You have to love Debbie Reynolds. Whether it's her youthful zeal in "Singin' in the Rain", her over-the-top turn as Grace's ditzy diva mother Bobbi on "Will & Grace", or her daughter Carrie's vituperative portrayal of her (and Shirley MacLaine's tough-minded interpretation) in the roman-à-clef, "Postcards from the Edge", Reynolds keeps on ticking with her enduring, all-American brand of foot-stomping peppiness. Based on the 1960 Broadway hit, this overlong 1964 musical is arguably her career highpoint since it's a true star vehicle and one of the last of MGM's big musicals that yielded a profit. The 2000 DVD does the film justice with a nice print that captures the vibrancy of the colors and the bombast of the musical arrangements. However, despite a musical score from Meredith Wilson ("The Music Man"), the problem remains that it's just not a very memorable entertainment. It certainly isn't for lack of Reynolds' all-cylinders-on approach.
Directed by Charles Walters and written by Helen Deutsch, the story is a fictionalized biopic of the legendary Molly Brown, an ill-mannered, illiterate backwoods girl intent on leaving her small town of Leadville to marry rich. She meets John Brown, who for no obvious reason is smitten with her, as he teaches her to read and she entertains the miners at the local tavern. They marry, strike it rich in silver and gold mines, and move to fashionable Pennsylvania Avenue in Denver. Shunned by the social register, they go to Europe where Molly is so embraced by royalty that she brings them back to Denver. The Browns hold a big society party which turns into a brawl, and they separate. Coming back from another European trip, Molly becomes a survivor of the Titanic as she keeps the spirits of her fellow passengers up as they await rescue. Yes, this is the same Molly Brown that Kathy Bates portrays in the 1997 mega-hit.
Fresh off "The Music Man", Wilson has written a score that doesn't feature anything close to the gems of his previous hit with "Belly Up the Bar, Boys!" the only one with enough rowdy energy to be considered rousing. In a role ironically slated for MacLaine, Reynolds is rambunctious and performs with exhausting brio, but there's no getting around the fact that Molly is a superficially driven character. I also find it amusing how contemporary she looks in her final scenes. Translating his Broadway role, Harve Presnell evokes Howard Keel's baritone and barrel-chested virility as her husband. With the decline of musicals, he didn't really find success in movies until he played the doomed father-in-law in "Fargo" over three decades later. Titanic aficionados will be disappointed that this part of the story is given short shrift toward the end with recycled footage from 1958's "A Night to Remember". The DVD has the original theatrical trailer and a silly vintage short about the making of one of Reynolds' gowns. Only for fans of movie musicals.
Directed by Charles Walters and written by Helen Deutsch, the story is a fictionalized biopic of the legendary Molly Brown, an ill-mannered, illiterate backwoods girl intent on leaving her small town of Leadville to marry rich. She meets John Brown, who for no obvious reason is smitten with her, as he teaches her to read and she entertains the miners at the local tavern. They marry, strike it rich in silver and gold mines, and move to fashionable Pennsylvania Avenue in Denver. Shunned by the social register, they go to Europe where Molly is so embraced by royalty that she brings them back to Denver. The Browns hold a big society party which turns into a brawl, and they separate. Coming back from another European trip, Molly becomes a survivor of the Titanic as she keeps the spirits of her fellow passengers up as they await rescue. Yes, this is the same Molly Brown that Kathy Bates portrays in the 1997 mega-hit.
Fresh off "The Music Man", Wilson has written a score that doesn't feature anything close to the gems of his previous hit with "Belly Up the Bar, Boys!" the only one with enough rowdy energy to be considered rousing. In a role ironically slated for MacLaine, Reynolds is rambunctious and performs with exhausting brio, but there's no getting around the fact that Molly is a superficially driven character. I also find it amusing how contemporary she looks in her final scenes. Translating his Broadway role, Harve Presnell evokes Howard Keel's baritone and barrel-chested virility as her husband. With the decline of musicals, he didn't really find success in movies until he played the doomed father-in-law in "Fargo" over three decades later. Titanic aficionados will be disappointed that this part of the story is given short shrift toward the end with recycled footage from 1958's "A Night to Remember". The DVD has the original theatrical trailer and a silly vintage short about the making of one of Reynolds' gowns. Only for fans of movie musicals.