G mpaa in Music & Musicals DVDs & Videos

Description:

Shot in Salzburg against the majestic Bavarian Alps, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is considered one of the greatest screen musicals ever made. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise), the film, based on a real family and their true events, tells the story of a young postulate, Maria (Julie Andrews), who, after proving too high-spirited for the Mother Abess and other nuns, is sent off to work as a governess to seven unruly children. The Von Trapp family is run, in military style, by the seemingly cold-hearted Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a lonely widowed naval officer. Seeing how badly he and his children need companionship, he proposes to the Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a calculating, mutual friend of beloved family friend Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). It is the baroness who soon realizes that it's Maria--with her warmth and love for the children--the captain really loves. It is nearly bliss for the newly formed family who loves to sing together--except for the cloud looming over their beloved Austrian horizon: Hitler is ascending to power, forcing Von Trapp to decide whether to join the Nazi party--which he loathes--or force his family to leave their home forever. One of the most memorable scores ever written (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) and breathtaking performances by Andrews, Plummer, and the seven children mark this classic as one of the world's most favorite films.

Description:

The first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movie to be released straight to the silver screen, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 finds the cast of the beloved earlier installments, all students at East High, dealing with the ups and downs of senior year. While all the characters have their own dilemmas, the central issue, as in past films, is the relationship between sweethearts Troy (Zac Efron), the captain of East High's Wildcats basketball team, and the bookish Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), who face the possibility of imminent separation when Gabriella gets a chance to attend college early. With this third outing in the wildly popular Disney series, director Kenny Ortega takes full advantage of HSM3's big-screen leap, staging musical numbers that go far beyond the scope of the movie's predecessors (see the lavish "I Want It All" by resident East High diva Sharpay, played by Ashley Tisdale). While the series regulars are in fine form and a few new characters are introduced, the film really belongs to Efron, who gets the most screen time and is clearly on a trajectory for stardom beyond HSM. Rather than hold back their budding leading man, the creators and producers of HSM3 let Efron take the spotlight, much to the movie's advantage. Designed to welcome the few viewers who might be unfamiliar with HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, SENIOR YEAR certainly offers plenty of valedictory excitement, and will leave fans giddy with delight.

Description:

Based on the hit Disney television show, HANNAH MONTANA/MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT TOUR 3-D provides dedicated fans an all-access pass to the Best of Both Worlds concert tour. Leaving behind character Miley Stewart, the concert instead splits time between pop phenom Hannah Montana and Cyrus, who assumes the role of Montana's "ordinary girl" alter ego. Footage of the concert is interspersed with numerous behind-the-scene vignettes. Among these are pre-tour rehearsals--orchestrated by HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL impresario Kenny Ortega--and a touching jam session with father Billy Ray Cyrus. Also included are ecstatic fan testimonials and the film's most humorous moment, in which fathers race each other in high-heeled shoes for the chance to win concert tickets and backstage passes. Montana/Cyrus is joined on stage by the Jonas Brothers, who whip up the crowd with their own brand of high-energy pop. The film employs most of its 3-D tricks in the opening credits then pulls back the reins to focus on giving viewers the next best thing to actually being at the show. Filled with fist-pumping anthems ("Girls Night Out," "Nobody's Perfect," and the title track), BEST OF BOTH WORLDS remains true to the television show's dual personality theme: through good times and bad, every girl is her own superstar. For fans and parents alike, it's a wholesome and empowering message wrapped up in pure infectious fun.

Description:

In this Sidney Lumet-directed Motown rendition of THE WIZARD OF OZ, Diana Ross plays a soulful Dorothy, accompanied by a cast peppered with R&B stars such as Roberta Flack and Luther Vandross.

Description:

Based on the hit Disney television show, HANNAH MONTANA/MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT TOUR 3-D provides dedicated fans an all-access pass to the Best of Both Worlds concert tour. Leaving behind character Miley Stewart, the concert instead splits time between pop phenom Hannah Montana and Cyrus, who assumes the role of Montana's "ordinary girl" alter ego. Footage of the concert is interspersed with numerous behind-the-scene vignettes. Among these are pre-tour rehearsals--orchestrated by HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL impresario Kenny Ortega--and a touching jam session with father Billy Ray Cyrus. Also included are ecstatic fan testimonials and the film's most humorous moment, in which fathers race each other in high-heeled shoes for the chance to win concert tickets and backstage passes. Montana/Cyrus is joined on stage by the Jonas Brothers, who whip up the crowd with their own brand of high-energy pop. The film employs most of its 3-D tricks in the opening credits then pulls back the reins to focus on giving viewers the next best thing to actually being at the show. Filled with fist-pumping anthems ("Girls Night Out," "Nobody's Perfect," and the title track), BEST OF BOTH WORLDS remains true to the television show's dual personality theme: through good times and bad, every girl is her own superstar. For fans and parents alike, it's a wholesome and empowering message wrapped up in pure infectious fun.

