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

Have you got any monotony today?

Now, continuing in my list of singing ladies...

15. June Allyson

Favorite song: "Thou Swell" from Words and Music
June Allyson is probably my favorite girl-next-door. Her dancing seemed like every day dancing, her acting appeared natural, and her singing was almost like your average girl singing (but not quite). I love her dusty voice. She always seems easy to relate to and her singing adds to that effect.


14. Judy Garland

Favorite song: "Mr. Monotony" from Easter Parade
I realize that this number was deleted from the film but I really like it. Not many could pull off a melody of so few notes but Judy manages it brilliantly. You may be surprised that such a famous and one-of-a-kind singer is so low on my list. The truth is, I go back and forth over whether or not I like her voice. She had an amazing voice - no contest there - I am simply not always in the mood for it.


13. Frances Langford

Favorite song: "Over There" from Yankee Doodle Dandy
This girl is another one of those Where's Waldo situations and, I must say, I'm still quite proud of myself for placing her. I loved her voice in Yankee Doodle Dandy and when I heard "Hey, Babe, Hey," I had a feeling it was the same singer. I was right!


12. Marni Nixon

Favorite songs: "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady
Marni Nixon doesn't get as much credit as she deserves (and she probably deserves to be higher on my list but I'm not sure where to put her). She enchanted audiences in several famous musicals but we never get to see her face and most of us, myself included, forget her entirely. But she had an amazing and beautiful voice that really aded to the magic of classics like The King and I, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story.


11. Doris Day


Favorite song: "The Deadwood Stage" from Calamity Jane
I've picked this song as my favorite for a few reasons. First, it's probably my favorite Doris Day film. Second reason is that Doris Day had a cool, dusty voice that works well with both boisterous songs and soft ballads - and this song has both aspects to it. Mostly, it's a boisterous, rowdy introduction to Calamity Jane but there is a particular moment when she sings about the stage coming home like "a pigeon that's hankering after its nest" - it's a pretty moment to listen to. I did not pick "Que Sera Sera" because I haven't seen that film yet and that didn't seem fair.

"I couldn't be clearer if I was a button hook in well water!"

Congratulations to Juliette, SassyGinger, Mel, and VKMfan for getting the quote right last week! Ironically, I read soon after that the quote was featured on a list of funniest movie quotes (and I think I misquoted it slightly.. oops!).

Now, for this week's quote of the week:

"I couldn't be clearer if I was a button hook in well water!"

Sometimes toe-shoes

Spotlight on a costume! (Actually, this is going to be more like a spotlight on several costumes... I just can't resist!) It seems as though all of the actresses in that golden age got to wear really amazing costumes all the time. Cyd Charisse is no exception. I'm sure I could find at least ten of her outfits I absolutely must have in my dream wardrobe. This one here is one of those ten. She wears it in The Band Wagon in the scene where Gabrielle Gerard first meets Tony Hunter. I love this lacy dress with the green undertone - so classy and beautiful! [I also love this scene but that's another matter]




This movie has lots of fantastic outfits for Miss Charisse. I know I've discussed the matter with Emma Wallace (who I had the chance to interview the other day!) and she's quite partial to the dress Cyd Charisse wears at the end of the film (which can be found near the beginning of the trailer). Every time I watch the movie with my mom, she says how much she loves the dress in "Dancing in the Dark." And my sister has mentioned how incredible that see-through dress in "Girl Hunt Ballet" is (go to 5:00 to see the dress). And then, of course, there's the more famous red vixen dress which was, apparently, Cyd Charisse's favorite:



So, which one is your favorite?

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!

Lanky brunettes with wicked jaws

I have a mystery for all of you. This is quite important. I should probably explain a little bit first though... last week I worked for several hours in this one conference room. The conference room is vaguely decorated with old Hollywood - in that there are 4 framed photographs on the walls: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, and a brunette who, I assume, is from the '40's era. The problem is I really, honestly, have no idea who this lady is! My coworkers were guessing Rita Hayworth, Myrna Loy, Ava Gardner. I told them that she wasn't any of those ladies and then they told me to go ask an old movie buff. I said I am an old movie buff and then they said to go ask another old movie buff.

So, I'm taking their advice: who is this woman???


The best suggestion I've heard is a very young, glamorous Virginia O'Brien. That's the only guess I've heard that sounds possible. Please help because this is driving crazy!

Thank you.



P.S. Funny thing. Can you see Fred Astaire's photo reflected on the glass?

It's putting me way behind in my drinking

I hate to say it, but I've been falling behind lately. I wish I could blame it on something cool like, "I've been working on my manuscript" or "I just got back from a marvelous vacation!" but, sadly, the reason is quite boring: I've been working some crazy hours and I'm too lazy to write when I get home. But in the midst of my crazy work hours, I managed to write out some blog posts - all I have to do is transcribe them to blogger, find the photos and the videos and then schedule them.

I also need to catch up on my blog comments. I have far too many unread blog posts. I will slowly be catching up on this. So if you randomly get a comment from me on a post written several weeks ago, don't be surprised. I'd just leave it be and start new but I don't want to miss anything amazing and I hate that you have all been amazing and been commenting on my blog and I haven't reciprocated. So, I plan to work on that as well.

Oh! and good news: you know how, oh so long ago, I said that I wanted to watch all the special features on my movies? Well, I finally started working on that the other day by watching a featurette on Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Tonight, I continued with 101 Dalmatians and The Band Wagon. It's awfully exciting that I'm finally working on that!

Anyway, I just wanted to write a brief disclaimer about the belated comments I will be leaving.