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Index to all films on Class Act

Index to films on this page


Fabulous Dorseys, The top of page
The Fabulous Dorseys
United Artists, 1947, B/W, 89 minutes
Released February, 1947

The musical lives of Big Band leaders Tommy and Jimmy, as they fight their way to the top while fighting with each other, trombone and clarinet at the ready.

The boys portray themselves in this biographical film that's strong on song. Among the many musical highlights are "Green Eyes," "Running Wild," and "Marie." Outstanding personalities guest starring Art Tatum, Charlie Barnet, Ziggy Elman, Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell.

A superb showcase of the Big Band Era.  [from back of VHS sleeve]

This film is apparently in the public domain, so all VHS tapes and DVDs are print-mastered. The quality of at least some of these is not very good, but the one I have (Front Row Entertainment) is watchable. A must-see for Big Band fans!

Producer: John W. Rogers
Director: Alfred E. Green
Screenplay: Art Arthur, Richard English and Curtis Kenyon
Music Director: Louis Forbes
Song Score: various
Choreography: Charles Baron
Art Direction: Duncan Cramer
Set Decoration: Robert Priestley
Gowns: Maria P. Donovan
Men's Wardrobe: Morrie Friedman
Special Effects: Alfred Schmid
Cinematography: James Van Trees
Film Editing: George Arthur

Cast: Tommy Dorsey [Himself], Jimmy Dorsey [Himself], Janet Blair [Jane Howard], Paul Whiteman [Himself], William Lundigan [Bob Burton], James Flavin [Gorman], William Bakewell [Eddie], Dave Willock [Foggy], Sara Allgood [Mrs. Dorsey], Arthur Shields [Mr.Dorsey], Bobby Warde [Tommy as a Boy], Buz Buckley [Jimmy as a Boy], Ann Carter [Jane as a Girl], Jackie Searl [Joe], James Taggart [Phil], Hal K. Dawson [Artie], Andrew Tombes [De Witt], Sherry Sherwood [Herself], Tom Dugan [Waiter], Edward Clark [Hotel Clerk], Jack Roper [Radio Station Attendant], Bess Flowers [Lady in Concert Audience], Charlie Barnet, Ziggy Elman, Bob Eberly, Mike Pingatore, Helen O'Connell, Henry Busse, Art Tatum, Ray Bauduc, Stuart Foster, Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra [Themselves]

Musical Program: Green Eyes (Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra with vocals by Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly); Marie (Stuart Foster and Janet Blair with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra); I'll Never Say "Never Again" Again (The Dorsey Brothers); I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra); Art's Blues; At Sundown; Dorsey Concerto; Everybody's Doing It; The Object of My Affection; Running Wild; To Me; When You and I Were Young, Maggie; Waitin' at the Gate for Katy (background instrumentals)




Fancy Pants top of page
Fancy Pants
Paramount, 1950, Color, 92 minutes, **½
Released July, 1950

Well, fancy that! Bob Hope and Lucille Ball join forces in a Technicolor remake of Ruggles of Red Gap and let loose a stampede of laughs

Wise-cracking Bob is a teddibly, teddibly British valet brought to the Old West to teach Old World charms to a certain redheaded tomboy. Of course, Bob's not really a valet. He's an out-of-work actor who's stumbled across the role of his life. It's tea at 4:00 p.m. and don't fan your soup with your hat, but will proper etiquette protect Bob from Lucy's jilted beau?  [from back of VHS sleeve]

Lots of slapstick, and pretty silly overall. But there are some good laughs, and "Home Cookin'" is a great number. Good entertainment. [JJ]

Produced by: Robert L. Welch
Directed by: George Marshall
Assistant Director: Oscar Rudolph
Screenplay by: Edmund Hartmann and Robert O'Brien
Based on a story by Harry Leon Wilson ("Ruggles of Red Gap")
Music Score: Van Cleave
Songs by: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Specialty Number Staged by: Billy Daniels
Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Earl Hedrick
Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Emile Kuri
Women's Costumes: Mary Kay Dodson
Men's Costumes: Gile Steele
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Sound Recording by: Gene Merritt and Don Johnson
Director of Photography: Charles B. Lang, Jr.
Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings
Process Photography: Farciot Edouart
Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultant: Francis Cugat
Edited by: Archie Marshek

Cast: Bob Hope [Humphrey], Lucille Ball [Agatha Floud], Bruce Cabot [Carl Belknap], Jack Kirkwood [Mike Floud], Lea Penman [Effie Floud], Hugh French [George VanBasingwell], Eric Blore [Sir Wimbley], Joseph Vitale [Wampum], John Alexander [Teddy Roosevelt], Norma Varden [Lady Maude], Virginia Kelly [Rosalind], Colin Keith-Johnston [Twombley], Joe Wong [Wong], Additional Cast: Robin Hughes [Cyril], Percy Helton [Major Fogarty], Hope Sanberry [Millie], Grace Albertson [Dolly], Oliver Blake [Mr. Andrews], Edgar Dearing [Mr. Jones], Alva Lacy [Daisy], Ida Moore [Betsy], Almira Sessions [Belle], Ethel Wales [Mrs. Wilkins], Jean Ruth [Miss Wilkins], Chester Conklin [Guest], Jimmie Dundee, Bob Kortman [Henchmen], Major Sam Harris [Umpire], Gilchrist Stuart [Wicket Keeper], Olaf Hytten [Stage Manager], Alex Frazer [Stagehand], Charles Cooley [Man], Howard Petrie, Ray Bennett [Secret Service Men], Harry Martin [Englishman], Gilbert Alonzo, David Alvarado, Robert Dominguez, Vincent Garcia, Henry Mirelez, Alfred Nunez [Indian Boys], Hank Bell [Barfly], Annette Warren [singing voice of Lucille Ball]

Musical Program: [0:10] Yes M'Lord (sung by Bob Hope); [0:49] The Old Chisolm Trail (sung by Lucille Ball and saloon patrons); [0:51] Fancy Pants (sung by Annette Warren dubbing for Lucille Ball in saloon); [1:02] Home Cookin' (production number performed by Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Jack Kirkwood, Lea Penman, Joseph Vitale and Joe Wong; Annette Warren dubbing for Lucille Ball)




Fantasia top of page
Fantasia
Disney, 1942, Color, 125 minutes (cut version 80 minutes)
General release January, 1942

Disney animators set pictures to classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. "The Rite of Spring" tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. "Dance of the Hours" is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants and alligators. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day. [David Thiel, Amazon]

Produced by: Walt Disney
Directed by: James Algar ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"; Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield ("Rite of Spring"); T. Hee ("Dance of the Hours"); Wilfred Jackson ("Night on Bald Mountain" / "Ave Maria"); Samuel Armstrong ("Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" / "The Nutcracker Suite"); Ford Beebe, Hamilton Luske ("The Pastoral Symphony")
Written by: Elmer Plummer, Phil Dike, Lee Blair ("Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"); Sylvia Moberly-Holland, Norman Wright, Albert Heath, Bianca Majolie, Graham Heid ("The Nutcracker Suite"); Carl Fallberg, Perce Pearce ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"); William Martin, Leo Thiele, Robert Sterner, John McLeish ("Rite of Spring"); Webb Smith, Joseph Sabo, Otto Englander, George Stallings, Erdman Penner, Bill Peet ("The Pastoral Symphony"); Phil Dike, Campbell Grant, Arthur Heinemann ("Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria")
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach ("Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565"); Modeste Mussorgsky ("A Night on Bald Mountain"); Franz Schubert ("Ave Maria"); Igor Stravinsky ("The Rite of Spring"); Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ("Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a"); Ludwig van Beethoven ("6th symphony in F, Op.68 'Pastorale'")
Art Direction: Kenneth Anderson, J. Gordon Legg, Lance Nolley, Herbert Ryman, Yale Gracey, Hugh Hennesy ("The Pastoral Symphony"); Curtiss D. Perkins, Al Zinnen, Robert Cormack, Arthur Byram, Bruce Bushman ("The Nutcracker Suite"); Tom Codrick, Charles Philippi, Zack Schwartz ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"); Robert Cormack ("Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"); Harold Doughty, Ernest Nordli, Kendall O'Connor ("Dance of the Hours"); John Hubley, Dick Kelsey, McLaren Stewart ("Rite of Spring"); Kay Nielsen, Charles Payzant, Thor Putnam, Terrell Stapp ("Night on Bald Mountain" / "Ave Maria")
Sound: William E. Garity, J. N. A. Hawkins, C. O. Slyfield
Choreography: Jules Engel
Movement Model: Marge Champion
Musical Director: Edward H. Plumb
Choral Director: Charles Henderson ("Night on Bald Mountain" / "Ave Maria")
Soloist: Julietta Novis ("Ave Maria")
Narrator: Deems Taylor

Musical Program:
"Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565" (Johann Sebastian Bach)
"A Night on Bald Mountain" (Modeste Mussorgsky)
"Ave Maria" (Franz Schubert)
"The Rite of Spring" (Igor Stravinsky)
"Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a" (Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
"6th symphony in F, Op.68 'Pastorale'" (Ludwig van Beethoven)




Farmer Takes a Wife, The top of page
The Farmer Takes a Wife
20th Century-Fox, 1953, Color, 81 minutes
General release July, 1953

The setting is the Erie Canal, New York, 1850. Molly Larkins, cook on Jotham Klore's canal boat, has a love-hate relationship with her boss. She hires handsome newcomer haul-horse driver Dan Harrow and the inevitable triangle develops (complicated by Dan's desire to farm and Molly's to boat) against a background of the canalmen's fight against the encroaching railroad.

Producer: Frank P. Rosenberg
Director: Henry Levin
Screenplay: Sally Benson, Walter Bullock, Joseph Field
Adapted from the play by Marc Connelly and Frank B. Elser
Based on the novel by Walter D. Edmonds
Background Score: Cyril J. Mockridge
Original Music: Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields
Costume Design: Travilla
Special Effects: Fred Sersen
Cinematography: Arthur E. Arling
Film Editing: Louis R. Loeffler

Cast: Betty Grable [Molly Larkin], Thelma Ritter [Lucy Cashdollar], Eddie Foy, Jr. [Fortune Friendly], Kathleen Crowley [Susanna], May Wynn [Eva Gooch], Mel Pogue [Abner Green], Gene Roth [Ethan McCarthy], Lee Turnbull [Andy], Dale Robertson [Daniel Harrow], John Carroll [Jotham Klore], Charlotte Austin [Pearl Dodd], Merry Anders [Hannah], Juanita Evers [Miss Kranz], Ruth Hall [Abbie], Donald Kerr [Jacob], Noreen Michaels [Amy], Mort Mills [Floyd], William Pullen [John], Ralph Sanford [Quack], Gwen Verdon [Abigail], Howard Negley [Governor Fish], Jack Harris [Militia Officer], Gordon Nelson [Race Official], Don Garrett [Cab Driver], Lee Phelps [Bartender], John Butler [Drunk], Martin Deane, Brad Morrow [Boys], Tony Taylor [Little Boy], Kermit Maynard, Ted Jordan [Drivers], Max Wagner, Ed Hinton, Fred Aldrich, John Close, Paul Kruger, Ralph Montgomery [Boaters], Joanne Jordan [Boatwife], Frank Mills, Zon Murray, Robert Williams [Townsmen]

Musical Program: [0:00] Main Title (played by Orchestra); [0:01] The Erie Canal (sung by Ensemble and Chorus); [0:03] Today, I Love Everybody (sung by Betty Grable and Chorus, joined by Children); [0:14] We're Doin' It for the Natives in Jamaica (sung by Eddy Foy, Jr., Thelma Ritter and Men's Chorus); [0:15] Can You Spell Schenectady? (Sung and danced by Eddie Foy, Jr.); [0:21] Somethin' Real Special (sung by Betty Grable and Dale Robertson); [0:27] ? (instrumental number danced by guests at graduation party); [0:29] We're Doin' It for the Natives in Jamaica (excerpt sung by John Carroll and drunken companions as they crash the graduation party); [0:32] The Erie Canal (Production number sung by Ensemble and Chorus); [0:43] With the Sun Warm Upon Me (sung by Dale Robertson, joined by Betty Grable for last few bars); [0:52] We're in Business (Sung by Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, Gwen Verdon and Chorus; danced with pie pans by Betty Grable and Gwen Verdon); [0:59] Somethin' Real Special (short reprisal by Betty Grable); [1:18] Today, I Love Everybody (reprised by Betty Grable and Children); [1:19] Finale (I Could Cook and short reprisals of main songs by principals, danced by Chorus);




Fashions of 1934 top of page
Fashions of 1934
(aka Fashions)
First National, 1934, B/W, 78 minutes
Released February, 1934

Con artist William Powell and dress designer Bette Davis cavort around the Parisian world of fashion. Busby Berkeley's classic "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" production number is a standout; songs include "Broken Melody." Reginald Owen, Frank McHugh co-star.

Producer: Henry Blanke
Director: William Dieterle
Screenplay: Carl Erickson, Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola and F. Hugh Herbert
(adapted from a story by Harry Collins and Warren Duff)
Music Director: Leo F. Forbstein
Musical Numbers Staged By: Busby Berkeley
Song Score: Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain
Art Direction: Jack Okey, Willy Pogany
Gowns: Orry-Kelly
Cinematography: William Rees
Film Editing: Jack Killifer

Cast: William Powell [Sherwood Nash], Bette Davis [Lynn Mason], Frank McHugh [Snap], Verree Teasdale [Grand Duchess Alix / Mabel McGuire], Reginald Owen [Oscar Baroque], Henry O'Neill [Duryea], Philip Reed [Jimmy], Hugh Herbert [Joe Ward], Gordon Westcott [Harry Brent], Dorothy Burgess [Glenda], Etienne Girardot [Glass], William Burress [Feldman], George Humbert [Caponelli], Hobart Cavanaugh [M. Gautier], Nella Walker [Mrs. Van Tyle], Spencer Charters [Telephone Man], Frank Darien [Jules], Harry Beresford [Bookseller], Helen Freeman [Mme. Margot], Sam McDaniel [Cleaning Man], Lee Phelps [Desk Clerk], Arthur Treacher [Butler], Martin Kosleck [Dance Director], Jane Darwell [Dowager], Georges Renavent [Fashion Salon Owner], Eric Wilton [2nd Butler], Laura Treadwell [Woman], Juliet Ware [Girl]

Musical Program: Fashions of 1934; Spin a Little Web of Dreams (Veree Teasdale); Broken Melody; Enough of You (instrumental); Pardon the Expression (instrumental); We Shouldn't Have Done It (instrumental)




Fiddler on the Roof top of page
Fiddler on the Roof
United Artists, 1971, Color, 180 minutes, ****
Released November 1971
Class Act
Class Act Must-See!
Must See!

"An outstanding accomplishment in every category" (Boxoffice), this lavishly produced and critically acclaimed screen adaptation of the international stage sensation tells the life-affirming story of Tevye (Topol), a poor milkman whose love, pride and faith help him face the oppression of turn-of-the [20th] century czarist Russia.

Nomindated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director and featuring such classic songs as "If I Were a Rich Man," "Matchmaker" and "Sunrise, Sunset," Fiddler on the Roof is a universal story of hope, love and acceptance - "a stunning, joyful and jubilant" (New York Daily News) musical masterpiece.
[from back of DVD case]

Though the story concentrates on the plight of Jewish people in a small Russian village, it has overtones of the struggle all of us face trying to understand the meaning of life and to cope with a world that begins to pass us by as we grow older. Beautiful cinemetography, wonderful acting and beautiful music. Musical highlights include Topol's "If I Were a Rich Man," Frey's "Miracle of Miracles," and the fabulous "Sunrise, Sunset." Not to be missed!

Filmed in Yugoslavia and London, England. "Our thanks to the people of the villages of Lekenik and Mala Gorica and the city of Zagreb, Yugoslavia."

