Flying Down To Hollywood

Just one of those things

2012-02-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

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

2012-02-01T00:25:00.001-05:00

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

2012-01-30T07:22:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-29T01:06:00.000-05:00

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."

2012-01-27T06:56:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-25T02:13:00.000-05:00

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.

2012-01-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

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."

2012-01-20T06:54:00.000-05:00

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.

2012-01-19T07:29:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-18T12:19:00.002-05:00

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.

2012-01-16T07:04:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-15T00:55:00.002-05:00

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?"

2012-01-13T18:51:00.002-05:00

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.

2012-01-12T13:34:00.002-05:00

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!

2012-01-09T21:26:00.002-05:00

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

2012-01-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

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) :

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

2012-01-08T00:47:00.000-05:00

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!"

2012-01-06T02:01:00.002-05:00

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.

2012-01-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

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!

2012-01-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

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

Hulinsporg!

2011-12-31T08:27:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite New Year's scenes! So cute!!

"The next person that says, 'Merry Christmas' to me, I'll kill 'em."

2011-12-30T01:57:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "I could dance nightly just holding you tightly, my sweet" is from Holiday Inn. Fred Astaire sings it in, "Easy to Dance With," which was written by the brilliant Irving Berlin.

This week's quote is: "The next person that says, 'Merry Christmas' to me, I'll kill 'em."

Mi mi mi mi, re re re re, do so mi do la si.

2011-12-28T22:20:00.004-05:00

Rachel at The Girl with the White Parasol, set up a movie meme for New Year's and I decided to participate! Yay!!

1. What is your all-time favorite Grace Kelly costume?
I must confess. I've seen very few Grace Kelly movies. I know, I know. She's amazing. She's beautiful. She's pretty much perfect. But I've still only seen To Catch a Thief and High Society. And I haven't seen either in quite a while so this question is stretching my memory a great deal (and we're only at the first question!) It's honestly a toss up between one in each. I'll go with this one from High Society.

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake?
Can I say none? I know you've all heard my rantings about contemporary remakes. They're just awful. Most of them, anyway. If it were done well, though, I think I could go for another Scarlet Pimpernel adaptation (the important phrase here being "done well" - or maybe I should say, "done right.") Despite the fact that both Anthony Andrews and Leslie Howard are flawless in their versions of Percy Blakeney, I love his character so much, I could go for more versions!

3. Name your favorite femme fatale.
Cyd Charisse. I'm not sure if that's the type this meme is talking about but that's what I think of. I suppose her most iconic role as a femme fatale would be as The Brunette in The Bandwagon.
For the most part, I feel like femme fatale roles pop up most in film noir and I'm not much into the genre (yet).

from Doctor Macro

4. Name the best movie with the word "heaven" in its title.
To be honest, the only one I've seen is My Blue Heaven with Betty Grable and Dan Dailey and I really, really, did not like it. At all. I even did a search in case there were movies I'd forgotten about. Nope. Just that one.

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen (since Laura gave me the idea).
Oh! I know this one! Okay. So, typically I like a lot of child actors. I'm a big Shirley Temple fan (it's only beginning to dawn on me that not everybody loves her) and I like kids in general. Even when they're not good actors, I can usually admit that they're pretty adorable and I figure that's why they were cast. I had a whole bit written about Dean Stockwell and how he needs to get it together because he's always messing people up. But then I remembered. At least Dean Stockwell is cute. There's one major child actor that I'm pretty sure I've yet to like in a role.

A good portion of the reasons I don't like Meet Me in St. Louis is that little girl up there. She lies about the incredibly good-looking and unbelievably nice boy-next-door. She tears apart her snowmen (what did they ever do to her?). And she's pretty morbid. I like her whole character less than I like Zuzu's line about the bell-ringing-angel-winging connection (which, for some reason, is a line that I really don't like).

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster?
I don't watch too many monster movies but I'm gonna go with Beast. Because, to be honest, that's really the only movie monster I can think of.

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody?
Does Oklahoma count as a Western? I do enjoy watching a cowboy Gene Nelson dance and a cowboy Gordon MacCrae sing. Aah. If more Westerns had dancing and singing cowboys, I'd be more inclined to watch them. When I think of typical Westerns, I just think of a lot of death and a lot of desert - neither of which is appealing to me.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner?
I watch movies with people to bond with them. That's kind of how I get to know them. In a way. So the people I'm closest to: my sisters, my mom, my best friends, are the ones I've watched lots and lots of movies with. I look forward to getting home from work so that I can watch a movie with my sister. (These nights are often the highlight of my week!) I've randomly driven to my mom's house because I've discovered a movie that we have to watch together. My college roommate and I made movie watching a near-nightly experience. We'd walk all the way across the dorms to pop popcorn (our hallway's microwave was broken) and then we'd settle down and watch a movie. Invariably, we'd start at our desks and then I'd joke, "do you want to take this to the bedroom?" Which was a pretty stupid joke but I always thought it was funny - and then we'd watch the movie sitting on a bed. I take great pride in introducing Fred and Ginger, Nick and Nora, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Gene Kelly to my roommate.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film?
Like every one else who's written in this meme, I would say that old movies in general have made a huge impact on my life. But, oddly enough, the movie that's impacted my way of thinking most is probably Tangled. The idea that you can have more than one dream in life has seriously freed me to a world of possibilities. I'm not nearly so stressed out about finding my dream because, hey, whether it works out or not, there's another dream waiting.

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to watch.
I thought this one would be difficult but it wasn't. It turned out to be easy. Errol Flynn in Dodge City. I hate to say that I did not like that movie and mostly because of him. I didn't like his character at all. Now, it's very normal for Errol to be cast as a cocky, smug, self-righteous guy but in this movie, he was just insufferable! Ugh.

At least he was pretty.

from Doctor Macro

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie from a performer that you truly loathe.
I can't honestly say that I truly loathe anybody. There are actors that I certainly don't care for much. And there are several that I'm still beginning to warm up to - Jean Harlow, for example. I'm not a terribly huge Bette Davis fan - mostly because I've seen so few of her movies. But I did adore her in It's Love I'm After. She was so cute!

12. And finally, since it will be New Year's soon, do you have any movie or blogging-related resolutions for 2012?
Well, I've recently hit upon the idea that I'd like to watch a new movie each week. BAHAHAHA. Right. Ah well. It was funny, wasn't it? My schedule is so crazy and so irregular that I really don't think I'll be able to hold to this one, but it would be awfully nice, wouldn't it? 52 new movies in 2012. I rather like the idea. Lots of space to expand my horizons.

P.S. If anybody knows what the blog title is quoting, I shall be incredibly impressed! It's a really weird line to quote.

Rave on. It's a crazy feeling.

2011-12-28T01:30:00.001-05:00

People always tell me I was born in the wrong decade. I disagree. I was born at just the right time. If I had been my age in the twenties, I wouldn't have had the freedom I have now. It seems like only flappers were daring enough to wear sexy clothes and I'm not sure I'd have had the courage to be as flamboyant as a flapper. If I'd been my age in the thirties, I would have had to deal with the Great Depression. We're having bad times now, but at least I have a job and nice clothes, good food, and a nice bed to sleep in. While it would have been lovely to see Fred and Ginger on the big screen, I wouldn't want that to be an escape. I like it being integrated into my ordinary life. If I'd been my age in the forties, we'd be in the middle of a war. I'd possibly be working in a factory or a plant or something. Though I think I'd be up to the challenge, I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy it much. If I'd been my age in the fifties, I'd have to go through the McCarthyism and that just annoys me. Nope, I'm happy living now - where I can enjoy the nice parts of the past: the movies, the music, the fashion - without having to deal with the drama and the difficulties.

