MUSICALS, include humor, music, dancing and a story.
One of the reasons I love musicals, is the use of beautiful background scenery. Dancers seem to perform as if there is a live audience watching.
This is my version of DANCING WITH THE STARS.
Donald O’Connor's, birthday was on August 28th. He was an dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in movies in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His most famous performance was as Gene Kelly's friend and colleague in Singin' in the Rain (1952).
Monty, came up with a wonderful idea for Chick Flicks Musical Page. He thought it would be fun if every month we would come up with a theme.. So we decided that: This month on Chick Flicks Musicals: The Golden Age of Musicals: From the 1940s. I hope you enjoy..
In the 1940's, America was just coming out of The Great Depression. War had taken over half the world. Because of the Hollywood muscials, people believed that dreams really do come true. The screen glittered with Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Jeanette MacDonald, Fred Astaire, Alice Faye, Gene Kelly, Betty Grable, John Payne, Ann Miller, George Murphy, Margaret O'Brien, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Danny Kaye, Carmen Miranda, Frank Sinatra, Martha Raye, Jimmy Durante, Lena Horne and Tony Martin. The Hollywood Muscial had it all in the 1940's. This Maybe my favorite era.
The actor Humphrey Bogart made his most memorable films in this decade. Orson Welles's masterpiece Citizen Kane was also released. The film noir genre was at its height.
The 40s also saw the beginnings of new technologies: computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion.
Ruby Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to legendary singer Al Jolson. She retired from show business in the 1940s but made a widely publicized comeback on Broadway in 1971.
Van Johnson, was an film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II. Johnson was the "boy next door," playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in MGM movies during the war years.
Video: Lucy and Van Johnson dancing to "How about You?"
One of my favorite, dancers, actors, singers, film directors and producers, and choreographers. Gene Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the characters that he played. Although he is best known for his performance in Singin' in the Rain(1952), a musical with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen. Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography. It shows a comic view of Hollywood, and its transition from silent films to "talkies." It is believed to be one of the best musicals ever made.
Gene Kelly, was a huge force in musical films from the mid 1940s into the late 1950s. He is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form acceptable to film audiences.
Kelly received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements. He later received lifetime achievement awards in the Kennedy Center Honors, and from the Screen Actors Guild and American Film Institute; in 1999, the American Film Institute also numbered him 15th in their Greatest Male Stars of All Time list.
Fun Facts:
During World War II he was a sailor stationed at the U S Naval Photographic Center in Anacostia, DC (where the documentary "Victory at Sea" (1952) was later assembled for NBC-TV). He starred in several Navy films while on active duty there and in "civilian" films while on leave.
He and his younger brother Fred Kelly performed together in a dancing vaudeville act. When Gene got his big break as Harry the hoofer in the dramatic Broadway production of "The Time of Your Life" in 1942, he was replaced by brother Fred, who took it on the road and won a Donaldson award.
Ann Sheridan at the age of 19, made her first film in, Search for Beauty(1934),as Miss Texas. The story is about Three shady characters who want to make money through a fitness magazine with cheesecake and beefcake photos. They hire two Olympic champions as editors, Barbara an English diver and Don a U.S. swimmer. When they object to what is published in the magazine, they send them on a worldwide search for beauty. Barbara and Don want to start their own fitness farm, the three shady characters come up with a plan to stop them.
Next she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films for the next two years. In 1936, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. and soon became a top sex symbol, nick named "The Oomph Girl,".
She performed in films, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), opposite James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Dodge City (1939) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, Torrid Zone with Cagney and They Drive by Night with George Raft and Bogart (both 1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, and Kings Row (1942), where she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan, Robert Cummings, and Betty Field. Known for having a beautiful singing voice, Ann also performed in the musicals, Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) and Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944). Ann Sheridan's best known film are, Nora Prentiss and The Unfaithful, both in 1947.
Her next role was in, I Was a Male War Bride (1949), costarring Cary Grant. By the 1950s, she was having a hard time finding work. She went on to perform in the television soap opera, Another World during the mid-1960s.
A Date with Judy(1948). Cast: Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, and Elizabeth Taylor. Directed by Richard Thorpe, the movie was based on a radio series of the same name. The film was to showcase the former child star Elizabeth Taylor, age 16 at the time. Taylor was given the full MGM glamor treatment, including specially designed gowns. Robert Stack is in a prominent supporting role. The film features the singing voice of Jane Powell, and is also a showcase for the musical performances of Carmen Miranda and Xavier Cugat. I thought the music and the acting were wonderful. Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor both were gorgeous. I wonder if this is what it was like going to High School in the 40s?