MGM Classic Musicals Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) contains this film and West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Produced and Directed by: Norman Jewison
Associate Producer: Patrick Palmer
Screenplay by: Joseph Stein
Based on the Stageplay "Fiddler on the Roof" Adapted from Sholem Aleichem stories by special agreement with Arnold Perl
Stageplay by Joseph Stein
Music for the Stageplay by Jerry Bock
Lyrics for the Stageplay by Sheldon Harnick
Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince
Entire Stage Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Soloist: Isaac Stern
Music Director: John Williams
Music by: Jerry Bock
Lyrics by: Sheldon Harnick
Music Adapted and Conducted by: John Williams
Orchestrations by: John Williams, Alexander Courage
Original Choreography by: Jerome Robbins
Adapted for the Screen by: Tom Abbott
Assistant Choreographer: Sammy Bayes
Production Designer: Robert Boyle
Art Director: Michael Stringer
Set Decorator: Peter Lamont
Costumes Designed by: Elizabeth Haffenden and Joan Bridge
Makeup: Del Armstrong, Wally Schneiderman
Hairdresser: Gordon Bond
Sound: Gordon K. McCallum, David Hildyard
Director of Photography Oswald Morris
Filmed in Panavision, Colour by Technicolor
Film Editors: Antony Gibbs and Robert Lawrence

Awards: Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (Oswald Morris), Best Song Score (John Williams) and Best Sound (Gordon K. McCallum and David Hildyard). Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Topol), Best Supporting Actor (Leonard Frey), Best Director (Norman Jewison), Best Art Direction / Set Decoration (Robert F. Boyle, Michael Stringer, Peter Lamont)

Cast: Topol [Tevye], Norma Crane [Golde], Leonard Frey [Motel], Molly Picon [Yente], Paul Mann [Lazar Wolf], Rosalind Harris [Tzeitel], Michele Marsh [Hodel], Neva Small [Chava], Michael Glaser [Perchik], Raymond Lovelock [Fyedka], Elaine Edwards [Shprintze], Candy Bonstein [Bielke], Shimen Ruskin [Mordcha], Zvee Scooler [Rabbi], Louis Zorich [Constable], Alfie Scopp [Avram], Howard Goorney [Nachum], Barry Dennen [Mendel], Vernon Dobtcheff [Russian Official], Ruth Madoc [Fruma Sarah], Patience Collier [Grandma Tzeitel], Tutte Lemkow [Fiddler], Stella Courtney [Shandel], Jacob Kalich [Yankel], Brian Coburn [Berl], George Little [Hone], Stanley Fleet [Farcel], Arnold Diamond [Moishe], Marika Rivera [Rifka], Mark Malicz [Ezekial], Aharon Ipale [Sheftel], Roger Lloyd Pack [Sexton], Vladimir Medar [Priest], Sammy Bayes, Larry Bianco, Walter Cartier, Peter Johnston, Guy Lutman, Donald MacLennan, Rene Sartoris [Russian Dancers], Roy Durbin, Ken Robson, Bob Stevenson, Lou Zamprogna [Bottle Dancers], Additional Cast: Alfred Maron [Previous Rabbi], Otto Diamant [Yussel], Hazel Wright [Rebecca], Carl Jaffe [Isaac], Miki Iveria [Bess], Hilda Kriseman [Zelda], Sarah Cohen [Bashe], Susan Sloman [Nechama], Cyril Bass, A. Haverstock, Leo Wright, C. C. Bilham, M. Winter, H. Krein [Village Band Members], Ivan Baptie, Michael Ingleton, Jody Hall, Barry Lines, Adam Scott, Albin Pahernik [Jewish Male Dancers], Ina Claire, Karen Trent, Tanya Bayona, Petra Siniawski [Jewish Female Dancers]

Musical Program: [0:01] Tradition (spoken by Topol, sung by Topol and Chorus); [0:09] Main Title: Fiddler on the Roof (played by Isaac Stern and Orchestra); [0:18] Matchmaker, Matchmaker (performed by Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh and Neva Small); [0:24] If I Were a Rich Man (performed by Topol); [0:39] Sabbath Prayer (sung by Topol, Norma Crane and Chorus); [0:49] To Life (sung and danced by Topol, Paul Mann and Mens Chorus; turns into big dance number with Villagers and Russians); [1:11] Tradition (continued by Topol); [1:15] Miracle of Miracles (sung by Leonard Frey); [1:22] Tevya's Dream (performed by Topol, Norma Crane, Ruth Madoc, Patience Collier and Chorus); [1:32] Sunrise Sunset (sung by Topol, Norma Crane, Paul Michael Glaser, Michele Marsh and Chorus); [1:36] Wedding Dance (danced by The Company); [1:51] Entr'acte; [1:53] Tradition (reprised by Chorus); [2:01] Tradition (continued by Topol); [2:06] Do You Love Me? (sung by Topol and Norma Crane); [2:14] Far From the Home I Love (sung by Michele Marsh and Topol); [2:30] Chava Ballet (sung by Topol, danced by Norma Crane, Neva Small and Raymond Lovelock); [2:40] Anatevka (sung by Topol, Norma Crane, Paul Mann, Molly Picon, Barry Dennen, Shimen Ruskin and Chorus); [2:57] Anatevka (hummed by Chorus); [2:58] Fiddler on the Roof (played by Isaac Stern and Orchestra); [2:59] Exit Music (played by Orchestra behind end credits)




This web site is revised daily. Please check back often!



Fiesta top of page
Fiesta
MGM, 1947, Color, 104 minutes, **½
Released June, 1947

Ricardo Montalban wants to be a professional musician, and he has the talent for it. But his father wants him to follow in the family tradition and become a bull-fighter. Ricardo is quite talented at that, too, and continues to follow his father's wishes - up to a point. Father and son cannot see eye-to-eye on this issue, but sister Esther Williams has a bright idea...

This was Ricardo Montalban's first film at MGM. Filmed on location in Mexico.

Caution: There are two films entitled "Fiesta." The recent triple-feature DVD release entitled "Great Musical Classics (Royal Wedding / Till Clouds Roll By / Fiesta) (1951)" shown to the right is NOT this film! I have this film on tape (taped off TCM), and a commercial VHS does exist but is long out of print, and it has not been released on DVD as of 03/01/08.

Produced by: Jack Cummings
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Original Screen Play by: George Bruce and Lester Cole
Musical Score: Johnny Green
"El Salon Mexico" by Aaron Copland
Adapted and Orchestrated for the screen as "Fantasia Mexicana" by Johnny Green
Additional Orchestration by: Ted Duncan
Dances Staged by: Eugene Loring
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and William Ferrari
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Thomas Theuerkauf
Costume Supervision: Irene
Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Directors of Photography: Sidney Wagner, Charles Rosher, Wilfrid M. Cline
Photographed in Technicolor
Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus
Associate: Henri Jaffa
Film Editor: Blanche Sewell

Awards: Nominated for Best Score Academy Award (Johnny Green)

Cast: Esther Williams [Maria Morales], Akim Tamiroff [Chato Vasquez], Ricardo Montalban [Mario Morales], John Carroll [Jose "Pepe" Ortega], Mary Astor [Señora Morales], Cyd Charisse [Conchita], Fortunio Bonanova [Antonio Morales], Hugo Haas [Maximino Contreras], Jean Van [Maria Morales as a Child], Joey Preston [Mario Morales as a Child], Frank Puglia [Doctor], Los Bocheros [The Basque Singers], Alan Napier [Tourist], Additional Cast: Alex Montoya [Vaquero], Rosa Rey [Housekeeper], Nacho Galindo [Proprietor], Robert Emmett O'Connor [Bus Driver], Soledad Jiminez [Nurse], Rudy Rama [Photographer], Jose Portugal [Reporter], Ben Welden, Dewey Robinson [Cops]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:30] unidentified Hat Dance (played by Los Bocheros, danced by Chorus); [0:31] La Bamba (played and sung by Los Bocheros, danced by Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse and Chorus); [0:34] Fantasia Mexicana (excerpt played by Ricardo Montalban at the piano [onscreen] with Orchestra); [0:44] La Luna Enamorada (played and sung by Los Bocheros); [0:46] Romeria Vasca (?) (played and sung by Los Bocheros, danced Flamenco style by Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse); [0:50] title? (sung by Chorus at party); [1:13] title? (sung and played by Los Bocheros on bus); [1:16] Fantasia Mexicana (played by orchestra on radio, accompanied by Ricardo Montalban at the piano [onscreen] at cafe -- a beautiful piece!); [1:36] title? (played by Los Bocheros); [1:39] title? (played by Los Bocheros); [1:41] same as [0:30]

still working on this one...




Finian's Rainbow top of page
Finian's Rainbow
Warner Bros. / Seven Arts, 1968, Color, 145 minutes, ****
Released October, 1968
Class Act
Class Act Must-See!
Must See!

Originally a stage production in 1947, this story's anit-racism theme was so far ahead of its time that it was more than twenty years before it came to the screen. Irishman Finian (Fred Astaire) and his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) come to the United States with a pot of gold "borrowed" from one of the "little people" - a leprechaun played by Tommy Steele. Finian believes burying the pot in the rich American soil will cause it to grow, and then he can return the original amount of gold to the leprechaun.

Finian and Sharon, after wandering the country, settle in the small southern community of Rainbow Valley, which unbeknownst to Finian, is directly in the path of a proposed river dam project. Woody (Don Francks) and Howard (Al Freeman, Jr.) have been working to develop a strain of mentholated tobacco so that the small community will have a better means of support. But, the local Senator (Keenan Wynn) is determined to take the land away from the people who live there in order to complete his dam project, from which he stands to profit personally.

Because it is leprechaun gold, those who make a wish in the vicinity of the pot of gold will be granted their wish. But the pot can only fulfill three wishes before its gold is turned to dross. When the Senator visits the village to try to force the people out of their homes by condemning the land, his plans are foiled by Woody and Finian. The Senator loses his temper and reveals his racial prejudice - many of the people who live in the village are black. Outraged, Sharon wishes she could turn the senator black so he could understand first-hand how he has hurt the black people of the village. Not realizing that she is close to the pot of gold, which Finian has hidden in the area - presto! - the senator becomes a black man! Humiliated, he rushes off into the woods to hide. When the senator is missed by his associates, the local law officials investigate and soon bring counts of witchcraft against Sharon. They lock her in a barn, which they plan to burn unless Sharon turns the Senator white again before morning.

Meanwhile the Senator, after wandering around the forest for a day or so, meets a quartet of black musicians (Avon Long, Jester Hairston and Roy Glenn). They have just lost one of their number, so the Senator joins the group as the new fourth man and has a great time. By the time he returns to the village, he has become best of friends with the members of the singing group and he has seen the errors in his ways. Now Finian must use the last wish in the pot to turn the Senator white again in order to save the life of his daughter. After a close-call, all ends happily and Woody and Sharon are married. Having fulfilled his mission, Finian - ever the wanderer - sets off for greener pastures, dancing out of the village and over the hill as the townspeople sing farewell. This scene is especially poignant in retrospect, since it was to be the last time Fred Astaire would ever dance in a movie musical.

Finian's Rainbow is generally dismissed as trivial by the critics, but it's one of my favorite films. Fred Astaire and Petula Clark are two of my favorite entertainers, and the film is lots of fun - lighthearted and at times quite comical, as well as deftly delivering a message in a delicate manner. The music by Arlen and Harburg is wonderful! Highlights include "Look to the Rainbow," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra," "If This Isn't Love," "That Old Devil Moon" and "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love." In spite of Fred's age (he was nearly 70), he dances a wonderful number on top of shipping crates in the production number, "When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich." It's a great film! Required watching for any musical fan!!

The Broadway to Hollywood Classic Musicals Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) contains this film and Easter Parade, The Band Wagon, Bells Are Ringing and Brigadoon.

Produced by: Joseph Landon
Associate Producer: Joel Freeman
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Assistant Directors: Fred Gammon, Howard Kazanjian
Screenplay by: E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy
From the Broadway Play, Book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy,
Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, Music by Burton Lane
Music Supervised and Conducted by: Ray Heindorf
Associate Music Supervisor: Ken Darby
Musical Score: Burton Lane
Choreography by: Hermes Pan
Production Design by: Hilyard M. Brown
Set Decorators: William L. Kuehl, Philip Abramson
Costumes Designed by: Dorothy Jeakins
Makeup Supervisor: Gordon Bau
Supervising Hair Stylist: Jean Burt Reilly
Sound by: M. A. Merrick, Dan Wallin
Director of Photography: Philip Lathrop
Filmed in Panavision and Technicolor
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Score (Musical) and Best Sound

Cast: Fred Astaire [Finian McLonergan], Petula Clark [Sharon McLonergan], Tommy Steele [Og], Don Francks [Woody Mahoney], Keenan Wynn [Senator Billboard Rawkins], Barbara Hancock [Susan the Silent], Al Freeman Jr. [Howard], Ronald Colby [Buzz Collins], Dolph Sweet [Sheriff], Wright King [District Attorney], Louil Silas [Henry], Avon Long, Jester Hairston, Roy Glenn [Trio], Ken Darby Singers [Vocals]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: "If This Isn't Love" / "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" (played by Orchestra); [0:02] Main Title: Look to the Rainbow (sung by Petula Clark behind titles); [0:08] This Time of the Year (sung and danced by the Rainbow Valley Citizens [dubbed by the Ken Darby Singers]); [0:13] How Are Things in Glocca Morra? (sung by Petula Clark); [0:16] This Time of the Year (continued) (sung and danced by the Rainbow Valley Citizens [dubbed by the Ken Darby Singers]); [0:22] Look to the Rainbow (sung by Fred Astaire and Petula Clark with a little help from Don Francks; danced by Fred Astaire and Petula Clark joined by the Rainbow Valley Citizens); [0:42] Old Devil Moon (sung by Don Francks and Petula Clark); [1:03] Something Sort of Grandish (sung and danced by Tommy Steele and Petula Clark); [1:08] If This Isn't Love (sung and danced by Don Francks, Petula Clark, Fred Astaire and the Rainbow Valley Citizens [dubbed by the Ken Darby Singers]); [1:17] Something Sort of Grandish (differnt lyrics, sung by Tommy Steele); [1:25] That Great Come-and-Get-It Day (sung by Don Francks, Petula Clark and the Rainbow Valley Citizens [dubbed by the Ken Darby Singers]); [1:29] Entr'acte: Look to the Rainbow (sung by Petula Clark); [1:30] When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich (sung by Fred Astaire, Petula Clark and the Rainbow Valley Citizens [dubbed by the Ken Darby Singers]; danced by Fred Astaire on shipping crates); [1:40] Old Devil Moon (reprised by Petula Clark and Don Francks); [1:42] Rain Dance Ballet (instrumental arrangement of "Old Devil Moon" danced in the rain by Barbara Hancock); [1:52] The Begat (sung by Avon Long, Jester Hairston, Roy Glenn and Keenan Wynn); [1:56] Look to the Rainbow (sung by Don Francks, Petula Clark and the Ken Darby Singers during the interrupted wedding ceremony); [2:02] When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love (sung by Tommy Steele, danced by Barbara Hancock and Tommy Steele); [2:18] Look to the Rainbow (sung by Don Francks, Fred Astaire, Petula Clark and the Ken Darby Singers during wedding ceremony); [2:20] Finale: Fred Astaire dances his last steps in a feature film to How Are Things in Glocca Morra? (sung by Petula Clark, Don Francks, Tommy Steele, Barbara Hancock and the Ken Darby Singers); [2:23] Exit Music: "If This Isn't Love" / "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" (played by Orchestra)

Finian buries his gold




Firefly, The top of page
The Firefly
MGM, 1937, B/W, 130 minutes, ***½
General release November, 1937

Three movies. Three tremendous successes. Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime had transformed Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald into America's singing sweethearts. But would the public go for a movie with only one singing sweetheart? In the case of this sumptuous romantic operetta, the answer was a vibrant yes! The Firefly was one of the fifteen top-grossing films of 1937-1938.

Jeanette MacDonald portrays Nina Maria, who sings, dances and spies for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. Early in the story, Nina is eager to discourage an amorous French officer, so she feigns interest in Don Diego (Allan Jones). Now, she has a bigger problem - discouraging Don Diego, who is actually a French counterspy. His mission: shadow Nina Maria!

Rudolf Friml's 1912 work provides the basis for this memorable musical that keeps some original songs (including "Giannina Mia"), revises others and introduces a now-classic charmer: "The Donkey Serenade" (engagingly set to the clip-clop of a mule-drawn coach), which became Jones' signature song throughout his career.
[from back of VHS sleeve]

A wonderful film! Great performance by Jeanette MacDonald - one of her best. The only thing wrong with it is the little "and they lived happily ever after" scene tacked on to the end of the film, probably as a result of preview feedback. Just stop your VCR or try to pretend you didn't see that... [JJ]

Produced by: Hunt Stromberg
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard
Screen Play by: Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Based Upon the Book and Lyrics by Otto A. Harbach
Adaptation by: Ogden Nash
Technical Advisor: George Richelavie
Music by: Rudolf Friml
Musical Direction by: Herbert Stothart
Additional Lyrics by: Gus Kahn
Special Lyrics by: Bob Albright and Chet Forrest
Dances by: Albertina Rasch
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associates: Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis
Gowns by: Adrian
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Photographed by: Oliver T. Marsh
Montage Effects by: Slavko Vorkapich
Film Editor: Robert J. Kern

Cast: Jeanette MacDonald [Nina Maria Azara], Allan Jones [Don Diego], Warren William [Major de Rougemont], Billy Gilbert [Innkeeper], Douglas Dumbrille [Marquis de Melito], Leonard Penn [Etienne], Tom Rutherford [King Ferdinand], Belle Mitchell [Lola], George Zucco [Secret Service Chief], Corbet Morris [Duval], Matthew Boulton [Duke of Wellington], Additional Cast: Henry Daniell [General Savary], Ian Wolfe [Izquierdo], Manuel Alvarez Maciste [Coach Driver], Robert Spindola [Coach Driver's Son], Zeni Vatori [Waiter in Cafe], Frank Puglia [Pablo], John Picorri [Cafe Proprietor], James B. Carson [Smiling Waiter], Milton Watson [French Officer], Peter DuRey [Officer], Maurice Black [Pigeon Vendor], Maurice Cass [Strawberry Vendor], Sam Appel [Fruit Vendor], Rolfe Sedan [Hat Vendor], Mabel Colcord [Vendor], Inez Palange [Flower Vendor], Theodore von Eltz [Captain Pierlot], Pedro de Cordoba [Spanish General], Monya Andre [Civilian Wife], Frank Campeau [Beggar], Stanley Price [Napoleon], Guy D'Ennery [Spanish General], Robert Wilbur [Dying Soldier], Sidney Bracey [Secretary], Roy Harris (aka Riley Hill) [Lieutenant], Eugene Borden [Captain], Jean Perry [Major], Ralph Byrd [French Lieutenant], Eddie Phillips [Captain], Bentley Hewlett [Major], Paul Sutton [Spanish Civilian], Fernando Garcia [Napoleonic Officer], Robert Z. Leonard [Bayonne Cafe Extra], Albertina Rasch [Bayonne Cafe Extra], Dennis O'Keefe, Ray Bennett [Soldiers in Bayonne Cafe], Karl Hackett [Bit Spaniard], Boyd Gilbert [Aide], Russ Powell [Stablehand], Lane Chandler [Captain of Guards], Agostino Borgato [Peasant], Joe North, Colin Kenny, Brandon Hurst, Pat Somerset [English Generals], Edward Keane [Chief of Staff], Victor Adams [Jail Guard], Harry Worth [Secret Service Adjutant], Lew Harvey [Officer], Jason Robards Sr. [Spanish Patriot], David Tihmar [Madrid Cafe Dancer], Hooper Atchley, William Crowell, Alan Curtis, Drew Demarest, Lester Dorr, Roger Drake, Ramsey Hill, Jacques Lory, Fred MacKaye, John Merton, Anthony Pawley, Donald Reed, Harry Semels, Charles Townsend, Frank Yaconelli [French Officers and Soldiers]

Musical Program: [0:00] Giannina Mia (instrumental arrangement danced by the Albertina Rasch Dancers across credits); [0:02] English March (played by Orchestra, sung by Chorus as King Ferdinand's troupe parades); [0:06] Festival (sung by Chorus, danced by Ensemble at celebration); [0:10] Love Is Like a Firefly (Jeanette MacDonald); [0:14] A Woman's Kiss (sung by Allan Jones and Chorus); [0:25] The Donkey Serenade (excerpt played on flute by young boy [Robert Spindola] leading mules); [0:29] The Donkey Serenade (sung by Allan Jones serenading Jeanette traveling in coach, accompanied by coach driver on guitar, coach driver's son on flute); [0:39] Para Salud (short ditty sung by Allan Jones and Troubadors as he serves Jeanette an omelet); [0:40] Ojos Rojos (excerpt sung by troubador at inn); [0:45] Giannina Mia (sung by Allan Jones); [0:50] He Who Loves and Runs Away (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Mens Chorus); [1:10] Sympathy (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones); [1:18] When a Maid Comes Knocking at Your Heart (sung by Jeanette MacDonald); [1:43] Danse Jeanette (Capriccio Espagñole) (danced by Jeanette and the Albertina Rasch Dancers in the Gypsy camp); [2:03] Giannina Mia (reprised by Jeanette MacDonald); [2:05] Happy Subjects (?) (sung by Chorus); [2:07] Finale: The Donkey Serenade / Giannina Mia (sung by Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald)




First Love top of page
First Love
Universal, 1939, B/W, 85 minutes, ***
General release November, 1939

A Cinderella story about an orphan girl (Durbin) who, after graduating from finishing school, goes to live with her wealthy uncle and his family. She is ignored by her uncle (Pallette) and snubbed by her class-conscious aunt (Leatrice Joy) and beautiful cousin (Helen Parrish). She falls in love with Ted Drake (Robert Stack), but considers herself too far below him socially to truly believe that he could be interested in her. She attends a formal ball, but is too intimidated by the socialites to remain. Upon leaving the ball, she loses one of her slippers. Frustrated, she returns to the finishing school and takes up work as a teacher. In an emotionally-charged finale, she is singing Puccini's "Un bel di" for the faculty and students at the finishing school. Robert Stack shows up, bringing her lost slipper, and she rushes down the aisle into his arms... and they lived happily everafter.

