Customer Reviews

Easter Parade

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I really like "Easter Parade" and was eagerly anticipating how beautiful it would look as a result of Warner's Ultra Resolution process. This is a method that electronically aligns the elements of the famous 3-strip Technicolor process to deliver greater sharpness and even details that weren't visible when the film was brand new. Unfortunately, this film doesn't look nearly as good as the other films that previously underwent this process: "Singin' in the Rain," "The Adventures of Robin Hood," "Meet Me in St. Louis," and "Gone With the Wind." Even "The Harvey Girls" and "Annie Get Your Gun," which were restored without the Ultra Resolution process, look much better than "Easter Parade."

All of these films, although not perfect, look almost like they were filmed yesterday with wonderful sharpness and contrast range, an almost three-dimensional clarity, and beautiful, sparkling colors--rather like a Kodachrome slide. "Easter Parade," on the other hand, looks like a very old movie that's had it colors artificially pumped up--like an old tart that thinks a lot of warpaint will make her look young, but fools no one. This transfer HAS to be several generations removed from the negative. It has a thick, flat, dull look: very little contrast or modeling, flesh tones the color of red clay mud, and colors that look as if they were applied to the film with a spatula--no light or life can get through! When there is some contrast and a bit of brightness, the effect is very garish and detail is washed out. Warner Brothers either shortchanged this film financially in its restoration or it was working with elements that were far removed from the original negative or color separations. Yes, this is the best this film has looked on home video. Yes, it often has decent detail, but it looks everybit like a film from 1948--or even older--rather than the almost brand new look we have come to expect from Warner's other major restoration efforts.

"The Band Wagon," another classic musical that was released in conjunction with "Easter Parade," is better, but still has that rather dull, flat, copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy look, and reddish brown fleshtones. Compare it with "Singin' In the Rain," released just a year before: the difference is like night and day! We have come to expect better than this from a company that has given classic film fans the best DVD transfers of any company. I am more than disappointed; I am shocked! What happened, Warner Brothers?

Originally intended as a re-teaming of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, EASTER PARADE ran into trouble when Garland's doctors advised against her working under the direction of her husband, director Vincent Minnelli--and no sooner did director Charles Walters take the helm than Gene Kelly broke his leg. Out of such confusion are movie musical miracles born: although a bit old to act as Garland's leading man, Fred Astaire was coaxed out of retirement. He and Garland had tremendous chemistry, EASTER PARADE was a box office smash, and Astaire unexpectedly found himself reborn as an MGM star.

Set in 1900s New York, the film's story line is flimsy but enjoyable. After long-time dance partner Ann Miller abandons the act, Astaire hires chorus girl Garland and attempts to recast her in his former partner's mold--a situation which offers Astaire and Garland considerable comedy and gives Astaire the chance to parody several of his own famous dance of the 1930s. Garland eventually convinces Astaire that she needs to be herself, and once the act is revamped they become a hot ticket--and, once their several romantic complications are resolved, romantic partners as well.

Astaire is every bit as charming here as he was in his Ginger Roger days, and his choreography retains his signature sharpness, wit, and elegance. Although Garland isn't really a dancer, she holds her own with Astaire and she tears strips off a brillant score of Irving Berlin favorites. Both are well supported by Anne Miller, who gives a brilliant turn with 'Shakin' the Blues Away,' and Peter Lawford, who is quite charming as one of Garland's admirers. Although this really isn't as inspired as the truly great MGM musicals of the late 1940s, director Walters keeps it going at a smart pace, and the star power, clever script, memorable score, and those legendary MGM production values elevate it well above the pack. Musical fans will be in for a treat! Recommended.

Some movies (especially movies from today) are really to me just a waste of time and money. People just don't seem to care about what people see on the screen anymore. And that is one of the reasons I LOVE old movies! Because you can always, almost, well, you can really never go wrong!! And Easter Parade is one of those movies to just treasure. To save for your children and grandchildren. So they can's appreciate the past, and know that there once was a time when people cared about the things they put on that larger than life screen.

