Mitzi Gaynor – Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years (City Lights DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: B- Concert: B-
A major
dancer and singer in many big movie musical productions, Mitzi Gaynor became a
dancing icon and though she had been in the business for years, it was
television that gave her a new showcase at a time when it seemed like
traditional entertainment was in decline.
Mitzi Gaynor – Razzle Dazzle! The
Special Years is a compilation of her best TV work, including key
interviews and other information about one of the most successful dancers of
the last half-century.
The main
program is the documentary, complete with great clips and even an interview
with Gaynor herself as we get a look into her career, the state of the industry
at the time and the original rise of television. Best of all, you get so see how television as
an industry used to take itself more seriously and be about entertainment and
quality programming that paved the way for so much media later, no mater the
decline in quality. Her specials were
special at a time when TV knew what an event really was and that this material
has not been seen much in recent years is a crime.
The documentary
is shot in high definition video and is here in an anamorphically enhanced 1.78
X 1 presentation, bookending the 1.33 X 1 image of the original specials, which
were recorded on old reel-to-reel analog NTSC professional videotape. The new HD can be soft, but the older video
looks good considering its age and limits, extending to its inclusion in the
supplements section. The Dolby Digital
5.1 is fairly good, but nothing impressive, especially when the sound drops to
practical or extended monophonic sound. Extras
include eight full-length performances, Mitzi & Mackie featurette as we look
at Bob Mackie’s bold clothes for Gaynor, Mitzi Remembers The Beatles outtake,
Mitzi is The Kid: 2 extended performances, Mitzi’s Late Show parody (1968
comedy special sequence) and Mitzi & Friends Salute [Steven] Sondheim’s Company (new version reviewed on
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) all worth your time.
When you
finish, you’ll be hoping for a box set of more.
- Nicholas Sheffo
