Reviews (34)

Classic Old Hollywood
"Random Harvest" is NOT a "tearjerker", as some amazon friends have suggested. In fact, it may be the definitive feel good movie, if the open -minded viewer gives the chance. The two leads, Ronald Colman and Greer Garson carry the story. The fine supporting cast is virtually anonymous, more to their credit. He is a WWI vet, suffering from amnesia. She is the nice girl who nurses him back to health. The plot thickens when Colman is hit by a car- regains his original (!) memory- and forgets about the beautiful, caring Garson. What happens? This reviewer won't give away the rest of the wonderful story. Folks will just have to see this classic and find out but there IS a surprise "reappearance" involved-similar to that by Gene Tierney in "Laura". Watch that office door! (According to Tom O' Neil's "Movie Awards", RH was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay. The fact that it won NONE of the foregoing is meaningless. It was competing for Oscars with "Mrs. Miniver", which gave Miss Garson an Academy Award for Best Actress and the chance to set the dubious distinction of making the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history). The final RH scenes are golden as Colman retraces his past to the friendly pub where he first met Garson, the old tobacco shop and that little cottage. Maybe it is a bit of a tearjerker- a heartening one. Does anyone seriously believe Hollywood could remake this one? Who would play the Colman role? Tom Cruise? Please! Let's all be grateful to the persons who preserve the old classics like "Random Harvest".

Sometimes good does come from doing the right thing.
Many reviews have called this film "the ultimate tear jerker." I think not. We develop genuine interest in the characters played by Ronald Colman, a WWI English soldier who is a shellshocked amnesiac, and Greer Garson, an English music hall singer. Garson sees Colman wandering dazed and tired on the street, feels sorry for him and takes him under her wing. They fall in love, get married, have a child, and appear ready to live happily ever after as Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.

Up to this point the story interest is Colman's amnesia and Garson's help in making his life living with this affliction bearable. The story takes a dramatic turn when Colman is struck by a taxi in Liverpool and regains his memory, forgetting Garson and their child. In fact he is a rich industrialist and takes up his former life. It appears as if Garson will be forgotten, but we know this is a 1942 Hollywood production and we are only moderately surprised when Garson reappears in his life as his secretary.

By saying this film is not a tear jerker in my opening comments, I have revealed the ending of this film, which while not surprising, given the nature of the film, nonetheless provides dramatic intensity and genuine interest for the viewer.

This is an old fashioned Hollwood film which has stood up well over time. The story may be contrived, but the performances are so good that we are able to take a genuine interest in everything that happens to them. All comes right in the end and we are left with a satisfied feeling that sometimes good comes from being good and doing the right thing.

beautiful and tender
An exquisite romance, a love that survives "for better for worse, for richer for poorer", and a wartime tragedy all make this well written melodrama very engrossing, and it stars two of the most gorgeous and popular stars of their era: Ronald Colman was one of the handsomest men that ever drew breath, with a voice of liquid gold...a voice that helped him make the most successful transition from silent films to "talkies" of any actor, and this was Greer Garson's year, as "Mrs. Miniver" was also released in 1942, which won her a Best Actress Oscar.
There are many unexpected twists to the plot, saving it from being "sappy and sentimental", and it is blessed with lovely cinematography (by Joseph Ruttenberg, who also filmed and received an Oscar for "Mrs. Miniver"), an atmospheric score by Herbert Stothart, and sensitive direction by Mervyn LeRoy.

There are some numbers connected with this film: It is # 36 in the American Film Institute's "Top Romances", it was nominated for 6 Academy Awards (Best Picture and Best Director lost to "Mrs. Miniver", and others were Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress with the excellent Susan Peters as Kitty, Screenplay, and Score), and Ronald Colman was my mother's # 1 heartthrob, as he was for so many women during those golden years of the cinema. Total running time is 2 hours and 7 minutes.
Recommended additional viewing for these two marvelous actors is of course, "Mrs. Miniver", and Ronald Colman as a Shakespearean actor in the superb psychological thriller "A Double Life".

Does anyone remember Greer Garson and Ronald Colman?

This is an old black and white (1942), but that's all we had at one time. It was more than a generation ago--it was the greatest generation ago.

It was the end of the First World War, and the "asylum" for war shell shock cases in Great Britain was full of problems. John Smith was only one of them, He lost his memory due to the horror of war, and escaped the hospital in the excitement of war's end.

Paula (Greer Garson) gave his life meaning again, and then, on a trip to Liverpool, he was hit by a car and lost it once more. But, unfortunately, he lost that which he had most recently lived through--the current three years--and remembered the rest.

There are flaws in the science of memory loss, but the story is good nonetheless.

The story is Garson's effort to help him regain his memory and his lost love.

Colman and Garson were once both great actors--the first rank. This movie was a good one. No filthy language to prop it up, or gutter histrionics, but--strangely enough--they managed to tell the story anyway, in spite of all those restraints.

Once, we appreciated stories like these. Today's audience probably thinks it "corny." I wish we had more of them, but I am, admittedly, a dinosaur.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Pass the hankie!
This wonderful,extremely romantic movie was made for anyone who is a romanticist at heart.I cannot get enough of Ronald Colman's voice..I can't think of another actor whose inflections are so unique.
The movie itself is wonderfully acted,and although I am not a huge fan of Ms.Garson,she matches Mr.Colman perfectly.
I can't understand why it isn't out on DVD yet!! C'mon,you guys!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

A movie doesn't win seven Oscars for nothing. A glowing Greer Garson (Best Actress) commands the screen as Mrs. Miniver, a middle-class British housewife whose strength holds her family together as World War II literally hits their home. Walter Pidgeon as her architect husband seems to be the prototype for future TV dads in this affecting portrait of love--familial and romantic--during war. But the relationship between Mrs. Miniver's college-age son (Richard Ney) and the upper-crust Carol (Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright) is filled with inherent drama--as the war speeds up their young love, it also has the potential to doom it. The 1942 film, which also won for Best Picture and Best Director, is filled with colorful characters, snappy dialogue, and sensational plot twists. Although you spend much of the movie dreading that one of the Minivers will become a casualty of war, when it finally happens, it's not what you anticipated. Exactly what you'd expect from a legendary film that lives up to its billing. --Valerie J. Nelson ... Read more

Reviews (7)