Easter Parade begins with the ballroom dancer, Don Hews (Fred Astaire). Who is in love with his goregeous partner (Ann Miller) Oh, what a star!
Those two are a great team that audiences love. But when Nadene, (Miller) becomes hungry for renown, she dumps him for the Zigfield Follies, and Don's best friend, the handsome Johnny Harlow (Peter Lawford).

Angry Don sets off to prove to Nadene that he can dance with anybody and he doesn't need her! So he finds the chorus girl working at a bar, the Lovely Hannah Brown (Judy Garland). Wonderful songs that put a smile on your face. And clever lines that will make you laugh! Easter Parade has it all!! And as Don Hews realizes he's fallen hoplelessly in love with Hannah. And he proves to the narrow minded, jealous, Nadene, he DOESN'T need her, and he CAN dance with anybody.

Clinton Sundberg plays the bar tender where Hannah used to work. And thinks he knows everything. Lines like:
Astaire: I bet you know alot about women.
Sundberg: I should, been single all my life.

Wonderful songs like: Easter Parade, Love the Piano, A Fella With a Umbrella, Michigan, shakin the Blues away, and more!

Ann also does a jaw droppin performance of Shakin your Blues Away. Wonderful!!! This movie is all smiles!! And let me tell you something, this movie DEFINETLEY cannot miss! I'm only practically 14, but my opinion is very decided, I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!

PLEASE DO ME A FAVOR: SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This film is a joy from start to finish and, as has been mentioned elsewhere, the colour and sound reproduction on the DVD are excellent. On this `special edition' there is also an interesting extra in the making of documentary - Easter Parade: On the Avenue - in which you get to learn interesting little snippets such as the fact that Anne Miller had to dance her numbers in a surgical corset due to the fact that, shortly prior to shooting the film, her husband had pushed her down the stairs and broken her back! Also, some might not have known that, but for a similar, though not quite so severe injury, Gene Kelly might have been playing the lead. The aspect ratio also means that you get the full screen image rather than it being cut down.

There is so much to enjoy: not least, of course, We're a Couple of Swells, in which Judy had to persuade Fred to `dust on' and go very much against the normally suave, sophisticated and elegant grain! It is in this number that she seems almost always to be teetering on the edge of going overboard but just, somehow manages the restraint necessary to achieve a superb piece of vaudevillian pastiche. And then there is Fred's `Steppin' Out With My Baby', in which he ends the number by dancing in slow motion against a backdrop chorus dancing in real time: sheer brilliance.

In an era in which we are often served up garbage and expected to accord it the status of entertainment; of reality TV and Hello magazine and, seemingly, commonplace `mega stars' it isn't often that we get to witness and appreciate true and sublime genius on show.

I got this DVD early !! Great movie- GREAT transfer...good extra's..The documentary was very good - very insightful and definately one of the better documentaries on Judy Garland. But I wanted to give everyone some GREAT news about the Mr. Monotony outtake on disc 2. I popped in the DVD - played the 3 minute or so clip- thinking what a great number ashame it was cut from the movie but being happy it still exsisted...I was about to hit stop after Judy took her bow at the end of the number and to my SURPRISE this outtake kept going and going and going...... I was expecting it to be the same as the VHS tape edition from years ago...and to all you Judy Garland fanatics...get set for this one...this is the COMPLETE outtakes of the number that..are you ready.................runs about 20 MINUTES LONG!!! The first segment is the complete number...what follows is truly interesting to watch...its Judy doing the number over and over and over again...you see her goofing around and then BAM right into the number...it stops and then goes again and again...I was so pleased by this- it was almost like being in the directors chair watching her perform and then wanting her to do it again for diffent angles...then the close up shots..there is also retakes on the very end of the number of Judy doing differnt bow outs... truly amazing and this is top of the line quality on the outtakes apparently restored as well.... ENJOY!! I know I did..

