Never give up, never surrender.

I've come upon what I think is a good idea for this blog. Hopefully, it will rekindle my excitement for it.

To be honest, I'm probably better suited for the tumblr style blog. But tumblr stresses me out. It goes on forever. I walk away for a second and suddenly I've fallen behind. I feel lazy with tumblr because long posts seem tedious and all I really want to do is scroll and gaze at things and then like them. Lately, all I've been posting is pictures and videos. I haven't said much of anything of consequence. I like to imagine important people stumbling upon my blog, but if they did that lately, they'd find nothing terribly interesting - except for some great pictures and wonderful videos. The posts I've been most proud of are the ones where I stated a definite opinion and received responses. I am very passionate about old movies and I love to talk about them. The trouble is, movies are very personally to me, and always have been. I get very upset when people bash a movie that I'm fond of, which is one of the reasons I've stopped reading other blogs. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I think we're all entitled to our own love for things.

All this to say, I want to keep the blog. I really want to get it going again. Part of me wants to keep posting randomly in it, but the whole thing is pretty much puttered out now. I think it needs a new haul. I have an idea for what I'd like to do with it, at least for a year - but this idea requires me to start in January. So, I'm thinking of waiting until January to bring the blog back up again. Of course, this would mean that my blog would be down until next year - which would mean no 12 Days of Christmas Movies blogathon, which is really one of my favorite things about my blog. So, I'm trying to decide what to do. Thoughts?

Hold, please.

So, clearly, I am way behind on my regular posting schedule. I've decided to claim this as being under construction. I think that the current system under which I've been working used to work when I was in school and had a regular schedule and would squeeze blog posts in between homework assignments. Now, my life is filled with long work days and spending every amount of free time relaxing as much as possible. Using that free time to devote to a blog that, frankly, continues to lose followers (unsurprisingly) is hard to do. So, I'm going to do a little brainstorming and will, hopefully, come up with a fresh approach to my blog. It may not be original but it will be new to Flying Down To Hollywood, which is good enough!

Small danger of fruit frost

I had several pictures of bathing beauties in the running for this final week in July. Maybe I should continue the theme for August - what do you think?

In the end, I decided on this one because I think she has to be one of the most unbelievably gorgeous women that ever lived: Gloria DeHaven.

from Doctor Macro

On the one hand, if you go searching for classic beauties in bathing suits, your search will be pretty easy. On the other hand, a lot of the photos were just excuses to show off nice bodies and so there's very little work in the lighting and setup that I love so much in old glamor photos. I also have a small opposition to colored photos - this isn't a sweeping and all-consuming fact; but I do love black and white photos better, typically.

P.S. The line in my title has always confused me. Is Marilyn saying that there is a danger of fruit frost, but it's small, or is she saying it's so hot there's no danger of something like fruit frost. I'd guess the latter but it's supposed to be in a weather report, which doesn't seem like the right place for sarcasm. Or maybe I'm the only one confused here.

Sun-tanned, wind-blown...

okay, well, not really wind-blown, but you get the picture. The perfect Grace Kelly in a picture from High Society.

My heart won't let my feet do things they should do

Another comparison post! I really love these! I'm afraid that I'll eventually run out of songs but when that happens, I guess I'll just think of something else to write about! Plus, after I've written a post, I'll often discover another version of the song, so that's always an option too.

Anyway, the song for today's discussion is "I Won't Dance" by Jerome Kern. Now, the obvious choice is to, yet again, compare Roberta and Lovely to Look At, which are actually the same story, so that's almost cheating. But I do like comparing remakes. And this song happens to be pretty popular in other movies too. Take a look:

from Roberta (1935), we have Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers:



then there's Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) with Lucille Bremer and, of all people, Van Johnson:



then, of course, there's Lovely to Look At (1952), with Marge and Gower Champion. I'm sure I've said this before but I do think it's a pity that this movie was a remake simply because the Champions were fantastic dancers in their own right. Obviously no one can compare to Fred and Ginger but they had their own style and spark. I really do enjoy watching them a great deal.



Now, we come to the contemporary portion of our discussion. There are several movies post-1980's that use this song. Love's Labor's Lost, Warm Springs, (both which have Kenneth Branagh, oddly enough). I wanted to show you the former one here but it's not on YouTube, so you'll have to take my word for it that it's pretty cute. The second one is a TV movie that I'd never heard of but looks way too sad for me to actually watch so I won't bother putting it in here. Now, what I will post here is a movie that I don't really have any interest in watching all the way through, but I find this dance sequence quite intriguing. Take a look:



Despite the fact that Gene Kelly never (to my knowledge) sang this song, I think it's fascinating how much this scene pays homage to him. Running through the taxi cab and dancing with trashcan lids are both used in It's Always Fair Weather and then, of course, rolling over a couch is totally Singin' in the Rain-ish. He even jumps up on a lamppost! It makes me wonder how many other musicals they're referring to throughout the scene.

Her anatomy makes the mercury rise to 93

I thought of doing the famous photo shoot with the red and white polka dot umbrella, but decided to go with this cute black and white shot from Monkey Business instead. Although, any picture of her is pretty much perfect. She's so cute!

found on Doctor Macro

They asked me how I knew my true love was true

Two "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" posts in a week might be a little much but I really do love this song. I know I'm not alone in this because there are multiple versions of it. Here are just a few examples:

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performing it in Roberta (1935)


Gower Champion and Cyd Charisse in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)


Marge and Gower Champion in Lovely to Look At (1952)


I'd never say one is better than the other. I like them all, really. It's just cool to see so many interpretations of this beautiful song, don't you think? And each from a different decade.

When your heart's on fire, you must realize...

I'm beginning to really love Kathryn Grayson's version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" from Lovely to Look At. It's so beautiful.

Gee, gee, gee...

It seems that photographers loved to take photos of Cyd Charisse at odd angles and interesting poses, but this one of her in a bathing suit is simply sweet and lovely. She was often cast in femme fatale type roles, like her performances in the "Broadway Melody ballet" from Singin' in the Rain, the "Girl Hunt ballet" from The Band Wagon, and the "Frankie and Johnny" number in Meet Me In Las Vegas, so this picture is a refreshing change. Cyd Charisse seems way too nice to have actually been much of a femme fatale, don't you think?