Description:

A magical, musical nanny brings a breath of fresh air into the stuffy Banks household in turn-of-the-century England. Overstuffed with gaiety, this children's fantasy is filled to the brim with wonderful dance numbers and outrageous songs (such as the seemingly unpronounceable "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"). The film's seamless blending of live-action with animation was a marvel in its day. This is Andrews' film debut and Darwell's last film appearance. Academy Award Nominations: 13, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Academy Awards: 5, including Best Actress--Julie Andrews, Best Original Score, Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee"), Best Editing, Best Special Visual Effects. Gold Collection Edition features "Hollywood Goes to a World Premiere."

Description:

Young Dorothy is bored of her gray life on a Kansas farm. When her house is whisked away by a tornado, it lands somewhere over the rainbow in a Technicolor world, and Dorothy knows she's not in Kansas anymore. This beloved, incomparable classic based on L. Frank Baum's turn-of-the-century novel is a musical and visual candy store. Dorothy's journey to find a way back to Kansas has permeated American culture and film for decades and remains one of the best musicals and children's stories ever filmed.

Description:

In this Sidney Lumet-directed Motown rendition of THE WIZARD OF OZ, Diana Ross plays a soulful Dorothy, accompanied by a cast peppered with R&B stars such as Roberta Flack and Luther Vandross.

Description:

The first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movie to be released straight to the silver screen, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 finds the cast of the beloved earlier installments, all students at East High, dealing with the ups and downs of senior year. While all the characters have their own dilemmas, the central issue, as in past films, is the relationship between sweethearts Troy (Zac Efron), the captain of East High's Wildcats basketball team, and the bookish Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), who face the possibility of imminent separation when Gabriella gets a chance to attend college early. With this third outing in the wildly popular Disney series, director Kenny Ortega takes full advantage of HSM3's big-screen leap, staging musical numbers that go far beyond the scope of the movie's predecessors (see the lavish "I Want It All" by resident East High diva Sharpay, played by Ashley Tisdale). While the series regulars are in fine form and a few new characters are introduced, the film really belongs to Efron, who gets the most screen time and is clearly on a trajectory for stardom beyond HSM. Rather than hold back their budding leading man, the creators and producers of HSM3 let Efron take the spotlight, much to the movie's advantage. Designed to welcome the few viewers who might be unfamiliar with HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, SENIOR YEAR certainly offers plenty of valedictory excitement, and will leave fans giddy with delight.

Description:

Set in Paris at the turn of the century, this delightful Lerner and Loewe musical, based on a story by Collette, follows a precocious French girl as she is groomed into a would-be courtesan, blossoming into a stunning woman. The story provides plenty of opportunity for Minnelli and MGM to pull out all the stops in its first musical production shot on location. Paris and Leslie Caron never looked lovelier, and Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier are so French, no? Songs include: "Gigi," "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," and "Ah, Yes, I Remember It Well." Academy Award Nominations: 9. Academy Awards: 9, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best (Adapted) Screenplay.

Description:

An energetic con artist convinces the citizens of a small turn-of-the-century community to form a boy's band - which he plans to lead. This classic Hollywood musical features such hits as "76 Trombones," "Ya Got Trouble," and many more. Academy Award Nominations: 6, including Best Picture. Academy Awards: Best Adapted Score.

Description:

"Just about the best Hollywood musical of all time," wrote Pauline Kael about SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. After years of honing his skills on the vaudeville stage, hoofer Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) has finally reached the top and become a swashbuckling star of the silent silver screen. Then the self-satisfied celebrity has his confidence shattered when ingenue Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) dismisses film actors as "shadows" without substance. After getting over the insult, he falls hard for her--much to the consternation of his costar, the sexy, selfish Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who wants Don all to herself. But Don has career troubles too. The wild popularity of THE JAZZ SINGER has studios scrambling to change from silent films to talkies, and Lina's shrill voice and Don's stiff acting left the preview audience roaring with laughter. There's only one way to save the movie and their careers: turn THE DUELLING CAVALIER into a musical, with Kathy secretly dubbing in Lina's lines and songs. But can they hide the truth from Lina?

Description:

A musical biography of British music hall and Broadway star Gertrude Lawrence, STAR! is a convincing and entertaining film, featuring an impressive score. The immensely talented Julie Andrews plays Lawrence, a beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely independent woman who will do anything for her career (including leaving her daughter and husband). Her early adventures in the music hall chorus and her later involvement in British high society are chronicled in this lush film that, though it received several Academy Award nominations, was not appreciated by the public until some 30 years after its original showing, when it was rereleased. One of the most interesting, heartwarming, and perhaps most famous aspects of Lawrence's story was her lifelong friendship with playwright Nöel Coward (Daniel Massey, the real-life grandson of Coward), which the film accurately portrays. STAR! also shows the lowlights of Lawrence's life, including her strained relationship with her daughter Pamela (Jenny Agutter), her involvement with such men as American actor Charles Fraser (Robert Reed) and English nobleman Sir Anthony Spencer (Michael Craig), and the financial difficulties she amassed from her extravagant lifestyle.

Description:

Young Dorothy is bored of her gray life on a Kansas farm. When her house is whisked away by a tornado, it lands somewhere over the rainbow in a Technicolor world, and Dorothy knows she's not in Kansas anymore. This beloved, incomparable classic based on L. Frank Baum's turn-of-the-century novel is a musical and visual candy store. Dorothy's journey to find a way back to Kansas has permeated American culture and film for decades and remains one of the best musicals and children's stories ever filmed.

Description:

Rogers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical, adapted from Margaret Landon's fact-based novel and the 1946 film ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM, makes a spectacularly successful move to the silver screen in the Yul Brynner tour de force THE KING AND I. Brynner, reprising the role he'd polished to perfection on stage, plays the blustering, headstrong Siamese potentate who meets his match in the form of Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr), the prim and proper English widow he's hired to oversee the rearing of his huge, unruly flock of children. Director Walter Lang (TIN PAN ALLEY) presents THE KING AND I, one of the most popular musicals in cinema history, as a dizzyingly bountiful Technicolor feast. Kerr (aided during songs by the overdubbed voice of Marni Nixon) contributes a dynamic performance that is every bit the equal of Brynner's transcendent, career-defining turn, for which he won an Academy Award. The delightful score, which also garnered an Oscar, includes three perennial favorite show tunes: "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Getting to Know You," and "Shall We Dance?"

Description:

An innovative example of modern techniques in moviemaking, this famous rock opera depicts the last week of Christ's life. Norman Jewison (MOONSTRUCK; IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT) directed this thrilling adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, starring Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot. Among the classic songs in the film are "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Hosanna," and "King Herod's Song (Try It and See)." The song score was nominated for an Academy Award.

Description:

This acclaimed film version of Peter Stone's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which was one of the last big-budget studio musicals, stars William Daniels (TV's Saint Elsewhere) as John Adams and Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin. A rollicking, anachronistic treatment of the creation of the Declaration of Independence, with the American forefathers conducting themselves with uncharacterstic--and comical--indignity. Academy Award Nominations: Best Cinematography (Harry Stradling, Jr.)

Description:

When Elvis stopped making movies in Hollywood and returned to making music following his triumphant 1968 comeback, he gathered together a group of hot Nashville cats to back him up. THAT'S THE WAY IT IS follows Elvis as he prepares to return to the stage and follows him up to his opening nights. This is a compelling, fascinating, and highly amusing musical documentary where Elvis' overall talent and musicality come through while watching him rehearse, jam and arrange his list of songs. Simultaneously celebrating and poking good-natured fun at the Las Vegas era of Elvis's career, director Denis Sanders often just sits back and lets the performances speak for themselves. The film includes the King preparing offstage for his 1970 tour and culminates in his opening night performance in Las Vegas. The film includes more than 30 of the King's fabulous songs.

Description:

It's hard to believe THE GODFATHER filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola was also responsible for this charming, whimsical musical. Fred Astaire stars in his last full-length musical role as Finian McLonergan. In Ireland, Finian manages to steal a pot of gold from unlucky leprechaun Og (Tommy Steele). Finian and daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) journey to Rainbow Valley in America and join the townspeople there in defending themselves against the racist Senator Billboard Rawkins (Keenan Wynn). The buried gold becomes the lucky crock that helps Og, Finian, and the townspeople fulfill their dreams.

Description:

A cut above the average life-on-the-road-with-the-band film, ABBA: THE MOVIE emerged in 1977 at the height of the Swedish band's enormous global fame. Shot in Australia by fellow Swede Lasse Hallstrom (CHOCOLAT, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES), the film is ostensibly designed to give viewers a glimpse at the off-stage life enjoyed by the members of Abba, as well as the on-stage euphoria of their live shows. But there is also a fictional plot neatly interwoven into the action, with Hallstom's cameras following an Australian DJ named Austin (Robert Hughes), who tries to clinch an exclusive interview with the band as they tour his native country. This proves to be a problematic task, with the security surrounding Abba continually thwarting Austin as he attempts to get close to the elusive Swedish foursome. A great way to experience the frenzy that surrounded one of the biggest bands in the world during the 1970s, Hallstrom's film affords some glorious screen time to the music of Abba, while also encompassing a look at the media circus which slavishly followed them around.

Description:

A collection of some of Hollywood's greatest moments on film brought together for MGM's 50th anniversary. Features highlights of some of the biggest stars, like Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and many others. Includes THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! PART 2,THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! III, and THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT: TREASURES FROM THE VAULT.