Easter Parade is simply one of the most joyous and brilliant musicals ever concocted for the screen. If to only preserve the legendary teaming of two of the finest Artists of the 20th century ~ Garland & Astaire ~ then that alone makes this a film to cherish above most others in its field. It always stuns me to think that Astaire came out of semi-retirement simply because he WANTED to do a film with Garland. Well, besides his dancing, the man was known for his style and taste (Gene Kelly's injury did make it all possible. Knowing the amazing partnership of Garland & Kelly, I'm sure he would have been superb in this film also). Their screen chemistry is perfection, especially considering that Garland was a new & different type of leading lady for Astaire. She really was not a "partner" in the sense of a Rogers, Charisse, Bremmer, or Miller, but a kind of equal force to Astaire....someone he could not even begin to "lead"!!! I suspect this may have been the reason that when the film was first released, some critics thought that Miller made a better "partner" for Astaire than Garland did. Don't get me wrong....Miller is stunning as Nadine and her dancing, with & without Astaire is wonderful.....her "Shakin' the Blues Away" sometimes makes me forget that anyone else is in this flick! Then I quickly remember Astaire's "Drum Crazy", and "Stepping' Out with My Baby", Garland's "Better Luck Next Time", "It Only Happens When I Dance with You", and my favorite, "I Wanna Go Back to Michigan", and the two of them knocking us all dead with the "Vaudeville Montage", the brilliant "A Couple of Swells", and, of course, the title number. The audio & visual quality of this remastered DVD is stunning. Stunning indeed is the bonus second disc, where we get to see not only the entire "Mr. Monotony", Garland's super & sexy solo (those LEGS!!!) that was eventually cut prior to the film being released, but the Emmy winning American Masters "Judy Garland: By Myself". That to me is worth the purchase of this entire package. However, we do get more.....much, much more.
Luigi ~ NYC

Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade," starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire is about as good as vintage Hollywood musicals get. Produced in 1948 by M-G-M's top musical producer, Arthur Freed, "Easter Parade" is a tuneful romp that features stellar performances by its stars, and a top-flight Irving Berlin score. Musical standards include "A Couple Of Swells," "Steppin' Out With My Baby," "Shakin' The Blues Away," and the title song. This film is currently available on DVD - but only on a pricey 3-DVD set paying deserving tribute to Judy Garland. The film co-stars Anne Miller and Peter Lawford in appropriately .... charming (respectively) support. Its plot is simple: Astaire is a Broadway hoofer whose partner (Miller) has left him for a spot in The Ziegfeld Follies. Garland is the singer (no great dancer is she, at the start) who is summarily hired by Astaire as Miller's replacement. A love triangle (and much musical-comedy bliss) ensues, and great fun is to be had by anyone watching this great vintage movie musical. Astaire is marvelous here, and Judy (if you loved her as the teenaged Dorothy in "The Wizard Of Oz," and who didn't?) is sublime as always. Buy it, rent it, steal it if you have to. "Easter Parade" is not to be missed.

EASTER PARADE represents the pinnacle of the M-G-M musical. Too wonderful to watch only at eastertime, the film is filled with sensational Irving Berlin standards, superbly-choreographed musical numbers; not to mention the once-in-a-lifetime pairing of Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

Astaire plays famous vaudeville star Don Hewes, whose career as a pair-dancer is cut short when his partner Nadine (Ann Miller) quits the act to become a solo star. One night, whilst drowning his sorrows in a dingy bar, he happens across struggling singer Hannah Brown (Garland). Despite having no training, he decides to turn her into his most formidable dance partner. But their relationship - both on and off the stage - is tempered by Hannah's flirtation with a young collegiate bachelor (Peter Lawford), and the reappearance of beautiful Nadine.

The entire film (based around the pre-existing catalogue of Irving Berlin songs) is a complete joy. While the role of Don was originally meant for Gene Kelly, he suffered a broken leg only days before the filming was to begin. Astaire was brought out of retirement to assume the role, and turned in one of his greatest performances, ushering in a wave of new screen vehicles ("The Band Wagon", "Royal Wedding", etc). Judy Garland is pure perfection as Hannah, and obviously adored working with Astaire (their "Couple of Swells" routine is simply tour-de-force).