Photo from Doctor Macro

You salt your beets and I'll salt mine.

This month is apparently THE month to go see old movies in theaters! At least around here, it is. Which is quite refreshing, let me tell you, because I have long been lamenting that no one around me shows old movies in theaters. I'm so glad to be proven wrong! A theater near me shows a whole bunch of movies, some older than others, during the summer lineup and this summer is proving to be a pretty good selection. Last night, I got to go see Hello Dolly! (1969).

I almost didn't go. I had plans with several girls who were all going to see it with me. I got all excited and offered to drive and we could all carpool down together. I cleaned up my car and thought about what music I'd play on the drive. I was pretty excited! Well, day of, I couldn't get a hold of anybody. The movie started at 7. I got off of work at 5:30. I was texting and tweeting people all day to try and find out who was going. As the negative responses trickled in, I realized that it was going to be a Me Party. I thought of going home instead. I decided to go anyway, just in case it was fun, and I had bought the ticket already anyway. This was no small decision for me as I didn't know where I was going and I have a horrible sense of direction and get lost all the time. Plus, I only had a quarter of a tank of gas. Yikes! When I finally got there, I didn't know where anything was or what the normal mode of operation was. I felt all self-conscious and lost and foolish.

It was so worth it! It was fun! The theater was full of people. The venue was a community theater so I think most of the people who were there were patrons and participants in the theater. They all seemed to know each other. But, the crowd was awesome. It was like I was seeing the film for the first time, even though I grew up watching it. Truth to tell, it had been years since I'd seen it so it kind of was like watching it anew. I got so many more of the jokes this time around! But it was so great to have a whole theater laughing at jokes I'd laughed at for years and have everyone applaud the scenes I love best. It was incredible. A truly remarkable experience. It was what I've always hoped and wished what watching old movies in theaters would be like - everyone falling in love with those great movies all over again!

The same theater will be showing To Catch a Thief and Night at the Opera. You can bet I'll be going to those too!

A show that is really a show sends you out with a kind of a glow

And you say as you go on your way...

I saw That's Entertainment (1974) last night. Cinemark showed it as part of their classic film selections for the summer. It was pretty incredible. Going into it, I wasn't sure what to expect. When I saw Casablanca in theaters as part of the Fathom events, it was sold out - and I went to the encore performance! I wholly anticipate Singin' in the Rain to be sold out as well. So, I assumed That's Entertainment would be somewhere up there in popularity.

Well, the audience was myself, my mom, and an older gentleman who sat one seat away from us. That was it! We had a private showing! It was pretty funny. I was disappointed by the turnout but the small audience certainly had its perks. My mom was able to sing along and no one was there to mind. I constantly nudged her saying helpful things like, "I love this part!" and "this is one of my favorite songs ever!" and "this part is so good" and "my favorite part is coming up... yup. That's it." Yeah. I was worried that we'd bothered our co-viewer but, according to my mom, he was making his own commentary, so it's okay.

But. Let me tell you. It was so incredible watching that movie on the big screen! If I had been alive to see all of those great films when they came into theaters originally, I think I would have been a fan of more of them than I already am. For instance, Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire's rendition of "Begin the Beguine" has never been a favorite of mine, simply because I'm not a big Eleanor Powell fan. But seeing it larger than life like that was simply incredible. I could see all of the expressions, all of the moves. The humor was so much funnier, everything was sexier, more moving, more exciting. Just more.

After we left the theater, my mom asked if there was another showing immediately after. I'm pretty sure if there had been, we would have turned around and watched it again!

Here a Lee, there a Lee

Okay. So I admit I'm post-dating this. I'm completely missed out yesterday by not posting something in celebration of July 4th. 1776 is a musical that I really, really enjoy. For some reason, I feel rather embarrassed for my love of it. It just seems too nerdy to be allowed. A musical about the Declaration of Independence? I eat it up. It's so funny! It's so silly! The characters are all so unique and fun. And the songs are fantastic! Here is one of my personal favorites:

The temperature's rising

Happy July everybody! I thought it would be an appropriate theme for July to have some lovely ladies enjoying the summer weather! Here's the one and only Ginger Rogers. I wish I could tell you where I found the picture. I'm really bad at that.

Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?

I don't really like to do RIP posts. They're sad and it makes me sadder to know that someone who improved the world, improved my world, is no longer here to continue making positive changes to the world in general. But, yesterday, Nora Ephron passed away. She wrote, directed, and produced some of the funniest, most touching, most romantic films for contemporary audiences. A clever and talented woman, she is a remarkable inspiration to anyone who wants to write.

So, even though I know no one really watches clips on blogs, I wanted to post some of my favorite scenes from her movies. You've Got Mail, let me just say, is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's my when-I'm-sick movie. I can start it at any point in the film and find myself laughing within minutes. I can quote practically the entire thing. It is that good. Some people say it's their favorite romantic comedy. Some people say they don't like romantic comedies but they love this movie. One time a friend of mine wrote a quote from it on Facebook. Another friend commented with a different quote. By the next day, there were over 90 comments, all quotes from the film as everyone joined in with their favorite lines. That, my friends, is good writing.

So, without further ado, here, in order are clips from You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia.



Sorry, a little more ado to talk about the above clip. I showed this movie to my grandparents when I was young and naive and staying with them for the summer and not understanding innuendo and how offensive some people find it. They didn't like the movie, I'm sorry to say. Too much of people living with other people who weren't married to each other. But. They did love this scene. I'd say that's another example of good writing. Now, on to the next.



I know. I've already shared this scene on this blog before. But seriously, it's so good!



A more recent favorite. Like all of her films, this movie deals with life, love, marriage, friendship, hardship, and love of life in the best way.

So, RIP Nora. You will be missed.

That is the actual fact.

So... I've lately been completely obsessed with The Dick van Dyke Show. On something of an impulse, I purchased the entire set when it went on sale. Millie over at Classic Forever encouraged me to do it and say I wouldn't regret it. When I first opened the box and left it sitting in the shrink wrap for a few weeks I did, I confess, doubt her words. But, now that I watch an episode practically every day, I can see she was right! It's such a good show! The show, as you may know, was filled with talented performers who often showcased their talents in random episodes. Here's one of my favorite scenes of Mary Tyler Moore who plays Laura Petrie (my favorite character) rehearsing a song for a talent show. It's so cute!



