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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 9, 2024 14:19:54 GMT
Avert your eyes, kim, because this innocuously hummable tune by the pop group The Turtles was commissioned for A Guide for the Married Man (1967), basically a compendium of stories about cheating husbands who did or didn't get away with it. The title sequence gives the game away with Walter Matthau visually surveying the women around him, with plenty of camera shots on butts and elsewhere. Gene Kelly directed it, but that doesn't prevent it from being somewhat distasteful even by 1960's standards. There's a great cast but it doesn't seem to get shown much today and I don't wonder why. Like the tune, though. Music by Johnny Williams. Sound familiar? That movie was made ten years after it should have been as the whole '50s battle-of-the-sexes movies that pivoted on the man wanting to cheat or have premarital sex was insanely dated by the late 1960s, plus as you point out, this one pushed the sexist stupidity further than most. I haven't seen it in years, but I remember thinking it might be an intentional parody of those '50s movie, if not, it was just dumb and tasteless. The song, like the movie, seems bland and a bit dated - generic earlier rock and roll. Couldn't agree more. "Dumb and tasteless". As I explained above, I had a senior moment and posted something here meant for the Movie Them Songs thread, so I was deleting it just as you responded. Not a great way to start the day, but not all that unusual either.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 9, 2024 14:41:58 GMT
That movie was made ten years after it should have been as the whole '50s battle-of-the-sexes movies that pivoted on the man wanting to cheat or have premarital sex was insanely dated by the late 1960s, plus as you point out, this one pushed the sexist stupidity further than most. I haven't seen it in years, but I remember thinking it might be an intentional parody of those '50s movie, if not, it was just dumb and tasteless. The song, like the movie, seems bland and a bit dated - generic earlier rock and roll. Couldn't agree more. "Dumb and tasteless". As I explained above, I had a senior moment and posted something here meant for the Movie Them Songs thread, so I was deleting it just as you responded. Not a great way to start the day, but not all that unusual either. Happens to all of us. I was wondering where your post went.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 10, 2024 14:33:17 GMT
"The Big Dance" is always a good pretext for a large-scale group dance number, like this number, "The Varsity Drag" from Good News (1947), a revival of the old stage musical with June Allyson and Peter Lawford. Fantastic dancer Joan McCracken was also in the film and had a great number, "Pass That Peace Pipe"; it's too bad they didn't feature her here as well, but I guess June was the star after all. You may be familiar with any or all of these. so feel free to pick and choose.
Another super-sized group dance number was "Slue Foot" from Daddy Long Legs (1955). I love wide-screen musicals and this was a good one. People who grew up after the popularity of CinemaScope maybe aren't aware of exactly how w-i-d-e it really was because prints are so often trimmed to fit modern TV screen configurations, but when you saw something like this in a theater it was a marvel to behold. This print seems to be the proper ratio. Ray Anthony, Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.
And who can forget "Hand Jive" at Rydell High in Grease (1978), even more energetic (and a little lewder) than the ones above. It's all on live TV so there are attention-grabbing stunts galore and all the "kids" get in on the action. "Hound Dog", leading into "Born to Hand Jive" by Sha Na Na.
John Waters built Hairspray (1980) around all the dances from his youth as seen on a local TV dance show in Baltimore. Many of them were faithfully recreated for the movie, as seen in "It's Madison Time". Not only is this fun, it's actually a good historical record, both of the music and the fashion (and hairdo's). The Ray Bryant Combo.
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Post by kims on Mar 11, 2024 1:48:23 GMT
Surely, Melvin, you don't think I'm that sensitive. I ran movie theaters for 14 years-sex-ploitation, black-ploitation--if it could be "ploitated" we ran it. And just plain films that proved false that "if you make it, they will come."
I should probably confess this under the Capote thread, I offer that I am not quite a prude: When Slim told Capote why he shouldn't invite Brynner to the Ball, that reason was contrary to other sources. I googled it and the other sources are right.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 13, 2024 23:34:23 GMT
Ann Sheridan was one of those actresses who could help carry a movie, even if the movie didn't really deserve it. She had personality plus and put it to good use whatever she did. She was a good actress and comedienne, as well as a decent singer, though she had much less opportunity to do that. "In Waikiki" is from Navy Blues (1941), a kind of tepid service comedy with musical elements, and Ann is supported by "The Navy Blues Sextette", the women who introduce the number. I'm curious how her singing on film came about, because studios routinely dubbed even their biggest stars. My hunch is that she may have lobbied hard to get it and she certainly has nothing to be ashamed of.
Warner Brothers turned the use of actors and actresses who didn't normally sing into a gimmick for Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), giving numbers to the likes of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. Ann got another turn to show her stuff as well, in "Love Isn't Born, It's Made", accompanied by another bevy, though presumably none of The Navy Blues Sextette.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 14, 2024 9:10:14 GMT
⇧ "Ann Sheridan was one of those actresses who could help carry a movie, even if the movie didn't really deserve it. She had personality plus and put it to good use whatever she did"
That is so spot on. It's that "X factor" the great ones have. They somehow just make the material better or you enjoy them so much you don't care that the material isn't that good.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 17, 2024 14:08:43 GMT
A post about Jerry Lewis in another thread (A tip of the hat to Bunny Whit) made me remember this number from Jerry's The Ladies Man (1961), in which he plays a houseboy in a hotel for women. One of his encounters is with a Miss Cartilage (Sylvia Lewis; no relation), who inexplicably has Harry James and his band sequestered in her room. A little Jerry goes a long way with me but I liked this movie as a kid and it's a good example of how he liked to insert himself into unexpected and maybe inappropriate situations in order to get laughs, so here he is inserting himself into a Hollywood musical number. It's interesting to note how well-crafted his ineptness really is; there wasn't anything sloppy or under-rehearsed about his comedy, no matter how scattershot it may have appeared.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 17, 2024 14:16:31 GMT
This is on the TCM schedule for today but I feel like posting this here anyway. "It's a Great Day for the Irish" from Little Nellie Kelly (1940).