But, I do wish we could bring some of the fun back into fashion. Why can't there be more sock hops where I can dance to good old fashioned oldies? Or a cocktail party where I can sport a fancy cocktail dress? Or a nightclub where we go and watch a few performers and then dance a little to a live band? Wouldn't that be swell? Wouldn't that be keen?

These are the things I wish were still around. I don't wish for the ideas that women should be housewives and movies should be censored. As a society, I think we're smarter now. We're getting a little more open-minded, a little more accepting of people. It's a slow process, but we're getting there. I like living today, where I can date whoever I want, no matter what race, religion, creed (or, for that matter, gender, where I so inclined), without having to ask for my father's permission. I'm glad I can wear dresses that go above my knees without being scandalous. I like having electricity, my own car, the internet. I have a fabulous collection of movies dating from the 20s to the 60s and multiple playlists on my iPhone that I take with me wherever I go. It's nice living today!

But, having all of the movies, the books, the music at my fingertips, only makes me yearn for the old-fashioned things to make a come back. It seems that whenever we try to bring these sorts of things back, it's stagey. It's all costume parties and older people being nostalgic. I suppose it's only a pipe dream, but I think it would be neat if these sorts of things could creep back into fashion naturally. We could go to sock hops without having to wear poodle skirts and scarves. We could listen to big bands and not be the only young people in the room.

Well, a girl can dream.

Kissing the new year in...

2011-12-26T02:12:00.001-05:00

In preparation for New Year's Eve... here's a video I made a while ago. I hope you enjoy it!!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas everybody!!

I hope your Christmas is filled with yummy food...

beautiful weather...

music...

magic...

photo is from Doctor Macro

with loved ones nearby!

photo is from Doctor Macro

12 Days of Christmas movies!

2011-12-24T10:01:00.007-05:00

Now, without further ado, a compiled list of contributions to...

1. the melody lingers on
a Christmas movie montage by Kate Gabrielle

2. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
a commentary by Millie

3. It's that time of year when the world falls in love
a Christmas movie montage by me

4. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
a movie review by Rianna

5. Remember the Night (1940)
a movie review by Natalie

6. The Thin Man (1934)
a movie review by me

7. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
a movie review by Audrey

8. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
a movie review by Amanda Cooper

9. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
a music discussion by Emma

10. I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
a movie review by Clara

11. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)
a movie review by KC

12. My Reputation (1946)
a movie review by Jacqueline T. Lynch

Once again, thank you to all the wonderful bloggers who contributed this year!!!

"I could dance nightly just holding you tightly, my sweet."

2011-12-23T01:47:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "'Serious calamity?' This is good?" was from Christmas in Connecticut.

This week's quote is: "I could dance nightly just holding you tightly, my sweet."

You act as though it were the only present you ever had.

2011-12-21T21:22:00.003-05:00

Now, it's time for my Christmas movie review. There have been some great ones so far and I can't wait to post a full list on Christmas Eve!

This year, I held off on calling dibs on a movie because last year, I reserved a movie before everyone else did - and that didn't seem fair. So, this year, I waited. And, as I waited, pretty much every classic Christmas movie that I really love got snatched up! Yipes! So, after much deliberating, I decided on this classic Christmas movie.

The Thin Man (1934)

The plot, for those unlucky few who have not seen this movie, is as follows: Inventor Clyde Wynant is often mysterious, even to his daughter, Dorothy, his laywer, MacCauley, and his girlfriend, Julia. But when he doesn't return at Christmastime as he promised, Dorothy begins to worry and brings the disappearance to the attention of former sleuth, Nick Charles. When Julia is found dead in her apartment by Wynant's ex-wife, everyone is on the lookout for the mysterious man. But is he the culprit? With Nick and his glamorous wife, Nora, on the case, the case is sure to be solved - with plenty of drinking and joking around, of course!

How's that for a nutshell? Not too bad. Okay, so this movie has very little Christmas in it. But, let's be honest, a lot of my favorite Christmas movies have very little to do with Christmas: White Christmas, Holiday Inn, Christmas in Connecticut. They usually take place around Christmas, like The Thin Man but hardly depend on Christmas to carry the theme of the story. Even the quintessential Christmas movie, It's A Wonderful Life, takes place, for the most part, at times other than Christmas. It's just that the climactic portion of the film is on Christmas Eve. What do all of these films have in common though, besides time of year setting? They're such fun movies to watch! And they usually have some sort of feel-good part about them that makes them fun to watch with a mug of hot cocoa. The Thin Man, being a murder mystery, can be tricky to label as "feel-good fun" but it is!! It's so laugh-out-loud hilarious! It's absolutely delightful. It's one of my all-time favorite movies ever.

If you're still in doubt as to whether it counts as Christmas movie, here's some proof. Nick and Nora throw a Christmas party (in one of my favorite dresses worn by Nora. I want this dress!!!)

See? There's a Christmas tree and Nora's super cute candy-cane dress!!

and they play with their Christmas presents on Christmas morning. Such a funny scene!!

Check back again on Christmas Eve for a full list of Christmas posts!! For those participating, please continue to let me know when you've written yours so I can add it to the list!

And it's simply groovey!

2011-12-19T02:21:00.000-05:00

It's almost Christmas! Hooray! I'm going to include 2 clips today. Both are from Miracle on 34th Street. But one is the trailer and it is, in my opinion, one of the funnest trailers ever. It's so cute! And I love all of the random cameos!

the second clip is just one of my favorite scenes. It makes me tear up every time!

Why do I believe? I guess that I believe because!

2011-12-18T01:35:00.000-05:00

Stumbled upon this gem while perusing through Doctor Macro. Such a cute photo!!

Gee! That's swell!

2011-12-16T22:02:00.002-05:00

Hooray!! All of the spots for the 12 Days of Christmas blogathon have been filled!!

Just a few notes for the lovely bloggers who are participating, please have your post written by the 23rd (the 23rd being the last day to write it) and let me know in a comment on one of my blog posts. I'd like to compile a list, like I did last year, with all of the posts so that everyone can link to each post. And I'd like to write the list up on Christmas Eve. Thank you!

I can't wait to read your posts! If anyone is concerned about style or format, feel free to do whatever you'd like. Last year, I used a format, but variety is nice, so any kind of post will be fine!

"'Serious calamity?' This is good?"

2011-12-16T01:38:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote, "And when it's Christmas, I believe in Santa Claus," was from It Happened In Brooklyn. Okay, so it's not a Christmas movie, but it's a Christmas-y line in the song! The song was sung by Frank Sinatra in the song, "I Believe" which was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.

This week's quote is: "'Serious calamity?' This is good?"

It's that time of year when the world falls in love...

2011-12-15T12:06:00.002-05:00

So, the marvelous Kate Gabrielle contributed to the 12 Days of Christmas movies blogathon by compiling a fantastic vid, which you can see here.

I thought I'd follow her lead and do the same thing. I'll have a regular post about a Christmas movie coming up soon. Which means I'll be taking up 2 entries in the blogathon. Which means there are less spots than before: only 4 remaining, so grab one while you can!!

And here is my first contribution to the blogathon. It's another classic Christmas movie vid. I think it's interesting to see how Kate and I picked a few of the same movies but differed a great deal as well. Just goes to show that I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to classic Christmas movies! I hope you enjoy my vid! It has one of my absolute favorite Christmas songs in it.

Oh, yeah. Deep blue.

2011-12-12T02:16:00.000-05:00

No Christmas would be complete without a viewing of White Christmas. So, without further ado, let's look at the Sister number - both of them!

I love the part in the first one where the guys are talking about their eyes and the girls are, apparently, just standing on stage, smiling. What kind of a number is that? It's so silly! I love it!

it must be beautiful in Vermont this time of year...

2011-12-11T01:38:00.000-05:00

One of my absolute, all-time favorite Christmas movies ever!! White Christmas. It's also one of my favorite songs in the movie and it's probably one of my favorite dance scenes period. I don't know. I should compile a list. But it'd be a long list.

