Bobby Darin – Singing At His Best
Picture: C-
Sound: C- Extras: D Compilation: B-
In another look at Bobby Darin on DVD, we have Bobby
Darin – Singing At The Best, a really good compilation of his singing and
other talents. That means its 55
minutes deliver more than the title suggests, which includes:
1) I’ve Got
Rhythm
2) I Have
Dreamed
3) MEDLEY
A: Give Me A Little Kiss; Don’t Look At Me That Way; Slow Boat To China; Too
Young For The Blues; Teach Me Tonight; Too Close For Comfort; You’ve Got A Lot
To Learn; Down With Love; Don’cha Go Away Mad; Cry Me A River; River Stay ‘Way
From My Door; Mack The Knife; I Wish I Were In Love Again
4) MEDLEY
B: Some People; Lucky Pierre; I’ve Had It; Zooma Zooma; Some People
(joined by Joanne Sommers uncredited)
5) With Bob
Hope singing Down By The Old Mill Stream
6) Bill
Bailey (with Hope and Joanne Sommers)
7)
With Jimmy Durante You Gotta Start Each Day With A
Song; Inka Dinka Doo; Bill Bailey
8)
Uncredited tracks: Hello Young Lovers/Some Of These
Days and a great final section of Darin doing impersonations of many great
stars.
This is a far better compilation of his work than we have
seen to date and certainly better than some later works. This is a solid talent of his era
trivialized by the phenomenon of his hit Mack The Knife, which I will
always think was made worse by McDonalds waiting for its writer to pass away
before getting the rights to push Big Mac sandwiches with it. This is a diverse enough set that it could
actually get people to learn or remember just how good a performer the man
was. Too bad it was not longer.
The full frame image is varied throughout, but all are in
black and white and down a generation or two from either old videotapes or
kinescopes. The sound is also down a
few generations, as the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono demonstrates. It could be worse, but it squeezes by
narrowly in that you can still appreciate the performances, despite these
technical limitations. There are no
extras, but the disc is worth your time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
