The Red Shoes (The Criterion Collection)

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Manufacturing

Kiss Me Kate (3DBD)When two squabbling ex-marrieds are cast as squabbling Renaissance romantics in a musical The Taming of the Shrew, life imitates art, art imitates life – and it all proves no musical comedy imitates Kiss Me Kate, adapted from the 1948 Broadway smash that features 14 peerless Cole Porter songs, choreography by Bob Fosse and Hermes Pan, and an all-star cast including Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ann Miller.]]>

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: WATERS,ETHEL

Cabin in the Sky (DVD)Hollywood's first all-black film since The Green Pastures tells the vibrant fable of rascally Little Joe, torn between the love of his good wife Petunia and the wiles of good-time bad-girl Georgia Brown...and caught in a tug-of-war between emissaries from the Lord and Satan. How can virtue triumph over evil? Well, as Petunia says, "Sometimes when you fight the devil, you gotta jab him with his own pitchfork." Debuting movie director Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris, Gigi) and stars Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington are more than a match for the devil in this musical treasure. With a soundtrack of dazzling standards, including "Taking a Chance on Love" and "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe," Cabin in the Sky is a joyous classic.]]>

Manufacturer: Lions Gate Brand: Lions Gate

Kelsey Grammer brings Ebenezer Scrooge to life in this musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale. A musical setting for Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a natural, and this holiday TV-movie (based on the Broadway version) generously crams music into its quick spin through the venerable story. Kelsey Grammer uses his musical pipes (and some of his "master thespian" style of acting) as Ebenezer Scrooge, the man whose miserliness needs no introduction here. There's some experienced musical-comedy talent in the cast, from small roles to large, with expert stuff from Jesse L. Martin (who was in Rent, the Broadway musical, before he joined the Law & Order team) as the ghost of Christmas Present and Jane Krakowski as the ghost of Christmas Past. Jason Alexander, another TV person with a background in stage musicals, does deftly as the chain-rattling Jacob Marley's ghost (and his number is one of the most tuneful of the mixed bag of songs). Alan Menken, the veteran tunesmith of Beauty and the Beast fame, contributes the music, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime); the bigger numbers are spirited but a little rote. (The Styne-Merrill songs from a wackier version of the story, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, are a more memorable bunch.) This version moves so quickly across the main points of the story that Scrooge's redemption feels a tad rushed, but maybe the songs are supposed to be the point. Still, the razzle-berry dressing is missed. --Robert Horton

Manufacturer: Feature Films for Families Brand: Feature Films for Families

"Returning hurt for hurt never helped anybody," young Bonnie said. But what is she to make of the hurtful Ribaldi who has moved into Castle Gate and threatened to evict her family? When she goes to work in his mysterious old mansion, she helps him see that the ugliness he holds inside is far worse than his hideous appearance. And she soon sees that this "beast" is a master singer and teacher who can help her unlock the beauty of her own voice. As Ribaldi teaches Bonnie to sing, her kindness melts the ice around his heart to reveal goodness and rare wisdom that has been buried for years. Although the children of the town discover his beautiful soul, some of their parents allow ugly rumors to fuel the fires of their hate. Don’t miss the stirring finish as this musical masterpiece builds to a crescendo.

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Manufacturing Model: Lili

Orphan Lili Daurier joins a carnival and falls under the spell of its star, a suave magician. But it is the show’s crippled, embittered puppeteer who truly loves Lili, a love he can express only through his puppets. “It is not often that the word ‘enchanting’ can accurately be applied to a musical,” Clive Hirschhorn wrote in The Hollywood Musical, “but it was the best way to describe Lili, as well as Leslie Caron’s genuinely touching performance.” Nominated for six Academy Awards®, Lili offers sentiment without sugar, simplicity without banality and a lyrical heart that beats to an Oscar®-winning Bronislau Kaper score highlighted by Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo and an imaginative sequence of Caron dancing with her beloved puppets come to life. Mel Ferrer, Jean Pierre Aumont, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Amanda Blake and Kurt Kasznar also star.This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Brand: 20TH Century Fox

Disc 1 Side A: Beach Blanket Bingo Disc 1 Side B: How To Stuff a Wild Bikini Disc 2 Side A: Beach Party Disc 2 Side B: Bikini Beach Disc 3 Side A: Fireball 500 Disc 3 Side B: Thunder Alley Disc 4 Side A: Muscle Beach Party Disc 4 Side B: Ski Party The sun will never set on Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, The recording star from Philadelphia and the former Mouseketeer give a master class in chemistry in five Beach Party films that make up the bulk of this swinging eight-film box set. Beach Party (1963) helped to usher in a new wave of teen exploitation films that were far more fun and frolicsome than the rock and roll and juvenile delinquent films that preceded it. Frankie rents a beach house for himself and Annette's Dolores. He is stunned to learn that she has gotten cold feet and allowed the whole gang to hang out there. So Frankie decides to "dig somebody else," and Delores takes up with Robert Cummings, an anthropologist studying the sex lives of teens. All ends happily, and chastely. Harvey Lembeck, whose credits include Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, introduced his recurring series role as bumbling biker Eric Von Zipper. Surf guitar god Dick Dale provides accompaniment. Vincent Price pops up as Big Daddy to say, "Bring me my pendulum, kiddies. I feel like swinging." Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) is the magnum Party opus as Frankie goes sky-diving, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid, Linda Evans sings, Paul Lynde is snide, Don Rickles insults, and Frank...