Down to Earth
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Movie Reviews of Down to Earth
Movie Review: Up In The Clouds over "Down To Earth"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Down to Earth" is a bizarre musical sequel to a non-musical film called "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." It stars, then reigning love goddess, Rita Hayworth who is miscast (but amusingly so)as Terpsichore. But the Greek 'muse' is none 'amused' when learning that she and her sisters are to become the kitsch and lampoon of a mortal Broadway musical. Assisted by the heavenly MC, Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and a messenger(Edward Everett Horton), Terpsichore - renamed Kitty Pendleton - comes "down to earth" to play herself in the Broadway show and set the record straight. This is one of those mindlessly engaging, good humor bits of business that Hollywood used to excel at during its heyday and it's ably aided by performances from James Gleason, George Macready (of "Gilda" fame) and William Frawley (Fred, from "I Love Lucy"). The songs aren't memorable, but they are splashy and exciting and the script ably covers all of the bases with panache and great fun.THE TRANSFER: Gorgeous. Columbia's film elements are in top notch condition and the picture quality of this DVD will not disappoint. The image is crisp and vibrant, with bold colors, bright whites and rich, velvet blacks. Contrast levels are excellent. There is some slight shimmering of color in certain scenes, due to the vintage of the print, but nothing that terribly distracts from your visual enjoyment. Digital artifacts are not a problem. Age related artifacts are present but not glaringly so, for a generally smooth visual presentation. The audio is MONO but nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: Please, this is Columbia!
BOTTOM LINE: This isn't one you'll always remember but its certainly an enjoyable little romp through musical La-La land, and, with the lush and lovely Miss Hayworth at hand, its more than easy on the eyes. Add this one to your library.
Movie Review: Heavenly Goddess Steps Down To Earth
Summary: 4 Stars
After the success of "Gilda", Columbia put their superstar Rita Hayworth in this musical remake of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan". It did well at the box office, although in later years it has been panned by many as silly, far-fetched fare. I personally don't have a problem with it - it's not on par with Rita's earlier musicals, but it is very entertaining. The color is lush, and Hayworth is breathtakingly beautiful, and certainly suited to play the goddess of music and dance, Terpsichore (her singing voice is again dubbed by Anita Ellis), and Larry Parks is adorable as the young Broadway producer who wants so desperately to succeed. George Macready, who played Hayworth's evil spouse in "Gilda" again appears here in a similar role (with comedic undertones) - his office even seems to be the same as in the earlier film. It's also fun to see William Frawley in a small but memorable role.
Parks, sadly, had a short-lived career, as it was virtually destroyed by the McCarthy witch hunts. And the romance is touching and even a little tear-inducing. The term "Heavenly Goddess" certainly applies to the lovely Rita. Adele Jergens is also great as the original dancer in the show that Kitty/Terpischore replaces. Not the best Columbia musical, but an off-beat film, and worth watching simply because of the dance sequences, color cinematography and Rita at her most enticing.
Movie Review: She puts the ants in the dancer's pants
Summary: 4 Stars
Danny Miller (Larry Parks) is producing a musical that uses the nine muses as its theme. Even thought the film is in 1947 it has a fifties feel to it.
The real Terpsichore (Rita Hayworth) is upset over being portrayed as a swinging man hungry goddess. She will recruits Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and his Messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) to help her go to earth and correct Danny's pretrial of Terpsichore.
Will she succeed? If so at what cost?
The characters are based upon the ones in "Here comes Mister Jordan" (1941). They even tie Rita Hayworth's name in as Kitty Pendleton. The same director is Alexander Hall.
Here Comes Mr. Jordan ~ Robert Montgomery
Heaven Can Wait ~ Warren Beatty
Movie Review: Hayworth glows, movie blows
Summary: 3 Stars
Oh, to ponder what better vehicles Columbia Studios could have come up with for their reigning love goddess. Here we have a dazzling Rita thrown into a horribly written and directed musical. The dance numbers are poorly staged and the songs are bottom of the barrel swill. The final number "People Have More Fun Than Anyone" is possibly the worst song I've ever heard- both lyrically and musically. Sounds harsh, but it's true. There's not one dance that really utilizes Hayworth's unique strengths as a dancer(a shame since her character is the Goddess of dance) There's hardly any opportunity for her to strut her natural stuff.
