The Carmen Miranda Collection (The Gang's All Here / If I'm Lucky / Something for the Boys / Greenwich Village / Doll Face)
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DVD Cover Information
Brand: Twentieth Century FoxPerformer: Carmen Miranda
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: 2008-06-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of The Carmen Miranda Collection (The Gang's All Here / If I'm Lucky / Something for the Boys / Greenwich Village / Doll Face)
Movie Review: Carmen stole the show--and they loved her for it
Summary: 5 Stars
The Carmen Miranda Collection has five films: The Gang's All Here; If I'm Lucky; Something for the Boys; Greenwich Village and Doll Face. This box set is a must-have for any Carmen Miranda fan; and the DVDs have wonderful bonus features. Here's a list of the films and what you can expect:
The Gang's All Here----The Gang's All Here is a stunning musical thanks to the talents of Busby Berkeley, Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda. The musical numbers directed by Busby Berkeley impress me as some of his finest work.
Andy Mason (James Ellison), an army man during World War II, meets Edie Allen (Alice Faye), a showgirl at a nightclub. Andy falls for Edie almost immediately; and Edie finally returns Andy's affections. What Edie doesn't know is that Andy is expected to marry Vivian Potter (Sheila Ryan). Thus Andy lets Edie think his name is Casey so things won't get jumbled. Andy returns a decorated war hero--and Edie's become a star in the show. Complications immediately arise when Andy has to manage the problem that he's promised himself to two girls--Edie and Vivian.
Look for Carmen Miranda as Dorita, Edie's friend who also works in the nightclub; Carmen's "The Lady In The Tutti Frutti Hat" number is outrageously fun. Edward Everett Horton and Charlotte Greenwood give outstanding performances as Vivian's parents Peyton Potter and his wife Blossom--and boy, can Charlotte Greenwood dance! Benny Goodman plays himself as the bandleader in the club; and Benny's real life orchestra play themselves in this movie.
The choreography can't be better--this is a Busby Berkeley musical, after all. The cinematography also reflects Busby's genius. In addition, the DVD comes with a commentary by Drew Casper and there's an Alice Faye short film entitled We Still Are.
If I'm Lucky----If I'm Lucky is good for a few laughs and you get great song and dance numbers. Carmen Miranda steals the show with her singing and dancing; and it's wonderful to see Harry James & His Orchestra.
We meet the principle members of a traveling band who are excited about their audition with the Titan Tire Company for its radio show. Linda Farrell (Vivian Blaine) sings; Earl Gordon (Harry James) is the bandleader; Michelle O'Toole (Carmen Miranda) sings, dances and even plays the harp and Wallingham M. 'Wally' Jones (Phil Silvers) essentially manages them all.
After their audition is canceled, they walk around hungry--until they spy a gubernatorial candidate's rally with free food! They join to get hot dogs and beer; and they meet the candidate for governor, Darius J. Magonnagle (Edgar Buchanan). They also meet singer Allen Clark (Perry Como) and they get hired, including Allen, to go with Magonnagle's campaign and provide entertainment.
However, the current governor has his cronies push Magonnagle out of the race so he's not a threat; and they place Allen Clark as a figurehead candidate for governor so they can do as they please. Allen threatens to expose them; but the governor's buddy Marc Dwyer (Frank Fenton) lets Allen know someone will "take care of him" if he does. The fact that Allen and Linda have fallen in love makes matters even more complicated.
Something For The Boys----Something For The Boys could have been better; but it could have been worse. The musical numbers are well done--for the most part. This is essentially a light-hearted musical. The choreography impressed me.
Three cousins inherit a dilapidated old Southern plantation. The cousins are street salesman Harry Hart (Phil Silvers), factory worker Chiquita Hart (Miranda) and entertainer Blossom Hart (Vivian Blaine). The three of them go to see the "estate;" but they have no money to fix the place up.
However, Sergeant Laddie Green (Perry Como) and Sergeant Rocky Fulton (Michael O'Shea) drive up to inform the cousins that they want to buy the house, fix it up and use it as a boarding house for the wives of some military personnel. The cousins accept; and the wives of the military men put on a show to raise money and make the old place shine.
