The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

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Lino
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#1 Post by Lino » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:45 pm

They are The Sound of Music, State Fair, Oklahoma!, The King and I, Carousel and South Pacific. There used to be a boxset containing all 6 but is now OOP:

Image

The reason being because new editions of the first 3 have been released last year. Here are the Beaver reviews for them:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... lahoma.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompar ... -music.htm

I think it's safe to assume that we will also be getting new editions of the last 3 down the line. These are of course some of Fox's biggest sellers and perennial favorites.


Edited to add: in the UK, a boxset is already available containing all the 6 new Special Editions of these films --

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Furthermore, an anonymous poster on the imdb.com boards has said that Fox will release new 2xDVD editions of The King and I, Carousel and South Pacific in November.

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justeleblanc
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#2 Post by justeleblanc » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:53 am

You know, when all is said and done, Carousel isn't as bad as most people claim it to be. For me it R & H's strongest score and maybe their best source material. The recent PBS Broadway docs had some great footage of the original Broadway production and one would hope that a 2 disc set might include some of those moments... as well as Liliom.

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Lino
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#3 Post by Lino » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:07 am

justeleblanc wrote:Carousel (...) The recent PBS Broadway docs had some great footage of the original Broadway production and one would hope that a 2 disc set might include some of those moments... as well as Liliom
Apparently, it does:
# DVD Features:

* Main Language: English
* Available Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 2.0
* Hearing Impaired: English
* Audio Commentary By Shirley Jones And Music Consultant Nick Redman
* Liliom 1934 French Feature Film Of The Story That Was The Basis For Carousel
* Turns On The Carousel Featurette
* Vintage Stage Excerpts
* Movietone News Segments
* 3 Additional Songs
* 3 Stills Galleries
* Trailers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000 ... e&n=283926

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justeleblanc
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#4 Post by justeleblanc » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:38 am

Myra Breckinridge wrote:
justeleblanc wrote:Carousel (...) The recent PBS Broadway docs had some great footage of the original Broadway production and one would hope that a 2 disc set might include some of those moments... as well as Liliom
Apparently, it does:
# DVD Features:

* Main Language: English
* Available Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 2.0
* Hearing Impaired: English
* Audio Commentary By Shirley Jones And Music Consultant Nick Redman
* Liliom 1934 French Feature Film Of The Story That Was The Basis For Carousel
* Turns On The Carousel Featurette
* Vintage Stage Excerpts
* Movietone News Segments
* 3 Additional Songs
* 3 Stills Galleries
* Trailers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000 ... e&n=283926
That felt like a set-up! The 3 Additional Songs also looks quite interesting.

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4LOM
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#5 Post by 4LOM » Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:14 am

"Liliom" is not included on the British DVD edition, only on the German one.

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Matt
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#6 Post by Matt » Wed Aug 02, 2006 3:02 pm

Hugh Jackman has just signed on for a new film version of Carousel. Already this is an improvement over the 1956 film as Jackman is about a kajillion times more charismatic than Gordon MacRae. But who can they possibly find in this day and age to fill the shoes of Shirley Jones (I'm hoping for Rachel McAdams, but then I do that for every film) and Cameron Mitchell (Ryan Gosling in a Notebook reunion)?

Anyway, I'm so happy to get a chance to see Jackman singing (and hopefully dancing).

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Matt
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#7 Post by Matt » Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:41 pm

davidhare wrote:Does anyone else here feel complete revulsion for these R&H musicals.
Well, I've only ever seen the movie versions, but yeah. They're all really long and it's just people standing around signing. That's not a musical. A musical has dancing. A musical has chorus lines. A musical has Wini Shaw.

That last one was was for you, DH.

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justeleblanc
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#8 Post by justeleblanc » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:09 pm

davidhare wrote:Id rather watch Hugh topless in X-Men.

Does anyone else here feel complete revulsion for these R&H musicals. I had to sit through an amateur perf of Flower Drum Song last year (a friend was in it). The worst two hours of my life. And I used to have a very butch bf (construction worker) whose idea of a first date was going to a revival of Carousel! I left him that night.

But I'll buy Carousel for Liliom.
True, most of these musicals tend to be a wee bit overrated by the general public, and Carousel especially is poorly poorly made. I would have rather Wise directed Carousel (the best R&H show by far), but instead he directed Sound of Music, which has lost all meaning to me. Flower Drum the movie I still need to see. I saw the revival in New York and thought the show was terrific, but from what I understand the original has some interesting racist features.

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Matt
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#9 Post by Matt » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:11 pm

davidhare wrote:I confess to a guilty pleasure with South Pacific... I first saw it when I was ten and it made me queer.
I'm pretty sure South Pacific made me queer, too. I saw a high school production as a grade-schooler, got a crush on the lead who had the best feathered bangs ever, and promptly went around singing "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair" for the next two weeks.

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Gigi M.
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#10 Post by Gigi M. » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:50 pm

matt wrote:made me queer, too.
You must kidding, right?

