A Song is Born (1948) & Ball of Fire (1941) on 2 Blu-ray Disc in 1080p HD

Description

A Song is Born (1948) & Ball of Fire (1941) on 2 Blu-ray Disc in 1080p HD

Set Breakdown:

This includes A Song is Born (1948) & Ball of Fire (1941) both  cleaned, enhanced and upscaled to 1080p HD.

The screenshots are taken from a 60″ LCD TV playing on a standard Blu-ray player. Set come with a interactive menu so you can easily navigate through chapter within the feature.

Story:

A Song is Born (1948) (Color)

In the Totten Foundation’s Victorian mansion in New York City, mild-mannered Professor Hobart Frisbee (Danny Kaye) and his seven fellow academics, among them Professor Magenbruch (Benny Goodman), are writing and recording a comprehensive musical encyclopedia. They have been living cut off from the world for 9 years, living without a radio. Thanks to two window washers (Buck and Bubbles) seeking help with a radio quiz, they discover that there are many forms of popular music—including swing, jive, jump, blues, two-beat Dixie, boogie woogie, and bebop—that they know nothing about. Hobart, the expert on “folk music” goes out and explores the music scene before, during and after hours, inviting all the artists he meets to come to the Foundation.

The professors become entangled in the problems of nightclub singer Honey Swanson (Virginia Mayo). She needs a place to hide out from the police, who want to question her about her gangster boyfriend Tony Crow (Steve Cochran). Tony wants to marry her—because a wife cannot testify against her husband. Honey invites herself into the sheltered household, over the objections of Hobart and Miss Bragg, the housekeeper. While there, she introduces them to the latest music, of which they are completely ignorant, aided by many of the musicians Hobart met the night before. The songs they play include “A Song Is Born”, “Daddy-O”, “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”, “Flying Home”, and “Redskin Rumba”.

When Miss Bragg delivers an ultimatum, Honey persuades Hobart to let her stay by telling him she is “wacky” about him and introducing him to “yum yum”, i.e. enthusiastic kissing. Smitten, the innocent Hobart (who graduated from Princeton at age 13) scours the city for an open jewelry store so he can buy an engagement ring. He proposes the next morning. They are interrupted by a phone call from her “Daddy”. Pretending to be her father, Tony easily persuades Hobart to come to Rancocas, New Jersey to be married. Delighted, all the professors join in the elopement. (Honey knocks Miss Bragg out and locks her in the closet.)

A minor accident lands them in an inn near Kingston. There, Honey—who is feeling very guilty and is deeply moved by what she has learned about Hobart—realizes that she has fallen in love with him. Tony and his men arrive and reveal the truth. When Hobart goes to tell her that “Daddy’s here,” Miss Bragg arrives with the police. Hobart sends them away. Honey shows him her excuses—a blank sheet of paper.

At the Foundation, the professors refuse Miss Bragg’s offer of breakfast. Miss Totten and her lawyer arrive, planning to close down the Foundation. Tony’s two men break in and hold everyone at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Honey refuses to marry Tony, even though she will never see Frizzy again. Tony descends on the Foundation with Honey and a very deaf justice of the peace and forces Honey to go through the ceremony by threatening the professors and the assembled musicians. When Hobart learns that Honey is being forced, the hostages join to overwhelm the gunmen. The finale, of course, is not decided by guns but by music, its resonance and reverberation, as, inspired by Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, the musicians send a drum crashing on one of the henchmen and a professor pulls the rug out from under the other. Frizzy gives Tony a beating.

Hobart overcomes Honey’s objections to their marriage—she feels unworthy—with his own compelling demonstration of “yum yum”.

Ball of Fire (1941) (Black & White)

A group of professors, all bachelors except for a widower, have lived together for some years in a New York City residence, compiling an encyclopedia of all human knowledge. The youngest, Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), is a grammarian who is researching modern American slang. The professors are accustomed to working in relative seclusion at a leisurely pace with a prim housekeeper, Miss Bragg, keeping watch over them. Their impatient financial backer, Miss Totten, suddenly demands that they finish their work soon.

Venturing out to do some independent research, Bertram becomes interested in the slang vocabulary of nightclub performer Katherine “Sugarpuss” O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). She is reluctant to assist him in his research until she suddenly needs a place to hide from the police, who want to question her about her boyfriend, mob boss Joe Lilac. Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors live and work, despite Bertram’s objections and their housekeeper’s threat to leave because of her. In the meantime, Joe decides to marry her, but only because as his wife she would not be able to testify against him.

The professors soon become enamored of her femininity, and she begins to grow fond of them. Sugarpuss teaches them to conga and demonstrates to Bertram the meaning of the phrase “yum yum” kisses. She becomes attracted to Bertram, who reciprocates by proposing marriage to her. She avoids giving him an answer to the proposal, and agrees to Joe’s plan to have the professors drive her to New Jersey to marry him. After a series of misadventures, including a car crash, Sugarpuss realizes that she is in love with Bertram, but is forced to go ahead with her marriage to Joe to save the professors from his henchmen. Bertram, meanwhile, unaware of Sugarpuss’ love for him, prepares to resume his research, sadder but wiser, until he discovers her true feelings.

The professors eventually outwit Joe and his henchmen and rescue Sugarpuss. She claims she is not good enough for Bertram, but his forceful application of a kiss changes her mind.

Playback breakdown:

Standard Blu-ray player: This has the highest playback of all options. I recommend this option if available to you – please make sure your Blu-ray player is fully updated for the best playback experience.

PlayStation 3: I have tested my sets on my PS3, I have a generation 1 FAT model with a firmware of 4.43 and it plays fine. Remember that playback of PS3 is determined by the version of the system and the update you’re on.

PlayStation 4: This has the highest playback of the PlayStation systems. Quality of playback is determined by the version of the system and the update you are currently on. Make sure your system is fully updated for the best playback.

Xbox One: Based on customers reports Xbox has the lowest playback of all game systems. There are some ways to improve playback by updating the system and making sure the Blu-ray app in the system has the newest update. Playback is determined by the version of the system and the update you’re on.

All of this information is based on customer reports and personal experience. I would urge you to go through my feedback to see other customers experiences with playback. Many customers have had great success playing these on game systems. I put this here to be open and honest with you so you can have the best experience possible.

Running these Blu-rays on a video game consoles could result in playback issues based on all the information above.

Please e-mail me if you have any questions. I am here to help. 🙂