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

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

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

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

You wonderful you

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!

She certainly can

Happy Birthday Marilyn!!


I'm embedding one of my favorite songs of hers. It's such a cute and sexy song!



By the way, in case you haven't heard yet, Debbie Reynolds is holding this crazy big auction for all of the movie memorabilia she's collected over the years. This outfit is in it. It makes me kind of sad that she couldn't put it into a museum. In any case though, I'm glad she was able to preserve these wonders.

There's something wild about you, child, that's so contagious.

Okay. So let me start off with the disclaimer that I realize this is very terrible what I am about to do. I have missed so dreadfully many birthdays (Ginger Rogers, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire to name just a small few) and yet here I am, about to celebrate the birthday of a non-classic, contemporary, and less well known actor. But there you have it, I'll do it anyway.

The fact is, I do like contemporary films as well as classic films and my favorite genres in contemporary films are a) family films and b) period films. Well, there's this one actor that I discovered in category a and then went on to find out that he'd made films in category b and, well, there was no hope for it... I fell in love. But, really, can you blame me?


Happy Birthday Ben Barnes! He turns 29 today. He was in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Easy Virtue. He is/was in other things too, of course, but those are the films of his that I have seen. I'm not sure if I'd like his other stuff. I'm a very picky fan. If I don't think I'll like a movie, I won't see it, no matter how obsessively, ridiculously in love with an actor I am. I'm pretty stinking excited about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is expected to come out in December. Can't wait!

And I know I've posted about this clip several times but I'm going to go ahead and post it again because it's one of those clips that makes me happy every time I watch it. And I have to add, on an unrelated note, that I absolutely adore the costumes, the sets, and the hairstyles in this movie (Easy Virtue). I also adore the music and Ben Barnes sings several times in the movie and they even feature him in a couple of songs in the soundtrack. Yay! So, what can beat a beautiful man singing Cole Porter songs?

Miss Christy, I'm incredible.

Today's segment is supposed to be a spotlight on a performer. I'm debating whether or not I should resist the urge to spotlight Errol Flynn, not that he needs it around my blog. Any thoughts? I'll hold off until next week. Instead, today, I'll write a big, warm, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Millie!!!
Hooray!!!


My attempt picspamming would be pretty pathetic so I decided to just post one really cute photo. Millie's blog is absolutely delightful. If you haven't checked it out, you should.

I've been horribly behind on my blog reading and commenting lately. I caught up today, finally, reading over 170 posts in one afternoon!! Because I was so behind, I missed two bloggers' birthdays. I hope Millie won't mind if I add good wishes to them too. Happy belated Birthday to Anna and Francy!! I hope your birthdays were swell!!

Thank you for all the comments on last month's daily posting experiment. I've decided to go ahead and do that again this month with dancing ladies (although, ironically, Joan Crawford will not be on the list).

It must be beautiful in Vermont this time of year... all that snow.

Happy belated birthday to Vera-Ellen!!

Amanda Cooper just wrote a beautiful write-up of the wonderful performer, whose birthday was two days ago. I can't put it quite as eloquently as Amanda did, but Vera-Ellen was an amazing dancer and a lovely actress. She is sadly overlooked as a performer these days despite her great talent. Because categories are fun, I'm going to categorize my favorites regarding Ms. Vera-Ellen.

Favorite role: Jessie in Three Little Words
Favorite duet: Definitely "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" with Danny Kaye from White Christmas, but the "Abraham" number with John Brascia follows as a pretty close second.
Favorite scene: Judy's proposal in White Christmas (this is also my favorite dress) The scene begins roughly after 7:30.
Favorite dance costume: the dress in "Come On Papa" in Three Little Words
Favorite dance moment: her entrance in "Choreography" (because this moment deserves its very own category)

Isn't that amazing?? I wish I could do that! (on an unrelated note, John Brascia's entrance in this song is also pretty neat - he leaps out of the floor!)

I also really love "Minstrel Number" from White Christmas, "Come On, Papa," from Three Little Words, and "Miss Turnstiles" from On the Town. What are your favorites regarding Vera-Ellen?

Just so you know, you can view a few of her movies in their entirety on IMDb. I'm bookmarking the pages right now for myself because there are a couple that I've never seen before!


I want to thank everyone who responded to my question regarding quotes! I'm really excited about starting the quote segment! I'm trying to figure out which day is best. But I will have one up soon!

You're the top!

Happy Birthday Kevin Kline!

Now, I had a post all written up, and I even published it... but then I realized that it was Kevin Kline's birthday and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I've been wanting to write a compare/contrast post about Night and Day (1946) and De-Lovely (2004). The trouble is, I've only seen De-Lovely once. It was about four years ago and I saw it with my step-mom who often interpreted movies differently than I did. Therefore, I regret to say that this will not be the best post I have ever done because I have not done adequate amounts of research on it. But I will what I can. Hopefully I'll be able to rewatch De-Lovely soon and, if necessary, I'll make edits to this post accordingly. If I do, I will let you know.


