{"id":10934,"date":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=10934"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:39:07","slug":"hollywood-learns-to-argue-with-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/hollywood-learns-to-argue-with-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood Learns to Argue With Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 37 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE\u00a0REVIEW
\nBroadway on the Big Screen-6-Film Collection [Blu-ray]<\/strong>
\n\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Musical, Romance, Comedy, Drama
\nYear Released:<\/strong> 1955 \/ 1962 \/ 1957 \/ 1958 \/ 1954 \/ 1971
\nRuntime: <\/strong>2h 30m \/ 2h 29m \/ 1h 41m \/ 1h 51m \/ 1h 48m \/ 1h 47m
\nDirector(s):<\/strong> Joseph L. Mankiewicz \/ Mervyn LeRoy \/ George Abbott, Stanley Donen \/ George Abbott, Stanley Donen \/ Vincente Minnelli \/ Ken Russell
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Joseph L. Mankiewicz \/ Leonard Spigelgass \/ George Abbott, Richard Bissell \/ George Abbott, Douglass Wallop \/ Alan Jay Lerner \/ Ken Russell
\nCast: <\/strong>Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra \/ Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood \/ Doris Day, John Raitt \/ Gwen Verdon, Tab Hunter \/ Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse \/ Twiggy, Christopher Gable
\nWhere to Watch:<\/strong> available February 17, 2026, pre-order your copy here: www.moviezyng.com<\/a> or www.amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

RAVING REVIEW:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>What happens when Broadway\u2019s most enduring myths are frozen in celluloid, then revisited decades later, not as nostalgia pieces but as living documents of performance, desire, and contradiction? That\u2019s the challenge at the heart of BROADWAY ON THE BIG SCREEN, a six-film collection that doesn\u2019t ask you to love every note or every choice, but instead invites you to sit with how wildly different these adaptations are in tone, ambition, and intent.<\/p>\n

\n

One of the smartest curatorial decisions here is structural rather than aesthetic: each film is housed on its own disc. That matters more than it sounds. These films demand different moods, different attention spans, and different expectations. They aren\u2019t meant to blur together, and the set wisely refuses to treat them as interchangeable entries in a genre sampler. This allows each disc to avoid compression and breathe independently.<\/p>\n

GUYS AND DOLLS remains one of the strangest success stories in classic Hollywood musical history. Frank Loesser\u2019s score is airtight, but the casting choices are still debated for good reason. Marlon Brando, not a natural singer, approaches Sky Masterson with brute force charisma rather than musical ease, while Frank Sinatra brings vocal authority but clear frustration at being sidelined. And yet, that tension becomes part of the film\u2019s structure. This isn\u2019t a musical about perfection; it\u2019s about swagger, ego, and the theater of masculinity. Jean Simmons grounds the chaos with emotion, giving the film its romantic spine. It\u2019s uneven, often messy, but never dull, and it captures a moment when Hollywood was still willing to gamble on discomfort.<\/p>\n

GYPSY is the emotional heavyweight of the collection, and it never pretends otherwise. Rosalind Russell\u2019s Rose isn\u2019t charming; she\u2019s relentless, insecure, and painfully human. This adaptation understands that the show isn\u2019t about show-business dreams; it\u2019s about the violence of ambition when it\u2019s projected onto children. Natalie Wood\u2019s transformation is handled with restraint rather than spectacle, which gives the story its devastating weight. The film\u2019s refusal to soften Rose\u2019s edges is what keeps it focused. It doesn\u2019t ask for forgiveness; it asks for understanding, and even that feels conditional.<\/p>\n

THE PAJAMA GAME is often dismissed as a lightweight in the genre, which undersells how politically strange it actually is. A musical about labor disputes shouldn\u2019t feel this breezy, and yet Bob Fosse\u2019s choreography injects a nervous, sexual energy that keeps the film alive. Doris Day plays against her immaculate image just enough to complicate expectations, while John Raitt\u2019s physicality gives the romance a grounded push and pull. Fosse\u2019s influence is unmistakable, not just in movement but in attitude. This musical understands bodies as sites of negotiation, desire, and power, even when it\u2019s smiling.<\/p>\n

DAMN YANKEES leans harder into satire, and it benefits from that commitment. Gwen Verdon doesn\u2019t just dance circles around the cast; she redefines the film\u2019s center. Her performance is sharp, funny, and unapologetically sensual in a way that still feels disruptive. The Faustian framework gives the story a moral elasticity that allows for excess without collapse. It\u2019s a musical that understands performance as temptation, both within the story and for the audience watching it.<\/p>\n

BRIGADOON is the most traditionally romantic entry, and also the most divisive. Vincente Minnelli\u2019s direction treats the material like a painting, prioritizing atmosphere over realism. Gene Kelly brings sincerity rather than bravado, while Cyd Charisse adds a grace that communicates emotion before dialogue ever does. The artificiality is the point. This isn\u2019t a story about believing in magic, it\u2019s about choosing it. Whether that works depends entirely on your tolerance for romantic idealism, but the craftsmanship is undeniable.<\/p>\n

THE BOY FRIEND is a curveball in this set, and it\u2019s exactly what it needed! Ken Russell\u2019s approach is knowingly artificial, gleefully excessive, and openly meta. Twiggy\u2019s performance is sharp, using innocence as a mask rather than a limitation. This film doesn\u2019t want to replicate Broadway conventions; it wants to question, parody, and celebrate them all at once. Placed at the end of the collection, it reframes everything that came before it, exposing the genre\u2019s construction without stripping it of affection.<\/p>\n

As a set, BROADWAY ON THE BIG SCREEN isn\u2019t about declaring a definitive canon. It\u2019s about contrast\u2014masculinity versus performance, ambition versus concern, sincerity versus irony. The decision to give each film its own disc reinforces that philosophy. These aren\u2019t background watches, and they aren\u2019t meant to be consumed in bulk. They\u2019re conversations across decades, each arguing for a different understanding of what a musical can be.<\/p>\n

This collection doesn\u2019t ask you to agree with every choice Hollywood made when translating Broadway to film. It asks something more interesting: to recognize the risks, the compromises, and the flashes of brilliance that still resonate long after the curtain fell.<\/p>\n

Please visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/overlyhonestr for more reviews.<\/p>\n

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for ‘Overly Honest Reviews’.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always happy to hear from my readers; please don’t hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.<\/p>\n

[photo courtesy of WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION]<\/em><\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/strong>
\nAt Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.<\/p>\n

Amazon Affiliate Links:<\/strong>
\nAdditionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOVIE\u00a0REVIEW Broadway on the Big Screen-6-Film Collection [Blu-ray] \u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Genre: Musical, Romance, Comedy, Drama Year Released: 1955 \/ 1962 \/ 1957 \/ 1958 \/ 1954 \/ 1971 Runtime: 2h 30m \/ 2h 29m \/ 1h 41m \/ 1h 51m \/ 1h 48m \/ 1h 47m Director(s): Joseph L. Mankiewicz \/ Mervyn LeRoy \/ George Abbott, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvd-blu-ray"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10934"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11042,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10934\/revisions\/11042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}