Petula Clark - A Sign of the Times

Rating:
Summary: AN INTERESTING CONCEPT THAT BACKFIRES
Review: Someone must have thought the idea was brilliant and, in fact, the concept is an interesting one - film a contemporary concert with British superstar Petula Clark, then edit it by intercutting her present day performance with clips of her singing the same songs on various variety shows televised in the 1960s. Unfortunately, Clark was not in top form for the two concerts that closed the Virginia Arts Festival in Spring 2001 and were captured on film for broadcast by PBS late last year, and her weaknesses are even more pronounced when compared to her work thirty-plus years ago. (This is not to say she's past her prime, since her performance in concert in Long Beach in January 2002 was brilliant - and should have been the one to be captured on film.) Cutting back and forth between Clark "now" (dressed in a succession of unflattering ensembles, with her hair a mass of disheveled curls, she frequently struggles to reach or sustain notes) and "then" (with her powerful voice wrapping itself around notes with such clarity that you can hear her dot her "i"s and cross her "t"s) ultimately leaves the viewer wanting to see more of the old black-and-white clips and less of the recent performance. Guests Lou Rawls and Richard Carpenter contribute some pleasant moments, but with much of their appearances left on the cutting room floor, their inclusion here seems almost superfluous. Far more interesting is the 30-minute documentary that chronicles Clark's incredible life and career, now in it's sixty-second year, that is tacked on at the end of the concert portion and added an extra star to my review. Even non-diehard fans will find this section - with its rare clips and commentary by fellow artists who have shared the stage with her in the past - to be a fascinating portrait of a true superstar. If only her performance here could have offered better testament to the fact that Petula Clark is truly deserving of the title "show biz legend."

Rating:
Summary: sort of nice
Review: The concert portion was filmed at the Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk in 2001, apparently for PBS (although I have never seen it on our PBS station). Petula was born before WWII, so many who remember her from the 60's will be dismayed or shocked at her current style of clothes and hair. I wish there were more of her great songs on the concert portion. As some of the background indicated, she has a distinctive voice and one would instantly recognize who was singing if one closed their eyes. She sings some songs with Lou Rawls and Richard Carpenter but otherwise she sings her trademark songs, with orchestra and choral backing. There are some very nice background pieces in the supplemental information, and clips from appearances on TV programs in the 60's and 70's, and a complete listing of her works through 2001. In her concert presentation, close your eyes and the words seamlessly blend into clips from the past, although your ears will tell a change in the quality of the sound. If you are a fan of Petula, you will probably appreciate this update to her career. If only for the music, then check out some of her released material for perhaps better sounding music, and perhaps older material. After listening to the DVD, I popped a vinyl record of her songs that I had in the 1960's, and relived some memories.

Rating:
Summary: Great concept, mediocre execution...
Review: There is and has never been a female vocalist and entertainer like Pet Clark. She has proved her versatility and range for over 60 years. It's about time she arrived on DVD. Unfortunately, her talents are not well showcased in the main concert portion of this release. As another reviewer pointed out, she has sounded better in the past, and even now she can still belt it out on a good night. I saw her perform in SUNSET BOULEVARD, and she never failed to reach the high notes, nor did she strain the way she seemed to at the Norfolk concert taped for the disc.

Particularly disappointing is the vey poor transfer to DVD from the master tape. Viewed on a large screen, the resolution is quite poor -- fuzzy on closeups, downright ugly at distance shots. There is no 16x9 enhancement for widescreen TVs, yet the concert presentation is in widescreen. This leaves even less screen for picture information, and the result is just sad.

The segments from the old TV appearances and even recent interviews with Pet are much sharper by comparison. Somebody really dropped the ball on this one. Too bad, because nobody popular in the 60's besides THE BEATLES has ever deserved a DVD time capsule more. Still, this is probably the best we will get for a long time, and the price is right. Pet Clark fans will certainly not want to skip the title, but they'll wish it was better.

Rating:
Summary: Great concept, mediocre execution...
Review: There is and has never been a female vocalist and entertainer like Pet Clark. She has proved her versatility and range for over 60 years. It's about time she arrived on DVD. Unfortunately, her talents are not well showcased in the main concert portion of this release. As another reviewer pointed out, she has sounded better in the past, and even now she can still belt it out on a good night. I saw her perform in SUNSET BOULEVARD, and she never failed to reach the high notes, nor did she strain the way she seemed to at the Norfolk concert taped for the disc.

Particularly disappointing is the vey poor transfer to DVD from the master tape. Viewed on a large screen, the resolution is quite poor -- fuzzy on closeups, downright ugly at distance shots. There is no 16x9 enhancement for widescreen TVs, yet the concert presentation is in widescreen. This leaves even less screen for picture information, and the result is just sad.

The segments from the old TV appearances and even recent interviews with Pet are much sharper by comparison. Somebody really dropped the ball on this one. Too bad, because nobody popular in the 60's besides THE BEATLES has ever deserved a DVD time capsule more. Still, this is probably the best we will get for a long time, and the price is right. Pet Clark fans will certainly not want to skip the title, but they'll wish it was better.

Rating:
Summary: I Couldn't Live without Pet, but...
Review: Unfortunately, the concert portion of this DVD is almost painful to watch. Pet seems to be struggling with her notes on many of her 60's classics (although she hits the high notes on such Broadway fare as "Tell Me it's Not True" without breaking a sweat), and this distressing performance is only exacerbated by her shockingly unkempt appearance. Straggly hair, unflattering makeup, and the ugliest costumes ever to grace a major celebrity stand in stark contrast to the svelte, swingin' Pet of the Sixties that we see in cruelly contrasting footage.

On the plus side, this DVD features a fascinating documentary on Pet's life and career, which is endlessly entertaining. Also, the bonus FULL LENGTH clips from "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Hollywood Palace" and Pet's own TV specials are worth the price of the DVD alone. Now, that's what we'd really love to see: a collection of Pet's classic performances from those great variety shows of yore.

Petula can still dredge up her old power and clarity, on record and in person. Sadly, when this concert was recorded, she was not at the top of her form. Buy this DVD for the "extras."