Customer Reviews

Born to Dance DVD (1936) Eleanor Powell/ James Stewart - Lady Be Good (1941) Double Feature DVD

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BORN TO DANCE! What a great film. So much fun and so fast-paced! Love Me, Love My Pekingese is thrilling - even Buddy Ebsen is spot-on in this production! Don't miss it!

These are such great films and very hard to find. Thank you so much. I had been looking for Born to Dance for a long while. Had never seen Lady be Good before, both were excellent and much enjoyed.

Nostalgia plays a big part in my review.I am 85yrs old and just can't get enuogh of the OLD movies,and they are so well made with all this new technicel advantages.If you like old time movies,these are among the best.

This is a great duo of two rather mediocre films--but they are great fun

nevertheless. If you ever wanted to hear Jimmy Stewart sing, or if you can't get enough of Elanor Powell's dancing, this is just right for you.

And when Ann Sothern and Robert Young "write" the song Lady Be Good in the other movie, you'll wonder why the Gershwin brothers didn't sue them

for stealing. It's all in great fun and done with marvelous style. Have a ball and buy this video. It's wonderful for the older movies fan.

These DVDs starring Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor among others are among the best musicals produced by Hollywood in the 1930s. There are a couple of flaws in each of these well-thought-out storylines, but for the most part they can be overlooked because Powell's dancing is so well done.

If you're buying this DVD because you're of fan of Red Skelton (as am I) or Eleanor Powell, then you might be disappointed. Red was still a supporting actor at this point in his career, and his role here is minor. Eleanor Powell's part in the film is almost nonexistent until the last 15 minutes, when she does two tremendous dance numbers...particularly interesting is a rather creative number done with a dog as her dancing partner...how they trained that dog that well, I'll never know.

The real stars of the film are Robert Young (who though normally relegated to B movies could turn in a great leading man performance, as he does here) and Ann Southern. I had forgotten just how great Ann Southern was in her heyday, and this was apparently her first A film starring role...and she shines in it.

The story is decent, as movie musicals go. While this doesn't rate as one of the great MGM musicals, it's very pleasant and I think you'll enjoy it.

The excellent prints and sound make these two films a pleasure to watch. 'Born To Dance' is the better of the two but 'Lady Be Good' is also enjoyable mainly for Powell and the Gershwin and Kern tunes. It's also fairly apparent that 'Born to Dance' was near the beginning of Powell's MGM career and 'Lady Be Good' was near the end. The oddity of 'Lady Be Good' is that while MGM always promoted Powell's great legs, they are very much covered in both of her big dance numbers but the dancing is wonderful and that includes the numbers by the Barry Brothers. The title tune with the dog (her only partner in this film) is fairly amazing considering there are no special effects used. No complaints about 'Born To Dance', it's one of Powell's best with a fine supporting cast and some great Cold Porter music.

Eleanor Powell was and still is the Queen of Tap where had a special style: elegance - like her male counterparts Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

Myself I prefer those old Musical with their great dancing scenes - so much more than those boring "High School Musical", "Footlose"-Remake or a so-called Musical like "Nine".

Sure, James Stewart wasn't a singer but the Studio decided it he could use his own voice for his scenes. But honestly it doesn't sound more terrible than Pierce Brosnan singing in "Mamma Mia".

Both movies have their special dance scenes. Of course in "Born to dance" it is the amazing 14 minutes finale "Swingin the Jinx Away" or "Rap Tap on Wood" and in "Lady Be Good" the "Fascinating Rhythm" and when Eleanor Powell is dancing with a dog where she trained by herself.

The Picture Quality of both movies are very good.

FAZIT: its a must have one when you like MGM Musicals and really great dancing scenes.

P.S: the complett soundtrack of "Born to dance" is available on CD.

The best taps & the most wonderful smile of all the Hollywood legends. The legacy of Eleanor Powell is one of our national treasures. What an incredible dancer, athlete, artist....and how fortunate we are to have such a wealth of documentation of her greatness. Aside from Gene Kelly I really don't think any dancer ever performed so flawlessly and athletically from head to toe. These two movies are a lot of fun, and worth twice the price just for the dance routines with "Buttons" in Lady Be Good.

very good reproduction, But not as good as when I watched it on the orginal screen, but, it's the closest to it. If yoy are into old musicals you have to see this one.