Rating: 
Summary: LACK LUSTER MOVIES IN GLORIOUS TRANSFERS
Review: "Birth of the Blues" is the rather unispiring tale of a New Orleans musician who 'discovers' jazz. "Blue Skies" is the completely uninspired musical that mixes low melodrama with some incredibly awful tunes from Irving Berlin. Neither film can lay claim to any sort of greatness, although "Blue Skies" does contain three very dynamic performances. The first of these is Fred Astaire's brilliantly staged rendition of "Puttin' On The Ritz" in which he nimbly dances with 10 copies of himself, using the split screen process. The second musical number of merit is the Astaire/Crosby duet, "A Couple of Song And Dance Men" in which both performers lampoon the other's artistry through a series of skits. The final spark of greatness is "Running Around In Circles", a tender poignant ballad that is wholly wasted on the tripe of this movie's dead end plot.
TRANSFER: "Blue Skies" was shot in Technicolor, and although the original camera negative is nearly 70 years old, there is little in the way of age related artifacts to suggest that much time has passed. Colors are exceptionally bold, vibrant and well balanced. Black levels are...well, black and contrast and shadows are gorgeously rendered. There are no digital artifacts to worry about, although a bit of video noise is present. "Birth of the Blues" is somewhat more problematic. A B&W production, there is a visible grain structure evident throughout the film, as well as scratches and other age related artifacts. In a few scenes there is slight shimmering and edge enhancement. The audio for both movies is MONO but very nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: NONE! What were you expecting?
BOTTOM LINE: If you're a Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire fan than you might want to consider adding this DVD to your collection. While the film's are nothing to write home about, their transfer quality - particularly "Blue Skies" is worth taking a second look!
Rating:
Summary: LACK LUSTER MOVIES IN GLORIOUS TRANSFERS
Review: "Birth of the Blues" is the rather unispiring tale of a New Orleans musician who 'discovers' jazz. "Blue Skies" is the completely uninspired musical that mixes low melodrama with some incredibly awful tunes from Irving Berlin. Neither film can lay claim to any sort of greatness, although "Blue Skies" does contain three very dynamic performances. The first of these is Fred Astaire's brilliantly staged rendition of "Puttin' On The Ritz" in which he nimbly dances with 10 copies of himself, using the split screen process. The second musical number of merit is the Astaire/Crosby duet, "A Couple of Song And Dance Men" in which both performers lampoon the other's artistry through a series of skits. The final spark of greatness is "Running Around In Circles", a tender poignant ballad that is wholly wasted on the tripe of this movie's dead end plot.
TRANSFER: "Blue Skies" was shot in Technicolor, and although the original camera negative is nearly 70 years old, there is little in the way of age related artifacts to suggest that much time has passed. Colors are exceptionally bold, vibrant and well balanced. Black levels are...well, black and contrast and shadows are gorgeously rendered. There are no digital artifacts to worry about, although a bit of video noise is present. "Birth of the Blues" is somewhat more problematic. A B&W production, there is a visible grain structure evident throughout the film, as well as scratches and other age related artifacts. In a few scenes there is slight shimmering and edge enhancement. The audio for both movies is MONO but very nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: NONE! What were you expecting?
BOTTOM LINE: If you're a Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire fan than you might want to consider adding this DVD to your collection. While the film's are nothing to write home about, their transfer quality - particularly "Blue Skies" is worth taking a second look!
Rating:
Summary: LACK LUSTER MOVIES IN GLORIOUS TRANSFERS
Review: "Birth of the Blues" is the rather unispiring tale of a New Orleans musician who 'discovers' jazz. "Blue Skies" is the completely uninspired musical that mixes low melodrama with some incredibly awful tunes from Irving Berlin. Neither film can lay claim to any sort of greatness, although "Blue Skies" does contain three very dynamic performances. The first of these is Fred Astaire's brilliantly staged rendition of "Puttin' On The Ritz" in which he nimbly dances with 10 copies of himself, using the split screen process. The second musical number of merit is the Astaire/Crosby duet, "A Couple of Song And Dance Men" in which both performers lampoon the other's artistry through a series of skits. The final spark of greatness is "Running Around In Circles", a tender poignant ballad that is wholly wasted on the tripe of this movie's dead end plot.
TRANSFER: "Blue Skies" was shot in Technicolor, and although the original camera negative is nearly 70 years old, there is little in the way of age related artifacts to suggest that much time has passed. Colors are exceptionally bold, vibrant and well balanced. Black levels are...well, black and contrast and shadows are gorgeously rendered. There are no digital artifacts to worry about, although a bit of video noise is present. "Birth of the Blues" is somewhat more problematic. A B&W production, there is a visible grain structure evident throughout the film, as well as scratches and other age related artifacts. In a few scenes there is slight shimmering and edge enhancement. The audio for both movies is MONO but very nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: NONE! What were you expecting?
BOTTOM LINE: If you're a Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire fan than you might want to consider adding this DVD to your collection. While the film's are nothing to write home about, their transfer quality - particularly "Blue Skies" is worth taking a second look!
Rating: 
Summary: Blue Skies...smilin' at me...
Review: -and I'm smilin' right back. Three cheers to "Universal" for doing this double feature justice. Both films look and sound wonderful, better than ever. Clearly done with care. "Birth of the Blues" is great fun, featuring excellent and exciting small group dixieland jazz playing. "Blue Skies" is a little hokey-but who cares? Great numbers with Bing and Fred.Not to crazy about leading lady Joan Caulfield though. I just wish they would have cast a girl with more charisma...like Rita Hayworth. Imagine, Fred and Rita dancing in technicolor...don't get me started. Of course, this film contains one of Fred Astaire's best routines-the amazing "Puttin' On The Ritz". Is there anyone on this earth who could rival Astaire's class, timing and smoothness factor in this number? No,there isn't!
