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I've just read that the Ultimate Collection box has an holographic cover? Is this true?

Lino wrote:I've just read that the Ultimate Collection box has an holographic cover? Is this true?

Well, holographic is a rather fancy word for it. But yeah. It's a pretty nice set. The box is a lot sturdier than Warners' usual boxes, and the 11 thinpaks fit nicely (all black spines) with the two cardstock folders containing the "stills" and pressbook reproductions and such.

I'm sorry my camera sucks, but you get the idea:

Thanks, Matt! To show you my appreciation, run don't walk over to the Fox forum -- have I got news for you!

Those look extremely nice! Warner rolled out the red carpet for this dynamic duo in an unprecedented way! Kudos for them (and lucky us).

I know it doesn't really belong here, but it sucks a bit that Amazon is only giving a 13% discount off SRP as opposed to the 25%-30% on vol 1 and 2!

I hope that the success of the partial set option and the extreme admiration this Ultimate Collection is enjoying gives Warner enough boost and confidence to go ahead and do the same on a potential Busby Berkeley Volume 2. I can dream, can't I?

davidhare wrote:Erickson's review of the box up at DVDTalk.

And here it is.

The Complete set is utterly sublime. After receiving the set last week (which made me feel like Christmas had arrived early), I watched most of the set.

I'm also with davidhare about The Gay Divorcee. AMAZING!

I watched Top Hat with my grandmother years ago and it has remained a sentimental favorite since but I think The Gay Divorcee is better - just a little bit. The centerpiece of the film - the Continental - is really something everyone has to experience to believe. So wonderful that I'm surprised that Top Hat made a year later didn't make its centerpiece - the Pinolino - more heavenly than the previous. However not only Ginger has more ravishing gowns in Top Hat, she dances so much smoother. I wouldn't mind having the job as Gay Divorcee's Italian escort.

As I was making my way through the set, my curiousity about the actor Edward Everett Horton developed. He is so gay in every film I've seen him in. I'd be surprised if he wasn't gay in real life so I looked him up on IMDB .. not much info about him there. He just reminds me so much of some of my friends - especially the happy-hour old queens.

Michael wrote:As I was making my way through the set, my curiousity about the actor Edward Everett Horton developed. He is so gay in every film I've seen him in. I'd be surprised if he wasn't gay in real life so I looked him up on IMDB .. not much info about him there. He just reminds me so much of some of my friends - especially the happy-hour old queens.

Carefree, though it's just an okay film is considerably lightened by Franklin Pangborn's sissified cameo. But I think the zenith of sissydom is reached in Top Hat with the interplay between Horton and Eric Blore (though I haven't yet watched The Gay Divorcee which also features the pair). It's very sad that the three never appeared in a film together. Surely the combined gayness of the trio would have melted the negative.

Oh Matt! You will have a ball with The Gay Divorcee. It has loads, loads of sissiness - even more than Top Hat I think. The Lets Knock Knees sequence for example. Horton dancing (!) with cute guys in swimming trunks!

I haven't rewatched The Gay Divorcee yet, but it's definitely the pick of Vol 2. As I recall, it's almost the siamese twin of Top Hat, but I thought the jokes in Top Hat were funnier and its ridiculous vision of Venice trumps just about anything. But the Continental definitely outdoes the Piccolino.

The rest of the Vol 2 films are a real mixed bag, with the strongest of the remaining selection being the two in which Astaire and Rogers are most marginal. I've always found Vernon and Irene extremely dull, and Carefree the weakest of the films that followed the standard template. This is the one in which they do that daft and desperate "put your heads together when you're dancing" extravaganza. right? (But I've always loved Shall We Dance, which seems to be similarly disliked - maybe it's the Gershwin)

I like Shall We Dance quite a bit, too, if it's any condolence.

Eric Blore is really the standout in Wyler/Sturges' The Good Fairy. His drunken entrance--"Alone I shall navigate yon precipice!"--is worth the price of admission alone. I'll watch any movie if I know he's going to appear in it, no matter how briefly.

Here's an interesting article on sissies in the classical Hollywood era.

Finally it arrived this morning! This has been said before but I want to say it again: the art & design of the A&R Complete Film Collection boxset is gorgeous. Best I have ever seen. Thirties perfection. Bravo to the guys at Warner. As for the films, The Gay Divorcee is also my favorite. Cant' get enough of "Let's Knock Knees"...

DVDTown's lengthy review.

Latest Gay Divorcee update. We watched this the other night and it's even more deliriously entertaining than I remember. The film goes hand in hand with Top Hat at the top of the pair's output (and thus of the 1930s musical). Both films have their strengths and weaknesses, but when you're this close to perfection they just add to the texture.

