Una pazza banda di famiglia

When Walt Disney died, he had various projects in the works and at various stages. After the success of Mary Poppins he wanted to make more big budget Roadshow musicals. A year after his death the Disney company released "The Happiest Millionaire", a wonderful film that originally ran 2 hours and 45 minutes. After the LA premiere the company afraid of a huge loss kept cutting the film down till it lost one whole number and parts of other ones and finally was cut by a whole half an hour on his general release, which was done with minimal publicity, and didn't do much at the box office.

A year later they had another Roadshow musical to release, "The One And Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. But after the failure of "The Happiest Millionaire", the company that Walt let behind were running scared. They decided to premiere the 2 hour and 15 minute film At Radio City Musical Hall for it's Christmas Show. But because of their stage show among other concessions, they told Disney that they will only show the film as their Christmas Attraction if they cut the film to under 2 hours. So for the Music Hall premiere they cut the film to 1 hour and 50 minutes, but still were going to release the long version as a Roadshow attraction. But the shortened film didn't do well, plus other Roadshow attractions that did have a Roadshow release failed at the box office. So Disney decided to release the shortened version of the film in general release the following spring, without much fanfare. The film died at the box office and was then shown as a two parter, cut even more, on the Wonderful World of Disney the following year.

This film didn't deserve it's fate. At it's current state it's still a fun musical about Grandpa (Walter Brennan) a devout Democrat who organised his family into a band to play at the Democratic Presidential convention for the current US President, Grover Cleavland. But his granddaughter (Lesley Ann Warren) has a teaching job off in the Dakota territory for a man(John Davidson)that she's fallen in love with. So Grandpa made the ultimate sacrifice and instead of going to the democratic convention they went to Dakota, a primary Republican area. Grandpa stirs up trouble and the two loves fight, then on the eve of election, everything comes to a head to a great climax. One interesting trivia in the film is that one of Warren's bothers is played by young Kurt Russell and a girl that Davison uses to get Warren jealous is a young dancer named Goldie Jeanne Hawn, yes Goldie Hawn.

In the wake of the release of the DVDs of the restored Roadshow version of "The Happiest Millionaire" and the restored version of "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", maybe Disney will dust this film off and restore it as well for a future DVD release. I can only hope.

The Bower Family On the urging of Joe Carder (John Davidson), a journalist and suitor to eldest Bower daughter Alice (Lesley Ann Warren), the family decides instead to move to the Dakota Territory. There, Grandpa Bower (Walter Brennan), a staunch Democrat, causes trouble with his pro-Cleveland sentiments. The Dakota residents are overwhelmingly Republican, and they hope to get the territory admitted as two states rather than one(so as to send four Republican senators to Washington rather than two. Grandpa's actions result in family strife.

Based on the book, The Family Band: from the Missouri to the Black Hills, 1881-1900 by Laura Bower Van Nuys. The memoir by Van Nuys, the youngest of the Bower children, described her family's brass band, their journey out of Missouri, and their frontier life in the Black Hills The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band was one of a number of projects Walt Disney was involved with prior to his death. Originally intended as a two part TV special, Disney asked the Sherman Brothers for assistance in punching up the project. Writing the titular song, Disney was so impressed he asked for more songs with the intention of making the film a feature length musical, though Robert Sherman did so under protest feeling the material was insufficient to do so. After the Happiest Millionaire failed at the box office, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band was heavily trimmed to try and avoid the same fate. Despite the massive trimming done to the movie, the film ended up performing even lower than The Happiest Millionaire and was never reissued to theaters instead serving as a two parter on The Wonderful World of Disney as it was originally intentioned. The movie didn't fare all that better with critics who called the film flat and hokey among other jibes, but even though I don't feel The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band completely works, it's more successful than The Happiest Millionaire by virtue of having scope and an emotional core.

Walter Brennan is definitely a huge asset to the movie, serving as a strong anchor point for the film to be based around. In the film Brennan's Grandpa Bower is a very staunch Democrat who often finds himself at odds with Republicans, including his grown son Calvin and his granddaughter's fiancée Joe Carder. I think that's where the movie really sells itself because much like The Happiest Millionaire the plot of The One and Only, Genuine, Original, Family Band involves Lesley Ann Warren as eldest daughter dealing with loyalty to her family and balancing it against new fiancée who has friction with her family. It definitely makes a more engaging experience than the overlong and underplotted Happiest Millionaire and the fact we have a more commanding actor to serve as an anchor point is a massive improvement over the ill thought out attempt to anchor Fred MacMurray to a musical epic.

