By Steven Suskin
28 Jan 2007

Glamour Girls is the name given to a new five-DVD collection released by Kino International. Marlene Dietrich graces the cover, and she certainly classifies; the glamour quotient of Margaret Sullavan, Lucille Ball and Jeanette McDonald is another question, but no complaints as the box includes three pretty good films.

"Love Me Tonight" (1932) ranks high among the finest film musicals ever made, especially if you're restricting the discussion to scores written specifically for the screen. This is where composer Richard Rodgers and director Rouben Mamoulian first met; the pair would later collaborate on Broadway's Oklahoma! and Carousel, forging a new art form in the process. It is safe to say that they began their work at integrating story and score here, on the streets of Paris (or at least on the Paris soundstage). Larry Hart wrote the lyrics, and those Rodgers & Hart songs included three all-time classics, "Lover," "Mimi" and "Isn't It Romantic?" Not just great songs, but effective in the context of the film. Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette McDonald star, with tasty support from Myrna Loy.

The specific interest to musical theatre fans of the "Glamour Girls" box comes not only from "Love Me Tonight." Also included are two films that were later adapted into Broadway musicals. Bad Broadway musicals, which makes the films worthy of study. Why turn this or that movie into a musical? That's an age-old question, one that they are still asking today. "The Good Fairy" (1935) was one of the first movies to be adapted as a Broadway musical. This is a delightful and somewhat daffy tale of a Parisian orphan on the loose, who over the course of 96 minutes makes out all right. She didn't make out all right on Broadway, that's for sure. Make a Wish they called it, in 1951, and probably wished they hadn't. The film, though, shines, with Margaret Sullavan as the girl; William Wyler as the director; and Preston Sturges, in the days before he became a director, providing the very funny screenplay. Herbert Marshall co-stars, with Frank Morgan among the cast.

Probably the finest of the films is Josef von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel" (1930), the film that catapulted Dietrich to stardom. Serious cinemaphiles be warned that this is not the original German classic; an English-language version was simultaneously filmed, and that's what we get in the "Glamour Girl" set. (Kino released a two-disc "Blue Angel" DVD back in 2001, which includes both versions.) Some misguided Broadway types took "The Blue Angel," moved it from Berlin to New Orleans, called in Duke Ellington to write the tunes, and dubbed it Pousse-Café (1966) — one of Broadway's legendary fiascos. The film is dated but nevertheless arresting; the performances, not only from Dietrich but from Emil Jannings as well, are unforgettable.

The other "glamour" films are "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" (1951), with Ava Gardner and James Mason; and "Lured" (1947), in the Jack-the-Ripper genre, featuring Lucy — before Ricky, but with George Sanders and Boris Karloff. You can buy the three recommended films separately, but the box makes a far more economical purchase (unless you want the German-language "Der Blau Engel").

****

On a non-musical note, Fox has just released the current Oscar-contender Little Miss Sunshine. This is a smart, touching and canny comedy, kind of like "Smile" meets "The Full Monty" featuring an anti-"Annie" (and Broadway's own, crusty Alan Arkin). The DVD gives us not only the film but four alternate endings, as well. Warmly recommended as good, clean, vulgar fun.

(Steven Suskin is author of "Second Act Trouble," "A Must See! Brilliant Broadway Artwork," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)