Rare Musicals Showcase Three Genres

Kino on Video has gone into the vaults to unearth three rarely seen musicals: “New Orleans,” “Carnegie Hall” and “Black Tights.”

“Carnegie Hall,” available only on video ($25), is a pedestrian 1947 tribute to New York’s famed classical music venue. Directed by cult favorite Edgar G. Ulmer (“Detour”), “Carnegie Hall” tells the story of an Irish immigrant (Marsha Hunt) who pushes her son to become a classical pianist. The movie is worth seeing, though, for the performances of such classical legends as Lily Pons, Rise Stevens, Artur Rubinstein and Leopold Stokowski.

Also from 1947 is “New Orleans” ($25 for VHS, $30 for DVD), a wan tale of the birth of jazz starring the anemic Arturo De Cordova as a proprietor of a Bourbon Street gambling casino that is the hangout for African American musicians. Though the plot is a snooze, the movie showcases the music of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, who sings the wonderful “Farewell to Storyville.” The DVD features an essay on the making of the film and two musical shorts.

“Black Tights” ($25 for VHS, $30 for DVD) is Terence Young’s colorful 1960 ballet extravaganza. This lavish tribute to dance contains four ballets staged by Roland Petit’s Ballet De Paris. Filmed in Technicolor, “Black Tights” stars Cyd Charisse, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmarie. Maurice Chevalier supplies introductions. Unfortunately, the print Kino used for the transfer is uneven in quality.

*

Image Entertainment has just released the complete, uncut version of the charming 1977 musical “The Slipper and the Rose” ($20 for VHS, $25 for DVD). Bryan Forbes directed this version of the Cinderella story featuring the melodic tunes of Robert and Richard Sherman (“Mary Poppins”) and lovely performances from Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven. The VHS version is not letter-boxed but the DVD--unavailable for review at press time--is in wide screen and includes a commentary with Forbes, an interview with the Shermans and a short feature.

*

New from Anchor Bay Entertainment is “The Brigitte Bardot Collection,” four of the French actress’ comedies ($15 for each video, $30 for each DVD). None of them is very good, but each has an old-fashioned charm.

In “Naughty Girl,” from 1956, BB plays a precocious schoolgirl--the daughter of a Parisian nightclub owner who is suspected of forgery. The comedy was co-written by her then-husband, Roger Vadim. He directed “Please Not Now,” a goofy bit of nonsense in which Bardot plays a model who decides to make her boyfriend jealous when he runs off with a rich American. “Come Dance With Me,” from 1959, finds Bardot playing the ditsy wife of a dentist; she turns detective when her hubby is accused of murdering a blackmailing dance instructor. And in 1969’s “Les Femmes,” she plays a young woman hired by a novelist (Maurice Ronet) to be his secretary and erotic muse.

*

The baseball comedy “Perfect Game” (Buena Vista, $20) is serviceable family entertainment but seems more like a TV movie than a feature. “Game” tells the story of a group of underachieving Little Leaguers who become champions. Edward Asner, Patrick Duffy (in a rare bad-guy turn) and Tracy Nelson star. Thankfully, there’s plenty for young girls to identify with because two of the team’s players, including the pitcher, are female.

*

New on DVD from Columbia TriStar is a lovely collector’s edition of “Little Women” ($25), the acclaimed 1994 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel. “Little Women,” beautifully directed by Gillian Armstrong, stars Winona Ryder in her Oscar-nominated turn, Claire Danes, Samantha Mathis, Kirsten Dunst and Trini Alvarado as the endearing March sisters. Susan Sarandon is their beloved Marmee.

The digital version includes a nice documentary, two “Little Women” trivia games and a timeline. One can even watch the movie just listening to the beautiful Oscar-nominated score by Thomas Newman. Academy Award nominee Colleen Atwood also gets the chance to discuss her costume designs and where she got the antique fabric for the outfits.

Director Armstrong supplies commentary for two deleted scenes, including one bizarre sequence seen from the point of view of Beth’s pet cat. She also offers up sparking commentary or, as she describes it, “a whisper in the ear,” on the making of the film.

*

Meryl Streep received her 12th Oscar nomination this year for her feisty performance in the rather dull drama “Music of the Heart” (Miramax, $40 for the DVD). Streep plays Roberta Guaspari, a divorced mother determined to bring violin music education to young students in East Harlem.

Directed by horror-meister Wes Craven, who once was a schoolteacher, the two-disc collector’s edition includes the 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary “Small Wonders,” which became the basis for the film; a music video; cast, crew and musician bios; theatrical trailer; a standard short feature; and deleted scenes complete with Craven’s commentary. Included in this section is a wonderful sequence in which Guaspari travels to the projects to retrieve a bike that was stolen from her son by a neighborhood bully. Craven says the scene was deleted because he needed to keep the film under two hours.