Product Description These 10 toe-tapping musical classics are included in this box set: Guys And Dolls, Love Me Tender, West Side Story, Some Like It Hot, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hello Dolly, All That Jazz, Yentl, De-Lovely, Fiddler On The Roof. From .co.uk All That Jazz - Choreographer-turned-director Bob Fosse turns the camera on himself in All That Jazz, a nervy, sometimes unnerving 1979 feature, a nakedly autobiographical piece that veers from gritty drama to razzle-dazzle musical, allegory to satire. Roy Scheider steps into Gideon's dancing pumps and supplies a plausible sketch of an extravagant, self-destructive, self-loathing creative dynamo. At its best--as in the knockout opening, scored to George Benson's strutting version of "On Broadway", which fuses music, dance and dazzling camera work into a paean to Fosse's hoofer nation--All That Jazz offers a sequence of classic Fosse numbers--hard-edged, caustic and joyously physical. --Sam Sutherland Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang entranced and thrilled children and their parents when it puttered into the cinema in 1968 and it remains the real thing for fans of all ages. The flying car is the star and it's impossible not to feel a surge of thrilling relief as the wings kick in when she plunges over the cliff and soars off on her great adventure. The songs might not be the greatest in musical history, but they are delivered with great charm by Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts (a toned-down version of his infamous Bert in Mary Poppins), Sally Ann Howes (Truly Scrumptious) and the children. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the ultimate nostalgic confection for family viewing. De-Lovely - Directed by Irwin Winkler, De-Lovely depicts the life of the great American composer Cole Porter (Kevin Kline). Contemporary musical performers, including Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole, Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, and Sheryl Crow, appear in the film singing Porter standards, a device that works surprisingly well. Judd holds her own as the devoted Linda, who gives her love to Porter and supports his musical ambitions while trying to overlook his homosexual affairs. Historians may debate the details of the Porters' relationship, but one thing is clear: De-Lovely dazzles with great music, period costumes, and fine performances. Fiddler on the Roof - With the help of an outstanding performance from Topol as Tevye--the milkman with five daughters kicking at the constraints of tradition--Norman Jewison's captivating film retains a moving intimacy in its portrayal of relationships in changing times. And the cinematography is spectacular, generating an epic feel that helps to explain the story's continuing resonance and popularity. Topol's career-defining star turn is balanced by the warmth and sensitivity of the surrounding performances, particularly Norma Crane as his abrasive wife Golda. At nearly three hours, it's a long emotional haul, but aided by some of the most beautiful songs in musical history, Jewison's Fiddler is ageless. Guys And Dolls - This CinemaScope treatment of Frank Loesser's hit Broadway musical is a deeply rewarding visual and musical experience. Frank Sinatra turns in one of his best screen performances running a close second to Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons, looking adorable and singing sweetly. Sinatra, in his vocal prime, sings a new number to Adelaide (Vivian Blaine)--arranged by Nelson Riddle--and Brando and Simmons strike chords in all their scenes. Hello Dolly - They just don't make musicals like this any more. Glittering stage numbers showcase a commanding Barbra Streisand as Dolly Levy, a New York matchmaker who can find a mate for anyone. Anyone but herself, that is. Determined to marry wealthy Walter Matthau, she lures him out of Yonkers and sets about wooing him. Don't worry about the lack of a solid story or Gene Kelly's pedestrian direction but watch instead for the musical numbers and the lavish costumes. Listen to Jerry Herman's score, and dance around the living room when a sequined Streisand arrives in a club as Louis Armstrong strikes up the title tune for her benefit. --Rochelle O'Gorman Love Me Tender - This 1956 film was Elvis Presley's acting debut and the only film in which he didn't get top billing. He stars as Clint Reno, one of the Reno brothers, who stayed at home while his brothers went to fight in the Civil War for the Confederate Army. When his brother comes back from the war, he finds that his old girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. Some Like It - Maybe "nobody's perfect", as one character in this masterpiece suggests but some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. The script by director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is beautifully measured; everything works, like a flawless clock. The bulk of the slapstick is handled by an unhinged Lemmon and the razor-sharp Joe E. Brown, who plays a horny retiree smitten by Jerry's feminine charms. For all the gags, the film is also wonderfully romantic, as Wilder indulges in just the right amounts of moonlight and the lilting melody of "Park Avenue Fantasy". Some Like It Hot is so delightfully fizzy, it's hard to believe the shooting of the film was a headache, with an unhappy Monroe on her worst behaviour. The results, however, are sublime. --Robert Horton West Side Story - The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical is based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency and stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighbourhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colourful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. --Tom Keogh Yentl - A study of Jewish life in Eastern Europe earlier this century. Yentl realises she must become a boy to receive an education, without considering the emotional impact of such a step.
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