The Jolson Story

Customer Reviews:

You like old movies...you haven't lived till you see this one!.......2007-09-10

Like anothers, I've also seen this movie many times in the early 60's as a kid growing up in Newark N.J. I used to run around the house singing the songs! I never forgot how much I enjoyed this movie! I bought a used tape of this movie (vhs) about 10 plus years back and have watch it another 30-50 times...I even work on my computer and listen to it! I just like it, it works for me ....I hope someone reads this and decides to watch it for the first time. But you have to watch it ten to twenty times till you can just the club! Maybe it reminds me of my own childhood. I hope to receive my dvd that I just ordered from [...] by my 55th birthday,just weeks away. This movie always entertains me, yet you may not even like it, I hope you do! I imagine if you haven't seen it you wouldn't buy it! If you watched this in the pass you can easily get hooked(addicted). You haven't seen nothing yet ! Have a good life!

You ain't heard nothing yet.......2007-08-19

I think the Jolson Story should be required viewing ... the energy, vitality of the Jolson voice can transform a cloudy day to pure sunshine. Just a great movie..outstanding acting by Larry Parks and of course the Jolson voice...you'll find yourself singing in the shower for weeks afterwards. A five star, must see.

The Jolson Story.......2007-05-12

A superior musical of the 1940s. The film has held up well over 60 years. I first watched it when I was in grade school, then most recently at the age of 52, and I was surprised at how solid it remains. Like most biopics of its day, it plays fast and loose with the facts, but the story is entertaining and the production values very high. Lost of wonderful details and a great cast. Parks (oscar nomination) cannot convey the dynamic charisma reported about the live performances of the man he portrays, but then, Jolson himself could not do that on film, either. Still, Parks gives it his all, and lip sinchs magnificently. Terrific character actors fill in all the gaps. Still a great film.

The Jolson Story Still A Hit!.......2007-01-11

I saw the original Jolson Story 18 times as a youngster and went on to emulate the "Larry Parks" dead-on portrayal in school events and in my parlor. This DVD is exceptional in terms of color quality and sound. A wonderful restoration of a truly classic film that traces Asa Yolsen's rise from a young lad singing in the synogogue to the world's greatest entertainer. The Jolson songs and voice are still thrilling and there are lots of favorites to enjoy..Mammy, Rosie, California Here I Come! and more. As Jolson used to say, if you havent seen this video "You ain't heard nothing yet!"

The Jolson Story.......2006-11-10

I loved this movie growing up in Southern California. It was on every night for weeks on "The Million Dollar Movie," a local movie channel. Larry Parks is amazing as Al Jolson. Truly, the greatest entertainer who ever lived!

Average customer rating:

A CLASSIC! CAGNEY & BOGART?...........AND THERE'S MORE?
Another great James Cagney movie
Great Nostalgia!
A very New York movie
"Whaddaya Hear, Whaddaya Say?"

Angels With Dirty Faces
Starring: James Cagney , Pat O'Brien , Humphrey Bogart , Ann Sheridan , and George Bancroft
Director: Michael Curtiz , Bobby Connolly , and Robert Clampett
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B0006HBV28
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Customer Reviews:

A CLASSIC! CAGNEY & BOGART?...........AND THERE'S MORE?.......2007-07-07

This has been a favorite of mine for many years. I wish they would released "Crime School" on DVD! What is the problem?? The whole cast is great in this tale of two childhood friends who take two very different paths as the result of a dumb idea and one of the boys getting caught by the police. They just don't make them like this anymore! No wonder today's youths of the world have no character! I know, I don't want to see who's running this world in 50 years! The DVD boost a nice transfer and some cool extras. This is also available in a Gansters box set(well worth it!)If you haven't seen this film,your missing the best of the best! Bring "Crime School" to DVD please!

Another great James Cagney movie.......2007-05-29

This is a superb movie. James Cagney was awesome. Dead end kids are all dead now, I think. Very good old time movie. It actually had a moral to it's story. Today's filmakers and actors should take note.

Great Nostalgia!.......2007-04-16

I purchased this movie for my husband, who collects antique radios. We merely wanted to see the bar-radio. We enjoy all things Art Deco and vintage, particularly 20-40's. We realized that we were really enjoying the movie! It's a bit sappy, but weren't all movies from the era?

