Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

The audio commentary is the best thing about it! It is superb

This is an excellent DVD. I particularly enjoyed the audio commentary by Ray Faiola, which is superb. The commentary is so full of valuable historical information and trivia. I have listened to many DVD audio commentaries, and they range in quality from very good to very bad. This audio commentary is, without a doubt, one of the best I have ever heard. Other distributors of DVD's should listen to this audio commentary as an example of how it should be done! There are other good extras on this DVD, including an A&E Biography on Alice Faye, three deleted musical numbers in pristine condition, and newsreel footage of the London premiere.

A word about the DVD transfer quality - I have noticed that some of the other reviewers on Amazon.com have carped about the picture quality, saying that it is supposedly "terrible". Trust me, this is not true! The only defect is a faint vertical line that runs through the picture that looks like a scratch on the original negative. However, the viewer becomes so engrossed in the film that he forgets all about that faint line, and it does not distract at all. Some of these other critics who are complaining about the picture quality of this DVD - well, they just need to get a life! I can certainly live with that faint line. We're lucky this film even exists at all, as the film stock on which movies were made before the 1950s was nitrate based, which dissolved after a few decades. Because of this, many old movies have disintegrated and are totally unavailable today for viewing. So take your pick - a faint vertical line in the picture, or nothing. If you have any doubts about the picture quality, rent it first through Netflix (like I did), then buy it on Amazon.com. This DVD is a must for a serious film buff! November 24, 2008

a great classic movie

the movie alexnders ragtime band is a great classic movie you have everything romance, singing, drama
i would highley recommend these movie to classic movie buffs October 10, 2008

Alexander's Ragtime Band

Alexander's Ragtime Band

A classic Musical. I was eager to see this film after reading about the deleted scenes. While the deleted scenes are good, I did not miss them from the film at all.

Acting is good and the music great. I thought that this movie showed both Tyron Power and Alice Faye at their best. An enjoyable viewing!! September 2, 2008

fine classic movie musical bursting with song and dance !!!

Alexander's Ragtime Band is one of the very best musicals ever produced by Fox Studios. Of course, the numerous song and dance numbers are beautifully staged; and the songs by Irving Berlin are performed flawlessly by greats Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and a young Ethel Merman. The action moves along at a good pace and the acting was extremely convincing.

The action begins in the early 1900s in San Francisco. A young man from a wealthy society family named Roger Grant (Tyrone Power) just can't stand playing classical music even though he's very good at it. Instead, to the dismay of his family, he forms a ragtime early swing era band and calls it Alexander's Ragtime Band. He even changes his name to Alexander! That's when Alexander and his buddies Charlie Dwyer (Don Ameche) and drummer Davey Lane (Jack Haley) meet up with tough talking Stella Kirby (Alice Faye); but soon Stella is singing with the band.

Romance inevitably blossoms. Eventually, after a few misunderstandings, Stella and Alexander are in love. However, when Stella gets her big break to leave the band and go to New York to star in big Broadway shows, Alexander is furious that she would leave the band behind. Only Charlie sticks up for Stella; and in a fit of rage Alexander tells Charlie that he should also go to New York with Stella.

World War One sets in and Alexander tries to forget about Stella. After the war Alexander returns--only to find that Stella, who he still loves, married Charlie back home during the war. Alexander is depressed but Davey introduces him to Jerry Allen (Ethel Merman). Jerry replaces Stella in their band act and Alexander tries to see if he can find romance with Jerry instead of Stella.

The plot can go in many different directions from here. What happens to Stella after she becomes a huge star and marries Charlie? Is she happy with that life or does she want something else? Will Jerry Allen take Alexander's mind off Stella--at one point Alexander actually asks Jerry to marry him--how will that turn out? No plot spoilers here, folks--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!

The DVD has some rather good extras. There is the "biography channel" episode of the life and career of Alice Faye; this is very well done. We also get deleted scenes and footage of the movie's premiere in London, England. There's even an audio commentary--terrific!

My only complaint--and it's somewhat minor--is that there IS a vertical, white line "scratch" on the screen starting about 35 minutes into the picture and it never really goes away although it is less noticeable in many subsequent scenes. I will take off one star for this flaw; this will be a four star review.

Alexander's Ragtime Band is an excellent motion picture musical from the golden age of Hollywood. I highly recommend this for fans of classic musicals.
April 17, 2008

A Tribute to America's #1 Songwriter or Reflection of Indifference?

As other reviewers have pointed out, this movie is a gem--an unlikely, busily bizarre plot and curious collection of actors fueled by the songs of America's arguably best and inarguably most indispensable composer. A highlight is "Blue Skies," on which one of the women competing for the affections of Tyrone Power sings the part that's in a minor key and the other (at that moment with the best angle on a piece of Power) the part in a major key. Perhaps the best Berlin musical on film, more intricately plotted than "Annie Get Your Gun" and not the lumbering behemoth production that was its 1950s descendent, "There's No Business Like Show Business" (though the latter's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" number is admittedly Hollywood excess at its most excessive, worth having as a complement to the version on this earlier B&W version).

The slipshod transfer of these early Fox Classics to DVD, some markedly inferior to the previous VHS editions, is I'm afraid another symptom of cultural amnesia and growing indifference to a golden albeit non-digital age. March 7, 2008

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