Posted Tue Apr 23, 2013 at 10:00 AM PDT by Tom Landy
The 1940 musical starring Fred Astaire and Burgess Meredith has been restored for a Blu-ray release in May.
In an early announcement to retailers, Film Chest is preparing 'Second Chorus' for Blu-ray on May 14.
Friends Danny O'Neill (Astaire) and Hank Taylor (Meredith) prolong their college career by purposefully failing for seven years, all to lead the college band, "O'Neill's Perennials." When a woman named Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard) serves them a collection notice for a set of encyclopedias they never paid for, the duo woo Ellen away from her debt collection day job to be their manager. Meanwhile, Artie Shaw (playing himself) and his band grow tired of losing gigs to the Perennials and try to draw Ellen away to work for them.
The Academy Award-nominated film (Best Song - "Would You Like to Be the Love of My Life?" and Best Score) has been digitally restored (2K scan) from an original 35mm fine grain nitrate print.
"We were delighted to give 'Second Chorus' its due respect with transferring and restoring it from an original 35mm nitrate," comments Phil Hopkins, President of Film Chest. "Fans of Fred Astaire and Artie Shaw will be thrilled with their brilliant performances."
Specs have yet to be revealed, but the Blu-ray/DVD combo will include: Audio Commentary by Author Tom Santopietro ("Sinatra in Hollywood", "Considering Doris Day"); Before-and-After Restoration Demo; Movie Trailer; and a Bonus Original Movie Art Postcard.
Suggested list price for the Blu-ray combo is $19.98.
You can find the latest specs for 'Second Chorus' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under May 14.
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