Divine Madness
by Michael Ritchie
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bette Midler, Diva Gray, Irving Sudrow, Jocelyn Brown, Ula HedwigDirector: Michael Ritchie
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 2.35:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-05-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Divine Madness
Movie Review: Not what I remember...
Summary: 3 Stars
I saw first saw this show on VHS sometime back in 1984 or 1985, and haven't seen it since, so it's possible my memory playing tricks on me, but I would swear that there were scenes in the old edition which are missing here. Good bits. The Internet Movie Database tends to support this theory, because it lists the running time of "Divine Madness" as 95 minutes, while this DVD has a running time of 86 minutes.
I can't enumerate precisely what those missing 9 minutes contain, but I do have a strong recollection of Bette Midler on the floor with all three Harlettes, with all of them wearing mermaid tails, and an extended sequence on the exact words to the chorus of the "Hawaiian War Chant" (not just the main verse).
There are some really outstanding bits here. The standup segments are great, the mermaid number (even in its apparently curtailed form) is fun, and there are several great musical moments with songs from the 40s and 50s. There are also a lot of slow bits, however, along with a few musical numbers which border on shrill.
Before watching the DVD, I would have given this show a solid 4 out of 5 or better. Now, though, I feel charitable rating it a 3, and I wonder just how badly my memory is playing tricks on me.
Summary of Divine Madness
Audacious, brazen, funny, and perhaps the unconscious inspiration for Madonna's shows, Divine Madness makes an absolute spectacle of itself. Bette Midler's raunchy, entertaining persona is on high in this concert film filmed in Pasadena. Midler tells dirty jokes, berates herself and the audience, and most of all belts out (some may say shrieks out) covers of Bruce Springsteen and rock and swing classics. Somewhere between "Everything's Comin' Up Roses" and "Vogue," Midler seems a bridge between eras, that of burlesque, do-anything-to-please-'em showmanship and shocking, pyrotechnic exhibitionism and aloofness. (A hint at just how old this 1980 movie feels, Midler unabashedly makes a reference to Georgie Jessel!) Directed by Michael Ritchie, whose Smile and The Bad New Bears were interesting takes on America, Divine is also a slice of the American experience. It's dirty enough to be fun and clean enough to stay just this side of bawdy. That used to be a fine American tradition. Note: The songs "Shiver Me Timbers" and "Rainbow Sleeve," which appeared in the theatrical release of this picture, are not included in this DVD. That's a shame because with Midler, more is more. --Keith SimantonComedy DVD Video
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