DVD Review: The Judy Garland Show (Volume Five) (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

If anyone really wants to sample the full power of Judy Garland at her mature, late period best – a time when her performances could be disconcertingly variable – I suggest they watch the Diahann Carroll episode of the latest installment of Infinity Entertainment Group’s reissue of Garland’s 1963-64 CBS-TV series.

They should begin, not with the opening number “Hey Look Me Over,” slightly marred when Garland muffs a lyric, but with the second song, Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” and the succession of evergreens which follow: “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “After You’ve Gone,” “Alone Together,” and “Come Rain or Come Shine.”

She sang all of them, except “Smile,” at her famous Carnegie Hall concert a couple of years earlier, but here, she’s arguably in even better voice, and unlike some of the other musical moments on the TV series, she’s thrillingly present, making each lyric count, with accompanying body language that totally serves the material, and doesn’t simply register as nervous mannerisms.

But, in fact, that entire episode, and the Steve Allen/Mel Torme episode which accompanies it, rank high in the series, leading one to regret all the more that the network didn’t allow Garland a shot at a second season, in a less vulnerable time slot than competition to highly-rated “Bonanza” on NBC. The change in her comfort level with the TV cameras is palpable.

What’s particularly nice about these two episodes is the array of new (for her) material, all of it delivered with supreme confidence. The Allen show, for instance, has Garland emoting the classic “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and plugging the songs from Allen’s latest musical, “Sophie,” about entertainer Sophie Tucker (Garland's early MGM costar). Allen must have been thrilled to hear Garland sock over the big ballad, “I’ll Show Them All,” as perched on a stool behind her, he looked on with awe.

His wife Jayne Meadows joins Garland in the regular “tea” segment, telling an amusing story involving a manhole, and both ladies are in comfortable, chatty form.

Garland joins Allen and Torme for a tricky medley which includes “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Mean to Me,” and “Tip Toe through the Tulips.”

The “trunk” segment which closes the show presents a straw-hatted Garland at her playful best having a ball with Vernon Duke’s “Island in the West Indies” and then launching into a spectacular, moving reading of Vincent Youmans’ “Through the Years.” Just dazzling.

The Carroll show has much going for it, beyond the aforementioned splendid mini-concert. Carroll’s excessive 1960s makeup notwithstanding, the star of “House of Flowers” and “No Strings” looks cute as a button and ridiculously young, warbling “Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars” and “Goody Goody.” She and Garland engage in a dandy medley of tunes by Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers, one that bears favorable comparison to the famous Barbra Streisand duets on the series.

The program concludes with Garland shining in an elaborate new arrangement of “Great Day,” despite a too obtrusive off-stage chorus.

Even if you haven’t been collecting the series until now, this exceptional pairing is well worth owning for its own sake.

(The Judy Garland Show: Vol. 5; Infinity Entertainment Group; suggested retail: $19.98.)

DVD Review: The Judy Garland Show: Volumes 3 and 4 (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

Judy Garland would surely be pleased that her CBS television series (1963-64) – the cancellation of which, after a losing ratings battle with NBC’s “Bonanza,” mightily distressed her – is now enjoying its second DVD issue, looking as sharp and clear as if it were done yesterday, apart from being shot in black-and-white.

Volume 3 is of particular current interest in that one of its two episodes is the show she did with the late Lena Horne, along with Terry-Thomas. That show is paired with the Tony Bennett/Dick Shawn episode.

Garland herself looks great in both episodes, trim, stylishly attired and with a becoming coif. As was sometimes the case, though, she a bit less on top of her game than her lustrous co-stars, singing strongly but muffing lyrics, and looking occasionally at sea in the medleys.

Still, she delivers a heartfelt version of Noel Coward’s “If Love Were All” at the opening, and a really sensational “Stormy Weather” on the Bennett show, while in between, pairing surprisingly well with comedian Shawn for “My Buddy.” Her “Day In, Day Out” duet with Horne shows her in fine voice, though Horne trumps her in the extended medley of each performing the other’s hits.