Anyhow... I think this photo is simply spectacular. Don't you?

"And when it's Christmas, I believe in Santa Claus."

2011-12-09T01:36:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "I believe. I believe. It's silly, but I believe" is from Miracle on 34th Street.

This week's quote is: "And when it's Christmas, I believe in Santa Claus."

I'm in love... with a voice.

2011-12-06T08:46:00.000-05:00

So, I'm starting a new series all of a sudden. I don't know why. I just had a sudden urge. These are going to primarily get posted on Tuesdays. I'm not sure whether they're going to be regular or not. And I'm not sure if they'll be themed. Here's the series: movies I want to watch.

The wonderful thing (well, one of the wonderful things) about interacting in the blogging world is that you get to exchange ideas with like-minded people in a very unique way. We don't have to have long drawn out conversations. I say my piece, you say your piece, someone else says their piece and then we're all done. It's so tidy! Anyway, I already have a list going of movies I love (my 100 movies which is sadly neglected of late) so I thought it'd be nice to have an opposite list: movies I want to watch. Then, if you've seen the movie, you can tell me what you think, whether or not you think I'd like it, and so on. If you haven't seen it but want to, then it might prove to be for your edification as well as for mine!

So, let's get started. I'm actually going to start off with two (yeesh! cheating already!) because I'm happen to be debating between the two as to which one I want to buy. I'm going to be risky and buy a movie I've never seen. Yipes! I'm pretty sure I'll be happy buying either one but which one will I like more? This is the difficulty. Here are the movies:

Three for the Show (1955) - Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon, Marge and Gower Champion.
All 4 of the leads are reasons to want to see this movie in my opinion.
I'm also fascinated by the fact that the Too Many Husbands/My Favorite Wife plot line spouted so many remakes. It's incredible! I believe this one has a great deal of potential as it adds a very crucial plot point that was direly needed in predecessor Too Many Husbands - a fourth character to the love triangle. We're supposed to like both of the husbands. She's supposed to want both of them. We can't have one husband be likable and the other one unlikable; otherwise it's too obvious a choice and we'd wonder why she married him in the first place. With a second girl in the mix, we get a satisfying ending, a more palatable ending. I'm beginning to really, truly love Marge and Gower Champion and I want to see them dance together some more. Thus the main reason for my wanting to buy this film.

Rich, Young And Pretty (1951) - Jane Powell, Vic Damone, Fernando Lamas.
Vic Damone. Need I say more? Also, Fernando Lamas. The guy was pretty horrible to little Esther Williams but he was awfully pretty.
To be honest, I know very little about the plot line. I'm in love with Vic Damone so that's my main reason for wanting this one. I really like Jane Powell too so I'd like to see them together. I've read they're very cute together in this one.

Any thoughts on either movie? Have you seen one or the other?

It all started with...

2011-12-05T22:57:00.006-05:00

Guess what? It's Walt Disney's 110th birthday! Happy Birthday, Walt! Hooray!!

Photo source here

Second of all, if you didn't catch it last time, I'm doing a blogathon: 12 Days of Christmas Movies. You can comment on either this post or the post I've linked to to sign up. There are still 6 more spots available. Now, for those who have already signed up, I want your input: would you like to do it like we did last year? Where we just posted and then, at the end, I did a list of everyone's posts?

- or, as David suggested, we have a timetable and everyone gets a day to do their posts?

Let me know what you think!!!***

***Okay, so Audrey mentioned a timetable would be too stressful. This is a pretty small blogathon and I'd like to keep it as stress-free, fun, and easy as possible. So, no timetable. But, let's have a bit of a deadline so I can have a chance to gather all of the posts up and compile my list. Can we have all of the posts done by the 23rd? That'll give me a couple of days to get a list. Thank you! If you haven't signed up yet, don't forget to let me know you're interested! And if you have signed up, don't forget to tell me when you've written your post!

I'll take it!

2011-12-05T02:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite scenes from the classic Christmas movie. Although, to be honest, I'm a little disappointed that they don't have the whole scene in there. I like the whole "this is a very interesting situation!" bit.

May your days be merry and bright

2011-12-04T02:30:00.000-05:00

This is such a nice picture! I have a hard time listening to this song without thinking of this version - with the bells and the pipe and the whistling. It's so classic!

Image source here.

I wish I'd thought of it first.

2011-12-03T14:34:00.002-05:00

So, I've been thinking. How would it be if we do another 12 Days of Christmas Movies blogathon this year? Would you participate? It went really well last year! There were so many good movies listed! And I really enjoyed going to everyone's sites. Let me know if you're interested. I'd like to have all of the spots filled by the 11th. Keep in mind that there are 11 spots to be filled as I'd like to do a post too!!

If interested, please comment with the movie you'd like to do. I won't hold you to it if you decide to change your mind, but this way we can avoid duplicates and so on. Oh, and it's okay if you choose a movie that was chosen last year. There are only so many Christmas movies to go around! I haven't even decided what movie I want do this year. Last year, I picked first so I'd like to see some other people pick before I do.

Here's the logo:

"I believe. I believe. It's silly, but I believe."

2011-12-02T01:24:00.001-05:00

Last week's quote: "You oughta be wearing golashes" is from Swing Time.

This week's quote is: "I believe. I believe. It's silly, but I believe."

Beautiful, please don't worry.

2011-11-30T10:20:00.002-05:00

Time for a new song comparison! Yay!! Since Thanksgiving has passed, it is now officially time to start listening to Christmas music. I wanted to do this post before everyone got tired of Christmas songs. It happens to be one of my favorite wintry songs and I think it's a little silly to be considered a Christmas song, but I guess it makes more sense than "My Favorite Things." Now, I've got a long list of comparisons, so buckle up!

The song is: Baby, It's Cold Outside. It was originally written by Frank Loesser and was primarily performed by Loesser and his wife at parties. When Loesser sold the song to MGM to use in Neptune's Daughter, his wife was furious. I've heard her anger abated, however, when the song won an Academy Award. It should also be noted that in the music, the parts are written as "the mouse" and "the wolf."

1. Here's how the song was originally performed in Neptune's Daughter with Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams.

It's probably unnecessary for me to say that this is my favorite version of the song. It is, pure and simple, the original intent of the song, and I like that. I like that I have complete confidence in the mouse to handle herself around the wolf. I actually really like Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban as a pair, period. He's so sure of himself and so flirtatious but she's completely independent and able to take care of herself. A fun fact about this scene is that one of Ricardo's lines leading into the song is, "lovely lady, soft music, a warm summer's evening. You know, for an evening that started out so badly, it has definite possibilities." I love it because it gives the song a whole new twist. Well, maybe not twist. But it makes it much more humorous that he's trying to argue that it's too cold to go out when it's the middle of summer! After he sings his first line, she gives him this incredulous look like, "are you kidding me?" So funny! I love it! Okay, so that's number 1.

2. The duet immediately following this one pans over to Esther's sister, played by Betty Garrett, who is busy romancing Red Skelton (who, by the way, she thinks is Ricardo Montalban).

I think it's funny that this song is often performed this way - with the girl playing the wolf role. I love Betty Garrett. She's so cute! I like this version a lot in that I love the way they play around with the coats. It's very clever, I think. She keeps getting him to take the coat off.

3. The third film version of this song, from the movie Elf.

Other than the two versions in the original film, I find that this version is the freshest and most original. While they're singing the same words, the scene has a totally different feel. Ironically, it's potentially the sexiest scene, just because she's in the shower while she's singing - yet because the movie is the way it is, and the way the scene is played, all that comes out of this scene is innocence. That's what's so great about this version of the song: it's innocent. I don't think any other rendition of this song has that claim! And it's so sweet and kind of romantic the way he's singing along. So cute!