EXCEPTIONAL WAR TIME MELODRAMA/BEAUTIFUL TRANSFER!
"Mrs. Miniver" is one of those non-factual, war time propaganda tear jerkers that has proven itself to be enduring and immensely entertaining. Upon its release, Winston Churchill declared the film more influential in getting America involved in WWII than a fleet of destroyers. The plot concerns Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson) the atypical English housewife quietly enduring the hardships of war and capturing a downed Nazi pilot in her begonias in the process. It sounds hoaky but actually the story is incredibly stirring. Walter Pigeon, Garson's frequent costar, is cast as her tender husband, Clem. Richard Ney plays her slightly opinionated son, Vin who rises to the occasion and becomes a flyer for the RAF. Aside: Ney and Garson were carrying on an affair during the filming that eventually resulted in a disastrous marriage and a quicky divorce. Oh well, at least the relationships in the film are perfect. Of merit is Teresa Wright's outstanding performance as Carol, Vin's doomed fiancée.

Previously issued versions of this film were near perfect so it's really no surprise to discover that this DVD carries on in the same tradition. Quite simply: the picture is outstanding. Blacks are deep and solid. The gray scale is beautiful and well balanced. There is hardly a scratch or a bit of grit or grain to distract. The soundtrack is equally impressive in MONO but very, very nicely balanced. A bit of a disappointment comes from the fact that no one at Warner Brothers had the foresight to do a "making of" featurette. All we get is a couple of short subjects and a stills gallery.

Mrs. Miniver married her son!
Great movie; interesting tidbit: Richard Ney (Mrs. Miniver's older son "Vin") was 27 at the time this movie was released; Greer Garson was 38. They married in 1943 and the studio was afraid of negative publicity about it! They divorced in 1946.

Propaganda as Entertainment
This IS [or was] a wartime propaganda film, but one extremely well directed and played. In fact, Adolph Hitler stated that this was be best propaganda film produced by our side during WW II. The only ovely emotional and melodramatic moments typical in such films are the concluding scenes in the church. Otherwise, the approach is restrained, believable and thoroughly entertaining.

Even for John Wayne Fans
This is by far not your typical war movie. I love war movies. I have the vast majority of war movies on DVD or VHS. I have been anxiously awaiting some of the older classic war movies like "The Enemy Below (1957)", "African Queen (1951)", "Mrs. Minniver (1942)", and "The Pied Piper (1942)" to come out on DVD. I am delighted to see this will be available in February.
No movie that I have seen about WWII tells a better story of how the English endured so much hardship and personal loss for so many years. This could easily have been a very depressing movie but it has many lighter and uplifting moments that balance out the sorrow and make you feel good at the end of the movie. If you bought this just because of the award nominations it received you should consider yourself pretty smart. If you buy it because of the good reviews from people here at Amazon you are intelligent. If you bought it because you only buy the best movies, and this is a great movie with a boat load of extras, well there aren't words to describe how gifted you are.

If you enjoy movies that take a more personal look at the impact of war on families you will like this movie. Far from being boring as some family movies drag when they get into far to many personal details. This movie has plenty of action with the Battle of Dunkirk, German bombings and strafings, and a enemy parachutist on the loose. Mrs. Miniver reminds me a little of a tough woman like Maureen O'Hara in the John Wayne movies. Her strength is a little more sophisticated but nonetheless you know it is there. She is the kind of woman you know can weather the storm and you are happy to have her with you. The DVD includes Greer Garson academy award footage, photos, and a couple wartime shorts. The movie itself makes it a great buy, but with these bonuses it's a steal.

Mrs Miniver.
Come on you guys, this has to be one of the most heart rendering stories ever put on to celluloid. Now we have digital disc, and the ability to touch the world with devastating sound and picture quality....and what...sit on your fingers waiting for the studio....we want the movie on disc...so hurry up...PW. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

delightful Disney musical
Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson star in the classic Disney musical THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, a delightful story centering on the Biddle family of Philadelphia.

Cordy Biddle (Lesley Ann Warren) becomes engaged to Angie Duke (John Davidson). When this should be a happy occasion, Angie's snooty mother (Geraldine Page) still ensures that Angie hangs onto her apron strings. Cordy's mother (Greer Garson) tries to sort things out while Aunt Mary (Gladys Cooper) engages in some bitchy repartee with Mrs Duke!

The entire production is flawless, and while Leonard Maltin has criticised this film for being too long, I think the time flies by.

The Sherman brothers songs are strong throughout, and the supporting cast, including a very young Joyce Bulifant, are wonderful.

Highly recommended.

lavish disney production does not equal the sum of its parts
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE is the last live production that Walt Disney oversaw before his death. The movie is an attempt to emulaite the big blockbuster reserved seat movie musicals popular following the SOUND OF MUSIC's success during 1960s and also to duplicate MARY POPPINS success. The production is lavish in terms of settings and costumes; with a great cast led by Fred MacMurray and Greer Garson; The songs by the Sherman brothers are likeable and not as bad as critics would have you believe; there are some great dance sequences. Unfortunatly, the plot is such a simple trifle which goes on and on for 164 minutes(in the restored version)that the movie eventually becomes a bloated, overlong bore. Its too bad because all the right ingrediants are there except a good story and script. The new DVD finally restores the movie to its original roadshow lenght. MILLIONAIRE was cut by 20 minutes following its premiere engagements.In fact the print which opened at Radio City Music Hall in NYC was already cut. The colors are excellent, the stero sound is good and the source materials are generally in good shape (a few markings here and there are not worth complaing about). This movie is now more a curiousity of its era and the wanning days of Disney's regime. It is certainly worth a look and may appeal to non-discriminating fans of musical movies.

