Posted on: June 19, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

While Carmen Miranda may not be well known to current audiences, Fox has decided that releasing a five-disc DVD set would ensure eir place among the classic stars of movie history. The set itself features five of Miranda’s best-known movies, “The Gang’s All Here”, ”Greenwich Village”, “Something For The Boys”, “Doll Face”, and “If I’m Lucky”. The quality of the transfers of each of these films, shot in color and black and white (in an opposite chronological order than one would think), is simply stunning. The footage of all films surpasses the transfers that were originally made to VHS, and the packaging of this set ensures that individuals will not easily lose or otherwise misplace one or more of these films.

Reviews can list the films present in the set and viewers may not be able to get what the films are about, but the overall theme in this collection has to be a timelessness to the characters, their motivations,a nd the overall plots in each of these films. For example, “The Gang’s All Here” has Miranda acting to prevent a friend’s army-employed boyfriend from marrying another woman, where “Greenwich Village” places Miranda is a role that has eir taking double duty as a singer and a fortuneteller at a club. Despite the fact that the musical and musical numbers are not often used in current films, the quality and ability of Carmen and eir voice is at a level that will make believers out of viewers that may not have had the chance to see a musical or musically-based movie in the past.

With the success of Fox in transferring these films into a current form which individuals can familiarize themselves, the next logical step to be taken is to have another four or five movie collection that captures Miranda’s last few films; a quick perusal shows that “Four Jills In A Jeep” (1944), “Copacabana” (1947), “A Date With Judy” (1948), “Nancy Goes To Rio” (1950), and “Scared Stiff” (1953) are all fair game. Whether Fox owns the rights to these films is another question entirely, but I would like to have something resembling a videography of Miranda’s in the same type of quality that “The Carmen Miranda Collection” was created. If you are a fan of Miranda’s work or are trying to show someone how great of an actress ey was, make it a point to pick up this collection.

Rating: 7.4/10

The Carmen Miranda Collection / 2008 Fox / 431 Minutes / http://www.fox.com /

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