands up so well because of the characters and humor. The scenes with Tootie talking about her dead dolls, never fail to make me laugh. The characters here feel real and far from the movie stereotypes they could have easily been. When the films over I almost feel sad to leave these characters. Overall, this film just has an amazing charm that to me is irresistible. That is why it has become one of my personal favorite movies. 

Meet Me in St. Louis became a huge hit both critically and at the box office. It remains as much of a classic today as it did in 1944.

The Film Daily, 1945

The Independent Film Journal, 1944

Showman's Trade Review, 1944

For more Michael's Christmas Movie Guide click here.

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/310/Meet-Me-in-St-Louis/articles.html

Movie Review: West Side Story

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

An incredible adaption of the classic musical that holds its own with the beloved 1961 film version. 

This movie is incredibly cinematic. There is not a second of film wasted and every shot is incredibly beautiful and breath taking to look at. Director Steven Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (who have worked together on such films as Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and War Horse (2011)) are both at the top of their game with this film. In fact, the film is so cinematic that it is hard to think that this was a stage play at one time. Justin Peck's choreography is equally impressive. These dance numbers truly come to life. They at once feel larger than life and like something truly spectacular, yet at the same time, they are of full service to the story and help perfectly to define the emotional center of each of these scenes. None of this copies the 1961 film and in fact the musical numbers have a unique look and feel all their own. Still at the same time they each have just as much cinematic and emotional power as they did in the previous film. Because of this the movie doesn't feel like a remake but rather a retelling of a great story. Speaking of the story, there is a reason this story has lived on through these past few decades and has been steadily performed as a stage play. Based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this story is just as touch and powerful today as it was when it was first written. Though the love story in West Side Story is beautiful, the play has never been just about the romance. The deeper themes of racism, poverty, senseless violence, hatred and the pointlessness of gangs have always ringed through and spoken to people of any age and any generation that has come around since the play was originally written. This movie captures all of that perfectly. The love story is touching and completely believable and the deeper themes are told in an intelligent and powerful way. All this touched my heart deeply as I watched the film and my eyes were transfixed to the screen unable to look away. Having seen the previous movie and the stage play, of course I knew what was going to happen in the end, but my emotional connection with this new version of the story was so strong that I still found myself overwhelmed with emotion many times throughout this movie. I 100% admit to even crying at the end. I cannot remember the last time I was this emotionally torn and moved by a newly released movie as I was here. The cast is also excellent. I was especially impressed with Rachel Zegler as Maria. This may be her first movie but you could never tell it from her performance here. Ariana DeBose as Anita was perfectly good. She captures the energy and feistiness needed for this character, but she also captures the more dramatic scenes with such an intensity, that I don't see how anyone could not be moved by it. Rita Moreno (who played Anita in the 1961 film) has a smaller role, but she is fantastic in it. 

As someone who loves the 1961 movie, I was skeptical when I saw there was going to be another West Side Story movie, but I needn't be. This is an incredible movie that can easily hold its own with 1961 film. In short this is one of those films that makes a cinema fan fall in love with movies all over again. 

Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012)

 

A fun, if flawed direct to video Scooby-Doo! movie.

The Mystery Inc. Gang is heading on a vacation, but Velma will not tell Scooby and Shaggy where. Shaggy says anywhere is fine as long as there aren't any monsters. This turns out to not be fully true, as they are going to a vampire festival called, Vampire Palooza. There they see a group of vampire actors performing. Daphne soon has a crush on one of the actors, Braham (a nod to Braham Stoker who wrote the Dracula novel). However when it seems that a real vampire visits the show. It looks like the gang has another mystery on their hands. The stakes for this one though may be higher as the vampire soon kidnaps Daphne. 

There is a lot to love about this movie for Scooby fans. The characters here are all at their most likable and the humor is quite good. While not the funniest film in the franchise, there are quite a few really good laughs in here. The mystery element is excellent and while it is not too hard to solve it is still a lot of fun to try and solve it yourself. The design of the vampire is excellent. It is one of the creepier monster designs and this adds to the creepy atmosphere of the film. Yet it is not too creepy as to take away from lighthearted fun that we except from Scooby-Doo! The vampire festival and the swamp are perfectly creepy and atmospheric Scooby locations. They really pull you further into the film and make this movie stand out as something unique. This movie may be creepier than the average Scooby mystery but this is done very well and really enhances the film. The animation is quite excellent as well. 

