Product Details

• Actors: Dusty Springfield, Burt Bacharach, Simon Bell, Madeline Bell
• Directors: David Peck
• Format: Dolby, NTSC, Digital Sound
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Voyage Digital Media
• DVD Release Date: March 30, 2010
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0034BBB1E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,493 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once Upon A Time With Dusty, April 4, 2010

By 

J. Prather (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: British Invasion: Dusty Springfield - Once Upon a Time, 1964-1969 (DVD)

A lot of great music is included on this 84 minute DVD. It starts with Dusty Springfield's rendition of I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU, from 1964, and ends with A BRAND NEW ME, in 1969. Brief, informative interviews with Dusty and people who worked with her, such as Burt Bacharach, are woven into the program. What is unique about this presentation is that not a single interview interferes with any of her performances. Once the music starts, and Dusty begins to sing, you have the pleasure of seeing and hearing a full, uninterupted performance.

Several of her earliest performances are taken from TV shows done in Europe, Australia, and the USA - there are a couple of fine ones from The Ed Sullivan Show. For me, the highlights of the disc are when she performs at the NME Poll Winner's Concerts filmed in England in 1965 & 1966. In this arena sized venue, she has the opportunity to show her enormous talent before large, live audiences. She really gets to strut her stuff and when she does YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME, she hits it out of the park.

Actually, there are two ways to watch the DVD. The second is to head to the Bonus Features section for "The Complete Performances" which excludes all the interviews and only plays her performances. Four other songs are shuffled into the ones included in the original presentation. They are DANCING IN THE STREET, MOCKIBGBIRD,(both recorded at NME Poll Winner's Concerts), MY COLOURING BOOK, and ends with A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME(a duet with Burt Bacharach). After first seeing the original version, most people will probably prefer going straight to this music only option.

For the most part, the picture and sound is sharp. Much better than I expected. After all, these were filmed in the 60's, so some of them show some wear & tear - not enough to really detract from the performances, however.

If you are a Dusty Springfield fan, pick up a copy of this DVD. You're going to play it alot!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sizzling performance clips perk up documentary of soulful `60s songbird, July 5, 2010

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British Invasion: Dusty Springfield - Once Upon a Time, 1964-1969 (DVD)

One Upon a Time: 1964-1969 is one of four documentaries released as part of a five-DVD British Invasion box set by Reelin' in the Years Productions. Of the four artists profiles (which also include Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Small Faces and Herman's Hermits), Dusty Springfield made perhaps the largest artistic impact on America. Herman's Hermits had more hits, and the Small Faces were a bigger influence on the mod movement in the UK, but Springfield's key works, "I Only Want to Be With You," Bacharach & David's "Wishin' and Hopin'," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," and especially "Son of a Preacher Man" harbored a soulfulness that none of her UK peers could match. She exuded class in her demure, self-contained dance moves, elegant frilled blouses and long skirts.

As with many pop stars of the era, Springfield's television appearances mixed lip-synching and live performances. Unlike most others, though, her lip-synching was truly expressive. While others simply mimed their vocals, Springfield acted them out with her movements, doing with her body and face what she'd already done with her voice in the studio. Better yet, she was a great live singer, as evidenced by a terrific 1965 performance of "All Cried Out" on the Ed Sullivan show and 1966 NME poll winner's performances of "In the Middle of Nowhere" and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me." She exhorts the crowd while singing covers of Betty Everett's "I Can't Hear You" and Otis Redding's "Shake," and without a monitor speaker in sight, delivers pitch-perfect vocals.

Springfield had greater chart success in the UK than the US, but even songs that failed to conquer the states, such as "Some of Your Lovin'" and Bacharach and David's "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," were strong enough to lodge in the ears of American fans. Even her lower-charting US hits, such as "Stay Awhile" (perfectly covered in 1978 by Rachel Sweet) remain familiar. In 1968 Springfield took her singing to a new level with the sessions that resulted in the album Dusty in Memphis and the single "Son of a Preacher Man." Amid players and producers whose music had provided the template for her own recordings, she sang with a reserve that spoke to her underlying strength rather than the explicit power she could unleash. Her gospel phrasings and confessional tone gave the hit an intimacy with which listeners connected on a deep, emotional level. Amazingly, the single only reached #10 and became her last hit until a 1987 teaming with the Pet Shop Boys on "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"

This 69-minute documentary includes sixteen performances, each of which (and four more) can be seen in full in the DVD's extras. There's also a 24-page booklet that's stuffed with liner notes by Annie Randall, photos, ephemera and credits. Period interview clips with Springfield from 1964, 1971 and 1978 and contemporary interviews with two of her backup singers (Madeline Bell and Simon Bell) and Burt Bacharach provide interesting personal reflections. The details of Springfield's anti-apartheid contract clause (for shows in South Africa) are particularly enlightening. The performances are terrific, but, in the end, the documentary doesn't tell enough of Springfield's story, and fails to explain (as the liner notes do) why her commercial success faded at the end of the `60s. This is worth seeing, particularly for fans, but if you're interested more generally in the British Invasion, the volumes on the Small Faces and Herman's Hermits are better documentaries. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dusty shows you how it's done!, April 25, 2010

By 

Tym S. (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British Invasion: Dusty Springfield - Once Upon a Time, 1964-1969 (DVD)

Dusty Springfield could tremble the Theatre stage and then tear up the Soul club. She was the nexus point from the torch singers and Jazz songbirds before her into the hip new 60's world of Mod Soul, breezy Samba, and slinky Lounge. We're still catching up to her.

Here's a great place to start. See all of her faces in this killer collection of filmed performances. She's sauntering from jump with the opener "I Only Want To Be With You" and on into minor classics "Once Upon A time" and "All Cried Out" with enough sass and vigor to give Phil Spector pause. Watch her steal the NME awards show from The Beatles kicking it funky with Otis Redding's "Shake", in tight ankle skirt and heels, no less. Soul to the bone, opening the door from Annie Lennox to Amy Winehouse after.

But also the grande diva of drama. Dusty led the battalion of Britgirls (see "Dream Babes" CD series) who belted out epic Soul-Pop arias with intense symphonic punch. Ballads like "I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" became an emotional cinemascope, somewhere between Roy Orbison's hymns and John Barry's scores. This theatrical moodscape paved the way for Julee Cruise, Bjork, Portishead, Hooverphonic, and Morcheeba later.

Most know her for "Son Of A Preacher Man" from the album "Dusty In Memphis" (the expanded CD with double the songs, from Rhino, is one of the most essential discs you could own). Dusty found another side of herself when her nervousness at recording at Stax led to a more breathy intimacy. She gained a smokey suppleness, turning each song into a honey-whispered confession. Shelby Lynne, Cat Power, Keren Ann, and Saint Etienne continue from this.

With insightful commentary by Burt Bacharach and back-up singers Madeline Bell and Simon Bell, archive interviews with Dusty, great songs and better singing, this disc is a must!