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!"
