Hollywood hills are alive with the sound of musicals thanks to ‘Chicago’
Thanks to the success of the Oscar-winning “Chicago,” the Hollywood hills are alive with the sound of musicals. “Chicago,” which won six Academy Awards, including best picture and supporting actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones), has returned $157 million and now ranks as the highest-grossing production in the history of Miramax Films. The PG-13 picture continues in theaters (where it could hit the $200 million mark before leaving) and won’t arrive in video stores until Aug. 19.
Musical fans, however, have plenty of dancing feet to keep them happy until “Chicago” arrives for home viewing.
Earlier this week, five classic song-and-dance favorites – “Broadway Melody of 1940” with Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell; “Kiss Me Kate” (1953) with Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel; “High Society” (1956) with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra; “Les Girls” (1957) with Gene Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor, and “Silk Stockings” (1957) with Astaire and Cyd Charisse (Warner; $19.99 each, DVD only) – landed in stores as part of the Classic Musicals Collection. Each production features songs by Cole Porter.
“The Great American Song Book” (Warner; $24.99, DVD only), a documentary celebrating 100 years of the American musical and featuring stars such as Doris Day, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Al Jolson, The Marx Brothers, Ethel Merman and Mel Torme, was also released.
“Broadway Melody of 1940” (102 minutes) features Astaire and Powell performing Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” and songs such as “I Am the Captain” and “I’ve Got My Eyes on You.” The extras include legendary MGM musical star Ann Miller hosting a making-of documentary, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: Begin the Beguine,” and the theatrical trailer.
With “Kiss Me Kate” (110 minutes), Keel and Grayson play battling lovers/actors sharing the stage in a musical version of “The Taming of the Shrew” and quickly discovering that life imitates art. The sound has been re-mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1, and the extras include the documentary, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Damn Hot.”
The delightful “High Society” (112 minutes), a musical retelling of “The Philadelphia Story,” features songs such as “True Love,” “Well,” “Now You Has Jazz” and “Did You Evah?” The DVD also contains a making-of documentary, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: True Love,” hosted by Celeste Holm, who co-stars in “Society.”
Astaire and Charisse – playing a brash American and a Soviet agent, respectively – bring a touch of class to “Silk Stockings” (117 minutes), which is based on the Greta Garbo comedy “Ninotchka” (1939) and features songs such as “All of You” and “Too Bad.” (The stars previously teamed in “The Band Wagon.”) The sound has been re-mixed on Dolby Digital 5.1 and the extras include a documentary, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk,” hosted by Charisse.
In “Les Girls” (114 minutes), a charming musical directed by George Cukor, whose credits include “Pat and Mike,” “The Philadelphia Story” and “The Women,” three show girls reveal personal ties to a famous dancer (Kelly). The picture won an Oscar for best costume design. The extras include a documentary, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ca C’est L’amour.”
A sensational ‘Story’
One of Hollywood’s greatest musicals has also arrived in “West Side Story: Special Edition – DVD Collector’s Set” (MGM; $39.99, DVD only). The 1961 production, directed by Robert Wise, won 10 Academy Awards, including best picture.
The set contains two discs with numerous extras about the 152-minute production, which stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno. The story line transports Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” to New York’s mean streets.
The double-disc set contains an anamorphic wide-screen image and newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The extras include: a making-of documentary (“West Side Memories”); original film intermission music; a scrapbook with a copy of the working film script, and reproductions of the original lobby cards. (A no-frills, pan-and-scan VHS version of “West Side Story” is available for $9.99.)
A remastered ‘Chorus’
Director Richard Attenborough’s screen adaptation of the musical sensation “A Chorus Line” (MGM; $14.99, DVD only) has also arrived in stores.
Michael Douglas (who’s married to “Chicago” Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones) stars as the all-powerful choreographer Zach in this 118-minute production. The song-and-dance-fueled plot concerns 16 hoofers auditioning for the demanding Zach and hoping he’ll change their lives by casting them in the chorus of a traveling show based around a fading star.
