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By
BILL CONIFF
If rumors of a curse ever
swirled around musicals -- instead of horror
movies like "The Crow" -- they would have swirled
around "Bells Are Ringing" (1960). It was Judy
Holliday's last movie; she died of cancer five
years later, just weeks short of her 44th
birthday. And it sounded an early death knell
(hear those bells ringing?) on the movie musical,
since it was the last collaboration of two of its
golden-age titans, director Vincente Minnelli and
producer Arthur Freed. Minnelli, in fact, would go
on to direct -- rather weakly -- only one more
musical, "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."
But curse or no curse, there's one reason and one
reason alone to see "Bells Are Ringing," and that
is its star. Because of Holliday's short lifespan,
we're left with few movies that capture her unique
charm, one very clearly derived from her theater
roots. "Bells Are Ringing" was her last movie, and
although a pleasant diversion, it seemed to signal
a downturn in her career, since her last five
years offered only Broadway flops and no
additional capturings on celluloid.
"Bells Are Ringing" was an attempt to bottle the
performance that earned Holliday a Tony award in
1957. In that, it barely succeeds. Much of the
Jule Styne music (lyrics by Betty Comden and
Adolph Green) is cut, and the new numbers added to
boost Dean Martin's role (such as "Do It
Yourself") are weak. Particularly missed is
Holliday's big number, "Is It a Crime," which --
thank goodness -- was filmed nonetheless and is
included among this DVD's extras. I guess we
should count our blessings that they didn't cut two
of the musical's best songs: "Just in Time" and
"The Party's Over."
Another weakness of the movie is its practically
nonexistent choreography by Hermes Pan, who was
all highs and lows in his career. He was to reach
further lows in subsequent years with "Finian's
Rainbow" (director Francis Ford Coppola fired him)
and the greatest movie musical bomb ever, "Lost
Horizon." It's enough to make one weep to consider
that Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse's choreography
for the Broadway version of "Bells are Ringing"
was discarded in favor of Pan's inferior work. One
small reassurance: There's not much dancing in
this musical.
Yet another drawback to "Bells are Ringing" is the
artificial staginess of many scenes. Even when the
action is taken outside to supposedly capture
Manhattan in all its mad, wonderful rush,
Minnelli's camera work is claustrophobic rather
than expansive.
And then there's Dean Martin, the utterly
unappealing love interest for Holliday. Martin is
very much of his day and time, and his laid back
performing style and seemingly constant
inebriation only seem, to our modern eyes, to be a
cover for a lazy actor and very limited singer.
Which brings us back to Holliday, and that's
enough. It remains highly ironic that woman with
an IQ of 172 made such a specialty of playing
ditzy blondes. This latest variation is Ella
Peterson, a switchboard operator who endearingly
gets involved in her customers' lives. That's all
you need to know. Get the DVD and experience
Holliday's charm for yourself.
The DVD offers a generally good transfer of the
CinemaScope widescreen print. There are a couple
of glitches -- in one scene, in particular, it
looks like an inferior print segment had to be
inserted. But until a full restoration is done,
this is the best we can hope for. The DVD extras
are also very welcome. Besides what's mentioned
above and the trailer, there's a take of "My
Guiding Star" where you get to see Martin's
annoyed face after he's done lip-synching and an
alternate take of a worthless song, "The Midas
Touch." The short featurette nicely encapsulates
the movie's background, and it includes some
affectionate reminiscences by Hal Linden,
Holliday's "Bells Are Ringing" co-star on stage
(and given a small role in the movie).
"Bells Are Ringing" is being sold individually and
as part of the "The Classic Musicals Collection -
Broadway to Hollywood," which also includes
"Finian's Rainbow," "The Band Wagon," "Brigadoon"
and "Easter Parade." |
