laureatedvd.com

[Celia Hall]

As a constant visitor to the Laureate website, I must say how impressed I am with the knowledge and foresight of Ken Barnes. His love of movies of all kinds is obvious - not just in his own DVD productions but in the way he praises films in general. His remarks about the new Ealing Classics box set has made me want to go out this week and buy it.

I'm also looking forward to his forthcoming DVD of "Holiday Inn" When Ken talks about classics of all kinds, I'm sure he means more musicals. With only three Fred Astaire films available on DVD ( the two Laureates - Second Chrous and Royal Wedding - and Paramount's Funny Face ), I hope Mr. Barnes doesn't stop after Holiday Inn.

Please keep the musicals coming.

Celia Hall ( Mrs.)

[Dominic McHugh]

I'll second Mrs Hall's hope for more Fred (and preferably Ginger). The other lesser-known MGM Astaire films would also be very welcome companions to Royal Wedding, eg 'The Band Wagon' (an all-time favourite of mine), 'The Belle of New York' (with Vera-Ellen - can anyone tell me why her name is hyphenated?), 'Three Little Words', 'Yolanda and the Thief' and 'Ziegfeld Follies.' There really is a market for this kind of film - I'm eighteen and I and all my friends adore the classic musicals. I know you have copyright and production difficulties; this message is one of enthusiasm and not complaint!

We also love your release of 'Charade'; any chance of more films in this genre (eg Caprice, Arabesque, etc)?

Thanks for all your productions

Dominic McHugh

[Ken Barnes]

Hi Dominic,

Like you, I'm surprised that there isn't more Fred Astaire on DVD. "The Band Wagon" - which is also a favourite of mine - and "The Belle of New York" belong to Turner who is now firmly linked with Warner Brothers. Since they are releasing so many of the Gene Kelly musicals ( in the States anyway ) one can only hope they'll eventually get around to Fred's films.

At present, I've done all I can with releasing "Second Chorus", "Royal Wedding" and the upcoming "Holiday Inn."

If you liked the first two - in which Fred's daughter,Ava - joined me on the audio commentary tracks - you'll really enjoy "Holiday Inn." Ava joins me again - this time ON SCREEN - in a 45 minute featurette called "A Couple of Song and Dance Men " which traces the careers of both Fred and Bing Crosby. This contains some lovely inside stories about these two great entertainers. There is also a short
7-minute featurette called "All Singing-All Dancing - Before & After" explaining how Fred added his "taps" to the number "I'll Capture Your Heart." I think you'll find this interesting.

As for the future, I'm thinking of approaching 20th Century Fox to see if I can persuade them to let me have "Daddy Longlegs" or, at the very least, let me do it for them as I have "Holiday Inn" for Universal.

It's early days yet - and the DVD market is steadily increasing - so in time all things may be possible.

Now, to answer your query. Vera-Ellen (1926-1981) was born Vera-Ellen Westmeyr Rohe and simply used her christian name professionally. Making her screen debut in 1945 in "Wonder Man" starring Danny Kaye, she quickly became known as one of Hollywood's very finest dancers making a total of 14 films between 1945 and 1957 after which retired from the screen. She died of cancer at age 55.

If you have any more movie queries, please don't hesitate to ask. It's all part of the Laureate service.

Your kind interest - like that of so many others - is much appreciated and you can be sure that I'll do all I can to meet as many requests as possible.

Best wishes
Ken Barnes.

P.S. If you're also a fan of Astaire the recording artist, you will be happy to learn that the "Holiday Inn/White Christmas" CD which Universal are releasing ahead of the DVD includes the never-before released track of Fred singing "Let's Say It With Firecrackers"