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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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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BOOTLEG FILES 607: “Babes in Bagdad” (1951 romp directed by Edgar G. Ulmer).
LAST SEEN: It can be found on YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is not entirely clear why.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Lord, I hope not!
One does not approach a film titled “Babes in Bagdad” expecting a provocative cerebral challenge. But, at the same time, one should not expect an unfocused mess of half-baked feminist politics and burlesque antics molded together by several great talents who hit respective career lows with this nonsense.