Rodgers & Hammerstein Colllection (DVD)
APPROX. 831 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 0 - MPA RATING: NR
" ...as you watch these films again, you're struck by how MANY hits these two had.
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The thing about "South Pacific" is that we never really buy into the plot because Mitzi Gaynor, as the wide-eyed American nurse serving on a Pacific island during WWII, and older opera star Rossano Brazzi, who plays a rich French planter, don't have much chemistry. What's worse, their singing voices aren't compatible, and it cracks me up every time Brazzi bursts into a operatic bellow just three inches from Gaynor's ear. Yet Gaynor sings "small," as if feeling out of her element in the great Hawaiian outdoors instead of on a more contained stage-while playing it, in terms of her gestures and blocking, as if she were on a small stage. The result is an odd sort of disconnect.
The other thing is that whenever a song comes, the corners of the screen are softened by a colored haze that also partially fills the screen. I'm one of those who would have been perfectly content had the done that for "Bali ha'i" and then quit. To add that kind of dream-state quality to songs like "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" seems just plain silly. At 157 minutes this is a LONG film, but because the scenery is gorgeous, the subplot about coast watchers is engaging, and there are enough memorable songs, "South Pacific" is still worth watching.
As with the other discs, there's a commentary, this time by Chapin again and musical theater writer Gerard Alessandrini. There's a songs-only option too (as there is on "Carousel" and "The King and I"), in addition to the sing-along. Of most interest this time is the extended road show version of "South Pacific" with comments by Barrios, a short but very worthwhile making-of feature, excerpts featuring original Broadway stars Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, and a surprise interview with James Michener, whose "Tales of the South Pacific" inspired the musical. Diane Sawyer does a great job with the interview.
If it weren't for the length, the hazy screens, and the disconnects, this one would merit a 7, As it is, it's still a 6, flaws and all, because of the scenery and music.
The King and I was another smash both on Broadway and film, with the bald-pated Yul Brynner playing the king on stage over 4,600 times. He is the king . . . et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And Deborah Kerr is the perfect foil, as Anna Leonowens/Owens, who became governess to the children of the King of Siam in the 1860s. The film version won five Oscars, including one for Brynner, Best Score, Art-Set Direction, and Sound Recording. The film is still a powerful costumer all these years later, with, perhaps, the lone exception that the long "Small House of Uncle Thomas" play that Anna directs the children to perform for visiting dignitaries gets longer every year. But the songs? "The King and I" is loaded with memorable tunes: "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello, Young Lovers," "Getting to Know You," "Something Wonderful," and "Shall We Dance." It's a classic story of culture class, gender clash, and a developing bond between a stubborn English woman and the leader of a nation many in the West considered barbaric. As Anna and the King spar, then become hesitantly close, viewers are drawn into a romantic musical of great complexity.
Barrios is joined on the commentary this time by musical theater historian Michael Portantiere, and it's possible to isolate the music score on another track. The commentary is solid, as with the others in this set, but once again I found myself surprised and delighted by the Criterion-style mix of odd bonus features. There's the pilot for the TV version with commentary by star Samantha Eggar that gives a nice tie-in perspective, stage excerpts performed by Brynner and co-star Patricia Morison, stills and audio from a deleted song performed by Kerr and Marni Nixon, a Fox Movietone News clip of a charity premiere and featuring a Brynner Oscar clip, and six short featurettes that explore and explain both the facts behind the story and the stage-to-screen transformations.
If it wasn't for that overly long "Uncle Tom's Cabin" performance this one would merit a 10. It's Hollywood majesty at it's best, and musical theater vibrantly conveyed to the big screen: a solid 9.
The Sound of Music is without a doubt Rodgers & Hammerstein's crowning achievement and a fitting final collaboration. It overwhelmed audiences from the start with it's story of the von Trapp family, a singing group who fled Austria for Switzerland during the Nazi occupation. Exteriors were shot on location, and so there's a beautiful authenticity to complement a storyline that's classic: a woman studying to be a nun doesn't seem particularly suited to a convent, and is sent to serve as governess of a widowed Austrian captain. There, she reintroduces song into the household, becomes beloved to the children, and falls in love with her employer. How do you solve a problem like Maria? You marry her, though he's engaged to a baroness. And you merge a romantic triangle with a blended family tale set against the backdrop of war. When Capt. von Trapp leads the crowd at the Salzburg music festival in a chorus of "Edelweiss" with Nazi officials in attendance, it's as stirring a moment as those dueling national anthems in "Casablanca."
And the songs? In addition to the title song, there's "Maria," "I Have Confidence," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "The Lonely Goatherd," "Climb Every Mountain," "Something Good," and "Edelweiss," which is not an Austrian anthem, but rather a song written especially for the musical.
Julie Andrews was made to play the part of Maria, and opposite Christopher Plummer there's a palpable attraction between them. Though children can be a pitfall, here they're incorporated deftly into the narrative and their personalities add to the film, rather than cause it to come untracked.
Fans of this musical will want to upgrade because of the all-new commentary by Andrews and Plummer, which, added to the one by director Robert Wise, makes them the two best tracks on this set. There's also an excellent new documentary that includes rarely scene footage and even rarer moments (which I won't spoil). There are also new short features, including a chat with the stars, a visit to the locations from the film, ALL SEVEN actors who played the von Trapp children reunited for a reminiscence, and one on the sing-along phenomenon. Rounding out the extras are a Mia Farrow screen test, a restoration comparison (yep, the film got a face life), photo galleries, trailers, and a Biography special on the real von Trapps. What a great package!
Though there's a second-act sag that's partly caused by the absence of song, I'd still have to rate this as one of the best musicals of all-time, ranking right up there with "Singin' in the Rain." For musical theater lovers, it's a blockbuster film, and as close to a 10 as you can get.
Video:
The quality varies from feature to feature, but each of these films hasn't looked better. Even "State Fair" has a great amount of detail and a picture so sharp that the colors don't seem to bleed the way they normally can with films from this period. It's a collection that Rodgers & Hammerstein would be proud of, I think. "Carousel" and "The King and I" are presented in 2.55:1 anamorphic widescreen, "Oklahoma!" in both 2.55:1 CinemaScope and 2.20:1 Todd-AO, and "The Sound of Music" and "South Pacific" in anamorphic widescreen 2.20:1.
Audio:
The audio is generally rich, with good channel separation and bass/treble balance, despite variations in presentation. "State Fair" (1945) is English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo or Mono, with subtitles in English and Spanish. The 1962 version is Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround, with the same subtitles. "Oklahoma!," "South Pacific," and "The King and I," "The Sound of Music," and "Carousel" are in 5.0 Surround or 2.0 Stereo, with English and Spanish subtitles.
Extras:
All I can say is, what a great bundle of extras. With the exception of the Todd-AO presentation, which will only be watched in part, by most people, out of curiosity, they're a fine complement to the films, and there's plenty of attention to the stage-to-screen transformations, with many of the original stars involved. And the talking heads do a decent job of informing without boring.
Bottom Line:
Like anyone, Rodgers & Hammerstein had their hits and they had their misses. If you watch these films one after the other you start to realize that, if these guys were writing operas, their hits were mostly arias and their misses recitatives. There are some exceptions, but some of the clunkers end up being songs that don't center on a character's emotional state or moment and instead try to advance the plot through song. But overall, as you watch these films again, you're struck by how MANY hits these two had. And you wind up singing or humming those tunes as you go about your daily routines. Now that's entertainment.
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