The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood

I was able to see a grainy print of this "movie" at a revival theater. I don't know where they got the print, but it's a real shame that it's not out on video or DVD. It is jaw droppingly awful in a way that makes it hysterically funny.

Liza Minnelli gives an early, clunky performance as Red Riding Hood and Cyril Richard is a scream as the wolf/granny. The best moment is when the two of them sing "Ding-a-Ling". Cyril looks ridiculous dressed up and hamming it up as granny, while Liza jumps around the tv set doing some of the worst dance moves ever recorded on film.

See this movie if you ever get a chance, it's priceless.

I read all of the previous reviews of this Made for TV Movie and IMO only a few folks "got it". This is not going to be as much of a review as it is "background" information.

First, it was not seen LIVE. It was pre-recorded in a Studio in Brooklyn, NYC. I was there during the shooting.

At the time my dad was "General Manager of Institutional Advertizing" for General Electric, and this was a GE Theater Production.

I'm not going to refute any of the individual criticisms, such as the effeminate Ritchard...he was effeminate, but I didn't see this as the negative that the reviewer did. "Female" wolves also eat.

Liza was brilliant! Not only is she extremely talented, coming from Minelli/Garland genes, but I got a chance to meet her at the shooting and spend quite a bit of time with her...so I AM somewhat biased. I fell in love with her.

Being a son of a GE Marketing Bigwig did have its benefits back during that time period. As one of the Managers of the GE Pavilion at the NY World's fair in '64-'65 I was treated as a VIP not only at the GE Pavilion, but everywhere else as well getting back-door passes to all other Pavilions. Another benefit was being invited to the TDCoRRH shooting. I was 15 at the time, old enough to appreciate meeting Liza and Burden. From that experience I became a life-ling Minelli fan and never played another Burden or "The Animals" record again. Unfortunately, I also spent some time with Burden, and I learned that he will never experience a time where he is not loved, and he is loved best while he's alone.

Fortunately I was able to get a hold of the DVD, however unfortunately it was never remastered. It is still the grainy quality of the original SD release. Yet, occasionally I still pop it in the player and enjoy it just as much with each viewing. I only wish that my father was still around to enjoy it with me.

I generally do not put my two cents into this type of misinformation "free-for-all" but, having read everyone's opinion on what I have always considered to be one of television's finest productions, I couldn't sit by and listen anymore. As a retired university professor (I taught an in-depth course in musical theater history) much of what I read here was written by people with very little love or understanding of the developments of 20th century American musical theater.

"The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, or Oh Wolf, Poor Wolf," originally broadcast over the ABC network during Christmas of 1965, proved so popular that ABC repeated the broadcast the following Christmas season. (Most likely the last time it was seen in color; rebroadcasts were rare 45 years ago.) I was only 11 years old at the time, but I still remember watching and enjoying both broadcasts. "Red" was a TV special and not a movie. It was filmed in a television studio using the "live-on-tape" method. (The camera was pretty much stationary and post-production was quick and without much editing or close ups.) The music was performed live in the studio. And so, if you listen to the original cast recording (recorded not in 1965, but a year later in 1966) you will notice some major differences between the performances. On the recording there is now an overture and two full ballets which add at least 15 minutes to the brief running time of the show (neither of which were a part of the broadcast). And the Animals must not have been available for the recording date because they do not sing in the song "Snubbed" with the wolf. (Instead, on the LP, this ensemble piece is turned into a solo for Cyril Ritchard who admirably sings both his and the Animals' parts, making the wolf sound somewhat psycho and much funnier than on the TV special.) The Animals performance of "We're Gonna Howl Tonight" was not re-recorded for the album, but was taken directly off the soundtrack of the broadcast; hence, the sound quality goes from stereo to monaural on the album during that one number. Overall, the performances are first rate on the LP. The "ad libs" are funnier, the orchestra is larger, and even the lyrics received a sprucing up.

The show was originally broadcast in color. But, as was the case in much of early TV, the reel of tape that housed the show was worth more than the material it preserved because the color broadcast of "Red" was eventually erased and the reel reused to preserve another ABC show. What exists today on VHS and DVD is an inferior black and white kinescope of the broadcast. (Before the invention of recordable video tape, television primitively preserved its history by placing a film camera in front of a TV monitor during a broadcast.That explains the distorted image.) The entire production was meant to be performed with tongue firmly planted in cheek. We understood that in 1965. Few in today's audiences "get it" now. The art of satire is, unfortunately, lost today and this type of comedy is mistakenly called "corny." And so, the charm of this small masterpiece is also lost.

For years, I showed this delightful musical to my music theater students at Christmastime. It is a perfect example of what we came to know as the end of Broadway musicals as we we knew them (falling, as it does, after "Fiddler On the Roof" and "Hello Dolly," but before "Mame" and "Company"). "Red"provides us with the opportunity to observe Liza Minnelli as she evolved from a mass of nervous teenage energy into a confident and well-rounded superstar; hear the brilliant Broadway-quality score of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill; and, best of all, experience one of the world's greatest comic performers, Cyril Ritchard, in one of his most hilarious roles.

Yes, pray for a better copy to come alone. But while we wait, let's just be happy that this beat-up copy exists for our enjoyment.

The wolf pack being The Animals. I found this in a greeting card store about 10 years ago in the discount video rack for about 2 bucks so, yes it does exist on video. You end up hitting the fast forward button till you reach Eric Burdon & the boys (they are featured doing one or two songs) unless you are a Vic Damone or Liza fan. I was hoping someone would post the Animals bits on Youtube so the whole world could enjoy it for free. I would not recommend anyone paying more than a couple dollars for this. As other reviews have said, the story is really thin. Why the Xmas theme is beyond me. It has been pointed out that the reason ABC did this was so they could link it with the holiday season so they could show it again & again every year, but something has to be really special & strike a chord with people for that to happen. Boy were they wrong. Cyril Ritchard is great though.

The title sounds as if this is some bad horror but this is a quite charming little Christmas special from 1965, starring the teenager Liza Minnelli in her first leading role.

With this movie Minnelli goes into her mother's footsteps. She dances and sings her way through this movie. She of course had a great example and teacher to look up at in the form of her mother Judy Garland, who starred in dozens of musical movies. Also her father Vincente Minnelli was no stranger to the genre and was an acclaimed and well known musical movie director.

Yes, Liza Minnelli is good and enjoyable in her role in this movie and shows that she can sign and dance. Something that would eventually even get her an Oscar 8 years later for her role in the movie version of "Cabaret". She is however not the most attractive person within the genre. She is not attractive no and she even wasn't in 1965. It's perhaps a reason why she never became such a big musical star as her mother was, even though she also wasn't among the best looking actresses of her time.

The movie is quite cheerful and therefore also charming. It features some good songs and characters that pop up. Cyril Ritchard is really great in his role as the Big Bad Wolf.

But how exactly is this a Christmas special? Just because there is a Christmas tree in the back doesn't make the story of Red Riding Hood really feel fitting for a Christmas special. An original attempt to try and re-tell the famous story but also a bit of a silly one.

The movie obviously looks as if it was filmed on a stage and it of course most likely also was but this feels sort of fitting for a TV special and actually suits the movie its atmosphere and overall cheerfulness quite well.

It's a good watch and basically just a fine simply enjoyable 50 minutes.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/