Sure, there are moments, like in the beginning when she comes "Down to Earth" and dances her way into rehearsal wowing producer Parks and company. I just wish she wasn't wearing that ugly green dress. It would've been nice if she wore casual shorts and a form-fitting blouse like the other girls. The two men that accompany Rita in her first dance routine look like hobbits. Who are these guys? How did they get passed casting? Another number has Rita surrounded by gladiator-clad men and doing some brief "Gilda" type moves - sensually playing with her hair and looking ravishing.
The Technicolor on this newest DVD release looks great. You'd never know this film was made 57 years ago. Sometimes, I'll watch with the sound off, put headphones on and listen to some old jazz, and watch Rita dance in slow motion - elevating moments of the flickering Hayworth to high art.
Without question, the most exciting bonus feature on this DVD, is the original trailer for "You Were Never Lovelier"(1942), Hayworth's second film with Fred Astaire.
We actually get to witness several seconds of a deleted dance number cut from the film. Fred sang "You Were Never Lovelier" to Rita, but the dance was deleted after initial previews. Some moronic studio head said there was already a "romantic type dance" in the movie; referring to the elegant "I'm Old Fashioned". As a result, the world was robbed of seeing Fred and Rita float across the celluloid dreamscape. Seriously, what a bad executive decision that was! Boy, were Hayworth (and Astaire) fans cheated.
It begs the question, does this dance sequence exist in its entirety? Was the footage destroyed, or is it lying in some film vault waiting to be uncovered? So little is known or ever mentioned. All I can say is...Wow! Fred and Rita sparkle in beautiful black and white - displaying a series of lovely turns and sensual dips in this all too brief clip. A cinematically classic few seconds, featuring a rapturous and stunning Hayworth looking sexier than ever in that dress.
If that weren't enough of a tease, the same trailer features a couple of seconds from the "Shorty George" tap routine not seen in the film. I always wondered what Fred and Rita were doing when in the middle of the dance, the scene cuts to Xavier Cugat conducting the band. Perhaps, that's what these fleeting seconds were from. For true Hayworth fans, these clips are like finding a buried treasure. What an unexpected and delightful treat.
Movie Review: What WHERE they thinking?
Summary: 3 Stars
I wonder---when the composer and lyricist of this score first performed their songs
for the film's producer, director, etc....what was their reaction? At least two of the songs...the one where Rita sings of having two husbands simultaneously and the
final song in the bizzare, "Moderne" park after dark ("People Have More Fun") are undoubtedly the two most LAME, tuneless songs I have ever heard. Columbia's musical arrangers and orchestrators did their professional best to dress up these miserable numbers, as did the designers, choreographer, cast, etc....but they are among the worst ever put on film. By contrast, the big tune ("They Can't Convince Me You're Not a Dream") that Larry Parks sings to Rita in the backstage prop department is lovely, and surpisingly accomplished both melodically and harmonically; I'll definitely listen to it again.
The film itself is an amazingly garish mish-mash, fascinating to watch in one sense, annoying and downright laughable in another ("..and the guy who invented the skinless weenie".......PUH-LEEEZ!!) One of the reasons that I bought the film was to see dancer Marc Platt in a featured role, but even his performance was a put-off, with almost non-stop, cutesy mugging and other silly business (I'll stick with his fine performance in "Seven Brides" any day).
What caught me by total surprise, though (which no other reviewers mention), is the fact that the film's final 20 minutes UNEXPECTEDLY take a very serious and emotional turn; exactly why DOES Mr Jordan allow Rita to descend to Earth and get involved in the "Muse" musical in the first place? The bulk of the film is so goofy that you never even THINK about this issue....until, that is...the film enters its final, dramatic phase. This resolution is effective enough that, when the movie ends, you are tempted to forgive and forget all of the nonsense that has gone before.
A fascinating and frustrating experiment from the annals of post-war Hollywood film musicals.