The Deanna Durbin Sweetheart Pack DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film and Three Smart Girls, Something in the Wind, It Started with Eve, Can't Help Singing, Lady on a Train.

Produced by: Joe Pasternak
Directed by: Henry Koster
Assistant Director: Frank Shaw
Screen Play by: Bruce Manning, Lionel Houser
Musical Director: Charles Previn
Vocal Instructor: Andres de Segurola
"Spring in My Heart" from Johann Strauss Waltzes
Adaptation: H. G. Salter
Lyrics: Ralph Freed
Orchestrations: Frank Skinner
Art Director: Jack Otterson
Associate: Martin Obzina
Set Decorations: R. A. Gausman
Gowns: Vera West
Sound Supervisor: Bernard B. Brown
Technician: Joseph Lapis
Director of Photography: Joseph Valentine
Film Editor: Bernard W. Burton

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Black and White Cinematography (Joseph Valentine), Best Score (Charles Previn) and Best Interior Decoration (Jack Otterson and Martin Obzina)

Cast: Deanna Durbin [Constance Harding], Robert Stack [Ted Drake], Eugene Pallette [James Clinton], Helen Parrish [Barbara Clinton], Lewis Howard [Walter Clinton], Leatrice Joy [Mrs. Grace Clinton], June Storey [Wilma van Everett], Frank Jenks [Mike, the Cop], Kathleen Howard [Miss Wiggins], Thurston Hall [Mr. Drake], Marcia Mae Jones [Marcia Parker], Samuel S. Hinds [Mr. Parker], Doris Lloyd [Mrs. Parker], Charles Coleman [George, the Butler], Jack Mulhall [Terry, the Chauffeur], Mary Treen [Agnes, Barbara's Maid], Dorothy Vaughan [Mrs. Clinton's Maid], Lucille Ward [Cook], Additional Cast: Jesse Royce Landis [Brunette Spinster], Bess Flowers [Bit]

Musical Program: [0:10] Home Sweet Home (sung by Deanna Durbin); [0:23] Amapola (sung by Deanna Durbin); [0:58] Spring in My Heart (sung by Deanna Durbin); [1:24] Puccini's Un bel di (One Fine Day) from MADAME BUTTERFLY (sung in English by Deanna Durbin)




Fisherman's Wharf top of page
Fisherman's Wharf
Principal Productions / RKO, 1939, B/W, 72 minutes, **½
Released February, 1939

A boy (Bobby Breen) adopted by a San Francisco fisherman decides to leave his home when the fisherman's sister-in-law moves in with her annoying son. Efforts are on to find Breen... but first, some musical numbers, including "Blue Italian Waters" and "Sell Your Cares for a Song." Leo Carrillo, Lee Patrick and Slicker the Seal also star.

Produced by: Sol Lesser
Directed by: Bernard Vorhaus
Assistant Director: John Sherwood
Screenplay by: Bernard Schubert, Ian Hunter and H. Clyde Lewis
Musical Supervision: Abe Meyer
Musical Direction: Victor Young
Vocal Arrangements: Max Terr
Songs: "Sell Your Cares for a Song" by Victor Young and Charles Newman; "Songs of Italy" by Frank Churchill and Paul F. Webster, "Fisherman's Chanty" by Farlan Meyers and William Howe
Backgrounds Directed by: Al Raboch
Background Photography: William Dietz
Art Director: Lewis J. Rachmil
Wardrobe: Maurice Friedman
Original Song Score: William Howe, Farian I. Myers, Charles Newman, Victor Young Italian Medleys Arranged by: Paul Francis Webster
Wardrobe: Morrie Friedman
Photography: Charles Schoenbaum
Sound Technician: Earl A. Wolcott
Film Editor: Arthur Hilton

Cast: Bobby Breen [Tony Roma], Leo Carrillo [Carlo Roma], Henry Armetta [Beppo], Lee Patrick [Stella], Rosina Galli [Angelina], Tommy Bupp [Rudolph], Leon Belasco [Luigi], George Humbert [Pietro], Slicker, the seal [Julius], Dorr's St. Luke's Choristers, Additional Cast: Neal Dodd [Minister], Leonard Kibrick, Pua Lani, Milo Marchetti, Jr., Ronald Paige, Jackie Salling [Tony's Gang Members]

Musical Program: [0:01] Torna a Surriento (sung by Bobby Breen and Chorus); [0:07] Sell Your Cares for a Song (sung by Bobby Breen and Chorus); [0:20] Fisherman's Chanty (chanted by Chorus dubbing for Carlo, family and friends, joined by Bobby Breen); [0:26] Songs of Italy medley: Ah! Marie / Santa Lucia / Funiculi Funicula (sung by Bobby Breen and his "Gang"); [0:49] Ombra mai fù (from the opera SERSE) (sung by Bobby Breen and Boys Choir); [1:08] Torna a Surriento (sung by Bobby Breen and Chorus)




Five Pennies, The top of page
The Five Pennies
Paramount, 1959, Color, 117 minutes, ***½
General release August, 1959

Danny Kaye stars as jazz great Red Nichols in this biopic that chronicles the stormy life of the '20s cornet wizard, including Nichols' domestic problems and musical triumphs. Barbara Bel Geddes, Tuesday Weld, Louis Armstrong, Bob Crosby co-star; tunes include "Good Night, Sleep Tight," "The Music Goes Round and Round," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Producer: Jack Rose
Associate Producer: Sylvia Fine
Executive Producer: Danny Kaye
Director: Melville Shavelson
Screenplay: Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson
(based on the life and career of Loring "Red" Nichols)
Musical Score: Leith Stevens
Music: Original music by Sylvia Fine
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen
Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Grace Gregory
Costume Design: Edith Head
Special Effects: John P. Fulton
Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp
Film Editing: Frank P. Keller

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Color Cinematography (Daniel L. Fapp), Best Costume Design, Color (Edith Head), Best Score, Musical (Leith Stevens) and Best Song ("The Five Pennies")

Cast: Danny Kaye [Loring "Red" Nichols], Barbara Bel Geddes [Bobbie Meredith], Louis Armstrong [Himself], Bob Crosby [Wil Paradise], Harry Guardino [Tony Valani], Susan Gordon [Dorothy Nichols, age 6-8], Tuesday Weld [Dorothy Nichols, age 12-14], Valerie Allen [Tommye Eden], Ray Anthony [Jimmy Dorsey], Shelly Manne [Dave Tough], Bobby Troup [Arthur Schutt], Ray Daly [Glenn Miller], Bob Hope [Himself, in cameo], Eileen Wilson [singing voice of Barbara Bel Geddes]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (medley of tunes from the film played by Orchestra); [0:03] My Blue Heaven (sung by Bob Crosby); [0:08] Ja-Da (instrumental in Harlem nightclub, danced by Danny Kaye and Barbara Bel Geddes); [0:10] unidentified instrumental (Louis Armstrong and His Band); [0:12] Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home (sung by Louis Armstrong, joined by Danny Kaye in audience); [0:16] unidentified instrumental (Louis Armstrong and His Band); [0:18] Battle Hymn of the Republic (sung by Louis Armstrong, played by Red Nichols for Danny Kaye with Louis Armstrong and His Band); [0:22] Carnival of Venice ("sung" by Danny Kaye imitating trumpet); [0:25] unidentified number (sung by Bob Crosby); [0:32] (Back Home Again In) Indiana (Radio show sequence sung by Danny Kaye with various singing groups); [0:40] Back Home Again in Indiana ("sung" by Danny Kaye and the Five Pennies imitating musical instruments); [0:42] Follow the Leader (sung by Danny Kaye, Eileen Wilson dubbing for Barbara Bel Geddes and Harry Guardino; danced by Danny Kaye and Barbara Bel Geddes at prom dance); [0:49] Lullaby in Ragtime (sung by Danny Kaye with the Five Pennies, joined by Barbara Bel Geddes); [0:52] The Music Goes 'Round and Around (sung by Danny Kaye with the Five Pennies); [0:57] The Five Pennies (sung by Danny Kaye to Dorothy); [1:04] Good Night Sleep Tight (sung by Louis Armstrong with his band); Good Night Sleep Tight / The Five Pennies (sung in counterpoint by Louis Armstrong, Danny Kaye and Susan Gordon); [1:07] When the Saints Go Marching In (sung and played by Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye - great!); [1:16] unidentified instrumental (traveling montage); [1:18] Jingle Bells (sung by Danny Kaye); [1:20] Barber of Seville (sung by Barber and Danny Kaye); [1:31] Schnitzelbank (sung by Danny Kaye and Children in hospital ward); [1:39] Back Home Again in Indiana (instrumental played by "Glenn Miller and His Orchestra"); [1:52] Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home (sung by Louis Armstrong with his band); [1:55] The Five Pennies (sung by Barbara Bel Geddes, danced by Danny Kaye and Tuesday Weld); [1:56] Battle Hymn of the Republic (played by Red Nichols for Danny Kaye with Louis Armstrong and His Band)




This web site is revised daily. Please check back often!



Flaming Star top of page
Flaming Star
20th Century-Fox, 1960, Color, 87 minutes, ***
Released December, 1960

West Texas in the years after the Civil War is an uneasy meeting ground of two cultures, one white the other native American. Elvis portrays Pacer Burton, the son of a white rancher (John McIntire) and his beautiful Kiowa Indian wife (Dolores Del Rio). When fighting breaks out between the settlers and natives, Pacer tries to act as a peace maker, but the "flaming star of death" pulls him irrevocably into the deadly violence.

Co-starring Barbara Eden, the soundtrack features Elvis's haunting performance of the title song. Considered by many critics as Elvis's best screen performance, this moving portrayal of a man caught between two cultures makes Flaming Star a monumental Presley classic!   [from back of VHS sleeve]

Produced by: David Weisbart
Directed by: Don Siegel
Assistant Director: Joseph E. Richards
Screenplay by: Clair Huffaker and Nunnally Johnson
Based on a novel by: Clair Huffaker
Technical Adviser: Colonel Tom Parker
Music: Cyril J. Mockridge
Conducted by: Lionel Newman
Orchestration: Edward B. Powell
Songs: "Flaming Star" by Sherman Edwards and Sid Wayne, "A Cane and a High Starched Collar" Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett
Vocal Accompaniment to Elvis Presley's Songs by: The Jordanaires
Dances Staged by: Josephine Earl
Art Direction: Duncan Cramer, Walter M. Simonds
Set Decorations: Walter M. Scott, Gustav Berntsen
Costumes Designed by: Adele Balkan
Makeup by: Ben Nye
Hair Styles by: Helen Turpin
Sound: E. Clayton Ward, Warren B. Delaplain
Director of Photography: Charles G. Clarke
Color by De Luxe
Film Editor: Hugh S. Fowler

Cast: Elvis Presley [Pacer Burton], Steve Forrest [Clint Burton], Barbara Eden [Roslyn Pierce], Dolores Del Rio [Neddy Burton], John McIntire [Pa Burton], Rudolph Acosta [Buffalo Horn], Karl Swenson [Dred Pierce], Ford Rainey [Doc Phillips], Richard Jaeckel [Angus Pierce], Anne Benton [Dorothy Howard], L. Q. Jones [Tom Howard], Douglas Dick [Will Howard], Tom Reese [Jute], Marian Goldina [Ph'sha Knay], Additonal Cast: Monte Burkhart [Ben Ford], Ted Jacques [Hornsby], Rodd Redwing [Indian Brave], Perry Lopez [Two Moons], Sharon Bercutt [Bird's Wing], Ray Beltram [Indian], Barbara Beaird [Dottie Phillips], Virginia Christine [Mrs. Phillips], Griswold Green, Tom Allen, Guy Way, Joe Brooks, William Herrin [Men at Crossing], The Jordanaires [Vocal Accompaniment]

Musical Program: [0:00] Flaming Star (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires behind titles); [0:04] A Cane and a High Starch Collar (sung and danced by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and Ensemble)




Flashdance top of page
Flashdance
Polygram / Paramount, 1983, Color, 96 minutes, ***
Released April, 1983

A hit movie that became a cultural sensation, Flashdance delivers an electrifying mix of music, drama and dance that dazzles the senses as it touches the heart. Jennifer Beals stars as Alex Owens, a fiercely determined 18-year-old with one all-consuming dream: to study at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance. Working during the day as a welder and at night as an exotic dancer, Alex bravely pursues her dream, undertaking an unforgettable journey that reveals the power of her convictions and teaches her the meaning of love. Directed by Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, 9½ Weeks) and featuring the Oscar-winning song "Flashdance - What a Feeling," Flashdance is sparkling entertainment.   [from back of DVD case]

Most musicals on this web site have singing and dancing onscreen - that's one of my primary requirements for selection. However, the singing in this film is all offscreen, mostly from hit music (of the "punk rock" genre) popular at the time. I have included it because it was a major hit of the 1980s, and is typical of the form that most movie musicals took during that decade. [JJ]

Caution: may not make suitable family fare... contains some language, violence and nudity.

Produced by: Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer
Associate Producers: Tom Jacobson, Lynda Rosen Obst
Executive Producers: Peter Guber and Jon Peters
Directed by: Adrian Lyne
First Assistant Director: Albert Shapiro
Screenplay by: Tom Hedley and Joe Eszterhas
Story by: Tom Hedley
Original Music by: Giorgio Moroder
Arranged and Conducted by: Sylvestor Levay
Music Supervised by: Phil Ramone
Choreography: Jeffrey Hornaday
Production Designed by: Charles Rosen
Set Decorator: Marvin March
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan
Make-Up Artist: Rick Sharp
Hair Stylist: Robert L. Stevenson
Director of Photography: Don Peterman
Color by Movielab
Film Editors: Bud Smith, Walt Mulconery

Awards: Academy Award for Academy Award Best Song ("Flashdance ... What a Feeling"); Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography (Don Peterman), Best Film Editing (Bud Smith and Walt Mulconery) and Best Song ("Maniac")

Cast: Jennifer Beals [Alex Owens], Michael Nouri [Nick Hurley], Lilia Skala [Hanna Long], Sunny Johnson [Jeanie Szabo], Kyle T. Heffner [Richie], Lee Ving [Johnny C.], Ron Karabatsos [Jake Mawby], Belinda Bauer [Katie Hurley], Malcolm Danare [Cecil], Phil Bruns [Frank Szabo], Micole Mercurio [Rosemary Szabo], Lucy Lee Flippin [Secretary], Don Brockett [Pete], The Flashdancers: Cynthia Rhodes [Tina Tech], Durga McBroom [Heels], Stacey Pickren [Margo], Liz Sagal [Sunny], The Rocksteady Crew: Norman Scott [Normski], Marc Lemberger [Mr. Freeze], Wayne Frost [Frosty Freeze], Kenneth Gabbert [Prince Ken Swift], Richard Colon [Crazy Legs], Mawby's Regulars: Robert Wuhl, Steve Price, Matt Landers, Darren Roy, Frank Pesce, Larry John Meyers [Welder #1], David Dimanna [Welder #2], Helen Dexter [Dancer at Repertory #1], Mark Anthony Moschello [Dancer at Repertory #2], Debra Gordon [Dancer at Repertory #3], Erika Leslie [Blonde Skater], Jim McCardle [Ice Rink Official #1], Ernie Tate [Ice Rink Official #2], Bettina Birnbaum [Stripper #1], Deidre L. Cowden [Stripper #2], Colin Hamilton [Maitre D'], Tony DeSantis [Waiter #2], Marjean Dennis [Woman at Restaurant], Bob Harks [Priest], Ann Muffly [Woman at Hanna Long's], Hank Crowell [Racquetball Player], Frank Tomasello [Harry], Victor Paul, George Robotham, John Robotham, Ted Grossman, George Fisher, Louie Elias [Stunts], Jumbo Red [Grunt], Marine Jahan [stand-in dancer for Jennifer Beals]

Musical Program: [0:00] Flashdance - What a Feeling (sung offscreen behind titles by Irene Cara); [0:04] He's A Dream (sung by Shandi offscreen, danced by Flashdancer onscreen); [0:13] Maniac (sung by Michael Sembello offscren, danced by Flashdancer onscreen); [0:26] Montage / Medley: I Love Rock 'n Roll (Gym number, sung by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts offscreen) / It's Just Begun (sung and played by Jimmy Castor and The Jimmy Castor Bunch offscreen, breakdancing by The Rocksteady Crew onscreen) / Traffic Cop number; [0:33] Manhunt (sung by Karen Kamon offscreen, danced by Flashdancer onscreen); [0:39] Figure Skating Competition: first performance by Erika Leslie / Gloria (sung by Laura Branigan offscreen, figure skated by Sunny Johnson (or double?) onscreen); [0:48] Lady, Lady, Lady (sung by Joe Bean Esposito offscreen); [0:52] Imagination (sung by Laura Branigan offscreen, danced by Flashdancer onscreen); [0:55] short Ballet excerpt; [1:08] Romeo (sung by Donna Summer offscreen); [1:14] Seduce Me Tonight (sung by Cycle V offscreen, danced by Sunny Johnson (or double?) onscreen); [1:21] I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is (sung by Kim Carnes offscreen); [1:26] The Audition: Love Theme From Flashdance (sung by Helen St. John offscreen, danced by Jennifer Beals onscreen); [1:30] Manhunt (sung by Karen Kamon offscreen behind end credits); [1:31] Imagination (sung by Laura Branigan offscreen behind end credits); [1:32] Maniac (sung by Michael Sembello offscren behind end credits)




Fleet's In, The top of page
The Fleet's In
Paramount, 1942, B/W, 93 minutes
Released January, 1942

The story of the girls at the Swingland Club - a popular spot for sailors on shore leave. The girls that work there are busy falling in love with the sailor patrons. Dorothy Lamour is the cool type, but William Holden takes care of that little problem. Betty Hutton, in her film debut, takes on Eddie Bracken. Fun film.

