DVD reviews – Danny Kaye Legends – London Road

Nick Wakeham casts an eye over some of the latest DVD releases.

DANNY KAYE – LEGENDS DVD (MVDVisual – MVD7708D – two disc set)

During the 1950s and 60s Danny Kaye was one of the biggest stars in showbusiness. Not only in theatre, but in film and television. He caused sensations wherever he went and a Danny Kaye concert was sold out before you had a chance to say ‘White Christmas’! Having said that, if you talk to people it becomes very clear that he is definitely of the ‘marmite’ variety of entertainer – you either absolutely love him or you loathe him. Whatever camp you fall in to, you cannot deny that he simply oozed talent.

Here we have six complete episodes from his hugely popular US television variety shows of the 1960s. The word ‘legends’ will give you an idea of the calibre of guest included in this output. We have Lucille Ball, Liberace, George Burns, Shirley Jones, Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett to name a few. I’m going to split the review into two parts: ‘Humour’ and ‘Musical’.

First of all: does 1960s humour still hold up in the year 2015? Well, the quick answer to that is: sometimes!

The comedy writing is completely hit and miss. The first episode, for instance, has three sketches with Lucille Ball. The first two can only be described as abysmal. However, the third, where Kaye and her have to stage a play between them with seven characters falls into slapstick and something both artists do exceptionally well. The second episode has Imogene Coca and the less said about the sketches in this episode the better. A third offering has Shirley Jones and to be honest the writing here just lets the whole thing down.

We move on to the second disc and things start to look up. The first episode on this features Liberace, who appears in a couple of comedy spoofs. Although the writing is quite dated, it works and you start to thank goodness that it has! Second on disc two is Harvey Korman and there is a lovely sketch concerning workmen pouring concrete – I’ll leave the details for you to watch. The last episode stars George Burns and, apart from a really dull sketch, he is on top form and brings the whole thing to life with his anecdotes.

Musically: The first episode has John Gary headlining – he was a huge star of the day but probably the only person on these discs that UK audiences may not be too familiar with. Second: Tony Bennett – well, what can you say? Mr Smooth who could probably turn the telephone directory into something musical. Third episode: the Righteous Brothers – fantastic! Disc two, episode one: the beautiful and talented Vikki Carr; episode two: Louis Armstrong – magnificent, and the final episode has Mireille Mathieu, gorgeous French singer mostly forgotten nowadays, which is a shame.

So, from the above, you will guess that musically these DVDs shine but comedically they leave a little to be desired. However, that is only to be expected. The humour is very 1960s and I bet if we were watching this back then, we’d be rolling about laughing. iIt’s just that we have become much more sophisticated through the years and so much of this appears to be trite and, at times, downright banal.

Would I suggest you buy this two DVD pack? Well, yes, overall I would. The musical side of things is well worth the outlay and, thank goodness, there is an option to watch just the musical numbers alone.

www.wienerworld.com

LONDON ROAD (4DVD – C4SP007)

In 2011 the National Theatre had a huge hit on their hands called London Road, a production which dealt with the complex psychological effects the 2006 Ipswich murders of prostitutes had on the residents of London Road in that town.

Now it has been made into a film and is available on DVD.

I never saw the stage version so have absolutely no comparisons to make between it and this cinematic version. However, it certainly warrants the rave reviews it has received from the mainstream newspapers such as The Guardian and The Times.

The music is used in the most dramatic way in the piece, duplicating speech patterns to put across the emphasis. The dialogue has been taken verbatim from the interviews carried out by the writer, Alecky Blythe, from the local community, media reporters and local prostitutes. Every ‘um’ and ‘er’ is included, giving this an almost documentary feel.

We are taken through the outrage of the residents at the murders, on to their secret gratification when events result in prostitution disappearing from where they live.

I won’t go into any further detail (I don’t want to be accused of spoilers) but I would just say that this is one of those films I probably would not have bought of my own fruition, but I am mightily glad it came through to me for review. I can now urge all readers of this website to go out and purchase a copy. It won’t be one of those DVDs that you watch once and then relegate to the shelf. I’ve watched it three times already – it is truly fascinating.

Along with Blythe’s libretto, the score is by Adam Cork, with direction from Rufus Norris, and featuring Olivia Colman, Tom Hardy, Anita Dobson and the entire National Theatre cast.