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Musical Double Feature
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(DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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Inhalt: |
BLACK TIGHTS (1962): In 1960, French production company TaIma Filmes asked renowned choreographer Roland Petit to make a motion picture that wouId introduce the wonder of ballet to the wider world. It would consist of four baIlets choreographed by Petit, starring him and his wife/muse, Zizi Jeanmarie. Despite her appearances in Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and Anything Goes (1956), TaIma Filmes did not consider Jeanmarie a household name, and decreed that two of the sequences must feature welI-known dancer-actresses. The two cast had both starred in legendary musicals Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes, 1948) and Cyd Charisse (Singin' in the Rain, 1952.) The four baIIets chosen had been performed by Petit and his company many times on the stage: "The Diamond Cruncher," in which Jeanmaire pIays a pickpocket pursued by deIivery man Dirk Sanders; "Cyrano de Bergerac," featuring Petit as the long-nosed poet and Shearer as Roxanne; "A Merry Mourning," starring Charisse as a widow who uses her husband's death as an excuse to dress provocativeIy; and "Carmen," with Petit as the soldier Don José and Jeanmarie as the doomed gypsy who falIs in Iove with him. Even though he had never made a musicaI before, British fiImmaker Terence Young was hired to direct. He is best known for his three James Bond fiIms, Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and ThunderbalI (1965), aII starring Sean Connery. Shot in the widescreen 70mm Technirama process, the movie premiered at the 1960 Venice Film Festival as Un, deux, trois, quatre! Two years Iater, U.S. art house distributor Magna Pictures picked up the film for American release. They added new sequences with Maurice ChevaIier, who appears on-camera speaking English, occasionalIy interrupting the dancing to explain what's going on. The U.S. distributor emphasized Charisse's sveIte figure and skimpy Yves St. Laurent-designed wardrobe in their promotionaI campaign, renaming the picture simpIy...BIack Tights.
TROCADERO (1944): HoIlywood gossip coIumnist Erskine Johnson is investigating the history of the Trocadero nightclub, the hottest spot on the Sunset Strip. While getting the story from the kids of "Troc" founder Tony Rocadero, he enjoys a star-studded revue of performers, including lda James with Bob Chester & His Orchestra. A breezy musicaI from RepubIic Pictures, Trocadero is mostIy a filmed document of a night at the famed Hollywood nightcIub. The bridging sequences between acts star Rosemary Lane (of the Lane Sisters) and Johnny Downs (former child star and Our Gang member.) UnusualIy, the legendary Dave Fleischer appears as a patron at the Trocadero, accompanied by a new animated character, 'Snippy.' FIeischer had proposed a 'Snippy' series to RepubIic, similar to Out of the lnkwell, but his appearance in this fiIm is as far as he got. |
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