Two Weeks with Love - Warner Archive Collection

Before there was Dirty Dancing, there was Two Weeks with Love. Though MGM's wholesome 1950 musical doesn't contain any of the "dirty" bumping and grinding and sexual hijinks that pepper the 1987 sleeper hit, the two films - believe it or not - have a lot in common. There's no question Dirty Dancing is the superior movie, but its roots surely lie in the premise, setting, and themes of Two Weeks with Love, which stands on its own as a charming, nostalgic musical that doesn't quite get the respect it so richly deserves.

As soon as the Robinson family arrives at a resort in New York's Catskill Mountains for a two-week summer vacation, the Dirty Dancing vibes begin. And they increase as Two Weeks with Love chronicles the coming of age of Patti Robinson (Jane Powell), a teenage girl who's babied by her doting, protective parents (Louis Calhern and Ann Harding) and develops a serious crush on Demi Armendez (Ricardo Montalban), a dashing Cuban several years her senior who's also a guest at the resort. The provincial, 17-year-old Patti must compete with her more worldly, glamorous, and stuck-up 18-year-old friend Valerie (Phyllis Kirk) for Demi's attention while trying to convince her parents to treat her like a woman instead of a child.

Two Weeks with Love takes place in the early part of the 20th century, about two decades before the bucolic Catskills earned the nickname "The Borscht Belt" and became the go-to summer getaway spot for a large segment of the East Coast Jewish population. Dirty Dancing lovingly depicts and spoofs the cultural idiosyncrasies that defined the area and its clientele during that time, but in Two Weeks with Love, the Stanley House Hotel in Kissamee-in-the-Catskills is a WASP nest. A strict moral tone that reflects early 1900s sensibilities pervades Two Weeks with Love, but the script by John Larkin and Dorothy Kingsley contains some welcome risqué humor and innuendo. Two Weeks with Love may not be as liberated as Dirty Dancing, but it's no prude.

The first musical directed by Roy Rowland, who would later helm Hit the Deck and Meet Me in Las Vegas, Two Weeks with Love rolls merrily along...and much of that merriment comes from 18-year-old dynamo Debbie Reynolds, who plays Patti's sassy, spunky 15-year-old sister Melba. Melba pines for Billy Finlay (Carleton Carpenter), son of the hotel's proprietor (Clinton Sundberg), but he's smitten with Patti, who won't give him the time of day. The wisecracking Melba, who always tells it like it is, eventually muscles her way into Billy's heart, and Reynolds - in just her fourth film - sings, dances, and clowns her way into ours.

A varied collection of period tunes comprises the Two Weeks with Love score, but the film is perhaps best known for Reynolds and Carpenter's spirited and ultimately lightning-fast performance of the novelty song "Aba Daba Honeymoon." (You probably recall seeing a clip of it in the original That's Entertainment!) The two zip through the number with youthful vigor, and their rendition, when released on record, became a big hit, selling more than a million copies. Reynolds would later claim she needed a crash course in dancing before starring with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor two years later in Singin' in the Rain, but she shows off some pretty nifty footwork in Two Weeks in Love, tearing up the floor with Carpenter.

Powell, who states in a 1995 TCM interview that Two Weeks with Love is her personal favorite of all her films (the full interview with TCM host Robert Osborne is included as an extra on the disc), unleashes her soaring soprano, displays her perky personality, and even gets to dance the tango with Montalban. She and Ricardo make an attractive couple, but as the Cuban heartthrob, he's occasionally reminiscent of Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy, although Two Weeks with Love pre-dates that classic sitcom by one year.

Calhern, who has popped up in several Warner Archive Blu-ray releases of late including High Society, Executive Suite, and The Prisoner of Zenda, brings sensitivity and humor to his paternal role, and the regal Harding, who was an acclaimed and popular leading lady in the early 1930s, makes a fine foil as the prim and proper Robinson family matriarch who denies Patti the thing she wants most in life - a corset! Fans of the first Lassie TV series and Marilyn Monroe's River of No Return will recognize pint-sized Tommy Rettig, who plays Patti and Melba's little brother, and classics nerds will spot the inimitable, baby-faced bit player Charles Smith, who we all remember as the sweet, shy Rudy in The Shop Around the Corner.

