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Thoroughly Modern Millie

Thoroughly Modern Millie

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Transfer, Bare Bones...
Review: I'm happy to finally see TMM on DVD, but was disappointed at the lack of extras. It would have been nice to include anecdotes from Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, et. al. Also, a 5.1 remix would have been preferable over the Dolby Digital (2 channel surround) one. Otherwise, no real complaints here; the remastering job is superb. Recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I NEED THIS MOVIE TO SURVIVE!!! ...
Review: If any of you really want to live a full, long , and healthy life, you pretty much need this movie then. It has comedy, action, romance, and wonderful little characters crammed into one darling little musical. I LOVE IT!!! It is of course, my all time favorite movie, even above The sound of music!! Julie Andrews, obviously is the reason this movie turned out so lovely. The Roaring 20s is the setting for this film. It is how "Everything today is thourghly modern" and Julie Andrews is the star, Millie. It's co-starring Mary Tyler Moore, James Fox, Carol Channing, John Gavin, and Beatrice Lilly. Julie Andrews just lights up the screen whenever you see her. The film also has cute, catchy songs such as "The Tapioca", "Baby Face", "Jazz Baby", and of course "Thourghly Modern Millie". there is also this really cool jewish wedding song, but i dont know how to spell it. Well, i could go on and on about this movie, but i can only have like 3000 words or something, so i'll stop here and you guys will have to watch the movie. And remember, i am very serious when i say this, You guys will not live a full, complete, or happy life if you do not see this movie. Well, with that said, i will have to leave you now, but dont worry. there will be other reviews on other days.
Toodles, my friends!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Razzzberries!
Review: If you like silly movies, but don't really like visual humor, this is a better choice. It's a great movie and you see more in it each time you watch. I loved the way you get to see Julie Andrews' thoughts (as Millie) in little signs held up like the silent movie era. Those of Chinese ancestry might not appreciate some of the humor, but you must remember this is a movie about the 1920's and the term politically correct had not been coined! And it's so zany, there's really nothing harmful in it. Millie is a secretarial school graduate, determined to get a job and marry her boss. The songs are outstanding and the casting was inspired. Mary Tyler Moore plays a rich-girl-going-out-into-the-world to perfection and words can't describe Andrews as Millie (check out the opening song, where she buys a devise designed to make "full fronted" girls have the flat look that is in vogue. As she buys a pack of cigarettes--we must be modern at all costs-- it comes undone and the vendor does a double take as her "front" expands quickly!) Carol Channing is her usual crazy self as Muzzie, who has instructors teaching her everything from fighting to flying (with romance on the side!)and she does a great song about jazz. This is a great movie!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Modern Millie is the bees knees on DVD
Review: It's a cotton candy movie and the second act drags, but you've got to give Millie credit - it's silly, it's tuneful, and by golly it was done by people who know how to carry off a song and dance.

TMM is a spoof of the music, movies, and mood of the 1920's. It's about Millie who moves to the big city from the mid-west to become a "modern" with bobbed hair and short skirts. Her plan is to marry her boss, but she meets this heiress turned actress, and then Millie becomes the object a plucky young man's affection. Oh and there's a Chinese landlady and an eccentric society matron, and ...

Does this make any sense? Of course not. Here's the real Millie story. In the mid-1950's a very young Julie Andrews first appeared on Broadway as the ingénue in another 20's spoof called "The Boy Friend". Movie producer Ross Hunter wanted to film that musical, but he lost the rights to another studio, so he set off to create his own 20's romp using songs of the day rather than an original score. By that time Julie Andrews was the biggest star in Hollywood so Hunter had the script tailored to her. Add in top stars of the day from Broadway and television and combine them with talent like director George Roy Hill behind the camera what do you have?

You have an hour and a half of riveting entertainment spread out over a three hour show. But let's start with the positives. The screwball concept works. For example, every so often Julie Andrews will look at the camera, and the film cuts to a title card with what she's thinking, a la silent film. Then there's the madcap elevator at the hotel which only works if you tap dance.

It seems the movie's simplest musical numbers are its most inspired. Mille swoons as she lays eyes on her boss, (played by the square-jawed John Gavin) and an off-screen choir breaks into phrases from the Hallelujah chorus. John Gavin and Mary Tyler Moore fall in love and the soundtrack plays "Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life" as they gaze at each other. Millie realizes that her boss loves someone else, and her heartbreak is underscored by "Poor Butterfly" as she bravely tries to go on with her job. It's all an over-the-top homage to silent films where the background music had to carry the inner life of the character.

Julie Andrews was never funnier as the clueless but determined Millie. Beatrice Lillie is a joy to watch. She deftly handles both the physical and verbal silliness and still remains the evil (boo! hiss!) Mrs. Meers. The others are all good, though not quite as successful. Carol Channing is Carol Channing. You get to see the zany comic timing that has won her many fans on the stage. James Fox, primarily known for British drama, works hard but seems a little out of his league here and Mary Tyler Moore can't seem to wring much life out of her poor little rich girl character.

But the film seems weighted down with too many musical numbers and too much plot. There is a big Jewish wedding number that has nothing to do with anything, other than it gives Andrews a showy song to sing and allows the movie to capitalize on the popularity of "Fiddler on the Roof". The second half suddenly becomes another movie as Millie and friends try to get the goods on a white slave trade ring. By that point it's the movie that's taking itself too seriously, and interest begins to wane.

If you like musicals, screwball comedy, and / or Julie Andrews, you must see this film - you'll have a great time. Even if you don't fit into any of these categories, you won't find Mille thoroughly monotonous, and you may be surprised.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: .....RAZZZZZ-berries!!!!!!! ....
Review: JULIE ANDREWS IS JUST JUST JUST SMASHING in this odd, but charming little vehicle ~ elegantly restored in all it's campy Glory!

