The main event - the clip-filled retrospective - is entertaining and then some with its knockout song and dance numbers, sketch comedy, and wide array of special guests from TV’s yesteryear. We see Mitzi’s co-stars Bob Hope, Michael Landon, Ken Berry, Jane Withers, Suzanne Pleshette, and others dance and sing with her. Benny Goodman himself plays clarinet accompaniment. We glimpse many more famous, if unexpected, faces: William Shatner, Bob Crane, Tom Bosley, Andy Griffith, and ninety-six more male TV and film stars tap-dance by in a gargantuan dance routine from 1975’s “Mitzi... and 100 Guys.”
But as if the main feature were not enough to pack into one DVD, the bonus features are equally weighty. There's everything from an anecdote about the Beatles to outtakes from Miss Gaynor's interviews to more musical variety performances. There is even a featurette about Mackie's costumes. First in a list of eight categories, one can watch Miss Gaynor and designer Bob Mackie peruse his sketches, from "they-don’t-get-any-more-glamorous-than-that" bugle-beaded evening gowns, to silly "character" costumes recalling his work on the Carol Burnett show. The two reminisce about the shows and costumes. Mr. Mackie’s professed favorite design among these was also mine: a midnight blue shimmering gown worn in a showstopping torch number, “Most Beautiful Guy,” sung in its entirety in the bonus features section. The dark sky with "twinkling stars" set design and gorgeous gown combine to an almost dreamlike effect as Miss Gaynor’s rendition of that classic song hits every note and emotion to powerful perfection.
The eighth category in "Bonus Features" offers eight musical clips, which range widely in style. Along with “Most Beautiful Guy” are seven other song and dance showstoppers including “Let Go,” “Limehouse Blues,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Some numbers are staged with a co-star, some with a bevy of male chorus beauties, but for me it was the star herself perched on a grand piano pouring her heart out in “Most Beautiful Guy" that delivered the most punch. The way she sings, especially the "I love him so" at the end, is technically perfect with astounding emotion. I could not help wondering what Miss Gaynor might have done if allowed to sink her teeth into a role such as Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me.
That, plus the various perfect bits of mimicry throughout the DVD (Miss Gaynor sends up Roz Russell, Doris Day, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, and Gloria Swanson) and the wistfully sad portrayal of “The Kid” make it clear the cute perky persona in those Hollywood musicals was only one aspect of Miss Gaynor’s range. This lady can act. “The Kid” - two clips in entirety are in the bonus features - would hold up alongside anything from Saturday Night Live but also tug at the heartstrings. Miss Gaynor says at one point on the DVD that the character sprang from her own lonely childhood. What could she have done with a truly meaty "bad girl" or other dramatic role? Yes, South Pacific showed a hint, but I think there were depths that were never allowed to surface. An actor needs the words and the camera but there’s still time. Someone, please, put this lady in front of the camera again.
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