Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: meet me in st. louis (1944)

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

It's SINGIN' IN THE RAIN vs MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS for all the marbles...

We finally made it to the final match of the favorite classic musical film tournament. What started with 64 films a month ago, has now come down to the final two films to decide the one winner. Overall tournament top seed Singin' in the Rain defeated 30's era champion Swing Time 13-6 while third seed and sentimental favorite Meet Me in St. Louis upset 60's era champion The Sound of Music 10-8. So now Rain will face St. Louis for bragging rights of favorite classic musical film. The match begins immediately and will run thru Saturday 8 pm EST. Good luck to both films.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

1 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

3 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

FAVORITE CLASSIC MUSICAL FILM FINALIST (40'S ERA)

Saturday, October 8, 2011

THE FINAL FOUR is now set as The Sound of Music beats Mary Poppins to win the 60's Era

The Sound Of Music beat Mary Poppins 12-8 to win the 60's era and become the final film to make the final four of the favorite classic musical film tournament. It became the second top seed to make it to the finals. The other top seed being Singin' in the Rain. So here are the two matches that will begin today. These matches will run thru Tuesday 7pm EST.

THE FINAL FOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

SEMI-FINAL MATCH 1

1 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

5 SWING TIME (1936)

FAVORITE CLASSIC MUSICAL FILM FINALIST (20'S/30'S ERA)

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SEMI-FINAL MATCH 2

1 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

FAVORITE CLASSIC MUSICAL FILM FINALIST (60'S ERA)

3 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS beats EASTER PARADE by one vote to land a spot in the final four....

I doubt Judy Garland would complain but sentimental favorite Meet Me In St. Louis beat Easter Parade 12-11 to take the second spot in the final four of the favorite classic musical film tournament. It was back and forth for the entire match as Parade jumped out to an early lead, then St. Louis came back to tie and then pull ahead by 3 votes. Easter Parade made a strong rally that fell just one vote shy. Regardless, we have our second film set for the finals and now must wait on the 50's and 60's eras to play out. Congrats to all the fans of Meet Me In St. Louis who voted for that film to win. Side note: Meet Me in St. Louis also prevented Fred Astaire from placing his second film in the final four. Swing Time won the 30's era last week and had Easter Parade won, they would have been going to the dance together. Oh well.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

It's MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS vs EASTER PARADE for a spot in the FINAL FOUR (40's Era)

As expected Meet Me In St. Louis beat For Me and My Gal 18-3 and Easter Parade defeated The Harvey Girls 11-6 to set up one heck of a finals match of the 40's Era. The winning film earns a trip to the Favorite Classic Musical Film Tournament Final Four, where Swing Time is waiting as the winner of the 30's era. Judy Garland dominated the 40's era like no one else with all four of her films making it to the semi-final matches. And guaranteeing that a Judy Garland would be present in the final four. So Meet Me In St. Louis faces off against Easter Parade which should make for an exciting match. Starts immediately and runs through Tuesday night 8 pm EST.

1940'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

3 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

4 EASTER PARADE (1948)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

WHOA! Judy Garland places all four of her films in the semi-finals....a remarkable feat

Judy Garland started off the 40's era with four films competing out of the 16 films chosen. Those same four films each made it to the semi-final matches. How impressive is that. Look at the final tally: The Harvey Girls knocked off top seed Yankee Doodle Dandy 14-4 in a blow-out win. Easter Parade edged out On The Town 12-7. For Me and My Gal upset 2nd seed Going My Way 11-5. And sentimental favorite Meet Me In St. Louis just beat down Holiday Inn 15-3 like it stole something, in the most lopsided match. So it is safe to say that one Judy Garland film will reach the final four. Hats off to the remarkable Ms. Garland. Here are the two semi-final matches which start immediately and will run through Saturday night 8pm EST.

SEMI-FINAL MATCH 1

3 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

7 FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942)

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SEMI-FINAL MATCH 2

4 EASTER PARADE (1948)

8 THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946)

Monday, January 25, 2010

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) romantic/ musical. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart, and Joan Carroll. The movie was based on Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, series of short stories by Sally Benson, originally published in The New Yorker magazine and later in the novel 5135 Kensington. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Garland made famous the songs: "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Arthur Freed, the producer of the film also wrote and performed one of the songs. It was the second-highest grossing picture of the year, the first was, Going My Way.

Soundtracks:
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"Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis"
(uncredited)
Music by Kerry Mills
Lyrics by Andrew Sterling
Sung by Joan Carroll, Harry Davenport, Henry H. Daniels Jr.,
Judy Garland and Lucille Bremer

"The Boy Next Door"
Music by Ralph Blane
Lyrics by Hugh Martin
Sung by Judy Garland (uncredited)

"Skip to My Lou"
Music by Ralph Blane
Lyrics by Hugh Martin
Sung by Judy Garland (uncredited), Lucille Bremer (uncredited), Henry H. Daniels Jr. (uncredited) & Ensemble

"Under the Bamboo Tree"
(uncredited)
Music by Rosamond Johnson
Lyrics by Bob Cole
Sung and Danced by Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien

"Over the Bannister"
(uncredited)
Music by Ralph Blane
Lyrics by Hugh Martin
Sung by Judy Garland

"The Trolley Song"
Music by Ralph Blane
Lyrics by Hugh Martin
Sung by Judy Garland (uncredited) and chorus

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Music by Ralph Blane
Lyrics by Hugh Martin
Sung by Judy Garland (uncredited)

"You and I"
(uncredited)
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Arthur Freed
Sung by Arthur Freed and Denny Markas

"Goodbye, My Lady Love"
Written by Joseph E. Howard (uncredited)

"Home, Sweet Home"
Music by H.R. Bishop (uncredited)

"Auld Lang Syne"
Traditional

"Little Brown Jug"
Written by Joseph Winner (uncredited)

"Down at the Old Bull and Bush"
Music by Harry von Tilzer (uncredited)

"Kingdom Coming"
Music by Henry Clay Work (uncredited)

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.