Customer Reviews

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

THE ONE AND ONLY GENUINE ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND is a charming musical from Disney, with Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson (the romantic leads from Disney's previous musical hit THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE) once again centre stage.

However, when compared to HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, this movie falls decidedly flat. The storyline isn't engaging and the score (while quite pretty) doesn't have the same theatricality or flavour as MILLIONAIRE.

Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson once again offer charming performances as the lead romantic couple and get a lovely song to share ("'Bout Time"). Lesley Ann Warren also glows in her solo number "The Happiest Girl Alive". The cast also includes old musical pro's Buddy Ebsen and Janet Blair, with Walter Brennan as the irascible old grandfather.

The DVD is presented in fullscreen (as opposed to HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE which got the grand widescreen treatment from both Disney and Anchor Bay). There's an informative featurette with new interviews from Lesley Ann Warren, John Davidson and composer/lyricist Richard Sherman.

Theres also a scene-specific audio commentary featuring Warren, Davidson and Sherman (all recorded separately). One of the tidbits unearthed from the commentary is Warren recalling how she and John Davidson were starring on Broadway in 1965 at the same time (she in 110 IN THE SHADE, he in HELLO DOLLY), and actually dated a few times, all before being paired in these two Disney musicals!

Still, a fine companion piece to THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE and a wonderful slice of Disney moviemaking at it's peak.

I didn't expect to like this film. The title was too corny for one thing. Also, I'd seen Disney's trailers for the film and noticed how they always focused on a scene featuring Goldie Hawn even though she's only in the movie for a few minutes toward the end. If they have to try to sell it with shots of Goldie Hawn, how good can it be?
But I finally got the chance to see it in its entirety and found out that it's a pretty darn good film. I've heard the Sherman Brothers songs for this movie dismissed as "forgettable" by notable critics but, while this film isn't loaded with Academy Award winning songs, there are still some good tunes sprinkled throughout, most notably a duet between John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren entitled "Bout Time". The film has a lot of good choreography too and the dance sequences are thouroughly engaging without being over the top.
Walter Brennan and Buddy Ebsen are perfect for their roles here and both do a fantastic job. (Although I'm not sure that Brennan was really old enough to be Ebsen's father.)
The film is in full screen but in the documentary that's included here as a bonus feature, there's a mention of this being a made for TV film. The bonus features are nice and a commentary track with Davidson, Warren and one of the Sherman brothers is included too.

This is my favorite movie in the entire world!!! My mom rented it when I was a little girl, and I just adored it. However, as I grew older I was devastated when I was no longer able to find it out on video. I have been surfing the web for months trying to find a copy, but to no avail. You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out it was coming out on DVD!! I truly believe this is the best movie ever made. I mean, think about it, it's got your history, politics, family life, and what better love story than Leslie Ann Warren and John Davidson? Not to mentiont he completely adorable Kurt Russell, the energetic dancer and singer Buddy Ebsen, and of course the lovable grandfather Walter Brennan! I absolutely love this movie! Thank you Disney for finally releasing it! You have made my year!

A disappointing release from Disney Home Video of a charming film with great stars and wonderful Sherman Brothers' music. The extras are nice: a short "making of" documentary and optional audio commentary. Why the one star? A poor pan-and-scan release with below par video quality are truly unacceptable in today's DVD market. It would be better for the Disney Company to slow down its release sechedule and take the time to create quality releases of these older title that appeal to "grown up" Disney fans and film students.

For some reason, most people don't know too much or have never heard about this Disney movie. And I don't quite understand why, since it rates in some of my TOP Disney movies. First off, it carries a cast of today's well known actors in some of their earliest roles ever. Kurt Russell as a kid (singing, dancing and playing a musical instrument at that!). Goldie "Jeanne" Hawn as a bit part. Not to mention Leslie Ann Warren, before she started playing loopy characters. Buddy Ebsen, John Davidson (very pre-Hollywood Squares). Walter Brennan. The story is about a musically talented family in which Grandpa organizes the family band to play at the democratic convention. But his grandaughter Alice's love interest, Joe Carder, a Republican, convinces the family of which most are Republican to head out to the Dakotas (at that point still just one state). The movie revolves gently around the politics of the Grover Cleveland re-election campaign against Benjamin Harrison with a focus on the comedy, the love quarrels and a ton of kids having fun. The climactic end takes place at the Republican primary if I remember correctly, where jsut about everything goes haywaire and unexpected. (Even as it did at the real election at that time.) It's nice getting the history lesson in without even realizing it! The songs are upbeat and memorable, aside from one lousy Leslie Ann Warren song early on, and are still fun to sing and dance along with many years later. My VHS of this movie has just about gone caput, so I'm very pleased that the DVD version is coming out.

I have this VHS in the 1983 White Clamshell Release. And I was so happy when I found out that this was coming out on DVD. I Bought it off amazon.com along with 4 of the other July 6th Releases. This movie brings back such fond memories. I love the songs. Walter Brennan was so nice as Rencalid Bower. And Buddy Ebsen and Janet Blair shined as the parents. This is such a sweet kids movie. Full of great songs like 10 feet off the ground, lets put Grover Over Again, Bout Time, He Kept Drummin Drummin Drummin and many more. And who can forget Lesley Ann Warren as Laura Bower and John Davidson as Joe Carder. While the family is having a fun time. Laura and Joe are having romantic fun. I also loved the special features. The Family Band Album was very nice. Lesley,John, and Robert Sherman. Lesley talks about making the movie and how Kurt Russel hated the dancing. And John talks about everything in paticular and Robert Sherman talks about the music and how they made it without Walt. This is a great film that I highly suggest to all of you.

Buy a DVD tonight and share it with your family.

Ok...This is one of those completely obscure movies. People look at me like I'm crazy when I mention it. You have to see it if you have not, though. I promise, you will love it!!!

Its especially funny around election time, and its rather like the 2000 election. You'll like it, honest.

This film was edited to its' current running time of 1 hr. 50 minutes at the urging of RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL so they could show it with their Christmas Show. Trouble is, the original 2 hour and 45 minute version has not been seen since. Commonly referred to as "Roadshow Versions", Disney recently released the Roadshow Version of THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE. So why not do the same with this film?

Family morals, family together and family love doesn't get any better than this film. This is a face-paced musical spectular with an all star cast. You'll even notice a very young Goldie Hawn and of course Kurt Russell. I only feel disappointed that they didn't release this in 5.1 because the movie was filmed in 4-track 35mm. Never-the-less you'll still enjoy this movie with a lot of top-tapping songs.

Ok, it is possible that it's because I was introduced at a young age. Maybe that's why I absolutely love this movie! I haven't seen it in probably five or more years, and I can still remember each and every song ('Bout Time, The Campaign Songs, Family Band...) and can sing them without even having to hear bits of it. I could not wait for this movie to come back out of the vault. I would go to different websites just looking for a glimmer of hope. They all said the same thing: Not available at this time. And then, as if by miracle, Amazon.com posted that it was soon to be released. I have ordered it and it should be here any day. If you are a fan of anyone in the cast you are sure to love this movie and will want to add it to your video/dvd library. And I think the fact that they are a family band is very crucial to the plot. I mean, if not they never would have missed the Democratic Convention, Grandpa wouldn't have gotten mad at Republicans and...well. I won't give away anymore of the story. Watch it. You're sure to love it too.