Music for Millions (1944). Musical/comedy. Directed by Henry Koster. Cast: Margaret O'Brien, José Iturbi as Himself, Jimmy Durante, June Allyson and Marsha Hunt. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946.
When seven-year-old "Mike" travels to New York from Connecticut by train, she is worried when she is not met by her sister, Barbara Ainsworth. Mike is soon cornered by a policeman, who takes her to Symphony Hall, where Babs, a bassist, is performing. Mike runs onto the stage and annoys conductor José Iturbi, in the middle of the concert. Iturbi, wants to fire Babs, until his stage manager, "Andy" Andrews, reminds him that with so many of the male players gone because of the war, he cannot afford to fire Babs. Babs, who was unaware that Mike was coming for a visit, is thrilled to see her. Babs and the female orchestra members, sneak Mike into their "no children" boardinghouse. After Babs faints the doctor shares a secret with Mike, telling her that Babs is pregnant.
Although Mike and her roommates have tried to keep it a secret about Babs's condition, their obvious concern alerts Iturbi, who is sympathetic.
Just before the orchestra leaves for Florida on a tour, a telegram arrives for Babs at the boardinghouse. Rosalind, one of Babs's roommates, reads the message herself. As feared, the telegram has bad news about her husband Joe, and Rosalind and the other girls decide not to tell Babs anything about it until after the baby is born.
Even though this is called a musical comedy, you will need plenty of "hankies". Jimmy Durante's comedy, provides the smiles. You will also enjoy the beautiful classical concertos played by Jose Iturbi, and his mostly female orchestra. Giving their support to the boys in uniform.
Moon Over Miami (1941). Directed by Walter Lang. Cast: Betty Grable and Don Ameche, Robert Cummings, Carole Landis, Jack Haley, and Charlotte Greenwood. It was one of Haley's last appearances in a major, film. After 1943 he began making mostly B-pictures. (Haley is most noted for playing the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz).
Sisters Kay and Barbara are working and singing as car hops in a Texas drive-in restaurant with their aunt Susan, who is flipping burgers. When they receive an inheritance of $55,000 which turns out to be only $4,000 after taxes and fees. Looking to marry a millionaires, Kay talks Barbara and Susan into spending the money on a trip to Miami, where she hopes to find a rich man.
With Barbara acting as Kay's secretary and Susan as her maid, the three women check into the Flamingo Hotel. There they meet Jack O'Hara, a bartender who promises to protect them from gold diggers.
Kay gets herself invited to a party hosted by rich Jeffrey Bolton, where she also meets Phil McNeil, heir to the McNeil Mines. Boyhood friends Jeff and Phil begin a fun filled rivalry for Kay, who cannot make up her mind between the two friends. She also does not notice that Barbara has fallen in love with Jeff. At the end of three weeks, the girls are in financial trouble because they need $150 to pay their hotel bill. Susan borrows the money from Jack, who has already proposed to her.
Kay brings Barbara along to a dance to keep Jeff busy while she talks with Phil, with whom she has fallen in love. When Phil admits that he is broke, and that the McNeil Mines will not be profitable again for at least five years. Kay confesses that she, too, came to Miami to find a rich spouse, and they both decide to move on to other partners. Phil tells Jeff that Kay loves him, and she then accepts Jeff's proposal.
As the girls are packing to leave for Jeff's families island, Jack overhears them talking about their Gold Digging plans, and threatens to tell Jeff. Jack finds himself locked in the bathroom, while the girls quickly leave for the island.
Phil, decides he can not live without Kay, and comes up with a plan to stop the wedding. The girls are surprised to see Jack, who came to inform Jeff that Kay, is not really love him. Will Phil get there in time to stop the wedding, or ...Will Jack ruin the girls plans?
I really enjoyed watching Betty Grable sing and dance in this fun/colorful movie. I also really enjoyed the location scenes of Cypress Gardens and Silver Springs. This movie is the way they used to make movies. I'm so glad that I have, Moon over Miami, in my DVD collection.
Kathryn Grayson, made her first film performance in, Andy Hardy's Private Secretary(1941). White House Girl(1941), Then she went on to perform in, Very Warm for May(1948) The Vanishing Virginian, Rio Rita, Seven Sweethearts and Thousands Cheer(1943).
In 1942 Grayson performed in An American Symphony with Judy Garland. Garland was replaced by June Allyson and the film was retitled Two Sisters from Boston and released in 1946.
From 1943 to 1945, she entertained the troops during the war and performing on radio programs. She return to films in Anchors Aweigh (1945). Musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM. It stars Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, José Iturbi, Pamela Britton, Dean Stockwell, and Sharon McManus.