De-Lovely tells the story of Cole Porter (played by Kevin Kline) and his wife, Linda (played by Ashley Judd). A contemporary, biographry, it does not hold back on the details of Porter's homosexuality. Rather, the movie emphasizes those details. It is all told in retrospect, as an old Porter looks back on his life and reflects. Again, it has been a while since I've seen the film, but I remember the wild parties depicted, the tragic scenes, and the overall somber attitude. This could be a case of misremembering and, if it is, please let me know! In any case, it works well as a comparison to:


Night and Day, which stars Cary Grant as Cole Porter and Alexis Smith as Linda Lee Porter, with Michael Curtiz directing. Interestingly enough, Cole Porter was actually alive when they made this fictionalized biography of him. I think it is an important detail due to the way they portray the songwriter's life. For example, they completely omit his homosexuality and suggest that the Porter's marriage came to rocky terms due to his excessive work ethic. As the movie was made in the '40s, this omission makes sense, particularly with the subject still being alive - audiences would not have been as accepting of a favorite romantic composer being gay. I've heard that Cary Grant was cast mostly as a wish fulfillment for Porter. Apparently they asked who he'd like to have play him, he said, "Cary Grant," and so Cary Grant was cast. I've also heard that Grant was very frustrated by the portrayal of Cole Porter as he was friends with the composer and knew that the story being told was mostly false. I hate to fill this post with so many "I've heard"s and "I believe"s, but I promise to rewatch these films and do better research in the future!! I watched this movie after I'd seen Night and Day and was completely surprised by the lighthearted way it was handled. To be honest, I was rather relieved. The '40s went through a small phase of making fictional biographies of composers, including, Words and Music (1948) (Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart) and Rhapsody in Blue (1945) (George Gershwin). I'd already seen both of those films before Night and Day and I really prefer the latter with its lighthearted style. They all are described as fictional biographies and, in my opinion, if you're going to make up facts about a real person, you might as well make them cheery facts! However, I will admit that De-Lovely does more justice to the truth in Cole Porter's story.


So there you have it. Two films about the same person with completely different storylines and styles. If you are a fan of Cole Porter, I encourage you to check these two films out and make your own judgment on which is the superior film and which is the truer depiction of Cole Porter.

And, as a treat, here are two clips. One, with Cary Grant singing (a rare treat!) and the second, with Kevin Kline and John Barrowman performing one of my favorite Cole Porter songs.

Also, I highly recommend you check out Kevin Kline in Pirates of Penzance (1983) which can be found here.

Practically perfect in every way

Happy Birthday Julie Andrews! Just in time to feel all warm and comfy inside with the coming of fall, we can celebrate a wonderful performer's movies that will also make you feel warm and comfy inside: it's a perfect match! I have, luckily, seen more Julie Andrews movies than my last birthday person, Donald O'Connor. I've seen about 6 Julie Andrews movies, unless you count her voice acting, in which case I've seen 8. This summer, I rekindled my admiration and love for Julie Andrews when I introduced Mary Poppins (1964) and Sound of Music (1965) to my almost-two-year-old niece. This rekindling inspired me to revisit another movie that I hadn't liked the first time around, Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), which I now love. I also watched Relative Values (2000) for the first time and fell in love with it. The Princess Diaries films (2001 and 2004) are also a good testament to how elegant, graceful, and sophisticated Julie Andrews is. Most people have seen at least one Julie Andrews movie, usually two or three or four so I probably don't need to review them. What is your favorite Julie Andrews role? Your favorite Julie Andrews film (if there's a difference in the two)? Your favorite Julie Andrews song? Your favorite Julie Andrews line? Did I miss any spectacular Julie Andrews movie that you recommend? I'm really trying to get more responses to this blog because I'd like to know who is reading it. If you all want to say is "Happy Birthday" then that's okay too! So, to get the ball rolling:

Favorite Julie Andrews role: Mary Poppins:


Favorite Julie Andrews film: I really hate to say the same movie twice so I'll change it up with Relative Values even though Mary Poppins is probably my favorite:


Favorite Julie Andrews song: Toss up between "Feed the Birds (Tuppence A Bag)," "Chim Chim Cheree" and "I Have Confidence."



Favorite Julie Andrews line: "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be unspeakably fatal."

And Happy Birthday Julie Andrews! Yay!
(And Happy October too)

I'm glad you showed up. We've been looking inside every cake in town.

Today, instead of reviewing a movie or comparing a few movies, I want to celebrate a birthday:

Happy Birthday Donald O'Connor!!


He was born on August 28th, 1925. Most people know or remember him for his performance in Singin' in the Rain (1952) as the hilarious Cosmo Brown. I have been fortunate enough to see him other roles but I haven't seen as many of his films as I would like. However, from the ones I have seen - Call Me Madam (1953), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), and That Funny Feeling (1965) - I still like Singin' in the Rain the best. Now, to be fair, Singin' in the Rain is hard to beat (it's an indisputable classic) and I really have not seen many of his movies, much to my shame and disappointment. If you are looking for a little more Donald O'Connor, I can offer my suggestions from my meager experience with his films. Call Me Madam is my favorite of the three films that I have seen (concerning him, that is). I'm not an Ethel Merman fan but the parts with Vera-Ellen and Donald O'Connor are very cute. The plot is cute and the songs are wonderful (they include "It's A Lovely Day Today" and "You're Just In Love" - two of my favorites). With There's No Business Like Show Business, you have to get through Ethel Merman's singing again, but you get some Marilyn Monroe to compensate. Finally, That Funny Feeling is a delightful Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin film but Donald O'Connor, while great, is not the witty and wacky side-kick, or the charming and clever lead, but the luckless, abused best friend (not my favorite role for him).

In any role, Donald O'Connor shines through as a brilliant performer. I highly encourage checking out his other films. And, to encourage a wee bit of dialogue on this blog and to celebrate his birthday, can everyone please comment with
a) your favorite Donald O'Connor movie
b) and/or your favorite Cosmo quote (there are so many good ones!)

To conclude, here is a classic O'Connor number. Enjoy!