Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, separate stars on their own, teamed up in the 1940s to make two amiable buddy-buddy musicals with songs by Irving Berlin. Now, both movies have been nicely packaged in a gatefold jacket and given excellent laserdisc transfers in an “Encore Edition” double feature of “Blue Skies” and “Holiday Inn” (MCA/Universal Home Video 42071, two discs, $59.98).
“Holiday Inn” (1942), in which Crosby introduced Berlin’s “White Christmas,” had been issued as a single disc, but this new edition, while not quite as bold in black-and-white contrasts, is more finely balanced and detailed. The Technicolor reproduction in “Blue Skies” (1946), which features Astaire dancing with a chorus of Astaires in “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” is beautiful in the film’s laserdisc debut.
Two less familiar black-and-white Crosby musicals, “We’re Not Dressing” from 1934 and “Rhythm on the River” from 1940 (MCA/Universal 42070, two discs, $59.98), also are paired in a laserdisc “Encore” double feature.
“Dressing,” a loose adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s “The Admirable Crichton,” finds seaman Crosby-crooning “Love Thy Neighbor”-shipwrecked with Carole Lombard, Ethel Merman, Leon Errol, George Burns and Gracie Allen. “Rhythm,” which has the sharper black-and-white transfer, features nonchalant tunesmith Crosby teaming up with ambitious lyricist Mary Martin to ghostwrite hit songs for composer Basil Rathbone. Oscar Levant, as Rathbone’s aide, entertainingly plays piano and makes rude jokes.
Astaire in the 1940s briefly found a new dancing partner in the luscious Rita Hayworth. Their two black-and-white musicals, “You’ll Never Get Rich” and “You Were Never Lovelier” (Columbia TriStar Home Video 76206, two discs, $59.95) are now available on laserdisc, their basically sharp pictures in somewhat ragged condition.
As a partner, Hayworth was a little too big for Astaire, but she was gorgeous. In “Lovelier,” besides the title song, there are the Jerome Kern gems “I’m Old Fashioned” and the Oscar-nominated “Dearly Beloved.” The World War II “Rich,” with music by Cole Porter, finds Astaire in the Army (not a good story idea), and “Lovelier” has choreographer Astaire romancing spoiled rich girl Hayworth in Buenos Aires.
– The 25th anniversary of The Who’s “Tommy” is being celebrated with the laserdisc release of director Ken Russell’s excessive 1975 movie of the rock opera (Columbia TriStar 79176, $34.95). The music, in a “restored” stereo soundtrack, takes second place to Russell’s gross imagery of Tina Turner as the Acid Queen and Ann-Margret as Tommy’s (Roger Daltrey) hip-swiveling mother, who in one incredible scene is drenched in a cascade of canned beans, chocolate syrup and soap suds erupting from her TV set. Other guest appearances come from Jack Nicholson, as a lustful psychiatrist, and Elton John, singing the “Pinball Wizard” song. The wide-screen edition has been given a good color transfer.
“Song Without End” (Columbia TriStar 76756, two discs, $39.95), which received the 1960 Academy Award for best scoring of a musical picture, is a lugubriously romantic biography of Franz Liszt that nonetheless, in its laserdisc premiere, has splendid Cinemascope vistas of German and Austrian castles, churches and concert halls. Dirk Bogarde plays Liszt, with Jorge Bolet dubbing the piano playing.
Other laserdisc releases of note:
“Klute” (Warner Home Video 12280, $34.98), the story of a call girl entangled in a series of kinky murders, is probably the best movie ever made by stars Jane Fonda (1971 Best Actress Oscar) and Donald Sutherland and director Alan J. Pakula. The outstanding wide-screen Panavision photography by Gordon Willis is superbly reproduced.
“Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Polygram Video 800 631 769-1, $34.95), the delightful romantic comedy of 1994, with charmer Hugh Grant pursuing Andie MacDowell through the title affairs, is perfectly sunny in its letterboxed laserdisc picture.
“Moonstruck” (MGM/UA Home Video ML104692, $34.98) also looks mighty fine in the wide-screen transfer of Cher’s Oscar-winning romance of 1987.