“A Chorus Line” (1985), rated PG-13, stumbled during its theatrical release but is well worth seeing. The remastered DVD version features an anamorphic wide-screen image and Dolby Digital stereo surround. The extras include the theatrical trailer and a feature on Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the music.
Coming Soon!
The following VHS and DVD titles either have been or soon will be released to video stores.
If your local outlet doesn’t stock them, the tape and disc offerings can be mail ordered by calling (800) 523-0823 or going to the Web sites www.amazon.com or www.moviesunlimited.com, unless otherwise noted.
– “Two Weeks Notice” (Warner; $22.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; April 29) with Sandra Bullock (“Miss Congeniality”) and Hugh Grant (“About a Boy”) in a PG-13 romantic comedy about a lawyer attempting to sever ties with a demanding wealthy client/
– “Darkness Falls” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; April 29) with Chaney Kley (“Legally Blonde”) and Emma Caulfield (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) in a PG-13 fright film about an evil spirit that returns.
to a town to get revenge for an incident that occurred 150 years ago. Stan Winston, whose credits range from “Aliens” to “Jurassic Park,” created the creature.
– “Strange Behavior” (Elite; $19.99, DVD only; April 29) with Louise Fletcher (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) in the 1981 R-rated picture about a crazed doctor conducting weird experiments on students. Bill Condon, who recently earned an Oscar nomination for best-adapted screenplay for “Chicago,” wrote the script and provides a commentary track.
– “A Little Inside” (Monarch; $49.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 29) with Hallie Kate Eisenberg (“Beautiful”) and Benjamin King (“Lethal Weapon 4”) in a PG-rated family film about a professional baseball player trying to pursue his sports career while single-handedly raising his young daughter.
– “Lockdown” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; April 29) with rapper-turned-actor Master P (“I Got the Hookup”) and Richard T. Jones (TV’s “Judging Amy”) in an R-rated melodrama about a man mistakenly arrested and put behind bars.
– “Biggie & Tupac” (Razor & Tie; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; April 29) with British documentary director Nick Broomfield (“Kurt & Courtney”) investigating the unsolved murders of rap stars Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls.
– “Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean” (A&E; $49.99, tape or DVD; April 29) with Rowan Atkinson (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) in a boxed set featuring the 14 episodes that comprise the “Mr. Bean” comedy series from England.
– “Napoleon” (A&E; $59.99, tape; $49.99, DVD; April 29) with John Malkovich (“In the Line of Fire”), Isabella Rossellini (“Blue Velvet”) and Gerard Depardieu (“1900”) in an eight-hour miniseries on the French military strategist.
– “Dark Shadows: DVD Collection 5” (MPI; $59.99, DVD only; 800-777-2223; April 29) with Jonathan Frid as Barnabas and Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans in a four-disc set that contains 40 complete episodes (372-412) from the famous gothic soap opera. The story, set in the fog-shrouded village of Collinsport, follows the 175-year-old vampire Barnabas as he hungers for blood and romance. The extras include interviews with Frid and Scott, as well as music composer Robert Cobert.
– “American Family: Season One DVD Collection” (Fox; $69.99, DVD only; April 29) with Edward James Olmos (“American Me”) and Raquel Welch (“Tortilla Soup”) in a six-disc set of the PBS show that was the first drama series to feature an entirely Latino cast on broadcast television.
– “X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine” (Buena Vista; $14.99, tape; $19.99, DVD; April 29) with “Spider-Man” creator Stan Lee providing a commentary to this animated tale that has Wolverine joining the villain Magneto in a fight to save all mutants from annihilation.
– “Treasure Island” (Disney; $29.99, DVD only; April 29) with Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll in a restored and remastered pressing of the 1950 favorite based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate tale about Long John Silver and his relationship with young Jim Hawkins.
– “Treasure Planet” (Disney; $24.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; April 29) with the voices of Emma Thompson (“Sense and Sensibility”) and Martin Short (“Father of the Bride”) in a PG-rated animated tale that updates the “Treasure Island” story and unfolds in space.