Thanks a lot...

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.

I had an uncle who laughed sometimes.

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.

My heart wants to sing every song it hears

I think I sort of lost focus on my whole list project. You see, it all started out as this thing where I'd make a list every month. Just one post. Just one list. And then, when I started listing out my favorite dancers and linking to all my favorite dances, it occurred to me that no one would have the time or the inclination to watch all of those dances all at once, but they might watch them if I posted one post on each dancer. Anyway, then it sort of worked its way into this huge project where I was posting practically every day, and at least every week on these lists and I think I may have gotten a bit carried away. I like lists. I think lists are fun. I like reading them and I enjoy writing them. The whole point of this was to take the memes of Favorite Actors and Favorite Actresses one step farther and start more lists. I had hoped that maybe other bloggers would participate and then we could be listing our favorites and it would be barrels of fun.

So, I think I'm going to go back to my original intent. I'm going to write a list a month and let it go at that. Every now and again, I may move back into multiple postings and, at that point, I'll let you know. But I think that, for the most part, I'd like to just stick with lists. So, here is my list for the month of June:

Favorite female singers in movies:

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


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


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


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


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


15. June Allyson
Favorite song: "Thou Swell" from Words and Music


14. Judy Garland
Favorite song: "Mr. Monotony" from Easter Parade


13. Frances Langford
Favorite song: "Over There" from Yankee Doodle Dandy

12. Marni Nixon
Favorite songs: "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady


11. Doris Day
Favorite song: "The Deadwood Stage" from Calamity Jane


10. Dolores Gray

Favorite song: "Not Since Ninevah" from Kismet (song clip starts at 2:11)
I love the way Dolores Gray belts. She has an awesome voice that is powerful and sultry at the same time. I'd like to see her in more films but I've only seen in her Kismet and It's Always Fair Weather. Any recommendations?


9. Rosemary Clooney
Favorite song: "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" from White Christmas


6. Annette Funicello
Favorite songs: "Strummin' Song" from The Horsemasters, "I Can't Do The Sum" from Babes In Toyland, and "I Think You Think" from Beach Blanket Bingo


7. Gloria de Haven

Favorite song: "My Mother Told Me" from Two Girls and a Sailor


6. Marilyn Monroe
Favorite songs: "Lazy" from There's No Business Like Show Business, "I Wanna Be Loved By You" from Some Like It Hot, "I'm Through With Love" from Some Like It Hot and... well, basically, I love her, so pretty much every song.

5. Ginger Rogers
Favorite songs: "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" from Follow the Fleet, "Let Yourself Go" from Follow the Fleet, "We're In The Money" from The Gold Diggers of 1933


4. Ann Miller

Favorite songs: "Prehistoric Man" from On The Town, "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me Kate (really weird vid, sorry! but the audio is good), and "Shakin' the Blues Away" from Easter Parade.


3. Lena Horne
Favorite songs: "Honeysuckle Rose" from Thousands Cheer and "Paper Doll" from Two Girls and a Sailor (I'm sorry that I have no YouTube vids to share. I couldn't find either of these online)


2. Fran Jeffries

Favorite songs: "Meglio Stasera" from The Pink Panther and "Sex and the Single Girl" from Sex and the Single Girl


1. Julie Andrews


Favorite songs: "I Have Confidence" from Sound of Music, "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" from Mary Poppins, and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" from Thoroughly Modern Millie