Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Round 1 of the 50's Era has no surprises as most of the favorites win...

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Round 1 of the 50's Era has no surprises as most of the favorites win...

Round 1 of the 50's era for the favorite classic musical film tournament has just ended with no real major surprises. Top seed and heavy favorite Singin In The Rain just destroyed Silk Stockings 16-5. But believe it or not, that was not the biggest blow-out. That took place in the battle of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, as South Pacific just crushed The King and I, 16-2. The other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma got edged out by Show Boat 11-9 in the round's closest match. One of the most surprising matches had to be 15th seed Carmen Jones hanging tough with 2nd seed An American In Paris before losing 12-7. 3rd seed White Christmas was all over Guys and Dolls 16-3. A mild upset occurred when 11th seed A Star is Born (hey its Judy again) beat 6th seed Royal Wedding 11-6. And one of my personal favorites, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes defeated Gigi 16-5.

Round 2 now begins tonight and will run thru Sunday 8pm EST. Here are the scheduled matches.

1 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

VS

9 GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe

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5 SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954)
seven wives for seven brothers

VS

13 SHOW BOAT (1951)

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2 AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)

VS

7 SOUTH PACIFIC (1958)

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3 WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)

VS

11 A STAR IS BORN (1954)

3 comments:

ClassicBeckySeptember 22, 2011 at 5:43 PM
I left my comment on Monty's site, but I have to say yet again -- This is fun!
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Paul 2September 22, 2011 at 9:48 PM
Hey Monty, not fair putting Singing in The Rain up against one of my Favorite Howard Hawksfilm
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AnonymousSeptember 23, 2011 at 10:50 AM
It's beginning to get tougher to decide bewteen them - the next round will be hellish!
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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.