NOT THE HAPPIEST, BUT CERTAINLY THE MOST TYPICAL FROM DISNEY
Walt Disney's was a visionary film pioneer; he took the fledgling craft of animation and transformed it into an art form of the highest order, and, in the process, altered our collective perception of what childhood is all about. However, occasionally that vision was marred by Disney's own lack of foresight into changing audience tastes. By the end of the 1950s the Walt Disney Studios had incurred huge expenses on Disney's foray into live action films, the birth of his theme park - Disneyland - and the lack luster box office response to his most recent and most expensive animated feature - Sleeping Beauty. Though the old master was set to recoup his losses, the sumptuously mounted, though often dismal, The Happiest Millionaire (released the year after Disney's death) was the personal and financial failure that rounded out Disney's tenure as the mogul of one of Hollywood's great cinema dream factories.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s road show engagements for movies of distinction were quite common. Road shows were designed to elevate movies to the lofty ambitions of live theater. They usually began with a lush orchestrated prelude, included an intermission half way through, and exit music to escort audiences out of the theater after the final credit sequence. One often dressed up for this sort of premiere event, certainly paid extra to attend and was often provided with a printed program as a keep sake from the occasion. Disney had attempted the road show only once before, on Fantasia (1940) and the result had been an unqualified financial disaster. What a pity then, that The Happiest Millionaire - what should have been an eighty-minute tune-filled - if antiseptic and sexless - melodrama, is over inflated into a gargantuan three hours spectacle that, quite simply, fails to dazzle.

The plot is a fictionalized account of real life circumstances that concern an eccentric Philadelphia millionaire, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (Fred MacMurray). He runs a combination Bible and physical fitness college of sorts, loves boxing and keeps alligators in a solarium adjacent his dining room. When immigrant John Lawless (Tommy Steele) becomes Biddle's new butler he does indeed find his new surroundings rather odd. Not that Lawless isn't odd himself - it's just that, unlike Biddle's quirkiness, which can be grating to the point of distraction, Lawless becomes a genuinely loveable reprobate of congenial good humor, thanks to Tommy Steele's remarkable performance. The plot is thread bare to the point of nonexistent. It concerns Biddle's only daughter, Cordelia (Lesley Ann Warren). She's a sort of tomboy desperate to be feminine and sent off to a lady's finishing school where she meets and becomes engaged to New Yorker Angie Duke (John Davidson). Mrs. Duke (Geraldine Page) is social snob but Angie doesn't share her values. He wants to forgo the family business and build automobiles in Detroit. True to Disney form, everything does indeed work out in the end with Angie and Cordelia driving off toward an unintentionally apocalyptic matte painting that depicts the Motor City as something of a cross between Blade Runner and Mary Poppins, a glowering jungle of towering chimneys blackening the skies with the aftershocks of modernity.

Plot construction is problematic; As Cordelia's mother, Greer Garson is given extremely little to do. One of Disney's good luck charms - Hemione Baddeley has even less of a say. Equally curious is the fact that after the film takes great pains to introduce the Biddle two sons Tony and Livingston (Paul Petersen and Eddie Hodges) - even giving them a song - it suddenly loses interest in their character development by sending them off to school where, as an audience, we forget that they ever existed.

Of course, the plot - such as it is - would be largely forgivable if Disney's resident song writers, the Sherman Brothers had come up with a score worthy of their best endeavors. Tommy Steele opens the show with a bang with, Fortuosity, but the rest of the score does not live up to expectations and, in spots, is painfully sweet and cuddly. Valentine Candy or Boxing Gloves is so coy one wishes for the elegant Tommy Steele to burst into the room and tap dance its treacle into silence. All in all, Steele is remarkably well served by the score, belting out I'll Always Be Irish and several other songs with such austerity and charm that he easily dismisses the awkward lyrics. His choreography by Mark Breaux and Dee Dee Wood showcase Steele's finer points, particularly in the barroom number that closes the second half of the show. Unfortunately, there are no memorable showstoppers that leave one with a sudden urge to run out and buy the soundtrack or even leave the theater humming.

THE TRANSFER: This re-released DVD of The Happiest Millionaire is about as dismal as the film itself. Everything's present: the Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music, but the transfer is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Unlike the previously available DVD from Anchor Bay, colors seem somewhat more dated this time around and fine details breaks apart with a considerable amount of pixelization and edge enhancement, especially when viewed on a larger monitor. There are also several cases where mis-registration of the camera negative results in an excessively blurry print - something else absent on Anchor Bay's version. This DVD compresses the entire running time on one side of the disc, which I suspect is the biggest problem. There are no extras, not even the trailer.

BOTTOM LINE: Get the Anchor Bay version instead!

Best Musical Ever!!
This is my favorite movie of all time! I used to rent it over and over when I was in high school. I love the music, the story, the characters, everything. It is funny and wonderful! I loved the fact that Cordelia never could make it past a first date, because she always "knocked out" literally, all of her dates! The alligators and the butler from Ireland make for some hilarious scenes also. Don't wait, get the DVD. You'll love it!!

Fun and silly
I remember catching this on the Disney channel back in the 80s and LOVED it! It was fun and just down right silly. I loved the music and a woman I had NEVER seen before and fell in love with, Lesley Ann Warren. I soon began to always remember this film due to her. I also really enjoyed most of Fred MacMurray's films from this time period also. A time that films were fun and innocent, or at least MORE innocent then the films now. ... Read more

Amazon.com

One more terrific film from a terrific year for movies--1939, the year of Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, andStagecoach, among others--Sam Wood's Goodbye Mr. Chips is a deeply stirring work starring Robert Donat as the old schoolmaster who looks back upon his life. Told mostly in flashbacks, the film wraps itself around a history of an older England as seen through the generations of boys who pass through Mr. Chips's classroom. Greer Garson is her usual classy, sexy-intelligent self as Donat's wife, their earlier courtship one of the film's highlights. Get out the Kleenex for this one.--Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Teachers Do Make a Difference
Robert Donat gives an excellent, heartfelt performance as a reserved, unsure school master who makes an impact on the lives of his students in small and big ways throughout a career that spans over sixty years. Mr. Chipping may not be the most exciting or charismatic teacher, but he earns the respect and admiration of those around him. Greer Garson gives a warm, appealing performance as the lady who steals Donat's heart, showing him how to enjoy life and to open up. All of their scenes together are terrific, although my favourite scene is of Donat trying to teach during an air raid. Having read the book as well, I can say this film captures the story well and extends it, and this movie is in a different league then the ill-conceived musical version of the sixties. As a teacher, I find a lot of truth in this story, and it's the kind of film that teachers should watch at those times when they need to feel good about what they are doing and re-discover the important role they play in children's lives.

