Daddy Long Legs
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.39 You Save: $9.59 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Daddy Long Legs
Movie Review: Daddy Long Legs
Summary: 5 Stars
Rapid delivery - in excellent order. Would purchase from this buyer again.Movie Review: A mid-50s Astaire musical pleaser!
Summary: 4 Stars
Daddy Long Legs(released May/55) is a smart film that turns what could have had a very lecherous overtone of a plot into a winner in the home stretch.Astaire's 24 year old co-star,Leslie Caron, stars in her eighth American film and contributes more to the acting sequences than the dancing ones.
The story involves a rich American industrialist by the name of Jervis Pendleton III(Astaire).He is a rather distracted person with his love of dancing and music,which often gets under the skin of his assistant Griggs(Fred Clark), who tries to keep his empire running as smoothly as possible.On a diplomatic mission to Paris with others,the car they are in gets stuck.Jervis wanders off to get help and comes upon an orphanage.While there he is struck by the charm and exuberance of a teenage girl by the name of Julie Andre(Caron).He confronts the American ambassador with a plan to adopt the girl and to bring her to the States to be educated.The ambassador questions his real motivations and a compromise is reached when it is agreed just to sponsor her;a less offending and questionable course of action.Of course Jervis's motives ARE strictly honourable and it is set up that the only interaction he will have with the girl is to receive regular correspondence from her regarding her school work.Andre is of course ecstatic and attends a college in Massachusetts that the Pendletons have sponsored for years.She does well with her studies and sends Jervis regular letters;none of which get answered.Griggs has been intercepting them and giving them to his secretary Alicia(Thelma Ritter)who reads them and dutifully files them away.When Alicia can't take the poor Julie's feelings of rejection anymore she pressures Griggs who in turn finally talks with Jervis.Jervis who had completely forgotten about his charge finally sits down to read the letters.He is touched and attends the college under the pretense of visiting his niece,who is Julie's roommate.They get to dance together and Jervis by nights end is quite taken with her.When she graduates he sets her up in a penthouse apartment in Manhattan.Everything is quite platonic but the feelings between the two are obviously growing.The American ambassador from the beginning of the film happens to over hear and misconstrue a conversation the two are having on their terrace.He calls Jervis and confronts him about what he heard.Even though it was innocent Jervis finally realizes what it looks like and agrees to stop things before they go any further.He travels the world but Julie follows his every move,clipping newspapers.Still not knowing that Jervis is really her "Daddy Long Legs"/benefactor she again writes to him urgently for advice.Alicia can take no more and brings Julie back to NYC to see Jervis in person.Jervis realizes he can't fight what he feels any longer and agrees to see her.Julie is taken aback in that first moment but soon realizes things couldn't be better.The movie ends with the two embraced.
Filming started in early /54 only to be sidelined due to the death of his beloved wife Phyllis.Astaire wanted out of the project but it was agreed to postpone the filming for a few months to let him grieve.Astaire finally came back but still very much upset.He made it through the film and thankfully his dancing does not suffer in the least.He has a great moment near the beginning of the film where he is drumming to some bigband music(very proficiently I might add) and he does a nice routine away from the drum kit with drum sticks in hand.He next becomes a dream like representation of what Julie thinks an American millionaire would look like.Astaire is in a Texas outfit c/w hat and boots and his singing is overdubbed by the venerable talent of Thurl Ravenscroft(Tony the Tiger).Astaire then does a high energy kick up your heels swing dance with Caron and other dancers in the "Slu-Foot" number.Finally he sings his famous"Something's Gotta Give" to Caron,quite reminiscent of his Ginger days.Leslie Caron was discovered by Fred's friend Gene Kelly and the latter starred her in An American in Paris four years before,so Fred asked for her for this project.Caron had(dance wise)more of a ballet background and the musical numbers were geared to reflect that.Caron had trouble with some of the routines and conquered it through constant rehearsal.The trouble I found is her dancing generally comes off as quite stiff and uninspiring.She has an an entire 12 minute sequence in which to shine and the results are disappointing,to say the least.Her best moments come with Astaire in the "Slu-foot" number and in the finale of the film.It is evident the studio was trying to highlight Caron but a sequence like Caron thinking about her "Daddy Long Legs" at a blackboard at the orphanage are flat and could easily have been cut(with her ballet number)with no harm to the film whatsoever.
Costar Fred Clark as always provides good support in his role as Griggs,the over worked and frustrated secretary to Jervis.Thelma Ritter as Griggs' assistant Alicia also has some good moments on screen to help things along.
The movie I would give about a 3 1/2 star rating to.However the technical department is the area this particular release really shines in and bumps the rating up to a solid four.The 2:55:1 aspect ratio along with the absolute pristine and gorgeous transfer evident here is something to behold.It is absolutely gorgeous to look at.The DVD comes with some nice extras:there is additional commentary by Ken Barnes,Astaire's daughter Eva and songwriter Johnny Mercer,Fox movietone news footage of the Hollywood,New York and London premieres of the movie,still photos,the trailer and four repro lobby cards of the film.The DVD itself is in its own case and it is in turn covered by another matching outer sleeve.This is prevalent amongst Fox's recent "Marquee Musicals" collection series.
Finally,while the movie itself would only rate between 3 and four stars,the extras and print here bump it up to a solid four.The film can be uneven at times,due mainly to sequences unfortunately involving Astaires co star Leslie Caron.Astaire suffered personally through this film but his anguish does not come across on screen and his dancing is up to his usual standards.I can recommend this film and Astaire fans will find more than a few satisfying moments to relish.
