George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive joins the podcast to review four classic films released in January for the first time on Blu-ray. We're shining the projector light on the pre-code film "Faithless," (1932) where Tallulah Bankhead's riveting performance will grip you as we unravel the fabric of her character's tumultuous journey from riches to rags. Next, we waltz through the restoration brilliance of "The Prince and the Pauper" starring the charismatic Errol Flynn and the Mauch twins. Then we horse around with the timeless hilarity of the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races." We wrap up with the jazzy musical "A Cabin in the Sky," starring Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson, and Lena Horne, and with appearances by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. It's a fantastic start to 2024 for fans of classic films. We provide a review of each film, the restoration, and all of the extras to help you decide if you want to add it to your physical media collection.
Purchase links:
A DAY AT THE RACES (1937) Blu-ray
THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1937) Blu-ray
CABIN IN THE SKY (1943) Blu-ray
FAITHLESS (1932) Blu-ray
The Extras Facebook page
The Extras Twitter
Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog Group
Otaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv
George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive joins the podcast to review four classic films released in January for the first time on Blu-ray. We're shining the projector light on the pre-code film "Faithless," (1932) where Tallulah Bankhead's riveting performance will grip you as we unravel the fabric of her character's tumultuous journey from riches to rags. Next, we waltz through the restoration brilliance of "The Prince and the Pauper" starring the charismatic Errol Flynn and the Mauch twins. Then we horse around with the timeless hilarity of the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races." We wrap up with the jazzy musical "A Cabin in the Sky," starring Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson, and Lena Horne, and with appearances by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. It's a fantastic start to 2024 for fans of classic films. We provide a review of each film, the restoration, and all of the extras to help you decide if you want to add it to your physical media collection.
Purchase links:
A DAY AT THE RACES (1937) Blu-ray
THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1937) Blu-ray
CABIN IN THE SKY (1943) Blu-ray
FAITHLESS (1932) Blu-ray
The Extras Facebook page
The Extras Twitter
Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog Group
Otaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv
Hello and welcome to the Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies and animation and the release on digital DVD, blu-ray and 4K or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Lager host, and joining me again is George Feltonstein, and today we're going to review four classic films coming out on Blu-ray January 30th from the Warner Archive. Hi, george.
Speaker 2:Hi there, tim. How are you today Good?
Speaker 1:I'm very excited to talk about these four films.
Speaker 2:As am.
Speaker 1:I, as you might remember, I really thought that December films were fantastic. And then, starting off the new year, obviously there is six releasing in January, but we're just going to focus on the four today and they're all fantastic, but what a great start to the year. And then I was just noticing we released our announcement where you told us what is coming out in February and early March, and I was just noticing on our Facebook page that people are just there's a lot of great response about what you announced.
Speaker 2:I can't say that I was surprised by how many people were so enthusiastic, because we've seen over the years how they've been enthusiastic for the DVD releases and they've been enthusiastic and asking for these films on Blu-ray. But I was surprised just the enormous, like instant response. That was so positive, and what's great about that is not only will that hopefully ensure that these will be profitable enough to catch the eye of our finance department. More importantly, it will enable me to do more of this kind of programming of really, really fan favorites, for lack of a word. So the fan support is so important and we saw it come out in spades with the announcements and we have more announcements to come, which we'll talk about another time, but today we're going to talk about what's finished and ready to purchase, which is great.
Speaker 1:And, just before we dive in, anybody who has not listened to that announcement episode. I highly encourage you to do so. It's always exciting to hear what's coming out and plans that you have for animation with the Hanna-Barbera collection that's coming out, the classic TV with Colt 45, and then the announcement of the Looney Tunes Collection, volume 3 is a lot of fun and a lot of variety for people. So a lot more good stuff coming in later March that you and I will talk about as well.
Speaker 1:On the classic films, but, as you mentioned today, we're going to talk about the ones coming out January 30th and I thought we'd start with the oldest one first, and it's a pre-code film called Faithless and it came out in 1932 and I have to say when I saw the film, which I had never seen before, it was shockingly candid in terms of the depths that this wealthy Carol Morgan falls from in terms of her wealth. And we may have a few spoilers for those who haven't seen it, like myself. I'll try to keep it to a minimum, but I mean she goes from this spoiled heiress to becoming a mistress and, when that doesn't work out, to literally walking the sidewalk, and it wasn't quite as seemy, maybe as safe and held, but I thought it had that same pre-code candid and it was fascinating to watch.
