Warner MOD adds some musical related titles

[tazber]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 1:52pm

LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (1962) REMASTERED Before it was an award winning musical with a score composed by the grandson of Richard Rodgers, Light in the Piazza saw life as the last of producer Arthur Freed's grand productions. Adapted from the Elizabeth Spencer novel by screen script great Julius J. Epstein, Light in the Piazza has all the hallmarks of excellence that Freed productions were known for - minus the singing, of course. Olivia de Havilland stars in this deeply moving romantic drama, centered around a mother's unique, heartbreaking dilemma. Margaret Johnson (de Havilland) is touring Italy with her charming, vivacious daughter Clara (Yvette Mimieux), when Clara meets a very eligible Italian bachelor (George Hamilton). Her daughter's happiness would seem secure, were it not for a devastating family secret - a secret that Margaret feels compelled to reveal.



THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969) REMASTERED Jean Giraudoux's classic dramatic comedy of the absurd gets the big screen treatment in a truly all-star spectacle. Katherine Hepburn heads the cast as the Madwoman of the title, who embarks on a mission to save the world from sanity. Among the stars joining the epic quest are Yul Brynner, Danny Kaye, Donald Pleasence, Charles Boyer and a young Richard Chamberlain. Jean Renoir's nephew Claude Renoir shared Director of Photography duties on the film with Burnett Guffey, bringing the same lush color work he brought to Renoir's The River.

This of course became Dear World



THE TRAVELING EXECUTIONER (1970) REMASTERED Stacy Keach electrifies in this startling black comedy about an itinerant electrocutioner. It's 1918, and Jonas Candide travels the South with a portable electric chair, offering up his services to various authorities at a price of $100 a jolt. The ex-carny tends to his charges with his own brand of tender loving care, dispensing his own philosophy and consolation, assuring them that the Fields of Ambrosia await them on the other side of their ordeal. Jonas' life of lethal loquacity becomes undone after he is contracted to bring his ministrations to a pair of siblings and he finds himself drawn to one of them. Bud Cort also excels in this too rarely seen dark jewel of a film, playing Jonas' bumbling assistant.



This last one is the source material for a huge musical flop in London called The Fields Of Ambrosia. The score great but you have to wonder why anyone would think this would make a good musical.

Still, the OLCR is worth seeking out.

Light In The Piazza

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 3:07pm

For those of you who haven't seen "Light in the Piazza," you should really check it out. It's emotionally powerful (as is the musical).

EDIT: By the way, the clip they have posted looks terrific! Remastered and in widescreen.

Updated On: 10/4/11 at 03:07 PM