Ron Hardcastle
6-12-2014: The Blu-ray of this film was released this week and I received mine today and watched it. Please allow me to share something that I just posted at FSM (Film Score Monthly), in a discussion about the Blu-ray release of this film (including thoughts on the Blu-ray of "Fame"):I received my copy of the "Kismet" Blu-ray today, and almost immediately watched it. First, it's gorgeous, and the audio sounded quite good with my elaborate surround system. But I found myself getting impatient with the movie, and did feel that it hasn't aged well (despite looking gorgeous). Once I finished watching it, I felt a need to see a more contemporary musical, so I put on my Blu-ray of Alan Parker's "Fame," which has hardly aged at all in the 24 years since it was released, and what fun it was! I remember seeing the movie at the Picwood Theater on the west side of L.A. and being so thrilled by it that I returned a few days later with some of my best friends, who also loved it. Watching "Fame" today, I was reminded how wonderful it was, and during the big ("I Sing The Body Electric") musical number at the end, I was bawling my eyes out."Fame" looks and sounds wonderful, and, as I wrote, it has hardly aged a bit. Having bought too many Blu-rays (and DVDs!) I'll never watch more than once, "Fame" is an exception! For fans of this version of "Kismet" (it was filmed before with Ronald Coleman), you're going to love the Blu-ray, which is quite crisp and sounds wonderful. But, for me, I just don't feel that it has aged well.Please forgive my writing less about "Kismet" than the other movie!
durrant4145@rogers.com
Apparently some of the disgust a handful of readers have been feeling about this movie is due to the fact that they have the old VHS version. The new DVD version restores the original theatrical ratio, and the result is simply stunning: the movie is much clearer that it was in the full screen form, and restores the more lavish numbers to their full glory - there are more extras in there than anyone who has seen the original VHS version realizes; it's not a very small cast at all! True, the original finale is replaced by Howard Keel's version of "The Sands Of Time," the song that opened and closed the original Broadway musical, but that hardly matters. I have seen scenes from the VHS version on GOOGLE Video, and they are faded and grainy, while the DVD version is bright and colorful - you MUST watch it.
didi-5
This film, a remake with music of the 1944 Kismet, looks sumptuous and boasts a fine cast, including Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, and Doleres Gray (who didn't make enough films although the ones she did are great).Using themes from Borodin, classic songs such as 'This is My Beloved', 'Stranger in Paradise', 'Olive Tree', and others sound beautiful, and benefit from strong singers presenting them.The story of 'Kismet' is simple - a beggar named Hajj (or is he?) has magical powers to foresee the future and influence events (or does he?) and finds himself in the court of the Caliph. In the meantime the Caliph, weary of his harem, finds true love in the person of a mysterious young woman, name unknown. And the wife of the Wazir is just looking for a good time! Potent tosh, as most musicals were, 'Kismet' is not one of MGM's best ... by 1955 the genre was beginning to slow down and lose steam, and properties like this did not have the money or time they deserved lavished on them. But the songs and performances help this film achieve a respectability and level of involvement others made at the time may not have.
Hopkins_Marsinah
HA funny thing my father named me Marsinah because he loved this movie so much. and i love it too. the songs i thought were very lovely and i felt very much in a dream when i watched it. i thought i was romantic and very sweet. i loved it. and i wished they had a DVD for it, y'know i could never really find one. i hope ONE day it will come out on DVD. oh and one of my favorite parts is when Marsinah and Omar (i think thats his name) meet up and meet each other in the garden and sing and i believe they sing stranger in paradise or night of my nights ha ha my memory is so bad ha-ha. it's funny, i talk to many people about this play and no one knows about it. i wish more people knew.
AD
