never seen this film look better!!
this hal roach studios dvd release of 'second chorus' has to be the best restoration of this film so far. not top of the line spectacular, but very, very good!! on the back cover it says the dvd is "mastered from original 35mm nitrate camera negative", and indeed the images are clean and crisp, no spots, specs, or lines. those who have seen the inferior prints of this film in the past will be pleasantly surprised. it's well worth the money.
for me, astaire is hollywood royalty; a peerless dancer and entertainer. all of astaire's body of work is great --- he never fails to deliver fresh, original interpretations of music through his singing and dancing. his films should be in every dvd library, that's why THIS DVD EDITION is such a find.
and while the film itself is not a classic, it does have some wonderful moments, starting with the toe-tapping tune by the artie shaw orchestra that accompanies the opening credits. this, along with "i ain't hep to that...
second chorus
If you're looking for a classic Astaire and Rogers movie this is not it. But there is something here worth hearing and seeing.
This is one of those swing era films that can be of real interest to someone who loves the music and musicians of that time. In this movie Astaire and Burgess Meredith are dueling trumpet players. The sound track has the trumpet playing of Billy Butterfield and Bobby Hackett. Also there is the best band of the era, Artie Shaw.
This can be a very rewarding film, if you look and listen for what it really has to offer.
The Movie Has Some Redeeming Qualities, And One Great Song
What did Fred Astaire have to say about Second Chorus? "The worst picture I ever worked on."
Looking at it now the movie has some redeeming qualities, but on balance we have a Fred Astaire musical with only two real dance numbers, and the second is near the end of the movie, plus it's a musical with only three songs...and each of the songs has a different composer with Johnny Mercer doing all the lyrics. The musical has the earmarks of an idea that went wrong. Still, if you're an Astaire fan it's worth watching all the way through once, and then using your fast-forward clicker several times to the three musical numbers, which are good.
Trumpet player Danny O'Neill (Fred Astaire) heads The University Perennials, a reasonably successful college band made up of musicians who deliberately fail each year to graduate. His best friend and competitor is a fellow trumpet player, Hank Taylor (Burgess Meredith). They both fall for Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard), whom they...
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