DVD release: ‘Yolanda and the Thief’

“Yolanda and the Thief,” which just made its DVD debut on Warner Archive, may be the best Fred Astaire movie musical you’ve never heard of. Though its reputation has soared since its release in 1945, the Vincente Minnelli-directed Technicolor fantasy was a disaster at the box office. But “Yolanda’s” only crime was that it was not of its time — audiences weren’t in the mood for a fantasy. Surreal fun and gorgeously photographed by Charles Rosher, “Yolanda’ revolves around a young woman raised in a convent who is looking for her guardian angel. Astaire is a con man who tries to convince her he is her angel. The best number is the vivid “Coffee Time.”