BEST ACTOR AA FOR 1939.
The excellent film version of James Hilton's sentimental novellette. The tribute to the English public school system and to one Mr. Chipping is done with immaculate care in every respect; it is a serene, tenderly heart-warming story. Like the story, the film is nostalgic: if we never knew a Mr. Chips, we should have - he belongs in every young man's past. Robert Donat gives an incredibly fine charactisation of the much-loved schoolmaster. Donat's performance is noteworthy not merely for his uncanny ability to make a convincing transition from young schoolmaster to octogenarian, but for his subtle underlining (if underlining can be subtle) of the dramatic moments in an essentially undramatic life. Chips was a shy person; like an iceberg, two-thirds of him was always subsurface. Donat wisely understated him playing him softly which doubled his poignance. It is only when he is seen as a crotchety old man scattering across campus in his tattered robe - that Donat went a TRIFLE overdrawn: a fraction of the cute and overacted side. But that is just and impression and not deep enough to discredit an otherwise flawless performance. Greer Garson's portrait of Katherine, the assertive young woman who changed the dour Mr. Chipping into the loveable Mr. Chips is altogether believable and quite entrancing: here is one of the nicest people we could ever wish to encounter! The boys are completely captivated hy Katherine - and so is the viewer. Paul Henreid is splendid as the German instructor and Terry Kilburn is unforgettable. A beautiful picture in every respect.

Pacifism, 1939
I'm surprised that most of the reviews don't mention the pacifist theme of the film. The film is well done and quite watchable on its own terms. But those terms are so tragically wrong -- pacifism in 1939 -- that it's tough to get past the unintended sadness and irony. For a movie that's aged better, see Mrs. Miniver.

Schmaltzy, but who minds?
This is a wonderfully sentimental depiction of public school life in the Victorian and Edwardian eras and beyond. Chipping, like so many other schoolmasters of the time, lives a cloistered life on which the outer world only occasionally impinges -- mostly during wartime.

In the film, he ventures out on only one other memorable occasion -- a holiday with the school German teacher to the Tyrol where he meets the handsome Greer Garson (in her first movie appearance), who somewhat improbably falls for him. This sets off a chain of sentimental events: marriage, introductions to the common room, tea with the boys, her death through childbirth, and a never-ending cycle of Colleys (played by the same actor, but with a slightly different haircut for each generation). The school hymn is also designed to pluck the heart stings.

The movie was actually filmed at Repton. I went to a similarly confined, all-boys, English public school, set in a country town miles from anywhere else, though somewhat more recently than the Chips era. Many of the masters never married because it was so difficult for them to meet any women. We still had corporal punishment -- which Chips continues to inflict even when brought out of retirement to become head during World War One. This film does not reflect the grubby reality of public school life -- the author must have had his rose-tinted spectacles on when he wrote this -- but it's hard not to be moved by it.

I have special memories of first seeing this at the age of 12 in our headmaster's study, together with all the other senior boys at the prep school. Today, its meaning for me is more about staying in the same place for a long time, while all about you moves on. (I've recently completed 25 years with the same employer!) I also enjoyed trying to work out how many of the Tyrol scenes were shot in the studio. (At one stage, Chips and his friend even walk against a film background.)

The DVD has no special extras, but the picture and sound quality is reasonable. I haven't tried the film on my teenage children, but I think this is one of the few black and white movies that they would be absorbed by. (Don't be misled by the colour photo on the DVD box cover into believing the movie is in colour!)

A meaningful life unfolds over time
The origin of all the inspirational teacher movies, Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a heartwarming film that unfolds the story of a man who is transformed by love, and goes on to influence the lives of his pupils and colleagues. Nostalgic, even when it was released in 1939, this is a tender and affectionate study of a society, an education system, and a man who belatedly outgrows his constraints and develops a true vocation from his professional commitments. It is Chips' transformation that makes this film a classic example of a man who belatedly discovers how to use strengths that ultimately give meaning and value to his life.

The film opens amidst the hustle and bustle of a new academic year at Brookfield with new and returning pupils hurrying to attend the first-day assembly. Chips arrives late for the event and is locked out with a young pupil with whom he shares his knowledge of the stone tablets that serve as memorials to past students and staff.

Mr. Chips: So, you're a stinker, eh?
Student: A stinker, Sir?
Mr. Chips: A new boy. That's what we call them here. Stinkers... (he indicates a stone tablet that commemorates the hero of the Armada: "Sir Francis Drake 1552")
Student: Drake! Was he here, Sir?
Mr. Chips: Yes.
Student: Was he a stinker too, Sir?
Mr. Chips: To be sure he was. But he grew out of it. And so will you.
This exchange sets-up the question of how 'stinkers' are helped to mature into the fine young men and heroes whom we see later in the film. We see the answer in a series of flashbacks that extend over sixty years of Chipping's life.

The young Mr. Chipping arrives at Brookfield, filled with enthusiasm and ambition. Some early misjudgements make him vulnerable to criticism by the Headmaster who reprimands him for his poor control of the boys.

Our profession is not an easy one, Mr. Chipping. It calls for something more than a University degree. Our business is to mould men. It demands character and courage. Above all, it demands the ability to exercise authority. Without that, I think any young man should ask himself seriously if he has not perhaps mistaken his vocation. When a man is young, Mr. Chipping, there are many other walks of life open to him.

In a disastrous attempt to assert his authority, the teacher forbids his pupils to attend a cricket match, which the school then loses because of the absence of a key player. Despite Chipping's apology, the reaction of the pupils and his colleagues leads him to develop a protective shield of authoritarianism and inflexibility. Chipping's enthusiasm ebbs away over the years: he is so intimidated by life that he retreats into a sterile existence that smothers rather than protects him. Passing him over for promotion, the Headmaster praises Chipping for his ability to exact high academic performance from the boys but explains that he is thought to lack the empathy and vision that is needed in a Housemaster.

... We felt that with your unusual gifts of getting work out of the boys that you'd rather concentrate on teaching and leave the rather tiresome job of Housemaster to someone with special gifts in that direction...I doubt if Mr. Wilkinson will ever turn out as many minor Latin poets as you have.

Although surrounded by the rich, social network of the school, and a senior member within it, Chipping is exposed as an isolated figure whose relationships are restricted to the functional, and are grounded only in perfunctory respect and status. Humiliated, Chipping withdraws into his room, where his loneliness and the darkness close in around him. Fortunately, a young colleague persuades him to accompany him on a walking tour to the Tyrol where Chipping meets the fascinating Katherine Ellis who is destined to be his wife and help-meet.