Producer: Paul Jones
Director: Victor Schertzinger
Screenplay: Walter DeLeon, Sid Silvers and Ralph Spence
(based on the play "Sailor Beware" by Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson)
Music Director: Victor Young
Song Score: Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger
Choreography: Jack Donohue
Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegte
Costume Design: Edith Head
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editing: Paul Weatherwax

Cast: Dorothy Lamour [The Countess], William Holden [Casey Kirby], Eddie Bracken [Barney Waters], Betty Hutton [Bessie Day], Betty Jane Rhodes [Diana Golden], Leif Erickson [Jake], Cass Daley [Cissie], Gil Lamb [Spike], Barbara Britton [Eileen Wright], Rod Cameron [Sailor], Jack Norton [Kellogg], Harry Barris [PeeWee], Dave Willock [Sailor], Stanley Andrews [Commander], Chester Clute [Minister], Roy Atwell [Arthur], Robert Warwick [Admiral Wright], Charles Williams [Photographer], Oscar Smith [Valet], Lyle Latell [Drunk], Hal K. Dawson [Bert, Diana's Manager], Fred Santley [Waiter], Phyllis Ruth [Hazel], Elinor Troy, Alice Weaver, Louise La Planche, Laurie Douglas, Judith Gibson, Lynda Grey, Alaine Brandes, Katharine Booth [Swingland Hostesses], Jimmy Dorsey and His Band [Themselves], Helen O'Connell [Herself], Bob Eberly [Himself], Lorraine and Rognan [Dance Team]

Musical Program: Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry (sung by Betty Hutton with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra); I Remember You (Dorothy Lamour, Bob Eberly, Helen O'Connell and Chorus with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra); If You Build a Better Mousetrap (Betty Hutton with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra); Not Mine (sung by Dorothy Lamour with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, reprised by Betty Hutton); The Fleet's In (Betty Jane Rhodes); When You Hear the Time Signal (Dorothy Lamour); Tangerine (sung by Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra)

The Fleet's In lobby card


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Yolanda and the Thief / The Fleet's In double soundtrack CD
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Flirtation Walk top of page
Flirtation Walk
First National Pictures, 1934, B/W, 98 minutes, ***
Released December, 1934

Musical-romance with Dick Powell as an army officer stationed in Hawaii who gets involved with Ruby Keeler, the general's engaged daughter. In order to avoid a scandal, the pair break up, but meet again years later when Powell's a West Point officer producing the annual play that turns out to star Keeler.

"To the United States Military Academy at West Point, an institution of which our entire nation is justly proud, this picture is respectfully dedicated."

Produced and Directed by: Frank Borzage
Screen Play by: Delmer Daves
Original Story by: Delmer Daves and Lou Edelman
Music and Lyrics by: Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon
Song Score: Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon
Vitaphone Orchestra Conducted by: Leo F. Forbstein
Ensembles Directed by: Bobby Connolly
Technical Directors: Col. Timothy J. Lonergan, Lieut. M.P. Echols
Art Director: Jack Okey
Gowns by: Orry-Kelly
Sound Director: Nathan Levinson
Recording Engineers: Everett A. Brown, C. A. Riggs
Photography by: Sol Polito, George Barnes
Edited by: William Holmes

Awards: Academy Award Nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound Recording

Cast: Dick Powell [Dick "Canary" Dorcy], Ruby Keeler ["Kit" Fitts], Pat O'Brien ["Scrapper" Thornhill], Ross Alexander ["Oskie"], John Arledge ["Spike"], John Eldredge [Lieut. Biddle], Henry O'Neill [Gen. Fitts], Guinn Williams ["Sleepy"], Frederick Burton [Gen. Landacre], John Darrow [Chase], Glen Boles ["Eight Ball"], Additional Cast: Lt. Joe Cummins [Cadet], Tyrone Power [Cadet], Carlyle Blackwell, Jr. [Cadet], Dick Winslow [Cadet], Gertrude Keeler [Dancer], Col. Tim Lonergan [General], Maude Turner Gordon [Dowager], Frances Lee [Blonde], Avis Johnson [Redhead], Mary Russell [Girl], William Worthington [Civilian], Cliff Saum [Soldier], Paul Fix [Soldier], Sol Bright [Native Leader], Emmett Vogan [Officer], Frank Dawson [Butler], Sol Hoopii and His Native Orchestra

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:07] Song of the Islands (sung by Chorus and played on ukelele in background score); [0:16] Aloha Oe (may be part of medley) (sung and danced by Hawaiians at luau); [0:22] Aloha Oe (sung by Dick Powell and Chorus); [0:42] The Star-Spangled Banner (played by West Point Marching Band); [1:12] No Horse, No Wife, No Mustache (sung by Dick Powell and Cadets); [1:16] Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name (sung by Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Cadets); [1:21] Flirtation Walk (sung by Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler [obviously dubbed] and Mixed Chorus); There are also a number of military marches played by the West Point Marching Band that I have yet to identify.

Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in "Flirtation Walk"
Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler




Flower Drum Song top of page
Flower Drum Song
Universal-International, 1961, Color, 132 minutes, ***½
Released November, 1961

A young girl travels with her father from Hong Kong to San Franciscos's China Town. Her father made arrangements to marry his daughter to Wang Ta's (James Shigeta) son. Her arrival at the Wang home turns their lives topsy-turvy. Musical highlights include "A Hundred Million Miracles" and "Love Look Away," but the real show-stopper is Nancy Kwan's "I Enjoy Being a Girl."

Edward Muhl in Charge of Production
Produced by: Ross Hunter
Produced in Association with: Joseph Fields / Fields Productions
Directed by: Henry Koster
Assistant Director: Phil Bowles
Screenplay by: Joseph Fields
Based on the novel "The Flower Drum Song" by C. Y. Lee
Music Supervised and Conducted by: Alfred Newman
Associate: Ken Darby
Musical Score: Richard Rodgers
Music by: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by: Oscar Hammerstein II
Choreography by: Hermes Pan
Technical Advisors: H. K. Wong, Albert Lim
Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen and Joseph Wright
Set Decorations: Howard Bristol
Costumes: Irene Sharaff
Make-Up: Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist: Larry Gemain
Sound: Waldon O. Watson, Joe Lapis
Director of Photography: Russell Metty
Filmed in Panavision and Technicolor
Film Editor: Milton Carruth

Awards: Academy Award Nominations for Best Color Cinematography, Best Score (Musical), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color), Best Costume Design, Best Sound

Cast: Nancy Kwan [Linda Low], James Shigeta [Wang Ta], Juanita Hall [Auntie / Madame Liang], Jack Soo [Sammy Fong], Miyoshi Umeki [Mei Li], Benson Fong [Wang Chi-Yang], Reiko Sato [Helen Chao], Patrick Adiarte [Wang San], Kam Tong [Dr. Li], Victor Sen Yung [Frankie Wing], Soo Young [Madame Fong], Ching Wah Lee [Professor], James Hong [Headwaiter], Spencer Chan [Dr. Chon], Arthur Song [Dr. Fong], Weaver Levy [Policeman], Herman Rudin [Holdup Man], Cherylene Lee [San's Girl Friend], Virginia Lee [San's Girl Friend], Virginia Grey [TV Heroine], Paul Sorenson [TV Sheriff], Ward Ramsey [Great White Hunter], Laurette Luez [Mexican Girl], Robert Kino [Bank Manager], Beal Wong [Tailor], Jon Fong [Square Dance Caller], Willard Lee [Tradesman], Frank Kumagai [Tradesman], B. J. Baker [singing voice of Linda Lowe]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:09] A Hundred Million Miracles (sung by Miyoshi Umeki, Kam Tong and Chorus); [0:14] Fan Tan Fannie (sung and danced by Nancy Kwan and The Celestial Garden Lulus); [0:23] The Other Generation (sung by Benson Fong and Juanita Hall; sung and danced by Patrick Adiarte, Cherylene Lee and Virginia Lee); [0:31] A Hundred Million Miracles (sung by Miyoshi Umeki); [0:34] I Enjoy Being a Girl (performed by Nancy Kwan dubbed by Betty Jane "B. J." Baker); [0:43] I Am Going to Like It Here (sung by Miyoshi Umeki); [0:56] Chop Suey (sung by Juanita Hall, James Shigeta, Patrick Adiarte and Ensemble; danced by Ensemble); [1:09] Stars and Stripes Forever (played by Marching Band during parade); [1:12] Grant Avenue (sung and danced by Nancy Kwan and Chorus, Nancy Kwan dubbed by B. J. Baker); [1:19] Gliding Through My Memoree (sung by Victor Sen Yung, paraded by Celestial Garden Show Girls; then danced by Nancy Kwan and Girls); [1:26] Love Look Away (sung by Reiko Sato; danced by Reiko Sato, James Shigeta and Ensemble); [1:38] You Are Beautiful (sung by James Shigeta); [1:44] Sunday (performed by Jack Soo, Nancy Kwan and Ensemble; B. J. Baker dubbing for Nancy Kwan); [1:57] Don't Marry Me (performed by Jack Soo and Miyoshi Umeki); [2:10] A Hundred Million Miracles (short reprisal by Miyoshi Umeki, B. J. Baker and Chorus)




Flying Down to Rio top of page
Flying Down to Rio
RKO, 1933, B/W, 89 minutes, ***
Released December, 1933

"We'll show them a thing or three," Honey Hale (Ginger Rogers) says as she and Fred Ayres (Fred Astaire) take to the dance floor to do "The Carioca." As events turned out, Astaire and Rogers showed us three times three, making nine more films together after their breakthrough first screen teaming in Flying Down to Rio.

"Too big for the earth, so they staged it in the sky!" ads declared for this spirit-lifter with a swell Vincent Youmans score and built around a romantic triangle played by Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond and Raul Roulien. It also includes a dandy production number in which chorines soar on airplane wings. Rogers and Astaire are fourth and fifth-billed, but their magic was undeniable. When the film ends, the last image we see isn't the leads. It's Fred and Ginger.  [from back of DVD case]

One of the early musicals when it seems every studio was trying to outdo the others with mammoth production numbers. This one is remembered for the "Flying Down to Rio" production number with chorines doing stunts on the wings of flying airplanes. Fred and Ginger steal the show - it's amazing how the screen lights up when either of them appear!

The Astaire and Rogers Collection, Vol. 2 DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film and The Gay Divorcee, Roberta, Carefree and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

Associate Producer: Lou Brock
Executive Producer: Merian C. Cooper
Directed by: Thornton Freeland
Associate Director: George Nicholls, Jr.
Screen Play by: Cyril Hume, H. W. Hanemann and Erwin Gelsey
From a play by Anne Caldwell
Based on an original story by Lou Brock
Musical Director: Max Steiner
Music by: Vincent Youmans
Lyrics by: Edward Eliscu and Gus Kahn
Dance Director: Dave Gould
Art Directors: Van Nest Polglase and Carroll Clark
Costumes by: Walter Plunkett
Recorded by: P. J. Faulkner
Sound Cutter: George Marsh
Photographed by: J. Roy Hunt
Photographic Effects by: Vern Walker
Edited by: Jack Kitchin

Awards: Nominated for Best Song Academy Award ("Carioca")

Cast: Dolores Del Rio [Belinha De Rezende], Gene Raymond [Roger Bond], Raul Roulien [Julio Rubeiro], Ginger Rogers [Honey Hale], Fred Astaire [Fred Ayres], Blanche Frederici [Dona Elena De Rezende], Walter Walker [Senor de Rezende], Etta Moten [The Colored Singer], Roy D'Arcy, Maurice Black, Armand Kaliz [the Three Greeks], Paul Porcasi [The Mayor], Reginald Barlow [The Banker], Eric Blore [The Head Waiter], Franklin Pangborn [Hammersmith the Hotel Manager], Luis Alberni [Carioca Casino Manager], Jack Good, Jack Rice, Eddie Borden [Members of the Yankee Clippers], Alice Gentle [Concert Singer], Ray Cooke [Banjo Player], Wallace MacDonald [Pilot Who Performs Marriage], Gino Corrado [Messenger], Betty Furness, Lucille Browne, Mary Kornman [Belinha's Friends], Clarence Muse [Caddy in Haiti], Harry Semels [Sign Poster], Movita Castenada [Singer], Martha La Venture [Dancer], The Brazilian Turunas [Band], The American Clippers Band [Band], Sidney Bracey [Rodriguez the Chauffeur], Harry Bowen [Airport Mechanic], Manuel Paris [Extra at Aviators' Club], Adrian Rosley [Club Manager], Francisco Maran [Waiter], Alice Ardell [Maid], Eddie Boland [Airplane Mechanic], Julian Rivero, Pedro Regas [Billboard Workers]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:05] Music Makes Me (sung by Ginger Rogers with Roger Bond and His Yankee Clippers); [0:25] Orchids in the Moonlight (played by Gene Raymond at the piano onscreen); [0:40] Carioca (big production number partly sung by Etta Moten, Alice Gentle and Movita; danced by hotel guests, Chorus and by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Incredible set! Great number!); [0:57] Orchids in the Moonlight (production number, sung by Raul Roulien, danced by ensemble of Brazilian dancers at the Aviator Club, also sung by Fred Astaire and Dolores Del Rio); [1:06] Rehearsal Dance (danced by Fred Astaire); [1:20] Flying Down to Rio (mammoth production number, sung by Fred Astaire, "danced" by chorus girls on airplane wings)

Chorines on airplane wings




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Folies Bergère top of page
Folies Bergère
(Folies Bergère of Paris)
20th Century Pictures, 1935, B/W, 83 minutes
Released February, 1935

A nightclub entertainer (Chevalier) is hired to pose as his look-alike (also Chevalier), a prominent aviation tycoon. The masquerade causes consternation for the entertainer's girlfriend who, of course, has no idea what's going on, and for the tycoon's wife, who can't understand why her cold-fish husband has suddenly become so warm and demonstrative. With Merle Oberon and Ann Sothern.
[from back of VHS sleeve]

Very funny and thoroughly enjoyable film! Remade in 1941 as That Night in Rio and in 1951 as On the Riviera.

Joseph M. Schenck Presents
A Darryl Zanuck Production
Associate Producers: William Goetz, Raymond Griffith
Directed by: Roy Del Ruth
Assistant Direction: Fred Fox
Written by: Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler (play "The Red Cat")
Adapted by: Jessie Ernst
Screen Play: Bess Meredyth and Hal Long
Musical Direction: Alfred Newman
Musical Numbers Created by: Dave Gould
Song Numbers: "Rhythm of the Rain," "Au Revoir L'Amour," "I Was Lucky," "Singing a Happy Song" by Jack Meskill and Jack Stern; "You Took the Words Out of My Mouth" (sic) by Burton Lane and Harold Adamson; "Valentine" by Christine and Willemetz
Musical Numbers Photographed by: Peverell Marley
Art Direction: Richard Day
Costumes: Omar Kiam
Sound: Vinton Vernon, Roger Heman
Photography: Barney McGill
Film Editors: Allen McNeil, Sherman Todd

Cast: Maurice Chevalier [Fernand, the Baron Cassini / Eugene Charlier], Merle Oberon [Genevieve, the Baroness Cassini], Ann Sothern [Mimi], Eric Blore [Francois], Ferdinand Munier [Morrisot], Walter Byron [Rene, the Marquis de Lac], Lumsden Hare [Gustave], Robert Greig [Henri], Ferdinand Gottschalk [Perishot], Halliwell Hobbes [Monsieur Paulet], Georges Renavent [Premier of France], Phillip Dare [Victor], Frank McGlynn, Sr. [Joseph], Barbara Leonard [Toinette], Olin Howland [Stage Manager]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] Valentine (sung in French by Maurice Chevalier); [0:03] Rhythm of the Rain (sung and danced by Maurice Chevalier and Ann Sothern, cuts to Chorus Girls with umbrellas in Busby Berkeley-ish kaleidoscope production number - great number!); [0:12] Au Revoir L'Amour (sung by Maurice Chevalier); [0:21] You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (sung by Maurice Chevalier); [0:37] I Was Lucky (used instrumentally as dance number, excerpt sung by Maurice Chevalier while dancing with Merle Oberon); [1:15] Singing a Happy Song (sung by Maurice Chevalier, cuts to production number with Chorus girls with oversize straw hats, sung and danced by Chevalier and Ann Sothern); "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (sung by Maurice Chevalier, trimmed from this print)




Follow That Dream top of page
Follow That Dream
United Artists, 1962, Color, 110 minutes, ***
Released April, 1962

Elvis Presley is at his delightful best as a naive but sexy country boy in this lighthearted romp about a backwoods family homesteading along the Florida coast. Elvis, whose sense of musical timing is legendary, shows himself to be a natural comic as well, with a devastatingly deadpan delivery as a girl-shy innocent.

Two-time Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Arthur O'Connell is hilarious as head of the clan. In hot pursuit of Elvis are Anne Helm as his adopted little sister - who feels more than sisterly love for him - and Joanna Moore as a social worker with more than Elvis' welfare on her mind!

The visually stunning Florida coast combines with the happy-go-lucky storyline to provide a buoyant background for the multi-talented Elvis. The fast-paced fun is highlighted by five songs he delivers in his own inimitable way: "Follow That Dream," "What a Wonderful Life," "I'm Not the Marrying Kind," "Sound Advice" and "Angel." It's pure entertainment from start to finish!  [from back of VHS sleeve]

The Elvis Presley MGM Movie Legends Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film, Clambake, Frankie and Johnny and Kid Galahad.