4. Last version I'm going to share is from television, so it's a little different than my usual set-up in that way, but it's worth a look. I should explain, first, that I am not a Glee fan. I've actually only ever seen the pilot episode. Nothing against Glee, it's just not my style. But, they did do a rather unique twist on an old classic. They performed it with two guys. Same basic idea. They sound great together. It's mostly odd to me because the mouse character does not seem at all opposed to the idea of being seduced by the wolf, but maybe that's the point. Perhaps that's an added twist. Who knows? What do you think?

I eat husbands.

2011-11-28T02:22:00.001-05:00

So, one of my favorite screwball comedies is a lesser known Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche film called Midnight. I know I've mentioned it before. The plot is moderately simple: penniless chorus girl, Eve (Colbert), is on the hunt for a rich husband when she meets taxi driver, Tibor Czerny (Ameche). Afraid she's falling in love with him, she's runs away and runs right into a high society party and a tricky love triangle. Now, a rich husband, George Flamarian (John Barrymore), wants Eve to help him separate his wife (Mary Astor) and her lover (Francis Lederer). Eve assumes Tibor's name to put on the charade and help George out. When Tibor finds out, he's on his way to find out why she's using his name... and to make it permanent! Here's a scene from the movie and I hope it'll whet your appetite to see the whole thing; it's a delightful film!

P.S. I titled the post as such because I think that line is so funny! And weird. What kind of a line is that?

Well, you might have mentioned me first on the billing.

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving!! Now, that it's officially past, we can now turn our minds to Christmas! Yay!! And as such, here's a wintery-type photo of Myrna, who looks like she's all ready to be comfy cozy in that robe. She's so beautiful!

Was I out yonder somewhere blinking at a star?

2011-11-26T21:43:00.001-05:00

So. I deleted my more recent post about Gigi. The more I thought about it, the more disgusted I became with myself. Someone took the time to recommend something to me and what did I do? I bashed the movie. It was terribly bad form and dreadful manners. I want my friends to feel comfortable recommending movies to me. I do apologize.

"You oughta be wearing golashes."

2011-11-25T01:19:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "I know what I like and I liked what I saw and I said to myself..." is from State Fair. The fill-in-the-blank was "That's For Me," which is also the name of the song! The song was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and, in the '45 version of the film, was performed by Vivian Blaine.

This week's quote is: "You oughta be wearing golashes."

Thanks a lot...

2011-11-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

So, I thought this clip rather appropriate for this week. I love this scene and I've been rather addicted to this song for some strange reason lately.

it has definite possibilities

2011-11-20T09:53:00.001-05:00

It's almost Thanksgiving!! Hooray!! Thanksgiving is one of my all-time favorite holidays. Right next to Christmas. And my birthday. And this photograph is my favorite fall-ish photo. The trees are actually pretty green in the photo, so it's probably not really fall. But it is California, so it could have been fall. Who knows? But their outfits and the coloring of the photo just say fall to me. I love it so much! I realize that I've posted it on here a bajillion times, but I never get tired of it. It's the background on my computer, and my iphone, and my computer at work. And every time I see it, I get all happy. So, here it is again.

"I know what I like and I liked what I saw and I said to myself..."

2011-11-18T01:09:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "Honey, you're the cutest piggy-bank in town" was from Kiss Me Kate.

This week, just to change things up, let's do a little fill in the blank: "I know what I like and I liked what I saw and I said to myself _____"

Hint: the fill-in-the-blank, is the name of the song.

and in Italy, everybody sings

2011-11-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

Exciting news!!! I found one of my all-time favorite scenes from Hit the Deck on YouTube! Ah, YouTube. Seriously, what would I do without it? Anyway, this scene is one of my favorites because a) Vic Damone sings b) the song is cute and c) everybody in this scene has such good chemistry. It's incredible! I'm going to be honest; I'm not always very good at pointing out who has good chemistry with who. But. In this scene, I'm so caught up with how much fun they seem to be having with each other. You really feel like they get along famously. It's little things.
Like when:
Kay Arden winks at Tony Martin as she hands him his wine
and when Debbie Reynolds tugs on Russ Tamblyn's tie to tell him to sing
and then when Russ Tamblyn laughs after singing (probably because he really isn't)
and when Debbie Reynolds pulls Russ Tamblyn's arm closer around her and leans on his hand
and when Russ Tamblyn leans his head on Kay Arden's shoulder
and when they all dance around the room and switch partners as if it's a surprise
and when Jane Powell whispers something to Vic Damone and he laughs
and when Kay Arden taps Debbie Reynolds under the chin

can you tell I've watched this scene a couple of times?
Ahem. Yeah, I really like it. It's so fun to watch. And it's fun to sing. Try it.

Do tell me what you think of this scene!

and you'll shoo the blues away.

2011-11-13T09:50:00.000-05:00

I love this photo! Have I mentioned how much I love Vic Damone? Look how cute he is in that sailor outfit! hehe. Anyways...

"Honey, you're the cutest piggy-bank in town."

2011-11-11T01:04:00.000-05:00

Last week's quote: "Thanks for the darling uranium mine!" is from the "Thanks A Lot, But No Thanks" scene in It's Always Fair Weather. The song was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and was performed in the film by Dolores Grey.

This week's quote is: "Honey, you're the cutest piggy-bank in town."

That doesn't rhyme!

2011-11-07T02:08:00.000-05:00

So, the other day, Brian Solomon highlighted a song on his fantastic blog, Standard of the Day: "Ain't We Got Fun?" His post led me to searching the song on YouTube and I came across this delightful scene from By The Light of the Silvery Moon. I've never seen the movie, but I want to now! This scene is so cute!

Well, gee... That'd be swell!

2011-11-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but this photo strikes me as very fall-ish - despite the fact that she's wearing shorts. The tree in the background is all bare and it's all in sepia tones, so I just see this photo and think of fall.

"Thanks for the darling uranium mine."

2011-11-04T10:32:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "Oh, father, we could buy the other half of the blanket!" is from Kismet. Marsinah (Ann Blythe) says it to her father (Howard Keel) when they come into money. I love that line!

This week's quote is: "Thanks for the darling uranium mine."

What's your Christmas wish?

2011-11-02T01:26:00.002-04:00

So, now that Halloween is over, we can all turn with full excitement towards the holidays. I don't care what my best friend says, I want to listen to Christmas music now! This is when I start buying my Christmas presents and start planning what I want to spend my birthday money on. I think I know where most of what I buy myself this year will come from: the Warner Bros. Archive Collection. Have you seen it? It's glorious. I have a whole wishlist of movies I want to buy. I actually haven't even seen most of them but I really want to watch them and they're not available on Netflix. And there are actually a few that I have but I'd like to own more legally. Besides, it's so awesome that they're releasing these movies that I want to support them as much as possible. So, here's my wishlist from the wonderful site:

Movies I've seen and must own:
- The Merry Widow - It's not my favorite Maurice Chevalier film, but he's so classically Chevalier-esque in this one, it's impossible to pass up!
- Bachelor Mother - I have a copy of this one already, but I love it so much, I'd like to have it again. It's so funny!
- It's Love I'm After - I've wanted this one ever since I saw it. It's so funny. I pretty much want any Leslie Howard romantic comedy I can get my hands on. There seem to be few of them.
- Small Town Girl - I'm talking about the 1953 version with Jane Powell. I love this movie! I actually haven't seen it in years but I remember it as being very funny and very fun.
- A Damsel in Distress - I am not the world's biggest Joan Fontaine fan but I do love Fred Astaire. Plus, George and Gracie Allen alone are worth buying the film.
- The Merry Andrew - I'd really like to own this one mostly to enhance my Danny Kaye collection. I love Danny Kaye!