Chipping's feelings are reciprocated in a charming courtship that changes his view of himself, and alerts him to the possibilities of living his life in a different way.

Chipping: Do you suppose a person in middle age could start life over again and make a go of it?
Katherine: I'm sure of it. Quite sure. It must be tremendously interesting to be a schoolmaster.
Chipping: I thought so once.
Katherine: To watch boys grow up and help them along. To see their characters develop and what they become when they leave school and the world gets hold of them. I don't see how you could ever get old in a world that's always young.
Chipping: I never really thought of it that way. When you talk about it, you make it sound exciting and heroic.
Katherine: It is.
Chipping: (He turns to her) And the schoolmaster? Is he exciting and heroic too?
Katherine: (teasing him for his earlier actions and diffidence) I've met only one - a reckless person who climbed the Blochner in a mist...

The couple marry before the start of the school year. And from the start, the pupils and colleagues view Chips (as he is now affectionately named by Kathy) in a new light. She encourages him to use the strengths (such as empathy and a dry sense of humour) that she knows him to have, but that are little seen by others. Inevitably, Chips wins the trust and admiration of the pupils and the change in his status is reflected when he wins the appointment of Housemaster.

Despite personal and larger-scale tragedy, we see that Chips' life becomes one of meaning and influence: we see his crucial role in the transformation of 'stinkers' into admirable men and the foundations of the freedoms enjoyed by others, built on their sacrifices.

This film epitomises key aspects of a meaningful life: Chips learns to use his previously concealed Signature Strengths (see "Authentic Happiness" by Marty Seligman), is transformed by love and a capacity to be loved and is taught that it is never too late to change. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A Christmas Classic
This is such a wonderful Christmas video for the family. While it may seem that the little drummer boy hates everyone, it's not true. He's just upset that his parents were killed and he's an orphan. But he learns in the end that not everyone is bad, and learns to love people. It's a great movie with great morals.

This is a must have video especially for Christmas.

A Childhood Favorite!
The Little Drummer is a wonderful claymation Christmas special from Rankin and Bass, it is about a little boy named Aaron who has hardened his heart after witnessing an act of cruelty that takes the lives of his family and he thinks that all people are bad but soon he begins a journey that leads him to the stable where baby Jesus is laying in his manger and it is a heartwarming story narrated by classic movie actress Greer Garson and featuring the voices of June Foray, Jose Ferrer and Paul Frees and I think they were all great and I think Greer Garson was wonderful, very dignified! I watched this as a young child many many times and I never found this movie scary. I thought what happened to Aaron's family was sad but the rest of the cartoon is very heartwarming and I highly recommended it!

Don't even think about letting kids see this
It horrified me as a kid. I still can't listen to the song, to this day, some 30 years later. There are several scenes that are just too much for children. There is a scene where the boy actually watches his parents BURN to death in the house, and another where a lamb is run over by a charriot. What a nightmare. I'm just grateful they don't play it on tv anymore.

Ba rump a pum pum
... This film--whether on video or Digital Versatile Disc--is haunted by--possessed of--its own stop-motion-born unease, or darkness. In order to understand this video, one must answer this question: have you ever felt a certain "hauntedness" in old Christmas decorations? That Santa from 1938 that seems unpleasant--possibly too strict? That seems more weighed down by the specter of past-reality than uplifted contemporaneously by all things made good by cultural irony and really cool new technology? (The same gray "vibe" often emanates from elderly folks' knick-knacks--uncleansed by light or anything new or hip or worthwhile in decades; sitting there, daring you to, by attempting to find them ok, at once enter the abyss of isolation and despair.) That is what is captured in and by The Little Drummer Boy; especially as via his countenance, particularly his mouth. If this sounds like what you want to do, say, 22 December, than, by all means, BUY THIS VIDEO! But if you want to do something better, then consider another video--something lighter. Something that is light and makes you forget about the very themes at play in this classic: death; nutty, strange gifts; mangers.

Too heavy handed for young children
This 1968 stop-motion animated short adapted from the song of the same name has positive and negative points. On the plus side, we have the beautiful music of the Vienna Boys Choir and a story that draws clear lines between good and evil. On the minus side, the presentation was excessively heavy handed and preachy, especially for very young children. For a young boy to proclaim repeatedly that he HATES all people is a portrayal of psychologically disturbed behavior. Going on to explain his motives by illustrating that his parents were murdered does not put this film in the category of festive holiday videos suitable for young children in my view.

Regardless of the outcome and moral of the story (that love conquers hate), many of the scenes presented here require mastery of complex emotional concepts that are beyond the sway of most kids younger than about eight to ten years. Showing scenes of the forceful abduction of a little boy and murder of his parents, animated or not, has great potential to frighten young children who will not fully comprehend that this is intended to be allegorical.

Unlike many, I don't object to the Christian theme. Religion is a pervasive part of the human condition and it needn't be censored or excoriated just because it makes certain people uncomfortable. However, the film is liberal in its use of name-calling and makes numerous highly intolerant value judgments (perhaps we weren't so enlightened in 1968, but it was abrasive by any standard).

Another thing that struck me as wrongheaded is the way giving is presented as a bargaining tool. The drummer boy doesn't play his drum as a selfless gift to the baby in the manger; he plays because he wants the baby to heal his lamb. This turns giving into a transaction, giving only to get something in return. I will grant that his motives were good, but is transactional love a message we want to send to our kids?

Overall, I would rate this film a 5/10. It is good and instructive for older children and adults, but I would strongly urge parents of children under ten years old to view it before showing it to their children to determine if its themes are suitable for their maturity level. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

DVD Box set Please!
when are the powers that be going to get their act together and issue this great series in a deluxe box set-the three TE films as well as That's Dancing. As long as they give it the treatment it deserves, and re-master it properly.

Leave u singing and tapping all night
I love show tunes and broadway. This is a really fun movie. If u have part 1 or 3, u may get some repeated clips. Astaire and Kelly host this and even though it is sometimes chessy, its fun

That's Really Entertainment!
I found this movie to be great! The 'That's Entertainment' series get better by each movie. They have unique clips in them that are just as good as buying the different tapes because they show the best of the best! I would recommend this to anyone!

TOUPEES UNTD!
Are we really supposed to believe that Fred Astaire had MORE hair when he was 80 than when he was 20? Apart from that it shows how talented Fred and Gene were even though they were collecting their pension!

