Customer Reviews

Lucille Ball Film Collection (Dance Girl Dance / The Big Street / Du Barry Was a Lady / Critic's Choice / Mame)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fine drama directed by a gay woman---Dorothy Arzner---examines women's roles in society and how men perceive them and what it means to follow your dream. Maureen O'Hara is lustrous as Judy, a struggling dancer in a knock about all girl dance troup who longs to dance in ballet. Also in the troop is Bubbles (Lucille Ball) who just longs for the Big Time and any road will do to get there. While Judy is sweet, sincere and wants to use her talent for success, Bubbles is raw and vulgar and uses sex to get what she wants. When Bubbles (now Tiger Lily White) lands in burlesque she gets Judy a job to dance ballet in come-on spots between her strip acts knowing Judy is just her "stooge". Judy reluctantly agrees to suffer for her art. Complicating things are a wealthy married playboy (Louis Hayward) and a ballet entrepeneur (Ralph Bellamy) who sees a star in Judy. O'Hara is lovely and has a great scene telling off the rowdy burlesque audience. And Ball as Bubbles/Tiger Lily is wonderful playing a bad girl with "pay me" on her forehead. This film is a keeper and offers a great b&w DVD print. And it's interesting to note the feminist angles, unusual for the time. Highly recommended.

This is a GREAT collection to own and a must have for any Lucy fan! With this collection you will receive 5 movies starring Lucille Ball's most popular film adaption. You will be amazed to see the true acting ability of Lucy here.


Some of the films here are somewhat of a opposite to Lucille Ball's role on "I Love Lucy" but some are very similar to "I Love Lucy" in my opinion. Take "The Big Street" for instance, High class Gloria (Lucille Ball) was a bit cruel and mean to a poor man named pinks who falls head over heels in love with her and will do anything to please her at the end she begins to fall for him too. A must see dramatic film!!


You will see Lucille Ball like you have never seen her before and these movies are not boring at all but they are really good interesting movies that you will not lose interest in. I am somewhat shy of old films and find them boring but I can watch anything with Lucille Ball and you will love these films!




"Lucille Ball Film Collection" includes:


"The Big Street" - Ex-chanteuse Gloria is vain, cruel, crippled - and busboy Pinks can't help but love her. Ball and Henry Fonda power Damon Runyon's tale of Broadway denizens living on life's margins.

"Critic's Choice" - That's no playwright, that's my wife. Poison-penned Broadway critic Bob Hope loves wife Lucille Ball...but hates the play she writes. Based on the play by "Deathtrap's" Ira Levin.

Dance, Girl, Dance" - Art doesn't pay the bills. So aspiring ballerina Ball makes her way as a burlesque star in this powerful study of being a woman in a man's world. With Maureen O'Hara.

"Dubarry Was A Lady" - Their friendship is a perfect musical-comedy blendship! Ball goes from NYC torch singer to the dream girl of Red Skelton's wacky, 18th-century-France reverie. Gene Kelly joins the fun!


"Mame" - She'll coax the blues right out of your heart. Madcap Auntie Mame (Ball) is suddenly her nephew's guardian. Robert Preston and Beatrice Arthur co-star in a sparkling adaptation of the Broadway hit.


Highly recommended!!!

For any Lucille Ball fan or true film buff, this 5 dvd set is a must. Of course, when Lucille was mixed with the character of Lucy an entity was created that will live on forever and never be replaced.

But this is Lucille Ball the actress and it is amazing to see her through all different phases of her career. With DANCE, GIRL DANCE she was a very famous B actress who got cast with the A list and had no idea what her future held.

THE BIG STREET is a 100 % dramatic Lucille fully letting loose. Beautiful, strong and just plain cruel - this role is a tour-de-force. The gossips try to say that Henry Fonda hated working with her and criticized her acting style but then why would he return to her blessed company in YOURS, MINE AND OURS.

Some dis CRITIC'S CHOICE but I find it very entertaining to see her portray a regular middle aged woman. I find the film very funny and her portayal very believable and so far removed from Lucy.

MAME - all I can say is her much critized singing voice brings a true presence to her portrayal. She is lovely and has such fun. The main production number is so lovely it will bring you to tears. WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS is a true display of joy. And I will forever say that I found the second half of this film to be some of her best dramatic acting ever.

These films are only in 1.0 sound but it still sounds great and the video transfers are crysal clear.

I think you can tell I love Lucy !!!!!!!! Actually, who doesn't. And whether you love all or some of these films she still brings her unique quality to each. Purchase this set and enjoy !!!!!

I always loved Lucille Ball & Maureen O'Hara and this is a very likeable, enjoyable and funny movie for the whole family. My children loved it, and now that I own the DVD of Dance, Girl, Dance my grandchildren love it.
Miss O'Hara as the Ballarina and Lucille Ball as the stripper is a funny and laughable movie. They make the characters come alive and seem real. Ralph Bellamy, he adds to the Story as too, does the rest of the cast.
Buy it, I promise you'll enjoy it.
Shirley Frye; actually to me this movie is worth 10 stars!
Grin!

