Musicals & Music Films > 1953 Musicals & Music Films

Fantastically Good Fun

Advantages: great songs
Disadvantages: none

...her usual finery as accident-prone Calamity Jane and Howard Keel stars fabulously as 'wild' Bill Hicock. This musical includes a good many brilliant musical songs, including 'deadwood stage', 'black hills of dakota', and the popular solo from Doris Day, 'secret love', It starts out as Calamity being in love with the character Danny, who's love is unrequited, and once a newcomer is in town (brought by calamity to perform in the town's theatre), the ...

kelli4189 14.07.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Calamity Jane (DVD)

An understated MGM classic

Advantages: Great songs, great dancing, great acting
Disadvantages: Oscar Levant's dancing!

The Band Wagon (1953) is a great musical of the golden era of MGM musicals produced by Arthur Freed. Everyone has head of Singin' in the Rain, but The Band Wagon is less well known, despite being of the same era, and arguably as good a film. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, this film is up there with his other great films; Meet me in St Louis. Gigi and An American in Paris. The Storyline Fundamentally, this film is about putting on a show! Fred ...
...an overpowering director who diverts the story so that he can play the dramatic lead, and the show flops. The team decide to go back to the drawing board and redo the show, they take it on tour and we are treated to some excellent musical numbers and an amazing scene called the 'Girl Hunt' where Fred and Cyd do a new style of dance together. I won't give away the ending, but it does end very well and with a great musical number. The Performances ...

chrissie-anne 26.03.2007 · Read full review
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Review of The Band Wagon (Special Edition) (DVD)

Whip crack away.... Whip Crack away!

Advantages: feel good film, good songs, great actng,
Disadvantages: bad backdrops and awful songs from Howard Keel!

...who plays the role of Calamity Jane, a tom boy who is more than happy to spend her time being ‘one of the lads’ and chasing of the Indians. She gets very annoyed when she beings in the wagon which contains all the goodies for the towns people and the men starts ogling a cigarette card which has a picture of Adelaid Adams on. A few evenings later when the Theatre / Bar has advertised a beautiful female star for the evening entertainment they are in ...
...as they have been robbed. Calamity steps in to help the theatre owner who is her close friend and promises she will go off to Chicago and fetch Adelaid Adams to bring her back and perform for them. Calamity sets off and soon find where Adelaid is performing but unbeknown to her Adelaid has already left and it is her maid who is trying on the costumes. Calamity thinks she is Adelaid but really she is Katie Brown and talks her into going back and performing ...

sewbizzie 26.04.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Calamity Jane (DVD)

Moulin rouge is a musical admirers dream

Advantages: Great chemistry between main characters ,feel good film .
Disadvantages: The singing throughout the film can get a bit tiresome

In my opinion you must see the film if you like musicals, otherwise you might find the singing a bit off putting .At times the siniging can seem a bit over the top but in general this is what makes the film interesting.It is worth watching just to see the on screen chemistry between Ewan Mcgregor and Nicole Kidman they are a great pairing and seem to have good on screen presence allowing you to follow the romantic tale which is played out . The ...

pepsi27 28.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Moulin Rouge (Special Edition) (DVD)

I'll watch this some more!

Advantages: great family film
Disadvantages: none

...remember loving the musical film Oliver! as a child and singing and dancing along to so many of the wonderful songs that accompanied the story. I was also lucky to see the West End production many years ago, long before Andrew Lloyd Webber took an interest with his search for a Nancy and an Oliver in the great series ‘I’d do Anything’. My daughters loved watching the TV shows and started picking up the words to some of the songs. Therefore when I ...
...in our big armchair watching Oliver! Oliver! (made in 1968)is based on the classic novel of Oliver Twist that was written by Charles Dickens. It tells the story of a poor workhouse boy who had the audacity to ask for more of the disgusting gruel that was served to all the boys daily while the workhouse governors were fed roast dinners. As a consequence Oliver is sold to the local undertaker where he is teased about his dead mother. Feeling desperate, ...

kingfisher111 28.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Oliver! (DVD)