Customer Reviews

The Unsinkable Molly Brown [VHS]

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This has got to be the most high energy movie and Broadway show ever produced. Debbie Reynolds as Molly is the most wonderful i've ever seen. Her incredible uplifing, very physical production numbers that she does is amazing. Handsome Harve Presnell as JJ with his great voice always gives me goose pimples.This basically semi, true story of Molly Brown, Hollywood/Broadway movie has excellent picture quality and the 5.1 Stereo Sound is awsome. The breath taking senary, great costumes, supporting cast will give you a night to pure pleasure and you'll want to watch this again and again.

This marvelous show stopping film is based on the stage musical of the homespun backwoods girl at the turn of the last century from Meredith Willson and Richard Morris, but this is Debbie Reynolds' movie all the way! Her energetic performance as Molly Brown deserved an Oscar and more. This is a big and bawdy old-fashioned musical the way they used to make them. Impressive Choreography by Peter Gennaro and Panavision Cinematography by Daniel Fapp are now captured anamorphically (2.35:1 aspect ratio) on this DVD and make this a real winner. Combined with Meredith Willson's music remastered from the original magnetic multichannel audio into 5.1 discrete digital channels make for impressive viewing. The underrated Harve Presnell plays Johnny Brown. This guy could sing and dance! It was good to finally see him show up in a recent move in a pivital role in "Saving Private Ryan." The DVD extras are not bad. I liked the costume documentary and the screen tests of Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell. These were very nostalgic. 1964 sure seems like a long time ago.

Being a Colorado girl where Molly Brown hails from, this is a must see. As usual Debbie Reynolds is phenomenal, and you just sit in awe watching a woman with so much talent. She can sing, act, and dance, but the only debate is which she does better. One thing that I really liked was while taking dramatic license with the story; it was based on factual events. This is a must watch for anyone that enjoys a really good musical.

When this movie originally came out, I wouldn't have guessed that this would be one of the last great musicals out of Hollywood. Sad as that may be, I am eternally grateful that Debbie Reynolds was cast as Molly Brown. She is absolutely terrific. Of course, she's always terrific and fortunately still going strong. And Harve Presnell.....this man would have been huge in the musical genre if MGM and its musicals hadn't crashed and burned.
If you love the film musical as an art form, this is a must have for your collection. Remember, no one did them bigger or more consistently better than MGM.

Debbie Reynolds gives the finest performance of her career in 1964's THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. It is widely believed by many that Reynolds was cheated out of a much-deserved Academy Award for Best Actress for this picture. 1964 was the year that the Academy and everyone in Hollywood was feuding and steaming over Jack Warner's decision to cast Audrey Hepburn rather than Julie Andrews in the film version of MY FAIR LADY. Hepburn was not even nominated for her excellent performance in that film, which won eight Oscars, including "Best Picture." But despite the fact that everyone believed that Reynolds gave the best performance that year, fellow nominee Julie Andrews won for her first film, MARY POPPINS, a fluffy role that just required the actors to sing well and stay out of the way of the Disney magical effects work. Audiences had already voted for Debbie with their box office dollars. THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN broke all attendance records everywhere it played, including a record breaking long run at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young even named their Gemini spacecraft the MOLLY BROWN in honor of their favorite film. Nearly forty years after the original release of the picture, in most part thanks to theatrical revivals and television showings, most people still associate the character of Molly Brown with Debbie Reynolds, despite the fact that the real Molly Brown was far from being the great beauty as portrayed by Reynolds. But Reynolds' multi-layered performance captures the essence of what makes Molly such a well-remembered heroine and in the process sings and dances her way into our hearts. This picture still is great family entertainment and because it is a period piece the film ages well and that accounts for its appeal to this day.

From a technical standpoint THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN on DVD is truly spectacular! How wonderful it is to hear the Meredith Wilson score in a Dolby Digital sound mix derived from the original multi channel discrete stereo sound. The bold, sharply etched and beautifully saturated Technicolor restored wide screen (2.35:1) image probably looks better than the inferior Metrocolor original. This movie looks and sounds better than the majority of today's films. This disc is demonstration quality in both picture and sound and preserves for today's audiences one of the greatest and most popular motion pictures of all time, a movie truly worthy to be called a CLASSIC.

Being Debbie Reynolds is the official mother of "Princess Leia", I found her attitude and style of AIN'T DOWN YET a mother lode of inspiration. Many times do I come back to this very movie to help move my life forward. Overdramatized slushy movies put me to sleep, and even depress me, but when Debbie jumps on the western bar and hops herself silly along with the locals, I am in there right with her. She had her ups, and she had her downs. This is the story of a person with ideals and not willing to compromise those goals for anyone's idea of what to be satisfied with in life. She wants it all, and even when she discovers that being rich, well educated, well liked, it means nothing without the very one person you love right beside you. The music was fine enough for me to purchase the soundtrack, and I have it right with my other collections of Rodger and Hammersteins films, CABARET, VICTOR/VICTORIA, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Leslie Caron's LILI, and along with my collection of Walt Disney music soundtracks. Not to mention THE WIZARD OF OZ and what not. Yes I have a great ear for music, and this musical does not fail to achieve a good music score. Like Mrs. McGraw finally said towards the end, "Molly. .you are quite a woman!"

