Fred Astaire Stars in SECOND CHORUS, Coming to Blu-ray/DVD Today

STARRING: Fred Astaire (Funny Face, Royal Wedding ), Paulette Goddard (Modern Times, The Women), Artie Shaw (1940s big band leader with appearances in several films), Charles Butterworth (Love Me Tonight, Swing High, Swing Low), and Burgess Meredith (Man on the Eiffel Tower, Rocky).

Danny O'Neill (Astaire) and Hank Taylor (Meredith) prolong their college career by purposefully failing for seven years to lead the college band, "O'Neill's Perennials." Ellen Miller (Goddard) serves Danny and Hank a collection notice for a set of encyclopedias the pair never paid for. Danny and Hank woo Ellen away from the debt collection agency to be their manager.Artie Shaw , playing himself, and his band grow tired of losing gigs to the Perennials and try to draw Ellen away to work for them. O'Neill and Taylor audition for Shaw's band, but their shenanigans get them both fired quickly. Finally O'Neill acts professionally and successfully dance-conducts his own composition.

"We were delighted to give Second Chorus its due respect with transferring and restoring it from an original 35mm nitrate," comments Phil Hopkins , President of Film Chest. "Fans of Fred Astaire and Artie Shaw will be thrilled with their brilliant performances."

With lyrics by the legendary Johnny Mercer ("Dream," " Moon River ") and music by both Hal Borne (Astaire's rehearsal pianist) and Artie Shaw , Second Chorus received Academy Award nominations for Best Song ("Would You Like to Be the Love of My Life ?") and Best Score.

Film Chest transferred the film from an original 35mm fine grain nitrate print. After a 2k scan, the film was digitally restored in high definition to attain the highest quality audio-visual experience possible.

Second Chorus is presented in full screen with an aspect ratio of 4 x 3 and original sound. Special features include a commentary track by author Tom Santopietro (Sinatra in Hollywood, Considering Doris Day), a before-and-after restoration demo, movie trailer, Spanish subtitles, and an original movie art postcard.

About Film Chest:
Founded in 2001,Film Chest offers high-quality feature film and TV content from its library of classic film and television series, boasting one of the world's largest archival libraries. In addition, it also distributes and licenses to such companies as Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics, and has its own streaming channel on Hulu, American Pop Classics. Film Chest was awarded "Best Restoration 2012" by Videoscope Magazine for its restoration of The Red House (1947). Headquartered inBridgeport, Conn., with offices in New York City, the company launched HD Cinema Classics in 2011 for the purpose of releasing high quality restoration work of classic movies that have yet to see full restoration into the Blu-ray market.

Visit us online: www.filmchestmediagroup.com

Second Chorus (2 Discs)
Film Chest
Genre: Fred Astaire , Family Classic Entertainment, Music, Musical, Romance, Dance
Original Release: 1940 (B&W)
Not Rated / Rated: NR
Format: Blu-Ray + DVD Combo Pack
Running Time: Approx. 84 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $19.98
Pre-Order Date: April 23, 2013
Street Date: May 14, 2013
Catalog #: HDCC-015
UPC Code: # 851169003155