Great sound, great print! [Odd that the Trailer is in full screen and rather dated ...]

However, the plot [!] has neither rhyme nor reason, and the concept just borders on being brilliant - giving 'birth' to the New musical decades later ..... but IT is utterly charming!

Mary Tyler Moore is the 'Virgin with a Purpose' , James Fox is the snappy 'Blonde-Boy-Toy' - perfectly matched with Miss Andrews [who is also in addition to being vocally perfect - is an excellent - straight-on comiedienne]. John Gavin as the hunky 'Boss' bordered by Beatrice Lillie as Mrs. Mears, complete with lethal chop-sticks! Not forgetting Carol Channing who ignites the screen with her unique and still robust flair for entertainment [and the occasional gem!]

Gowns are superb by Jean Louis [Golden Age of Tinseltown here!!]

Not to be missed for sheer fun!

Bravo to the restoring team!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BY JINGO, THIS ONE'S THE BEE'S KNEES, SIMPLY TERRIF!!!!
Review: Julie Andrews was never in finer form for this light-hearted and cute spoof the twenties. She proves that the she has a wonderfully tongue in cheek sense of comedy beneath her cheerful screen persona. Supporting cast great, especially the marvelous Carol Channing, Mary Tyler Moore, James Fox, and Beatrice Lillie as Mrs. Meers with the idiosyncratic Chinese expressions. The musical numbers great, comic scenes funny, especially when Julie and James Fox do the homage to silent slapstick comedy on the building ledge. First-rate entertainment all the way.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Thoroughly Entertaining Millie
Review: Julie Andrews. Carol Channing. Mary Tyler Moore. Beatrice Lillie. What a cast!

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (TMM) is a hoot. Director George Roy Hill keeps the pace fast and the mood light. He has Julie Andrews look into the camera often for funny effect. Usually a silent movie card is flashed onscreen when she does this, telling the audience Millie's thoughts ("Her beads hang straight.")

The characters are broadly drawn, which makes the movie fun. Beatrice Lillie is the arch-villainess, and her severe makeup and beehive hairdo are hilarious. Mary Tyler Moore strikes the right chord as the virginal Miss Dorothy.

There are several highlights for me: The opening number when Millie changes from 'plain Jane' to 'thoroughly modern'; any time a character has to dance in the tempermental elevator to make it go up or down; "Jazz Baby" with Carol Channing.

About the disc: The print of TMM doesn't look that good. The movie was released in 1967, so it's over 35 years old. Some of the special-effects shots (even the wipes and transition scenes) look grainy. The colors could be more vibrant. This is probably the best print in existence, still one wishes the quality were better. The sound tended to 'peak' in sections too.

TMM fans will be happy to know that the overture and intermission music have been restored.

TMM is a funny, entertaining, old-fashioned film with great performances. Julie Andrews seems to be having a great time vamping it up. Enjoy it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Truly Delightful!
Review: May be short on plot, but if you've never seen Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore tap dance in an elevator, you NEED this movie. Thoroughly Modern Millie is Thoroughly Enjoyable!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Julie Andrews for once not only nice but funny also !
Review: One of the most sparkling movies I have seen in a long time! Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing make this movie worth watching over and over again! If you did not like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, you'll change your mind instantly by watching this 'fun' movie musical with lots of great songs and 'toe-tapping' tunes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Silly & Lighthearted Musical Comedy Spoof
Review: Several years before George Roy Hill directed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), "The Sting" (1973), "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975) and "The World According to Garp" (1982), he directed a lesser-known, lighthearted musical comedy with an all-star cast in 1967 called "Thoroughly Modern Millie". The film is about a single woman named Millie Dillmount (Julie Andrews) living in NYC in the early 1920's in a hotel for "young single women". The hotel is managed by an older and strange woman named Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie). Millie's goal is to find a secretarial job to work for a single man that she will be able to marry. When Millie's neighbor across the hall in the hotel seemingly moves out unannounced, another young single woman appears to take her place: Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore). Claiming that she is an orphan, Miss Dorothy quickly gains unwanted notice from Mrs. Meers, who is involved in some unsavory practices with her two Asian assistants (Jack Soo & Paul Marita). Shortly thereafter, Millie and Miss Dorothy meet a single and seemingly happy-go-lucky gentleman named Jimmy (James Fox), who takes a liking to Millie; but Millie has her eye on her new boss, Trevor Graydon (John Gavin). Eventually, Jimmy introduces Millie and Miss Dorothy to a dear friend of his, a wealthy woman who loves to enjoy life named Muzzy (Carol Channing).

Not taking itself too seriously, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" does have several funny moments that include a bit of slapstick humor. The acting is not serious, but enjoyable since the film is intended to be lighthearted and a spoof. As for the songs, my rating (out of 5 stars) for each one in the film is listed below.

* "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (4.5, sung by Julie Andrews). Good opener.
* "Jimmy" (4, sung by Julie Andrews). A fun song.
* "Tapioca" (3.5, sung by Julie Andrews). A silly song.
* "Jazz Baby" (4, sung by Carol Channing). One of Carol Channings two songs.
* "Jewish Wedding Song" (3.5, sung by Julie Andrews). Seemed out of place and doesn't contribute to the plot.
* "Poor Butterfly" (3.5, sung by Julie Andrews). Okay.
* "Baby Face" (3.5, sung by Julie Andrews). A more well-known song.
* "Do It Again" (3.5, sung by Carol Channing). A silly song for Carol Channing.

Overall, I rate "Thoroughly Modern Millie" with 4 out of 5 stars. Fans of Julie Andrews or Carol Channing will more than likely enjoy this film a lot.


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