A very New York movie .......2007-04-08

(To Kristopher Haines) you asked "What did audiences see in these kids?" Many kids in the northern cities saw themselves, or knew of wise guy tough kids just like the Dead End Kids. They also knew or knew of a 'Father Connelly' who would try and set neighbourhood tough kids on the right path in life.

If you were a New Yorker you might have been similar to one of the kids depicted in this film yourself. In 1938 many actors & actresses in motion pictures were from New York, thus Hollywood made movies with the New York viewing audiences in mind. That's why the movie going public liked their antics.

After the war when the East End Kids evolved into the The Bowery Boys their fan base grew even larger. Today they have a substantial following amongst old movie fans, and yes many of these fans are from the Tri-State area (NY/CONN/NJ), Philly, Boston, Providence, Chicago etc, since those fans related to the Boys growing up, or watching their re-runs on TV.

[[ASIN:630695001X Key Largo/Angels With Dirty Faces]]
The Warner Gangsters Collection (The Public Enemy / White Heat / Angels with Dirty Faces / Little Caesar / The Petrified Forest / The Roaring Twenties)

"Whaddaya Hear, Whaddaya Say?".......2007-03-14

Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) was always a troublesome kid, but what do you expect from a guy who grew up in the slums? The only difference between him and the man who became the preacher (Pat O'Brien) is that Rocky got caught stealing and the preacher didn't. So Rocky went to juvenile detention and graduated to the slammer thanks to his ties to bigshot gangsters. He agreed to take the fall for them at the advice of his lawyer (Humphrey Bogart) at the promise that he'd jump right back in with them when he got out. What a sucker he was.

When Rocky gets out, he finds that his old friends have turned on him and used up his money. He doesn't take lightly to that and uses his intelligence to outsmart them time after time. In the meantime, upon returning home, Rocky meets up with some childhood friends including the preacher and a girl he used to pick on (Ann Sheridan). He also meets the new town hoodlums (The Dead End Kids) and becomes their idol. However, Rocky's life was never destined for a happy ending.

This film is incredibly powerful because it comments on so many modern issues. Is the criminal a victim of his own free-will or of his environment? And in being a criminal, does that make him all bad? Also, the relationships between the characters are great because they're so well established. Cagney is perfect in the role, a street-wise, easy-going guy you can't help but love despite his imperfections. Also notable are the Dead End Kids, especially Leo Gorcey whose strong personality and looks are very similar to Cagney's.

This is an excellent film that transcends the gangster genre.

Average customer rating:

The reason this movie has stood the test of time is the issues addressed in this movie still exist today.
BOYS TOWN
Boys Town
BOY'S TOWN--A SUPERB MOVIE !!!
Exellent Movie

Boys Town
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Mickey Rooney , Henry Hull , Leslie Fenton , and Gene Reynolds
Director: Norman Taurog
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000B5XOYS
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Amazon.com essential video

Spencer Tracy won an Oscar for his portrayal of Father Flanagan, who opens Boys Town and dedicates himself to helping juvenile delinquents go straight. Mickey Rooney plays one of the tougher kids, figuring out early on that Flanagan is nobody's fool. Warmhearted and inspiring, the film's inevitable sentimentality is nicely cut by Tracy's performance and a smart script by Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary (who also won Oscars). A good film for all ages, directed by Norman Taurog (Adventures of Tom Sawyer). --Tom Keogh

Description

Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney both won Oscars(R) in 1938 for their work in this touching and inspirational story of Father Flanagan and his young, delinquent charges. Year: 1938 Director: Norman Taurog Starring: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull

Customer Reviews:

The reason this movie has stood the test of time is the issues addressed in this movie still exist today........2007-09-14

And the acting was a lot better back then then now. Spencer Tracey was so accomplished an actor his performances always seem effortless and natural. He played a compassionate priest as well as he played a hardened police detective. This movie in particular is timely because we still deal with delinquency and most of it has to do with lack of parenting (especially a male role model) we used to call "the father" when people got married and some morality. I'm not sure if Boystown still exists today, but, with all the bad press the Catholic priests have gotten in past years I'm suprised that we haven't heard about improprities and lawsuits from the boys who lived there during the years. Mickey Rooney, who is still with us, is also a consumate actor, and plays his bad boy role with the same gusto he takes with him in all his movies.

