Let's Make Love is a curious picture in many ways: Marilyn Monroe was the superstar, Yves Montand new to Hollywood, but she seems peripheral to the action and he's in almost every scene. Meanwhile director George Cukor, always happy with theatrical material, can't make the off-off-Broadway milieu come to believable life. In short, Let's Make Love lacks the sparkle promised by its talent roster, and for Monroe especially the bloom is off the rose. This 1960 film was her next to last, and she appears weary, although isolated moments have the old oomph (and she has a terrific romp through her first number, Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"). Cameos by Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly increase the time-capsule feeling. The biggest failing is the lack of chemistry between Monroe and Montand, yet off-screen they had a romance during filming. A curious picture indeed. -Robert Horton, Amazon. com.

Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," George Cukor (The Women, The Philadelphia Story), transformed Audrey Hepburn into street-urchin-turned-proper-lady Eliza Doolittle in this film version of the Lerner and Loewe musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady stars Rex Harrison as linguist Henry Higgins (Harrison also played the role, opposite Julie Andrews, on stage), who draws Eliza into a social experiment that works almost too well. The letterbox edition of this film on video certainly pays tribute to the pageantry of Cukor's set, but it also underscores a certain visual stiffness that can slow viewer enthusiasm just a tad. But it's really star wattage that keeps this film exciting, that and such great songs as "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night. " Actor Jeremy Brett, who gained a huge following later in life portraying Sherlock Holmes, is quite electric as Eliza's determined suitor. -Tom Keogh Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," George Cukor (The Women, The Philadelphia Story), transformed Audrey Hepburn into street-urchin-turned-proper-lady Eliza Doolittle in this film version of the Lerner and Loewe musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady stars Rex Harrison as linguist Henry Higgins (Harrison also played the role, opposite Julie Andrews, on stage), who draws Eliza into a social experiment that works almost too well. Star wattage keeps this film exciting, that and such great songs as "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night. " Actor Jeremy Brett, who gained a huge following later in life portraying Sherlock Holmes, is quite electric as Eliza's determined suitor. -Tom Keogh.

Jacques Demy's haunting romantic musical is an enchanting, one-of-a-kind musical experience. It's basically a movie operetta, in which the characters sing all the dialogue (or, rather, lyrics-by director Demy) to Michel Legrand's lovely score. The story spans five years (1957-1962) in the life of Geneviéve (the ethereally beautiful Catherine Deneuve in the role that launched her to international stardom), the teenage daughter of a woman who owns a Cherbourg umbrella shop. After Geneviéve's boyfriend Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) is drafted and sent off to Algeria, she discovers she's pregnant and complications ensue. With its dazzling candy-coloured palette, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg looks sweet and dreamy. Restored and re-released in 1995 to rapturous acclaim and the renewed delight of all who got the chance to see it. The video release is taken from the restored version. -Jim Emerson, Amazon. com.

Elvis Presley does the clam-a now-forgotten dance-in this 1964 potboiler in which the King stars as a singer who gets a gig in Ft. Lauderdale with his combo but has to baby-sit a mobster's teenage daughter (Shelley Fabares) as part of the deal. Fabares's character, looking for a break, runs wild and makes life difficult for Elvis. The film has the usual "Elvis movie" bounce, wolfish jokes and glossy disposability, but the endearing (and smart) presence of Fabares as the love interest adds a bit more zip than usual. Songs include the title track, plus "Puppet on a String", "Do Not Disturb" and "Let's Party Tonight". Directed by Boris Sagal who went on to helm the cult sci-fi classic The Omega Man (1971). -Tom Keogh.

Of all her on-screen personas, Barbra Streisand sparkles in none as brightly as her role as 1930s comedian Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl. Wide-screen epic specialist William Wyler brings his personal touch to this vivacious 1968 film, an adaptation of Jule Styne and Robert Merrill's 1964 Broadway show that introduced Streisand to the world. In the belated sequel, Funny Lady from 1975, Streisand's Brice comes off as a harsher woman, slightly bitchy, without the tremendous charm she possessed in the first film. Herbert Ross takes over as director and the film just seems to get away from him. Much to the film's detriment, Funny Lady concentrates more on Brice's professional life than on her personal life, as the first film does. The songs are elaborately staged numbers that Brice performs in the theatres and while they are visually lush and spectacular they lack conviction. -Jenny Brown, Amazon. com.

There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting Mary Poppins, and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P. L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim-Chim Cheree") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider Mary Poppins to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career-and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until Beauty and the Beast in 1991. -Jim Emerson A pioneering film within Animation, Musicals and Fantasy, Walt Disney's Mary Poppins is possibly one of the warmest and dearest films ever made. Based on a story by PL Travers we find Julie Andrews on fine form in her debut lead role (for which she would win the "Best Actress" Oscar). She is practically perfectly teamed with Dick Van Dyke as the lovable chimney sweep Burt, whose cockney accent is endearingly inaccurate. Along with a fine supporting cast, where even the child actors hold their own without appearing like stage school wannabes, Poppins and her crew take you on a magical ride through chalk pictures, the roof tops of London and show you that laughter is not always the best medicine (even with a spoon full of sugar) when you can't get down. [+]

It's pretty tough to beat Jailhouse Rock in terms of sheer entertainment, but Elvis lovers are particularly fond of this 1964 hit. The Big E plays race-car driver Lucky Jackson, who arrives in Las Vegas for an upcoming Grand Prix race. Lucky's car needs a new engine, so he gets a waiter job at a casino and starts working his crooning charms on Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). It's their on-screen chemistry that makes this flick a lot of fun; Presley never had a better co-star than Ann-Margret, and their race-car romance is quintessential 1960s fluff. Then there are the songs, of course, including the snappy title tune, a rockin' rendition of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say?" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Viva Las Vegas is one of the Elvis movies that stands the test of time, when the legend was still at his peak. -Jeff Shannon.

Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," George Cukor (The Women, The Philadelphia Story), transformed Audrey Hepburn into street-urchin-turned-proper-lady Eliza Doolittle in this film version of the Lerner and Loewe musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady stars Rex Harrison as linguist Henry Higgins (Harrison also played the role, opposite Julie Andrews, on stage), who draws Eliza into a social experiment that works almost too well. The letterbox edition of this film on video certainly pays tribute to the pageantry of Cukor's set, but it also underscores a certain visual stiffness that can slow viewer enthusiasm just a tad. But it's really star wattage that keeps this film exciting, that and such great songs as "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night. " Actor Jeremy Brett, who gained a huge following later in life portraying Sherlock Holmes, is quite electric as Eliza's determined suitor. -Tom Keogh Hollywood's legendary "woman's director," George Cukor (The Women, The Philadelphia Story), transformed Audrey Hepburn into street-urchin-turned-proper-lady Eliza Doolittle in this film version of the Lerner and Loewe musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady stars Rex Harrison as linguist Henry Higgins (Harrison also played the role, opposite Julie Andrews, on stage), who draws Eliza into a social experiment that works almost too well. Star wattage keeps this film exciting, that and such great songs as "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night. " Actor Jeremy Brett, who gained a huge following later in life portraying Sherlock Holmes, is quite electric as Eliza's determined suitor. -Tom Keogh.