Rating:
Summary: Blue Skies...smilin' at me...
Review: -and I'm smilin' right back. Three cheers to "Universal" for doing this double feature justice. Both films look and sound wonderful, better than ever. Clearly done with care. "Birth of the Blues" is great fun, featuring excellent and exciting small group dixieland jazz playing. "Blue Skies" is a little hokey-but who cares? Great numbers with Bing and Fred.Not to crazy about leading lady Joan Caulfield though. I just wish they would have cast a girl with more charisma...like Rita Hayworth. Imagine, Fred and Rita dancing in technicolor...don't get me started. Of course, this film contains one of Fred Astaire's best routines-the amazing "Puttin' On The Ritz". Is there anyone on this earth who could rival Astaire's class, timing and smoothness factor in this number? No,there isn't!
Rating:
Summary: Bing Crosby in top form; don't take the plots too seriously
Review: BIRTH OF THE BLUES (1946) is a somewhat skewed but nonetheless well-intentioned retelling of the history of jazz. Bing Crosby and Jack Teagarden lead the Basin Street Hot Shots, the (fictional) first all-white jazz band in New Orleans. Implicit in the plotline is the idea that it took an all-white band to really make jazz find a mainstream audience... Goofy and slow in parts, a bit stilted, but good clean fun, with Bing still looking pretty young. Lots of weird racial stuff -- buck-and-wing dancing, eye rolling and the like... Still, there are some great performances and it's worth it all just to hear Mary Martin say, "I want to learn to sing like the colored folk." Yikes.In BLUE SKIES (1946), Bing sings and Fred treads in this sketchily-plotted musical, which pits Astaire and Crosby against one another, rivals for the hand of the blonde, domestically-minded Joan Caulfield. This frothy postwar frolic has a wild Techncolor exuberance, with crazy explosions all over the pastel-lined spectrum (and an odd tilt towards purple). The sad thing, though, is that this isn't a very good movie -- the plot is razor thin, barely a hint of an excuse to stage a bunch of great (and lesser) Irving Berlin tunes. Some numbers fall flat (and Billy DeWolfe's interminable, painfully unfunny drag routine brings the movie to a screeching halt)... Still, Fred Astaire's killer performance on "Puttin' On The Ritz" is the stuff that legends are made of: as he's angelically hoofing his heart out, a curtain parts behind him, revealing a phalanx of distant, miniature Astaires, keeping time with the big guy. A technical and aesthetic triumph! This flick might be worth it for that routine alone, although Bing gets in some choice vocal performances as well. A dud scriptwise, but it still has two of the greatest performers of the 20th Century, both still at their peak.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST AT THEIR BEST!
Review: BLUE SKIES: Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire at their musical and "glorious technicolor" best, singing and dancing to a plethora of Irving Berlin classics. What could be better? Certainly not the insipid copycat F. Sinatra and G. Kelly MGM musicals made a few years later! The "originals" are usually better, and this is surely true in this case. Astaire's dancing to "Puttin On the Ritz" is sublime, and Bing's crooning of "All By Myself" and "You Keep Coming Back Like A Song" to Joan Caufield has, if you look closely, an added debt of feeling for a usual more stoic Bing. Why? It has recently been revealed that Bing and Joan Caufield were having an affair when the movie was made! A must for and any movie musical fan's collection.
BIRTH OF THE BLUES: Although a somewhat standard black & white movie musical typical of the late 1930s, the movie contains a bevy of standard songs and jazz numbers performed by a top notch cast. Moreover, the movie is "spiced" by a young Mary Martin. Bing and Mary's duet to "Wait Til The Sun Shines Nelly" is the highlight of the movie.
IN CONCLUSION, A GREAT AND A BONUS GOOD MOVIE FOR A LOW BARGAIN PRICE. A GREAT AND MUST BUY!
Rating: 
Summary: Blue Skies OK, but not as good as you might think.
Review: BLUE SKIES: It wasn't absolutely horrible, but there are other ways to waste your time. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are some of the greatest performers we've ever had; they lead you through the musical singing and dancing to the wonderful Irving Berlin scores. The plot, however, was a soap-opery, over long story, frought with tragedy and sentimental moments, that somehow failed to touch me, because, let's face it, the characters weren't terribly likeable.
Rating:
Summary: REAL TREAT
Review: I was a bit hesitant when ordering this item - it smelled pretty much of cheap production values and low quality. The happier I am to inform everybody that we are dealing with a double bill DVD that boosts high picture/sound quality. Sure, there are no extras, but two good and perfectly preserved films with about 50 good songs should be quite enough. Marvellously priced product, and I'm on my way to order more from the same series.
Rating:
Summary: Blue Skies...smilin' at me...
Review: I, too, was hesitant to purchase this DVD (or any in the Universal series), both due to the low price and that it's a double feature. However, the quality of both the picture and sound is superb. "Blue Skies" is a wonderful movie musical. While the plot may not glue you to the screen, it's not a bad story of boy meets girl, boy wins girl, boy loses girl, and boy wins girl back again. The Irving Berlin tunes selected are top notch, and actually enhanced my appreciation of a few of the songs. "A Couple Of Song & Dance Men" is great fun with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, and once again demonstrates that Crosby could succeed in dance numbers, as long as you aren't expecting perfection. "Puttin' On The Ritz" really led me to respecting Astaire's dancing far more than I did when I was young. He really could out-dance Gene Kelly! Billy DeWolfe really isn't so bad, in fact he has his moments as a second banana. If you like musicals and the technicolor look, it will be difficult for you not to enjoy this film! "Birth of The Blues"...well, I'm glad it was part of a double bill and not the sole reason for the DVD. There are some mildly entertaining musical numbers and a few laughs.
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