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Tarfumes.com - Orchestra Wives
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $19.43
Your Save: $ 0.55 ( 3% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Starring: George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Glenn Miller, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Lynn Bari
Directed By: Archie Mayo
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302136210
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 6302136210
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 1993-04-21
Running Time: 98
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1942-09-04
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Editorial Reviews:
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"It's Hep! It's Hot! It's Hilarious!" reads the tagline for Orchestra Wives, a frothy slice of celluloid made in 1942 and featuring the great Glenn Miller Band. And that tagline is, well, sort of true. As is often the case with films of this genre (musical comedy with the occasional touch of drama), the story is largely superfluous: a naïve, smalltown girl (Ann Rutherford) falls for a fast-talking, smooth-playing trumpeter (George Montgomery); he proposes after spending, oh, about fifteen minutes with her (and before he even knows her name); she joins the band on tour, where the female members of the troupe, wives and singers alike, while away the downtime gossiping and rumor-mongering; trouble ensues, but all ends happily (and predictably). The main attraction here is seeing Miller (going by the nom du cinema Gene Morrison), then at the height of his popularity, and some of his fine musicians in action. Though not an innovator on the level of Benny Goodman and some of his other peers, Miller had a band that could swing like mad, and performances of tunes like "At Last," "Kalamazoo," and the rockin' "Bugle Call Rag" are a definite gas. The musicians are virtually all uncredited, but they include singer Marion Hutton, saxophonist-singer Tex Beneke, singer Ray Eberle, and the great drummer Moe Purtill (also look for Jackie Gleason, the Great One himself, in a substantial role as the band's bass player), as well as the Nicholas Brothers, an amazing dance team. The black & white transfer is nice, the music has been remastered in stereo, and the fact that Miller disappeared during a plane flight over the English Channel in late 1944 makes Orchestra Wives (which includes a commentary track by Rutherford and Fayard Nicholas, along with a photo gallery) something of a collector's item. --Sam Graham
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Note on DVD vs VHS audio
Comment: This film rates a 4/5 for the music. I own the DVD and VHS versions, and just want to confirm what some others have posted here:
DVD 'Mono' is 100% mono
DVD 'Stereo' is 100% fake stereo (and it sounds lousy)
VHS is mono in the dialogue and what appears to be the original stereo in the musical numbers plus some of the bridging dialogue
I can't speak for the Laserdisc, but the musical numbers on the VHS version sound MUCH better than either track on the DVD. If you like this movie's music enough to listen to it on its own, you owe it to yourself to find a copy. Quite an amazing blunder (cost decision?) that the original stereo is not on the DVD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: what a fun little film!
Comment: The appeal to purchase this unknown (to me) title was the real Glenn Miller and his band. And seeing him in this movie would have been enough. But the numbers are fun to watch and the music's a treat. The real-deal sax/singer, drummer, and others makes it more interesting.
Cesar Romero's playful banter with the honest butch George Montgomery (never seen him before) is a good time. George becoming all wrapped up in "Gorgeous" (Ann Rutherford) keeps the plot running on love. There's baby-faced Harry Morgan in one of his first films.
Glenn's a tad wooden as an actor, but seems to be playing himself for the most part- not an actor, but a showman with a fantastic band. No academy award material- it's just entertainment. Awesome entertainment if you appreciate this amazing music.
p.s. They just "throw in" the Nicholas brothers at the end. Those guys were incredible dancers. It's crazy how they make it look so easy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Obnoxious Anti-Pirating Ad Ruins This Release
Comment: Yes, Fox put it on this one too. If you have an all-region DVD player, you can get this from Amazon.co.uk without the ad.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Glenn Miller music
Comment: What's to say about a film featuring the great Glenn Miller Orchestra? This movie is somewhat darker than the other Miller film, "Sun Valley Serenade", but the music is great. Interestingly enough, all the Miller songs are in stereo, while the rest of the film is mono. If you like this kind of music, and want to see a period in time when bands toured the country, this is as good as it gets!
Customer Rating:
Summary: What? Mono & fake stereo sound?
Comment: I bought this recently as I've had the VHS tape for quite awhile. Well when I played my DVD it defaulted to mono so I went to the language menu & selected stereo. Instead of the stereo music I've heard many times on VHS I got some of the most awful fake stereo that goes through the whole movie. Why did Fox do this instead of using the stereo track from the VHS release? I feel like I've been cheated. Don't get me wrong the movie is great and would have been better with the stereo music tracks.
If you want stereo & happen to have a VHS player hunt up the tape on Amazon or Ebay. Otherwise buy this DVD and play the sound in mono. It's still good that way.
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