BOYS TOWN.......2007-08-09

I enjoyed this old movie from younger days. The only area that could be improved was ,it had 2 movies the second was Men Of Boys Town. Unfortunately I ordered it separately.

Boys Town.......2007-08-08

Wonderful movie from my childhood loved it as much now as I did then.

BOY'S TOWN--A SUPERB MOVIE !!!.......2007-05-13

THIS IS A "MUST" FOR EVERYONE !!! AN "OLDIE" BUT "GODDIE" !!! MANY LESSONS TO BE LEARNED !!!

Exellent Movie.......2007-05-13

I enjoy B&W movies. The acting in those days was superb. It is a great Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney movie.

Going My Way (Universal Cinema Classics)

Average customer rating:

Wonderful, feel good movie
Bing
"going my way"
A good science-fiction film
going my way

Going My Way (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Bing Crosby , Barry Fitzgerald , Frank McHugh , James Brown (II) , and Gene Lockhart
Director: Leo McCarey
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000KJTGHO
Release Date: 2007-02-06

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This irresistible Oscar winner from writer-director Leo McCarey (An Affair to Remember) stars Bing Crosby as a low-key, crooning priest who joins the parish of a no-nonsense but sweet old Irish man of the cloth (Barry Fitzgerald). While Bing turns local toughs into a choir, the elder priest worries over the church building fund and whether he'll get a chance to see his old mother back in Ireland before she dies. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be won over by this charmer, with a lovely ending guaranteed to make you bawl for a week. --Tom Keogh

Description

Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, the unforgettable classic Going My Way lights up the screen as it warms the heart. Best Actor winner Bing Crosby shines as Father O'Malley, a young priest new to an established but financially flailing parish. When his philosophies conflict with those of curmudgeonly Father Fitzgibbon (Best Supporting Actor winner Barry Fitzgerald), the result is a timeless story of patience, compromise and - just maybe - understanding. Featuring an all-new digitally remastered picture and filled with mesmerizing music including the Academy Award-winning song "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way exemplifies the silver screen at its golden best! "****! Hard to resist!" (Leonard Maltin)

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, feel good movie.......2007-08-12

This movie now 63 years old is still a wonderful viewing experience. Crosby, Fitzgerald and McHugh portray Irish Catholic priests with such believability due undoubtedly to the fact they were Irish Catholics themselves. As a boy growing up in Connecticut I had occasion to become involved with Irish Catholic priests and I know their performances ring solidly true.

Bing.......2007-08-04

If you watch this movie and don't get a tear in your eye and a big smile on your face....I would wonder.
Another of Bing's wonderful movies, simple and heart touching.

"going my way".......2007-07-25

OMG this is such a good story. I love the song Too La Roo. Enjoy it!!!

A good science-fiction film.......2007-05-22

Of course it's not a science film, though it is totally fiction. So much that all characters are unreal, impossible. Everybody is nice and candid (yes, even the old gossipy lady, why, there's no malice in her). The action flows like on clouds, at such an unpreoccupied pace that is so relaxing. This is the most remarkable thing about it: its lingering scenes and no hurry pace. Yes, as some one mentioned already, the chess scene is a good example of this style. Seinfeld fans might want to check if this is finally their ideal film: a film about nothing, where nothing happens... it's wonderful. But things do happen, but no one cares because it's mostly the feeling of being part in a dream that remains with you.

