I was just a cowboy on a ranch in ole Wyoming...

So, I thought I had worked it out beautifully where February the 22nd would fall conveniently on the spotlight on a musical number post... but it didn't. Not only did I mix up Tuesday and Thursday somehow, but Tuesday is the 23rd not the 22nd. More's the pity. Ah well. I shall embed the song, "I Can't Tell A Lie" from Holiday Inn, wishing you all a belated Happy George Washington's Birthday and then continue to my count-up. (I'm sorry that the quality is so terrible!)



#17 in my count-up:
Thousands Cheer (1943)

I'm choosing this one, in part, in honor of the late Kathryn Grayson. I do hope you don't mind. I considered writing a post to honor her when she passed last week but I'm no good at things like that and I was afraid it was just sound... affected (for lack of a better word). For the record, if you'd like to read some touching posts written in memory of the lovely lady, I recommend visiting Millie, Amanda, SassyGinger, Harley, Vintage Vamp, and Laura. Most of the time when I'm depressed about something, I do the only thing I can think of to do - watch a movie. It seems appropriate, therefore, to discuss one of my favorites of Ms. Grayson's performances. She's so doggone cute in this movie. I love the relationship between her and Gene Kelly in this film. They're so playful, earnest, and funny.

The basic storyline is as follows: Kathryn Jones (Grayson) goes to stay with her dad, Colonel Bill Jones (John Boles) and boost the morale of the men in his camp. One private, Eddie Marsh (Kelly) refuses to have his morale boosted, however. He can't stand the army and wants to get transferred to the air corps. His friends convince him to befriend Kathryn so that she can put in a good word for him. He does and introduces her to his (adopted) family, a group of trapeze artists in a circus. Eddie and Kathryn fall in love but complications arise when Kathryn's mother (Mary Astor) requests for her to come home, when Eddie gets put in jail (or the military equivalent - I'm not sure what that is), and when the camp eventually leaves for war. The film is a morale booster, however, so the mood is pretty upbeat throughout. Also, because it's a morale booster, many major stars wanted to make cameos in it to show their support for the troops. As a result, there's a long revue towards the end of the film, stuffed full of movie stars (their names are on the movie poster).

My favorite part of the film, other than the first few scenes between Kathryn and Eddie (which are delightful, adorable, and hilarious!) is Gene Kelly's solo dance. So good!



Okay, that's all I have for today. There's still a poll up for best pirate. My poll for this week regards the scene I've embedded above in comparison to Fred Astaire's solo of a similar nature. Which inanimate dance partner do you like better? The hat rack or the mop? This could boil down to a Fred vs. Gene contest or it could be a movie preference, but that could get messy (particularly the former) so let's try and stick to the inanimate object: hat rack vs. mop.

P.S. If you find the title of this post a little strange, just watch the movie. That song will get so stuck in your head! No joke!