DVD Review: Summer Stock

(1950, Color, 109 min.)
Director: Charles Walters

There's an unusual harvest at Falbury Farm: Beans, hay... show tunes. It's a bumper crop, too, with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly leading all the hoofing, singing and sparking. In her final MGM musical, Garland plays Jane Falbury, a farm owner more than a bit riled when her aspiring-actress sister (Gloria DeHaven) shows up with a theatrical troupe that wants to stage a musical in the family's barn. Any guess who becomes the show's sudden star after its lead runs off with a Broadway actor? Highlights include Kelly's shuffle-and-squeak "You Wonderful You" dance solo making use of loose boards and newspaper on the floor, tuxedo-topped Garland's leggy, joyous "Get Happy" and a Kelly/Phil Silvers country-bumpkin bit of "Heavenly Music" backed by woofing canines. After a show like this, how're you gonna keep these kids down on the farm?

Special Features

New featurette Summer Stock: Get Happy

Classic cartoon The Cuckoo Clock

Vintage Pete Smith Specialty short Did'ja Know?

Audio-only bonus: Outtake song "Fall in Love" teaser

Theatrical Trailer

Subtitles: English, French and Spanish (feature film only)
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Standard Version presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition
Film Studio: MGM
DVD Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: April 25, 2006
UPC: 012569678583