Horne actually looks rather fierce throughout the hour, but seems to enjoy the reunion with her former MGM colleague. Though racial mores of the time discouraged interracial contact between performers of the opposite sex – Petula Clark’s mere touching of Harry Belafonte’s arm a few years later caused a firestorm – but Horne and Garland embrace frequently here with no repercussions.

Noel Coward’s “Mad Dogs and Englishman” (with Thomas) doesn’t quite come off, largely due to Garland’s tentative contribution, but elsewhere, she gets to recount her oft-told but very funny anecdote about the betrayal of a British journalist.

For Garland watchers, Vol. 4 shows the lady closest to peak, confident form. She teams with Broadway legend Ethel Merman in the first show and their duets show both ladies on equal footing.

Venturing away from her familiar repertoire, Garland sings a simple version of “Shenandoah” arrestingly shot as she stands next to a barrel in a Western setting, and does a full-out dance number with guest Peter Gennaro. The closing “Trunk” segment has her doing a well-sung “Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow” and a stirring “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” recorded in the wake of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

The other episode on Vol. 4 pairs the star with Vic Damone and Chita Rivera. Garland and Damone do an extended “West Side Story” medley, both in excellent voice, albeit prerecorded. Garland’s lip-syncing is not at her best here, but it barely mars the whole. She and Rivera – sporting a not terribly becoming beehive hairdo – sing “I Believe in You” to Louis Nye. Rivera dances in a so-so production number built around “I Got Plenty of Nothin.’”

Garland really shines in a particularly vibrant “By Myself” and concludes with firm-voiced versions of “Better Luck Next Time” from “Easter Parade” and her medley of “Almost Like Being in Love” and “This Can’t Be Love,” done even better than at her famous Carnegie Hall concert.

As noted, the print quality on these Infinity issues is superb, but it’s a pity that the indexing isn’t anywhere near as comprehensive, in terms of number of chapter stops, or informed as the previous issue on Pioneer. Tony Bennett’s rendering of the classic tune “True Blue Lou” comes up on the menu as “True Blue Moon.” The multi-song “West Side Story” medley is simply titled “Maria.” And the aforementioned knockout version of “Stormy Weather” is awkwardly dubbed “Don’t Know Why There’s No Sun Up in the Sky.”

(The Judy Garland Show: Vol. 3 & 4; Infinity Entertainment Group; suggested retail: $19.98 each.)

DVD Review: “Bing Crosby: The Television Specials, Volume One” (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

Bing Crosby fans rejoice. This first volume of some of Bing Crosby’s 30-odd television specials is a fascinating time capsule, covering his very first special in 1952 with Jack Benny and Sheree North – a sharp black and white print, by the way, as the hour was shot on film – to a 1970 color hour which brings the crooner up to the then-present with such tunes as “Raindrops Are Falling on My Head” and the Mama Cass hit, “New Day Coming,” is essential viewing.

The theme of the latter show – which also features “bright new Broadway star” Bernadette Peters and Flip Wilson -- is leisure activity, curiously the same theme Crosby explored on his 1962 ABC special.

That earlier, more interesting, program features Bob Hope (who joins Crosby for a long reminiscence about their “Road” movies), Edie Adams, Pete Fountain, and Crosby’s son Gary (looking rather like a chunky Truman Capote) who performs a great duet with his dad.

Throughout, Bing appears nothing but supportive to his son, leading one to ponder the reasons behind the “Daddy Dearest” tome Gary would later write.

Show fans will appreciate Adams’ vibrant version of “Loads of Love” from then then current show “No Strings,” and there are various other period references, including “La Dolce Vita” and the twist dance craze. The retooled production number of “America” from “West Side Story” surely must have given Stephen Sondheim pause at the time.

Also of interest, incidentally, is the appearance of the Smothers Brothers in one of their earliest TV appearances.