The story is simple enough (but so are Spielberg's -I mean, not like Antonioni, for example-), there are 2 Catholic priests, one old and one young. The bishop thinks that the old one (Barry Fitzgerald) needs to leave his place to Bing Crosby, who is much more "progressive" (in those times it didn't have the bad connotation it has now). But the main reason really is that the church is owing too much money to the bank; so, perhaps, a more "progressive" person (in the sense of one who cares more for the finances than others not so "progressive") might save the church (hopefully not by losing any soul). But this is not the story, at least in the surface. It's a nice and make-you-feel-good-by-going-to-church kind of movie. Nice to watch, especially at Christmas time.

going my way.......2007-05-08

this movie was a great alternative to ww 2 movies when i saw it as a boy.
its still a great movie and a good dvd. it has the elements that the church had at one time at the parish level. a closely knit congregation
woven by leaders called priests, not by someone who goes by his given name socially, and treats a parishioner as his equal not his spiritual leader. the same can be said about the bells of Saint Mary's.

Average customer rating:

Bing Crosby Double Feature
A true Christmas Gem
Old-fashioned sentimentality at its best
Going My Way/Holiday Inn
Real Christmas

Going My Way/Holiday Inn
Starring: Bing Crosby , Barry Fitzgerald , Frank McHugh , James Brown (II) , and Gene Lockhart
Director: Leo McCarey , and Mark Sandrich
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B00001TZ6P
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Amazon.com essential video

Going My Way
This irresistible Oscar winner from writer-director Leo McCarey (An Affair to Remember) stars Bing Crosby as a low-key, crooning priest who joins the parish of a no-nonsense but sweet old Irish man of the cloth (Barry Fitzgerald). While Bing turns local toughs into a choir, the elder priest worries over the church building fund and whether he'll get a chance to see his old mother back in Ireland before she dies. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be won over by this charmer, with a lovely ending guaranteed to make you bawl for a week. --Tom Keogh

Holiday Inn
This perennial, Christmas-season favorite from 1942 teamed Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as entertainers (and rival suitors of Marjorie Reynolds) running an inn that is only open on holidays. It's a great excuse for lots of singing and dancing, seamlessly wrapped in a catchy story, and Astaire's frequent director Mark Sandrich (Top Hat, Shall We Dance) doesn't let us down. The Irving Berlin numbers (each one connected to a different holiday) are winners, with Crosby's warm performance of "White Christmas" a movie touchstone. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Bing Crosby Double Feature.......2007-06-22

Conceived from an idea by composer Irving Berlin, Mark Sandrich's "Holiday Inn" is a humorous, festive Crosby/Astaire musical that finds both performers in tip-top, toe-tapping form. Famous for introducing "White Christmas," the best-selling single of all time and an instant favorite with troops overseas, "Inn" is consistently tuneful and entertaining with a sublime Berlin score that covers not just Christmas, but all major holidays. Watch for the July 4th rave-up "Let's Say It With Firecrackers," one of many musical highlights.

A true Christmas Gem.......2006-12-27

Going My Way deservedly won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Story. It is such a warm story written and directed by Leo McCarey (who also wrote Love Affair, Bells of St. Mary's and An Affair to Remember as well as directed the latter two).

The movie's warmth owed much to the wonderful performance of Barry Fitzgerald (Best Actor in a Supporting Role), as the lovable and respectable elderly Father Fitzgibbon, despite his old school of strict rules and hardships expected of a clergyman. And Bing Crosby(Best Actor), as Father O'Malley, came to rescue the old church with utmost regard of Father Fitzgibbon's delicate feeling. Bing Crosby's portrayal of a sensible, upright Father who enjoyed a close relationship with the younger generation was most impressive. The joyful and buoyant Father O'Dowd (Frank McHugh) provided the optimistic mood often needed to uplift the morale of the other two Fathers. The personal sacrifice made by Fitzgibbon, his longing to see his mother far away, the subplots of a radiant contralto of Metropolitan Opera Association (Rise Stevens) with a gold heart, the father and son money lenders, a naïve run away 18-year old (Jean Heather) all make a wonderful story.

In addition, there is much good music performed by Bing Crosby (Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra, Silent Night, Swinging on a star - Best Original Music) and Rise Stevens (Ave Maria, Habanera of Carmen)with the Robert Mitchell Boychoir. There is just a right balance between the good Christmas spirit and delightful Christmas music. It leaves you adoring the kindness and integrity of these good characters while humming the beautful tones.

For a different kind of light and highly entertaining holiday treat, Holiday Inn must be the one. White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby, first solo followed by duet with Marjorie Reynolds, in the first half hour of the movie alone is a classic number not to be missed. However, the movie offers much more than meets the eye.

