Customer Reviews

Peter Pan (30th Anniversary Collector's Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This edition of the famous Mary Martin "Peter Pan" is not the very first 1955 telecast. That telecast is preserved on kinescope, not videotape, and most likely exists only in black and white, as kinescopes were unable to reproduce color.

Instead, this is the 1960 production of that same musical, here preserved in color, and those who are expecting a "different" production need not worry. Most of the original Broadway cast is still here--the exceptions are the children, who naturally have been cast to replace the 1955 kids who of course had outgrown their roles. Wendy and Jane in this production are played by Maureen Bailey, who, although having an attractive singing voice, is a shrill actress who quickly gets on one's nerves (unlike Kathleen Nolan, who went on to have a successful career on television after "Peter Pan"). Liza the maid is played not by Mary Martin's daughter Heller Halliday, but by Jacqueline Mayro.

But practically everything else is the same as the 1955 production, and those who think that they have grown up watching that 1955 production are mistaken; it is this 1960 production which has been rerun over and over on television and issued on video. Yes, the sets look cheesy in comparison to what we would see today, and you can see the wires when the actors fly, but you will most likely never see a better, more heartfelt production of "Peter Pan" than this version. It is the only one which truly captures the spirit, humor and poignancy of the story, unlike the chintzy, superficial Cathy Rigby production. Mary Martin as Peter, Cyril Ritchard as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, and Joe E. Marks as Smee have never been bettered by any other actors playing these roles.

This DVD is copied from the 1960 NBC-TV version of the Mary Martin Broadway musical. It was done on live TV [videotape was still experimental] each year from 1955 on. There's a black-and-white kinescope version of the 1955 telecast "broadcast in compatible color and black-and-white" in the NBC news archives. The 1955 telecast is considered to be the first adaptation of a Broadway musical to be broadcast live, and in color.

In 1960, the folks at NBC decided to put the classic to videotape, and assembled the cast at NBC's studios in Brooklyn .. the only NBC studio outside of Burbank that had sufficient ceiling height so stagehands could do the intricate wire technique that Martin and her fellow actors used to fly through the sets.

Think about this "Peter Pan" as a period piece; a slice of television's past that is fortunately well-preserved. With its grand, over-saturated RCA color ... the Broadway staging ... with choreography by the famed Jerome Robbins ... and its mono soundtrack. Not to mention the non-politically-correct Indians .. and a superb Cyril Ritchard Captain Hook.

Color TV was only about 7 years old as a mass medium when this production was captured on tape. Color videotape was only 3 years old. The original tape was 2" in width, and the original tape container weighed close to 15 pounds! The cameras weighed upwards of 300 pounds, and were connected by cables as big as a large man's wrist. There were no zoom lenses. You can see some of the camera shakes in many of the dolly and tracking shots.

The tape was shown yearly around Christmas time by NBC throughout the 1960s and '70s. Then some problems ensued between the charity in Britain that holds the rights to the J.M. Barrie original, and NBC. In the late 1980's the late NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff was able to clear up the rights problems, get the tape transferred and restored to modern standards. Could use a further cleaning-up using the newest restoration technology.

Enjoy, have a good, safe laugh ... and just remember you're looking at history!

The Mary Martin version of Peter Pan will always be my link to the past when it comes to musical theatre. I grew up watching these characters, dancing along to the Indian dance, and memorizing nearly every line.
Mary Martin's portreyal of Peter lacks the aura the author wrote into his first stage play "Peter Pan" (later adapted by him into the book "Peter and Wendy"), which was a reckless, and forever young child. However, Martin's acting prowess soon helps us ignore that fact.
It should be noted that though it was taped live for NBC, there is no audience present. There are also several differences from the recently broadcast A&E version. Martin's version contains the hillarious "Mysterious Lady" sequence, while Cathy Rigby's production treats the rescue of Tiger Lily as it happened on Marooner's Rock (as written in the book).
These two versions (assuming you have seen them both) are different enough to not be compared directly. Each of them have their own pros and cons,and both are very enjoyable.
This DVD is a must own for all who, like I did, grew up watching Mary Martin fly around the stage in the colorful world of NBC's timeless broadcast of "Peter Pan."

I was about five years old when I first saw this on television. (Dating myself, of course - circa 1954) It hasn't lost its charm at all, and Mary Martin is the Peter Pan of all time. Not because I am biased, but when you first see her, as I did when I was a child, you forget about gender. She is magical, and musical, and mystical, and she embodies the character of J.M. Barrie's "Pan" to the hilt. Then there are the songs - "I'm Flying," "Never Land," "I Won't Grow Up," and others, and it's incredibly enchanting.

