Product Details

• Actors: Tony Bennett
• Format: Import, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Sony/Bmg Int'l
• DVD Release Date: February 19, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000MV82SO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #177,597 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
High concept and high class, An American Classic is a worthy visual complement to Tony Bennett's 2006 duets CD of the same name. The notion of pairing veteran artists with a variety of singing partners is nothing new, of course (cf. B.B. King and Frank Sinatra, among many others), but this one goes a step further; under the direction of Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) and his team, Bennett appears in what's described as a "docu-musical," faithfully re-creating a variety of performance settings much like the ones in which the 80-year-old singer has appeared in the course of his long, fruitful career. Thus we find him on a concert stage with Barbra Streisand ("Smile"), in a nightclub with John Legend (a swinging, uptempo "Sing, You Sinners"), in the studio with k.d. lang and trumpeter Chris Botti ("Because of You"), on a '60s-style TV variety show with Diana Krall (a classy "The Best is Yet to Come"), in Vegas with Elton John ("Rags To Riches") and then Michael Buble (an amusing "Just in Time"), and so forth, on up to Bennett's triumphant shot on MTV Unplugged with Christina Aguilera (no jazz singer, but she keeps most of her excesses in check on "Steppin' Out") and the inevitable "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (Bennett with piano accompaniment only). It's all very respectful, well staged, and entertainingly choreographed, but if this 45-minute cavalcade has a significant shortcoming, it's that it mostly lacks fire and spontaneity; the only time Bennett cuts loose is during an audio-only "I Got Rhythm" heard under the various DVD menus. Viewers may also be disappointed that Sting, Bono, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, and several others on the CD do not appear here, and it's a notable drag that not a single one of the composers or arrangers of the material is identified. Bonus features include a "making of" documentary and other featurettes. --Sam Graham

From the Director
1. Smile" - Barbara Streisand
2. Sing You Sinners" - John Legend
3. Because Of You" - k.d lang and Chris Botti
4. The Best Is Yet To Come" - Diana Krall
5. The Shadow Of Your Smile" - Juanes
6. Rags To Riches - Elton John
7. Just In Time" - Michael Buble
8. For Once In Your Life" - Stevie Wonder
9. Steppin' Out With My Baby" - Christina Aguilera
10. I Left With Heart In San Francisco" - Tony Bennett
Special Features:
Featurettes:

The Making Of

Shooting of Black & White Film

Walking the Stars Through Their Paces

Production Design From Page to Stage
The Trailer
The Tony Bennett Dancer's Rehearsals
Video/Audio:
Mastered in High Definition
PCM Stereo
PCM 5.1 Surround Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rob Marshall's Creative Energy Sparks a Worthy, Ultra-Stylish Celebration of Bennett's Career, November 26, 2006

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tony Bennett - American Classic (DVD)

To accompany his lustrous "Duets" CD, perennial crooner Tony Bennett recruited some first-rank talent behind and before the cameras to help him produce this remarkable TV special to commemorate his 80th birthday. It is at once a throwback to the network variety specials from the 1960's and 70's (before pay-cable rendered them obsolete) and a reinvention of the format incorporating biographical elements within the context of mini-video performances. The result aired on NBC earlier this week as an hour-long special. Without commercials, the program scarcely runs forty minutes, but it remains a superbly crafted showcase for a timeless singer. Thanks to Rob Marshall's innovative conception and immaculate direction, the show follows a roughly chronological timeline of Bennett's career with nine starry-eyed duets connected by brief snippets of his professional milestones.

Things start on a high note with Bennett in an empty theater singing Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" joined by a mellifluous-sounding Barbra Streisand, his most accomplished partner for the evening. In a jazz nightclub setting, he is surrounded by the acrobatic Tony Bennett Dancers and swings though "Sing, You Sinners" with a confident John Legend. In a recording booth at Columbia Studios, Bennett sings his first hit, "Because of You" accompanied by smoky vocals from k.d. lang and a languorous trumpet solo by Chris Botti. Visually, my favorite part of the program is the black-and-white recreation of the 1960's-style variety show complete with dancers in sailor tops and Capri pants. In this segment, Diana Krall joins Bennett on a finger-snapping "The Best Is Yet to Come" followed by a sonorous version of "The Shadow of Your Smile" given a samba-accented makeover by Columbian rock singer Juanes.

The inevitable Vegas sequence features a bevy of feather-fanned showgirls. In this milieu, Bennett is joined by Elton John on a jaunty "Rags to Riches", by new-jack crooner Michael Bublé on a swinging "Just in Time" (whose Dean Martin-style behavior may rankle the more feminist-minded), and finally by a surprisingly stationary Stevie Wonder leaning heavily on his melisma on his own "For Once in My Life" (which includes his trademark harmonica interlude). To show his popularity with the current crop of chart-toppers, Bennett is joined by a retro-styled Christina Aguilera and the dancers in full Fosse mode on "Steppin' Out". It all ends appropriately with a shimmering solo of Bennett's signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco".

Providing the spoken interludes between the performances are Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Robert DeNiro. At about 45 minutes in total, the extras on the DVD actually last longer than the special itself. They start with a 2 1/2-minute trailer and go right into footage of the dancers rehearsing their four production numbers. What follows is an extensive making-of featurette which features interviews with Marshall, choreographer John DeLuca and other key members of the creative staff interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where are the clowns?, November 24, 2006

By	Bruce London - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tony Bennett - American Classic (DVD)

I've seen Tony 5 times live and have all his records. The dvd was great, what there was of it! PLEASE, what happened to the filming with Sting, Bono, Celine, Mcgraw etc??????If time was a problem then I have no problem with the edited program-a one hour special on TV. BUT, why didn't Sony film the rest and offer it to us on a full length dvd???I would gladly have paid for a complete film. Shame on you Sony!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tony Bennett American Classic, December 24, 2006

By	R. Stapleford "Rosanne" (Nashua New Hampshire) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tony Bennett - American Classic (DVD)

This DVD was excellent as far as it went. However I saw the show when it was presented on TV. I was very disappointed that when veiwing the DVD at least four maybe more artists were left off . I never would have bought this product had I known that it was not complete. I feel cheated and want others to realize that they are not getting a complete show.