The movie is directed by Michael O'Herlihy, a veteran of TV whose work can be in many staples of TV including Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and M*A*S*H. Despite being more associated with TV productions, O'Herlihy gives the film a feeling of scope and majesty with wide shots showing westward frontiers, beautiful shots of hilly landscapes and sets that are populated by a multitude of extras. While it doesn't match the epicness of the largest of this era of Roadshow Productions, it does carry a sense of weight and scope that give the movie a larger than life feeling. Unfortunately the movie does have a drawback in that it takes its viewer's knowledge of the political and historical climate of 1888 somewhat for granted. While the viewer can for the most part follow the events just fine without prior historical knowledge, there's not all that much clarity in the difference of opinions between the 1888 Democrats and the 1888 Repbulicans. You do get the general idea involving things like statehood for the Dakota territory, but other than that the movie gives us a somewhat limited view and probably could've benefitted from either a text crawl at the beginning explaining the contemporary mindsets or maybe a few more scenes explaining motivation. But despite the movie's very "arms length" approach to politics despite focus on them, the movie is more about family and community dynamics and does a decent job of focusing on those.

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band has the same structure and arc as Disney's The Happiest Millionaire, but it utilizes it to much better effect here. With a shorter running time and more focus, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band gives us a good mixture of musical epic and family dynamic that makes the movie a pleasant sit thanks in large part to a strong performance by Walter Brennan as Grandpa Bower. While the 1888 election and arguments for Statehood don't always mesh as well with the musical epic format applied, the movie does a good job of building around it with enough character and drama even if the sides feel rather muddled and hard to distinguish. It doesn't reach the heights of My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, or Mary Poppins as Disney hoped, but it's an admirable attempt.

This is a classic Disney movie involving a small bit of American history. This movie deals with a family that moves out to the Dakota Territory and the presidential election involving President Grover Cleveland. If you liked "The Happiest Millionaire" then you will probably enjoy this movie also. Because of this movie, I will always remember that Grover Cleveland lost this reelection, but won next four years later.

For purposes of abbreviation I'll just refer to this one of the longest titled films around as Family Band. It was one of the last attempts at an original musical from Hollywood, I can only think those two Julie Andrews films Star and Darling Lili that are both later and fall in that category.

The film refers to the Bower Family who have music in their blood as everyone plays an instrument and sings and dances. They are also opinionated politically, but their opinions do differ. Buddy Ebsen father of the clan is a Republican, but usually keeps it to himself as to not get into arguments with his father Walter Brennan who lives with them and is a dyed in the wool Democrat. Mother Janet Blair has a hard and fast rule, no politics be discussed when they enter the house. It's all saved for the barn where the kids also practice. In fact Brennan has whipped up a campaign song for Grover Cleveland in his re-election bid in 1888.

Listening to the pleas of John Davidson talking about the wonders of Dakota Territory, the Bowers move and eldest daughter Lesley Ann Warren is moved by Davidson as well romantically. But politics and the election of 1888 between Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison threaten everybody's happiness.

Family Band holds up well today as a fine family film and one gets a little history lesson thrown in for the bargain. The score written by the Sherman team of Richard M. and Robert B. contains no song hits, but its serviceable and the numbers are nicely staged. I'd highly recommend it for today's audience.

Based on the memoirs of Laura Bower Van Nuys, the 1888 presidential election serves as the backdrop for this lovestory between Laura's older sister, Alice (Leslie Ann Warren) - a teacher and the eldest daughter in the Bower family's musical act, and Joe (John Davidson) - a spin doctor at odds with the families' political views.

The hostilities between Democrats and Republicans over the hotly contested Cleveland/Harrison race and state's rights are more relevant today than ever in light of the 2000 Presidential Election night debaucle. And when Democrat Grandpa Bower, the patriarch of the family, substitute teaches for Alice at the local school, his decision to teach the children his views about the Civil War - very different from the views of the primarily Republican Dakotans - causes an uproar among the settlers and threatens to divide the young lovers forever.

The romantic moments are sweet. The show-stopping numbers which make perfect sense in a musical about a musical act are quite impressive, especially the rousing "Ten Feet Off the Ground" high-kick routine by Warren and Janet Blair, and "West O' The Wide Missouri" featuring a young blonde dancer named Goldie Jean Hawn. Other standout performers are the incomparable Buddy Ebsen, comedian Wally Cox, a very young Kurt Russell and "Walton"/rock guitarist Jon Wamsley, and, as Grandpa, the great Walter Brennan.

As both a musician and political analyst, this movie strikes a "chord" with me (that and the fact that I remember my parents taking me to see it in the theatre and owning both versions of the soundtrack!) An overlooked gem, this is family entertainment that doesn't insult your intelligence. It teaches alot about tolerance without being preachy, and, of course, it all works out in the end.