Cyril Ritchard is marvelous as Captain Hook, as well, and he embodies the role as well. You know that he's gone wrong, and the semi-comic, don't take me to seriously mischief he brings to the role is neat. He sings on "Tarantella," and "Captain Hook," and when the Crocodile makes its appearance, you are at first saddened, but glad that he has gone away.

All in all, this is superb family entertainment, and it is highly recommended. 10 stars would be more like it!!!

For baby boomers and their young children, THIS is the version you want. If you loved this, don't waste your money on the latest 2004 dark version which is comprised of non-stop action, violence, and special effects without any qualitative plot (what there is, is a sad perversion of the story) nor enough attention to casting. Of course, most of the X generation seems to love it-what a sad commentary! In comparison, this (Mary Martin) version is wholesome and won't give your kids nightmares!

My mother-in-law bought me this movie in VHS format for father's dad a few years ago. Little did she know what a wonderful gift it was! It meant a tremendous amount for this older dad to cuddle up on the couch and watch PP with his wife and two young boys. The kids didn't understand why I held them so tightly or why I broke out into tears so many times (especially from hearing Never Grow Up and Neverland), perhaps from recollections of watching the original broadcast in B&W with my parents, or hoping that we will not grow any older and our kids will remain young forever, or perhaps because our world has been changed so dramatically?

Peter Pan also instilled a dream in me as a child: a dream to "fly." Thanks to NASA, I had my dream granted and was able to "fly" on their famous "vomit comet" zero-gravity jet. Thus, I became one of Peter's children for a day in my life. My boys are very proud that their dad go to fly like Peter and the kids.

God bless everyone involved in making this version of Peter Pan available to us in both VHS and now DVD format, and thanks to Amazon.com for giving us this forum to express ourselves. Both are helping to keep my childhood dreams alive and to stimulate new ones in our kids.

The Mary Martin Peter Pan, not unlike the Disney version, is timeless. It is an incredibly enjoyable production and a window into how television was executed back in 1960. Now, i wasn't born yet when it was first transmitted, but that hardly takes away from not being able to fully appreciate and feel entertained. My kids LOVE both versions, but really get a kick out of this one. They just love the songs. It's disillusioning to me to read other "kids'" reviews who just didn't get it. I assure others that MY kids can't get enough of quality entertainment...and they also enjoy some garbage, too.

This is probably the best live version available for young children. What I like best about this particular version is that it emphasizes the idea of children at play; Tiger Lily and her indians are clearly children playing, not real Native Americans. Even the pirates have a sense of children playing (they fight over Michael's bear, for example). The music is excellent. My boys just love it!

I remember first hearing about this classic when I was in Elementary school and wanting to see what all the talk was about. But when I realized that a woman (Mary Martin), was playing the boy, Peter Pan, I thought it was different and weird. But I soon fell in love with the characters and the music in the movie, and soon forgot all about a girl playing a boy character.
Even at my young age, I figured out how the character Peter Pan flew, with cable wires. Though I could see the wires everytime Peter left the ground, the music and the atmosphere of the movie made me smile and wished that I could fly like Peter.

I grew up with classic movies by appreciating the movie each classic gives us. I highly reccomend this movie to children of all ages (even children that refuse to grow up! ;)_) by introducing them to not only a story that has gone through generations of children, but to a 'real' classic movie that today's generation can appreciate. More people need to appreciate older classic movies and the talented actors and actresses worked so hard 50, 60, 70 years ago.

What 'Peter Pan' is, more than anything else, is a time capsule of a long-gone era of vintage television. If parts of the Mary Martin production look a bit outdated, that's because this DVD is a re-mastering of a 40+ year-old videotape, and color videotape was fairly new in 1960 (it was only in its 3rd year, following pioneering specials with both Dinah Shore and Fred Astaire). The other reason for its static look is that the production was recorded *live,* without stopping for better or additional takes; what they saw in 1960 is what you got. This is the same way it was presented in 1955 and 1956 when it was a one-time live broadcast. And while the DVD includes the NBC title cards, it does not, sadly, include the logo of the animated NBC peacock. I understand the 1956 production is recorded on kinescope, but more than likely you have to view that one through the MT&R headquarters in New York. Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun!!