Produced by: David Weisbart
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Assistant Director: Bert Chervin
Technical Advisor: Col. Tom Parker
Screen Play by: Charles Lederer
Based on the Novel: Pioneer, Go Home by Richard Powell
Music by: Hans J. Salter
Songs: "What a Wonderful Life" (by) Sid Wayne and Jerry Livingston, "I'm Not the Marrying Kind" (by) Sherman Edwards and Mack David, "Sound Advice" (by) Bill Giant and Anna Shaw, "Follow That Dream" (by) Bernie Weisman and Fred Wise, "Angel" (by) Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett
Art Director: Mal Bert
Set Decorator: Fred McClean
Wardrobe: Ruth Hancock, Sid Mintz
Hair Dresser: Madine Danks
Makeup: Dan Striepeke
Sound: Jack Solomon, Buddy Myers
Director of Photography: Leo Tover
Filmed in Panavision, Color by Deluxe
Filmed in the State of Florida
Film Editor: William B. Murphy

Cast: Elvis Presley [Toby Kwimper], Arthur O'Connell [Pop Kwimper], Anne Helm [Holly Jones], Joanna Moore [Alicia Claypoole], Jack Kruschen [Carmine], Simon Oakland [Nick], Roland Winters [Judge], Alan Hewitt [H. Arthur King], Howard McNear [George], Frank De Kova [Jack], Herbert Rudley [Endicott], Gavin Koon [Eddy Bascombe], Robin Koon [Teddy Bascombe], Robert Carricart [Al], John Duke [Blackie], Additional Cast: Harry Holcombe [Governor], Pam Ogles [Adriane Pennington], The Jordanaires [backup vocals]

Musical Program: [0:00] What a Wonderful Life (sung offscreen behind titles by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires); [0:11] I'm Not the Marrying Kind (sung by Elvis Presley onscreen with The Jordanaires offscreen); [0:30] Sound Advice (sung by Elvis Presley with Arthur O'Connell playing guitar onscreen); [0:57] Follow That Dream (sung by Elvis Presley onscreen with The Jordanaires offscreen); [1:44] Angel (sung by Elvis Presley onscreen with The Jordanaires offscreen)




Follow the Boys top of page
Follow the Boys
Universal, 1944, B/W, 111 minutes, ***½
Released April, 1944

From Australia to New Guinea, George Raft, Vera Zorina and an impressive parade of celebs "Follow the Boys" in this star-spangled, wartime tribute.

When screen star Tony West (Raft) is rejected for military service, he keeps the news to himself but finds another way to serve, organizing camp shows for the enlisted men that include such big-name stars as Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, W. C. Fields, Dinah Shore, The Andrews Sisters, Sophie Tucker, Jeanette MacDonald and many more. Unfortunately, his war efforts are so all-consuming that they soon overshadow the news of his wife's (Zorina) pregnancy, threatening to turn their relationship into another casualty of war.

This rousing drama, which showcases some of the most popular stars and musical acts of its day, endures as a stellar collector's item rife with sheer entertainment!   [from back of VHS sleeve]

It's like a big USO variety show. Almost plays like a documentary of the formation and efforts of the USO. Lots of great music, dancing and comedy skits!

Charles K. Feldman Group Productions present:
Produced by: Charles K. Feldman
Associate Producer: Albert L. Rockett
Directed by: Eddie Sutherland
Assistant Director: Howard Christie
Original Screen Play by: Lou Breslow, Gertrude Purcell
"Soldiers in Greasepaint" by Joe Schoenfeld
Musical Director: Leigh Harline
Musical Production Numbers Devised and Staged by: George Hale
Songs: "I'll Walk Alone," "A Better Day Is Coming" by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn
"Tonight" by Walter Donaldson
"The House I Live In" by Earl Robinson and Lewis Allan
Art Direction: John B. Goodman, Harold H. MacArthur
Set Decorations: R. A. Gausman, Ira S. Webb
Gowns: Vera West
Miss Zorina's Gowns: Howard Greer
Miss Zorina's Jewelry: Lackritz
Director of Sound: Bernard B. Brown
Technician: Robert Pritchard
Director of Photography: David Abel
Special Photography: John P. Fulton
Film Editor: Fred R. Feitshans, Jr.

Awards: Nominated for Best Song Academy Award ("I'll Walk Alone")

Cast: George Raft [Tony West], Vera Zorina [Gloria Vance / Bertha Lindquist], Charley Grapewin [Nick West], Grace McDonald [Kitty West], Charles Butterworth [Louie Fairweather], George Macready [Walter Bruce], Elizabeth Patterson [Annie], Theodore von Eltz [William Barrett], Regis Toomey [Dr. Jim Henderson], Ramsay Ames [Laura], Martha O'Driscoll [Herself], Maxie Rosenbloom [Himself], Spooks (the Dog) [Junior], Janet Shaw, Jan Wiley [Telephone Operators], Frank Jenks [Chick Doyle], Molly Lamont [Miss Hartford, Secretary], Mack Gray [Lt. Reynolds], Addison Richards [McDermott, "Life" Magazine Editor], Emmett Vogan [Harkness, "Life" Magazine Reporter], Cyril Ring [Laughton, "Life" Magazine Photographer], Ralph Meredith [Blind Soldier in Jeanette MacDonald's Number], John Estes [Patient], Ralph Gardner [Patient in Leg Cast in Jeanette MacDonald's Number], Doris Lloyd [Nurse], Charles D. Brown [Col. Starrett], Nelson Leigh [Bull Fiddler], Lane Chandler [Ship's Officer], Frank LaRue [Mailman], Tony Marsh [Officer], Stanley Andrews [Australian Officer], Leslie Denison [Reporter], Leyland Hodgson [Australian Reporter], Bill Healy [Ship's Officer], Ralph Dunn [Loomis], Billy Benedict [Joe, a Soldier], Grandon Rhodes [George Grayson, Guild Member], Edwin Stanley [Taylor, Film Director], Roy Darmour [Eddie, Assistant Director], Carl Vernell [Terry Dennis, Dance Director], Wallis Clark [HVC Committee Man], Charles Anthony Hughes [Man], Richard Crane [Marine Officer], Frank Wilcox [Capt. Williams, Army Doctor], Bernard B. Thomas, Jimmy Carpenter, John Whitney, Walter Tetley, Joel Allen, Carlyle Blackwell, Mel Schubert, Stephen Wayne, Charles King, Don Kramer, Allan Cooke, Luis Torres, John Duane, Clair Freeman, Bill Meader, Eddie Kover [Soldiers], Carey Harrison [Colonel], William Forrest [Colonel], Steve Brodie [Australian Pilot], Clyde Cook [Stooge], Bobby Barker [Soldier in W. C. Fields' Routine], Tom Hanlon [Announcer], Odessa Lauren, Nancy Brinckman [Telephone Operators], Bob Ashley, Lennie Smith [Jitterbug Dancers], Duke York [MP], Daisy (the Dog) [Fifi], Lee Bennett [Acrobat], Baby Marie Osborne [Nurse], George "Shorty" Chirello [Orson Welles' Assistant], Nicodemus Stewart [Lt. Reynolds, USAF], George Eldredge [Submarine Officer], Linda Brent, Janice Gay, Jane Smith, Marjorie Fectean, Doris Brenn, Rosemary Battle, Lolita Leighter, Mary Rowland, Eleanor Counts [Magic Maids], Bill Wolfe [Man in Zoot Suit in W. C. Fields' Routine]

Guest Stars: Louise Allbritton, Carmen Amaya and Her Company, The Andrews Sisters, Evelyn Ankers, Martin Ashe, Louise Beavers, Noah Beery, Jr., Genevieve Bell, Turhan Bey, Nigel Bruce, Lon Chaney, Jr., Peter Coe, Lois Collier, Alan Curtis, The Delta Rhythm Boys, Andy Devine, Marlene Dietrich, Bill Dyer, W. C. Fields, Susanna Foster, Leonard Gautier's Bricklayers, Thomas Gomez, Thurston Hall, Jackie Lou Harding, Howard Hickman, Samuel S. Hinds, Gloria Jean, Louis Jordan and His Orchestra, Michael Kirk, Elyse Knox, Ted Lewis and His Band, Jeanette MacDonald, Philo McCullough, Don McGill, Maria Montez, Dennis Moore, Clarence Muse, Dick Nelson, Donald O'Connor, Robert Paige, Franklin Parker, George Riley, Arthur Rubinstein, Peggy Ryan, Agustin Castellon Sabicas, Randolph Scott, Dinah Shore, Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, Gale Sondergaard, Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra, Sophie Tucker, Anthony Warde, Billy Wayne, Jack Wegman, Orson Welles (and His Mercury Wonder Show), Jack Whitley

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: Follow the Boys (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:04] Good Night (played by Ted Lewis and His Band, vocal by Ted Lewis); [0:19] Tonight (sung by Chorus, danced by Vera Zorina, George Raft and Chorus); [0:28] unidentified instrumental (played by Freddie Slack and His Orchestra) (?); [0:29] "The Bricklayers" (Leonard Gautier's Dog Act - great!); [0:39] The Bigger the Army and the Navy (sung by Sophie Tucker); [0:42] Medley: Bei Mir Bist du Schön / Hold Tight, Hold Tight (Want Some Sea Food Mama) / Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel) / Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy / I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time / Pennsylvania Polka / Vict'ry Polka (sung by The Andrews Sisters); [0:47] Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (played by Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra); [0:50] Kittens with Their Mittens Laced (sung and danced by Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan); [0:53] Beyond the Blue Horizon (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus); [1:00] Orson Welles' Mercury Wonder Show (performed by Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich and Ensemble); [1:08] I'll Walk Alone (sung by Dinah Shore); [1:11] Liebestraum (played by Arthur Rubinstein at the piano); [1:14] Besame Mucho (?) (played by Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra); [1:16] I'll Get By (sung by Dinah Shore); [1:19] Is You Is or Is You Ain't (Ma Baby) (sung and played by Louis Jordan and His Orchestra, vocal by Louis Jordan); [1:21] Sweet Georgia Brown (sung and played by Louis Jordan and His Orchestra, danced by George Raft); [1:23] Pool shark comedy routine (performed by W. C. Fields); [1:32] unidenfied Flamenco number (danced by Carmen Amaya); [1:34] I'll See You in My Dreams (sung by Jeanette MacDonald at hospital); [1:37] The House I Live In (sung by the Delta Rhythm Boys); [1:44] Shoo-Shoo Baby (sung by The Andrews Sisters); [1:49] A Better Day Is Coming (sung by Chorus)




Follow the Boys top of page
Follow the Boys
MGM, 1963, Color, 96 minutes, **½
Released March, 1963

Sort of a sequel to Where the Boys Are, Connie Francis and three of her friends follow four Navy officers around the Riviera, causing problems and having a bit of fun. Extremely light-weight fare, but there's some beautiful location photography ... and Connie sings, and that's what it's all about.

Produced by: Lawrence P. Bachmann
Production Supervisor: Basil Somner
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Assistant Director: Jack Causey
Screenplay: David T. Chantler, David Osborn
Original Story: Lawrence P. Bachmann
Music Director: Geoff Love
Musical Score by: Ron Goodwin and Alexander Courage
Conducted by: Ron Goodwin
Songs: "Italian Lullaby" by Connie Francis; "Follow the Boys," "Waiting for Billy," "Tonight's My Night," "Intrigue" by Benny Davis and Ted Murry
Songs Arranged and Conducted by: Geoff Love
Art Director: Bill Andrews
Sound Supervisor: A. W. Watkins
Director of Photography: Ted Scaife
Special Effects: Tom Howard
Filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor
Editor: John Victor-Smith

Cast: Connie Francis [Bonnie], Paula Prentiss [Toni], Dany Robin [Michele], Janis Paige [Liz], Russ Tamblyn [Smitty], Richard Long [Pete], Ron Randell [Ben], Roger Perry [Billy], Robert Nichols [Hulldown], Paul Maxwell [C.M.A.A.], Eric Pohlmann [Italian Farmer], David Sumner [Vittorio], Sean Kelly [Duty Officer], John McLaren [Commentator], Roger Snowden [Italian Barman]

Musical Program: [0:00] Follow the Boys (sung by Connie Francis behind titles); [0:23] Italian Lullaby (sung by Connie Francis); [0:43] Waiting for Billy (sung by Connie Francis); [1:26] Tonight's My Night (sung by Connie Francis, danced by Connie Francis and Ensemble); [1:34] Follow the Boys (sung by Connie Francis behind end credits)

Follow the Boys soundtrack LP
Soundtrack Album Cover




Follow the Fleet top of page
Follow the Fleet
RKO, 1936, B/W, 110 minutes
Released February, 1936

All hands on deck! In the fifth of 10 Astaire / Rogers pairings, Fred trades his top hat for a sailor's cap. Randolph Scott gets the girl (pre-Nelson Harriet Hilliard), Ginger gets a tap solo - and viewers get the unending delight of seven sparkling Irving Berlin numbers, including "Let Yourself Go," "We Saw the Sea," "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and their sublimely powerful "Let's Face the Music and Dance."

Astaire is a hoofer-turned-swabbie. Rogers is his ex-partner Sherry, now convoying the Navy around a ballroom for 10 cents a dance. But one day the fleet returns to home port and the partnership is renewed - at least for one more show. In small early-career roles, catch a very blonde Lucille Ball and a very young Betty Grable.
[from back of DVD case]

The Astaire and Rogers Collection, Vol. 1 DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film and Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall We Dance and The Barkleys of Broadway.

Produced by: Pandro S. Berman
Directed by: Mark Sandrich
Screen Play by: Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott
Founded upon the Play "Shore Leave" by Hubert Osborne
As Produced by David Belasco
Musical Director: Max Steiner
Lyrics and Music by: Irving Berlin
Ensembles Staged by: Hermes Pan
Technical Advisor: Harvey S. Haislip, Commander, U.S.N., Retired
Art Director: Van Nest Polglase
Associate: Carroll Clark
Set Dressing by: Darrell Silvera
Gowns by: Bernard Newman
Recorded by: Hugh McDowell, Jr.
Music Recorded by: P. J. Faulkner, Jr.
Sound Cutter: George Marsh
Photographed by: David Abel
Phorographic Effects by: Vernon L. Walker
Edited by: Henry M. Berman

Cast: Fred Astaire [Bake Baker], Ginger Rogers [Sherry Martin], Randolph Scott [Bilge Smith], Harriet Hilliard [Connie Martin], Astrid Allwyn [Iris Manning], Harry Beresford [Capt. Ezra Hickey], Russell Hicks [Jim Nolan], Brooks Benedict [Sullivan, Nolan's Assistant], Ray Mayer [Dopey Williams], Lucille Ball [Kitty Collins], Addison Randall (aka Jack Randall) [Lt. Williams], Maxine Jennings [Hostess], Jane Hamilton [Waitress], Kay Sutton [Telephone Operator], Doris Lloyd [Mrs. Courtney], Huntley Gordon [Touring Officer], Jim Pierce [Bouncer], Herbert Rawlinson [Weber, Ballroom Manager], Gertrude Short [Dance Joint Cashier], George Magrill [Quartermaster], Bud Geary [Coxswain], Eric Wilton [Butler at Party], Betty Grable, Joy Hodges, Jeanne Gray [Trio], Thelma Leeds, Lita Chevret [Girls], Tony Martin, Frank Mills, Frank Jenks, Frank Sully, Edmund Burns, Frank Moran [Sailors], Dorothy Fleisman, Bob Cromer [Contest Dancers]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] We Saw the Sea (sung by Fred Astaire and Mens Chorus); [0:05] We Saw the Sea (reprised by Mens Chorus); [0:12] Let Yourself Go (sung by Ginger Rogers joined by Betty Grable, Joy Hodges and Jeanne Gray; danced by guests of the Paradise Ballroom); [0:21] Get Thee Behind Me Satan (sung by Harriet Hilliard); [0:25] Let Yourself Go (instrumental arrangement danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Bob Cromer and Dorothy Fleisman); [0:46] I'd Rather Lead a Band (sung and danced by Fred Astaire, then danced by Fred Astaire and Mens Chorus); [0:54] We Saw the Sea (reprised by Mens Chorus); [0:58] Let Yourself Go (instrumental arrangement danced by Ginger Rogers); [1:07] But Where Are You (sung by Harriet Hilliard); [1:21] I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers); [1:41] Let's Face the Music and Dance (sung by Fred Astaire, danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers); [1:49] We Saw the Sea (short reprise sung by Fred Astaire and Mens Chorus at end of film)

Fred and Ginger in Follow the Fleet




Footlight Parade top of page
Footlight Parade
Warner Bros. / Vitaphone, 1933, B/W, 104 minutes, ****
Released October, 1933

Footlight Parade is a sheer cinematic joy. In this Depression-era romp, a timid stenographer (Ruby Keeler) removes her glasses and - wow! - she's a star. A gee-whiz tenor (Dick Powell) asserts his independence. Plucky chorines tap, greedy hangers-on get their comeuppances and an indefatigable producer / dancer (James Cagney) and his Girl Friday (Joan Blondell) work show-biz miracles to stage live prologues for talkie houses to keep their company afloat during hard times. "Honeymoon Hotel," "By a Waterfall," and "Shanghai Lil" are the shows, directed by Busby Berkeley and filled with imagination-bending sets, startling camera angles, kaleidoscopic pageantry and a 20,000-gallon-per-minute waterfall. Curtain up!
[from back of DVD case]

The Busby Berkeley Collection DVD box set (shown right) contains this film and Gold Diggers of 1933, Gold Diggers of 1935, Dames, 42nd Street and The Busby Berkeley Disc anthology of Busby Berkeley musical numbers.