Movies I've yet to see:
- Meet Me In Las Vegas - I really only want this because it has "Frankie and Johnny" and I'm curious to know what context the scene has in the story.
- Athena - Vic Damone. That's really the only reason I want it.
- Hard to Get - I don't know much about this one but it has two of my favorite people in it: Olivia de Havilland and Dick Powell. I'm very curious as to how they work together.
- Having a Wonderful Time - I love Ginger Rogers and this one looks really cute!
- Rich, Young and Pretty - Again, Vic Damone.
- It's a Wonderful World - I can't get a hold of this movie anywhere but the reviews of it seem pretty stellar. It looks so funny and cute! James Stewart and Claudette Colbert - they seem so unlikely but I like the idea of it!
- Yolanda and the Thief - Ok. This one looks really weird. But it has Fred Astaire and was directed by Vincente Minelli so you know there are going to be some awesome dances in it.
- Summer Holiday - I mostly want to see this one because of Gloria de Haven. She's so gorgeous and she always gets snotty type roles. I'm hoping this one's nicer because she's so cute!
- Invitation to the Dance - I feel like any Gene Kelly fan should have the opportunity to at least watch this movie, if not own it.
- Footsteps in the Dark - Errol Flynn in a murder mystery. Errol Flynn in a murder mystery!!!
- Too Hot to Handle - Myrna Loy pushed Clark Gable off her front porch in real life. I'm very curious as to how that relationship came out on screen!
- Lovely to Look At - I really, really want this movie. But then, I think you know all about that!

So, there you have it. My Warner Archives wishlist. What's on yours? Have you seen any of the ones on mine? What did you think?

She had you there, unc!

2011-10-31T12:10:00.001-04:00

So. It's Halloween. I confess that I'm not a huge fan of the holiday. Simply because witches, bats, spiders, and whatever is supposed to be scary isn't quite my thing. But, I absolutely love costumes! Since that's my favorite part of the holiday, here's a costume scene for your enjoyment:

By the way, fun story about this scene. Apparently, Myrna Loy originally was supposed to wear the dress that Jeanette MacDonald wears in the scene. When Myrna Loy came out look gorgeous (I mean, come on, it's Myrna Loy), Jeanette MacDonald got all nervous and demanded that she wear the dress instead! (This is why I don't like Jeanette MacDonald) So, Myrna Loy had to run down to the wardrobe department at the very last second to grab a dress. Well, turns out, she decided to go with a black one and then wear a white wig and, boy, does she look stunning in it! Myrna's friend, Lou MacFarlane said in Myrna's autobiography Being and Becoming (it's a marvelous book - I highly recommend it!), "She walked back on the set in that black dress and a powdered wig, and you didn't see anyone else in the scene. You see, all the others wore pastels--whites, pinks, things like that.[...] So if Myrna had worn the pink dress that MacDonald appropriated, she might never had made such an impact and become a star. Who knows?" I love that story. Yet another reason to absolutely love Myrna Loy.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!!

Well, I can't imagine... any pleasanter journey, ma'am, than walking through life with you beside me.

2011-10-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

I love this photo! I also love the line that I quoted in the title. To be honest, I omitted a small part of it (thus the ellipses). But, I love the way they're holding hands. If Errol Flynn were holding my hand like that, I'd definitely be running my fingers through my hair too!

"Oh, father, we could buy the other half of the blanket!"

2011-10-28T10:29:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "What stop for did you, hey!" is from the song "Come Up To My Place" from On The Town. The song was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and was performed in the film by Betty Garrett and Frank Sinatra.

This week's quote is: "Oh, father, we could buy the other half of the blanket!"

Backup dancers? Holy cats!

2011-10-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

So, there's this backup dancer that I've noticed in a lot of musicals. At first I noticed him because he was cute. Then I noticed him because I recognized him. Now, I look for him when I watch a musical because he's in so many! Seriously, here's a list of the ones I can remember at the top of my head:

- The Merry Andrew
- Hit the Deck
- Hello Dolly
- Guys and Dolls
- It's Always Fair Weather
- Mary Poppins
- The Thin Man Goes Home
- Summer Stock
- The Band Wagon
- The Music Man

He's probably in more but I've just forgotten or I haven't noticed him yet. Seriously, he's in everything! Because he's in so many musicals, he must have been a really fantastic dancer. I mean, I can tell he was fantastic; I've watched him. But, it's crazy to think of how much talent was in the musicals back then. No one even knows his name (I do, because I've researched: Bert May). Because I've noticed this random backup dancer, I've felt this sort of loyalty to cheer for him. I get pretty excited when I find him. It's like Where's Waldo. I'm linking to a movie clip with each of the titles above. Check them out and see if you can find him too!

Ok. Now, I know you may not feel like going through all of those links and trying to find him, so I'll help you out a bit (for some reason I went backwards. Don't ask me why):
- in The Music Man, he's the first guy in line with the glasses in the greenish shirt.
- in The Band Wagon, he's in the yellow turtleneck
- in Summer Stock, he's the guy who does the totally wacky leg thingy around the 2 minute mark
- in The Thin Man Goes Home, he's the sailor who dances with Nora
- in Mary Poppins, he's in that first group of 3 sweeps and he's the one on the far right
- in It's Always Fair Weather, he's Jasper (hehe)
- in Guys and Dolls, he's the guy in red who keeps losing. he gets his own solo bit.
- in Hello Dolly, he's Danny
- in Hit the Deck, he's wearing a lighter blue shirt and he has lighter hair. he's also really thin
- in the Merry Andrew, he's the guy in yellow

So, there you have it. I'm kind of obsessed with him. I don't know why. Do any of you have a random backup dancer you like? Have you seen this guy in anything else? I'm pretty sure I'm his one-girl fan club, so I'd like to see as much of his work as possible!

It suits her zodiac

2011-10-24T11:45:00.001-04:00

I absolutely love my investment of the That's Entertainment! boxed set. No, I don't watch the movies very much. I didn't really expect to. But, I have so many wonderful musical numbers at my fingertips whenever I want them. Like these little gems. The second one is an outtake. Oh, how I love Volume 3 for all of the outtakes! If you haven't seen the That's Entertainment trilogy and you're a fan of musicals - you must check them out. They're well worth the watch. And you'd be surprised by how many movies you'll discover you absolutely need to see!

P.S. I love her dress in the outtake scene (which is the second one). In a less exaggerated and costume-y version, I'm pretty sure I'd love to wear it. It's so cute!

Happiness is blooming all around her

2011-10-23T08:43:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't guessed it, this month's photo theme is candid photos. Now, for another of my favorites: Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke. He's so cute! I love the way he laughs! I also love the fact that I can see the calendar in the background. I don't know why, but it just makes the whole picture seem so every-day-esque.

"What stop for did you hey?"

2011-10-21T10:53:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "We'll show 'em a thing or three!" is said by Groucho in Animal Crackers but it's also said by Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio.

This week's quote is: "What stop for did you hey?"

Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls

2011-10-20T03:31:00.000-04:00

Have you ever found a dress that looked like one from an old movie... and didn't buy it? I have.

There's one style that pops up often in old films and every time it does, I say, "I love that!" But when I find a dress on Modcloth or ShopRuche that has a similar style, I don't buy it because I don't think I can pull it off. Here's the style:

Sheer fabric over a dress with a sweetheart cut. I love it! Here is one of my absolute, all-time favorite versions of this style:

Lena Horne's dress also has another of my favorite things: a different colored petticoat or slip (I'm not sure of the difference between the two). It makes the dress even more eye-catching! Isn't it gorgeous?! Another example is this little number from White Christmas.

But... as much as I love it on film, when I see dresses like these in shops, I think, "meh. Sheer fabric looks weird" and then I don't buy it. Why is it that in movies, the sheer fabric is sexy and elegant but nowadays, I'm afraid people will think I'm strange for wearing it? And why do I care what people think anyway?

And another thing! Why is it that in old movies, the dresses have capped sleeves or something, but nowadays, they're sleeveless?

It's not the same, somehow. Will I ever live out my dream of wearing Lena's dress?

