A few months back, I accidentally happened on an absolutely wonderful video of Nathan Lane singing a big production number of "There's No Business Like Show Business." I had no idea what movie it was from, until I read further and found out it was, of all things, Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. It turns out that this was a modern-day (1940s, actually...) adaptation by Kenneth Branagh that he directed as a musical. I admit to only having the vaguest recollection of the film, which was released in 2000. And even less memory of it being done as a modern-day musical. (It doesn't have original songs, but uses numbers by people like George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern.) So, I finally got around to renting it the other day. It's an odd film. Wonderfully and vibrantly produced, and sort of fun, and admirable at the attempt, though it doesn't especially work well enough. It's very Shakespeare-lite, as you can imagine, but the movie only runs 94 minutes with credits, and that includes seven or eight musical numbers. So, you probably only have about 70 minutes of Shakespeare. That's probably a good thing, because it's not one of Shakespeare's Great Plays (though enjoyable), and the musical productions are easily the best part of the movie. And impressively, they're fairly well-integrated into the plot. All except this one, though in fairness the scene is a big entertainment that's being put on for the king and visiting princess. But this is that aforementioned, "There's No Business Like Show Business." It starts with Nathan Lane alone, and then some of the supporting cast joins him, most notably Timothy Spall, British comic great Richard Briers, and Geraldine McEwan, who some of you may remember starring in a remake of the Miss Marple "Mystery!" series (which I hated and gave up on), Then the main stars join in, including Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstone, Emily Mortimer (of HBO's The Newsroom), Natascha McElhone (from Showtime's Californication, and Jim Carrey's dream girl in The Truman Show), and Adrian Lester (star of the BBC America series, Hustle). Making this particularly fun is that, other than Nathan Lane -- who's terrific here -- none of these people are trained dancers and singers. And it's an elaborate production. But it's more impressive than even that, because if you pay attention you'll note that Branagh does something he likes and has done in some of his other mothers-- the first 2-1/2 minutes are all in one take. That's hard enough for trained dancers doing something intricate, but it must have been pure terror for all those non-dancers, desperately not wanting to screw up. (In a featurette on the DVD, Branagh says he doesn't think he couldn't have made the movie if he hadn't been in it, but had only directed. He says it was important to put himself through the same difficulty as the other non-dancers, so they could know he understood what they were going through, rather than just barking out orders. He actually does a very respectable job singing and dancing.) By the way, other than Lane, it's difficult to make out most of the others on a small screen, especially the men all in black tuxedos. If you want a partial scorecard to keep track, though -- Alicia Silverstone is in the red dress, Emily Mortimer is in orange, and Natascha McElhone is wearing blue. Timothy Spall is the first actor in. Geraldine McEwan is the elderly lady soon after, and Richard Briers is the older man to her right. And at the 3-minute mark, you'll be able to clearly see Kenneth Branagh on the far left of the screen.
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For anyone who thinks animals, even birds, don't have "fun," you probably haven't seen this video. There is no truth to the rumor that officials are thinking of adding this as an Olympic sport. Though the luge for birds is a possibility. This puzzler has a song that's well-known, but the composer might be a little tough.
It occurred that we can't let the holiday go by with something from the wonderful, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. I believe that this was the first animated Christmas TV special, originally aired in 1962. It ran nationally on NBC each year until 1969. Unfortunately, it was felt that the animation was outdated or no longer up to broadcast standards and the show was dropped from the network, though it ran on local stations for decades. (Mind you, the black-and-white It's a Wonderful Life uses film technique that's outdated, though that hasn't stopped NBC from finding a audience every year.) Happily, NBC brought the classic back last year for its 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, its 52-minutes were woefully edited to make room for more commercial time that is standard today compared to 1962. It's actually a very respectable adaptation of Dickens' story. But it's the musical score that has always leaped out, arguably one of the best original scores written for a TV special, let alone an animated one. It helps that it was written by Broadway composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill, who had just completed the score for Funny Girl. Separately, Jule Styne wrote such shows as Gypsy, Bells are Ringing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and half the score of Peter Pan. Not to mention 10 Oscar nomination, and one win -- as well as the appropriate song for the season, "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow." On his own, Bob Merrill wrote the music and lyrics to such shows, Carnival! and Take Me Along. So, Mr. Maggo's Christmas Carol had an impressive pedigree. I remember several years back I was visiting my cousin's house, and he and his wife had rented the recording of the show to watch with their little son. They didn't know it, and when I was over one night and was enthusing about they asked if I wanted to stay to watch. That was a no-brainer. After I'd explained how wonderful the musical score was, they both said they hoped so because after having watched