Dance, Girl, Dance is a wonderful movie directed by Dorothy Arzner. Lucille Ball (Bubbles) & Maureen O'Hara (Judy) are wonderful in each of their roles. Bubbles and Judy are dancers in a group living on one gig at a time. Judy is the classiest of the girls with dreams of dancing ballet. Only in her world ballet does not satisfy the lustful desires of men coming to see them. Due to this Bubbles the more risqué dancer outshines the group and has every man eating out of the palm of her hand. She is shameless in using sex to climb to the top and making the girls feel awful.

I love Judy's Character! She is so beautiful and sweet. You'll be cheering her on towards the end. This is a film worth having!

Cannily-directed by Dorothy Arzner, DANCE GIRL DANCE is a splendid showcase for two of Hollywood's great female talents: Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball.

Hard-working ballet dancer Judy O'Brien (Maureen O'Hara), and her ballsy gal-pal Bubbles (Lucille Ball) work as members of a small-time dance troupe operated by Madame Basilova (Maria Ouspenskaya). When Bubbles leaves to become a burlesque headliner, Madame organises for Judy to get her big break with New York's leading ballet company...until fate takes a cruel turn. Instead, Judy is recruited as the "stooge" for Bubbles in her burlesque act. Complications arise when both girls fall for the charms of recently-divorced society gent Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward); leading to an all-out catfight when Bubbles secretly marries him.

DANCE GIRL DANCE features the perfect combination of zingy comedy and purehearted sentiment; a fascinating backstage tale with enough rough edges for it to ring true. Both Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball give top performances, but Ball steals the whole movie with her ferocious comedy skills. This is yet another film where the male actors seem insignificant, with Louis Hayward and Ralph Bellamy relegated to the background--you just can't take your eyes away from O'Hara and Ball.

A must-see for fans of Lucy. The DVD includes Vitaphone short "Just a Cute Kid", and the Merrie Melodies cartoon "Malibu Beach Party".

One of the most charming films I ever saw - a rare quality in films. Within the first minutes it sets the tone: A nightclub is closed by the police because of gambling, but one depressed customer lets a hat of one of the female dancers go round so everybody from the policemen gives a dollar because the poor dancing ladies just lost their job. Of course two of the ladies are Maureen (wonder-/beautiful) and Lucille (high energy). Later the same man gives a cab driver his last $20 and the cab driver suggest he give him at least $2 back because he just wants to enter a club. The man agrees. Know what I mean? Little charming moments and a sophisticated web of people in love, divorced, full of ambition, suddenly rich, on their knees, in love but acting different etc. very cool storytelling.

The girls treat each other with respect although constantly out of money. Well, everybody is treated with respect by the screenplay and direction.

This set is worth owning just for Mame, in which Lucille Ball BECOMES Auntie Mame. DuBarry Was A Lady, Dance Girl Dance (with a young Maureen O'Hara) and The Big Street are all fan favorites. While Lucy looks stunning in Critic's Choice, it is the least enjoyable film in the set (and the only "stinker" out of four films she made with her preferred screen-partner, Bob Hope).

This is a pretty good collection honoring Lucille Ball's motion picture work in various decades of her long career. She looks beautiful in "Dubarry...". The movie is dated but, she looks so glam. The film was made mostly just to promote MGM's Technicolor process of color filming. By the time "Critic's Choice" was made, Miss Ball was just past 50 years old. Heavy makeup and careful camera lensing makes her look about 15 years younger than she actually was. Ironically, the woman playing her mother in the film was about the same age as Lucy. "Mame" should have starred Angela Lansbury. But, Ball wanted to follow up her 1968 hit, "Yours, Mine and Ours" with a major film project. So, she secured rights to "Mame". Aside from her singing, the film is OK. She looks great thanks to her makeup team and Vaseline closeups. Nice campy moments. Glam clothes! "Big Street" is her best film of all that starred her.

The Lucille Ball Film Collection is a must have for every Lucy fan. There are four great films and one not so great film in this collection. "The Big Street" is Lucille Ball's finest dramatic performance. She really shines in this film co-starring Henry Fonda. I think her performance was Oscar worthy. "DuBarry Was A Lady" is a pure musical-comedy delight co-starring Red Skelton and Gene Kelly. Lucille Ball really looks outstanding with her red hair in this film. "Dance, Girl, Dance" another rare gem that co-starred Maureen O'Hara. Lucy really showed she could act in this film. It's amazing how she was never given the opportunity that other actresses in the 40's were given. My favorite movie of the bunch is "Mame", which is just a joyful, jubilant musical. This film was unjustly crucified by most critics, but Lucille Ball showed she could pull this movie off. People have rediscoverd this film and realize it's a very good old fashion movie musical. Lucy was nominated for a Golden Globe for Mame and should have walked away with an Academy Award for this film. She put 120% of herself in this film. My least favorite film in the collection is "Critic's Choice." It's not very funny, although, Lucy isn't bad in it and Lucy steals the film from Bob Hope as she did in all the films she co-starred with Bob Hope.