This was followed by Two Sisters from Boston and guest appearances in Ziegfeld Follies and Till the Clouds Roll By. Grayson's performance in, Till the Clouds Roll By, was of a song from the musical Show Boat, which would be remade five years later, with Grayson in the starring role.
MGM re-paired Grayson and Sinatra for two movies in 1947 and 1948, It Happened in Brooklyn and The Kissing Bandit. Later, Grayson was partnered with tenor Mario Lanza in two films, That Midnight Kiss(1949) and The Toast of New Orleans(1950), where she performed the Academy-Award-nominated song "Be My Love".
Grayson replaced June Allyson as the role of Ina Massine in 1951's Grounds for Marriage. She portrayed an opera singer with laryngitis, alongside Van Johnson who played her doctor and love interest. This was also first non-singing role at MGM.
Grayson was next cast as Magnolia Hawkes(1951) remake of the 1927 Hammerstein and Kern musical, Show Boat, alongside Howard Keel and Ava Gardner.
Grayson teamed again with Keel that year in one of my favorite musicals, Lovely to Look At(1952), a remake of the 1935 Astaire and Rogers film Roberta. Tony Naylor, Al Marsh and Jerry Ralby are looking for backers for their Broadway show. They have just run out of hope when Al gets a letter from his Aunt's attorneys and finds he is a part-owner of a dress shop in Paris. wanting to sell his share, they all fly to Paris, only to find the shop is almost bankrupt. There they also find Stephanie and Clarisse, who own the other shares of the business. Tony is torn between Stephanie and how to finance the fashion show. The popular song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is featured in this film.
After 11 years with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Grayon's contract ended, and she went on to Warner Bros. Grayson's first musical with the studio was, The Desert Song.
Grayson performed on television in the 1950s, receiving an Emmy nomination in 1956 for her performance in the General Electric Theater episode Shadow on the Heart. In the 1980s, she guest starred in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury.
Esther Williams, a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star. Esther is also one of my favorite actress. Please check out: Dawn and Monty's : Esther Williams Page located on the side bar. Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of World War II, Williams joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role left by Eleanor Holm. After the show move from New York City to San Francisco. Where she performed five months with Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller.
It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the eye of MGM scouts. After performing with Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and five time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured beautiful performances with synchronized swimming and diving.
My favorite Esther Williams film is: ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU (1948). Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Esther Williams and Peter Lawford. Williams and Lawford are wonderful together and so are Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse. Especially, during their beautiful dance numbers. If you love happy and romantic musicals you'll love this movie. And don't forget.. we get to see Esther doing what she does best in beautiful water performances. The film begins when Ricardo Montez, is playing the part of a Navy man in love with a Polynesian woman, played by his fiancee, Rosalind. They hired Lawrence a Navy Lieutenant, as technical adviser, to help the director with the film's authenticity. During the filming of one of Rosalind and Ricardo's love scenes, Larry interrupts the shooting to take the opportunity to kiss Rosalind. That evening, at the Royal Aloha hotel, the cast and crew attend a nightclub show performed by Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. Larry, finds another opportunity to get close to Rosalind, and asks her to dance. She refuses thinking that he is too forward.
The next day, Larry is to circle the set once in an airplane with Rosalind on board, but he flies the plane to the tropical island where they first met. Larry wants one dance with her before he returns her to the set. Rosalind, says she will kiss him to prove that she has no feelings for him, but the kiss shows that she is an attracted to Larry. When Larry and Rosalind return to the airplane, they find that the wheels and other parts have been stolen by the islanders. The two set out to find the natives village, but become separated. Will they be rescued before the natives have them for dinner? (wink/wink).
In 1952, Williams performed in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which would go on to become her nickname while at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and performed in feature films, followed by several water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Since her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams has become a businesswoman, lending her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and acting as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Billie Burke, toured the U.S. and Europe with a circus because her father, Billy Burke, performed as a singing clown. Her family lived in London where she attended plays in London's West End. She wanted to be a stage actress. In 1903, she began acting on stage, making her debut in London, later returning to America to become a Broadway musical comedy star.
With the help of producer Charles Frohman, Billie Burke performed Broadway leads: Mrs. Dot, Suzanne, The Runaway, The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl, and The Land of Promise from 1910 to 1913, along with a supporting role in, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero’s The Amazons.
There she met and married producer Florenz Ziegfeld, in 1914. In 1916, they had one daughter, Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson. Burke signed on to perform in the movies, making her first film in the title role of, Peggy (1916). She continued to perform on stage. She loved the stage more than movie-business, not only because it was her first love, but also because it allowed her to have speaking parts.
