Customer Reviews

Judy Garland - Live at the London Palladium [VHS]

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

 

 

Wary as I was of all the so-so and downright negative reviews of this DVD that I've seen strewn about the Web, it was with some reluctance that I bought it from Amazon.

I am deligted to be able to tell you all now to utterly disregard the criticisms, the complaints and the heckling - "Judy Garland Live at the London Palladium with Liza Minnelli" is, in my opinion, one of the best live concert DVDs I have ever seen.

Judy is older, more tired, and in noticably less voice than in previous outings. Liza is sometimes over-ambitious in her range and a shade on the awkward side. The DVD quality is blurry and jerky, and the sound quality, although you can hear pretty much everything perfectly well, is not as good as it could have been.

For all of that, though, the absolute and indefinable screen magic and stage presence that radiates from two of the world's most legendary entertainers is more than palpable here - it's real, heartfelt and honest. Judy and Liza seem both enamoured of and slightly overawed by each other, and their shared medleys and duets (which comprise most of the track listings) are breathtaking. Liza more than holds her own with her opening number "Gypsy In My Soul", and in terms of sheer enjoyment, their rendition of the classic "Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again" beats the Garland-Streisand version hands down.

An absolute and unequivocal must for fans of showbusiness, broadway, craftsmanship in music or either of these two indisputable treasures, "Judy Garland Live at the London Palladium with Liza Minnelli" is an outstanding testament to the power of talent.

To be owned and enjoyed immediately!

This DVD of the famed Judy Garland-Liza Minnelli 1963 London Palladium concert is a must for all fans.

This was Minnelli's first big engagement (she would make her Off-Broadway debut the following year in BEST FOOT FORWARD, before landing a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in 1965's FLORA THE RED MENACE). Though as other reviewers have noted, her overall performance is quite raw and unpolished, this merely adds to the charm. Her kooky and knowing delivery of "It's Just a Matter of Time" is simply delicious and "The Gypsy in My Soul" is full of verve.

And the comic banter between Garland and Minnelli is hilarious! Garland was always a renowned raconteur, and she used it well during her concerts. When asking the audience which number they would like to hear next, a scream from the balcony suggests "There's a Hole in My Bucket". Liza asks "When did you sing that one, Momma?" and Garland dryly replies "When I was in the Hillbilly Three". When a microphone rises from beneath the stage, Garland remarks to Minnelli "It looks like Cleopatra's asp!".

The entire concert is a complete joy. Whilst sitting on the stage Garland makes time stand still with her rendition of "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from FUNNY GIRL and has the audience in stitches with her comic cavorting in "San Francisco".

Best of all is when Garland gets the audience to serenade her with "Over the Rainbow". For Garland-Minnelli admirers, this DVD is a mandatory one.

This was Judy's last concert at the London Pallidium and was Liza's first on-stage appearance (excluding TV). Although the B&W video quality is poor, the magic of the two on stage is excellent! If you are a fan of Judy or Liza, you owe it to yourself to add this tape to your collection - just seeing the love between Judy & Liza as they sing "Happy Days Are Here Again" is worth the purchase. And as another viewer writes, "Over The Rainbow" is magical. Yes, Judy's career was sadly coming to a bitter end and it comes through in this concert - but the audience stood and cheered as Judy closed the show with everything she had singing "Chicago" with Liza at her side. There was a special bond between these two wonderful ladies!

