Customer Reviews

The Milton Berle Collection

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

 

 

I was disappointed in this set of 5 DVDs. Most descriptions on the Internet of this DVD set state "Here's Uncle Miltie at the top of his form on the classic Texaco Star Theatre!" The Texaco Star Theater aired from 1948 to 1953. This DVD set does NOT contain any of The Texaco Star Theater shows. Instead, this set of DVDs is actually five shows from The Milton Berle Buick Show which aired from 1953 to 1955. Like many people, I think a little Milton Berle goes a long way. But, The Texaco Star Theater shows were historic television and worth viewing. Those early shows are what earned Milton Berle the nickname "Mr. Television," with his trademark entrance to each show and the vaudeville-like format of the show-including impressive guest star appearances, in many cases by stars making their debut television appearances. And, it was these early shows that were responsible for the rapid increase in television sales. By 1953, the year of the shows featured on this DVD set, television variety shows had matured, Milton Berle's writing staff had changed, and the format of his show was very different. I would recommend waiting for DVDs to be released (hopefully) that feature the early Texaco Star Theater shows.

The video elements are just fine on this set but the audio is catastrophic. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of each disc babbling about "poorly preserved" elements. These kinescopes are very well preserved, it's the audio remastering that sucks, and this set should have been recalled. It is difficult to understand dialogue through the distortion. Abominable!

try to get better sources

- I get the feeling Milton, Greg Garrison, various musicians and writers put a lot of work and heart into these shows. Milton's dancing alone was first rate, precise and more sweat than seen today and he seemed still to be very fresh in delivery. Ruth Gilbert was lovely as "Max" and Arnold Stang's "Francis" was dynamic and at times stole/steals the show. With guests such as Jack Webb, Steve Allen, Sid Cesar, Cyril Ritchard = got my measey $ worth. More Berle-Buick please along with his Texaco shows.

Regarding sound - on several shows there's a certain percentage which is "destroyed"/missing/distorted but theres enough good overall for the fan to make it worthwhile. (Is this all that's left?)

Video quality is good enough.

I saw Berle as a guest on Tom Snyder TV interview show probably during 1970's. He complained that to save storage space, some custodian at NBC had thrown out all the kinescopes of his work. All gone.

the show with tallulah and sinatra is probley the best berle show on this disc and that makes it great...