Hollywood loves to make movies about itself, and the quintessential vehicle has to be “A Star Is Born.” While Beyonce waits in the wings for her turn to remake the film for the fourth time, the headliner of the 1954 version is enjoying a posthumous day in the sun with Infinity Entertainment Group’s DVD reissues of her ’63 TV variety program. The surprise is that “The Judy Garland Show” was so consistently good, partly because the Emmy-nominated variety program lasted just one abbreviated season.
Ed Sullivan, who succeeded where JG failed, may have been savvy enough to showcase the Beatles, but he had even less charisma than David Letterman and Conan O’Brien combined; Judy had heart, effervescence and flair, on top of her God-given singing talent. And great guest stars. On “Volume 1,” she shares the spotlight with Mel Torme, Count Basie, Soupy Sales, and a promising 17-year-old named Liza (wonder what ever happened to her?)
Barbra Streisand, who did her own remake of “Star,” is the supernova-on-the-rise in “Volume 2,” in a fascinating pairing of two legends at opposite ends of their respective careers. As if Babs weren’t high wattage enough, JG’s “Wizard of Oz” co-star Ray Bolger is also featured, along with Ethel Merman, Jane Powell and a couple more kids on the way up called Tom and Dick Smothers.
“Volume 3” brings us Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, British comic Terry-Thomas and his co-star from the then-current release, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” zany Dick Shawn (now best remembered for his role as LSD in Mel Brooks’ original version of “The Producers.”) Series regular Jerry Van Dyke appears in all three volumes. The series, restored and remastered from the original video tapes with digitally remixed soundtracks in 5.1 surround sound, will total 13 volumes, each consisting of two 50-minute shows.
Judy’s most frequent MGM partner-in-crime gets the star treatment from Infinity with his own DVD box set, “Mickey Rooney: The Long & Short of It.” MR, who has had the longest film career in Hollywood history (beginning in the 1920s and still going strong) and will celebrate his 90th birthday this September, made his debut as a toddler in his parents’ vaudeville act.
Mickey is seen here in 14 feature films, notably “Little Lord Fauntleroy” with Freddie Bartholomew; the terrific 1957 “Playhouse 90” episode, “The Comedian,” which nicely showed off his acting chops on live TV; and the rarely seen “Mickey McGuire” shorts which first cast a spotlight on the budding star in the early ‘3os (although little Billy Barty, as his kid brother, innocently steals the show). Rooney is also seen on “The Judy Garland Show Collection.”
More from Jordan:
Dangerous entertainers: Smothers Brothers, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez
Silent ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ Disney ‘Snow White,’ Tezuka Osamu On Video
Oscar winners and nominees of the 1920s & 1930s on DVD
Follow me on twitter.
Like a heads up when I post a new article? Just click where it says "Subscribe" at the top. (Not getting the emails? Keep in mind I post about 2-3 times a week). You can also share this article with your facebook/myspace/twitter friends by clicking—here’s where it gets tricky—“Share This” below.
Comments