There are also some choice extras, including a 1952 edition of the Catholic “Christophers” program in which Crosby, Bob Hope, Phil Harris and golfer Ben Hogan who made a miraculous return to the sport after a horrific car accident, talk about the benefits of positive action; a filmed interview (in color) from golfer Jimmy Demaret’s syndicated program; a 1967 interview with the host of an Australian program called “Girl Talk,” which turns out to be surprisingly revelatory, giving a good sense of Crosby’s chatty, extremely erudite personality; and other choice bits.

The gem of the two-disc set, however, is the 1959 special featuring Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Louis Armstrong. This is a classy outing all the way, with a surprisingly strong emphasis on jazz. The highpoint is a segment with Crosby, Sinatra, and Lee backed respectively by three top pianists, Joe Bushkin, Paul Smith, and George Shearing. But there are many outstanding moments here, including Lee’s sultry “Baubles, Bangles & Beads” and “Some of These Days”; Armstrong and Crosby’s “Lazy Bones”; Sinatra’s “Willow Weep for Me” and various duets among the four.

It is interesting to see, in those racially more restrictive era, how much Armstrong was used an integral part or the group. The whole show is an ensemble effort. The print quality of the show is a bit soft, but as with all these items, still basically first-rate.

There are excellent notes by Robert S. Bader, and I look forward to the second volume.

(Infinity Entertainment Group, suggested retail price: $29.98)

Liza’s At the Palace (MPI Home Video)

By Harry Forbes

Liza Minnelli’s 2009 engagement at New York’s fabled Palace Theatre, coming after a European tryout, was justly acclaimed as one of the all-time great showbiz comebacks.

A mere year earlier – in a summer concert at Brooklyn’s Asser Levy Seaside Park – she barely had the energy to stand throughout her performance, and here she was on Broadway carrying off a two-hour plus evening of almost two dozen songs and commanding the stage with something not far removed from her trademark dynamism.

Critics outdid themselves for superlatives and she justly won Tony and Drama Desk awards for her performance.

That act has been faithfully and beautifully directed for video by Matthew Diamond, and produced in typical classy fashion by JoAnn Young, veteran of some of PBS’s finest musical moments (with Jim Arntz and Sven Nebelung) . Though the venue was the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, you’d scarcely know the difference. The songs, patter and electricity are precisely the same. Musical values are high, courtesy of her music director, singer-pianist Billy Stritch.

The video was presented last December on public television stations in a greatly abridged version, but this DVD release gives you the full show.

Minnelli’s performance is, if anything, enhanced by all the loving close-ups, and though the face is slightly fuller now, she looks terrific. The camera’s proximity underscores the subtlety of her acting throughout, especially several character songs like her extraordinary reading of Charles Aznavour’s “What Makes a Man a Man?”

The evening was anchored by two nostalgic centerpieces: a tribute to her mother Judy Garland, and another to her godmother, vocalist and MGM arranger and coach Kay Thompson, the latter the raison d’etre for the show.

Goosebump moment number one had Minnelli recreating her mom’s salute to the great entertainers who performed before her at the Palace: Nora Bayes, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, and Eva Tanguay. Later, she movingly sang her mother’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as an encore. Both these moments are treasurable, as Minnelli has been fairly rigorous about not touching her mother’s material.

The second act was anchored by her tribute to Thompson. Backed by four talented singers – Jim Caruso, Johnny Rodgers, Cortes Alexander, and Tiger Martina -- she recreates Thompson’s groundbreaking club act from the 1940s, with the choreography recreated by Ron Lewis mainly from stills as there is no extant footage.

Minnelli has been fortunate that so many of her stage performances have been preserved on film. From the Emmy-winning “Liza with a Z” to the specials she made for HBO to her DVD concert with mentor Aznavour, the quality has been extraordinarily high over the decades.

On purely vocal terms, this latest can’t quite be said to be on a par with those earlier shows. After her serious bout with viral encephalitis in 2000, the voice now does not always do what she wants it to do, and her “s’s” occasionally come out distractingly with an “sh” sound. (The tongue-twisting “If You Hadn’t, But You Did” is particularly problematic in that regard, even with the DVD’s crystalline digital sound.)