SO many animated children's TV specials their heads were ready to explode from the boring, unmemorable blandness. "Trust me," was all I added. The video came on, and they enjoyed the opening "bookend" song, which sets up that Magoo is doing A Christmas Carol as a musical. They enjoyed it, but I said that that was really not much more than a throwaway number, that the "real" score starts when the show-within-the-show does. Fine, okay, they waited. And then the first, "official" song began, "Ringle, Ringle." And I swear, five seconds into the song, they both turned to me, their eyes wide open and both saying, "Oh, my God." All I could say was, "There's more to come." This is that first song, and more than just the first five seconds. And as long as we've officially hit the holiday itself, I figured that before it passes I might as well include a song from the show that's a bit more appropriate for the season. It's as lush and glorious a production number as would fit most any Broadway musical. Yes, it has a real name, "The Lord's Bright Blessing," but I suspect most people know it as the "Razzleberry Dressing Song." It would be nice if NBC put the show on every year again, and without editing it down. Or have one of the major cable channels do so. I'm not holding my breath on that. Two years ago, I brought the DVD over to a couple of friend's who have a little daughter, then four-years-old. We watched it together, and a few days later they called to say how much she utterly loved the show and was still singing songs from it. So much for being outdated for broadcast standards. But thank goodness for video... Animated TV musical scores don't get much better than this. Every year around this time, there are articles about which recorded version of A Christmas Carol is "the best." Usually it comes down to the films that starred either Alistair Sim or Reginald Owen. Some may say it's the most recent one with Patrick Stewart. Or any of the many others. Nope, they're all wrong. It's this one. An audio version done for, I believe, the BBC, in 1960. It's quite wonderful and as good an adaptation of the story as I've come across. It stars Sir Ralph Richardson as Scrooge, and Paul Scofield as Dickens, the narrator. Casts don't get much better than that. (That's Richardson on the left. You can probably figure out who's on the right.) Radio station WFMT in Chicago has been playing this every Christmas Eve for many decades. I first heard it as a kidling, listened to it every year, recorded it so that I could hear it when I wasn't in Chicago, and then found it on audio tape. I've listened to it annually for decades. Some years I think, nah, this time I'll only put it on for a few minutes for tradition's sake, but after the first sentence it has be sucked it. And the moment the first sound effect rings in around the 2-minute mark, I'm as close to my speaker as the spirit is to Scrooge's elbow.
There are four reasons why, for me, this is far and away the best version. First, the acting is as good as it gets. Scofield is crisp and emphatic,and almost every creak of his voice draws you in to the world, and Richardson is a Christmas pudding joy. But everyone does a wonderful job. Second, being radio, you aren't limited by budgets to create the Dickensian world. Most movies do a respectable job, but here your imagination fills in every lush and poverty-stricken, nook and cranny -- and ghostly spirit, aided by moody sound effects and violins. Third, the adaptation sticks more closely to the Dickens tale than most of the movies, and Scrooge comes across more realistic, rounded-person than as a mythic icon. And fourth, and most of all by far, unlike any of the other version, this includes...Dickens. While the story of A Christmas Carol is beloved, its Dickens' writing that makes it as vibrant as the story is. And that's all lost in the movie versions, down even to the legendary opening line, "Marley was dead, to begin with." Or any of the other classic narrative lines. Or the richness of Dickens setting the mood and tone and description of the gritty and ephemeral and emotional world. But that's here in this radio adaptation, and Scofield's reading of it is some of the most joyously wonderful and most memorable material here. For many, this will be A Christmas Carol unlike any other you're aware of, giving it a meaning and richness you didn't realize was there. The ending of the tale is so much more moving and joyful here, as we listen to Dickens' own words, that begin with "Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more," and soar from there, to perhaps my favorite passage about the new Scrooge and the "good old world." If you have the time or inclination, give it a listen. If only for five minutes to at least get the flavor. You might find yourself sticking around. Let it play in the background, if you have other things to do. It runs about 56 minutes. (Side note: speaking of Dickens, if you know the original cast album of Oliver!, the actor here who plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, Willoughby Goddard, was Mr. Bumble on Broadway and in the original London production.) When you hit the Play button, it might take a little longer than usual to buffer and start up, because the audio file is so much longer. But if you're lucky it'll start up right away, and you'll hear it, as Dickens wrote here, before you can say Jack Robinson.) Mark Evanier posted this on his website, and it deserves being shown all over. It's a video from Richard Wiseman, whose work I've posted before here. He's a British college professor of psychology who basically presents magic tricks that aren't really magic tricks at all, but really optical illusions or tricks of perception, which he then explains, all under the brand of Quirkology. This thought isn't one of those. It's just a video by some friends of his that he presents. It's a treat -- it starts quaint and remains quaint but builds wondrously. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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