Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2148 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-26
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Julie Andrews is at her peak of adorability in this enjoyable (and surprisingly sarcastic) spoof of the 1920s. It has every trick: occasional silent-movie intertitles, flapper lingo ("Oh, banana oil"), and a laughable plot about women being sold into white slavery by the scheming manageress (splendid Beatrice Lillie) of a Hotel for Ladies, aided by a cabal of wicked Chinese. (The stereotypes are bearable only if you remember this is a spoof of silent movie melodrama.) Even with able support from Mary Tyler Moore and James Fox, this is Julie's show; she plays to the camera with the collusion of director George Roy Hill, who's clearly smitten with her silly streak. The movie has an annoying tendency to spend time on musical numbers--a Jewish wedding, a vaudeville act--that don't serve the plot. A future Broadway musical would create a new score, except for the delightfully catchy title tune. --Robert Horton

Synopsis
This characteristically spectacular Ross Hunter musical production, a parody of the films of the 1920s, stars Julie Andrews as the eager young Millie Dillmount. She arrives in New York City in the 1920s intent on a job as a secretary with a rich, handsome, eligible boss. Deciding to adopt the appearance of a flapper, she has her hair bobbed. At a women's hotel run by Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie), who also runs a white slavery ring, she meets the beautiful, naive Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore). Millie does get a job with a handsome boss, Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), but he has eyes only for Miss Dorothy, and Millie is forced to make do with Jimmy Smith (James Fox), a paper-clip salesman. After they've returned to the hotel from attending a party at the Long Island estate of wealthy Muzzy van Hossmere (Carol Channing), Millie finds that Miss Dorothy has disappeared. When she and Jimmy detect the scent of opium in Mrs. Meers's room, they realize she has a sideline. The valiant Jimmy must go in drag to uncover the whereabouts of the white slavers' hideout. The cast and crew perform admirably in this light farce that is almost too sweet for its own good.

Customer Reviews

Millie: forerunner to the "ladette"
Millie moved to New York with a plan. She was going to interview a list of potential bosses, accept employment with the most promising specimen and marry him. Love was not meant to be an issue. Things didn't go entirely to plan however. Her chosen boss, Mr Graydon, called her John and found her jolly efficient but not attractive. The man who did find her attractive, Jimmy, appeared to be a hopeless waster with no interesting prospects. Still, Millie was pretty smitten with Jimmy. He was a great dancer and made every moment an adventure. So she was quite straight with him and told him of her plans, pointed out that she was his equal and intended to meet men on their own terms, learn to talk sports, tell jokes, smoke, drink and (if she really had to) even kiss them back. After all it wasn't the middle ages, it was 1922! Meanwhile, there was shady criminal activity taking place in the hotel for single young ladies where Millie was living. Those young ladies who seemed to be lonely orphans, kept mysteriously leaving the hotel without a word of explanation or farewell to any of their friends. The final disappearance, of Miss Dorothy, finally rang alarm bells so Millie, Jimmy and Mr Graydon (who had fallen in love with Miss Dorothy at first sight) became sleuths and launched a dramatic and heroic rescue operation. It's all a lot more complicated than that really - but you get the idea.

It's a fantastic film. Fabulous costumes, music, songs, dancing and acting. Good story: sweet, funny, touching. Likely to be watched again and again. Bound to cheer you up if ever you're feeling blue. I recommend it.

Thoroughly Marvellous Musical
Absolutely delightful! Great fun and camp beyond belief! The story goes that the studio were all ready to make a movie version of The Boyfriend when suddenly they realised they did not have the rights to the songs! What to do? I know, why not do our own musical using the sets, costumes and cast that we have all lined up and ready to go! From the opening titles, where we see the hilarious transformation of Julie Andrews' Millie from a plain jane to a thoroughly modern, through to the hilarious round-up of villains and the subsequent end titles, this is a masterpiece of comedy acting! As you would expect with the likes of Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing, the songs and dancing get first class treatment. The famous 'lift scene' where Julie and Mary have to tap-dance to get the lift to work (due to a troupe of dancing girls who used to practice their routines in it, which did something to the mechanism) is hysterical. One-liners are strewn like rose petals all the way through the film and Beatrice Lillie as the White Slave Trader/House Mother is in fine fettle. The surprise of the film, to me at any rate, is James Fox as Jimmy. Not only does he show an exemplary flare for comedy but also his singing and dancing are not that bad! Everyone connected with the film seems to be having a whale of a time and it certainly comes over to the viewer. I can't wait for this to be released on DVD so that I can go to all my favourite spots in the film at the flick of a switch! Great fun, but only for those with a sense of humour!

Thoroughly Modern Millie
This is a spectacular musical production starring Julie Andrews as an eager young Millie Dillmount. She arrives in New York City in the 1920's seeking a secretarial job for a rich, handsome eligible boss. She decides to have her hair 'bobbed' to match the fashion of the time and even buys new clothes and beads. Millie checks into a women's hotel, run by Mrs Meers (an excellent character played by Beatrice Lillie), who also runs a white slavery ring, she meets the beautiful, naive Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore). Millie does suceed in getting her job with a very handsome boss, Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), but he only has 'eyes' for Miss Dorothy. Millie is therefore forced to do with Jimmy Smith (James Fox), a paper-clip salesman. They attend a party at the Long Island estate of the wealthy Muzzy van Hossmere (Carol Channing). Millie finds that Miss Dorothy has disappeared! When she and Jimmy detect the scent of opium in Mrs Meers's room, they realise she has a sideline. The valiant Jimmy must go in drag to uncover the whereabouts of the white slavers' hideout......Listen out for the 'Oh pook', 'sad to be all alone in the world' and 'shoe show', a catchphrase that will last forever!
The cast and crew perform admiraly in this light farce that is almost too sweet for its own good!
A must-see movie for all ages.