P.S. Fun fact about Laura's stylish pants. Many people did not appreciate how form-fitting and sexy her pants were. Carl Reiner fought this battle and won, but in a compromise: she could only wear the pants in one scene per episode. How crazy is that? I must say, I'm dying to get my hands on a pair like hers. They're so cute!!!

You can dance on the breeze over 'ouses and trees...

Sorry I've been so negligent lately! I'll try to better next month! Here's my last picture for the month of June. I've lately spent several hours at night looking up concept art from various Disney films. It's really fun. You should try it sometime! I looked up Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tangled, The Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, and Mary Poppins - one of which you see below. They're all so fun and I love the style. This is one of my favorites. It's currently one of the backgrounds I use at work. It's so colorful and magical!

By my faith, but you're a bold rascal.

Happy Birthday Errol Flynn!!!! Hooray!!!!

Here's one of my favorite photos of him, courtesy of Doctor Macro.

And here are a couple of my favorite scenes of his. The first is from The Adventures of Robin Hood and it's one of my favorite movie scenes ever. The second is from Captain Blood.

You'll be all right, Bert.

As requested, here is my Bert May video. I feel a little silly, sharing it. But, I guess by now you all know that I'm a pretty silly person, so I guess it's okay! If you've discovered him in any other movies, do let me know. I'm always on the lookout for him (as you can see) and I'd love to know what else he's in!

 

She started this heat wave by...

Hey! It's another comparison post! I do like these a lot. I'll often watch movies or listen to soundtracks and discover new ideas for these posts. It's fascinating to me how a song can change between performers. As we prepare for another hot summer, I thought "Heat Wave" would be an appropriate topic. I'm sure there are other renditions of this number but the ones that came to mind were Marilyn Monroe's in There's No Business Like Show Business and the one performed by Fred Astaire and Olga San Juan in Blue Skies. Let's take Marilyn's version first.

In this clip, Marilyn gets all of the attention. The whole scene is all about her anyway. Contextually, she's taking the thunder from love-interest, Donald O'Connor's mother, played by Ethel Merman. Her costume and rendition to the song is in direct contrast to the showy, brassy version that the show biz family would have performed. Marilyn's version is, not surprisingly, pure sexiness. We're taking the whole lyric literally as Marilyn sings about her effect on the weather. She doesn't even have to say how she started the heat wave; we can see for ourselves! In a way, this number could have been replaced with any other song - it could even have been alluded to - its relevance to the plot is simply that this beautiful and sexy girl is stealing Donald O'Connor's heart, so completely that he is willing to let her steal his family's thunder. Seeing her do it is a special treat and, as the dad, played by Dan Dailey, points out - we can see why he did it.



In this clip, the song is performed in a huge production number, complete with a full chorus, sets, and costumes. The scene is a moving forward of the plot. The climax of the song ends with Fred Astaire's character falling off a bridge - a pivotal point in the film as a whole. The whole number, despite the lyrics, are actually centered around Fred Astaire (he is the major name, after all). Leading into the number, we see Fred taking a drink and know that things do not bode well for him. The number begins with Fred sitting on a staircase, he is the one who gets the solo dance bit, and his fall at the end of the number ends the scene. The lyrics have little to do with the scene at hand, except as backdrop and to allow for a showy and exotic production number. Despite how cute and sexy Olga San Juan is, she is not the focal point of the scene. As performed here, the song isn't about a girl so hot she's making the temperature climb, it's about a man who sees a girl and his interest in her ultimately (possibly indirectly) leads to his demise - a sort of mirroring of the plot in the film. The sexiness is decidedly toned down compared to Marilyn's version. The dresses cover up a great deal more in this one. I find that Olga's head scarf detracts somewhat from her appeal. I'm too distracted by her bunny ears to notice what else is going on! And the lyrics are changed - her feet are what make the temperature rise. This is definitely a Fred Astaire number.



What do you think?

I read a book the other day.

Here's an embarrassing addition to my movies to watch list: Dinner at Eight. Why is this one embarrassing? I own it. I've owned it for several years now. I keep putting it in my dvd player, then reading up on the basic plot summary to get an idea of what I'm getting into, deciding it sounds too convoluted to be enjoyable, then taking it out again. So I still haven't seen it. I got it in a boxed set of classic comedies that, in my humble opinion, is rather dubious a selection. I bought it for The Philadelphia Story and Bringing Up Baby. It also included Stage Door which I find thoroughly depressing and frustrating and barely funny and To Be Or Not To Be, which I didn't enjoy as much either. It did include Libeled Lady, though, which I like a great deal. All this to say, I have yet to see it. What do you think? Worth watching?

If only half the things said about me were true, I'd be a very happy man.

And enter Louis Jourdan.

I added Three Coins in the Fountain to my Netflix queue when I had finished watching Gigi and Can-Can and was completely enamored by Louis Jourdan (sigh). And then by the time the movie got to me, I had kind of moved on, as I often do, and was pretty disappointed that I had to watch a movie I was no longer terribly interested in. Well, two minutes into this video clip and I think you'll see what recaptured my interest.



Honestly, I think a predatory prince who looked like that could invite me to Venice any day!

Ah, the tall tinker.

As if Errol Flynn could disguise his beautiful self from anyone. Psh. I do enjoy this costume. He looks so dashing in it, don't you think? I found this one at the TCM archives.

Rosebud.

I'm really not sure how long I'll keep adding to this list of movies I've yet to see. But, for now, I'll keep going. I've never seen Citizen Kane. I know it's a classic. I've never watched an Orson Welles film, period, actually. I don't care for Orson Welles. I realize this is perfectly ridiculous to say as I've never seen his films but he just rubs me the wrong way. He seems really arrogant and that puts me off. He also made Rita Hayworth pretty heartbroken and I love Rita Hayworth. Seriously, how could you cheat on a woman that beautiful? So, I haven't been exactly jumping at the chance to watch his films. Eventually, maybe.

