Various Artists - The Great American Songbook (2003)

The Great American Songbook is an ambitious documentary that chronicles 100 years of American popular song through film clips and photographs. It stretches from minstrel shows to Elvis, but features most prominently the "Golden Age" songwriters of the 1930s through the 1950s–Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Richard Rodgers with both Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein, and others. That means you can enjoy some of the most exquisite music of the 20th century including Paul Robeson singing "Old Man River," Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing "Cheek to Cheek," and Judy Garland's "The Man That Got Away," plus performances of historical importance such as Al Jolson's "Swanee."
Over the course of its three hours (it was cut for PBS broadcast), the program has some drawbacks performers are identified but films aren't, the performances tend to be almost complete rather than complete, and scenes from fictional films illustrate the earliest historical moments, which doesn't feel true but they're minor, and Michael Feinstein proves a perfect host, narrating and occasionally singing at the piano. Fans of Feinstein's cabaret shows will also enjoy his commentary track, which provides a lot of interesting and funny background on the songs and songwriters. His commentary isn't constant, but a useful icon allows the viewer to find the next section of commentary with the click of a button. Another slight inconvenience is that chapters are named by subject matter rather than by song title so if you're skimming for highlights you have to know what you're looking for.

Tracklist:
01. Introduction
02. Minstrel Shows
03. Spirituals
04. Ragtime
05. Blues and Jazz
06. Publishing and Recording
07. Operetta; Friml
08. Kern and Berlin
09. World War I
10. Gershwin
11. Show Boat
12. Ziegfeld Legacy
13. Rodgers and Hart
14. Carmichael and Waller
15. Depression; Warren and Dubin
16. Arlen, Duke and Fields
17. Porter
18. Depression Recovery
19. 1930s Recap
20. Hollywood Stampede
21. Pal Joey
22. Hitman Harry
23. Freed/Brown and Harburg
24. Team Gershwin
25. World War II
26. Big Bands and Boogie
27. War on Their Minds
28. Styne and Cahn
29. Postwar Optimism
30. New Life for Old Songs
31. Songwriter Biopics
32. Rodgers and Hammerstein
33. Stage to Screen
34. Loesser and More Berlin
35. A Star Is Born
36. Rock 'n' Roll
37. Tradition: As Time Goes By
38. End Credits

Extra:
- Commentary by Michael Feinstein
- A New Romance of Celluloid: We Must Have Music


Features:
- Direct Scene Access
- Interactive Menu