Tue, 03/29/2011

The Archive of American Television Presents "Anything Goes" starring Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman

Entertainment One and The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation have partnered to release the NBC Colgate Comedy Hour production of Cole Porter's classic musical comedy, Anything Goes, in its debut  special edition DVD, featuring a newly-recorded interview with musical director Buddy Bregman and a collectible booklet.

About Anything Goes:

From 1950 to 1955, every Sunday night The Colgate Comedy Hour presented live musical variety television featuring the top names in vaudeville, theater, radio and film.  In 1954, the famed show broke from its usual variety show format to broadcast a specially staged production of the Cole Porter musical comedy Anything Goes.  This one-time-only live performance featured Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman making their television acting debuts, accompanied by Bert Lahr (The Wizard of Oz) and Sheree North .  On March 29, Entertainment One presents this historic production on a special edition DVD, digitally re-mastered from Ethel Merman’s personal kinescope print.  Also featuring a newly recorded interview with musical director Buddy Bregman and a 20-page booklet with written contributions from musical theatre writer Stephen Cole, ANYTHING GOES arrives as the latest DVD release from The Archive of American Television Presents, a partnership between Entertainment One and the Archive of American Television.

Set on a luxurious ocean liner, a nightclub singer tries to help a fellow American woo an English heiress who is being forced to return home to marry a man she doesn't love.  In an attempt to avoid his boss who is also traveling on the same ship, the American disguises himself as a gangster traveling with a minister.  But, ironically, the minister is actually a disguised gangster on the lam.  As Sinatra and Merman light up the stage performing Cole Porter standards like “Anything Goes,” “You’re The Top,” "Blow Gabriel Blow" and "I Get a Kick Out of You," flappers and gangsters run amok in this spectacular tale of jazz age madness.

Arriving on DVD prior to a new, eagerly-awaited Broadway revival opening April 2011, ANYTHING GOES is posed to inspire a new generation of fans everywhere! Anything Goes  is now available on DVD on Amazon.com. Read a review in the L.A. Times here.

About “The Archive of American Television Presents”

"The Archive of American Television Presents" is a partnership between Entertainment One and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. The collaborative mission is to present culturally and historically significant productions from the Golden Age of Television on DVD, restored and re-mastered from the best-quality sources. The Television Academy Foundation and its Archive of American Television does not own or represent any of the programs being released under this partnership.

Current Releases:

Studio One Anthology

What Makes Sammy Run?

The Barbara Stanwyck Show - Volume 1

The Barbara Stanwyck Show - Volume 2

Leonard Bernstein's Omnibus

Studio One: Twelve Angry Men

Rod Serling: Studio One Dramas

Orson Welles in King Lear (Omnibus)

Stephen Sondheim's Evening Primrose

John Gielgud - The Ages of Man

Anything Goes