Rocky and Blossom fall for each other; and that's rough when his fianc?e Melanie Walker (Sheila Ryan) shows up. Rocky no longer loves Melanie; but Blossom is so upset she won't let Rocky explain. We also see that because of the factory she worked in for so long, Chiquita has carborundum in her teeth that make her a human radio transmitter. (?)
Something For The Boys is a better than average musical with some great moments--but it also moments I'd rather forget. Perry Como sings wonderfully but he can't act. People who like light-hearted classic musicals will enjoy this; and look for the excellent documentary about Carmen, "The Girl From Rio."
Greenwich Village----Greenwich Village is a great musical. There are outstanding song and dance numbers all throughout the film; and Carmen gets top billing! The choreography couldn't have been better. Although the artwork indicates that Perry Como performs in this picture, I couldn't find Perry anywhere!
It's 1922 in Greenwich Village, an artistic haven in New York City. Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche) gets off the bus and he wanders into a village speakeasy owned by Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Kenneth meets the outrageously fun singer/dancer/ fortune teller Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). He also lays eyes on Danny's girlfriend Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) who sings there. Danny has feelings for Bonnie; but when Kenneth also begins to have feelings for Bonnie trouble starts.
Kenneth came to the big city to track down "the great Kavosky" (Emil Rameau) and have his concerto performed; he wants to be a classical composer. Danny "lifts" some of Kenneth's music and puts it into his own upcoming show. Bonnie, who begins to return Kenneth's affection, is opposed to Danny using Kenneth's music.
Greenwich Village easily rivals some of the best MGM musicals out there. These song and dance numbers are quite memorable. The DVD comes with some still photos taken behind the scenes and more.
Doll Face----Doll Face is a fairly good musical. The musical numbers are choreographed very well.
Mary Elizabeth "Doll Face" Carroll (Vivian Blaine), a burlesque queen, comes to a Broadway theater with her boyfriend and manager Michael Francis "Mike" Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe). She tries out for Flo Hartman's (Reed Hadley) new operetta called "Park Avenue;" but Hartman won't hire her because she's a burlesque queen. Doll Face and Mike are upset--until Mike decides that Doll Face should write a book to prove that she's got class. When Doll Face doubts that she can write a book; Mike says they'll hire a ghost writer and pay him to make it look like Doll Face had written her autobiography.
But trouble starts when ghostwriter Frederick Manly Gerard (Stephen Dunne) sees Doll Face--he falls for her and Mike feels threatened. Mike also gets advice from Chita Chula (Carmen Miranda) who works in Mike's show. After Fred and Doll Face get stuck on the water in a boat when all they wanted was to reach their publisher on a small island, Mike misinterprets this and he dumps Doll Face. She's angry too and romance blossoms between her and Fred. In addition, we get a few extras. There is a deleted scene and the stills gallery is very nicely done.
Doll Face is a "B" movie musical that could have been an "A" rated film if Fox had given it its due. The musical numbers are pretty good but without color they lacked that certain "something extra." However, if you like classic musicals, consider adding this one to your collection.
The Carmen Miranda Collection has five films that may vary in overall quality--but Carmen's performances are invariably flawless. Get this and enjoy Carmen's talent!
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Summary of The Carmen Miranda Collection (The Gang's All Here / If I'm Lucky / Something for the Boys / Greenwich Village / Doll Face)
Disc 1: Doll Face Disc 2: Greenwich Village Disc 3: If I'm Lucky Disc 4: Something For the Boys Disc 5: The Gang's All Here RemasteredEven if it were only to present a batch of Fox musicals in ultra-spiffy versions, this five-film box set would be a valuable slice of film history. The hook here, however, is a glimpse at the short-lived but delirious stardom of Carmen Miranda, that fruitbowl-wearing (and genuinely talented) purveyor of Brazilian samba and silliness. Miranda scores points in all the films here, especially in that Citizen Kane of absurdity, The Gang's All Here (1943), which arrives in this set in a version improved over the one that was included in the first Alice Faye Collection. The plot is best ignored, but director Busy Berkeley's mad inventiveness and the sheer Technicolor outrageousness of it all is hard to resist--and Carmen Miranda is at her daffiest, especially in the banana-licious "Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat," a signature number. Greenwich Village is another colorful bauble, with Don Ameche as a "longhair" composer drawn into the less exalted world of show business. As is often the case in these pictures, Miranda is in a frankly peripheral role but gets a lot of screen time anyway--and here her fractured English locutions and exuberant performing style are lusciously showcased. Vivian Blaine, Fox's pinch-hitting musical star for those movies that didn't feature studio queens Alice Faye and Betty Grable, is the true female lead--as she is in four of the five films here.