This terrific 1964 film is based on the stage musical of the homespun backwoods girl at the turn of the last century from Meredith Willson and Richard Morris, but this is Debbie Reynolds' movie all the way! Her energetic performance as Molly Brown deserved an Oscar and more. This is a big good old-fashioned musical the way they used to make them. Great Choreography by Peter Gennaro and Panavision Cinematography by Daniel Fapp make this a real winner combined with Meredith Willson's music. The underrated Harve Presnell plays Johnny Brown. This guy could sing and dance! It was good to finally see him show up in a recent move in a pivital role, something called "Saving Private Ryan."

I recently purchased this DVD, and am very impressed with the results!! First of all, the movie is almost 100% outdoors; the basic locale of the story encompases just about all of the Colorado backwoods at the turn of the century. There's no other way to view it (on a small screen) than in widescreen Technicolor and stereo sound. There are many impressive vignettes using lovely exterior cinematography, most notably the "Denver Society homes" sequence and Reynolds and Presnell's "tree" courtship (featuring the song "I'll Never Say No"). As Molly makes her rags-to-riches transition, her beautiful "nouveau riche" costumes are given an impressive digital enhancement; this is especially evident in the party sequence featuring Reynolds' famous red dress with the million feathers sewn on the top. (The DVD also gives a small postscript on the film's costumes, featuring said dress.) It is easily Reynolds's greatest role because it cumulatively shows her effervescent, charming, strong, and beautiful. In a way it is a combination of HOW THE WEST WAS WON and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. Check it out.

Many of us have considered "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" to be Debbie Reynolds' best film. It was first released in the summer of 1964 and was a big hit with audiences and critics, who recognized that it was a wonderful adaptation of Meredith Willson's Broadway musical. It was about the last musical made by MGM, where Debbie had made a number of musical films during the 1950's.

MGM, of course, had begun its slow decline, but this film is top-notch in many ways, despite reports that the studio had to cut a few corners in production, especially in the Titanic sequence, which heavily utilized stock footage from earlier films about the disaster. However, there was ample on-location filming in Colorado's spectacular mountain wilderness, giving the film a greater visual appeal than the original Broadway production.

Debbie's singing, dancing, and acting in the film is awesome. Her high-spirited performance earned her an Oscar nomination. She was quite successful in capturing the determined tomboy who will never give up in her pursuit of success. Her gradual transformation in the role is quite amazing, too. She is joined by an outstanding support cast, including excellent dancers and singers. It's really amazing to see veteran character actor Ed Begley, who plays Molly's father, singing and dancing in a film and doing remarkably well.

When the first was first released many of were introduced to Harve Presnell, who had starred with Tammy Grimes in the original Broadway production. Born in Modesto, California, in 1933, Presnell attended San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) and distinguished himself not only in the school's musical and drama productions but through work in the San Franciso Opera's Merola Program. In 1960 Eugene Ormandy utilized Presnell as a baritone soloist in the landmark Columbia recording of Carl Orff's secular cantata "Carmina Burana."

Presnell might have had a big career in opera and concerts; instead, he utilized his talents on Broadway and in movies. He later turned to dramatic roles in Hollywood, including an important performance in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." In this film, however, he was still seemingly young and fresh, often showing a delightful innocence or naivete. However, he also displayed strength and determination that was equal to Debbie's performance of Molly. They were clearly well-suited to each other.

This is clearly a "rags-to-riches" story and the amazing thing is that it is based on truth. Thelma Ritter portrayed the same character in Twentieth Century Fox's 1953 production of "Titanic." This film tells the full story of how Molly Brown ended up in a lifeboat when the Titanic began to sink. It delightfully shows how Molly and her husband tried to become part of Denver society, after they struck it rich with the largest discovery of gold in Colorado history. Naturally, Molly's efforts to succeed and win acceptance create tensions with her husband, adding to the dramatic qualities of the story.

This is NOT just another Broadway musical comedy; Meredith Willson included far more drama than he had in his previous hit, "The Music Man." There are comic moments, of course, but the story has greater depth and this film is an excellent adaptation of the hit show. Sadly, Willson never equaled the success of "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

I would put this movie up there with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The music, costumes and scenery are breathtaking. Debbie Reynolds was fabulous in her portrayal of Molly Brown, the lady (in the end) who refused to let anyone or anything get her down.