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Ashirg
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#11 Post by Ashirg » Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:10 am

To be released on November 7. Will include previously available special editions of Oklahoma!, State Fair, The Sound of Music as well as newly released the same day editions of (Extras are from Australian release, so they may be different):
Carousel - 50th Anniversary Edition
* Feature Film With Optional Sing-along Subtitles
* Commentary By Shirley Jones And Film and Music Historian Nick Redman
* Featurette - Turns On The Carousel
* Vintage Stage Exscerpts "You're A Queer One, Julie Jordan" and "If I Loved You" Performed by Barbra RuickAnd Shirley Jones; "Blow High, Blow Low" Performed By Cameron Mitchell & Chorus
* Movietone News Footage
* Three Stills Galleries
* Trailer
The King and I - 50th Anniversary Edition
* Feature film with Optional Sing-Along Subtitles
* Commentary By Film Historian Richard Barrios and Musical Theatre Historian Michael Portantiere
* "Anna And The King" Pilot TV Show With Optional Commentary From Samantha Egger
* Six Featurettes About The King & I
* Vintage Stage Excerpts: Getting To Know You And A Puzzlement Performed by Patricia Morrison and Yul Brynner
* Seven Movietone News Segments
* Additional Song - Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You?
* Trailer
* Three Still Galleries
South Pacific - Collector's Edition
* South Pacific Feature film (Theatrical Version) With Optional Sing-along
* Commentary By Ted Chapin (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Organisation) And Gerard Allesandrini (Broadway Director)
* South Pacific Feature Film (Roadshow Version)
* Commentary By Film Historian Richard Barios
* Making Of Featurette
* Vintage Stage Excerpts: "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair", "Finale", "Some Enchanted Evening" And "A Wonderful Guy" Performed by Mary Martin And Ezio Pinza
* Two Movietone News segments
* Trailer
* Stills Gallery
The set is MSRP $99.98 and individual sets will have MSRP $26.98.

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Gigi M.
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#12 Post by Gigi M. » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:17 pm

Amazon's pre-order November 7: Rodgers & Hammerstein Box Set Collection

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Gigi M.
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#13 Post by Gigi M. » Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:33 am


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tryavna
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#14 Post by tryavna » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:01 pm

Posted this in the Fritz Lang thread, but folks may want to know that the Fox's new R1 release of Carousel contains Lang's Liliom as an extra. Word is that the print and transfer are markedly superior to the Kino edition.

Looks like David Hare's gonna have to break down and buy Carousel after all -- as will I!

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Gigi M.
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#15 Post by Gigi M. » Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:29 am

I Just got the new complete set, and they're pack in slim cases by the way.

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Lino
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#16 Post by Lino » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:39 am

DVDSavant reviews South Pacific.

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Lino
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#17 Post by Lino » Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:04 pm

DVDTalk reviews the new edition of The King and I, which is probably my favorite R&H musical mainly because of the two main characters, Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. They also include a visual comparison between the old and the new editions.

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Belmondo
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#18 Post by Belmondo » Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:43 pm

I just watched the "road show" version of South Pacific on disc two of the new set. Sure enough, it is static, bloated, actually longer than the original show, awkward, dubbed by other singers, horribly filtered in the musical numbers, and filmed on location in Hawaii in order to prevent any last, lingering hope of intimacy. I loved it. Here is the proof that you cannot entirely wreck a Rodgers and Hammerstein show even when you try. The music and lyrics are just too good - "some enchanted evening, you may meet a stranger, across a crowded room", "you've got to be taught to hate and fear, its got to be drummed in your dear little ear", "one love to be living for, this nearly was mine". Are we in danger of losing all of this simply because modern audiences will not accept the old Broadway convention in which a character suddenly bursts into song? Movie musicals must now have the songs presented as part of a stage show as in "Cabaret", or "imagined" by the characters as in "Chicago". Did Rodgers and Hammerstein and their huge talent have the misfortune of arriving on the scene too early? Sure, they will be regularly revived on Broadway, but I'm talking big picture here and that means movies. I had a surprisingly deep emotional reaction when I heard the lyric "you've got to be taught to hate and fear", and the many flaws in the film version did not prevent that from happening several other times. I hope we are not slowly losing something worth saving. If so, then another type of drama comes to mind. That one is called Tragedy.

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justeleblanc
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#19 Post by justeleblanc » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:28 am

Belmondo wrote:Did Rodgers and Hammerstein and their huge talent have the misfortune of arriving on the scene too early?
They were at the right time. It's what's happened recently that's the issue.

I'm not sure whether it has to do with certain associations of a musical's base audience, certain associations about the current state of Broadway, or just certain issues with the form itself that most writers or composers are unable to work-out on their own, but the musical has become a joke. Though not to me, I'm a huge defender of it (the form, not the crappy musicals that have been written recently). Still, if either Rodgers or Hammerstein or Sondheim, or a few others were twenty years old today, they'd probably want to pursue more respectable modes of storytelling.