Much of the dialogue given to the pair is VERY corny but their annecdotes are very sweet [the one about Judy Garland singing Have urself a merry little xmas for example]

It does drag on a bit sometimes notably the non-musical bits but the affection in their voices shows what they think or dont think of certain stars.

I really liked the singing the credits and opening sequence is amazing.

Great Clips, Lousy Organization, Rotten Editing
Like its predecessor, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT II offers two hours of film clips from memorable MGM movies featuring the likes of Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, and Doris Day. Unlike its predecessor, which organized the film clips into thematic sequences introduced by different MGM stars, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT just throws the clips out willynilly without much rhyme or reason--and saddles narrators Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly with some of the clunkiest, corniest material imaginable. In consequence, it lacks the cohesion and the excitement of the original.

But it still has its charms. Many of the individual clips are knock-outs: Ethel Waters performing "Taking a Chance on Love" from CABIN IN THE SKY, Bobby Van doing the famous "hop dance" from SMALL TOWN GIRL, Judy Garland belting out "I Got Rythmn" from GIRL CRAZY. In addition to such musical treats, the film also offers a look at the Marx Brothers with the famous "State Room Scene" from A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, a sequence of famous lines from famous films (such as Garbo's "I want to be alone"), and an extended tribute to Spenser Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Most viewers will probably feel the film drags due to the uneven way in which the scenes are introduced and edited together, but just about every one will find plenty to enjoy. Recommended with reservations. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Reportedly the last feature to be personally shepherded by Walt Disney himself, The Happiest Millionaire is a stubbornly old-fashioned musical intended to build on the success of Mary Poppins, relying on songs and score from Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, the studio's resident songwriting team responsible for the hits of Poppins. Despite that pedigree, and a cast headlined by Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Tommy Steele, Geraldine Page, and, in their screen debuts, Lesley Anne Warren and John Davidson, the would-be successor wound up a white elephant.

Released in 1967, a watershed year for youth culture and social upheaval, The Happiest Millionaire romanticizes Philadelphia's upper crust circa 1916. Its title character, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (MacMurray), is a militant industrialist urging America's mobilization against Germany, and noteworthy for an eccentric lifestyle that includes his own bible study classes, martial arts training, and (in a lone nod toward any remotely modern social values) a readiness to empower his lovely, headstrong daughter, Cordelia (Warren).

Under Norman Tokar's busy but routine direction, the project does muster moments of charm, and packs its story line with enough twists to partly explain its excessive 144-minute length. But the unintended irony of paeans to capitalism and conservative politics in an era of Sgt. Pepper isn't masked by the Shermans' music, which is eminently forgettable, despite the game mugging of Tommy Steele as an immigrant Irish butler. Equally game is MacMurray, but as a singer, he's no Rex Harrison. --SamSutherland ... Read more

Reviews (40)

delightful Disney musical
Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson star in the classic Disney musical THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, a delightful story centering on the Biddle family of Philadelphia.

Cordy Biddle (Lesley Ann Warren) becomes engaged to Angie Duke (John Davidson). When this should be a happy occasion, Angie's snooty mother (Geraldine Page) still ensures that Angie hangs onto her apron strings. Cordy's mother (Greer Garson) tries to sort things out while Aunt Mary (Gladys Cooper) engages in some bitchy repartee with Mrs Duke!

The entire production is flawless, and while Leonard Maltin has criticised this film for being too long, I think the time flies by.

The Sherman brothers songs are strong throughout, and the supporting cast, including a very young Joyce Bulifant, are wonderful.

Highly recommended.

lavish disney production does not equal the sum of its parts
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE is the last live production that Walt Disney oversaw before his death. The movie is an attempt to emulaite the big blockbuster reserved seat movie musicals popular following the SOUND OF MUSIC's success during 1960s and also to duplicate MARY POPPINS success. The production is lavish in terms of settings and costumes; with a great cast led by Fred MacMurray and Greer Garson; The songs by the Sherman brothers are likeable and not as bad as critics would have you believe; there are some great dance sequences. Unfortunatly, the plot is such a simple trifle which goes on and on for 164 minutes(in the restored version)that the movie eventually becomes a bloated, overlong bore. Its too bad because all the right ingrediants are there except a good story and script. The new DVD finally restores the movie to its original roadshow lenght. MILLIONAIRE was cut by 20 minutes following its premiere engagements.In fact the print which opened at Radio City Music Hall in NYC was already cut. The colors are excellent, the stero sound is good and the source materials are generally in good shape (a few markings here and there are not worth complaing about). This movie is now more a curiousity of its era and the wanning days of Disney's regime. It is certainly worth a look and may appeal to non-discriminating fans of musical movies.

NOT THE HAPPIEST, BUT CERTAINLY THE MOST TYPICAL FROM DISNEY
Walt Disney's was a visionary film pioneer; he took the fledgling craft of animation and transformed it into an art form of the highest order, and, in the process, altered our collective perception of what childhood is all about. However, occasionally that vision was marred by Disney's own lack of foresight into changing audience tastes. By the end of the 1950s the Walt Disney Studios had incurred huge expenses on Disney's foray into live action films, the birth of his theme park - Disneyland - and the lack luster box office response to his most recent and most expensive animated feature - Sleeping Beauty. Though the old master was set to recoup his losses, the sumptuously mounted, though often dismal, The Happiest Millionaire (released the year after Disney's death) was the personal and financial failure that rounded out Disney's tenure as the mogul of one of Hollywood's great cinema dream factories.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s road show engagements for movies of distinction were quite common. Road shows were designed to elevate movies to the lofty ambitions of live theater. They usually began with a lush orchestrated prelude, included an intermission half way through, and exit music to escort audiences out of the theater after the final credit sequence. One often dressed up for this sort of premiere event, certainly paid extra to attend and was often provided with a printed program as a keep sake from the occasion. Disney had attempted the road show only once before, on Fantasia (1940) and the result had been an unqualified financial disaster. What a pity then, that The Happiest Millionaire - what should have been an eighty-minute tune-filled - if antiseptic and sexless - melodrama, is over inflated into a gargantuan three hours spectacle that, quite simply, fails to dazzle.