In 1932 Billie Burke performed as Margaret Fairfield in A Bill of Divorcement, directed by George Cukor, though the film is better known as Katharine Hepburn's film debut (Burke played Hepburn's mother). Florenz Ziegfeld, died during the film's production, Billie Burke went back to filming shortly after his funeral.
In 1933, Burke was cast as Mrs. Millicent Jordan, in the comedy Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor, co-starring with Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow and Wallace Beery. She performed in many comedies and musicals, typecast as a feather-brained upper-class matron due to her high pitched voice.
In 1936, MGM filmed a biopic of her deceased husband (The Great Ziegfeld), a film that won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress (Luise Rainer as Ziegfeld's common-law wife, Anna Held). Actress Myrna Loy played the role of Burke.
In 1937 she performed in the first of the Topper films, about a man haunted by two socialite ghosts (played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett), in which she played Clara Topper. Her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live (1938), won her only Oscar nomination.
In 1938 (at age 54) she was chosen to play Glinda, "the Good Witch of the North", in the Oscar-winning musical film The Wizard of Oz(1939), directed by Victor Fleming, with Judy Garland.
Burke also had performed in another film with Garland called, Everybody Sing, in which she played Judy's mother. Another star connected with Ziegfeld, Fanny Brice, performed as the family's maid in that picture. Another successful film, Father of the Bride (1950) and Father's Little Dividend (1951), both directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Lucille Ball, will always be remembered as the lovable Lucy Ricardo. She was a energetic teenager who entered a dramatic school in New York, unfortunately her classmate Bette Davis received all the attention, Lucille was sent home because she was, "too shy." She found work modeling for Hattie Carnegie's and in 1933, she was chosen to be a "Goldwyn Girl" and perform in the film, Roman Scandals (1933).
She was put under contract with RKO and performed in the films, Top Hat (1935), Stage Door (1937) and The Big Street (1942). While filming Too Many Girls (1940), she met and fell madly in love with Desi Arnaz. Even with different personalities, lifestyles, religions and ages (he was six years younger), they were married in November, 1940. Lucy soon switched to MGM, where she was offered roles in films such as, Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), Best Foot Forward (1943) and Without Love (1945). In 1948, she took a starring role in the radio comedy "My Favorite Husband". In 1950, CBS came with the idea of turning it into a television series. After convincing the network to let Desi play her husband and to sign over the rights to and creative control over the series to them, they began working on the most popular and beloved sitcom of all time, I love Lucy.
One of my favorite Lucille Ball movies is, The Long, Long Trailer(1954). Which started out as a novel by Clinton Twiss from the 1950s. It is about a couple who buy a new travel trailer and spend a year traveling across the United States. My husband and I did the same thing about 28 years ago with our 5 year old son at the time. I have to say it was one of the most memorable times in our lives.
Louis Armstrong, greatest trumpet playing of his early years can be heard on his Hot Five and Hot Seven records, as well as the Red Onion Jazz Babies. Armstrong's improvisations were daring and sophisticated for the time, while often subtle and melodic.
He re-composed pop-tunes of the day, making them more interesting. Armstrong playing technique, extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. Armstrong almost single-handily created the role of the jazz soloist.
As his popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he helped popularize it. He had a hit with his playing/singing on "Heebie Jeebies" when, the sheet music fell to the floor and he started making the song up as he went.
During his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time; Jimmie Rodgers, Bing Crosby, who admired and copied Armstrong style, in the song, "Just One More Chance" (1931). Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Bessie Smith and most notably with Ella Fitzgerald, whom he recorded three albums with.
Basin Street Blues" is a song often performed by Dixieland jazz bands, written by Spencer Williams. The song was published in 1926 and made famous in a recording by Louis Armstrong in 1928. The famous verse with the lyric "Won't you come along with me/To the Mississippi..." was later added by Glenn Miller and Jack Teagarden.
Some of Armstrongs other best known songs are: "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You,"and "Stompin' at the Savoy." "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
In 1964, Armstrong knocked the Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song, "Bout Time" was later featured in the film "Bewitched" (2005).
Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul.
In 1968, Armstrong performed in one last popular song "What a Wonderful World".
Bathing Beauty (1944). Musical. Cast: Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone and Esther Williams, Harry James and his Music Makers, Ethel Smith, Helen Forrest and Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra. Director: George Sidney. This was not William's screen debut, but it was her first musical. The film was initially to be titled "Mr. Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing. However, once MGM executives watched the first cut of the film, they realized that Esther Williams' role should be showcased and changed the title to "Bathing Beauty". The film is Janis Paige's film debut.
