Home :: DVD :: Musicals & Performing Arts  

Ballet & Dance
Biography
Broadway
Classical
Documentary
General
Instructional
Jazz
Musicals
Opera
World Music
Gypsy

Gypsy

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wonderful wonderful wonderful
Review: It's big! It's brassy! It's downright wonderful! Ok, so Roz and Natalie don't do their own singing, so what? Sure as heck sounds like them, though and I do believe the studio blended both actresses singing voices with professional singers! A great score and wonderful performances all around. It's not Roz's Auntie Mame but she is darn good and Natalie Wood...ah, beautiful, under rated Natalie! Ok, so she didn't have much to do but what she did do was fabulous! Swathed in gowns by Orry-Kelly she glittered and glowed and outshone and outclassed everyone else. She was a true original the likes we will never see again! For a real treat watch the far superior DVD version in Wide Screen which includes 2 out takes!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 1 of my favorite movies..
Review: Let me start by saying i've seen this movie several times and think this movie has held up very well considering its 42 years old. After reading these other reviews i felt i should throw in my opinions on this movie. I cannot compare Rosalind Russell to ethel merman because i never saw the play. As far as im concerned Rosalind Russell was perfectly cast and this was her second best performance because after she was AMAZING in Auntie Mame. Theres so much trivia about this movie that most dont know so let me fill u in. Rosalind Russell was battling breast cancer while shooting this film and still went to work and did her job like a true professional. Her singing voice was partly dubbed meaning part of the songs she sang and parts were dubbed.In real life Natalie Wood had a horrible stage mother type so in every movie Natalie is saddled with a similar type of mother so thats partly why Natalie and Rosalind play so good off each other. Baby June in real life is Morgan Brittany from Dallas who in the movie was using her real namof Susanne Cupito.The older June is Ann Jillian so it seems this movie has tons of actors who were unknown in 1962.Even Harvey Korman had a bit part photographing Gypsy.Some other reviewer said they couldnt wait for the number"You gotta have a Gimmick" to end and i think the number is great and very entertaining. Watching Natalie Wood get ready in her dressing room full of art deco surroundings is so interesting to see her transform herself from a plain but pretty girl to a beautiful and sexy curvy woman. The real gypsy rose lee didnt take her clothes off either. Natalie Wood was yung and beautiful whereas the real gypsy was not pretty but she was unique and stripped with class.Natalie and Roz have great scenes toward the end of the movie and Natalie doesnt miss a note telling her mother off and to let her go and get her own life.In the end they remain as close if not closer than they have ever been because all their hard work paid off and she finally made a big success out of her daughter and gypsy proved to be 1 one person who didnt abandon rose. Natalie in her last scene is absolutely gorgeous. I love the whole movie but the last hour is the best..Some movies start out really good than turn sour by the end but this movie is the opposite and the last hour of this movie is great and the ending is fulfilling with the exception of rose not getting herbie but shes a mother first and her personal life was to take a backseat.I recommend this movie for several reasons. The dvd version is how u need to view it because its in widescreen and u see things that were missed on pan and scan. The hollywood blonds watch gypsy nervously do her first strip number which i never saw in the other version. 1 more bit of trivia.The actor who played Tulsa was in both the original play and the movie. NOBODY LAUGHS AT ME,BECAUSE I LAUGH FIRST AT ME,ME FROM SEATTLE,ME WITH NO EDUCATION,ME WITH NO TALENT AS U KEPT REMINDING ME MY WHOLE LIFE,WELL MAMA LOOK AT ME NOW, LOOK WHERE IM GOING,IM NOT STAYING IN BURLESQUE,IM MOVING MAYBE UP MAYBE DOWN BUT WHEREVER IT IS IM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE,BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IT IS MY LIFE AND I LOVE IT,I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF YOU'RE GONNA TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME..I AM GYPSY ROSE LEE AND I LOVE HER AND IF U DONT U CAN JUST CLEAR OUT NOW!!!That scene is forever memorized...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MOTHER'S COURAGE .........?
Review: Or, is it 'Mother Courage'? This highly sanitized version of 'struggles on the road' with two kids in tow and lord knows what else on the way - BASED on fact - kinda defies the Brecht epic, but ANYHOO . . . ., Miss Russell is Brilliant in this SPECTACULAR DVD Presentation - pristine print, fabulous color balance, perfect, YES, perfect sound! Ye Gods, you're there on stage, err set with the glorious ladies intact!

ORRY-KELLY's designs were never more awesome [and period perfect] superb color choices, and youngster, look carefully at the Art Direction [just check out how carefully the colors are chosen - to pull the viewer's focus directly to the Star]

And Natalie Wood? Beautiful cygnet to swan transformation - a part so slose to home! Check out THAT mother daughter scene in the dressing-room - acting?

Karl Malden as the long-suffering Uncle Jocko - Anne Jillian as the Young Baby June, the fleet footed Tulsa? Brilliant!

Great companion to Miss Russell's other Triumph - "Auntie Mame" [also costumed by Orry-Kelly]; AND Miss Wood? Double this with "Inside Daisy Clover"; AND "This Property is Condemned" [more manic mothers.....].

