While in college, film history was one of my favorite subjects, so it was a cinch I would be interested in watching 20th Century Fox: The First 50 Years. But it wasn't a cinch that I would love it, and that I would learn a lot from it - but I did, on both counts! For those who start off with even less knowledge than I did, you'll get a great education. One aspect in particular that was rather obvious but I hadn't really realized was the monopoly Fox Studios had on musicals. Thanks to That's Entertainment!, MGM was more than happy to fool audiences into thinking they held that claim, because of Gigi and Howard Keel. But Fox produced The King and I, Carousel, Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Hello Dolly, South Pacific, Can-Can, and all Shirley Temple and Marilyn Monroe flicks. Those portions of the documentary were very entertaining, and the editing to make long numbers shorter, or to create montages of certain stars, was extremely impressive. Shirley Temple had a large segment dedicated to her, as did Marilyn Monroe. However, if you aren't an old movie buff, it will spoil a few endings for you, like Laura and Leave Her to Heaven. Countless familiar faces are shown, from regular contract players (Tyrone Power, Betty Grable, Alice Faye, Gregory Peck, Dana Andrews, Janet Gaynor, Henry Fonda, etc.) to those who were borrowed by the studio or only had a brief contract but made influential movies (John Wayne, Robert Young, Vincent Price, Susan Hayward, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, etc.). Sometimes you might wonder why Sonja Henie got an entire montage to herself, while important flicks like Titanic and Three Coins in the Fountain weren't included, but just try to keep the big picture - pun intended - in mind. This is a historical recap from 1915-1965 of Fox Studios, and writer-director Kevin Burns did a very good job.
As an editor myself who specializes in montages, my hat goes off to the editors of this special: Craig A. Colton and David Comtois. Every montage was beautifully crafted, giving the audience a sentimental feeling and using music cues to help guide visual images. Since I've seen nearly every single feature included in this documentary, I was able to appreciate how careful each cut was. With brief interviews from Red Buttons, Julie Andrews, Robert Wagner, Don Murray, Debbie Reynolds, Roddy McDowall, Robert Wise, Jane Withers, and Alice Faye, the year before she died, the vast majority of the documentary contains James Coburn's beautiful narration as he takes us back in time to old Hollywood. I learned a lot, and I'd very happily sit down to watch this documentary again.
