- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,455
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Strike Up the Band, directed by Busby Berkeley, is a wonderfully entertaining 1940 Paul Whiteman musical, from WB's M-G-M catalog.
As a Warner Archive release, it's also a perfect Blu-ray representation of the film.
It's also a musical oddly stuck in a very strange time period.
It went into production in April of 1940, as war was raging in Europe, but in America "The Yanks Aren't Coming..." was seen on placards in demonstrations around the country. It just wasn't our war.
By the time it was released in September, things were continuing to heat up.
So what we have is a relatively still innocent Garland / Rooney / Freed production, that ends with Judy and Mickey atop a staircase while the American flag waves over them in an optical.
One of the miraculous Warner Archive projects, it's derived from a fine grain derived from the very worn OCN, before that element was lost in the GEH fire.
But you'd never know it.
Before other begin the "why didn't we...,," "when are they..."
I have no idea when the other three films in the Rooney / Garland Collection - Babes in Arms, Girl Crazy and Babes on Broadway are coming, but presuming that each will require work...
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Absolutely
Highly Recommended
As a Warner Archive release, it's also a perfect Blu-ray representation of the film.
It's also a musical oddly stuck in a very strange time period.
It went into production in April of 1940, as war was raging in Europe, but in America "The Yanks Aren't Coming..." was seen on placards in demonstrations around the country. It just wasn't our war.
By the time it was released in September, things were continuing to heat up.
So what we have is a relatively still innocent Garland / Rooney / Freed production, that ends with Judy and Mickey atop a staircase while the American flag waves over them in an optical.
One of the miraculous Warner Archive projects, it's derived from a fine grain derived from the very worn OCN, before that element was lost in the GEH fire.
But you'd never know it.
Before other begin the "why didn't we...,," "when are they..."
I have no idea when the other three films in the Rooney / Garland Collection - Babes in Arms, Girl Crazy and Babes on Broadway are coming, but presuming that each will require work...
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Absolutely
Highly Recommended