Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oh, it sets your senses in a whirl

So, my themed list for this month is going to be: favorite actresses who sing in movies. Note: not favorite singers, but favorite singers in the movies. Thus, some people may be lower on the list because they're not in many movies or I don't like the songs they sing in the movies they're in, etc. I'm still debating whether or not singing in the credits count. I haven't decided yet.

In the meantime, here is 16-20 in my list:

The Sopranos
I love these singers, but I don't always enjoy listening to their songs. I appreciate the fact that they made the movies more high high brow and I appreciate their contribution to film, but I'm just often not in the mood to sit through their numbers. However, I want to include them because they were a significant contribution to the musical genre and were immensely talented. Besides, I do like some of their songs. It's just that when we get into the long, lyrical ballads I get a little immature and skip forward. Ironically, my favorite songs of theirs are often the less classical sounding pieces.

Kathryn Grayson
Favorite song: "I Hate Men" from Kiss Me Kate

Ann Blyth
Favorite song: "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" from Kismet (song clip starts at 1:42)

Shirley Jones
Favorite song: "Many A New Day" from Oklahoma

Jane Powell
Favorite song: "Goin' Cotin'" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Irene Dunne
Favorite song: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" from Roberta

Deanna Durbin was amazing as well, but I've only seen in her one film. I am working on that!

6 comments:

  1. Great post! I'm with you on the listening to them! I absolutely adore so many sopranos, but sometimes.....

    Haha!

    ONLY ONE DEANNA! Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk! This must be remedied! I have seen ALL but one of her films! She's completely amazing!

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  2. oh, I ADORE Irene Dunne's "Smoke Gets in your Eyes" -- actually I adore all of the songs she sings in all of her movies. I've always wished for an Irene Dunne compilation CD :)

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  3. I agree with Kate. Will wait for further postings but Irene will do fine thank you.

    Gerald

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  4. ...the first time I heard Irene sing 'Smoke', I just thought "dang, that is UP there!" but after a few listens, I really started to 'hear' her, and it is very nice indeed.
    Very sad to say I haven't heard any of the others, but Mama Partridge (Shirley Jones) gets my vote 9 out of 10 times, no matter the category... :-]

    Keep It Gingery, y'all!

    VKMfan
    ---

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  5. You've got to see more Durbin movies! She's particularly good in the flicks she made with Charles Laughton. For some reason, they had the best chemistry.

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  6. I TOTALLY recognized the song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as soon as I saw your post title. Love it! That's definitely my favorite movie musical. I loved it when I was little, and I love it now.

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