In the Editorial Review I read: "In November 1964 Liza Minnelli was not yet 20 and not yet a Broadway success." In fact: Miss Minnelli just turned 18 years old on march 12th 1964!...
Years ago I could get an illegal copy on video. It was a very bad one, but I was so happy just to have it. This (legal) DVD-copy is an enormous improvement on the illegal VHS quality. Just keep in mind: the year is 1964. It's a TV-registration of a theatre show; not a TV-show with LIVE-audience. Therefore the entire concert had to be done in ONE take. I can live with some camera/director's mistakes and the (sometimes) poor sound quality. In fact: they just add up to the charm!... In those days ALL TV-programs were recorded on AMPEX-tapes. Which were VERY expensive. AMPEX-tapes were used over and over again because of the high costs. Many brilliant programs lost because of this. It's an ABSOLUTE MIRACLE that this tape was not re-used for some silly quiz-show or something. Let's Hail the people who found this show important enough to keep it in the vaults for so many years. Judy might have been tired, but she still was brilliant. Liza was just a very gifted and talented upcoming star. No lack of AMPEX-quality can mistify THAT!...
In an interview Liza once said: "When I was a little girl and I jumped on stage to dance while Mama sang, it was an unrehearsed, amateurish and spontaneous thing. But at the Palladium, Mama realized that she had a grown-up daughter and that I wasn't a kid anymore. I'm sure this happens with almost every mother and daughter. It happened to my mother in front of eight thousand people. Mama became very competitive with me. I wasn't Liza, but another woman in the same spotlight." Liza never did appear with Judy in a concert setting again. "Immediately after the Palladium show, Mama's competiviness disappeared. She then fell into a period of unparalleled motherhood."
This 'competiviness' is very clear in several songs. But it's very good television as well!... In spite of the so-called 'poor technical quality'...

I have been waiting 40 years for this to surface. The original LP is in my posession. This is a shortened version for a one hour television time slot. But it is packed with goodies. Judy sings "Just in Time" which is not on the LP but is in the separate video "Judy Frank and Dean". She also sings "For Once in My Lifetime" which I have never heard her sing before. It is a show stopper. Liza is fantastic if a bit giddy. We can watch Mama Judy coaching her on stage and microphone technique in a very unsubtle and embarassing way. But the whole thing is great. The black and white video has all the markings of the primitive television camera techniques of the day used in televising a live multicamera program but doesn't interfere with the enjoyment and thrill of seeing Judy and Liza totally live and uncut.

None of the performances on this DVD are technically perfect, although every single one is brilliant and many are outright electrifying. If this DVD doesn't give you goosebumps, then you should consider a heart transplant.

Still there is a hint of sadness as Judy sings Over The Rainbow and when she closes the show. One can almost sense that everyone (including Judy) knew that the end of the rainbow was not far off.

I can't believe that one reviewer described this DVD as a chance to laugh at Judy Garland. Judy on an off day even in the twilight of her career was infinitely more talented than any contemporary artist today.

Judy Garland is the most beloved entertainer of all time and deservedly so. Her talent, heart and raw courage shone through in everything she did, even in the darkest of her days.

Jason

Wow! There cannot possibly be many better ways to spend an hour than this. Judy and Liza give, both independently and collaboratively, an incredible performance. While this is Liza's first public stage performance with her remarkable mother, Liza takes only seconds, despite some apparent and more than understandable nervousness, to prove that she is not just Judy Garland's daughter but is in fact a fantastic singer in her own right. While I have listened to a little bit of Liza in the past, I only did so because she was the daughter of the greatest singer to ever live. I can now say, however, that I am a Liza fan. The Judy Garland in this video is the Judy Garland that so many of us continue to adore, with no trace of the sadness that perpetually haunted her throughout her adult life. She is seemingly very happy to be on stage, which is probably the only place where she was truly ever happy, and she makes everyone in her audience share in that happiness. Obviously, she is delighted and proud to have her daughter on stage performing with her--this is clearly evident when Liza sings "Who's Sorry Now?" because the camera shows Judy sitting on the stage in front of Liza and clearly enjoying her singing. There is a lot of interaction with the audience, as well, both between songs and sometimes even during songs. I am one of those people who always seems to be frowning, but I smiled throughout this entire performance. That is the magic of Judy Garland. On pretty rare occasions, a certain song by a certain singer will give you goosebumps, and those goosebumps usually stop appearing once you have heard that special song a few times. Judy Garland, however, gives me goosebumps on almost every song she sings; I've been a fan since 1989, and those goosebumps haven't stopped yet.

This video is only about 55 minutes long, unfortunately; I wish it were longer. As far as the songs, Liza sings two or three on her own, the highlight of which is, in my opinion, "It's Just a Matter of Time," and both she and Judy team up for a number of wonderful duets. Judy herself sings several songs of her own, beginning with a powerful performance of "Once in a Lifetime" and including such favorites as "The Man That Got Away," "San Francisco," and, of course, "Over the Rainbow." This is a particularly interesting version of "Over the Rainbow" in that Judy encourages the audience to sing with her and actually stops and listens while they sing parts of the song.