Speaker 2:I would say for MGM. This was pretty gritty material, wasn't Warner-esque like safe and held where it was rip raw. This still has the elegance and restraint of the Metro house style, but what makes this film a little bit unique is it's one of the relatively rare green performances by Tallulah Bankhead. She had a long career, mostly on the stage Films, and Tallulah didn't usually fit well together, although there are certain exceptions to that. I think this is one of those exceptions. She had a personality that was kind of bigger than life and yet when she did work in films, here is a good example of how she could give a really superb performance. That showed why she was such a big star on the stage. You don't really get to see this side of her. I don't want to say this in a negative way, but toward the later part of her life she almost became a caricature of herself being guest villainous on Batman, which I loved, by the way. She had also a guest shot on Lucille Baldez Yarnes, our show. That were kind of like the follow-ups to Isle of Lucille's specials. There's this episode called the guest next story, where Tallulah Bankhead is dealing with Lucille Ricardo and it's very funny. But to really see what a fine actress she was.
Speaker 2:A lot of her great performances on stage were reprised on the screen by others. This was an interesting property because it was an original, unpublished story called Tinfoil and then it was written by an author named Mildred Cram and the studio was very, very interested in it and they picked it up specifically as a vehicle for Tallulah Bankhead and they cast opposite her Robert Montgomery, who was one of the major up and coming male stars, lead men at MGM. So this is a film that we did release before on DVD in the early days of the Warner archive. It was part of a Robert Montgomery collection, but we never released it on its own and with the restoration that we heartily supported as we were going through various candidates, this elevates the stature of the film and gives it a little bit more revelation to people who haven't seen it before, and I'm very excited about that. I really hope people who aren't familiar with the film take the risk, buy the disc and they won't regret it. So I love having it on the show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I often referenced some of the other pre-code that you've released over the last year. I mean there recently was, besides the Safe and Hell, there was Dance Fool's Dance with Joan Crawford, where she's a rich socialite and she has a fall to poverty as well, but her Bonnie Jordan learns the skill and becomes a reporter. Carol Morgan, she can't seem to catch a break. I mean, like things just kind of don't go her way. You know it's a little sadder story for that reason, but it's very much a love story, though I thought.
Speaker 1:You know, of these two very kind of stubborn people. Right, montgomery plays this man who is very candid about you know that he doesn't have the money. Though I was checking, you know, like he says in the film, I only have a $20,000 salary and this is what 1932. I mean, that's like the equivalent of making huge amounts of money now, and I guess that just points out just how rich you know Carol Morgan is supposed to be, that that wouldn't be enough for her. But it's really this love story of those two and that makes it quite interesting, even with the kind of the. You know, the, you know the fall into poverty and everything, and the two of them, their scenes, are really great together and I thought that was a pretty good pairing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a very strong screenplay and it moves very briskly. It's got a good pace to it so it doesn't lag. It's a tightly made film. They're really, really good in it. And this film had to.
Speaker 2:Even before the production code they also had to deal with British censorship, so they had to retakes toward the end of production or after they thought they had draft, basically to be able to meet the requirements of the British censorship board, right, and so they were literally filming up until like a month before the film was released, mgm borrowed to live a bank head from Paramount where she was under contract. But after this film she didn't make another movie for probably 12 years. She made an all-star film that was somewhat Broadway bound, called Stage Door Canteen. It was about the New York Stage Door Canteen and she has a cameo in that film. But although her film performances are rare, they are to be treasured. This is certainly one of them and, of course, probably her most famous film appearance was in Hitchcock's Lifeboat, which is a great film Not ours. There are some great films that we don't own but I happen to like her in pretty much everything that she did and we're very, very proud to you when you see Faith at Sound Blue, right at this beautiful restoration.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the restoration for a minute, because there's a couple of things that make a great restoration. Number one it's so good that you don't even notice it, right? You're just watching and you're like that's the intention.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're just watching it and you do not notice it. But because I know we're going to be talking about it at times during the film, I just try to kind of check the screen again and it's just a terrific restoration and the sound is really really good too. I didn't have any troubles anywhere hearing anything. And again, this film is what? 90, some years old here, 92 years old, 92 years old and it doesn't feel like it from the look and the sound of everything. So that was terrific. And then you have some fun extras on here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we put some different kinds of additions just to give it a little bit of a different effect, because we're on a BD50 with a high bit right, and there's still room on the disc to add some fun extras.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or the symphonic murder mystery and the transatlantic mystery. Were these part of a series of yes?