Ann Miller, in her first big role at the M-G-M studios, is an eyeful as the tap-happy Nadine. Her bravura rendition of "Shakin' the Blues Away", choreographed by Robert Alton, still counts as one of THE greatest musical numbers ever filmed. It's hard to believe, but Ann Miller was still nursing a broken back when she filmed that number. What a trouper! The role of Nadine was originally earmarked for Cyd Charisse, but once again, an injury kept her from the project and former RKO queen Miller started her series of screen successes for M-G-M, that would continue through "On the Town", "Small Town Girl" and "Hit the Deck". Peter Lawford (coming straight from the successful "Good News"), plays Hannah's would-be suitor very well; his mannered singing voice is quite acceptable.

This fabulous 2-disc Special Edition of EASTER PARADE comes with a wealth of bonus materials; including audio commentary with Judy Garland expert John Fricke, and Ava Astaire McKenzie (Fred's daughter). A new Making-Of documentary called "Easter Parade: On the Avenue", which recounts the various problems and difficulties that were encountered in bringing the film to life. Judy Garland's long-deleted performance of "Mr Monotony" which was cut from the final edit of the film (the costume was later recycled for the "Get Happy" number in Garland's last M-G-M film "Summer Stock"). Among the audio components is the Lux Radio Theatre broadcast, featuring the bulk of the film cast, in a fun little freeze-dried version of the story.

The real highlight is the award-winning American Masters documentary feature "Judy Garland: By Myself", which traces the life of Garland through remnants of audio interviews, film footage and pieces from Garland's attempted autobiography (with the voice of Isabel Keating as Garland). The doco features rare screen-test footage, pieces from "The Judy Garland Show" and lots of insight from those closest to Garland.

I am a Judy Garland and Fred Astaire fan. The first time I saw this film was on Easter sunday on TCM. I only saw the last half I was not too impressed. I have to admit I bought the movie only for Garland. When I got home my whole family gathered round the TV to watch it. I was amazed. The musical numbers are all superb, Irving Berlin's score is perfect, Ann Miller and Peter Lawford are equally super, Garland (like usual) is vocally and comically outstanding, and Astaire's dancing is as good as ever! I think Astaire is a better mach for Garland than Mickey Rooney (sorry Mickey) and Garland is even more suitable for Astaire than Ginger Rogers! Even my dad who claims to hate musicals fell in love with this charmer. I've seen it at least 5 times and it has never bored me. I was lucky enough to buy the MGM version; not the one patterned with Warner Bros. I mean MGM made the movie give them alittle credit! Any way this movie will entertain everyone I highly recomend it!

In this film we have talents galore at their very best. The Fred Astaire we meet is perhaps more mellow, but warmer, than the films he made when he was younger. The Judy Garland we meet has a natural vivaciousness which life hasn't yet at times lessened. I have always thought of her as more of a singer/entertainer than an actress, but in this movie she excels at both. She is a wonder, even though she smiles through sad and haunted eyes. And Peter Lawford really acts and sings in superior fashion; he is not just a handsome, English poseur. And three cheers for beautiful Ann Miller, smooth as silk when dancing with Astaire or solo.

The plot: Dancer loses his partner (who he is also in love with) as she goes it alone. When tipsy, he pulls Garland out of a line and claims he will make her a great star. Come to find out that for psychological reasons she doesn't even know her left foot from her right. In the end, she's great, and also in love with you know who. She has to throw a few tantrums before Astaire wakes up to his unacknowledged feelings for her as well.

The best here are the wonderful and bountiful musical numbers: "We're a Couple of Swells" perhaps being the heighth of musical artistry for Astaire and Garland.

One aside: When Jimmy Bates (the boy who follows Astaire around a toy store while Fred performs "Drum Crazy," finished the filming of his segment and was about to leave the studio, Fred was a sweetheart enough to present him with the gift of a bicycle. Jimmy grew up to be one of this country's greatest dancers (modern, ballet and tap) and became the head of a dance department at a Northern California university.

Another element of this perfect film is the stunning fashions. Too bad women don't wear those gorgeous hats anymore which so adorned their faces and garnished the style of an era. An era captured beautifully in this what-more-can-you-say-about-it movie.