Product Details

• Actors: Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Turner Classic Movie
• DVD Release Date: May 5, 2009
• Run Time: 447 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001PO550A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #744 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #4 in Movies & TV > DVD > Musicals
  • #52 in Movies & TV > DVD > Kids & Family
• Learn more about "TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Turner Classic Movies' Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals collects four movies on two double-sided discs, with top picture quality and the bonus features that appeared on disc 1 when one of those films was released on a two-disc set, or the features that appeared on the single discs of the other three. The four films here aren't really Broadway musicals, but rather movies that were (with one exception) based on material originally created for the Broadway stage. Show Boat was one of the earliest shows in the modern-musical era, and this 1951 adaptation (the third, following versions in 1929 and 1936) stars familiar MGM players Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, and others in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Southern epic, featuring "Ol' Man River," "Can't Help Loving That Man of Mine," and more. Annie Get Your Gun (1950) stars Bettie Hutton (in a role intended for Judy Garland) as a spunky Western gal who gives Howard Keel all he can handle, and features such Irving Berlin standards as "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Anything You Can Do," and "Doin' What Comes Naturally." Grayson and Keel return again in Kiss Me Kate (1953), as life imitates art in a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and the Cole Porter songs include "Wunderbar" and "So in Love." The exception is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), one of MGM's greatest original creations that was itself adapted for the stage years later. Keel woos Jane Powell to become his wife--and mother figure for his six brothers. Hilarity and much dancing ensue (especially in Michael Kidd's rousing barn number), and the Gene de Paul-Johnny Mercer songs include "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide," "Wonderful Wonderful Day," and "Spring, Spring, Spring." Bonus material on the two-sided discs is relatively plentiful for the TCM Classics series since only one of the movies had been released on a two-disc set: you lose Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' alternate cut and some supplemental material, but you still get director Stanley Donen's commentary track plus some trailers, shorts, and other material for the other three movies. --David Horiuchi

Product Description

SHOW BOAT (1951) A vivid and vibrant saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars (Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion) in Technicolor radiance, timeless Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. Like Ol' Man River, its delights just keep rollin' along. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Betty Hutton (as Annie Oakley) and Howard Keel (as Frank Butler) star in this sharpshootin' funfest an Oscar winner for adaptation scoring based on the Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlins beloved songs, including Doin' What Comes Naturally, I Got Lost in His Arms and the anthemic There's No Business like Show Business. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS The perfect marriage of song and dance! Backwoods boys inspired by romance and the lure of hot biscuits raid the local town for brides. Un-uh: The would-be brides insist the fellas first become respectable! Howard Keel and Jane Powell head a leaping whoop for joy in this exuberant Oscar winner. KISS ME KATE When squabbling ex-married's Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are cast as squabbling Renaissance romantics in a musical The Taming of the Shrew, life imitates art, art imitates life and it all proves no musical comedy imitates this backstage/onstage delight from the Broadway hit with 14 peerless Cole Porter songs. It's all Too Darn Hot!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars four all-time classic movies for an unmissable price! June 22, 2009

By Byron Kolln HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

Build your collection of classic movies quickly and save lots of shelf space at the same time! These TCM/Warners classic movie packs are to be applauded for giving us some of the best movies ever made for one small price!

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS: Jane Powell and Howard Keel star in this lusty musical favourite with a particularly sweeping Johnny Mercer/Gene DePaul score. Special Features: audio commentary with director Stanley Donen, and a Donen musicals trailer gallery.

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN: Musical dynamo Betty Hutton fires on all cylinders with her performance as sharp-shootin' Annie Oakley in the celebrated screen version of the Broadway musical, co-starring Howard Keel. Special Features: all-new introduction by Susan Lucci, deleted musical number "Let's Go West Again", three songs with original star Judy Garland ("Doin' What Comes Natur'lly", "I'm An Indian, Too" and "Colonel Buffalo Bill"), audio session tracks.

