Reviews

I saw this on PBS many years ago - and it is an excellent documentary film! The Academy Award given to it was a deserved one. Whoever saw the film while in high school and college music classes were fortunate had an excellent teacher who chose this film for their viewing. The film gives one an excellent idea of how orchestras perform music and operate on a day to day basis. Maestro Mehta, as I remember it, was an interesting and charismatic performer and narrator. The film is well worth trying to track down for one's own collection (perhaps it may be obtained via interlibrary loan in your own community). I hope that you can find a copy.

Michael Curtiz's 1956 film "The Best Things in Life are Free" was frequently shown on Chicago television in the 1960s. I had not seen the film until it was recently broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel. Unfortunately, it was not a letterboxed print, so it was very difficult to determine the film's merits as it had the left and right margins entirely cut off. That aside, I think it was an attempt at a darkish musical with Curtiz touches and this was reflected in the script.

The film is entirely done on soundstages, no exteriors at all, so it feels kind of clunky, as many of the early Cinemascope films were as well.

I liked the actors, especially the wonderful actor and dancer Sheree North. Her best number, "Black Bottom", was badly impacted by the lack of a letterboxed print. She was very fortunate to be partnered by one of George Balanchine's finest male dancers, Jacques d'Amboise, photographed here in his dancing prime. Lucky Sheree North! Dancer (and future partner of Fred Astaire) Barrie Chase is also featured in the film.

I was amused by Ernest Borgnine's dancing, singing and acting, puzzled by Dan Dailey's lack of dancing, and liked Gordon MacRae, who played Buddy daSylva.

I liked the film, and hope to see a letterboxed print in the future.

For some reason only known to Universal Studios this film is only available in bootleg form. I think I Googled it and found a source from which I purchased a DVD. As most of the film is shot (Russell Metty) in semi-darkness the quality is not what it should or could be (in fact, at one point some of the film appears to have been copied from a film screening through a mesh).

I'm not sure why the film is impossible to locate as it's a pretty good film (maybe better than that) and the teaming of Charlton Heston and Maximilian Schell is an excellent and compelling example of mid-1960s film acting. I take it that "Counterpoint" has some sort of copyright problem and hope that Universal Studios can produce an authentic version of the film at some point.

Vincente Minnelli's "Yolanda and the Thief" never fails to fascinate me; the Technicolor, extraordinary art direction, costume design, orchestration (unfortunately the Arthur Freed-Harry Warren songs are not up to the task) and the extraordinary photography of Charles Rosher are compelling and wonderful. In defense of Lucille Bremer, the role of Yolanda was probably an unplayable one and no matter how coached she couldn't quite pull it off. Could anybody have played this part? I don't think so. (Unfortunately it appears to have ended her career at MGM.) In the dream sequence, "Angel" and "Coffee Time" she is excellent; otherwise she struggles with the part and it shows. The more veteran performers - Astaire, Frank Morgan and Mildred Natwick shore up the enterprise. As with the equally baroque "The Pirate", "Yolanda and the Thief" pushed the limits of the film technology and audience sensibilities of the time and I think they were worth it thanks to Arthur Freed (producer) and Vincente Minnelli (director).