Produced by: Robert Lord
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon
Numbers Created and Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Screen Play by: Manuel Seff and James Seymour
Dialogue Director: William Keighley
Vitaphone Orchestra Directed by: Leo F. Forbstein
Music and Lyrics by: Harry Warren and Al Dubin, Sammy Fain and Irvin Kahal
Numbers Created and Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Art Directors: Anton Grot and Jack Okey
Gowns by: Milo Anderson
Photographed by: George Barnes
Edited by: George Amy

Cast: James Cagney [Chester Kent], Joan Blondell [Nan Prescott], Ruby Keeler [Bea Thorn], Dick Powell [Scotty Blair], Frank McHugh [Francis], Guy Kibbee [Silas Gould], Ruth Donnelly [Mrs. Gould], Hugh Herbert [Charlie Bowers], Claire Dodd [Vivian Rich], Gordon Westcott [Harry Thompson], Arthur Hohl [Al Frazer], Renee Whitney [Cynthia Kent], Barbara Rogers [Gracie], Paul Porcasi [George Appolinaris], Philip Faversham [Joe Farrington], Herman Bing [Fralick, the Music Director], Additional Cast: Juliet Ware [Miss Smythe], William Granger [Doorman], Charles Wilson [Cop], Billy Taft [Specialty Dancer], Marjean Rogers, Pat Wing, Donna La Barr, Marlo Dwyer, Donna Mae Roberts [Chorus Girl], Dave O'Brien [Chorus Boy], George Chandler [Drugstore Attendant], Hobart Cavanaugh [Title Thinker Upper], William V. Mong [Auditor], Lee Moran [Mac, the Dance Director], Billy Barty [Mouse in "Sittin' on a Backyard Fence," Little Boy in "Honeymoon Hotel"], Harry Seymour [Joe, the Assistant Director; Desk Clerk in "Honeymoon Hotel"], Sam McDaniel [Porter], Fred Kelsey [Hotel Detective], Jimmy Conlin [Uncle], Roger Gray [Sailor-Pal in "Shanghai Lil"], John Garfield [Sailor behind Table in "Shanghai Lil"], Duke York [Sailor on Table in "Shanghai Lil"]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:32] Ah, the Moon Is Here (rehearsal by Dick Powell, Frank McHugh and Chorus Girls); [0:40] Sittin' on a Backyard Fence (sung and danced by Ruby Keeler, Billy Taft and chorus); [1:08] Honeymoon Hotel (big production number performed by Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and huge Chorus); [1:17] By a Waterfall (big production number sung by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler with dozens of swimming chorines, lots of precision formations and kaleidoscope shots culminating in a human fountain); [1:31] Shanghai Lil (big production number performed by James Cagney, Ruby Keeler and huge Chorus); there are also many fragments of musical numbers in rehearsals, each less than a minute long

scene from Footlight Parade
A Busby Berkeley Work of Art




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Footlight Serenade top of page
Footlight Serenade
Twentieth Century-Fox, 1942, B/W, 81 minutes, ***
Released August, 1942

Betty Grable dances her way to stardom on the Great White Way in this bouncy backstage musical comedy that co-stars Victor Mature, John Payne and Phil Silvers. Silvers is a fast-talking comedian who gets the bright idea of starring heavyweight champ Tommy Lundy (Mature) in a Broadway show. Unfortunately, Tommy is an egotistical womanizer who thinks the only thing that matters is what he wants. Pat Lambert (Grable) is the chorus girl he wants at the moment. Pat wants nothing to do with Tommy, and is already engaged to Bill (Payne), who winds up in the show as Tommy's opponent in a climactic fight scene. But when these two square off over Pat, the punches they start throwing aren't make believe! With its boundless musical excitement, Footlight Serenade is one night on Broadway you'll never forget!
[from back of VHS sleeve]

Produced by: William LeBaron
Directed by: Gregory Ratoff
Screenplay: Robert Ellis, Helen Logan and Lynn Starling
(based on the story "Dynamite" by Fidel LaBarba and Kenneth Earl)
Lyrics and Music by: Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger
Musical Direction: Charles Henderson
Dances Staged by: Hermes Pan
Art Direction: Richard Day, Albert Hogsett
Set Decorations: Thomas Little
Costumes: Earl Luick
Makeup Artisti: Guy Pearce
Sound: Bernard Freericks, Roger Heman
Director of Photography: Lee Garmes
Film Editor: Robert Simpson

Cast: John Payne [Bill Smith], Betty Grable [Pat Lambert], Victor Mature [Tommy Lundy], Jane Wyman [Flo LaVerne], James Gleason [Bruce McKay], Phil Silvers [Slap], Cobina Wright, Jr. [Estelle Evans], June Lang [June], Frank Orth [Doorman], Mantan Moreland [Dresser], Irving Bacon [Porter], Charles Tannen [Stage Manager], George Dobbs [Dance Director], Frank Coghlan, Jr. [Usher], Harry Barris [Composer], Trudy Marshall [Secretary], Don Wilson [Announcer], John Dilson [Clerk], William "Billy" Newell [Writer], Pat McKee [Pug], Wilbur Mack [Boxing Commissioner], George Holmes [Cowboy in movie], Sheila Ryan [Cowgirl in movie], Russ Clark, Frankie Van [Referees], Bud Mercer, Jim Mercer [The Mercer Brothers, Dance Specialty]

Musical Program: [0:04] Except with You (sung by Cobina Wright, Jr. with male quartet); [0:12] Are You Kiddin'? (sung and danced by Betty Grable); [0:21] I'm Still Crazy for You (sung by Betty Grable and John Payne); [0:31] Land on Your Feet (instrumental danced by Betty Grable and Hermes Pan); [0:38] Betty Grable go to movie "High on a Western Hill; [0:39] Living High (On a Western Hill) (jazz instrumental played by band at theater, segment danced by Victor Mature); [0:44] "The Boxing Number" I Heard the Birdies Sing (sung and danced by Betty Grable and Girls Chorus, solo segment danced by Betty Grable and shadow); [1:20] Finale: I'll Be Marching to a Love Song (excerpt sung and danced by Betty Grable, Victor Mature, John Payne and Chorus);




For Me and My Gal top of page
For Me and My Gal
MGM, 1942, B/W, 104 minutes, ***
Released November, 1942

A love story set against the backdrop of World War I. Jo Hayden (Judy Garland) is a vaudeville performer in Jimmy Metcalf's (George Murphy) troup, but when she meets "star" vaudevillian Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly in his first screen role), he offers to "hook up" with her for a double act. Although she finds him offensive at first, she accepts his proposal. Hayden and Palmer do well, and they are headed for the Palace when Harry gets his draft notice. The Palace has been such an obsession for such a long time that he intentionally injures himself to postpone the draft long enough that he can open at The Palace. Besides, Jo has agreed to marry him as soon as they play The Palace!

But before they can play the Palace, Jo's brother is killed in the war. When Jo finds out what Harry has done, she tells him she never wants to see him again. Harry wants to enlist to regain his honor, but his injury turns out to be more than he bargained for and he finds the army doesn't want him. So, he goes to France with the Y.M.C.A. to entertain the troops. He inadvertently gets involved in some action, and returns a hero just in time to see Jo playing The Palace. A joyful reunion brings them back together again onstage.

Previews of the film found audiences hissing Gene Kelly! So MGM withdrew the film and softened Harry's part some before final release. Even so, his performance as a selfish, egotistical actor was so convincing that it actually took audiences some time to accept him as a new Hollywood star.

Musical highlights include "For Me and My Gal," sung and danced by Judy and Gene; "Ballin' the Jack," sung and danced by Judy and Gene; and Judy's hearfelt "After You've Gone" and energetic "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?" Good film!

"There is a chapter in American history which has never been amply recorded. It embraces one of America's greatest loves -- that part of show business called "Vaudeville" ... The Clown with the baggy pants, the man in the high hat, the lady who sang, and the rabbit who disappeared -- to them this picture is fondly dedicated."

The story begins in Clifton Junction, Iowa, 1916

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Screen Play by: Richard Sherman, Fred Finklehoffe, and Sid Silvers
Original Story by: Howard Emmett Rogers ("The Big Time")
Song: "For Me and My Gal" (by) George W. Meyer, Edgar Leslie, E. Ray Goetz
Musical Adaptation: Roger Edens
Music Direction: Georgie Stoll
Vocals and Orchestrations: Conrad Salinger, George Bassman, Leo Arnaud
Musical Presentation: Merrill Pye
Dance Direction: Bobby Connolly
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associate: Gabriel Scognamillo
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Keogh Gleason
Gowns by: Kalloch
Men's Costumes by: Gile Steele
Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: William Daniels
Film Editor: Ben Lewis

Awards: Academy Award nomination for Best Score - Musical (Roger Edens and George Stoll)

Cast: Judy Garland (Jo Hayden), George Murphy (Jimmy K. Metcalfe), Gene Kelly (Harry Palmer), Marta Eggerth (Eve Minard), Ben Blue (Sid Simms), Richard Quine (Danny Hayden), Keenan Wynn (Eddie Melton), Horace (Stephen) McNally (Mr. Waring), Lucille Norman (Lily Duncan), Betty Welles, Anne Rooney (members of Jimmy's company), Ben Lessey (Dough Boy Dan), Six Hits and a Miss, The King's Men, The Sportsmen (vocals)

Musical Program: [0:00] Main Title: "For Me and My Gal" (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:05] Vaudeville Routine (Harry Palmer's Act) (danced by Gene Kelly dressed as a clown); [0:07] The Doll Shop (performed by George Murphy and Lucille Norman) / Oh You Beautiful Doll (sung by George Murphy) / Don't Leave Me Daddy (excerpt sung by Judy Garland) / Oh You Beautiful Doll (sung by George Murphy, danced by George Murphy and Judy Garland); [0:11] Sailor's Hornpipe (danced by Ben Blue); [0:12] By the Beautiful Sea (sung and danced by George Murphy, Judy Garland, Ben Blue, Chorus Girls and the MGM Studio Chorus off-screen); [0:20] For Me and My Gal (sung and danced by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly); [0:30] When You Wore a Tulip (And I Wore a Big Red Rose) (excerpt sung and danced by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, part of travel montage); [0:37] Do I Love You? (sung by Marta Eggerth); [0:44] After You've Gone (sung by Judy Garland); [1:03] Tell Me (sung by Lucille Norman and The Sportsmen, danced by night club patrons); [1:05] Till We Meet Again (sung by Lucille Norman and night club patrons [Chorus] and a bit by Judy Garland); [1:06] We Don't Want the Bacon, What We Want Is a Piece of the Rhine (excerpt sung by Ben Lessey); [1:07] Ballin' the Jack (sung and danced by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland); [1:22] What Are You Going to Do About the Boys? (sung by Ben Blue and The King's Men); [1:25] How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (sung by Judy Garland and Chorus); [1:30] There's a Long, Long Trail (sung in background by The King's Men and the MGM Studio Chorus); [1:33] Where Do We Go from Here? (sung by Judy Garland, The King's Men and the MGM Studio Chorus); [1:34] Y.M.C.A. Montage: Over There (excerpt played by the MGM Studio Chorus) / It's a Long Long Way to Tipperary (excerpt sung by Judy Garland) / Goodbye Broadway, Hello France (sung by the MGM Studio Chorus, danced by Ben Blue and Gene Kelly) / Yankee Doodle (excerpt played by Orchestra) / Smiles (excerpt sung by Judy Garland) / Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo (excerpt sung by MGM Studio Chorus) / Oh, Frenchy (excerpt sung and danced by Gene Kelly and Ben Blue) / Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile (excerpt sung by Judy Garland); [1:41] Finale: When Johnny Comes Marching Home (excerpt sung by Judy Garland and the MGM Studio Chorus) / For Me and My Gal (excerpt sung by Judy Garland, Gene Kelly and the MGM Studio Chorus); Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You (Outtake: sung by Judy Garland, Abe Dinovitch and Maude Erickson)

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For the First Time top of page
For the First Time
Corona / Orion / MGM, 1959, Color, 97 minutes, ***
USA release August, 1959

The brilliance of one of the world's most beloved tenors and the exciting world of opera highlight this delightful romantic adventure set in the most beautiful cities of Europe.

Tonio Costa (Mario Lanza), the temperamental darling of the opera world, is forever missing performances because of impromptu street concerts and endless parties. But Tonio's carefree ways change when he falls in love with Christa, a beautiful deaf girl. Christa refuses to marry him until she can hear his sublime voice. So they embark upon a whirlwind concert tour of Europe where Christa consults with specialists while Tonio sings his heart out. Their love grows stronger and they realize that as long as they are together they can face whatever the future holds.

Lush, exotic locations, fabulous operatic performances and the magic of Mario Lanza give this sparkling love story the look and sound of enchantment.
[from back of VHS sleeve]

Produced by: Alexander Grueter
Production Managers: Max Koslowski, Georg Von Block
Directed by: Rudolph Maté
Assistant Director: Hans Sommer
Original Story and Screenplay by: Andrew Solt
Musical Score and Direction: George Stoll
Opera Sequences Photographed and Recorded at Rome Opera House
Conducted by Constantine Callinicos
Songs: "Come Prima" by Taccani-Di Paola Panzeri; "Capri, Capri" and "Pineapple Picker" words and music by George Stoll; Bavarian Beer-Song by Karl Bette
Production Design: H. J. Kiebach, Fritz Maurischat, Heinrich Weidemann
Art Director: Fritz Maurischat
Costume Design: Alfred Bücken, Charlotte Bücken
Sound: Enzo Giordani, Eduard Kessel, Claude Hitchcock
Director of Photography: Aldo Tonti
Filmed in Technirama and Technicolor
Editorial Supervisor: Gene Ruggiero
Film Editor and Music Editor: Peter Zinner

Cast: Mario Lanza [Tonio Costa], Zsa Zsa Gabor [Gloria De Vadnuz], Johanna von Koczian [Christa], Kurt Kasznar [Ladislas Tabory], Hans Söhnker [Prof. Bruckner], Peter Capell [Leopold Huebner], Renzo Cesana [Angelo], Sandro Giglio [Alessandro]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra with some vocals by Chorus behind titles); [0:06] La donna è mobile (from the opera RIGOLETTO, sung by Mario Lanza); [0:16] Come prima (For the First Time) (sung by Mario Lanza); [0:30] Capri, Capri (sung by Chorus); [0:32] O Sole Mio (sung by Mario Lanza); [0:50] Vesti la giubba (from the opera PAGLIACCI, sung by Mario Lanza); [0:56] The Laughing Song Trio (from the opera COSI FAN TUTTE, sung by Mario Lanza and two unidentified men); [0:58] Ich liebe dich (I Love Thee) (sung by Mario Lanza); [0:59] Death Scene from OTELLO (performed by Mario Lanza); [1:05] Ave Maria (sung by Mario Lanza and Choir); [1:12] Wer Einmal Nur in Munchen War (Bavarian Beer Song, aka "Hofbrauhaus Song") (excerpt sung by Mario Lanza and Ensemble); [1:13] O, Mon Amour (Je nen connais pas la fin) (excerpt sung by Mario Lanza); [1:16] Pineapple Picker (sung by Mario Lanza and unidentified small band); [1:33] Ritorna Vincitor (?) (performed by Mario Lanza and Ensemble); also some other very short vocal excerpts and instrumentals.

For the First Time soundtrack LP
Soundtrack Album Cover



For the Love of Mary top of page
For the Love of Mary
Universal, 1948, B/W, 91 minutes, ***
Released September, 1948

Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor and Ray Collins star with the lovely Deanna Durbin in a romantic comedy set in Washington, D.C. In this bright and lively tale, Ms. Durbin must delicately juggle the attentions of not one suitor, but three!

Durbin portrays Mary Peppertree, a switchboard operator at the White House, who is being pursued by a persistent (and handsome) scientist (Taylor) intent on reaching the President. Meanwhile, her ex-fiancé and his family continuously call the switchboard to persuade her to go through with the marriage. As if her life isn't complicated enough, the President insists on setting her up with a handsome young Lieutenant (O'Brien). And who can say "no" to the Chief Executive!

Noteworthy as Deanna Durbin's last film (at the age of 27), this engaging, energetic romp also features an extended ending in which she sings "Big, Wide, Wonderful World." [from back of VHS tape sleeve]

Produced by: Robert Arthur
Directed by: Frederick de Cordova
Assistant Director: Fred Frank
Original Screenplay by: Oscar Brodney
Music: Frank Skinner
Miss Durbin's Songs Conducted by: Edgar Fairchild
Staged by: Nick Castle
Music Supervisor: Milton Schwarzwald
Orchestrations: David Tamkin
Dialogue Director: Joan Hathaway
Art Direction: Bernard Herzbrun, Robert Boyle
Set Decorations: Russell A. Gausman, John Austin
Gowns: Orry-Kelly
Hair Stylist: Carmen Dirigo
Make-Up: Bud Westmore
Sound: Leslie I. Carey, Jack A. Bolger, Jr.
Director of Photography: William Daniels
Special Photography by: David S. Horsley
Film Editor: Ted J. Kent

Cast: Deanna Durbin [Mary Peppertree], Edmond O'Brien [Lt. Tom Farrington], Don Taylor [David Paxton], Jeffrey Lynn [Phillip Manning], Ray Collins [Harvey Elwood], Hugo Haas [Gustav Heindel], Harry Davenport [Justice Peabody], Griff Barnett [Timothy Peppertree], Katherine Alexander [Miss Harkness], James Todd [Justice Van Sloan], Morris Ankrum [Admiral Walton], Frank Conroy [Samuel Litchfield], Leon Belasco [Igor], Louise Beavers [Bertha], Raymond Greenleaf [Justice Williams], Charles Meredith [Justice Hastings], Adele Rowland [Mrs. Peabody], Mary Adams [Marge], Adrienne Marden [Hilda], Beatrice Roberts [Dorothy], Harry Cheshire [Colonel Hedley], Donald Randolph [Assistant Attorney General], William Gould [Senator Benning]

Musical Program: [0:15] On the Wings of a Song (sung by Deanna Durbin); [0:33] (On) Moonlight Bay (sung by Deanna Durbin and Barbershop Quartet); [0:35] I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen (Deanna Durbin with Barbershop Quartet); [0:37] Let Me Call You Sweetheart (sung by Barbershop Quartet); [1:02] Largo al Factotum (from the opera IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, comic rendition sung and acted out by Deanna Durbin)




42nd Street top of page
42nd Street
Warner Bros. / Vitaphone, 1933, B/W, 89 minutes, ***½
Released March, 1933

Meet a dewy-eyed ingenue, a gee-whiz tenor, stuck-up stars, hard-up producers, brassy blondes and "shady ladies from the 80s." They're all denizens of 42nd Street, belting out ageless Harry Warren / Al Dubin songs and tapping out Busby Berkeley's sensational Depression-lifting production numbers.