The idea of having a holiday inn which opened for 15 holidays throughout the year is ingenious. In no more natural setting can numbers be inserted at Christmas, Lincoln's birthday, Valentine's Day, Washington's birthday, Easter Parade, Independence Day as in this movie. The elegant and radiant Marjorie Reynolds sang beautifully with Bing Crosby and danced gracefully with Fred Astaire, so was Virginia Dale. Added to it the lively performance of the trio's agent (Walter Abel) and Bing Crosby's cook Mamie(Louise Beavers) with two cute child actors. This is such a warm and delightful holiday movie that one can enjoy all 100 minutes of singing and dancing.

Old-fashioned sentimentality at its best.......2006-03-19

(GOING MY WAY reviewed as a single feature on videocassette.)

We are in an entertainment age of rampant violence, language, and sexuality. On a recent Monday, I watched two tapes worth of HBO shows. I could actually feel my soul corroding from violence in the admittedly well acted THE SOPRANOS, very strong language in the beautifully designed DEADWOOD, and sex scenes with full nudity in the new BIG LOVE. They make me want to cancel my subscription to HBO and go back to bygone Hollywood on Turner Classic Movies.

Producer/director/co-writer Leo McCarey's GOING MY WAY (1944) won a whopping seven Oscars the same year as such powerhouses as DOUBLE INDEMNITY, LAURA, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and SINCE YOU WENT AWAY. It is a sweet and likeable movie. Not great art, but very pleasant and soul-restoring. We have Oscar winners Bing Crosby as progressive young Father O'Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as the aging conservative Father Fitzgibbon interacting at venerable St. Dominick's.

GOING MY WAY runs an overlong 126 minutes and is constructed as a series of interacting plot strands. G-rated juvenile delinquents become members of the church choir and (off-screen) go with Father O'Malley to a baseball game. They later sing a song for Rise Stevens (of the Metropolitan Opera) as Genevieve Linden. Father O'Malley was the first person to praise Genevieve, who in turn gives encouragement to the boys, who subsequently sing the lovely and Oscar-winning "Swinging on a Star."

Fitzgerald's Father Fitzgibbon is an endearing character who has a bottle of whiskey hilariously hidden inside a bookcase music box that plays "Toora, Loora, Loora" all the time. The same lovely, sentimental song figures prominently in the very poignant final scene. Watch Father Fitzgibbon's expression when he realizes he has eaten a stolen turkey (by two of the boys) at Thanksgiving. And watch him play golf with Father O'Malley and mistakenly, happily think he has gotten a really good score.

Then there is Carol (pretty Jean Heather), a runaway teenager who eventually marries a World War Two (1944 movie) soldier named Ted, whose father (Gene Lockhart) holds the mortgage on St. Dominick's. Lockhart does something nice with that mortage at Christmas time in the final reel. Ted asks dad to "look after Carol while [he is] away. She'll grow on you." On the sidelines is Frank McHugh, always fun, as Father O'Dowd.

I like GOING MY WAY quite a lot. It is very sentimental, but (to rewrite the final line of Preston Sturges' great 1941 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS) there is a lot to be said for sentimentality and old-fashioned virtues in our frenzied and cynical computer age.

Going My Way/Holiday Inn.......2006-02-24

Going My Way is a wonderful movie. All the actors are great to watch. The story keeps your interest. I love listening to Bing
Crosby sing. His voice is so easy to listen to.

Holiday Inn is a wonderful entertaining movie. It's not only a musical, it has very funny parts in it. It's a wonderful Holiday or anytime movie. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are fabulous actors.