Speaker 2:there were a series of two real, if you will, basically 20 minutes, two real short subjects made at Warner Brothers that were part of this mystery series, and these are two of the entries, and I just thought it would be different than just adding a cartoon or something like that, especially with the nature of this very serious film. I thought it would be more fun to have something that is a little bit different in terms of the supplementary material, and it's an HD.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say and they're an HD, so they look terrific.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's things that people aren't used to seeing.
Speaker 1:Well, next is one of my favorites. Aero Flynn stars in the Prince and the Popper 1937. And I like at the beginning how it says to the film that this didn't necessarily happen, but it could have happened. I'm paraphrasing but it's something that could have happened and that really sets the tone, of course, for a really fun film here.
Speaker 2:Oh, without question, and it is just so well done. Aero Flynn was 25 when he made this movie and he was already a virtually instant superstar, courtesy of Captain Blood. I get the sense when I watch this movie that everyone was having a great time and that it was a great deal of fun to make. And you can see, you know, warner Brothers dedicated their finest designers, the costumes, the sets, everything is so meticulous and detailed. But instead of being a staid drama, it's a comedy. It retains Mark Twain's sensibility and, most importantly, this story has been filmed many, many times and it's kind of unanimous that everybody thinks that the Warner Brothers 1937 film is the best film translation of Twain's work, and it was about time. We want to release a lot more Aero Flynn and this seemed like a good next step until we're ready for the next one. So he's terrific in it.
Speaker 2:The Mouch twins that they hired to play the Prince and the Fawper, shall we say, they're terrific, and Warner Brothers did try to give them other work after this film. Their careers were relatively limited. I think their work holds up. I think everybody is really terrific and of course you've got Claude Reigns, who I don't think ever gave a bad performance. I just think it's a delight. And again, when you go back to the camera negative and you scan it 4K and you have a beautiful image that is so light years ahead of what we're used to seeing with a 30 year old standard definition video master that shown on television and ended up on DVD, this is a big step forward. It looks and sounds terrific.
Speaker 1:Right, the restoration part. The new master looks great and the story, like you said, it's lighthearted and the kids really pull it off. The twins here, they really pull it off. They have a smile many times. You can see that kind of twinkle. Love that. And even though it takes maybe a few minutes before Flynn appears, when he shows up it just infuses the film with another level of energy and it just picks up and that's the power of him in the film. But then you've got Claude Reigns kind of looming as this Machiavellian kind of person pulling on the strings of power here. But it's fun and what a great cast Looks great and you've got a nice amount of extras on here as well in HD.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're very happy with how this turned out. It's a terrific disc and it should be noted that this film was directed by William Kealy, who was one of the two directors on Adventures of Robin Hood. Michael Cortese obviously is more well known for his direction of Adventures of Robin Hood, but Kealy and Flynn got along very well. This is also notable as the first of 12 movies that Errol Flynn starred in in which he was supported by the unforgettable Alan Hale in a supporting role, and, of course, alan Hale was with Flynn and as little John in Adventures of Robin Hood. It's just great to see the two of them interact. They obviously were great friends, but this is the first time they work together. It's one of the films that makes us proud of this studio and the kind of way they use the Warner stock company to do all sorts of things. I really hope people enjoy this disc. It's a great deal, I know I did. When it was finally all done and I watched it. It was as beautiful as I hoped it would be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's a terrific one and, just like you said earlier, another film that people can add to their Errol Flynn collection. That looks great now in Blu-ray.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and there's more in the way Flynn fans we hear you Just stay patient.
Speaker 1:Yeah, patience is not easy to people these days.
