That is how she won her Navy E!

Next up, let's talk about a couple of my favorite sailors: Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in their first film together...

Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Ah, Frank and Gene - a pair of fellas who could make any girl swoon. This was one of Frank Sinatra's earliest leading roles. I think it was one of the ones that helped define his on-screen persona as the quiet, shy, nervous charmer that he reprised in multiple films.This is my sister's favorite Gene Kelly movie and I certainly don't blame her. He's so incredibly sexy, charming, funny, and suave in this one. And to see the way he can handle a phone...

The film follows the story of two sailors on leave, Clarence (Sinatra) and Joe (Kelly). Once on shore, Clarence persuades Joe to help him find a girl. Joe reluctantly agrees and when the two are roped in to help a young boy, Donald, get home safely (Dean Stockwell in one of his earliest roles), Clarence quickly falls in love with the boy's beautiful Aunt Susie (Kathryn Grayson). As Joe attempts to bring the two together, he finds himself falling in love with Aunt Susie as well. But which one will get the girl?

There is, of course, a bit more to the plot, but that's what summaries are for, right? One tidbit that I know about this movie is, I think, a pretty well-known fact, but I'll share it anyway, just in case. Jerry the Mouse's role in "The Worry Song" was originally offered to Mickey Mouse but Walt Disney declined. I don't think he wanted his star to appear in a different production company's film. I think I read somewhere that Disney was very impressed with the end result. So that's pretty neat. As for Gene's other dancing partner... this wasn't Frank Sinatra's first musical but I believe it was his first dancing role. Gene Kelly pretty much had to teach him. When you see the end result, it's pretty incredible to think of having to learn from and keep up with Gene Kelly. Frank Sinatra, in my opinion, does really well. You can see him watching Gene as they dance in "I Begged Her" but you can hardly blame him for that.

This movie has some fantastic songs in it. Gene Kelly has a few really good dances to perform (my favorite is the "Mexican Hat Dance" he performs with the little girl) and Frank Sinatra gets to croon some mighty lovely tunes.

This is my sister's favorite Gene Kelly movie. What's yours?

All of the pictures featured in this post are from Doctor Macro.
Be sure to check my Facebook page for more pictures, movie clips, and quotes!

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

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

Oh, it sets your senses in a whirl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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



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

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

S is for sincerity... which she's got none of.

Poll results!

For the first poll, regarding the favorite of Clark Gable's leading ladies, the winner is...Vivien Leigh!
Out of 16 votes, she won 5 (31%). Myrna Loy followed with a close second with 4 votes (25%). Claudette Colbert had 3 (18%). And Jean Harlow and Joan Crawford tied with 2 votes each (12%).


The next poll between imitation and modernization was pretty close as well. Out of 9 votes total, 5 voted for modernization (55%) while 4 voted for imitation (44%).

Oh, and don't forget to vote for your favorite Kiss Me Kate fella in this week's poll!



Now for my spotlight on a performer. I want to talk about Kathryn Grayson today. Emma noted in her comment that Kathryn Grayson is very versatile. It's a trait that I've admired in the actress as well and I think it's worth discussing. She was in surprisingly few movies but she played completely different characters in each of them. In Kiss Me Kate (1953), she plays a tempermental ex-wife who throws pots with ease and punches Howard Keel repeatedly. In Anchors Aweigh (1945), she plays a sweet-tempered aunt whose only fervent wish is to work under Jose Iturbi. In Thousands Cheer (1943), she's a spunky young girl with a plan to make her parents make up and has a remarkable sense of humor. I've seen It Happened In Brooklyn (1947) and Show Boat (1951) once each so I cannot give much of a description of her character but I do remember that she's pretty different than the other characters I've just described. I feel Kathryn Grayson is pretty overlooked as an actress. She's memorable in all of her roles and all of her roles are different. (Not to mention, she's so stinking cute with her little nose that goes up like this and her huge dark eyes. Not only was she beautiful, she was adorable!) What do you think? Do you agree? What is your favorite Kathryn Grayson role/movie?