The put-on-a-show plot spins merrily, full of snappy banter and new faces Ruby Keeler (her movie debut), Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers. The show-stopping numbers ("Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" and the title tune) still dazzle. Looking and sounding its best in years via this new digital transfer from the restored original camera negative and optical audio tracks, 42nd Street shows that the good times never go out of style.  [from back of DVD case]

The Busby Berkeley Collection DVD box set (shown right) contains this film and Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Gold Diggers of 1935, Dames, and The Busby Berkeley Disc anthology of Busby Berkeley musical numbers.

Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Associate Producer: Hal B. Wallis
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon
Dances and Ensembles Created and Staged by: Busby Berkeley
Screen Play by: Rian James and James Seymour
Based on the novel by Bradford Ropes
Vitaphone Orchestra Conducted by: Leo F. Forbstein
Words and Music by: Al Dubin and Harry Warren
Art Director: Jack Okey
Gowns by: Orry-Kelly
Silks by Cheney Brothers
Photography by: Sol Polito
Edited by: Frank Ware and Thomas Pratt

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound Recording

Cast: Warner Baxter [Julian Marsh], Bebe Daniels [Dorothy Brock], George Brent [Pat Denning], Ruby Keeler [Peggy Sawyer], Guy Kibbee [Abner Dillon], Una Merkel [Lorraine Fleming], Ginger Rogers [Ann Lowell, "Anytime Annie"], Ned Sparks [Thomas Barry], Dick Powell [Billy Lawler], Allen Jenkins [Mac Elroy], Edward J. Nugent [Terry Neil], Robert McWade [Al Jones], George E. Stone [Andy Lee], Harry Akst [Jerry], Clarence Nordstrom [Groom in "Shuffle off to Buffalo"], Henry B. Walthall [Concerned Actor], Al Dubin [Stout Songwriter], Harry Warren [Short Songwriter], Louise Beavers [Pansy], Wallis Clark [Dr. Chadwick], Patricia Ellis [Secretary], Renee Evans [Bit], George Irving [House Doctor], Tom Kennedy [Slim Murphy], Milton Kibbee [News Spreader], Jack La Rue [Mug with Murphy], Charles Lane [Author of 'Pretty Lady'], Kermit Maynard [Dancer Who Catches Girl], Dave O'Brien [Chorus Boy], Rolfe Sedan [Stage Aide], Harry Seymour [Aide], Lyle Talbot [Geoffrey Waring], Toby Wing ["Young and Healthy" Girl], Loretta Andrews, Joan Barclay, Lynn Browning, Edna Callaghan, Maxine Cantway, Dorothy Coonan, Ruth Eddings, Patsy Farnum, June Glory, Geraine Grear, Mary Jane Halsey, Ann Hovey, Alice Jans, Evelyn Joice, Gertrude Keeler, Helen Keeler, Margaret La Marr, Adele Lacy, Lorena Layson, Eve Marcy, Agnes Ray, Donna Mae Roberts, Barbara Rogers, Jayne Shadduck, Grace Tobin, Renee Whitney, Pat Wing [Chorus Girls]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:17] It Must Be June (sung and danced by Bebe Daniels, Dick Powell and Chorus); [0:26] You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me (sung by Bebe Daniels); [0:42] You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me (sung by Bebe Daniels, danced by Bebe Daniels and Boys Chorus); [1:12] Shuffle Off to Buffalo (sung by Ruby Keeler and Clarence Nordstrom, danced by Ruby Keeler, Clarence Nordstrom and Chorus; sung by Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers and Girls Chorus); [1:17] Young and Healthy (big production number sung by Dick Powell, joined by Chorus; danced by Girls Chorus); [1:22] Forty-Second Street (sung and danced by Ruby Keeler; sung by Dick Powell; sung and danced by Chorus Girls and Boys)




Four Jacks and a Jill top of page
Four Jacks and a Jill
RKO, 1942, B/W, 67 minutes, ***
Released January, 1942

Ray Bolger, Eddie Foy, Jr., Jack Briggs and William Blees are the four "Jacks" who desperately seek a "Jill" to round out their musical nightclub act in a breezy, tune-filled comedy. The foud musicians lose their original torch singer (June Havoc) when a gangster (Jack Durant) forces her premature retirement. Bolger manages to find a substitute in the lovely form of Anne Shirley, but he didn't count on the chaotic complications that would come with her. It seems that Shirley is being pursued by Desi Arnaz as an ousted foreign king seeking refuge in America. At least everyone thinks he is a foreign king. Whether he truly is or not is all part of the fun you'll have with Four Jacks and a Jill.

Produced by: John Twist
Directed by: Jack Hively
Assistant Director: Dewey Starkey
Screen Play by: John Twist
Story by: Monte Brice
Suggested by: W. Carey Wonderly's "The Viennese Charmer" as published in Young's Magazine
Musical Director: C. Bakaleinikoff
Songs: Lyrics by Mort Greene, Music by Harry Revel
Orchestrations by: Gene Rose
Dance Director: Aida Broadbent
Art Director: Alber D'Agostino
Gowns by: Renié
Recorded by: John E. Tribby
Director of Photography: Russell Metty
Special Effects by: Vernon L. Walker
Edited by: George Hively

Cast: Ray Bolger [Nifty Sullivan], Anne Shirley [Karanina "Nina" Novak], June Havoc [Opal], Desi Arnaz [Steve Sarto / King Stephan VIII of Aregal], Jack Durant [The Noodle], Eddie Foy, Jr. [Happy McScud], Fritz Feld [Mr. Hoople], Henry Daniell [Bobo], Additional Cast: Fortunio Bonanova [Mike], William Blees [Eddie], Jack Briggs [Nat], Bob Perry, Constantine Romanoff [The Noodle's Henchmen], Robert Smith [Joe, the Press Agent], Mantan Moreland [Cicero, Washroom Attendant], Joseph E. Bernard [Jailer], Armand "Curly" Wright [Hot Dog Vendor], Jack Carr [Big man at concert], Jack Gardner [Symphony Hall Usher], Eddie Hart [Wally, the Taxi Driver], Patti Lacey [Jitterbug Specialty], Max Lucke [Otto, the Chef], Nina Wayler [Katherine, the Maid], Roy Crane [Keva, the Valet], Frank Martinelli [Ditch Digger], Ted O'Shea [Drunk Pedestrian], Amarilla Morris [Girl in Revolving Door], Rafael Storm [Headwaiter], Leo White [Perfumer], Rosemary Coleman [Salesgirl], Florence Lake [Counter Girl], Marie Windsor [Girl putting on makeup], Norman Mayes [Bootblack], Grady Sutton [Mike's Cellar Nightclub Patron], Pat McKee, Jack Gargan [Nightclub Extras]

Musical Program: [0:02] I'm in Good Shape (sung and danced by Ray Bolger, jitterbug segment with Patti Lacey); [0:08] I Haven't a Thing to Wear (sung by June Havoc); [0:20] Karanina (sung by Martha Mears dubbing for Anne Shirley, joined by The Four Jacks), [0:29] Boogie Woogie Conga (sung and danced by The Four Jacks); [0:39] Wherever You Are (sung by Martha Mears dubbing for Anne Shirley, danced by Ray Bolger and Anne Shirley); [0:45] Nifty's prize fight imitation dance; [0:53] You Go Your Way (sung by Martha Mears dubbing for Anne Shirley); [1:07] Boogie Woogie Conga (short reprisal by The Four Jacks and a Jill with Dezi Arnaz)




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Four Jills in a Jeep top of page
Four Jills in a Jeep
20th Century-Fox, 1944, B/W, 89 minutes, ***
Released March, 1944

Chronicles the real-life story of Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair, Kay Francis and Martha Raye on their USO tour in 1943. The intrepid foursome entertained troops on the front line in Europe and North Africa, and they were often in the middle of battle. High points of the film include Alice Faye's heartfelt rendition of "You'll Never Know" and Mitzi Mayfair's wonderful dancing. Interesting glimpse of WWII at the front.

"This story is based on the experiences of the many performers who take entertainment to America's men in uniform in the theatres of war, as well as in the camps at home. Actors who serve in this global entertainment program consider it a privilege to lighten a little the hardships endured by our fighting men and to share, in a measure, their experiences in combat zones. The producers gratefully acknowledge the work of USO Camp Shows, The Hollywood Victory Committee and the Special Service Division of the War Department."

The Alice Faye Collection, Vol. 2 includes this film; Rose of Washington Square; Hollywood Cavalcade; The Great American Broadcast; and Hello, Frisco, Hello

Produced by: Irving Starr
Directed by: William A. Seiter
Screen Play by: Robert Ellis and Helen Logan and Snag Werris
Story by: Froma Sand and Fred Niblo, Jr.
Based on the actual experiences of Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair
Music and Lyrics by: Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson
Musical Direction: Emil Newman, Charles Henderson
Song Score: various
Musical Numbers Staged by: Don Loper
Art Direction: James Basevi, Albert Hogsett
Set Decorations: Thomas Little
Associate: Al Orenbach
Costumes: Yvonne Wood
Makeup Artist: Guy Pearce
Sound: T. Bastian, Murray Spivack
Director of Photography: Peverell Marley
Special Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen
Film Editor: Ray Curtiss

Cast: Kay Francis [Herself], Carole Landis [Herself], Martha Raye [Herself], Mitzi Mayfair [Herself], Jimmy Dorsey and His Band [Themselves], John Harvey [Ted Warren], Phil Silvers [Eddie], Dick Haymes [Lt. Dick Ryan], Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, George Jessel [Guest Stars], Glenn Langan [Capt. Stewart, Lester Matthews [Capt. Lloyd], Miles Mander [Col. Hartley], Frank Wilcox [Officer], Paul Harvey [General], Mary Servoss [Nurse Captain], Dave Willock, Martin Black, B. S. Pully, Mike Kilian [Soldiers], Buddy Yarus (aka George Tyne), Lester Dorr, Gordon Wynne [Soldiers], Alec Harford [Priest], Renee Carson [French Maid], Mel Schubert, Kirk Alyn [Pilots], Alex Pollard [Butler], Winifred Harris [Lady Carlton Smith], Edith Evanson [Swedish Maid], Crauford Kent [British Officer], Frances Morris [Surgical Nurse], James Flavin [M.P.], Bernie Sell, Eddie Acuff [Sentries], Mary Field [Maid], Jimmy Martin [Aide], Ralph Byrd [Sergeant]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Chorus behind titles); [0:03] Cuddle up a Little Closer (sung by Betty Grable); [0:24] The Champ (played by Jimmy Dorsey and His Band); [0:28] You'll Have to Swing It (sung by Martha Raye with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra); [0:31] How Blue the Night (sung by Dick Haymes and Chorus, danced by Mitzi Mayfair and Chorus); [0:45] Ohio (played by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, danced by Mitzi Mayfair and Soldiers); [0:48] You'll Never Know (sung by Alice Faye); [0:51] I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much) (performed by Camen Miranda with Banda da Lua); [0:54] You Send Me (sung by Dick Haymes with Jimmy Dorsey and His Band and unidentified mixed quartet); [0:58] No Love, No Nothing (Clarinet solo and comedy act by Phil Silvers); [1:17] How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You? (Dick Haymes); [1:20] unidentified instrumental (danced by Mitzi Mayfair); [1:22] Crazy Me (sung by Carole Landis); [1:28] Caissons Go Rolling Along (Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair, Kay Francis, Martha Raye and Chorus); bits and pieces of Over There played througout the film


Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair, Kay Francis, Martha Raye in "Four Jills in a Jeep"
l-r: Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair, Kay Francis, Martha Raye
(from back of Fox Videotape sleeve)





Frankie and Johnny top of page
Frankie and Johnny
United Artists, 1966, Color, 87 minutes, ***½
Released March, 1966

The Mississippi River's never seen as many wild twists as in this spirited and extravagant riverboat ride which stars King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley and lovely Donna Douglas of "The Beverly Hillbillies!"

Presley is Johnny, a riverboat singer whose life, according to girlfriend and singing partner Frankie (Douglas), has become "one great big roulette wheel." And he's so obsessed with that wheel of misfortune that when a gypsy woman prescribes a redhead to be his good luck charm, Johnny sets out to find one. Trouble is, Frankie is most definitely a blonde... and a jealous blonde at that. When she sees Johnny with curvaceous carrot-top Nellie Bly (Nancy Kovack of The Silencers), Frankie decides that she'll break off her romance with Johnny - and end their big number - with a bang!

Featuring hilarious support from Harry Morgan ("M.A.S.H.") and eleven original Presley tunes as well as his motion picture dancing debut, Frankie and Johnny is a "sure-fire romp - pretty girls, a toe-tapping score and Elvis all the way" (Variety)!   [from back of VHS sleeve]

A lot of fun, laughs and music in yet another incarnation of this classic tale. Plays like a classic musical comedy. Good period piece; Elvis sings songs that at least sound like they fit into the period - with a style that only he can muster. Sue Ane Langdon practically steals the show. Don't miss it!

The Elvis Presley MGM Movie Legends Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film, Clambake, Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad.

Producer: Edward Small
Associate Producer: Alex Gottlieb
Production Supervisor: Harold E. Knox
Directed by: Frederick de Cordova
Assistant Director: Herbert S. Greene
Screenplay by: Alex Gottlieb
Story by: Nat Perrin
Music Director: Fred Karger
Music Scored and Conducted by: Fred Karger
Musical Numbers Staged by: Earl Barton
Vocal Backgrounds: The Jordanaires
Art Director: Walter M. Simonds
Set Decorator: Morris Hoffman
Costume Designer: Gwen Wakeling
Wardrobe Coordinator: Wes Jeffries
Makeup by: Dan Greenway
Hair Stylist: Joanne St. Oegger
Sound: Alfred J. Overton
Special Effects: Charles E. Dolan
Director of Photography: Jacques Marquette Filmed in Technicolor
Supervising Film Editor: Grant Whytock

Cast: Elvis Presley [Johnny], Donna Douglas [Frankie], Harry Morgan [Cully], Sue Ane Langdon [Mitzi], Nancy Kovack [Nellie Bly], Audrey Christie [Peg], Robert Strauss [Blackie], Anthony Eisley [Braden], Joyce Jameson [Abigail], Jerome Cowan [Wilbur], Dave Willock [Pete the Bartender], Naomi Stevens [Princess Zolita], Henry Corden [Gypsy], James Millhollin [Costume Shop Proprietor], Wilda Taylor, Larri Thomas, Dee Jay Mattis, Judy Chapman [Earl Barton Dancers], The Jordanaires [backup vocals]

Musical Program: [0:00] Come Along (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires behind titles and into opening scene); [0:05] Petunia, the Gardener's Daughter (vaudeville act sung by Elvis Presley and Donna Douglas, Eileen Wilson dubbing for Donna Douglas); [0:13] Chesay (sung by Elvis Presley, Harry Morgan and Gypsy Ensemble); [0:23] What Every Woman Lives For (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires); [0:27] Frankie and Johnny (skit with singing by The Jordanaires, Elvis Presley, Eileen Wilson dubbing for Donna Douglas, Sue Ane Langdon, Audrey Christie, Harry Morgan and Chorus); [0:35] Look Out Broadway (vaudeville skit sung by Elvis Presley, Eileen Wilson dubbing for Donna Douglas, Audrey Christie, Harry Morgan and The Jordanaires); [0:43] Beginner's Luck (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires); [0:45] Show Boat Parade: Down by the Riverside / When the Saints Go Marching In (sung and danced by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and Ensemble); [0:51] Shout It Out (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires); [1:07] Hard Luck (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and shoe-shine boy on harmonica onscreen); [1:13] Please Don't Stop Loving Me (Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires, in two parts); [1:20] Frankie and Johnny (skit reprised); [1:26] Everybody Come Aboard (sung by Elvis Presley and Company)




Frog Prince, The top of page
The Frog Prince
(aka Cannon Movie Tales: The Frog Prince)
Golan-Globus/Cannon Films, 1988, Color, 86 minutes, ***
Released 1986 (UK), 1988 (US)

Aileen Quinn, young star of Annie, and John Paragon (Pee Wee's Big Adventure) sing and dance their way through a spritely, tuneful adaptation of this beloved fairy tale classic!

The castle is a-buzz! A new princess is to be chosen! But awkward little Zora (Aileen Quinn) is certain that her wicked step-sister will be picked. Then, who should hop to her assistance but Ribbit (John Paragon), a handsome prince living under a spell as a talking frog! Now, Zora must find a way to win her place on the throne - and break the curse that holds Ribbit in its power.  [from back of VHS sleeve]

See list of all Cannon Movie Tales

Produced by: Manahem Golan and Yoram Globus
Associate Producer: Patricia Ruben
Executive Producer: Itzik Kol
Directed by: Jackson Hunsicker
Screenplay by: Jackson Hunsicker
Based on the classic fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm
Music by: Kenn Long, Neil Richardson
Choreographer: Christine Oren
Art Director: Avishi Avivi
Production Designer: Marek Dobrowolski
Set Decorator: Miguel Markin
Costume Designer: Debbie Leon
Make-up Artists: Jon Price, Zivit Yakir
Hair Stylist: Lina Talmor
Special Effects Supervisor: Terry Glass
Director of Photography: Amnon Salomon

Cast: Aileen Quinn [Princess Zora], John Paragon [Frog Prince], Helen Hunt [Henrietta], Clive Revill [The King], Seagull Cohen [Dulcey], Jeff Gurner [Emissary], Eli Gorenstein [Cook], Shmuel Atzmon [Baron Von Whobble], Aaron Kaplan [Page], Moshe Ish-Kassit [Sleeping Guard], Rony Blitz, Ya'acov Booch, Yasha Einstein, Ya'acov Halperin, Hahman Leor, Yoram Loewenstein [Advisors]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:04] Lucky Day (sung by Aileen Quinn); [0:11] A Promise Is a Promise (sung by Clive Revill, Advisors and Aileen Quinn); [0:25] Too Tall Frog (sung and danced by John Paragon, Nick Curtis dubbing for John Paragon); [0:44] Music Box Waltz (instrumental danced by Aileen Quinn and John Paragon); [0:48] Friendship (sung by Nick Curtis dubbing for John Paragon and Aileen Quinn); [0:57] Have You Forgotton Me? (sung by Aileen Quinn)




Fun in Acapulco top of page
Fun in Acapulco
Paramount, 1963, Color, 97 minutes, ***
Released November, 1963

The year was 1963. The hot line links the White House and the Kremlin. The first major pop art exhibition stirs up a major buzz. The Whiskey-A-Go-Go opens. And in Fun in Acapulco, Elvis heads south of the border, where he's fired as a boat hand, hired as a lifeguard and singer, admired by local beauties (including Ursula Andress) and inspired to jump off a 136-foot cliff. Put another way: he overcomes a fear of heights in spectacular fashion. Spectacular, too, are the scenic vistas and Latin-beat tunes. Dive in!   [from back of VHS sleeve]

Lights! Camera! Elvis! Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film and Blue Hawaii, Easy Come, Easy Go, G.I. Blues, Girls! Girls! Girls!, King Creole, Roustabout, Paradise, Hawaiian Style.

