Customer Reviews

Red Garters [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Strikingly-filmed musical western delight with Rosemary Clooney, RED GARTERS makes it's DVD debut from Paramount with a fine transfer which does full justice to the film's bold Technicolor palette. Clooney plays Calaveras Kate (perhaps a sly dig at Calamity Jane), a saloon singer who's in love with the local golden boy Jason Carberry (Jack Carson). Though when she claps eyes on handsome cowboy Reb Randall (Guy Mitchell) she sees the perfect way of getting Jason jealous...and down the aisle! Some great Jay Livingston-Ray Evans tunes including "This Is Greater Than I Thought", "Red Garters" and "Meet a Happy Guy". Designed in avant-garde style by Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson, the striking visual look of the film is highlighted by a yellow sky backdrop and fanciful theatre-style set pieces.

Four years earlier, Clooney had been paired with up-and-comer Mitchell on a range of CALL ME MADAM cover singles for Columbia. They had a remarkable chemistry and continued their friendship through this film.

Paramount's DVD offers no extras, but the full-frame image is crisp and colourful, and will make a fine addition to your classic movie collection.

"Red Garters" was so ahead of its time that they had to insert a title at the beginning that tried to point out that it was a satire! And not only a satire, but a complete re-thinking of how a movie was to look.

First, the sets were skeletal cutouts against primary colors (red, yellow, blue, purple). If you look and care, the effect came from colored sawdust (?) and a cyclorama lighted in the same color. Imagine a yellow world like this with black cut-out trees, a cowboy hero in pale buckskin riding a palamino pony, singing and riding into a town of white frame-only buildings, getting sent to a barbecue celebrating the death of notorious gun-slinger who turns out to be the cowboy's brother!

Most viewers would have run out by now. But if you sit and watch, one of the most fascinating and fun Hollywood musicals will play out before you.

While its always about the sets, the style of "Red Garters" is brilliantly carried out by the cast. The actors play it for real,but with a little nod to the artificiality. Rosemary Clooney and Guy Mitchell are absolutely terrific together - she is soigne and world-weary, he is young and headstrong. And their voices work together like Doris Day and Gordon McCrae!

The songs are wonderful - tuneful, intelligent and witty - from the guys who brought us "Buttons and Bows" among other oscar-winning titles.

"Red Garters" is not the greatest movie musical but it is a splendid example of imaginative thinking about where the movie musical could go. Much of this movie could fit on an MTV if MTV had begun 20 years earlier.

Finally, the film is a hoot! I think the tape doesn't do justice to the colors of the backgrounds, washing them out a bit but if you crank up your "color" setting you may get some idea about what "Red Garters" brought to the party.

And watch Clooney. Its her best movie performance ever. A little of it shows in "White Christmas", but in "Red Garters" she really takes off and becomes a genuiine diva.

When Red Garters was released in Europe in the mid 1950s, it created a sensation amongst European and English performing artists! The stagey sets, the great singing, the acting done straight, produced a humor not seen before on the screen. It was especially notable when you consider the flood of dead-serious westerns streaming out of Hollywood at that time. "It's the Code of the West!" became a byword for a time. When I returned to America I couldn't believe no one had paid admission to see it and that the critics had panned it.

I'm pleased to be able to purchase this video without commercials. My grandchildren have watched an old video that I taped from an all night movie channel many years ago and we are tired of fast forwarding the commercials. We all love the movie and young singers in the family have memorized all the song lyrics. My husband and I first saw the movie in 1956 and I longed to see it again for many years. It gives an all too brief chance to see the young Buddy Ebsen dance and Cass Daley clown around. I can't reccommednd it too highly for great family entertainment.

One of my favourite films of the 1950s, I loved the surreal sets, the oh-so-subtle humour and - especially - the songs. Guy Mitchell and Rosemary Clooney made a great team, such a pity they didn't make any more movies together. The story-line was a real "mickey-take" on all those really serious westerns of the past, present and future.

Unfortunately, this "fun" movie may have been "before its time" and I think this is why it did not have the success it deserved. Perhaps the subtlety was TOO subtle for the majority of the cinema-going public - and the critics!

Red Garters is a wonderfully imaginative and comic rethinking of the western with great songs. The costumes and sets are a surreal dream and the script still works. I loved it when I saw it first-run in 1954 and keep waiting for it to be rediscovered. RG should receive the recognition it deserves. I was delighted to find it available on VHS; it holds up under repeated viewings. For an extraordinary experience -- sandwich Red Garters between two episodes of HBO's Deadwood. Wowser! By the way, next time you see Hitchcock's Rear Window, pay special attention to the soundtrack; you will recognize a jazzed-up version of the Red Dog Saloon song playing in the background. This will be in one of the most suspenseful moments.

There are very few duets that can match the talent of Guy Mitchell and Rosemary Clooney. They are superb. Set these two voices to the background of a satire story-line and you produce a classic, one of a kind movie that will last for generations. Set the whole movie on stage and you create the look and feel of todays "computer generated graphics" The stage setting amplifies the underlying satire of western movies and the Mitchell/Clooney music is upbeat and enlightening. The combination is enjoyable, funny and creative. Guy Mitchell's singing voice is, as always, inexplicably perfect.

I first saw this movie when I was 16, after borrowing it from the library for no perticular reason. I had never heard of any of the stars (I wasn't even born till the late 70's) but I loved old movies and fell in love with this one. My recommendation is to watch it with no expectations of a typical western. This movie intrduced me to the wonderful voice of Rosemary Clooney and I have been a devoted fan ever after. I am saddened that she is no longer with us.

This musical is directed by George Marshall who also directed such movies as Pot O' Gold, and How the West Was Won. Rosemary Clooney stars as beautiful Calaveras Kate, a saloon singer in Western town called Limbo County, California. The story revolves around a man called Reb Randall (Guy Mitchell) who comes to town seeking the killer of his brother. The people of Limbo County believe in the Code of the West, which simply means he has to fight the killer to avenge the death of his brother. The town refuses to accept the civilized laws with the recently arrived Judge Winthrop (Reginald Owen), who is there to enforce such laws. But soon it turns out that it is not a problem, because his beautiful niece falls in love with the killer, Rafael Moreno (Gene Barry); Calaveras is in love with the local leader Jason Carberry (Jack Carson), and Jason Carberry's niece Susana (Pat Crowley) is in love with Reb Randall. Love and romance conquers the terrible fight. Limbo County comes to believe that it is time to do away with the Code of the West.

This is an excellent musical with colored costumes and stylized décor, but the quality of DVD could have been better. Rosemary Clooney is attractive as ever in her colorful salon suit and red garters. She is captivating and entertains the audience with her beautiful voice and dancing skills. Buddy Ebsen has a minor role and delights with tap dancing. This DVD is highly recommended to all the fans of Rosemary Clooney.

This is a total looser. When I first saw the title I wondered why I was not acquainted with the movie. After I saw the movie I knew why. It must have had a limited engagement and no self respecting medium would use this movie for entertainment.