In Something for the Boys, Miranda and Blaine inherit a decaying Southern mansion, along with distant cousin Phil Silvers (whose quasi-minstrel number is one of the more groan-worthy things in the picture). A few Cole Porter songs and a young Perry Como add musical appeal, and you can't mistake the young Judy Holliday, even if she only appears on screen for a few seconds. Doll Face, which relegates Miranda to sidekick status (and black and white, which just doesn't seem right), is an adaptation of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee's play. It's a very "meta" thing about a burlesque queen whose memoir becomes a hit play; Dennis O'Keefe provides the male ballast, and some extremely politically incorrect views, opposite Blaine. If I'm Lucky is another black-and-white picture with La Miranda on the margins, indicating her waning status at Fox. Its tortured plot puts a mild-mannered crooner (Perry Como) in line to run for governor. Some fine extras fill out the box set, with TV appearances by Miranda and an informative 90 minute bio, which includes serious appreciation and a clip of her final performance, taped hours before her death. In Doll Face someone tells her character, "You could be another Carmen Miranda," but there was only the one. --Robert Horton
Amazon.com
It is a testament to Carmen Miranda's status as a larger than life pop culture icon that she warrants a DVD box set for films in which she isn't even the star. Without her, though, they would be merely pleasant diversions. The best in the bunch, 1943's The Gang's All Here, is a splashy Technicolor riot directed by the legendary Busby Berkeley (this edition, also available separately, is a big improvement over the one included in The Alice Faye Collection). Never mind Alice Faye's showgirl or James Elison's smitten soldier. All eyes are on "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat," who plays matchmaker when she isn't otherwise wowing audiences at a New York nightclub that judging by the spectacular production numbers must have a stage the size of the Roman Colosseum. There is no denying the camp value of a phalanx of showgirls manipulating massive bananas while Miranda sings, "Some people say I dress too gay/But every day I feel so gay/And when I'm gay I dress that way/Something wrong with that?" Suffice to say, they absolutely do not make 'em like this anymore. New to DVD, Something for the Boys (1944) is an entertaining "let's put on a show" musical starring the unlikely trio of Miranda, Vivian Blaine, and Phil Silvers (with hair!) as three cousins who decide to convert the dilapidated mansion they've inherited into a home for army wives. From the same year, and also making its DVD debut, is Greenwich Village, starring Don Ameche as a composer who enters the bohemian world of New York's Latin Quarter, where Miranda works as a fortune teller at William Bendix's "members only" club. Miranda adds exotic color to two black and white musicals, If I'm Lucky (1946), featuring an underwhelming Perry Como as a crooner who is recruited to run for governor, and the snappy Doll Face (1944), based on Gypsy Rose Lee's book about a "burley-q" dancer (Vivian Blaine) who writes a sensational autobiography to legitimize herself with Broadway producers. Miranda may not be the star of these films, but with her stylized outfits, signature crazy hats, hips-don't-lie dancing (on platform heels, no less), and comic malapropisms that make fruit salad out of the English language ("You're making a mountain out of mothballs"), she is definitely the main attraction. She's am earthy force of nature for whom one will suffer Como's sleepy rendition of "Red Hot and Beautiful" in Doll Face to see her perform "Chico Chico." This set contains a cornucopia of extras, the best of which is a documentary about Miranda's remarkable life and one-of-a-kind career. A clip from The Jimmy Durante Show says it all about this ultimate show business trouper. She is stricken during a musical number, but gamely dances offstage, waving and blowing kisses to the audience. She would die 12 hours later. --Donald Liebenson
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