The dresses pictured above, by the way, can be found here, here, and here.

Do any of you have similar problems with old movie styles?

You wonderful you

2011-10-19T02:22:00.001-04:00

So, today happens to be the birthday of one of my very best friends in the whole world - Emma Wallace!! Hooray!! Happy Birthday!!!

She recently celebrated her birthday on her podcast, do stop by and take a listen. I think you'll find it very fun!

Since one of Emma's favorite movie stars is Gene Kelly, I'm going to post one of the happiest Gene Kelly dances. Enjoy!

Do you like hats?

2011-10-17T11:42:00.000-04:00

Here's another movie that I want to see: Lovely to Look At. Actually, like The Affairs of Dobie Gillis, I caught the end of it on TCM. I know it won't quite hold a candle to Roberta but it doesn't have to. It just has to be a good movie with some really great scenes. Actually, it just has to have some really great scenes and I'll be sold. Actually, it already has some really great scenes and I'm already sold so can I please just see this movie?

Here's one of the reasons I want to see it:

There's a very good chance I've already posted this scene but I don't really care. It's so good!

A lucky star's above

2011-10-16T08:35:00.000-04:00

I love this photo of Ginger Rogers talking to George Gershwin. I had a tough time finding it, let me tell you. It was one of those photos I could picture in my mind's eye but I couldn't find it anywhere and was beginning to think I'd dreamt it! I finally remembered that I had it in a collection of photos that came with the Fred and Ginger boxed set so I scanned and voila! It's such a cute photo. And, in my opinion, Ginger is totally flirting with George (can you blame her?).

In her autobiography, Ginger: My Story, Ginger Rogers talks about going to a soiree at the Gershwins' and how George told her he'd written "But Not For Me" for her. How amazing would that be?

"We'll show 'em a thing or three!"

2011-10-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "When the moon is in the sky, tell me what am I to do?" was sung by Dick Powell in 42nd Street. It was written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren.

This week's quote: "We'll show 'em a thing or three!" is actually from two movies! (I know. I'm doing it again. I can't help it!) Bonus points if you get both!

and I'm not making fun with you.

2011-10-12T13:37:00.005-04:00

Today, I'm doing another fashion inspiration post - but with a new spin! As you've probably noticed, I rarely post photos of myself on this blog. While I like getting my photo taken, I get very self-conscious about it, so I tend to do it in moderation.

But, today I picked out an outfit that I was rather proud of. I'd modeled it after the outfit Lise wears in An American in Paris during the "Our Love Is Here to Stay" scene. Her outfit is pretty simple but some of the pieces are hard to track down nowadays. The outfit is a tuxedo shirt with a bowtie, a vest, a skirt, and ballet flats. I did roughly the same outfit, with a tuxedo shirt (sans bowtie), vest, a skirt, and ballet flats. I've found it very difficult to track down a nice fitted vest like the one Leslie Caron wears here. For some reason, they seem to be out of style at the moment. Her skirt is, in all honesty, a dancing skirt, and I don't have one of the same fabric to match the vest. But who's nitpicking?

The middle photo is from Doctor Macro. To see the dance scene go here.

There's them that does and them that don't

2011-10-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

I really want to see this movie! The Affairs of Dobie Gillis. I caught the end of it on TCM the other day so now I know how it ends... but I'd like to see the whole thing! I mean, it's got Bob Fosse and Bobby Van together in a movie! That's just magical!

Why, oh why, and wherefore?

2011-10-09T08:29:00.001-04:00

Ok. I love this photo. It's a weird photo and no one really looks all that glamorous in it, but that's why I love it. They look like normal people just hanging out. In reality, it's Debbie Reynolds, Russ Tamblyn, Vic Damone (I told you I was obsessed), and Tony Martin hanging out on the set of Hit the Deck. But when I see it, I think of all those silly photos I used to take of my friends in high school. It makes me want to jump back in time to this moment, so I can walk in and just hang out with them. Although, to be honest, I have no idea what Vic Damone is doing with Debbie Reynolds' head...

"When the moon is in the sky, tell me what am I to do?"

2011-10-07T09:42:00.002-04:00

So, once again I need to congratulate everyone who has correctly guessed the quotes from the past couple of months. So, let's have a round of applause to:

- Amanda Cooper who got: "The way of all flesh, Junior. The way of all flesh..."
- terryhogan who got: "If you like chicken, grab a wing."
- MC and Audrey who got: "We got a lot of votes from the farmers with a picture of a prize heifer."
- amz and emma wallace got: "Think of my life-long sorrow... if you caught pneumonia and died."
- DKoren and Meredith got: "It was written by a Latin, a gondolier who sat in his home out in Brooklyn and gazed at the stars."
- Amanda Cooper, emma wallace, AND Meredith all got: "When I find out what that means, I'll come back with a crushing reply."
- Wendymoon and erin got: "How could ignorance be compared to bliss?"
- Millie got: "In the question, you're the 'why.'"
- Irene Palfry got: "In other words, Miss Jane, you have a bad cold... and a headache."
- Matthew Conlam got: "Did someone call me schnorer?"

Last week's quote: "Testing the air... I like it but it doesn't like me" was from The Philadelphia Story.

This week's quote is: "When the moon is in the sky, tell me what am I to do?"

Thank heaven...

2011-10-04T00:01:00.004-04:00

My willing suspension of disbelief goes pretty far. I'm willing to believe all sorts of things when I settle down for a movie, a book, or a play. However, there is one thing that I've always had trouble with wrapping my mind around comfortably: men falling in love with girls. Not women. Girls. For example:
- Man knows girl growing up. One day realizes girl is becoming a woman. Decides he is attracted to said woman. Gut reaction is to make her his mistress (seriously?). Oh wait. They marry instead.
- Man meets girl. Thinks she's cute. Sees her in a corset. Decides to marry her.
- Man meets girl. Sends her to college. Meets her years later. Falls in love with her, even though she is his niece's best friend. (although, to be fair, I'm also weirded out by a girl falling in love with her best friend's uncle)

Here's my problem. It's not just Hollywood. Fairy tales and legends have been doing it for ages. A girl turns 16 and suddenly she's ready for marriage and happily ever after. Generally speaking, the character in question is cast or drawn to be considerably older than the suggested age, thus allowing the audience the ability to accept this. But I don't like it. I don't think that, at 16, a girl is ready to get married and have kids and raise a family.

And, I think here's the reason why I feel odd about this situation (bear with me, I'm switching gears a bit here...)

Basically, girls living in poverty are often married by the age of 14, getting pregnant and having children by the age of 15 (in case you didn't watch the video I just posted). When you think about it with real people, not characters, not fairy tale princesses, and not movie actresses, it's a horrifying thought.

Fortunately (again, for those who didn't watch the movie - or even if you did), there is a solution! (Yay! Solution!) It's an amazing campaign called The Girl Effect. If we invest in girls living in poverty, invest in their future and in their education - they can change the world. Simply by helping them to wrench themselves out of the vicious cycle of poverty, we can fight poverty, hunger, and the spread of diseases.

I'm blogging about this topic, in part, because of emma wallace, who told me about The Girl Effect and about the blogging campaign. The blogging campaign is an event taking place this week. If you have a blog then you can take part by blogging about The Girl Effect this week (October 4-11) so we can raise awareness of this solution. (I put it in bold because I want to make sure you can see it. I'm a compulsive skimmer, myself. I often skip the important bits). Even if you just have a facebook or a twitter account, it would be amazing if you could share this information (I love raising awareness of a solution as opposed to a problem. It's much happier news to spread).

Here are some links to help you research the topic, should you feel so inclined:
-emma wallace is writing her own post on the subject.
-if you want to write your own post, here is the link to the blogging campaign.
-if you don't want to read anyone else's opinion on it or don't want to write about your opinion on it and/or already have, you can go straight to the source.

