Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

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)

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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.

Monday, January 25, 2010

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

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