ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Meryl]

Hans Christian Andersen is a 1952 Hollywood musical film directed by Charles Vidor, with words and music by Frank Loesser. It is a fictionalized, romanticized story revolving around the life of the Danish poet and story-teller Hans Christian Andersen. The title role was played by Danny Kaye.

The film was an international success at the time. It is not a "biographical" movie, and in the introduction describes itself as "a fairytale about the storyteller". A large part of the story is told through song and ballet.

 Songs

    * "Anywhere I Wander"
    * "I'm Hans Christian Andersen"
    * "The Inch Worm"
    * "The King's New Clothes"
    * "No Two People"
    * "Thumbelina"
    * "The Ugly Duckling"
    * "Wonderful Copenhagen"

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

Another Danny Kaye musical, this one gets lots of positive comments.



Here's an outtake from the movie! It's only 19 seconds long and worth watching...
[youtube=425,350]

[/youtube]

The whole entire movie is available on the internet archive...

http://www.archive.org/details/the_inspector_general

[Fran]

[Meryl]

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

I picked this because I liked the name (although I have never seen it). From IMDb:

Cute story that got better as it went along of two teenagers (played by Judy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew) who kidnap the girl's broke, widowed mother (played by Mary Astor) before she marries an old man for his money. Driving her away in the back of their camper/trailer in hopes of keeping her away long enough so she doesn't marry the guy - it actually takes these two kids longer than you would think to come up with the obvious - find the mom a single man closer to her age who might be more to her liking. Luckily, within minutes it seems, handsome Walter Pigeon (annoying spell checker keeps changing the last name spelling, sigh, oh well) arrives in the next trailer and seems like the perfect catch for mom.

While the story in this may seem a little silly, the excellent performances by all makes this a charming, fun film. I like the chemistry between Astor and Pigeon, Scotty Beckett does well playing the super brat little brother you "love-to-hate", and Judy Garland's star quality absolutely shines in this film. Giving an emotional, endearing performance, she sings several lively, fun-to-listen-to songs, and when the film starts with a very young and lovely Judy singing a wonderful rendition of "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart", I just knew this film wouldn't be all bad. Two things I wonder about though - first, even though they are shown graduating from "junior high school" in the beginning, Freddie drives the car. Second, how come Freddie wants to hook mom up with old man Alan Hale at one point, almost as old and unattractive as the first man (both are described as rich so it can't be just for the money - and mom doesn't love either one). Yes, this film is fluff, but I quite enjoyed it and as the film ended I had a smile on my face and that's a good thing.

[southendmd]

[Meryl]

New York, New York is a film directed by Martin Scorsese, released in 1977. It is a musical tribute to Scorsese's home town of New York City, and stars Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli as a pair of musicians and lovers.

In his introduction to the DVD edition of the film, released in 2005, Scorsese explains that he intended the film as a break from the gritty realism that he had become famous for, and sees it as an homage to the musical films of Classical Hollywood. For this reason, he designed the film's sets and storyline to be deliberately artificial-looking. He acknowledges that it is an experiment that did not please everyone.

[oilgun]

==Comment==
First RENT, then OPEN HOUSE, what's next?  MORTGAGE! ?  I love James Duvall and Ann Magnuson though.

A Sunday afternoon quest to find the perfect American dream home finds a group of wannabe homeowners embarking on a series of strange misadventures in this real estate musical from Slamdance Film Festival founder Dan Mirvish and starring Sally Kellerman, Anne Magnuson, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide




From an IMDb user:
OPEN HOUSE, starring Anthony Rapp, gives new meaning to musical movies. What can't be done live, can be done in a movie - editing and emphasis on simple steps to bring out character within scenes and people. The build-up humor related to that of a domino effect adding a sense of originality, entertainment, and sheer madness to this brilliant film by Dan Mirvish. The characters of OPEN HOUSE will have you in a mixture of emotions, which takes some rare talent found in this excellent cast and director. No part could have been cast better, no scene could have been shot better - no less, and no more could have been done for this film which truly does justice to the comedy of real estate, and musicals. OPEN HOUSE is more than a one time see.

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

Yes, this was the TV version, but indulge me.

I have a very, very clear and distinct memory of seeing Mary Martin in Peter Pan when it was on Broadway. Looking quickly at the dates it played, I am wondering how that could be...but, who knows? We were in Manhattan for the day (we lived in Queens at that time), saw the show, then went and saw the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Our seats for the show were in the first row of the first balcony. When Peter asked Wendy, Michael, and George (or is it John?) to fly, guess who climbed up on to the balcony to join them. "I'm coming, Peter!" I shrieked, as my mother and Aunt Fran frantically grabbed at my petticoat and the sash on my dress, saving me from "flying" into the main floor seats below.

To this day, when I see Peter Pan, I say, "I'm coming, Peter!" at the crucial moment

[southendmd]

==Comment==
First RENT, then OPEN HOUSE, what's next?  MORTGAGE! ? 

SUBPRIME! THE MUSICAL!  (with the short feature Foreclosure Melodies of 2008)