Produced by: Hal B. Wallis
Associate Producer: Paul Nathan
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Assistant Director: D. Michael Moore
Written by: Allan Weiss
Music Scored and Conducted by: Joseph J. Lilley
Vocal Accompaniment: The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos
Musical Numbers Staged by: Charles O'Curran
Technical Advisor: Col. Tom Parker
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler
Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Robert Bentonm
Costumes: Edith Head
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Hair Style Supervision: Nellie Manley
Sound Recording by: Hugo Grenzbach, Charles Grenzbach
Director of Photography: Daniel L. Fapp
Special Photographic Effects: Paul K. Lerpae
Filmed in Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultant: Richard Mueller
Editorial Supervision: Warren Low
Edited by: Stanley E. Johnson

Cast: Elvis Presley [Mike Windgren], Ursula Andress [Marguerita Dauphin], Elsa Cardenas [Dolores Gomez], Paul Lukas [Maximillian Dauphin], Larry Domasin [Raoul Almeido], Alejandro Rey [Moreno], Robert Garricart [Jose Garcia], Teri Hope [Janie Harkins], Alberto Morin [Mr. Ramirez, Manager of the Hilton], Edward Colmans [Mr. Delgado, Manager of the Ambassador Club], Salvador Baguez [Mr. Perez, Manager of La Perla], Mike De Anda [Guard at La Perla], Charles Evans [Mr. Harkins], Howard McNear [Dr. John Stevers, Tourist], Mary Treen [Mrs. Stevers, Tourist], The Jordanaires, The Four Amigos [backup vocals]

Musical Program: [0:00] Fun in Acapulco (sung behind titles by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires); [0:02] Vino, Dinero y Amor (excerpt sung by Armando, Pedro, Pablo and Zach[?]); [0:05] Vino, Dinero y Amor (sung by Elvis Presley and The Four Amigos onscreen and The Jordanaires offscreen); [0:08] I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here (sung by Elvis Presley with The Four Amigos onscreen and The Jordanaires offscreen); [0:18] Mexico (sung by Elvis Presley and Larry Domasin); [0:32] El Toro (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos); [0:42] Marguerita (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos); [0:49] The Bullfighter Was a Lady (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos); [0:55] No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car (sung by Elvis Presley onscreen with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos offscreen); [0:58] Bossa Nova Baby (sung and danced by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos); [1:16] You Can't Say No in Acapulco (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos); [1:34] Guadalajara (sung by Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires and The Four Amigos)




Funny Face top of page
Funny Face
Paramount, 1957, Color, 103 minutes, ***
Released February, 1957

Fresh-faced beauty Jo (Audrey Hepburn) is discovered working in a used bookstore and remade by a magazine editor (Kay Thompson) into a major fashion model. Jo falls in love with her photographer Dick Avert (Fred Astaire), but he seems oblivious to her attraction. Musical highlights of the wonderful Gershwin/Gershwin song score include "Clap Yo' Hands" (Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson), "'S Wonderful" (danced by Hepburn and Astaire). Rare screen appearance by MGM drama coach / singer / composer Kay Thompson. Though the film is filled with great tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, it is not a film version of their stage production of the same name from the 1920s, which featured Fred Astaire with sister Adele.

Produced by: Roger Edens
Directed by: Stanley Donen
Assistant Director: William McGarry
Written by: Leonard Gershe
Music and Lyrics by: George and Ira Gershwin
Music Adapted and Conducted by: Adolph Deutsch
Orchestral Arrangements by: Conrad Salinger, Van Cleave, Alexander Courage, Skip Martin
Additional Music and Lyrics by: Roger Edens and Leonard Gershe
Choreography by: Eugene Loring and Fred Astaire
Songs Staged by: Stanley Donen
Art Direction: Hal Pereira and George W. Davis
Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Ray Moyer
Costumes: Edith Head
Miss Hepburn's Paris Wardrobe: Hubert de Givenchy
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Hair Style Supervision: Nellie Manley
Sound Recording: George and Winston Leverett
Director of Photography: Ray June
Special Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton
Process Photography: Farciot Edouart
Filmed in VistaVision, Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultant: Richard Mueller
Special Visual Consultant and Main Title Backgrounds: Richard Avedon
Edited by: Frank Bracht

Awards: Academy Award Nominations: Best Original Story and Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Costume Design

Cast: Audrey Hepburn [Jo Stockton], Fred Astaire [Dick Avery], Kay Thompson [Maggie Prescott], Michel Auclair [Prof. Emile Flostre], Robert Flemyng [Paul Duval], Dovima [Marion], Virginia Gibson [Babs], Suzy Parker, Sunny Harnett, Don Powell, Carole Eastman [Specialty Dancers], Sue England [Laura], Ruta Lee [Lettie], Alex Gerry [Dovitch], Iphigenie Castiglioni [Armande], Jean Del Val [Hairdresser], Albert D'Arno [Beautician], Nina Borget [Assistant Hairdresser], Marilyn White [Receptionist], Dorothy Colbert [Receptionist], Louise Glenn [Junior Editor], Heather Hopper [Junior Editor], Cecile Rogers [Junior Editor], Nancy Kilgas [Melissa], Emilie Stevens [Assistant Dance Director], Paul Smith [Steve], Diane Dubois [Mimi], Karen Scott [Gigi], Gabriel Curtiz [Man Next to Hand Stand], Peter Camlin [Man Buyer], Elizabeth Slifer [Mme. La Farge], Donald Lawton [Airport Clerk], Karine Nordman [French Girl], Genevieve Aumont [French Actress], Nesdon Booth [Southern Man], George Dee [Seedy Man], Marcel de la Brosse [Seedy Man], Albert Godderis [Seedy Man], Jerry Lucas [Bruiser], Jack Chefe [Frenchman], Jan Bradley [Crying Girl], Jerry Chiat [Man on Head], Elsa Peterson [Woman Buyer], Fern Barry [Southern Wife]

Musical Program: [0:00] Main Title (played by Orchestra behind titles, includes short vocal of "Funny Face" by Fred Astaire and "'S Wonderful" by Girls Chorus); [0:04] Think Pink (sung by Kay Thompson and Chorus [including Virginia Gibson]); [0:17] How Long Has This Been Going On? (sung by Audrey Hepburn); [0:28] Funny Face (sung by Fred Astaire, danced by Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in a darkroom); [0:34] Bonjour, Paris! (sung by Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson); [0:43] Basal Metabolism (danced by Audrey Hepburn with two unidenitified male dancers); [0:50] Let's Kiss and Make Up (sung by Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn, then danced by Fred Astaire); [1:05] He Loves and She Loves (sung by Fred Astaire, danced by Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn); [1:11] On How to Be Lovely (sung and danced by Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson); [1:23] Marche Funèbre (sung by unidentified French singer); [1:25] Clap Yo' Hands (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson); [1:41] 'S Wonderful (sung and danced by Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire)




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Funny Girl top of page
Funny Girl
Rastar Productions / Columbia, 1968, Color, 151 minutes, ***½
Released September, 1968

Barbra Streisand took home a Best Actress Oscar for her role as singer / comedienne Fanny Brice in this classic musical comedy. Follow the ups and downs of Brice's personal and professional lives, from her days as a rollerskating chorus girl to a star-making turn in "Ziegfeld Follies" and her marriage to dashing gambler Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). With Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon; songs include "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Produced by: Ray Stark
Directed by: William Wyler
Musical Numbers Directed by: Herbert Ross
Assistant Directors: Jack Roe, Ray Gosnell
Screenplay by: Isobel Lennart
Based upon the play with Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Bob Merrill
Book by Isobel Lennart
From the original story by Miss Lennart and produced by Rastar Productions
Music Supervised and Conducted by: Walter Scharf
"My Man" Music by Maurice Yvain French lyrics by A. Willemetz and Jacques Charles, English adaptation by Channing Pollack
"Second Hand Rose" by James F. Hanely and Grant Clarke
"I'd Rather Be Blue" by Fred Fisher and Billy Rose
Music by: Jule Styne
Lyrics by: Bob Merrill
Orchestrations: Jack Hayes, Walter Scharf, Leo Shuken, Herbert Spencer
Choreography: Herbert Ross
Vocal Dance Arrangements: Betty Walberg
Production Designer: Gene Callahan
Art Director: Robert Luthardt
Set Decorator: William Kiernan
Barbra Streisand's Costumes Designed by: Irene Sharaff
Make-up Supervision: Ben Lane
Make-up Artist: Frank McCoy
Hair Styles by: Virginia Darcy, Vivienne Walker
Sound Supervisor: Charles J. Rice
Sound: Arthur Piantadosi, Jack Solomon
Director of Photography: Harry Stradling
Color by Technicolor, Filmed in Panavision
Supervising Film Editor: Robert Swink
Film Editors: Maury Winetrobe, William Sands

Awards: Academy Award for Best Actress (Barbra Streisand tied with Katharine Hepburn); Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Kay Medford), Best Cinematography (Harry Stradling), Best Film Editing (Robert Swink, Maury Winetrobe, William Sands), Best Score - Musical (Walter Scharf), Best Song ("Funny Girl") and Best Sound

Cast: Barbra Streisand [Fanny Brice], Omar Sharif [Nick Arnstein], Kay Medford [Rose Brice], Anne Francis [Georgia James], Walter Pidgeon [Florenz Ziegfeld], Lee Allen [Eddie Ryan], Mae Questel [Mrs. Strakosh], Gerald Mohr [Branca], Frank Faylen [Keeney], Mittie Lawrence [Emma], Gertrude Flynn [Mrs. O'Malley], Penny Santon [Mrs. Meeker], John Harmon [Company Manager], Thordis Brandt, Bettina Brenna, Virginia Ann Ford, Alena Johnston, Karen Lee, Mary Jane Mangler, Inga Neilsen, Sharon Vaughn [Ziegfeld Girls]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: "People" (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:07] If a Girl Isn't Pretty (sung by Mae Questel and Kay Medford); [0:11] I'm the Greatest Star (performed by Barbra Streisand); [0:17] Roller Skate Rag (sung and skated by Barbra Streisand and Girls Chorus); [0:19] I'd Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Be Happy with Somebody Else) (sung by Barbra Streisand); [0:30] Second Hand Rose (sung by Barbra Streisand); [0:36] His Love Makes Me Beautiful (production number performed by Barbra Streisand, Ziegfeld Girls and Chorus); [0:54] People (sung by Barbra Streisand); [1:11] You Are Woman, I Am Man (sung by Omar Sharif and Barbra Streisand); [1:25] Don't Rain on My Parade (sung by Barbra Streisand); [1:37] Sadie, Sadie (sung by Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif); [1:48] The Swan (comic version of "Swan Lake" performed by Barbra Streisand and Ensemble); [2:15] Funny Girl (sung by Barbra Streisand); [2:24] My Man (sung by Barbra Streisand)




Funny Lady top of page
Funny Lady
Rastar / Columbia, 1975, Color, 136 minutes, ***
Released March, 1975

In this sequel to Funny Girl (above) Streisand returns to the role that put her on the map, Ziegfeld superstar Fanny Brice. James Caan is sly and sexy as Fanny's second husband, composer / entrepreneur Billy Rose. Fine musical score belted out in the inimitable Streisand manner; Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall, Ben Vereen also star.

Produced by: Ray Stark
Directed by: Herbert Ross
Screenplay by: Jay Presson Allen and Arnold Schulman
Story by: Arnold Schulman
Music Director: Peter Matz
Music and Lyrics to Original Songs: John Kander and Fred Ebb
Musical Numbers Staged by: Herbert Ross
Choreography: Betty Walberg
Production Design: George Jenkins
Set Decoration: Audrey Blasdel, John Franco Jr.
Costume Design: Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie
Special Effects: Albert Whitlock
Director of Photography: James Wong Howe
Film Editor: Marion Rothman

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Song Score, Best Song ("How Lucky Can You Get"), Best Costume Design and Best Sound

Cast: Barbra Streisand [Fanny Brice], James Caan [Billy Rose], Omar Sharif [Nick Arnstein], Roddy McDowall [Bobby], Ben Vereen [Bert Robbins], Carole Wells [Norma Butler], Larry Gates [Bernard Baruch], Heidi O'Rourke [Eleanor Holm], Samantha Huffaker [Fran], Matt Emery [Buck Bolton], Joshua Shelley [Painter], Corey Fischer [Conductor], Garrett Lewis [Production Singer], Don Torres [Man at Wedding], Raymond Guth [Buffalo Handler], Gene Troobnick [Ned], Royce Wallace [Adele]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] Blind Date (performed by Barbra Streisand and Mens Chorus behind titles); [0:13] More Than You Know (excerpt sung by unidentified singer); [0:19] More Than You Know (sung by Barbra Streisand); [0:30] I Like Him (sung by Barbra Streisand) / It's Only a Paper Moon (excerpt sung by Barbra Streisand) / I Like Her (sung by James Caan); [0:35] Beautiful Face, Have a Heart (sung by unidentified singer with Chorus -- turns into more of a comic number as the set falls apart); [0:37] I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store) (sung by Barbra Streisand); [0:41] If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) (sung by Girls Chorus with umbrellas as the show turns into chaos); [0:48] So Long Honey Lamb (excerpt sung by Ben Vereen and Barbra Streisand); [0:49] I Got a Code in My Doze (excerpt sung by Barbra Streisand); [0:50] Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley (sung and danced by Ben Vereen and two Chorus Girls); [0:55] Great Day (sung by Barbra Streisand, danced by Chorus); [1:06] More Than You Know (sung by Barbra Streisand on record player); [1:08] How Lucky Can You Get (sung by Barbra Streisand on record player); [1:10] How Lucky Can You Get (sung by Barbra Streisand); [1:25] Isn't This Better (sung by Barbra Streisand); [1:33] Aquacade (swum by Heidi O'Rourke, Barbra Streisand and Chorines); [1:45] If I Love Again (sung by Barbra Streisand); [1:55] Let's Hear It for Me (sung by Barbra Streisand); [2:08] Me And My Shadow (sung by James Caan); [2:14] Let's Hear It for Me (reprised by Barbra Streisand); [2:16] How Lucky Can You Get (sung by Barbra Streisand and Mens Chorus); [cut?] Am I Blue (Barbra Streisand)




Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A top of page
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Quadrangle Films / United Artists, 1966, Color, 97 minutes, ***½
Released October, 1966

Something appealing. Something appalling. Something for everyone... a comedy tonight!

"One of the hottest burlesque shows that ever hit Broadway" (Time) comes to the screen, showcasing the enormous talents of Tony Award winner Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, Buster Keaton and Michael Crawford (Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera). Featuring keenly clever tunes like "Comedy Tonight" and "Lovely," this wild Stephen Sondheim musical about a raucous gaggle of ancient Romans is a "flip, glib and sophisticated, yet rump-slappingly bawdy and fast-paced look at the seamy underside of classical Rome through hipster's shades" (Variety).

When a wily, witty, lying, lazy, cheating slave discovers that his master's son is in love with the girl next door - a virgin courtesan - he promises to help win her heart in exchange for his freedom. But the road to romance is blocked with stunning surprises, cunning disguises - and the wildest chariot race ever!
[from back of DVD case]

Not really a musical - it's a big screwball comedy with music, along the lines of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Very funny movie!

MGM Classic Musicals Collection DVD Box Set (shown right) contains this film and West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Produced by: Melvin Frank
Directed by: Richard Lester
Screenplay by: Melvin Frank and Michael Pertwee
Based on the Stageplay produced by Harold S. Prince
Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Musical Direction and Incidental Music by: Ken Thorne
Dances by: George and Ethel Martin
Production and Costumes Designed by: Tony Walton
Executive Art Director: Syd Cain
Make-Up: Trevor Crole-Rees, Jose Maria Sanchez
Hairdressing: Bernadette Ibbetson, Carmen Sanchez
Sound Recordists: Leslie Hammond, Gerry Humphreys
Sound Editors: Don Challis, Bill Butler
Director of Photography: Nicolas Roeg
Special Effects: Cliff Richardson
Color by De Luxe
Editor: John Victor Smith
Made at Bronston Studios, Madrid

Awards: Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment [Ken Thorne]

Cast: Zero Mostel [Pseudolus], Phil Silvers [Marcus Lycus], Buster Keaton [Erronius], Michael Crawford [Hero], Jack Gilford [Hysterium], Annette Andre [Philia], Michael Hordern [Senex], Leon Greene [Captain Miles Gloriosus], Roy Kinnear [Gladiator Instructor], Alfie Bass [Gatekeeper], John Bluthal [Roman Chief Guard], Pamela Brown [High Priestess], Patricia Jessel [Domina], Beatrix Lehmann [Domina's Mother], Frank Thornton, Peter Butterworth [Roman Sentries], Jennifer Baker [Geminae #1] and Susan Baker [Geminae #2], Ronnie Brody [Roman soldier], Lucienne Bridou [Panacea], Helen Funai [Tintinabula], Bill Kerr [Gladiator-in-Training], Jack May [Shopkeeper], Inga Neilsen [Gymnasia], Jon Pertwee [Crassus], Janet Webb [Fertilla], Myrna White [Vibrata]

Musical Program: [0:00] Comedy Tonight (sung by Zero Mostel and Chorus); [0:22] Lovely (sung by Annette Andre and Michael Crawford); [0:31] Everybody Ought to Have a Maid (sung by Michael Hordern, Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford and Phil Silvers); [0:48] My Bride (sung by Leon Greene, Girls' Chorus and Ensemble); [1:06] Lovely (sung by Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford); [1:11] The Dirge (sung by Leon Greene and Ensemble); [1:33] Comedy Tonight (reprised by the Company)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Michael Crawford and Annette Andre as Hero and Philia



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