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 17, 2024 14:18:29 GMT
A post about Jerry Lewis in another thread (A tip of the hat to Bunny Whit) made me remember this number from Jerry's The Ladies Man (1961), in which he plays a houseboy in a hotel for women. One of his encounters is with a Miss Cartilage (Sylvia Lewis; no relation), who inexplicably has Harry James and his band sequestered in her room. A little Jerry goes a long way with me but I liked this movie as a kid and it's a good example of how he liked to insert himself into unexpected and maybe inappropriate situations in order to get laughs, so here he is inserting himself into a Hollywood musical number. It's interesting to note how well-crafted his ineptness really is; there wasn't anything sloppy or under-rehearsed about his comedy, no matter how scattershot it may have appeared. I greatly respect Jerry Lewis' talent, which is on display here. But overall, little he does works for me.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 17, 2024 14:21:28 GMT
This is on the TCM schedule for today but I feel like posting this here anyway. "It's a Great Day for the Irish" from Little Nellie Kelly (1940). If my life depended on it, I couldn't say those lyrics that quickly - let's not even talk about singing them - without making a lot of mistakes. Kudos to them - that's talent.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 21, 2024 14:18:43 GMT
Since I highlighted Jerry, I guess it's only fair to highlight Dean, from one of the better of their screen pairings, Frank Tashlin's Artists and Models (1955). "The Lucky Song", a real charmer. This was the first time they'd worked with the director but he later directed them in one more film and six more with Jerry as a solo. I'm a fan of his colorful, cartoon-y style, best displayed in The Girl Can't Help It (1956) the next year. Thankfully, the Martin/Lewis "formula" always allowed Dean some screen time alone to work his magic in song.
Artists and Models was Shirley MacLaine's second film, after The Trouble with Harry for Hitchcock and her first opportunity to sing on film. Unfortunately, Jerry was allowed to set the tone for this number, even though it's a serious ballad sung by her, so Shirley is basically forced to mimic his antics. Shirley was always great at antics, so don't get me wrong, but to my mind it reduces the impact the song might have had. Shirley never worked with Jerry again but co-starred with Dean a total of six times after this, mostly light comedies but also in Vincente Minnelli's drama Some Came Running (1958). But here she is playing second fiddle to Jerry in her own number. "Inamorata".
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 26, 2024 13:07:53 GMT
Dorothy Lamour was basically out of pictures for many years until she popped up unexpectedly in, of all places, American-International's Pajama Party (1964), along with Buster Keaton and Elsa Lancaster. She gamely sang and danced her way through a musical number, "Where Did I Go Wrong?", to which of course the answer is "You didn't, Dorothy. It's the pictures that got small." Despite the rampant stupidity, it was great to see her and even more so now, all these years later. That's Teri Garr in the yellow "playsuit" and Toni Basil in the metallic bikini, both of whom were working their way up in the ranks at the time.
Naturally, we can't go without a look back, so here's Dorothy with Jimmy Dorsey's band in Paramount's The Fleet's In (1942). "When You Hear the Time Signal"
As a bonus, here's Dorothy with an incredibly young William Holden, sharing a number with Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken. "Not Mine".
And from Twentieth Century-Fox's drama Johnny Apollo (1940) with Tyrone Power, in which she played a club singer. "The Beginning of the End". This one had me scrambling to make sure there wasn't dubbing involved because her voice seems to have a slightly different, huskier quality, but IMDb sez it's Dorothy. She'd been a band singer until she signed her Paramount contract in 1936, so her vocals chops were real, and this film was a loan-out to Fox, who wanted a singing actress for the part.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 26, 2024 18:39:11 GMT
Speaking of Tony Basil (the Dorothy Lamour number above), she choreographed some dancing in The Monkees movie Head (1968), including this one in which she danced with Davy Jones in this nice nod to classic movie dancing. A younger Davy had performed as The Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver!, so he knew just what to do with choreography. The number also seems to be a nod to The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour (1967), in which the lads dressed in white tie and tails for a choreographed sequence.
"Your Mother Should Know" from Magical Mystery Tour (1967).
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Post by kims on Mar 26, 2024 21:05:24 GMT
I Love Melvin: Your film is on TCM at 11:15 tonight!!!
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 28, 2024 12:15:40 GMT
I Love Melvin: Your film is on TCM at 11:15 tonight!!! Thank you, kim. Here's the "meet cute" in your honor. The movie's a "B" rather than an "A" picture by MGM standards, but they make an adorable couple. You've provided me with the opportunity, so here goes....Each had their own numbers as well as numbers together. I'm pretty sure I haven't already posted Donald's "I Wanna Wander". I think I've already posted Debbie's number with the multiple Astaires and Kellys (?), but who cares? It's definitely worth a repeat though. "If I had a Million Dollars". And I ought to have posted their number in the living room, but I don't think I have. "Where Did You Learn to Dance?" Thanks, kim, for providing the excuse for my trip down Memory Lane. So much singing and dancing packed into one little movie, and two of my favorites doing it.
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