Godspell (1973)

[MattDean]

Really?!

Great! Thanks for the information!

Really did not expect this to make its way to Blu - and even more surprisingly, it comes with some decent extras!

If anyone’s interested, there’s a vintage 3-part behind the scenes special on YouTube - it’s well worth viewing, if you’re a fan. It was posted by a YouTuber called PatchesAndFacePaint. Here’s the link to part one of the three:

The Filming of Godspell (1973) (Part 1/3) - YouTube

(For show fans, search YouTube for ‘Godspell in Plymouth’ - a 70’s Thanksgiving TV special, filmed on location, with the then touring cast, the majority of songs are performed!)

Matt

[Robert Siegel]

Originally Posted by MattDean

Really?!

Great! Thanks for the information!


If anyone’s interested, there’s a vintage 3-part behind the scenes special on YouTube - it’s well worth viewing, if you’re a fan. It was posted by a YouTuber called PatchesAndFacePaint. Here’s the link to part one of the three: The Filming of Godspell (1973) (Part 1/3) - YouTube

Matt

Hello Matt.....wow if you can find a documentary that easily, why couldn't, or wouldn't Sony? It's the same with the movie Thoroughly Modern Millie and Flower Drum Song. When Universal (finally) released them on DVD, they actually made a special edition out of "Flower Drum Song" and included new interviews, but for both films there were already several shorts the studio had produced at the time of the film's release that I suppose they were just too lazy to look for. Millie had a great short (about 8 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEfZTIvMqR0&t=26s

) and there was another produced about the music which I can't find. Flower Drum Song also had several also, here's one of those: https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+song+custumes.

So I find it very sad they are just not interested in adding these wonderful additions anymore. Also missing is the 4 track stereo soundtrack from the film. I saw this film in Minneapolis in stereo sound, I remember it well because I remember thinking to myself how wonderful the music sounds with stereo separation and the theater had quite a loud volume going. Maybe the stereo tracks are lost, but maybe they aren't either and they didn't want to spend the money to remaster and/or fix them.

That all said, I am still glad to see this film out on blu-ray. I'll take any musical on blu-ray that I can get since they are so scarce. I just love the soundtrack of this film. It is a beautifully produced CD. Oh how nice it would have been in 4 track stereo!

[The Mad Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Robert Siegel

Hello Matt.....wow if you can find a documentary that easily, why couldn't, or wouldn't Sony? It's the same with the movie Thoroughly Modern Millie and Flower Drum Song. When Universal (finally) released them on DVD, they actually made a special edition out of "Flower Drum Song" and included new interviews, but for both films there were already several shorts the studio had produced at the time of the film's release that I suppose they were just too lazy to look for. Millie had a great short (about 8 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEfZTIvMqR0&t=26s) and there was another produced about the music which I can't find. Flower Drum Song also had several also, here's one of those: https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+song+custumes.

So I find it very sad they are just not interested in adding these wonderful additions anymore. Also missing is the 4 track stereo soundtrack from the film. I saw this film in Minneapolis in stereo sound, I remember it well because I remember thinking to myself how wonderful the music sounds with stereo separation and the theater had quite a loud volume going. Maybe the stereo tracks are lost, but maybe they aren't either and they didn't want to spend the money to remaster and/or fix them.

That all said, I am still glad to see this film out on blu-ray. I'll take any musical on blu-ray that I can get since they are so scarce. I just love the soundtrack of this film. It is a beautifully produced CD. Oh how nice it would have been in 4 track stereo!

Funny, Sony did the same thing with Funny Girl. The Blu has two vintage featurettes, but it's missing this third one about the costumes that's very similar to Millie's:

Look of Funny Girl (1968) - YouTube

And wow! Thanks, MattDean, for that vintage special! The promotional featurette on Godspell's Blu takes its first half from that special's footage, but now that we've got the whole thing on YouTube, the only value in the short featurette is its second half showing the film's premiere. The supplements acquired for the Blu are excellent (though Lee Gambin even voices my question at one point as to why Sony only wanted audio interviews instead of video ones), but this special would make the disc perfect.

I wonder if it's the same scenario Sony ran into with Annie: the elements they found for that movie's "making of" special were in too rough a shape to be considered presentable, so they opted out.