Real Christmas.......2006-02-24

Great idea to combine two clasics on one CD. They are as good as the first time I saw them and never lose their charm

Average customer rating:

Boy's Choir
rare gem

Boy's Choir
Starring: Atsushi Ito , Sora Tôma , Teruyuki Kagawa , Ryoko Takizawa , and Ken Mitsuishi
Director: Akira Ogata
Manufacturer: Picture This
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ASIN: B00008YLUN
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Description

Michio, 15, is sent to a remote Catholic boys orphanage soon after the tragic death of his father. Awkward and unable to speak without stuttering, Michio finds it nearly impossible to get along in his new environment. Yasuo, star soprano in the school choir befriends Michio and agrees to help him escape, but later convinces him to come back and join the choir. While rehearsing with the choir at a neighboring girls school, Yasuo becomes jealous of Michio's sudden fascination with the opposite sex. To vent his frustrations, Yasuo spends the summer marching in anti-war demonstrations in Tokyo. When Yasuo returns to school in the fall, he is horrified to discover that his angelic voice has changed. The second gem in the Tales from the Orphanage collection. "A richly embroidered coming-of-ager. An impressive first pic." - Derek Elley, Variety

Customer Reviews:

Boy's Choir.......2004-07-25

This is a foreign film with many awards, outstanding drama
and you would not believe the descipline in this movie
enjoy it is a film you can watch over and over

rare gem.......2004-01-17

I watched this film without expecting anything. To be honest, I first thought it would be a cheesy drama kind of movie since it was listed on gay & lesbian selection (why?)... Turned out I was completely wrong. The story is sophisticated, very emotional, excellent music and brings some reminiscence of early 70s. I had tears in my eyes when the film was over.
The songs they sing in the film got stuck on my head for a very long time and I watched this film over and over. Good thing it was in DVD if it was in VHS the tape would wear out.

Warner Bros. Classic Holiday Collection (Boys Town / A Christmas Carol 1938 / Christmas in Connecticut)

Average customer rating:

Classic Holiday Collection
Warner Bros. Classic Holiday Collection
WB Holiday Collection(boys town,a christmas carol 1938,christmas in connecticut
WB Classic Holiday Collection
SKIPPING "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" THIS YEAR? TRY THIS

Warner Bros. Classic Holiday Collection (Boys Town / A Christmas Carol 1938 / Christmas in Connecticut)
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Mickey Rooney , Henry Hull , Leslie Fenton , and Gene Reynolds
Director: Norman Taurog , and Edwin L. Marin
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000B5XOZM
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Amazon.com

In Boys Town (1938), Spencer Tracy won an Oscar for his portrayal of Father Flanagan, who dedicates himself to helping juvenile delinquents go straight. Mickey Rooney plays one of the tougher kids, figuring out early on that Flanagan is nobody's fool. Warmhearted and inspiring, the film's inevitable sentimentality is nicely cut by Tracy's performance and a smart script by Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary (who also won Oscars). A good film for all ages, directed by Norman Taurog (Adventures of Tom Sawyer). Also included is the minor sequel, Men of Boys Town (1941), also starring Tracy and Rooney.

The 1938 MGM version of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol is not the most rewarding of the various adaptations (that honor goes to Biran Desmond Hurst's 1951 film, starring Alistair Sim), but it has a strong if narrow performance by Reginald Owen as the miser Ebenezer Scrooge. Directed by Edward L. Marin, the movie is stiffer and less imaginative than it ought to be, but there are some compensations in the supporting cast, including Leo G. Carroll, and the film debut of little June Lockhart.

Christmas in Connecticut is a holiday film that plays 365 days of the year. Barbara Stanwyck gives a brilliant, sardonic performance as Elizabeth Lane, a columnist for Smart Housekeeping magazine, whose enticing descriptions of the exquisite meals she prepares for her husband and baby on their bucolic Connecticut farm earns her fame as "America's Best Cook." A writer, she is; a cook, she is not. As she types the words, "From my living room window, as I write, the good cedar logs cracking on the fire..." the view is of clothes flapping on the line outside her bachelorette Manhattan apartment. Cut to Jefferson Jones, a sailor adrift at sea for weeks after his destroyer is torpedoed. After his rescue, a marriage-minded nurse thinks she might nudge Jones to the altar if he could only be included in America's ultimate Christmas--the one to be held at the Lane family farm in Connecticut. Now, all Lane has to do is come up with a farm. And a husband. And let's not forget the baby. Christmas in Connecticut is classic screwball entertainment of the best kind, with its on-target skewering of social convention and house-of-cards-about-to-tumble tension: a perfect farcical vision of domestic blitz.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Holiday Collection.......2007-01-19

I loved watching Boy's Town and A Christmas Carol on TV when I was a kid and I wanted to share them with my children. My kids are ages 6, 8 & 10, they loved them too. These are true classics!

