Product Details

• Actors: Michael Weston, Rachel Leigh Cook, Matt Price
• Directors: David Goldsmith
• Writers: David Goldsmith
• Producers: Ted Collins, Kathleen Thomas
• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: Vision Films
• DVD Release Date: May 15, 2009
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0029ZAN06
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,001 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Cinderella story for the Jazz age, December 20, 2009

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
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This is a Warner Archive product. It is in fact a DVD-R and can be purchased directly from Warner Brothers for under twenty dollars.

Sally was made at the very end of 1929, and it is impressive to see how far sound technology has come in just one year. Although this film still used the Vitaphone sound on disc system that usually resulted in very static scenes, Sally has a high amount of fluid motion present that is uncharacteristic for a film made at this time. Sally's film elements are in somewhat shaggy shape, as is true of many of the early talking First National films. However, it is a very good and rare record of the singing, dancing, and even acting talents of Marilyn Miller and a very good musical in its own rights.

The story is adapted from the Ziegfeld show of the same name. It is about Sally Green (Marilyn Miller), an orphaned girl who waitresses and cooks in a diner for a living, but dreams of being a professional dancer. In fact, the very first shots of the film are of Miller's feet as she dances while she works. She also has an admirer (Alexander Grey) who stares at her from outside the café where she works, causing her to get so enthralled in his gaze one day that she inadvertently makes the world's largest pancake. Sally is basically a Cinderella story, and a charming one at that. There is no evil stepmother in this fairy tale, however, so you can just sit back and enjoy this light romantic comedy and its beautiful musical numbers. The romance is provided by Alexander Gray and Marilyn Miller, and the comedy is mainly provided by Joe E. Brown. Brown plays a prince made penniless by a revolution in his country of origin who now works at the restaurant with Sally and is also her good friend. One of the most delightful scenes in the film is where the two dance to "Look for the Silver Lining" with Miller doing her more formal interpretation alongside Brown's eccentric dancing.

Marilyn Miller has been compared to Irene Dunne, and there is one scene where that is particularly true. An agent has a famous dancer client who has run out on him the night before she is to perform at a big society party. Sally helps him out by impersonating that dancer complete with a ridiculous accent and an outlandish headdress. This comedy bit very much reminded me of something Irene Dunne would do.

The film was originally shot in two-strip Technicolor, but only one color scene still exists that is under three minutes long. That one scene is Miller dancing to "Wild Rose" at a society party, and the colors there are truly splendid. As soon as the Technicolor kicks in, for some reason, so does a higher quality level on the sound. This color scene is included on this DVD-R version.

The DVD-R of this film has not been restored at all. It has been several years since Sally made an appearance on TCM, and its video was scratched up then and it still is in this release. However, the audio is pretty good except for the hiss of the Vitaphone. Highly recommended for the fans of the early talkie musicals, just don't expect a cleaned up film.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DISCARD THE OTHER REVIEWS!, February 19, 2011

By 

Mart Sander (www.martsander.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sally (DVD)

The two other reviewers are NOT commenting on the 1929 film with Marilyn Miller. Please, commentators, be more careful about what you write!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sally (1929), March 4, 2011

By 

Constant Reader - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sally (DVD)

Good to have this on DVD! Marilyn Miller's dancing ranges from 'balletic' to 'eccentric,' including a dance of the latter kind with Joe E. Brown. Because the movie takes over many of the features of the musical comedy it is based on, there are numbers - notably 'Wild rose' and Sally's debut in a Ziegfeld spectacle (he is named but not seen)- that are staged as if for a theatre. This makes them good examples of accomplished musical comedy stage dancing of the period.The Follies number has an appropriate stage set and Follies style costumes for chorus girls, show girls (the 'Ziegfeld Strut' is in evidence) and a more balletic corps, who dance on point. (This seems to be the Albertina Rasch elemment of the choreography.) Although it was all shot in 2-strip Technicolor, only one section, the 'Wild Rose' number, survives in that process. It'a shame the 'Follies' section is only n black-and-white. It's good to have this available, and it's an enjoyable in itself as well as intriguing as a historical item. Sally's path from waitressing to stardom follows the conventional pattern. For good measure, she's an orphan (literally, a foundling) and her full name, Sally Bowling Green comes from the NY telephone exchange on whose steps she was found. Many thanks to Warners for releasing this and others in the series. The presentation is simple - no extras and no chapters, just a division into ten-minute segments that you move through by using the remote.