Customer Reviews

Barbra Streisand - The Belle of 14th Street

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

THE BELLE OF 14TH STREET has a bad reputation among Streisand's television specials. It was never rebroadcast after it aired in 1967. Columbia Records cancelled a soundtrack album that was to be released. And over the years, Streisand fans have come to know of it as her first "bomb".

Now it's out on DVD. You can judge for yourself.

For me, BELLE is not as horrible as people say it is. True, it is a departure from the formula which worked so well in MY NAME IS BARBRA (1965) and COLOR ME BARBRA (1966). In fact, Barbra's next television special (A HAPPENING IN CENTRAL PARK) would return to the format: Streisand - only - singing.

BELLE included guest stars and a format in which Streisand was not prominently featured. Jason Robards and John Bubbles had their own songs. Set in a turn-of-the-century vaudevillian theater, BELLE OF 14TH was an homage to that style of performing. Perhaps it does not succeed because the creative team makes fun of it and yet lovingly salutes it at the same time.

For Streisand fans, there is a lot to enjoy even if the entire concept does not gell. Barbra and Robards sing a fun, patriotic "We're Four Americans". Any fan who wondered what Streisand must have been like in her off-Broadway show ANOTHER EVENING WITH HARRY STOONES need look no further. In "skit" mode, Streisand is charming. With Robards during this song she dances, mugs, and sometimes does some scene-stealing bits. Fun!

Finally, the last concert segment is pure Streisand joy. Every song is superb. Favorites here are "My Buddy/How About Me" as well as the exhilarating "Everybody Loves My Baby" in which Streisand gets to do some comedic singing.

BELLE is not a bummer. It's a hodge podge of styles and a funny homage to vaudeville. If you can't stand to watch the overly long TEMPEST set piece, then just forward to the songs!

This TV special certainly has a bad reputation- and a few online critics here apparently agree. But for me watching this program for the first time recently was a revelation. Yes there are slow parts- and yes- the other guests distract. But to see Barbra hamming it up and being silly is a delight. Then there's her singing. The concert portion with BS as the "belle" is the best- and she shines throughout this section. She looks trim & radiant just a few months after giving birth to Jason. Rent it or buy it- but judge for yourself. Despite some flaws, it's still classic Barbra.

I had never even heard of The Belle of 14th Street and found its concept pretty interesting. I find vaudeville very curious and I celebrate that Barbra tried this concept out. I suspect that vaudeville didn't have a great reputation and that it bombed because of that, but if you see talent involved and how good they are, that counts for a lot. I recommend it.

I have all her movies, every cd, every concert on Dvd. WHEN I SEEN THIS I COULDNT EVEN GET THROUGH IT. I hated every minute of it, except the minutes where she was solo, which was only around 4 songs. This was terrible and i cant believe it was put out seperatly, i have the boxset and this one has never been touched since the first time i had it in the dvd player. DONT BUY IT SEPERATLY.

I think that, when people see there's going to be a Barbra show, they expect to see and hear a LOT of Barbra. That's why I believe that this show is so disappointing in the first place. Since she was a pioneer of the type of TV musical special in which only the star performs (as opposed to the star and "a whole host of musical guests,") that's what we were looking for. This was such a departure from that format that it was a bit jarring.

In the second place, it might have been saved had the entertainment been more ... entertaining. The music wasn't great, the comedy wasn't very funny, the drama wasn't poignant. Although the show might have been a faithful recreation of a real vaudeville show, I think it served more as an example of why vaudeville died.

The third disc, The Belle of 14th Street, is, I'll admit, not as good as the first two television specials Barbra had done. This is probably because it's more like the traditional variety show, with guest stars including Jason Robards and John Bubbles, who do little more than take up time as we wait for Barbra to return on stage. For those of you who've longed to hear Jason Robards sing...great. For everyone else, perhaps skip his solos.

The opening number ("I Don't Care," made famous on vaudeville by Eva Tanguay) is terrific, but the highlight of this show is The third act, which contains Barbra's cover of "My Melancholy Baby", "A Good Man is Hard to Find", and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." The best song, though, is "Everybody Loves My Baby." Barbra's performance is terrific, and very, very funny.

The reason for the average rating is, of course, based on the fact that so much of this special would have done well not to be performed at all (eleven minutes of The Tempest...performed straight??), but the parts featuring Barbra alone are terrific.. Diehard fans would appreciate this DVD, but anyone who feels lukewarm about Ms. Streisand would perhaps be better off watching, say, A Happening in Central Park.

WHY BABS WOULD RELEASE THIS AS A SINGLE SINCE IT WAS IN HER RECENT BOX SET IS A SURPRISE BECAUSE ITS A GIGANTIC FLOP DESTINED TO THE .99 CENT BOX IN THE SUPERMARKET.
IT REALLY IS DREADFUL UNLESS YOUR AN IDIOT WITH BAD TASTE.
INSTEAD, GET MY NAME IS BABS, COLOR ME BABS, AND BABS IN CENTRAL PARK IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED NON-STOP BY AN ORIGINAL AMERICAN GENIUS.

After her first two specials, Barbra Streisand threw caution to the wind with her third CBS-TV special, an idiosyncratic departure called "The Belle of 14th Street", a full-fledged tribute to turn-of the-last-century vaudeville of which she is just one of several performers on hand. Not seen since its original airdate in October 1967, the program is not nearly as bad as its reputation claims, and Streisand and her creative team (which unfortunately excludes Dwight Hemion and Peter Matz this time) deserve credit for taking a risk in producing this old-fashioned variety entertainment. All the period detail, including the audience, has been recreated with surprising authenticity, and the overall tone is actually more nostalgic than satirical. This may be part of the problem viewers had with the special at the time since there is no context provided for why vaudeville would be relevant for a contemporary audience, especially during the Vietnam War era.

The bigger problem is pacing and the distracting involvement of guest stars. The redoubtable Jason Robards actually opens the revue with a chorus of hefty showgirls on "You're the Apple of My Eye", and later, he and Streisand perform an overlong though enthusiastic 11-minute version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Legendary tap dancer John Bubbles shows up for a number dressed inexplicably in a half-chicken costume. Streisand performs "Lieberstraum" as a semi-daft German opera diva and then duets with herself as a young boy on "Mother Machree". She even allows a comic striptease by trick wire as she sings "Alice Blue Gown". Regardless, Streisand performs some rare standards beautifully, especially in the last segment when she covers "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and a lovely medley of "My Buddy" and "How About Me?". On one hand, it is an audacious show that does a fine job replicating a bygone era, even though on the other hand, it doesn't provide the optimal showcase for Streisand's talents.