If a nightingale could sing like you...

This scene cracks me up every time. It's one of my favorites. Classic stuff!!

Two for tea.

I love this photo!!! I'm really not sure where I found it though. I might have found it at that wonderful tumblr blog as well. It's so perfect!

Am I talking too much?

Next up in my list of movies to watch is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I rather like Frank Capra's films - most of the time, anyway. I've avoided this for some reason. I avoided Meet John Doe for a long time too. I'm not sure why. I kind of enjoy Capra's sentimentality. It's just that his films are a little stressful to watch and I can only take so much Capra-esque stress at a time - excluding It Happened One Night. That one's just fun.

Don't send me in dark despair from all that I hunger for.

I. Love. This. Song. His voice is just perfection in this. I was so excited when I found it on YouTube. Hooray for YouTube! It allows me to share my favorite things with people!!

I must be quite a guy.

I found this (and a whole bunch of equally delicious photos) on a wonderful tumblr account. I stumbled onto it when I was looking for production photos of Mary Poppins. I wound up spending a good hour or two scrolling through the infinity that is tumblr, discovering photo after wonderful photo. This was one of them. I was pretty excited because I've had a hard time finding good photos of Gene Kelly. I guess it's just a matter of looking in the right places.

We are going to land on an Alp!

Do you know what movie I have yet to see? Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

I grew up with Phileas Fogg looking like Pierce Brosnan and just never got around to watching the David Niven version. Rather surprising, really, because I love David Niven. In any case, it's on my Netflix queue; we'll see if I ever actually watch it!

from Doctor Macro

They sure did ring that bell.

I really like this song, especially the way Lena Horne sings it. The song may or may not be more endeared to me by the fact that it was cut from Cabin in the Sky because some foolish people thought it inappropriate to have a black woman in a bubble bath. Good grief. If there's one thing I'm grateful for in living in the present day, it's that we're finally beginning to grow out of that kind of bigotry. I'm not saying we're through with it, of course, but we're making headway compared to the stupidity of back then. Anyway, it drives me crazy that this scene was cut from the movie. I just love her in this scene. She's so darn cute and sexy and beautiful. It tells loads more about her character than any other part in the movie, in my opinion.

How long has this been going on?

I really don't know where I found this photo. I think I stumbled upon it when I tried to look up a different picture of Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn but I just think it's one of the cutest and funniest pictures ever.

and it's happy to see you!

Good heavens! Well, that was quite an unexpected hiatus. But, I'm back now. Hooray! And ready to get back to work here. Let's see, to start things off on the right foot, I'll get back to a much-neglected post series I had been about to start and never really went through with: movies I want to watch.

First off, I'd like to boast a little bit. This New Year's, I made a resolution to watch 50 movies I'd never seen before and read 20 books. I've actually already surpassed the book goal - just finished #22 - and I'm well underway on the movie goal - I watched #21 earlier this month. It's a fun resolution. It has its ups and downs though. In trying so hard to watch new things, I haven't really gotten around to watching old favorites quite as frequently. This isn't bad, exactly, but I have missed some old friends.

Anyhow, here's a movie I've been wanting to see but haven't yet gotten around to it: Sullivan's Travels.

It seems to be a really good movie. But I can't tell whether it's a comedy or a drama and that bothers me. I really don't like dramas that masquerade as comedies and so I've avoided it. But Veronica Lake does look positively adorable in a hat.

Yipes! It's been almost an entire month since I posted anything. My sincere apologies, dear readers. Daily life has kind of caught up with me recently. I've been working 50+ hours every week and it's been hard to find the time to sit down and write up some blog posts. I will do my best to get back into the regular swing of things soon!

I'll be truly as American as Irish Stew!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Naturally, as it's lucky St. Paddy's Day, it's the perfect time to post a video of an Irish performance. In the past, I've shown clips of the lovely Maureen O'Hara or Gene Kelly singing about the hat his dear old father wore upon St. Patrick's Day. Both are marvelous Irish traditions, but one of my favorites is Tommy Steele's performance as John Lawless, the Irish butler in The Happiest Millionaire. So, here is "I'll Always Be Irish" by Richard and Robert Sherman. I love the lyrics in this one! So cute! I also love the philosophy behind it, that having an identity (in this instance, being an American) is "adding something; it isn't subtracting." Those guys, I tell you. Geniuses.



To be completely honest, this isn't my favorite Disney live action film. It's really weird. And when watching it, I was a little confused as to who the main character was supposed to be; the plot was so convoluted and drawn out. But, for all of that, the songs are fantastic. Other favorites include "Fortuosity" and "Let's Have a Drink On It" (which I get stuck in my head all the time!).

While the night birds sing

Isn't it odd how you can brainstorm a whole bunch of ideas for a blog post but when you sit down to write it, you can think of nothing to say? Perhaps it's odd that I brainstorm blog posts in the first place. In any case, the passing of Robert Sherman hit me harder than most celebrity passings because I really am a huge, huge fan of the Sherman brothers. I've bought movies simply because there was a featurette about them on it. I searched high and low for a copy of the boys. I consider my cd of their greatest songs to be one of the best purchases I ever made. Today, I bought their memoir, Walt's Time. I worked today and all day I kept thinking of what I'd write when I blogged about this. But now, I can't think of much to say. It is a sad, sad loss, but I'm truly glad that his legacy is sure to live on for years to come. After all, who can forget "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "it's a small world after all," "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," "Chim-Chim-Cheree," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "I Wanna Be Like You," "Winnie the Pooh," or "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" Save for Frontierland/Liberty Square, their songs are played in every land of the Magic Kingdom.

And so, Rest in Peace, Robert Sherman.

Finally, I leave you with Robert's own favorite of his songs - and it's one of my absolute favorites as well - "On the Front Porch With You" from Summer Magic.

With a yoicks, tally-ho! Yo ho!

So, I was sick the other day and watching a few movies when I stumbled upon this little gem. It features Jack Buchanan, who, if you're like me, is most memorable for his performance in The Band Wagon. I've long been curious about this man who was, apparently, England's response to Fred Astaire. Well, if you have the two-disc copy of The Band Wagon, then you can find this video on disc 2 - or on YouTube. It's a skit he did for The Charlot Revue of 1925. It's hilarious!!!

