Customer Reviews

The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood

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

 

 

This DVD of Dangerous Christmas is NOT in COLOR as all the listings for it indicate. It is not even a digital transfer. The source material is the old VHS master from the budget VHS tapes of this title that were released for several years. This is a grainy, dirty image that contains numerous film breaks and splices. The bonus inclusion of the original soundtrack that was originally released on ABC Paramount records is a clumsy transfer that contains skips in several of the cuts.

This is a DVD to avoid if you have this material in any other format. This DVD is not an upgrade in any way from the old VHS tape or the old LP recording.

The Dangerous Christmas Of Red Riding Hood is an adorable TV special brought back from the vaults for us to watch and enjoy. Sure, the print is black and white--and it's not even good quality black and white; but it's still quite entertaining if you're not too picky about it. They should have restored the print more, of course, so this won't be a five star review.

Of course, the story is essentially the story of Red Riding Hood with a few twists here and there. Naturally the main revision is that now this is a Christmastime tale. Liza Minnelli plays Red Riding Hood; and Cyril Ritchard does a great job as the wolf (that's Mr. Lone T. Wolf to you). Look also for The Animals to play the wolf's cronies; and Vic Damone turns in a great performance as a prince turned into a woodchopper by some evil spell.

The action begins with the wolf--in a cage now--telling us he's going to tell us the "real" version of what happened. Well, little changes--but the story is embellished very nicely with The Animals singing very well and playing their electric guitars. Liza and Cyril dance very well; and the actors playing the woodland creatures perform some wonderful ballet routines during the course of the movie. Naturally, Little Red Riding Hood is saved by the woodchopper hero and everyone (except the wolf) is happy ever after.

This film has historical significance and sentimental value to Liza Minnelli fans; and people will enjoy The Animals playing some bit parts and singing their best. Cyril Ritchard couldn't be better; you truly get the feeling he enjoyed doing this.

Now there's the major issue of the quality of the print. I don't mind black and white. However, the print needs major restoration. The print suffers from scratches, rounded corners at the edges and a noticeable amount of fading. That disappoints me.

Overall, this excellent, underappreciated and long forgotten Christmas television special program displays the sublime talents of the actors and actresses. Liza Minnelli positively shines every time she smiles in this film. I highly recommend this for Liza fans and fans of older television shows; and here's hoping that they can restore this sometime soon.

What a disappointment. As another reviewer mentioned above this DVD is NOT in color as advertised in the Amazon listing. To make matters worse the black and white transfer has been done with no care whatsoever. It looks terrible. I wish I had read the Amazon reviews before opening my copy as I would have returned it immediately. You've been warned!

I remember watching this show as a kid, and hadn't seen it since then until I bought this DVD. Unlike what others have written, I don't recall seeing a budget release of this on VHS. Unfortunately, as others have written, this is a watchable, but still substandard quality b&w kinescope transfer, and not from the original color videotape source (AMAZON, please correct the listing!).
Even if this DVD had used a pristine quality color videotape source, I would still only give it 2&1/2, maybe 3 stars. This show is a low budget (the sets look like something from a school play), over-acted disappointment. I'm surprised the cast,especially Cyril Ritchard, wasn't bleeding from their mouths due to all the splinters they must have recieved from all their scenery chewing performances. The story has a minimal Christmas connection- it is set on Christmas eve, Christmas is mentioned once or twice in one song, there's a Christmas tree in the background in one scene, and instead of "goodies" in her basket, Red Riding Hood is bringing Christmas presents to Granny (who is never seen, even after the Wolf is defeated, she remains trapped in a trunk!).
I bought this mainly because of the Animals being in the cast. Their two songs are OK; one rocks pretty good. Liza has a couple of OK songs but , on the whole it is a dated curiosity that would have been a good value as maybe a $4.99 budget disc, but not $17.99!

Whether it's black and white or the original colour format, I'll take THE DANGEROUS CHRISTMAS OF RED RIDING HOOD however I can. This charming time capsule from the golden age of TV musical extravaganzas stars Liza Minnelli in the title role, plus Cyril Ritchard as the Wolf.

So, you think you know the tale of Red Riding Hood, the helpless young moppet who strayed from her path only to wind up in the belly of a hungry Wolf? Think again! The Big Bad Wolf is neither big nor particuarly bad, and would like to properly explain HIS side of the fairytale - and it's clearly not entirely the way that Little Red would have you believe...

1965 was a banner year for Liza Minnelli. She had just wowed Broadway in the short-lived "Flora the Red Menace" (for which she'd receive a Tony Award) and her vocal talents were in peak force. No stranger to musicals either on Broadway or TV, Cyril Ritchard had appeared several times as Captain Hook in Mary Martin's "Peter Pan", and also starred in Cole Porter's TV musical production of "Aladdin".

Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill (also represented on Broadway with "Funny Girl" that same year) furnished the score of DANGEROUS CHRISTMAS... with some enchanting pieces for Minnelli ("My Red Riding Hood", "I'm Naive"). Vic Damone, Marlene Dell, Bette Henritze and The Animals co-star.

This DVD presents a well-worn (but still very watchable) B&W print of the show; it was originally broadcast in full colour but, like I mentioned above, I'll take this musical however I can! The original soundtrack album is included as an extra (accessible on DVD players only). Ideally I'd like to see the album reissued on CD one day. It's a really fun show; Minnelli fans in particular will especially enjoy it.

Picky, Picky, Picky. Budget DVD or not - this is the ONLY version available of what is a brilliant musical comedy. Personally, I wouldn't let the black & white transfer deter you from the stellar performances of a teenaged Liza Minnelli, musical legend, Cyril Ritchard, and British Rock & Roll stars, The Animals. The price is right, and the video picture is really not as bad as other reviewers have described. It will certainly entertain until (if ever) a color version comes along.

This is a GREAT DVD ,wanted for years by millions of people. On October 30, 2007, this title was FINALLY RELEASED on DVD. The two poeple who have reviewed this classic here on [...], are DUMB if the can't see that this is a masterpiece. How can you go wrong with Jule Styne, Liza Minnelli, and the great Cyril Ritchard?. REJOICE and JOY TO THE WORLD !!