Speaker 2:No, we want everything yesterday and all the footage that was never shot. You have to include that too. Yes, you can go on and on. Yeah, but, back to reality.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, there's really no complaints here. I mean, when we look at the next film we're going to talk about yes, people had to be patient for it, but hey, it's coming out and that's the day of the racism Mark's Brothers from 1937. I guess you mentioned it a little bit in the now, but it's been a lot of work for you to get this out to the fans and I'm sure the appreciation is going to be there because it looks great and it's just so much fun to watch.
Speaker 2:And has some of their best routines ever. I think this is well known and well discussed. Mark's Brothers made five films at Paramount. Their last film at Paramount was a financial disaster Duck Suits although it was later rediscovered in the 60s and reexamined as a great film. But they were kind of washed up in Hollywood. Irving Thalberg saw potential in them, brought them to MGM and had the unique idea to set them on the road to perform stage version of an I at the Opera to test out material before they would start filming. And I think that was a remarkably ingenious idea. But that was Thalberg and the Mark's Brothers had very hesitant feelings about doing any more films and it was Irving Thalberg having their back that made them feel comfortable about it. And at night the opera was such a huge success that it paved the way for a date the races. And Thalberg was in the middle of getting a date the races ready when he passed away. So the film was ultimately credited to producer Lawrence Weingarten. But Thalberg did oversee the development of the script and the story and this too, like an I at the Opera, went out into the hinterlands and was performed on stages live so they could test what gags really really worked.
Speaker 2:It's a little controversial with this film in the sense that there's a camp that thinks Mark's Brothers of Paramount is the best and then there's other camps that favor an I at the Opera and date the races. I happened to fall a little bit in the Paramount camp, liking Horse Feathers and Duck Soup very much, but I also love an I at the Opera and date the races and I think a date the races is probably my favorite. It is longer than some of the other films and has some musical sequences that kind of interrupt the plot story. But it was also because they really wanted to make something that would appeal to people and a lot of people liked Alan Jones and the musical numbers. But overall, as a film with really good supporting players and Groucho, chico Harpo and, of course, margaret DeMon at their very best and very, very exceptional writing, it's been such a favorite.
Speaker 2:I've seen people refer to this film as not having made back its costs and that may or may not be true because it was so expensive to make. But I can tell you that the huge continued popularity of the Marx Brothers, which has endured for decades and especially re-exploded in the early 70s when it became super, quote unquote in to like the Marx Brothers and their movies were playing in local movie houses all around the country, both the Paramounts and the MGM films. The date the racist has earned an enormous amount of money because of its popularity with audiences and has endured for over 85 years as just a comedic classic. And particularly I admire a great deal the specific routines like the Tutsi Futsi ice cream and the doctor sketch with the examination of Harpo and the examination of Margaret Dumont. Those are just unbelievable set pieces and I'm sure that they practiced those when they took it out on the road. But the net result is the film is terrific and, importantly, when you're making the leap to Blu-ray, this new master coming from the 4K scan.
Speaker 2:This is another film where the original negative burns in that horrible fire. But the safety preservation elements of second generation was very, very good quality and that enabled us to create a new master that's heads and tails better than what existed before. And you can really see it. It's immaculate. The blacks are inky, the whites don't bloom, it's just perfect to look at. The sound is really exceptional. Our sound people did a great job with the audio restoration and it's also a pretty packed disc with lots of extras.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know where to start even, george, because I'm so kind of overwhelmed by how great of a package you've put together. I mean the extras alone. It took me a while to go through them because you have so much on there. But it's not just that, it's also the quality of what you have on there, and we'll just talk about that. And then I want to get back to the movie. A couple of thoughts I had.
Speaker 1:But you've got that feature commentary by film historian Glenn Mitchell, and then the making of feature. It on your marks, get set, go, that's really good. That felt like that was like 20 minutes at least. I don't know how long it is, but it has a great, you know, like a good feature. It gives you the background on the film and gives you good context for it. And then you've got the shorts Not at the movies. There you got the classic MGM cartoons, you got the audio only. And, good Lord, let's see here the radio performance of Dr Hackenbush, the musical outtake in the Teachco Trail. Like you just have a robust package of stuff. So now was most of that ported from the DVD.
