Beggar's Opera (1953*)/Simple Minds: Once Upon A Time (1985/Universal Music/Virgin Records 40th Anniversary 5-CD Set)/That Midnight Kiss (1949/MGM/*both Warner Archive Blu-ray)

Picture: B/X/B Sound: C+/B/B- Extras: C-/B/C+ Main Programs: B-/B-/C+

PLEASE NOTE: The Beggar's Opera and That Midnight Kiss Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Peter Brook's The Beggar's Opera (1953) is the somewhat elaborate British Technicolor version of John Gay humorous operetta (from 1728!) where in prison, a man decides to turn one of the prisoners (Laurence Olivier) into the hero 'MacHeath' in a work of his. This turns into a beautiful romp that is one of the British Cinema's better big screen musicals.

This is also the third time we have reviewed an adaption of this story, starting with this more recent 2018 stage opera version, which itself has a link to a Roger Daltrey TV version:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15877/Alceste/Cherkaoui+(2019/C+Major*)/Beggar's+Opera/C

This is a really good version, though the overuse of rear projection undermines it, it is amusing and sometimes funny, but often even lush and ironically so considering what a depressing prison our 'hero' is in. Better than the TV version with the lead singer of The Who, I still liked the stage version very narrowly more. Still, this was another triumph for Olivier, has great energy and a solid supporting cast that includes Hugh Griffith, George Rose, Dorothy Tutin, George Devine, Mary Claire, Athene Seyler, Stanley Holloway, Eric Pohlmann, Daphne Anderson, Yvonne Furneaux, Kenneth Williams, Sandra Dorne and Laurence Naismith.

Nicely done and holding up really well for the most part, those interested should check it out.

Extras include two classic Warner Technicolor animated cartoon shorts: Hare Trimmed and Much Ado About Nutting.

Simple Minds: Once Upon A Time (1985) is back and now issued as a 5-CD set that includes a big helping of live performances to go with the classic album and variants of those tracks. Issued in a solid CD clamshell box, the tracks include:

DISC ONE: Once Upon a Time (original studio album)

Once Upon a Time

All The Things She Said

Ghost Dancing

Alive And Kicking

Oh Jungleland

I Wish You Were Here

Sanctify Yourself

Come A Long Way

DISC TWO: B-Sides / Mixes

Don't You (Forget About Me) 7" Single

A Brass Band in African Chimes 7" Single

Don't You (Forget About Me) 12" Single

A Brass Band in African Chimes Extended Version

Alive And Kicking Edit

Alive And Kicking Instrumental

Up On the Catwalk Live (Barrowlands, Ballroom, Glasgow: 5th January 1985)

Alive And Kicking 7" Remix / Edit

Alive And Kicking 12" Remix

Alive And Kicking Kevorkian 12" Remix

Sanctify Yourself Edit

Sanctify Yourself Instrumental

Sanctify Yourself Alternative Edit

DISC THREE: B-Sides / Extended Mixes

Street Hassle Live Ahoy, Rotterdam: 3rd December 1985

Love Song Live Ahoy, Rotterdam: 3rd December 1985

Sanctify Yourself Extended Mix

Sanctify Yourself Dub Version

All The Things She Said Edit

Promised You a Miracle US Remix

All The Things She Said Extended Version

Don't You (Forget About Me) Live Ahoy, Rotterdam: 3rd December 1985

Ghost Dancing 12" Remix

Ghost Dancing Instrumental

Oh Jungleland 12" Remix

Oh Jungleland Instrumental

DISC FOUR: Live In the City of Light: Live From Le Zenith, Paris 1986

Ghost Dancing

Big Sleep

Waterfront

Promised You a Miracle

Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)

Oh Jungleland

Alive And Kicking

DISC FIVE: Live In the City of Light Live From Le Zenith, Paris 1986

Don't You (Forget About Me)

Once Upon a Time

Book Of Brilliant Things

East At Easter

Sanctify Yourself

Love Song / Sun City / Dance to The Music

New Gold Dream

In 1985, a music video debuted on MTV, the song with a slow-but-solid beat, beautiful locations, then the song began. Alive and Kicking was a huge international hit for Simple Minds and to this day, still has one of the most beautifully shot on location videos ever made. Along with their overplayed Don't You (Forget About Me) from The Breakfast Club, the band had been around for a while and finally were seeing huge commercial results. They propelled their Once Upon a Time album into huge sales and it remains their biggest album, their seventh!

Sanctify Yourself and All The Things She Said followed, though they landed up being bigger hits on the U.S. Alternative charts and on the European charts, but it is still a really good album that does not always get the respect it deserves. Lead singer Jim Kerr had led the band since 1977 and his vocals are as impressive as any of his New Wave brothers. Jimmy Iovine produced with some vocal assist from former Chic singer Robin Clark, resulting in a sound that was polished and memorable without being compromised.

As good on stage as they were in the studio, this set gives all an idea of just how good they were. I figured this would be a good set, but it turned out to be more impressive than expected and if you like their hits, you should really check out the whole package. Simple Minds tends to be underrated and to forgotten, giving Don't You (Forget About Me) and ironic new cache.

Besides the bonus, alternate and live tracks listed above, the other major extra include 36-page booklet with rare photos, interviews with Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill and a track-by-track guide.

Norman Taurog's That Midnight Kiss (1949) is a highly formulaic comedy stuffed into a Backstage Musical with Mario Lanza as a truck driver who can really, really sing. With Katherine Grayson, Jose Iturbi, Ethel Barrymore, Thomas Gomez, Keenan Wynn, J. Carrol Naish, Marjorie Reynolds and Arthur Treacher, the Technicolor, massive talent, money on the screen and great singing far outshine the pedestrian screenplay and the result was a hit.

This was the first of seven feature films with Lanza, who died far too young of a heart attack and was definitely one of the greatest voices of his time and maybe all time. Some of his later films (The Great Caruso) turned out better and if was had not lost him so soon, who knows what else he would have pulled off on the big screen. Too bad this was not written better, but Director Taurog (whose work includes a bunch of musicals, comedies and in the ned, several Elvis Presley films) gets the most out of all of it under the circumstance.

Extras include an Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Musical Outtake ''One Love Of Mine'' and two classic MGM Technicolor animated cartoon shorts: Heavenly Puss and Senor Droopy.

Now for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on both Warner Archive Blu-ray releases rarely show the age of the materials used, both shot in and released in 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints (now very valuable if you have one) that are constantly a plus to view. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes on both films have also been restored, but Beggar is a little weaker than expected, while Kiss sounds as good as it ever will. Outside of one of those kinds of prints or a mint color print of some other color format that is not faded, this is the best way to watch both.

The PCM 16bit/44.1 kHz 2.0 Stereo on the Simple Minds CDs sound good, which is to be expected for a band whose work has been constantly issued in high resolution digital formats and vinyl because they have always had a following and even been demo material for some. Nice the original masters have survived as well as they have. Obviously some tracks are not going to sound as dynamic as others, but the studio work remains impressive.

To order The Beggar's Opera and/or That Midnight Kiss Warner Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo