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.
Movie: The Seven Little Foys (1955). Vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy, falls in love with and marries Italian ballerina Madeleine. While they go on to tour, they begin a family and before you know it there are 7 more Foys. After tragedy threatens to end Eddie's career, he comes to realize that his children are very talented and can save the show..
Bob Hope plays the role of Eddie Foy.
James Cagney plays the role of George M. Cohan.
She is Working Her Way Through College (1952). Cast: Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan,Gene Nelson, Don DeFore, Phyllis Thaxter and Patrice Wymore .
The story begins when, Professor John Palmer goes to New York, to observe a burlesque show to prepare for the theater arts class he teaches at a Midwest College. He happens to see one of his former high school students, Angela Gardner, performing as, "Hot Garters Gertie." Angela invites him to her dressing room and tells him she has been saving money to attend college, because she wants a writing career. John has always encouraged her, so she decides to attend Midwest College, where he teaches. After John leaves, a mink coat is delivered anonymously to Angela with an invitation to meet later at a hotel room. Thinking it came from John, she takes a taxi to the hotel room to return the mink, only to find there an older man looking for a good time.
Later, at Midwest College, Angela makes friends with Don Weston, the school's quarterback, which makes "Poison" Ivy Williams, the leading lady of past college productions, jealous.
John and his wife Helen rent a room to Angela, who comes up with ideas to help the poorly attended dramatic arts department put on a wonderful musical show... but, some one's discovered her secret past. Will the show be cancelled and will Angela be expelled?
This film caught my attention because of the actress Virginia Mayo, who gives a wonderful performance as Angela. Gene Nelson, is an excellent dancer and Patrice Wymore, gives a perfect performance as"Poison Ivy". The musical numbers are a lot of fun, especially "With Plenty of Money and You", "I'll Still Be Loving You".
Soundtracks:
•"With Plenty of Money and You"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Performed and Danced by Virginia Mayo (dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams) and chorus
•"All Hail to Midwest State"
(uncredited)
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed by chorus
•"We're Working Our Way Through College"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Performed by chorus, Virginia Mayo (dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams), Gene Nelson
•"I'll Be Loving You"
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed and Danced by Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson
Mayo's voice dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams
•"Midwest Fight Song"
(uncredited)
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed by chorus
•"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of"
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed and Danced by Virginia Mayo (dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams), Gene Nelson (dubbed by Hal Derwin)
•"As Time Goes By"
(uncredited)
Written by Herman Hupfeld
Sung on record by Bonnie Lou Williams
Sung in part by Phyllis Thaxter
•"Love Is Still for Free"
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed by Patrice Wymore, Blackburn Twins, and chorus
Reprised as "Love is Not for Free" by Virginia Mayo (dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams) and chorus
•"Am I in Love?"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Sung and Danced by Gene Nelson
•"(You've Got to) Give 'em What They Want"
(uncredited)
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Performed by chorus and Patrice Wymore
•"Baby Face"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics by Benny Davis
Sung off-screen by the chorus when Prof. Palmer visits backstage with Angela
•"Gee, But Your Swell"
(uncredited)
Music by Abel Baer
Lyrics by Charles Tobias
Sung off-screen by the chorus when Prof. Palmer gets up to leave Angela's dressing room
•"For You"
(uncredited)
Music by Joseph Burke
Played when Angela is showered with gifts after her last performance
Virginia Mayo (November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005). Tutored by dancing instructors, she performed in the St. Louis Municipal Opera chorus and then performed with six other girls at an act at the Jefferson Hotel. There she was recruited by vaudeville performer Andy Mayo, to perform in his act (as ringmaster for two men in a horse suit), taking his surname as her stage name.
Mayo continued her career as a dancer, then signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn and performed in several of Goldwyn's movies. With Danny Kaye she performed in comedies: Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). In her Hollywood heyday, it was said that she "looked like a pinup painting come to life," and she played just such a role in film, The Girl from Jones Beach (1949).
In 1949's White Heat she took on the role of the treacherous "Verna Jarrett", opposite James Cagney. She was also cast against type as a gold digger in the film,The Best Years of Our Lives. Her film career continued through the 1950s and 1960s, frequently in B-movie westerns and adventure films. While she also performed in musicals, Mayo's singing voice was always dubbed.
Virginia and her husband, actor Michael O'Shea, co-starred in the films: as Tunnel of Love, Fiorello, and George Washington Slept Here. She has also starred in the film, Cactus Flower, How the Other Half Loves, and Good News.
I don't even know how to describe this movie. It's part musical, part western, part comedy, part adventure. And somehow mix all that together and it works. Set in Middle America in 1907, the fiery Maria 2 (played by Brigitte Bardot) meets up with a traveling circus after her terrorist father is killed. She ends up blowing up the bridge that the soldiers are on who have killed her father and is now on the run. The circus she hooks up with has veteran singer Maria 1 (played by Jeanne Moreau). As luck would have it, the circus has just recently lost a singer, Maria 1's sister and Maria 2 jumps at the chance. During her first appearance she accidentally invents the strip-tease and the circus becomes hugely successful. Things are going great until the pair meet up with a socialist revolutionary and finding themselves leading this revolution against the dictator, the capitalists and the church.
Like I said this mix of music, action, and comedy somehow all works. I think this may be Brigitte Bardot's best film performance. She is headstrong and doesn't back down from anyone. Moreau gives a good performance as well, more understanding and sympathetic. And plus they both look stunning. For the ladies they have George Hamilton to ogle over as a local hero who falls for Moreau. I liked this movie. Be warned it is subtitled but I didn't mind one bit at all.
Fun in Acapulco (1963). Musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress. While some exterior scenes were shot in Acapulco, Mexico, Elvis's scenes were shot in Hollywood. He never went to Acapulco in his lifetime.
In this Elvis movie he plays a former circus performer who comes to Acapulco to hide from his past. He's hired as a lifeguard at a hotel, and later in the evening sings in the night club. While he was performing in his act in the circus, he was in the acrobats. during his performance he missed his partner who fell to his death. When a rival lifeguard learns about it, he challenges him to dive again now that Elvis' character is afraid of heights. He does gain back his courage and climbs to the highest cliff and makes the high dive. Does He win the heart of Ursula Andress, too?
I loved the locations (Acapulco) and the fun plot. I think that greatest thing about Elvis's movies, that they were fun.
Fun Facts:
Elvis Presley didn't film in Acapulco and a stunt double was used.
Teri Garr made her uncredited movie debut as an extra in this film. She would go on to appear as an uncredited extra in several more Elvis Presley movies before becoming a full-fledged actress.
The cliff dives take place at La Quebrada in Acapulco.
Sound Tracks:
•"Fun In Acapulco"
Written by Sid Wayne & Ben Weisman
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"Vino, Dinero Y Amor"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley & The Four Amigos
•"I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"
Written by Don Robertson & Hal Blair
Performed by Elvis Presley & The Four Amigos
•"Mexico"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley & Larry Domasin
•"El Toro"
Written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"Marguerita"
Written by Don Robertson
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"The Bullfighter Was A Lady"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"(There's) No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car"
Written by Fred Wise & Dick Manning
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"Bossa Nova Baby"
Written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"You Can't Say No In Acapulco"
Written by Dorothy Fuller & Lee Morris
Performed by Elvis Presley
•"Guadalajara"
Written by Pepe Guízar (as Pépé Guizar)
Performed by Elvis Presley
In Caliente(1935), also known as Viva Señorita, is a film written by Ralph Block, directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Dolores del Río.
IN CALIENTE (1935), the story takes place in the popular Mexican resort, best known for horse racing and gambling. It stars Dolores Del Rio, in a fluffy story and wonderful choreography by, Busby Berkeley. Berkeley focuses on ballroom dancing popularized by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The story begins when Larry MacArthur, critic of New York City's smartest magazine, Manhattan Madness, who is well known for writing bad reviews. Harold Brandon, vice president, wants to break up Larry's engagement to gold digger, Clara Thorne. Knowing the upcoming marriage will be a mistake, Harold gets Larry drunk and kidnaps him by airplane to Aqua Caliente, a Mexican resort. While there, he meets Rita Gomez, who he does not know that she is a dancer, that he criticized in his magazine. Recognizing Larry as the man who had given her a bad review, Rita wants to get even with him, with the help of Jose Gomez, her uncle. The situation becomes more complicated when Clara shows up to claim her man.
This very entertaining movie showcases Dolores Del Rio, Pat O'Brien and Edward Everett Horton. Another plus.. is the location filming at Agua Caliente. Chris Pin-Martin, as one of the mariachis, has the wonderful line, "English not so very good looking."
Fun Facts:
The costumes in "The Lady in Red" number were actually blue, but looked "red" when photographed in black and white.
Soundtracks:
•"In Caliente"
(uncredited)
Music by Allie Wrubel
Lyrics by Mort Dixon
Played during the opening credits
Played as background music
Played on guitar and sung often by the mariachis
(Chris-Pin Martin, C.R. Dufau, L.R. Félix and Carlos Salazar)
•"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
(uncredited)
Music by Ernest Ball (1912)
Lyrics by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff (1912)
Sung a cappella by Phil Regan, Pat O'Brien and Edward Everett Horton
•"To Call You My Own"
(uncredited)
Music by Allie Wrubel
Lyrics by Mort Dixon
Sung by Phil Regan
Played as background music
Whistled and hummed by Pat O'Brien
•"The Lady in Red"
(uncredited)
Music by Allie Wrubel
Lyrics by Mort Dixon
Sung by Wini Shaw, Judy Canova and chorus
Danced by The De Marco's
Sung a cappella by Edward Everett Horton
•"Muchacha"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Sung by Phil Regan
Sung and Danced to by Dolores del Rio and chorus
•"She's a Latin from Manhattan"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Used as background instrumental
•"Tango Muchacha"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Used as background instrumental
Edward Everett Horton (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970), was a character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. He is best known for his work in the films of, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. His voice was one of his trademarks.
His first starring role was in the comedy film, Too Much Business(1922). Next, he went on to perform in the film, Beggar on Horseback(1925). Horton, performed in some of Warner Bros.' early talkies, The Hottentot and Sonny Boy.
He is best known, for his work as a character actor in the films: The Front Page (1931), Trouble in Paradise (1932), Alice in Wonderland (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Flying Down to Rio (1933). Which included the popular dance team of Fred Astaire and a 23-year-old Ginger Rogers. It is the first of the series to feature Ginger and Fred as the main attraction. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
He also performed in the film, Top Hat (1935), Danger Love at Work (1937), Lost Horizon (1937), Holiday (1938), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He last performed in a non-speaking role in the film, Cold Turkey (1971).
Fun Facts:
Author F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in a cottage on Horton's estate for a time in the late 1930s.
In a scene in Friz Freleng's cartoon Hare Trigger, Yosemite Sam (in his debut) calls himself "the meanest, toughest, rip-roarin'-est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shooter!"
Janet Gaynor (October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was one of the most popular actresses of the silent film era. Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films, the first: Seventh Heaven (1927). A Romance silent film and one of the first films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was written by H.H. Caldwell, Benjamin Glazer, Katherine Hilliker and Austin Strong and directed by Frank Borzage. Cast: Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell.
First Video of 12.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). A silent film directed by German film director F. W. Murnau. The story was adapted by Carl Mayer from the short story Die Reise nach Tilsit by Hermann Sudermann.
Sunrise won an Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production at the first ever Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In 1937, Sunrise's original negative was destroyed in a fire. A new negative was created from a surviving print.
Much of the exterior shooting was done at Lake Arrowhead, California.
Street Angel (1928). A silent film about a young woman who finds herself on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter. Directed by Frank Borzage. This was the only time which an actress has won for multiple roles.
Her career continued and she performed in the original version of, A Star Is Born (1937). A romantic/drama. Directed by William A. Wellman. Cast: Janet Gaynor Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander and Carole Landis.
Sunnyside Up (1929). is a Fox Movietone movie musical with original songs, story, and dialogue by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. The romantic comedy/musical, which starred Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Directed by David Butler. Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together: Seventh Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Lucky Star (1929). Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for the first two and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). The cinematography and special effects are impressive.
The story begins with a birds eye view of a lower East Side street, showing the people getting ready for the 4th of July celebration. While Jack Cromwell, a Long Island millionaire drives his car through the neighborhood, ends up losing control of his car to avoid hitting a child. Molly, lives above a grocery store. The young couple from different backgrounds meet at a block party. He asks her to return to Southhampton with him to make his fiancee jealous. His plan works, but in the process, they fall in love...
The color sequence contained three musical numbers of which one has become a total classic. Turn On The Heat, one of the best production numbers made that reminded me a little of Busby Berkeley musical number. A lively chorus transform the arctic cold set, complete with igloos in to a tropical setting. One of the oddest musical numbers I have ever seen.
Soundtracks:
•"(I'M A DREAMER) AREN'T WE ALL?"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung and played on autoharp by Janet Gaynor
•"YOU FIND THE TIME AND I'LL FIND THE PLACE"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung by Sharon Lynn
•"YOU'VE GOT ME PICKIN' PETALS OFF O' DAISIES"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung and danced by Marjorie White and Frank Richardson
•"SUNNY SIDE UP"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung with chorus and danced by Janet Gaynor
Reprised by Frank Richardson and Marjorie White
•"TURN ON THE HEAT"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung by Sharon Lynn and danced by chorus
•"IF I HAD A TALKING PICTURE OF YOU"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung by Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor with child chorus
•"IT'S GREAT TO BE NECKED"
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
Sung by Marjorie White
Harry James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983), was an musician and bandleader. James was an instrumentalist of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work identifiable. He was one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later.
Small Town Girl(1953). Directed by László Kardos. Cast: Jane Powell, Farley Granger, and Ann Miller. Busby Berkeley choreographed several dance numbers.
In the small town of Duck Creek, Connecticut, all the people enjoy listening to Cindy Kimbell, sing in the church choir, during Sunday services. While, the Kimball family sit down to their Sunday dinner, a policeman brings over Rick Belrow Livingston III, who was caught speeding through town.
Because of his bad attitude, Cindy's father Gordon, the town's judge, sentences Rick to thirty days in jail. Rick, is taken to jail and the news quickly spreads among all the young women, of the town.
That evening, Rick watches from his cell window as the town's people meet for a town social and sees Cindy dancing with, Ludwig Schlemmer. The bidding begins for the box suppers prepared by the young ladies and Rick outbids Ludwig, for Cindy's box supper.
The next morning, photographers watch Rick cleaning the sidewalk and take a picture of him just as he gives Cindy a hug, on her way to work. The picture of Rick and Cindy, is on the front page of the paper. His fiancee Lisa, comes to town the next day to give Cindy a piece of her mind, Lisa visits Rick, in jail and reminds him that her birthday, is just a couple of days away.
Desperate to get out of jail, Rick plays on Cindy's sympathies, by telling her it is his mother's birthday. Cindy talks Happy, the jailer, to set the prisoner free for the night, but insists on going with Rick on his visit to see his "mother." When they arrive, a formal gathering is already in progress. After Cindy sings, for the guests, his butler, Hemmingway, locks her in a fur vault while Rick sneaks out to watch Lisa, perform in a Broadway musical.
Rick, gets a call from Hemmingway, who tells him that Cindy is in the fur vault, he races home to get her out. He then takes Cindy, out for a night on the town and they begin to fall in love. Back in his cell, Rick asks to serve out his sentence, but Gordon, wants him to leave town. Will Rick, go back to his fiancee or will he say back in the small town of Duck Creek, that he has grown so fond of?
The film, Small Town Girl, may not be the best MGM musical, or the best of Jane Powell's films. But.. it is very entertaining.
Fun Facts:
Hank Williams was to have made his acting debut in this film as a small-town sheriff, but died shortly before filming got underway.
Jane Powell was pregnant during the filming of this movie.
Soundtracks:
•"I've Gotta Hear that Beat"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Danced by Ann Miller
•"My Gaucho"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Danced by Ann Miller
•"Take Me To Broadway"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Performed by Bobby Van
•"My Flaming Heart"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Performed by Nat 'King' Cole
•"The Lullaby of the Lord"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
•"Fine, Fine, Fine"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
•"Small Towns Are Smile Towns"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
•"The Fellow I'd Follow"
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics by Leo Robin
•"Hallelujah Chorus"
(uncredited)
from "The Messiah"
Music by George Frideric Handel
Lyrics by Charles Jennens
Bix Beiderbecke( March 10, 1903 — Aug. 6, 1931). Became the leading player of the Chicago style of jazz in the 1920s. He is best known for his gentle, clear tone. His interest in the harmonies of composers such as Claude Debussy was reflected in both his playing and his compositions. With saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, Beiderbecke worked in the bands of Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman. His alcoholism and early death contributed to his status as one of the early romantic legends of jazz.
Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008). Around the time of the outbreak of World War II, David Lichine offered her a dancing role in, Something to Shout About. This brought her to the attention of choreographer Robert Alton, who had also discovered Gene Kelly and soon she became the resident MGM ballet dancer.
Charisse, is best known for her on-screen pairings with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She first performed with Astaire in a wonderful routine in the film, Ziegfeld Follies. Her next performance with him was in the film, The Band Wagon (1953), where she danced with Astaire in the acclaimed "Dancing in the Dark".
Another early role cast her opposite Judy Garland in the film, The Harvey Girls(1946). Film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harveys famous restaurants. Directed by George Sidney. It won an Academy Award for Best Song for "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. "written by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.
Gene Kelly chose Charisse, to dance with him in "Broadway Melody" ballet finale from, Singin' in the Rain (1952). She also she co-starred with Kelly in the musical film, Brigadoon(1954). She again performed with Kelly in his musical, It's Always Fair Weather (1956).
She rejoined Astaire in the film, Silk Stockings(1957), a musical remake of 1939's Ninotchka, with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo's role. In his autobiography, Astaire paid tribute to Charisse, calling her "beautiful dynamite" and writing: "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with."
I also loved it when she danced with Ricardo Montalban, in the films: On An Island With You and Fiesta. A couple of my favorite Esther Williams films.
After the decline of the Hollywood musicals, Charisse continued to perform in film and TV productions through the 1960s-1990s. She had a supporting role in the film, "Something's Got To Give", the unfinished film of Marilyn Monroe.
Love Me Tonight(1932). Produced and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles and Myrna Loy.
The story is about a Parisian tailor named Maurice Courtelin and a family of aristocrats, Viscount Gilbert de Varèze, who owes Maurice a large amount of money for his work. Gilbert's uncle Count de Savignac, his niece Valentine and his widowed 22-year-old daughter, Princess Jeanette. De Savignac has been unable to find Jeanette a suitable new husband.
The Viscount's unpaid tailoring bills are beginning to mount up, so Maurice decides to travel to de Savignac's castle to collect his money. On the way, he has a confrontation with Princess Jeanette, where he professes his love for her, but she is not interested in him.
When Maurice arrives at the castle, Gilbert introduces him as "Baron Courtelin" in to hide his identity from the Count. Maurice is suspicious at first, but changes his mind after he sees Jeanette. While staying at the castle, he catches the eye of Valentine, but his heart belong to Jeanette.
Soon, the Duke d'Artelines finds out that Maurice, has been lying about who he is, but the Viscount says that Maurice is a royal who is traveling under another name for security reasons. Jeanette, begins to fall for Maurice's charms.
When Maurice and Jeanette, are caught alone with Jeanette partially undressed. Maurice explains that he is redesigning Jeanette's riding outfit, and he proves this by successfully altering it. Now, he is forced to reveal his true identity.
Shocked, Jeanette runs to her room now that she knows that he is a commoner and Maurice decides to leave. Will Jeanette, finally realize her mistake and find Maurice?
One of the most wonderful musicals ever made. Awesome, cinematography, a beautiful score by Rodgers and Hart. I loved the opening, with the sounds of a city coming to life,
Fun Fact:
Among the deletions in the film's 1949 reissue was Myrna Loy's portion of the "Mimi" reprise. In the Production Code era, Miss Loy's negligee was deemed too revealing.
Soundtracks:
"That's the Song of Paree"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Marion "Peanuts" Byron, George 'Gabby' Hayes and chorus.
"Isn't It Romantic"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Bert Roach, Rolfe Sedan, chorus and Jeanette MacDonald
"Lover"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Jeanette MacDonald
"Mimi"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier
Sung also by C. Aubrey Smith, Charlie Butterworh, Charles Ruggles, Elizabeth Patterson,
Ethel Griffies and Blanche Friderici
"A Woman Needs Something Like That"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Joseph Cawthorn and Jeanette MacDonald
"Deer Hunt"
Music by Richard Rodgers
"The Poor Apache"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier
"Love Me Tonight"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald
"The Son Of A Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor"
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Sung by C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Blanche Friderici,
Myrna Loy, Robert Greig, Edgar Norton, Cecil Cunningham, Rita Owin and Mel Calish
Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993). She was trained as a dancer. Loy start in films came when Portrait photographer Henry Waxman, had taken several pictures of her, and they were noticed by Rudolph Valentino. He was looking for a leading lady for Cobra, the first independent project he and his wife Natacha Rambova were producing. She tested for the role, which went to Gertrude Olmstead instead, but soon after she was hired as an extra for the film, Pretty Ladies, in which she and fellow newcomer Joan Crawford, were among the chorus girls dangling from a chandelier.
Rambova recommended Loy for a small role opposite Nita Naldi, in the film, What Price Beauty?. Loy's pictures in a fan magazine led to a contract with Warner Bros., where her surname was changed to Loy.
Loy's, silent film roles were mainly those of vamps and femme fatales and she performed many times as a Asian or Eurasian background. She also performed in musicals: The Jazz Singer, The Show of Shows, The Bride of the Regiment, and Under A Texas Moon. Soon, she became associated with musical roles.
Desi Arnaz (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he was famous for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the classic TV show: I Love Lucy, with Lucille Ball, his wife at the time.
Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing December 15, 1944) was a jazz trombone, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands". Miller's best known recordings are: In the Mood, American Patrol, Chattanooga Choo Choo, A String of Pearls, Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000.
Miller and his band perform in two Twentieth Century Fox films: Sun Valley Serenade(1941)and Orchestra Wives(1942). Miller co-wrote with Billy May the instrumental "Boom Shot" for the Orchestra Wives soundtrack.