The plot is a fictionalized account of real life circumstances that concern an eccentric Philadelphia millionaire, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (Fred MacMurray). He runs a combination Bible and physical fitness college of sorts, loves boxing and keeps alligators in a solarium adjacent his dining room. When immigrant John Lawless (Tommy Steele) becomes Biddle's new butler he does indeed find his new surroundings rather odd. Not that Lawless isn't odd himself - it's just that, unlike Biddle's quirkiness, which can be grating to the point of distraction, Lawless becomes a genuinely loveable reprobate of congenial good humor, thanks to Tommy Steele's remarkable performance. The plot is thread bare to the point of nonexistent. It concerns Biddle's only daughter, Cordelia (Lesley Ann Warren). She's a sort of tomboy desperate to be feminine and sent off to a lady's finishing school where she meets and becomes engaged to New Yorker Angie Duke (John Davidson). Mrs. Duke (Geraldine Page) is social snob but Angie doesn't share her values. He wants to forgo the family business and build automobiles in Detroit. True to Disney form, everything does indeed work out in the end with Angie and Cordelia driving off toward an unintentionally apocalyptic matte painting that depicts the Motor City as something of a cross between Blade Runner and Mary Poppins, a glowering jungle of towering chimneys blackening the skies with the aftershocks of modernity.

Plot construction is problematic; As Cordelia's mother, Greer Garson is given extremely little to do. One of Disney's good luck charms - Hemione Baddeley has even less of a say. Equally curious is the fact that after the film takes great pains to introduce the Biddle two sons Tony and Livingston (Paul Petersen and Eddie Hodges) - even giving them a song - it suddenly loses interest in their character development by sending them off to school where, as an audience, we forget that they ever existed.

Of course, the plot - such as it is - would be largely forgivable if Disney's resident song writers, the Sherman Brothers had come up with a score worthy of their best endeavors. Tommy Steele opens the show with a bang with, Fortuosity, but the rest of the score does not live up to expectations and, in spots, is painfully sweet and cuddly. Valentine Candy or Boxing Gloves is so coy one wishes for the elegant Tommy Steele to burst into the room and tap dance its treacle into silence. All in all, Steele is remarkably well served by the score, belting out I'll Always Be Irish and several other songs with such austerity and charm that he easily dismisses the awkward lyrics. His choreography by Mark Breaux and Dee Dee Wood showcase Steele's finer points, particularly in the barroom number that closes the second half of the show. Unfortunately, there are no memorable showstoppers that leave one with a sudden urge to run out and buy the soundtrack or even leave the theater humming.

THE TRANSFER: This re-released DVD of The Happiest Millionaire is about as dismal as the film itself. Everything's present: the Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music, but the transfer is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Unlike the previously available DVD from Anchor Bay, colors seem somewhat more dated this time around and fine details breaks apart with a considerable amount of pixelization and edge enhancement, especially when viewed on a larger monitor. There are also several cases where mis-registration of the camera negative results in an excessively blurry print - something else absent on Anchor Bay's version. This DVD compresses the entire running time on one side of the disc, which I suspect is the biggest problem. There are no extras, not even the trailer.

BOTTOM LINE: Get the Anchor Bay version instead!

Best Musical Ever!!
This is my favorite movie of all time! I used to rent it over and over when I was in high school. I love the music, the story, the characters, everything. It is funny and wonderful! I loved the fact that Cordelia never could make it past a first date, because she always "knocked out" literally, all of her dates! The alligators and the butler from Ireland make for some hilarious scenes also. Don't wait, get the DVD. You'll love it!!

Fun and silly
I remember catching this on the Disney channel back in the 80s and LOVED it! It was fun and just down right silly. I loved the music and a woman I had NEVER seen before and fell in love with, Lesley Ann Warren. I soon began to always remember this film due to her. I also really enjoyed most of Fred MacMurray's films from this time period also. A time that films were fun and innocent, or at least MORE innocent then the films now. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Reportedly the last feature to be personally shepherded by Walt Disney himself, The Happiest Millionaire is a stubbornly old-fashioned musical intended to build on the success of Mary Poppins, relying on songs and score from Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, the studio's resident songwriting team responsible for the hits of Poppins. Despite that pedigree, and a cast headlined by Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Tommy Steele, Geraldine Page, and, in their screen debuts, Lesley Anne Warren and John Davidson, the would-be successor wound up a white elephant.

Released in 1967, a watershed year for youth culture and social upheaval, The Happiest Millionaire romanticizes Philadelphia's upper crust circa 1916. Its title character, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (MacMurray), is a militant industrialist urging America's mobilization against Germany, and noteworthy for an eccentric lifestyle that includes his own bible study classes, martial arts training, and (in a lone nod toward any remotely modern social values) a readiness to empower his lovely, headstrong daughter, Cordelia (Warren).

Under Norman Tokar's busy but routine direction, the project does muster moments of charm, and packs its story line with enough twists to partly explain its excessive 144-minute length. But the unintended irony of paeans to capitalism and conservative politics in an era of Sgt. Pepper isn't masked by the Shermans' music, which is eminently forgettable, despite the game mugging of Tommy Steele as an immigrant Irish butler. Equally game is MacMurray, but as a singer, he's no Rex Harrison.

Viewers hungry for a family musical with bright production values may be more forgiving.For the film's most ardent fans, Anchor Bay has also released an even longer, widescreen "Road Show" edition of the first-run theatrical version, clocking in at 164 minutes. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (40)

delightful Disney musical
Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson star in the classic Disney musical THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, a delightful story centering on the Biddle family of Philadelphia.

Cordy Biddle (Lesley Ann Warren) becomes engaged to Angie Duke (John Davidson). When this should be a happy occasion, Angie's snooty mother (Geraldine Page) still ensures that Angie hangs onto her apron strings. Cordy's mother (Greer Garson) tries to sort things out while Aunt Mary (Gladys Cooper) engages in some bitchy repartee with Mrs Duke!

The entire production is flawless, and while Leonard Maltin has criticised this film for being too long, I think the time flies by.

The Sherman brothers songs are strong throughout, and the supporting cast, including a very young Joyce Bulifant, are wonderful.

