Search - High Society on DVD

Great stars! Great songs! Great film! ...GREAT DVD!

Paulo Leite | Lisbon, Portugal | 06/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a musical remake of George Cukor's classic "The Philadelphia Story". The new setting: the Newport Jazz Festival and the chic mansions on its surroundings. The story is exactly the same: Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly in her last film) is engaged to David (John Lund). But her ex-husband (Bing Crosby) won't let her go that easily. In the between, there are a couple of journalists (Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm) with problems on their own.This is one of those films where everything is great. The whole cast is excelent. This is classical Hollywood in full gear!!The music by Cole Porter will leave you singing for days after you see this movie: "Well, Did You Evah?", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Little One", "You're Sensational" and the multi-million Dollar seller "True Love" are great tunes. The film has also a five-minute overture with music that is usually cut by television (great music!!!).This DVD comes with a great pack of extras. But first... the image: gorgeous Technicolor (it was shot in VistaVision). The beautiful soundtrack was remastered in Dolby 5.1 (it seems it was recorded only 10 years ago). There is also a documentary on Cole Porter hosted by Celeste Holm herself! (still beautiful after all these years). There is a newsreel about the film's premiere, Radio adds with Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby, Trailers (from both "High Society" and "The Philadelphia Story"), Notes ..........and a great Cinemascope Cartoon "Millionaire Droopie".The only bad thing about this DVD is that the subtitles dissapear during the songs (and there are 3 languages).Anyway... this a great film with all the elements at their peak!"

Bing's Beat

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 05/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Given the lack of fuss made over the centenary year of Bing Crosby's birth, it appears that, as far as the public at large is concerned, Bing is little more than a Christmas period piece. This film should help set the record straight about the most influential vocalist and entertainer of the first half of the last century. His feature number with Pops ("Now You Has Jazz") is a treasure, presenting two of the most naturally gifted, closely matched American musicians simply enjoying each other's company while becoming completely caught up in the musical moment. Satchmo absolutely shines (sometimes that smile could betray traces of auto-pilot, but not in this film). And Bing's got that thing going with his head that was the hallmark of his most genuine, inspired, heart-felt performances: he's way back on his heels and everything above his shoulders takes on an animated, even "pixillated" quality. No longer is he being merely smooth and easy (and singing certainly did come easy for him), but his head is illustrating the beat, in that curious, punching, out-of-synch pattern that he had whenever he was really feeling it.

The Sinatra performance is also solid, but there's plenty of good Sinatra elsewhere on film. What's unique about this film is his "Well, Did Ya Evah?" duet with Crosby. For years they had been radio rivals, the "old pro" favoring crowd-pleasing "smooth and easy" tunes and the skinny new star emphasizing more urgent and dramatic material appealing to the personal emotions of a new generation. Crosby is the "natural," capable of all sorts of graceful vocal elocutions and tricks; Sinatra is the driven, serious modern man, executing musical material with a no-nonsense approach. At one point, when Croz goes for one of his elegant swoops, Sinatra retorts, "Don't Dig That Kind of Croonin', Chum."But despite their considerable differences, and despite Crosby's dominating screen presence (perhaps for the last time in his career), the two wind up as arm-in-arm, complementary musical partners for what indeed is one of the swellest parties in the history of film."

All that jazz and more!

P Farquharson | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 06/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just released on DVD, this fabulous musical remake of George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story (1940) sees Grace Kelly in her last ever film role before crossing the pond to marry into the Monaco monarchy (she even wore her actual engagement ring in the movie). Kelly plays the spoilt heiress Tracy Samantha Lord, a rather icy perfectionist (this generation would say `control freak'), who is due to marry the stuffy George Kitteridge (John Lund) when her ex-husband C K Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby), unexpectedly turns up... Still in love with her, he puts in place a subtle plan to win back her heart. Throw in an incorrigible little sister, a playboy dad, a couple of snoops from Spy magazine, Louis Armstrong (as himself) and buckets of champagne... and now you has jazz!With a witty script and quite the line-up (it was the first time Crosby and Frank Sinatra, playing Spy magazine reporter, appeared on screen together), the romantic comedy is carried by one of Cole Porter's best - and one of his last - musical scores which includes Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Well, Did You Evah?, Now You Has Jazz, and Kelly and Crosby's moving duet True Love. Like most rereleases of older movies onto DVD, what actually makes you update your video copy are the bonus features. Along with the nostalgic newsreel of the film's 1956 première, this version includes a short documentary on `the making of...', narrated by Celeste Holm (born 1919, who played Spy magazine photographer). Although it makes for entertaining viewing (throwing up little snippets such as how Kelly's father warned Prince Rainier of Monaco before they got married she was a [bad] driver), one can't help thinking that someone cruelly substituted Holm's oxygen tank with helium... Overall verdict? Thoroughly entertaining and an absolute must for fans of classic musicals and all that jazz..."

Enjoyable film !

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 11/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine this cast: Grace Kelly , Frankie , Bing Crosby , Satchmo and add it a Cole Porter score .
The script is more than obvious it is the typical comedy of mistakes where the good girl at last will make the right choice , plenty of smart gags and clever funny situations and double sense jokes .
Entertaining and one of my favorite films of the fifties.

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