The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Vincente Minnelli

The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)
List Price: $26.98
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Buy The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition) at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Harry Jackson
Editor: Albert Akst
Producer: Arthur Freed
Producer: Roger Edens
Writer: Adolph Green
Writer: Alan Jay Lerner
Writer: Betty Comden
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
  • In this Vincente Minnelli-directed backstager, Fred Astaire dazzles in numbers set in a train station (By Myself), a penny arcade (A Shine on Your Shoes), a backlot Central Park (Dancing in the Dark) and a smokey cafe (Girl Hunt), the latter two with the incomparable Cyd Charisse. And when he, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan play infants who "hate each other very much!" in the merry Trip

Movie Reviews of The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Movie Review: Good, but not great
Summary: 3 Stars

First, the good points: Fred Astaire is ... Fred Astaire, and Cyd Charisse is an all-time great Hollywood dancer. Some numbers, such "The Girl Hunt" and especially "Dancing in the Dark" are simply great.

But the story doesn't even vaguely hold together. Almost none of the songs in the "show-within-a-show" have anything to do with either show, or advance the plot in any way. Jack Buchanan is fun in spots, but has an odd grimace when he dances. Oscar Levant just isn't that funny, and Nanette Fabray doesn't have much to do. The storyline about the disastrous production has great potential, but ........

At times, Comden and Green are clearly trying to have it both ways - entertaining while making fun of a musical genre, but too often they don't quite make it on this one. There are some terrific lyrics, but it never makes it into the pantheon of great musicals.

Summary of The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

A MUSICAL DELIGHT ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF A FADED HOLLYWOOD STAR WHO TURNS TO BROADWAY.
The Band Wagon (1953) marked the culmination of a series of near-autobiographical pictures Fred Astaire made for MGM following his return from premature retirement in the late '40s. Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a fading film star (his big hit: Flying Down to Panama) who decides to return to his former glory, the Broadway stage. (In 1931, Astaire had starred on Broadway with sister Adele in The Band Wagon, a revue that lent some of its songs to this film.) His playwright-songwriter friends (Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant) hook him up with Broadway's hottest director, Jeffrey Cordova (a nicely hammy Jack Buchanan), who proves that the "new" theater traditions can be an awkward fit with the old. Hunter also finds himself at odds with his prima ballerina leading lady (Cyd Charisse), one of his chief worries being that she seems a little tall. Along the way, producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, choreographer Michael Kidd, and songwriters Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz treat us to some quintessential MGM numbers: Astaire's solo ode "By Myself," the flashy arcade romp "A Shine on Your Shoes," Astaire and Charisse's romantic duet "Dancing in the Dark," the faux-German drinking song "I Love Louisa," the manic trio "Triplets" (with Astaire, Fabray, and Buchanan in matching baby outfits), the Mickey Spillane-esque "Girl Hunt Ballet," and the classic show-biz anthem "That's Entertainment." Even if its ending and obligatory romance fall a little flat, The Band Wagon is one of the classic backstage musicals, a grandiose MGM spectacle that also manages to poke some fun at how grandiose MGM pictures had become. --David Horiuchi

Comedy DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in Turner Classic Movies: my picks for January 2010
Annie Get Your Gun ImageAnnie Get Your Gun
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2000-11-14; DVD
Best price: $9.53
Price in other shops: $19.98
King Solomon's Mines ImageKing Solomon's Mines
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-01-11; DVD
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops: $19.98
South Pacific (Collector's Edition) ImageSouth Pacific (Collector's Edition)
TCFHE; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $14.43
Price in other shops: $26.98
National Velvet ImageNational Velvet
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2000-07-11; DVD
Best price: $1.90
Price in other shops: $9.98
Johnny Guitar (Import , All Regions), Joan Crawford ImageJohnny Guitar (Import , All Regions), Joan Crawford
DVD
Best price: $8.90
The Philadelphia Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageThe Philadelphia Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-03-01; DVD
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops: $26.98
Forever Darling ImageForever Darling
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-05-02; DVD
Best price: $5.35
Price in other shops: $14.98
Heller in Pink Tights ImageHeller in Pink Tights
Release date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $11.00
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition) ImageCat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-05-02; DVD
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Diary of Anne Frank ImageThe Diary of Anne Frank
TCFHE; Release date: 2009-06-16; DVD
Best price: $11.21
Price in other shops: $19.98
Similar DVD Movies
The Barkleys of Broadway ImageThe Barkleys of Broadway
ASTAIRE,FRED; Release date: 2005-08-16; DVD
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops: $19.98
It's Always Fair Weather ImageIt's Always Fair Weather
KELLY,GENE; Release date: 2006-04-25; DVD
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $19.98
Broadway Melody of 1940 ImageBroadway Melody of 1940
ASTAIRE,FRED; Release date: 2003-04-22; DVD
Best price: $12.23
Price in other shops: $19.98
Royal Wedding / The Belle of New York ImageRoyal Wedding / The Belle of New York
ASTAIRE,FRED; Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops: $24.98
Three Little Words ImageThree Little Words
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-04-25; DVD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops: $19.98
Ziegfeld Follies ImageZiegfeld Follies
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-04-25; DVD
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops: $19.98
You'll Never Get Rich ImageYou'll Never Get Rich
SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $10.55
Price in other shops: $19.94
Daddy Long Legs ImageDaddy Long Legs
ASTAIRE,FRED; Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $12.81
Price in other shops: $19.98
You Were Never Lovelier ImageYou Were Never Lovelier
SONY PICTURES HOME ENT; Release date: 2004-05-25; DVD
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops: $14.94
Silk Stockings ImageSilk Stockings
ASTAIRE,FRED; Release date: 2003-04-22; DVD
Best price: $10.59
Price in other shops: $19.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners