Alexander's Ragtime Band [VHS]

Alexander's Ragtime Band [VHS]
by Henry King

Alexander's Ragtime Band [VHS]

List Price: ~~$19.98~~
Category: VHS Video
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Product details

Actor: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, Tyrone Power
Director: Henry King
Producer: Harry Joe Brown
Writer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Writer: Irving Berlin
Writer: Kathryn Scola
Writer: Lamar Trotti
Writer: Richard Sherman
Writer: Sheridan Gibney
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Compilation, NTSC
Running Time: 106 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox

VHS Movie Reviews of Alexander's Ragtime Band [VHS]

Movie Review: Great Entertainment!
Summary: 4 Stars

This was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest grossing movies for several years and it still holds up almost 70 years later. My favorite number: the rollickin "Everybody's Doing It" musical sequence with Ellen Terry in fine form, as is her partner (can't find his name). My one minor complaint: story bogs down toward end with Alice Faye fighting, fighting her love for gorgeous Tyrone Power. Couldn't understand her logic in hiding away from him. Wonderful to see a young, brassy Ethel Merman. Wish this had been filmed in Technicolor which was still very new.

Movie Review: The audio commentary is the best thing about it! It is superb
Summary: 5 Stars

This is an excellent DVD. I particularly enjoyed the audio commentary by Ray Faiola, which is superb. The commentary is so full of valuable historical information and trivia. I have listened to many DVD audio commentaries, and they range in quality from very good to very bad. This audio commentary is, without a doubt, one of the best I have ever heard. Other distributors of DVD's should listen to this audio commentary as an example of how it should be done! There are other good extras on this DVD, including an A&E Biography on Alice Faye, three deleted musical numbers in pristine condition, and newsreel footage of the London premiere.

A word about the DVD transfer quality - I have noticed that some of the other reviewers on Amazon.com have carped about the picture quality, saying that it is supposedly "terrible". Trust me, this is not true! The only defect is a faint vertical line that runs through the picture that looks like a scratch on the original negative. However, the viewer becomes so engrossed in the film that he forgets all about that faint line, and it does not distract at all. Some of these other critics who are complaining about the picture quality of this DVD - well, they just need to get a life! I can certainly live with that faint line. We're lucky this film even exists at all, as the film stock on which movies were made before the 1950s was nitrate based, which dissolved after a few decades. Because of this, many old movies have disintegrated and are totally unavailable today for viewing. So take your pick - a faint vertical line in the picture, or nothing. If you have any doubts about the picture quality, rent it first through Netflix (like I did), then buy it on Amazon.com. This DVD is a must for a serious film buff!

Movie Review: a great classic movie
Summary: 5 Stars

the movie alexnders ragtime band is a great classic movie you have everything romance, singing, drama
i would highley recommend these movie to classic movie buffs

Movie Review: Alexander's Ragtime Band
Summary: 4 Stars

Alexander's Ragtime Band

A classic Musical. I was eager to see this film after reading about the deleted scenes. While the deleted scenes are good, I did not miss them from the film at all.

Acting is good and the music great. I thought that this movie showed both Tyron Power and Alice Faye at their best. An enjoyable viewing!!

Movie Review: fine classic movie musical bursting with song and dance !!!
Summary: 4 Stars

Alexander's Ragtime Band is one of the very best musicals ever produced by Fox Studios. Of course, the numerous song and dance numbers are beautifully staged; and the songs by Irving Berlin are performed flawlessly by greats Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and a young Ethel Merman. The action moves along at a good pace and the acting was extremely convincing.

The action begins in the early 1900s in San Francisco. A young man from a wealthy society family named Roger Grant (Tyrone Power) just can't stand playing classical music even though he's very good at it. Instead, to the dismay of his family, he forms a ragtime early swing era band and calls it Alexander's Ragtime Band. He even changes his name to Alexander! That's when Alexander and his buddies Charlie Dwyer (Don Ameche) and drummer Davey Lane (Jack Haley) meet up with tough talking Stella Kirby (Alice Faye); but soon Stella is singing with the band.

Romance inevitably blossoms. Eventually, after a few misunderstandings, Stella and Alexander are in love. However, when Stella gets her big break to leave the band and go to New York to star in big Broadway shows, Alexander is furious that she would leave the band behind. Only Charlie sticks up for Stella; and in a fit of rage Alexander tells Charlie that he should also go to New York with Stella.

World War One sets in and Alexander tries to forget about Stella. After the war Alexander returns--only to find that Stella, who he still loves, married Charlie back home during the war. Alexander is depressed but Davey introduces him to Jerry Allen (Ethel Merman). Jerry replaces Stella in their band act and Alexander tries to see if he can find romance with Jerry instead of Stella.

The plot can go in many different directions from here. What happens to Stella after she becomes a huge star and marries Charlie? Is she happy with that life or does she want something else? Will Jerry Allen take Alexander's mind off Stella--at one point Alexander actually asks Jerry to marry him--how will that turn out? No plot spoilers here, folks--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!

The DVD has some rather good extras. There is the "biography channel" episode of the life and career of Alice Faye; this is very well done. We also get deleted scenes and footage of the movie's premiere in London, England. There's even an audio commentary--terrific!

My only complaint--and it's somewhat minor--is that there IS a vertical, white line "scratch" on the screen starting about 35 minutes into the picture and it never really goes away although it is less noticeable in many subsequent scenes. I will take off one star for this flaw; this will be a four star review.

Alexander's Ragtime Band is an excellent motion picture musical from the golden age of Hollywood. I highly recommend this for fans of classic musicals.

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Summary of Alexander's Ragtime Band [VHS]

The jaunty rhythms of Irving Berlin drive Alexander's Ragtime Band, an epic musical from 1938 that follows the up-and-down romance of a young bandleader (Tyrone Power, Witness for the Prosecution) and the singer he loves (Alice Faye, Tin Pan Alley) over decades. Their journey from a San Francisco honky-tonk to mass popularity is marked by classic songs like "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," "Blue Skies," "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody," "Easter Parade," and the title track. Power and Faye are a little bland, but the supporting cast--including Don Ameche (Midnight), Jack Haley (the Tin Woodsman from The Wizard of Oz), and a very young Ethel Merman--give the movie some real personality, as do a few wild dance numbers. At the end, the movie becomes surprisingly suspenseful and even a little touching. --Bret Fetzer

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