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Everything's Coming Up Roses!
Review: Rosalind Russel reminds of her role in "Auntie Mame". She is the head of a family of Vaudeville entertainers who has enough confidence for herself and both of her child-star-material daughters combined. She pushes both girls to keep reaching for the stars, until the older girl inadvertantly invents the strip-tease. -- This film is excellent, but in this case I would have to suggest you see the stage version instead. If you have seen neither, you are likely to enjoy this film!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Captivating and Full of Heart
Review: Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood are phenomenal in the 1962 version of "Gypsy". Based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee (who happens to make an appearance in Russell's 'The Trouble With Angels'), Russell and Wood light up the screen as the mother and daughter duo of 'Madame Rose and Her Daughter Gypsy'. It is astonishing to find any sour reviews of this film. Bette Midler's turn as Mama Rose could never compare Russell's. When Rose first enters as the hell-bent stage mother, you know she means business. She gives frighteningly realistic and terrifyingly heart-filled performance. Every number from the classic "Everything's Coming Up Roses" to the fragile "Little Lamb" draws your attention and doesn't let go until the curtain falls. THIS IS A MUST SEE! If you only see one musical in your life, it should be "GYPSY" starring Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. Buy it. Rent it. Steal it. whatever. Just watch it! You won't be disappointed!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: None too bad
Review: Rosalind Russell's singing was actually dubbed, and while it is a bit underwhelming, she's got great presence in the songs, epsecially in "Rose's Turn". I really can't say what made the producers choose her for such a vulgar role so unlike her Auntie Mame image, but she gives a pretty complex portrayal of Mama Rose. It reveals that she wasn't all hard-driven, single-minded monster, but that she actually had a heart, too. I haven't seen the Bette Midler version, though knowing her, she'll probably be good and remeniscent of Ethel Merman. I wish I'd seen Merman perform it on stage, but Roz Russell is a worthy substitute! I'm not sure the movie would have worked well had Merman done it, though. I have no doubt that she was phenomenal on Broadway, but her kind of big-'n-brash, no-holds-barred singing is better suited to the theater than the movies. She might have been to overbearing. Then again, she might have been sensational if she toned it down a little. Still, it's pretty good movie anyway. Natalie Wood is very expressive as Gypsy, really showing us her vulneribility and depth. Ann Jillian is wonderful as June, belting out those songs wiht just the right amount of gusto. Karl Malden does overact, but at least I could tell he was smitten with Rose. Overall a pretty good movie, even without Ethel Merman.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: None too bad
Review: Rosalind Russell's singing was actually dubbed, and while it is a bit underwhelming, she's got great presence in the songs, epsecially in "Rose's Turn". I really can't say what made the producers choose her for such a vulgar role so unlike her Auntie Mame image, but she gives a pretty complex portrayal of Mama Rose. It reveals that she wasn't all hard-driven, single-minded monster, but that she actually had a heart, too. I haven't seen the Bette Midler version, though knowing her, she'll probably be good and remeniscent of Ethel Merman. I wish I'd seen Merman perform it on stage, but Roz Russell is a worthy substitute! I'm not sure the movie would have worked well had Merman done it, though. I have no doubt that she was phenomenal on Broadway, but her kind of big-'n-brash, no-holds-barred singing is better suited to the theater than the movies. She might have been to overbearing. Then again, she might have been sensational if she toned it down a little. Still, it's pretty good movie anyway. Natalie Wood is very expressive as Gypsy, really showing us her vulneribility and depth. Ann Jillian is wonderful as June, belting out those songs wiht just the right amount of gusto. Karl Malden does overact, but at least I could tell he was smitten with Rose. Overall a pretty good movie, even without Ethel Merman.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent, But Lacking Something.
Review: Rosiland Russell is one of the best dramatic actresses of all time. Tragicly, this is a musical. Trouper that she is, she gives it her all, as do her co-stars Natalie Wood and Karl Malden. However, none of them can really carry a tune, and without a strong musical base, the classic Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim score doesn't get fair treatment. Luckly, everyone in this movie has spunk and dramatic presence, so it isn't a disaster. Regardless, one has to feel like this could have been much better. How could they turn down Ethel Merman for the part of Mama Rose! To hear how this show should sound, buy the original cast album.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Bad, But Not Great Either
Review: Rosiland Russell is one of the greatest dramatic actresses of all time. Tragicly, this is the musical! Roz has spunk, but when you can hear Angela Landsberry, Tyne Daly, or the immortal Ethel Merman (who created the role of Mama Rose on Broadway)on CD, it is nearly impossible to sit as Russell sings "Rose's Turn" flat. Karl Malden and Natalie Wood can't sing either, so we have a musical with no strong musical leads! Luckly, the score is good enough so that they are usually able to come off respectably, and as actors, they all do a great job. This film is watchable, but not as good as it could have been.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Russell, Wood, and Malden in GYPSY
Review: The 1962 movie version of "the ultimate musical comedy," GYPSY, has both good and bad points. Its weakest aspect is the singing. Vocally, Rosalind Russell (Rose) and Natalie Wood (Louise) are no match for Ethel Merman and Sandra Church on the original Broadway cast recording; as a result, justice is not done to Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's glorious score, which includes an extraordinary number of classic songs: "Some People," "Small World," "You'll Never Get Away from Me," "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "You Gotta Get a Gimmick," and "Let Me Entertain You," as well as "Together Wherever We Go" -- which is, unfortunately, cut from the movie. Arthur Laurents' Broadway script is one of the most concise and effective librettos ever written for a musical. By contrast, the screenplay is in places overwritten, and the movie is simply too long.
However, the movie leads give intense acting performances. Russell conveys the full magnitude of "Momma" Rose's character. Wood, stunning in appearance (especially when elegantly gowned as "Gypsy Rose Lee"), is mesmerizing in the scene in which she sees herself in a mirror and realizes, for the first time, that she is "a pretty girl." Her subsequent performance of "Let Me Entertain You" is influenced by this new realization, as she has gained confidence by the time the song is finished. As Herbie, Rose's kind-hearted but weak lover, Karl Malden is outstanding in a role that was played on Broadway by an equally fine actor, Jack Klugman. In fact, the scene in which Herbie finally asserts himself and leaves Rose (as he realizes that her only real interest in life is in being a "stage mother"), is unforgettable, and from this scene to the end the movie plays like a five-star hit.



<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates