8 Films Advance to the second round of The Favorite Musical tournament (20's/30's Era)

The polls are closed and we have 8 films moving on to the next round in the 20's/30's era of The Favorite Musical Tournament. And half of those films are Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers vehicles. How about that? Here is a brief recap of which film won and which film is now headed home.

Joan Blondell is all smiles as her film Gold Diggers of 1933 advances to round 2....

1 seed THE JAZZ SINGER defeated 16 seed REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM 15-6
8 seed FLYING DOWN TO RIO defeated 9 seed ROSE MARIE 19-1.
4 seed SHALL WE DANCE defeated 13 seed THE GREAT ZIEGFELD 19-3
5 seed SWING TIME defeated 12 seed SHOW BOAT 13-8
2 seed 42nd STREET defeated 15 seed FOOTLIGHT PARADE 15-6
7 seed GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 defeated 10 seed BABES IN ARMS 15-6
3 seed TOP HAT defeated 14 seed DANCING LADY 22-1 in the most lopsided match of the round
6 seed BROADWAY MELODY of 1929 defeated 11 seed LOVE ME TONIGHT 12-9 in the closest match of the round

Congratulations to those films that advanced to round 2. And thanks to all those that stopped by to vote. Here are the matches scheduled for round 2.

1 THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)


vs

8 FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)


---------------------------------------

4 SHALL WE DANCE (1937)


vs

5 SWING TIME (1936)


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2 42nd STREET (1933)


vs

7 GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933


------------------------------------------

3 TOP HAT (1935)


vs

6 BROADWAY MELODY OF 1929


Some extremely tough matches in round 2. I don't know how to choose between Shall We Dance and Swing Time or Gold Diggers of 1933 against 42nd Street. Should make for a very interesting round. Round 2 starts immediately after I finish this post and will run through Saturday night 8 pm est. I think these matches will be much closer than round one. Just a hunch.

A Preview Of The Other Eras in the Favorite Musical Tournament

Now that the tournament is underway, I thought I would give a preview of the other eras and list some of the musical films that will be competing in the other eras. I stated earlier in another post the top 4 seeds of the tournament. Now here are some other films that will  be in contention for favorite musical film of Singin and Dancing Back In Time. I am still finalizing all the other films and hope to be done by the end of this week.

1940's:


YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1)
EASTER PARADE
HOLIDAY INN
MEET ME IN ST.LOUIS
THE HARVEY GIRLS
ANCHORS AWEIGH
FOR ME AND MY GAL
COVER GIRL
IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN
ON THE TOWN
TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY
SUMMER STOCK

1950's:



SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1)
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
THE KING AND I
ROYAL WEDDING
GIGI
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS
THE BAND WAGON
GUYS AND DOLLS
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH PACIFIC
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
WHITE CHRISTMAS
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
BRIGADOON
CARMEN JONES
LES GIRLS

 The 50's seem to be the most loaded and exciting era of the tournament.

1960's:



THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1)
WEST SIDE STORY
MARY POPPINS
MY FAIR LADY
FUNNY GIRL
VIVA LAS VEGAS
BEACH BLANKET BINGO
HELLO DOLLY
CAN-CAN
BYE BYE BIRDIE
GYPSY
STAR!
THE MUSIC MAN

The Road To The Final Four (Classic Musicals Style) Begins Today...

I know I said Monday, August 29th would be the official start date of our little musicals tournament, but I decided to go ahead and start this evening. I couldn't wait any longer. I must add that the road to our final four will end in Dawn's home state of Arizona. Should be a huge celebration I figure once we find out the favorite classic musical film of all time. I will set up the polls in a few hours and everyone can begin voting. Good luck to all the films involved. Screen legend Tallulah Bankhead has been kind of enough to give us the start signal.

The first round voting will end on Wednesday August 31st at 8 pm EST. In case there is a tie, I will have a tie-breaker question between the two films for an extra day of voting. I found when I did my actors and actresses tournament on my blog, ties were few and far between. I had a total of 2 ties over both tournaments. So usually that is not a factor. Anyway, let the fun begin now....

Favorite Musical Tournament (1920's/1930's Era) Round 1

Here are the 16 films that will be competing for favorite musical of the 20's/30's era. There are 8 matches and only 8 films will advance to the next round. Competition starts Monday, August 29th and will run through Wednesday August 31st.

1 THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)




VS


16 REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM (1938)

-----------------------------------------------------

8 FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)




VS


9 ROSE MARIE (1936)

----------------------------------------------------

4 SHALL WE DANCE (1937)




VS


13 THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936)




---------------------------------------------------
5 SWING TIME (1936)




VS


12 SHOW BOAT (1936)




--------------------------------------------------

2 42nd STREET (1933)




VS


15 FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933)




------------------------------------------------

7 GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933)




VS

10 BABES IN ARMS (1939)




-----------------------------------------------

3 TOP HAT (1935)




VS


14 DANCING LADY (1933)





--------------------------------------------------

6 BROADWAY MELODY OF 1929 (1929)





VS


11 LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932)

Footlight Parade(1933).

Footlight Parade(1933). Musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The movie was written by Manuel Seff and James Seymour from a story by Robert Lord and Peter Milne. It was directed by Lloyd Bacon.

The spectacular Busby Berkeley musical numbers, written by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) and Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics), include "By a Waterfall", "Honeymoon Hotel", and "Shanghai Lil".

Musical Producer Chester Kent, finds himself out of work because of the popularity of talking pictures. His wife leaves him when he tell her the news. He convinces his two partners, Sy Gould and Frazer, to help him in producing, live performances to be performed before the movies are shown.

As soon as Chester thinks up ideas, Gladstone, is always one step ahead of him. Also, his partners are cheating him out of his share of the profits. His only friend seems to be his secretary, Nan Prescott, who is in love with him. But, he is in love with Vivian Rich, a gold digging actress. The theater owner Appolinaris, promises that if Chester can come up with three new shows in three days, he will hire him.

Chester, locks everyone in the studio to prevent any leaks. The first two shows are a big success. Then at the last minute, Chester has to go on as the lead in the last one because the star is drunk. He performs well and lands the contract.

Fun Fact:

Film debut of Dorothy Lamour.

Footlight Parade, showcases Busby Berkeley's extravaganzas, that are so creative and fun to watch. Also, James Cagney, shows his versatility as a dancer as well as a tough guy. Dick Powell, sing three songs in Footlight Parade, Ah the Moon is Here, Honeymoon Hotel and By a Waterfall, the last two with Ruby Keeler. Ruby, also partners with James Cagney in, Shanghai Lil. One of Blondell's best screen roles. Also, look for Dorothy Lamour and Ann Sothern in the chorus. John Garfield, is also seen very briefly in the Shanghai Lil number.

Ruth Donnelly (May 17, 1896 – November 17, 1982), began her stage career at the age of 17 in 1913, in The Quaker Girl. Her Broadway debut brought her to the attention of George M. Cohan, who cast her in many comic-relief roles in musicals. Though she made her first film performance in 1913, her Hollywood career began in 1931-1957.

Colleen(1936).

Colleen(1936). Musical film directed by Alfred E. Green. Cast: Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Joan Blondell.

To the dismay of his family, the eccentric millionaire Cedric Ames, is talked into by his new assistant Joe Cork, to buy a dress shop for gold digger Minnie Hawkins, a former candy dipper at the "Itsey-Ditsey Nut Chewsie". Cedric's nephew, Donald Ames, steps in to close the dress shop.

The dress shops book-keeper Colleen Reilly, does not want Donald to close the dress shop, especially now, when the dress shop is doing so well.. Colleen, plans a fashion show and even designs some of the dresses herself. Now, all she has to do, is to talk Donald into keeping the shop open.

When Donald, asks her to dinner to discuss the dress shop, she agrees and that is when she tells him that she is engaged to Joe.



Joe and Minnie come up with a plan to get Cedric to adopt Minnie, after which Joe will marry her. Cedric's wife Alicia forces Donald to close the shop, to put a stop to their plans.

Meanwhile, Donald and Colleen have fallen in love. After, Minnie, Joe and Colleen are all fired. Colleen, thinks that Donald has been lying to her, so when he phones to ask her to marry him, she hangs up on him. Brokenhearted, she decides to open a dress shop on board an ocean liner. The ship turns out to be the one which Donald is on. But further complications follow before things get under way on board the ocean liner.



This film reunites the musical team of Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler for the seventh and final time. A fluffy little comedy that somehow works, with plenty of songs and dance. Colleen, an overlooked musical, giving Keeler an opportunity to sing and dance more than she ever did on screen . However, her dancing with Draper, is no threat to Astaire and Rogers.Colleen, is worth viewing at least once.

Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 - April 17, 1962), performed mostly in silent comedy films. Before trying motion pictures, she worked for a dentist, a candy store owner, and a tax collector and on stage.

Fazenda got her start in comedy shorts as early as 1913 with Joker Studios, frequently appearing with Max Asher and Bobby Vernon. She was soon recruited for Mack Sennett's troupe at Keystone Studios.

Fazenda continued through the 1930s, performing mostly in character roles. She played such diverse parts as a fussy old maid and a lady blacksmith.

The TOP FOUR SEEDS in the musical tournament

I'm finalizing the first era matches for round one and hope to post it by Wednesday. In the meantime I figured I could at least let everyone know the top four seeds for the tournament. I have selected the top film of each era based on varied best of lists. And I think they are very fair and are the right top seeds to represent each era. This should be a very exciting tournament.

1920's/1930's - THE JAZZ SINGER


1940's - YANKEE DOODLE DANDY



1950's - SINGIN' IN THE RAIN



1960's - THE SOUND OF MUSIC

The Favorite Musical of Singin' and Dancing Back in Time Tournament Kicks off Monday, August 29th

I promised Dawn I would do a musical tournament here on her wonderful blog. At first me and her was going do it together but she doesn’t have the extra time to spare, which is very understandable. She handles so many blogs now and I don't know how shes does it. So I told her I would take care of it and I thought I wouldn’t have time for it either until early next year. Well, guess what the tournament is back on track for it’s original September start. Actually it will kick off Monday, August 29^th. There are a total of 64 musicals spread over 4 brackets: 20's/30’s; 1940’s; 1950’s; and the 1960’s. The first week will have the 20's/30’s and the following weeks will focus on the remaining eras. Each era will be comprised of 16 films. I used Wikipedia as the source of all time greatest musicals and made the selections. It wasn’t easy and just like my tournaments I did over on my blog, All Good Things, there are some great choices that got left out. But I do believe I got the majority of the best musicals possible and it should be an exciting tournament. The voting polls will be on the sidebar and only one vote per person will be allowed, so choose your favorites carefully. The first round will last a few days and then the second round will begin almost immediately. I will post the first era matches within a few days. I just wanted to let everyone know that this tournament was coming soon. Have a great day.