SHOW BOAT: The most beloved and popular screen version of the Broadway musical, starring Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel as lovers Magnolia and Ravenal, torn apart and reunited on the Cotton Blossom. Ava Gardner aquits herself nicely in a rare musical role, although her singing was dubbed by Annette Warren. Special Features: trailer.

KISS ME, KATE: Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are again paired in this solid movie version of the Cole Porter musical, about a divorced pair of actors forced to work together again in a stage production of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew". Special Features: all-new featurette "Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot" hosted by Ann Miller, vintage short "Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City", trailer, behind-the-scenes notes.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Product - Poor Packaging August 23, 2011

By Juan Morales

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The reason I rated this product three stars is because of the packaging. The movies are great and the price can't be beat. My only complaint is that all 4 discs were on the same latch - one on top of the other. I have bought sets such as this, from other manufacturers and usually each disc is on a separate place. The way these are packaged could cause discs to be scratched. They are good copies why skimp on the packaging and possibly cause damage?? I will be hesitant to buy any other TCM compilation such as this for that reason.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Howard Keel Musicals set May 28, 2009

By Bruce Levine

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

These are four delightful movies and they look great on DVD. "Kiss Me Kate" has a great extra with scenes using the 3-D effect. It is moderately priced which is a plus. They are also contained in a standard size DVD case. It has only two discs with a movie on each side Well worth adding to your collection.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars TMC Classics a bonafide HIT May 28, 2009

By James A. Clardy

Format:DVD

Leave it to Turner Movie Clasics to bring to the public collections of classic films for a great price. The video transfers are quite good, the best the TMC archives have to offer, and it makes for a very affordable way to build your Home Video Library.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A tiny bit disappointed February 22, 2011

By Rebecca

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Overall, these "TCM Greatest..." collections are nice sets (I have several others along with this one). They are clean copies, have a little bit of nice bonus material (not greatly in-depth like some people like, but nice), and they're more than reasonably priced. The only disappointment is that they're panned & scanned versions of the films. For all TCM promotes the letterbox/widescreen versions of films - "as the films' directors intended them to be seen" - it's a little disappointing for them to put their name on these. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, for example, is one of the films TCM uses as an example in its own material on why people should be watching films in letterbox. I'll still watch these films over and over, but I expected just a little better from TCM.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Double Sided Discs April 29, 2011

By The Mama

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love musicals so much and was excited to get a nice group of them in one case, but I had no idea that they were reversible discs. You turn it on one side for one movie, and then you flip it over for another movie. I got the discs for Christmas and by April quite of few of them were scratched. I don't think these are very dependable at all. I treated them very carefully and I am not one to leave discs out and forgotten. I loved Annie get your gun and have seen it along with many of my kids, but I was only able to play it about 5 times before it had a weird ring around it and my dvd player has never done that to any other of my dvds. The packaging was great and these movies are pretty wonderful, but if you plan on watching them over and over this is not a combo DVD pack you want. TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good ole Days! March 5, 2010

By Linda Early Kearney

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This DVD is wonderful if you like the Musicals of the mid 20th century. Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Betty Hutton and Jane Powell are names my mother used to rave about and I still love to watch. I have an old VHS of Seven Brides for Seven brothers and have worn it out.

I bought this so my grandson could enjoy it with me and he loves the shows.

The ONLY fault I have with this DVD is that the "SOUND" has to be almost all the way up to hear the "talking". Wonderfully remastered for color, it could have better audio.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great musicals December 1, 2010

By P. Lehman

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

You can't ask for a better collection of great 50s muscials than this. Each one is a winner. Show Boat not only has the wonderful voices of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson, but Ava Gardner and Marge and Gower Champion, an unforgettable dance team. For those not familiar with Betty Hutton I think her role as sharp shooter Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun is her best. Kiss Me Kate is a very cleverly done play within a play based on The Taming of The Shrew. (Brush Up Your Shakespeare) Howard Keel is the leading man in all 4 of these musicals including the lovable, unforgettable Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. It's wonderful entertainment for the whole family. (I know because I first saw them when I was just a kid.)