But her professionalism and artistry remain undiminished, and have, if anything, increased with time. She knows how to interpret a lyric for maximum effect, and incredibly, she can still belt “Cabaret” and “New York, New York” with much of her former power. And the autobiographical patter between numbers has been carefully crafted and is unfailingly interesting.

She’s frequently winded after her more energetic numbers, but humorously mocks her diminished energy level, eschewing her former Jolsonesque down-on-one-knee delivery of “Mammy.”

The DVD comes with a two-page essay by her close friend, singer Michael Feinstein, and the disc has an especially treasurable bonus in a lengthy, intimate conversation between Lewis and Minnelli about the genesis of the show, which provides insight into Minnelli’s keen intelligence and determination.

They don’t make them like that anymore, and this video captures a great entertainer at her mature peak.

(Liza’s At the Palace, MPI Home Video, Suggested Retail Price: $24.98; also available on Blu-Ray)

Mickey Rooney: The Long & Short of it (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

Despite his diminutive height (5’ 3”), make no mistake: Mickey Rooney was a major Hollywood star with over 200 films to his credit. From 1939-1941, he was actually number one at the box office. And he’s still performing today. So he is certainly deserving of a comprehensive boxed set. Unfortunately, this isn’t it.

Most of the memorable films he’s known for from his MGM period (including the series of musicals with Judy Garland) have been released by Warner Home Video.

What we have here is a rather peculiar amalgam of some disparate titles, all in public domain. The packaging and the attendant press material don’t even tell us what’s in this six-DVD box, and little wonder: the titles would mean absolutely nothing to most people.

And yet given the purview of most of the source material, print quality is not too bad on some of them. And for Rooney enthusiasts, the set may be worthwhile acquisition, as these titles may not turn up elsewhere. And Rooney is such a pro that even in these lesser effort, his natural quality shines through, and this set certainly charts his progression from precocious tyke to incredibly talented youngster and teenager, and finally, solid character actor.

The most worthy titles are probably David O. Selznick’s production of “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (1936) and his acclaimed performance in “The Comedian,” a Golden Age of TV era “Playhouse 90” production. Several pegs down from those titles are “Hoosier Schoolboy” (1937); “Love Finds Andy Hardy” (1946), the penultimate film in the Hardy series and a failure; “The Big Wheel” (1949); “Quicksand” (1950); “My Outlaw Brother” (1951) in which “Variety” labeled him “woefully miscast”; “Mooch Goes to Hollywood” (1971); “The Manipulator” (1971); and “Find the Lady” (1976), a Canadian film.

Other titles in the set include “Officer Thirteen" (1932); "The Big Chance" (1933); "The Lost Jungle" (1934); and "Little Pal (The Healer)" (1935). He only had minor roles in most of these. There are three of his early shorts from his Mickey Maguire period, and some other short film and television sequences, including one episode from his series “Hey, Mulligan,” and a priceless encounter with Jayne Mansfield on an awards show.

(The Long & Short of it, Infinity Entertainment Group, Suggested Retail Price: $39.98)

We The Living (Two Disc Set) (Duncan Scott Productions Inc.)

By Harry Forbes

According to Ayn Rand herself, the best film version of her work was not “The Fountainhead” made in Hollywood in 1949, but this 1942 Italian version of her novel, one "as close to an autobiography as I will ever write" she once said, and quite incredibly, made without her permission or knowledge.

Alida Valli, Rossano Brazzi (years before his starring role in “South Pacific”), and Fosco Giachetti were the distinguished stars, and Goffredo Alessandrini its director.

What was extraordinary about the film, beyond its genuine artistic quality, was that Scalera Studios managed to make it during wartime under Mussolini’s restrictive regime, even though the anti-Communist themes of the story contained elements critical of Fascism, too.

The film – so long it was released in two parts as “Noi Vivi” and "Addio Kira” -- was critically acclaimed and immensely popular but was eventually banned when the authorities finally determined it to be a condemnation of the Mussolini regime. The negative was ordered to be destroyed, but Massimo Ferrara, the studio’s ousted general manager, managed to conceal the negative.