Speaker 2:Almost everything. The one thing that is that we didn't have before but we found it, was they had written a song for a date, for a date races. That was never pre recorded, it was never film, but it was written for the production at MGM called Dr Hackenbush. Groucho performed it on the radio in the 40s and 50s, I would assume, and then recorded it for DECA, I think in the early 50s on an album. But it's it's a classic Groucho type of song and yet if you listen to it you'd say, well, where would that go in a date races? Because the characters don't just break out into song. There are musical sequences in the film but they are not related to the plot, you know. So to have Groucho come into the sanitarium and start singing on Dr Hackenbush, you know that would have just not worked. So they decided that they were going to drop the song and allegedly Groucho was very happy about it because that meant that he wouldn't have to work his heart. But he loved the song and that's why he performed it. Hugo C Hackenbush allegedly was his favorite role. You know basically almost every role he played, Groucho with a different crazy name, but the whole idea of being a horse doctor was pretty funny, yeah. And so this song. We found a radio broadcast where he sang it, that very nice audio quality. So we added to what we had already assembled years earlier for the DVD. And that was particularly gratifying Because we were pretty sure that he must have performed it on the radio at some point and we found that he did and that's now added to the disc.
Speaker 2:I also should point out I think I talked about this maybe when we were announcing it but the big production number at the end, all God's shown got rhythm with Ivy Anderson. She was the vocalist of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and it's the Duke Ellington Orchestra performing behind her. They're just not credited Because if they were going to be credited, MGM would have had to pay Duke Ellington an extra $10,000. So it wasn't until we released the track on one of the CDs that I produced a while ago called Hollywood Swing and Jazz, where we took jazz moments from the various films in the library and put them in a two CD set. When I was researching that at the time, that's when we found out that it was Duke Ellington. So we were able to include that track on the CD. But I always like to tell people about that, because she was a really wonderful jazz singer. She died relatively young. She's forgotten by people who aren't jazz scholars. So enjoy her performance and the performance of everyone in that sequence. There's great dancing and it's very entertaining. So I wanted to just tip my hat to Ivy Anderson and the adrenaline choir. They're the artists in that performance.
Speaker 2:Of course, every March brothers will be had to have a point for Chico to play the piano and a point for Harpo to play the harp.
Speaker 2:But there is one point where Harpo starts playing the piano and then destroys it for comedic purposes and allegedly using the harp with inside the piano, if you will, the strings of the piano into a makeshift harp. But the song he starts to play at the piano, or the piece of music I should say he starts to play on the piano, is actually Rock Mamanov, which was then not that old. It was like modern classical music. Now it's been 87 years since this movie came out, so that music is very old. But at the time they actually had to spend a significant amount of money to get a license for Harpo to use that just for a joke. So what is terrific, as you mentioned, Tim, is the commentary really allows the viewer to get the whole background into how the film came to being. Glenn Mitchell really gets into the detail of the whole history, so it is really enjoyable and gives you an excuse to watch it a second time right away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's just so many good things here. I'm glad you mentioned the song there at the end. I thought that was a real highlight. That was just pure fun. Just a great choreography too, yeah, I'm pretty amazing, those people are so talented. And the jazz in there. I know you're a huge jazz guy, so it's really, really a great one. And then the piano, where Harpal destroys the piano. I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was amazing, very clever and it just starts breaking a little, little by little, and then every keys are flying off and eventually he pulls the harp out of there. You know, so to speak, and if you look at the background you get the, the, the people in the orchestra watching. You get some funny responses. It's, it's really good. And I don't think we've mentioned Marina Sullivan necessarily yet. No, she's in there.
Speaker 2:She should, because she's not. She ain't in the jungle. With Tarzan, mgm took full advantage of her gifts as an actress and she was a leading lady at the studio. You know cussing between Anjanu and leading lady, but she was terrific. And fortunately we had an archival interview that we had filmed with her in the 90s, I believe, to put in the making of piece, and those archival interviews are gold because even when we shot them we knew these people were not going to be with us very much longer and that's why we wanted to get their stories on film. So it's truly a delight to see her in the movie.
