miltonb1

This is one of the best Hollywood bios I've ever seen. The pacing is fast for a movie from 1936 and William Powell and especially Louise Rainer are fantastic. Filmed in one take, the "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" musical number is incredible. One also gets to see Fanny Brice in a rare film appearance, and if you remember Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl you'll see how close Streisand got to perfectly imitating Brice. Also, Ray Bolger does an incredible dance routine which shows off his talent to greater effect then his performance as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He's unbelievable. My only complaint, and this is about the DVD, is that Warner should have made the effort of restoring this amazing picture. Most of it looks pretty good but there are many sections with scratches and speckles.

Once again Gordon Douglas deals with characters faced with moral dilemmas. In this case the three sisters and their infatuation with Gig Young, Doris Day's commitment to Frank Sinatra, and Sinatra's decision. From the opening scene of the neighborhood in which they live to the very end this movie is much more then it seems. Within the artificial look of the sets,there's no hiding the many themes that meander throughout this somewhat dark (musical?). For those who don't get it, take another look. These characters are far deeper then the picture perfect world they live in might make you believe.