Happy Go Lovely
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.13 You Save: $4.81 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.71 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Happy Go Lovely
Movie Review: just lovely
Summary: 4 Stars
This old fashioned musical is just lovely fun and entertainment. Vera Ellen dances beautifully as always and David Niven is fun to watch as the almost boyishly charming love interest.
The plot is as follows: Janet Jones (vera ellen) is late for her practice and hitches a ride with the driver of millionaire B.G. Bruno (niven). All of the other dancers and her director (cesar romero) seem to think that janet is engaged to B.G. bruno and that therefore they will be able to get lots of money from him (as they really have no money) for the show if Janet (after getting fired for being late) gets the lead. Of course true to the genre Janet and Bruno meet and fall in love.
A wonderfully entertaining movie you can watch many times. i didn't give it 5 stars because of the picture quality. With a lot of musicals being remastered i have become spoiled and this looks untouched. Especially the dance scenes where the dancers are mostly wearing white seem to be overly lit, causing loss of definition.
Movie Review: A VERY GOOD PLOT
Summary: 4 Stars
I love David Niven. He is one of the best comedy actors! I probably would not have bought this one if I had known it has music and dancing, but, I'm glad I did! The screenplay is very clever, and David handles it masterfully! Romero is also good. Interestingly, Diane Hart sounds like Audrey Hepburn. I wonder if Hepburn copied her, or, is that maybe a certain British style. But Hart does a good job as the female star's side kick. If you're a fan of classic comedy, you will like this one, and fast forward thru the boring musical numbers, unless, or course you like that sort of thing.Movie Review: a better print, please
Summary: 3 Stars
This film is a minor bit of fluff, so it is unlikely to receive the full restoration treatment, which it needs badly.This print, offered by Alpha Video (Gotham Distribution), is terribly washed out. I was tempted to adjust the contrast so I could distinguish the dancers from the scenery in the opening reel. I wonder if the jewelry that looked like grey stone was actually some shiny precious metal.
I suspect, however, that the original was never great eye candy, since the costumes are quite ugly regardless of color.
As for the movie itself, the musical numbers are all from a show within a show being put on in Scotland by an American producer with no funding. The title, "Frolics to You", signals that the show is horrible, so it should not be surprising that the choreography is mostly dull with strange hand movements. There are some impressive lifts (a one-armed catch-and-lift of Vera-Ellen by her leg bent at the knee caught my attention).
Those who enjoy spotting continuity errors will have a field day with this flick. Costumes that have cleavage when the just-seen underwear could not; shoes that lose their heels mid-dance (the style of dancing changes, necessitating new shoes, but it happens during a stage performance depicted as continuous); using the same dress and jewelry for 2 scenes occuring on 2 different nights...
I did enjoy David Niven's performance, especially when he alternates between stodgy and vulnerable within a few sentences. He is quite believably smitten by Vera-Ellen.
I bought this because I remember seeing and enjoying the film on TV years ago, and because I intend to collect Vera-Ellen DVDs, so I won't be discarding it until a good print is available. But, caveat emptor.
Movie Review: Better than you would think
Summary: 3 Stars
The quality on this DVD is pretty poor, but it is watchable. As a musical the numbers are less than spectacular and they seem mostly plugged into the story. It is however a pretty good comedy and David Niven gives a nice performance as B.G. Bruno, the millionaire smitten with a chorus girl. Vera Ellen is okay as the lead and dances very well as usual, but her partners and the score are only okay. If you watch the movie purely as a comedy you will end up enjoying it though and the price is cheap.
1 2