Speaker 2:And Alan Jones has the thankless task here as he did in the night the opera of taking the Zeppo role. You know, and the Marx Brothers were for Marx Brothers instead of three, the youngest Zeppo. He would usually play like the straight romantic lead. Well, he gave up movies after that soup didn't want to do the main work or came an agent, I believe and so Alan Jones was a rising young tenor at the studio and he pulled off that kind of supporting straight guy role very well. And then I had the opera. So he was reteamed with them in this film and I think he's really, really good. He plays the role well. His scenes with Maureen O'Sullivan are very realistic and romantic and it provides a very nice balance the story line. So I think both of them deserve a shout out.
Speaker 2:And then of course, you've got Margaret Dumont, who is Groucho's foil, and almost every movie that they did and the two of them together are great. And the funny part is she was such a lady that she didn't often get there. She didn't often get the humor that was at her character's expense, but she loved working with them. She started working with the Marks Brothers on stage. I think Groucho and Margaret Dumont did a sketch on television on the Hollywood Palace television show the mid-60s, right before she died. So they were working together one way or another for over 40 years. It's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, this is kind of a no-brainer. If you're a Marks Brothers fan that you're going to want to upgrade. In my mind it's a no-brainer because of the quality. It looks so good and you've got all those extras and the performances and it's just fantastic. We're talking about that final scene, the song and the dance sequence, and I know this is what 37. And the next film we're going to talk about is from 1943. But I thought there was some similarity there you got the Duke Ellington, you got the Jazz, you got the Dancing To the next film we're going to talk about and that's Cabin in the Sky. Do you know if there was any connection there, or is it just because of the?
Speaker 2:Well, the only connection is that Duke Ellington played, without billing underscore on date, the races Cabin in the Sky. Duke Ellington is on screen with his orchestra, and Cabin in the Sky was a big hit musical on Broadway and MGM saw the opportunity to make it into a film and bought the rights and several of the original Broadway cast members New York theater people, were cast in major roles, as well as very prominent African-American jazz artists, and they spared no expense to make a wonderful musical fable. That is just astounding. And, most interestingly, it was a first film for Vincent Minnelli. He directed sequences and filled in his first two years at MGM.
Speaker 2:He was basically an apprentice, learning everything he learned about moviemaking Because his background was theater direction and before that theater art direction. So when Arthur Frieden trusted him with this property, it didn't hurt that I believe he directed the Broadway production as well. I'm not 100% certain of that but like 99% certain of it. But this, being an all African-American cast film, was unusual for a major studio to do. Ironically, you had plans that you Fox doing Stormy Weather with Lena Horne and Bill Robinson, lena Horne being lent out by MGM in that same era, but they were unfortunately exceptions to the norm and African-Americans weren't given substantial roles in Hollywood movies at that time. They were usually playing supporting roles of minimal consequence. Or for Lena Horne, she usually didn't get to play any roles She'd be a guest performer in a nightclub and that was it.
Speaker 2:It was very frustrating for her. This gave her a chance to act. She's wonderful in it. She's the temptress Georgia Brown who tries to seduce little Joe into a life of sin. And little Joe is played by Eddie Anderson. That's known as Rochester from the Jack Benny show and that's why he's known as Eddie Rochester Anderson. And then the leading lady is the one and only FO Waters who's recreating her stage role. She's just terrific in it. Rex Ingram is in this and was also in the stage production. And then you have imported from the jazz world Duke Ellington is orchestra and Louis Armstrong.
Speaker 2:Now, Louis Armstrong doesn't have a number on screen because it was cut out of the picture for time. But the film doesn't survive. But we had the recording, so that's added to the disc is a song called Ain't it the Truth. Lena Horne was shot seeing the song Ain't it the Truth in a bubble bath and that was cut out of the film but rescued by Pete Smith to include an EP Smith short called Studio Visit. Not the whole number, but most of it. We were able to include that short on this disc so that it gave people a little more cabin in the sky along with the Armstrong's recording than they would have gotten otherwise.
