By Steven Suskin
07 Nov 2010

Speaking of The Sound of Music [Fox], here it is again. The 45th Anniversary of the 1965 motion picture brings forth a Blu-ray edition of the family favorite. If the hills were alive before, they are now gloriously spread across your widescreen. This is one of those cases, in fact, where the DVD releases have never looked as good as they ought to have in the first place. Fox has rectified this, and how. The new edition contains two Blu-ray discs (as well as a newly remastered DVD). Blu-ray bonuses —some old, some new — include audio commentaries with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and director Robert Wise; "Musical Stages: Creating The Sound of Music," an all-new interactive "backlot tour" filled with featurettes of all sorts; "A City of Song," a virtual map of the Salzburg locations; screen tests, interviews, photos and more. The grandest bonus is "Your Favorite Things: An Interactive Celebration," which will keep Sound of Music fans busy for hours and hours. If you're going to do a grand 45th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of one of the most popular and most beloved movies, this is the way to do it.

For diehard Sound of Music fans — you know who you are — Fox is also releasing a more substantial "Limited Edition Collector's Set," which includes a 100-page scrapbook, a reproduction of the original souvenir program, and a music box which plays — what else — "My Favorite Things."

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Also making a long-awaited debut on Blu-ray is the 35th anniversary edition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show [Fox]. The Rocky Horror Show began on the London stage in 1973, written by Richard O'Brien (who had been in the West End casts of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar). Hair is where he found Tim Curry, who first made a name for himself as Dr. Frank N. Furter. The offbeat musical moved from the Royal Court to Kings Road, and ultimately to the Comedy Theatre on the West End. Multiple productions began to spring up, including a 1974 stint at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Show was filmed in England later that year, and then headed to Broadway in March 1975. This was expected to be such a major hit that the Shuberts allowed the producers — looking to create a suitably raffish venue — to tear out the boxes of the venerable Belasco, which was very much not in demand at the time. It has taken until now for the boxes to be reconstructed. Finally, the Belasco — thanks to a glorious $14.5 million restoration — is once again whole. (See Playbill Video's recent tour of the restored Belasco. )

The Broadway Rocky Horror was a bust, closing after six weeks. I found the thing to be sophomoric, myself; and neither "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" — which has had a cult following since it first appeared — nor the recent Broadway revival has changed my opinion. Never having been enthused by the "Time Warp," the new Blu-ray doesn't exactly have me dancing in the aisles (or the crypt). But I should not be counted as the target audience. I expect fans of Rocky and his gang will love it. The disc comes in DigiBook packaging, with said book chock full of colorful photos. Included are both the U.K. and U.S. versions of the film, along with myriad bonus features. "Rocky Horror" fans are likely to have a rocky holiday, singing along and riffling through all those interactive goodies. Way past midnight, in groups perhaps, with some of 'em no doubt in costume.

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Back in 2006, Warner Home Video released "Astaire and Rogers: The Complete Film Collection," a glorious 12-disc box including ten movies, a documentary, an audio CD, premiere press kits and all sorts of goodies. That was, and remains, quite a collection for Astaire and Rogers fans, with a corresponding price-tag. I enjoy Astaire and Rogers — or Astaire (and Rogers) — satisfactorily well, but I've never thought much of most of the ten films. My four favorites — "Swing Time," "Top Hat," "Shall We Dance" and "The Gay Divorcee" — I quite like and can watch repeatedly. The rest of them, though, I find only intermittently interesting.

Somebody at TCM presumably agrees with me, and what do you know? They have now released an Astaire and Rogers entry of their Turner Classic Movies Greatest Classic Films Collection [Warner]. Two double-sided discs containing "Swing Time," "Top Hat," "Shall We Dance" and "The Gay Divorcee"! And including what seem to be all the extras that accompanied these films in the deluxe "Complete Film Collection." At, needless to say, a price that is a mere fraction of the 12-disc affair.

Yes, this release is relatively utilitarian, but hey — devoted A&R fans no doubt already possess the whole enchilada. People who enjoy the better films but couldn't see their way to splurge for "Carefree" and "The Barkleys of Broadway" can now get what I consider to be the Best of Astaire and Rogers. Sit and watch "Swing Time" again, why don't you? No, you won't be in heaven — that's I. Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek," in "Top Hat." Nor will you be impelled, most likely, to kiss while you're dancing — that's "The Continental," in "The Gay Divorcee." But you'll get one of the best collection of songs written for the screen ever, from Mr. Kern and Ms. Fields, and you'll want to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and watch "The Way You Look Tonight" again.

(Steven Suskin is author of the recently released Updated and Expanded Fourth Edition of "Show Tunes" as well as "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations," "Second Act Trouble" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at ssuskin@aol.com.)

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