Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor (1953)
*** (out of 4)
Oscar-winning short from MGM was one of their earliest examples of showing off their Symphony Orchestra led by the talented Johnny Green. Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" has the one-hundred plus piece orchestra doing some of their best work as the unknown director sits back and delivers one of the best looking visual shorts out there. This short was shot in Cinemascope and goes to about 2.55:1 and is a real treat on the eye. Green calmly leads the group and the camera goes in, out and side to side as it tries to capture the beauty of all the instruments. The music itself is great and Green perfectly handles everything and delivers a fine performance of the song. This is the fourth or fifth short I've seen featuring him and he's been impressive each time out. The beautiful visuals and wonderful music make it easy to understand why this thing walked away with an Oscar.