Warner Bros. Classic Holiday Collection.......2007-01-16

This is a very good collection. It is a pleasure to view good clean movies.

WB Holiday Collection(boys town,a christmas carol 1938,christmas in connecticut.......2007-01-10

I got these for my husband it brougth back childhood memories.
Great movies.

WB Classic Holiday Collection.......2006-11-10

Good quality DVD's with decent print transfers and extras - these films may be vintage but they get you in the Christmas spirit.

SKIPPING "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" THIS YEAR? TRY THIS.......2006-09-20

Skip "It's A Wonderful Life" this year. Dare to break that ubiquitous quasi-religious American ritual and consider the Classic Holiday Collection.

Double Oscar© winner for Story and Best Actor, 1938's Boys Town (and the 1941 sequel Men of Boys Town) will make you laugh and choke you up. Can't beat that for the holidays. Also in the set is the least famous of the various versions of A Christmas Carol (not the timeless 1951 British masterpiece with Alastair Sim). There's a featurette with Judy Garland singing "Silent Night." The third title is the comedy classic Christmas in Connecticut with a youthful Barbara Stanwyck.

Not Rated. Genre: Holiday Comedy/Drama. 6 Hours, 15 Minutes. Starring: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Henry Hull, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Barbara Stanwyck, Sydney Greenstreet. Directors: Edwin Martin, Norman Taurog, Peter Godfrey.

Average customer rating:

Nice story, beautiful scenes, fairly factual

The Story of Silent Night
Starring: The Vienna Boys Choir
Manufacturer: Questar
ProductGroup: DVD
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Silent Night

ASIN: B0002Q9W7O
Release Date: 2004-07-22

Customer Reviews:

Nice story, beautiful scenes, fairly factual.......2004-12-01

I like the way they present the story of "Silent Night" but this version was created prior to historians finding new information regarding the composing of the carol. If they would update the narration to reflect the fact that the words for "Stille Nacht" were written in 1816 and the music added in 1818, it would take away the fairytale aspect of the story. The segment called "Silent Night, World War II, 1944" is very well done - good story and very good actors. You may need some hankies before you get to the end of the story. "Holiday Fest in Austria" is a nice extra feature.

Average customer rating:

Superior-Voice Boy Soprano
heavenly
Great music, disappointing video quality
Excellent Mozart Choral Works DVD
In a word, "GLORIOUS!"

Vienna Boys Choir: Choral Works
Starring: Vienna Choir Boys , Mozart , and Harrer
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000B8ISOG
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Customer Reviews:

Superior-Voice Boy Soprano.......2007-03-21

These recordings (well reviewed elswhere) may be from 1988 & 1990, but this is the best Wiener Sangerknaben DVD I've found, certainly far better than the 2006 DVD "A Mozart Celebration" with its disappointing boy and adult soloists. A now-better-known soloist Max Emanuel Cencic, noted for his stunning technique, makes a brief appearance only. His later solo CD plus his adult countertenor CDs now are available. The most beautiful boy's voice I've ever heard, however, (the "Gundula Janowitz" of boys) was Steven Mockel who sang 1st Soprano in Sub Tuum Praesidium, K198 along with Alfred Halbartschlager. Steven's singing avoids the thin sound, weakness, and uneveness too often associated with boys' voices. His full, warm, solid sound is superior to all other whom I've heard in all my years. This DVD is well worth having just for this. I have found no other recordings of this angelic voice, although ironically this one piece appears on Cencic's solo CD.

heavenly.......2006-11-23

Dear lord. this is just....it makes me tear up every time. I'm convinced that the vienna boys choir's rendition of Canon in D is the most beautiful song on earth. Nothing could sound more angelic. It would take a heart of stone not to be moved by that. i had to turn it off 4 hours ago and i'm still swooning over it.

Great music, disappointing video quality.......2006-03-22

Of course the music from the Vienna Boys Choir was great..... but I was very disappointed with the poor resolution of the video.

