Vivacious Lady

Of course, I love this film. It has all the elements of a great classic comedy, including a sweet romance between a night club singer and a college professor, an odd-couple pairing of in-laws, several amusing secondary characters, such as the typical spoiled-rotten and terribly mismatched prior love interest and the best friend/romantic rival, and, as always, two of Hollywood's greatest old-timey stars, the ones I love most, in this case, Jimmy Stewart and Ginger Rogers. If that sounds good to you, you'll enjoy this. But, as usual, I wanted to write this to let you know about the releases of this film or, more accurately put, the lack of releases.Vivacious Lady is, for no reason I can fathom, one of the less popular Jimmy Stewart romantic comedies of the 1930s. It was finally released on DVD, for the first time, in 2013, by Warner under the Warner Archive Label. It had been restored, to a point, for HD broadcast on networks like my beloved Turner Classic Movies and, owing to that restoration, could have easily been put on Blu-ray. However, there was no market for a full remastering and Blu-ray release, which would have cost more for the company than they were likely to make back in sales. And so, Warner decided to release this as one of their MOD (DVD-R) releases, most likely at a loss, for fans like me, and I really appreciate that they did this even though I do wish there was more of a market for this film.As to the quality of the release, it is actually pretty good, just as it is, even though it is not in high definition. To clarify, the picture is not perfect but looks far better than it would have, had they not done any work on it for the television master. The picture is clear enough, for a DVD, and the image is cleaner than had previously been available. The sound is very good, especially considering the age of this film, and the texture and grain of the film is preserved well enough to keep that cinematic quality, again, even though it is in low definition. The release preserves the original theatrical ratio of 1:37:1 and, of course, this is in Black and White.As of now, in 2018, there is no digital version, SD or HD, for this film and no Blu-ray anywhere in the world. This is likely the best we will see of this film, unless it is, at some point, made available for digital purchase but, keep in mind, when Warner puts their MOD Archive titles out on digital, some of them are in HD and some are only available in SD, predictably in line with what the DVD picture would suggest people would want to see. This one strikes me as an SD only release, not quite clean enough for an HD version, unless they did a little more restorative work, and if it is released in digital format as SD-only, it will be identical to this release, using the same transfer. So, if you are interested in this film, my recommendation is that you go ahead and get this version. It just isn't likely to be released as a Blu-ray or in Digital HD anytime soon and it is well worth the viewing.Good luck finding a film to perk up your day. This one brings joy every time I see it.

I don't remember how I heard about this movie, but I am delighted that I did! Absolutely charming story, kinda silly, and very fun. Ginger does only one song in the first five minutes, and no dancing at all! Doesn't matter though, as there is a memorable sequence involving her and Stewart's soon to be ex-girlfriend that is worth the price! If you are a fan of 30s rom coms this needs to be in your collection!

I've only seen this movie twice before. It's heartwarming and humorous, classic Jimmy Stewart. He and Ginger Rodgers have such good on screen chemistry, making this movie so much fun to watch. I'm so glad this under appreciated movie is available for younger generations to experience.

One of the funniest romantic comedies of all time! Too bad that until now it's been so difficult to find on DVD.Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart reportedly had an off-screen relationship while filming this movie. Stewart plays a conservative college professor, son of an even stodgier University president when he crosses paths with Ginger Rogers, a high profile, free-spirited nightclub performer. They fall in love right off the bat (this happens in the first 5 mins, so not too much of a spoiler here), and they spend the rest of the movie trying to let his stodgy, overbearing father and delicate mother know that they are married.Watch for one of the very best girl fight scenes in movie history as Rogers (Stewart's wife) and Francis Mercer (Stewart's fiance) duke it out.If you enjoy films like "Sleepless in Seattle", "You've Got Mail", and "While You Were Sleeping", you'll eat this up.All in all, I rate this film up there with other classic B/W romantic comedies that somehow got more airtime than this one. There is one downside, and that is the blond and female stereotyping common in the 1930s. Get past that and you've got yourself a great film to enjoy.5 solid stars.

Contrary to previous statements, WB did a very fine job with the transfer of this to DVD. It's gorgeous quality for a gorgeous film. Vivacious Lady is perhaps one of the best and most underrated Jimmy Stewart films ever. I have seen this movie several times and every time it makes me laugh even harder. With the cast alone, it is worth checking it out. Ginger Rogers is the epitome of grace and charm in this film, and Jimmy plays the love struck botany professor, who has to tell his parents he married a showgirl after only knowing her for one day. His mother is played by Beulah Bondy, one of many times where she played his mother. A young Hattie McDaniel even has a brief moment in the film, quite a few years before she would win the Oscar for Gone with the Wind.I recommend this to everyone.

Wonderful movie with an excellent cast and fun plot.

I saw this movie one night waiting for a baby to wake and feed..years ago. Well as I began to dozeGinger Rogers and another woman get into a real cat fight like nothing I have ever seen on film.I would guess they had some scrapes and bruises from the falls and slaps...did not look choreographedand old enough that they just went at it instead of using doubles. Well it woke me up!The movie is charming and who doesn't love watching REAL actors spin a story? Jimmy Stewart is great and Ginger Rogersis a real spitfire in this..does what we would all like to do and say but political correctness gets in the way! Love wins outand you are left with a good story well told like they used to do and can't seem to accomplish anymore. It is hard to find but Amazon found a way! THANKS!

We have been buying from MovieMars since 2010 and have taken excellent care of us. I would highly recommend them to other customers.

I had all but forgotten this one in my collection and so, feeling in need of some light-hearted comedy, gave in to another session with the wretched thing.Comedy it is, or inclines that way, but that tedious ending (mustn’t go into detail for fear of being hung, drawn and you know what) – NO. In other words, for me just too drawn out.Interesting though, to view both principal characters in the slimness of their youth.Apart from that, I’ll leave you all in the good hands of my fellow reviewers.

I had heard from several people that this was dreadful and unfunny, but I like James Stewart and Ginger so I bought it. I was not disappointed! There are lots of laugh out loud moments and both leads are very charming and likeable. James Stewart is perfect as the shy, naive professor but I think Ginger is brilliant as the nightclub singer with a heart o' gold... though she doesn't mind fighting her love rival! The print of this DVD is quite good, obviously not HD quality but it's not as grainy as some other releases by this label.All in all I'd recommend it, if you're used to films of this era and definitely get it if you like both or either of these actors :)

This is a wonderful film with a very funny fight scene with Ginger where her legs had to be strapped with boards and padded for protection as they were insured for half a million dollars! That aside the combination of Jimmy Stewart and Ginger Rogers is a winner anyway with a wonderful script and so I would advise this film to anybody.

This is a film I hadn't seen before, but with James Stewart and Ginger Rodgers as the stars I knew I couldn't go wrong. It is in black and white which I don't mind and, as expected, it was a good romantic comedy. It was packaged well and delivered on time.

Sparkling and classy. Thoroughly enjoyed watching this for the first time and look forward to repeat viewings. Excellent picture quality and audio.