Release Date: February 19, 2013
This 65th Anniversary single-disc release is Easter Parade’s premiere on Blu-ray. Most of the extras are copied over from the 2005 2-disc in standard definition, but that’s fine because the film itself is the main attraction here. The image and sound are better than ever. In fact, the sound is light years ahead of the 1995 Rhino CD release. The final reel of the film has a slight difference in its image composition due to the fact that the Technicolor negative doesn’t survive. But even that still looks wonderful.
The one new feature is the addition of the deleted “Mr. Monotony” in its edited format as a separate chapter in the extras. All the unedited outtake footage is still part of the extras as well.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary by Ava Astaire MacKenzie and John Fricke
On The Avenue, a new “Making of…” documentary with retrospective interviews and rare footage
“Mr. Monotony”: Outtake musical number by Judy Garland
“Mr. Monotony”: Dailies
Audio only: Fred Astaire interview with MGM’s Dick Simmons
Audio only: Fred Astaire & Judy Garland’s Screen Guild radio version of Easter Parade from 1951
Theatrical Trailer
The 2005 release featured the complete PBS documentary Judy Garland: By Myself. The documentary was advertised as a feature on this Blu-ray release as well. It’s listed on the back cover (see image). When the discs went out in mid-February 2013, the documentary wasn’t there. After fans contacted Warner Home Video, the company hastily mailed out a standard DVD without chapters or even menus, and with the Ann Miller/Peter Lawford disc artwork from the 2005 release. The response was shoddy at best. At the same time, the disc was pulled from circulation via Amazon and other online retailers.
In 2005, Easter Parade was fully restored using Warner Home Video’s proprietary “UltraResolution” process, in high definition, and premiered on DVD in this 2-disc set on March 15, 2005.
From Warner Home Video: Strolling along 5th Avenue or going on the bum as “A Couple of Swells”, Judy Garland and Fred Astaire lead a parade of music (with 17 Irving Berlin tunes) and gotta-dance fun (including Astaire’s “Drum Crazy”) in this never-ending delight co-starring Ann Miller (performing a knockout “Shaking the Blues Away”) and Peter Lawford (gamely crooning “A Fella with the Umbrella” with Garland). Don’t let this colorful Easter Parade pass you by!
Extras Disc One:
Easter Parade – Remastered with new UltraResolution restoration process.
Audio Commentary by Ava Astaire MacKenzie and John Fricke
Fred Astaire Trailer Gallery
Extras Disc Two:
Judy Garland: By Myself — The Emmy Award-winning PBS American Masters documentary (114 min)
On The Avenue, a new “Making of…” documentary with retrospective interviews and rare footage
“Mr. Monotony”: Outtake musical number by Judy Garland
Audio only: Fred Astaire interview with MGM’s Dick Simmons
Audio only: Fred Astaire & Judy Garland’s Screen Guild radio version of Easter Parade from 1951
The single-disc edition.
