
MarkH
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1. I think it’s mainly practical. When only the main contributors were credited, the opening credits were a reasonable length of time to introduce them film. Now, when nearly everyone including the caterers get credit it can take up to 10 minutes or more to run all the credits. no one wants to sit through that before the movie. And, indeed, most people don’t sit through it at the end. 2. Overtures, Entr’actes and Exit music are present for films that were released as roadshow attractions in the first release. That means reserved seat tickets were sold in advance to individual performances
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Not to be a downer, but I was a bit disappointed when I realized that the vocal track for all of those alternate takes was the same one, the one also used in the completed film. Judy was performing to her own prerecorded track several times until they got the scene the way they liked it. Her sync is so perfect that it looks totally spontaneous every time. But, it’s not a discovery of alternate audio takes of her singing that great song. Fascinating to watch all the same. You probably knew this all along, but it took me a little while figure it out.
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Mickey did guest in an earlier MGM picture, 1934’s Hollywood Party, a very silly all-star revue, but in that he was in a stand-alone animated segment that was later removed when the rights to use Mckey expired. Fortunately now he has been restored to the film which is available from Warner Archive. Forward to 1944 and it’s surprising that MGM was willing to bypass their own in-house mouse and animation unit to use Mickey. But of course no animated star is/was bigger than MM. Hanna and Barbera, et al, did a great job of bringing Jerry to life alongside Gene Kelly. The description of the amount
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Obscure Singers
MarkH replied to Walter3rd's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
Too bad they never put Robert Horton in a musical western, he could ride a horse, he could act, was so handsome, and had a terrific singing voice. -
Jailhouse Rock
MarkH replied to CherylPH's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
Radio! From the introduction of the portable, battery-operated “transistor radio”, up until the arrival of the internet, radio was king. Everyone listened and that’s where pop stars were made in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and also somewhat the 80s. Less so after MTV, but radio still reigned over all until the advent of the internet. -
Even though that deluxe recording of WSS’s complete score was Bernstein’s dream project, it was very expensive to make and for commercial reasons those very unfortunate casting decisions were forced on him by Deutsche Gramophon (for global sales). This is what I’ve read, anyway. I believe Bernstein wanted Jerry Hadley for Tony, who would have been perfect. It still has a lot to offer, that record, but it really is a sadly lost opportunity to have done something much greater.
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MURDER on ORIENT EXPRESS - any opinions on newest version?
MarkH replied to papyrusbeetle's topic in Films and Filmmakers
It’s pleasant, and the photography is beautiful but there were a lot of weird arbitrary choices made, seemingly just to be different from the great Lumet film. Branagh’s acting is fine but his appearance is distracting. The ending, all new, and nothing like the book, is almost impossible to make sense of. All in all it’s fun to watch, but it’s not a patch on the 1974 film. Also, I find the Suchet film just about unwatchable. By this time his Poirot character had changed significantly and become tiresomely sanctimonious and pompous. Nothing at all like the fussy, cerebral but charming character -
The US theatrical release last fall had little promotion and came and went with little notice. Our local indie theatre actually did show it, but buried it during daytime screenings, making it difficult to see, even if you had heard of it. But now that the film is on Netflix and DVD/Blu-ray, people are really discovering it. It’s so heartfelt and beautiful, it’s quickly become one of my favorites. I hope it comes back to theatres at some point. I’d love to see it on the big screen with an audience.
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The Producers and Mel Brooks
MarkH replied to Laurel H's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
It’s like a judge famously said about a very different film genre a long time ago: I can’t tell you exactly what a musical is, but I know it when I see it! -
Casting Camelot and Other Movies
MarkH replied to jawz63's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
Redgrave and Nero were together, you’re right. They do kind of smolder on screen. They were together for about two years, then reconnected in 2006, got married, and are still together today! -
Casting Camelot and Other Movies
MarkH replied to jawz63's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
I agree Richard Harris is great, and I love Vanessa Redgrave too, although it would have been lovely to have Julie Andrews. -
Musical boutique bundles
MarkH replied to lifeisacabaret's topic in MAD ABOUT MUSICALS: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
There just aren’t any. Must have been an idea that was abandoned, but they forgot to remove it from the text of the course introduction.