The Corner Penthouse

Warner Brothers recently released the Broadway on the Big Screen 6-Film Collection Blu-ray. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

Six big stage musical favorites are brought together for this dazzling collection of musical favorites. Includes:

• Guys and Dolls (1955) - In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.

• Brigadoon (1954) - Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland become lost. They encounter a small village, not on the map, called Brigadoon, in which people harbor a mysterious secret, and behave as if they were still living two hundred years in the past.

• Damn Yankees (1958) - A frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators makes a pact with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant.

• The Pajama Game (1957) - An Iowa pajama factory worker falls in love with an affable superintendent who was hired by the factory boss to deny the workers' demand for a pay raise.

• Gypsy (1962) - Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.

• The Boy Friend (1971) - When the leading lady of a low-budget musical revue sprains her ankle, the assistant stage manager is forced to understudy and perform in her place, becoming a star and finding love in the process.

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

Each movie is on its own disc, making this a six disc set. All movies are presented in various aspect ratios and are either not rated or are rated G. All movies feature English audio. All movies feature subtitles in English SDH, though Guys and Dolls also has French and Spanish subtitles. Guys and Dolls runs 2:29:29. Brigadoon runs 1:48:07. Damn Yankees runs 1:50:23. The Pajama Game runs 1:40:46. Gypsy runs 2:23:09. The Boy Friend runs 2:18:23.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the special features below can be found on the respective Blu-ray discs. Disc 1 is Guys and Dolls, Disc 2 is Brigadoon, Disc 3 is Damn Yankees, Disc 4 is The Pajama Game, Disc 5 is Gypsy, and Disc 6 is The Boy Friend. Gypsy does NOT include the Looney Tunes short "The Pied Piper of Guadalupe" (1961) that was featured on its last DVD release.

• DISC 1: The Goldwyn Touch (23:54) - A good overview of the entire musical, including interviews with Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., Frank Loesser's daughter Susan, his wife Jo Sullivan Loesser, son John Loesser and choreographer Michael Kidd, among others.
• DISC 1: From Stage to Screen (26:41) - A great history of the project which focuses on the adaptation from Broadway to Hollywood, including the exclusion of such songs as "My Time of Day".
• DISC 1: More Guys and Dolls Stories - A collection of short interview clips that were deleted from the two featurettes. Includes: "Adelaide" (0:51) has Tom Mankiewicz talking about his father's secretary who was named Adelaide. "Brando Dance Lesson" (1:34) has Michael Kidd talking about teaching Brando to dance. "Goldwyn's Career" (2:38) has biographer A. Scott Berg talking about the producer. "On the Set" (1:12) has Tom Mankiewicz talking about being on the set as a kid. "Rehearsing Adelaide" (1:29) has Michael Kidd talking about the song Loesser wrote specifically for Sinatra for the film.
• DISC 1: Musical Performances - Old standard definition 720x480 DVD movie clips of the songs "Fugue for Tinhorns (1:42), "I'll Know (5:01), "Guys and Dolls (3:26), "Adelaide (3:34), "Luck Be a Lady (3:14), and "Sue Me (3:15). I really have no clue why these old clips are even here, except to show how much better the high definition version of the movie looks.
• DISC 1: Theatrical Trailer (4:53)
• DISC 2: Deleted Scenes - These four musical numbers were cut prior to release: "Come to Me, Bend to Me" (3:29), "From This Day On" (4:38), "Sword Dance" (3:00), and "There But for You Go I!" (Audio Only) (4:15).
• DISC 2: Trailer (3:45)
• DISC 3: US Theatrical Trailer (2:31) - This vintage promotional piece can be seen here.
• DISC 3: UK Theatrical Trailer (2:32) - A slightly re-tooled version under its alternate name, What Lola Wants.
• DISC 4: Deleted Musical Sequence (3:02) - This unused scene features the short song "The Man Who Invented Love", originally written by Richard Adler and performed by Doris Day.
• DISC 4: Theatrical Trailer (3:17) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.
• DISC 5: Deleted Song: Wherever We Go (2:39) - The Blu-ray doesn't provide the context, but according to IMDb, these two songs were deleted shortly after the film's initial release. Long thought lost, they were restored from an early release print provided by a private collector. The inherent staginess of this number, which has physical comedy routines spelled out in the lyrics, probably brought the film to a dead stop.
• DISC 5: Deleted Song: You Couldn't Get Away From Me (3:37) - The Blu-ray doesn't provide the context, but according to IMDb, these two songs were deleted shortly after the film's initial release. Long thought lost, they were restored from an early release print provided by a private collector. This is the complete version of the song, including both the portion retained in the film and the part that was cut out.
• DISC 5: Trailer (3:36)
• DISC 6: All Talking... All Singing... All Dancing (8:40) - This vintage featurette includes interviews with director Ken Russell and star Twiggy, along with footage on the set and behind the scenes.
• DISC 6: Trailer (2:47)

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No digital copy code voucher is included inside the standard six-disc blue Blu-ray case.

[ NOTES ]

Broadway on the Big Screen 6-Film Collection is available on Blu-ray from Movie Zyng. It contains the same six discs that were previously-released individually. It's a nice collection of golden age musicals. RECOMMENDED.

This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.