"Okay. You're a cab."

Last week's quote: "I'd love to make a tour of you" is from Silk Stockings. The song is "All of You" and is written by Cole Porter and sung by Fred Astaire to Cyd Charisse.

This week's quote is: "Okay. You're a cab."

Still a voice within me keeps repeating, "You. You. You."

One of my favorite dances from my favorite dancing team!

You're my favorite woman

My favorite married couple: Nick and Nora!

This photo is from the TCM archives.

"I'd love to make a tour of you."

Last week's quote: "Hey! That's a screwy hat!" was from The Shadow of the Thin Man. It's a running gag at the beginning of the movie with Nora's hat - everyone keeps commenting on it being a screwy hat. It's so funny!

This week's quote is: "I'd love to make a tour of you."

Well, that's different.

I love this scene!

You kiss while you're dancing

I love them so much! And this picture is just perfection.

"Hey! That's a screwy hat!"

Last week's quote: "Wow! You'll be sow-ry!" was from An American in Paris. The song is "Tra-La-La," written by George and Ira Gershwin. The line was sung by Oscar Levant who sang the song with Gene Kelly.

This week's quote: "Hey! That's a screwy hat!"

Is this a dream? Or this? Or this?

I posted this video for Valentine's Day last year. I'm still rather proud of it. So, here it is again!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?

It's almost here. Almost Valentine's Day. And who better to talk about as we approach this romantical day than Bogie and Bacall?

image source

Okay guys. It's happened. I've jumped on the Bogart and Bacall bandwagon. Took me long enough! I was nervous to try out their movies because I like happy movies and I try to stick to that. Emm over at The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV told me that all of their movies have happy endings. So I decided to give it a try. I got To Have and Have Not from Netflix and settled down to watch it.

It was fantastic! I really enjoyed watching it just to see them together. They were so fantastic! It's so exciting to see them interact - giving each glances, looking each other up and down - even when they're not sparring with witty repartee they're fun to watch together.

One of my favorite bits in the movie was when Slim would talk to Eddie. Throughout the film, it's an interesting point that most of the characters ignore Eddie or insult him. She's the first character in the film, other than Harry, that we see treat Eddie with any kind of respect. I love the first exchange where she responds to his often repeated "Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" It's such a great scene! This scene at the end is also fantastic:



Also, can we rewind to the Golden Age for just a touch so I can chat up all of those brilliant songwriters that just happened to be hanging around. Here's Hoagy Carmichael, just being awesome:

Imperial princess of the night...

Rudolph Valentino? Why, of course! A great start to Valentine's Day week!



P.S. Anyone get the title?

P.P.S. While we're on the subject of famous silent lovers, you should definitely take a gander over to iamemma.blogspot.com and listen to Emma's most recent podcast. It's laugh-out-loud hilarious and it's romantic! Yay!

"Wow! You'll be sow-ry!"

Last week's quote: "I owe everything I have to Vip!" was from Lover Come Back, which stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

This week's quote is: "Wow! You'll be sow-ry!"

You're hot cocoa with cream

So, you know how I do a lot of videos featuring songs performed by my good friend Emma Wallace and clips from my favorite classic films? Well, guess what? Some one else did too! And it's beautiful!!

Then you do love me, don't you? Don't you?

It's February - the month of love. And what better couple to kick it off with than Errol and Olivia in one of my favorite kiss photos ever!!

"I owe everything I have to Vip!"

Last week's quote: "Fooling around will be unconstitutional" was from Give A Girl A Break. It was sung by Bob Fosse in the song, "In Our United State" which was written by Ira Gershwin and Burton Lane (which makes two Burton Lane songs that I referenced this month. I find this interesting but I don't think anyone else will).

This week's quote is: "I owe everything I have to Vip!"

Just one of those things

So, last night I watched a movie with my mom, Can-Can (1960), starring Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan, and Maurice Chevalier. It was a very fun movie with some fantastic songs by Cole Porter. I liked it a good deal and was surprised that I'd never heard of it before!



Watching Louis Jourdan reminded me of something I've wanted to mention on my blog. Do you remember that post I wrote about Gigi and then I wound up deleting it? Well. I've realized since deleting it that I got a little carried away in the wrong direction when writing that post. You see, when I originally sat down to write it, I was not going to bash it and criticize it to pieces. I was going to (and I did a bit) discuss how interesting it is to dislike a movie and be fascinated by it at the same time. That's what Gigi does to me. I'm so immensely bothered by it but when I start to think about it, I find I can't stop and then I start wanting to rewatch it and get another opinion of it. The same thing happened to The Sheik. I hated it. But something about it intrigued me to the point where I bought it and did a little bit of research on it to appease my fascination. There's a very good chance this will happen with Gigi as well as I find myself wanting to watch certain scenes again.

Do any of you have movies that you have a sort of love/hate relationship for? (For lack of a better term, that is. Love/hate isn't exactly what I'm talking about but it's a simpler way to describe it.)

Can-Can gave me a somewhat similar reaction, although I wasn't quite so opposed to the plot. But Louis Jourdan's persona (at least, in the two movies I've seen of him) is so difficult for me to wrap my head around. On the one hand, he's gentle, sexy, soft-spoken, attractive, French. The way he kisses Shirley MacLaine is so tender and affectionate! Yet, at the same time, he's condescending and talks to her (and to Gigi) as if she's a little girl and doesn't know any better. He looks at her with such pity when she doesn't really need his pity. It drives me ca-razy! If you can recommend any Louis Jourdan movies where he plays a more likable character, please let me know. I really want to like him in a movie. I was rooting for him when I watched Can-Can but mostly because I liked his character better than Frank Sinatra's character.

What a picture - tape measure around the neck and pincushion on the hip

I have wanted to learn how to sew for years. In recent months, the ambition has grown. I mean, I love clothes and I love very particular clothes; it makes complete sense for me to learn how to make my own. However, difficulties abound: I don't own a sewing machine and I live with a baby (not mine) which makes having a sewing machine a little impractical anyway. That leaves going to my mom's house to learn to sew but then we have time constraints and I'm sort of imposing on her. Then there's the question of fabric. Sewing my own clothes always seems cheaper when I'm eying those $50+ dresses online. But buying the fabric can get pretty pricey. And I really know nothing about fabric so my mom will need to accompany me. You see? Sewing really involves a great deal of my mom's dedication besides my own.

