The Fabulous 50s
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Program: B
Though
made back in 1994, Reader’s Digest Magazine produced a still-impressive show
called The Fabulous 50s. While VCI’s DVD triple-set Forever 50s (with hundreds of
newsreels, ads, and shorts, reviewed elsewhere on this site) was a nicely
loaded compendium that holds one of the records for DVD chapters, this
single-DVD offers the original program with some extras.
The main
program is a well-paced and well-edited set of archival footage, much of which
is more obscure than expected. After
seeing several DVDs of Marilyn Monroe, I was pleasantly surprised at the
footage here I had never seen before, not featured on either of those
DVDs. There are the advertisements that
are always a kick, and then there is a wild section of ads featuring the
real-life Ronald and Nancy Reagan. With
daughter Patti, Nancy tells Ron how great life is now
that she has a series of ultra efficient “electronic servants” on hand in the
house.
Some will
find this a hoot, others will find it bizarre, but the oddest thing is that the
footage does not identify what company (or companies) made the products, unless
it was some generic industrial film showing the kitchen world of the near
future for some appliance consortium.
Either way, it is worth catching too.
The program also contains some more popular footage and lays it out in a
smooth, chronological order.
Though
all of this is off of an old analog video master, it still looks surprisingly
good. Just about all the images fill the
screen, though a few are cropped, while others might have slights letterboxing
or bookending. Not to bash the magazine
or anything, but I am still surprised Reader’s Digest (or anyone, I guess)
pulled together such a good program. It
was so good, it is too bad it did not run on longer or was one of several
chapters. The 1950s is notorious for all
of its old film stock footage. The sound
is serviceable Dolby Digital 2.0 that is mostly monophonic, with some brief
stereo-like sound here and there.
The
extras are in three sections:
Fads & Follies featuring
1958
The
Hula Hoop Craze
1959
Campus
Hi-Jinks
1953
The
Harlem Globetrotters Antics
1954
America’s First Rocket Car
News Makers featuring
1951
Uni-Vac
Computer Launch
1955
McCarthy
vs. Murrow
1958
Elvis
Answers the Army’s Call
1957 Rita Hayworth
& Aly Khan
and Sports Sensations featuring
1951
Mickey
Mantle, Hall-of-Famer
1952
US
Winter Olympian Breaks Record
1958
Wilt
“The Stilt” Chamberlain
1953
Alabama Football Fiasco
1958
The
Birth of the NFL on TV
Too bad
Digest did not run with this kind of programming, because it could have boosted
their name and circulation quite a bit. If
there is more solid programming like this, as is the case with Glorious Triumphs and Great Tragedies
also covered elsewhere on this site, then we will hopefully see them too. The
Fabulous 50s is a fun winner that exceeds expectations.
- Nicholas Sheffo