The photo used at the top of the post is from Doctor Macro.

Come where the so well beloved is waiting

2011-10-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

So, I, uh (ahem) have been a little obsessed lately with Vic Damone. Actually, with two of his movies, Kismet and Hit the Deck. And Vic Damone. I don't know why. I don't know why I fall into any of my obsessions. It's always a little inexplicable and, it seems, a little unstoppable. In any case, I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. The following scene is a song that I have not been able to stop listening to. Every time it comes on, I play it again. To the point where I've finally added it twice on my playlist so that I don't have to keep replaying it. As the uploader says this is "a rather wonderful movie sequence." It's so incredibly over-the-top and completely unnecessary. But it's so much fun! My favorite parts are the dancing girls that keep weaving throughout the parade. And, by the way, can you imagine being Marsinah (the girl on the receiving end of this whole thing) and having this insane parade coming towards you - and all you're expecting is this cute gardener to show up? Crazy! So, here it is. Just click on the picture to get to the video.

to show that I was dancin' by...

2011-10-02T08:09:00.001-04:00

This photo, I'm pretty sure, can't quite handle all of the awesome it contains. Or maybe I can't. Can you imagine being a fly on the wall for this conversation?

"Testing the air... I like it but it doesn't like me."

2011-09-30T09:40:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "Did someone call me schnorer?" was from Animal Crackers and is sung by Groucho Marx in the "Hooray For Captain Spaulding" song. The song was written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and was also featured in the biopic of the two writers, Three Little Words and was sung in that movie by Fred Astaire (and Red Skelton - only he didn't really sing that line).

This week's quote is: "Testing the air... I like it but it doesn't like me."

And if you want some dig-dig-dignity

2011-09-28T09:10:00.000-04:00

Yay! A new fashion post! This one is kind of an odd one because it's really really easy... but, as this is an outfit I've really liked for a very long time, I think it's worth doing a post about, yes?

Ok. Here's a video clip with the outfit in it:

I've always loved this scene. Not only because it has Gene Kelly and it's a fun song but because the outfits are all so cute! They're so very 1950's and so casual. I love them all! But, my favorite is the one being worn by Jeanne Coyne (Gene's wife! but not at this time). The one on the left:

This is such a classic and easy outfit but I really like the way it's pulled together here. I love the tucked-in shirt, the big belt, the cuffed jeans, the rolled sleeves, and the loafers. I'm not entirely sure I'd go for socks these days... but maybe!

the shirt - this one is from Old Navy. The sleeves are already rolled up so it's ready to go! I also like that it's a neutral color but it's not white. It's kind of pinkish, just like her shirt! Yay!

the jeans - obviously, everyone has a pair of jeans they love. I'm still working on finding a good pair for me. For this outfit, however, I think a pair with a skinnier cut would be best so you could roll them up to better effect. This particular pair is from Old Navy.

the belt - I found surprisingly difficult to find a big brown leather belt with a simple buckle. I don't know why. I finally found this one at Urban Outfitters.

the shoes - these really are what pull this outfit together, in my mind. Well, these and the belt. But the outfit is so very simple that having really cute and unique shoes are what I think will make this outfit look vintage-inspired. This pair is from the one and only Modcloth.

I hope you liked this outfit post! I feel so silly writing about such a simple outfit but there's a lot to be said for simplicity. And a good classic look can go a long way.

You have the loveliest profile in all Hartfordshire!

2011-09-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

I love when I ask people which version of Pride and Prejudice they like best, they always say, "the good one!" I like them all, really, and this scene from the 1940 version is one of my favorites. The scene is the one where Jane is sick and and Mr. Bingley has to translate what the doctor is saying. So cute! The scene starts at 2:14 or thereabouts.

Man is a fish to cook

2011-09-25T11:06:00.000-04:00

I love this photo of Cary Grant! Priceless! And I'm afraid I don't know where I found it.

"Did someone call me schnorer?"

2011-09-23T09:38:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "In other words, Miss Jane, you have a bad cold... and a headache" was from Pride and Prejudice (1940).

This week's quote is: "Did someone call me schnorer?"

Bonus points if you can name two movies that have this quote in it!

And what did we see? We saw the sea.

2011-09-22T10:53:00.007-04:00

So, I'm sick. I've actually been sick but now it's moved to my nose and chest where all I do is sniffle and cough. The only good thing about being sick is that it gives you an excuse to relax. This said, I'm having a movie marathon. I love movie marathons. I think it's so fun to have a theme and plan a whole line-up of films (hmm. new blog post series?). Today, I decided to go for a theme of... well, I'll let you figure it out. Here's the line up:
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Born to Dance (1936)
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
On the Town (1949)
Hit the Deck (1955)

And because movie marathons are no fun alone, I'll let you join me (without having to get sick too). Ready? Here we go:

I hope you enjoyed the movie marathon!

I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore

2011-09-21T22:39:00.004-04:00

or

Remakes and the Contemporary Double Standard

I don't really know what I'd do without YouTube. I've discovered so many things and movies and movie stars through it. For example, I was watching movie clips and browsing through the suggestions list when I came upon this little gem:

I love Marge and Gower Champion. I actually discovered them originally through YouTube with this little number that I absolutely adore. Anyway, in watching the first clip, I remembered reading about Lovely to Look At (1952), which was a remake of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Roberta (1935), in a Fred and Ginger book where the author said that Marge and Gower Champion were "dizzy" as Fred and Ginger. I think that was the word she used: dizzy or dizzying or something. Anyhow, while watching this clip, I thought about that and found that I disagreed. I like them in those roles. They're different that Fred and Ginger and I don't think they're even trying to be Fred and Ginger. The whole plot is changed and characters are split and altered that they're really two different movies altogether.

Same song, Fred and Ginger style.

But. Were I watching a contemporary remake of Roberta and saw two contemporary actors dancing a dance that originated on screen with Fred and Ginger, I'd probably go out of my mind with frustration and judgment. Who do they think they are anyway? The upstarts! Trying to be Fred and Ginger?! Sickening!

What's funny to me is that there are tons of remakes that Hollywood churned out, some not even twenty years after the original (like in the case of these two movies). So why the Double Standard? I know I've discussed this before but it really fascinates me. I mean, some remakes I prefer to the originals (like in the case of Silk Stockings/Ninotchka). I don't think I have an answer for this question; it's just something I like to muse over. Your thoughts?

**I should clarify: I don't like Lovely to Look At better than Roberta. I'm just saying that some of the old remakes are so good that I like them just as much, if not better than the originals.

It changes bread and water into tea and cakes.

2011-09-19T09:57:00.000-04:00

My favorite Disney movie of all time: Mary Poppins. I love pretty much every single song in that movie but this scene is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why. I think it's because Bert is one of my favorite characters in the movie and I just love him in this part. I love Dick van Dyke. He's so amazing.

Cleopatra and Delilah had it way over Ruth

2011-09-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

I find this scene to be one of the craziest hyped up scenes ever. It's so random and weird and, from what I can tell, pretty unnecessary. I haven't actually seen the entire movie, to be honest, but it looks odd. It is Cecil B. DeMille so you know it's probably going to be pretty lavish and odd but still. In any case, this photo of Claudette Colbert is super cute - you can't tell at all that the milk she's bathing in smells terrible..

This photo is from Doctor Macro.

"In other words, Miss Jane, you have a bad cold... and a headache."

2011-09-16T09:33:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "In the question, you're the 'why'" was from the song "I Can Do Without You" from Calamity Jane, sung by Doris Day and Howard Keel and written by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

This week's quote is: "In other words, Miss Jane, you have a bad cold... and a headache."

Were there more than 24 hours a day...

2011-09-14T23:29:00.003-04:00

I really liked that comparing covers of songs in movies post I did a little while back, so I'm going to do another one today. This one is going to be kind of funny (well, I think it's funny) because I'm comparing "All I Do Is Dream of You," sung by Debbie Reynolds to "All I Do Is Dream of You".... sung by Debbie Reynolds! Okay, so I have an odd sense of humor. Nothing you didn't already know.

