Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS (1956)

Monday, March 8, 2010

MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS (1956)

Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). Musical/comedy. Producer: Joe Pasternack. Director: Roy Rowland. Cast: Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey, Agnes Moorehead, Lili Darvas, Jim Backus, Oscar Karlweis, Liliane Montevecchi, and Cara Williams. Guest stars appearing in the film are Jerry Colonna, Paul Henreid, Lena Horne, Frankie Laine, and Mitsuko Sawamara. Cameo appearances include: Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Pier Angeli, Peter Lorre, and Tony Martin (who was married to Charisse until her death in 2008). The screenplay is by Isobel Lennart. Cinematography: Robert Bronner. Music direction: George Stoll. Choreography: Hermes Pan and Eugene Loring.

Chuck Rodwell returns to the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas every year in hopes to make it rich . One day in the casino, as ballerina Maria Corvier is in a mad rush out of rehearsal, she passes by Chuck who grabs her hand for good luck and wins. When Chuck wins a slot machine jackpot as he takes Maria's hand, he believes his winning is because of her. Now in her room, Maria makes a call to her manager, to break her Las Vegas show, but learns she can not get out of it. Maria's chaperon, tells Maria that love helped her through her dancing career, but.. Maria believes that her only love is dancing. After a losing streak at the gambling tables, Chuck goes to Maria's room, where he tells her that she is his good-luck charm. Maria is surprised when they win the jackpot two times in row and agrees to a game at a casino roulette table, where they also win. But their luck soon changes when they begin to fall in love. This is the first time I have seen Meet Me in Las Vagas. One of my favorite scenes is when a drunken Maria, who is jealous of one of the dancers, stumbles onto the stage and joins the chorus girls in high kicks and sexy hip movements. Also, it was fun to see Anges Moorhead performing in a mother role.

Soundtracks:
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"Rehearsal Ballet"
Music by Johnny Green
Choreographed by Eugene Loring
Danced by Cyd Charisse and Ensemble

"Sleeping Beauty Ballet"
(excerpt)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographed by Eugene Loring
Danced by Cyd Charisse and Ensemble

"I Refuse to Rock and Roll"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Cara Williams

"Hell Hath No Fury"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Frankie Laine

"Frankie and Johnny"
Traditional
Special lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Sammy Davis Jr.
Danced by Cyd Charisse and Ensemble

"Meet Me in Las Vegas"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung off screen by The Four Aces

"If You Can Dream"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Lena Horne
Also sung off screen by The Four Aces

"The Gal with the Yaller Shoes"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung and danced by Dan Dailey, joined by Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead and Chorus Boys
Also partially sung off screen by The Four Aces

"My Lucky Charm"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung and danced by Dan Dailey and Mitsuko Sawamura
Also sung by Jerry Colonna
Danced by Cyd Charisse and Chorus Girls

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Bob Fosse

Was a musical theater choreographer and director, screenwriter and film director. He won an eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret. He was identified with his third wife, Gwen Verdon. She was both the dancer/collaborator who he choreographed much of his work and, together with dancer/choreographer Ann Reinking, a guardian of the Fosse legacy after his death. Fosse is considered to be one the most influential coreographers of the 20th Century.

Esther Williams.

JANE POWELL

After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens. Once there, the studio utilized her vocal, dancing and acting talents, casting her in such musicals as Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire, A Date with Judy, with friend Elizabeth Taylor and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Howard Keel. In the late 1950s, her film career slowed, only to be replaced with a busy theater and television career.Click picture to enter websight.

Jeanette MacDonald

Singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars (The Love Parade, One Hour With You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco), and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of most influential sopranos of the 20th century. Click picture to view fan website.

Joan Crawford.

Click picture to view website. Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s

Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) the songwriting duo, on our musical page. They created many popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. They won thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys. Click picture to read movie reviews.

Cab Calloway

Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86 .Click picture to view official website.

Monday, March 8, 2010

MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS (1956)

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