...comes off as a throwback to the extravagant Hollywood shows of the thirties and forties, a form soon to be replaced by deeper, more penetrating character studies.
The other characters are as notable for their descriptive names as for their actions: Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Stubby Kaye), Big Julie from Chicago (B.S. Pulley), Benny Southstreet (Johnny Silver), Harry the Horse (Sheldon Leonard), Rusty Charlie (Dan Dayton), Society Max (George E. Stone), Arvide Abernathy (Regis Toomey).
Video:
The production is big and glossy, with large splashes of color everywhere, and MGM's digital transfer conveys all of it effortlessly. The CinemaScope picture is rendered in a 2.25:1 ratio widescreen that often looks positively breathtaking. Colors come in bright, vivid blocks, sharply defined, with excellent contrast in the shadows, sometimes achieving a crystalline, three-dimensional quality. It's not meant to be realistic, just flashy, and it succeeds. In line with the clarity of the image, age spots and artifacts are nonexistent. Even Nicely-Nicely's plaid coat shows up nicely, nicely, at least on my Sony 7700 player; I suspect it may be a challenge to some other machines, though, with lines possibly dancing here and there. Look at it as a test.
Audio:
The audio in the English version comes by way of a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix of the original stereo. It is slightly hard and bright, but for its age it is remarkable, some of the earliest true stereo on film. There is not always the widest left-to-right spread, even less rear-channel activity, and when the sound does open up it can appear somewhat compartmentalized. Still, it's very clear and very precise, every word of dialogue and song is cleanly articulated.
Extras:
There's hardly anything else on the disc to talk about. English, French, and Spanish are offered as spoken languages; French and Spanish for subtitles. There's MGM's usual informational booklet insert, only four pages, though. Thirty-two scene selections are more than adequate, and an exceptionally long, five-minute theatrical trailer is included, hosted by Ed Sullivan. Curiously, the folks who did the packaging mention four times that the production was copyrighted in 1938; the date appears twice on the back, once in the booklet, and again on the disc itself. 1938? Strange, as the play wasn't even written until 1950. I wonder if the early copyright date could be a reference to Runyon's work, or was it just a plain old mistake repeated four times?
Parting Shots:
"Guys and Dolls" comes off as a throwback to the extravagant Hollywood shows of the thirties and forties, a form soon to be replaced by deeper, more penetrating character studies like "My Fair Lady," more sociopolitical efforts like "Cabaret," and more satiric stage works like Frank Loesser's own later musical, "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
Many people still consider "Guys and Dolls" the greatest Broadway show of all time, and I wish them well. For me, most of the songs fail to endure the test of time. Nevertheless, it's surely grand entertainment in a grand tradition, and for those who long for such things, MGM's new DVD transfer does the job better than could have been expected.
Video:
The production is big and glossy, with large splashes of color everywhere, and MGM's digital transfer conveys all of it effortlessly. The CinemaScope picture is rendered in a 2.25:1 ratio widescreen that often looks positively breathtaking. Colors come in bright, vivid blocks, sharply defined, with excellent contrast in the shadows, sometimes achieving a crystalline, three-dimensional quality. It's not meant to be realistic, just flashy, and it succeeds. In line with the clarity of the image, age spots and artifacts are nonexistent. Even Nicely-Nicely's plaid coat shows up nicely, nicely, at least on my Sony 7700 player; I suspect it may be a challenge to some other machines, though, with lines possibly dancing here and there. Look at it as a test.
Audio:
The audio in the English version comes by way of a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix of the original stereo. It is slightly hard and bright, but for its age it is remarkable, some of the earliest true stereo on film. There is not always the widest left-to-right spread, even less rear-channel activity, and when the sound does open up it can appear somewhat compartmentalized. Still, it's very clear and very precise, every word of dialogue and song is cleanly articulated.
Extras:
There's hardly anything else on the disc to talk about. English, French, and Spanish are offered as spoken languages; French and Spanish for subtitles. There's MGM's usual informational booklet insert, only four pages, though. Thirty-two scene selections are more than adequate, and an exceptionally long, five-minute theatrical trailer is included, hosted by Ed Sullivan. Curiously, the folks who did the packaging mention four times that the production was copyrighted in 1938; the date appears twice on the back, once in the booklet, and again on the disc itself. 1938? Strange, as the play wasn't even written until 1950. I wonder if the early copyright date could be a reference to Runyon's work, or was it just a plain old mistake repeated four times?
Parting Shots:
"Guys and Dolls" comes off as a throwback to the extravagant Hollywood shows of the thirties and forties, a form soon to be replaced by deeper, more penetrating character studies like "My Fair Lady," more sociopolitical efforts like "Cabaret," and more satiric stage works like Frank Loesser's own later musical, "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
Many people still consider "Guys and Dolls" the greatest Broadway show of all time, and I wish them well. For me, most of the songs fail to endure the test of time. Nevertheless, it's surely grand entertainment in a grand tradition, and for those who long for such things, MGM's new DVD transfer does the job better than could have been expected.
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[release]4163[/release]