We learn all this on the fascinating documentary, “We the Living, A Lost Treasure Recovered,” which accompanies the film. Duncan Scott, the restoration co-producer and distributor, describes how Rand came to be aware of the film’s existence, liked what she saw, and in the 1960s, had her legal representatives, Erika and Henry Mark Holzer, locate the film. After much sleuthing, this was accomplished, and under Rand’s supervision, the two films were combined into one of 174 minute length. The restored film would be even closer to Rand’s novel, and extraneous subplots, scenes that the Fascists insisted be added, or were otherwise extraneous to Rand’s original plot hit the cutting room floor.

The restored film was released in 1988-89 to critical acclaim, and subsequently appeared on VHS and laserdisc. The two-disc DVD includes a generous 45 minutes of those scenes excised by Rand and her team, as well as the aforementioned documentary, which includes interesting interviews with Scott, the Holzers, and Ferrara.

Print quality is excellent if a little soft, and some of the subtitles wash out against light backgrounds, but that’s a minor carp, in light of such compelling drama.

The DVD can be ordered at www.wethelivingmovie.com. Shipping is free on domestic orders through the end of 2009.

The Judy Garland Holiday Special (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

The much recycled Christmas favorite, Judy Garland’s Christmas show from her 1963-1964 series, which has already been issued on VHS tape, laserdisc, and even DVD (on Pioneer a few years ago), appears again as a stand-alone in Infinity’s piecemeal reissue of the series.

But however familiar, its return is welcome, and it looks better than ever in its latest incarnation.

The show, which aired December 22, 1963, featured a living room set which purported to show its star at home with her young children, Lorna and Joey Luft, both appearing quite cute and unspoiled. The sophisticated Garland hardly registered as an average TV mom, but her warm rapport with the children was genuine, and their adoration of her palpable.

Musically, the show is top-notch, and Garland is in excellent voice for that period. She opens with her “Meet Me in St. Louis” classic, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” sung to Lorna and Joe by the window, just as she did with Margaret O’Brien in the MGM film.

Then, she and the kids launch into “Consider Yourself” from the then-current “Oliver!” They’re shortly joined by daughter Liza Minnelli who “drops in” with her “beau” Tracy Everitt.

After Joey is hoisted on the piano for a very sweet (and surprisingly accomplished) “Where is Love” from the same show, Liza and Everitt entertain the others with a modestly choreographed “Steam Heat” from “The Pajama Game.”

Garland solos affectingly with “Little Drops of Rain” from her animated “Gay Pur-ee” after which Jack Jones “drops in” with a jazzy version of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” Buffs will recall Garland performed with tenor Allan Jones in 1938’s “Everybody Sing” but son Jack has matured sufficiently to come across as Garland’s peer here.

Jones performs his hit “Lollipops and Roses” (not exactly a Christmas tune) as the others sit at his feet, and then Lorna sits on his knee to belt out “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

Liza’s best moment follows as she delivers a low-keyed swinging version of “Alice Blue Gown”

There’s more traditional Christmas fare once they’re joined by the series’ musical consultant Mel Torme who accompanies Garland on his “The Christmas Song” (which Torme wrote with lyricist Bob Wells). Judy muffs the lyrics twice; “Close,” quips Torme tolerantly.

A medley of carols follows, with Garland delivering a full-bodied “What Child is This?” that rates as her finest vocal moment on the show.

The hour concludes with Garland snuggling with Joe and Lorna on the sofa as she serenades them with “Over the Rainbow,” according to the hour's conceit, an annual tradition in the Garland home.

The DVD offers the original mono soundtrack or 5.1 surround sound.

“The Judy Garland Show: Volume Two” (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

Here’s the second release in a planned 13-volume reissue of Judy Garland’s CBS-TV television show (1963-1964), each disc containing two episodes from the series.

The series has already been on DVD, courtesy of Pioneer Artists several years ago, and the packaging and content are somewhat different. Pioneer’s packaging was preferable in some respects, and had much more thorough tracking; one for each song.