For the record, my major reservations about The Gay Divorcee are its Ginger-imbalance and a slight reliance on third-party filler (e.g. "Let's K-nock K-nees", the non-Fred & Ginger parts of "The Continental") that was already unnecessary (the last thing we need from Edward Everett Horton is a musical number). Although Ginger may be not quite up to the demands of some of the numbers, at times this works: her slight tentativeness in "Night and Day" is beautifully in character and quite touching (notice her glance at her feet, as if she can't quite believe what she's doing and is afraid of messing it up). And if Ginger is down a bit in this pairing, Fred is way up. Just about every dance he performs is astonishing.

Much as I delight in Top Hat's secondary performances, I think the Erics are at their best here. Eric Rhode's Tonetti is a creation of sheer Dada, also excellent at parties.

And the complete set must be one of the most swellegant DVD packages I own. Thank heavens I could buy that 'partial set' from Amazon, and thank heavens for Thinpacs!

Beaver on Flying Down to Rio.

After catching TCM's Ginger Rogers night last weekend, I finally dipped into this set and ended up watching all ten films over three days. I saw the pictures chronologically and I think I kept devouring one after another so quickly in the hopes that I'd find another film as good as the Gay Divorcee. I never did but I certainly enjoyed the ride and the joy of discovery was spread throughout the ten films... well, nine. The Barkleys of Broadway really was as bad as I'd heard. Worse, probably.

I'm honestly quite surprised that Top Hat, easily the least of the thirties films, is the most popularly beloved-- it was an unfunny retread of the Gay Divorcee with none of the charm. Roberta didn't do too much for me either. Apologies to DHare but the Dunne/Scott storyline was insufferable and only the dueling tap dance routine between Rogers and Astaire brightened the affair. Scott, who has limited range, is used to much better effect in Follow the Fleet, where's he's welcomed into the asshole role. The films begin to blend together at such close range, but though I enjoyed Swing Time, particularly the moments in the snow, the magician sidekick was a chore to deal with and the numbers didn't wow me nearly as much as they've apparently dazzled the experts. Shall We Dance was far superior I thought, and the closest Rogers and Astaire came to recapturing the magic of the Gay Divorcee.

I feel I must defend Carefree as a screwball comedy though-- Rogers trampling through the city like a gremlin, kicking canes out from old men and shattering windows was a hoot, and Bellamy plays a great trick by not stepping back like he always does in these kind of films. Admittedly it's saddled with some horrible songs, but there's something about it that just hit me right. Jumping back, Flying Down to Rio was a passable trifle benefiting from the gonzo finale and Rogers' catchy "Music Makes Me Do the Things I Never Should Do" number, which has yet to leave my head. And I enjoyed the Story of Vernon and Irene Castle more than I'd expected as well-- and you gotta love how once the film ends, this is the menu screen that pops up:



And getting away from the Astaire films, did anyone else see It Had To Be You last week (or previously)? Christ, I can imagine some of the criticisms it might invite but I thought it was nothing short of genius. The way the picture refuses to half-heartedly explain Wilde's initial appearance on the grounds that something so ridiculous would never be accepted by an audience anyways is so ballsy that the film earned my respect immediately and kept it by being so consistently inventive and compelling for the duration. The print looked real clean too so I imagine there's a DVD coming soon-- I hope!

I had the same pleasure of watching all the films in the big set in a row, though not chronologically, two or three months ago. While I agree that nothing quite reaches the heights of "The Gay Divorcee", there were only two films that did almost nothing for me: "Follow the Fleet" and "Barkleys", the former at least having some great musical numbers in spite of the unconvincing and unfunny narrative and the final staged dance scene. That's a general problem with musical films: the greatest numbers are far less convincing than they could be if they are not seamlessly integrated into the narrative. In this respect, "Swing Time" and "Shall we dance" are clearly among my favourites, and they both also seem to have the best music (even better than "Divorcee") on top of it. "Pick yourself up" and "Let's call the whole thing off" are among the most charming moments the pair ever had on screen, literally making me weep for joy. As did the beautiful romantic moments of "A fine romance" and "They can't take that away from me".

domino harvey wrote:The Barkleys of Broadway really was as bad as I'd heard. Worse, probably.

Yes, truly bad, and so unimaginatively filmed by Charles Walters. I wonder why he was regarded as one of the top men for musicals at the time. If I think of the truly awful special fx in "Belle of New York" and the absolute lack of inspiration even in Fred's dancing in that one, I still shudder.

domino harvey wrote:I'm honestly quite surprised that Top Hat, easily the least of the thirties films, is the most popularly beloved-- it was an unfunny retread of the Gay Divorcee with none of the charm.