But all of these are a bunch of excuses. My mom has offered to help me learn to sew. She has given me advice on what to look for in my first project. She's on board. Now, it's just a question of my dedication. This year, I've taken a small step towards finally achieving this goal by adding it to my list of New Year's resolutions. Woohoo! I want to learn to make a skirt and/or dress by the end of the year. It's only February. I have time.

I started perusing the patterns shops online, just for fun (it's really unnecessary to do so as my mom has hundreds of patterns in her closet). I discovered something in my search. Have you looked at vintage pattern covers? The artwork is fantastic! They kept showing photos along with artwork with modern type girls wearing these vintage dresses in what I found to be very unappealing fabrics. Give me the artwork any day. I'm sold! Check out these darling dresses/artwork:


Credits, clockwise from top left: Butterick, Vintage Vogue, Butterick, Vintage Vogue.
Do any of you make your own dresses? Any favorite brand? Any advice to an aspiring dress-maker?

I'd rather have a paper doll to call my own

I know I already posted a video from Two Girls and a Sailor, but I'm going to go ahead and post a second one. This one is a song performed by the great Lena Horne, called "Paper Doll."

I've always liked this song. It took me years to really understand the song and realize she was singing a song from a guy's perspective and didn't really want a paper doll. To me, as a kid, a song about having paper dolls seemed really neat, I guess. Anyway...

I also love her dress. I love dresses with cutouts, especially when the cutouts are both classy and sexy, like this one. So cool! I love the lacey look.

It will hit the spot

And of course, just because...



Every time I see this picture, I'm amazed by the physics of it. How on earth is he holding her by her fingers like that? Incredible!

"Fooling around will be unconstitutional."

Last week's quote: "Baby, leave us not forget that I'm a heel" was from Royal Wedding. It was sung in a song with the longest title ever: "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?" which was written by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner.

This week's quote is: "Fooling around will be unconstitutional."

I must be quite a guy

Note: You may recognize this post from a few weeks ago. That was the same time that I was doing a whole bunch of housecleaning and posting up a whole bunch of old posts that never got published and were just collecting dust in my list of posts. I was rather excited about this particular post so I rescheduled it on a less crowded day.

Today I'm going to highlight 3 videos. Woohoo! The theme is: roller skates! I feel as if everyone knows about Gene Kelly's fantastic dance scene on roller skates in It's Always Fair Weather. The dance is truly marvelous, but I always get a little irritated because Fred and Ginger did it first in Shall We Dance.



Of course, that's not to say that Gene wasn't absolutely brilliant when he did it several years later. And, I will admit, he carried the whole idea further, I think.



Then, I discovered yet another dancer doing this just the other day. One of my favorites, Donald O'Connor, dances in skates as well! So, here is Donald in I Love Melvin. The dancing portion begins around the 2 minute mark:

Baby, give me my baby and a band.

Do you remember that series I started way, way back about fun times and how it ended after about two posts? Well, I had this series I was going to start about watching people have fun in movies. I'm not about to start it up again, really, but I just wanted to mention how these 'spontaneous' scenes in movies really make me happy. I wish life really were full of these random, spontaneous dance scenes - choreographed by Bob Fosse, of course. This particular one is from the 1955 remake My Sister Eileen.

I've kicked Longchamps out

Yet another gem from the TCM archives. This one is from the set of The Adventures of Robin Hood. I love his expression in this photo and I really love the "No Smoking" sign in the background. Classic.

found here

Seriously, if you haven't had a chance to waste several hours looking at the TCM archives, you should go now. You won't regret it.

"Baby, leave us not forget that I'm a heel."

Last week's quote: "How many Frenchmen can't be wrong?" was from Monkey Business and was said by Groucho Marx.

This week's quote is: "Baby, leave us not forget that I'm a heel."

You are as bold as you are brave.

My brother, I have discovered in recent years, has an impressive ability to find really obscure movies that I like. I don't really know how he does it - especially considering the fact that he finds me hard to buy for and doesn't like buying me movies (to be fair, I am picky) and we don't really see each other anymore. Last year (as in 2010), he bought me Give a Girl a Break and Holiday in Mexico, both of which were fun and fluffy musicals - right up my alley. This past year, he bought me a French '50s film called Fanfan la Tulipe. I'll be honest, I don't usually brave foreign film territory. Not because I don't like them or don't trust their quality, but because I don't know anything about them. I know a lot about American films; I'll stick to what I know for now.

However, this movie makes me feel like I'm probably missing out. Because it is fantastic!

found here

In fact, I'm going to add it to my much-neglected 100 movies list:

#39: Fanfan la Tulipe (1952)

found here

Imagine an Errol Flynn movie. Got it? Now, make it a little bit sillier, make it French and add some low-cut costumes and a lot of innuendo. Imagining it? That's Fanfan la Tulipe. It's a fun, swashbuckling film about a good-hearted, good-looking, impudent, and brave rogue-ish fellow named Fanfan (Gerard Philipe). After he receives a fortune from a bogus fortune-teller (Gina Lollobrigida), saying that he will marry the king's daughter, Fanfan goes in search of his destiny - even when he learns that the fortune was made up.

found here

It's a lot of fun, full of great sword-fighting scenes, romance, and excitement - I was at the edge of my seat! I really liked the main character and I really liked the girl and I really liked the sidekick. I figure that's pretty good if the three main characters are likable. There were a number of villains in this film. I didn't care for all of them as villains because one of them was just annoying but one of them (I'm trying to avoid spoilers) was a very good villain. I do recommend it if you have the chance. Netflix offers it. By the bye, the title of this post is part of the translated subtitles. I don't speak French so it's a little hard for me to quote it!

found here

No blog post today. Protesting SOPA. Please ask your representatives to stop this bill.

But her talk made no impression, no, not even a dent.

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies growing up: "My Mother Told Me" sung by Gloria de Haven in Two Girls and a Sailor. I know I say this a lot, but Gloria de Haven is so gorgeous. It's kind of unbelievable to me! And I love her singing voice.