Infinity only gives us a few track marks, and they frustratingly indicate the segment though not the name of the guest star or the actual song title. Quality-wise, Infinity’s version look superb, perhaps not enough for fans who own the Pioneer issues to re-buy the entire series, but certainly warmly recommended to everyone else.

The shows on “Volume Two” include her classic pairing with Barbra Streisand, which aired 10/6/63, when Streisand was at the pre-“Funny Girl” start of her career, the Smothers Brothers (whose own show would eventually find success – and controversy – in Garland’s time-slot a few years after CBS canceled her series), and a cameo by Ethel Merman. Streisand was so good, the appearance lead to her landing her own contract with CBS for a series of acclaimed specials.

Garland’s two medleys with Streisand have become classics, one a brilliant melding of Garland’s “Get Happy” and Streisand’s early hit, “Happy Days are Here Again,” the other an intricate love song medley. In both, Garland’s admiration for the rising young star is palpable.

The other, which originally aired 3/1/64, reunites her with MGM colleague Jane Powell who, we’re reminded twice, replaced Garland in “Royal Wedding” when Garland’s health problems interfered, and her Yellow Brick Road co-star, Ray Bolger, who had played the Scarecrow. The latter joins her for her regular “tea” segment, and they reminisce touchingly about “The Wizard of Oz.” And most interestingly, they’re joined by Powell for “The Jitterbug,” a number cut from the movie.

We also get to hear Jane Powell’s rather syrupy take on Barbara Cook’s “Dear Friend” from the musical “She Loves Me.” Show tunes predominate, and Garland herself opens with “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” from “Bye Bye Birdie” and later sings “Some People” from “Gypsy.”

Not all the comedy material and patter between songs is top notch – series regular Jerry Van Dyke’s lip-synching of MGM leading men is a particular low point -- but on the whole, quality is high, and make one sorely miss the variety show genre today. Garland is in excellent voice on both episodes, though she does occasionally exhibit the nervous mannerisms that are said to have alienated viewers at the time.

The Powell-Bolger show is quite different in content than the Pioneer version, which included her solo renditions of “Hello, Bluebird,” “If Love Were All,” and “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart,” actually taped at another time. These presumably will show up on Infinity’s release of the Bobby Darin episode of 12/29/63, where they eventually landed.

Next up from Infinity is Garland’s well-loved Christmas show.

The Mama Cass Television Program (Infinity Entertainment Group)

By Harry Forbes

Its release timed to coincide with the hoopla surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock, this ABC-TV special – apparently intended as a pilot for a projected series with the late singer – dates, like the music festival, from 1969.

A real time capsule, the DVD looks as though it were taped yesterday. Eclectic doesn’t begin to describe Mama Cass Elliot's guest list: singers Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers, and John Sebastian share the hour with Martin Landau and Barbara Bain from “Mission: Impossible” and rotund comedian Buddy Hackett.

Mitchell sings her iconic “Both Sides Now” definitively, Travers does a lively version of “And When I Die,” and the three ladies blend beautifully on “I Shall Be Released.” Sebastian solos with “She’s a Lady” followed by a duet with Cass.

Less elevated (though high on the camp level) is a production number with Cass joining Hackett, Landau, and Bain for the song “Meeskite” from “Cabaret.” The game foursome also do a so-so skit about four lonely people looking for love.

The hour – which, incidentally, includes the original commercials (catch Bernadette Peters in one for Playtex) – ends with a Cass mini-concert. Despite her girth, she does some amazingly spry footwork to “Dancing in the Streets,” and concludes with a lovely version of the standard, “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”

Cass would die five years later of heart failure in London at the age of 32.

She makes a remarkably assured host on the special, but projects even more authority in the bonus clip of a duet with Sammy Davis, Jr. There’s also a present-day interview with Sebastian reminiscing about their longtime friendship.

For all its quirkiness, this special is a bittersweet reminder of a talent taken too soon.