Description:

A collection of some of Hollywood's greatest moments on film brought together for MGM's 50th anniversary. Features highlights of some of the biggest stars, like Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and many others. Includes THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! PART 2,THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! III, and THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT: TREASURES FROM THE VAULT.

Description:

A rousing film version of Lionel Bart's musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic novel, OLIVER! stars Ron Moody as Fagin and Mark Lester as the eponymous hero. The orphaned Oliver escapes to London from a dreary workhouse and is taken in by a gang of young pickpockets who work for master thief Fagin while learning their trade. When he's falsely accused of stealing from the gang by the fearsome Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), Oliver begins to realize that he has more friends than he had thought.

Description:

In the Oregon Territory, mountain man Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel, acting and singing with gusto) comes to town to sell his crops and woo a woman to be his wife, succeeding with spirited Milly (Jane Powell), who is tired of feeding and waiting on so many men at the local inn. Her dreams of keeping house for just one man are shattered when she discovers that Adam shares his pigsty cabin with six brawling brothers. Milly's good cooking and stubborn nature whip the young men into shape and inspire them to seek women of their own. But after a disastrous barn raising during which the brothers snare the attention of the town girls only to be taunted into fighting with the town men, Adam suggests his brothers forget gentle methods of love and follow the actions of the Roman with the Sabine ("Sobbin'") women. The kidnapping of their six sweethearts spurs Milly to throw the men out of the house, but enforced proximity caused by winter and the brothers' good intentions just might help love bloom again.

Description:

That red-headed orphan is back in this made-for-TV movie based on the classic Harold Gray comic strip. This time she and her faithful canine pal Sandy are up to hijinks in jolly olde England after Daddy Warbucks is called over to be knighted by the Queen.

Description:

Jeff Blitz's Academy Award-nominated documentary is an affecting, inspiring look at eight American children as they make their way to compete in the 1999 National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Defying all stereotypes and categorizations, the spellers that Blitz chooses to focus on run the ethnic and socioeconomic gamut. Emily is from wealthy New Haven, Connecticut, while April, the daughter of a bar owner from Pennsylvania, spends her summers studying. Harry is an intense, quick-witted boy from New Jersey, while Ashley is the African-American daughter of a single Washington, D.C. mother. Gifted Florida resident Nupur is the daughter of Indian parents while Ted hails from a small Missouri town where physical prowess is prized over mental ability. The daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, driven Angela comes from Texas, and Neil is a well-prepared East Indian boy from the wealthy California coast. Blitz provides several minutes at home with each child before we accompany them to the National Bee, where we are swiftly reminded that only one of them has a shot at winning. As engrossing and emotional as the best fiction, one comes away from SPELLBOUND with the feeling that--whether victorious or not--the children whose tales it tells are walking into limitless futures.

Description:

The masterful Cirque du Soleil performs this intriguing, visually fascinating look at human development--from birth to maturity--using several important sites from throughout human history as backdrops for their incredible acrobatic feats. Marvel as the show begins with the formation of the universe, on to the birth of a Universal Child as it travels through the rites of adolescence, then on to manhood and old age. This awe-inspiring feast for the senses is sure to captivate the imagination of your entire family!

Description:

Van Dyke's charming as a daydreaming inventor who fixes up an old jalopy and, with the vivid imaginations of his two children and a lady friend, it is transformed into a flying, floating wonder car that carries them to a magical kingdom. Inspired by an Ian Fleming idea.

Description:

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT presents a fictionalized day in the life of the Beatles as they give a performance on a live television show. Filmed just a month after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, this film--the Beatles' first--introduces us to the unique personalities of each member of the band. The film opens with the Fab Four boarding a train mobbed with adoring young fans (mostly women) as they attempt to travel to the television studio in London. The antics of the band during rehearsals and makeup application provide a large part of the comic material in this feature, though there are other moments of pure hilarity. The unscripted vignette featuring a hangover-suffering Ringo is especially funny, particularly when he is arrested and risks having to miss the broadcast. None of this goes unnoticed by the director of the show, played by Victor Spinetti, who went on to become a recurring cast member in Beatles movies. As the clock ticks away dramatically, our heroes manage to free Ringo from jail and sneak onto the stage in the nick of time, delighted in the knowledge that they have nearly driven the director mad in the process. Arguably the first music video ever made, this faux documentary and its shooting style have been a tremendous influence on nearly every rock and roll feature since.

Description:

The Lerner and Loewe musical about the legendary Court of King Arthur based on T.H. White's book The Once and Future King. The film is not as good as the show or the book, despite a big budget and big cast. Academy Award Nominations: 5. Academy Awards: 3, including Best (Adapted) Score, Best Costume Design.