The only drawback associated with this tape is the picture quality. I don't know the origins or originally intended purposes of this tape, but at times is appears to be the work of an amateur. On several occasions, the camera shakes momentarily as if it has been bumped. Along the same lines, the editor of this video would surely garner no rewards for his work. Many of the transitions from one song to another are terribly choppy and poorly done. Don't let these technical flaws deter you from buying this video, however, especially at such a low price. Judy Garland is close to her best throughout the entire performance, and Liza proves that she is much more than just Judy Garland's daughter.

Just for the fact that they appear together in concert form should be enough......One thing I've never understood about this particular concert is why it has never been packaged and sold in its entirety. The taping consisted of 2 weekends' worth of performances. I have seen this concert, DVD and VHS, and neither are the complete concert. Even the CD/album sold today is an abridged version of the original 2-record album! I'd rather hold off on buying until the ENTIRE concert is for sale. I have the original album and the VHS tape to get me through until that time arrives.

Judy Garland appeared with her daughter Liza Minnelli at London's Palladium Theater on November 16, 1964--and the crowd went wild. Together Judy and Liza weave a magic spell over their audience not to mention anyone watching this excellent DVD of the portions of the concert that were televised on British TV.

The auspicious Garland overture signals Judy's turn to take the stage; she belts out "Just Once In A Lifetime" and "Just In Time" with all the panache of a showbiz legend. Judy never misses a note and her sitting at the piano for "Just In Time" creates an intimate one-on-one mood with her audience so that she could lead them wherever she wanted them to go. Excellent!

Liza Minnelli fans will enjoy Liza singing several songs on this DVD; she performs the classic "Gypsy In My Soul;" It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Who's Sorry Now." One Amazon reviewer writes that at times Liza seems gawky and not at ease with the audience to the extent that her mother is--but, of course, Liza was a mere eighteen years old when this was filmed. We need to give Liza credit for doing as well as she did-- especially when she was paired up with her legendary mother. Working with her mother onstage must have presented a challenge to Liza; Judy Garland was tough to follow. Indeed, after one song Liza comes back on stage and says "How can I follow that?" Of course, this was a scripted line; but it was truthful, too.

Judy shines throughout on this concert DVD; she does duets with Liza and sings several more songs solo. Judy and Liza do a magnificent job with a medley of "Hooray For Love/After You've Gone/By Myself/S'Wonderful/How About You?/Lover Come Back/You And The Night And The Music/It All Depends On You." Wow! Judy sings other classic ballads with flair, grace and self confidence; she sings "The Man That Got Away;" "Music That Makes Me Dance;" San Francisco" and more.

In addition, Judy helps the audience to do a very moving sing-along duet with her of "Over The Rainbow." The audience clearly enjoys it after initially being a bit shy.

The footage is rather good although there are imperfections on the image apparently due to technical problems that could not be resolved before the release of this DVD. The sound quality remains excellent throughout.

If you want to see Judy Garland at the top of her game with her daughter Liza very ably assisting, this is the DVD for you. I highly recommend this DVD for Judy and Liza fans alike; and fans of classic concerts in general on DVD won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

This taped performance, for many years forgotten, shows Ms. Garland after her TV series had been canceled. She is wafer thin and after many hours of rehearsal prior to the show, her voice is fairly well shot. She appears tired, ill and medicated. It takes all of her stamina to keep up with her daughter, a young and energized Liza Minelli. An interesting note, this tape is NOT the entire concert and neither is the 2-record original album released by her label, Capitol. There are numbers found on one and missing on the other. Rather odd. Unfortunately, British television at the time was not as advanced as their American counterpart. In particular, the sound equipment used seems substandard for a concert taping of this quality and the filming isn't very well thought out. However, the tape does show Ms. Garland's rapport with her audience and how they adored her. It includes the most touching version of "Over The Rainbow" I've heard, as the audience sings along with her for the first chorus. For that alone, it's worth the price.