Speaker 2:It's a beautiful film with great music. Some of the songs were hits from the Broadway version, like Taking a Chance on Love, and then there were some songs written for the movie, including Happiness Is Just a Thing called Joe, which also became a standard. So it was a standout motion picture. It was very successful despite the fact that MGM knew they wouldn't be able to play it in most parts of the southern part of the United States. But the film was very successful and very profitable despite the times, and since then it has taken on rightly so great stature and is looked upon as a very, very important film in the history of MGM, the history of musicals on screen and in the history of cinema period, and it gives you so many notable 20th century artists who are legends in one way or the other. I just think it's got a multitude of joys to it the storytelling, the photography.
Speaker 2:I think when we announced this, we mentioned that the tornado from the Wizard of Oz was reused in this movie, quite obviously, but to great effect. I'm just thrilled that we were able to give it this new restoration, because it needed it and it looks and sounds stunning. And I didn't mention the team of Buck and Bubbles, ford Buck and John W Bubbles. John Bubbles actually was the original sport in life in the stage debut of Porgy and Bess on Broadway in 1935. His real name was John Sublet, but Buck and Bubbles were kind of a vaudeville act and they had appeared in other films. They were in a varsity show here at Warner Brothers in 1937.
Speaker 2:But the number they do in Cabin in the Sky is just priceless. And so you get all these wonderful performers captured on film at the height of their talents. It's really remarkable. And then we have a very interesting commentary that was put together with film scholars and Todd Boyd, who is a scholar also of African American culture and looks at some of the tropes of the time in the story and puts them in context, and Eddie Anderson's widow and daughter are part of the commentary. We have comments from Lena Horne which we're used from another interview. It is very, very substantial, and the fact that we're able to bring all that context to the film in addition to the film itself is quite special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was not familiar with this film, george, and, as you said, I'm watching it and I'm seeing legend after legend after legend on screen. Just fantastic performances. I mean Ethel Waters what can you say? You know she plays Petunia, this loving wife, just so positive, believes in Joe, you know, and her voice and the songs are just so fantastic. The performances and the three of them, you know, eddie, ethel and Lena Horne. I mean what a just a powerhouse cast there and history proves out their talent and, as you said, you see them at the, at the height of their powers, and it's, you know, what a shame that our country at that time wouldn't allow or accept this film. But now, with this great restoration, I think people like myself and others can be exposed to this, to this film and these songs and these performances. And what a great package you put together. And I'm just so glad that this comes out on Blu-ray and looks and sounds so great.
Speaker 2:As am I. It's long overdue and it's very exciting to me that people will get to see it the way it was meant to be seen, and I think it's a testament to everybody involved that it holds up. It's just electric, it compels you. It's really really remarkable and I really hope people enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, as you mentioned, on the extras, I loved seeing that little Lena Horne what we might call a deleted scene or you know deleted song there in that Pete Smith studio visit piece there. That was fantastic. And then hearing Louis Armstrong sing Aint it the Truth, that was fantastic. So I mean it's just a symphony for the years and for the eyes and really a great way to finish out our discussion here today. I can't recommend this more highly. Well, as always, george, it's a great fun talking about these films with you and hearing. Just. You know all of your knowledge about these films, so thanks for sharing that with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you, tim, and I look forward to our next get together.
Speaker 1:As always, I will have purchase links in the podcast show notes and on our website For those of you interested in purchasing the titles that we reviewed today and taking a look ahead. George will be back to review the films from the 1980s, 90s and even 2000 that have been released over the last few months. There are a few titles that we just didn't get to, so we'll be talking about those. The archive guys will be back for part two of our discussion with them, and I'll have some very special guests on to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures and one of Sony Pictures collections that will have his girl Friday in it, so be talking about that film and the history of Columbia and Jerry and George will be back on to talk about Looney Tunes, collector's choice one three.
Speaker 1:So lots of good stuff ahead. So if you haven't yet subscribed or aren't following the show, you might want to do that so that you don't miss out on anything. Just a quick note about our Facebook page and group. We have nearly 8000 people who are active on our page and in our group, so it's a great place to stay on top of what we discuss in each podcast and to discuss your favorite titles and Warner archive and Warner Brothers releases with other like-minded fans, so you can find links in the podcast show notes for that too, if you're interested. Thanks for listening and until next time you've been listening to Tim Alart, stay slightly obsessed.