Highly recommended.

lavish disney production does not equal the sum of its parts
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE is the last live production that Walt Disney oversaw before his death. The movie is an attempt to emulaite the big blockbuster reserved seat movie musicals popular following the SOUND OF MUSIC's success during 1960s and also to duplicate MARY POPPINS success. The production is lavish in terms of settings and costumes; with a great cast led by Fred MacMurray and Greer Garson; The songs by the Sherman brothers are likeable and not as bad as critics would have you believe; there are some great dance sequences. Unfortunatly, the plot is such a simple trifle which goes on and on for 164 minutes(in the restored version)that the movie eventually becomes a bloated, overlong bore. Its too bad because all the right ingrediants are there except a good story and script. The new DVD finally restores the movie to its original roadshow lenght. MILLIONAIRE was cut by 20 minutes following its premiere engagements.In fact the print which opened at Radio City Music Hall in NYC was already cut. The colors are excellent, the stero sound is good and the source materials are generally in good shape (a few markings here and there are not worth complaing about). This movie is now more a curiousity of its era and the wanning days of Disney's regime. It is certainly worth a look and may appeal to non-discriminating fans of musical movies.

NOT THE HAPPIEST, BUT CERTAINLY THE MOST TYPICAL FROM DISNEY
Walt Disney's was a visionary film pioneer; he took the fledgling craft of animation and transformed it into an art form of the highest order, and, in the process, altered our collective perception of what childhood is all about. However, occasionally that vision was marred by Disney's own lack of foresight into changing audience tastes. By the end of the 1950s the Walt Disney Studios had incurred huge expenses on Disney's foray into live action films, the birth of his theme park - Disneyland - and the lack luster box office response to his most recent and most expensive animated feature - Sleeping Beauty. Though the old master was set to recoup his losses, the sumptuously mounted, though often dismal, The Happiest Millionaire (released the year after Disney's death) was the personal and financial failure that rounded out Disney's tenure as the mogul of one of Hollywood's great cinema dream factories.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s road show engagements for movies of distinction were quite common. Road shows were designed to elevate movies to the lofty ambitions of live theater. They usually began with a lush orchestrated prelude, included an intermission half way through, and exit music to escort audiences out of the theater after the final credit sequence. One often dressed up for this sort of premiere event, certainly paid extra to attend and was often provided with a printed program as a keep sake from the occasion. Disney had attempted the road show only once before, on Fantasia (1940) and the result had been an unqualified financial disaster. What a pity then, that The Happiest Millionaire - what should have been an eighty-minute tune-filled - if antiseptic and sexless - melodrama, is over inflated into a gargantuan three hours spectacle that, quite simply, fails to dazzle.

The plot is a fictionalized account of real life circumstances that concern an eccentric Philadelphia millionaire, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (Fred MacMurray). He runs a combination Bible and physical fitness college of sorts, loves boxing and keeps alligators in a solarium adjacent his dining room. When immigrant John Lawless (Tommy Steele) becomes Biddle's new butler he does indeed find his new surroundings rather odd. Not that Lawless isn't odd himself - it's just that, unlike Biddle's quirkiness, which can be grating to the point of distraction, Lawless becomes a genuinely loveable reprobate of congenial good humor, thanks to Tommy Steele's remarkable performance. The plot is thread bare to the point of nonexistent. It concerns Biddle's only daughter, Cordelia (Lesley Ann Warren). She's a sort of tomboy desperate to be feminine and sent off to a lady's finishing school where she meets and becomes engaged to New Yorker Angie Duke (John Davidson). Mrs. Duke (Geraldine Page) is social snob but Angie doesn't share her values. He wants to forgo the family business and build automobiles in Detroit. True to Disney form, everything does indeed work out in the end with Angie and Cordelia driving off toward an unintentionally apocalyptic matte painting that depicts the Motor City as something of a cross between Blade Runner and Mary Poppins, a glowering jungle of towering chimneys blackening the skies with the aftershocks of modernity.

Plot construction is problematic; As Cordelia's mother, Greer Garson is given extremely little to do. One of Disney's good luck charms - Hemione Baddeley has even less of a say. Equally curious is the fact that after the film takes great pains to introduce the Biddle two sons Tony and Livingston (Paul Petersen and Eddie Hodges) - even giving them a song - it suddenly loses interest in their character development by sending them off to school where, as an audience, we forget that they ever existed.

Of course, the plot - such as it is - would be largely forgivable if Disney's resident song writers, the Sherman Brothers had come up with a score worthy of their best endeavors. Tommy Steele opens the show with a bang with, Fortuosity, but the rest of the score does not live up to expectations and, in spots, is painfully sweet and cuddly. Valentine Candy or Boxing Gloves is so coy one wishes for the elegant Tommy Steele to burst into the room and tap dance its treacle into silence. All in all, Steele is remarkably well served by the score, belting out I'll Always Be Irish and several other songs with such austerity and charm that he easily dismisses the awkward lyrics. His choreography by Mark Breaux and Dee Dee Wood showcase Steele's finer points, particularly in the barroom number that closes the second half of the show. Unfortunately, there are no memorable showstoppers that leave one with a sudden urge to run out and buy the soundtrack or even leave the theater humming.

THE TRANSFER: This re-released DVD of The Happiest Millionaire is about as dismal as the film itself. Everything's present: the Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music, but the transfer is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Unlike the previously available DVD from Anchor Bay, colors seem somewhat more dated this time around and fine details breaks apart with a considerable amount of pixelization and edge enhancement, especially when viewed on a larger monitor. There are also several cases where mis-registration of the camera negative results in an excessively blurry print - something else absent on Anchor Bay's version. This DVD compresses the entire running time on one side of the disc, which I suspect is the biggest problem. There are no extras, not even the trailer.

BOTTOM LINE: Get the Anchor Bay version instead!

Best Musical Ever!!
This is my favorite movie of all time! I used to rent it over and over when I was in high school. I love the music, the story, the characters, everything. It is funny and wonderful! I loved the fact that Cordelia never could make it past a first date, because she always "knocked out" literally, all of her dates! The alligators and the butler from Ireland make for some hilarious scenes also. Don't wait, get the DVD. You'll love it!!

Fun and silly
I remember catching this on the Disney channel back in the 80s and LOVED it! It was fun and just down right silly. I loved the music and a woman I had NEVER seen before and fell in love with, Lesley Ann Warren. I soon began to always remember this film due to her. I also really enjoyed most of Fred MacMurray's films from this time period also. A time that films were fun and innocent, or at least MORE innocent then the films now. ... Read more