The sun's in my heart

Love, love, love this promotional shot of Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly. Is it just me, or is it hard to find good photos of Gene Kelly just dancing? I have the toughest time! Anyway, I found this one in the TCM photo archives and got really excited. I have to say, I'm pretty obsessed with the TCM archives. Be prepared to encounter lots of photos from them. I do have to be careful though because some of them have big disclaimers saying that they're the property of the company and blahblahblah. This one doesn't though. So I'm using it.

found here

My friend lent me her two-disc copy of Singin' in the Rain. I bought the movie before they came out with the special edition and now I really want to buy it! I have a hard time buying movies that I already own though. So, in the meantime, I'm watching hers. I was able to watch a documentary I've wanted to see for a while: Musicals Great Musicals which is a bonus feature in the edition. I'm pretty excited about watching the movie with audio commentary!!

"How many Frenchmen can't be wrong?"

Last week's quote: "I'm not used to behaving horribly; it's been a great strain!" was from The Band Wagon and was said by Cyd Charisse to Fred Astaire. Good job to Amanda Cooper for guessing correctly!! Yay!!

This year, I'd like to tweak the quotes portion of my blog. As it is now, when someone comments with the right answer, the whole game pretty much ends. The whole idea behind the series was to revel in how much we know old movies. So, I'd like to add new rules: when you correctly guess the movie, you can comment by identifying the movie, the characters, the writers, the director, the preceding line/s or following line/s. That way, there's no ending to the game, really. And the conversation can keep going.

Now, for this week's quote: "How many Frenchmen can't be wrong?"

I'd take... the gown. Less upkeep.

I love dresses. I can spend far too many hours just looking at dresses on Modcloth, Shabby Apple, or Shop Ruche. I know I'm not alone in this. I have a hard time buying dresses, though, because a) they're expensive and b) I find them hard to wear. To me, dresses mean dressing up. I've only lately been able to get into the habit of wearing skirts in a casual setting. I actually prefer skirts now. I used to hate skirts. Now, dresses is my new difficulty. How to dress them down? If I come out of my room wearing a dress, my roommates look at me and say, "ooh! Where are you going?" No where. I know it's better to be over dressed than under dressed. But still.

So, I've been trying to get inspiration on how to wear dresses well. I look at lookbooks and blog posts. Kate Gabrielle's series of un, deux, trois is particularly helpful in this regard. She has so many dresses and she wears them all the time! How does she do that? She just wrote a fantastic post on wearing dresses for every day occasions. Check it out. I can't even imagine having a dress to wear for eating ice cream. It's brilliant! I want to be that classy! But, I really hate spending money on dresses when I know I'll only wear them for the occasional and very rare instance when I'll somewhere fancy schmancy.

For instance, I bought this cute dress from Shabby Apple:


I wore it to my cousin's wedding and now I don't know how to wear it. Should I cut off a tier to make it shorter? Should I put a belt on it? Wear a top over it? I originally bought the dress because it seemed so flexible in casual/dressy terms. But now I don't know how to dress it down. Any suggestions?

And then there's this dress that I'm dying to buy from Shop Ruche. I really don't need a dress. And I probably will continue to talk myself out of it until it's no longer available but look how cute!



I know I'd buy it and then it would sit in my closet until my birthday or a wedding or a party. What a waste.

And here's what makes it worse. I try to wear outfits that are vintage-inspired and when I look at the outfits in old movies, practically all the girls wear are dresses! This, of course, makes my fashion inspiration posts very difficult to do because the outfits are one piece: a dress. Done.


There are plenty of dresses in old musicals that are evening gowns and dinner dresses. But these are just every day type dresses: visiting someone, going to work, walking through Rome, picking apple type dresses. I think of the dress Ann Miller wears to the museum in On the Town, the one Marilyn Monroe wears to work in Monkey Business, Nora Charles' outfits in The Thin Man movies. I see photos from blogs like Kate Gabrielle's and think, if I wore that, people would look at me funny. But girls did it all the time back in the day and brave and classy girls do it now! I need to step it up a bit. And I need to learn how to dress down a dress. Any suggestions? Please let me know!

But the tune is so infectious!

More cleaning house! Yay! Sorry for filling up my blog with these. It feels so good to get rid of that awful draft next to posts, doesn't it?


So, I'm going to go a bit off-topic today. This past week I found myself discussing Broadway shows with some of my coworkers. We ran into the topic when The Sound of Music came on and some of my coworkers said that they really hated that movie and then they went on about how their favorite musicals were Les Miserables and other equally depressing choices. I was really involved in theater when I went to high school and I fell in love with Broadway musicals. I've recently fallen out of love with them, mostly because I've discovered that a large number of Broadway shows are very angsty. There's so much trauma, drama, and hardship all of the time. As soon as I discovered this, I pretty much stopped listening to Broadway soundtracks.

That is, except one. Quite possibly my all-time favorite Broadway show: The Drowsy Chaperone. Now, I say 'quite possibly' because I do really like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Pirates of Penzance, and other such musicals that have flourished on the Broadway stage. But as far as the more recent, more contemporary shows, Drowsy Chaperone takes the cake (for me, at least).

The reason? No angst. Okay, so there's a little bit. But it's complete tongue-in-cheek and it's absolutely ridiculous. The basic premise of the musical is this: a man (Man in Chair) is sitting at home, feeling a little blue, so he decides to listen to his records. He pulls out his favorite, "The Drowsy Chaperone" and as he listens, the musical springs to life for the audience. Man in Chair is constantly pausing and interrupting the show in order to tell the audience little bits of "trivia" about the various actors. It's fun because you think, "wow! I'm learning a lot about these people" but you know that it's all made up and that there never were such people. It's so much fun!


Another reason that I love this show is that it sort of pays homage to old Hollywood and old Broadway. There's a producer in the show named Mr. Feldzieg (get it? Ziegfeld? It actually took me an embarrassingly long time to notice that), there are gangsters who tap dance, a groom uses dance to solve his problems, love at first sight, and spontaneous bursting into song. It's a great deal of fun. If you happen to like Broadway shows but haven't checked this one out, I highly recommend it. It's fantastic!