Movie Review: Astaire, As Usual, Is Always Worth Watching
Summary: 4 Stars
The point of a Fred Astaire movie is Fred Astaire dancing. Daddy Long Legs is an uncomfortable attempt to do two additional things. First, to take advantage of the emerging popularity of Leslie Caron, who had caught the American public's attention with her first movie, An American in Paris, made when she was just 20. Caron at that age had an endearing, innocent quality, a delightful accent, and the American public loved it. Second (and in order to accomplish the first point), to meld Astaire's style of easy, graceful sophistication with what Caron was most comfortable with, ballet. The result is a musical that has many good things, but is probably one of the weaker of the Fred Astaire films.
Jervis Pendleton III (Fred Astaire), a rich, charming, middle-aged American businessman from a mainline family of inherited wealth, comes across an orphanage in France while on a high-level government-sponsored trip to Paris. By chance he sees a young woman taking care of the orphans and is charmed by her vitality and simplicity. The girl, he learns, is 18 years old and is called Julie Andre (Leslie Caron). She is an orphan, too. When he realizes her future is probably to age into eventually running the orphanage herself or to marry a chubby French farmer, he takes steps to whisk her to America, enroll her in exclusive Walston College and see to it that she has every advantage. All this he does anonymously. Then he forgets about her. His assistant, Griggs (Fred Clark) and Griggs' assistant, Alicia Pritchard (Thelma Ritter), keep track of Julie, monitor her progress and file the letters she writes to her anonymous benefactor, whom she has come to call Daddy Long Legs. Eventually, the two meet. Jervis realizes he loves Julie. Julie realizes she loves Jervis and that he had been her benefactor. After a few misunderstandings are cleared up, they dance away together to the strains of Johnny Mercer's "Dream."
Why is this movie, for me, so unsatisfying? First, the age difference is noticeable. Astaire was 56 when he made the movie; Caron was 24. Well, Astaire was 58 when he made Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn. She was 28, but the disparity there wasn't so apparent. With Daddy Long Legs, I think it's because Caron, at this point in her career, wasn't a very good actress. She seems unformed, both as an actress and as a person. To show excitement, she simply shakes her hands and cries, "Ooo la la!." Playing against a man 32 years older than she, she just seems too malleable for comfort. Second, Astaire was a great dance stylist, but ballet-influenced routines never showed him at his best. Caron was a competent ballet dancer and there are two long ballet sequences for her, one involving Astaire, to show her off. They were choreographed by Roland Petit to suit her strengths. In my opinion, they're journeyman works. When paired with Astaire for two dances, Caron seems stiff and sometimes looks like she's concentrating on what she's doing. They just don't make a good match. Third, the movie is long, over two hours. Much of the time is spent with Julie Andre. Once Andre's character and situation are established, however, there's not much to keep us involved with her.
And why is this movie worth looking at? Well, first, Astaire is a joy to watch even if he's just walking down the street. He has three good dance routines. "History of the Beat" is a fast tap number that also shows his skill at the drums, not to mention with drum sticks. He can make drumsticks do things in a dance that most dancers can't do with their feet. Then there's "Sluefoot," a jitterbug number at the college dance. It's satisfying to see the old smoothie show the youngsters how things are really done. And there's "Something's Gotta Give," a romantic, graceful dance number, sung by Astaire and then performed with Caron. If it's not at the level of "I'm Old Fashioned," which he did with Rita Hayworth more than a decade earlier, it'll do. Second, there are the songs written by Johnny Mercer. They're smart, hip and easy to listen to. One, "Something's Gotta Give," hit the charts and became a classic. A great song Mercer wrote earlier, "Dream," drifts in and out of the movie like a wisp of sleepy romance. Third, Astaire is backed by two great Hollywood character actors, Fred Clark as his exasperated right-hand man and Thelma Ritter as the tough talking secretary who finally takes things in hand.
All in all, Daddy Long Legs has a number of good things. After watching the movie once, however, I think you're going to want to use the fast-forward button to get to them. The DVD features an excellent picture and audio. The most significant extra is a film commentary which includes Astaire's daughter and archival commentary by Mercer.
Movie Review: Daddy Long Legs
Summary: 4 Stars
I think this is one of Fred Astaire's best. A lot of people rave about "Top Hat," but I like his later movies better. His dancing is exceptional. The only problem I have with the film is it's another of the "teen age girl falls in love with old man" movies. That hasn't changed much over the years if you've seen any Clint Eastwood movies. Of course, I am an old man who would like to think it could happen to me.
Fred is a "stand-up, elegant" dancer compared with Gene Kelly who is a "squat low, gymnastics" dancer. Both are great. In this film, I think Leslie Caron was superb. She had an air of innocence which she portrayed very well and she is such a lovely dancer. I think she fits as a dance partner better with Fred that with Gene who is better suited with someone like Cyd Charisse.
I saw the movie when it first came out in 1955 and several times since. It has remained one of my favorites because of the music and dance routines more than the storyline. I would have purchased it earlier, but it wasn't digitized for DVD until 2005 and I didn't want the VHS version.
If you are a fan of musicals like I am, you will love this film.
Movie Review: Beware missing lobby cards
Summary: 4 Stars
When Fox upgraded from Studio Classics to Cinema Classics brand, they upgraded the price too. What you get are a larger booklet insert, four "lobby cards" and a slipcase. This title, "Pin Up Girl" and "Week-End in Havana" are each missing 3 of the 4 lobby cards. Twentieth Century Fox is aware of the problem, but offers no replacement for defective packages.
Other than that, the film is great fun and it's wonderful to have another Astaire classic on DVD.