- " Easter Parade " Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade Judy Garland Fred Astaire DVD Review Easter Parade

(aka "Irving Berlin's Easter Parade" )

directed by Charles Walters
USA 1948

After "For Me and My Gal" Gene Kelly was going to be paired again with Judy Garland, but broke his ankle, so they sent for Fred Astaire instead. The only time he starred with her turned out to be the most successful of his post-Ginger Rogers musicals. He plays one half of a top Broadway dance team whose polished partner (Ann Miller) goes off to strike it alone. He finds an untried unknown (Garland) and grooms her Svengali-style to fill the same shoes. Romance and jealousies inevitably ensue.

The slight plot is laced with generous dollops of vintage Irving Berlin songs, several of them staged with dazzling ingenuity, such as Fred's brilliant solo "Drum Crazy", his "Stepping Out With My Baby" with its accomplished slow-motion effects, and the show-stopping comedy duet with Judy, "A Couple of Swells", which they play in tramp makeup.

Ann Miller's lightning tap-dancing is also magnificently showcased in her solo "Shakin' the Blues Away" and she effectively partners Astaire in "It Only Happens When I Dance With You". But Garland, although a lesser dancer, eclipses her in sheer star power, and overcomes the age difference with Astaire.

Excerpt from BBC Reviews located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 30, 1948 (New York City, New York)

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DVD Comparison:

Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2,5,5 - PAL vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow and Gregory Meshman for the Screen Caps!

(Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2,5 - PAL - LEFT vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers	Same as the UK Edition HERE:
	The Classic Musicals Collection - Broadway to Hollywood ( Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two Disc Special Edition / Bells Are Ringing / Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon )
Distribution	Warner Region 2,5 - PAL	Warner Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:39:04 (4% PAL speedup)	1:43:08
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.96 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.91 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Warner (Special Edition)
Bitrate: Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Audio	1.0 Dolby Digital Mono English	1.0 Dolby Digital Mono English and French DUB
Subtitles	English, German Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Greek, Turkish and more	English, French, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Ava Astaire McKenzie and John Fricke • Garland Trailer Gallery • Easter Parade: On the Avenue (34:23) • Mr. Monotony Outtake (20:25) DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005 Keep Case Chapters 30	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Ava Astaire McKenzie and John Fricke • Garland Trailer Gallery • Easter Parade: On the Avenue (34:20) • Mr. Monotony Outtake (21:16) • American Masters: Judy Garland - By Myself (1:56:04) • Radio Promo (4:25) • 3/11/1951 Screen Guild Playhouse Broadcast (53:57) DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005 Keep Case Chapters 30

Comments

The Danish DVD is a Region 2,5 and 5 PAL edition. Looking at the bitrate and bitrate graph, it is basically an exact copy of the NTSC, but there are minor differences.

Where the R1 edition is slightly sharper in details, it’s also more grainy, and when zooming into 200%, there are clusters of pixels around images, not present in the Danish edition, which is softer in tone. The R1 edition has a better colour definition than the Danish. If you look at the bottom down pin on Astaire in Image #3, the R1 pin is golden, but almost silver in the Danish edition. Considering all pros and cons, due to the more even image, I prefer the Danish.

Henrik Sylow -

NOTE: Regarding Garland documentary - it's not just Sandrew edition that is missing this extra. In fact, both Canadian and U.K. edition are also without this excellent documentary. I think it has to do with licensing it from PBS to include in non-U.S. editions, since Warner doesn't own it. (Thanks Gregory)

DVD Menus

(Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2,5 - PAL - LEFT vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2,5 - PAL - TOP vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
PAL captures resized from 768px to 720px

(Warner (Special Edition) - Region 2,5 - PAL - TOP vs. Warner (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

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Report Card:

Image:	Even
Sound:	Two-Disc Special Edition (additional French dub)
Extras:	Two-Disc Special Edition
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