Last Friday’s feature on 10 great musical numbers from films that never quite achieved classic status but are too much fun was so well received that we’re serving up another 10 under-the radar numbers that deserve some extra attention.
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When it comes to the subject of movie musicals, it always seems like a handful of numbers from classic films are always presented as being the best of the genre. And, to be fair, they deserve that attention. Whether it involves Judy Garland pining to be “Over the Rainbow” or James Cagney giving a new meaning to patriotism with “Yankee Doodle Dandy” or Gene Kelly getting happily soaked while “Singin’ in the Rain,” everyone knows these numbers by heart.
Today, we’re going in the opposite direction with segments from 10 films that never quite achieved classic status but nonetheless feature larger than life musical sequences that are too much fun.
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BOOTLEG FILES 832: “Second Chorus” (1940 musical comedy with Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely, although in theory there could be a rescue it from public domain hell.
In 1968, Fred Astaire returned to films after a six-year absence to star in the big-budget musical “Finian’s Rainbow.” In the media push for the film, Astaire was asked by a reporter which one of his film’s was his worst – the star stated without pause that the 1940 “Second Chorus” was the low point of his career.
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