I guess the film is so well known because it encapsulated a certain image, especially for Astaire (top hat, white tie and tails), which however only seems to really appear in this film. In most other films, Fred is far less overtly 'sophisticated' but has much more natural grace. That said, it's a great film with both of them pulling all the registers (and of course Horton and Blore are priceless in this one). The only ill-advised moment was indeed the idea to remake the Continental as the Piccolino, which really doesn't work.

domino harvey wrote:Roberta didn't do too much for me either. Apologies to DHare but the Dunne/Scott storyline was insufferable and only the dueling tap dance routine between Rogers and Astaire brightened the affair.

I'm with David Hare in this case. Loved the dancing, and especially the fashion show moments. Not great perhaps, but it managed to blow me away with its style. Same for "Flying down to Rio", but only on the far too few occasions where Fred and Ginger really are in the centre.

I agree with you on "Carefree". The only bad thing about the film are the musical scenes, curiously. "Vernon and Irene" is certainly an oddity in their work together, but I too was surprised how well it worked. A small, nice, and rather melancholic film.

Tommaso wrote:

domino harvey wrote:I'm honestly quite surprised that Top Hat, easily the least of the thirties films, is the most popularly beloved-- it was an unfunny retread of the Gay Divorcee with none of the charm.

I guess the film is so well known because it encapsulated a certain image, especially for Astaire (top hat, white tie and tails), which however only seems to really appear in this film. In most other films, Fred is far less overtly 'sophisticated' but has much more natural grace. That said, it's a great film with both of them pulling all the registers (and of course Horton and Blore are priceless in this one). The only ill-advised moment was indeed the idea to remake the Continental as the Piccolino, which really doesn't work.

I'll stand up for Top Hat (and if Michael's within earshot I'm sure he will too). Sure, it's a retread of the Gay Divorcee, but I think of it more as a refinement, with the Fred and Ginger team at their best (she's not quite there in the earlier film). I think it's got sharper, funnier dialogue too: "I don't know you from Adam." / "Maybe it's the way I'm dressed." 'The Piccolino' is no 'Continental', it's true, but on the other hand Top Hat doesn't have a misfire like 'Let's Knock Knees'. Anyway, they're both great, and I'm with whoever prefers Shall we Dance to Swingtime.

Zedz, you are a crazy man, the "Let's Knock Knees" number is phenomenal. Though I guess if you thought it wasn't funny, you would think Top Hat was! At least I can be with you on Shall We Dance.

david hare wrote:. But "I'll be hard to Handle" and the challenge dance which all looks like improvisation is the first Astaire and Rogers breakthrough. And one of their best numbers.

Absolutely. And of course I'll always defend "Let's knock knees"; it's one of those truly 'silly' moments, but this over-the-top character makes it so completely enjoyable. Another such moment (without dancing) is the dog-walking sequence in "Shall we dance" which knocked me off the sofa for its sheer absurdity and fun.
On defending "Top Hat": what I like about the film and those following it (where it's more obvious) is the increasing emancipation of Ginger from the role of a mere dancing partner and foil of Fred to a real and important counterpart, and her increasing use of her considerable acting abilities (more so than in "The Gay Divorcee", I think). Something like "Let's call the whole thing off" in "Shall we Dance" and the ensuing roller-skate dance wouldn't work as well as it does if the two of them would only use their natural grace in dancing, but not also their gesturing and facial expressions to such an effect. This chemistry, unsurprisingly, is almost completely lacking from "Barkeleys", and also from most other Astaire films with other dancing partners. Cyd Charisse in "The Band Wagon" being the sole, great exception.

domino harvey wrote: And getting away from the Astaire films, did anyone else see It Had To Be You last week (or previously)? [...] The print looked real clean too so I imagine there's a DVD coming soon-- I hope!

...and Warner HTF chat reveals some of the Ginger Rogers RKO comedies are coming to DVD this year!

I took their answer to mean individual titles via Warner Archives:

There will be more Jane Powell musicals coming this year through the Warner Archive releases. There will be 200 MORE titles coming out this year (between now and Xmas) through that program. There will also be a selection of comedies with Ginger Rogers.

I would have preferred a GR Signature Collection, but it looks like they won't be doing those anymore.

The Warner Archives are the most depressing good news ever. It is, to quote a particularly memorable Calvin and Hobbes, like winning ten cents in the lottery.

The Ultimate Collection is now OOP, but the two Signature Collections are still in print.

In early 2009, it was widely reported that WB was in the process of remastering all of this for Blu-Ray, specifically for 2010 release:

"When upgrading 'Top Hat' (1935), Feltenstein was shocked to see how dirty the floor was on which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced. That dirty floor will be clearly visible when the Astaire-Rogers films make their Blu-ray debut in 2010, as will the wires that support the Scarecrow in certain scenes of 'The Wizard of Oz.'"

Since it's 2012 with no scheduled date in sight, I'm guessing this one's not happening, huh?