Universal Pictures
The hit musical Thoroughly Modern Millie stars the iconic Julie Andrews in the title role of an innocent small-town girl who comes to the big city in search of a husband. Along the way she becomes the secretary of the rich and famous Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), befriends the sweet Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore), fights off the wretched Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie) and hooks up with a lively paper clip salesman, Jimmy (James Fox). In the end it takes a rich and nutty jazz baby like Muzzy (Carol Channing) to unravel all these complications, give a great party and match up lovers. George Roy Hill directed this zany romantic spoof of the Roaring Twenties that garnered seven Academy Award nominations and won for its wonderful score by the great Elmer Bernstein.
REVIEW
I first became acquainted with Thoroughly Modern Millie in junior high as some kind of reward or treat for our class. I don’t know who thought a bunch of kids just entering their teens would enjoy this movie, but I don’t remember it being received well … by the majority of the class, anyway. (But it did fare better than when they showed us The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a French, subtitled musical.) I, however, adored it and I have been a fan ever since. And even with some of its very problematic characters and situation (as seen through a modern lens), it’s still a hoot thanks to the wonderful performances, terrific musical numbers, production design and the one and only Carol Channing.
Taking place in 1922, Julie Andrews’ Millie comes to the big city and is wowed by the styles and fashions of the women, looking to give herself a modern makeover. But her true mission is far from modern — she just wants to find a job with a rich, single boss and marry him. She strikes out several times until she interviews with the dashing — and single — Trevor Grayden (John Gavin), swooning over his chiseled jaw, ready to get right to work … on him. Millie also meets young socialite Miss Dorothy Brown (Mary Tyler Moore), who comes to the city to try to live like the common folk. The two form a fast friendship as they reside in a residence for women run by Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie), who has ulterior motives for her operation, namely selling her tenants into white slavery to the local Chinese (I told you it was problematic). Millie is later introduced to Muzzy Van Hossmere (Carol Channing), a wild ‘jazz baby’ who takes Millie under her wing, and Jimmy Smith (James Fox), a young man who is instantly smitten with Millie, who only has eyes for Trevor … who only has eyes for Miss Dorothy. But Millie doesn’t know that Miss Dorothy, Jimmy and Muzzy have secrets of their own that come as quite a surprise in the end. Along the way they all sing and dance, and Muzzy gives the world the enthusiastic exclamation, ‘Razzberries!’
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a film of its era and has to be viewed that way to get past some of the now offensive stereotypes, like non-Chinese actors playing Chinese and speaking gibberish, not to mention the whole white slavery subplot. The performances of Andrews and Moore are a delight, and it makes you a bit sad that this film came at the end of the movie musical cycle because it would have been wonderful to see them paired up again, even if Moore never gets a song of her own (she can dance though). John Gavin is hilarious as Trevor, bravely poking fun at the image he had in Hollywood as a handsome stiff (and getting to literally play that later in the film). Fox is adorable as Jimmy, and Lillie is terrific has Mrs. Meers, with her outwardly caring and inwardly sinister behavior. And Channing is a wondrous creature you just can’t take your eyes off of, especially in her numbers where she literally vibrates to the music. The original songs are all winners, and the choreography is stunning especially in a scene where Millie and Miss Dorothy go to a dance held by Mrs. Meers (and I love how in that scene the song ‘The Tapioca’ is cut off before it finishes, abruptly ending the dancing). The production design and costumes are also outstanding, and as many times as I’ve seen the movie I never realized until now (thanks to the lovely visual presentation and the audio commentary) that the movie has a basic black-and-white palette with each scene featuring one color in the sets and costumes (you’ll notice one dress Millie wears that is the same except the highlight color is different in different scenes). Mind blown!
In my opinion, Thoroughly Modern Millie is an overlooked classic in the movie musical genre, and I am beyond thrilled that Kino Lorber has finally given the film the attention it deserves, problems and all.
Universal Pictures
BLU-RAY
Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray for Thoroughly Modern Millie is stunning. That’s the best word I can use for it. First of all, this is the original ‘road show’ version that runs about 13 minutes longer than the standard theatrical and home video release with the inclusion of the opening Overture and the Intermission (which really was not necessary and was widely hated by the director and star, feeling it destroyed the momentum of the story to that point). The film image is spotless from a new 4K restoration by Universal Pictures. As I mentioned above, I never really noticed the color palette and highlights so this high def presentation really draws your eye to those pops of color. The DTS stereo soundtrack is also vibrant, keeping the dialogue front and center and using the surrounds for the music during the musical numbers. It’s very well balanced with no hiss or pops evident.
Aside from a couple of trailers, the Blu-ray’s one major bonus is a feature-length audio commentary by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Art Historian Ian McAnally. It’s obvious these two are fans of the film and really deliver a lot of historical information about the making of the film, something I greatly appreciate. Some commentary tracks are more essays read about everything but the film, so this track is full of facts about the production, the director and the stars and it sounds very unrehearsed and conversational. This is where I learned about the color details in each scene. The pair also discuss how this was originally a vehicle for Moore before Andrews came on board, and Moore was a bit disappointed that she got relegated to co-star status and didn’t get a song, hoping the film would be a star turn for her after coming off of The Dick Van Dyke Show (had it been then we might not have been blessed with her own starring series in 1970). They also note that Lillie was suffering from the onset of Alzheimer’s and had a very difficult time remembering her lines (and you would never know), but Andrews really took care of her on set. It is also mentioned that studio execs at Fox saw this as Channing’s audition for the film version of Hello, Dolly and found her to be just a bit too much to endure for more than a co-starring role (which is sad considering she originated the role on Broadway). They also don’t shy away from the controversial aspects of the film, as well as the battles behind the scenes between the director and producer. It really is one of the best commentary tracks I’ve sat through in some time. I had actually only intended to give it a brief listen and scan through for this review, but the commentary just drew me in and I listened to the entire thing. Great job! The only thing that might have made this even better would have been some participation from Andrews. She and Fox are the only two of the main cast members still with us so a little insight from either of them would have been welcome, but as it stands it is a terrific presentation.
OVERVIEW
Thoroughly Modern Millie is certainly a relic of an era, two eras really since the 1967 film is set in 1922, and it may also be thought of as the last big studio musical of that time. It’s got big stars, great original music, fantastic production design, fancy choreography, cute homages to the silent film era, and the incomparable Carol Channing. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fabulous, and the audio commentary is one of the most informative to come along in a long time. The film’s controversial issues are properly addressed and given historical context, but none of that detracts from what is ultimately a joyful cinematic, musical experience. Kino Lorber and Universal Pictures have done Millie proud. Razzberries indeed!
Kino Lorber generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-ray for reviewing purposes.
Thoroughly Modern Millie has a running time of 2 hours 32 minutes and is rated G.
Universal Pictures
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