As for the R & H movies, Carousel is a perfect example of a shitty movie made back in the day. The songs are never fully integrated into the show and the sensitive issue of wife beating is phoned in. It's a shame too, because it's easily their best show. But it should never be treated as a "grand" show like King & I or Oklahoma -- the themes aren't broad enough. You know, I'd actually argue that the script/lyrics/music to Carousel were ahead of its time.

If anyone doubts it, you should go to the library and check out the script and score to the show. Take an extra special look at "What's the use of wond'rin'," "Soliloquy," and "If I loved you." It kills me when these songs get simplified by hack directors and shallow singers.

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tryavna
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#20 Post by tryavna » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:57 pm

After having had the two-disc Carousel disc in my collection for about a year or so (mainly for Lang's Liliom), I finally decided to break out the featured title last night and watch it. Dear God, is Carousel a truly awful movie! I had been out drinking earlier in the evening and even that didn't help. It's so static and flatly staged and directed that you wonder why they even bothered going on location in Maine in the first place. They barely use the location at all -- let alone creatively. Cameron Mitchell is the only person who manages to inject any life into the film, and he disappears just at the point when the story, in the proper hands (i.e., Lang's), could really take off. But in Henry King's hands, the film just limps off to its conclusion. (I actually like some of King's other films for Fox, but the fact that he basically replaced John Ford as Fox's prestige director makes you realize just what Zanuck lost when Ford left the studio.)

And this morning over breakfast, I was listening to bits and pieces of the commentary track (with Shirley Jones and the bafflingly insipid Nick Redman), and it's like they're watching an entirely different movie. You'd think that watching the movie was some sort of spiritually transcendent experience for them!

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Mr Sheldrake
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Re: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

#21 Post by Mr Sheldrake » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:06 pm

I watched the new Blue-ray version of South Pacific last night. I've never cared much for the movie or the theatrical version, but the blue ray is absolutely magnificent. Color and clarity to drop a jaw. Hard to believe a 50 year old movie could look this good. I guess the original Todd A-O process must have something to do with it?

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Re: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

#22 Post by skweeker » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:52 pm

The blu-ray of South Pacific is indeed technically magnificent: beautiful detail, and there are some big dragonflies flitting about in some scenes. The movie itself has always struck me as disagreeably strange, though: the war & comedy & romance & songs plus color filters... well...

I must admit that as I have aged the music in all of these Fox R & H musicals has become more tolerable to my ear. But all of the movies (bar The Sound of Music) seem far too "stagey & static" (and the depictions of people just a mite too sexist (Carousel) or racist (The King & I) ) for me. Tastes have changed a little too much since the fifties and early sixties, I guess. That said, the 1945 Jeanne Crain version of State Fair was an agreeable surprise to me. Good Americana, great songs, and much much better than the 1962 version. Sadly, in the context of the set, it's an outlier and hence atypical in style.

Speaking of atypical, I think that Lang's Lilliom is perhaps the best movie in the set!

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Re: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

#23 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:16 am

davidhare wrote:It also had the unusual benefit of being filmed at 30fps which of course eliminated flicker. A still unanswered question to me is whether Fox has created the BluRay transfer from 30fps elements, and if so, how has this been renedered for BluRay 24fps playback, if at all?
A bit late, but for clarification, South Pacific was shot at 24fps, the first Todd-AO production to use that format exclusively. Only Oklahoma! and 80 Days had 30fps versions.

To answer the hypothetical question, a 30fps film on Blu-ray would most likely be encoded in 60i instead of 24p. HD DVD supported 30p, but Blu-ray doesn't -- this came up back in '06 when a Nine Inch Nails concert video was released in its original 30p on HD DVD and in 60i on Blu. But some players and monitors can go from 60i to 30p via 2:2 pulldown, so it's not all bad.

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Antoine Doinel
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Re: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

#24 Post by Antoine Doinel » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:46 pm

The music publishing rights for Rodgers and Hammerstein have been purchased by Imagem Music Group.

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colinr0380
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Re: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals

#25 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:26 am

I've only just noticed this topic, mainly because while I did not mind Carousel (even if "You'll Never Walk Alone" has lost all meaning for me by being the unofficial anthem of a local football team and therefore badly/drunkly sung by rowdy supporters in the background of local news reports whenever the team is playing!) and have a guilty love of The Sound of Music if just for the novelty value of perky Swiss ex-nuns battling Nazis in a song contest, I detest Oklahoma! with a passion! Though that might be because I always identified more with Steiger's mentally challenged hulk Jud Fry than the insipid, shallow, callous in their own way (the only difference being the way the cardboard couple have the full support of the townspeople, while Fry is the outsider), lead couple. It is second only in my most hated musicals list to Fiddler On The Roof and its happy ending for our conservative family as they escape to America while the rebellious daughter marries outside her faith and stays behind to live in persecution and maybe have a worse fate - a fate which the film seems to fully condone.

However I have to admit to finding South Pacific intriguing from the way DH describes it! Nothing like male beefcake and inept framing to arose interest for unintended(?) reasons! Though I seem to remember having tried to watch it twice before and falling asleep ten minutes in on both occasions!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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