Musical Masterpieces

This short is one of 36 featured on the 3 disc set entitled "Classic shorts from the dream factory volume ".This contains shorts made by MGM.They are either comedy or musical.Generally speaking I feel that they compare unfavourable with the set issued comprising of Warner shorts.The best shorts in this collection are those in 3 strip Technicolor.There is one Oscar winning short which I found rather dull.It just seems to me that MGM did not put too much effort into these bearing in mind that they were generally included with the features at no additional cost to the exhibitor.Still it won't stop me buying more of this type of disc.

This short features movie interpretations of three popular classical and semi-classical music pieces: "The Flight of the Bumblebee", "The Donkey Serenade" and "Tales From the Vienna Woods."

They are cutdowns of cutdowns, and these songs all featured in THE GREAT MORGAN, a vehicle for popular supporting player Frank Morgan. As such, they got the full MGM treatment, plenty of gloss, but in black-and-white..... perhaps the last black-and-white MGM musical.

Like many studios, MGM was working to keep its flow of short subjects going, but at lower costs. Doing this sort of clip show was a favorite method.

Musical Masterpieces (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

It's probably not a good idea to add too much hype to your film so the producers adding "masterpiece" to the title really oversells this thing but for the most part it's entertaining enough to make it worth watching. Carlos Ramirez and Lucille Norman are the stars here as they recreate some classic songs. Up first is an orchestra number on "Flight of the Bumblebee" that manages to be slightly entertaining, although the added bee photography wasn't needed. Up next Ramirez does "The Donkey Serenade" where he and a child sit on a donkey while he sings. Finally, Ramirez and Norman do "Vienna Waltz" together. Again, if you're expecting something great or something that's going to have you singing along then it's best to skip this thing. However, if you're just looking for a fun 9-minutes then this here gets the job done. I thought Ramirez was pretty good in his two numbers and while his singing didn't blow me away, it was at least fun to listen to.

The first portion consists of an orchestra performing a nice rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee", followed by two songs by Carlos Ramírez. He has a lovely voice and is joined by Lucille Norman in the final number.

"Musical Masterpieces" is a well made short film...technically. The cinematography in the opening segment is lovely and very well lit. The next two segments are done on a very nice looking set. And, the musical quality is very good...but there really is nothing to interest most viewers. It's just music with no story, no context....just the songs.

Watching Musical Masterpieces you almost know that it had to come from MGM. That touch of elegance that comes with all their musical films is ever present here.

The lead off is an orchestral selection of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumble Bee which with accompanying bee dissolves into a rendition of The Donkey Serenade. Just as Allan Jones introduced it in The Firefly, Carlos Ramirez sings it with young street urchin accompanying him on a pipe.

Finally Ramirez and Lucille Norman put some lyrics to Strauss's Tales Of The Vienna Woods. Norman who had a lovely soprano voice is ironically best remembered for being Randolph Scott's leading lady in one of his westerns, Carson City. She came along about a decade too late for musicals. Hollywood did not know what to do with her.

Taste, refinement and class. You know this had to be a MGM short subject.