As famous songwriter Steve Elliott and swimming instructor Caroline Brooks plan to marry. Steve decides to quit his songwriting career, even though producer George Adams has already hired him to write new songs for a water ballet show. When George overhears Steve discussing his "retirement" with Caroline, he plans to prevent the marriage and hires Maria Dorango, to pose as a Latin American singer, to help him. At the wedding, Maria rushes in, claiming that Steve is her husband and the father of her three redheaded children. Even though Steve says he is innocence, Caroline returns to Victoria College in New Jersey, alone. Steve follows her, but is denied entrance to the all-female school. Later, in a nightclub, Steve meets lawyer Chester Klazenfrantz and learns that Klazenfrantz has been hired to change the charter of Victoria College, which has never officially become an all-female College. Steve returns to Victoria and insists on applying for admission. Unaware that Caroline is married to Steve, Dean Clinton suggests to the faculty that he be admitted for a two-week probationary period, during which time they would give him 100 demerits and expel him before Parents Day. Steve tries to speak with Caroline, but she refuses to listen to him and tells him she is seeking an annulment. Highlights of the film include: music from both Harry James and his Music Makers and Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra, Skelton in a pink tutu dancing to Tchaikovsky and a spectacular water finale.
Will Steve win back his estranged swimming-teacher wife?
FUN FACT : At the time of its release, this was MGM's third-highest grossing film, after Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) and Gone with the Wind (1939).
One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when, Caroline realizes that Steve is hiding in her closet, spying on her, she has a Great Dane guard the closet door. Steve manages to trick the dog long enough to escape.
"Magic is the Moonlight (Te quiero juste)" (1929) Music by María Grever English lyrics by Charles Pasquale Played during the opening credits Sung by Carlos Ramírez in Spanish with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra Whistled by Red Skelton Played often in the score
"I'll Take the High Note" (1943) (uncredited) Music by Johnny Green Lyrics by Harold Adamson Played during the opening credits Sung and danced by Red Skelton, Jean Porter, Janis Paige, Carlos Ramírez, Helen Forrest, Harry James and Buddy Moreno with Harry James and His Music Makers and Ethel Smith on organ
"Bim, Bam, Bum" (1935) Music and Lyrics by Johnnie Camacho, Noro Morales and Harold Adamson Sung by Lina Romay with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
"Trumpet Blues and Cantabile" (1942) Music by Harry James and Jack Matthias Instrumental played by Harry James and His Music Makers with Harry James on trumpet
"By the Waters of Minnetonka: an Indian Love Song" (1914)(uncredited) Music by Thurlow Lieurance Lyrics by J.M. Cavanass Played by Ethel Smith on organ with the MGM Studio Orchestra
"Tico-tico no fubá" (1917) (uncredited) Music by Zequinha De Abreu Enlish lyrics by Ervin Drake (1943) Played by Ethel Smith on organ with the MGM Studio Orchestra
"Loch Lomond" (uncredited) Traditional Scottish folk song Sung by the Co-eds with Ethel Smith on organ
"Alma llanera" (1914) (uncredited) Music and Lyrics by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez Sung by Lina Romay and chorus with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
"Waltz of the Flowers" (1891-2) (uncredited) from "The Nutcracker Suite, Op.71a" Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Danced at the Eurythmics session by the Co-eds and Red Skelton
"Hora Staccato" (1906) (uncredited) Music by Grigoras Dinicu and Jascha Heifetz Played by Harry James on trumpet with Harry James and His Music Makers
"I Cried for You" (1923) (uncredited) Music and Lyrics by Arthur Freed, Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman Sung by Helen Forrest with Harry James and His Music Makers
"Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)" (1850) (uncredited) from "Lohengrin" Written by Richard Wagner Whistled and hummed by Red Skelton
"Boogie Woogie" (uncredited) Music by Carlos Ramírez and Harry James Played by Harry James and His Music Makers before and during the water ballet sequence
"The Thrill of a New Romance" (1939) (uncredited) Music by Xavier Cugat Instrumental played by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra at the start of and during the water ballet sequence
"Die Fledermaus Overture" (1874) (uncredited) Written by Johann Strauß Played in the score for Caroline's participation in the water ballet sequence
"Mucho Mucho Mucho" (uncredited) (Te quiero dijiste / Tu m'as Dit Je t'aime) Music by Carlos Ramirez Lyrics by Lull Micaelli Sung by Luis Mariano
