Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory, Vol. 3 DVD Credits:

Region: 1

Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory, Vol. 3 DVD Release Date: 7th April 2008

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Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory, Vol. 3 DVD Review:

There are so many films in this collection that I started with great disappointment in the selection, mostly because of the larger budget films included from the 1950s. There is one fairly awful costume musical in the set as well as a few others that are easily forgettable. Despite the fact that musicals are better known for being a colorful spectacle, I wasn’t truly impressed with the collection until I watched the black and white films in the set. Oddly enough out of the nine films in the set eight of them star an actress with the last name Powell. Jane Powell stars in four of them which focus on the singing, but my personal favorites were the four starring an unrelated dancer named Eleanor Powell.

Eleanor Powell is reason to buy this set and reason to love musicals. With incredible dance moves, long legs to really impress what she could do, and a wide-mouthed grin while she dances that is charmingly signature. These four films, however remarkably stock many sequences may seem, contain more charm in the dance sequences than all of the other music numbers in the whole of the set. Can you tell that I am in love with Eleanor Powell yet? I could certainly gush for a few paragraphs more before losing the light-headed and enchanting feeling only a great performer can give you as you watch them, even a lifetime later. This is why Charlie Chaplin still makes me cry, even though my parents weren’t even born during the depression. Simply put, some talent is timeless, and this is the category I would put Eleanor Powell in.

That being said, I suppose it is time to discuss these films. Born to Dance (1936) is a treat that also stars James Stewart and has a fantastic Cole Porter soundtrack. It is a typical backstage musical with Powell as the up-and-coming understudy, who inevitably ends up taking the stage. Lady Be Good (1941) certainly gives Powell more opportunities to tap her way into the spotlight, but she is actually just a supporting player in this musical with Ann Southern and Robert young, a brilliant pair of songwriters who also happen to be a horrible couple. The other two Eleanor Powell films are Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) and Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937). Both are backstage musicals, both with love interests and Powell as a talented dancer who needs a shot. The dialogue and plots are also great, and I have to admit that I still have some of the dialogue from Jack Benny’s bits stuck in my head and I can’t get enough of Buddy Ebson’s unique dance style that fits his comedic delivery. These films are fantastic and even feature a performance from a young Judy Garland.

The four Jane Powell films include two films from 1950 with Powell in a starring role and two others where she has a supporting or guest performance. Nancy Goes to Rio (1950) has a young Powell competing for a leading role against her actress mother, and a series of mishaps that occur when she practices her lines aboard a ship to visit her mother in Rio. Two Weeks With Love (1950) is a hilariously outdated film about a budding teenager that is courted by an older man during a family vacation. Powell is the embarrassed teenager who ultimately spends the entire film wishing she could have a corset. This one is staged by Busby Berkley, and it is one of the more entertaining if not silly film s included in the set. In Hit the Deck (1955) Powell is one of three women (also including Debbie Reynolds and Ann Miller) that are the love interest of three soldiers (Tony Martin, Vic Damone, and Russ Tamblyn) in trouble on leave. Powell also gives a performance in Deep in My Heart (1954), a musical biopic about Sigmund Romberg, feature a myriad of performances, including Fred Kelly’s only credited film role, dancing alongside his brother Gene. The last remaining film of the set is Kismet (1955), a silly costume musical that had already been done better.

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Classic Musicals From The Dream Factory, Vol. 3 DVD review written by: Ryan Izay