The first version is from Singin' In the Rain and is sung by Debbie Reynolds and a chorus of girls. This one is, by far, the more famous of the two versions. (Just click on the picture and it will take you to the video. YouTube wouldn't let me embed.)

I love this scene because it really sounds like a 1920's song. It's so raucous and crazy and I love the dancing in it! And ever since I was little, I've loved the "cat's meow" part. Anyway, you can't hear the lyrics very well in this version which works with the scene because no one is singing it with feeling - they're nightclub performers singing at a party. Their voices reflect this too as they all have that raucous nightclub-y type of voice. This isn't a scene to show off the girls' singing pipes; it's to show off their dancing style and their nice bodies in those cute little outfits. The song works as a vehicle to show what kind of a job Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) has in this film and acts as a comedic foil to the highbrow way in which she treats Gene Kelly in the previous scene.

Now, for the second version. This one is from The Affairs of Dobie Gillis, which was released a year later, and it's sung by Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van:

I find it kind of funny that one of the first comments below the video is "what an innocent time." But it really does explain the feel for this version of the song. It's very laid-back, very quiet, and much more intimate than the other version. It's sung in a way where you can actually hear the lyrics and it sounds more like a love song than in the previous version. There's nothing to distract you from the song (except the awesome harmonizing of Bobby Van - I love that!). This version is far from raucous and acts as a message to the audience on what kind of a relationship this couple has. In fact, it kind of makes me want to have a boy to go on a boat with, who'll play the ukulele and harmonize while I sing...

There was actually a third version of this song that was filmed but suffered as an outtake in Singin' in the Rain. Gene Kelly sang it and it's very different from both versions, although it's a little more similar to the second version. You can preview it here at last.fm. The song is, to me, a good deal sexier than either of the other two versions, probably because Gene Kelly is singing it and Gene Kelly is just sexy all-around, his voice not excluded. I know that somewhere, somewhere is a picture of Gene holding a pillow and I'm pretty sure it's from this scene. If that's the case, then that adds an extra bit of romance and whatnot to the scene as he's really thinking of her right before he goes to bed. Furthermore, this scene (which sadly, of all of them, never made the cut) best emulates the song. If I'm not mistaken, the scene was supposed to fit just after Kathy leaves Don at the party, after the cake throwing incident. It's a shame that the song didn't make it and also a shame that I can't find a video clip or photo of it anywhere! Ah well.

Domani chi lo sa, quel che sarà?

2011-09-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

I've probably posted this video before. It's such a good scene though! And I know I've said this a million times but I really wish Fran Jeffries had made more recordings and got more press as a singer. I just think she's amazing and gorgeous.

If you don't love livin', you is slightly uncouth

2011-09-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

He's so adorable.

This photo is from Doctor Macro

I had an uncle who laughed sometimes.

2011-09-10T19:36:00.003-04:00

So, I got this dvd boxed set and I've been pretty addicted to one movie in the set (it was actually the main reason I bought the set) - and I've actually been kind of obsessed with one song in this one movie in this boxed set (does anyone else get like that). To the point where I haven't even really watched any of the other movies because I just keep watching the same scenes over and over again. The boxed set is: Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 3. The movie is: Kismet. And the song is "Stranger In Paradise."

It's such a ridiculously beautiful song. I love the melody and I love the words (okay, well, most of them). And I love Vic Damone's voice. So amazing! If you've never seen the film, I do recommend it although it's pretty hard to find right now. It's pretty crazy but it is an MGM musical and it is directed by Vincente Minneli so you can probably pretty much expect it to be crazy. I tried to find the song on YouTube but no soap. I'll just have to make do with the very odd trailer.

There's also this clip on YouTube to give you a bit more of a taste of what to expect: http://youtu.be/fmyjsg7LwlQ
I do have to say that although my hometown did not boast of very many exciting things to do and places to see, it did have a library with a pretty stellar collection of old movies, particularly musicals. When I think back now to the shelves filled with such rarities as Kismet, Two Girls and a Sailor, Born to Dance, Top Hat, The Thin Man, and The Pirates of Penzance, I must admit that I was pretty darn lucky.

"In the question, you're the 'why.'"

2011-09-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

Last week's quote: "We're hats, you see, and we wanted to know if we could have a lady or two to Malloy with for the afternoon..." was from Hello Dolly!

Now, for this week's quote: "In the question, you're the 'why.'"

And it was raining, I think.

2011-09-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

Okay. So I think it's fair for me to do an occasional (maybe once a month - only I'm not going to necessarily schedule it that way) contemporary/modern movie (in other words, post 1960's) clip. This one deals with a classic movie so I think it fits very well with my blog. This happens to be one of my favorite clips. I die laughing every time! So good! This is, sadly, kind of how I get with some movies. I was describing a scene in Finding Neverland to my sister the other day and got all teary eyed... I felt pretty ridiculous. But this movie makes me feel better because I'm obviously not alone!

Love is a rippling brook

2011-09-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

Don't ask me why, but I've decided to do a sort of theme this month for my photo posts - stars taking baths! Yeah... I don't know. It started with me looking up the photo of Myrna Loy in a bath full of flowers (I think they're flowers. It's hard to tell) and then I thought of several other good photos and... well, you'll see. I just think is adorable in this, don't you?

This photo is from Doctor Macro.
P.S. You would not believe how hard it is to think of four movie quotes dealing with baths. So, since I couldn't find photos of Lena Horne in her famous bubble bath scene in Cabin in the Sky, I'm going to use lyrics from the song she sang "Ain't It De Truth" as my titles.

"We're hats, you see, and we wondered if we could have a lady or two to Malloy with for the afternoon..."

2011-09-02T10:05:00.001-04:00

Last week's quote: "How could ignorance be compared to bliss?" was from The Music Man. The song, "The Sadder But Wiser Girl" is written by Meredith Wilson and performed, in the '62 film, by Robert Preston.

This week's quote is: "We're hats, you see, and we wondered if we could have a lady or two to Malloy with for the afternoon..."

If you've seen one, you've seen them all.

2011-08-31T13:06:00.003-04:00

Okay. So, I want to take a little moment out of my usual routine to get really excited about a movie coming out this year. My only possible reservation in being totally thrilled is that I'm not sure if it ends happily. Looking at the trailer, I can see it go either way. I hope it's a happy ending, because if it is, this may just be perfect for me. If it doesn't, well, then I guess it will be almost-perfect. Anyway, the movie is The Artist. It is, I believe, a French movie and deals with the transition from silent films to sound. If I'm not mistaken, the movie is done entirely in black and white and is a silent! How exciting!! Here's the thing too: even if it isn't a silent, it gets major props in my book for having a silent trailer. Check this out:

Doesn't that look completely and totally amazing?! I'm so excited! I can barely contain it! And I have to wait until November to see it. Ugh. Can't wait. What do you think?

Look at her now: she's a go-gal, who only goes for me

2011-08-29T07:51:00.001-04:00

I love this movie! And the dancing in this movie is incredible! And this scene - perfection. Okay, so some of the steps are really weird, but that's part of the fun. Although I'm not that great of a dancer, one of my dream roles would be to play Zaneeta Shinn ("ye gods!").

From this point on, I'll use every means in my power to fight you.

2011-08-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

This scene is amazing! And I enjoy this picture. And I enjoy him.

"How could ignorance be compared to bliss?"

2011-08-26T10:02:00.002-04:00

Last week's quote was: "When I find out what that means, I'll come back with a crushing reply," which is from White Christmas. The quote before it (one of my favorites in the film) is: "My dear partner, when what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be worth getting whatever it is you've got left." Brilliant!

This week's quote: "How could ignorance be compared to bliss?"