Tag Archives: Paulette Goddard

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The Bootleg Files: Second Chorus

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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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The Bootleg Files: Babes in Bagdad

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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.

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