What's his crest? A hamburger smothered with onions?

Now, for the next movie in my countup:

#11: Kiss Me Kate (1953)


This movie was one of the first films I owned (on VHS, that is). My grandparents bought it for me without watching it first (and a good thing they didn't, because they disapproved of it when I later showed it to them). I love everyone in it. Howard Keel and Kathyrn Grayson are both on top 20 lists and Ann Miller, Bobby Van, Bob Fosse, and Tommy Rall are all on future lists! This movie has so much great dialogue ("All right. I give up. What is it? The headlight of a locomotive?") and so many wonderful songs by the great Cole Porter (it took me years to realize that it's not actually Cole Porter playing a cameo), and some lovely dresses. Not to mention that the dancing is terrific! The movie shows that you get magic when you put 6 incredible dancers together (you'll find the link to the dance later in the post) and that Kathryn Grayson looks good as a blonde and a redhead!

Now, usually at this time of the week, I give you the poll results. But the polls are still going, so I'll wait until Thursday. Despite the fact that I already have 2 polls up, I'm going to add a third (wow! 3 polls! that's intense!) as I usually do with my Tuesday posts. Which of Bianca's suitors is your favorite? In the original Shakespeare play, it's pretty clear which suitor the audience should be rooting for. But in the musical, they complicate things by making them dancers - and dancers with different styles at that. So, which do you like best? Gremio (Bobby Van), Hortensio (Bob Fosse), or Lucentio (Tommy Rall)? You can choose them based on wooing style:

Gremio: "to give a social lift to thy position"
Hortensio: "if thou wouldst attain the upper brackets"
Lucentio: "if on love unending thou art pining"

...or dancing style or on simple good looks:

(from top to bottom: Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall, Bobby Van)

It doesn't matter how or why you make your decision, I'm just curious to know which is the favorite of the suitors. I have two sisters and, growing up, we all favored a different one, so I want to know what you think. Have fun voting!

A pretty girl is like a melody

When I wrote my list of favorite 20 actors, I had so much fun that I couldn't wait to make a list of 20 favorite actresses. And then I realized that I should stretch out the fun and let it last all year long! So, the new plan is: every month I'll feature a new list. If you like the list, then please feel free to consider yourself tagged and make your own. So below is a list of my favorite 20 actresses and my favorite of their roles. Enjoy!

Oh, and a brief disclaimer: This aren't really in any particular order. Basically, the top ones are my favorites and the bottom ones are slightly less favorite. The top 5 or 6 are my tip-top favorites (I'm numbering them so that I can keep track of how many I have).

(Also, a second brief disclaimer: Grace Kelly is not on my list, despite the photograph of her here for the simple and shameful reason that I've only seen her in 1.5 movies, same goes for Barbara Stanwyck, who I've only seen in 1 movie. I plan to remedy the situation in each, I promise!)

1. Audrey Hepburn
Funny Face and My Fair Lady


2. Ginger Rogers
Roberta and Monkey Business


3. Myrna Loy
The Thin Man and Libeled Lady


4. Claudette Colbert
Midnight and It Happened One Night


5. Cyd Charisse
The Band Wagon and Silk Stockings


6. Olivia de Havilland
The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood


7. Kathryn Grayson
Thousands Cheer and Kiss Me Kate


8. Judy Holliday
Born Yesterday and It Should Happen to You


9. Marilyn Monroe
The Seven Year Itch



10. Julie Andrews
Mary Poppins


11. Irene Dunne
The Awful Truth


13. Donna Reed
It's A Wonderful Life


14. Sandra Dee
That Funny Feeling


15. June Allyson
Two Girls and a Sailor



16. Katharine Hepburn
Bringing Up Baby


17. Shirley Temple (okay, I know she's little, but I love her!)
Little Miss Broadway


18. Ava Gardner
One Touch of Venus


19. Natalie Wood
The Great Race
20. Ruby Keeler
Footlight Parade