Easter Parade: On the Avenue (2005) (V)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Peter Fitzgerald

Writer:

Peter Fitzgerald (writer)

Release Date:

15 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Tagline:

The happiest musical ever made was Irving Berlin's Easter Parade!

Plot:

This documentary tells the story of the making of Irving Berlin's Easter Parade. From the film's pitch...

Cast

Ava Astaire-McKenzie	...	Herself
Jimmy Bates	...	Himself
John Fricke	...	Himself
Ann Miller	...	Herself
Sidney Sheldon	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:34 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fitzfilm

Movie Connections:

References Easter Parade (1948)

Extra on the US Easter Parade DVD release

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Visiting the Waterford Public Library with someone who had a check-out card, we were able to view five hours of material related to EASTER PARADE--including the movie itself--on a 2-disc set. For free! Okay, maybe we should not have stayed up until 3:30, but the extras got more interesting as we went along. Not able to go through the tedious process of adding several more titles to IMDb right now, I will just summarize each portion of the five hours HERE, in the order we viewed them:

1)EASTER PARADE, aka "the happiest musical ever made. This movie is okay, though during the early going (not being an expert on who wound up with who in 1940s flicks) I honestly thought the plot was developing to send Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) BACK to his original dance partner Nadine Hale (Anne Miller), with Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) winding up with "Professor" John Harold (Peter Lawford) as a consolation prize. Silly me. The songs were above average--especially the "I Love the Piano"/"Snookey Ookums"/"Ragtime Violin"/"Alabama Choo-Choo" montage and "A Couple of Swells." However, anyone aware of MGM's treatment of Garland in real life should SQUIRM as they watch the too-old "Don" wreaking havoc with "Hannah's" emotions in this otherwise fun film. (I sure wish I could go to MY local drugstore and get a hot meal of roast beef, pie, and milk for 15 cents!) Rating--7/10

2)Also on Disc One, Judy Garland Trailer Gallery. This includes theatrical trailers for the following films (year/title/time): 1938 LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (2:59); 1939 THE WIZARD OF OZ (1:41); 1941 ZIEGFIELD GIRL (3:55); 1942 FOR ME AND MY GAL (2:12); 1944 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1:42); 1946 THE HARVEY GIRLS (2:52); 1946 ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES (2:32); 1946 TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (4:21); 1948 THE PIRATE (2:23); 1948 EASTER PARADE (1:56); 1949 IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (3:03); and 1954 A STAR IS BORN (3:54).

3)"Mr. Monotony" The first thing we watched from Disk Two (which contains ALL of the "extras" except for the trailers listed above) was a single "out-take" lasting 21:16. The final cut of the Garland solo "Mr. Monotony" is followed by 18 (yes, EIGHTEEN) exhausting partial takes. I have never read a biography of Judy's daughter Liza Minnelli, but it is clear that Liza and director Bob Fosse were channeling Judy's "Mr. Monotony" piece for Liza's "Sally Bowles" stage characterization in CABARET. Given that, this is even more bittersweet than EASTER PARADE. Rating--8/10

4)EASTER PARADE: ON THE AVENUE The next thing we watched was this retroactive making-of, which clocks in at 34:20. The most interesting part of this is the story about how Gene Kelly broke his ankle playing Sunday afternoon volleyball the day before shooting began, bringing Astaire out of retirement; Cyd Charisse tearing her ACL making Miller Garland's rival for Astaire instead; and Garland's husband Vincente Minnelli being replaced in the director's chair at the last minute by Charles Walters (on the advice of Judy's shrink). The image of a recently injured Miller (thrown down the steps of her home by her husband and losing a near-term baby) dancing all trussed up in a back-brace suffering constant pain during the EASTER PARADE shoot adds to the "happiest musical's" poignancy. Rating--6/10

5)JUDY GARLAND: BY MYSELF (an Emmy-winning 116-minute episode of the PBS "American Masters" Series). Finally, Disc Two includes (besides some sort of vintage radio promotions we were too sleepy to listen to) the powerful documentary feature with far more Garland contemporaries involved than could fit into the ON THE AVENUE short. For my provocative comment\review about BY MYSELF ("Here's WHY the U.S. gov. must BAN the WIZARD OF OZ,") search IMDb under "American Masters" Judy Garland: By Myself (2004). Rating--9/10.