While
DOWN TO EARTH ($15) it isn’t the biggest classic in the Columbia
Pictures catalog, it is an amusing musical pseudo-sequel to HERE COMES
MR. JORDAN that features a gorgeous Rita Hayworth in glorious
Technicolor. In DOWN TO EARTH, Rita portrays the mythological muse
Terpsichore, who enraged to learn that she and her sisters are to be
mocked in a Broadway musical staged by Danny Miller (Larry Parks). With a
little heavenly assistance from Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and Messenger
7013 (Edward Everett Horton), Terpsichore comes down to earth to
teach Danny the error of his musical ways. Adopting the guise of Kitty
Pendleton, Terpsichore takes on Max Corkle (James Gleason) as her
theatrical agent and lands the lead in the swing era musical about
herself. The cast of DOWN TO EARTH also includes Marc Platt, Adele
Jergens, George Macready and William Frawley.
.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made DOWN TO EARTH available on DVD
in a wonderful looking transfer that frames the film in its proper 1.37:1
full screen aspect ratio. This is a very nice transfer that really
captures the flavor of a forties era Technicolor presentation. Colors are
rich, nicely saturated and usually quite stable. There are occasional
inconsistencies, which one sees in a lot of older IB Technicolor film
elements, but nothing too disturbing. Film grain is mild, as are the
blemishes and other imperfections in the elements. The image is generally
sharp and nicely detailed. Blacks appear inky and the whites are solid.
Digital compression artifacts are always well contained.
DOWN
TO EARTH comes with a perfectly respectable Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. Most instances of background hiss and surface noise have been
cleaned up, leaving an overall smooth quality to the track. Fidelity is as
one would suspect for a film surpassing the half century mark- a bit
truncated at the top and bottom ends, but really not too bad. The musical
numbers sound pleasant enough, if one doesn’t push the volume too hard.
Dialogue is always understandable and the voices have a pretty good sense
of presence. No other language tracks are included, although English and
Japanese subtitles are provided. The basic interactive menus allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
trailers for GILDA, YOU’LL NEVER GET RICH and YOU WERE
NEVER LOVELIER.
If
you love Rita Hayworth or Technicolor musicals, you’ll want to check out
DOWN TO EARTH on DVD. Columbia has done a good job with the disc,
so you won’t have any complaints in that area.
While
DOWN TO EARTH ($15) it isn’t the biggest classic in the Columbia
Pictures catalog, it is an amusing musical pseudo-sequel to HERE COMES
MR. JORDAN that features a gorgeous Rita Hayworth in glorious
Technicolor. In DOWN TO EARTH, Rita portrays the mythological muse
Terpsichore, who enraged to learn that she and her sisters are to be
mocked in a Broadway musical staged by Danny Miller (Larry Parks). With a
little heavenly assistance from Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and Messenger
7013 (Edward Everett Horton), Terpsichore comes down to earth to
teach Danny the error of his musical ways. Adopting the guise of Kitty
Pendleton, Terpsichore takes on Max Corkle (James Gleason) as her
theatrical agent and lands the lead in the swing era musical about
herself. The cast of DOWN TO EARTH also includes Marc Platt, Adele
Jergens, George Macready and William Frawley.
.
DOWN
TO EARTH comes with a perfectly respectable Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. Most instances of background hiss and surface noise have been
cleaned up, leaving an overall smooth quality to the track. Fidelity is as
one would suspect for a film surpassing the half century mark- a bit
truncated at the top and bottom ends, but really not too bad. The musical
numbers sound pleasant enough, if one doesn’t push the volume too hard.
Dialogue is always understandable and the voices have a pretty good sense
of presence. No other language tracks are included, although English and
Japanese subtitles are provided. The basic interactive menus allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
trailers for GILDA, YOU’LL NEVER GET RICH and YOU WERE
NEVER LOVELIER.
If
you love Rita Hayworth or Technicolor musicals, you’ll want to check out
DOWN TO EARTH on DVD. Columbia has done a good job with the disc,
so you won’t have any complaints in that area.