Customer Reviews

A Song is Born [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Immensely enjoyable. Kaye plays Professor Hobart Frisbee, one of seven monastic intellectuals who reside at the American division of the Totten Foundation. Frisbee meets a pair of hip window washers who tell him all about jazz, jive and boogie woogie. Beautiful Virginia Mayo is Honey Swanson, a singer hiding out from her gangster boyfriend Steve Cochran (she's also trying to keep away from the DA who wants to testify against Cochran) In the original, Barbara Stanwyck played a stripper, who taught the boys the ropes about English slang circa 1941. Here, the plot is basically the same, but the Professor wants to learn all about Popular American music, 1948 style. Some purists will not like this version as much as the original, but the Technicolor is gorgeous, and so is Virginia Mayo! Her rendition of DADDY-O is sexy and hot. The film will be a huge treat for fans of the Big Band Era. Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton and Charlie Barnet are all cleverly showcased and their music is awesome! Swing music was rapidly dying out by 1948, but numbers such as STEALIN' APPLES, FLYING HOME, I'M GETTIN' SENTIMENTAL OVER YOU & MUSKRAT RAMBLE are timeless perennial favourites for fans to relish. A direct remake of BALL OF FIRE with Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper, this movie was also made almost entirely by the same technicians, oddly enough.

This musical remake of "Ball of Fire" is great to watch and listen to. I do not know anywhere else that so many world class musicians have gotten together to not only perform, but act as well. Kaye and Mayo are incredible, giving better performances than Cooper and Stanwyck in the original. The direction and editting is crisp and clean. Subtle site gags are sprinkled thru out. The detail is marvelous and a homage to the American music of the day. When I saw this movie Danny Kaye became one of my favorite actors. If and when this comes out on DVD I will be getting it.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It has all of the best ingredients... romance, good guys, bad guys, a tiny bit of watered-down violence, and AMAZING music! The jazz legend cameos alone are worth twice the cost of the video!

All the greats of the big band era pair up with Danny Kaye in this excellent musical. The music is terrific and the comedy divine. A must for any collection! Virginia Mayo has great costumes- And don't forget the "yum yum".

I highly recommend this Danny Kaye film. It's filled with great music and musicians and Virginia Mayo is really beautiful in it and has great costumes. It's funny romantic, and very entertaining one that you can watch over and over.

For all the hep cats and swing boys this has got to be one of the best entertainment values around. Danny Kaye along with an all-star cast of yesteryears' biggest and hippest music greats. Not only a feast for your eyes and ears, but your feet will want to get up and move with the groove...