Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Harold Arlen

Customer Response

fine portrait of a very special man
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Harold Arlen gives us a fascinating portrait of a genius who should have been more of a household name when he was living; and he still deserves far more recognition than he gets today. Harold wrote so many songs I couldn't list them all here even if I tried. Some of his better known songs come from The Wizard Of Oz and films like Stormy Weather; but he also composed the music for incomparable tunes including "Blues In The Night;" Get Happy;" "Last Night When We Were Young;" "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" and so much more. In this documentary, we get rarely seen interview footage with Arlen from what was probably the 1960s; and we see him working in a recording studio with Tony Bennett in 1963. There's marvelous color footage of Barbra Streisand singing Arlen's "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" from a television show in 1966 and there are several very rare black and white clips of Harold Arlen singing and playing the piano on televised "specials" back in the 1950s.

The documentary benefits from the interviews we get from stars and the people who knew Harold much more intimately. I enjoyed the commentary by the incredible Fayard Nicholas, who danced with his brother as The Nicholas Brothers; Fayard remembers Harold Arlen fondly and he recalls having so much fun dancing with Pearl Bailey to one of Arlen's tunes in a big show. There's some good commentary by Harold's son Sam and his sister-in-law; they tell us so much more about this sensitive, caring man who could seemingly pull a tune out of his hat within 30 minutes at the most. It's incredible.

Moreover, the documentary takes some time to explore the basic timeline of Harold Arlen's life. We learn that he was born Hyman Arluck and that his family lived in an African-American neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. The Arlucks befriended many families there and Harold learned about music both from them and his father's work as a cantor in a Jewish synagogue. Hyman changed his name to Harold Arlen; and he arrived in New York in the late 1920s after playing in a couple of bands in the Buffalo area. In addition, the documentary takes its time to tell the meaningful tale of Arlen's romance with and marriage to a young, beautiful model named Anya; things weren't always easy for them as the film will explain to you. However, the footage of Harold and Anya is terrific.

Why isn't Harold Arlen better remembered? The documentary goes into that; and I think you'll gain much insight about that from watching this DVD video. It may well seem that I've given it all away; but I truly haven't. We get much more commentary from people I haven't even mentioned here; and the film covers Harold Arlen's life all the way until his passing. Even if I had told you everything you'll see on this DVD, the emotional impact of watching would still remain enormous and memorable.

I highly recommend this documentary for fans of Harold Arlen; and people just discovering his artistry will find this DVD to be an indispensable education about just how special and talented he truly was.

Thank you, Harold Arlen! We will never forget you!

Fitting tribute to a great man
OVER THE RAINBOW is a beautifully put together tribute to one of America's greatest yet overlooked composers. Harold Arlen helped create American popular song by creating melodies that are embedded in our subconscious. Working with the greatest lyricists of the day,the film beautifully depicts his glamorous Hollywood and Broadway life, as well as examines the deep sorrow that seemed to be so much a part of his character. With amazing clips of the greatest singers all time (including Judy, Barbra, Tony, Lena and Frank) singing his amazing songs, OVER THE RAINBOW is a wonderful journey down the yellow brick road to meet it's composer, Harold Arlen.

It's just the best
I bought this DVD a couple of years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have watched it probably 10 times at least. Then all of a sudden recently I am seeing and hearing all this hype about the 2005 Centennial Celebration of Harold Arlen's birth, and came back to Amazon to nose around. I bought Sam Arlen's CD (a tribute to his father) and was just blown away by it, and of course the songs it contains... Harold Arlen was a master, and this DVD is just an excellent documentary of his life. I also recommend you get his son's CD, "Arlen Plays Arlen: A Timeless Tribute To Harold Arlen", by Sam Arlen. It has a very nice 20 page book with it that has a some trivia quips, pictures, and lyrics.

Harold Arlen must have come from Somewhere Over The Rainbow
WOW, what a talent! Does everybody know what we are missing when great artists like this are not around any more? Too bad for us because we will never have this kind of song writer in our midst again. I've just ordered this on DVD because my VHS copy is no longer watchable. Two reasons to buy this DVD 1) Barbra Streisand sings "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and 2) Tony Bennett sings "So Long, Big Time" worth the money of the DVD and what a bargin it is at Amazon. Some of the current Rock Pop and R&B is okay but I've been listening to Harold Arlen since I was 13 years old. There are so many familiar songs that make you say "I didn't know he wrote that too"! If you like biographies then this one's for you. Plus Old Blue Eyes sings "One For My Baby" and what a treat that is.

Harold Arlen must have come from Somewhere Over The Rainbow
WOW, what a talent! Does everybody know what we are missing when great artists like this are not around any more? Too bad for us because we will never have this kind of song writer in our midst again. I've just ordered this on DVD because my VHS copy is no longer watchable. Two reasons to buy this DVD 1) Barbra Streisand sings "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and 2) Tony Bennett sings "So Long, Big Time" worth the money of the DVD and what a bargin it is at Amazon. Some of the current Rock Pop and R&B is okay but I've been listening to Harold Arlen since I was 13 years old. There are so many familiar songs that make you say "I didn't know he wrote that too"! If you like biographies then this one's for you. Plus Old Blue Eyes sings "One For My Baby" and what a treat that is.

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