Two Weeks with Love was a pleasant surprise for me. Dirty Dancing similarities aside, it's a lively, fun, and tuneful film that still provides a few laughs and showcases an array of young talent. If you're a musicals fan looking for a trip down memory lane, this just might be the ticket.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Two Weeks with Love arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor camera negatives yields a vivid, lush 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that will certainly please the film's fans. The grain structure is a bit more pronounced than many recent Warner Archive entries, but the texture complements the movie's nostalgic aura and ensures a film-like presentation. The beautiful color cinematography by Alfred Gilks, who would win an Oscar the following year for his work with John Alton on An American in Paris, is faithfully rendered, with Powell's yellow dress, Montalban's bright red roadster and orange and red striped jacket, the verdant greens of exterior landscapes, and an array of pastels grabbing the lion's share of attention. Blacks are rich and dense, the crisp whites never bloom, and flesh tones appear natural and remain stable throughout. Clarity, contrast, and shadow delineation are quite good, the day-for-night shots are striking, and the special effects are seamless.

Speaking of day for night, there's a night-and-day difference between the dull, somewhat dark 2008 DVD and this far more vibrant and colorful Blu-ray edition. All the specks, nicks, and small red and blue blotches that plagued the DVD have been erased, resulting in a clean source that really perks up this already perky motion picture.

Musicals demand top-notch sound, and this DTS-HD Master Audio 2,0 mono track delivers just that. Powell's soprano often scales the heights during her song,s and a wide dynamic scale handles all the trills and high Cs without any distortion. Excellent fidelity helps the orchestrations fill the room with ease, and all the dialogue and song lyrics are well prioritized and comprehensible. Sonic accents like whistling are crisp, strong bass frequencies provide some oomph to fireworks and explosions, and no age-related hiss, pops, or crackle intrude. 

All the extras from the 2008 DVD have been ported over to this Blu-ray release. Warner Archive adds an extra vintage short as a bonus.

• "Reel Memories": Interview with Jane Powell by Robert Osborne (SD, 45 minutes) - Powell sat down with TCM host Robert Osborne back in 1995 for this revealing and surprisingly emotional interview that includes plenty of clips from her films. Powell recalls how she got her start in Hollywood, her tenure at MGM, and the stars with whom she worked and socialized. Powell and Osborne are both gone now, so there's a melancholy quality to this absorbing interview that provides a rare first-hand account of the studio system during Hollywood's Golden Age.
• Vintage Short: Crashing the Movies (SD, 10 minutes) - Part of the enormously popular Pete Smith Specialty series, this comedic one-reeler salutes Hollywood's daredevils and shows us an array of thrilling, intricate, and bone-headed stunts.
• Vintage Short: Screen Actors (SD, 9 minutes) - The purpose of this one-reeler is to prove that movie stars are people, too. A tour around Los Angeles shows us various neighborhoods where movie people might live and places where they might go to shop and relax. It's actually more interesting than it sounds and provides a nostalgic look at a bygone period.
• Vintage Cartoon: Garden Gopher (HD, 7 minutes) - This amusing Tex Avery cartoon chronicles the futile efforts of a bulldog to trap and eliminate a pesky gopher. I've had gophers in my garden and I could definitely feel the canine's pain during this lively animated short.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes) - The film's original preview calls Two Weeks with Love "MGM's love 'n' kisses musical!"

A 92-minute getaway for musicals fans, Two Weeks with Love coasts along on the strength of its stars and a nostalgic story spiced with comedy and romance. Powell, Montalban, and especially Reynolds shine in this breezy trifle that's been given a spiffy makeover by Warner Archive. A 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor negatives, remastered audio, and a hefty extras package make this disc well worth an upgrade for fans. Recommended.