This movie has a gimmick to differentiate it from the other Scooby films. That gimmick is that this film is a musical. Unfortunately this is the movie's weak point. None of the songs are all that good and most of them are completely forgettable. They are also not that well incorporated into the story and can at times feel like they come out of no where. This can get distracting. Songs in a musical should enhance the story. Unfortunately that is not the case here where if the songs were left out the story would remain unaffected. 

All in all a really fun Scooby movie, but I still wish they would have dropped the musical element.   

Movie Review: Dear Evan Hansen

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

This movie's heart is in the right place and that can be felt even underneath its major faults. 

What works best about this movie is the main character and what he is going through. He is instantly likable and relatable. While at first I was afraid he was simply going to come off as a caricature of those with anxiety, rather than a real human being. Yet as the film moved on and he began to put more of himself on display, he began to feel more and more like a real person and it became easy to identify with him and hope that everything would work out. The supporting characters may not be extremely devolped but they are likable and easy to relate to. This movie also addresses a serious and unpleasant subject matter. While this is not done perfectly, it is never done in a patronizing way. It treats its audience with resect and never talks down to them or diminishes the seriousness of the subject matter. True there is some forced dialogue and scenes that don't work, but even in these scenes the heart is obviously in the right place and I have to respect that. There are also a few scenes that hit their emotional marks well and those scenes are worth sitting through the ones that don't work.

Unfortunately this movie has some major faults. One is the film's use of songs, which is obviously a major problem when the movie is a musical. The main problem with the songs isn't the songs themselves but the lack of any transition before the song. The best musicals make the characters singing seem like the most natural thing in the world. In this film the songs come out of nowhere. The characters are simply having an everyday conversation when all the sudden one of them begins singing. This immediately takes you out of the story and is simply very distracting. Another problem with the songs is that they are too similar. This creates a repetitive feeling and also does not allow any song to truly stand out. This is a shame because they are not bad songs. The music is pleasant and some of the lyrics are quite good. Two other major faults are how predictable the story is and how long the movie is. Anyone who has seen a movie before, will know what has to happen eventually. Unfortunately this film takes forever to get to that part. There are times when it can really drag and leave you wanting them to get to this unavoidable plot point. This can cause impatience which is never a good thing in a movie. There are also quite a few scenes which could have been left on the cutting room floor and made for a tighter film.  Despite these faults though this is still a good hearted movie that doesn't talk down to its audience.
  

  

Video: JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) - Elvis Presley - Classic Movie Musical Numbers

Video: Got A Lot O' Living to Do (From Loving You (1957)) - Elvis Presley

 

Video: Gene Autry - Poor Little Dogie (from Colorado Sunset 1939)

 

Video: Lydia the Tattooed Lady (from At The Circus (1939))

 

Scooby-Doo! Goes Hollywood (1979)

 

This made for TV movie, marked Scooby's first feature film and one of his biggest departures up to that time (Laff-a-Lympics being the only real competition in that department). It is not Scooby's finest movie by any means but it is still really charming. 

The basic plot is an idea I love and a prefect set up for satire. Scooby and Shaggy are tired of being used as bait for bad guys, because wouldn't you be? Therefore they leave their Saturday morning cartoon to find a career in a different type of TV show. This leads to parodies of various TV shows and an ending that you probably already figured out. I love cartoon characters being treated the same as live action actors, who play roles in cartoons for their jobs. Though this idea was hardly original at this time, I like picturing my favorite cartoon characters as real while still picturing the cartoons as fictional. A good cartoon character feels real to me and this type of story enhances that fantasy. However while this film has a perfect setup for satire, it is only moderately funny. There is not much real parodying of these TV shows and instead of making jokes about the shows, we simply see Scooby in them messing up the proceedings. While this does get some laughs, there is no doubt it could have been funnier. This movie however is chock full of charm. The songs while nothing amazing are quite charming. The basic story as I have stated is a very good one and while not as funny as it could have been the story is still well told. The characters are still as likable as ever and it is a joy to spend some time with them. The ending while predictable is also executed in a very charming and fun way, that plays on the great fantasy element of this story. 

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Patriotic Songs From the Movies

Happy 4th of July my friends. Let us celebrate with some patriotic songs from the movies.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

"Jumping Jive" From Stormy Weather (1943)

Though Stormy Weather certainly has its faults as a movie, the big finale musical number is one of my favorite musical numbers in the history of movie musicals. There is so much energy and talent on screen that I can not look away from the screen. From Cab Calloway and his orchestra giving their all to the music to the Nicholas Brothers doing things that should not be humanly possible, I love every second of it.

  

-Michael J. Ruhland