Perhaps it was full screen cut out of a wide screen recording, blowing up a smaller part of the original to the extent that it was no longer sharp, or perhaps it was just a poor resolution recording or perhaps simply poor translation from the recording to the DVD. I don't know.

But in any case, I am disappointed by the image quality and I regret not having simply bought an audio CD. For the price of the DVD I could have had a couple of the Vienna Boys' Choir's other audio CDs.

Excellent Mozart Choral Works DVD.......2006-03-07

Mozart's choral works are among the finest but least celebrated of the composer's incredible legacy. In this audio and video treasure, we get to hear and see some of these performed by the incomparable Vienna Boys Choir in two historical settings in the old city in which Mozart spent so much of his creative life.
The camera work is superb, blending first class musical performances with scenes from the locations where they were done.

What is needed now is an updated version of these, or other Mozart choral works, done by the Vienna Boys Choir. While the DVD faithfully portrays the gorgeous sights and sounds of the original performances, they were done in 1988 and 1990. Undoubtedly, the Vienna Boys Choir is still up to the standard shown in those years. The boys and Mozart deserve another and more recent recording session.

In a word, "GLORIOUS!".......2006-01-31

Uwe Christian Harrer's performance of Mozart Choral works with the Vienna Boys Choir, members of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, and members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra is nothing short of miraculous. Filmed in two beautiful Vienna churches, one of them formerly the Chapel of the Imperial Palace, these are truly beautiful Video/Audio experiences. Mozart's music is well served: the Vienna Choir Boys sing the soprano and alto parts, with tenor and bass parts sung by the men of the Vienna State Opera Chorus.

Harrer sets sensible tempos, and is animated with the music, but not an interpreter who calls attention to himself, a la Bernstein, Solti, Stokowski, or Tennstedt. He is a SERVANT of the music, giving clear direction and very sensible beats, and a great sense of ensemble results from his direction. Harrer emphasizes the choral textures of Mozart's writing, here in the early Waisenhaus Mass in C minor (recorded here in 1988), written when Mozart was just 12 years old! All of this work may not be top drawer Mozart, but Harrer and his forces do just about what can be done with it. There are varied solos for boy soprano and alto, and tenor and bass, which alternate with fugal/polyphonic and homophonic full chorus textures, introductory and alternating choral parts. The "Gloria" and "Credo" movements are in several alternating sections, and stick less in my mind than the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Camera work in excellent, catching the various choir sections singing at a given moment, or the 1st violins, trumpet or trombone when they have an important part.

The shorter choral works, recorded in 1990, deal with the adoration of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ - very important in the Roman Catholic liturgy and theology in Austria during Mozart's time (Moreso than today, since Vatican II, 1962-65) and also the adoration of the Host: the consecrated bread, believed by Roman Catholics to be Christ's true body in the Mass. These are all works unfamiliar to me (except the closing "Ave Verum Corpus") but are very beautiful, showing a wonderful sacred side of Mozart, a real contrast to his operas, for example,"The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni".

I hope there are more DVD recordings forthcoming from the Vienna Boys Choir under Mr. Harrer. Excellent digital stereo sound, and wonderful picture quality (full screen, 4:3) make this a great experience. I nearly wept during the closing "Ave Verum Corpus," a quiet homophonic anthem of adoration to the crucified body of Christ. The accompaniment of a chamber orchestra makes this a more beautiful experience than I realized was possible. Yes, Mozart's music is well served here!
In a word, "GLORIOUS!"

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The Little Drummer Boy
Starring: Ted Eccles , Greer Garson , The Vienna Boys Choir , José Ferrer , and Paul H. Frees
Director: Jules Bass , Takeya Nakamura , and Jr. Arthur Rankin
Manufacturer: Classic Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000R7G6KY
Release Date: 2007-09-04

Description

This story has touched the hearts of families everywhere. In this holiday classic, the true spirit of Christmas is revealed when a lonely orphan stumbles upon the birth of the baby Jesus and affirms what the holidays are really about - giving and love. Featuring a beautiful soundtrack by the Vienna Boys' Choir, this timeless tale of generosity makes the perfect addition to your holiday collection.

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