You're the top, you're a Berlin ballad

More house cleaning: another post I wrote a good while back - I don't even remember when. I was going to just delete it, but there were some useful links and I didn't want to lose them. Besides, I like being able to give publicity for other websites and blogs. So, here it is: a random post about favorite songwriters. Perhaps, some day, I'll do a series on them. Goodness knows they deserve it.

So, I was going to make a list of my favorite songs from Busby Berkeley musicals. I had watched a documentary on the musicals and discovered that most of the songs were written by writing team Al Dubin and Harry Warren. Well, I looked the two up and discovered that Harry Warren wrote a lot of really fantastic songs. So, then I decided to make a songwriters series and list my favorite songs from my favorite songwriters. But first, before I do that - here is a list of (some of) my favorite songwriters (in no particular order) :

• Cole Porter
• George and Ira Gershwin
• Irving Berlin
• Jerome Kern
• Harry Warren and Al Dubin
• Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
• Rodgers and Hammerstein
• Rodgers and Hart
• Richard and Robert Sherman
• Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz

Did I miss anyone?

Who are your favorite songwriters? I am thinking in terms of film, mostly.

P.S. I found this great site the other day that offers song catalogs that you can peruse. This is how I discovered how very much Harry Warren had written. Quite impressive, really.
P.P.S. If you love these masters, I think you should definitely trot on over to Brian Solomon's blog, Standard of the Day
P.P.P.S I discovered a very useful site years and years ago that provides a whole flock of lyrics for such songs as these.
P.P.P.P.S And then, of course, you should definitely check out Emma's blog because she often does standards and some of my favorite renditions are by her.

This time is my time

I think you all know by now how much I adore Vic Damone. I mean, look at him! He's so cute!!


I recently finished his autobiography, courtesy of my sister (who discovered it at the library and checked it out for me!). It was probably one of the best autobiographies I've read yet. Myrna Loy is still the best, in my opinion, but Vic Damone's is really up there. I mean, he has so many crazy stories to tell. They're all fascinating. Some of them are sad, but most of his book is pretty upbeat. And a great deal of it is just plain hilarious. I think everyone in my break room thinks I'm crazy by now (if they didn't think so already) because I kept bursting into random laughter and "what?" and "woah! that's crazy." Yeah. I'm a loud reader. Anyway, if you're looking for a good nonfiction book that's upbeat and gives some insight into days past, I recommend Vic's Singing Was the Easy Part.

Also, can we talk for a second about everyone (and I do mean everyone) called Jane Powell, "Janie." I think that says something about her personality if everybody connected with her called her by a nickname like that. Just saying. It's yet another reason to love her (as if I needed one). In his autobiography, Vic Damone talks about his first experience working with her in Rich, Young and Pretty. It was his first film and he was pretty inexperienced. At one point, he started drifting out of viewshot of the camera (he and Powell were supposed to be walking down the street together), and she took his arm, very naturally, and guided him back to where he was supposed to be. How nice is that! She didn't take the opportunity to steal the scene or anything. She was so professional and so nice! I love it!

"I'm not used to behaving horribly; it's been a great strain!"

Last week's quote, "The next person that says, 'Merry Christmas' to me, I'll kill 'em," was from The Thin Man.

This week's quote, which happens to be one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies: "I'm not used to behaving horribly; it's been a great strain!"

I hope I'm not obscure.

Okay. So, fun fact: I'm cleaning house on my list of blog posts and deleting all of the drafts I've written and half-written. This is a post I wrote way back in April. I couldn't believe I'd never actually published it! As a person who enjoys reading books on old Hollywood, I appreciate getting book reviews every now and again. So, here's a very late book review on Robert Matzen's Errol & Olivia: Ego and Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood.


So, I finished Robert Matzen's Errol & Olivia: Ego and Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood. First of all, it was a very good book, full of great information. I didn't care for Matzen's tone, really. He liked to talk as if he knew what was going inside the actors' heads, as if they were characters in his novel. This approach irked me a good deal because they weren't characters; they were real people. But, I suppose that's biography. To be honest, I haven't read many biographies so I wouldn't know. I also have this thing, an issue when reading books about classic films - I hate it when they critique it. Okay, so occasionally I agree with them, but most of the time I don't. I don't like to read that this author thinks that Errol Flynn wasn't a very good actor, that Captain Blood was not a very good film, that Ginger Rogers was past her prime in The Barkleys of Broadway. If I didn't love the films, if I didn't adore the actors, then I wouldn't read books about them. So stop insulting them. Thank you.

Sorry. Whew! That was a bit of a tangent. Ahem. Again, the book had some great facts. The guy has an amazing ability for research. He cites all sorts of memos and interviews. I have no idea how he managed to track them all down! The photographs inside are lovely.

Unfortunately, after finishing the book, I felt a deep and unbelievable amount of melancholy. I felt sick at the thought of *spoiler alert* Olivia failing to recognize Errol years after their last film together. The man was already going through so much torment, and then to have that piled on. Ugh. It makes me sick thinking of it now. *end of spoiler*. The day after I'd finished the book, and after I'd eased my mood a bit by beginning a new, happier book (The Films of Gene Kelly), I decided to watch my favorite scene from The Adventures of Robin Hood. And do you know something? Nothing changed really. Other than a new knowledge of the technical aspect of the film and the backstage drama, I still see the movie in pretty much the same light. Errol Flynn walked into the great hall, with that deer slung over his shoulders and I was just as happy and excited for that moment as I've always been.

I think that's what bothers me so much about people like Matzen criticizing Errol Flynn's acting skills. To me, (and, granted, I'm no acting critic) Flynn was a tremendous actor. He enters the scene and he is Robin Hood. He's attractive, not only because of his good looks but because of his magnetism, his intensity, his humor, his impudence, his passion. I'm very sad to read that Errol Flynn seemed to be a tortured soul all his life because I think he missed out on how great he was. It's kind of amazing to think that Errol Flynn was rife with insecurities. It makes me sort of second-guess my own.





Okay, so this post was all over the place. Do forgive me for that!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Hooray for 1927!! Or 2012 or whatever it is.