laureatedvd.com

[Rego]

Does anyone know if there are plans to release any of the Gracie Fields
musicals on dvd

[Rego]

At long last most of Gracie Fields British films will be release on DVD in a new box set on February 11th next year the titles include

Love, Life and Laughter (Dir. Maurice Elvey) (1934): An impoverished author and a cabaret girl each have their dream of success, but are happy to wake to each other and reality.

Sing As We Go (Dir. Basil Dean) (1934): When the textile mill closes, putting her out of work, Gracie finds herself experiencing all of the amusements of Blackpool.

Sally In Our Alley (Dir. Maurice Elvey) (1931): A working class girl who waits on tables in a London coffee house sings to the customers to keep them entertained.

Looking on The Bright Side (Dir. Graham Cutts / Basil Dean) (1932): Manicurist Fields falls for songwriting hairdresser Dolman whose heart belongs to a gorgeous singer.

Queen of Hearts (Dir. Monty Banks) (1936): Gracie Perkins is a seamstress who is mistaken for a wealthy patroness of the arts!

Look Up And Laugh (Dir. Basil Dean) (1935): Gracie rallies fellow stall-holders when a department store chain threatens to takeover and demolish their business.

The Show Goes On (Dir. Basil Dean) (1937): The rise of British entertainer Graci Fields from humble mill girl to the most popular and highest paid performer in Great Britain during the Depression era is chronicled in this biographical drama.

I'm not sure what the quality of these DVD's will be like because some of the original archive material held is rather aincient, and certainly when it was released on VHS did show its age.

[Ken Barnes]

Thanks Rego for mentioning this release. Gracie Fields, one of the biggest stars Britain ever produced, has long been ignored on video.
This box set will certainly rectify that situation.

[Rego]

As you have said, one day most films will be released on DVD.

It does seem a pity that most of the early British films have been so badly ignored, and are poorly represented on DVD.

An interesting fact about some of the early Gracie Field films is that J B Priestly wrote the screen play, and a lot of the locations used in these films are a real time capsule. eg. The views of London and Blackpool as they were in the early thirties.

Although recently two of the Crazy Gangs films have been released, none of the Jessie Matthews films are availabe which is surprising as these along with the films of Anna Neagle where perhaps some of the best British musicals ever made, and stand up really well.

Not sure if the latter of these have slipped into the public domain, but it is the sort of project that laureate do so well any chance ?

[Ken Barnes]

Thanks, Rigo, for pointing out the social significance of some of the early British musicals and comedies of the 1930s. I do agree that more attention should be paid to them. As you say, my company would be a good outlet for these films. Unfortunately, two factors prevent this from happening. Firstly, the availability of decent prints as well as the establishing of accurate copyrights and,secondly, the fact that my services these days are more occupied on a consultancy basis by major film companies rather than as a producer. The production side of Laureate is now mainly occupied on commercials.

Sad to say that the main video companies are more dedicated to putting their special features into NEW films rather than classics. In other words the video business is becoming more and more like the pop world and only interested in what is current. The pop world,of course, is now in deep trouble because of the continuing decrease in CD sales and perhaps the DVD world is in danger of going the same way.

I am preparing an article to go in the next Laureate News column regarding the current state of the DVD market and the impending effect of High Definition and the current format war.

Watch out for this.

Regards
Ken

[JoelCairo]