The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 24, 2014

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Busby Berkeley's "The Gang's All Here" (1943) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; deleted scene; featurette; and exclusive new audio commentary with critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme and film historian Ed Hulse. The release also arrives with a 36-page illustrated featuring essays o the film by critics David Cairns and Karina Longworth, and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"And from a Brazilian tomato..."

Handsome soldier Andy Mason (James Ellison, I Walked with a Zombie) meets the beautiful but single showgirl Eddie Allen (Alice Faye, That Night in Rio) in a busy night club in New York City and immediately falls in love with her. On the following day, he heads to the South Pacific, where he becomes a hero.

The news reaches Andy’s wealthy father (Eugene Pallette, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and he decides to organize a massive party. Soon after, a large group of dancers and musicians gather in his home and begin practicing. During the rehearsals, Eddie discovers that Andy is planning to marry his high school sweetheart Vivian Potter (Sheila Ryan, Song of Texas).

Eventually, Andy returns home and triggers a chain reaction of events that complicate different relationships. Meanwhile, the party begins.

Busby Berkeley’s first Technicolor film is a surrealistic miracle that has to be seen to be believed. It has some of the most astonishing set designs and overflows with some of the most beautiful colors ever captured by a film camera.

The focus of attention is clearly on the wonderfully choreographed and shot musical numbers, but the dialog is equally impressive. Walter Bullock’s screenplay is very witty, wonderfully polished and loaded with classic exchanges that feel absolutely perfect for the desired by Berkeley atmosphere and energy. They are also delivered with the right attitude.

The musical and dancing numbers are astonishing. Prior to The Gang’s All Here Berkeley had already earned quite a reputation for his inventive choreography and crane shots, but here everything is upped to an entirely different level. For example, there are long continuous shots that look as fluid as those seen in Max Ophuls' films, but the camera angles are remarkably creative. The editing and visual concepts are also way ahead of their time. (See the finale where a great segment is projected in reverse).

There are a number of great vocal performances. The legendary Carmen Miranda sings “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat” (wearing a tremendous hat), “Paducah” and “You Discover You’re in New York”, while Faye delights with the classic “A Journey to A Star” and “No Love, No Nothing”. The great Benny Goodman and his orchestra also make multiple appearances throughout the film.

Berkeley shot The Gang’s All Here with cinematographer Edward Cronjager in 1943 for Twentieth Century Fox. However, at the time he was still under contract with MGM.

The massive production designs were created by Oscar winners Joseph Wright (This Above All, Guys and Dolls) and James Basevi (Spellbound, My Darling Clementine). Yvone Wood (Duel at Diablo) was responsible for the elegant and colorful costumes.

The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

While The Gang's All Here has not been treated with the same type of meticulous restoration work Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp received, the technical presentation is enormously impressive. Depth and clarity are very pleasing. Indeed, even during the most surrealistic sequences where the lush Technicolor colors overflow the film boasts wonderful depth and fluidity (see screencaptures #4 and 5). There are a few sequences where some very minor sharpness fluctuations pop up, but it is easy to tell that they are inherited (they are not a byproduct of poor digital corrections). Generally speaking, color reproduction is very good. However, there are a few sequences where color balance can be improved (see screencapture #17). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Lastly, overall image stability is very good. There are no large debris, cuts, stains, damage marks, torn frames, or burn marks to report in this review. The encoding is very good. All in all, this is a wonderful presentation of The Gang's All Here that makes it enormously easy to appreciate Busby Berkeley's genius. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Generally speaking, depth and clarity remain pleasing throughout the entire film. There is a bit of room for minor improvements in the high-frequencies, but the music performances and the dialog sound very good. Balance is good -- there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity. Lastly, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Gang's All Here. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Busby Berkeley: A Journey With A Star - in this feaurette, Rick Jewell, Hugh M. Hefner Professor of American Film, USC, explains what makes Busby Berkeley's work so unique and discusses the different qualities of The Gang's All Here. Miles Kreuger, President of the Institute of the American Musical, also discusses the visual style and choreography of The Gang's All Here. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Deleted Scene - in English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, film critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme and film historian Ed Hulse discuss Busby Berkeley's directing style, Fox's handling of The Gang's All Here, the socio-political climate in America at the time when the film was shot and specifically the effects the war had on the manner in which the narrative was structured (the romantic/patriotic overtones), the film's surrealistic qualities, the music numbers, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for The Masters of Cinema Series in New York in February 2014.

• Booklet - 36-page illustrated featuring essays o the film by critics David Cairns and Karina Longworth, and more.

The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here is a phenomenal production that has to be seen on Blu-ray to be fully appreciated. Shot in beautiful Technicolor, it truly looks and feels like a giant surrealistic dream in which anything is possible. Eureka Entertainment's technical presentation of The Gang's All Here is fantastic. I am not aware of any plans for an upcoming North American release so if you can play Region-B releases, I urge you to consider adding it to your collections. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.